Yep! It's definitely not a journey for the faint-hearted. I love how you've made it clear that you learned a lot from those first three years - and it was the growth as a writer which was the reward.
Right now I'm on my 13th draft of my first novel and soon to begin querying again. I started writing my book in 2013 when I was pregnant with my 3rd child. I didn't finish the first draft till 2016. I've done some querying over the years - esp in 2021, and on and off with Jericho Writers through their 1:1 agent opportunities over 2020 and 2023. Going to apply the latest feedback from entering the Cheshire Novel Prize and then finally do another round of submissions, before getting started on a new writing project while waiting for query responses to come in. In the UK, many rejections take the form of non-responses, which is probably less painful!
Made it here from your website after seeing your book was sold! Congrats on the deal — hope you update on here, I’d love to read more about your journey!
And also, as someone who has written 5 books, and attempted my first book idea several times, I deeply resonate with everything you’ve said about first books. There’s so much emotional tension, preciousness, and expectation surrounding a first ever book idea that I think they’re most often best set aside for many years until you have a deep knowing that you could do it right.
"This time, I love the story, I love my characters, my plot, and my world. I know in my heart of hearts that I’ve written a good book, regardless of whether it gets representation or not"
Yep! It's definitely not a journey for the faint-hearted. I love how you've made it clear that you learned a lot from those first three years - and it was the growth as a writer which was the reward.
Right now I'm on my 13th draft of my first novel and soon to begin querying again. I started writing my book in 2013 when I was pregnant with my 3rd child. I didn't finish the first draft till 2016. I've done some querying over the years - esp in 2021, and on and off with Jericho Writers through their 1:1 agent opportunities over 2020 and 2023. Going to apply the latest feedback from entering the Cheshire Novel Prize and then finally do another round of submissions, before getting started on a new writing project while waiting for query responses to come in. In the UK, many rejections take the form of non-responses, which is probably less painful!
:-)
Made it here from your website after seeing your book was sold! Congrats on the deal — hope you update on here, I’d love to read more about your journey!
And also, as someone who has written 5 books, and attempted my first book idea several times, I deeply resonate with everything you’ve said about first books. There’s so much emotional tension, preciousness, and expectation surrounding a first ever book idea that I think they’re most often best set aside for many years until you have a deep knowing that you could do it right.
Coming here after your book deal announcement!
To quote yourself:
"This time, I love the story, I love my characters, my plot, and my world. I know in my heart of hearts that I’ve written a good book, regardless of whether it gets representation or not"
Unfortunately, the book I was referring to here also did not land an agent! In hindsight, I can see what pieces were missing, but that's okay!