As a kid, Jackie Sommers visited the Kimball library often. Even back then, she was a prolific writer. But no one could have expected that she?Äôd return, a published author, to her childhood library.
But she did.
Sommers, 33, daughter of Tom and Ronda Sommers of Kimball, published her first novel, Truest. The book finally came out Sept. 1, after several years of hard work.
It?Äôs not her first novel, and won?Äôt be her last either. But it was the first to be published.
Truest takes place in the fictitious town of Green Lake, a town with four churches, one bar, and a bowling alley painted aqua. Sound familiar? It is largely based on the town of Kimball where Sommers grew up.
Sommers has been writing almost her whole life, she said. She is grateful for the teachers who encouraged her writing; several of them were in the room Saturday.
?ÄúI read everything I could get my hands on,?Äù she said. She described this rampant learning spree as ?Äúcultivating for later crops.?Äù
She studied English and writing in college.
Jackie Sommers?Äô first published novel came out a month ago. She came to the Kimball Public Library to talk about her book, and the years-long process of writing and publishing it. Staff photos by Jean Doran Matua.
She began writing her first book in 2008. It was a memoir on obsessive compulsive disorder, something she was just diagnosed with. Her writing style was more like a poet and personal essayist. A writer friend introduced her to fiction writing, and this project evolved into a novel, even if it was one ?Äúthat should not see the light of day,?Äù said Sommers.
It was okay, it was even decent, she said. But the experience of writing a novel before writing a good novel was invaluable.
She was about 50 pages into her second attempt at a novel, also intended for adult readers, when she read The Fault in Our Stars. She set aside the second book and tried another tack.
?ÄúI started with characters that I really loved,?Äù she said, characters with whom she?Äôd be happy to spend the next four years.
She spent six months on a first draft, then revision. When it was about as good as she could get it on her own, she hired an editor to make big changes that were needed.
At about this time, Sommers attended a workshop in California for young-adult writers. This was a turning point. She?Äôs still friends with some of the people she met that weekend. There she learned that she?Äôd need an agent, that book editors at publishing houses won?Äôt look at unsolicited manuscripts.
Self-publishing is always an option, but she wanted to give it a shot to publish her work the traditional way, through a publisher.
It was a very emotional process, she said.
She sent out about 40 introductory letters for her first novel, the one that was already completed, and got only one semi-interested response. (By comparison, she sent out about 25 query letters on Truest and got about a dozen responses, one within hours.)
First they asked to read the first 50 pages, then some asked to read the whole manuscript.
After the book was sold, to HarperCollins, she thought the hard part was over. She was in for a big surprise. Nearly everything was changed or adjusted along the way to publication of Truest.
She?Äôs now diligently working on book number two, set for May 2017 publication.
Her advice to aspiring young writers: just do it, butt in seat, hands on keyboard. It takes years and years of hard work to get there, and you just have to sit down and do it. Be willing to show your crappy work to people and accept what critique they offer.
Next weekend, Sommers will be in Chicago at a conference on young-adult literature. She will be on a panel with some of her favorite authors. That may just top getting her first book published.
Sommers sold out of her books Saturday, but you can buy a copy in bookstores or online. Copies will be available for sale at the Tri-County News office as well. And there are copies in the Kimball Library and in the school library for loan. She signed copies of her book after her talk Saturday morning.