Working With Editors

Vicki won Saturday's drawing. I'll be emailing her to send her a PDF of one of my books.

Working with book editors can be satisfying or frustrating. Editors probably say the same thing about authors!

Here are some of the frustrations editors can create: 

An editor might like a submission well enough to ask for revisions, but doesn't offer a contract with the revision letter. Making the revisions does NOT guarantee a sale, however, as many authors have learned to their chagrin and sorrow.  Some authors have gone through two or three sets of revisions only to be told the project is not for that publisher.

What if your editor asks for changes you believe ruin your story or change your voice? Do you make the revisions, or withdraw the manuscript?  Some houses fine an author for withdrawing a manuscript after the editing has begun, so withdrawing a work can be potentially a costly decision. However, my friend withdrew her manuscript and found another publisher when she felt the first editor wanted changes which replaced her voice with the editor's voice.

I've already mentioned an instance when an editor I trusted gave me a terrible book cover. I should have had a hissy fit, but I naively went along. Sometimes a hissy fit is undervalued. LOL

In another author's work, the editor above changed a little boy to a raccoon because she felt the hero's friendship and nurturing to the child might be misunderstood as perversion. Well, yeah, we have to be careful of giving a false impression, but a raccoon? Why not just strengthen the hero?

Okay, but none of the above is very helpful, is it? Let's talk about good editors whom we know are doing a great job--like those I've encountered at The Wild Rose Press. Say your editor asks for a change with which you disagree, what do you do?  Do you pitch a fit? In spite of my joke above, a fit is never professional. An author has to weigh the change against others. Has the editor asked for a million nitpicky changes that make no sense? Is this a voice thing, or is the change recommended legitimate? Is it a regional thing with which the editor is unfamiliar?

Even if an author disagrees with the change, one must make compromises. As the saying goes, "Choose your battles." Don't quibble over minuteae. Remember, the editor is in charge. Is this a change that will embarrass you? Is it unimportant in the long run? Most editors want the best book possible, so their goal is the same as the author's. Why not work together to accomplish that goal?

I've been very fortunate at The Wild Rose Press. My editors have been Allison Brennan, Kelly Schaub, and Leanne Morgena. Each has been knowledgable, efficient, and gracious. I couldn't be happier unless I were actually making money. LOL But I'll come closer to making whatever is possible if my books are well written and don't include mistakes that cause readers to cringe.

Here's the summary.

Never forget that being an author is a business.
Don't wear your feelings on your sleeve.
Toughen up.
Always act in a professional, courteous manner.

An author owes it to his or her reputation to publish the very best book possible. If that involves massive edits, major compromise, or withdrawing a manuscript, being professional is a major necessity. Publishing is a small world. Act in an unprofessional, temperamental manner, and news travels like lightning.  Besides, what kind of reputation do you want--that of gracious and excellent author or the hard-to-get-along-with diva?

Have your editor experiences been pleasant or frightening?

Selling Your "Baby" and Making Choices

First, just for my info, what do you think of ads on blogs? No, I do not intend to place ads here! A friend is just setting up her own blog and we discussed them. I wondered how people feel about seeing ads when they visit a blog site. There are so many buttons of various types that I admit I don't pay much attention to ads one way or the other. How do you feel?

Now, on to selling your manuscript. We slave over a hot keyboard for months perfecting our latest work in progress. Finally, our critique partners say it's finished. In our hearts we know this is the best thing we've ever written. Then what?

If you already have an agent, you're fortunate. Your agent can tell you if the manuscript is marketable, if it needs tweaking, or if you need to spin it a little to meet current publisher demands. I've only had one agent, and she was so bad she almost killed my career. She's since been removed from RWA's list of approved agents. But I digress.

Say you do not have an agent, do you try for one or go it alone? If you opt to go on your own, several NY print publishers will let you query by email. A few even accept snail mail queries and manuscripts. With publishing costs increasing, however, the chance to break in with a major print house grows more and more slim. The lucrative contracts go to those writers with a proven fan base. Not without exception, of course. My friend Diana Crosby has managed to maintain good numbers at Zebra and her third book, HIS CONQUEST, will be released in November. 

A friend told me today, though, that Janet Evanovich wants fifty million (yep, that's right) for her next four Stephanie Plum books. I've no doubt her demand will be met because she has a huge fan base who will buy her books.

Those of us in the real world, though, have tough decisions to make. Do we wait for the perfect agent to send us to the perfect publisher or do we strike out on our own? I waited for a long time. In fact, I almost quit writing from discouragement.

