Recently I was able to read and review the wonderful debut novel, The Kitchen Daughter by Jael McHenry. For a debut, it was stunning and definitely a book I look forward to recommending as well as rereading again in the future. When I was given the opportunity to have Jael stop by to chat about her path to getting published I jumped at the chance! I’m positive you’ll enjoy reading her new novel, The Kitchen Daughter which just happens to be out today! Until you can pick up your copy, you can now read all about the delightful Jael and her path to publication! Take it away Jael!

How I got published is a long story, but here’s the short version: I wrote a bunch of books that didn’t sell, and then I wrote one that did. That’s a decade in a sentence. And while all the rejections and near-misses and letdowns were disappointing, they also taught me a lot along the way. Would I have liked to be published in 2001 or 2004 or 2008? Sure! But with the benefit of hindsight, I think that getting published now – in 2011, with The Kitchen Daughter as my debut novel – is the best thing that could have happened to me.

I have a brilliant and dedicated agent, a committed editor, a great publicity team, and a publishing home that’s behind the book every step of the way. Were all those earlier near-misses bad luck, or were they good luck in disguise? In the many years between starting my first novel and putting the finishing touches on The Kitchen Daughter, I became a better writer. I learned more about the business. Social media came on the scene as a powerful tool for spreading the word about books. I met other writers, at conferences and online and elsewhere, and I’ve learned so much from them. I’m in a much better position to help make my book a success, and I couldn’t be prouder of the book itself.

Again, that’s not to say I floated through that whole decade with absolute certainty that everything would work out for the best. Rejections hurt. Laboring over a manuscript for months or years, writing and rewriting, and in the beginning you have all these hopes, and you watch the doors close one at a time — that hurts. But every experience is a learning experience, and looking back, if my first book had sold I don’t know what I would have done. I was completely unprepared to be published. And it turns out that learning how to deal with rejection in the query and manuscript stage is a HUGE help even once you’ve gotten an agent and sold the book. Because once the book is published, it’s not like you’re never going to hear a negative word again. You need to know how to deal with that. There might be bad reviews. There might be disappointing sales figures. And there are other books after the first one, hopefully, and the cycle starts all over again. So if my path to publication had been charmed from the beginning – a fast first book, an instant yes from an agent, a quick sale to an editor – would I have been prepared for whatever came after that? I’m not sure I would.

Ultimately, whoever rejects or accepts your book on the road to publication, readers are the ones who reject or accept it for themselves. Your happiness has to come from within, not from the reaction to your book, because that’s completely out of your control. And here on the eve of my debut – after so many years of trying and writing and rewriting and editing and hoping and waiting and rewriting some more – I feel like I’ve made this book the best book I possibly could. And that makes me awfully happy, whatever comes next.

Thank you so much Jael! It was a pleasure having you stop by Chick Lit Reviews today!

Again, The Kitchen Daughter is out in stores in the US today! Make sure to pick up your copy on your very next trip to the bookstore!

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