July 29, 2014

Wordless Wednesday: Dream!

Rita dreams of jerky treats. Plentiful. Chewy. And handed out with great regularity!


In Other Dreams...
I finished my manuscript for my third novel. (It's about a dog-mom, but that's all I'm sayin' about that for now.) I sent it off to my agent on Friday.

I haven't told all that many folks (since it didn't happen in the usual way), but I signed with a new agent a few months ago. (I still work with my previous agent as well, Taryn Fagerness, but she focuses solely on foreign rights now.) Anyway, I hadn't been querying agents, but things kind of came together all of a sudden a couple of months ago, and I got the opportunity to talk to Kevan Lyon on the phone, and she ended up offering me a contract. (SQUEEEE) So, I'm now rep'd by the Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

My publishing story is a bit of a long one, but I'll try to be brief since it's supposed to be Wordless Wednesday.

I finished my first novel, What the Dog Ate, in 2008 and signed with Taryn, my now-foreign-rights agent. She helped me get the book ready to send out, and by the time we were pitching publishers it was early 2009 and the market had tanked. No one wanted to take a chance on little ol' me. I got a lot of lovely rejection letters. (Le sigh.)

I gave up writing for a while after that, but slowly got back into it. In early 2012, I had dinner with Taryn, and she encouraged me to self-pub What the Dog Ate, so I did. Once I finished Rescue Me, Maybe, I was so anxious to have it out in the world (I'd been working on it since 2009), I decided to self-pub it and didn't even try to sell it to a publisher. I published it in Sept. 2013.

In early 2014, Rescue Me, Maybe was selling decently, and I was approached by a big NY agency (which was a total shock!) about representation for my upcoming manuscript(s). But ... I just didn't feel like it was the right fit. I pursued working with Kevan instead - she's a big time dog lover so I think we're a perfect fit! - and things fell into place. 

So... with book number 3, I'm giving the traditional publishing route another try. I don't know if it's the "right" thing to do, but I'd love to have better distribution for my books, and that's a lot easier with a publisher behind you. Besides... I still have the dream of being traditionally published (even if the publishing world is going through some major changes) so I had to go for it.

I wasn't sure about sharing all this, but figured why not. Some might be interested in the journey.

Of course, now I'll also have to share rejection news if this route doesn't pan out - but I'm okay with self publishing the book if none of the few remaining big publishers out there want to buy it.

Anyway, I needed to tell y'all this anyway, in case you are waiting for book number 3. If I was self-pubbing it, I could probably have it out in a few months. But, now there will be months of waiting to see what happens. (Or not - maybe my agent will hate it and I'll be able to self-pub it right away.) :)

I'll keep you posted. 

So, do you have a dream you are pursuing? Are you already livin' the dream? Spill!

I'm joining Julie Valerie's #HumpDayBooks hop. Like to party? Hop along the Hump Day Blog Hop on Julie Valerie’s Book Blog. Click here to visit the Hump Day Blog Hop.

Also, thanks to BlogPaws for hosting Wordless Wednesday! And thanks to y'all for letting me be wordy.

72 comments:

  1. Wow congrats Jackie. It is so hard to write one book (I know as I have a manuscript sitting unedited), then self publish, then get more than one offer to publish your third. Woohoo!!!That's a fantastic series of achievements and really inspiring. I can't wait to read your books. best Sussie

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    1. Thanks, Sussie! If you ever want to talk publishing, let me know. I'm happy to share stuff I've learned along the way if you want to finish up that manuscript and have any questions about self-pubbing it or going the traditional route.

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  2. Can we at least get a title? We're dying here . . .

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    1. Nope! It's a good title too.... But I'm saving it to reveal one of these days... :) This book was very different from the other 2 - I thought of the title first, then thought of the story to go with it.

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  3. I do well to keep up with my blog. Congratulations on the books

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    1. I hear you. It's the work on the books that keeps me from keeping up with my blog as much as I'd like to!

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  4. We dream of getting more of the world to know about New Zealand, we are working on it, but, as you say these things grow and take time. I am glad your publishing is going OK - Wow we know a published author with an agent Woohoooo!!

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  5. Congratulations! I'd love to have my books picked up by a publisher, but the ones that I've been approached by want a huge % of the sales. I'll keep working and maybe something great will happen to me too! I'm sure you'll be awesome!

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    1. Yes, they do want a huge %... But who knows. Maybe it's possible to make more w/ a small % of a bigger number??? I'm certainly not making boatloads of money on my own, so it's worth a shot.

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  6. A Big Congratulation! For sure he will like it. Love to have a publisher too ... they just ask so much % and sometimes self publishing is a better deal. Golden Woofs

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    1. Yeah, sometimes it is. But who knows. I'd like to try both ways and compare to really know.

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  7. That is great! Writing is the easy part in our opinion the publishing and marketing is the tough side of the road. Hope it goes really well with your new agent.

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    1. So true! Writing seems so hard... and then you get to the marketing part and realize the work is really just starting! But that work's the same either way.

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  8. beautiful picture and congrats on your writing going well! I imagine you have to have a very thick skin, you are a tough and brave lady

    retro rover

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    1. I don't have thick skin! I'm not brave or tough! I'm a cream puff. So... we'll see how this goes. But I've been down that Rejection Road before and lived to tell the tail, so maybe it will be old hat this time.

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  9. I have dreams of traveling and will be working to do more of that in the next year or so.

    Congrats on completing a 3rd book. Wishing you all the best with the agents.

