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was on a trip with my family. We went out of town to a zoo and the hotel had internet. If you didn’t already know, I’m addicted to it. So it was morning and I wanted to check my email. I was, after all waiting to hear from two publishers.

And there it was…an email. I didn’t want to open it. What if it was bad news? This was from the second publisher, not the one I did a face to face pitch to. So I did it—clicked open and there it was. They wanted the story if I made a few changes. Oh my God. This was it. I was going to be a published author. I didn’t think it would ever happen.

Then I scrolled down. I had another email. This one from my pitch. Could it be? Two acceptances in one day? Ah…no. lol This was a rejection. But it was a great rejection. Some might find that odd, but it’s true. The editor gave me some great tips on how to make my work stronger.

So I had the best of both worlds: an acceptance and a rejection all in one day. Talk about highs and lows.
The cool thing? Maybe a year later a publisher was doing an open call for an anthology. And guess what? I just happened to have a story that fit. I needed to fix it first so I looked over it and cut out a bunch of stuff and worked on what the other editor told me too. It was accepted. That book now is in print two times (once with the anthology and once with the sequel I wrote) and audio! The first book I really wrote with expectation of getting published was out there in the world. I’m now writing the last book in the series. I ended up with five stories and a wonderful publisher that I love.

My dream came true and I’m willing to admit that I go to Amazon and Barnes & Noble to search for my name. I’m not ashamed. Lol And to have a print book that is only me, not an anthology? That was a dream I had from when I first wanted to be a writer and it’s come true. I now have a few print books out there!
And that is my journey to becoming an author. I really do believe reading started it all and I still read as much as I can every day. Someday I’m going to do this full time for now…happy writing!
Bio
Jambrea Jo Jones has lived in Indiana for most of her life with a few detours. She enlisted in the Air Force, but didn’t do as much traveling as she’d like. She’s trying to make up for that now. She started to review books and decided it was time to follow her dream of being a writer and hasn’t looked back since. To learn more, visit her website www.jambrea.com