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Cecilia Dart-Thornton, best-selling fantasy novelist, was first discovered on the Internet. She writes:
" I had written three long novels, the Bitterbynde Trilogy, without showing them to any publisher - or indeed to anyone at all, except a close friend, chiefly because I had written them for my own enjoyment.
"I heard about an Online Writing Workshop run by Del Rey, a U.S. SciFi/Fantasy publisher I had long admired. Emerging writers could upload works-in-progress to be 'critted' by fellow writers.
"The site was managed by professional editors, who gave out 'Editors' Choice Awards' each month, for pieces they considered worthy, so I tested the waters by submitting a small piece of my work to the site.
"The first part of the first chapter of the first book went online late in December. In January I won the Editors' Choice Award. Greatly encouraged, I submitted more and won another award in February.
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Soon afterwards one of the editors emailed me privately, saying, 'Your work is publishable." he then proceeded to give me the contact details of a literary agent in the USA.
"The agent signed me up as soon as she had read the manuscripts. A few weeks later Time Warner in New York City bought all of my books, gibving me a six figure advance. They also announced that they intended to publish all three books in hardcover, which they had never before done with a new author.
"For me, it was like living a fairytale. Since then I have travelled the world signing books, been interviewed on every form of media and seen my work reviewed in such august publications as the Washington Post and The Times.
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My novels have risen to the top of best-seller lists and been translated into Italian, Dutch, German and Russian. Because of the Internet I have become an international author." |
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