JMU students release first book, three more to follow
Recently released “Alliance” has seen early success
Posted on August 30, 2007
When juniors Samantha Ward and Chrystine Kern began passing around a notebook with their friend Rachel DiDomenico and their high school Algebra II teacher Michele Yardumian, each taking turns telling a part of a story, they had no idea that this would turn into “The Alliance,” a book that would make them published authors in five years.
But that is what happened. Ward and Kern approached their teacher sophomore year of high school about writing a story, after learning that Yardumian had written what she called “notebook stories.” The idea soon spread to a fourth author, DiDomenico. Each girl was responsible for a character and each chapter is a scene involving one of the characters. However, all four women were involved in the editing of the novel, making it reads like one voice. They called it “the story” and as the book got longer and longer they received encouragement to publish “The Alliance,” a title they all agreed upon. Although it had never been their intention to attempt to publish the novel, they decided to try.
“The process ended up being much more difficult than we expected,” Ward said. “We were rejected by a lot of different publishers who just weren’t looking for a fantasy novel, but we had a lot of support from friends and family, so we just kept trying.”
It took four years for them to sign a publishing contract. They decided to go with Tate Publishing in summer ’06.
“It has been wonderful working with Tate,” Ward said. “Unlike most publishers, they have allowed us to keep all the rights to our work, as well as have the final say on edits and changes.”
“The Alliance,” which hit bookshelves this July is a story about the Faeltheon, an ancient race of Faeries and Elves, who are trying to save their people and land from destruction as their borders are invaded by neighboring Men. Their young and inexperienced queen, Elwyn, seeks advice from her friends and counselors as she tries to find a solution for her people before it is too late. The story is also a Biblical allegory, similar in that respect to “The Chronicles of Narnia.”
“The main theme of the story is God’s unfailing love and provision for His creation,” Kern said.
Kern hopes readers can relate to “The Alliance.”
“As with all works of fiction, I hope readers get enjoyment from the story and also take away something from the tale that rings true for them personally,” she said.
“The Alliance” is the first novel in a four-part series. The four authors have finished books two and three and have begun work on book four. Whether the next three books are published is dependent upon the success of “The Alliance.” The girls have done book signings and Tate publishing has been sending press releases to local radio and TV stations, as well as bookstores and newspapers.
“Since it was just released this summer, the publicity process is just getting started,” Ward said.
Although it was recenty released, “The Alliance” has already seen success. Amazon.com ran out of copies and had to order more from the book’s distributor. However, the authors feel that the success of the book cannot be measured in sales.
“If the story were to touch just one other person’s life, it’d be worthwhile and I think we’d all be satisfied,” Kern said.
According to reviews of the book on such Web sites as amazon.com, the authors have achieved their goal of touching the lives of others.
“This novel is a wonderful ‘fairytale’ in the truest sense of the word,” said an amazon.com reviewer on the Web site. Another reader commented, “I truly and deeply enjoyed reading ‘The Alliance’. It is the beginning of an epic journey that touches the reader in a meaningful and enjoyable way — teaching as well as it entertains.”
It has been a long road for each of the girls and for the story that began in a notebook five years ago. Despite becoming a published author, Kern comments that it hasn’t changed her life all that much.
“It still hasn’t really hit me that someone I’ll never see face-to-face could be reading something I helped write,” she said.
Samantha, on the other hand, is enjoying the benefits of being a published author.
“Seeing my name on a book has definitely giving me a lot of extra confidence in my writing and my ability to achieve my goals,” she said. “Also it looks great on a resume.” she said.
Ward, Kern, DiDomenico and Yardumian are currently focusing on getting the other three books published.
“In order for them to go to print, we have to sell a certain amount of copies of ‘The Alliance,’ so we’re doing all the promotion we can,” Ward said.
In addition to promoting the book, Ward is an international affairs major with a concentration in the Middle East. Kern is an English major.
When asked what advice she would give to other students trying to write a novel, or to get a novel published, Kern emphasized the importance of perseverance.
“I believe everyone has something to say that’s worth being heard, and it’s difficult to put it out there and receive a rejection letter from a publishing company,” she said. “But learn from it, improve on your skill, and believe in what you have to say enough to keep pushing through”