Undoubtedly, there are few things that compare with the natural euphoric high that is being in the "zone" when you're writing. The words are flowing, the dialogue is snappy, the plot twists make you bite your own nails while you're writing, you're head over heels in love with your main characters and you've mentally started writing the acknowledgements of the book in your head because you just know this is THE ONE.
And then....it happens. Life gets in the way. There's errands, and dishes and school concerts and book reports and all sorts of life dramas that make you pull your focus. You take a little break. Maybe a day. Maybe a week. Maybe a year. You go back and reread those words, and suddenly, your book has so many holes it could be mistaken for an old piece of swiss cheese. And those characters? You can't stand them. They are far too predictable, their dilemmas unrealistic, and maybe they are even downright unlikable. What seemed charming now seems contrived.
Back to square one.
Maybe you rework what you've got, try and discover in round two what the real story is. Maybe you put it aside and work on something else entirely. Maybe you get fifteen pages down the road on that new thing and then realize you don;t know where this is going and start something else. Or you pull out an old project and try with all the urgency of an EMT to pump life back into its lungs.
And sometimes...despite your best efforts...ya got nothing.
The truth is, when your mind is firing on all cylinders and nothing is hitting, sometimes the best thing you can do is regroup. Just because you stop writing momentarily, it does not mean you are no longer a writer. Often, people who are not writers themselves do not really understand the creative process. They think it's really not that hard to tell a story, so what's the big deal to sit down and pump out 200+ pages. Creativity is not something you can just flip on and off like a light switch. Some days, the ideas are never-ending, and when you have one of those days, I hope you are near a pad and a pen. But others...well, others not so much. Some days the muse is out for lunch with her girlfriends, and even doing the laundry looks more inviting than sitting down with that blinking cursor on a blank page. Some days the whole process is overwhelming and intimidating, and you feel like you will never churn out a single new idea. Here are my suggestions of several ways to deal with THOSE days in the hopes that you will soon reel in that muse and keep the ball rolling:
STOP READING PUBLISHER'S MARKETPLACE
Yes, I said it. One of the worst things you can do when you are feeling in a writing lull and trying to recapture your mojo is read about the latest sales. This will probably only serve to make you feel more frustrated by the process. While I think it's good to be on top if the market, you do not want sales to be a false indicator of what you should be writing and make you feel pressured to write it. Also, seeing a story sell that is similar to something you are writing or want to write may serve to sabotage you from continuing with the project. The odds are: that story is completely different and you will have your own unique spin on things. There are a gajillion books out there that may have similar storylines - it's what YOUR take is on it that makes it stand out as a fresh take. Don't be distracted.
GO TO A WRITING WORKSHOP, OR AT LEAST HAVE COFFEE WITH SOME WRITER FRIENDS
Even if you are between projects and feel like you have nothing new to contribute, keep in the game by surrounding yourself with people who love to write. Their passion is infectious, guaranteed, and may serve to help jump-start your creativity and remind you that you really do have what it takes. Conferences are the best because the odds are you will meet tons of people that have traveled many different roads to get where they are and some of them may surprise you in how long their journey has taken. It may infuse in you just the right amount of hope to help you keep moving forward. This is rarely an overnight success story. You will find that for most writers, it can take years. To think you will be the exception is certainly wonderful, as long as you're not disappointed if you turn out to be like the majority of us.
TAKE A SOCIAL MEDIA VACATION
Confession: the real reason I spend so much time on Facebook has nothing to do with people. Honestly, I have developed a procrastination addiction to Solitaire Blitz and Candy Crush Saga like nobody's business. It's a great release for me. What stresses me out is when I start to read everyone's statuses. I'm friends with lots of writers on Facebook and Twitter, as I'm sure many of you are as well. Most days, I'm happy to see their statuses, learn about their new projects and happily give a "like" to their latest moment of sharing their success. But some days it's like rubbing salt in a wound. I know you know what I'm talking about. On those "pity party of one" days, the best thing to do is stay away from social media, or at least temporarily hide the feeds of the people who you know it will be difficult to read at that time. You are not "de-friending" them; you are taking care of yourself. When you are in a better space, you can put everything back to normal, but some days reading a steady stream of everyone else's good news when you are longing for some yourself isn't healthy or helpful.
READ LIKE A MADWOMAN (OR MADMAN)
If you can't be writing, spend your time reading within the genre in which you like to write. Nothing is more inspiring than reading really great quality writing, or a story with a similar theme to the one you hope to tell and see how another author handles it. As I have said in the past, you can also learn from really bad writing. And one of the greatest gifts of all? When you can read multiple books by one author you may particularly like and see with your own eyes that some are better than others. Even published authors can be inconsistent. Case in point: there is a YA author that I absolutely LOVE and I have devoured all her books. I was beyond excited for her latest offering, which honestly? I found kinda "meh". Great story on the flap, but the characters were pretty one dimensional, the story was too light and way too predictable, and all in all it was a disappointment. But it was wonderful because it showed me she's human, and that even though we may write several really great books, we are allowed to write ones that aren't so great too. And it will happen. But at the end of the day, it's all good because we're still writing.
