“Sometimes rejection is redirection.”
That was what my friends told me after countless rejections from publishers.
“You might be better than J.K. Rowling because you’ve been rejected more than 19 times.”
I laughed at that statement. Really? Better than J.K. Rowling?
I’m not sure about that, but I do believe God is preparing me for something better. As I look back, everytime I was being rejected from something good, I was actually being redirected to something better.
I started writing seriously when I was 17, and my genre is action, mystery, and teen fiction. Sure enough, those genres are not as hyped as the romance genre. The romance genre is still popular among readers.
But someone said to me, “Sometimes we need to ride the hype and write in a genre that is popular to get published first. Once you publish your first novel, people will read whatever you write afterwards.”
Then, I started to write romance with a slice-of-life touch and post it on Wattpad. And my followers gave positive feedback. Hello Neighbour was actually my second slice of life writing. I finished writing it in 2021, with the help of my Australian roommate back in university.
She gave me the ideas to write the background setting, the character, the flow, and the family dynamic that is actually based on her three younger brothers, who are super protective of her.
Then, as I scrolled down Twitter, I found a Tweet from Syeraho asking for manuscripts for Sayembara under IMAN Publication. And I felt my manuscript fit the genre that IMAN Publication was trying to find. I just gave it a shot and sent the Hello Neighbour manuscript to IMAN Publication.
I had a doubt at first. The thought that “IMAN Publication is too Islamic for my manuscript”. But then I realised that Islam is not only by name; Islam is not a label; it is the good value that promotes Islam.
Alhamdulillah, my soon turns into finally. ‘Hello Neighbour’, or the new title ‘Siapa Sangka Terjatuh Cinta‘, finally gets published under IMAN Publication.
I do believe there are more authors out there who write good content with good values hidden like a gem and deserve the spotlight in the book community to induce good values among society in Malaysia.
And maybe the author is you. 😳 We never know unless you send your manuscript to tinyurl.com/SayembaraIMAN2023
Don’t forget to tick ‘Violetfasha’ in the referral box😆
Happy writing everyone!!! 😆💕
