"The Good Fight" Release Week - Post One
RELEASE WEEK POST 1
THE GOOD FIGHT
I started writing “The Good Fight” in early 2015. By July I had finished it, and sent the first few chapters to my editor at Carina. I can honestly tell you I’ve never submitted a book I didn’t think was good. I’ve certainly written ones that aren’t good, but they’re stashed away in a drawer somewhere to be burned under the cover of darkness. So when weeks passed with no response, it started to sink in that the news wouldn’t be good. And sure enough, I eventually got an email from the editor saying she was sorry, but she would have to pass on this book as it was. I wasn’t surprised, but I did feel pretty dejected. (Well, maybe VERY dejected.)
I’ve been rejected before so I knew that this disappointment would fade and I’d regroup and either rework the project or move on. The editor gave me a thoughtful list of the reasons the chapters hadn’t worked for her, so I made a mental note of those issues and let it sift around in my brain for a while. In the meantime, however, I had another idea percolating, so I decided to get started on that. It was a New Adult story about a good-girl-turned-bad-girl-turned-good-girl-sorta, who moves in with the campus heartthrob and unexpectedly falls for his best friend. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever finish it, or what I’d do with it if I did, but I wanted to flex my writing muscles, so I started typing. In early fall, I felt re-inspired to work on TGF. I set aside the New Adult story and started revamping TGF, incorporating the editor’s notes and making new changes. I realized the ending was pretty awful and needed a complete overhaul, so I spent a couple of months writing and re-writing new chapters until I had a stronger story than the one I’d originally submitted. I resubmitted it, this time with a feeling of nervous dread.
There’s no telling how long someone will or will not take to get back to you, so I resumed work on the New Adult story. By Christmas I had a first draft. It needed some tightening, certainly, but I felt pretty good about it. I’ve learned something from every story I’ve written, and I feel like each book improves upon the ones before. These two were no exception.
Then I got an email from my editor—she liked my changes and wanted to acquire TGF! Oh, hallelujah! I could sleep soundly again. She told me TGF would likely come out in summer 2016, and I felt a bit anxious about having such a big gap between books. (“In Her Defense” had come out in September 2015.) I thought about the New Adult story I was working on. Could I self-publish? I know other people do, but could I? I decided I could, not only to avoid having nearly a year delay between books, but for the experience.
All this is to say, there are many ways to fight the good fight. It’s not always about winning, or even getting right back up when you get knocked down. It’s about what you do while you’re down there, how you regroup so you get up stronger every time. That rejection stung, but I (eventually) went back to my desk and opened a new Word doc. I called it “Undecided,” but there was never any question. I want to be a writer, so I write.
What’s your good fight?
THE GOOD FIGHT
I started writing “The Good Fight” in early 2015. By July I had finished it, and sent the first few chapters to my editor at Carina. I can honestly tell you I’ve never submitted a book I didn’t think was good. I’ve certainly written ones that aren’t good, but they’re stashed away in a drawer somewhere to be burned under the cover of darkness. So when weeks passed with no response, it started to sink in that the news wouldn’t be good. And sure enough, I eventually got an email from the editor saying she was sorry, but she would have to pass on this book as it was. I wasn’t surprised, but I did feel pretty dejected. (Well, maybe VERY dejected.)
I’ve been rejected before so I knew that this disappointment would fade and I’d regroup and either rework the project or move on. The editor gave me a thoughtful list of the reasons the chapters hadn’t worked for her, so I made a mental note of those issues and let it sift around in my brain for a while. In the meantime, however, I had another idea percolating, so I decided to get started on that. It was a New Adult story about a good-girl-turned-bad-girl-turned-good-girl-sorta, who moves in with the campus heartthrob and unexpectedly falls for his best friend. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever finish it, or what I’d do with it if I did, but I wanted to flex my writing muscles, so I started typing. In early fall, I felt re-inspired to work on TGF. I set aside the New Adult story and started revamping TGF, incorporating the editor’s notes and making new changes. I realized the ending was pretty awful and needed a complete overhaul, so I spent a couple of months writing and re-writing new chapters until I had a stronger story than the one I’d originally submitted. I resubmitted it, this time with a feeling of nervous dread.
There’s no telling how long someone will or will not take to get back to you, so I resumed work on the New Adult story. By Christmas I had a first draft. It needed some tightening, certainly, but I felt pretty good about it. I’ve learned something from every story I’ve written, and I feel like each book improves upon the ones before. These two were no exception.
Then I got an email from my editor—she liked my changes and wanted to acquire TGF! Oh, hallelujah! I could sleep soundly again. She told me TGF would likely come out in summer 2016, and I felt a bit anxious about having such a big gap between books. (“In Her Defense” had come out in September 2015.) I thought about the New Adult story I was working on. Could I self-publish? I know other people do, but could I? I decided I could, not only to avoid having nearly a year delay between books, but for the experience.
All this is to say, there are many ways to fight the good fight. It’s not always about winning, or even getting right back up when you get knocked down. It’s about what you do while you’re down there, how you regroup so you get up stronger every time. That rejection stung, but I (eventually) went back to my desk and opened a new Word doc. I called it “Undecided,” but there was never any question. I want to be a writer, so I write.
What’s your good fight?
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