BE GOOD TO YOURSELF
When the words don't come, we may get upset with ourselves. We feel like we've stalled out or failed somehow. There is no clock here. No race. Take care of your body and in turn you will take care of your brain. Taking time to meditate and de-stress, to eat well instead of pure crap, to take walks and think about ideas, to treat the in-between days as remembering the real priorities - enjoying your life, your family, etc. Because without your health, all else suffers, and when we feel like we are falling short of our personal goals, the stress level inevitably skyrockets. In the quiet moments, the words will come. They may even come during the chaotic ones, but know that eventually...they WILL come.
If you are like me, writing has never been a choice. It's just what you do, who you are since as far back as you can remember. Don't let the pressure to get published, the need to deliver "what sells", or the competition of your peers making sales while you are still waiting for your big break let that self-doubt settle in the cracks and dash your mojo. It will come back. Have faith it will come back. If you are that distracted by other things, then what you write would probably not be your best work anyhow, and perhaps it is life's way of making you temporarily shift your focus. But just as you need to breathe and eat, so you will also need to write again. It's just what we do.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
The Blog Post About How The Path To Publication and College Acceptances Are Not Really All That Different
Writing a novel and having it out on submission, waiting for a magical acceptance, is not unlike the whole college application process. I say this with personal knowledge, as I have just undergone both in the last year, though the latter was for my son, but both processes are not for the faint of heart and carry with them equal highs and lows, excitement and heartbreak.
You see, your book is like your child too. You've created it, nurtured it along, infused it with essential elements and love, and released it to the world, hoping it can stand on its own two feet and that the world will be kind to it, celebrating its strengths and rewarding it accordingly. You can lock on to any agent or publisher (or college) and think: this is it! This is the one. Life would be so fantastic if this opportunity was the one that came through. And with each rejection, each let down, its as if air is going out of the balloon. It was hard enough to go through this kind of scrutiny with my own book, but watching my child go through this agonizing process was debilitating, especially when you see other books (or people) get through the gates you want to burst through. It can't help but feel personal, and make one wonder why their best wasn't good enough for some.
But just as is so for college, it is true for publishing: There is a place for everyone. There is an audience for everyone. And the place you think you want to be may not be the best place for you at the end of the day in this period of time. It doesn't mean it's forever out of reach, it just means you might have to do things a little differently in order to get there. And above all, it doesn't mean you've failed. The universe works in mysterious ways, and often in retrospect we can see why things unfolded the way they did and how we benefited from it in the long run. As my grandmother used to say, "the delay is never the denial."
We are so hung up on prestige in this world. The prestigious publisher vs the small house that may actually give the author or the book more attention. The bigshot agent with an impressive roster vs. the lesser-known one with less clients who may actually take more time to work with us. The fancy college vs. the lesser known one with the better program and smaller classes with greater opportunity to get hands-on. When we don't get what we want, we quickly can lose sight of the real achievements in play; the fact that YOU WROTE A NOVEL! Not something everyone can do. That you queried and found someone who believed in you and your work and wanted to try and help you sell it. That a publisher believed in your story and felt it deserved a place on the shelves. Or that you got into a college, not something everyone can achieve. The hard work, the perseverance, the opportunity . . . these are the things that matter, not the forum in which they see fruition. We get out of things what we put into them, and if they don't play out according to the script in our heads, we can let it defeat us or define us. The choice remains ours. We are not as powerless as we may think in that moment.
Life is about learning, and all of these moments of not getting what we want are the true opportunities for growth, experience, and pushing us forward, should we choose to accept the challenge, to work harder. The path may not be what we expected, but it does not mean that the rewards we want cannot be ours for the taking if we continue to persevere. Embrace YOUR path. See where it takes you, and don't let the path others are on distract you from the view on yours.
You see, your book is like your child too. You've created it, nurtured it along, infused it with essential elements and love, and released it to the world, hoping it can stand on its own two feet and that the world will be kind to it, celebrating its strengths and rewarding it accordingly. You can lock on to any agent or publisher (or college) and think: this is it! This is the one. Life would be so fantastic if this opportunity was the one that came through. And with each rejection, each let down, its as if air is going out of the balloon. It was hard enough to go through this kind of scrutiny with my own book, but watching my child go through this agonizing process was debilitating, especially when you see other books (or people) get through the gates you want to burst through. It can't help but feel personal, and make one wonder why their best wasn't good enough for some.
