Sometimes adversity can’t be overcome with brute force. Sometimes you have to play smart and keep a level head if you want to achieve your dreams. I had always been a lifelong writer, and in my freshmen year I began working on a story that I have become particularly proud of. Over the course of three months I wrote a 300 page Young Adult action thriller called The 16th Academy. I poured my heart and soul into every devious plot twist and complex character in the book. I was determined to get it published and see it on the shelf of my local Barnes and Noble. It’s the kind of book the younger me would be excited to read.

All I knew about publishing was that authors typically have literary agents to represent them. A quick Google search later, I found a database full of agents accepting queries in my novel’s genre. Much to my dismay, every query I sent out pitching my book was met with a swift rejection. It seems I wasn’t alone: with the advent of the Internet, virtually anyone can and does send in his or her own manuscript for publication. Each manuscript must overcome a tidal wave of skepticism in the form of editors with demanding expectations and stringent guidelines. Each successive rejection I received – 42 in total – was increasingly disheartening. Not wanting to dwell on them each time I opened my computer, I persistently deleted each e mail. The vision of my novel in bookstores endured; even if 1,000 publishers and agents didn’t share that vision, it didn’t matter to me. I had faith in myself and my own judgment as a writer, which was all I could count on at the time.
       

I began looking back at the novel to see if I could make any improvements. I contacted an editor who was kind enough to go through my story and give me criticism. Through his comments and notes, I ended up editing and replacing more than half of my 80,000 word novel. Sometimes certain sentences would have to be tweaked; sometimes entire chapters were gutted and rewritten. These extensive changes took more than three months and certainly wounded my ego, but I knew that it would be necessary if I wanted my book to stand a chance.

Soon after revamping my novel, I attended a writing camp at Brown University and met an author who taught one of my courses. After evaluating my manuscript he guided me to a richer, more difficult to find, database of small publishers. With my new and improved manuscript, and these invaluable new publishing contacts, I began pitching once more. This time was different. After more than a year of immersing myself in the publishing culture and improving my work, I felt my chances of publication were improving.
       

Sure enough, in January of this year I received an offer from Cedar Fort Press to publish The 16th Academy. After a couple rounds of editing and revising over the summer, I’m looking forward to the release of my novel on December 13th. On that day, I can hold my book in my own two hands and kids can have a new page-turner to sink their teeth into. A book, which for so long was just a dream and a word document on my computer, has become something real and tangible through hard work and perseverance.