By Maureen McGowan
If you watch movies that feature characters who are authors, nothing seems more exciting or glamorous than being a published author. And occasionally there is a real life publishing fairy tale, like Stephanie Myers’, where an author’s first book gets published relatively easily and then goes on to make a huge amount of money and launch a highly successful movie franchise. Or even the J.K. Rowling story where getting published was not such an easy path, but once published, the books took off, making her one of the richest women in the world.
Those outlier stories perpetuate the myth of the glamorous, hit-the-jackpot world of publishing.
But alas, for the vast, vast, vast, (vast, vast, vast), majority of authors, the publishing experience is nothing like that. We spend hours and hours (years and years) toiling away on our books, learning our craft, pouring our very hearts and souls into our stories, only to be met with slaps of rejection, bad luck and disappointment.
But the combination of the lure of that rare fairy tale happy ending, and/or the satisfaction of the journey, keep us going.
My first two published novels, CINDERELLA: NINJA WARRIOR and SLEEPING BEAUTY: VAMPIRE SLAYER, are launching a new series TWISTED TALES aimed at girls aged 11 and up. They’ll be released in Spring 2011 by Baker & Taylor Publishing Group. Yippee!!!
While this particular publishing journey started off like a fairy tale—a two book deal based on a short proposal done on a whim—it quickly developed into a story with obstacles worthy of the scariest fairy tale witch.
Oh, that sounds so dramatic. LOL. It wasn’t that bad. But to sum things up, just as I was putting the finishing touches on these two stories, admiring the covers, and basking in the glow of seeing them up for pre-order at all the major book retailers, the publisher shut down. Bang. Closed. Publishing dream dead.
The happy ending is that the books quickly found another home, and from what I’ve seen so far, a home worthy of any fairy tale princess’s dreams.
When Cindy first invited me to guest blog, I’d hoped to be offering copies of these books as a giveaway, but alas, they won’t be available for several months, yet. I haven’t even seen the new covers, yet, but based on the mock ups, I am very excited.
And fret not. This blog giveaway story has a happy ending, too! In fact, the winner of this giveaway will win stories by twenty different authors. I’m giving away a copy of THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF TIME TRAVEL ROMANCE, an anthology of short stories that was released last December. It’s full of great stories and I hope it will tide you over until my YA novels are released.
When you were young, what was your favorite fairy tale? Do you look at the story differently now?
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Please leave a comment to enter to win THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF TIME TRAVEL ROMANCE. If you’re reading this blog through a feed at Facebook, Goodreads or another social network, please note you need to leave your comment at www.museinterrupted.com to enter.
To read the back cover blurb for THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF TIME TRAVEL ROMANCE or to read Maureen’s bio, see yesterday’s post. Visit Maureen’s website to learn more about her upcoming Young Adult novels.