So, You Want to Be an Author? A Candid Account of Publishing My First Novel

The publishing world is robust, complex, confusing and can be daunting for a new author. In fact, some stats claim only 1% of submitted manuscripts get published by a traditional publisher. ONE PERCENT!

I don’t know if that number is true, but what I do know is book publishing is a long and arduous process. 

Ever the optimist, when I set out to publish my novel, No One Brings You a Casserole When Your Husband Goes to Rehab published, I determined I was in the 1% and would keep trying no matter what.

I was told by published authors to find a literary agent, so that's what I set out to do first. 

Buuuuut… The Agents Rejected My Manuscript.

Since August 7, 2019, I have been submitting my manuscript to agents. Why do I know the date? Because I made a document and saved them so I could meticulously record my efforts, that's why. 

I also saved all their responses, and by responses, I mean rejections 😬.

Here are a few! 

"You have a really cool blog and ministry, and write with an engaging voice, but unfortunately I am going to pass at this time."

"While your story is interesting and well-written, after careful consideration, I feel that your manuscript is not right for my list at the current time. I wish you the best in finding the right agent who can successfully champion your project."

"Thanks so much for your submission. [Name] said there was much he liked in it. He loves your voice and your writing. While he can’t extend an offer of representation to you (and says memoir is such a long shot…though memoirs with a charming voice and a touch of humor are slightly less so), he said to consider his door open to you for future projects."

As an optimist I thought, these don't sound like generic rejections, right? 

Over the next year, I received 17 rejections. I had three responses to rewrite my novel and resubmit, one who requested an in-depth marketing plan, and one who suggested it might work if I changed the title.

If you read stories of famous authors, rejections are a part of the process. In fact, they say being rejected as a first-time author is a right-of-passage. 

• Stephen King’s novel, Carrie, was rejected 30 times. He trashed it and his wife fished it out of the garbage. 

• John Grisham’s first novel, A Time to Kill, was rejected 12 times, and he unsuccessfully tried to sell copies from the trunk of his car.

• Judy Blume got rejections for two straight years. Now? She's sold 80 million books.

• Gone With the Wind was rejected 38 times. 

• Chicken Soup for the Soul was rejected 33 times.

• C.S. Lewis reportedly received 800 rejections (but this number has no evidence).

The point is, rejection happens. [source, cause I totally copied that list.] I did find a publisher, but I didn’t find an agent. More on that in a minute.

My Advice? Don’t Settle- Know What You Want/Need for Your Novel

I was very clear on my vision:

1. I wanted to be published by a publishing house that would help me with distribution to bookstores because that was one of the areas I lacked the most knowledge in. I was sure if they could get my book on the shelf, the right person would see it and pick it up.

2. I also wanted someone who would help me rewrite with editorial polish. Nothing kills a book like a misspelled word or a sentence that is difficult to read. I had read my own words too many times to objectively look at it without a fresh pair of eyes.

3. I wanted representation who was really excited about the book and the market.

4. I would not change the title. Ever.

In the writing world, most publishing houses expect you to do the lion-share of marketing on your own. A literary agent is your advocate and the only one who can get you in the door of the “Top Five” publishing houses, but you are responsible for your future. Agents expect you to do speaking events, book podcasts, and guest post for bigger websites, amongst other things. They won’t do the work for you!

Don’t get me wrong, of course I’d love to be represented and have someone to steer this ship for me. Email me here if you’d like to be that person!

Most literary agents have many clients, and if you’re the small potatoes on their list, you better hope they really believe in what you’re doing. If you make money, they make money, so it’s in their best interest to work hard. But in the end, the onus is still on you.

A book is a personal thing. Sometimes, a writer can work on their novel for ten years only to give it to someone who tells them it needs to be re-written. Or worse, it’s no good. Writing is inner thoughts out loud, so when rejection comes it can feel personal, but it’s not! It’s business, that’s all.

