S is for Summoned #AtoZchallenge

Today on the A to Z Challenge we are up to the letter S. Since I have already written about my work-in-progress (Alexandria) and the other two parts of my trilogy (Destiny and Quietus), I thought I would talk about with the book that started it all – Summoned: Book 1 of The Elemental.

I started Summoned many years ago before self-publishing on the Internet was even an option. Originally, when I submitted it to publishers, it was under the title – The Elemental. It wasn’t until I decided to make it a trilogy that I changed the name to Summoned and used The Elemental for the trilogy name.

Anyway, I sent out query letters and sample chapters to publishers. I received a lot of rejection letters. When finding an interested publisher wasn’t working, I looked for an agent. By this time, I knew I was writing a sequel but again, there was no interest in Summoned.

I would get discouraged and life would get busy, so I would put away my manuscript for a while. Then I would bring it back out, make some revisions (changing the beginning and tightening up the story) and send it out to a new list of publishers or agents. And the cycle would repeat.

Finally, after I decided to become a stay-at-home mom, my husband suggested I try self-publishing it online as an e-book. That turned out to be the best suggestion. After a new set of revisions and much proofreading, I had someone design my cover and put it on Amazon.

Of course, being a newbie indie author I had no clue the amount of marketing and time it would take before I would start generating sales. But I am happy to say that Summoned is doing well, and the sequels (Quietus and Destiny) are out and doing well too.