This isn’t the Newsletter I expected to write this week, but it’s all good! This week, held much excitement! Two acceptances in one week - a short story, AND a Pocket Novel for release this December!
Today, let’s talk about that Pocket Novel and its journey to publication, so that you might know, right now, that nothing is ever lost!
PART ONE
Let’s roll back the years to when I joined the Romantic Novelists Association via their New Writers Scheme.
No, let’s roll back further, all the way to lockdown when I was laid out on my sofa following a hospital admission for a kidney issue. Stent in place and on strong meds, I’d read about a competition online to find a new Christmas love story, a romance. The competition was run by Penguin, yes, one of the Big Five, and it was free. There was no reason not to enter. Except, at that time, I was writing a crime novel!
Photo by Jackie Morrison: Penguin longlisting (then shortlisted!)
In a haze of strong meds, the closing date loomed, and I cobbled together a scene that had jumped into my head. Of course, as writers, we realise no such thing really happens - my subconscious had probably been working with this for weeks! I made the closing date/time with moments to spare.
To say I was flabbergasted to be longlisted, then shortlisted, is an understatement. Somehow, the opening chapters of this yet to be completed novel, had been plucked out of hundred of entries!
I did not win. I didn’t expect to win. I already knew from everything they’d posted, that my story was perhaps a bit too traditional for them.
What came out of that competition was a fabulous online community where all of the Penguin competition writers became part of an online group named the Penguin Collective, and several of them went on to produce an anthology. I didn’t put my work forward for that because I had plans for it.
Photo by Jackie Morrison: I had this poster on my desk during this time
PART TWO
I pitched that story online and got so much attention that I entered the opening into the RNA NWS for a critique and also bagged some one-to-ones with agents.
It didn’t go as I’d hoped.
I had trouble explaining the story, felt precious about it, and couldn’t yet see its flaws.
When my RNA critique came back, it was pages of notes to consider: good things and forthright notes on what I might need to look at.
In the main, the anonymous reader told me that this was NOT Romcom at all, and was only just on the edges of romance - that it was more of a contemporary womens fiction read.
That puzzled me as I did not yet understand the nuances of this vast publishing world. I’d been mis-selling this manuscript to the wrong people with the wrong type of blurb. It did not meet the expectations of the genre I was pushing it towards.
PART THREE
As in all good stories, by now we might have reached a problem or two and now be settling into new ground, and so it was with my novel. It settled….right into the bottom drawer as I could not yet fathom how to “fix” it.
I had neither the skill, nor the confidence to deal with it. I had written a story, but I knew nothing of how to edit.
Photo by Jackie Morrison: author with notebook holding novel notes for development
PART FOUR
The turnaround point came after I’d had my very first Pocket Novel published (The Sweetest Thing), which had developed from a short story.
By now, I’d proven to myself that I could reuse/repurpose material and turn it into a different product. I was thinking more strategically, being more mindful about my purpose. I also had around 15 stories in print at that point and work that had been short-listed in competitions. I felt ready to go back and tackle that mess of a novel. So here we reach the Middle Muddle! There was a surprise, though.
I pulled up the critique and read it again. slowly. Purposefully. Taking notes of what was being suggested. A page of bullet points.
Then I sat back and laughed. The report was really good! Only now could I see how to rewrite that story with a purpose in mind.
FINALLY
I stripped out a B-story, lost some characters, and honed the story right back to the main characters and a small cast. I kept the motivational arcs simple, and I began to rewrite. Again.
And, it was a pleasure! I so enjoyed writing it with a clear mind of what I was doing, where my characters were going. They were so real to me by this point.
THE END
I already knew when I typed The End that this was the freshest and cleanest this story had ever been. It might not be Penguin, but I knew it would have a home, and I decided pretty quickly where I hoped it might be.
SUCCESS
I sent a proposal for a Pocket Novel early May, received the go-ahead straight away, worked with edits and formatting to the right chapter lengths/book length etc, and submitted six months ahead of Christmas (because that is the type of schedule this publisher works with). I received the acceptance this week (3rd September) saying the pocket novel was brilliant! It will be published on 4th December 2025. Yes, this year.
THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD
I’ve been drafting novels and queried a few over the years, even pitched one at Bloody Scotland in front of a panel of publishing professionals. I’ve sat in zooms with agents. I’ve gotten so close with Trad Publishing, and considered self publishing.
Yet, with the market for my short stories being so successful, I thought I’d give the Pocket Novel route a try. It’s relatively quick - I will see TWO Pocket Novels come into print within one year, which is amazing. I will see them on sale in supermarkets. In due course, they may even have a second life elsewhere (more of that hopefully in a few months - it’s all quite exciting).
STAYING THE COURSE
The road to publication is straight-forward for some - they write something that hits the spot for a commercial or literary publishing world, and they enter that wheel of write, edit, publish (which may take years), or they go a digital-first route/print on demand, which is quicker. Some decide early on to go the self-publishing route (or in partnership with a publishing company), and I know of several people who have done that very successfully indeed.
Some people build a presence of literary work - poetry, flash, or short stories before gaining publisher attention and going on to publish a book.
Some, like me, do a huge variety of competitions, anthologies, flash, short stories, etc, before building to longer work.
I’ve been in print over the years, and I’ve been paid for my work over the years too, so I wasn’t exactly chasing that as a measure of success.
It’s simply that I want to tell stories and I want to share them.
Photo by Jackie Morrison: calendar
FINALLY
My Pocket Novel may be renamed, titled for the Christmas season, so I will come back and update once I know. My working title is SIGN YOUR NAME ACROSS MY HEART because it was extremely relevant for the story, which involved a signed book. But I trust my publisher to either stick with it, or rename it for Christmas. It is set in Christmas Tree Bay afterall!
Today I went to my wall calendar to mark up the date of publication, and when I flipped the pages to December, lo and behold…there was a little illustration of a book right on the date of publication - the 4th of December. This is only one of the signs that I’ve been aware of during the lifetime of this story. You can read about my “manifestation” on my Notes - I posted last week just prior to receiving the acceptance.
I wrote the final note in my notebook. IT’S A YES!!!!
Photo: Jackie Morrison, notebook
OVER TO YOU
I am cheering you on from the sidelines. You may take a direct, non-stop train to your destination, or you may take several buses. Crikey, you may even meander in a campervan, or walk with a map. Or no map. It doesn’t matter in the end. It matters that you stay the course and work and work with your material until you are satisfied. It matters that you find the most suitable way to publish your work - no judgement, the right place is the right place.
Lastly, and I can’t say this loudly enough…write for your audience. Do not write for everyone. Write for the audience your story is intended for.
If only I’d learned that earlier!!!
PS: The opening of that Pocket Novel remains almost word for word how it was sent to the Penguin competition. I was always clear on that opening vision. It was just the rest of the story I needed to sort out!!!
Over to you. Let’s share our meandering moments!
Wishing you all the best with your writing this week, from Jackie in the Little Writing Corner in Scotland x x
