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Wilton's James King shared the story of how his dream of publishing a novel came true when he introduced his book, "Bill Warrington's Last Chance," at the Wilton Library on Tuesday night. The novel was King's fourth; the three previous ones failed to get published.
"I wanted to do the Tom Cruise, Oprah couch scene," he said gleefully recalling when Viking Press told him he would become a published author.
Liz Van Hoos of Viking, a division of Penguin Publishing, read the manuscript for "Bill Warrington's Last Chance" as part of a Penguin contest. Van Hoos fought for King's novel, helping it win the contest and the right to get published.
Though King ultimately succeeded, the book's journey started with failure. He said it was rejected 54 times before the contest with only a few requesting to read sections or chapters before deciding.
The author credits earning his master's degree in writing at Manhattanville College for making the difference in publishing. King said that all of his professors were published authors or editors, and he received constant feedback while he wrote the short story, which later became the novel.
"I loved going back to school even though everyone thought I was the professor," King joked with the crowd in the packed Brubeck Room.
King has not let the success go to his head: He still works as a freelance business writer "to pay the bills." He does not plan to try to get his previous attempts published but has begun working on his next book.
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