Since September last year I’ve repeatedly told you that my novel will be published in September this year. “Why does it take a year?” people ask. I thought you might like to know what happens in between signing the contract and the glorious day when the book is born. I’ll tell you the highlights so far. The funny thing is, it’s almost all highlights.
My first joy was joining the Authors Guild. Since nobody agrees on the difference between ‘writer’ and ‘author,’ I’ve got my own: an author is a published writer. My late sister Luli Gray was a member of the Guild, and I would read her monthly newsletters and long for the day when I could join. Until a couple of years ago, only published authors or those with a book contract were eligible. For thirty years or so I’ve been on the outside looking in, nose pressed to the glass, admiring them.
So as soon as I received the proposed contract I joined the Guild, and the first thing I did was ask for their free legal advice. I was astonished by the speed and thoroughness of their legal team. They explained the effect of all the provisions and proposed several changes. For $135 annual membership fee I received what I estimate was about ten hours of expert legal advice.
But wait…there’s more! The Authors Guild has an online members forum, and it was there I began to connect with other authors. I received helpful advice about publicity and working with book clubs. Beyond that, I felt I had found the people who understand what it means to be a writer, who are dealing with the same thrills and disappointments as I.
Of course, there's a fair amount of whining, and an occasional thread filled with severely beaten dead horses. (Writers in the procrastination phase of task achievement like to get caught up in online debates.) But I began to make friends and exchange emails with a few who seemed to share my interests. I’ve bought books by three of them, and reviewed two.
The Authors Guild Community Forum
The long years of trying in vain to be published were often discouraging, but there can be advantages in waiting so long. First, there’s the absolute bliss when the time finally comes. Next, as an old woman, I’ve accumulated a lot of fuel for my imagination. And I admit it: I think I’m wiser than young-uns. (I’m sure they believe they’re wiser than I).
I'm wiser but they're cuter
Finally, because I spent most of my adult life earning a good living and a good retirement account, I don’t have to worry about making money. Writing, always a life of penury for most, is becoming even less profitable. According to research by the Codex Group for the Authors Guild., authors' median incomes have dropped 42% since 2009.
Along with that, it’s harder and harder to get one’s book noticed. The internet, streaming media, and goddamsmartphones occupy many minds, while the growth of self-publishing floods the market with books. So authors who can afford it hire publicists, and I can afford it. I gave myself a generous budget to do everything I can to promote this book.
I followed recommendations from writer-friends and people I met on the Author s Guild, and interviewed five publicists. The process was painful for me – I felt everything was riding on the decision, and it cost so much! But finally I settled on a firm that Authors Guild friends had praised in detail, and that firm in turn recommended a website developer.
Now I had a team of three: publisher/editor, publicist, and website designer. To my non-surprise, it was all women. I’ve fallen in love with them all in the course of long phone calls and many emails.
Joan Leggitt at Twisted Road Publications – I knew I had found the editor of my dreams long before she decided to publish my book. When I first submitted it, she told me that magic is fine, but it has to be an integral part of the book. I rewrote the whole thing. My sardonic coffee shop owner became a powerful mystic and visionary; I added more magic and related it to my main characters. I submitted the book again, this time successfully. Then, as we worked together, she suggested one more major change, in the relationship between the twin sisters. I was dubious, but said I’d give it a try. Now I saw that the twins had been cartoon characters. With the revisions, they came to life. I was, and am, awed by Joan’s gifted eye.
Three more edits followed, by Joan and two others, calling for clarifications or pointing out inconsistencies. I had to master the review function in Word, tracking, rejecting, accepting changes. The work was extremely tedious, and brought me to curses and tears, but I was impressed by the editors’ ability to spot tiny important problems. (The last editor presumed to tell me what my characters were thinking and were likely to do, and sometimes wrote new material. I did NOT appreciate that, but she did point out the mysterious disappearance of a biscuit.)
one of many comments
Writing is such a solitary pursuit; like God, we make something from nothing, and we do it alone. Now I had a publisher, who cared about my book as much as I did, and thought about it in the middle of the night.
I had to write a brief bio, dedication, and acknowledgments. The acknowledgments are complicated – I keep acquiring more people to thank – but the dedication was easy – thirty years ago when I finished what I thought was the final draft, I wrote my dedication. I would think of it wistfully from time to time. Now I can’t wait for the day when my dedicatee opens the book and sees that page.
At the same time that I worked on edits, I was responding to requests from Monkey C. Media. I had to think about new things, and answer long questionnaires. Appearance: How about these colors – what about this font? Strategy: What benefit will readers get from it? What action do you want them to take? Write 15 questions and answers for the press kit. Write the About page. We need professional photographs.
More fun, and another woman who is becoming a friend. Adrienne Fletcher, a graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design, met with me for over an hour at her studio – she wanted to get to know me – and then shot what seemed like hundreds of photos in my backyard about a week later, at the hour of golden light.
Blurbs. Gotta have blurbs. Those are the little quotes from other authors that you see on the back of books: ‘compelling, intelligent and sensitive’ ‘makes Jane Austen look like a piker’ ‘the greatest creative genius since God rested.’
The Creation image: catholic.org
Authors HATE writing blurbs, or that’s what I’ve heard from more than one. I know very few authors – I had two blurbs promised, but I needed more. That’s why I decided to start reviewing books. I would only review books I was enthusiastic about – there’s not much point in saying “Here’s a book you’ve never heard of and it’s not worth reading.” I didn’t see it as a trade-off (say nice things about me, and I’ll do the same for you) – but as a way to connect with authors. It would be hard to write to a total stranger and ask for a big favor.
This enterprise has only been slightly successful. I received very gracious refusals from several of my hoped-for blurbers, citing deadlines, illness, family troubles. One announced on Facebook shortly before I wrote her that she was no longer doing any blurbs. However, to my delight, I’ve discovered that I love writing reviews. I read more attentively, and I learn a lot by thinking about how other authors do what they do. I’ve decided to start a second blog – Big Books from Small Presses . Like this one, it will link to my website.
I confess I’m a bit worried about the amount of work I’m committing to. I’m working hard 4 or 5 hours in the morning, and often a couple of hours at night. My work with the publicist is about to begin; one of their key responsibilities is assigning me tasks. I didn’t realize when my author life FINALLY began that I was embarking on a full time job. And in this gestation time I’ve only had two days when I could turn to my fourth novel. But when I did, the ideas flowed and the words tumbled out. Now that my book is being published there seems to be a point to it all.
My retirement is over. In the kitchen, in the shower, on a walk, writing ideas or writing business keep popping up. On my magic whiteboard is a long list of things to do. It’s magic because it’s a gift from a Wise Woman – she’s so wise that I simply have to make it upper-case – and I feel her presence in my office as I work on the bed, snuggled by Moe and a blanket, with the whiteboard beside me. I have never been so happy.
image: A. Jennings (the rubber chicken belonged to my late sister, Luli)