This year I WILL get my books published

As the title says this is the year that I WILL succeed. Why now and why state it so loudly? Because I'm sick to death of believing the people who tell me I should stop writing. Doing that is like stopping breathing to me so it's not an option. I'm also a firm believer in the power of positive thinking. I'm also going back to my celebrity interviews which we are putting on the radio starting next week.

I've already had some minor successes - a book out under my own name (one of a series) which is still selling on Amazon; a series of ghost written books and some articles. We are in pre-production of three films of my books - so why should I give up my writing?

I live for it and I'm constantly being bombarded with ideas so next year I intend to send out to as many publishers and agents as I can get my hands on. One of them will accept my books. Sorry if this sounds arrogant (I'm not quite as confident as I sound) but I thought If I put it out there then there is a better chance - I'm sort of accountable now! I'm constantly being told I'm not good enough to make a career out of it but I can't work at the moment so there is no harm in at least sending some work out, is there? I have let some people I don't know read the books (friends of friends) and the response has often been overwhelming - I do think that shows I have some talent somewhere.

On top of all this I'm on a course which is very demanding but hopefully should lead to a job - if I pass!

This year I have accepted (reluctantly) a challenge to write 2 million words for charity - that will probably equal about 8 books by my reckoning ... if I don't hit that magic figure very few will pay up.

Mel

REMEMBER: It's the things you DON'T do in life that you regret, not what you do, do!

Go for it, Mel! You can do it!

You can do it! My motto this coming year is 2012 the year of the novel.

Thank you! I will post how I get on here ... I've got a crowd of about 5 people willing to do this with me and we are all going to support each other. I couldn't do it without the help and support of the lovely people on these forums.

My celebrity interviews have both taken a dive and a leap! On the negative side I've lost my voice completely (which is really annoying the rest of the family - I'm going to a party in about half an hour - that will be interesting!!!! :-)) but on the plus side I've just got a whole load of wonderful actors (two of them in particular will be getting a letter of thanks because they really looked after me when I had a fall - one even sat on a snowy wall with me and got me a drink, then offered to help me to a cab. He was a true gentleman - both were so much nicer than I expected from having seen them on the TV. I'll post who I'm interviewing each week so you can decide whether or not to tune in. First up will be Danny Apple (has his debut single out and it's doing well in the charts) and then it's author Ben Hatch whose book "Are We There Yet?" is available in Waterstones, Amazon etc. Two lovely guys. I'm HOPING we can arrange one of the actors a week from those I met on Friday ... even if we get 6 of them I'll be happy but I'm particular about who I want because of how nice they were.

If you need any help with anything, email me and I'll do what I can.

Take care
Mel

REMEMBER: It's the things you DON'T do in life that you regret, not what you do, do!

I hear ya sister! This year I am determined to at least find a decent literacy agent and get my novel out there! I have had some success in the past [Articles, scripts for school productions, contests won] but this year I want to publish and I am sure that this will happen. I think my writing is very well..written? Anyways I have been told that my stories and scripts are amazing. I already have a small fan base so it's not like my book would just sit on a shelf without buyers...

So I am with you on this! You can do this! And so can I!

Also two million words in a year? I've never really kept track of my writing all together on different projects but who knows maybe I've already broken this record and not known it...Anyways good luck on all of your projects.

I'm through accepting limits
'Cuz someone says they're so
Some things I cannot change
But till I try, I'll never know!
Too long I've been afraid of
Losing love I guess I've lost
Well, if that's love
It comes at much too high a cost!
I'd sooner buy
Defying gravity
Kiss me goodbye
I'm defying gravity
And you can't pull me down [Quote from the amazing song Defying Gravity from Wicked the musical]

Good luck Mel! You can do it.

*Thinking good thoughts*

Thank you! Due to unforeseen circumstances I need to get the first book finished and to a rough edit by ... Christmas Eve! Oh joy! And I've got the flu! :-(

Mel

REMEMBER: It's the things you DON'T do in life that you regret, not what you do, do!

