Author Nichole Severn: Interview with Romance Author, Shannan Albright!

As promised, I’ve dedicated this upcoming year to helping other writers become published, just as a lot of you helped me these past few years. So for today I’d like to welcome romance author, Shannan Albright to the blog to tell us her journey to publication.

Thanks for stopping by Shannan!

Tell us a little about yourself.

I’m a second generation Californian, raised on the Central Coast near Santa Barbara. My family came from a small Bayou town in Louisiana and had made that part of the country their home since the mid 1700’s. I come from a family of artist’s, but I’m the only one who got the writing bug. I also am the only avid reader in my family so I guess you can say I am a true oddity in my family. Lol! I was a dancer, illustration artist and paint to relax and solve any plot problems I come up against with my books.

How long were you writing before you signed your first contract?

I have been writing since 1980. I can probably circle the world three times with all the rejections I have received. I stopped for a few years and would return to it off and on. Then I found the Romance Writers of America, became a member in 2008 and started taking workshops. It was the workshops that helped me to finally get published so I have a lot to be thankful for when it comes to that organization.

Approximately how many manuscripts did you write before then?

Lol! Since 1980? Lord I lost count by 1992! Let’s just say a lot.

Did you follow the traditional publishing route for any of those books?

Yes I did and I know the reason I got my foot in the door to the publishing world is because of the growing popularity of the eBook market.

You’re published with Evernight Publishing and eXtasy Books, what about these publishers drew you in to submit?

I was friended by Evernight Publishing when they opened for business in Oct. 2008. They were looking for authors published and unpublished and sent out a call for submissions for a Christmas anthology. I went to their website, liked what I saw and took a chance. And my experience with them has been stellar. They stand by their authors more than any other I have heard of. I took a small novella to eXtasy because I have friends who are published with them and they contract an entire series instead of one at a time.

What future projects can you tell us about?

I have a book called The Summoning nearing completion. This has been a 3 year project. It took time for my talent to catch up to this book. It’s about Watchers also known as the Grigori and their army of immortals called the Sentinels. They are searching for a key that will allow them into our world to restore the balance between good and evil.

I’m also working on the third book in the Dark Breed Series for Evernight and as I write this I’m finishing up the second book in the Knights of Excalibur for eXtasy. I have one more in the series with eXtasy and that series will be done and I’ll continue on with my other projects.

What advice would you give a novice or unpublished author?

Don’t. Give. Up. Pure and simple. If I can get published after so many years trying, I know with dedication, workshops and lots of hard work you can get published too if your serious about it and willing to devote the time to really learning the craft and business.

Thank you for giving us a glimpse into your world, Shannan! You can find Shannan through her website, Facebook, Twitter and her blog.