Do you love to write?  Do you diarise and write numerous letters to relatives and friends?  Do you love to voraciously read and dream of writing a book one day that has the capacity to infiltrate the heart and be absorbed by readers nationally and internationally? ….If this dream is in your heart then I implore you never to give up.  Keep going.  Keep writing. Keep wishing and dreaming.  If you persevere with a strong heart, I guarantee you your dreams will eventually come true.  But not without the hard work and committment.

It took at least six months of submissions before getting a positive response from a publishing house and this was after many attempts to secure a Literary Agent to represent Always On My Mind and rewriting my Query Letter and submission over and over again.  From this submission process, I received two positive emails; one from a Literary Agent in Sydney and another from an Australian Literary Agent living and working in New York.  In most cases, a writer does not even get a response, let alone feedback.  I was lucky.  One Literary Agent liked the originality of my themes and requested 2-3 chapters of Always On My Mind and the other, requested only 20 pages ‘of my best work’.  It was while emailing back and forth in an attempt to secure a Literary Agent that I received an amazing publishing offer from a leading publishing house in Sydney.  Jane Curry Publishing had my submission for less than eight days before emailing back with an offer to publish.  I still remember how shocked I was when I received the email.  I had heard that most writers sit on their manuscripts for years before they even get a response so I knew the task and road ahead was gonna be long.  To receive that email literally knocked my socks off.  Since accepting the publishing offer in October 2014 life has been one big beautiful whirlwind of endless editing, editing and more editing.

The publishing process can only be described as one wondrous journey.  You place your heart (manuscript) into the hands of your publisher with the utmost trust that together you will turn years of research and writing into a beautiful work of art that yearns to be read.  I believe wholeheartedly that a book is not a book until it is read.  Yes I may have written it, but it is nothing without the reader.  It is the reader that makes a book a book and I cannot wait for Always On My Mind to be read.  Its evolution into a book relies solely on the reader.  Both the Author and the reader have an intimate relationship that without each other, the written word is nothing.

I put my faith and heart into my publisher and I must profess their professionalism, sincerity and concise opinion on shaping my manuscript into a captivating memoir has been an absolute delight.  I would get home from work to an email saying: ‘We need to cull a 100K’ (that’s 100,000 words).  I’d stare at the email for ages before faithfully understanding and knowing deep within that it had to be done.  In my heart the publisher knows best and they know what sells.  Less is more. I’d regroup and spend days and endless hours culling endless pages, re-shaping paragraphs, omitting whole chapters and chopping both the beautiful and heartbreaking moments of my life to condense it down into a memoir that was crisp and ready to read.  After spending this time re-writing and editing I’d flick the MS back to my amazing publisher.  They would absorb this new version of Always On My Mind before my editor flicked back another email to me saying that, ‘another 40K (40,000) has to go’.  I embraced all their suggestions and the endless hours and days of editing continued well into the early hours of each morning to ensure that Always On My Mind was ready for publishing.  I deem myself blessed to have such an amazing publisher and editor working on Always On My Mind and I must implore all writers and aspiring authors to embrace their publishers advice wholeheartedly.  To me the author and the publisher are a team with the same vision.  The vision to create a wonderful piece of art that will stay with the reader for the rest of their lives.

Always On My Mind is in the final stages of the publishing process and will be blessed in the next few weeks with a highly anticipated and amazing COVER.  Graphic designers within Jane Curry Publishing have been working on the art work and even I have yet to lock eyes on the design that will grace the front of Always On My Mind.   I’m a little excited and can’t wait to share it with you.  Stay tuned for more posts from me.

The publishing process is a wonderful journey full of many firsts and I feel deeply thankful that I am able to share them with literature lovers who love words as much as me.  The official release and Book Launch for Always On My Mind is fast approaching on Sunday March 29th and both Jane Curry Publishing and I hope to share this wonderful event with you.  An event that is not only raising funds for the Butterfly Foundation, Suicide Prevention Australia and the Indigenous Literacy Foundation but also raising awareness for rural Mental Health.  Tickets can be secured at:

http://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/megan-henry-book-launch-always-on-my-mind-tickets-13804392309

Pictured above are a beautiful bunch of fabulous country chicks from Dumbleyung and Wagin who love reading as much as me.  We held a literature lovin’ day of sharing in which we all indulged in copious amounts of books, fine tea and food!!  The atmosphere was infectious and we all can’t wait for the next one!!!