I’m very pleased to welcome Donna Maria McCarthy as my guest author today. Donna is the author of the soon to be released The Hangman’s Hitch, described on Amazon.co.uk as,

“The inn at the end of your world.
Where satanic practice is the order
And your soul required to pay for your stay…”

Here, Donna describes her journey to publication.

SERENDIPITY

Two years ago, or there about, I finished what I believed to be an accomplished piece of work, The Hangman’s Hitch, and after encouragement decided to see what the publishing world would make of it.

Initially I realised that it would need revising to be submission ready, which I did, although being so green to the process it added a further three months to the wait!

Submissions themselves were sometimes gruelling, sometimes eye opening and on fortunate days, encouraging! in fact I found that some even had me draw positives from negatives, rejections can sometimes be tempered with praise and useful advice from the most aspirational of sources. All is not as harrowing as a newbie might be lead to believe.

Fast forward twelve months and with another novel brewing and my time took up between work and submissions, I felt a harsh decision needed to be made, to shelve ‘The Hangman’s Hitch’ and move on with my new idea.

One last ditched attempt, I thought, as’ Britain’s Next Bestseller’ came up on a search I was deleting, why not! It felt right, strangely as though I had been waiting for that very moment, and no nerves…I never trust nerves… so I submitted and before long was contacted by Murielle Maupoint, the company founder, asking if I would like to embark on a campaign with BNBS, saying that she thought my book had enormous potential!

Of course I accepted! Not only because the concept was new and exciting but also because I found Murielle very personable and approachable, once again that thought, ‘This just feels right’.

Throughout the whole process BNBS were in regular contact with me and the encouragement I received was not only pertinent at the time, for it has made me a far more confident person now and so cleverly administered that I didn’t notice myself changing.

I now have a full contract with BNBS and for me, personally, will always endeavour to retain them as my publisher. They have opened the world up to me, inspired me, made me laugh and introduced me to so many good friends through social media, something I had never been interested in before.

It seems right, at this point, to introduce the lady herself with a few words from her on what has inspired her to work so tirelessly, 24/7 sometimes, with her BNBS authors and hopefuls, and her hopes for the future.

“There is such phenomenal writing talent in the UK. Britain’s Next Bestseller gives authors the opportunity to land a publishing deal based on whether readers like the book or not. We believe this is the way forward to discover fantastic new books that can be bestsellers of the future. What drives me is my passion to empower people to achieve their dreams. By removing some of the major barriers new authors face in pursuing their writing ambitions I believe we are making a real difference… plus we have built a buzzing family of authors who all support and guide one another to succeed. There are friendships that have been made between authors on Britain’s Next Bestseller that I know will last a lifetime. It’s a feel-good business and every time we help an author achieve their dreams it puts a huge smile on my face and fuels me to keep going.”

I can vouch personally for all of the above, and more, Murielle is truly a remarkable lady and I wish I had half her energy!

Lastly, on that word, Serendipity, a lucky chance or magical happenstance? For me, it perfectly sums up the last twelve months of my life.

You can find Donna on  social media:
Facebook
Twitter

The Hangman’s Hitch is due for release on 8th April 2016 and can be pre-ordered here.