Angela Dove: Award-Winning Writer

So you’re a writer, but you haven’t been published. Where do you go from here?

I’m no expert, but I was where you are now. Now I have a book released by (and selling steadily for) a top five publishing company. How did it happen?

I began writing for a local newspaper using AP style. This is a style that is uniform, so that anyone picking up a newspaper anywhere feels like they’re in familiar territory. There’s not a lot of personality—AP is used to convey the facts of the story.

When my friend Melanie became editor of a magazine published by the same newspaper, she asked me to write a few pieces for her.

Many magazines—even newsy mags like Time and Newsweek—are allowing an increasing amount of personality in their articles. This, in turn, allows writers an opportunity to better develop their own writing voice. And that’s just what I did. My writing style became more conversational and occasionally humorous.

Readers responded positively . . . which allowed me to keep going.

Eventually Melanie asked me to start writing regularly scheduled pieces that were as much about tone as content, and suddenly I was a humor columnist.

Because I was writing for a local market, I received reader feedback immediately—at the grocery store, in church, at the farmer’s market. All writers should experience this!

Immediate feedback let me know if what I was hearing in my head as I wrote was the same thing my readers were hearing when they read my columns.

It’s amazing how often these two experiences—that of the writer and that of the reader—are out of synch.

Once I became more confident about my writing voice and the transmission of my ideas, I was ready for something a bit larger. I had already started a humorous book of fiction when I got an unexpected call that changed my life.

I had met Jacque (pronounced “Jackie”) MacDonald years ago, and now she was ready for someone to write her story. Jacque is a victim’s advocate in California’s Central Valley, and because I respect her and what she does for others, I was honored to be given the opportunity to share her story with others.

Still, the very idea was daunting. Jacque’s story incorporates a lot of victories, but the sad fact is that Jacque and those she helps are members of the saddest club imaginable—those who have lost loved ones to violent crime.

Add to this that I had never written a book before. Sure, I’d written about complex matters for newspapers or magazines. There is a master’s thesis with my name on the spine gathering dust on a shelf in some university library, and half of a fairly-promising doctoral dissertation is shoved in a box in my attic. But a book? Well, a book is entirely different.

“Wait a second,” I thought. “A book is exactly like my other writing projects.”

And just like all my other writings—funny or serious—this book would be making a cohesive argument from start to finish: Even crippled by the worst of circumstances, the human spirit can heal and even triumph.

I made a trip to the library and the bookstore to look at books that were similar—women’s narratives, inspirational narratives, and true crime. I read until I was confident that my book would add something to the ongoing discussion.

Now the only thing I was unsure of was the current book publishing process. Sure, I'd worked as an editor for a small pub house, but that was years ago. I needed to get educated—and fast!

On the advice of Leslie Rule, a well-known author of ghost stories, I purchased a copy of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Getting Published by Sheree Bykofsky and Jennifer Basye Sander. I read it cover to cover, then read it again.

From this book and a thorough web search, I updated my knowledge about book proposals (the portfolio of stuff that a writer puts together to tell agents and editors about the content, readership, and marketing of a proposed book). Eight drafts and three proof-readers later, I was ready to find an agent.

I didn’t expect immediate results, but I got them anyway. How? Through a combination of factors:

Once I partnered up with an agent, he used his contacts—and his excitement about the project—to place the book with an editor who is equally enthusiastic.

My book, No Room for Doubt, was released through Penguin Books in March, 2009.

If you have specific questions, click "Contact Us" in the top menu or visit my blog, "Will Write for Chocolate."