Publishing My First Novel

Do you have a dream? Like a ginormous dream that doesn't seem to go away?

Mine has always been to publish a book.

When I was in the fourth grade, I remember writing in my journals various stories and poems that would come to my head. They would mostly be about princess fairytales or poems about my family, but I enjoyed writing these so much.

As I got older and took on the task of reading chapter books, I discovered my love for The Sisterhood of Traveling Pants book series, by Ann Brashares, and I was hooked. My love for each character was prominent, but I had a big eye-opening experience when I would read about the character, Carmen.

Carmen was a straight-A student, a writer, and was Latina. She was fierce and would beat to her drum--everything I wanted to be. Reading a character I could relate to was huge. My eyes would light up at the mention of Carmen and my 13-year-old heart was over the moon learning about her journey.

Learning about Carmen--her emotions, thoughts, intelligence--was something I admired. At the time, I didn't see a lot of intellectual and strong-willed Latinas portrayed in books or movies for that matter--outside of the movie Selena of course. Even so, where were all the smart Latinas I was searching for? I figured if Ann Brashares can create the character of Carmen and open my imagination, I can be like her--fierce, strong, intelligent, and a writer.

Fast-forward 14 years and I find myself in the COVID-19 pandemic with time on my hands and dreams in my heart. I had a novel that I had been working on for a while--about two years putting all the pieces together--and didn't want the pandemic to keep me from moving forward. So I decided to do the most vulnerable and scariest thing...I decided to submit my manuscript to publishers.

Some of you may be thinking "What's the big deal?" Well, the big deal is that for someone whose greatest dream is to become a writer, this is the steepest hill on the rollercoaster. The big cheese!

As a person who suffers from anxiety, putting my work out there for others to critique is a very intimate feeling--you're allowing personal strangers to critique your work and decide if it's "good enough" for them to represent you. Anxiety and insecurity are real, but it has taken me years to realize that they don't define you. I prayed a lot about this and asked God for strength as I took the leap of faith. Whether I got any bites from my submissions or not, I knew I didn't want to go through life with this regret on my heart.

When I received my first "no" I was actually really happy. I couldn't believe that I actually made it to this point in my career where publishing agents are actually contacting me to tell me that they read my work--of course, it was all for rejection purposes but it was still thrilling! I stayed positive and kept on submitting my manuscript to every agent and publisher I could research.

I received a lot of thoughtful rejection emails throughout the course of seven months--every email I would receive still gave me hope and after each rejection, I would go back to my manuscript to change a few things around to see if anything would make a difference for my next submission.

As time passed, however, I felt my hope wilt a little day by day. I would pray to God to ask Him for patience and guidance as to what I needed to do to seek out the person He intends me to be. Was I meant to be a writer? If so, show me.

After a couple more months of rejection, I made peace with the idea that maybe it just wasn't my time right now to share my story. Maybe I needed to reflect on my motives and just pray about what I should do next?

Well, the next day--I kid you not--I received an email from an agent from Koehler Books, a publishing company located in Virginia Beach. When I opened it, there were three paragraphs worth of insight, praise, and collaborative opportunity about my story and how they enjoyed my novel, Three.

They had asked to schedule a call with me to discuss a potential publishing opportunity with their company. And I for one was skeptical.

Why was I skeptical? Because I just couldn't believe it--after two years of writing and almost a year of submitting manuscripts I couldn't believe that someone had noticed my work and outlined a detailed email of what they enjoyed about my story.

Skepticism. Is this what the making of a dream is supposed to feel like?

After researching Koehler Books and contacting other authors who have published using their services, I realized how much of an incredible honor it was to be recognized by such a well-known publishing company. As you can imagine, I scheduled that talk, discussed a deal, signed a contract, and the rest is still to come.

To be very honest, I cried. I cried so much throughout this process because I knew that God had blessed me beyond my wildest dreams. I couldn't believe that my dream of becoming a published author was starting to come true--and it was all because of Him. The best part of this experience has been my family; their support, encouragement, and love really elevated my spirits and reminded me of my worth.

At the start of this blog entry is a picture of myself and my father when I was in the fourth grade--this was about the time when my dream began to form. My parents have always encouraged me to work hard and think harder--that education was key and that dreams don't come out of thin air. The drive I have is because of them and I am eternally grateful.

My first novel, Three, is set to release in May 2021. It's a coming-of-age story about a young girl who falls in love, fights for her dreams, and the lessons she learns from each experience. It's personal and shares a story of vulnerability, forgiveness, and faith.

As the publishing process continues, I'll share more about it. But as of right now, getting all of the pieces together for its release date is my main goal--so much goes on behind the scenes when publishing and I'm loving every minute of it.

It's a beautiful thing knowing that you are making your dreams come true--it goes to show that everything happens in God's time. All glory to God and how beautiful His timing always is.

Just when I was about to give up, He opened the door...and He will do the same for you along your journey.

Best of luck with your dreams, friends--always believe in yourself!

XOXO Brenda

#Hope #Novel #Dream #Latina #Faith #Family