Some time ago, someone told me that a poster on Reddit was accusing my writing coach, Annalisa Summea, of being a fraud. This was the gist of the reply I posted in the thread.
******
Last week, I became aware of some people badmouthing Annalisa and the Writing Gym here, so I thought I’d better set the record straight.
When I first met Annalisa online seven years ago, I’d just finished writing a book, had started another, and had an epic novel stalled at 33k words. All in all, I’d written a couple of hundred thousand words. I was at the point where I needed to determine the next steps in my publishing journey.
She had just published Storytelling for Pantsers and asked for reviews. I read the book and felt that I’d been understood as a writer for the first time in my life. I’m a pantser, through and through, but it took me a long time to realise this. Her book explained that, far from being a freak, I was at one end of a writer’s spectrum, the other being the Plotters.
Since she seemed to know a lot about writing and publishing, I contacted her and asked whether she did any editing. She replied that she did, and we started work at once. We worked on the book, and she taught me the skills necessary to self-edit my work, bringing it to a standard that a publisher would prefer. Like many others, I believed the publishers did all the editing.
Only after I’d met a few other Writing Gym members did I realise I’d joined a community. She invited a few other writers and me to a writers’ retreat in Devon. During a one-on-one session with her there, we realised that one of the problems with my book was that it spanned several genres, something most publishers apparently hate. Fortunately, two of the short stories in my second book belonged together, so I used them to write a new book: an episodic novel. When it came to editing and revising it, very little work was needed because I’d learned the lessons of the first book so well. Apart from adding in some foreshadowing and backlinking and removing a few ‘Englishisms’, the only significant change was adding an extra part to segue between two others, something I put together in three days.
By now, Annalisa was teaching me how to submit my work to publishers. An agent liked the second book but thought it would be better suited to YA science fiction. I made the necessary changes in a couple of weeks, employing all the skills I was accumulating. Different publishers accepted the two books within days of one another.
Meanwhile, I’d also been submitting short stories to anthologies and magazines. A handful of them were published before the two books came out. I now have around 30 stories published.
When one of the publishers decided to drop one of the books, Annalisa picked me up, dusted me down, wiped my tears, and helped me look for a new publisher. I’m just starting to revise the book in light of their requirements and my writing experience since then. I’m also learning to better market myself, my brand, and my books.
From a couple of hundred thousand words seven years ago, I’ve now written over 2 million words. This includes two books published (one non-fiction), one being revised, three more completed (part of a series beginning with the book being revised), another WIP in the series, and eleven spin-off WIPs from the original series. In addition, I’m working on a four-part YA science fiction series, a sequel to the original YA science fiction series, two collaborations with other authors, and two novellas. Plus, a couple of other projects.
I’ve also read that no one who’s worked with Annalisa has ever been published. Until my website was hacked a few months ago, I had a page listing all the books I’ve appeared in. There was also a section for writers from the Writing Gym who had also published books. I listed well over a dozen books. So much for that.
Thank all the Gods, there are people like Annalisa out there who are prepared to work with aspiring authors to bring their works to the world. She’s been teaching me everything I needed to learn, but I had no idea where to find it — a real one-stop shopping centre. Whatever stage of your writer’s journey, she has tools to help you, from starting to editing, submitting and selling, beginning the next book, to marketing. There’s even a section where we’ve analysed Pulitzer Prize bestsellers to better understand our writing. Moreover, some of the parts I worked on in the past have become significantly expanded as she continues to add new information for us all.
During online retreats, you can even have an opportunity to pitch your book(s) to an agent. I have one looking for TV and movie opportunities for my books.
However, she can’t do it all. You must be prepared to put in the time, the effort, the money, the energy, and everything else. She points the way, but you have to move in that direction. But she’ll be at your side, along with the rest of the Writing Gym membership, cheering and helping you.
Oh, and the epic novel? I’m still writing it, but it’s now over 147k words long.