“I can’t be the only debut author who has several rejected manuscripts tucked in a drawer?”
Novelist Gillian Harvey tells how the seven novels she wrote before her debut helped her find her voice – and finally land that book deal.
Like most authors, my back story is a meandering journey of trying and failing. Of writing and rewriting, badgering agents and finally getting that breakthrough moment. I finished my first novel aged 24, but it was only when I had several attempts under my belt that I was finally published – aged 42.
I can’t be the only debut author who has several rejected manuscripts tucked in a drawer? I used to see them as evidence of the time wasted, but now realise they were an important part of my development as an author.
The first story I wrote was a ghost story based in an empty house that used to stand in Langford, Bedfordshire, where I grew up. The second was the story of a mother whose daughter is missing. Book three was the tale of a woman sitting by her dying mother’s bedside and realising how much she still had to share with her. Number four was a book about a male ‘Bridget Jones’ character trying and failing to get his love-life on track. Five, the story of four people whose lives were changed forever by a terrorist attack. Six was a diary written by a new mum, recording her private thoughts and internal struggles.
Novel seven – the one that nearly made it but didn’t quite get there – was about a woman who finds herself travelling back in time in her sleep. She tries to use the opportunity to change the fate of her mum.
And eight. Everything is Fine – a laugh-out-louder about an Instagrammer whose online image doesn’t quite match with her real-life experiences.
Looking back at the half-million words I spewed out during my time I feel quite exhausted. But I also realise they were part of my finding a voice – working out what type of writer I wanted to be. Importantly, I also learned more about my intended audience – what might work and what wouldn’t. I tried to find some uniqueness to make my book stand out. And I learned to edit.
None of my unpublished novels are terrible. The earlier ones are overly wordy (trying to sound clever), and some of them refuse to sit neatly into a genre – making them harder to place. Everything is Fine – my actual, published debut – is more polished, more fluid. Better.
At the same time, any published author will tell you that however good your work is, the final ingredient needed is just a tiny bit of luck. Your novel needs to land on the right desk at the right time. It needs to get there before another author with a similar topic gets taken on. The planets need to align.
I had a couple of agents request full read-throughs of novel seven. But it wasn’t quite there. One in particular – my agent, Ger Nichol at the Book Bureau – took the time to write me a positive email about my writing. It was Ger who I approached with Everything is Fine, and finally I was signed. Orion offered me a two-book deal shortly afterwards and a different sort of journey began.
Launching my debut and becoming a ‘published author’ hasn’t quite felt as I’d expected. It’s a little like becoming pregnant after IVF. Your dreams have come true, but you’re still only at the start of a exciting but nerve-wracking journey.u
Gillian Harvey is a freelance writer and mum of five who lives in Limousin, France. Her debut novel Everything is Fine is available now.
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How to become Unstoppable: author Gillian Harvey