Comments on: My First Sale by Julie Leto, It All Started with Cheap Wine…

By: Caffey

Caffey — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:39:30 +0000

I had goosebumps reading this Julie! You’re one I look up to and think things will turn out ok! I’m lost for words after reading this. Just keep believing!

By: Allison Brennan

Allison Brennan — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 04:42:57 +0000

Hi Julie! What a fantastic story! I love how you turned full-circle and are writing what you first started writing. Thirty books? Here’s a toast to thirty more :)

By: Betina Krahn

Betina Krahn — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 14:45:58 +0000

Julie, I just finished Phantom Pleasures and was entranced by the great story and steamy loving! Wonderful stuff! And the Paschal stuff– never saw that coming– wow! Now I’m hooked– I can’t wait for the other brothers’ stories! Write faster!

Your 1st sale story demonstrates the essential wisdom of the writing career– persist, persevere, and be patient. Timing is also critical– but we just have to have faith that our ms will land on the right desk for the right eyes at the right time. We have no real control over how or if that happens. So we live in hope. . . which makes us better people in the long run. And the writing-reading world is so much richer for the fact that YOU took time to learn the craft and to persevere. Your stories and your enthusiasm and generosity enrich us all!

May PP sell a million!

By: Jenyfer Matthews

Jenyfer Matthews — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 06:48:55 +0000

I’ll take any excuse there is to drink wine :)

Thanks for sharing your story – it’s stories like this that keep me going!

By: JulieLeto

JulieLeto — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 01:58:39 +0000

Hi, Paula! Actually, I spoke to my buddy just today! We keep in touch. Or daughters are the same age and honestly, breaking up the partnership was probably the best thing we ever did for our friendship. She’s still an avid romance reader, though she reads mostly historicals, which is where we first started. She did a career in computers and then was/is a stay-at-home mom.

Thanks to everyone. Yes, it took me a long time to get where I wanted to be, but I started off very young and despite a degree in Creative Writing, I didn’t know squat about commercial fiction until I joined RWA. A lot of those years were just learning the craft. Then it was all about right place, right time, right idea on the first sale.

Oh, and Carolyn…fear and self-doubt do not lessen when you get published. They get worse. So it’s good practice to deal with it before hand, when no one is paying you money in advance of success that might not live up to everyone’s expectations.

But I’m not complaining! It’s just the way of the world.

By: Marie lifestylerin

Marie lifestylerin — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 01:53:19 +0000

Thanks for sharing great story! The family is very important!

By: Carolyn Roark

Carolyn Roark — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 00:34:20 +0000

What an inspiring journey, Julie! Yours is a motivational story for unpubs, especially on those days when fear and self doubt creeps in (I have them frequently). To know someone that has seen your success also struggled in the beginning makes me want to persevere. Thanks for sharing your story! Oh, and FYI – I’ll be reading my copy of Phantom Pleasures this weekend! :-)

By: Paula R.

Paula R. — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 23:16:27 +0000

Jules, loved this article…it took that long to write your first novel…wow…two and half years is a long time…well, I am glad the first pitch didn’t work out for you because we wouldn’t have been able to experience PP the way we do now…it is awesome and I love the idea of the story…can’t wait to read Touch…You definitely are a trooper; I probably would have given up after the first rejection…do you ever keep in touch with your old college buddy? Does she kick herself for leaving you swinging in the wind? I think she must have gotten a shock when she saw or heard that stuck it out and you published your first book…I find it rather interesting that white zinfandel played such a pivotal role in your life…congrats on a job well done…you know how much I love you and your buddies…

By: JulieLeto

JulieLeto — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 20:24:36 +0000

Leslie, that was 20 years ago, when I was a very poor college student. I now drink Reisling.

By: Leslie Kelly

Leslie Kelly — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 20:21:23 +0000

I love hearing your story Julie–talk about a lesson in being persistent and working hard! And you so deserve every bit of success that has come since.

But…White Zin? Ugh. Oh, sweetheart, am I going to introduce you to a nice Pinot Noir in San Fran.