One year of Dependent: Seven Lessons Learned

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It's DEPENDENT's anniversary! Exactly one year ago today, I was holding my breath as DEPENDENT went out into the big, big world to find it's fate.

Wow, have I learned a lot.

I've learned about the publishing process, I've learned about book launches, I've learned about reader reviews and royalties and radio interviews. I've learned about publicity and pitching. I've learned about myself as an author, as a military spouse, and as a female in the military community.

Has it been an easy year? No.

Has it been a good year? Definitely.

I get a lot of questions that start with 'how', when talking to new authors. How do I finish? How do I find an agent? How do I get my work published? I'll admit, it's not an easy world to work in. So for those wonderful people who have come to me with their questions, who've asked for advice, and who've given me good, honest criticism, I thought today I'd share with you a few of my lessons learned. I don't think I'll ever consider myself an expert. But I've got more experience than some...so here goes.

Lesson #1:  The publishing world is unpredictable. 

Cross country moves don't
generally mix well with
book launches...

I wish I could find a crystal ball to tell me how a book idea is going to fare. What topic is going to work and what is not. How many people are going to show up at a book signing. Who is going to want my book. What a contract is going to look like.

But there is no crystal ball. I can't tell anyone what will work, because what is cool today may not be cool when you finish your final draft. The odds of writing a book that turns into a phenomenon are pretty slim.

Write what you love to write.

Lesson #2: A book launch is for you, your friends, and your family.

Launching
TREASURE IN THE FLAME
 in 2012

Unless you've got the support of a huge publicity team and gazillions of dollars, plan your book launch so that your friends can come. DEPENDENT was launched in a big city, in a huge store...just after my family and I moved across the continent in an epic military move. We had to pick a launch date long before the military plans solidified, and it just worked out that it was after the move took place. As it was my second launch (TREASURE IN THE FLAME launched in 2012), I thought I'd roll with things and see how it turned out.

Although DEPENDENT's launch was a success, it could have been so much more. I really, truly missed the support of my close friends and family. I hope to plan my next launch (when it happens) either later on in our next military post (when we've made some friends), or closer to my home base.

It's so much easier to publicize something when you have the advantage of local word-of-mouth. And your success is the success of those you love. Plan your launch so they can be there.

Lesson #3: Publicity is so important.

If people don't know about the book, they won't buy it. I've been very, very fortunate to have a great team, but I couldn't have had the success I've had without my #1 PR GUY...my hubby. He's had my back since day one, which was INCREDIBLY important with this book. If you've read DEPENDENT you know why.

Lesson #4: Always be prepared to do a radio interview.

One of the disadvantages to having a switched-on #1 PR GUY is the random radio interview...the one that happens while your driving, unprepared, home from the grocery store. Thank heavens for wide shoulders on Ontario back roads--lots of room to pull off and try to collect your thoughts. And thank heavens they can't see what you're wearing on radio.

Yeah. That happened.

Lesson #5: Not everyone will love you.

This one I was prepared for. I knew that DEPENDENT would not be the book for everyone. And I was right. But writing a book that people feel strongly about--either positively or negatively--is a good thing.

Lesson #6: Don't engage the trolls.

Engaging with haters never ends well. Thankfully I knew this before I started. Sure, I love a good debate, but I'll let the people who read my work stick up for me. Trolls generally are looking to stir the pot, whatever the cost. And the more you engage with them, the more vindictive they get. Don't even justify them with a response. At all. I talked about it a little bit in 15 Seconds, this past May.

Lesson #7: Don't ever, EVER give up.

The writing world is FULL of disappointment. Rejection is part of the package. Agents, editors, readers...there are lots of 'NO's' in this career. And there are many, many moments over the past few years where I've considered dropping it all.

But I won't.

I have three really cool manuscripts finished and ready to go. I've got a couple more on the way. And I'm most certainly not done with this adventure.


Thanks for sharing the journey with me.

Brenda

Want to read more? Walk down memory lane?

Check out Posting Phase Eight to remember the insanity around DEPENDENT's launch.

