I have been discouraged by the endless refusal emails from agents and the rock bottom sales of my first book, Taken. The only people reading my story are those I either give a free copy to or those who have been with me since the beginning. I even donated two copies to the library and they haven't left the shelf!
That being said, my very wonderful sister in law sent me this inspirational video this morning as a much needed pick me up. The truth is, everyone must fail! If you haven't failed, you will not appreciate the success, at least that's what I tell myself so I can sleep at night. Even JK Rowling was refused 12 times before a publisher picked up Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and now it is the number one most translated book in the world. Every child in the world truly does know the name Harry Potter!
A paranormal story where teenagers don't fall in love with vampires! Those don't exist, do they?
Katrina is to be an immortal vampire hunter, backed by a family of
2000 year old hunters of the Cole Legacy. Once they pair with the leading Confederation of Vampires, will they succeed in ridding the world of the
biggest threat to every living (an undead) being?
Riddled with Norse mythology, the story that unfolds is one of love
and support, but don't let that fool you. This is not your daughter's
vampire story! Vampires kill humans. Humans banish vampires. And above
all, human instincts are still very much in tact!
The publishing world is a hard universe to hack into. When I first set out, my plan was to self-publish, sell millions of copies and then a publisher would have to pick me up. Theoretically, that was a great plan. Realistically, not so much. More than one agent has informed me publishers don't want a previously self-published work. One even stated that the story sounded wonderful but come back to us before you publish your next work. To quote Shark Tale, "It's a fish eat fish world."
Others have stated that in a market flooded with vampires, a new story must have an immense twist of some kind. I truly believe my twist will blow readers away. Vampire hunters endorsed by none other than Odin himself and vampires working for... Ha, you thought I'd tell you!
I know you are asking yourself what the point of this post was. Why would you write a pity party article and actually post it online? Do you have no self respect?
My point is that everything in life worth having is a struggle. It took me four years to write Taken. Sales are nonexistent, but that hasn't stopped me from pushing along with the sequel. If you live by a half glass full attitude, there really is nowhere to go but up!
