2 months until ON ROTATION hits the shelves!
I got so many rejections when I went on sub, & each one felt more personal than the last. Often my vision for ON ROTATION didn’t align with publisher’s. They saw my raw material: Black female doctor, Ghanaian, talks about social determinants of health- and wanted more of that, less of the life, less of the romance. It was dehumanizing (and still is, more on this in the story), and I remember feeling so sure that my book wouldn’t sell not because it wasn’t good, but because it wouldn’t be a case study on the experiences of Black Immigrant Women in Medicine. And then I got the call. I still get goosebumps when I think of the 1st time I talked to my editor at HarperCollins & realized that she understood exactly what I was trying to accomplish OR, and was down for the ride!
Not going to lie. The process shook my confidence some. I was confident in my writing, but less confident that readers & professional reviewers, would pick up what I was putting down. Would they understand the nuance behind my characters’ decisions, and love them for their imperfections? Would they understand the tropes I was trying to subvert? Would they enjoy the way my book straddled genres (somewhere between General/ Women’s Fiction & Contemporary Romance)?
But the reception to ON ROTATION has been so very wonderful. I put so much heart into this book, and I am overjoyed to see it resonating with readers and trade alike (swipe to see snippets of reader reviews as well as trade reviews from Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly and Kirkus, all of which almost made me cry except I was at work and had to like, hold it together ha.)
Can’t wait for you all to finally be able to read ON ROTATION en masse! (Reminder: It’s 25% off today & tomorrow at B&N.com!)