Dec 5 2008

My First Sale by Jeff Rivera

Welcome to the My First Sale series. Each Friday, Dear Author posts the first sale letter of bestselling authors, debut authors, and authors in between. Jeff Rivera was once homeless and writing in a car (he’s like Jewel, only writes books instead of music).   His debut novel, Forever My Lady, was first self-published until the big wigs caught on and he was awarded a contract with Warner Books.   It’s in stores now.   

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I remember that night distinctly, as I lay cramped next to my mother in the front seat of our two door Buick. A tear rolled down my cheek, not just because we were homeless, nor because the only money we had was the loose change on the dashboard, nor because we shared our new “home” with our pet cockateil and turtle. No, a tear rolled down my cheek because my mother had just told me the story of how she was locked in a toy box when she was a little girl whenever she was “bad”.

I knew we had to do better. This was not where we were meant to be in our life. So, years later when I set out to self-publish my first novel, Forever My Lady I did so not only because it had been my dream since I was in first grade to write a novel but because I knew any success I had, was my family’s success, and because we had to do better.

I had only $200 to my name and I used it to print the first box of books. And, because I didn’t have a penny more I started promoting the book on line. I didn’t know if people were even going to like it. Crazy, when I think about it, to use every dime I had to self-publish some novel. But something told me to do it. Forever My Lady was a story I had to tell, it had been fermenting inside of me for so long. I didn’t completely believe in myself but I knew on some level even if I never made it and I looked back on my life as an old man, I would have known I had at least sought out to do better.

I remember when the emails started coming in, letters, enthusiastic letters of people who had read Forever My Lady online and wanted to purchase the book. It gave me chills to think about it, people “got me” they actually “got me”. More orders, and more orders came in and soon I had sold every book in my first box of books. I used that money to purchase more copies and before long I had built an audience of over 8000 people that had read the book either online or in print.

That’s when Warner Books (Now, called Grand Central) came knocking. The book had been rotting on the bottom of their slush pile but after I got my first book agent they read Forever My Lady over the weekend and had an offer within 7 days.

Shock. I was in shock. There I was, the son of a single mother, once a homeless teen living in the front seat of my car with my mother and little brother and pets and there was Grand Central Publishing was calling. And they wanted my book! Dreams do come true and I knew more than anything in the world, finally we had done better.

Jeff Rivera is the author of the award-winning novel, Forever My Lady. For more information visit: www.JeffRivera.com

Related posts:

  1. REVIEW: Elrod McBugle on the Loose by Jeff Strand
  2. Jeff Bezos Does a Q&A with Walt Mossberg
  3. My First Sale by Sharon Shinn, Every Sale Is Cause for Celebration
  4. My First Sale by Mariah Stewart, Mama Didn’t Raise No Fool
  5. My First Sale by Roxanne St. Claire, Starstruck

By Jane • Book Reviews • 13 • Tags: ,