As a mom who worked full-time while raising four kids, romance author Theresa Ragan knows about struggle. But when it came time to publish her first novel, Theresa didn't expect a battle that would threaten her commitment to writing. Return of the Rose took Theresa five years to complete, and though she received good feedback from the publishing community, no one wanted to publish the book. With her next two books, it was the same story. One prominent editor even asked her to add 20,000 words to one of her manuscripts and resubmit it. Theresa did. Then she never heard from him again.
"I was crushed by that. I truly thought my time had come, but then ... nothing. I knew rejection was part of the deal of becoming a published author, but I had no idea it would be that hard. All I wanted was to get my work in front of readers. After over 100 rejections, there were days I thought about quitting altogether.
"It felt unfair, somehow. It was like my success wasn't being based on my writing abilities but was instead decided by two dozen people in New York. I knew I deserved better, and that readers deserved to read my books!"
That's when Theresa discovered a way to take success into her own hands. She learned that any author could publish their books on Kindle by using Amazon's independent self-service publishing platform. "In 2011, my youngest child was going off to college, and it was time for me to get back to work, so I decided to give it a shot. With nothing to lose, I published two of my romantic time travel novels electronically and print-on-demand through Amazon. I hoped to sell maybe ten books. I was stunned when I sold thousands. For the first time, my stories were being read, and after nearly two decades of working hard to get published, I felt like an overnight success!
"In a little over a year, I have sold nearly 250,000 books for the Kindle. Four of my books even made the Top 100 Kindle Best Sellers List. I have been approached by agents, foreign sales people, and two movie producers, and have received mentions in the LA Times, Wall Street Journal, and PC Magazine, and was recently interviewed by USA Today.
"I am so excited that writers have the opportunity to get their work in front of readers without jumping through insurmountable hoops. The publishing world is changing fast, and I plan to enjoy every minute of the ride."
Theresa Ragan is one of thousands of authors being discovered by Amazon customers.