Back in April, I shared my path to publication on Instagram over the course of ten days and ten posts using the #mywritepath hashtag. Other authors joined in, and it became a wonderful event full of stories and moments from the journey. I wanted to share this on my blog as well, so the entire thing is in one easily accessible place. I hope you enjoy it, and if you're walking along your own path toward publication, I am wishing you so much success! ✨
Welcome to day one of #mywritepath! (If you aren't sure what this is, check out my last post!) Before I get into the specifics of my path to publication, I thought I’d give you a little background so you know where I started. 🌱
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When I was younger, I wrote a lot of songs and poetry (does anyone remember bolt.com?!) and always dreamt of writing a novel one day. But when I graduated high school, I didn’t see a path forward that included writing; I don't think it even occurred to me that I *could* write after high school. So I left writing behind and graduated from college with a bachelor of science in diagnostic ultrasound. I worked in healthcare for five years (and even taught ultrasound at the university I graduated from) until a shoulder injury required a career switch. I have never taken a creative writing class in my life. 🌿
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Fast forward to 2012. Other than journaling, I hadn't written anything since high school. I was lost, unhappy, and unfulfilled in my career and my life. So I asked myself a question: if I could do anything in the world, what would it be? Even though it had been a decade since I put pen to paper, the answer came instantly: I’d write. So that's what I did. After a year of false-starts and lots of self-doubt, I finally got to work on my very first novel. I was twenty-seven years old when I started writing seriously, and slowly but surely, it began to fill me back up. My debut novel will hit shelves when I’m thirty-six. ✨
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I wanted to start with this because we hear a lot of stories about writers who have been penning novels since they were teens or in college, and we see splashy book deals that announce an author's young age. Those stories are amazing and I absolutely love hearing them—seriously, if that's you, I'm in awe. But if that isn't you, if it took you longer to get started, if you’ve never taken a writing class or you forgot about your dream for years on end, just know I was right there with you. 🖤
Welcome to day two of #mywritepath! This is an excerpt from the very last page of my very first book (note the coffee-stained pages in the stack!). It was a YA dystopian, and the first draft took me over a year to write. I was working in ultrasound at the time, and I snuck in writing sessions between long shifts at the hospital and taking call overnight. I vividly remember finishing my first draft at two-thirty in the morning and bursting into tears. I was SO proud of myself. I wasn't yet aware that I was supposed to revise (😬), so instead I dove right into research about the industry, all of which made one thing very clear: dystopian wasn’t selling. 🌿
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I'm not sure why I accepted this fact so readily—I think it's because I knew in my heart I wasn’t bringing anything new to the genre (side note: I'm 100% ready for more dystopian). So instead of querying my book or trying to make it the strongest dystopian novel I could, I decided to start over. I never pursued publication with this manuscript, and instead, took my two main characters, whom I loved dearly, and wrote them into an entirely new story. A new world, new stakes, and a new plot. But after writing the first two chapters, life happened, and I wouldn’t pick it back up again for another year-and-a-half. 🍃
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I firmly believe that learning how to finish a first draft is one of the most crucial things to learn as a writer, and this book taught me that. It taught me how to write a book and taught me that I *could* write a book. Finishing it gave me the confidence that I could do it again, and even though this book will be shelved for eternity, I absolutely love it for that. 🖤
Welcome to day three of #mywritepath! After taking over a year off of writing to deal with life, I picked my book back up again (the wonderful thing about writing is it waits for us until we're ready to find it again). This time, I finished my first draft in about four months. The thing that made the biggest difference for me in terms of how fast I finished was that I stopped editing as I went. I gave myself permission to write a truly terrible first draft and embraced that fact that all a first draft has to do is *exist* (I still draft this way now). Then I spent the next year-and-half revising because #writingisrewriting. This photo shows many drafts of SHADOWS CAST BY DREAMS, tons of revision notes, detailed outlines, and index cards. 🌱
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I had no CPs or beta readers at this time, and not a single writer friend. I revised on my own and then paid a freelance editor to go through my book (which definitely isn't a requirement, but was super helpful for me!), then revised again based on his feedback. I started querying shortly after, and by absolute chance, met @rlynn_solomon. Meeting Rach changed everything—she took me seriously even though she was further along than I was. She also told me about the contest Pitch Wars. Even though I had received a few full requests, I decided to stop querying and enter #pitchwars instead because I knew there was something missing from my manuscript. I just didn't know what. 🍃
