Your publisher drops you. Now what? 😞
Today's guest is author Annelise Ryan
Landing a book deal doesn’t mean you’re out of the woods forever.
Even after you sign with an agent and sell your book to a major publisher, you might face challenges in your publishing career.
Your publisher could restructure. Your agent could retire. The deal you thought was your big break could fall apart — putting you back at square one.
But giving up is never the best option.
The writers who build lasting careers are the ones who keep showing up, even when the industry lets them down. They revamp old projects, nurture new connections, learn about the industry, and trust that persistence will eventually give them new opportunities.
It’s not glamorous, and it’s definitely not fast, but it’s how you rebuild when publishing knocks you down.
In today’s interview, author Annelise Ryan takes us behind the scenes of a decades-long career, sharing the reality of losing a major deal, the Sunday afternoon phone call that changed everything, and the best cures for a creative block.
OUR SPECIAL GUEST TODAY IS…
Annelise Ryan
Author
Monster in the Moonlight, Book #4 in the Monster Hunter Mysteries, is out now!
What’s been the toughest moment in your publishing journey, and how did you get through it?
Getting published at all was a long and arduous journey, decades of rejections and learning. But I’d have to say the toughest moment overall was a one-two punch when HarperCollins decided to drop me as an author before my third book with them came out, and my agent became so frustrated with the way the industry was going that she decided to retire two years later.
This was in the late nineties, and it was a strange time in the publishing world because there were these new things called e-books out there, and lots of folks were panicking. Publishers were merging and reorganizing, some were closing shop, and agents were dropping like flies.
After thinking my writing career was finally taking off because I had an agent who had sold three of my books to HarperCollins, I suddenly found myself with no agent, no publisher, and no prospects. It was a devastating setback for me. I got through it by continuing to write, revamping a story I’d been working on for several years, and keeping at it. Eventually it paid off, but it took several years.
How did you get your literary agent? What was the querying process like for you?
My first literary agent came after I’d sent out 39 query letters. I’d had a handful of manuscript requests but wasn’t expecting any agent to call me at home on a Sunday. Yet she did. I honestly thought it was a friend playing a joke on me at first. Once I realized she was legit, it was all I could do to contain my excitement. She and I went on to do three books with HarperCollins, but then she decided to retire.
I spent a few years with another agent I queried for a new project but he didn’t seem to have the enthusiasm for my work I wanted to see, so after three years we parted ways.
A few years after that, a contact I’d made doing book reviews for B&N.com became an agent, and she called me out of the blue to ask if I had anything. I did, and she went on to sell my Mattie Winston Mystery series to Kensington. After a few years, she switched from agenting to becoming a published writer herself, but another agent in the company took me on, so I didn’t have to go agent hunting again. Thank goodness! It’s a humbling process.
What’s a myth about publishing or being an author that you wish more people understood?
There are almost no overnight successes. It takes time and hard work.
What’s one thing about the publishing process no one tells you, but should?
I think too many writers ignore the need to learn not just the craft of writing — it’s about more than simply putting words on the page — but also the business side of writing for publication. Whether you intend to self-publish, go the traditional route, or choose some hybrid mix in between, you need to approach it like a professional because it’s a business.
That means learning and understanding things like the markets, trends, goals of publishers, costs of publication, the needs of bookstore owners, what attracts readers, and even the nitty-gritty, day-to-day stuff like book distribution networks and discounting.
If you want to write simply for your own pleasure, have at it. But if you want to write for publication, you need to put in the time to learn how to do it — all of it — properly.
Psst: I wrote a book! Check it out ☺️
What’s one thing you do (creatively, mentally, or physically) that helps you stay in it when writing gets hard?
Sometimes I have to step away from the work and do something uncreative, like take a walk in the woods, go for a bike ride, or tackle some heavy-duty housecleaning tasks I’ve been putting off. Sometimes I’ll read a book or binge-watch something way outside my writing genre. My subconscious mind is working all the time, and, while it took me some years and a few books to realize that and trust the process, I now know I can rely on it. Eventually, the answer will come.
What do you do to stay true to yourself in your writing?
I write what I enjoy reading. If it doesn’t entertain me, how can I expect it to entertain anyone else? I’m not striving to write great literature, I simply want to spin a good tale that will keep readers entertained and let them escape from the real world into the imaginary one I’ve created for a while.
What’s the best piece of feedback you ever received? How did it change your story?
The best and most frustrating advice I ever received was to “find my voice.” I had several writing instructors say this to me and tell me I hadn’t found it yet after they read my work, and I had no idea what it meant. I still don’t.
But I kept trying to find it and changing my writing approach and style until, one day, someone told me I’d finally found my voice. It’s more of an ethereal concept than an identifiable thing, yet I can now recognize it in my head and tell when my writing lacks it. I wish I could bottle it up and sell it! Or at least store it on a shelf so I don’t have to ever worry about losing it.
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 part of the writing process brings you the most joy?
Those days when I sit down to write and feel like I’ve been at it for maybe an hour and then realize five hours have gone by and I don’t want to take a break because I’m so excited about where the story is going. Getting into that groove is such a high. Then there’s the moment when you realize you’re finished with a project and ready to send it out into the world. That’s both scary and exciting.
When life gets busy, how do you protect your time to write?
It can get to be a challenge at times, but I’ve learned that I don’t need to be in front of my laptop or sitting with pen and paper to be writing. I’ve worked through plot points while driving in my car and dictated notes to myself on my phone while watching my nieces in a game and scribbled down an idea on a napkin in a restaurant and stuffed it in my pocket.
When deadlines start pressuring me, I sometimes have to beg off of social events and family gatherings in the name of getting the work done, but I’m something of an introvert anyway, so people have come to expect that of me. I’m fiercely protective of my writing time when I need to be.
ICYMI…last week on YouTube, I discussed why the Shy Girl scandal is a wake-up call for the entire publishing industry.
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