Friday, August 7, 2009

Sold to Avalon Books!

MOOD STATUS: "Thrilled". ( See post below)

Well, I'm happy to FINALLY announce that I sold another manuscript.

I know. I can hardly believe it either. :)

After an exhausting day of teaching VBS (that's another blog post entirely), I came home yesterday and saw my answering machine light blinking. Of course after the day I had, I was totally cranky and annoyed that someone even had the nerve to want to talk to me.


But then I heard the lovely voice of an editor at Avalon Books asking me to call her back because she wanted to discuss my book, Georgie On His Mind (a manuscript I submitted to them in November).

Needless to say, all my crankiness magically disappeared. LOL!

I had hoped it was good news but then again, I had sent them an e-mail to check up on my submission so I was thinking there could be a chance that maybe there was a problem or something.

Nope, no problem!

In fact, my new editor said she thought my story was adorable and wanted to buy it. After oh, like one second of thought and many many ramblings of "thank you" and "are you serious?", I finally said YES!

(If you're interested in hearing more about Avalon Books, check out their website and this interview with editor Faith Black.)

I'm still so shocked, because to be honest, this book was a complete BEAR to write. I have blog posts to prove it:

*Like HERE when I wanted to literally "Take This Manuscript and Shove It".

*Or HERE when I suffered through--not writer's block-- but "Writer's Blank" with it.


I guess the point of my rambling is that it just goes to show you how important it is to persevere and finish your manuscript no matter how difficult or boring it becomes to you.

**off soapbox now**

Anyway, this is a really great way to start out my weekend.

I already told the hubby he's treating me to a nice dinner out. :)

44 comments:

Chicki Brown said...

Congratulations! You worked hard on that manuscript, and it paid off. Tell hubby I said to make it really good!

MJFredrick said...

Congratulations!!!! So glad your hard work paid off!

Marty said...

Congratulations on this great success!

Kristen Painter said...

What wonderful news! Congrats on the next step in your career!

Terri Tiffany said...

WHooo HOO!!!! So happy for you!!! Go out and celebrate today!

Jeanette Levellie said...

Jennifer: I kid you not, I am crying tears of joy for you right now. Congratulations! This is so encouraging!!! Yippee and Dippee and Praise the Lord!!!!!
Blessings and Huge Sales, my dear,
Jen
P.S. Book Drawing on my blog today...

Stephanie said...

I'm so proud of you, Jennifer! You rock! I'm out of the loop on stuff...is this a big house? Hard copies? Epub?

Debora Dennis said...

This is a GREAT book and I can't wait to get my hands on it (even though I helped crit it - it's different :) )

I'm am SOOOOO happy for you - you deserve the success!

Keep writing girl! Big hugs!

Bethanne said...

Yahoo! You are awesome.

Jennifer Shirk said...

Thanks, ladies!

Stephanie: Yes, it's a bigger publishing house. No e-books unfortunatley, but it will be a hardcover book, which is nice. :)

Cindy R. Wilson said...

Jennifer, that's amazing. Congratulations! I can't wait to hear more about it.

Kit Donner said...

Hi Jennifer,
What a testament to perseverance! I'm so happy for you! Keep me apprised when the book is on the shelf! One of my chapter friends, Christine Bush, has written several books for Avalon. Great website! All the best, Kit

Jody Hedlund said...

AWESOME!! How exciting, Jennifer! And congrats! That's a wonderful accomplishment!

Jen said...

Hip hip hooray! What wonderful news. Congratulations :) Celebrate and have a fantastic weekend!

Jen

Jeannie Campbell, LMFT said...

that's SO EXCITING!! and what a great way to end a frustrating day. :) i'm sure all that crankiness really did fly right out the window. :) YAY!!

Myra McEntire said...

Wooooohooooo! Congrats!

Tess said...

How very, very wonderful! Doing happy dance over here for you.

Will check out those links...

R.M.Gilbert said...

