Timeline of a first novel

[popmuze]

I've written approximately four unpublished novels, and then three published YA novels (along with lots of published non-fiction books, articles, columns, etc.)

On my latest attempt at an adult novel (I still look at it as my first novel) I took 10 months to complete the first draft (120,000 words). My agent sent it to an editor who had many problems with it. I'm not even sure my agent read the whole thing. I dropped the agent and went into serious rewrites. Three years and maybe five drafts later, I have a new agent and I'm still awaiting feedback as to whether the thing is finished.

This is the place to tell your own tale of how long and how many rewrites it took until your first novel got published.

By the way, the publication of my first YA novel was like a dream. I had proposed a NF book to an agent who said an editor thought it would work better as a YA novel. The book sold on the basis of three chapters and an outline. I wrote the whole book in four months. The second YA was much more difficult, with heavy editing, but it was based on a lot of my prior unpublished writing. The third one I call my "contractual obligation" novel, although when I read it now, it's not too bad.

[maestrowork]

First thought of writing a novel: 1998. (Before that I had essays and a series of short fiction published)

First word typed: November 2001.

"The End" typed (first draft): October 2003.

Rewrites: November, 2003 - February, 2004.

First Query: February, 2004.

Contract: November 9, 2004.

Book Released: January, 2006.


(I gave myself 5 years to get a book finished -- so I'm glad I achieved my goal)

(Now, I am giving myself another 5 years to become a best-selling author. Let's see how that goes)

[Shady Lane]

I write 4 or 5 books a year.

I'm on number 3 for 2007 right now.

[popmuze]

I write 4 or 5 books a year.

I'm on number 3 for 2007 right now.


Nevertheless, what's the story of how long it took to get the first one published (not counting self-published).

[Shady Lane]

Oh, okay.

Started writing it January 2006, when I was fourteen.

Finished April 2006, right before my 15th birthday.

Only one draft, becuase I didn't know better then.

Met Brad Grochowski, owner of Authorsbookshop.com, in May 2006.

Showed him the ms around that time.

Around July 2006, he told me he'd like to show it to a publisher friend of his, Cantara Christopher, to see if she had any constructive criticism for me.

In January 2007, they made a very surprising offer for an ebook/paperback. I accepted the same day.

April 2007, around the time of my sixteenth birthday, they told me they'd release it in September.

And that's where I am now. :)

[johnzakour]

I wrote my first novel online as a weekly story for the Sci Fi channel in 1997. I kind of queried them on a whim and they said sure. So I wrote it on the fly week by week. Once the weekly serial was done in 1998, I found an agent and he sent it to all the big publishing houses. They all said, "no." Then in 1999 I published the collection as an ebook for peanut press (who I sent the story to on another whim). It sold well. Peanut showed it to Daw books who bought it in 2000. The novel appeared in 2001. So it took a while.

Since then though I've been doing 1 - 3 books a year.

[ZannaPerry]

Well......since this IS my first novel, my big project (aside from so many short stories) I've been stuck on the same story since my junior year of high school, and I'm a sophomore in college. So, yeeeeeeeah, I need to get on the ball, huh? :/

[HourglassMemory]

I came up with my first, main story in 7th grade. I can actually take you to teh place I was standing when I came up with it.

when I came up with a new idea,a story or wrote a new chapter, I would write the hours at which I started or came up with them.
Not the days...the actual hours.

It was always in between 2AM and 5 AM.
I came up with so many stories that I just forgot one day and I dont' do it anymore.

I wrote it down jsut for fun...when I'm older so I can look back and actually see at what time and day of the year I came up with this or that story.

Im weird.

Nothing besides coming up with stories and writing has happenend to me so I can't do an interesting timeline...

[Wolvel]

I started mine on a whim, a friend of mine was writing a book on A.D.D. and i thought to myself, hey if he can do it I know I can, so I pulled out one of my older ideas and began to write.
that was 2003, in 2006 I finished the first draft and I'm working on my querry letter. I have also started book two.

[reenkam]

Well...mine's not published, but I'll post about it anyway. :)

Started August before 8th grade. Finished August before 11th grade. I haven't done anything with it since.

I don't plan on going back to it until I have something else published, though, and I've just started that lengthy search in March...

*sigh*

[blacbird]

4

goddam

ever.

caw

[Maprilynne]

Wow, I've actually been thinking about this a lot lately. I'm not published yet, but I think I have an interesting time line so far.

I started my first book in September of 2005 and finished it in December of 2005 and started querying.

I started the sequel in January of 2006 and finished it in June of 2006.

In August of 2006 I realized that book one was only half a book and--quite frankly--it sucked. So I put book one and book two together and did a huge revision that I finished in November of 2006.

Also in November of 2006 my now agent contacted me. We worked on revisions for three months. She signed me in January of 2007.

My book was sent out in March of 2007.

In July (hehe, two weeks ago) I received my first three rejections along with a suggestion that the book would be better suited for a YA audience. So in August of 2007 I am now starting on yet another revision that will probably take about three months and then the sending out part will start all over again.

It's a very long process.

[Memnon624]

I started writing my first book, seriously writing it, in December of 2000 (a "p*ss or get off the pot" situation). With associated research -- it was historical fiction set in 26th dynasty Egypt -- I finished it in March of 2002.

I spent a year submitting it to agents. After 47 rejections, I signed with an agent in May 2003 and set about doing a few revisions.

Almost exactly a year later, in April or May of 2004, my agent sells it to a smaller publisher -- who plans to release it as the cornerstone of their new hardcover imprint.

Book is released in June of 2005, at Book Expo in NYC.

My avatar image is the cover of the UK edition of the same book, released by Transworld in August of 2006.

Maprilynne is right. It's an extremely long process designed to deprive writers of sleep and cuticles. Or maybe that's just me . . .