Q&A with Stacy Juba discussion

I was asked at a recent library panel how long it took to get published. It's a complicated question. I had my first book, the young adult novel Face-Off, published at age 18 under Stacy Drumtra. It did quite well, but then my subsequent YA manuscripts were rejected over the years.

Finally, I tried my hand at an adult mystery novel - Twenty-Five Years Ago Today. Despite having an agent and some close calls, it took nine years and several rewrites to get that book published. All in all, it was 18 years in between Face-Off and Twenty-Five Years Ago Today.

Sink or Swim will be out in December 2010, and I've got lots of plans for future books, so it definitely will be a much easier path this time. But it takes persistence and a thick skin to be an author, and you have to believe in your work. You also have to be open to feedback and criticism - the written word is rarely perfect the first time.

Justine Larbalestier, who now has at least a half-dozen books published, was rejected by various publishers for twenty years before getting out Magic or Madness.

The poor girl who asked that question at a panel looked rather discouraged...