Wednesday, October 17, 2012

A Quiet, Lurking, Indirect Success Story

As you know, it's not always the winners of the SA contests and the Baker's Dozen who comprise our MSFV success stories.  Many authors attribute a part of their success to this blog, despite the fact that they were NOT one of our contest winners.  This email came a few months ago (yeah, this is one that fell between the cracks of the cesspool that is my inbox):

Dear Authoress,

Even though I have not entered any of the Secret Agent contests in a while, and never placed when I entered the Baker's Dozen, I count my time lurking on your blog as well spent. I learned how to make a decent logline and a solid query. I cheered with the successes and commiserated with the entrants who didn't do so well. I learned that publication is a long game with a moving target.

Because of all that positive reinforcement, I had the strength to turn away from a time-sucking fantasy novel and trunk it, then work on something brand-new. I was able to write a strong query letter that earned me a full request, then an offer. I used that offer to get the attention of an agent I could otherwise never get near. Because of that agent, my first novel - an erotic romance space opera - will be published tomorrow. I'm already contracted for the sequel. And the agent is now considering my no-longer-trunked fantasy novel.

So thanks a million! Just because many of your readers might not comment all the time, doesn't mean we aren't learning from you every week.

M.C. Hana

9 comments:

  1. Congrats M.C. I agree, this site is so helpful. Critiquing and reading others' critiques has been an amazing learning experience and I feel my work getting better every time I log onto this page. Thank you so much Authoress for all your hard work.

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  2. Congratulations! It's true, lurking here has been exceptionally helpful for me as well

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  3. Thanks so much to Authoress, Peter, and everyone else for the kind words.

    I'm talking up MSFV right now on my blog, I so believe in this site!

    M.C. Hana
    http://www.cranehanabooks.com/blog

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  4. Congrats M.C.!

    Publication is a crazy long haul, and I agree that I learn a ton just watching the shenanigans.

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  5. That was a very cool demonstration of how people can learn and gain just from lurking at this blog...and the different roads to publication.

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  6. So true! Seeing what works and what doesn't in first lines has been so helpful. It's really tough to get it all in for those first 250 words, but I think aiming for a really tight intro strengthens the writing overall.

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  7. Congratulations, M.C. Hana!
    Thanks to you and Authoress for sharing your success story.

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  8. I like hearing about other people's successes after a struggle. Put in your time, learn from others, and do your best. You just might succeed! Congrats, M.C., and thank you, Authoress!

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