Get Published! Or, How I Got Published.
Most writers want to get published; seeing your work in print is a powerful endorsement of your calling, and (apparently) a boost to your bank balance. I want to tell you how I got published, and make some general comments based on my experience.
I’ve always wanted to write. I enjoy creating characters and storylines and I love the idea of developing interesting people and placing them in unusual or challenging situations. About ten years ago I read a short story about a guardian angel. The idea intrigued me, and I started to think about angels from a specifically Christian perspective.
I developed my own guardian angel character, and then I created someone for him to guard. I called her Alex. Alex has a traumatic personal history and a job that presents her with a challenge. I created other characters; some love and support her while others have more sinister motives. From this mix came the novel that evolved into Urban Angel.
Originally I called it The Father of Orphans. I sent it off to a number of publishers and in return I received brief rejection letters. Then I sent the story to the publishing arm of Vineyard Churches Worldwide and they said they would publish it on the proviso that I would buy a number of copies. I accepted their offer, the book sold a few copies, and I had the pleasure of seeing my work in print.
Then something interesting happened. I felt God ask me to speak at a fringe arts meeting at Greenbelt, and take some copies of my book with me to sell. I had to think long and hard about this; going to Greenbelt would cost money, and the event clashed with our family holiday in the Lake District. In the end I decided to go. I spoke at the meeting, and then I sat at a desk by the bookshop and offered to sign copies of my book.
I sold six copies.
What can I say? I felt like God wanted me to go to this event, so I went.
What I didn’t know at the time was that one of the people who bought a book would read it and give it to a bookshop owner in their church. The bookshop owner would read it and send it to Authentic Media, the publishing arm of STL.
Authentic liked it and decided to publish it on a commercial basis in 2004 under the title Urban Angel.
What can you take from this story? Here are three observations:
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Perseverance. You need to persevere when you write a story. I wrote Urban Angel in a year, mostly in the evenings while I still had a full-time secular job. You also need to persevere in presenting it to publishers. If you’ve just got to write and you think your stuff is worth reading then don’t give up. Write as well as you can, and keep presenting your work to others.
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‘Thy will be done’. I could not have planned my writing career; God has been in charge of it, and I have tried to go with his promptings - as best as I can discern them. I would encourage you to do the same.
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Take your opportunities. I was able to send my manuscript to the Vineyard Publishing group. What advantages do you have? Use them and God bless you in your endeavours!
© Andrew Chamberlain 2006. Andrew Chamberlain is a Leader at the Cambridge Vineyard Church. He is the author of numerous articles. His novel Urban Angel is published by Authentic Media www.andrewchamberlain.net
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