My Journey To Publication: Anita Frank

October 17, 2019 | By Anita Frank | Reply More

Like most would-be writers, I have dreamt of being an author since I was a child. I had my first stab at getting published in my late teens when, encouraged by their open submissions policy, I sent a couple of truly awful romances to Mills and Boon. They were, of course, both promptly rejected, but I remained undeterred.

Whilst I had no firm plan for achieving my ambition, I did know that I wanted to write historical fiction, so, with this in mind, I read history at university. I wandered aimlessly into the world of work after graduation, and before I knew it, I was married and a stay-at-home mum to three children. I did manage to write a chicklit just after my first child was born, but by then I realised the whole publishing process was a little more complex than I had initially thought, and I knew the story wasn’t good enough to take further. The years passed, and I bided my time, keeping my dream alive by filling notebooks with plotlines, and improvising dialogue while doing the washing up.

In 2005, I plucked up the courage to enter the opening chapters of a Western into a competition run by my local libraries and Historical Mills and Boon. To my utter disbelief and joy I won. For the first time my dream seemed to have some validity, and that meant the world to me – although I did later find out there were only seven entries, which rather took the shine off my success! All the same, fired-up, I completed and submitted my manuscript. Several months later I received a rejection, but I barely gave it a second thought. Something far more significant was happening in my life, something that was rapidly putting everything else into perspective. My then eighteen-month-old son had just been diagnosed with a rare form of epilepsy that was to leave him severely mentally disabled. Overwhelmed by medical appointments, emergency hospital admissions and the prospect of a future providing round-the-clock care, my hopes of becoming a writer began to slip away.

But the dream never died. I couldn’t simply turn off my imagination, however much I tried. Story ideas kept coming, characters kept forming. I fantasised about getting published, and I clung to these fantasies – they were my escapist sustenance through some very dark days – but increasingly, any confidence I might once have enjoyed drained away. Soon I became too terrified to even contemplate putting pen to paper: I couldn’t risk it. While I didn’t try, I couldn’t fail, and so I could keep my dream alive.

All that changed in 2017 when a friend cajoled me into writing a ghost story I had been cooking up. Afraid, but a rather excited by the prospect, I agreed, and three months later I proudly handed her my completed manuscript. It was, in all honesty, a bit Casper the Friendly Ghost meets Nancy Drew, and she immediately challenged me to do better. So, I ripped it up and started again.

Eight months and 170,000 words later, I had a revised book. Impatient to submit, I slashed forty thousand words, polished up my first three chapters, wrote a synopsis and, in April 2018, I sent it off to twelve agents. I knew more editing was required, but I figured I had at least three months to work on it before I heard back from anybody, and all I was hoping for anyway was a bit of feedback on the submission package.

So, you can imagine my surprise when I had a full manuscript request within twenty-four hours.

I knew my book wasn’t ready, but I also knew that agents got really got annoyed when writers submitted before time. So, ecstatic but panicking, I did a speedy proof-read overnight and sent it off. Two days later, I received another full request, and as I proof-read the book once more, I realised my sloppy editing hatchet job had resulted in massive mistakes. The manuscript was a mess, but rather than come clean and admit my error to the agent, I sent it anyway, hoping I might get away with it.

I didn’t. All I got for my foolish impatience were two rejections. Realising I had squandered precious opportunities, I immediately set about the tidying-up I should have done previously. Following feedback from another agent I decided to make a change to the very beginning to the book, and it was this amended version that I sent out when I received four further full manuscript requests.

By the end of July I had two offers of representation, and I chose David Headley of DHH Literary Agency, not only because of his passion for the book I had submitted, but also for the enthusiasm he had shown for my other story ideas. I received one more full manuscript request after contracts had been exchanged.

At David’s suggestion, I made some small alterations to prepare the book for submission. Then, in the first week of September, he sent it out to ten publishing houses. Three weeks later, with two offers on the table, I signed with HarperCollins imprint, HQ Stories.

And now, after one round of minor structural edits, and sporting a new title and a beautiful cover, my ghost story The Lost Ones will soon be making its way into the world – rather appropriately on Halloween. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind, but if there’s one thing I’ve learnt from my publishing journey it’s this: don’t be afraid to pursue your dreams – there’s no shame in failure, but it is a shame not to at least try.

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Anita Frank was born in Shropshire and studied English and American History at the University of East Anglia. She lives in Berkshire with her husband and three children and is now a full time carer for her disabled son.

Follow her on Twitter @Ajes74

THE LOST ONES

Some houses are never at peace.
England, 1917

Reeling from the death of her fiancé, Stella Marcham welcomes the opportunity to stay with her pregnant sister, Madeleine, at her imposing country mansion, Greyswick – but she arrives to discover a house of unease and her sister gripped by fear and suspicion.

Before long, strange incidents begin to trouble Stella – sobbing in the night, little footsteps on the stairs – and as events escalate, she finds herself drawn to the tragic history of the house.

Aided by a wounded war veteran, Stella sets about uncovering Greyswick’s dark and terrible secrets – secrets the dead whisper from the other side…

In the classic tradition of The Woman in Black, Anita Frank weaves a spell-binding debut of family tragedy, loss and redemption.

Praise for The Lost Ones

‘Haunting, emotional and exquisitely written’ Amanda Jennings

‘For fans of Henry James and Susan Hill, this chilling supernatural mystery is written in the classic mould. Intriguing, moving and assured’ Essie Fox

‘I loved it SO MUCH – so creepy and compelling, full of atmosphere and gave me goosebumps…’ Lisa Hall

‘My coffee is stone cold. My palms are sweaty. I’ve raced to the shocking final twist of this lush, beautifully written historical novel. A gripping ghost story with an achingly poignant family mystery at its heart’ Samantha King

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