After 3 Years I Think It's Time for a Change
I need your help and as a thank you I am offering a fantastic special anniversary offer
Hello and welcome to my regular readers and a warm welcome to any new readers. Thank you for being here.
Three years ago today, Rosy’s Ramblings was born, so happy anniversary to me! So much has happened since then.
I will update my Welcome page in due course but I’m not going to send it out to my subscribers just yet because I am thinking of re-branding Rosy’s Ramblings. I will explain everything, but in the meantime, here is a quick run-down about me and what I do. I hope you stick with me.
I write humorous anecdotal posts, short stories, observational pieces, and the odd poem or two. I have also written a cozy crime novel and two children’s books. I write from the heart and enjoy sharing my work with you and many readers around the world.
Why Subscribe?
So that you don’t miss out. Everybody hates FOMO. And, of course, it makes it worthwhile to know that people are reading and enjoying my work. Otherwise, there would be no point in my crafting pieces that nobody reads. I am pleased to report that my average open rate is 40% which, I am led to believe, is pretty good. Let’s hope that continues!
I will slide gently and unobtrusively into your inbox, so you can read me at your leisure when it suits you. I will never try and sell you anything (apart from my books, of course!) and I won’t bombard you. That’s not my style. I’m just not the ‘shouty’ type. I most definitely will not try and sell you a writing course, a) because far too many people are doing that here, and b) I am nowhere near qualified enough.
All I hope is that you enjoy my writing. I have written for as long as I can remember. Just as some people have to paint or create something beautiful, or dedicate their lives to playing a sport, whatever drives that burning ambition for some people, for me it is writing. And it always will be.
More About Me
I live in a picturesque village in England, where I work from home as a part-time Legal Assistant, dividing my time between working my day job, writing, playing golf, and travelling. Check out this amazing footage of Shropshire, which is a beautiful place to live and I feel very fortunate to be able to call it home.
My website has lots more information about me and my books. I have self-published two collections of short stories and poetry and in June, my debut cozy crime novel, The Mysterious Disappearance of Marsha Boden, is going to be published by RomaReads Publishing.
I also have two children’s books in the pipeline for publication. The first is Mr Tiddy’s Garden which is due for publication in October, again by RomaReads Publishing. I have seen the illustrations and they are beautiful. I think (and hope!) children will love it. The second children’s book, A Day at the Park, is due out next year.
The whole journey of writing and getting my novel published has been a crazy roller coaster ride. Some days I have been beside myself with happiness and joy, bursting to tell the world about my achievement. On others, I have been close to tears feeling utterly overwhelmed and jaded.
I will be revealing the cover right here soon!
More About My Roller Coaster Ride
Pitching a novel is tough. It’s worse than preparing for an interview for a job that you desperately want. Aside from the pitch or query letter, which has to be honed to perfection and written specifically to the publisher you are pitching to, there are the synopsis and first 3 chapters to consider. These last two might seem straightforward and if you have finished your novel, all well and good. That was my first big mistake. I thought I could pitch an idea to a publisher but soon realized that I had to finish the book first.
Book completed, all 75,000 words of it, I honed it as best I could. Looking back, it was nowhere near finished. But that is something else that I learned on my journey to becoming a published author. A good editor is worth their weight in gold.
Some publishers want the first 3 chapters, others want 10,000 words and so on. They all want different things. Again, you have to read the submissions page very carefully. Sometimes, publishers close to submissions so doing your homework is imperative. You don’t want to waste any more time on the process than is absolutely necessary.
Make a spreadsheet of all the publishers/agents you are submitting to. Dates sent, whether it was acknowledged, and any comments that you receive. Naively, I thought you could only approach one publisher/agent at a time. Do not waste your time waiting for a reply! Some do not even acknowledge receipt via an automated message. Others do. Some even write comments if they liked your work.
Here are some of the rejection comments I received when I submitted my manuscript of The Mysterious Disappearance of Marsha Boden:-
“It was an excellent book, but we have something similar.”
