Juliana Haygert

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I Have GREAT News …

After 6 months of querying and hair-pulling (if you’ve been through it, you know how it goes) I decided to trunk DESTINY GIFT. Some may think 6 months is too little, but I queried a lot and got tons of feedback.

See, DESTINY GIFT got several partial and full requests—I would say a 50% rate—but several only looked at it and said I should make it YA or Adult before trying to query again. That frustrated me. I wouldn’t back down from NA, nevertheless, I realized I should rewrite the whole first half of the thing to pick up the slow pace.

I had began the rewrites of DESTINY GIFT when I saw a pitch contest at Savvy Authors. I remember thinking “hey, what the hell, one more try” …

Fast forward a few  months (while I moved from Brazil back to the US and settled my life again and rewrote the first half of the ms): last Tuesday, I got an offer of publication, and now that it’s official, I can tell you …

Destiny Gift, my New Adult Paranormal Romance, will be published by Lyrical Press!

I’m delighted to be working with editor Abby Rose from Lyrical Press, who was the  judged of Savvy Authors’ pitch contest*. She understands my story and she wants to see it published as much as I do. We exchanged many emails and we even talked about the Destiny Gift’s sequels and she loves all my ideas! I’m really, really happy to have her on my side for this ride ;)

I can’t believe this is finally happening. I’m still on a dream and I’m afraid of waking up … guys, I’m so happy! This is my first step into the publishing world and oh, am I happy about it!

I want to thank my husband for giving me the sentence that became this whole book. True story. It was, basically, his idea. THANK YOU, LOVE! Thanks to my family who always supported me, to my friends and my lovelies CPs and my NA sisters and the whole writing community. You’re all amazing! And a special thanks to Abby Rose for believing in me, and Renee Rocco for welcoming me into their family!

Signing the papers!

So freaking excited! This is happening! Yay!

Want to know more about DESTINY GIFT? I have an under-development storyboard on Pinterest, I have an interview with my hero, the announcement of being the finalist of a contest, a pitch and the first 150 words used on another contest, and the query and the first 500 words which were used on yet another contest.

Thanks everyone!

Cheers,

 

*By the way, there are lots of pitches with agents and editors coming on Savvy Authors, you guys should check it out.

Comments

  1. Fantastic! Definitely shows you shoudn’t give up on your dream! Especially if everyone is saying no to NA. Congrats and so can’t wait to see it out in the world! =D

  10. Oh, my gosh, Juliana… Congratulations! That’s fantastic news, and I’m thrilled for you! I love New Adult, so of course I’m very much looking forward to reading your book. Congrats again!

  11. I am so happy for you Juliana. I’m glad to hear that you stuck to your guns and you found the right home for Destiny’s Gift. You are going to be published. This is awesome!!

    Remember how I emailed you last week about how someday I will get to say I know a famous author? You are making it happen. :) I feel honored to be part of TEAM Juliana. Yeah!

    Most of all, your hard work, dedication, and beautiful writing has inspired me beyond words. Seeing your dreams come true makes me feel like wow.. maybe someday this could happen for me too, (if I work as hard as Juliana.)

    Congratulations!!!!

    Andrea

  15. So very excited!!! Contests are awesome! You deserve this so much. You’re such a strong lady and it couldn’t have happened to anyone more awesome :D Congrats sista!!!

  21. I’M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!! That’s fantastic news! I also think it’s amazing that you’re sticking to New Adult. I hope you’re spending the day celebrating. Enjoy your new home at Lyrical Press :D

  26. What a lovely publication story, Juliana! And I’m so happy that I got to be a part of it. As you know, and said, I love your voice and Destiny Gift and am excited to continue to work with you on this. Such amazing talent! I’d like to add my Welcome to the Lyrical Family!

  31. Major congratulations, Juliana! That’s fantastic news. It’s great to see more and more NA writers getting book deals! :)

  33. I am sooooooooo happy for you! You totally deserve this! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!