Or try Launch Week Recap to hear about my first launch!

****WIN A SIGNED COPY!****

Comment below and I'll enter your name into a draw for a signed copy of DEPENDENT, A NOVEL! Draw will take place Wednesday August 5th!

Guest Post: F.J.R. Titchenell

Greetings from House-Sale Land! No news on that front. There's no life like it!

On a totally non-posting-related note, today I have the privilege of welcoming agent and publisher-mate F.J.R. Titchenell to the blog as she celebrates the release of her debut novel Confessions of the Very First Zombie Slayer (That I Know of)! One of the wonderful perks of being an author is having the occasional ARC come my way, and I have to say, I loved reading Fiona's book! CotVFZS(TIKo) is fun and fast-paced, and the characters are strong and quirky. If you like YA and you like Zombie books, you HAVE to check it out. 

I featured the cover on the blog as it was revealed in November of 2013...and you can read more about the book HERE.

So the question I posed to Fiona was this: What was the process of writing your first book like? How did it feel to hold the ARC?

Here's her response:

Like many authors, I'd been writing a long time before I finished the manuscript that would be my debut novel. I'd been writing fiction my whole life, and with serious intent to publish for about five years before I started Confessions of the Very First Zombie Slayer (That I Know of).

I had some short stories published, and I had some earlier novels that I either decided weren't publication-worthy or couldn't get picked up at the level I was aiming for, so Confessions of the Very First Zombie Slayer (That I Know of) wasn't my first experience with completing a novel-length manuscript. It was the first time I was able to create something I was proud of without an insane number of drafts, though, the first time I started thinking, "I might actually be getting the hang of this," and, of course, that first amazing time I caught the interest of someone in the industry, the awesome Jennifer Mishler.

The process of writing the book itself was a whirlwind. I went from idea to query letter in seven months, and I wrote the first draft in an almost entirely linear fashion, which is rare for me. I usually can't resist jumping forward to my favorite parts, but Zombie Slayer kept dragging me straight ahead with it.

I had a lot of fun writing Cassie. It was great being in her irreverent but optimistic head, and I spent many a slow hour at my then day job vicariously indulging my wanderlust by tracking her progress on Google maps.

The path to publication from finishing the book was a lot longer. There was lots of celebration, the agent contract, the publishing contract, and lots of waiting (I finished the book back in July 2012, nearly two years ago), and in the meantime, learning the ropes of promotion.

Also like many authors who decide to go the traditional route with agents and traditional publishing houses, I had this fantasy for a long time that all that pesky marketing stuff would be taken care of for me once I had a legitimate contact, and I could carry on with writing my next book, perhaps occasionally sticking my head out to sign something.

This is where all the published authors reading this burst into laughter. I've had to come out of my shell a lot in the past couple years, get used to starting and encouraging conversation, doing interviews, writing about writing, and generally being an author in all the ways that aren't the book writing part I got into this for.

With a year and a half-ish of reality check and experience with the whole authorhood package under my belt, feeling curiously like a "real" author (and having already held short story anthologies I contributed to), I didn't expect a little thing like actually seeing the Confessions of the Very First Zombie Slayer (That I Know of) review copies in person to have too much of an effect on me anymore.

Wrong. It really is that amazing, finally seeing the thing you put that much work into in physical form. It's everything you'd think it should be.

Thanks Fiona!

Curious? Want to read more? Here's Fiona's coordinates:

Website: www.fjrtitchenell.weebly.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FjrTitchenell

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FJR_Titchenell

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4384865.F_J_R_Titchenell

Amazon listing: http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Very-First-Zombie-Slayer/dp/1939967309/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1383006679&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=confessions+of+the+very+first+zombie+slayer

Brenda

ELSIE PARK: On Publication Challenges

A SHADOWS OF VALOR Blog Tour Post

Please welcome Elsie Park, newly published author, to the blog! Her debut novel, Shadows of Valor, was published by Jolly Fish Press earlier this week on September 7th! She's here to talk about publication challenges today.

