Do You Need to Be Lucky to Get Published?

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy


I have a precise moment when my writing life changed forever (no, not when I got my agent). It was the moment that set me on a two-year path to publication, and I know without a doubt that I wouldn't be where I am today if I had not gone down this path (you could say it was my personal inciting event).

Here's a quick trip back, looking at what was luck and what was work. I think you'll find there's a good blend of the two, but I wouldn't have been able to be "lucky" in some instances if I hadn't been doing the work. We make our own luck sometimes. Other times, we jump in luck's way so she has to hit us.

LUCK: My best friend hearing about the Surrey International Writer's Conference. I wasn't looking for a writer's conference and would never have found this one if she hadn't come across it and said, "Doesn't this look awesome? Let's go!"

WORK: Singing up for the conference and flying across the country and then to another country to attend it. Deciding to take the extra Master Classes the day before, primarily the "How to Pitch Your Book" one, since (at that time) I had no clue how to pitch a novel. I wanted to be ready.

LUCK: The other Master Class that day was about tension, given by agent Donald Maass. This is the actual class that turned on the light bulbs in my brain and made me realize the things I needed to needed to do to write the novel I sold. (For the record, the pitch class was also very helpful--and made me cry--even though it did make me realize the novel I was pitching that year was not sellable. I guess I was also lucky in that this class gave me a wake up call about a novel I couldn't sell, but didn't know I couldn't)

WORK: Coming home and digging through every old story idea I had, looking for the fresh, original idea the conference folks talked about all weekend.

LUCK: Finding years-old handwritten notes about a boy who could shift pain from person to person. The idea for that story really sucked, but the core idea hit me and I couldn't stop thinking about it.

WORK: Taking everything I'd learned from both the conference and my years of studying writing, and writing The Shifter. (Or The Pain Merchants for my UK friends). And having it ready for the next Surrey conference.

LUCK: Seeing two internet query opportunities from agents I was interested in, right before the conference. Both led to full manuscript requests.

WORK: The time I took to find blogs and writer's forums to keep up on the industry so I could find opportunities like the above when they arose. Plus, researching which agents liked the kind of book I'd written, and who were the best candidates to query.

LUCK: That the next Surrey conference had four agents I was interested in as presenters, who were also taking pitch appointments.

WORK: Going to Surrey again, and polishing my pitch as best I could so I'd be ready.

LUCK: Having an offer of representation waiting in my e-mail the day I got home from the conference.

WORK: Letting the four agents reading my book know I had an offer, and taking a closer look at each of them so I'd be ready if more offers came in.

LUCK: Having several of those agents interested and make offers.

WORK: Having to pick one. (This was VERY HARD WORK)

LUCK: Making the right choice. Though honestly, I couldn't have gone wrong with any of them. They were all fabulous.

WORK: Doing all the edits my agent asked me to do so we could submit the manuscript.

LUCK: Having my manuscript ready to submit to editors just when a new imprint was launching, with a top-notch editor who happened to have a long relationship with my agent.

WORK: Waiting while my agent did the negotiation thing with multiple editors. (This is also way harder that you'd think)

LUCK: Having my book chosen for Balzer+Bray's launch list. (Which was both an honor, and a great opportunity for my novel)

WORK: Doing all the edits my wonderful new editor asked for. Then doing them again. And again. And being blown away by the copy editors, and everything they did. And the whole process, really.

LUCK: Having such amazing people working on my novel. I joked that I feel like the Verizon guy. I turn around, and there they were--all these folks who were working hard so that my book was the best it could be and did well for all of us.

Luck certainly played a part, but if I hadn't been working hard and doing everything I could to be ready, the luck wouldn't have mattered.

I had to be ready to be so lucky.

SCBWI co-founder Lin Oliver once said in a keynote speech, "Do the work." For writers, there's no better advice. We can talk about writing all we want, toss out as many first drafts as we can do in a year, but to be successful (no matter which publishing path we take), we have to do the work. And when we have, then we'll be ready to take advantage of those lucky breaks when they come our way.

How have you gotten lucky in publishing?

Looking for tips on planning, writing, or revising your novel? Check out one of my books on writing:  Planning Your Novel: Ideas and Structure, a self-guided workshop for planning or revising a novel, the companion Planning Your Novel Workbook, Revising Your Novel: First Draft to Finished Draft, your step-by-step guide to revising a novel, and the first book in my Skill Builders Series (and Amazon bestseller), Understanding Show Don't Tell (And Really Getting It).

A long-time fantasy reader, Janice Hardy always wondered about the darker side of healing. For her fantasy trilogy The Healing Wars, she tapped into her own dark side to create a world where healing was dangerous, and those with the best intentions often made the worst choices. Her novels include The Shifter, Blue Fire, and Darkfall from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins. The Shifter, was chosen for the 2014 list of "Ten Books All Young Georgians Should Read" from the Georgia Center for the Book. It was also shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize, and The Truman Award in 2011.

Janice is also the founder of Fiction University, a site dedicated to helping writers improve their craft. Her popular Foundations of Fiction series includes Planning Your Novel: Ideas and Structure, a self-guided workshop for planning or revising a novel, the companion Planning Your Novel Workbook, Revising Your Novel: First Draft to Finished Draft, your step-by-step guide to revising a novel, and the first book in her Skill Builders Series, the Amazon bestseller, Understanding Show Don't Tell (And Really Getting It).  

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Indie Bound