A tales of loss and victory
In October, I was told my publisher, Ellora’s Cave, was closing their doors.
As a newly published author, I was pretty crushed. I had a contract for eight books and only six of them were edited and only four of those were released at the time. While I could get my rights back, I was looking at starting all over again with rejections and the whole thing. I adore my editor and my cover artist and they were losing their jobs too! The whole situation was just bad.
My family had been circling like vultures just waiting for something bad to happen and here it was. Even though it was no fault of mine, I carried the weight that I’d done something wrong. It felt as though I’d personally driven the publisher out of business.
I only told my husband and a couple close friends what happened. Then I wallowed in a pit of despair for about a week. I did some soul-searching and I threw myself back into writing. My cover artist and then my editor contacted me. All was no lost. I could self-publish!
I finished two more books while the rights for two of the unpublished contracted books returned to me. I submitted one of those books to an agent and was rejected right away. I submitted in a contest through twitter and got rejected by several editors there. Good times.
When I reached out to my cover artist, she gave me the contact for a publisher she does freelance work for. Long and short of the back and forth, I signed and sent my contracts to Torrid this morning for three of the books! It’s a step in the right direction! Frankie and Christopher and Rev'Dawn and Nina have a home! Yay!
I think that this craziness that we call writing is a trial by fire. It is not easy. There are a series of hoops to jump through all the time. I don’t know how other people handle rejection but I suck at it. I realize that the worst part is being told ‘NO’. For those people who are writing and wrestling with their muse, keep at it. Each step is a building block to the next step. Your stories are important and should be read!
