Epublishing

So there is always this ongoing war over epublishing. One faction says it's not "real publishing" and another faction says: "We're just as good as you...neener neener."

I would like to circumvent that entire argument. Because it's really really not the point. It's two totally different worlds. It's not necessarily a "one or the other" type of deal anyway. You can do both. For a long time I was very resistant to the idea of ebooks. Mostly because I personally am not a big fan of the format. When I read I like a print copy. A real live book in my hands.

Because of my deep and abiding love of print books, ebooks don't just thrill and excite me quite the same. But it's a different format. Audio books don't overly thrill me either, but some people prefer them, and I would never say: "Don't publish me in audio books, I'm not a big personal fan." That would be ludicrous, and probably ignored, and rightly so.

The fact is, some people love ebooks. I want to sell to New York, absolutely, that's my goal. And after that, my goal is to keep selling to New York, and after that...well...you know...up and up. I've thought also about smaller presses. But while I'm waiting to sell to New York, I may as well at least consider the possibility of ebook publishing (with one of the good houses. There are only a handful that I would submit to, because beyond that, I may as well self publish.)

I know one should keep trying and not give up, and that is my intention. But "this" book, might not sell to New York no matter how much time I keep it circulating. So if it's good (and I believe it is) then it should sell SOMEWHERE. To automatically just shut out the ebook possibility is shooting myself in the foot.

Ebooks, while not my eventual goal, still provide me with some things. For one, It starts to give me a fanbase, people who might follow me into print publication. For another, it's money. The royalties at some of the better ebook houses, aren't bad at all, and you get paid monthly. Money is money, and if I am to consider my writing as a business, then I have to be smart and be willing to do what is necessary to get my name out there.

So that's an attitude of mine that has shifted recently. What about you? What attitudes have you had change as you've gotten deeper into your goals and writing plans?

Goals:

I finally got a strong lock on my goals for this year. They're some pretty big goals. I'd like to complete 4 novels this year. Yes, I said 4. You heard me right. Why Four?

It's not a magic number, it's just I write pretty fast when I'm working like I'm supposed to. If I'm not twiddling my thumbs there's no real reason why I can't finish a novel in 6 months time. Now I realize there are only 12 months in a year, but I have a "simultaneous work" plan that's working out really great for me and allows me to complete twice the work without the burnout factor. (Each day I write I'm doing around 3-4 hours of actual writing work, and since I don't work outside the home, that's definitely not excessive.)

While editing one novel, I'm writing the rough draft for the next one. So, 4 novels. I may not get an agent this year, or even any kind of ebook contract (yes, I'm ready to consider the possibility of ebooks until I make it to New York, more about that tomorrow.), but I will up my odds considerably by working hard, and getting things completed on my deadlines and getting them out there in the world circulating.

Right now I'm 26 days into the novel in 90 challenge, and at the end of the 90 days, my goal is to have my paranormal romance completely done and ready to go out the door, and my query letters ready, and also to have the rough draft of the erotica novel I'm writing. Then as soon as I send my queries out, I can start work on the rough draft of the next paranormal while I edit the erotica.

My production goals are pretty big this year, but I believe I can do them, I've never written and completed four novels in a year, it seems insane on the surface of it. But I'm ready to commit to this full time and I'm practicing what I preach. My goals may be big, but you can't reach a goal you don't set. If I set lower goals, I'll only go that far. I want to set a goal that's impressive if I reach it.

I would love to get an agent this year, or a contract with someone, but even if I don't, completing four novels will move me down this road closer to that agent and contract.

What are your goals for this year?

Method:

Let's talk method. I'm still fine tuning mine, but the more I do this novel writing thing, the more I figure out what method works best for me. And what alternate routes I can take. I'm much clearer on the beginning parts of my method cause I've done them longer. When I first started trying to write a novel, I tried to write a rough draft and made several different attempts before I actually got through a rough draft. Then I got to where I'd completed several rough drafts and that was no longer impressive. I'm still fine tuning some of what works for me on revisions, since I haven't been at that stage as long. So...to bore you...here is my method. (Don't worry, I'm going to ask for yours too, because I really am interested in how everybody else works.)

