The spoiler: I have officially signed a contract to publish my Fae novel (currently titled Invasive Species) with a small press named Evernight Teen.
A little history: I have been writing novels with the intent to publish since 2016. I'd written off and on for years before that, writing an entire book, actually, but never in a serious way and never for a continuous period. 2016 was the turning point. 2016 was the year I decided I was going to DO it.
That first book went nowhere. Neither did the next. Or the next. That third book was Ashes, Ashes, by the way. I tried for years to land a literary agent, but writing is an incredibly competitive field, and less than 1% of new authors land agents. I finally decided to self-publish Ashes, Ashes, but that's a different story (which you can read all about in my Book Release post).
While I was trying to get Ashes, Ashes off the ground, I wrote another book. Invasive Species also failed to garner attention from agents, but I wasn't ready to give up yet. I decided to look into small, independent presses that accept manuscript submissions from unagented authors. A Twitter friend of mine, Morgan Shamy, had a blog post listing dozens upon dozens of small presses, so I began slogging through the list.
Current Events: One small press liked my book so much they want to publish it! I signed a contract with Evernight Teen to publish Invasive Species (title may change in editing) later this year, and I couldn't be more thrilled. Invasive Species is the first in a trilogy following a changeling named Eve as she navigates a Fae Realm she has never been to before but is expected to save. I can't wait to see this book in print, and I hope you'll all join me for the ride.
Congratulations!
It's inspiring to see hard work and perseverance pay off. As I've told you before, I'm on the verge of giving up altogether; agents and publishers are an incredibly impenetrable lot that don't seem to be interested in changing their ways.
I fell like a male author like myself who doesn't write fantasy or YA is doomed to failure.