Congratulations and welcome, Elsie! I'll let you take it from here. :)

Thanks for having me as a guest on your blog, Brenda! I’m glad to be here and happy to share whatever I’ve got to give *smiling*.

Is this a fab cover, or what?

The topic you asked me to write on, "Five challenges on the road to publication, and how I met them head on", is certainly a good one. When I read the topic, I thought, “Sheesh, I can only pick FIVE challenges on the road to publication? – LOL. Sometimes it seems like there are a gazillion. But, I managed to come up with five that are at the top of my personal list. For some they may seem miniscule, for others, daunting. Everyone picks and chooses their battles, and these were mine:

1) Taking that first step - Many people say, “Oh, I cold NEVER write a novel!” But I’m evidence that ANYONE can write a novel. As my father likes to remind me: “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” The thought of a full length novel was daunting to me, so I started out with a few scattered scenes. I simply typed them out in no particular order, on a word document and entitled it something to the effect of “Story Idea.” I then pieced them together in a tentative plot. Then I put in a few more scenes here and there. Then I let my mother read it and give me feed back, resulting in her suggesting some more things she’d like to hear about in the story. So I added more scenes. Little by little, the story grew in pages and before I knew it, I had a full-length novel on my hands.

2) Finding the time to write and placing it on your list of priorities - Learning to utilize the time given to me between children, household, school, church, groceries, cleaning, you name it, was a big challenge (and still is). I had to balance my time between my little ones and my writing. This often led to staying up late to type, losing sleep and feeling very tired the next day. But I’d eventually catch up on my sleep and feel that the work I’d accomplished on my novel was worth the fatigue. I didn’t meet this challenge head on, though. Sometimes I actually dodged it, which is why it took me about 6 years to get my final draft done and published. I had set the manuscript aside for months at a time, because of newborns in the house, not having enough money in the budget to send my manuscript to any more publishers and agents, being so tired after a day of being a mother that I didn’t have the energy to stay up late or get up early and write. I’m happy to say that I manage my time a little better now.

3) Rewriting – Paying attention to good and correct grammar is essential in lessening the number of rewrites and for not getting burned out over the entire process. Every time people read the manuscript and have “plenty” to say about it results in yet another rewrite. The thought of doing so causes literal headaches, chocolate fetishes and difficulties in finding ways to get motivated again. The hardest thing for an author to hear is “constructive” (or “destructive”) criticism about their writing. Criticism ruffles a writer’s feathers like nothing else – LOL! BUT, in the end, we admit that many who gave their opinions presented good points, great ideas to think about and wonderful lessons in humility to learn. A smart writer will listen to the readers with an open mind and humble pen. I revised my manuscript probably 15+ times over the six years I worked on it. Each time I revised I wanted to cry that I had to spend days and days changing something I thought had been perfect, but in the end I realized that each version ended up better than the last thanks to all the blood, sweat and tears put into it.

4) Making a good first impression with a great query letter – A publisher or an agent usually doesn’t know you from Adam, so your first impression could very well be your last if it’s not done with professional precision. I think I spent just as much time on my query letters as on my manuscript. If a query looks bad, is sloppy, not typed, has bad spelling and grammar, is printed on hot pink paper and doesn’t follow the guidelines set by that particular agency, then it will get tossed more often than not. The publisher doesn’t have the time to give your unprofessional-looking query the time of day. Make yourself stand out with your good writing, good grammar, and obvious ability to follow directions is the way to get noticed.

5) Not getting discouraged – A key to meeting this challenge head on is drawing strength from yourself, your loved ones and your true friends who give you confidence and support. Also, going to writer’s conferences helps immensely as you meet with authors, both published and unpublished, who share the same goals and challenges and give each other strength and encouragement. Every speaker at a conference is there to help advance your work, and you leave feeling buoyed up and ready to try again. Believing in yourself is key. Believing that you’ve written something that needs to be shared and that people would love to read is essential to getting over discouragement.

I hope these things were helpful and encouraging to readers.

Thanks so much for having me here on your blog, Brenda!

