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If you
have ever had a dream of writing your own book you will know that
the process is not as easy as it seems. Getting those ideas down on
paper and then readable can appear an impossible task. But sometimes
it all comes together and after many rejections from potential
publishers, one of them finally says ‘yes’ and that dream becomes
reality.
You
will undoubtedly have read one of Sharyn Smart’s interesting
articles in our digital magazine, Kids Friendly NZ, as Sharyn is a
regular writer here. Sharyn has given us a glimpse into how she got
her first book published. Who knows, it might just inspire you to
get your ideas down on paper and write your first book.
Sharyn’s dream started back in November 2004 when she did a
comprehensive writing course by correspondence through the Writing
School. One of her assignments was to write a juvenile fiction
story.
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What
would she write for this story? Her son, Alex, came to the rescue
with a planned school trip to visit a horse called ‘Fonzi’ and some
of Fonzi’s animal friends. Unfortunately, Fonzi got sick and the
school trip was cancelled. Fonzi’s health deteriorated and he passed
away.
Still
the idea lingered and she put it on paper. Sharyn persuaded her
friend, Wendy Short, to illustrate her book. The book was a tribute
to Fonzi, and Sharyn and Wendy handed a copy of the unpublished book
to Fonzi’s owners.
But
this isn’t where Sharyn’s story ends. A friend recommended that she
contact David Hill, a well-known New Zealand author, who lived in
Sharyn’s home town of New Plymouth. |
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Contacting him wasn’t easy;
Sharyn had to pluck up the courage to ring him, wondering what his
response would be. David proved to be both inspirational and
encouraging, and so started the next stage of Sharyn presenting her
manuscript to the publishing houses. However, like many authors
before her, each submission of the ‘Fonzi’ manuscript to the
publishers came back rejected.
Sharyn
appeared to have hit a major road block, but a chance meeting with
Carolyn-Ann Aish’s daughter at a scrapbook-making class set her on
the path that would eventually lead to her getting her book
published. Carolyn-Ann was from Studio Seven Publishers in Inglewood
and she just happened to be looking for new authors. So in June 2005
Sharyn met with Carolyn-Ann and was shocked when she accepted
‘Fonzi’ for publication. Months blurred past with contracts being
signed, and meetings and revisions to Sharyn’s manuscript. At long
last ‘Fonzi’ was no longer a rejected manuscript but a real book,
published and right there in Sharyn’s hands.
But
having a book published isn’t the end of this story. There is no
point in having a book published if no one will read it! So Sharyn
approached the owners of her local shops in Moturoa to advertise the
launch date of her book. They were extremely supportive and
displayed posters and fliers in their shops. On 10 December 2005
‘Fonzi’ was launched, with friends and family gathered together to
celebrate. The Taranaki Daily News business section published a
feature in which Sharyn was included.
As so
ends the true story of how a school trip inspired a book that became
a reality and made a dream come true.
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