Hope the flu goes away quickly, Mel.

.

You can do it! Especially if you've got credits under your belt already. Don't let the naysayers bring you down.

Thank you! I like your picture, by the way - you're very pretty! I've followed your posts for ages and always wondered what you looked like! :-) So many are saying I can't do it ... well I will prove them wrong! Thank you for your support. If I can do naything for any of you, you only have eto shout. I'll be posting my progress here.

Thanks for the support, guys. Today, for better or for worse, I sent 10 publishers my book (the best one). I went on gut instinct so hopefully one will take it - I hate that most won't read the whole thing. It's cost me an absolute fortune but, God WIlling it will be worth it.

My main new year's resolution is the most important one of the lot (second only to finishing my counselling course) - by the end of this year more than just this book will be sold.

I don't mean to come across as arrogant. Of cousre I doubt my abilities but last year I went through a phase of thinking very positively and it worked incredibly well - hopefully the same will happen this year ...

Well I spoke to my lovely producer and explained I was really ill with the flu (as I had literally no voice she kind of realised that) and she told me she can give me ONE month's grace. I can't let her down ... Also I get the first 3 interviews out of the way this month so that will be fun - I've just got to work out how to record via phone onto the computer and save as MP3 ... any clues anyone?

Mel

Via phone? You mean, like, recording on the phone and transferring to PC via USB? ô.O

Why not just buy a cheap headset or mic and use that? The standard program records as .wav, but there's a lot of freeware out there to convert it into an mp3 file. That's what I usually do.
At least until I stepped on my headset. It couldn't have been something I can easily replace with something from my junk box, nooo, always the good stuff^^

Thanks for your email - and your brilliant advice. I'll do that! :-)

Mel

You can do it Mel!
My goals are to finish editing my nanovel (first time trying!) and publish 2-3 short stories.

Well I've not heard anything back from any of the publishers and agents I've sent off to yet (but I've been told I might have to wait 12 weeks in many cases), so I've just sent off another batch of 5 this time (I wanted ot send 10 but couldn't afford it). So why am I sending so many off? Because I want at least a few out there when the rejections hit the mat so that I don't give up all hope! :-)

Would anyone like me to post a list of people I've sent to (the contact details etc) on this post so you guys can submit a few (these are people I believe have open doors at the moment). Just let me know if you want me to do that - they are from America and England! I'm casting my net wide.

I'm going to send a few out (finances permitting) in February - That will make at least 20 submissions the first 2 months of the year - not bad! :-)

How are you guys doing with your goals? Oh, and not sure if you all know this or not, but People's Friend (who insist their stories are set in Scotland) and My Weekly are accepting novels of 50,000 words! If you're interested I'll post the latest information up here

Mel

OK, I'll post the details later - they DO want fiction stories of 50,000 words each but they are quite speciific and they do pay reasonably well.

It will be a long and detailed post I think - oh and Fiction Feast are also looking for fiction (short though, not novels). I have all those details so I'll post them as well.

Not been a good week in my quest to write 2 million words - it's been sad news all the way so I've not really been in the mood to write ... now I've decided to try to write MORE when things are bleak to take my mind of it.

I got the most amazing news today though which I'll post as soon as I'm told I'm allowed (just waiting on a call about that!)



REMEMBER: It's the things you DON'T do in life that you regret, not the things you do, do!

I was talking about this with my teenage son last night. I am going to give it all I've got this year. I'm finishing a very in-depth edit of my NaNo novel, hoping to be done this week. My goal is to start "crashing the gates" of agents starting (no later than) the 15th. I'm also putting a pitch in Pitchapalooza. Maybe attending ThrillFest in NYC in July. I have an uncle who used to be involved in the film industry (executive producing end) and he's been wanting to read the novel, so I'll be sending it to him. So... I'm with you!