by Karna Small Bodman
Author of Romantic Thrillers Checkmate, Gambit, and Final Finesse
When I decided I was going to write a novel and I finally finished my first manuscript (which, along with the second one, never saw the light of day—both are still under the bed), I began the arduous process of researching agents and endeavoring to compose clever query letters. I probably sent out 50 of those suckers…and only received answers on post cards or “letters” run off en masse by some intern with a box checked off indicating that the story “wasn’t right” for that particular agency.
Not to worry. I signed up for an RWA convention, wrote more letters about how I was going to be in New York and would welcome a meeting and lo and behold, one agent agreed to a (short) meeting over coffee. It turned out to be a lecture on how tough the business was… punctuated by a daunting set of statistics. “You have to understand,” she said as she finished her Caffe Vanilla Frapuccino and two croissants, and I reached for the check, “of all the manuscripts submitted to publishers whether a mystery, sci-fi, romance…whatever…just one in 75,000 is ever published.” I started to choke on my decaf, but she did not offer representation.
Okay, next stop was a series of other writers’ conferences where I heard all the stories about how Stephen King wrote four novels and hundreds of short stories before anyone published his work. About how Mary Higgins Clark had 40 rejections before getting a deal. And then a newer author, Steve Berry, told me that he had 85 rejections from various agents and editors before he found one willing to take him on and publish his first novel, The Templar Legacy. And now Steve is a New York Times bestselling author.
I finally met an editor at a conference put on by the New Jersey Romance Writers Chapter. They had a good line-up and I figured it was only a quick train ride from DC. I pitched my (third) story. She liked it, she recommended an agent, and I finally got a contract. Of course, then she wanted revisions. But that’s all right. I mean, Tolstoy rewrote Anna Karenina 17 times. So after many months, the manuscript was approved, and my first book, Checkmate, was on its way to the “New Release” tables at Barnes & Noble. Then the same editor bought the sequel, Gambit, and now the third, Final Finesse, was just released in May.
Yes, it took years. It took patience. It took Kleenex (after opening the 49th rejection letter). But it was all so worth it. The message to aspiring writers: Don’t just “follow your dream,” create a new one…or two… or three… if the first one turns into a bit of a nightmare! Keep writing, keep researching, keep traipsing to conferences, and above all, keep the faith!!!
Karna Small Bodman’s Final Finesse was released in May 2009.
