It's been a long time coming, but I'm thrilled, excited, ecstatic, and Happy Dancing to annouce I've finally sold This Feels Like Home to The Wild Rose Press! Home is the third installment in a 'series' that began with This Time for Always and This Can't Be Love. When I first conceived the idea for Always, it was with the intention of using the secondary characters in it for additional stories. With the publication of Home, another of my writing dreams will come true.
The road to publication has been a long one in this case. I first submitted Home to my editor at TWRP back in August of 2011. The timeline goes something like this:
August 2011 - I submitted to my editor.
September 2011 - The story was transfered over to another editor at TWRP because my hero is a bull rider. It was now being considered under the Yellow Rose line, which is for contemporary cowboy stories.
November 2011 - The new editor took a pass on the story, but mentioned some areas for change if I wanted to resubmit. The changes were some fairly major ones, and it took me a long time to decide if I wanted to go in this new direction for my story. And then it took me even longer to implement the changes.
June 2012 - I resubmitted the story.
September 2012 - I received another e-mail saying the editor liked the changes, but felt it still needed something more. She was kind enough to offer specific suggestions on areas that still needed improvement and to even do a partical unofficial edit. Even so, I was devastated. It seemed this book just wasn't meant to be. After I got over my sadness, I got to work on another round of revisions.
January 2013 - I submitted for the third time, hoping this was the 'charm'.
March 2013 - The e-mail I'd been waiting more than a year and a half for finally arrived: the offer of a contract!
Getting all of the revision requests wasn't easy. Each one, although not an outright rejection, was like a little stab in my heart. In the end, though, I know the story is a stronger one, and I really love the changes I've made to it.
Right now I'm in the process of filling out my Manuscript Information Sheet and Cover Information Sheet. Once those are submitted - hopefully later today - we can proceed with the first round of edits. Depending on how many rounds we go with that, my release date should be toward the end of this year or the beginning of next! I haven't had a paperback release in a few years, so this is all the more exciting. Soon, I'll have that trilogy sitting on my bookshelf.
See? Dreams really can come true!
Until next time,
Happy Reading!
Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com
Showing posts with label This Can't Be Love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label This Can't Be Love. Show all posts
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Sunday, November 18, 2012
You've Got the LOOK!
Thanks to fellow author, Jennifer Wilck, for tagging me with the ziggy zig zag tag—“You’ve got the LOOK!”
As part of this tag, I have to take my most recent work in progress or my current manuscript and search for the word “look,” then post the surrounding paragraphs/text.
Since I've been blogging a lot lately about my new release An Unexpected Blessing, I decided to do the search on my WIP, "The Feels Like Home". This mss is in a second round of edits for an editor at Wild Rose. It would be the completion of the series begun with This Time for Always. This Can't Be Love was the second installment.
I found the word look in the second sentence! So here are the first two paragraphs:
Jake Hawkins spotted the newcomer right away. Her fancy clothes made her look as out of place as boots on a chicken. No one from town would wear a fancy sweater and dress slacks to The Corral. Not to mention heels so thin they looked like they’d snap if she tried to walk on them.
But his gaze didn’t linger too long on her attire. Instead, he studied her as best he could from across the bar. She leaned toward her friend, elbow on the table, chin resting in her hand. Her legs were crossed. One foot waved in the air. She wore her dark hair up in some kind of twist. As she gestured, her features settled into a frown. He wished he could tell what color her eyes were.
And now, the fun part–why should I be embarrassed on my own–I get to tag five more authors. So, Morgan Mandel, Calisa Rhose, Isabella Macotte, Margot Justes, and Sherry James, tag, you’re it! You can post in your blogs, website or on your Facebook pages. And the rest of you, these ladies are great writers, so check them out!
Until next time,
Happy Reading!
Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com
As part of this tag, I have to take my most recent work in progress or my current manuscript and search for the word “look,” then post the surrounding paragraphs/text.
Since I've been blogging a lot lately about my new release An Unexpected Blessing, I decided to do the search on my WIP, "The Feels Like Home". This mss is in a second round of edits for an editor at Wild Rose. It would be the completion of the series begun with This Time for Always. This Can't Be Love was the second installment.
I found the word look in the second sentence! So here are the first two paragraphs:
Jake Hawkins spotted the newcomer right away. Her fancy clothes made her look as out of place as boots on a chicken. No one from town would wear a fancy sweater and dress slacks to The Corral. Not to mention heels so thin they looked like they’d snap if she tried to walk on them.
But his gaze didn’t linger too long on her attire. Instead, he studied her as best he could from across the bar. She leaned toward her friend, elbow on the table, chin resting in her hand. Her legs were crossed. One foot waved in the air. She wore her dark hair up in some kind of twist. As she gestured, her features settled into a frown. He wished he could tell what color her eyes were.
And now, the fun part–why should I be embarrassed on my own–I get to tag five more authors. So, Morgan Mandel, Calisa Rhose, Isabella Macotte, Margot Justes, and Sherry James, tag, you’re it! You can post in your blogs, website or on your Facebook pages. And the rest of you, these ladies are great writers, so check them out!