1. Idea and Outline. I'm an outliner not a pantser. I tried pantsing once, and still haven't gotten that mess cleaned up. It was truly scary. I admire those who can pants, but I'm not among them, I'm way too anal retentive. When I make up my outline I decide how long I want the book to be, how many chapters, and divide the chapters evenly for word count. Now every chapter isn't EXACT, some are over, some are under, but I really like fairly even chapter lengths because it helps me with my pacing, as does the outline. This part takes me maybe a few days.

2. Rough draft. I try to write this as quickly as possible. The faster the better. My personal best is this past november when I wrote a 93,000 word first draft in 29 days. (next I want to try to do "Fast Draft" A rough draft in 2 weeks. The idea of being able to do that thrills me! And I really think I can.) Also during the rough draft, I follow the outine as a general 'pit stop' guide on the way to my ending, cause I can't start if I don't know my ending. I always veer though, and so I revise my outline accordingly. (Yes, I know I'm freaking ANAL about this. It's my safety net. It keeps me from sitting in front of the computer and just staring at it. It's nice to know what I'm going to write about at least in general before I get there.)

3. Then I let it sit for a few weeks. During this "sitting" period, I start working on my query letter. This is when I do my research and character sketches. Which may sound counter intuitive but I basically bullshit through the first draft on most things. I do my fact checking and research during the cooling off period, because then I know what I actually need to know and I'm not just filling up 30 notebooks with research that may or may not help me. (clearly I don't write historicals, because then I would probably HAVE to have 30 notebooks of research.)

4. Then I revise. I'm finding that just jumping in and editing and cleaning it up helps a lot. Because this can be an overwhelming stage. It's kind of like the rough draft though. Before you start the rough draft it's incredibly intimidating, but the only way to do it is to just jump in and do it, and not try to be perfect. I think revisions are probably the same way. Best not to second guess yourself, just save all your drafts and keep working at it. I'm finding a chapter a day of edits is working well for me. (of course this isn't the only pass through.) Someone on one of the loops suggested keeping a list of problems to fix as I come to them and then marking them off as I fix them. (like plot holes, scenes that need to be moved, etc.)

Also I've started something new, that is working out so much better than I anticipated, which is...while I'm editing one novel, I'm writing the rough draft of another novel. It allows me to do more work this way and allows me to shift gears.

That's as far as I am in the steps. I'm assuming the revisions stage could go on through several passes, finally getting to a polish, and manuscript formatting etc. But yeah...that's my method at this point.

What's yours?

Reputation

I'm known as an opinionated person (Frankly I think all writers are. If we didn't have this intense need to express ourselves we wouldn't be writers.)

On a writer loop I frequent we've been discussing expressing yourself without sabotaging yourself. Online it's so easy now to connect with others in the publishing world. And what you say lives on with you forever. I think about this a lot. And I addressed it to some degree on the post where I talked about persona and whether or not I should kill off Zoe Winters.

I decided 'no' on that, btw. And the reason I did is because I'm not a runner. I don't run from people or situations. I sometimes get frustrated, I've occasionally made an ass of myself, but I don't run and hide. When you are part of a community, people get to know you. I've seen sides of people I once perceived as one thing, and now I see them as something totally different, something more human and worth knowing.

Before I started chatting online with other writers, in other online personas I had a reputation as being a bit on the bitchy side, but mostly snarky. I could make posts without thinking too much about it because people kiss and make up and that's that. Sometimes they don't, but in the grand scheme, it wasn't hurting me any. With writing, it's a whole different ballgame. From the very beginning as an unpublished baby in this industry I have to think about how I come across.

I've never been one for self censorship. I've always admired emotional honesty and wanted it to be something I display. However, you can't just let everything hang out all the time. There is a time and a place for everything.

What I once viewed as "sucking up" in other people, I'm now starting to view as "being professional." There is a public/professional you and a private you, and the more one can get a handle on that, the better.

If given a choice between "self expression" in online forums and "being published" I would pick number two. I would rather learn to curb my bitchy side in order not to burn bridges or turn off potential agents and editors. I'm not willing to do anything to stand in my own way.

It would be awful to not succeed based, not on the quality of my writing, but based on a reputation that I wasn't careful about. Very slowly I'm starting to try to get rid of old habits, and in the writing sphere follow an attitude of: "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

On some level it's not fair, because I'm not a prima donna. I'm not hard to work with. I accept constructive criticism for my writing and make changes where changes are necessary. I'm career minded, but at the end of the day, if I spouted my mouth off to someone on some forum somewhere, it might not matter.

