If I’ve learned anything over the last 15 years, it is that no one who hopes to become a published author achieves that status without a lot of effort.

I am still waiting to hold my first published book in my hot little hand, but it is so close now I can almost feel the weight of it and smell its beautiful new-book smell.

Patience…. So much patience is required.

I’ve just had a wonderful Zoom meeting this morning with my editor Cerid, who I adore with every fiber of my being. She is kind and funny and smart and incredibly good at this. She is responsible for both the Developmental- and Content-editing of my manuscript.

How it started:

I knew nothing of editing or publishing or marketing when, in 2008, I decided that I had a book to write. What I mean by that is… I had a vague, crinkly idea of a story. I hadn’t fleshed it out AT ALL. I just had the beginning of it in my head. I also had a bit of time – when my very young kids were in bed.

I wrote that story over the next six months. Most of the storyline was developed in my head, in my car on my way to my real job. I couldn’t wait till the next opportunity to get my ideas down on paper. I had scribbles on the back of my hand and handwritten notes tucked into the pockets of my clothes … it was an organized mess but it was part of my process.

After editing the manuscript at least ten times, I thought it was good enough to show someone. That ‘someone’ was my own mother. I realize the irony and the naivety. She loved it. Of course, she did. She’s, my mum. She especially loved it because I had weaved in many stories that she had told me of her own childhood.

Thinking that it might be good enough to send out to publishing houses, I did just that. Over a period of six months or so, I sent my manuscript to three different publishers, completing every part of their – often quite strict – submission criteria to the tee. The response time from each of them was around that same amount of time. Three rejection letters dribbled back, and each one was not too painful because I had moved on to other things.

Eventually, the story of “Laura and the Other Place” just became an icon on my desktop.

Fast forward to 2017:

I had another idea. I truly loved the process of developing characters and a story. I loved the process of getting everything down on paper. Enthusiastic again, I got started on a new manuscript.

I certainly didn’t start out with the expectation of getting anything published. I already knew that the odds of getting published were less than 1%. Heck, to be in the running for those terrible odds, I had to write something with a beginning, a middle, and an ending.

Writing a book is a lot of work. Had I not loved writing, I would never have bothered. It took me twelve months to ‘finish’ it. I sent “Suletu” off to two publishing houses. Both submissions were rejected. Again, the rejection email came a long time after I had sent it. The disappointment, while tangible, wasn’t soul-destroying.

Another icon was added to my desktop.

2017-2021:

During this period, I worked on the craft of writing. Not deliberately. But I wrote. A lot.

For my clinical job at a hospital, I wrote patient notes, discharge summaries, work guidelines, work instructions. I wrote grant applications and job applications.

For my Ph.D. I wrote protocols and ethics applications. I wrote chapters of my thesis and published several peer-reviewed academic papers. I wrote conference presentations, and content for workshops.

Amongst all of this (like everyone) I was always writing emails and letters; sometimes formal, sometimes not.

All of these types of writing require vastly different writing styles. While not always consciously aware of the fact that I was ‘practicing’… I was.

As a byproduct, I got better at it. I learned that sometimes it is best to be verbose, colorful, and emotive. At other times, it is best to be concise and to the point. I learned to avoid repetition and the use of specific words that are jarring to certain audiences.

Structuring content for readability has become much more automatic now. I re-read, I edit… and I edit again. Writing takes time, but I found ways to become more efficient.

Those icons were still on my desktop, but I had a lot of other things going on. I was very busy working clinically as an Occupational Therapist while also working on a Ph.D. My kids were older, but still living at home with me and I was devoted to being present in their lives. On top of that, my partner’s ‘love language’ was quality time.

Fast forward again to 2021:

I can’t recall what prompted it, but I thought I’d give ‘Suletu’ another airing. I edited the manuscript quite heavily again. I refreshed my ‘Australian Writer’s Marketplace’ registration and started searching for potential publishing houses accepting submissions. I stumbled across Odyssey Books. Their ideology espoused a love of stories that stretched the imagination; epic journeys, and quests. This was a good match for my fantastic tale set in a dystopian world. I submitted via their Submission Platform, and again, moved on with my life.

A very happy day:

I vividly recall receiving the email. I was sitting at the dining table with my youngest son. We were both working on something on our own laptops but we were mid-conversation when an email dinged its way into my consciousness. I glanced down. I completely lost my train of thought. The email subject line said, “Odyssey Books: Submission Accepted”. I remember literally whacking my son in the arm with the back of my hand and blurting out “No!” There may have been an expletive in there as well.

We both looked the email over several times, and it looked legitimate. It had come from the same submission portal I had submitted to. The publisher’s email said something along the lines of “We love your story and we would like to publish it… please let us know if it is still available.”