Until next time,
Happy Reading!
Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Real Life Settings
Howdy Y'all,
Today I'm over at Cathie Dunn's talking about the real life setting for This Can't Be Love! Feel free to hop on over and check out some pictures and say hello!
Here's the link: http://cathiedunn.blogspot.com/2012/02/at-my-place-debra-st-john.html
Happy Reading!
Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com
Today I'm over at Cathie Dunn's talking about the real life setting for This Can't Be Love! Feel free to hop on over and check out some pictures and say hello!
Here's the link: http://cathiedunn.blogspot.com/2012/02/at-my-place-debra-st-john.html
Happy Reading!
Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Just That Billy Bob
So, this week's main task was editing.
Monday I finally reached my 65,000 word goal and could consider my current WIP 'finished' and move on to edits. Now, when I say I met my word count goal, I mean I managed by the skin of my teeth. I think the official word count at the time was 65,021. Which means there wasn't going to be a lot of wiggle room when it came to editing.
Like I predicted, once I got through eliminating the majority of the that's and just's I lost like 40 to 50 words, dropping me below the required count for a print book at my publishing house. However, once I finished the 'spot' edits, searching for specific words to either eliminate or rewrite, I was able to dig in and do a read-through edit/revision, which upped the word count to a more comfortable, room to wiggle, level. I think I ended up right around 65,500 or so.
Editing and revising is always an interesting process. With this book, I hadn't read through the entire thing along the way. I'd reread certain sections, but hadn't ever started at the beginning and read on to see how everything flowed and to make sure everything was consistent.
The funniest inconsistency became apparent right in chapter one. I hadn't read, or even skimmed, chapter one in a very long time. About a year ago I brought it into my RWA group for a critique. I read, they commented, I fixed and revised and tweaked, and that was that. In chapter one, I named the heroine's brother Billy. In subsequent chapters I've been calling him Bobby. Thus, I had to make a decision: Billy or Bobby. (I ultimately went with Bobby because it was the name I'd spent the most time with.)
After a few more tweaks, edits, revisions, additions, and polishing, I deemed the mss worthy of a query letter. Thursday morning I sent a query and synopsis to my editor at The Wild Rose Press. Now, here's what I love about my publisher. Within ten minutes she had e-mailed me back with a question. I e-mailed her back, and in less than another ten minutes, she had requested the full. (Which I attached immediately.) Later in the day she checked in to let me know she'd received my submission. In a publishing world where a wait time of months is not only common, but expected, this is one of the things I love so much about TWRP.
Of course now the waiting will start as my mss goes through the process of being considered for a contract. But I have no doubt I'll hear from my editor soon to let me know how things are going and what stage of the game we're at. So, keep your fingers crossed and wish me luck!. "This Feels Like Home" would be the third book in my trilogy, following This Time for Always and This Can't Be Love.
Until next time,
Happy Reading!
Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com
Monday I finally reached my 65,000 word goal and could consider my current WIP 'finished' and move on to edits. Now, when I say I met my word count goal, I mean I managed by the skin of my teeth. I think the official word count at the time was 65,021. Which means there wasn't going to be a lot of wiggle room when it came to editing.
Like I predicted, once I got through eliminating the majority of the that's and just's I lost like 40 to 50 words, dropping me below the required count for a print book at my publishing house. However, once I finished the 'spot' edits, searching for specific words to either eliminate or rewrite, I was able to dig in and do a read-through edit/revision, which upped the word count to a more comfortable, room to wiggle, level. I think I ended up right around 65,500 or so.
Editing and revising is always an interesting process. With this book, I hadn't read through the entire thing along the way. I'd reread certain sections, but hadn't ever started at the beginning and read on to see how everything flowed and to make sure everything was consistent.
The funniest inconsistency became apparent right in chapter one. I hadn't read, or even skimmed, chapter one in a very long time. About a year ago I brought it into my RWA group for a critique. I read, they commented, I fixed and revised and tweaked, and that was that. In chapter one, I named the heroine's brother Billy. In subsequent chapters I've been calling him Bobby. Thus, I had to make a decision: Billy or Bobby. (I ultimately went with Bobby because it was the name I'd spent the most time with.)
After a few more tweaks, edits, revisions, additions, and polishing, I deemed the mss worthy of a query letter. Thursday morning I sent a query and synopsis to my editor at The Wild Rose Press. Now, here's what I love about my publisher. Within ten minutes she had e-mailed me back with a question. I e-mailed her back, and in less than another ten minutes, she had requested the full. (Which I attached immediately.) Later in the day she checked in to let me know she'd received my submission. In a publishing world where a wait time of months is not only common, but expected, this is one of the things I love so much about TWRP.
Of course now the waiting will start as my mss goes through the process of being considered for a contract. But I have no doubt I'll hear from my editor soon to let me know how things are going and what stage of the game we're at. So, keep your fingers crossed and wish me luck!. "This Feels Like Home" would be the third book in my trilogy, following This Time for Always and This Can't Be Love.
Until next time,
Happy Reading!
Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com
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