I think everybody has bad days though. No one is perceived as perfect all the time. We are not Stepford people, cardboard cutouts of humanity with no souls... I think it's a cummulative effect. I think it's a karmic effect. A matter of sending out the type of treatment you want to come back to you in return.

I wanted to live in a world in which my words made an impression, being online, now I do. It's up to me to decide WHAT impression.

Training your brain not to quit:

This blogpost is inspired by today's post at Magical Musings The post was on how science is discovering that you can rewire your brain in a sense. Most purveyors of positive thinking techniques have known this for a long time. You CAN condition yourself to be an optimist. And you CAN train your brain not to quit.

You can also train your brain to have a positive attitude toward rejection, thereby making it possible for you to keep going through the "no's" until you get to "yes." The first thing to remember is: Rejection is inevitable. This is actually pretty encouraging. It means if you get 50 rejections it doesn't mean you suck. Author Kate Perry stated on a yahoo group recently that she received 70 rejections before she got an agent and 25 rejections after that before her first book sold (and the first book, was actually the third book written since obtaining an agent.)

This is encouraging. What if she had quit on query number 69? Or what if she gave up after the second book? We live in a fast food culture where we want it NOW! Well tough. Publishing doesn't work that way. And actually success in life in general doesn't work that way. This "now" mentality I believe is at least partly responsible for vast groups of people never accomplishing anything, because if it doesn't come fast and easy it must not be "meant to be." To be very blunt, that's crap, and you know it. Name for me ONE successful person in any area of life who begins his story like this: "So this one day I woke up, and on a dare decided to do this really successful thing, and voila, look at me now. It was just meant to be." No one? K, that's what I thought.

Onward...

The following are some positive ways you can deal with rejection when it comes...besides understanding that it's normal:

1. Send a thank you note. No, I'm not insane. Do you know how rare it is for someone to express actual gratitude that someone took the time to consider their work? This suggestion isn't something I just pulled out of my ass either, it comes from Carolyn See, author of "Making a Literary Life." It's a bit of psychic self-defense. Instead of being down, you take the rejection and you lob it back to it's target in the form of a genuine nicely written thank you note. Practice an attitude of gratitude.

2. Before you really get involved in anything else, send out another query. Seriously. One for one. One rejection, one new submission. It keeps things circulating and moving. This is a long enough process as it is to just wait to hear back from everyone before you start sending out more. Don't wait until your first 10 queries come back rejected to send out 10 more. Go one for one.

3. Do something nice for yourself. It's like behavioral conditioning, if you get something nice when you get a rejection, you keep submitting because hey, when you get the rejection instead of jumping off that cliff like you planned, you can buy new shoes. Isn't that so much nicer than the cliff idea? Of course you want the acceptance and you can REALLY celebrate then, but do something nice. Get a manicure, watch a funny movie, buy a new pair of shoes, whatever. Make a list of all the things big and small that you would like to get or do for yourself. Don't make them all monetary, since we don't all have endless pots of money. But make them all something nice. Rejection. Nice thing. Rejection. Nice thing.

4. Finally, be working on something else already. Rejection for one piece is much easier when you have already shifted your attention and psyche to the next project. Start the next project when you send out your first batch of queries (unless you're the type that works simultaneously. Like I'm editing one thing while writing the rough draft of another, by the time I start sending out my queries for this novel, I'll be editing the next one and starting the rough draft of a third one.)

I used many of these techniques when I was submitting short stories and articles. They work. They make you pro-active. They keep you moving. Start training your brain. Try these techniques for your next rejection letter. You're almost kind of looking forward to it now, huh? So, very very twisted. ;)

Self-Defeating behaviors, and revisiting the lottery.

I'm going to be very blunt. However my knowledge comes from observing other people, not direct experience (yet) in my own publishing saga. And so feel free to ignore me. My complete talking out of my ass in fact is a very safe space for you to be in right now, because you can think I'm idiotically naive and not be troubled further.

Here's the thing: Publishing is not a lottery. YES, some good books don't get published. And YES some bad books do... However, this REALLY is not like your name getting pulled out of a hat, or your raffle ticket drawn. There are things you can do to increase your odds exponentially. Studying the business intensely is one. Surrounding yourself with successful people is another. Reading and writing as much as you possibly can is another. (I mentioned in another blog entitled: "But mine is different..." that a short query and not too much set up in the first chapter of your novel will put you miles ahead of a lot of the competition.)

