So my dream of becoming a published author is finally coming true! * happy dance *
But before I go into all of that, let me take you back a few months…..
FRIDAY THE 13TH
The very idea of this date makes people cringe – it’s filled with superstitious meaning and bad luck – but for me it brought on a change of luck!
May 13th, 2011 – I woke up with the buzzing of my Blackberry, ready to curse whomever had decided to disturb my sleep at 4am ( South African time ), particularly when I saw it was an email which could only mean a notification from Facebook. With one eye open I scrolled through the message and within seconds was out of bed and jumping around like a mad person. The email was one that could possibly change the rest of my life.
It was from Sean Samborski of Elixirist Publishing and he wanted to know if I’d be interested in submitting my manuscript to them, as one of his editors had read a bit of what I had posted on Authonomy and they were interested to see what more I had to offer.
Of course I was excited, who wouldn’t be?? After months of submitting to agents only to get the good old rejection notice I finally had a break. But I had to calm myself and think rationally, I had spent many hours researching and checking different publishing and literary agent sites, taking in as much advice as I possibly could and one thing that stuck in my mind was to be cautious about publishers that approached authors for a publishing deal. More often than not, these publishers were vanity presses, asking you to pay money so they can publish your manuscript.
So, as enthusiast as I was, I carefully compiled my email, asking for as much information about the publishing process as I could think of. Juanita Samborski (my wonderful publisher) in return was happy to provide me with all the details and her open, warm and friendly manner relaxed my suspicions. She reviewed my manuscript and felt it would be a great addition to the starting line-up for their new division - 48fourteen. Next step was signing the publishing contract, approving the cover art and waiting for revisions. And that is how the ball got rolling…..
July 24th, 2011 – By now I was getting used to my Blackberry buzzing at every hour of the day and when I got the official notice that 48fourteen’s website was up and running I had another of those jump-up-and-down-like-a-crazy-person moments. I wasted no time in browsing the site and seeing an image of myself smiling back was so surreal. The ball of excitement in my stomach kept me awake most of the night and I was on the brink of tears – happy ones, I might add. My baby was finally ready to graduate from my laptop to the world wide web!
So I urge you all to support 48fourteen – www.48fourteen.com – register on the site, browse and have fun. There are many other really talented authors on the site so you may find more than you bargained for. Post questions directly to authors or join a discussion. I promise you won’t be disappointed!!
Time to sign off…..
But I will be back, so I hope to see you here again soon. xoxo
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