By Ian Thomas Healy
I wrote my very first novel wayyyy back in junior high, which would have been cough1985ishcough a few years back. To call it a piece of crap would be insulting to pieces of crap. Fast forward a few years to 2003, when I knew nothing about the publishing industry and thought that a good way to break in would be to write a Star Wars novel (hint: it’s not). I wrote it and sent an email to an editor at Del Rey, which was publishing the Star Wars line. She didn’t have to reply at all, but she did. She said you have to be asked to write a Star Wars novel; we don’t accept unsolicited submissions. I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to do this, so I emailed her back and asked “what do I have to do to get asked?” Again, she didn’t have to reply, but she did. You have to have written and sold something in a style that is conducive to the style of the Star Wars Universe, and developed a good fan following.
Most writers might have packed it up right then and gone off to watch TV or something. I said to myself “fine, I’ll show her.” And over the next several months wrote an original, epic superhero novel called Just Cause. I completed it in 2004 and started researching how to submit to agents. Eventually, I sent it off to about 140 agents, and was rejected by every single one.
Figuring I had a lot to learn, I kept on writing and going to conferences. I shelved Just Cause for a few years and worked on other projects. Eventually I pulled it out, dusted it off, and cut out about forty thousand words. If that doesn’t make you feel a little faint, then you’re not a writer. I proceeded to write about twenty thousand new words, and thoroughly edited and revised what was left, and renamed it Mustang Sally.
It still didn’t sell.
By then I’d added more to the Just Cause Universe: Jackrabbit, The Archmage, Deep Six, Blackout, and some short stories. The first thing I got published, back in early 2010, was one of those short stories (“Graceful Blur”, now available in my Ebook Store). I consider myself to have been writing “seriously” since 2006 (after attending my first writers’ conference), so it was just about three and a half years from then to publication. Mustang Sally was acquired, along with the rest of the Just Cause Universe series, by New Babel Books. And they renamed it back to Just Cause. The more things change…
I still have that fanfic laying around. I’m thinking about rewriting it into a non-Star Wars setting. If Del Rey happens to contact me, I’ll let them know that if they’d like to contribute to the Just Cause Universe series, they have to have written and sold something in a style that is conducive to the style of the Just Cause Universe, and developed a good fan following.
I’ll enjoy sending that email.
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New Babel Books will occasionally feature guest bloggers and ask our authors to share their history and experiences with our audience. We hope you enjoy this ongoing feature!