My journey as an author has been long and arduous. Through the years I’ve learned much and with each new book I’ve gotten better and closer to my dream: a book deal. I thought it might be interesting to show this journey in terms of a book timeline, so here it is…

My Book Journey

# Title Status Started Finished
1 Untitled Not published 03/2007 05/2009
2 Keeper Indie (July 2014) 04/2009 10/2010
3 One Wish Away Indie (Feb 2017) 05/2010 10/2010
4 Ignite The Shadows HarperVoyager (Apr 2015) 05/2010 10/2010
5 Two Hearts Asunder Indie (Apr 2017) 10/2012 03/2013
6 The Guys Are Props Club Indie (May 2013) 04/2013 04/2013
7 Girls Are Players Indie (Dec 2013) 06/2013 10/2013
8 Unreality TBD 02/2014 10/2014
Traditional offer from Voyager 02/2014
Started Looking for an agent 03/02/2014
Found an agent 03/07/2014
9 Eclipse The Flame Harper Voyager (Aug 2016) 01/2015 05/2015
10 Ripper Indie (2016) 06/2015 09/2015
11 Tame The Night Indie (Oct 2016) 11/2015 12/2015
12 Shatter The Darkness Harper Voyager (Sept 2017) 01/2016 03/2016
13 Three Words Promised Indie (May 2017) 05/2016 07/2016
14 Luminous Indie (05/2018) 01/2018 02/2018
15 Nebulous Indie (07/2018) 03/2018 05/2018
17 Weaver Indie (08/2018) 04/2017 07/2018
16 Perilous Indie (09/2018) 07/2018 09/2018
17 Untitled TBD 07/2018 09/2018
18 Untitled TBD 09/2018 10/2018
19 Untitled TBD 10/2018 WIP
20 Untitled TBD 11/2018 WIP

Interesting facts

Writing for: 12 years

Book I wrote the slowest: Book #1 — 26 months!

Book I wrote the fastest: Book #6 — The Guys are Props Club — 22 days!

Book to get a 1st traditional contract: Book #4 — Ignite The Shadows

Book that got me an agent: Book #4 — Ignite The Shadows

Days to get an agent after traditional offer: 5 days!

You’ve probably heard that patience in publishing pays off. It was certainly the case for me. This timeline illustrates the many years of hard work it can take to get a traditional contract, as well as the speed with which things can happen when preparation meets opportunity. If you’re still trying to reach your publishing dreams keep fighting. They do come true!

[Image attribution: Photo by Brenda Clarke, used under CC/No changes]