When I sold my first book, I was ecstatic. Sounds about right, right? It’s a huge deal. A major milestone. Someone thought my work was worth their time and effort. This was an event in the life of a writer that should incite much rejoicing and probably a little ice cream—with hot fudge, of course. Is that what happened?
Nope. (although I admit to having ice cream…)
From the moment I told my peers I’d sold my first book, I was (mostly) greeted with one question. Who bought it? Upon telling people that I’d sold to Entangled Publishing, ninety percect of the time, instead of a congratulations or I’m so happy for you, I got a disapproving glare and a sad shake of their heads. I’m not kidding. It was followed by statements like these:
Your book is good. Why would you sell to a nobody?
You weren’t good enough for a real publisher, huh?
Those small presses will take anyone. Your book is probably crap.
They’re not a real publisher.
You’ll never make it with a publisher like that.
It went on and on from there. More than a dozen naysayers telling me what an idiot I’d been. That I’d sold myself short before even giving myself a chance? My response? You wait. You’ll eat those words. See, I knew from the start Entangled would go places. It was headed by driven, hardworking people with true vision and a whole lot of creativity.
Were there hiccups? Of course. They were a new company when I signed with them. Nothing starts out perfect. Perfection comes with time and hard work, and Entangled showed me that in spades. Entangled Publishing believed in me when others didn’t. They saw potential and helped me grow. They continue to do that. If I didn’t believe in them and the work they do, I wouldn’t have signed a second series. Or, a third.
So my response to those naysayers now?
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