"You Asked!" #9: The Ups and Downs of Publication
ravelda asked: How do you deal with the less glamorous side of publication (i.e., revisions, drafting, and waiting for news) and keep your morale up?
2K9 authors answered:
Megan Crewe: I find the best way to deal with all the less-fun parts of publishing is to always be doing what I consider the fun part (researching for, planning, and writing new stories!) at the same time. Having a fresh and exciting project on the go is a great way to distract from the waiting, and to keep your enthusiasm up during the hard work. :) I always have something I'm at least thinking about, if not actually writing, that gets some time every day, even when I have other writing/publishing tasks to attend to.
J.T. Dutton: I actually think I deal with less glamor better than more glamor only because the former requires optimism, but the latter for some reason, in me, breeds serious pessimism. I'm not saying I don't like sipping my champagne and eating my bon bons, I'm just saying that deep down I have this seriously Puritan side (my ancestry) and I don't want to be out there in the world flaunting success for fear that it will turn on me existentially.
So I pop the corks when I have nothing to celebrate, and burrow into work when something "big" is happening. But this is me--I think everyone has to figure out a formula that keeps them going.
Rosanne Parry: In my very limited experience with glamor, I found it much harder than any other aspect of writing. Random House held a Debut Authors Reception at the mid-winter ALA last January. It was a wonderful event and I was so honored to be included, but the truth is, it's hard work to go from one cluster of librarians to another to talk about your book. I'm not especially shy, but that was exhausting! Thank goodness for Tracy and Suzy and the rest of Team Random House who taught me what I needed to know and kept everything running smoothly.
As for the revising and drafting new work--bring it on! That's hard work too, but I love it, and nobody tries to take my picture while I'm doing it.
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: I think working on revisions and multiple drafts is actually easier than attending signings and being in the public, especially for me as a new author who doesn't have a line of fans reaching out the door like Ray Bradbury or Stepahnie Meyer. Nothing is better than hearing from a real live reader who is telling you how much they loved your book, though. It makes all that time we spend revising our stories worth it.
Joy Preble: I can answer this question pretty quickly: Class of 2k9 and other writer friends. End of story. Honestly, I too, get a bit angsty over too much self-promotion. I'm sure it's in my DNA somewhere - brag about yourself too much and you bring down the evil eye or whatever. Talking/working with people who are on this very same journey really really helps - both with keeping my morale up when things get rough and squashing my head back to normal head size if I get too full of myself. (okay that part hasn't happened too often yet, but if it does, I'm sure I've got 20 2k9ers ready with their mallets!)
Donna St. Cyr: I actually welcome the revisions and drafting. I enjoy the work and the tweaking - up to a point. The waiting for the news is not my strong suit. I’m rather impatient - so while I’m waiting I try to just forget about what’s brewing out there and work on something different. It’s the “glamorous” side of publication that I’m not that comfortable with. In spite of the fact that I’ve taught for twenty odd years and am used to making presentations in front of audiences, I am loathe to appear as “THE AUTHOR”. Yes, something must be genetically lacking in me, but I cringe at the thought of putting myself out there in this new capacity. I would never make it in sales.
Fran Cannon Slayton: Actually, I consider being on any side of publication to be a major gift. Waiting can be frustrating, but I've gotten really good at it in the last couple of years. You have to, or you go crazy. I just try to remember that waiting on something means that I'm in the game, I'm there, I'm doing it! It's exciting that a letter or an email or a phone call might come at any time. You don't get that kind of excitement without waiting. It's like a shot at winning the lottery everyday. My husband says I'm crazy: I know the odds, but I still believe I might win!
I try to be hopeful and grateful for whatever comes. I try to believe that things that are meant to be will happen in their own time and in their own way. It is my job to try hard and to follow my heart. The rest is out of my control and I just have to let it go.
I also try to find the good in every situation - and person - that I encounter. I don't always succeed, and when I don't I tend to go down in flames! But most of the time I can find it, if try. The more I practice finding it, the better I become.
S. Terrell French: Revisions are part of the central work of writing, and I find them very satisfying once I've sorted out what needs to be changed and how to do it. As for waiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Waiting begins the moment you send your manuscript to an agent and you gets lots of practice in waiting all the way through publication. If I'd known when I started how much waiting there would be, I would have tried to spend less time in that "most useless place" (to quote Dr. Seuss) -- The Waiting Place. Everything comes in time, and waiting time is really time to focus on other things, like work, or new writing, or family.
Ellen Jensen Abbott: Revision is my favorite part! I love tweaking, cutting to make a piece stronger, finding the right word, watching a character emerge more concretely. I would take revision over any other part of writing, and I would take any part of writing over glamour every day! I am NOT a shy person--until you ask me to be Madame Author. It is something I didn't expect to discover about myself in this process. I too have been a teacher for years and figured that standing up in front of folks would be a breeze. And it is. It's all the steps leading up to it that take the energy out of me: calling or stopping by bookstores to ask for signings, contacting journalists, e-mailing bloggers. I have to gear up--sometimes for days!--to leap into it. Yeesh!
Waiting is a whole different story. When I send something out, I start checking e-mail, voice mail and snail male almost immediately--even when I'm reasonably sure that my MS is still in the local post office! I act out the various scenarios: the call to say it's the best MS this editor ever read, the rubber-stamp rejection letter, the "positive rejection." And while I know I am supposed to pour myself into something else, I don't for a couple of weeks because my mind is too preoccupied with whatever I sent. Not a good habit, but I'm going for full disclosure here!
