Today I've opened my blog up to author Mary Marvella...grab a cup of your favorite beverage of choice and welcome Mary to my "home!"
Want my autograph?
Why, you ask? Didn't you know? I Indie-published 3 books and 2 novellas.
That's why. Not impressed? I contracted a book, and it has been published!
Exciting news to me. Still not
impressed? I was a guest Monday night at blog radio (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/hummingbirdplace)
and am now a radio celeb. Well, you
can't have my autograph anyway, and one day it will be worth something.
In case you didn't catch on, I'm messing with you! I think
each person who completes a book deserves a gold star, and revising one earns
an extra gold star. Each person who has
submitted a book to an editor or an agent deserves more points, of course. (Have
a handful of stars.)
If you took time to polish a book and Indie publish it, you
deserve a medal. (We're past the gold stars now.) Seriously, it takes
guts/courage to do that. I'm not bragging or complaining, but the formatting
part caused me pain and whining. I am not computer competent. BUT I did it 5
times.
In 1991 I started writing my first novel and some family
memories as short stories. Since then I have taken courses, attended workshops,
read books and magazine articles, entered contests, and submitted my
manuscripts. Despite "good" rejections, no one wanted to buy my
books. I really wanted to sell and get an advance and lovely royalties. That
didn't happen. One editor I respect and
love for her writing suggested I self-publish a book she had to reject. I
considered it, but still held out hope for that sale, even to a small publisher,
even to an e-publisher. (So much for the New York Times Best Selling list and
long lines in bookstores.) No one wanted that book or my others.
Finally I bit the bullet and uploaded one novel and then
another and become an editor for a new small press.(Gilded Dragonfly Books)
Finally an editor wanted my first novel.
I had revised it and polished it and he wanted me to polish more.
Because I didn't give up or cling to old dreams, I found a new one. I have a romantic
suspense novel published as an erotic romance. (Who knew?)
My
advice.
Finish the novels you begin, even if the stories and
characters change and toss roadblocks in your way.
Revise and polish over and over again.
Listen to critique partners and beta readers, but remember
the book is YOUR book!
Submit the book until you don't have any options left.
If you decide to publish the book yourself, get it edited by
someone who knows about story development and someone who knows grammar
rules. Just because you think someone
knows good grammar and punctuation doesn't mean it is true.
Don't give up on your dreams, but be willing to adjust them.
Try new things, like I did the radio interview.
Mary Marvella is a retired school teacher turned
writer. She tutors and edits and writes,
and that's about all she does.
Protective
Instincts http://amzn.to/1gzMH1w
A teacher becomes the target of a professional killed and
must allow a student's father to keep her safe by using his premonitions .
There
is hot sex in the book.
Twitter
Mary Marvella@mmarvellab
