xxxThe following writer has been kind enough to share their story with us.

xxxIf you would like to contribute your story and photo to me, email them to:
xxxrob@easywaytowrite.com

xxxThank you.

xxxJulie Achterhoff

When I was a little girl I really liked English in school. The best part was when I got to write a story. I tried sticking to the guidelines, but would usually end up writing something scary. Probably because that's the kind of stories I liked to read. Ghost stories were my favorite. I read everything I could find about the supernatural.

When I was a teenager I got turned onto Stephen King and fell in love with his books. Carrie was my first. I read whatever my mother brought home. I read every night and scared myself silly. I got straight "A"s in English.

I started having my kids at a young age and didn't go to college until I was in my thirties. But I never went a night without reading something. I did stop writing, though, and went on to have five children. I taught them at home and instilled a good sense of learning into them. My first son was crazy about reading, and they all learned to read when they were pretty young. I felt that if they had a love of books as I did they could learn about anything they wanted to.

When they got old enough I started taking a class at a time in college. Of course the writing classes were at the top of my list, but I also took many other classes where I learned a lot about many different subjects. This helped me with my writing and broadened my scope of knowledge.

I once took a women's writing class which studied women writers through the centuries. For my final I wrote a play about three different women in three different time periods called Angel in the House. Needless to say, I got an "A" for that. I was very proud and excited that I had started writing again. I then took a creative writing class and wrote a few stories that the other classmates liked a lot. I could tell by what they wrote that I had a gift and was pretty good at writing.

Finally, after almost all the kids were gone from the nest I decided to write a novel called Quantum Earth. It took me about four months. I got together all the agents and publishers I could find and used a program called Sonar, which organizes all your submissions and when and where and to whom you sent them. It's a wonderful free tracking tool. I went to each of their websites and followed their submission guidelines to a T.

Then came the rejections. Many, many rejections. But that's what I was expecting. That's what all writers should expect. But each rejection brought me one step closer to an acceptance. That's what I kept telling myself. I think most of the places I submitted to just didn't have the time to look at my query, synopsis, and/or manuscript. I mostly got standard issue rejections. Almost all of them were very polite, but sorry. Most of them admitted they had too much on their plates already.

It took three long months before a publisher named SynergE Books wrote those magical words: "I was taken in by your story almost immediately and would be honored to publish it." But that wasn't the end of the story. There was another publisher who wrote me a month before that he really liked my story so far! I decided to ask him if he was interested in publishing it. He said he was, with a bit of polishing up. That was All Things That Matter Press in Maine. I had a big decision to make. Now I had two publishers willing to publish my novel. Meanwhile I was hard at work on my second novel, Deadly Lucidity. I took my time and read both contracts thoroughly. SynergE Books basically produces Ebooks until one hundred are downloaded, then they put it out in paperback. You also only get 15% of the proceeds. ATTM Press puts your book out in paperback right away and you get 40%. Neither offered any advance because they are small presses. I went with ATTM.

I don't have an agent to pitch to the big publishers yet, but I will be looking for one for my next book. And chances are someone will want to take me on now that I'm published. I bought last year's copy of a book about finding an agent. As soon as I finish my next book I will be hitting them up for representation. There are pros and cons for working with bigger publishers, though. Bigger means they have a lot more clients and may not be able to give your book or you the attention you'd like. But they also have a lot more resources to get your book out there.

So right now I'm in the editing phase with my new publisher. I signed a contract with him and he's helping me polish the book to perfection before it goes to press. This process could take a while so I'm not holding my breath. But I get to tell everybody that I will have a book coming out soon. I even told my hairstylist, and the lady in the next chair happened to be a local radio personality. When she heard me talking about my book she gave me her card and said she'd love to do a radio interview with me when my book comes out. Very thrilling!

As far as advice goes, I can tell you I never spent a penny on anything like online classes or conferences because I don't have much money and couldn't if I wanted to. I bought a few choice used books from Half.com and belong to several online newsletters and groups having to do with writing. I learned everything I could just from that, plus Harlan Coben is my friend on Facebook! I told him now I know how writers like him feel the first time they're published, and there's nothing like it. I think if you throw enough mud on the wall something is gonna stick. It did for me and it can for you, too.

xxcTo us,

xxxWrite-Intention
xxxThe Science of Success