A few years back I was hired to take an archived film script and turn it into a young adult novel for traditional publication. The studio I was working with offered me the job because they were so impressed by my first published novel, GATED. I had a tight deadline for this project and was juggling another book project with an equally tight deadline at the same time. This was at the beginning of my career.

The problem was that I was very new to the writing game and although I had some early success, I was not as adept at the craft of writing as I needed to be to take on these two highly commercial, fast-paced projects simultaneously. One was bound to suffer.

I wrote an awful first draft and literally cringed as I turned it in after pulling more than a few all-nighters to get it done. The plotting was all over the place. The characters were underdeveloped. It was awful and I knew it. Maybe the most disheartening thing is that I knew everything that was wrong with it. But I had no idea how to fix it.

My editor came back suggesting an almost total rewrite. I wrote another draft. It wasn’t much better.
It became clear to my editor and the studio that hired me that I wasn’t producing the book they had hoped for and they dropped my contract. It was an awful setback that shook my confidence as a writer.

I got into writing in my mid-thirties after I left the teaching profession. I was at a crossroads in my life, a time when I was unhappy with my career path. It was time for a change. So I asked myself a question I hadn’t previously thought about: if I could choose any career in the world–no restrictions–what would it be? It was like my heart had been waiting for this moment. The answer was immediate. I would write fiction. The moment I let myself seriously consider it, a fire ignited inside me and I was desperate to make it happen. But I needed time to learn. After all, I had been an avid reader all my life, but I hadn’t written a story since high school. So my husband and I discussed my next steps and he agreed to support our family on his own for two years while I tried my hand at writing a book. If in two years, I hadn’t found a way to make money, I would have to go back to teaching or find some other form of income. I literally started by Googling “how to write a novel”! Over the next two years, I studied the craft of writing and joined a writer’s group. Then I began writing my first novel. It took me the entire first year to complete. I submitted it to several literary agents. It was turned down by all of them. There was one agent I knew personally however who wanted to know what I was working on next. She felt my first novel wasn’t sellable, but that I had potential. I pitched her an idea I was toying with. She loved it and asked me to send it to her once I completed it. This book took me the better part of that second year to complete. The entire time, I was nervous, knowing the story premise was solid, but that if I failed to write it well enough, it would still get turned down. But when I sent this novel to the agent who requested it, she fell in love with it and offered to represent me right away. Fast forward a month and my book had the interest of several publishing houses and so my agent held an auction so they could bid against each other to publish it. This is the dream scenario for an author–to have publishing houses fighting over your book. Random House Children’s made the best offer. Since then, they have published three of my novels and will release my fourth novel, FLIGHT 171, on October 4, 2022. Working as a traditionally published fiction novelist is difficult. There are never any guarantees that readers will like your work. It requires long hours of writing time and extensive editing skills. And marketing your work has become a large part of the job. I am my own brand and my books are my products. If I fail to produce more stories at a steady rate, I lose readership. I need to constantly be updating my skill set in order to compete in my marketplace. With so many forms of storytelling out there–TV, movies, video games–it is increasingly difficult to catch peoples’ attention and hold onto it. My stories have to be fast-paced and tightly plotted and they need to have a high-concept premise that can be pitched to publishing houses, editors, and readers in one or two sentences.

What sets me apart as a writer is my voice. The unique spin I give to a story. How I cobble together stories from a vast array of inspirations into a cohesive whole. Also, my determination keeps me in the game. I will not quit. I’m too passionate about what I do. And I’m open to adapting my skills to suit the market.

Early in my career, my book sales weren’t good. I was dropped by both of my publishers as a result. Then two of my three books went out of print and were only available as e-books. I tried to sell a new project. It was rejected by every editor my agent sent it to. I was dejected and depressed. I lost my confidence in my work as well as my love for the writing profession. I was tired and burnt out. I knew that in order to survive, I needed to do something drastic. I needed to stop submitting new projects to editors and figure out what I was doing wrong. I needed to become so good at writing fiction that I could not be ignored–something Steve Martin talked about in his memoir. So I developed an educational program for myself that encompassed self-improvement in the following areas: professional, wellness, relationships, finances, self-education. I made goals and then spread those goals out over the year, into quarterly increments. I created an educational program on writing and started focussing on my mental and physical health. I made the relationships in my life–both professional and personal–a priority and set goals to maintain those relationships. I read books that taught me how to improve in my focus areas. I set an annual goal to read more than sixty books, a mix of great fiction and nonfiction. I committed to meeting monthly with a writing peer cohort to discuss the writing profession and share our knowledge while also breaking apart each other’s stories and making suggestions for improvement. Over the course of the next six years, I committed to this program. Gradually, I got better. I submitted two more books in that time period–both were turned down. But I refused to give up. Then last year I pitched a new story to an editor at my former publisher during an open call for new story pitches she gave on Twitter. I developed my pitch strategically, studying what the publishing house had already published in horror/thriller the past few years. Then I created an idea that I knew fit with their line of books while still being fresh and different. My pitch was accepted–despite the fact that I had a less than stellar sales history with them in the past. My idea was too good to ignore. All that preparation paid off.

Two things helped me successfully build my reputation in the writing industry. The first is my dedication to constantly improving the quality of my work through daily practice and investment in my education. The second, and most important thing is that I made it a priority to interact with my community as respectfully and positively as I could. I treated every introduction to every person I came across as important. So often when we’re starting out and looking to succeed as fast as we can, we put a premium on forming relationships with the most successful people in our field. I find that the people who have helped me most have been my peers. People with the same success mindset as me who are willing to challenge me and have me challenge them. Also, so many times I have come across quite a few authors who people discounted and were snubbed by other authors who went on to become bestsellers. Everyone wants an impressive mentor to help them succeed. In my mind, the most important influencers to success can be the people beside us, not ahead of us.