Marisa Chenery was always a lover of books, but after reading her first historical romance novel she found herself hooked. Having inherited a love for the written word, she soon started writing her own novels. After trying her hand at writing historicals she now also writes paranormals. Marisa lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband and four children. Check out Marisa’s website at www.marisachenery.com. She would love to hear from you, so drop her a email while you’re there.
Welcome to Beyond the Books, Marisa Chenery! Can we start out by telling us whether you are published for the first time or are you multi-published?
I’m published for the first time. My very first book, The Blue Lotus, came out September 10<sup>th of this year at Liquid Silver Books. But I do have a second book called A Tournament Knight coming out sometime this November at New Concepts Publishing.
What was the name of your very first book regardless of whether it was published or not and, if not published, why?
The name of my very first book is Lady Knight. It isn’t published yet, but it’s sitting at Ellora’s Cave waiting for an acquiring editor to look at it. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
For your first published book, how many rejections did you go through before you either found a mainstream publisher, self-published it, or paid a vanity press to publish it?
Actually with The Blue Lotus I was very lucky rejection wise. I tried submitting it to a mainstream publisher only to have it sit there for a year with no response from the publisher. I had submitted A Tournament Knight to Liquid Silver first and it didn’t fit exactly with their line, but they expressed interest in The Blue Lotus. So I wrote a letter to the other publisher that I was withdrawing my submission then sent it off to Liquid Silver who in turn offered me a contract for it.
How did the rejections make you feel and what did you do to overcome the blows?
I have had more than a couple rejections for the first two books I wrote. I will admit it is depressing when you get turned down. I almost gave up writing altogether. If it wasn’t for a very dear friend of mine who read my first book and told me I had to keep writing, I wouldn’t have any of my books published. She wouldn’t let me give up.
When your first book was published, who published it and why did you choose them?
My first book was published by Liquid Silver Books. Actually they were the first epublisher I submitted to. At the time I knew to nothing about epublishers, so I based my decision on the quality of their website and the type of books they already had published.
How did it make you feel to become published for the first time and how did you celebrate?
I was ecstatic when Liquid Silver offered me a contract. I have been writing books for the last 10 years, and to finally have a publisher want to publish one of them was one of the best things to ever happen to me. To celebrate I had a party and invited my family over. We had champagne for the adults and sparkling grape juice for the kids.
What was the first thing you did as for as promotion when you were published for the first time?
The first thing I did was set up my own website shortly after I signed my contract. This was something I was able to do easily since I know how to do HTML and I love designing web pages.
If you had to do it over again, would you have chosen another route to be published?
Absolutely not. I think epublishers are going to only get bigger as time goes on. I’m thrilled to be just a small part of this flourishing business.
Have you been published since then and how have you grown as an author?
My second book, A Tournament Knight, will be coming out sometime this November at New Concepts Publishing. I think I have grown as an author since having a book published. I feel more confident in my writing. That I no longer have to wonder if what I’m actually writing is good enough for a publisher to accept.
Looking back since the early days when you were trying to get published, what do you think you could have done differently to speed things up? What kind of mistakes could you have avoided?
I think my one mistake was not trying to submit to epublishers earlier than I did. They are more likely to give an unpublished author their big break compared to some mainstream publishing houses.
What has been the biggest accomplishment you have achieved since becoming published?
I think my biggest accomplishment would have to be finally being able to call myself a writer. I always felt that I had to have a book actually published before I could say I was a writer.
If you could have chosen another profession, what would that profession be?
I probably wouldn’t choose another profession since I’m a stay at home Mom, as well as an author. So I really already have two rewarding jobs.
How do you see yourself in ten years?
I hope to see myself in 10 years still enjoying writing books and have people enjoy reading them.
Any final words for writers who dream of being published one day?
The best advice I could give would be to never give up on your dream, keep writing. If one book doesn’t get you published then write another. Eventually one of them will be the one a publisher won’t reject.
Beyond the Books 