But just as is so for college, it is true for publishing: There is a place for everyone. There is an audience for everyone. And the place you think you want to be may not be the best place for you at the end of the day in this period of time. It doesn't mean it's forever out of reach, it just means you might have to do things a little differently in order to get there. And above all, it doesn't mean you've failed. The universe works in mysterious ways, and often in retrospect we can see why things unfolded the way they did and how we benefited from it in the long run. As my grandmother used to say, "the delay is never the denial."
We are so hung up on prestige in this world. The prestigious publisher vs the small house that may actually give the author or the book more attention. The bigshot agent with an impressive roster vs. the lesser-known one with less clients who may actually take more time to work with us. The fancy college vs. the lesser known one with the better program and smaller classes with greater opportunity to get hands-on. When we don't get what we want, we quickly can lose sight of the real achievements in play; the fact that YOU WROTE A NOVEL! Not something everyone can do. That you queried and found someone who believed in you and your work and wanted to try and help you sell it. That a publisher believed in your story and felt it deserved a place on the shelves. Or that you got into a college, not something everyone can achieve. The hard work, the perseverance, the opportunity . . . these are the things that matter, not the forum in which they see fruition. We get out of things what we put into them, and if they don't play out according to the script in our heads, we can let it defeat us or define us. The choice remains ours. We are not as powerless as we may think in that moment.
Life is about learning, and all of these moments of not getting what we want are the true opportunities for growth, experience, and pushing us forward, should we choose to accept the challenge, to work harder. The path may not be what we expected, but it does not mean that the rewards we want cannot be ours for the taking if we continue to persevere. Embrace YOUR path. See where it takes you, and don't let the path others are on distract you from the view on yours.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Unremembering
My writer friend and agent sister extraordinaire Jessica Brody is helping celebrate her upcoming release of her new sci-fi trilogy, beginning with the first installment UNREMEBERED, by asking fellow writers and bloggers to blog about a moment in their lives they wish they could "unremember". Well, here's mine *cringes*:
At the beginning of my writing journey, when I was still questing for an agent, I became fixated on one who seemed to be the perfect fit. It was the summer of 2009, and when I saw that he would be attending the national SCBWI conference here in Los Angeles, just a mere 45 minutes away from me, I took it as a sign. (FYI - I'm all about signs, so who was I to fight the universe?) I signed up for the conference with my sole mission to make contact with this guy, since he currently had my full, hoping that a little snarky banter and face time would win him over, if not make him all the more eager to sign me regardless of the fact that my book, at that time, probably wasn't ready for publication. (It went through at least 4 subsequent drafts. Oy!)
At the conference, I met some writers and told them why I was there. They knew who he was, and joined in my mission to track him down and make sure I had my shot. At a party there that night, we totally stalked him poolside until I found just the right window and made my way over to him. We indeed had a great conversation, and in a rare moment, all my words came out in cohesive sentences and I left the exchange satisfied that it had gone really well. I should have left well enough alone.
Over the next two days, I saw him numerous times, but now we knew each other kinda sorta, right? So I'd wave, I'd say hello, and once I was even sitting at a table near him in the lobby and (shudder) felt so awkward sitting right next to him I offered to buy him a drink. (He said no thanks and continued talking to the two editors he was sitting with, probably about that overeager newbie author who was clearly starting to make an ass of herself with her fangirl/borderline stalker excitement.)
When weeks later he passed on the book (with a sweet rejection and uber-helpful notes though, to his credit), I was devastated, but was determined to do a rewrite and contact him again. (First note to self and others: Only do this if the agent has actually ASKED to see it again, which, technically, he didn't.) Flash forward to the following year's conference, where he had subsequently agreed to read the book again, and once again I was waiting on pins and needles. Naturally, he was the first person I saw as I checked in, and he recognized me and even said hello. But then, it got weird.
He was, literally, ever-y-where, and even though I was totally NOT stalking him (no, seriously, I really wasn't, I'd be straight up with you), it started to seem like I was. But we were constantly in the same orbit, and after the first few times, I could literally start to see him tense up when I was nearby, if not dodge and hide behind some fake foliage in the lobby. (Not really, but I bet he wanted to.) And in an act of sheer irony from the universe, I befriended his writer wife, and ended up talking to her quite a bit and even writing with her in the lobby one afternoon, making sure to steer clear of the subject of him. When he saw us sitting there together, I swear he went pale. Suddenly, I was Newman to his Jerry, and there was no undoing it. Inadvertently, in my attempt to be friendly and outgoing and make a good impression, I'd done just the opposite, and in his mind he was probably worried he would go back to New York and find a literary equivalent of a rabbit in a pot on the stove from me.