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Here's the thing: I almost didn't enter. Pitch Wars is a public contest, and I was scared of putting myself out there in that way. But I saw someone on Twitter say "don't self-reject," and that became my motto. That's *still* my motto. We are our own biggest champions and best advocates, and embracing this has been critical to my journey. So with a racing heart and sweaty palms, I entered Pitch Wars. And something magical happened: I got in. 🖤
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If you've ever been curious about Pitch Wars, tomorrow's post is all about it! ✨
Today’s #mywritepath is all about Pitch Wars, and guys, I absolutely LOVE this program. For those of you who don’t know, Pitch Wars is a mentorship program where published and/or agented authors choose one writer to revise with over the course of three months. This program was a total game-changer for me because it gave me that first, all-important YES. It was the first external validation my writing had ever received. 🌱
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I got into Pitch Wars in 2016, and under the incredible mentorship of @heathermezell, I learned how to revise. We tore my manuscript apart and stitched it back together. I learned how sentence structure can create a sense of urgency, how writing in the right point-of-view can help you find your voice, and how deepening the relationships can pack a huge emotional punch. I learned how to hit a deadline and work off an edit letter. I learned that writing is rewriting. I gained confidence in my craft. I gained confidence in myself. And maybe most importantly, I found a community. 🌿
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Pitch Wars is where I met my first CPs and made my first writer friends. I adore them. And you don’t need to get into Pitch Wars to take advantage of the community. Hop on the hashtag and put yourself out there—I know many people each year who meet on the hashtag and become friends and CPs long before the mentees are even announced. ✨
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I believe in Pitch Wars so strongly that I’ve been a mentor the past three years. But let me say this: Pitch Wars is only ONE path of many. You don’t need to participate in a contest to get an agent. You don’t need to be on Twitter and participate in pitch parties to get an agent. The slush pile works. I signed with my first agent not long after Pitch Wars, and she wasn’t a participating agent—she pulled me right out of the slush pile. More on that tomorrow. 🍃
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Pitch Wars is an incredible opportunity. But it’s just one of many. 🖤
"I've realized that the best approach to publishing is to keep writing, keep submitting books, and one day, I'll get my yes."
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I began querying right after #pitchwars and received an offer of representation a month later (way faster than I anticipated!). I'd sent 70 queries over that time and ended up with one offer from an agent I was super excited about. (I'm intentionally skipping over the querying part, but don't worry! Sunday's post is all about it.) Today's post is about the agonizing journey of when a book on submission doesn't sell. 💔
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I spent 9 months revising with my agent before going on sub (submission is when your agent sends your book to editors at different publishing houses in hopes of finding the perfect home for it). I was ELATED when my agent told me my book was officially out there. My words were going to be read by editors at some of the top publishing houses in the world! It was a major step and I was thrilled to be taking it. ✨
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I went out to dinner to celebrate, started a submission diary, and couldn't sleep because I was day-dreaming about that yes, the yes that would turn me into a published author. But my yes never came. Slowly, over the course of very long, very quiet months, the book I had worked on for years died. It received many nice rejections, but rejections all the same. And slowly, over the course of very long, very quiet months, I had the heartbreaking realization that this book wouldn't be THE book. The above quote is from my last entry in my submission diary. 🥀
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It's absolutely devastating when a book on sub doesn't sell. It really is. And to make matters worse, I worried my then-agent was losing enthusiasm for my project (and me?) with each new rejection that came in. The only thing that made it better was working on something new. I had an idea for a book that instantly excited me, and from the very start, I had a feeling my new book might be THE book. (*Whispers* I was right). 🖤
"Obstacles are detours in the right direction." 🍃
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Welcome to day six of #mywritepath! Today I'm sharing something we don't talk about much but is fairly common in this industry: parting ways with an agent. There are a lot of reasons this happens, and I want to start out by saying there's a difference between a bad agent and an agent who just isn't right for you. This is a close business relationship, and you can do all your homework, talk to clients, ask a ton of questions, and still learn over time that someone isn't the right fit for you. It sucks, but it happens. 🌱