This is great Jennifer. I liked that it took perseverance to finish and didn't just roll of the fingers, so to speak.

Congratulations!

And it is wonderful you are going to celebrate with your husband. Keep up the great work.

Tana said...

I am sooooo happy for you!!!!!!!!!! I finally parted with The Role of A Lifetime and gave it to my BFF to read. I love your writing style and cannot wait for your next novel (more details please). I'm going to have a Marshmallow shake just for you this weekend (yes there is a growing demand for those in my house lol)

I can't wait to hear more on this. Congrats Jennifer, you deserve it!

Eileen Astels Watson said...

This is such fabulous news, Jennifer!! How can you seem so calm in this post? I'm having trouble sitting still and it's your awesome news.

Thanks so much for admitting that writers can become bored of their stories. So many always say that they never lose the passion for their stories, but although I have many moments of highs and falling in love with my old stories over and over again, I seem to have near as many moments of "this really sucks, it'll never sell." So maybe there's hope after all.

Chelle Sandell said...

Knowing what you went through and how you stuck with it...makes it all so much more exciting!! I can't wait to buy it so you can put your pretty signature on it!! It's a definite inspiration! I'll even take a picture of it on the shelf here in Oklahoma!!

Nadia said...

Congratulations, Jennifer! You so deserve this!

Susan R. Mills said...

Congratulations! How exciting is that? Definitely go celebrate!

PatriciaW said...

Congrats, Jennifer! Taking notes about perseverance, down here at the foot of the soapbox... Way to go!

Kate Karyus Quinn said...

YAY!!!! I am so excited for you and can't wait for this book to hit the shelves!

Vanessa said...

This is awesome - even more so because it made a bad day good, and it was a difficult book!

Congrats! You definitely deserve it!

Jennifer Shirk said...

Thanks, ladies!

You all are SO supportive!

Trisha Pearson said...

Congratulations! That is very exciting news. I'm very happy for you!

Jessica Nelson said...

Eek!!!! That's so awesome! Congrats. :-) I'm not surprised they called it adorable either. LOL!

Sherrinda Ketchersid said...

Congrats!!!! I'm so glad you didn't throw in the towel last summer while writing it! :)

Jennifer Shirk said...

Thanks so much!

Sherrinda: Gosh, me, too! I could really whack myself for even thinking it. LOL!

Glynis Peters said...

Oh Jennifer how wonderful!! Congratulations, I am thrilled for you.

Thanks for all the encouragement and support you give me in your comments on my author blog, you are an inspiration and great blogging friend. P.S I am sucking up as you are going to be famous and I want to say I knew you before fame LOL LOL

Renee said...

Jennifer, what a blessing. Congratulations!!

Marianne Arkins said...

I'm a little late to the party but wanted to say: WOO HOO!!!!!!!!

I'm thrilled for you.

Jennifer Shirk said...

Thanks, Glynis! You're too kind. :)

Thank you, Renee!

Marianne: Hey, better late than never! LOL!

B.J. Anderson said...

Congratulations!!!!

MsSnarkyPants said...

Congratulations!!!!!!!

Travis Erwin said...

Congrats! Way to go.

Annie Doyle said...

WoW, Jennifer I am so excited for you. Congratulations!! I love this story!!
Hugs - Annie xxx

Stephanie Faris said...

CONGRATS! That's awesome. I've had a requested complete with Avalon for months. I'm not sure if that means they aren't interested or if they're still reviewing. I guess I should send a letter to check?

Katie Salidas said...

Congratulations. that is wonderful news!

Roni Loren said...

Congrats! (And thanks for the add.)

Shelley Munro said...

Jennifer! I'm late to hear your wonderful news because I've been doing edits. Congratulations. I'm absolutely thrilled for you. :)

arundel24 said...

Congratulations, Jennifer. It took me a whole year to sell my second book. I'm hoping to sell the third one way before next May.
I remember that book.
Theresa