So, needless to say, this guy is not my agent, and if I could "unremember" any single event from my writing career, it would be this one, hands down. I cringe every time I think of it.
Oy, indeed!
At the beginning of my writing journey, when I was still questing for an agent, I became fixated on one who seemed to be the perfect fit. It was the summer of 2009, and when I saw that he would be attending the national SCBWI conference here in Los Angeles, just a mere 45 minutes away from me, I took it as a sign. (FYI - I'm all about signs, so who was I to fight the universe?) I signed up for the conference with my sole mission to make contact with this guy, since he currently had my full, hoping that a little snarky banter and face time would win him over, if not make him all the more eager to sign me regardless of the fact that my book, at that time, probably wasn't ready for publication. (It went through at least 4 subsequent drafts. Oy!)
At the conference, I met some writers and told them why I was there. They knew who he was, and joined in my mission to track him down and make sure I had my shot. At a party there that night, we totally stalked him poolside until I found just the right window and made my way over to him. We indeed had a great conversation, and in a rare moment, all my words came out in cohesive sentences and I left the exchange satisfied that it had gone really well. I should have left well enough alone.
Over the next two days, I saw him numerous times, but now we knew each other kinda sorta, right? So I'd wave, I'd say hello, and once I was even sitting at a table near him in the lobby and (shudder) felt so awkward sitting right next to him I offered to buy him a drink. (He said no thanks and continued talking to the two editors he was sitting with, probably about that overeager newbie author who was clearly starting to make an ass of herself with her fangirl/borderline stalker excitement.)
When weeks later he passed on the book (with a sweet rejection and uber-helpful notes though, to his credit), I was devastated, but was determined to do a rewrite and contact him again. (First note to self and others: Only do this if the agent has actually ASKED to see it again, which, technically, he didn't.) Flash forward to the following year's conference, where he had subsequently agreed to read the book again, and once again I was waiting on pins and needles. Naturally, he was the first person I saw as I checked in, and he recognized me and even said hello. But then, it got weird.
He was, literally, ever-y-where, and even though I was totally NOT stalking him (no, seriously, I really wasn't, I'd be straight up with you), it started to seem like I was. But we were constantly in the same orbit, and after the first few times, I could literally start to see him tense up when I was nearby, if not dodge and hide behind some fake foliage in the lobby. (Not really, but I bet he wanted to.) And in an act of sheer irony from the universe, I befriended his writer wife, and ended up talking to her quite a bit and even writing with her in the lobby one afternoon, making sure to steer clear of the subject of him. When he saw us sitting there together, I swear he went pale. Suddenly, I was Newman to his Jerry, and there was no undoing it. Inadvertently, in my attempt to be friendly and outgoing and make a good impression, I'd done just the opposite, and in his mind he was probably worried he would go back to New York and find a literary equivalent of a rabbit in a pot on the stove from me.
So, needless to say, this guy is not my agent, and if I could "unremember" any single event from my writing career, it would be this one, hands down. I cringe every time I think of it.
Oy, indeed!
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Questioning Everything: That Annoying Logic Thing And How Crucial It Is To A Successful Story
One of the biggest blunders we all make in our writing is losing sight of logic as we write our stories. On the surface, the sequence of events may make sense to us, but to a reader, or even more specifically an editor, they may be far less forgiving. This is one of the biggest reasons, next to plain old bad writing or uneven pacing, that a book can fail to hit the mark.
When you are crafting your story, channel that person in your life (we all have at least one) that needs to know the details of everything and asks all the questions. They take nothing at face value, but need to understand the minutiae details of why and how A connects to B. Even though these elements may not be detailed in your story, they are critical for its ultimate success. For example: It's not enough to write a love story where a 17-year-old takes off, hitches a ride with a friend and follows a boy she loves across the country. It's romantic, sure, but there are niggling details that need to be addressed: How will she get home? How will she pay for it? Would her parents let her go? If not, why not? What will be the ramifications if she just takes off and how will she address them? What if the boy doesn't return her feelings? What then? Are there too many coincidences in your story that just make everything fall into place too easily? Because life isn't like that.
The stuff that makes up the meat of the story is in those details. What's the worst thing that could happen to this girl if she goes? Make sure it happens. How does she feel about the situation? Make sure it has changed and evolved by the end, and not just via an epiphany, but because of some catalyst action that makes her and her views change in a realistic way. We don't just turn our feelings for someone on and off like a light switch. They develop over time, sometimes we are in denial, sometimes it takes something painful to make us see how things really are, or maybe something has happened that can't be ignored along the way that has created different feelings for someone else.
