14th Try’s the Charm?

by Rebecca Cuningham

I’ve officially entered the Book Pipeline unpublished manuscript contest for 2021. Many thanks to a friend for encouraging me to take a chance. The first three chapters and a synopsis of Supergringa in Spain: A Coming-of-Age Memoir are in pdf format in the contest inbox.

Supergringa is set in the fall semester of my junior year when I studied in Toledo, Spain. We were very fortunate that half of the students in our program were from Latin America and half from the United States. Spanish and cultural learning went hand in hand. Alone abroad for the first time, I learned to plan and make decisions for myself, learn from my mistakes and try anew.

Rebecca’s Passport Photo #1. Photo: Minneapols Photo Store

In order to prepare my writing and myself for publishing my memoir, in the past three years I’ve taken two classes on writing memoirs, worked with nine women writers critiquing each other’s manuscripts, and attended two conferences where I pitched to agents. I have written 465 blog posts and read stacks of books, 20 of them memoir. I’ve hosted Zoom poetry night at our child’s school and entered a local contest in which three of my haiku poems were finalists. Finally, I hired a professional editor to give feedback on my 78,000 word memoir and she was extremely helpful.

I’m feeling ready to sell this book I’ve written. If I do not win the Book Pipeline contest, I will write one agent per month until I find representation for my work.

That’s my dream and plan. What’s your personal plan or dream for the next year?

¡Olé! –Rebecca

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Rebecca Cuningham

31 thoughts on “14th Try’s the Charm?”

  2. Yay, go girl! It sound like you’ve put a lot of time and effort into this book.

    I’m hoping to get a poetry chapbook published — I spent the first part of this year editing and submitting to competitions .No success so far, but I’m hopeful!

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  4. That’s an incredible goal, Rebecca! I would definitely read your book once published! Having gone through a similar experience with study abroad during my time in college, I always enjoy learning about others’ experiences living overseas and navigating the eccentricities of culture and language. Best of luck to you on this journey!

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