Celebrity Sells the Most Books

If you walk around a bookstore and take a gander at the bestsellers wall (gander, ha!), you’ll see it is filled with celebrity novels. From famous chefs to politicians and reality tv stars- celebrity sells.

Alongside celebrity memoirs, you’ll see crowd favourites like James Dobson, Malcolm Gladwell, and Danielle Steel. And between those, you’ll find a mix of new and seasoned authors who have done the work to see their dreams come true, they are “the 1%.”

Depending on how your personality leans, this could be incredibly encouraging or discouraging 🎭.

The truth is very few first-time authors see their books published by simply presenting them to agents via email. The agent is only the appetizer, anyway. The publishing house the real main course! After you get an agent, you must overcome the hurdle of presenting to a publisher and having them sign off.

There is always the story of J.K. Rowling, the struggling single mother on welfare who has an idea for a novel on a train and goes on to become a multi-millionaire… but we do realize, she is like the Oprah Winfrey of the book world, right? One in a million.

It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t aspire to be the next Oprah, just that I don’t want your heart to get broken if you aren’t! You can still be Rachel Ray, James Corden, or Cheslea Handler 😊.

Acquiring a Publisher for Your Novel

I read that if you get 30 rejections from agents, you should write another book. They see a lot of manuscripts and have extensive knowledge about what will sell and what won’t. This is business- it’s not meant to be emotional.

That said, you might have a weird genre (like me!) that no one addresses (Christian spouses of addicts!), that no one knows how it will go because it’s rarely been done (so they told me!).

If that’s you, recognize you’re a business risk. Some people will be willing to take it, most will not. It’s a marketing game and they want to know how to sell your novel.

Going into this process, I tried to stay open-minded but as I told you, I had a very specific vision of what I wanted. Not sure if I should quit before I got 30 rejections and sunk into deep, dark creative depression, my mother told me to “put out a fleece” (Judges 6:33-40) and see what happened. One more month of applying to agents and publishers and if they were interested, great! If not, I would self-publish. Easy. Done.

As I was applying, I remembered that there was a contest a published author had told me about in Canada and the winner would receive a publishing contract with a reputable Christian publishing house. If you’re Canadian and would like to enter the contest, they run one every year 😄.

I looked up the rules and wasn’t eligible because I had already self-published my book online. Curious, I wondered what would happen if I called the publisher without representation.

The publishing company I contacted is called Word Alive Press. They’re a “hybrid” publisher and therefore a combination of self-publishing and traditional publishing.

They weren’t the first hybrid published I had spoken to, they were my third. I wasn’t interested in hybrid publishing because I figured that if I was going that route, I may as well just self-publish. It didn’t make sense to spend all that money on publishing the book and then still be responsible for everything else. If you’ve been here awhile, you know I’m a very practical person. Why make 15%-50% revenue, when I can make 100%?

Expectations low, I called the number on the bottom of the website. A secretary answered, I asked if I could speak to someone about their publishing process, and she transferred me over.

God Always Makes the Way

Christians have a lot of “sayings” and if I had to describe my experience in Christian-ese I would say we had a divine appointment. Someone had just cancelled an appointment and there so happened to be an available spot the exact moment I called.

After a few moments of chatting with the woman on the other end of the line, I realized her and I had a lot in common. Not only did she resonate with my story of growing up in Mennonite country, but she seemed excited about the book and everything I was doing.

In the end, she asked to see my manuscript and I sent it over (after making sure to meticulously record our conversation into the documentation of my novel’s journey).

It’s Only a “No,” Until It’s a, “YES!” 

Or, it’s a no and you self-publish 😉. Can’t lose when you have the right attitude!

Here’s the deal, even though I had my heart set on “traditional publishing” where you get the big fat check in advance and your book goes on to sell 100,000 copies, what God offered is better for me right now.

Here’s why:

• A hybrid publisher has the potential to offer the best of both worlds. The one I am working with manages brick and mortar distribution, Amazon, and online Christian bookstores in North America, to name a few.

