33 WOW Wednesday: Elana Johnson on the Many Steps to Pub

This week's WOW Weds is an incredible story of perseverance by the amazing  Elana Johnson, who has (while waiting for publication) already made a name for herself for her incredible generosity in helping other writers learn and grow. Her debut novel, Possession, will be published by Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster) in June 2011. Her popular ebook, From the Query to the Call, is also available for download. School teacher by day, Query Ninja by night, you can find her online at her personal blog or her website. She is a co-organizer of the popular online children’s conference WriteOnCon, a founding author of the Query Tracker blog and a contributing author of the League of Extraordinary Writers. In addition to that, Elana is a member of the Girlfriends Cyber Circuit, a group of successful YA authors, and The Elevensies, a group of 2011 debut authors. Elana is represented by Michelle Andelman of Regal Literary.

Publishing: A Journey of Many Steps

by Elana Johnson

Okay, so I was asked to share a little bit of my journey toward publication. Dude, I could go on and on about this, but I won’t. And hopefully, you’ll read something to help you take the next step, whatever it may be.

Step 1: Write a book. Or if you’re me, you write 12. That’s right. I’ve written 12 novels. Only 2 of them don’t suck. And even that’s debatable.

Step 2: Query a book. Realize it’s a lot of waiting and frantically checking email. Who knew?

         Step 2A: Repeat step 2 for 6 months. Too many queries to name. Want to die.

         Step 2B: Shelve book. Ouch. Yes, it hurts. No, it won’t kill you.

Step 3: Pick another novel to de-suckify.

Step 4: Revise/Edit/Rewrite the thing.

Step 5: Enter the ABNA contest.

Step 6: Move into the quarterfinals.

Step 7: Gain much needed confidence.

Step 8: Query the book. Get ready to wait it out.

         Step 8A: Repeat step 8 for 8 months. 189 queries.

         Step 8B: Beg, plead, pray, hope that this book is “the one.”

         Step 8C: Make up mantra: “Work hard. Don’t give up.”

         Step 8D: Revise twice BEFORE an offer is extended.

         Step 8E: Field 5 agent phone calls BEFORE an offer is extended.

         Step 8F: Get “the call.”

         Step 8G: Cry, laugh, scream, cry some more, grovel in gratitude.

Step 9: Sign with dream agent. After 188 rejections, this feels goooood. Up next: take over the world.

Step 10: Or, uh, revising. Yup, again.

Step 11: And…then again.

Step 12: Wait. Taking over the world put on the back burner while gnawing fingernails to nubs.

Step 2385: Get an offer from a dream publishing house.

Step 2386: Scream, eat a lot of bacon, laugh, smile until face hurts.

Step 2386B: Wait.

Step 8939: Announce the deal!

Step 8940: Wait.

Step 12,094: Edit novel—again.

Step 12,095: Wait.

Step 18,306: Release cover. Freak out.

Step 18,307: Wait. June 7, 2011 can’t come fast enough.

My best advice through all the steps is simply to remember this: Publishing a book is not a race where the winners come in first. It’s not important WHEN you finish, just that you DO. Oh, and one more thing: Your journey is your own. It won’t look or feel like mine. It shouldn’t. Don’t compare journeys. Just be grateful you can take one more step.