My Bookcamp experience: Rick Parks
Board member and long-time Bookcamp supporter Rick Parks shares in his own words below how he came to Bookcamp, how it helped his writing, and what this experience means to him. — ERG
Several years ago, I was seized with a creative impulse to write the story of my family’s experience with adoption. I had never written anything beyond corporate correspondence, but a few weeks later I finished a nearly complete novelization of the story.
At the time I was reluctant to present our story as non-fiction, as it was deeply personal. I was also fascinated by the life of the birth father of one of my sons, so I included a largely fictionalized version of his story. I thought it was the finest piece of writing that had ever been put to paper. Movie rights were definitely in the future.
About this time, I learned about Novel Bookcamp, which was fortunately being held near my home. Beyond sessions that helped participants hone their writing (which I believed was not necessary for me,) I noted that there would be published authors and literary agents present. I registered with the idea that it could be a first step on developing the contacts to have my novel published.
For someone with no writing experience or training, my first Bookcamp was an epiphany. Shockingly there were many ways to improve the details of my writing. There was also a candid consensus among instructors, staff, and literary agents that the story of my family had potential but that the fictionalized story of the birth father was beyond redemption. Despite this being the Novel Bookcamp, they encouraged me to consider shifting to nonfiction.
After a good cry over the death of my beautiful novel, I began a complete rewrite process to present the story of my family as a memoir. I continued to attend Bookcamp and advanced through the offerings. I grudgingly submitted to writing instruction to help me present our story in an engaging way and then moved on to the Book Coach program. It was a satisfying moment when my book coach told me, “I love your story. You need to submit it to publishers now.”
The contacts and advice I had been given through Bookcamp set me up for a realistic view of how becoming published would look for me. That allowed me to focus on the types of publishers and agents who would be more likely to have an interest in my memoir and to avoid piling up a mammoth stack of rejections; mine was only modest. At the end two publishers had an interest in my book, and I signed with the one who seemed to be the best fit for it.
When I look back on the process of taking my family’s story and navigating towards having it published, the role of Novel Bookcamp was essential. The advice and support of everyone associated with Bookcamp kept me going and allowed me to achieve my goal of becoming published. I will always be grateful.
