Business
Poof! That’s the sound of the bubble bursting after your book has come out.
After all of the build-up to release day, it would hard not to have the entire post-mortem be slightly anticlimactic, and I’m here to tell you that, indeed, the weeks following your book publication are a bit of a downer. Now, before you get all worked up saying that I’m acting insane – after all, my book is on store shelves – let me explain. How many of you out there are married? Quite a few? Good, then you’ll get my analogy. There is a condition that therapists have actually diagnosed that’s called something like, “post-wedding depression” or “post-wedding letdown” or something like that. And what it refers to is the period of time when brides and grooms get back from the high of the wedding and the honeymoon and come home after months of elaborate planning, and sit on their couches and look at each other and say, “Now what?” After all of the hype and hoopla, it’s just the two of them, now out of the spotlight and back to reality.
And that’s sort of how it feels to have your book come out.
Read MoreSometimes it’s hard coming up with a blog post. After all–unlike Marsha, Juliet, Allison, Vicky and Jason–I am a pubbed nonfic writer but not a published author.
[Update: Now I am! But this post, written in 2007, still holds true today.]
Aren’t I just guessing at what’s required to make it in this business? Some days I just don’t know. But here’s what I do know, for sure: I know what can kill a drive, what has held me back and tied me up in knots. So that’s what today’s post is about.
The 7 Deadly Sins of the Unpubbed Writer:
1. A weak concept. Let’s write a book about a guy and a girl and a dog, and love and a peach pie. And maybe an eye patch. Or not. A STRONG concept will not only increase the likelihood that you’ll be successful in the end, but it can actually help you to finish your wip. How? It’ll inspire you to sit and work on it for hours at a time. Like a body, prone and needing CPR, your manuscript needs your help. If you love it–really, really love it–and see value in it, you will keep breathing life into it until it starts breathing on its own.
2. No deadline. My kids’ school has asked my hubby and me to write a song as their new anthem. Cool, eh? They asked two months ago, and we’ve yet to work on it. I was joking with the secretary about it recently. “You should give us a deadline,” I said. “It’s all right,” she said, “you can’t rush creativity.” I smiled, shook my head. “Oh, you’d be surprised.” As someone who’s had the benefit of the hot-iron push of deadline, I’m here to tell you that it’s a truly motivating factor. But how to impose a deadline on yourself when there isn’t anyone waiting for the script on the other end, prod in hand, check in the other? You just do. You entrust an editor-like authority to those who understand your desire to reach The End–like a critique partner or buggy sister–and then let them use a pseudo-prod to bother you regularly. You mark your calendar with your deadlines–“finish part 1″…”wrap up first draft”–and you reward yourself when you meet the mark. Push yourself, and let others push you too. Don’t let your wip become an unsung song.
3. A bad critique group.
Read MoreA friend of mine sent me a link to a recent essay by novelist Erica Jong. In it she argues that women writers–especially those who write about relationships–are not taken seriously as Great Writers the way men who write about the same subjects are.
Jeffrey Eugenides had his moment, then Jonathan Franzen and Jonathan Safran Foer. But the chair for the Serious Novelist is rarely held for new women novelists — unless they are from India, Iran, Iraq, China or other newsworthy countries. American women novelists are more often bracketed as genre writers — in chick lit, romance, mystery or historical fiction — and quickly dismissed.
Critics have trouble taking fiction by women seriously unless they represent some distant political struggle or chic ethnicity (Arundhati Roy, Nadine Gordimer and Kiran Desai come to mind). Of course, there are exceptions, like Annie Proulx and Andrea Barrett. But they tend to write about “male” subjects: ships, cowboys, accordions. There’s Pat Barker, who gained the most respect when she began to write about war. Margaret Atwood, who is Canadian and therefore gets a longer leash than most North American writers. And Isabel Allende, a wonderful writer, who has become our token South American female.
Surely not, I thought. What about Alice Munro–oh, wait she’s Canadian. Okay, then Alice Sebold. Hmm, Lovely Bones was more of a murder mystery in reverse. Sue Miller? Audrey Niffenegger?
I guess the question I started asking myself was: what does Jong mean by “being taken seriously?”
