Pleased To Let You Know…

On By K.M. Allan

If you’ve been following my blog since the start, i.e. the simpler time of June 2017, you’ll know one of my early posts was about the first rejection I received.

After Careful Consideration… was the opening line for the rejection and are words that still haunt me to this day.

I’d received said rejection February 2016, and now, three years on, 16 rejections later, and with an MS rewrite that almost cost me my sanity, I received my first acceptance!

This email opened with the words Pleased to let you know… and hit my inbox off the back of rejection 14 (“Unfortunately, the concept and sample pages didn’t connect with me as much as I’d hoped”) and 15, (“I’m sorry, but your project does not sound like a fit for me at this time, and so I will have to pass”).

Rejection 16 came afterward when I contacted agents I had the query with to let them know I was withdrawing it and one expressed interest and asked for the full MS.

My only goal for this querying round was to gain a full submission request after failing to get past the “send your first three chapters” stage last time. Now I had two requests; one from the small press who’d already made a contract offer, and one agent.

A few days later, the agent passed (“Congrats again on the offer of publication! That’s so exciting! Unfortunately, this isn’t quite right for my list, so I’m going to step aside, but I wish you the best.”) which, if I’m honest, was an odd situation to be in.

I’m not going to lie; receiving a rejection after an acceptance made me wonder for a split second if the small press had gotten it wrong and offered me a contract by mistake (thanks, imposter syndrome). Instead, I trusted in the email that said “I find the characters engaging and the story interesting and fast-paced” instead of the 16 telling me nothing more than various versions of “It’s not quite right for me“.

I started my 2019 submission round with the hope of an optimist but the heart of a realist; one that had been hardened by years of rejection and a year of endless edits. I’d promised myself that 2019 would be the year I finally published my YA series and that it would either be with an agent or publisher, or I would do it myself, inspired by the wonderful indie authors I’ve met and whose books I’ve loved reading since joining the writing community.

Now my book will be out in the world too, with thanks and guidance from a small press who saw something in the story. So today, I’m pleased to let you know, my debut novel, Blackbirch, will be released in 2020.

**Update** Due to issues beyond my control, the deal with the small press fell through 6 weeks from release. The rights were given back to me and I self-published my debut novel, Blackbirch: The Beginning, in February 2020. The second book in the series, Blackbirch: The Dark Half, was released in July 2020. The third book, Blackbirch: The Ritual, was released in August 2022. All of the books have been a hit with readers, receiving multiple 4 and 5-star reviews. The fourth and final book will follow in 2023.

K.M. Allan - Writer

— K.M. Allan

You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

88 thoughts on “Pleased To Let You Know…”

  5. Congrats!! That’s an exciting news. I just started querying and I feel the pain. 5 rejections so far, but I remain positive. I’m truly happy for you. Let us know when you know more about publication and so forth.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. There were definitely times when I thought I should stop trying or move onto something else. Rejections test you but you never know when you could get an acceptance. Good luck with your future submissions.

      Liked by 1 person

  14. I am so proud of you.

    I was lucky enough to be one of your beta readers and it was an amazing read. I could tell from the beginning I was reading something special. When you told me you signed I was not surprised.

    You are the perfect example of hard work and a dream. The characters you created mean a lot to you and it showed.

    Congratulations my good friend. I am so happy for you.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks, Bryan. I was the lucky one for having you as a beta reader. Your feedback and suggestions (even the ones I ignored 😅) helped me shape my MS into a draft good enough to catch a publisher’s eye. I’ll always be thankful for your help and friendship over the last few months.

      Liked by 1 person

  17. Wonderful news! So happy you reached your goal after all that hard work. Better get busy writing new material – your fans are going to be demanding MORE!! Remember all of us little people when you get rich and famous…

    Liked by 1 person

  18. You already know I’m overjoyed for you, but I want to shout it loud, so here I am again!
    Congratulations!!
    You stuck with your story for many years, you pushed through long, gruelling edits and you never once gave up. There are successful authors out there with many more rejections followed by a long career in publishing novels. There’s no way your impostor syndrome is telling the truth – you’ve written a brilliant, brilliant story that’s been recognised and will go on to be, I’m sure, a huge success!
    Can’t wait to buy my copy!!!
    xxx

    Liked by 1 person

  19. Congratulations. It’s definitely nice to see you get there, after all the work and all the tips you share with your readers. Good luck with the next steps and I hope you’ll have happy loyal readers, you surely deserve it. And it might be a good motivation for your readers who are still on the way there to keep going.

    Liked by 1 person

  26. Kumquat Absurdium

    Oh my days, CONGRATULATIONS! I’ve been following your blog for a while and I’ve really felt for you, working so hard despite the rejections. I’m so thrilled for you that you’re getting published and I can’t wait to read your book!

    Keep us updated!

    Liked by 1 person

  32. What a journey — well done for your persistence and self belief.
    Thanks for liking my blog posts — it’s nice to know I have at least one follower!
    I’m on a roller coaster with my writing — I have been advised to stop hiding behind fiction and write a memoir! Oh dear, big learning curve. Any thoughts on memoir writing that you have to share will be welcomed.
    CONGRATULATIONS KM!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks, Lyndy 😊. I don’t have any experience with memoir writing, but my belief with all writing is to write what you’re happy with. I find the rest follows from there. Good luck.

      Like

    1. Thank you, Naomi! Good luck with querying. All I can say is to hang in there. There were times when I wanted to give up and seriously considered it. I didn’t, and this was the result.

      Like

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