A reader may be willing to suspend disbelief with proper world building in a science fiction or fantasy novel, but it's equally hard to pull off in a contemporary novel, because this is an actual world that your reader may be able to relate to directly. Make sure you've established traits in your characters that support them taking the actions that they do or it will be implausible and possibly make the reader unsympathetic.
Question everything, every action, every exchange between characters. Not just to see if it needs to be there to move the story along, but if it could really happen and it makes sense for it to happen with the characters you've created. First ask why they did this and what are all the possible logical outcomes. Then choose a realistic one and figure out all the realistic outcomes of that choice. It's like a giant chain based on each individual choice. But it all begins with your characters. If you don't know who your characters are, the reader certainly won't be able to connect to them either. Despite your anxiousness to throw words on a page, sit with them awhile and perhaps write some backstory so that you understand them a bit better before moving forward. Then their choices might become clearer to you.
When you are crafting your story, channel that person in your life (we all have at least one) that needs to know the details of everything and asks all the questions. They take nothing at face value, but need to understand the minutiae details of why and how A connects to B. Even though these elements may not be detailed in your story, they are critical for its ultimate success. For example: It's not enough to write a love story where a 17-year-old takes off, hitches a ride with a friend and follows a boy she loves across the country. It's romantic, sure, but there are niggling details that need to be addressed: How will she get home? How will she pay for it? Would her parents let her go? If not, why not? What will be the ramifications if she just takes off and how will she address them? What if the boy doesn't return her feelings? What then? Are there too many coincidences in your story that just make everything fall into place too easily? Because life isn't like that.
The stuff that makes up the meat of the story is in those details. What's the worst thing that could happen to this girl if she goes? Make sure it happens. How does she feel about the situation? Make sure it has changed and evolved by the end, and not just via an epiphany, but because of some catalyst action that makes her and her views change in a realistic way. We don't just turn our feelings for someone on and off like a light switch. They develop over time, sometimes we are in denial, sometimes it takes something painful to make us see how things really are, or maybe something has happened that can't be ignored along the way that has created different feelings for someone else.
A reader may be willing to suspend disbelief with proper world building in a science fiction or fantasy novel, but it's equally hard to pull off in a contemporary novel, because this is an actual world that your reader may be able to relate to directly. Make sure you've established traits in your characters that support them taking the actions that they do or it will be implausible and possibly make the reader unsympathetic.
Question everything, every action, every exchange between characters. Not just to see if it needs to be there to move the story along, but if it could really happen and it makes sense for it to happen with the characters you've created. First ask why they did this and what are all the possible logical outcomes. Then choose a realistic one and figure out all the realistic outcomes of that choice. It's like a giant chain based on each individual choice. But it all begins with your characters. If you don't know who your characters are, the reader certainly won't be able to connect to them either. Despite your anxiousness to throw words on a page, sit with them awhile and perhaps write some backstory so that you understand them a bit better before moving forward. Then their choices might become clearer to you.
Friday, November 9, 2012
To Outline Or Not To Outline
There are many schools of thought on how to approach writing and revision, one of the most popular being to outline. It makes perfect sense: create a road map of sorts that tells you every single event that will happen in the story and when and then just plug in and go. But...what if your brain doesn't work that way? How can you know every single thing that will happen in the book before you've sat down to write it or even revise it?
Often when I am writing, I have an idea of where I want things to go in my head, but the characters will take turns I don't expect, leading the story in a whole different direction that makes seemingly perfect sense. I could never have planned it that way because until I was in the scene, feeling the characters, I can't possibly know what they might really say or do next.
It's a lot like life, really. We make plans and then distractions and diversions happen, people don't follow the scripts in our head, inevitable disappointments occur. No worries - I don't hear actual voices in my head, but when I am writing, my characters really do take on a life of their own. I know so many writers have told me they feel it's true too. Therefore, I tend to buck the outline. I do see it's value in helping guide the way, but I feel myself turning into the husband that refuses to stop at the gas station and ask for directions because he's confident he'll find his way and reach the destination. And often, the best things are off the beaten path rather than on the main road. Using Save the Cat AFTER I've written actually helps me more so that I can look for holes, but it actually makes me feel a little overwhelmed to start with it. I'd rather get straight into the business of writing. Yes, sometimes (correction: all the time) those first drafts are messy and a little too stream-of-consciousness, but always, the meat is there.
At least I'm in good company - Libba Bray and Stephen King both buck the outline too and I think they're doing all right, so I haven't given up on my way yet. How about you? Do you need the structure of an outline or note cards to help you along? Or do you like to free-form it and see where you go with a loose idea in your head?
Often when I am writing, I have an idea of where I want things to go in my head, but the characters will take turns I don't expect, leading the story in a whole different direction that makes seemingly perfect sense. I could never have planned it that way because until I was in the scene, feeling the characters, I can't possibly know what they might really say or do next.
