It’s finally here. My contemporary young adult novel, Promise Me Tomorrow, released earlier this month.
It’s been a long road.
This book was birthed out of a desire to deliver a message to my daughter. My very first article published here at Almost an Author talked about that.
When you’re young, you never think that people you know might die, much less moms. And yet, two of the moms in our community passed away, leaving behind children the same age she was at the time. I could not reassure her. So I did what writers do.
I wrote her a story.
At first, the novel veered more toward middle grade fiction, but over time—and through numerous rewrites—it grew into a healthy-sized young adult novel. After I’d written it, my daughter and I decided together Promise Me Tomorrow was a story that could help others dealing with similar situations. I rewrote the story and edited it.
My very first query garnered a request for a full manuscript. At the time, I had no idea how rare this is. I had no idea what I was doing and only queried one agent. Eventually, she passed on the book.
I got a book coach, I joined all of the writing groups, learned more about the publishing world, entered contests, went to classes, re-drafted, revised, revised some more, edited, and began the submission process in earnest. I got requests, but in the end had no takers.
During this time, I continued to write books and queried them all while still working on my craft and doing all the things. Promise Me Tomorrow became a RevPit runner up, which was very exciting. And the third book in this series was a PitchWars runner-up! Every time I got a request or a positive response of some sort, it encouraged me to keep going. Both of these books placed in or won a few other contests as well.
Still no agent.
I collected my one hundred rejections—the suggested number I’d heard tossed about among writing groups—and garnered a few more for good measure. I was getting nowhere, not even after branching out into other genres. Self-publishing seemed a possible route, so I started gathering information but quickly became overwhelmed.
Then I was asked to join in a collaboration of self-published authors. It came about in an unusual way. I am a voracious reader and had commented on Instagram about a book I’d enjoyed. I tagged the author, Jenny Knipfer, never dreaming that one day she would tap me to join her in a writing project. The collaboration was not for young adult fiction, but that was okay. I was confident I could write whatever the assignment called for, and I was ready to learn about self-publishing. The support of working in a collaborative group was exactly what I needed to help me get going.
That was a year ago.
Since then I have released four books, one of which is in the running for a Carol award this year, (whaaaa?) a development that does not feel real at all. (This is for When the Wildflowers Bloom Again, my southern Christian women’s fiction novel.)
Isn’t it funny how God works things out?
It was a long and winding path to get to publication for Promise Me Tomorrow. A lot of things have changed since I began the journey to publication for this book, but my original goal remains intact. The hope that Nina’s story brings comfort and clarity to those who are hurting.
Sometimes the only way to hold on is by learning to let go.
All sixteen-year-old autistic artist Nina thought about before was earning the privilege to paint the school mural, and possibly untangling her emotions about a certain boy. But then she found out about her mom’s terminal cancer. After that, nothing mattered except finding a miracle cure for Mom.
Small Town Contemporary YA with Sweet Romance. Available in ebook, paperback, and on KU.
Donna Jo Stone is an award-winning, multi-genre author. She writes contemporary young adult, historical fiction, and southern fiction. Many of her novels are about tough issues, but she always ends her stories on a note of hope. Finding the faith to carry on through hard battles in a common theme in Donna Jo’s books. For the latest news on upcoming releases and other author news, sign up for Donna Jo’s newsletter at donnajostone.com.
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