Category Archives: How I Got Published

Twenty-five authors write about their publishing process. In this series you will meet writers of different genres: romance, mystery and crime, scifi and women’s fiction. Some traditionally published, some self-published. Some winners of high-end writing awards and on best seller lists. All taking their writing to the top.

How I Got Published: Charmaine Gordon

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Charmaine Gordon is an eclectic writer. The scope of her novels ranges from contemporary women’s  fiction, sexy seniors, romantic suspense, mystery and thrillers and  she’s written several stories about dogs and their capability as therapy dogs to heal.

Charmaine started her career as a singer.

My first big movie I sang Happy Birthday to Melanie Griffith in Working Girl and during a break, I danced with Harrison Ford. Other movies brought me close to Anthony Hopkins and Billy Crystal. I was in a short scene in Fatal Attraction, last day of shooting and had a great chat with Michael Douglas. It was definitely a sweet time. What a time! And then toward the end of a wonderful play off Broadway, I noticed my fine voice sounded strange. The next day I went to a doctor. The diagnosis was spasmodic dysphonia and that ended my acting career and broke my heart.

A friend suggested I write a book. I thought, terrific but I don’t know how. But after all the scripts I’d learned over the years, why not try. A story came to me and never let go. 

HOW I GOT PUBLISHED 

The first book Charmaine got published was To Be Continued. 

To Be Continued was finished, query letters went out with a few rejections. Call me lucky. It didn’t take too long before Vanilla Heart Publishing, a small company on the West coast, requested a few chapters and soon she wanted the whole manuscript. Good with dialogue after all the scripts I’d read and stage directions and so much more helped in my first story. Good fortune struck when Vanilla Heart Publishing offered a contract for “To Be Continued” and I’ve been with them for almost three years.

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How I Got Published: Kristina Stanley

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Kristina Stanley

Kristina Stanley was head of security at an isolated resort in the debts of the Purcell Mountains, British Columbia. Her time in that job and her love of skiing led her to write the Stone Mountain series.

Her books have garnered the attention of prestigious crime writing organizations in Canada and England. Crime Writers of Canada nominated DESCENT (July 2015, Imajin Books) for the Unhanged Arthur award for the best unpublished crime novel. The Crime Writers’ Association nominated BLAZE for the Debut Dagger (to be published fall 2015, Imajin Books).

How I Got Published

For me the journey to publication was a long one. I wrote four novels. I believe I needed to do this in order to improve my writing and bring it to the level where it deserved to be published.

While I was writing, I spent four years creating an online platform. Most publishers today want an author to have a platform before they will consider taking on a new author. The unexpected benefit for me was that I love connecting with people on the Internet. I have a wide range of contacts, all of who are interesting to interact with and learn from. Four years may seem like a long time, but to connect personally and develop relationships does take time.

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How I Got Published: Eileen Schuh

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Eileen Schuh

Eileen Schuh has published two adult Science Fiction novellas: SCHRÖDINGER’S CAT and her new near-future release, DISPASSIONATE LIES. She also has authored three novels in her gritty and contemporary young adult BackTracker series: THE TRAZ, FATAL ERROR and FIREWALLS. THE TRAZ is also available in a School Edition.

 She is both a traditionally published author (with WolfSinger Publications and Imajin Books) and self-published.

 Schuh, born Eileen Fairbrother in Tofield, Alberta lives in Canada’s northern boreal forests and draws her inspiration from the wilderness, her grandchildren, family, and friends, and her adopted community of St. Paul, Alberta.

How I Got Published

I wanted to be a published novelist since I learned to read at age three. Half a century of living intervened before I would make good on that dream. It all started when I quit smoking.

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How I Got Published: James M. Jackson

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James M. Jackson

James M. Jackson authors the Seamus McCree novels. ANT FARM (Spring 2015), a prequel to BAD POLICY (2013) and CABIN FEVER (2014), recently won a Kindle Scout nomination. Ebook published by Kindle Press; print from Wolf’s Echo Press.

How I Got Published

Every one of my books has had its own road to publication. My most recent novel, Ant Farm, started life over a decade ago with interest from an agent, but garnered no publishing contract. It was my first novel in what I planned as a series. The second in the Seamus McCree series found a home with small publisher Barking Rain Press, which also took the third. Those books were well-received, but the audience too small.

I dusted off Ant Farm, gave it a thorough rewrite, and decided to become a hybrid author by independently publishing what would now be a prequel to the series. However, as I was finishing the final round of edits, Amazon introduced the Kindle Scout program. I considered the possibility of having marketing behemoth Amazon promote my book to be more than fair compensation for giving up total publishing control. I entered the program, was “Hot and Trending” for 78% of hours in the 30-day nomination period, and at the end of the nomination process, Kindle Press offered me a contract for the ebook, which went on pre-order earlier this week. I have published the trade paperback version through Wolf’s Echo Press.

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How I Got Published: Caroline Fardig

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Caroline Fardiq

Today is Caroline Fardig’s birthday so let’s all wish her a very  HAPPY BIRTHDAY and all the best in her writing career.  Caroline is the author of the Java Jive mystery series and the Lizzie Hart mystery series. Fardig’s Bad Medicine was named one of the best books of 2015 by Suspense Magazine. She worked as a schoolteacher, church organist, insurance agent, funeral parlor associate, and stay-at-home mom before she realized that she wanted to be a writer when she grew up. Born and raised in a small town in Indiana, Fardig still lives in that same town with an understanding husband, two sweet kids, two energetic dogs, and one malevolent cat.

