It all started with a memoir. No wait. That's not right.
It all started with a fiction manuscript. I wrote one as part of my master's degree capstone project. I took a course that promised that I'd have a first draft in 45 days. I did, and it was trash. I worked with an editor to produce pages that I thought were ready for publishing. I queried many agents. I submitted many pages. There were no bites. I activated plan B—self-publishing. I secured a book designer and print shop. I obtained an ISBN number, developed a website and press materials, and worked with a publicist. I reached out to bookstores and attended all the book events I could find. During those pre-social media days, I pushed hard. At the end of the day, I sold only a handful of books.
I was exhausted. I vowed to never write a book again. I was done.
Over the years, aspiring authors asked me for advice on writing and publishing a book, which I gave freely. Then, I met Ransford Doherty. He’s best known for his role as Coroner's Investigator Kendall on the TNT hit series The Closer and Major Crimes. He told me he was writing a book. I figured he just wanted advice. But he had written 150 pages already. He didn't need advice. He needed help, but I was NOT the one to accept this challenge. I had no more books in me. I was done.
My husband, who's known Ransford since high school, convinced me to take a chance on molding the manuscript. We began work in 2019, and in the middle of a pandemic, produced a fun, roller-coaster ride of a manuscript that landed us a literary agent.
I've experienced both sides of the publishing track: self-publishing and now traditional publishing. My expertise and lessons learned combined with my background as a certified project manager makes me more than equipped to lead you from a book idea in its infancy to a full-grown manuscript ready for the world to see. You'll get tired and want to stop, but I'll push you to keep going. The reward on the other side will be well worth it.