2K9 authors answered:
Megan Crewe: I find the best way to deal with all the less-fun parts of publishing is to always be doing what I consider the fun part (researching for, planning, and writing new stories!) at the same time. Having a fresh and exciting project on the go is a great way to distract from the waiting, and to keep your enthusiasm up during the hard work. :) I always have something I'm at least thinking about, if not actually writing, that gets some time every day, even when I have other writing/publishing tasks to attend to.
J.T. Dutton: I actually think I deal with less glamor better than more glamor only because the former requires optimism, but the latter for some reason, in me, breeds serious pessimism. I'm not saying I don't like sipping my champagne and eating my bon bons, I'm just saying that deep down I have this seriously Puritan side (my ancestry) and I don't want to be out there in the world flaunting success for fear that it will turn on me existentially.
So I pop the corks when I have nothing to celebrate, and burrow into work when something "big" is happening. But this is me--I think everyone has to figure out a formula that keeps them going.
Rosanne Parry: In my very limited experience with glamor, I found it much harder than any other aspect of writing. Random House held a Debut Authors Reception at the mid-winter ALA last January. It was a wonderful event and I was so honored to be included, but the truth is, it's hard work to go from one cluster of librarians to another to talk about your book. I'm not especially shy, but that was exhausting! Thank goodness for Tracy and Suzy and the rest of Team Random House who taught me what I needed to know and kept everything running smoothly.
As for the revising and drafting new work--bring it on! That's hard work too, but I love it, and nobody tries to take my picture while I'm doing it.
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: I think working on revisions and multiple drafts is actually easier than attending signings and being in the public, especially for me as a new author who doesn't have a line of fans reaching out the door like Ray Bradbury or Stepahnie Meyer. Nothing is better than hearing from a real live reader who is telling you how much they loved your book, though. It makes all that time we spend revising our stories worth it.
Joy Preble: I can answer this question pretty quickly: Class of 2k9 and other writer friends. End of story. Honestly, I too, get a bit angsty over too much self-promotion. I'm sure it's in my DNA somewhere - brag about yourself too much and you bring down the evil eye or whatever. Talking/working with people who are on this very same journey really really helps - both with keeping my morale up when things get rough and squashing my head back to normal head size if I get too full of myself. (okay that part hasn't happened too often yet, but if it does, I'm sure I've got 20 2k9ers ready with their mallets!)
Donna St. Cyr: I actually welcome the revisions and drafting. I enjoy the work and the tweaking - up to a point. The waiting for the news is not my strong suit. I’m rather impatient - so while I’m waiting I try to just forget about what’s brewing out there and work on something different. It’s the “glamorous” side of publication that I’m not that comfortable with. In spite of the fact that I’ve taught for twenty odd years and am used to making presentations in front of audiences, I am loathe to appear as “THE AUTHOR”. Yes, something must be genetically lacking in me, but I cringe at the thought of putting myself out there in this new capacity. I would never make it in sales.
Fran Cannon Slayton: Actually, I consider being on any side of publication to be a major gift. Waiting can be frustrating, but I've gotten really good at it in the last couple of years. You have to, or you go crazy. I just try to remember that waiting on something means that I'm in the game, I'm there, I'm doing it! It's exciting that a letter or an email or a phone call might come at any time. You don't get that kind of excitement without waiting. It's like a shot at winning the lottery everyday. My husband says I'm crazy: I know the odds, but I still believe I might win!
I try to be hopeful and grateful for whatever comes. I try to believe that things that are meant to be will happen in their own time and in their own way. It is my job to try hard and to follow my heart. The rest is out of my control and I just have to let it go.
I also try to find the good in every situation - and person - that I encounter. I don't always succeed, and when I don't I tend to go down in flames! But most of the time I can find it, if try. The more I practice finding it, the better I become.
S. Terrell French: Revisions are part of the central work of writing, and I find them very satisfying once I've sorted out what needs to be changed and how to do it. As for waiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Waiting begins the moment you send your manuscript to an agent and you gets lots of practice in waiting all the way through publication. If I'd known when I started how much waiting there would be, I would have tried to spend less time in that "most useless place" (to quote Dr. Seuss) -- The Waiting Place. Everything comes in time, and waiting time is really time to focus on other things, like work, or new writing, or family.
Ellen Jensen Abbott: Revision is my favorite part! I love tweaking, cutting to make a piece stronger, finding the right word, watching a character emerge more concretely. I would take revision over any other part of writing, and I would take any part of writing over glamour every day! I am NOT a shy person--until you ask me to be Madame Author. It is something I didn't expect to discover about myself in this process. I too have been a teacher for years and figured that standing up in front of folks would be a breeze. And it is. It's all the steps leading up to it that take the energy out of me: calling or stopping by bookstores to ask for signings, contacting journalists, e-mailing bloggers. I have to gear up--sometimes for days!--to leap into it. Yeesh!
Waiting is a whole different story. When I send something out, I start checking e-mail, voice mail and snail male almost immediately--even when I'm reasonably sure that my MS is still in the local post office! I act out the various scenarios: the call to say it's the best MS this editor ever read, the rubber-stamp rejection letter, the "positive rejection." And while I know I am supposed to pour myself into something else, I don't for a couple of weeks because my mind is too preoccupied with whatever I sent. Not a good habit, but I'm going for full disclosure here!