#RiteOfRejection: Believing after rejection

It's release day for Rite of Rejection! Woohoo! The blog tour is going strong with a ton of amazing stops today, so be sure to check them out over on the tour page. To celebrate all this awesomeness I've invited several authors to come talk about their own brushes with rejection. We are keeping the party going, with my last guest author. Let's hear from Eliza Tilton, author of The Daath Chronicles.

Rejection is never easy, but it’s even tougher when the reason is one you can’t fix. Late 2012, I was querying a YA Contemporary Romance called SOULSPARK. This novel is my heart. While I love my fantasy series, this romance was something special. I had a few full requests, but nothing panned out—and the reasons for rejection were completely opposite. Then I found an agent who loved my voice, but passed because the story fell in between the CBA and the ABA markets and they didn’t think they could sell it.

What does that mean exactly? I’ll explain. The CBA stands for Association for Christian Retail and the ABA is American’s Bookseller Association. SOULSPARK revolves around a teen who lost her mother, is hooked on Xanax, and falls in love with the Pastor’s son at her mother’s church. The MC deals with issues of faith throughout the story, but that isn’t the focus. The agent passed because there was too much reference to drugs and sex in the beginning for the CBA market, and too much religious talk to fit into the general market.

I tried to tone it down a bit, but I couldn’t remove certain aspects without affecting the story. So what did I eventually do? I put it to the side and moved on. Another agent may have felt differently but I was worn out and a few months later, I received a contract for Broken Forest.

Sometimes we’re rejected and there’s nothing we can do, but if you love the story, and believe in it, there is one option: Self-publishing.

After a year of thinking, and some praying, I decided to self-pub SOULSPARK. The novel is set to release late spring.

Don’t let rejection stop you, and don’t give up on those tales that just won’t go away. There’s someone out there who needs to read your story, and wants to.

Eliza graduated from Dowling College with a BS in Visual Communications. When she’s not arguing with excel at her day job, or playing Dragon Age 2, again, she’s writing. Her YA stories hold a bit of the fantastical and there’s always a hot romance. She resides on Long Island with her husband, two kids and one very snuggly pit bull.

Her novels, Broken Forest and Wicked Path, are published by Curiosity Quills Press.

Find Eliza online:

Website / Twitter/ Facebook / Goodreads / Instagram / Pinterest / Google+

 

Broken Forest   Wicked Path

In Wicked Path: Book Two of the Daath Chronicles brother and sister are forced to opposite sides of Tarrtainya on a fast-paced adventure where the wildlife isn't the only thing trying to kill them.

Three months have passed since Avikar defeated the Reptilian Prince, and he still can't remember his battle with Lucino. On the hunt for answers, he returns to the scene of the fight and discovers a strange connection between his family's dagger and the mysterious kingdom of Daath, and it seems only his distant father can reveal the truth behind it all.

Before Avikar can travel back home, Lucy assaults him in the market and forces him to flee to Nod Mountains--a place few dare to enter, and even less return from. With Raven and her childhood friend by his side, they must survive the treacherous journey through the pass with a vengeful Lucy hunting them. If they don't, they'll never see home again.

Jeslyn's new life in Luna Harbor is the perfect remedy for her confused and broken heart. But when a group of mercenaries kidnap her beloved Grandfather, interrupting her daily routine as his jewelry apprentice, she's forced to join forces with the one person from her past she tried to forget.

And his assistance comes with a price.