• They are helping me with the editing process to provide the editorial polish I so desperately wanted.

• They are very excited about the book.

• They have the industry knowledge I need as a first-time author.

• They don’t want to change the title.

• I liked the woman I spoke to and felt we had good chemistry (yes, that matters!).

It’s literally EXACTLY what I wanted. Beyond that, God also provided:

• Influence in the cover design of the book (very important to me).

• The finances for this route to be feasible.

• Confirmation through an author friend who told me to try speaking to that same publisher and the same woman I spoke to on the phone that day.

Don’t keep querying literary agents until you’re blue in the face (it’s a ton of work, anyway). Truthfully, maybe your book needs work (like mine did!) or maybe it isn’t the right route for you.

I heard Sheila Wray Gregoire of To, Love, Honor and Vacuum speak once and she said she wrote books for years before anyone would print one. I could be misquoting her, but I think she said she wrote and published 8-12 books for 10-12 years before anyone took notice (correct me, Sheila, please!). In the end, one book found success, The Good Girl’s Guide to Great Sex, and suddenly, all her previous books started selling!

I did get a response from a large house literary agent while I was debating about whether to work with the hybrid publisher or not. She was not sure how to market the book, I didn’t feel like we jived personally, and she had no emotional investment in the topic.

If you were to choose a business partner, you would want them to have the same vision as you. So I decided to go with the hybrid house and stick with the people I felt I best paired with.

What If No Literary Agents or Publishers Say, “Yes”?

This might not be the right moment for your book, but it doesn’t mean you should give up on your story. And it certainly doesn’t mean you should give up on your writing. I’ll say it for the last time, it’s not personal, it’s a business!

• Is your idea relevant for what’s happening in today’s culture?

• Have you built a current audience who loves your writing?

• Do you have a marketing plan?

• Is your novel going to make the bookstore money?

And most important of all:

• Why are you writing this story?

Check your intentions! If the purpose is because you have a story and knowledge to share you feel God has put on your heart, you don’t have to wait for someone else to get the message. Self-publish, query a hybrid publisher or small publishing house, and go for it!

What’s Going On With No One Brings You a Casserole Now?

I know some of you read the book digitally as it was, but this time I’m doing it right and it feels so much better for my soul.

It's being properly edited, I have re-written a massive portion of it, and wrote new chapters (guess what, I forgot to tell how my husband and I met!).

Second thing, no more doodles. Or maybe there will be a doodle, but I'm going to work with a cover designer and it's going to be all super official-like. Official doodles this time.

It will be available worldwide! In actual hardcopy that you can hold and smell and use a coffee coaster (just me?).

I’m going to sign the first 1000 books I personally sell with my real name to differentiate them from the rest, just in case God decides making me “a book Oprah” is a good idea. I have not given up on my other vision of being nestled between the celebs we love (or hate) and the great authors of our day on the bookshelves of Barnes and Noble, or Indigo, if you’re in Canada 😉.

You never know, your first edition copy might be worth something one day!

Why Do I Want To Be On The Bestseller Shelf?

Because I know that one day, a woman will walk through the bookstore with her children trying to escape the secret horror that is her life. She will pass by the shelf, because it was the only place where she could socially-acceptably entertain her children while drinking Starbucks, and see my book, No One Brings You a Casserole When Your Husband Goes to Rehab. As a best-seller, there will be no shame in buying it. She will take it home and cry when she reads it because for the first time in years, she doesn’t feel alone.

If you’d like to read my novel, please add your name to the waitlist below. My goal is to have the first 250 copies reserved! I’ll put up an official purchase page as soon as the cover is done and you can save your signed copy ❤️.

Thank you for your support, your love, your time, your trust, for giving me your heart and your most precious secrets. I appreciate you and all your support!

I hope my story lives on to give hope to many more families battling addiction.  

Leah Grey