Guest Post by Emily Royal

Today I'd like to introduce a guest post from a good friend, Emily Royal. Emily writes historicals, set in the Regency and mediaeval periods, and she doesn't deal in pallid heroes or demure heroines. Her characters are hotter than a Scotch Bonnet.

She's also is possibly the most prolific writer I know, and put the rest of us to shame by securing no fewer than three publishing contracts in her first year as a published author. I wanted to know how she does it.

Over to you, Emily...

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One thing I’ve learned in the past six years, is that writing isn’t a linear process. Most people will read a book in the traditional fashion. They start at Chapter One and finish at the end. But when you write a book, that’s not necessarily the case. I know authors who don’t write their books linearly. Some don’t even plan what they write – they just open their laptops and away they go! But being an obsessive about performing tasks in a logical manner, I’ll always draft a book in order. If I reach a difficult part, I’ll not skip it. I used to rock climb when younger and when you’re on a rock face and reach the crux, you can’t skip it – you just have to climb through it, or you’ll never reach the top!

But the process of publishing is definitely not linear – at least not for most of us, and certainly not for me. 2019, more than any other year in my life, confirmed this. I parted company with my agent after three years, my debut novel came out, I landed a 3-book deal with another publisher, all of which came out during the year, I completed my first independent project, and I had a contract on another book, which should be out this year.

On the face of it, everything seemed to happen pretty quickly in 2019! But behind the scenes there was six years of writing novels, three years of submitting to publishers, more rejections than you can shake a stick at and weeks, often months, spent waiting for responses to e:mails I’d sent to my agent and to publishers.

Waiting for responses to submissions is the worst thing an author experiences. A bad review, even a rejection, is less painful. Bad reviews arise from a reader not being your target market. Rejections give you closure because you can draw a line through the publisher’s name and move on to the next. While I often use pet therapy to cope with stressful situations, i.e. I’ll get my snake out and cuddle him, the best coping mechanism is to divert your attention to something else. And what better than writing the next book?

So, that’s what I did – during the months while I waited to hear back on my submitted project, I got on with writing. Which meant that by the time things started moving in 2019 I had several projects ready to go. For example, the book I submitted which landed the 3-book deal was one my agent couldn’t get an offer on. But by the time we parted company, I’d written two further books. So when I got the deal, I had three books all ready.

It wasn’t all rainbows and unicorns. Landing a publishing contract made me view writing in a different light – it wasn’t a “hobby” any more. A professional approach is needed to editing, meeting deadlines, and promotion. It was a challenge I was prepared for, and I love it. But that’s a story for another day!

Had I known I’d finally get a publishing deal I’d have cheered up a lot during those years of rejections. A dear author friend of mine kept saying I’d get there in the end, I just had to believe in myself and persevere. At the time, I thought, “Yeah, it’s alright for you – you’ve got a deal.”

But she was right. And it’s only fair that I pass on her wisdom.

So, much as I hate clichés, I’ll conclude by saying this.

Believe in yourself, persevere, and you’ll get there in the end.

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You can find out more about Emily and her ever-growing number of books over at her website.