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Glue YOUR BUTT
TO THE CHAIR

The ups and downs, small victories and major setbacks of trying to get your first book published. There will be laughter, tears and all that good stuff.

SAMPLE BOOK CHAPTERS

It takes a lot to get me in a funk, but I'm in one now

8/26/2018

3 Comments

 
As hard as I try to stay positive, and not let things get me down, it's never a one hundred percent proposition. Submission can be a brutal process. Everyone says to write to keep your mind off it. Persevere. And yes, I realize this is a business and if a publisher doesn't think they can sell your book and make money, or are not sure where to place it in the market to sell it and make money, well then ... they're not going to take that risk, especially on a debut novel.
I still believe with my whole heart that this is a good book. A really good book.
My friend Alison, she of the same name as my main character and the person who led me to WFWA and also put my agent on my radar, is having a great month.
She got an agent just a few months back. She did her revisions and her agent started submitting her book. She got one, maybe two rejections, and then an offer from a publisher. So happy for her but a glaring reminder, that I don't have an offer yet. The thing to do when you have an offer, but other editors have your manuscript, is to let them know an offer is on the table. That usually will nudge the others one way or the other. In Alison's case, it nudged a couple of other editors to talk to her on the phone. She will probably end up with two or more offers. Nice to have choices.
If I have to self publish, so be it, but it will be a crack in my heart. Not enough to break it, but it will sting. I've been set on traditional publishing from the start.
If my agent decides at some point, it's not happening on this book, then I will seek her counsel and we will go from there. In the meantime I'll keep working on the new book, because it's what I do, what I need to do and so much damn fun.
The jumping off point for the story is something that happened to my grandmother. When she and her sister were very young (younger than the characters in my book who are five and six), they were abandoned by their mother in a soda fountain in Atlanta, Georgia. Their mom ran off to Baltimore with another man, and their father picked them up pretty quickly. I heard that story as a child and it never left me, so that's the catalyst for the story ... everything after is fiction ... made up. And that's the fun part. Well, off to write. I'll try to focus on the lovely view out of my window, the beautiful weather today, the cat curled up in my lap, my family's health and happiness. Even a temporary funk can't dim those good things.
3 Comments
Nira link
11/19/2018 08:30:29 am

Good morning, Sheri! I'm clicking over from the fall edition of WFWA's Write On magazine which I'm just getting around to reading. Nice to meet you online!
This post spoke to me. I'm querying for an agent. I've received two requests for a full and one actual phone call, both of which were ultimately rejecions. Two more rejections showed up in my inbox this morning. It does get discouraging. I wanted to say don't give up yet! You've obviously got a great story. Make yourself a cup of tea and start a new knitting project and work on the next novel and know that you are full to bursting with awesomesauce!

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Nita link
11/19/2018 08:34:58 am

...and hahahaha...my big finger on this tiny iPad keypad...my name is Nita, not nira. NiTa. With a T. Geeze. Argh.

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Sheri Taylor-Emery
11/19/2018 08:42:38 am

You are just the sweetest!! Thanks for your kind words. You're the perfect example of how we all try to lift each other up in WFWA!. Im so glad I found that group. It's so supportive. And the best part is finding awesome people like you. My email is sherit@comcast.net. I'd love to hear what your book is about. Crossing fingers for you!! xxoo

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    Sheri Emery

    I've been a graphic designer for nearly 30 years and for some crazy reason I decided I wanted to write a book. So I did, and now I'm writing another. Looking for that one person to believe in me.

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