Fanfare! Litopian friend publishes children's novel

Paul Whybrow

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Kitty

Open Submissions window for MG authors

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Madz said:
Anne that's so cool. Congrats! :cool: I'm still waiting for your Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon / Hunger Games style book. I'm sure it's going to kick ass!

You're right: we could quit but where's the fun in that? I've got my dad asking me when I'm going get a proper job again! :rolleyes:
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Yep! I´m waiting for that one too! Told you it was a winner @Sea-shore !
 
And I'd love to learn just a little bit of the back story when you've time @Madz.

The writing journey, the agent hunting process, the experience of watching the agent at work, hunting publishers.

Tally Ho!
 
Madz said:
Aw thanks Anne! Seeing a fellow Litopian on book signing day would be everything! :)

That's the one thing I hate about this business. You could be the most awesome writer ever but if the Powers That Be don't connect with your idea, you end up thinking it's crap too. :( As writers we need sensitive hearts in order to get under the skin of our characters and yet that same gentle heart must put up with a hell of a lot of rejection and belittling. I had tonnes of agents tell me my writing was too 'childish' and 'unsophisticated' for the type of story I wanted to tell. Agents have made me cry, rage, and on occasion develop an existential crisis.

But then I met Penny Holroyde and I was lucky.

Anyway I think it's great that you're brave enough to try different things. I applied for my writing course before I got my book deal. I figured I just wasn't good enough. I still don't think I'm brilliant and I'm hungry to learn my craft. I think I read an interview with award winner Zadie Smith and I recall her saying that she's still trying to perfect her craft and she's never read a perfect book. So there's hope for us all!

Good luck![/QUOT

That´s terrible. I´m sorry you had to go through that, I'm terrified of having to face something like that, which we all eventually must if we´re attempting to get published. So happy you found the right one.
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Great news, Madz! I'm delighted you made it through the swamp of mediocre agents to get to publication by Macmillan Children Books. Fanbloodytastic. I don't tweet but if I ever get there, I'll look you up. Good luck with it all.
 
Ancora Imparo said:
Great news, Madz! I'm delighted you made it through the swamp of mediocre agents to get to publication by Macmillan Children Books. Fanbloodytastic. I don't tweet but if I ever get there, I'll look you up. Good luck with it all.
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Thanks Ancora! :)

Twitter is way more political than I'd like, but these days it's part and parcel of the publishing industry. I know Joanna Trollope isn't a huge fan (called it 'insatiable egotism' I think!), but then she's so popular, she can say and do whatever she likes! :D
 
Dear friends,

Apologies for the massive delay in relating my experiences. My life has been a rollercoaster of madness but there's a bit of a lull now. :oops:

So here's the 411 on how I leapt from the slush pile, reached critical mass and landed on a publisher's list.

In 2014 I finished a YA fantasy novel which took a ridiculously long time to write as I created an entire world with its own special rules and inhabitants. I sent it out on submission in roughly batches of fives. My current agent responded within just two weeks (something that I would forever be grateful for). It wasn't an offer. She didn't even want to see the rest of my ms. But she DID praise my writing and gave me some awesome tips, stating that she'd definitely like to see it again once I'd revised it. It was the one thing that kept me going in the face of having other agents tell me how bad my writing was.

By the time my ms was revised, my ethereal agent had left the agency. :eek: There was talk she was setting up her own agency but no one knew for sure. So I sent my ms out to other agents. It was a soul-destroying process with some VERY rude responses. Three times I came tantalisingly close, with agents requesting a full read through, but alas I kept failing to clinch that coveted deal. That's got to be the worst: having your hopes raised only to have them dashed. I'm getting sweaty palms and palpitations just remembering! :(

Just gonna put this out there: at one stage someone told me to write under a pseudonym because "Muhammad Khan sounds like it belongs on a Most Wanted list". :rolleyes: It wasn't the most encouraging thing to hear...

So I kept teaching maths and my students kept encouraging me to go live my dreams. They were young. They didn't realise dreams weren't meant for people like me. Then 2015 happened and news of 3 British school girls from Bethnal Green going out to join ISIS rocked the world. Teachers across the country were given mandatory Prevent training. Suddenly Muslim students didn't want to express their opinions on anything anymore for fear of being misinterpreted and ending up down at the local police station. Even my non-Muslim students became fearful in case they were labelled as racist for asking sensitive questions.

It was during this terrible period that I wanted to reach out to all of my students (without getting fired!). So I wrote I Am Thunder over the 2 week Easter break (high school teachers get little time to themselves, so I had to be quick). Serendipity played me a hand and news of my agent's sparkling new literary agency reached me. I submitted with all the misgivings and apprehensions of any unagented writer and more. She was the one and only agent I actually wanted. She had shown me kindness when no one else did. I could NOT blow this goddammit!

Within a week she asked for the rest of the ms. Then radio silence. An extended period of complete and utter nothingness. I prepared myself for the worst...

Then one day, quite out of the blue, I got an email from her asking to meet me at a swanky restaurant. Was she going to tell me she liked my stuff but it STILL wasn't good enough? Words cannot express how I felt when she gave me the good news in person. I was placed on the books and within a month publishers actually wanted to meet with me. :confused: Me - the fool who studied engineering and became a high school maths teacher?!

Meeting publishers was the most nerve-wracking thing I've ever faced. My jaw clamped; my teeth-chattered (and I may even have pissed myself a little :p) yet somehow I managed to answer their questions satisfactorily.