Does it mean having an appreciative circle of readers who wait impatiently for your next book?
Or does it mean winning a literary prize, the kind that’s stamped on the book’s dustjacket to let the reader know “hey, quality read here!”
Or is Jong saying that U.S. women writers aren’t taken seriously by The Industry? Yep, that’s where she was going:
Read MoreI’m trying something new: using a Google Notebook to capture tantalizing bits of business & book news I think you’ll appreciate. The public web addy for this notebook is HERE. Let me know if you have problems accessing, etc… and what you think about the system. I think it’ll make updating easier.
Read MoreI’m editing my fingers off lately, but I wanted to pass along a couple of things…
From Guardian Unlimited: Authors and agents have been waiting nervously to see if a big publisher would attempt to grab hold of the long tail. This week Simon and Schuster in the US has emerged as that publisher, with a new provision in its contracts to retain copyright in all works that exist in its electronic database – whether or not the work remains in print. The company will no longer have to hold copies in its warehouse to qualify as the publisher of those works. The Authors Guild is advising authors not to sign.
Writer Beware had something to say about it, too.
From The New York Times: When predicting which candidate is likely to win an election, what a movie will make at the box office or how much the price of oil will fluctuate, the guesses of a crowd can be remarkably accurate. But can crowds predict whether a book will succeed? That is the hope of the founders of Media Predict (www.MediaPredict.com), a virtual market beginning today [5/21], and Simon & Schuster, a publisher that plans to select a book proposal based on bets placed by traders in the new market.
Read MoreThis is an experiment. Kath and I are going to attempt to keep you somewhat updated re: happenings in the publishing industry, but we’d like to do it without sacrificing an enormo chunk of personal writing time. So no promises on the longevity of this endeavor; we’ll see how we do.
Not all of this news is going to be “breaking,” but we hope all of it is somewhat interesting. Oh, and not all of it will necessarily be about business; we reserve the right to throw in niblets from where we like, when we like. Because.
Helpful? Entertaining? Yawn-o-licious? Let us know what you think!
On-Business Blips:
From The Wall Street Journal: CBS Corp.’s Simon & Schuster book-publishing arm next month will launch an Internet book channel called Bookvideos.tv that will be hosted on YouTube.com and other video-sharing sites. For an industry constantly held back by scant marketing dollars, the plan represents a new and inexpensive digital way to promote books and try to turn their authors into brands.
Guardian Unlimited predicts the death of the printed author: Books coverage is being slashed in major US papers. The New York Times suggests that literary blogs aren’t just picking up the slack from print reviews, they’re making them redundant.
From Editorial Anonymous: Ooo, a hot new trend! Pirates are all the rage!…in bookstores. Which means that for publishers, who are looking at what the market will be like in a couple years, pirates are essentially over.
Read MoreIt’s here, it’s here, it’s finally here!! It’s hard to believe that two years after I wrote it, seventeen months after we sold it, fourteen months after I cashed my first check from it, The Department of Lost and Found is finally here. It’s been an informative ride – to say the very least! – and here, a few tidbits that I’ve gleaned along the way.
1) Accept That Which You Can’t Control. I’m a type-z in my private life, and a type-a in my professional life. Thus, if I could tackle the sales, marketing and PR of the book, I happily would. But, er, you know, I can’t, and while I’m sometimes frustrated at the results (i.e, Entertainment Weekly letting my publicist know that they won’t be reviewing my book in the mag), I’ve come to understand that there’s only so much that I, personally, can do. A lot of this whole rigmarole is out of my hands.
2) Try To Control Everything Else! Having said the above, there are a lot of little things that you can do to influence (hopefully) the sales of your book. Calling in favors to every journalist you know. Asking for referrals to other contacts. Answering dozens of Q/As for a variety of websites. While my publicist and marketing manager are wonderful – truly, they’re wonderful – no one cares more about my success and the success of this book than I do. So I’m the one who really has to get her hands dirty long after everyone else has washed theirs clean.