 

HOW I GOT PUBLISHED

I wrote my first book about five years ago and didn’t really know what to do with it.  I assumed the next step was to try to get an agent, so I spent about six months trying to do that.  As a first-time author with only one unpublished book under my belt, I didn’t get a lot of attention.  I put the book on the back-burner and tinkered with a sequel to it.  Finally, my husband had had enough of my sitting on the sidelines.  He’d heard about authors having success in going it alone, and he urged me to self-publish.  On January 30, 2013, I released my first book, It’s Just a Little Crush, and sat back and waited.

After sitting back and waiting didn’t move very many books, I got myself a publicist.  She worked to get exposure for my book, and by August, I had a #1 Barnes and Noble bestseller in both the Humor and Women’s Sleuths categories on my hands.  Then, armed with my publicist’s guidance and some decent sales figures, I searched for an agent again.  All of a sudden, people wanted to talk to me about my book.  I landed a contract with Ethan Ellenberg, and he went to work to sell my Lizzie Hart series.

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How I Got Published: Judy Penz Sheluk

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Judy Penz Sheluk

A few months ago I posted in this series an article on Judy Penz Sheluk in which she’d published her short mystery stories.  You can read more here. 

At the time she’d finished her debut mystery novel, The Hanged Man’s Noose, and was in the midst of trying to find a publisher for it.

She finally did find a publisher but not without a LOT of patience and persistence and in July 2015 her book was published.

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How I Got Published: J.K. Messum

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J.K. Messum

J. Kent Messum is an author & musician who always bets on the underdog. His debut novel ‘Bait’ was published in Autumn 2013 by Penguin Books and won the Arthur Ellis Award for ‘Best First Novel’ in 2014. His second novel ‘Husk’ was published in 2015.

HOW I GOT PUBLISHED 

             “Never tell me the odds.” – Han Solo

            By the time I’d finished my novel Bait in the summer of 2012, failure was no longer an option. I didn’t know what my chances were in the publishing world, and truthfully, I didn’t want to know. Bait was my third attempt at writing a book, and I felt I really had something. It also felt like time was running out. For years I’d ignored all the advice to “pick a real career” or “get job security”. Instead, I went all in on my dreams, never formulating a fallback plan, making sure there was no safety net beneath me to raise the stakes. Now, eight years into a ‘ten-year’ success plan, I found myself nearing the end of my tether. My writing career had gotten little traction. No real publishing credits or measurable success could be identified. My other career in music had withered and died. That, combined with the recession, landed me in a bad spot financially.

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How I Got Published: Judy Penz Sheluk

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Judy Penz Sheluk

Judy Penz Sheluk works as a freelance writer, specializing in art, antiques and the residential housing industry; her articles have appeared regularly in dozens of U.S. and Canadian consumer and trade publications.

Past editorial responsibilities have included the roles of Senior Editor, Northeast Art & Antiques, and Editor,Antiques and Collectibles Showcase. She is currently the Editor of Home BUILDER Magazine, and the Senior Editor for New England Antiques Journal.

Judy is also a member of Sisters in Crime International, Sisters in Crime – Guppies, Sisters in Crime – Toronto,Crime Writers of Canada, and the Short Fiction Mystery Society.

How I Got Published

I’ve been a fulltime freelance writer for the past ten years, but the tools of that trade—writing on deadline with a specific word count on a particular topic—are equally important when it comes to writing fiction. Especially short fiction, where you have to be on point—and get to the point—without a lot of preamble.

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How I Got Published: Gina Buonaguro and Janice Kirk

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GINA BUONAGURO and JANICE KIRK live in Toronto and Kingston, respectively. After meeting in a French class in Kingston, they became writing partners and co-authors. They are the authors of three novels, The Sidewalk Artist, Ciao Bella, and The Wolves of St. Peter’s, which was longlisted for the 2014 Arthur Ellis Best Novel Award. Together they also write romances under the pen name Meadow Taylor, their most recent being the romantic suspense, Midnight in Venice.

 How We Got Published

We met in 2001 in a French class in Kingston, Ontario soon after Gina moved there. We had to introduce each other and discovered we were both interested in writing. After meeting regularly for a year to exchange and discuss our individual projects, we decided to write a novel together, which ultimately became The Sidewalk Artist.

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How I Got Published: Rob Brunet

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Rob Brunet

Rob Brunet’s 2014 debut, STINKING RICH, asks What could possibly go wrong when bikers hire a high school dropout to tend a barn full of high-grade marijuana? His short crime fiction appears and is forthcoming in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Thuglit, Shotgun Honey, Out of the Gutter, Noir Nation, and numerous anthologies. Before writing noir, Brunet produced award-winning Web presence for film and TV, including LOST, Frank Miller’s Sin City, and the cult series Alias. He loves the bush, beaches, and bonfires and lives in Toronto with his wife, daughter, and son.

How I Got Published

What’s that old saw about luck, opportunity, and preparedness? I followed the traditional path, querying agents in batches, suffering rejection, until one day, Les Edgerton asked where I was at. “In query hell,” I told him.

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