It's a lot like life, really. We make plans and then distractions and diversions happen, people don't follow the scripts in our head, inevitable disappointments occur. No worries - I don't hear actual voices in my head, but when I am writing, my characters really do take on a life of their own. I know so many writers have told me they feel it's true too. Therefore, I tend to buck the outline. I do see it's value in helping guide the way, but I feel myself turning into the husband that refuses to stop at the gas station and ask for directions because he's confident he'll find his way and reach the destination. And often, the best things are off the beaten path rather than on the main road. Using Save the Cat AFTER I've written actually helps me more so that I can look for holes, but it actually makes me feel a little overwhelmed to start with it. I'd rather get straight into the business of writing. Yes, sometimes (correction: all the time) those first drafts are messy and a little too stream-of-consciousness, but always, the meat is there.
At least I'm in good company - Libba Bray and Stephen King both buck the outline too and I think they're doing all right, so I haven't given up on my way yet. How about you? Do you need the structure of an outline or note cards to help you along? Or do you like to free-form it and see where you go with a loose idea in your head?
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Standing At The Base Of Mt. Everest: The Realities of Submission and Revision
So...I apologize for being sort of M.I.A. for awhile but a lot has happened that I've been trying to figure out how to discuss here. Since the main objective of this blog is to document my writing journey and serve as a resource for fellow writers who are on the path, the truth is that I can't just share the good and the hopeful, but I need to share the negatives too. Because sadly, they are as much a part of writing as all the other stuff.
To be honest, the last six weeks have been pretty stressful. After many months of being on submission, getting wonderful feedback overall but no offers, and biting my nails to the quick, BAND GEEK is officially off of submission and did not sell. As you can imagine, this was a huge disappointment. It seems that editors did not think that their teen audiences would readily go for a book with a male protagonist that wasn't a book for boys, and while several even said that it would have been great if the protagonist had been a girl instead, none offered and gave me the chance to flip it and work with them to make it be more of what they were looking for. Editors today are truly looking for books that are already in absolutely perfect shape, which raises the bar ever higher. Fortunately, there is a pool of interest for whatever I write next and an open door to submit, so therein lies the silver lining.
The reality is, I'm not alone in the large group of writers whose first book did not sell. However, our egos always want to believe that we are the exception to the rule. Mine was no different. What kept me sane during the entire submission process, however, was the fact that I was busily writing a second book.
Which brings me to stresser/disappointment #2: I finished the second book, revised it to a place where I felt really good about it and sent it out to my beta readers. The feedback that came back was fairly consistent: It was a great read, very enjoyable and fun, and so tightly written that it was hard to find places to comment. This made me feel on top of the world, naturally, and so I eagerly sent it to my agent, confident he would feel the same. This book had all the positive elements of my first: the humor, the dialogue, a fun premise, plus a female protagonist. I felt like I couldn't miss. However, that was short lived because after my agent read it, he reported back that he felt it still needed a lot of work, and that a lot of missteps I'd made with the first book were present with the second. He suggested I work with a freelance editor/book doctor to help get the book into shape since he thought all the bones were there for a great story but it wasn't there yet.
I was crushed. My confidence and mojo were wiped out in a single blow. It was so unexpected, and perhaps it brought me back down to Earth that I still had much to learn despite how far I've come.
I began working with the editor/book doctor, who was wonderful, and gave me incredible insight into every aspect of my story that wasn't working and why. She helped me brainstorm ways I could punch things up to make them mesh better and be more logical and cohesive. Having now had a month away from the book, she suggested that the first thing I do before undertaking a revision was sit down and re-read the book with an eye to the comments both she and my agent had provided. And you know what? They were spot on.
While this was depressing as hell, it was also a tremendous gift. It gave me the chance to have distance and to rethink and rework and to make this book be the novel it deserved to be and the story I really wanted to tell. A story that at the end of the day actually mattered.
This summer at the SCBWI conference in Los Angeles, editor Elise Howard from Algonquin gave me food for thought like no other presenter when she said that she had a narrow list of titles but went primarily for "stories that matter." It made me reflect on my own writing and how although the dialogue was snappy and snarky and fun and the stories were light and romantic, they might really be missing that something that makes them stay with the reader. So I've been given the chance to do just that.
As I dive into this monstrous revision, I feel like I am standing at the base of Mt. Everest, but I know that in order to follow my dreams, I must embrace the climb. As Ray Bradbury says, "You only fail if you stop writing." So with that as my mantra, I take my first step forward. Admittedly, I'm terrified, but I also know that this is my passion and that I will get there. And I am incredibly fortunate to have an agent who believes in me and has faith in me, as well as a community of family, friends and fellow writers who will cheer me on to the finish line.