Then a lovely group of women took me in and accepted me as one of their own. These are the women whose blog is http://slipintosomethingvictorian.wordpress.com/ Some of them talked about doing an anthology and most wanted it to be about the Civil War. I love nonfiction about the Civil War, but shy away from fiction in that era due to the nastiness of the slave issue. However, to be a good sport among my new friends, I agreed to participate. Then, some had to drop out due to other committments. In the end, six of us participated in the anthology, NORTHERN ROSES AND SOUTHERN BELLES. This experience introduced me to The Wild Rose Press. What lovely people with whom to work!

Okay, so here I found a press who (1) liked my work, (2) with whom I actually enjoyed working, and (3) who provided great covers. What more could I want, right? Only one important thing---The Wild Rose Press does not pay an advance. Sigh.  Oh, well, three out of four isn't bad.

The point here is that you have to make choices. Is it all about money, about satisfaction, about prestige, about having people read what you wrote?

When I began writing, I thought all I had to do was write a great story and the rest would take care of itself. Not so. I know many great writers who still have not been published.  I also thought the publisher took care of promotion. Wrong again, unless you're a major name.

Who takes care of my promotion? Me. My daughters help, my husband foots a lot of bills, but I plan my promotion and post on a gillion sites, write guest blogs, and appear wherever people will let me. Check http://kfwwriters.blogspot.com/ for my latest guest blog. Am I making money? Not much. Do I enjoy writing? You bet I do.

Does that make it all worthwhile? I believe so, especially if occasionally someone tells me how much they enjoy my books. To quote MasterCard's commercial, "Priceless!"

Don't forget to leave a comment for my weekly prize drawing. Please include your email in your comment. 

Authors and Book Covers

My friend Alice Duncan wrote recently on the Mayhem and Mystery blog about book covers, both good and bad, which brought back a lot of memories for me, both good and bad.


Readers might wonder how much authors have to do with their covers. For major publishers, the answer is little or nothing. We submit a sheet of details and then are at the mercy of the art department, budgets, and the gods of Fate and Whimsy. I beleive Fate and Whimsy are in charge a lot of the time.

Fortunately, at The Wild Rose Press, life is much saner. Covers for OUT OF THE BLUE and for THE TEXAN’S IRISH BRIDE were designed by Nicola Martinez. I asked for her—yes, we even get to request the artist at The Wild Rose Press!—because she did such a beautiful cover for an anthology in which I participated, NORTHERN ROSES AND SOUTHERN BELLES. I thought her design for the Civil War collection was impressive, and still do.

In my pre-The Wild Rose Press life, I’ve had good covers, mediocre covers, and really terrible covers. The worst was a white cover for my THE MOST UNSUITABLE HUSBAND. That cover was white with no indication of genre, subgenre, or subject. Needless to say, it did not sell well in spite of great reviews and award nominations. If stores don’t stock it, there are no sales; and chain buyers don’t order all white covers.

Wait, you might ask, don’t the marketing department and the art department know that? Yes, they most certainly do. Some guy in the marketing department was mad at me because I didn’t want to change my name. So, both the publisher and I lost out there. I’m sure the guy in marketing made out okay. The late Kate Duffy, senior editor at Kensington at the time, later apologized to me for my raw deal. Her words not mine, bless her heart. By then she knew she was dying, I suppose, and apologized to both Alice Duncan and me. Doesn’t put money in the bank, but it was nice of her.

On the cover of my first book, the heroine looks as if she’s bursting out of her blouse. I suppose that was supposed to make her look breathless with lust, but to me it looks as if she’s recently gained too much weight for her clothes. At least she and the hero have  sort of the right color hair--hers is supposed to be auburn. Many authors have complained that the characters on their book cover don’t even resemble their hero and heroine. What’s with that?

I’ve had both good and weird covers for foreign sales. One wonders what the translations say in the blurb. Maybe it’s best not to know.  At any rate, I’m very happy to say that the covers at The Wild Rose Press are my favorite. Hooray for Nicola Martinez!

Comment for a chance to enter my Saturday prize giveaway drawing. A follow counts as a second entry.

Have a nice weekend!

Evolving as a Writer, Evolving as a Reader

June and July are the Summer Reading Trail 2010. I hope you like to read--obviously you do or you wouldn't be here reading this blog. I'm also giving prizes throughout the Trail, so stick around. One comment is an entry and a follow is a second entry.

As long as I can remember I've loved books. My dad taught me to read when I was very young. I think he tired of reading the funnies and comic books. I bugged him to keep up with my favoites--Bugs Bunny, Superman, etc. Once I learned, I read whatever was handy. My mom was not a book enthusiast until later in life. She was unable to attend school for the entire year due to helping on her parents' farm, so she didn't do well in school. Besides, until she was middle aged, she thought too much reading was bad for the eyes. Then her sister insisted she read a book, and she was hooked. She rued having missed so many years of pleasure before then..

