To help authors market their books and and to help create greater awareness, we occasionally feature winning stories submitted to our 50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading Awards Contest on this blog. The journey to success is often a long one. We hope the stories of successful authors will provide some encouragement and help others overcome the challenges they face. This story was submitted by Donna Louis.
Author Donna Louis
The gift. What is my gift? “Your gift is the single thing that you do at your absolute best with the least amount of effort”. -Steve Harvey.
As far back as I can remember I have always loved to write. Discovering that I wanted to be a writer was evident at an early age. I have always been magnetized to pen and paper like quite a lot of people are to football. English was always my favorite subject in school and I excelled at it. I enjoyed writing papers and especially papers on English literature like Romeo and Juliet. When my papers were returned I always had a grade of B+ or above.
When I entered my college years I decided to take writing classes at Queens-Borough Community College in New York. My teacher was a published author and so she was able to give me many insightful tips, and it was a rewarding experience. I then began to take home classes with the Institute of Children’s Literature and Long Ridge Writer’s Group. I had a tremendous teacher who was also a published author, and showed me how to make submissions to magazines and newspapers of my work. I did this for several years and only received rejection notices.
I relocated to the state of Florida and one day was watching a religious program on TV. After the pastor had given his sermon, I was prompted by the Holy Spirit to write a book on miracles with the same title the pastor gave for his sermon. Again, when you are working within your gifting you use the least amount of effort. It only took me three months to write the book, I was pleased with the finished project, but then doubt began to creep in. I am an unknown. Who would be interested in buying my book? So, I filed the manuscript away in a draw and didn’t think on it again.
Several years passed and one day I received a post-card from a publishing company in New York saying they review manuscripts free of charge and if you’ve ever dreamed of being a published writer mail in your manuscript. After I read that, the fire burned inside me again and so I mailed off the manuscript. Within eight weeks they responded back to me with great news and a contract offer. It was like someone had lifted me ten feet off the ground. I was so excited. I was able to make monthly payments on the amount of $8875.00 with no interest. One month after paying over $6000.00 into the project I called my author representative to make a payment and discovered the phone number had been disconnected. I went to my computer to research if they had changed their phone number only to find out the company closed its doors and filed for bankruptcy. I was numb, horrified, and distraught. I contacted my attorney and after several months of research, emails, and phone calls I was unable to get my money back, but was able to get my rights back for the book. This was one of the darkest times in my writing journey and I was very angry with myself for believing in this pipe dream, and going in the opposite direction of my passion. Remember earlier how I said I love English literature. I always wanted to be a romance writer not a religious writer, and so I sulked for quite a while.
One day I received an email from a publishing company wanting to review any manuscript I had written of a religious nature for free. I automatically said to myself here we go again. However, my interest was peeked because they were a local firm and also a Christian publishing firm. I reviewed their publishing packages and prices and saw they had a special which was ending on Monday and it was Saturday. I called my attorney and believe it or not he was in his office on a Saturday and agreed to review the contract the firm listed online and respond to me by Monday. He did respond and let me know that everything was legitimate and advised me to clarify some paragraphs that were a little cloudy, but most importantly I would retain my rights for the book. I contacted the firm and squared away everything and began to feel hopeful again.
The process with this new publishing firm has been so professional, smooth, uplifting, almost dream like. I started with them in July and by October my book was published and available to the public for sale. I am so proud of the book and the video trailer. I have since been able to do a TV interview with a religious station, radio interview, and launch my website. When I did my radio interview I was asked on a scale of 1-10 how determined are you to become a successful author and my answer was 11. I was also asked was I looking to just publish a book and have my name out there or was I looking to make it to the New York Times Best Seller List and my answer was the latter.
I have grown immensely from this situation and see my expectations as an author as limitless! My book miracles delves into biblical miracles that took place while Jesus was here on earth and cross references with miracles that take place on a daily basis now in the 21st century. Miracles such as the birth of a two-headed turtle. Captain Chesley B. Sullenberger who safely landed US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River after the plane hit a flock of geese and lost power saving the lives of all 155 people on board. Also, motivational speaker Nick Vujicic who, was born without arms or legs who can do just about everything.
I have already started working on my second book. I have a fantastic sales and marketing person working with me, and I am full of joy and thankful. I already know that God does not give you a blueprint for your life, and that is why trust and faith are essential. It is all about getting out of your comfort zone.
“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step”. – Dr. Martin Luther King 1929-1968.
Find out more about Donna’s books by visiting her website, http://www.miraclebook.net.