Jane Kennedy Sutton on Getting Published
November 6, 2008
For years, I considered myself a 'professional tourist' as my husband's job took us to the Far East, Europe and the Middle East to live. When he retired, I discovered I had run out of excuses for not following my dream of a writing novel.
I began to dabble with bits and pieces of stories I?d started but never finished. One night I awoke with the sudden thought of putting two of the selections together. I couldn?t wait to get started. After almost a year, the manuscript for THE RIDE was completed.
I sent out queries to agents and publishers, receiving plenty of rejections in return. One of these rejections was from a publisher who took the time and effort to tell me what she liked about the manuscript and what she didn?t. This was the best rejection I ever received. Once she pointed out the weaknesses, they seemed so obvious. I revised the manuscript.
At a writer?s conference, about six months later, I met with an agent who seemed excited about the project. A contract followed. I relaxed a bit. Big mistake. After a few months of working well together (I thought), I never heard from her again. She didn?t answer my calls, email or snail mail. It was as if she?d fallen off the planet, except that her web site was still up and running (and still is). This association certainly didn?t help my confidence or my career.
I seriously thought of chucking the whole project, but was encouraged to keep at it by friends, family and members of my writing groups. Through one of these groups, I met Robert Gelinas with ArcheBooks Publishing. Though his company only accepted agented submissions, he heard my tale of woe and kindly agreed to look at my query, synopsis and manuscript.
About a month later, I was floating on air when I received a publishing contract from ArcheBooks in the mail. Sixteen long months later, after edits and more revisions, THE RIDE, was released.
The joy of seeing the final product eased the pain of the bumps and bruises experienced along the path to publication.
About Jane Kennedy Sutton
For years
Jane Kennedy Sutton satisfied her passion for writing through correspondence with friends and family while living in Taiwan, Korea, England, the Netherlands, Italy and Saudi Arabia. Now a full-time resident of Fort Myers, Florida, Jane has switched to writing fiction. She is a member of the Florida Writers Association and the Gulf Coast Writers Association.
Jane Kennedy Sutton Profile at OnceWritten.com