 

Anytime, Elsie! I wish you all the best with your debut!

A little background info...

SHADOWS OF VALOR overview: Taking place in 1300 A.D. England, The Shadow (aka Sir Calan), a knight-spy working under the direction of King Edward I, hunts down and arrests smugglers who defy the law and evade paying their taxes. The Shadow’s duty is fueled by vengeance from a childhood experience against smugglers. Dealing with society at its worst, The Shadow becomes cynical and struggles to reign in his desire to execute lethal justice before turning the perpetrators over to local authorities. He feels his soul turning black with hate in his continual fight against evil. A childhood acquaintance, Lady Elsbeth, enters his life years later, bringing light to his soul once again, but she has a story of her own, accompanied by physical and emotional scars. Calan feel he needs Elsbeth in his life, but in an effort to keep his identity and duty secret, he must deceive her. This creates distrust and uncertainty between them, as she accepts another man as her suitor. But Calan must ask the question: What’s worth fighting for more? His long-standing desire to avenge a childhood friend or the woman who may be his salvation? What entails is a glorious tale full of deceit, greed, inner struggles, betrayal, and most of all—love.

About Elsie:

Growing up in a small mountain town outside of Yosemite National Park, California, U.S.A., Elsie enjoyed playing soccer, playing piano, reading, writing, art and spending time with family and friends. Years ago she spent 18 months in Italy teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Seeing the castles and old Roman cities only added to her fascination for ancient and medieval culture. In college she studied zoology, botany and criminal justice. She’s worked as a wildland firefighter, security guard and a police officer, but she is currently a stay-at-home mom, spending time with her children and husband. She loves thinking up new ideas for interesting stories and musical compositions to go with them.

Want more information? Want to by Elsie's book? Look here:

E-mail: elsie_rees@hotmail.com

Blog: http://www.elsiepark.blogspot.com/

Twitter: @elsiepark1

Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorelsiepark

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shadows-of-valor-elsie-park/1114940696?ean=9781939967077

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18216270-shadows-of-valor

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/

A Dream Come True

 

(Drum roll, please...) 

 

***GUESS WHAT?***

 

I am EXTREMELY excited to announce that my Adult Fiction, DEPENDENT, has...

 

FOUND A PUBLISHER!

 

WOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

 

I've just signed a contract with Jolly Fish Press for publication tentatively SUMMER 2014!

 

Me, signing my contract!

 

DEPENDENT is the story of a military spouse--a story of love, loss and inner-strength. It's raw, emotional and very real...very different from anything I've ever written. After 8 years of slowly picking away at it, it took only a few weeks to find a home! My agents at Literary Counsel are THE BEST! I'm so excited to work with Christopher Loke and Jolly Fish Press in bringing this story to the world. It's going to be a busy and exciting year.

 

See? Dreams DO come true!

 

 

 

Brenda

Hello from New York!

New York City skyline

Thanks to a wonderful combination of circumstances, I'm blogging from the Big Apple this morning! What an awesome adventure! I'm here for a few days, mostly sight-seeing but also fitting in a few visits and writing related things. I've even conquered the NY Subway system, and managed to get myself downtown without incident. I walked...and walked...and walked, and I am very, very grateful for a good pair of shoes and a good sense of direction.

Yesterday I was lucky enough to meet the fabulous Jennifer Mishler and Frances Black of Literary Counsel...AKA my agents! 



L to R: Jennifer, Me, Fran

We had a great chat, inhaled some caffeine, discussed the virtues of coffee over tea (sorry Fran) and talked a teensy tiny bit of shop. I am so fortunate to have these two amazing ladies on my side, helping me navigate the winding but very rewarding road of publishing. They are exactly the fit I was looking for--proof that good things come to those who wait! I am so looking forward to working together and turning our challenges into successes! Go Team LC!

Brenda





Be Prepared

I was thinking about advice last night after a chat with the Twitter #writersroad folks. I've been at this for a while now, and though I don't count myself an expert, I've certainly got a bit of experience in the world of writing. So if I were to give advice to someone just starting out, just getting their feet wet, what would I say to them?