THE odds in general are not the same as YOUR personal odds. Don't make the mistake of confusing the two. Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking "delusions of grandeur" here. I'm saying, someone else's personal success or failure in no way has anything to do with you or what you can or cannot accomplish.

Whatever you can do to improve your craft, do it. If you fail, it might not be your fault. But it might be. Take responsibility for your own faults, whatever they might be. I am in no way, shape or form implying that any one individual person is wholly responsible for their failures, I'm saying, on the whole to grow, you must own up to whatever you have done that is self-defeating.

Over and over I've seen people who have "made it" have very similar attitudes. Maybe you believe they have those attitudes because they've succeeded, but I believe those attitudes are partially responsible for their success. I'm not just talking about writing, I'm talking ALL areas of life. Most people I've ever met who have ever succeeded in any area of life had a winning attitude to match. If you don't have the attitude, get it.

You have GOT to believe in yourself. Absolutely, above all else without reservation. There are many roads here. You don't have to take any given one, but get on a road and go somewhere. Don't bitch about "the industry" as if it's personally out to get you.

Figure out what you have to do to get where you want to go and start moving. Stop bitching. The world hasn't promised you anything. You aren't automatically entitled to anything. You have to make it happen. You have to know you ARE the magic.

Attitude and talk alone won't get you there. The power of positive thinking can't be what completely steers your ship. You have to have a plan and you have to work it. But please, for the love of God and all that is holy and unholy, don't allow yourself to fall into the traps of self-defeat. Just refuse to do it.

You might put all your hopes on one dream. You might try and strive and be good and have a great attitude and not make it. (If we are talking odds and you do ALL these things and don't just lie to yourself about it, those odds aren't nearly as great.) But so what? Your entire identity and self worth cannot rest on the success or failure of one dream. Even if you fail, you have to believe it's worth the attempt. If you don't believe that, then yes, your odds suck.

The hardest part is starting...or why Zoe had to be punished:

So, as cosmic punishment for being so flip about writer suffering the other day...I had a bad writing day. Well it didn't end up bad, but it was a struggle. It's because the hardest part sometimes is starting.

I love those days when I can just get out of bed, sit down, not check email, just dive into the story, write my words and go on. Those days are shining beacons of hope and wonder. They are epic. Usually I procrastinate a little first. I check my email, shower, eat something blah blah blah.

Yesterday I REALLY procrastinated. I spent several hours whining about how I didn't want to write. I DID want to write, I just didn't want to write it "wrong." Despite my preaching about the "crap draft" I too have sinned. (yeah, I know that wasn't a big revelation to you all.)

When I finally stopped fussing over the plot (which is important, granted) and sat down to write my words it took me about an hour to get 889 done. ALL that build up...ALL that fuss. I could have just sat down and written.

I realize I build up too much performance anxiety before hand by expecting to write something "great" or even "not craptastic" the first time out of the gate with any novel. No wonder alcohol is the classical writer's drug of choice. It lowers inhibitions so you can perform. It's like the viagra of writing. Since I don't intend to take up drinking, I have to deal with this another way.

Maybe that's the problem. "Performing." When we write with our eye on publication we tend to start thinking in terms of "what the market will bear" and while that's certainly a concern, possibly the ROUGH draft isn't the place to deal with it. There's this lovely and wonderful phase of writing called the rewrite. I should embrace it.

I'm revising one novel while starting the rough draft on the another. The last novel, the rough draft was easy. Why? Because I wasn't trying to write something "great." This one though is darker, has deeper themes, has the potential to be something psychologically gripping. It also has the potential to never be written.

I'm spending too much time worried about if this will be publishable. I feel like I need to write this particular novel to stretch myself and see what I can write. It isn't paranormal romance, my normal fare, it's just an idea I got. I feel like I need to write it to have the experience of writing it. That somehow it will enrich my writing in some measurable way over the long haul even if it never sees the light of day.

So...yeah. That's where I am right now, trying not to perform. Just sitting down, writing the words and not caring if they're shit. I can fix it in the rewrite. If I don't have that attitude, I won't GET to the rewrite.