It’s that time of year again! Hallmark Channel has started releasing new Christmas movies every weekend. When I go to my parents’ house over the holidays, I always enjoy watching a few with my mom. There’s just nothing like a heart-warming Christmas story to help me get into the spirit of the season.
If you’re looking for something Christmassy to read, I would love for you to check out Her First Noel, my novella that was published last year. In the book, Reagan Pierce, a hard-working attorney, finds a spark of romance and discovers what Christmas is really about.
When I first started writing Her First Noel, I never thought it would get published. At the time, I was feeling a little burnt out with trying to write what magazines were looking for, so I decided to write a Christmas short story solely for my own enjoyment. As the story grew longer, I concluded that I shouldn’t bother submitting it anywhere. Magazines aren’t prone to publishing 20,000-word stories after all.
Months later, while I was researching small publishers for a different book, I discovered that many of them were open to novella submissions. Excited, I edited Her First Noel a bit and submitted it to a couple of publishers. Within a few months, I received an email from Anaiah Press stating that they would like to publish it. To say that I was excited would be a huge understatement.
It was about one year from the time Her First Noel was accepted to its publication date. During that time, I worked with an editor to revise my novella. At first, accepting her suggestions was hard for me, but in the end, she truly helped me make Her First Noel the best it could be.
I learned a lot from writing this novella and having it published. The most important is to never assume something I write could never be published. If you don’t do your research, you never know what kind of market there is for a particular kind of story.
If you enjoy inspirational Christmas romances, I encourage you to give Her First Noel a chance. If you do, I hope it helps you get into the Christmas spirit!
Can you recommend any Christmas books for me to read? Let me know in the comments. If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to my blog to see more like it.
