return to me and the long wait fo publication

The first book I ever wrote was a romance novel based on a dream I had where my husband looked the same, but I knew he was a different man. When I woke up I couldn’t get the dream out of my head and so my novel Return to Me was born about widowed Lana who dies and is transported to a parallel universe to be reunited with her husband, only to find him a different man.

I spent three years working on this novel. After numerous drafts based on critiques from my writing group, I realised I was finished.

The next step was to submit it, however I was suffering a crisis of faith. I wasn’t sure whether my book was any good. I decided that this was my practice book, the one that allowed me to learn the craft of writing.

I re-read it after 10 years and I finally decided to bite the bullet and submit Return to Me. All the years that I had spent on it had devoid me of any objectivity about its merit.

I sent my manuscript to my agent who submitted it to publishers and soon two offers followed. When the rights reverted back to me I re-released this book as an indie author.

It seems miraculous that I had established a career as a romance author. I think about the 11 years that my manuscript languished in my metaphorical bottom drawer until I finally decided to give it a shot. While I think waiting so long was the right thing for me, I also learnt the most important lesson of all: ‘to submit and get rejected is better than not to have submitted at all.'

https://www.maearcherromance.com/return-to-me.html