I think I responded to that email within 5 minutes of receiving it. I was not playing it cool AT ALL but managed to respond with words that must have joined together to form a coherent reply. Before an hour had passed, Michelle Lovi, founder, and publisher of Odyssey Books called me from New Zealand.  We had an unbelievable conversation. She answered all my questions and discussed sending through a contract shortly. I was on cloud nine.

The contract took 3 months to come through. I had a Literary Agent look it over as per Michelle’s recommendation. I asked for a couple of minor amendments, some of which were accepted.

I had a contract with a publishing house!

I later found out that a First Reader at Odyssey had loved my manuscript and pushed quite hard to have it accepted. I will forever be indebted to her. I eventually received a copy of the first editor’s feedback (3 x A4 pages worth) and they had certainly done their work well. The analysis was incredibly detailed and insightful. It was an emotional thing to know that someone had taken my work seriously and invested time and energy in reflecting and commenting on it.  

Next steps:

The Developmental- and Content-editing of the full manuscript followed. There was a lot of re-writing for me to do; mostly related to inconsistencies in the tonality of language. Cerid also suggested that in certain areas, I risked being considered an ‘unreliable narrator’ and these sections needed work. All these terms I had never heard of before.

At many points, she’d made sparse comments like ‘Hmm…’ as if… ‘Come on Laila, you can do better’, but she had done a huge amount of work herself fixing, correcting, and improving on the manuscript. My response to the first round of edits took another month or so. Editing to that level of detail takes a LOT of time. But it is absolutely worth it. I could see incredible improvements already.

I was again back to waiting for the next edit, which took several months (Cerid is incredibly busy, so it was completely understandable). I have just returned the next round of revisions, and it is in Cerid’s hands again.

There is still a lot to do. It’s grown from 93,000 words to over 110,000 words during the intervening months. It’s fleshed out a lot more. It’s not just longer – it’s better.

My lack of experience in this type of writing has been gently highlighted to me, through the comments in the editor’s feedback and my deep consideration of them all. I have also reflected on the totality of the publishing process being undertaken… now in a team.

Imagine if I’d just decided to self-publish back in 2017. The book would be so far removed from the final product that will come out of this process. Book publishing is a team effort. There are so many different areas of expertise required and it is very much acknowledged that everyone has very specific skill sets. No one can do it all.

What else I have done besides working on the manuscript?

Cover art: I have commissioned a painting that I have asked to be considered for the book cover, but I completely acknowledge that it may not be suitable. Cerid loves the painting but will need to do some focused market research to see if the target audience will like it. If they don’t, they may put the image on the inside cover. I’m happy with that. I will defer to the publishing team’s expertise all the way.

Worldbuilding map: It was recommended that I draw a ‘map’ of the world in which the story takes place, which I have done. I had already drawn a rough map as I developed the scenes to keep everything straight in my head, but I am so happy that this was encouraged to be included in the book. I love books with maps. It makes me feel like the author ‘really cares’ and has shown attention to world-building. Cerid loved the map I’d drawn. I am going to hand it over to her as the expert now. She will give it some more stylistic flair. I love that this is her thing.

My journey:

I take pride in what I write and how I write. I think it’s important to communicate well. I’m also pretty confident that anything I’ve ‘written’ can be traced back to me, much more easily than anything I’ve said. My words… my responsibility. *That belief comes from working in a clinical role for so many years.

I acknowledge that I am absolutely no expert. I have no formal training. I have Grammarly on my laptop at home and at work. I accept its suggestions about 95% of the time. Co-authors on my academic papers do not hold any of their opinions back, and I have re-written drafts again and again until the final version barely resembles the original. It is always vastly better for it. Having professional editors on a fiction manuscript is very much the same process, it’s just a LOT more fun.

What’s next?

Cerid will look at my latest edits. Once we are all happy with the content and story development, it will be passed to the Copy Editor for the final polishing stage. Then it is back to me again for my final pass. This stage may be complete by May 2023.

I am working on a Marketing Strategy now, but for me, it is hard to do well, without a book in my hands. I am though, continuing to make progress.

I’m also 90% finished with the sequel ‘Malila’. I’ve got a lot of hard editing to do on that one before I show it to anyone. But I’m very happy with the story and character development.

My tips… for what it’s worth:

Be open to feedback, good and bad.

Don’t guard anything you’ve written too fiercely. Doing so might hold you back from making it better.

Be grateful to anyone who gives your work their time and attention. We all have the same amount of hours every day. You don’t have to take on anyone’s advice at all. You know your ‘stuff’ best and you know what your goal is, but give some space to consider their words. You never know, there may be something to learn.

I think my journey has only just begun.

Hopefully, very soon, I can wrap my hands around my own published book. It’s close now.

I’m pretty sure the wait will be worth it.

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