Be prepared.

Novels do not give birth to themselves, magically springing forth onto the earth. Sure some people have lucky rabbits feet surgically attached to their forehead, writing full novels in 25 days and walking into contracts with Big Six publishers after their first drafts, but it is very, very rare. It takes a lot of guts to work through the mechanics of writing a novel. And a lot of perseverance. Pushing a novel through to success is not an easy task, whatever route you take--self published or traditionally published. Be prepared for a long road ahead.

1. Be prepared to work. Writing a novel is work. Long hours at a keyboard. Emails. Phone calls. Networking. Reading. Research. Editing. Editing. Editing. Numb hands and sore butt cheeks. Sweat, tears and more editing. Writing is a 'profession' for a reason. You have to work at it to be successful.

2. Be prepared to learn. When I started writing--really writing--about eight years ago, I thought I knew everything. Sure, I'm smart. I'll just pop a few words down on paper, send 'em off, and voila! I'm an author! Wow, was I an idiot. My education began then and it is ongoing. Every day of this journey I learn something new. How to format a manuscript for submission. How to get my self-published book into Chapters bookstores. How to build a platform (still working on that!). The dos and don'ts of writing--don't start with a dream, a prologue, a mirror, a purple frog...oh my goodness there are a lot of don'ts (my self-pubbed novel starts with a prologue! Oh horrors!)! The dos and don'ts of querying (made tons of mistakes there, too...). How to make an em dash on Blogger (how the heck do you do that anyway??). The learning does not end. The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know. Each step is another door to learning. Embrace it.

3. Be prepared to spend money. Unless you are fortunate enough to have a superskilled and generous friends, a rich spouse, or an inheritance big enough to pay the bills and then some, don't give up your day job. No matter how skilled you are sooner or later you will need to cough up money to pay someone for their professional services, especially if you are planning to self-publish. Good books take money to produce. If you skimp, it will show. HOWEVER, there are also a whole lot of people out there willing to take your money for sub-standard work or fraudulent reasons. Before you give anyone your money, do your research.

4. Be prepared to step WAY out of your comfort zone. The first time external eyes looked at my first manuscript I was an emotional wreck. My first radio interview was insanity (can you believe I used to aspire to be a TV journalist?). And surprisingly, what I view as my best writing so far was also the hardest to write, because it was an expression of some of my deepest fears and required me to take risks. Stepping out of your comfort zone opens your writing to new possibilities. Take a deep breath and go for it!

5. Be prepared for curveballs. This one became very evident to me last month. After self publishing TREASURE, and months of flogging my new manuscript SKIN to anyone who would listen, I was disheartened and on the verge of going the self pub route with that too (and not because it wasn't good enough...but because I hadn't found the right agent yet). As you now know, I took one last chance at the encouragement of my CP friend Tina, and was thrilled to be offered an agenting agreement with Jennifer Mishler at Literary Counsel! Whodda thunkit? Thanks to my 'why not?' attitude, I made what could potentially be my most valuable publishing connection yet (Yay, Jenn!)! Writing is like that. Sometimes the unplanned is the magic.

6. Be prepared for criticism. The most well-known writers are also the most highly criticized. There are people out there who make a living criticizing writers. If you publish anything, in any way, people will comment and not all comments will be good. Those comments will hurt, but keep going. Highly polished manuscripts go through draft after draft of revisions. My self pubbed novel went through at least six drafts, and probably could have gone through more. Be ready to hear bad things about your writing.

7. Be prepared to SHINE! Conversely, the BEST part about writing is having someone read your stuff and tell you they like it! I am a praise junkie. I eat it up. Every single bit of praise fuels me to write more, do better, learn more and work harder. It's even better (and somewhat shocking) when a complete stranger comes up to me and says "I read your book in an afternoon! I loved it! Please write another!" I grin ear to ear and want to shout out to the world--"DIDJA HEAR THAT? She liked it! She really liked it!" What a wonderful feeling!

