Introducing Myself

And how it all started (with an auction)

For my first post on Substack, I figured it made sense to do a little introduction and talk about what started me down this writing path. I won’t repeat all the (somewhat silly) details I’ve already included in the author bio on my About page.

(Silly? Who, me? No way!)

Instead I’ll start at the point where I feel like my writing really began to feel real to me: When I won a critique from an editor.

The Background

I’d been a book blogger at Feed Your Fiction Addiction for about four years, and had been working as a freelance editor for most of that time as well, doing both line editing and developmental editing. One of my clients (who I’d done a substantial developmental edit with) had even hit the USA Today Bestsellers List!

I’d gone to big book events like BEA and ALA. I felt like I knew a little bit about how publishing worked, but not a lot. (Spoiler alert: I knew even less than I thought!)

And (after a few unsuccessful attempts) I’d written a book. A real, actual, complete-from-beginning-to-end middle grade novel.

Except, the problem was, I still didn’t feel like a writer. I felt like a mom who happened to write a book during NaNoWriMo that probably wasn’t any good at all. So I set it aside and mostly forgot about it.

The Auction

Then about seven months later, I ran across the Authors for Grenfell auction in response to the Grenfell Tower fire in London.

One of the auction items was a FULL manuscript critique from Penguin UK editor Naomi Colthurst. I was shocked that she had offered such an amazing opportunity. And, honestly, I was a little terrified at the idea of entering. But I couldn’t get the thought out of my head, so I did some more editing. And then I entered, and I won!

Then came the even more terrifying task of sending my manuscript to an actual editor. I held my breath, closed my eyes, and crossed my fingers… and then I hit send.

The Feedback

The auction included a 30-minute call with Naomi, along with her written critique. We did the call first, which was (again) both exciting and terrifying. But, her feedback was honestly shocking to me. Of course, I knew she was going to be nice (nobody agrees to give feedback for an auction and then trashes the manuscript), but her critique was overwhelmingly positive and incredibly encouraging.

Naomi told me that she couldn’t believe this was my first completed manuscript. She gave me some fantastic editing advice and ways to make the story stronger, but then she told me she thought I could land an agent with the manuscript the way it was!!!

This call flipped a switch in my head. This was an actual editor who thought my writing was good. Suddenly my “little book” felt like an actual manuscript, and my pipe dream of becoming an author felt like it could actually… happen.

The End?

Well, I’d love to say that I got an agent immediately after that call, and my manuscript sold (at auction, for six figures - I mean, if we’re gonna dream, why not?). But, that’s not quite how it happened. There’s lots more to the journey, which I’ll leave for future posts.

The moral of this story: Don’t let self-doubt paralyze you. I spent years dreaming of writing before I did it and then months assuming what I’d written wasn’t worth showing to anyone.

Honestly, I have no idea how I randomly worked up the courage to send my book to an editor (I hadn’t shown it to anyone else - I do not recommend this approach). But, whatever possessed me that day, I’m very glad it did!

This Journey Is To Be Continued…