“It was utterly charming, but we are not passionate enough about it.”
Here are some comments I received from critiques:-
“The story sounds really cool and definitely engaging enough to read more. The setting is very rich with detail, the characters are instantly engaging and you have done an excellent job so far of weaving in the tone of your story, which is the mystery element.”
The Cheshire Novel Prize feedback was very detailed and went into great depth, but I have cherry-picked the best bits (naturally!) “The plot is brilliant. There is so much to like about this and we really enjoyed reading it. This is such a good plot and interesting characters, but the execution is not quite there yet. Some of the images are brilliantly done.”
You will have to wait for the book to be published to see what they are talking about!
Here are the comments I received from the publisher who accepted it for publication:-
I absolutely love how vividly you paint the setting of the book. It is a lovely example of using many descriptive words without losing the effect of them and paints a crystal clear picture. I would love to request a full manuscript for further reading and consideration!
After careful consideration, we here at RomaReads Publishing think the Mysterious Disappearance of Marsha Boden would be a fantastic addition to our bookshelves!
Woo hoo! I had done it.
RomaReads Publishing was No. 14 out of 23 on my list. And that is how my journey to becoming a published author began, and my dream finally came true. There were developmental edits, structural edits, re-writing and hundreds of hours of hard work and heartache, re-shaping and honing the book. I wrote in one of my previous posts about how knocking a book into shape is like kneading bread. You keep working on it until eventually, it turns into something beautiful.
I cannot wait for publication day and to hold a copy of my book in my hands. It has been a long time coming!
As a thank you for sticking with me this far, I am offering 50% off all subscriptions for a limited period only, so you can access the entire archive of my work and help encourage me to keep posting when my subscriber numbers are not great - 185 after three years! 😒
My Journey on Substack
When I wrote my very first post, which is a little cringe-worthy when I look back at it, (although I do look incredibly happy in the photo which was taken the day after I married my second husband), I had intended to write about village life in England. I soon realized that there is only so much that you can write about because guess what? Not that much goes on in a small place. Looking back, I could have written about different villages but I did the next best thing, which turned out to be the best thing that I ever did. I wrote a novel based on the village where I live and set it right here. I gave it a fictional name and all the characters are fictitious. Now, I have a never-ending well of things to write about!
I am 30,000 words into my second novel, having been tip-tapping away on my keyboard, working my day job, and doing all the other boring stuff that crops up in between (filling out tax returns, updating my social media platforms, creating mailshots to market my book, etc). Distractions are the bane of a writer’s life. My next dream, my first one having been fulfilled, is to become a full-time writer.
I did the next best thing, which turned out to be the best thing that I ever did.
If it wasn’t for my Substack, and more importantly, my wonderful subscribers, I would not be a published author today. I serialized the book here, writing two chapters a week which took me six months. I soon started to receive some wonderful comments about how much people were enjoying it. And that spurred me on to submit it to publishers. When I submitted it to the Cheshire Novel Prize and read their critique, I knew that I had something special. Or at least, something worthy of publication.
Why Re-brand Rosy’s Ramblings?
After 3 years of rambling, I think it’s time for a change. As I can now officially call myself a published author, (that still sounds so surreal), I thought I should stop rambling. I have a couple of ideas for a new name but haven’t settled on one yet. I need your help in deciding. Below, there is a poll with the 3 choices. I will choose the one that receives the most votes.
Thank you for reading this far. If you would like to take advantage of a special anniversary offer, please use the Anniversary link above, which will not only make my day 😊 but also give you so much more to read and ponder.
Now I need your help. What name shall I re-brand to or should I keep Rosy’s Ramblings?
Have a great week,
Rosy.
Hi Rosy
Thank you for this, and for sharing so much of your getting published journey – including all the feedback! It really helps me put my own getting published (not yet) journey in perspective! Will really look forward to reading the novel – especially as I come from Shropshire – and often think of moving back there!
PS I like both Rosy’s Writing and Everything’s Rosy.