From Indie To Traditional Publishing - A Success Story For Author Tracy Banghart

This is a shout-out to my friend Tracy, whom I met in a pretty random set of circumstances while on vacation last summer (which I explained a little in this post). At the time, Tracy had just self-published two books, By Blood and Moon Child, which had both come very close to being traditionally published. Tracy was also working hard on her next novel called Shattered Veil. Half a year later, she self-published it, too. I read it a few weeks later, when it already had acquired quite a few rave reviews. No real surprise for me: It's amazing. One of the best self-pubs I've ever read. 

Since I'm totally biased, my opinion might not impress you. Except I'm not the only one who thought the book was amazing. Firstly, Tracy won an Indie Book Award for it. Secondly, she was contacted by an editor from Alloy Entertainment, who made Tracy an offer for the book. 

I'll let that sink in a moment...  

Yes. The publisher contacted her, because they loved the book so much. 

Tracy explains the hows and whys on her blog in The Story Behind The Story. Basically, Alloy offered her a three-book deal. Shattered Veil went through revisions and is now titled Rebel Wing. Movie optioning has been discussed. 

Tracy is living every writer's dream. I'm insanely happy and excited for her, and for me by extension. Because once I got over the stab of absolute envy that wouldn't be denied, I realized that such success stories do, in fact, hit close to home. So close that, maybe, if I follow Tracy's example and work hard at my craft, it just might happen to me, too (the being-published thing in general, not the being-contacted-by-the-publisher thing. That's got to be a one-in-a-million occurrence).

Tracy, you're my hero. Kudos to you and Shattered Veil. You both deserve the recognition. I'll be (re)reading Rebel Wing and can't wait to see how Aris' journey continues. If the series becomes the next big thing I wouldn't be the least bit surprised.