There were several reasons I parted ways with my first agent, but the biggest one was that we had different communication styles and expectations. We had a phone call to talk about it, and things got better for a little bit, but then shifted back to how they were previously. This industry is hard enough as it is, and I knew deep down I wanted to work with someone who communicated with me in the way I needed. 🌿
This was an excruciating decision for me. I agonized over it for a long time. I felt like I had worked so hard to sign with an agent in the first place, like it was almost this magical thing that happened to me, and I was terrified I'd never be able to do it again. I felt like a failure. I cried a lot. Plus, I liked my agent. But ultimately, it was best for both of us to part ways. It was so hard when I told her—my hands were shaking and my heart was racing and I felt sick to my stomach. And it was also 100% the right decision. 🌾
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We worked together for a year-and-a-half and I learned a lot during that time. Fit is a personal thing, and sometimes you just don't know what you need in a relationship until you go through it. And that's the good news: I came out of this experience knowing what I need in a business partner. And since I had a brand new manuscript I was super excited about, I set out to find it. 🌙
Friends, welcome to my low point (also known as day 7 of #mywritepath). I’ve never talked about this publicly and went back and forth on if I wanted to share or not. Ultimately though, this was a really pivotal part of my journey, so here we go. ⠀⠀
I jumped back into the query trenches feeling pretty optimistic—I knew this manuscript was the best thing I'd ever written, and I’d been told I wouldn't have trouble querying since I'd been previously represented. But after 3 months and 20 queries sent, I’d received nothing but rejections. I was so disheartened. 🍃
Then I had an idea for a major revision that would change the book for the better. I stopped querying, revised, wrote a new query, and sent it back out. This time, I got a ton of requests. But as the months went by, rejections started rolling in, and when I hit my sixth month querying, my hope began to falter. 🌿 ⠀⠀
Right when I was starting to get excited about a new project, it finally happened: after 8 months of querying, I received an email from an agent saying she loved my book and wanted to talk. I immediately burst into tears. We talked for an hour and she officially offered representation. I emailed the other agents with my manuscript letting them know of my offer; I was absolutely elated. ✨
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(I want to pause here and say that what happened next is NOT common and NOT something you should worry about when querying. I’ve never heard of this happening to anyone else.) 🖤
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That night, my husband and I went out to dinner to celebrate. I couldn't stop smiling. The waiter brought us champagne, and literally as we clinked our glasses together, my phone went off with an email notification. It was the offering agent, rescinding her offer of representation because she didn't think it was reasonable to wait the (previously agreed upon) 10 days I'd requested for my decision period.
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I still don't have the words to describe how that felt. Devastated doesn't even begin to cover it. I still get emotional when I think about it.
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The road to yes is paved with no (and in my case, a rescinded offer of rep), and while I couldn’t see it at the time, this situation was paving the way for something great.
Welcome to day 8 of #mywritepath! After my offer was rescinded, I emailed the other agents still considering my work to let them know. I was so embarrassed. But every single one of them replied with words of encouragement, and part of me began to hope: if one agent liked it enough to offer, maybe another would.
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Then the rejections came. And among them, I received a revise and resubmit. Then another. And another. But no offer. I've talked about this before, but I almost didn't revise. I'd already done so much work on this book and felt so beaten down after querying so long and having an offer rescinded, I honestly didn't know if I had it in me. I was just so tired.
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But the instant I started drafting this book, there was a small voice in the back of my head whispering "this is it. This is THE book." So I decided to give it one more chance.
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The revision was massive. I kept 10k of the original words and completely rewrote the rest. I was SO proud of what I'd done; I’d never loved it more. With so much hope, I sent it back to the agents who'd offered r&rs.
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Two weeks later, I woke up to an email from one of them saying my revision was fantastic and she wanted to talk. And this was from an agent I almost didn't query because I thought she was out of my league (don't self-reject!). We talked for 90 minutes, and I knew instantly I wanted to build my career with her.
