Today we bring you a guest post by Mary J. Dinan, author of The Global Suitcase, an inspirational travel book that’s been published worldwide.
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I’ve always loved travel literature. Over the years I’ve spent hours in my local book shop looking at books by travel greats like Michael Palin, who went around the world in 80 days, Jonathan Dimbleby, who embarked on a 10,000 mile trip into the heart of Russia and octogenarian Dervla Murphy who went to Afghanistan on foot and to India by bike. Then one day, while I was scouring the shelves looking for my next read, a lightbulb went on in my head. I decided, right there and then, that I was going to write a travel book.
My idea was to meet all these intrepid travellers and find out what makes them tick. I wanted to ask them about their unusual lives, extraordinary journeys and epic adventures and share their stories to inspire others. My creative mind was on overdrive!
But I’d never written a book before and I had no idea about the process. Where would I start? Was my idea good enough? How would I go about finding a publisher? Would I really be able to to do it? There was so much to consider. Before anything I had to make contact with my travel heroes to make sure I’d have enough material to fill a book. I had no idea if any of them would even agree to do an interview! If they did, how long would each interview be? And how many pages would that make my book? The questions whizzed round in my head. I was so excited. I wanted this more than anything.
At this time I was working at a local school for children with special needs and I decided that I’d donate 25 per cent of whatever I earned to the BBC’s Children in Need appeal, a charity close to my heart. Just the thought of writing for a cause and doing something extra to help children kept me smiling every day. Hatching a secret plan was almost as exciting as the whole writing process. I was embarking on the most exhilarating, surreal and incredible journey of my life!
I wanted to go about my book the right way so I did lots of research about writing and approaching publishers. It was a steep learning curve because everything was new to me. I began by sitting down and looking at how I might structure the book. It was a challenge – and a brilliant one! Then I set about contacting my interviewees. What a thrill!
I immediately got a ‘yes’ from Michael Palin and his BAFTA award winning cameraman Nigel Meakin, and Jonathan Dimbeleby invited me to interview him in his flat in London. The positive responses kept coming and I ended up interviewing the likes of BBC’s John Simpson, Ardal O’Hanlon and Simon Reeve, travel adventurers Dervla Murphy and Geoff Hill and Zoe Sallis, who told me all about her visit to Nelson Mandela’s house. What an experience. I had 25 stories in total – all the greats of travel journalism – I couldn’t quite believe I’d scooped them! All I had to do now was write the book…
Mary interviewing Ardal O’Hanlon
I quickly discovered that no publisher would take me seriously without a literary agent – someone with a good knowledge of editors and publishers and who could target my manuscript accordingly – so I set about finding one. It was a huge challenge. A few wrote back encouraging me but on the whole it was quite disheartening. Eventually I received a more positive letter from an agent in London who said that while my book wasn’t for him, he did think it was “publishable” and he gave me a list of publishers to contact. At this time I also met Vanessa Fox, founder of Writing.ie – the world’s only national writing resources website. I went to her for advice and she was extremely positive about my book and gave me lots of helpful tips.
While I was in the process of interviewing and writing, I ended up in casualty at London’s Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. I was at the Travellers’ Tales exhibition preparing to interview BBC’s Simon Reeve, Dervla Murphy and Chris Stewart, ex Genesis drummer and author of Driving over Lemons, when suddenly I lost vision in one eye. I’d been experiencing strange symptoms for a few months and for a while it looked like my dream might be over. I ended up having several visits to neurology and a brain scan. It was a difficult time and I was grateful to Jonathan Dimbleby, John Simpson and many others, for sending me personal get well letters which helped me stay optimistic.
Thankfully my vision returned I continued work on my book. Cracking the publisher’s code was my next challenge. My heart sank every time my manuscript was returned. I just had to console myself with the thought that even great writers like George Orwell and Stephen King experienced rejection. Imagine if they’d given up on Animal Farm or Carrie. Or if J.K. Rowling had put Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone to the side after it was rejected by 12 major publishers. Or if Nobel Prize winning author William Golding had decided to forget about Lord of the Flies when a publisher called it “un-interesting rubbish and dull”. These people never took no for an answer and neither would I!
As doors kept closing, my good friend, author Geoff Hill, reminded me that: “You only need one door to open”. So I persevered and kept telling myself that the impossible IS possible.
Then I was admitted to hospital again with severe internal bleeding. It was another set back but while I was there I wrote some features for my local paper which were printed. By this stage I’d given up on getting a literary agent – I was my own agent and was saving myself the 15 per cent overseas fee. Having a writer’s history, albeit a very short one, made it easier for me to approach publishers myself. I just prayed I’d find a good, reputable one.
Then one day, when I’d practically exhausted my list of contacts, that door did open. Out of the blue I got an email from international publishing house New Holland offering me a contract. I was ecstatic! My book, The Global Suitcase, was to travel the world! It was sent to Australia, the UK, the USA and lots of countries in-between. It even reached number 9 in the Irish book charts.
Looking back I’m so grateful for all those rejection letters because the deal I finally got was better than I could ever have imagined. My advice to anyone who’s looking to get published is to believe in yourself, believe in your book and never give up. Listen to sound advice, surround yourself with people who support and encourage you and remember that you’ll only fail if you stop trying. Above all enjoy the journey!
Order your copy of The Global Suitcase by Mary J. Dinan here and 25 per cent will go to support BBC Children in Need.
