Time for another post for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, the brainchild of Head Ninja, Alex J. Cavanaugh. Feel free to join us the first Wednesday of every month! Purpose: To share and encourage.
This month’s question: Have you ever pulled out a really old story and reworked it? Did it work out?
Sort of . . . 18 Things started out as another novel. Back then it was a stand-alone & nobody died. The main character had cancer though, and agents stated it sounded too much like a Bucket List Junior or A Walk to Remember. A few suggested I make it a trilogy and somehow throw in a paranormal twist because those were all the rage in YA at the time. The rest, they say, is history!
Speaking of 18 Things, I’ll be promoting it at an author panel & signing at the local Barnes & Noble Marketplace in Fort Myers in two weeks. As many of you will recall, I teach English and have organized author school visits for the past three years. This year is bigger and better with a huge festival featuring 15 authors! These are the authors that will join me at the bookstore in the evening. Most are from around the state, but we have one from Georgia, one from Ohio, and another from New York! If you’re in Southwest Florida, please come on out from 4-6 p.m. on Thursday, March 16th! 15% of our author sales will be donated back to my school for next year’s literacy festival 🙂
Jamie Ayres 
Big changes.
That’s quite an event. Hope you have a huge turnout.
Well that sounds like quite the rework of the novel. But it worked!
I rewrote my first novel and changed it from third person POV to first! And it went from MG to YA.
Good luck at your panel and signing. B&N is a great venue.
Glad it worked! Have fun at your signing. 🙂
What a great idea to host a literacy event. Love it. Also wise to use the advice in the rejections. I consider those tidbits the golden nuggets that make rejection tolerable.
LOL. “and nobody died.” I love it.
So glad that others are reworking old projects–even if the story is barely recognizable! I’m doing something similar with my story right now too, a NaNo novel from five years ago or so, and it’s undergoing major revisions.
Good luck with your event!
I’ve seen quite a few success stories of people reworking old manuscripts in the answers to this question. Very inspiring! Sounds like a fun event you’ll be a part of.
Sounds like an amazing event. Thanks for stopping by my blog. 🙂
Hope the event goes well.
Heello mate great blog post