I am thrilled to announce that I have finalised a publishing contract with Bookouture UK. I am working on two novels set in World War Two – the first to be published in September this year and the second in February 2025. You can read about the deal here:

https://bookouture.com/bookouture-acquires-sweeping-wwii-novels-by-author-julie-hartley/

This publishing contract represents a new direction in my writing career. My three previous books were published by well-respected Canadian presses – Red Deer Press (https://www.reddeerpress.com/),  Mansfield Press and Theatrefolk. Bookouture is a division of Hatchette, one of the ‘big five’, so this new contract is a fabulous opportunity to reach more readers… and to write every single day.

On my creative writing retreats and in the writing classes I teach, I’m continually telling my writers not to give up. The publishing industry is notoriously difficult to break into. Published writers often forget the pain of their many rejections in the same way that new mothers forget the pain of childbirth! Because of this, there is a tendency for some published authors to act as if they were overnight successes, when this rarely happens.

So, before I forget, let me put this out there…

I approached about 40 literary agents this past year. I’ve attended writers’ conferences and pitch sessions, and made shameless use of every contact I could think of. I had a few bites – but many, many more rejections.  It doesn’t matter how good your writing might be – it still needs to land on the right desk. You have to find the right agent or editor to champion your work, and the best way to do that is to cast the net wide.

A writer-friend once told me there are three ingredients to success, in the search for publication: GREAT BOOK + HARD WORK + LUCK. And then he said, the interesting part of this is that only two of these three ingredients are actually necessary. We’ve all read published books that are not very good – and we’ve all heard of terrific books that do find a publisher right away, due to luck, and with very little hard work.

So if this is true, make certain your book is amazing, before you start to pitch. Then, WORK HARD – very, very hard – to get the attention of a publisher, or an agent. Do this, and according to my friend (who is an editor, and ought to know) you won’t have to rely on luck. Eventually, you will  be successful.

Writing to a deadline isn’t easy, and I’ll be blogging about that very soon. But today, I’m refusing to think about that.

Today, I plan to celebrate.

Julie