James L. Rubart is a professional marketer, speaker, and writer. Each of his three novels (The Chair, Book of Days, and Rooms) have created quite a buzz. Best-selling author Terri Blackstock says this:
"James Rubart is one of my new favorite authors. The Chair has the same depth and creativity as Rooms, and it was impossible for me to think of anything else until I finished it. I can't wait for his next book!"
You can get all the scoop on James and his books on his website, www.jimrubart.com.
For now, read on to learn how Jim went from unpublished to published as he shares a bit about his journey to publication.
How many complete novels have you written so far? Three: ROOMS, BOOK OF DAYS, and THE CHAIR.
How many of those have been published? All three are published.
Years you've been writing: I got serious about writing novels in 2002/2003.
First thing you ever had published: My first novel published was ROOMS (2010). An editor who rejected ROOMS the year before contacted me and said "I've read 200 manuscripts since I read yours but I can't get ROOMS out of my head. Let's take another shot at it." So we did and I signed a contract in the fall of '08. (Yes, Virginia, publishing is glacial.) First book sale aside, I’ve been “publishing” radio and TV scripts for twenty years. And I’ve dabbled with short stories since 7th grade. (My biggest dream as a kid was to be an author.)
Do you have an agent? How did you acquire him/her? I signed with an agent in the fall of ’06 and it came from developing a relationship with him at the Mt Hermon conference. We parted ways in October of ’10 and I signed with a new agent (Lee Hough) in February of ’11. I met Lee because a number of my author friends said he was a tremendous agent and I “had to call him.” (They were right.)
Describe the first time you got "The Call." It was so surreal. I’d dreamed about it for so long, when I got the call I had trouble wrapping my mind (and emotions) around the idea it had happened. On June 23rd 2008 I was e-mailed the Deal Point Memo and surprise! I didn’t get anything done the rest of the day.
Are you a fan of writing contests? Why or why not? Yes, I’m a fan. For two reasons. First, you get feedback from people who don’t know you so they’re not influenced to like the story just because they like you. And that feedback can give strong insight into what you’ve doing right and what you could improve on. Second, winning or placing in a contest raises you above the competition in many agents and editors minds. (They’ll at least take a more thorough look at your manuscript.)
What do you know now that you wish you knew when you were first starting out? That editors and agents WANT to find the next author. They want you to succeed, but they won’t take a new manuscript that’s 90% of the way there. It needs to be 95% of the way there. And the competition is fierce.
Three books on writing/publishing you'd recommend: Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Plot and Structure, and Fiction Writing for Dummies and Writing The Breakout Novel. Did you say three or four?
Three, but who's counting? How is being published different than you thought it would be? I didn’t realize how wonderful the community of writers are. Other authors, and editors have become some of my best friends.
What are two pieces of advice you would give to writers who are desperately seeking publication? I play guitar. I’ve played for thirty years so I could entertain you for a bit if you asked me to. But I’ll be if I came out with a CD I’d be lucky to sell fifty copies. If I asked people to plop down $15 for my music, I’m asking them to choose me over Jack Johnson or John Mayer or whoever they like. I’m just not that good. Same thing with writers. Pre-published authors aren’t competing against other pre-pubbed writers. They’re competing against the authors with books already on the shelf. In other words, if you’re serious about getting published you have to work at the craft like it’s brain surgery.
Love that! Thanks for sharing your journey to publication with us, Jim. Looking forward to your next book!
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