Guest Post: Laure Eve - Fearsome Dreamer

Hi Guys!  I'm really thrilled to be able to give you a guest post from the lovely Laure Eve, author of Fearsome Dreamer.  Fearsome Dreamer is Laure's debut book, I shall be reviewing it over the next few weeks. 

Guest Post:  Laure Eve

Full disclosure: I actually work in publishing. Fuller disclosure: not as advantageous as you might think to getting published. Or at least, not to me.

I was a bit of an idiot, I suppose, in that I couldn’t bring myself to talk to anyone at work about my secret ambition to be a published writer. I was a little embarrassed, and a little afraid that people knowing would lead to questions and expectations – things I wasn’t ready to handle until I’d gotten somewhere with it all.

What did help was understanding, through my job, how the industry worked in general. I knew I needed an agent to even be considered by almost all traditional publishers (and this still holds true, unless you make a massive splash in online self-publishing first). So that was my first stop.

The internet is the most invaluable tool you could possibly have access to. I researched what other people had done to get an agent, what kind of a cover letter I should write, and crucially, which agents out there were looking for what I wanted to sell. I made a shortlist of my top four choices, based on what they said on their sites and social media channels. I freely admit that I totally stalked them on twitter. And then I submitted, the slush pile way.

I heard back from my now agent within a week. He had read the first three chapters and wanted the whole thing. A few days later he wanted to meet me. Two hours after that meeting, I was represented. And two weeks after that, we had an offer from Hot Key. This is pretty damn fast. Some people can take months to land an agent and months more to get a deal – but I’d be willing to say that I don’t think length of time is a determiner of career success.

Hot Key were brand new and untested. We could have held out to see if a bigger, weightier publisher offered us a deal, but we took a risk. Of course, one Carnegie medal and massive success later, and I’m pretty confident we went with the right people. But what impressed me wasn’t the offer so much as the passion for the book they showed. That passion will see you through. You need people in your corner rooting for your book all the way. You need people on your team who get it, through and through, and if you have that, you are, like me, lucky lucky.

A great deal of this business is luck, and hard work is not always rewarded with success. A lot like life, then. I’m learning to both appreciate and take advantage of the opportunities I’ve been given, rather than be embarrassed by them and worry about where the next one is coming from. Fear of tomorrow spoils today.

Hammy... but true :)

If you are a writer reading this, the very best of luck with your career.

 Fearsome Dreamer by Laure Eve

Released:  3rd October 2013

Publisher: Hot Key Books

Series: Yes #1 in the Fearsome Dreamer series

Find At: Goodreads | Amazon UK | The Book Depository

Goodreads Synopsis:

There is a world where gods you’ve never heard of have wound themselves into hearts, and choice has led its history down a different path.

This is a world where France made a small, downtrodden island called England part of its vast and bloated empire.

There are people here who can cross a thousand miles with their minds. There are rarer people still who can move between continents in the blink of an eye.

These people are dangerous.

And wanted. Desperately wanted.

Apprentice hedgewitch Vela Rue knows that she is destined for more. She knows being whisked off from a dull country life to a city full of mystery and intrigue is meant to be. She knows she has something her government wants, a talent so rare and precious and new that they will do anything to train her in it.

But she doesn’t know that she is being lied to. She doesn’t know that the man teaching her about her talent is becoming obsessed by her, and considered by some to be the most dangerous man alive ..

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"The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep."

Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening