BIG NEWS!! The first in my 'Means of Mercy' #Historical #Romance series is contracted!!

Roane Publishing has offered me a contract for Love's Sorrow, the first book in my Means of Mercy series! 

Love's Sorrow is an historical romance and the first manuscript I ever attempted. Right after the new year I decided to brush the dust off the CD it was stored on and give it a peek. 

Ugh. 

Talk about an amateur attempt at telling a story! I laughed although the writing itself sicked me. I'll simply say that I now know exactly why Donald Maass had rejected the manuscript YEARS AGO due to it being "sloppy and Austin-esque".

At the time, I had thought he didn't know what he was talking about. At the time, I didn't know who Donald Maass IS in the agent world. Talk about a major face-palm.

After him-hauling for a bit, I sent Roane's acquisitions editor my pitch - and she simply said, "I WANT. Please and thank you."

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

The cover and official blurb are under way and will be shared as soon as possible, because here's the biggest news ...

It's set to release April 21st! 

Yes, April 21st - of THIS YEAR! Needless to say, I'll be in the editing cave every spare second my little yummies allow.

 If you're interested in sharing in the cover reveal which will take place on Monday, March 24th, please fill out the following information. I would love to have you join in my dork dancing celebration!!

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#WriterlyWisdomWednesday - Alex Nader, Newly Signed Author

Super excited to have Alex Nader visiting today. He's one of J. Taylor Publishing's newest authors. His Beasts of Burdin, an adult urban fantasy, is set for release on Feb 10, 2014. I asked him to share his thoughts on becoming an 'official' new author. 

He wrote a short article in the hopes it might inspire / help those of you still waiting on that 'We'd like to offer you a contract for your awesome WiP' email.

Take it away Alex!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi, my name is Alexander Nader and I want to tell you a little about my journey. I am a married father of three with not one, but two day jobs. I started to take my writing seriously about two years ago. After finishing my first novel, which was terribly written in hindsight, I submitted it to over 60 different agents and publishers all of whom said no or never responded. So, I wrote a second novel. This one I dialed it back to probably 40 different publishers/agents. I got a little more feedback, but in the end wound up moving on.

By my third book I was starting to feel comfortable with my writing. I was learning to avoid some rookie mistakes and really getting into my characters. I moved away from trying to write what I thought was correct and writing what I would want to read. All the while I was writing my third book I was still receiving rejections from publishers/agents from my first two books (I got a rejection from one publisher a year after I sent the novel to them).

Needless to say, by the time I finished the third book I was getting pretty discouraged. I sent my third book, Beasts of Burdin, out to 15 publishers and 1 agent. I told myself that if it didn’t get picked up by a publisher that I wouldn’t even try getting my fourth novel published. I never wanted to give up writing, it’s too damn fun for that, but I was starting to think that maybe people didn’t want to read what I had to write.

That’s when I got an email from a publisher that said they really like what I had going and they wondered if I would be willing to make a couple changes to tighten up the story. “Of course I would,” I said to my phone after reading the email. I then sent my wife an excited text message and told all my coworkers that a publisher thought my story had promise.

The changes the publisher had asked for weren’t that big a deal. They were mostly things I had thought of when I was planning the story out and the details just never made their way in to the story. It took a week to make my changes and email them back to the publisher. I wanted to get it done in a night, but I was afraid if I emailed the changes back to the publisher too quickly they would think I didn’t try hard enough.

An hour later I got a response that said the publisher only signs three book contracts and they wanted to know if I would be comfortable writing two sequels to Beasts of Burdin. I more or less ran around my job shouting and shoving my phone into people’s hands for them to read the email. I calmed down enough to call my wife so that we could jump up and down together over the phone.

In all of my time writing my wife believed in me. She told me from chapter 1 of Burdin that this would be the book that would get published. I have found that with getting a book published you really do just have to write what you feel good about and hope that you can find a publisher that feels good about it too. For me that publisher was J. Taylor Publishing. If you are an aspiring writer who knows who it could be for you and if you are a writer, go out there and write what you feel. Damn what anyone else might think. If you are a reader you should probably hop on over to my website and sign up for updates so you will know when it’s time to read Beasts of Burdin.

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About Alex:

Alex lives in the tourist infested hills of east Tennessee with his amazing wife/muse and three superb children. He would tell you more about how awesome they are, but you probably wouldn’t believe him. When he’s not hanging out with them he’s making pizzas. When he’s not doing that he’s working at a bookstore and occasionally he jots a few words down. He’s a big fan of good music, good storytelling, and mixed martial arts.

He once wrote a short story about pirates to his wife via text message that blossomed into a full length novel and never stopped after that.

Blog: alexnaderwrites.wordpress.com

twitter: @alexnaderwrites

facebook: facebook.com/alexnaderwrites

website: alexandernader.com

What's It Like To Sign The 'Big' Contract? #EotS #publishing

Scribbler's Sojourn was originally started as a diary of sorts for my journey to publication in the hopes that I could inspire or help others. I got off course for awhile, but some big stuff has happened in the last 2 months - a big contract, covers, blurbs, and the list goes on. Needless to say, it's time to revamp here a smidge.

