Over on the Snarkology Blog today, Helena Fairfax talks candidly about her journey as a published author: her first wistful dreams about escaping office work to write, her early contest win, the dreaded ‘it’s good but not right for us’ publisher letter, and her return to writing in the aftermath of a terrible tragedy and personal reinvention.
It’s an inspiring read for those of us who understand that writing isn’t always an easy career move. Sometimes we have to step away from it for years, and sometimes we have to put everything we are into it, out of perseverance and hope.
I especially love this paragraph:
“By the time I felt able to open my lap-top again, the world of publishing had changed in a dramatic way. Writers such as Amanda Hocking and E.L. James were making massive successes for themselves with e-books. I revisited the first novel I’d written and thought, hey – a professional romance writer at the RNA really liked this story. Just because it wasn’t accepted at one publisher doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try another.”
Helena’s experience confirms three things any writer should embrace: never get rid of your old writing, never be afraid to try again, and a novel good enough to get personal attention from a professional is probably good enough to shop around some more.
Great post!
I know: Helena’s story is really inspirational to me, and I’m glad she shared it.