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She assured me she wouldn’t rescind her offer (am I laughing or crying?), so I set a decision deadline for 12 days later and let the remaining six agents know of the revision and offer. In the end, I received two more offers from fantastic agents, but went with the first agent who offered.
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We've been working together for a year now, and I consistently joke that I want to change my bio to "@elanaroth fangirl." Elana, you made a brutal year entirely worth it. Thank you.
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I queried this book for a year before signing with my agent; it went on to sell. I queried my previous book for just one month before signing, and it never sold. How fast things move isn’t always an indicator of what’s to come. 🖤
Welcome to day 9 of #mywritepath! I did one small revision with my agent before we went on submission. This was my second time on sub, and after my first book out there didn't sell, you'd think I would've gone into this with low expectations, but that's not who I am. I'm a really hopeful, optimistic person by nature—hope has been my lifeline on this journey. So when my agent told me we were officially on sub, my hope soared.
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I went on sub in June to 14 editors. We had several quick replies that were super complimentary, but they were passes. As the summer went on, replies started to slow, and it was a lot of silence. Silence is the absolute worst, and there's just so much of it when you're on sub. I was never able to forget that my book was out with editors—I was always aware of it. Every night I'd fall asleep daydreaming about my yes, and every morning I'd wake up and eagerly check my email. But 99% of days, my inbox was empty.
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When fall came around and things remained quiet, I started to worry. This sub experience was feeling like my last book all over again: very nice passes, but no talk of second reads or acquisitions (the next steps if an editor is interested in your book). There wasn't any consistent feedback to revise for, so we sent the book out to 6 more editors at the end of September.
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I wish I could say I found my groove and stopped thinking about sub all the time, but I didn't. It was really hard for me; I believed in my book so much and was devastated when the months passed by with no good news. The truth is that I was really, really sad. And as much as you hear that you should be prepared to be on sub for a long time, most of my friends had sold quickly, so it was hard for me to pass my third, fourth, fifth month on sub with nothing promising.
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As the holidays approached, my agent and I had a strategy call to discuss another round of sub in the new year. I felt good about it, knowing we had a plan for January, and I was excited to try and forget about sub until then.
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But the week before Thanksgiving, I received a text message from my agent. An editor loved my book.
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I hope you'll join me tomorrow for the final day of #mywritepath!
Welcome to the final day of #mywritepath! I was grocery shopping when I received a text from my agent. She'd never texted me before, and I'm fairly certain my heart stopped when I saw her name. She said an editor loved my book and was sharing it with her team. Friends, I sunk to the floor and started SOBBING. Not like a few delicate tears. Full on, gasping sobs. I had to abandon my cart and leave the store.
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I went outside and called my sister. I was crying so hard I couldn't get the words out—she legitimately thought someone had died. And this wasn't even an offer! I was just relieved, so relieved, to hear an editor loved my book. I'd never made it this far.
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The next day, I heard from my agent again: the editorial team loved my book, and we were headed to acquisitions. But this was the week before Thanksgiving, and the meeting was two weeks away. I hardly slept—it was all I could think about. And googling "what are the odds of making it through acquisitions" didn't help at all (rude).
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When the day of the meeting arrived, I basically paced for 8 hours straight. Then I got the news: my book made it through acquisitions, and we'd be receiving an offer the next day. After 6 months on sub, my book had sold. I was completely overwhelmed.
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The next day, I received an official offer from @Sourcebooksfire, and they wanted to give me a two-book deal. Two books! (The above photo was taken when I signed my contract!) After eight years, one contest, three manuscripts, countless revisions, two agents, two times on submission, and almost two hundred rejections, my dream was coming true. My book had found the perfect home.
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I truly don't have the words to describe what it feels like knowing I'll have a book in the world next spring. It still takes my breath away. I'm so, so thankful. I can't wait to share THE NATURE OF WITCHES with you.
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My career is just beginning, and I know there are many highs and lows yet to come. But there is no other path I'd rather be on, and all the rejection, all the longing, all the heartbreak along the way was worth it to end up here. So that's my write path (so far!). Thank you for following along—it has truly meant so much to me. 🖤
