How I Got Published: Carrie Rubin

Carrie Rubin

 

Carrie Rubin writes medical thrillers. Not surprising given that she’s a physician with a master’s degree in public health. Nor is it surprising that she delves into sensitive and controversial issues in her novels. In her latest thriller, Eating Bull, Carrie tackles bullying, fat shaming, food addiction and the food industry’s role in obesity.

How I Got Published

I wrote my first novel, The Seneca Scourge, over a fifteen-month period in 2003-2004. But as so often happens, life got in the way, and it wasn’t until 2011 I decided to get serious and move the process forward. I tightened my manuscript, read books on technique, and restarted the query process. Though I didn’t land an agent, I found a small press publisher, and in 2012 my first novel was published.

Since then, I’ve made writing a priority. I study the craft, attend conferences, and try to learn everything I can about the process.

My second novel, Eating Bull, a thriller that takes on the food industry, was recently published by ScienceThrillers Media, and I’m currently working on the second draft of my third novel.

As writers we often hear, “Don’t give up.” If we want to publish books, that’s good advice. That means overcoming plot-hole disasters, painful critiques, and endless rejections, all of which will hopefully inspire us to work harder and improve our technique.

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How I Got Published: James M. Jackson

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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