We're delighted to announce that authonomy has helped yet another author get published! The Mango Orchard by Robin Bayley was discovered on the site by agent Oli Munson at Blake Friedmann. He sold UK and Commonwealth rights to Trevor Dolby at Preface, and the book is published this week.
The Mango Orchard is a touching and exhilarating account of Bayley’s extraordinary journey around Latin America in the footsteps of his great-grandfather. Along the way he encounters witches, drug dealers and guerrillas before discovering the amazing true story behind the tales of adventure that had been passed down through his family for generations.
Trevor Dolby says: “The moment I received it, I was captivated by the story and the writing. It's one of those rare books where the narrative resonates so clearly through the author that the reader feels part of the story with all its twists and turns. It's an emotional journey as well. Falling in love with the delicious Juanita, revealing the family secret to his grandmother, and the final fiesta. I did actually laugh and cry.”
Robin Bayley credits authonomy with giving him the experience and confidence to push ahead with his writing. "Having spent several years writing on my own, then workshopping material in writing groups, authonomy gave me my first taste of the wider reading public and provided a valuable training ground for the marketing of the complete manuscript. The comments I received were both encouraging and constructive and helped to prepare me for the even more critical eyes of agents and publishers."
Oli Munson is also full of praise for our site and community. “When I first started reading The Mango Orchard, it was love at first sight. The Darwinian aspect of authonomy makes it an agent’s dream for finding new talent but more than that, it is a wonderful space for authors around the world to work together, improving their manuscripts. People can pay a lot of money to various writers’ services for the kind of honesty you find on authonomy, but the brave souls who really want to improve their craft can do so here for free.”
Heartfelt congratulations to Robin, and we wish him the best of luck with the book and his future writing career.
Have you been spotted on authonomy? Let us know about your success stories!
5 comments:
Marvellous!
As someone who is new to Authonomy, this is very encouraging news! Congratulations to Robin Bayley, Oli Munson and Trevor Dolby on a dream come true.
Hi, this is a girl from Heights that you came to visit, I was in the second class Im so excited for you about your books and I hope they turn out AWSOME! Best of luck!
3/20 authonomy site not responding many hours now. hard to hold my breath this long.
That's amazing! I'm still not sure how it works though
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