Most important of all...If writing is your dream, do not give up. Believe in your writing. Be realistic, and ready for the unexpected, but keep writing. Believe in yourself.

And that, my lovely writing friends, is what it is all about.


Brenda

Produce, Print, Sell.

Before I say anything...I'd like you to read this article.  It's a long one, but well worth the read.

I read it a few weeks ago, while working on the final touches of my (ah-hem) JUST RELEASED self published ebook, and it struck a chord with me. I think Mr. Vinjamuri hit the nail on the head.

As you probably already know, I've been slowly bumbling along my own journey in the publishing industry, finding my way in the crazy roller-coaster world that goes beyond the act of putting words on a page. I've queried, workshopped, edited, conferenced, tweeted and networked with hundreds, if not thousands of people over the past five or so years, and I've learned a few things and made a few mistakes. And when I decided to self pub, it was a long, looooooooong agonizing decision. It makes me kind of grumpy that it had to be that way, but there are so many factors at work here...the biggest being the stereotype (perceived or otherwise) that self-published authors are cop-outs, cheats and worst-of-all...poor writers. Sue Grafton is not alone in her inflammatory comments. She has thankfully since retracted them in a nice apology statement. But there are many, many others in influential places who feel the same way.

I still want to be traditionally published. Who wouldn't want the creative and financial backing of a big publisher behind them? All of those wonderful professionals working to make my art successful? It would be like an actor with their first starring role, or a painter with their first commission. The writing jackpot, so to speak. So why risk the stereotype and self publish?

Because I want you to read my book. Because I think my book is worth sharing. And because I wanted to figure out how to do it myself.

Self-publishing TREASURE IN THE FLAME is a huge risk for me, but I'd like to believe that it's less of a risk than it used to be. We all know publishing is changing, and I'm of the camp that thinks the change is for the better.

The Oxford Dictionary definition of the verb 'to publish' is this: 1. produce a book, newspaper, etc., for public sale. 2. print something in a book or newspaper.

That's it...produce, print, sell. There's no qualification on who prints, who sells. In it's basest form, publishing actually starts with the author selling her work.

In all other art forms, as Mr. Vinjamuri so eloquently reminds us, there are no gate-keepers of creativity. No one to filter what gets sold and what doesn't. If you paint a picture, and want to sell it, you put it in the local cafe and hope someone buys it. If you produce a demo CD, there's no reason why you can't sell it at your brother's bar. In fact, some of the coolest music and art can be found in back alleys and indie shops. It's how a budding artist gets their start. Someone likes their work, they tell someone else, and so on, and so on...

Conversely, if your work sucks, no one buys it. You move on and become an accountant.

So why is the art of writing different? The proving grounds aren't in the publication process. The proving grounds are in the purchase process. In the sell, so to speak. I know that some traditional publishers out there have already figured this out, and self-publishing makes it so easy for them. The budding artist/author does the groundwork and the start-up, tests the waters, and sinks or swims. She sells her stuff, or she doesn't. No matter what the traditional publisher thinks of the actual artistic merit of the work...a sales record will speak volumes to a smart talent scout.

I've noticed that even some savvy agents have caught on to this and are using Twitter to mine for good writing. In the past week I've seen at least two tweets requesting Twitter users recommend their favorite indie writers. What a super idea! And then this morning I hear that one of my favorite self-pubbed authors (Tammara Webber) has inked a BIG book deal with Penguin UK. Coincidence? I think not. She has unknowingly been my mentor in this process. Her covers, formatting and WRITING are impeccable. She's my self-publishing hero. Good writing, smart publishing choices and sound marketing will win in the end.

So as I step out on this crazy adventure of self-publishing, I can only hope that I'll be one of those with solid writing and smart choices. It's my goal to provide written entertainment in my own unique way. It's an exciting time for self published authors...and I'm excited to say I'm one of them. The producing part is finished, the printing part is happening...and the selling? Well, that's up to you.

What are your thoughts on the evolving publishing industry? Let me know in the comments below. I'd love to hear what you think!


Brenda

P.S. Only a few more days til TREASURE releases in paperback!