So wish me luck. If I'm on here spottily, it hopefully means I'm knee deep in revision and I will check in now and again. What better time to start than NaNoWriMo, right? I guess I picked the wrong week to give up coffee. *sigh*
To be honest, the last six weeks have been pretty stressful. After many months of being on submission, getting wonderful feedback overall but no offers, and biting my nails to the quick, BAND GEEK is officially off of submission and did not sell. As you can imagine, this was a huge disappointment. It seems that editors did not think that their teen audiences would readily go for a book with a male protagonist that wasn't a book for boys, and while several even said that it would have been great if the protagonist had been a girl instead, none offered and gave me the chance to flip it and work with them to make it be more of what they were looking for. Editors today are truly looking for books that are already in absolutely perfect shape, which raises the bar ever higher. Fortunately, there is a pool of interest for whatever I write next and an open door to submit, so therein lies the silver lining.
The reality is, I'm not alone in the large group of writers whose first book did not sell. However, our egos always want to believe that we are the exception to the rule. Mine was no different. What kept me sane during the entire submission process, however, was the fact that I was busily writing a second book.
Which brings me to stresser/disappointment #2: I finished the second book, revised it to a place where I felt really good about it and sent it out to my beta readers. The feedback that came back was fairly consistent: It was a great read, very enjoyable and fun, and so tightly written that it was hard to find places to comment. This made me feel on top of the world, naturally, and so I eagerly sent it to my agent, confident he would feel the same. This book had all the positive elements of my first: the humor, the dialogue, a fun premise, plus a female protagonist. I felt like I couldn't miss. However, that was short lived because after my agent read it, he reported back that he felt it still needed a lot of work, and that a lot of missteps I'd made with the first book were present with the second. He suggested I work with a freelance editor/book doctor to help get the book into shape since he thought all the bones were there for a great story but it wasn't there yet.
I was crushed. My confidence and mojo were wiped out in a single blow. It was so unexpected, and perhaps it brought me back down to Earth that I still had much to learn despite how far I've come.
I began working with the editor/book doctor, who was wonderful, and gave me incredible insight into every aspect of my story that wasn't working and why. She helped me brainstorm ways I could punch things up to make them mesh better and be more logical and cohesive. Having now had a month away from the book, she suggested that the first thing I do before undertaking a revision was sit down and re-read the book with an eye to the comments both she and my agent had provided. And you know what? They were spot on.
While this was depressing as hell, it was also a tremendous gift. It gave me the chance to have distance and to rethink and rework and to make this book be the novel it deserved to be and the story I really wanted to tell. A story that at the end of the day actually mattered.
This summer at the SCBWI conference in Los Angeles, editor Elise Howard from Algonquin gave me food for thought like no other presenter when she said that she had a narrow list of titles but went primarily for "stories that matter." It made me reflect on my own writing and how although the dialogue was snappy and snarky and fun and the stories were light and romantic, they might really be missing that something that makes them stay with the reader. So I've been given the chance to do just that.
As I dive into this monstrous revision, I feel like I am standing at the base of Mt. Everest, but I know that in order to follow my dreams, I must embrace the climb. As Ray Bradbury says, "You only fail if you stop writing." So with that as my mantra, I take my first step forward. Admittedly, I'm terrified, but I also know that this is my passion and that I will get there. And I am incredibly fortunate to have an agent who believes in me and has faith in me, as well as a community of family, friends and fellow writers who will cheer me on to the finish line.
So wish me luck. If I'm on here spottily, it hopefully means I'm knee deep in revision and I will check in now and again. What better time to start than NaNoWriMo, right? I guess I picked the wrong week to give up coffee. *sigh*
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
90 Days And Other Craptastic Realities of Being A Published Author
Today I went to Barnes and Noble to pick up a middle grade novel a friend of mine told me about. The book is by an author who shall remain nameless, but suffice it to say she generally writes beautifully written, quiet books and has a respectful following, though her books are not necessarily bestsellers. However, just getting a book on the shelf at Barnes and Noble is no small feat, so good for her that she had a shelf presence at all. Unfortunately, after seeing it on the shelf for the last few months (it came out in May), when I finally went to purchase it, I couldn't find it anywhere. I asked a bookseller and what I learned next truly opened my eyes to the reality of how competitive publishing really is.
Turns out this book was in the back, which is where they pull books that have not sold a single copy in at least four weeks. There they languish for another couple of weeks just in case people like me come in looking for them and specifically asking for them. If no one asks for them, back to the publisher they go and their shelf-time is all done. So what's the window Barnes and Noble allows for your book to languish on their shelves if it's not regularly moving copies? 90 days. That's right, 90 DAYS. You have longer than that to return something to Costco (unless it's electronics, but I digress...)
