SUBSCRIBER SPOTLIGHT

Share your writing success stories. If you subscribe to Writing Magazine and would like to feature here, email Tina Jackson, tjackson@warnersgroup.co.uk

Finding her way

‘Five years ago, my life was completely thrown upside down,’ writes subscriber Marie Delanote.

‘Our fourth child was born extremely premature, at 24 weeks gestation. I had a mission to share my story with the world.

‘People would say, “when do you find the time, having four children?” I didn’t really “have the time” but I found time to write my first book, The healing of the 1lb Baby.

‘The world of publishing seemed like a massive dark pool. I read books about how to contact publishing houses and sent out dozens of proposals. I only received rejection. A punch in the gut, rejection, ouch, every time. In the end, I self-published.

‘Nine months later, I found out the book had sold 110 copies. I was devastated. That was it! It wasn’t for me, I was rubbish. I had suddenly forgotten about those lovely ladies I didn’t know, who had sent me messages over Facebook and email how they had been inspired by my story.

‘I picked myself up, grateful for how far I’d come.

‘Summer 2015, working on two different projects, I could feel something wasn’t right. I started meditating on the question “What should I do next?” Within minutes it was written in my mind’s eye, combined with an exciting feeling: “children’s meditation book”.

As my whole life had changed thanks to meditation, I started writing down all of my meditations I had created. I also visualised being published by a big publishing house, every day and I worked hard! When doubt crept in, I picked myself up and kept working.

I received more rejection. The difference was, this time, when I received rejection I would say to myself: “There is something better out there for my book’.

‘May 2016, I received an email from Findhorn Press. They really liked the concept and wanted to publish my book. I had done this, my perseverance, believe and hard work had given me this result.

‘Never give up, the next proposal you send might be the one that will be accepted!

‘My book and CD Acorns to Great Oaks – Meditations for Children are released on 13 June.’

Time for Tarragon

‘After an epic and tortuous journey worthy of Frodo Baggins himself, my children’s book, Tarragon, has finally been published,’ writes subscriber Susan Rogerson.

‘The story is about two children who find a giant egg abandoned in the garden. They smuggle it indoors, and it hatches into a baby dragon, which they try to look after until they can reunite it with its mother. The story was written for both early readers, and for parents to read to small children.

‘Tarragon started life as a competition entry, and a shortlisting gave me the confidence to submit to publishers, in what became a protracted game of literary ping-pong. It has been rewritten several times, and tweaked and polished as my writing improved over the years, until finally there was nothing left to tweak. It was as perfect as I could make it. Still, there were no takers.

‘Then I had a lucky break. Anna Trowbridge from ATLA Publishing contacted me via an online forum, asking for contributions for a children’s anthology, to be sold in aid of Cancer Research. I sent another story, Goblin, which she loved, and published in Windmills and Paper Boats, so I sent her Tarragon as well. She loved that too and said that she would publish it, if I could provide illustrations.

‘I decided to illustrate it myself, but we had some technical problems, which meant that not all of the pictures made it into the book, and we missed the December deadline – and the Christmas market.

‘Tarragon was finally published this January, some eight years after that first competition! Initial feedback has been excellent – it already has a five-star review on Amazon, proving that, if you truly believe in your story, you should never give up on your publishing dreams, no matter how long it takes. Children love the story, and colouring in the pictures. There is also space for them to draw their own baby dragon.