I used to haunt the library. Even after I was an adult, I made runs to the library on my lunch hour or on the way to the bus stop to load up on novels. I read on the bus all the way to and from work. I never tired of reading. I still don't! But now I buy most of my books. I reread favorites and pass the rest on to friends.

Once I began writing in earnest, I attended workshops and conferences. Not only did this change the way I write, but--here's what surprised me--it made a substantial change in the way I read. Now I noticed when authors broke the rules. How did they manage this and still continue securing contracts? Why couldn't I break the rules, too? Why were they published and I wasn't?

In the first place, well known authors have earned the right to break those rules. They've worked until they've built up a fan base whose readership guarantees their future sales. Secondly, perhaps a few of those same writers who are now successful would never be offered the first contract in today's tough publishing atmosphere. Isn't that thought a kick in the head? You know which authors I mean, I'm sure. Long, flowery descriptions to open the book. Anachronisms and faulty research in historical novels. Slow pacing. Paragraphs that last a page or more. Yawn.

Generally speaking, we are currently consumers with short attention spans. We want to get to the meat of the story fast. Short phrases interspersed to give us the weather and mood when necessary, but no long descriptions of the weather or the room. We want the hero and heroine to meet early in the book (or movie. How do you suppose Sleepless In Seattle sold as a screenplay? Wouldn't it be a shame if it hadn't?). Quick action, lots of dialogue, no long paragraphs without a break. No sentences that take three or four lines on the page.

My critique partner and friend Jeanmarie Hamilton and I often talk about writing trends. She writes historicals and erotica; I write sweet contemporaries, and sensual historicals and paranormals. Both of us write romance. We are constantly noticing new trends and puzzling over them and how to incorporate them into our writing. As the King of Siam said in The King and I, "It's a puzzlement."

This doesn't mean that I don't like older novels. I do! I love Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Marjorie Allingham, and others of the Golden Age. I can't read some of the older writers--those with heroines Too Stupid To Live. You know the ones I mean. The heroine is wearing a white nightgown and hears a noise. She takes her candle/lantern/flashlight to investigate, even though she knows there's a killer on the loose. Writers call her TSTL--Too Stupid To Live. My friend Sandy Crowley once wrote herself into a corner with her heroine facing killers in an alley. She said, "I just left her there for a day. I figured I'd created someone TSTL."

Since writing has evolved, writers' techniques must also evolve or they'll be left behind. I have to write fast so I'll have time to blog and comment on other blogs and go on Facebook and Tweet on Twitter and go to writer's meetings and speak to community groups. Good grief, no wonder I'm tired. That's why Hero brings me an occasional soda or tea, snack, or meal so I can hibernate in my nice, pink cave and keep writing my heart out and trying to please readers. What a guy!

The whole idea of this is that readers' tastes change, too. How has your taste in books changed in the last decade? Do you still read the same authors you read ten years ago?

Selling Your Manuscript

A friend called me tonight to ask about an offer she received for her manuscript. A so-called  "publisher" wants to publish her book. The catch is, she would have to preorder a hundred books at ten dollars each. Yes, that's a thousand dollar investment on her part before her book ever goes to press. She wanted my opinion. Guess what I told her? Don't even consider that an offer!

Writers often fall prey to the few pirhanas in the publishing industry. We want readers to read our work, want to hold a copy of our baby in our hands. It's hard to go the traditional publishing route where either you must have an agent and/or you wait months to hear whether your book is accepted for contract. In fact, I've had manuscripts get lost at publishers. One I submitted four years ago has never received a rejection. Fortunately for me, it will be released September 3rd from The Wild Rose Press--an author-friendly press who value their authors and treat them well.

The Internet makes it easy to set oneself up as a publisher. Many small presses have overestimated the ease of being a publisher and have gone belly up, leaving their authors dangling. The cardinal rule in publishing is this:

                          If they ask you to pay, run away!

And by run, I mean fast! No reputable publisher asks money from its authors. The publisher provides the covers, marketing, editing, everything. Never fall for the "Oh, but we have expenses" line. Are they a reputable business or not? If they are, they have procedures in place to take care of the author's manuscript from reading to release.

I have to share that I love working with The Wild Rose Press. The covers are great, the editors are knowledgeable and gracious, and the marketing is well managed. Plus, the owners are author-friendly and strive to make this house a family. I like that. I have enjoyed all the interaction I've experiences with the owners, editors, staff and other authors. Many friends who write for other small presses are also happy.

Whatever your choice, consider wisely before you sign a contract. The advance offered by major houses is lovely. Small presses can't match that aspect, but there are many reputable small presses. No matter what you choose, never, never, never pay out of pocket to have your manuscript published.