Have you seen this overnight success story?

Seaview

Well, almost overnight, she finished writing on a Tuesday and was signed by HarperCollins for a two-book deal on Thursday! This US writer, who is now based here in Ireland, has been all over the press this last day or two -good to know there's still hope for unknown writers... (must remember to start that novel I've been talking about for the last five years )

http://www.londonbookfair.co.uk/en/Library/industrynews/HarperFiction-pre-empts-debut-thriller-/

Stan2

Start the novel TODAY!

Carol

Apologies for the cynic in me. But If it was that easy I'd expect to see it happening more.

I wonder if the story hadn't been submitted earlier, the publisher was interested if a few changes were made and that's how it was accepted so quickly.

But good luck to the writer. However it happened, she'll have worked hard to get there.

boredrobots

It happening once does not mean it's easy :P

Claudia

There may be more to it than meets the eye, but it's still wonderfully inspiring for new novelists!

Tiny Nell

If it catches their eye, it catches their eye. Well done, that author!

ana s

Must be the whole package, exceptionally well written and exceptionally commercial. Hats off to her.

toothlight

Obviously the amazing short time interval was concocted for maximum publicity, but it will be the actual sales that determine whether she is going to be the next big thriller author. Hype does not necessarily equate to sales.

Lou Treleaven

Sounds great, but we have to remember she may have been working on that book for years. And how many other books did she have to write first before finding success? This could have been a very long journey really.

Neph

Lol maybe she finished the novel on Tuesday in October, was read Wednesday in January, signed on Thursday in March and finalised Monday in April? No one said they were consecutive days.

toothlight

Now I hear that slimy piece of scum, Russell Brand, has been signed to 'rewrite' some classic children's stories. Can't wait to see what filth he inserts, with a toilet mind like his. Bet it's not on any decent school's book list

Jenthom72

There's more about her here http://irishwritingblog.wordpress.com/tag/aine-o-domhnaill/
Her book does sound fantastic. Not sure why she's changing her name. If it was me there's no way I would. Good luck to her.

casey

Unbelievable - an agent read a submission the day it was sent in? Why do they take months to reply to submissions then? Of course I'm green with envy but good luck to her. It's good to hear someone is 'making it'.

danfango

I think the key part of the article is the sentence "She was shortlisted for the CWA debut dagger for unpublished writers in 2013 under her real name, Aine O' Domhnaill."

That's the kind of achievement that will get an agent's interest up, so possibly Miller was already talking to Simon Trewin well in advance of getting the book finished. I doubt the full details of the arrangement will be revealed, as there's a lot more media mileage in talking about the speed with which it all fell into place.

It sounds like she's put the work in, and as others have said it's always good to hear of a newcomer hitting the big time.

Lou Treleaven

Yes, I'm sure she would already have had the agent, who was probably waiting, primed, for the manuscript to arrive.

Seaview

Yes, I think it's her third book in the series and they didn't take the other two. She has already started the second novel she has been signed for and from what I have read it's unrelated to the first. I always thought publishers liked sequels, but there you go...

datco2014

Good luck to her - like most of us she'll have been writing for years - probably took 10 manuscripts, and 5 years of hard graft to become an 'overnight' success - but encouragement for the rest of us still hoping...

Seaview

Spotted this recently about Jax Miller and remembered having. posting this this thread (can't believe it was so long ago now!)

This lady has done extremely well with Freedom's Child (which I'm ashamed to say I haven't yet read) and it has been translated in many different languags and been nominated for several awards. A real success story. http://blog.whsmith.co.uk/fresh-talent-freedoms-child-by-jax-miller/

Shon85

This sort of story is great to hear, especially to a writing newbie like me, but I'm also not naive to think it can possibly be this easy. Although look at JK Rowling. It took her a long while to write the first Harry Potter book, but once her agent got hold of it and became her agent, things took off very quickly for her, and she went from being a single mum on benefits to one of the richest women in the UK in a relatively short time. The fairy tale does come true for some. But Rowling is exceptional, I doubt writers like her come along all that often.

Seaview

Yes, JK Rowling's story was amazing, wasn't it, Shon. It this girl can write half as well, I'm sure she will go places (although she hasn't done too badly at this stage!) I'm going to get my hands on a copy of the book and will do a review of it for my blog.

Shon85

I watched the JK Rowling Story a couple of weeks ago, and I was shocked at how much she'd been through, and what it took for her to get Harry Potter written. She's an amazing woman, and a real inspiration.

Lizy

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