When they pull up a title within the store computer, they have a special section that tells them how many copies have actually been sold of that title per month, and the numbers can be startling, if not a bit maddening. Here's an author I've heard of, a book I've read wonderful reviews of, and in looking at the actual sales data, she had sold exactly 3 copies of that book in that store since May. Period.
So when you think about how many copies she has to sell nationwide to make any money, let alone earn her advance, it's disheartening. And it may make the publisher take pause on considering how much they'll pay for her next novel, or if they even want to fill a coveted spot on their list with it, not to mention that Barnes and Noble, upon reviewing the sales record, may not elect to stock her next book next time since this one may have underperformed for their expectations.
There are so many hoops to writing. People think that once you get an agent, it's a cakewalk, but that's so not true. You can get an agent, but that agent now has to get the interest of an editor. An editor can fall in love with your book, but their team may not and so they pass. Or they may only have one spot on their list for a book in the genre you've written, and despite its merits, it's taken. But let's say they DO buy it - now they have to put it in their catalog and advertise it to vendors, hoping that above all else, the big daddy barometer of the publishing industry, Barnes and Noble, will carry it in their brick and mortar stores. And if you're so fortunate to get the green light on that front, you have 90 days to prove your worth. 90 frickin' days.
Wow.
It is critical to realize that the competition is fierce and that the bar is raised ever higher daily. Our work must be polished and exciting and fresh, because without that something sparkly, no matter how beautiful or poignant or delightful, it will probably never reach its intended audience.
This is undoubtedly why so many frustrated authors are taking to e-publishing, which certainly provides a wonderful alternative to getting one's work out there. However, e-pubbing, with few exceptions, usually can't deliver the potential readership and exposure that traditional publishing can, and much of the work falls on the author exclusively to market him/herself.
Depressing as that state of the union may be, I hope it serves to empower us all to be better writers; to up our game and to reach a little further to find that extra somethin' somethin' so that our book never sees the back room.
And for the record: I read the flap of the book I came in for and was on the fence if I really did want to read it, but after learning what I did, I bought it in the hopes that the powers that be will see the sale and bring her book back out on the floor. We have to support each other where we can, right?
Turns out this book was in the back, which is where they pull books that have not sold a single copy in at least four weeks. There they languish for another couple of weeks just in case people like me come in looking for them and specifically asking for them. If no one asks for them, back to the publisher they go and their shelf-time is all done. So what's the window Barnes and Noble allows for your book to languish on their shelves if it's not regularly moving copies? 90 days. That's right, 90 DAYS. You have longer than that to return something to Costco (unless it's electronics, but I digress...)
When they pull up a title within the store computer, they have a special section that tells them how many copies have actually been sold of that title per month, and the numbers can be startling, if not a bit maddening. Here's an author I've heard of, a book I've read wonderful reviews of, and in looking at the actual sales data, she had sold exactly 3 copies of that book in that store since May. Period.
So when you think about how many copies she has to sell nationwide to make any money, let alone earn her advance, it's disheartening. And it may make the publisher take pause on considering how much they'll pay for her next novel, or if they even want to fill a coveted spot on their list with it, not to mention that Barnes and Noble, upon reviewing the sales record, may not elect to stock her next book next time since this one may have underperformed for their expectations.
There are so many hoops to writing. People think that once you get an agent, it's a cakewalk, but that's so not true. You can get an agent, but that agent now has to get the interest of an editor. An editor can fall in love with your book, but their team may not and so they pass. Or they may only have one spot on their list for a book in the genre you've written, and despite its merits, it's taken. But let's say they DO buy it - now they have to put it in their catalog and advertise it to vendors, hoping that above all else, the big daddy barometer of the publishing industry, Barnes and Noble, will carry it in their brick and mortar stores. And if you're so fortunate to get the green light on that front, you have 90 days to prove your worth. 90 frickin' days.
Wow.
It is critical to realize that the competition is fierce and that the bar is raised ever higher daily. Our work must be polished and exciting and fresh, because without that something sparkly, no matter how beautiful or poignant or delightful, it will probably never reach its intended audience.
This is undoubtedly why so many frustrated authors are taking to e-publishing, which certainly provides a wonderful alternative to getting one's work out there. However, e-pubbing, with few exceptions, usually can't deliver the potential readership and exposure that traditional publishing can, and much of the work falls on the author exclusively to market him/herself.
Depressing as that state of the union may be, I hope it serves to empower us all to be better writers; to up our game and to reach a little further to find that extra somethin' somethin' so that our book never sees the back room.
And for the record: I read the flap of the book I came in for and was on the fence if I really did want to read it, but after learning what I did, I bought it in the hopes that the powers that be will see the sale and bring her book back out on the floor. We have to support each other where we can, right?
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