My plan is to share one personal post a week about the process of getting that manuscript into printed form.

I hope you'll follow along & share in my journey. Perhaps I can help you along your own sojourn!

The submission and signing

In November I subbed my fantasy Pool of Soul series to J. Taylor Publishing, and I just had to share my fragmented thoughts & actions immediately following their 2-book contract offer.

There's nothing quite like getting that email from the publisher, subject line - 'Re: Submission'. Know what I'm talking about? Ever experience it?

Heart leaps. Palms sweat. I don't know about the rest of you, but my armpits tingled.

I stared until I couldn't stand the anxiety any longer. I clicked on the email.

"We enjoyed ... " blah blah blah

 *skimmed to the good part*

"We are happy to extend to you this offer of publication of Pool of Souls (series) ..."

I saw nothing else as a huge

 escaped my lips. 

Of course, my squeeeee was louder - and longer. 

They then went on to know if I'm interested. 

o_O 

Um ... YES! A few days later, a longer email with attachments galore arrived. 

PRINT!   PRINT!

*Scurried to read. Drew breath. Re-read* 

Initialed pages. Signed. Told myself to breathe again. Squeeeeeed again.

Scanned and emailed back.

Official PR document needed put together - photo, bio, and a few questions about the series and its inspiration. The PR was scheduled for Dec. 17th.

During that time, self-doubt swamped my mind like a muddy bog. Could I write the 2nd book before their deadline? What happened if they hated the series ending? I'm JTP's first fantasy debut author - my story will represent what they want, what they look for in an author. They're taking a huge chance with me. ME!

*Wrung hands, squeeed some more, bit nails*

FINALLY PR day arrived. I squeeeeed to the cyber world and into the phone, announcing that I had signed that big 2-book contract.

JTP's projections are for an October 7th release for the first installment, Eye of the Soul, and so far so good! 

While I still have niggling thoughts here & there, I am totally stoked. I want this manuscript to be the best it CAN be. If I touch a single reader's life, change their outlook, or inspire them to strive onward, I will have succeeded.

*Flying high*

Still am.

Next Wednesday I'm going to share about the cover making process, so be sure to stop back!

Gotten any good news lately? How did you react?

BIG NEWS!! My Fantasy Series 'Pool of Souls' is Contracted!

*Insert MAJOR dork dancing galore!*

I can't say it any better than the J. Taylor Publishing offical press release:

Debut Novelist, Terri Rochenski, signs two-book deal with J. Taylor Publishing for Pool of Souls - a fantasy series set in fictional Derlund.

Terri Rochenski signs two-book contract with J. Taylor Publishing for her Pool of Souls series, including Eye of the Soul and Secrets of the Soul.

Apex, NC - December 17, 2012 - Terri started writing stories in the 8th grade, when a little gnome whispered in her brain. Gundi’s Great Adventure never hit the best seller list, but it started a long love affair with the fantasy genre, and from that, came the Pool of Souls series including Eye of the Soul and Secrets of the Souls.

“Pool of Souls started as a necessary way of working through a tough time in my life a few years back,” says Rochenski. “What sprouted as a simple story took life and grew into something I never expected or imagined.”

“The Pool of Souls series is a fantasy adventure, laden with conflict and a pathway to finding one’s true self,” says J. Taylor Publishing. “In a world unlike our own, the characters struggle in a way adults will be able to connect—whether it be hardship of life, relationships, religious or faith issues and even loyalty.”

The Pool of Souls series is set in fictional Derlund, in a fantasy world where humans and ‘Natives‘ rarely intermingle, and tracks the story through the perspectives of Hyla and Miri, both Natives, Jadon, a warrior, Belwig, a high priest and Conlin, a particularly interesting young man. Each character sets about on a pathway toward a single location, and as their stories intertwine, their purposes are revealed.

“Enlightenment is a key element to this story, but in multiple ways and in different manners for each character,” says J. Taylor Publishing, adding, “We fell in love with Ms. Rochenski’s writing and the vivid imagery of a new world, coupled with a new race of creatures. We’re very excited to add these two novels to our catalog and to bring Ms. Rochenski from short-story writer to debut novelist.”

“Twelve years ago, Anne Tyler told me I’d one day be signing a book for her,” says Rochenski, adding, “I strived to fulfill that prophecy, but quit when the tough times began. Here it is—a new life later—that I’m finally going to be able to mail a book to her, signed of course. It was her mentoring all those years ago that instilled the dream I’m now realizing. If not for her belief in me, I would have put the pencil down and given up long ago.

Now, as Terri escapes to Middle Earth during her rare ‘me’ moments when her two young daughters allow, she can call herself a published novelist, and when not playing toys, picking them back up, or kissing boo-boos, she can be found sprawled on the couch with a book or pencil in hand, creating more worlds for all of us to enjoy.

Eye of the Soul is planned for release in October 2013 with Secrets of the Soul to follow one year later.

     How friggin' COOL is that????? I'm still jumping out of my skin.

*One last dork dance as I click 'publish'*