Road to Publication
I started putting the words on the page back in 2011 during NaNoWriMo. (https://nanowrimo.org/participants/j-lenni-dorner/novels/fractions-of-existence) That’s where my road to publication began.
Once I finished writing it, I sent it to an editor and to a friend. They spent hours with me going over it, line by line, helping me find the flaws and what needed strengthening. Then it went to a paid editing service. Two years later, I started querying. I took classes, read books, and followed blogs trying to figure out why none of my query letters worked.
Several of those query letters were truly terrible. I learned from every rejection. One of the biggest lessons was about the importance of conveying marketability in a query letter, about proving there is solid fanbase to buy the first five-hundred copies.
Then, in June 2017, I found a blog hop/ prompt called “Down the TBR Hole.” (http://jlennidornerblog.what-are-they.com/2017/06/19/down-the-tbr-hole-week-1/) The purpose was to go through one’s oversized to-be-read list and figure out which books could be cut. This process helped me narrow down what I look for in books like mine. That’s when I figured out what set Fractions of Existence apart from other Urban Fantasy books. Yes, that’s the right genre, but I didn’t use the best-selling elements that most others in the genre employ. I also discovered that I had more elements in the Paranormal Romance genre than I originally anticipated. However, the core romance in Fractions of Existence is of the slowburn variety (meaning there isn’t even a kiss), and the book doesn’t (SPOILER ALERT!!!) have an HEA. Hey, it’s a series, there’s still time. (End spoiler.)
That’s when I decided to go the self-publishing route. My target audience is probably too small for a traditional publisher to invest time and money in, and thus would be a difficult sell for an agent. But I didn’t write the story with the goal of getting traditionally published. I wrote it because the legend was passed down to me by my ancestors, and sharing it as a modern-day myth is my duty. It’s the purpose of my soul. Yes, I’ve written a few other stories along the way. But the Existence series will always be my true calling. Those are the characters about which I am most passionate. I hope you’ll read it and leave me a review. I look forward to more opportunities to learn, grow, and improve as a writer.
**Thanks Chapter By Chapter Blog Tours for arranging this guest post.**