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    1. That's a great dream! We hope to do more traveling around once the hubs is retired!

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  10. Love that photo of Rita :-) Congratulations on finishing your book (I'm eager to read it!)

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  11. Glad it is going well and look forward to number 3. Have a wonderful Wednesday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  12. Congrats and best wishes that it is a success.

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    1. Thank you - hopefully whatever way it works out, folks will like the book. That's my main hope!

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  13. Yes, you are living mom's dream, check out her post today. She always thought the dream of being pubilshed the old fashioned way was gone but maybe not. Congratulations! Love Dolly

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    1. Oh, I'll stop by! Didn't know that about your mom!

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  14. Congrats! Keep on reaching!!!

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  15. Wow, congrats! I hope to feel as accomplished as that one day.

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  16. Well, I hope I have to wait a long time to read you book....(not really, I want to read it now! Right now!) ...if it means you get to make it to the big time ;-) Good Luck!

    Is that picture of Rita from your deck?

    PS It was funny seeing my first name peppered through your post. It is so rare anybody else has it :-)

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    1. I know - I've never known any other Taryn's than the 2 of you! (Yes, that's from our deck.)

      I hope you have to wait a long time too! :) We'll see.....

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  17. That's awesome! You can do it-keep up the great work and keep at it =)

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  18. So happy you are pursuing a long-held dream. If the dream needs to change in the future, so be it, but you'll always know you took your best shot at it!

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    1. Yeah... the dream might change, but for now, I figure why not go for it. Thanks for stopping by!

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  19. Here's how I look at it: However the words get into the world and into the hands of the reader is fine by me. You publish that book however you want. If the traditional route works out, awesome. If the indie route works out, awesome. Just get your wonderful words into the hands of the readers because we all love you and we love your books!

    Keep us posted on the progress. This must be an exciting time for you. While you wait - click away at book #4. That way, while book #3 is being shopped, you can keep moving forward with another book in the pipeline.

    So thrilled for you, Jackie. So thrilled!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by and for the nice words! You're so right - I do need to get going on #4! I've got a lot of ideas - need to hurry up and get going! Taking the week off to catch up on marketing and other stuff, and then planning to start at it next week!

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  20. Congratulations, Jackie. Good luck with book #3, I hope your agent loves it and it's published very soon.

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  21. Beautiful sky, we understand that Rita is dreaming in front of it ! Purrs

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    1. It's a good spot for dreaming! Maybe Rita will achieve her dreams of an endless supply of jerky! :)

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  22. Jackie I am so proud of you. Congrat's for following your dreams. Much success to you on Book #3. I would love to chat about publishing once I'm finished writing -

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  23. Congratulations, Jackie and thanks for sharing your experience. I love hearing the unique stories of all the writers I know. We all learn from each other. I wish you all the best with the success of your third book and all your books! :-)

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    1. Thanks! At this point, I'm just anxious to get the book out there - one way or another!

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  24. Thanks so much for sharing this story! I just released my first book yesterday, so I've been through the same process. I look forward to following you on this journey!

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  25. Congratulations - so excited for you! A few years ago, I tried to get my Tail of Tino published. I didn't get far - life got in the way and it's a lot of work to get the publisher, etc. Someday I may pick your brain about it.

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    1. You could always publish it yourself - much easier to do these days. Definitely, if you have questions my wee little brain is here for the picking!

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  26. Congratulations on the new book, Jackie! Lots of hard work involved but worth it once it's 'out there.' :)

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    1. Thank you! It is definitely a feeling of accomplishment once you have a completed book!

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  27. Congrats on signing with the new agent, Jackie! Wishing you much success!

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  28. Way to go YOU! Congratulations on the new book and the great success that is awaiting you and your precious pooches.

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    1. Thank so much! For me, success would be getting the book out to a lot of folks and having them enjoy it! Hopefully that will happen. :)

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  29. CONGRATULATIONS on singing with Kevan Lyon. What an achievement. And good luck with the traditional publishing route. I always love hearing abut writers' journeys, so enjoyed this greatly.

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    1. Oh, good! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I was a little nervous about sharing all that!

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  30. Congratulations! I hope all goes well.

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  31. Congratulations and good luck with everything!! I can't wait for the third book, so I hope things go quickly and smoothly!
    I don't really know much about publishing, so definitely found all that very interesting.

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    1. I hope things go quickly too - but we'll see... I'm not a super patient person so will have to practice that!

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  32. This is so exciting Jackie!! As you may or may not know, I am working on my first book and I'm super nervous about pitching it to anyone. I'm not good at all about promoting myself. LOL I may be looking to you for guidance. Either way, I'm looking forward to your third book.

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    1. I did know that you were working on a book. (A mystery, is it??) I'm not good at promoting myself either. I try to think of marketing as simply connecting with a potential reader, rather than "pushing me/my books on people". If I can help with anything, let me know!

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  33. Beautiful photo and quote, congrats on finishing your manuscript, good luck to you! I have a dream, I just want my dogs to pass some more hunt tests this summer and for Glory to get her senior title before I breed her.

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  34. Seriously with all the words on Wordless Wednesday?! Sheesh! ;)

    Congratulations of having book three done! That's so pawsome! And on being approached without having to hunt for a publisher! Keeping my paws crossed for traditional publishing to work out well for you, even though I want to read it NOW!

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  35. So sweet, made our day. And PS, congrats!

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  36. Congrats on the new agent. I'd love to see you get nothing but acceptance letters. :)

    Do you think self publishing will be the future for books? I do.

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