Journey to publication: Dear Dylan

Author Siobhan Curham tells us the story of her first book for teenagers, the award-winning Dear Dylan

As a child, I’d always dreamt of being a writer, but lack of confidence meant that it wasn’t until I was in my late twenties that I finally did something about it. 

I grew up on a council estate in North West London and, sadly, I let my background hold me back. When I got a place at university to study English Literature I immediately felt out of place. The other students all seemed to be from far wealthier backgrounds and most of them already had contacts in the publishing or media worlds. They had their careers mapped out for them before they’d even left the Freshers’ Fair. I just couldn’t see how I could compete, and I also became really stressed at not having a wealthy Bank of Mum and Dad to pay off my mounting student debts. So, after two years, I dropped out.

But the writing bug didn’t go away and I eventually found the confidence to write my first, non-fiction, book. When this was published, I finally found the confidence to write a novel for adults, which led to a three book deal with a major UK publisher. Seeing my first published book was one of the proudest moments of my life and it wasn’t long after becoming an author that I felt compelled to start running workshops for kids in poor areas. I wanted to try and make them see that just because they didn’t come from affluent backgrounds it didn’t mean they couldn’t succeed. If I could end up getting a book deal, then why couldn’t they do well in their chosen field? It was at one of these workshops that I met the girl who inspired me to write Dear Dylan. She’d come to the UK as an immigrant from Eastern Europe and was living in foster care, separated from her family. She’d been through so much and yet she still had such zest for life. At the end of the week she asked me which of my books she ought to read. Realising that I couldn’t really recommend any of them as they were all for adults was a real light-bulb moment for me. Why wasn’t I writing novels for young people like her, about issues they could relate to? And so Dear Dylan was born. Although the main character, Georgie, has a very different background to the girl in the workshop, they are identical in the sense that they have been through a lot but refuse to give up on their dreams.

Once I finished the book I decided to self-publish because I was scared traditional publishers would want to tone down the issues covered. Having worked with so many teenagers, and being mum to a teenage son, the last thing I wanted to do was produce a book that was patronising to the reader. The whole point of writing it was to hopefully help and inspire young people who might be going through similar issues. If these issues were sanitised or toned down it wouldn’t work.

Dear Dylan came out in April 2010 and, thanks to some wonderful reviews on YA blogging sites, it started to create a bit of an online buzz. Then one day I read about a UK book award called Young Minds that were looking for entries. I knew that most national awards didn’t accept self-published books but figured I had nothing to lose, so I posted them a copy. I was delighted when I heard that it had been entered into the competition. And even more delighted when it was long-listed. That to me felt as good as winning. So I was absolutely ecstatic when it made it to the shortlist of six. All of the other books on the list were from major publishers and authors I massively respected. And then, in a fairytale twist, Dear Dylan won the Young Minds Book Award.

It then went to auction in the UK and I ended up with two-book deals in the UK, France and Germany. I chose to go with Egmont in the UK because I’d always loved their ethos as a publisher and because they showed such a passion for Dear Dylan in their pitch. Self-publishing was fun and exciting and a massive learning curve, but it was also a lot of hard work. Being with Egmont and feeling such support from the editorial, sales and marketing teams is wonderful. And what is really exciting to me is the prospect that now, two years after its initial self-publication, the book is in a position to reach so many more readers. And if any of those readers are suffering from the same self-doubt I did as a teen, then I hope Georgie’s story inspires them to banish their doubt and chase after their dream.