My Long-Awaited Title
Guest Post by Ethan Joella
It is sometimes hard to find one’s place as an author in this crazy book world. Especially if you don’t have a “brand”. That mystical, majestic status on social media that no one really knows what it is except if you’ve got one or not.
But what about the rest of us? What about those of us who dream about being an author? Those of us who show up at our keyboards day after day, year after year, plugging away at our goals? Whose rejection letters can fill up more space in a drawer than our novels that go unpublished? What about those of us who held on to that tiny spark of hope that one day, finally, it will be our turn?
Today we are pleased to bring you a guest post from author Ethan Joella who shares his journey to publishing and how he is claiming resilience as his own personal brand.
This week, I was teaching at a residency for educators getting a graduate degree in creative writing and literature. When we had to introduce ourselves, I stumbled. I wanted to sound impressive; I wanted to feel like I belonged there. But I don’t feel quite like an author. I don’t have a clear descriptor. Sometimes publishers and agents talk about “brand,” and I never know what my brand is supposed to be. With my third book, The Same Bright Stars, hitting shelves now, I keep wondering, who the heck am I in the writing world?
I am the third son in my family, so I am used to existing in the background. But I’m a dreamer. I always have been. I wrote a handful of novels before my first book, A Little Hope, found a home. I queried so many literary agents in the last two decades that in 2019, I couldn’t think of one in New York or California who hadn’t heard from me. But I knew, somehow, if I kept being patient, like the guy who was never the first choice in an interview, the guy who was never picked first in gym class, my time would come.
Maybe that is my angle as a writer. Maybe I’m the guy who envisioned this life and didn’t give up.
My publishing dream came true more than twenty years after I’d hoped it would. Maybe it’s the life that finally showed through—the sawing down of Christmas trees year after year, the long, sad rides of taking a dog to be put down, the listening to the students whose parents were cruel, the putting my writing last on my list so many nights because there were bills to be paid online, kids that wouldn’t go to bed, dishwashers that needed to be unloaded. Maybe this is my brand.
Maybe I’m beyond a two or three-word descriptor. I have written while never ignoring my taxes or weeds. I send memes to my sister and sister-in-law. I make fudge with my kids, listen to all their music. My favorite thing to do on a rainy morning when we can’t go for our walk, when the kids are still sleeping, is to get bagels with my wife Rebecca and sit in the car and talk and talk about nothing.
I want my brand to be about the value of waiting for your moment. Like the ugly duckling did.
All the years I stood in book shops and felt a sinking in my chest that everyone else’s dreams were coming true and mine wasn’t, all the times I got so close (an agent requesting revisions, a publisher calling on a weeknight to say they needed the full manuscript right away) and then was rejected prepared me for the sheer joy of an agent and publisher finally saying, “We want you.”
When I was a kid I loved Charlie Brown so much I dressed up as him for two Halloweens in a row. He didn’t seem hapless or sad to me. I loved Charlie Brown not because he was doomed but because he had a pure heart. He always believed the kicking of the football would be different each time, and nothing could shake that. It didn’t matter how many times he fell. He understood how finally kicking the football, seeing it launch into the sky, would feel.
That’s how I feel now. When I introduce myself the next time, I think that’s what I’ll say.
~Ethan Joella
Ethan’s third novel, The Same Bright Stars, releases today July 2, 2024. Stay tuned for a full review from us next week. But in the meantime, do yourself a favor and order a copy now.
~The Book Tide
I'd say I'm emotional because I just finished watching a video of Coldplay's performance of "Fix You" at Glastonbury this weekend (an absolute MUST WATCH)... but I think this got me right in the feels. Really appreciate this introduction!