From form rejections to 400,000 books sold 📚
Today's guest is USA Today bestselling novelist Joe Siple
If you’re staring down a pile of rejections, it might feel like your publishing dreams are over.
Rejection after rejection can be difficult to face, especially if you’ve been in the query trenches for years and have queried multiple manuscripts. It can feel like your dream of being published isn’t on the horizon.
But that’s not true.
Success is ahead of you — you just can’t see it yet.
Often when you feel like giving up, it is the exact moment that things change. In publishing (and in life), things can turn on a dime.
In today’s interview, USA Today bestselling novelist Joe Siple shares his unique journey to 400,000 sales, how his biggest success stemmed from a low in his career, and how he gets inside a character’s head.
OUR SPECIAL GUEST TODAY IS…
Joe Siple
USA Today bestselling novelist
My latest novel, The Anonymous Storyteller, will hit bookstores in late 2026.
How did you get your literary agent? What was the querying process like for you?
From 2001 to 2013, I wrote a book-length manuscript every year and queried 50-75 agents each time — and received nothing but form rejections. In 2013, I took a risk and went to the New York Pitch Conference, which led to landing my first agent. But after four years, four manuscripts, and no published books, I decided to go in a different direction.
In 2018, I had my debut novel, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride, published by a Print on Demand publisher called Black Rose Writing. Once that book sold about 200,000 copies, I was able to sell the print rights to Union Square & Co (a part of Hachette Book Group) and get my books in bookstores for the first time. That success made it much easier to get another agent, but at that time I wasn’t sure I wanted one.
Then things got a bit complicated — in a good way. We sold the film rights, the book was translated into thirteen languages, I now had two publishers for the same books...so I decided I needed someone to help with my future projects. The tricky thing at that point was figuring out how to find the agent that’s right for me. The answer actually came to me, which was a novel experience after many hundreds of form rejections the first time around.
An agent had emailed me through my author website shortly after The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride was first published, telling me she enjoyed the story and wondering if I was looking for an agent. I wasn’t at the time, but when she emailed again two years later, I realized the perfect agent for me is the person who has reached out to me multiple times to express her love of my stories. Who could be better? So now I have an agent again! And I’m very excited to start shopping my latest manuscript in February.
What’s been the toughest moment in your publishing journey, and how did you get through it?
Strange as it sounds, my toughest moment was when I received the author copies of my debut novel, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride. Two things left me dispirited. First, since it was published by a Print on Demand publisher, the physical book had that “self-published” look to it.
I had held out for 17 years at that point, promising myself I wouldn’t self-publish (for my own reasons...I have nothing against it for those who choose that route). So even though I had a publisher who took care of the cover art, the formatting, and whatever else goes into it, the appearance of the book reminded me of my failure to get a traditional publishing deal.
The second dispiriting thing was the realization that the only people who were going to buy the book were my family and maybe some close friends. I’d be lucky if thirty people bought it! So I put the books back into the box, taped it up tightly, and stashed it in the far corner of the storage area in my basement. In that moment, I finally faced up to the reality that I’d never be an author.
Somehow, hundreds of thousands of people ended up buying the book and it has created a lot of opportunities for me. But at the time, it was actually the low point of my entire writing career.
Ready for feedback that takes your story to the next level?
“I have greatly benefitted from my collaboration with Alyssa; I would not be where I am today without her! Her developmental ideas and vision for my novel taught me so much and helped to elevate my work in highly effective ways. Her editorial fingerprint is evident in the final result—a novel on bookshelves nationwide.”
—Jill Beissel, author of Glitter and Gold
What’s one thing about the publishing process no one tells you, but should?
A lot of things have been said many times — that it’s slow, full of rejection (even for successful authors) and never guaranteed. And those things are true. But the unique thing that my experience has taught me is that the world of “traditional” publishing and the world of “Print on Demand” publishing exist on entirely different planes. Each has very little understanding about how the other operates and there is little communication between them. If you have the opportunity to experience both worlds of publishing, it’s helpful to understand this reality going in.
What’s one thing you do (creatively, mentally, or physically) that helps you stay in it when writing gets hard?
Walking. I get my best ideas when I’m on my “idea generation walks”, so that has become a regular part of my writing routine. I usually write for a couple hours in the morning, then I go for a walk and record ideas on my phone. When I get home, I write them all down so I know what I’m going to write about during my next writing session. That way, I never have to stare at a blank page, wondering what to write.
What is the most memorable writing tip or technique that you have heard, and how did it influence your process?
I once complained to a writing teacher of mine that I couldn’t effectively get into the head of my character. I was struggling to understand him and his motivations. This teacher suggested I try writing in first person/present tense. It changed everything for me. Suddenly, I was actually in his head!
I know it doesn’t work for everyone, or for every story. But even if I write a story that doesn’t end up being in first person/present tense, my first draft always is. It just feels so much more intimate.
What part of the writing process brings you the most joy?
The goal of my stories is to give the reader a strong emotional experience. So that means I, as the author, get to have that same experience while writing. The part of the process that gives me the most joy is when I’m sitting at my computer, writing an emotional part of a story, and I start crying or laughing out loud. Not only do I enjoy feeling those powerful emotions within the safety of a novel, but if I feel those things when I’m writing, I can be pretty sure the reader will, too.
ICYMI…this week on YouTube, I analyzed 40 book deals to see what trends we can expect this year, and the results were surprising.
This was such a helpful interview for someone looking to get into writing! Thanks for sharing
Thanks for the interview! Comforting to hear that discouragement is part of the process that even successful writers go through!