Let's just say that the moment I met the Pan Mac team I knew I'd found a home for I Am Thunder. That's not to say the other publishers weren't amazing too in their own right. My editor at Pan Mac shared the same love and empathy for Muzna Saleem - my main protagonist - as I did. That is mind-blowing. We all love our characters and to have them criticised hurts, but to have them embraced is sheer nirvana. :D

So a few months later my agent called me up at school and gave me the good news. A two-book deal was on the table and all it needed was my signature. I couldn't believe it. After all the toiling and struggling and crying (not to mention the self-doubt and depression) it was FINALLY happening.

Sorry if this isn't a very polished piece. I just wanted to answer Katie's question asap. I'm a full time student now, I've got to write Book 2, and I need to make myself available for Book 1 promotion. Don't get me wrong: I'm not complaining. I'm grateful to be given a shot at my childhood dream.

Time will tell if my book will resonate with the target audience, but I feel privileged to have my students behind me. And YOU guys. Thank you for all your support. Especially to Katie who made this post (because there's no way I would ever do it myself!).

I hope all of our dreams come true! :)

Muhammad
 
A rocky ride, and how rude of people about your name, how vair dare they, and yes, now you ARE on a wanted list! That'll larn them.
And when you've time I'd love to know more about this 2 week dash during the school break...was this the completion of the first draft?
 
Incredible journey! And really well-written chronicle. I was at the edge of my seat, rooting for the entire time! Thank you so much for taking the time to share this with us, I'm so glad you finally got that deal. Good for you! I smell a possible film in the making ;). Two book deal sounds like they are in it for the long haul. Congratulations!

But, all things considered, I´d like to make a comment about 2 things in particular--things that worry me because I too am a so -called "writer of color".
I don´t know about you, but the way I see it is that the industry thinks ( a reflection perhaps of the market?) that if we are not white and want to publish say fantasy, or horror, or any other genre-related novel, then we have to hide our identity because, god forbid we would be able to write in a white-man´s genre. (I say it because your fantasy novel--which i´m guessing is pretty good, was not published and because of what they said about your name:mad:), and because it´s not the first time i´ve heard about this kind of thing happening. We can call it coincidence, but I don´t think so.

AND, on the other hand, a way to get your foot in the door is by writing about the social/ethnical group you come from because it´s what seems to be selling ( example--the hate you give) and therefore, publishers feel they can make good money from it at the moment--which in a sense might be a good thing but does nothing for you as a long-term writer.
Do you think this is observation is accurate? o_O

Whatever the circumstances, congratulations and best of luck!
 
Katie-Ellen Hazeldine said:
A rocky ride, and how rude of people about your name, how vair dare they, and yes, now you ARE on a wanted list! That'll larn them.
And when you've time I'd love to know more about this 2 week dash during the school break...was this the completion of the first draft?
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Thanks Katie!

Yes the 2 week dash was completion of the first draft. It was about 45 000 words long and pretty much a depressing cautionary tale. The final version is 73 000-ish and hopefully with a less didactic message. I got some of the kids at school to be my beta readers (under threat of detention. j/k).
 
Quillwitch said:
Incredible journey! And really well-written chronicle. I was at the edge of my seat, rooting for the entire time! Thank you so much for taking the time to share this with us, I'm so glad you finally got that deal. Good for you! I smell a possible film in the making ;). Two book deal sounds like they are in it for the long haul. Congratulations!

But, all things considered, I´d like to make a comment about 2 things in particular--things that worry me because I too am a so -called "writer of color".
I don´t know about you, but the way I see it is that the industry thinks ( a reflection perhaps of the market?) that if we are not white and want to publish say fantasy, or horror, or any other genre-related novel, then we have to hide our identity because, god forbid we would be able to write in a white-man´s genre. (I say it because your fantasy novel--which i´m guessing is pretty good, was not published and because of what they said about your name:mad:), and because it´s not the first time i´ve heard about this kind of thing happening. We can call it coincidence, but I don´t think so.

AND, on the other hand, a way to get your foot in the door is by writing about the social/ethnical group you come from because it´s what seems to be selling ( example--the hate you give) and therefore, publishers feel they can make good money from it at the moment--which in a sense might be a good thing but does nothing for you as a long-term writer.
Do you think this is observation is accurate? o_O

Whatever the circumstances, congratulations and best of luck!
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Aw thank you, Quillwitch. :) If there's a film, you're all invited to the premiere! Tbh I'm just hoping for decent sales. Being a debut author is seriously nerve-wracking... :confused:

I think things have been getting better for minority voices. Penguin has Write Now!, Macmillan has unveiled 2 BAME authors and one LGBT author on their main YA list, and Stripes released Change Book. A lot of publishers are waking up to the fact that books have been unrepresentative of the Britain of today. Nikesh Shukla is looking to open The Good Agency. It's a good start, but more needs to be done. I think consumers also need to exercise their power to show publishers inclusive literature sells.

In terms of fantasy, there are more PoC involved including: Nnedi Okorafor, Tomi Adeyemi, Larissa Lai, Sabaa Tahir, Saladin Ahmed etc.

I guess I didn't want to put all my eggs into one basket so I wrote another novel. If I Am Thunder hadn't been picked up, I probably would've sulked then written yet another. You're probably the same. :p Writing is in our blood. We can't help it!

Hopefully you'll be getting a deal soon! :cool:
 
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Paul Whybrow

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Kitty

Open Submissions window for MG authors

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