Read MoreI’ve had a convergence of spectacular bad luck lately, stuff designed to keep me off balance and wondering what day it is. So I completely forgot to send out a WU-HOO to YA author, editor extroidanaire and WU contributor Victoria Holmes on the recent release of not one but two books in her phenomenally successful YA series, WARRIORS. THE POWER OF THREE, BOOK 1 and THE LOST WARRIOR hit the bookshelves last week. Next week, I fully expect to break the news that WARRIORS has displaced Magic Treehouse and Septimus Heap on the NYT Children’s Series book list.
Vicky would have told you herself, but she’s been wandering around selected major metropolitan areas in the U.S. for booksignings. Our last e-mail from her relayed some typically self-deprecating humor about a ‘few kids’ showing up to meet Erin Hunter. Don’t let that fool you, she’s been mobbed where ever she’s gone. She’s going to give us the details as soon as she’s safely home in the U.K., well-rested, and recovered from her puddle jump.
Read MoreAnything with the word “July” in it makes me happy right now, because it’s once again below 50 F here in my hometown. So when Pop Candy recently mentioned the clever author website of one Miranda July, you know I went for a visit. And was wowed! Love the originality of this woman.
Go on now and check it out. You’ll be glad you did.
Her latest book, No One Belongs Here More Than You: Stories, will be released May 15th.
Read MoreNow that I have the June issue of Writer’s Digest in my steamy little hands, I can tell you the rumor is true: Writer Unboxed was named one of the 101 Best Websites for Writers! There are a load of fantastic sites referenced in WD–a hundred others–and while I’m sure they’ll soon have them all on their own website for easy clicking, here are a few to hold you over:
Get your fill of ideas at Creative Writing Prompts – HERE.
Want a critique? At Andrew Burt’s Critique.Org the cost for receiving one is giving one.
Writing Time provides inspiration, creative exercises and more.
There’s a great agent database at First Writer.
Protect yourself with a visit to Agent Research & Evaluation, which runs a check for nasty reports on the agent of your choice.
Lots of links for specific genres, too. And a GREAT interview with Christopher Moore. Definitely an issue worth picking up.
Enjoy the clicks!
Read MoreI got a wonderful question on my blog the other day about what separates successful writers, defined by this reader’s terms as writers who earn a good living solely at writing, from the rest of the heap, and I thought this might be a good subject to tackle here at Unboxed. I think it comes to down a mix of things, some of which people might like, some of which, they might not. But best as I can tell, these factors all come into play:
1) Luck. Yup, dumb luck. Look, there are thousands upon thousands of talented writers out there. I can’t and won’t dispute that. So surely, some of breaking away from the pack and becoming a go-to writer for magazine editors or for agents and publishing houses, does come down to luck. I got my big break when The Knot asked me to ghostwrite a wedding book for them. It was one of my first freelance gigs, and though the job itself was a total nightmare, it was a huge coup. And sure, I happened to be a good writer, but I was also in the right place at the right time: namely, I was getting married, pitched them a story idea, and had one of their editors take notice of the fact that I had previous ghostwriting experience. Bam. A few sample chapters later and the job was mine. From there, I quickly landed my first national magazine story in Bride’s.
2) Persistence. Much like acting, establishing a reputation in the publishing world can take a looooooong time. And along the way, again, much like acting, you are going to be met with more rejection than not. Probably 100 times more rejection than acceptance. Which sounds daunting, I know, but it’s true. After that Bride’s story, I landed one other national piece which was promptly killed (another story for another time), and I then had a long dry spell of pitching, pitching, pitching, pitching. I think the next few things I landed were smaller FOBs that eventually led to bigger pieces, but still…there were dozens upon dozens of times that I could have tossed in the towel and said, “Screw it. No one is taking my ideas, no one thinks I’m a good writer, I’m done.” Thank the lordy that I’m as stubborn as all hell, and there was no way that I was going to quit.
Read MoreApologies in advance for any incoherence in this post – I came back from New York three days ago and jetlag is sticking to me like glue. I don’t even feel perky in the evenings, it just feels like 4am all the time. It might be over-stimulation as well as international travel that’s pickling my brains right now; I came over for an author event at Bank Street Bookstore (a children’s literary paradise north of Central Park) and to discuss plans for an upcoming Warriors tour with the folk at HarperCollins Inc. Yup, one-third of Erin Hunter is going on the road to promote the latest subseries, Power of Three. Excited, much?
