It's been roughly a year since that first acceptance so I thought I would pass on to all of your lovely readers what I have learned in my short time as a 'published' author. In no particular order of importance, here are the top five things I have learned this past year.
1. You'll never be published if you don't submit your work. It sounds like a no brainer but there are 'writers' out there who dream of being published yet never send in their work. A publisher is deluged with submissions every day. They don't have time to seek out your brilliance. If you have a story that will make them salivate and praise they angels, you have to make the first contact.
2.A rejection does not mean you suck and should burn your book. I read a post from a successful author on a message board whose most recent submission got rejected, by her own publisher! Even established authors get rejected. So what do you do when you get that dreaded 'no'? You submit somewhere else, again and again until you get a yes.
3. Sometimes a rejection doesn't mean you suck as a writer, but your writing might. The best thing for a writer next to an acceptance by a publisher is a personalized rejection. If a publisher takes the time to tell you what's wrong with your book, that means there was something about it he/she liked. You are not beyond hope. If you just fix a,b, and c you might have a sellable manuscript on your hands. So take that rejection and get to work fixing a,b and c and then get it out there again.
4. Patience is a virtue. Yes, I just heard your teeth grind. But really if showbusiness is the 'hurry up and wait' business, publishing is the 'submit and wait and wait and wait business. I've been pretty lucky in that I've worked primarily thus far with smaller presses so the waits aren't as long as the bigger NY pubs but waiting is waiting. Look at it as a gift of time. There's no better feeling than having a manuscript come back (ideally with a yes but even if not, send it out again!) and having a new one ready to go out. The more manuscripts you have out, the better your chances of acceptance so while you wait to hear on Book A, get to work on Book B!
5. How sucessful your book is is directly proportionate to how much promotion you do. Even the bigger pubs have authors doing their own promotion. granted, their marketing budget is considerably larger than smaller presses but the fact remains that an author who sells her book will make more money than one who sits back and just expects the money to roll in. I've noticed in months where I work more on promotion, sales are higher than on months that I don't do as much. It really is a numbers game. You get out what you put in.
So those are just a few of the things I have come to learn about this crazy but wonderful business and I hope that you guys get some encouragement from them to get your own work out there and then get busy working on your next one!
In celebration of my latest erotic short story Top Guns by Sugar & Spice Press: http://www.sugarandspicepress.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=11&products_id=37
I thought I'd give one lucky commenter a free copy! Here's a wee blurb:
It all started with a bet. Now Allie has to fulfill her partner Jimmy's every desire. Being Allie's partner on the force at the NYPD, Jimmy's greatest desire is for Allie to be his partner in life as well, and this by the book cop is not above getting down and dirty to convince her.
Just comment or ask me a question about something I may not have covered here and if I know the answer, I'll be glad to help! I'll pick a winner from all entries on Tuesday!
Hi Nancy :)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the blurb for Top Guns!
Do you ever run out of story ideas?
Mindy :)
Birdsooong@aol.com
Hi Nancy,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your wisdom. Much is made about authors having and building their own "platform." What are your thoughts?
Chris
cs_ledbetter@yahoo.com
@Mindy Nope. Never. Really. (laughs) You know that pesky thing Writer's Block? I have the exact opposite of that. I have about 100 unfinished WIP's that literally if I never had another idea I could work on those WIP's. But yet the ideas keep coming. I can look at anything and it can inspire a story. Even a dang pencil. My muse had no off switch.
ReplyDelete@Chris I think it's pretty vital for a writer to get online at least and promote themselves. If you're talking non-fiction, it certainly helps to make your mark online in the subject your writing about. It's easier to sell to people who already know about you. From my own experience in fiction, I'll use an example involving Facebook.
I'd had a FB account but didn't really use it much until I started publishing and saw other authors I loved were on there too and I learned from them about how to use it as a promotional tool. The week I began being more active in it, my novella Redemption with Amira Press moved in to the top ten bestsellers over there. Definite cause and effect there.
Great stuff!
ReplyDeleteLove this post.
Patience is definitely A VIRTUE!!
ReplyDelete@Susan Thanks very much!
ReplyDelete@B.A.S.E.D Yep, now if only it didn't take so dang long! (laughs)
Nancy, some sage advice. Congrats on your new book.
ReplyDeleteI work a lot with authors and your point in # 2 I've heard from quite a few. I figure if established authors get rejections--look at their quality of work--then aspiring authors have to expect rejections too. But where some aspiring authors and pubbed authors differ, is pubbed don't give up. Something to be learned from that.
Promotion is a must. Today's publishers expect their authors to have a vested interest in their career. You may not start out with much of a budget for promotion with your first or even second book, but if you don't invest a *balanced* amount of time in your career promoting it, WHY should the publisher?
I say *balance* because you also have to allow for time to write and deal with life.
Good article, Nancy!
As an author on my fifth novel but who has only just had number four accepted by a publisher I endorse all that you say. It is of vital importance that you believe in yourself and your work and as Beryl Bainbridge said at a Writers Conference you do need luck on hyour side. Persevere... Persevere.... never give up.
ReplyDeletewww. strategicbookpublishing.com/LookAfterEachOther.html
I also like that blurb. Thanks for sharing your experiences, that is helpful to me.
ReplyDelete@Sia I'm a strong believer that the only difference between a pubbed and unpubbed author is definitely that the published author simply didn't give up. There is always a home for your book and if you haven't found it after many submissions you still haven't placed it then you need to work on polishing your manuscript until you do place it.
ReplyDelete@LadyM So very true!
@Mickey I'm so glad it helped.
Thanks so much to APA for letting me play in their sandbox! Also, thanks so much for all the lovely folk that commented. It's been great fun chatting with you all.
ReplyDeleteNow, for the winner of the free copy of my short Top Guns. The winner is....(drum roll)....Mindy!
I see you commented with your e-mail so I shall send the download to you asap!
Hi Nancy - great post!
ReplyDeleteI'm already planning my book signings and blog tour ideas, etc. and I have a year until my first book is available.
Never give up = my motto is
"I am a dreamer and I am a doer."
Thanks, and good luck with your book!
jan coad
@Jan Thanks a lot! That is so true. The only way for your dreams to come true is to MAKE them come true!
ReplyDelete