The author loves the feedback she receives from readers. Jocelynn’s approach has worked for her.įrom what she has seen, you cannot expect agents, publishers, and readers to respond positively to your queries unless you write a good book. She encourages new writers to focus on crafting the best possible book and then revising it as many times as possible before reaching out to a publisher. She thinks that aspiring authors get so caught up in the business side of things, the marketing, editing, and publishing, that they neglect their stories. Jocelynn made it because she made her manuscripts the priority. The people that love the Dark Days series do not realize that Jocelynn pondered the story for two years, tweaking and refining it before finally sending it out into the world for people to read. After replying to a request for a full manuscript, she got an agent and forced her way through the gates of the traditional publishing industry. To Jocelynn’s surprise, she received a positive response. But rather than giving up, she sent out multiple email submissions to agents RWA had introduced to her. Eventually, she began to question whether she would ever secure an agent. The author kept submitting manuscripts and receiving rejections in return. Jocelynn had an urge to put her ideas on paper, and that compulsion did not leave any room for doubt.Īdmittedly, while she had the strength of will required to write her manuscripts to completion, securing a publisher was far more complicated than she anticipated.

She never questioned her ability to create intricate stories with three-dimensional characters. When she first sat down to write her stories, it did not occur to her that she couldn’t write novels. They cannot help but question their competence as writers.

Many aspiring authors are hesitant to admit that they want to write fiction for a living because the task is too daunting. This marked the start of the author’s journey to publishing success. But her version had notable female characters.

Jocelynn was twelve at the time, and she decided to rewrite the Robin Hood story.

For all its merit, the book did not have any strong and independent heroines, which was unacceptable. It was technically a retelling of the Robin Hood story, and the author loved it. But something changed when she came across Robin Hood.

Deadly Dorian by Jocelynn Drake