The finer details have yet to be worked out, but I’ll be leaving the UK on April 21 and visiting seven US cities over about two weeks. I’m honoured and humbled and a little bit scared, all at once. The events themselves don’t worry me – I’m like the Energiser bunny when it comes to talking about my beloved feral cats, and I practically had to be dragged out of Bank Street Bookstore before I could be shut up. Warriors fans make for a pretty delightful audience as they take things very seriously and ask great questions that give me a chance to think about the themes and characters in more detail than I usually have time for (you might be interested to know that girls are more visibly awed, while boys tend to come up with the more difficult and unexpected questions). My publicist (I will never ever get tired of saying that) Audra has suggested some cute ways of making the events more interactive, such as writing an original script featuring established feline characters that fans can act out on the spot. I’ll do a reading from Power of Three Book One: The Sight, chat for a while about the shades of gray in theme and characterisation that fascinate me so much when it comes to these books, and answer as many questions as I can before the lights get turned out. No sweat. Bring it on. And while I’m feeling like a true diva, I like my M&Ms blue.
Read MorePrologues are like the New York Yankees or the Dallas Cowboys; people generally have strong feelings about them, one way or another. I admit I skipped all prologues when reading books in high school. Extra pages-who needed ’em?
I think people resist prologues because we’ve learned they don’t always connect in a significant way to what’s happening in chapter one, making them an additional tax on our motivation and memory. It’s true: Readers can expend a lot of mental effort ramping up to a new story, and if the road the author has laid out is perceived to be too much like an uphill cross-country course, it may never be taken.
So when might it be a good idea to use a prologue? How about when you need to…
Establish Theme. Using a prologue to highlight structure and hook can be like knowing the notes in a glass of wine before taking the first sip; you can hone your senses more acutely on the details and probably appreciate them all the more in the end. Laura Hillenbrand, for example, began Seabiscuit by telling the reader the year, reminding us about the Great Depression and its effect on the human psyche. Two pages later, we understand why people were so deeply connected to Seabiscuit, and I do think the short memorial helped to invest readers right off the mark.
Peer Inside a Different Window. If you choose to begin your story at the point of change – wham, ch. 1 – it can be tricky to work out how things were before or why the character needed that change without a big info dump. Including a prologue can be an elegant solution, providing the reader with information through either a unique POV or a window to the past. Allison Brennan used this technique in her novel The Hunt, taking us twelve years off the beaten path that is chapter one to show us the horror her protagonist Miranda lived through. Was this better than telling us about the incident within the story or showing it to us through flashbacks? This reader thinks so. Miranda’s ordeal was riveting, frightening and vivid, immediately showing us both the stakes and the potential for drastic character change. Bonus: It hooked hard.
Give the Reader a Helping Hand. Our own Marsha Moyer used a prologue in her second novel, The Last of the Honky-Tonk Angels, to remind readers where her protagonist had been and what she’d endured. Because Marsha’s first and second books were released about one year apart, readers who’d been introduced to the heroine in The Second Coming of Lucy Hatch may not have read the character in a while. But that single page spans the distance between Lucy Then and Lucy Now, and Reader Then and Reader Now simply, while also reminding us of Marsha’s melodious voice. New readers benefit as well, as they’re given a root to cling to, some hint of Lucy’s past.
Some stories are tough to get unless you’re told what’s going on from moment one. Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler’s Wife, used her prologue for protagonists Henry and Clair to reveal that Henry was a time traveler, taking us deep inside […]
Read MoreBears fan? Having a dreary Monday? I don’t think so; we have some news to announce this a.m.!
Allison Winn Scotch, blog mama of Ask Allison, a fantastic site for freelance writers, has agreed to bring her astute observations and wisdom to the fiction-bloggers realm, joining Writer Unboxed as a contributor. Not only is Allison a successful freelance writer, her first novel, THE DEPARTMENT OF LOST AND FOUND, will be published May 1st and has already gained a load of positive buzz. We’ll be interviewing Allison soon as well, to learn more about her book and her experience as a first-time author (and experienced writer!). Join me in welcoming her, won’t you?
In other news…
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