Elana Johnson's signing!

I was lucky enough to attend the book launch/signing for Elana Johnson's POSSESSION last week at The King's English in Salt Lake City. Since I ended up in the ER the next day, and on bedrest since then (see last post), the timing couldn't have been more perfect.

Elana and me before her speech

I can't believe the crowd that was there--it was astounding! But then again, I shouldn't be surprised, since she is so amazing, and so well loved. It was a triumphant wonderful night for her, and I couldn't be happier for my friend!

Me and Natalie Whipple

I also got to see so many author friends, like Natalie It was such a fun night. :)

Stacey (MyPileofBooks) and me

Congrats again Elana! Wishing you tons of success in the months and years to come. :)

Possession!

I'm sure you already know and adore Elana Johnson. She's everywhere--she does so much for so many people. Her blog=amazing. Her accomplishments (querytracker, writeoncon, etc.)= astounding. And her book POSSESSION is finally here! WOOHOO!

I am so excited for you Elana, and just want to take the time to say

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

You rock and deserve all the good things coming your way.

Control or be controlled? That's the question! To find out, go out and get your copy today! I can't wait for the launch party tonight.

GUEST POST: ELANA JOHNSON "FINISH STRONG"!!!

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to have Elana J. here today. She is amazing. Seriously, people. Not sure yet? Just read her post today. Wow.


FINISH STRONG


Okay, so Sara’s letting me take over today. She wanted me to talk about how I got started writing and how I kept going, even during the hard times. Not sure I did that in this post, like at all, but here we go…


First, let’s get something out of the way. I’ve felt like quitting every day, in some capacity. There’s two words you need to keep going: FINISH STRONG.


It doesn’t matter how fast you’re going right now. It doesn’t matter if you don’t write every day. It’s okay to take breaks. Fling yourself from the ledge. Eat a lot of Oreos.


But don’t quit.


I know, I know. Sounds easy coming from the girl who has a book deal.


Let’s get some numbers out there.


Elana’s embarrassing stats:

Novels written: 12 (seriously)

Novels queried: 2 (CONTROL ISSUES was my third penned novel)

Months spent querying: 14 (that’s FOURTEEN, and not a typo)

Queries sent for CONTROL ISSUES: 189

Submissions sent: 42

Rejections in 2009: 188 (41 people passed on CI. Again, not a typo)

Months spent writing for the QueryTracker blog BEFORE I was agented: 11 – AND I was the last of the QT blog authors to be agented.

Agent phone calls BEFORE an offer was extended: 5

Revisions done for agents BEFORE an offer was extended: 2


Number of rejections received in 2010: 0


The point of sharing this is to show that I had many opportunities to quit. Too many. But I didn’t. You shouldn’t either.


It doesn’t matter if you’re first, last, or in between. Publishing is NOT a race. It doesn’t matter if your critmate got an agent—the same one that rejected you. It simply doesn’t matter. The only thing you can do is work hard at improving your writing and FINISH STRONG.


So do that, okay? Okay.


What do you think? What does it take to finish strong? Can you do it? (Yes, yes you can.)

SEE? I told you. AH-MAZ-ING. Did this inspire you all as much as it inspired me? Thank you so much Elana!! This was perfect. Exactly what I was hoping for and more. Thank you for being willing to share your story with us!

Her blog is so awesome, too - if you aren't a follower already, get over there and add yourself right now. You can thank me later. :-)