Every Wednesday, I will post about my writing journey from unpublished author to published author with Love Inspired. My posts reflect my experiences and may be different then others’ experiences. You can read about my experience about receiving “the call”: From Dream to Reality: The Story of My Heart 

Credit: alvaspappa

Your phone rings and it’s your agent or prospective editor, giving you the news you’ve been waiting to hear–your book sold.

After you express your joy, you may wonder, “Now what?”

When Rachelle, my wonderful agent, called to give me the news that my novel is going to be published by Love Inspired, I freaked out on the phone. Poor woman. I tried, oh I tried so hard to pull myself together, but sweet Rachelle very kindly asked if I wanted to call her later when things had quieted down–my house was very noisy at the time.

After my day job ended and I knew I wouldn’t hyperventilate on the phone, I called Rachelle back.

She explained the details of the sale, including the advance and how it would be paid, told me a few things about her conversation with Melissa, my new editor, regarding the manuscript and told me what to expect in the next few weeks with Love Inspired.

The following Monday I received a welcome letter from Melissa, welcoming me to the Love Inspired family, congratulating me on my sale and telling me how much she loved my manuscript. She attached a revision letter of items to change in the manuscript. Her suggestions were few. We set up a phone date for that week when it was convenient for both of us.

My first impression of Melissa was how encouraging she was on the phone about my manuscript. She talked about how she related to my heroine, the strengths in my story and then we talked about the things that needed to be revised. Again, I didn’t have many revisions–8 in all. Five were minor things and three took more time. Believe me, my brief revisions were not the norm. Plus, they were pertinent to the publishing house guidelines. Some of those revisions would not have been asked by a different publishing house.

You can’t compare your revisions to a friend’s from a different house. Each publishing house has its own set of guidelines.

I needed to soften my heroine sooner. Even though she had every right to be upset, in a short contemporary novel, she needs to have a quicker attitude adjustment. I had to remove a couple of words that went against Love Inspired guidelines–scumbag being one. 🙂 My hero had a conversation with God. I had to rewrite part of that scene. Overall, the changes strengthened the book.

Partnering with my agent and my editor to sell my novel has been an encouraging experience. They believe in my story and my writing ability. They want my novel to be as much of a success as I do. After all, we’re all invested in  one way or another.

If you are considering submitting to Love Inspired, read through their guidelines to ensure you send what they’re looking for. Also, read Love Inspired novels to get a feel for the quality and style.

Next week I’ll talk about my experience with the Art Facts Sheet.

Your turn: What are your expectations regarding revisions? Do you enjoy the editing process?