Marta Acosta on Getting Published
May 7, 2007
I researched agents who were members of Association of Authors Representatives
and might be interested in Happy Hour at Casa Dracula. I contacted several and about five asked for sample
chapters. One agent, Julie Castiglia, saw the possibilities of my wacky novel and agreed to represent me. I
had to rewrite and tighten up the novel before she sent it out to publishers. There was an agonizing wait, and
then three publishers responded with a minor bidding war.
Julie negotiated a two-book deal with Simon & Schuster, and my editor there recently asked for a third novel
in the Casa Dracula series. Happy Hour at Casa Dracula was published last July and was named a Book Sense Pick
and Catalina Magazine’s Humor Book of 2006. Midnight Brunch will be released in April 2007, and the third book
will be published in September 2008.
Many months after I had the book deal, I received a letter in response to one of my agent queries. The agent
declined representing me and told me that it was virtually impossible to sell a book by a first-time novelist.
I sent him an email, thanking him for getting back to me, and telling him that I had sold two novels. However,
he was right in one way: most of us who succeed are not technically “first-time novelists.” We’ve filled notebooks,
written essays, blogged endlessly, crafted stories, churned out legal briefs, marketing brochures, and corporate
reports.
About Marta Acosta
Marta Acosta was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. She received a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing from Stanford University and is a frequent contributor of humor, gardening, and design columns to
The San Francisco Chronicle and
The Contra Costa Newspapers. Her first novel,
Happy Hour at Casa Dracula, was named a Book Sense Pick and
Catalina Magazine's Humor Book of 2006. Her second novel,
Midnight Brunch, will be available in April 2007, and the third novel in the Casa Dracula series will be released in 2008. Marta's website is:
www.martaacosta.com.
Marta Acosta Profile at OnceWritten.com
Help Spread the Word
Want to foward the information on this page to a friend? Click the
Marta Acosta on Getting Published page link now for an easy way to e-mail
your friends a link back to this page.
(Please note this link opens in a new window, so please make sure your pop-up blocker is deactivated.)
