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Journal February 1, 2012 February is only a day old, and it's already been a productive month. Most notably, I figured out a shortcut that allowed me to complete the newest Clearwater Crossing e-book, Hope Happens, in record time. Amazon and BN.com broke all their past posting records too, which means that this book is already online!
Available at BarnesandNoble.com
I capped off that achievement by having some new tires put on my van. Granted, this is not in the same league excitement-wise, but the old ones were nine years old, so the type of excitement I was likely to receive from them was not of the happy variety. I've never had a tire blow out on me, but I have changed one on the side of a road using a dinner fork as one of my principal tools. Yeah. I'm leaving that stuff to MacGyver now. So what's next for me this February? This is the month I figure out how to put all the available Clearwater Crossing e-books into the iTunes store. Both the Nook and Kindle versions can be read on Macs, iPads, and iPhones, so I thought I had Apple covered, but you readers have let me know that it's not covered to your satisfaction, and I appreciate the feedback! iTunes, here I come! I'm not promising that February is the month this will actually happen, but it might—and I will definitely have a firm plan in place (and hopefully in action) before we get to March. In the meantime, Get a Life is already available on iTunes, and it's free! Here's the US link; readers in other countries can find the book by running a search within iTunes. I'll be checking in with additional February progress reports on my Facebook page and would love to have you join the conversation over there. Or, if you're the shy type, just pop by and see what we're up to. :-) Thanks for visiting! Laura January 3, 2012 Happy new year, everyone! I hope you had a great time welcoming in the new year and are making big plans for its future. The past few years have been tough for many, so here's looking forward to better things in 2012! I'm going to kick off this year's Journal by answering a question that I get asked quite a bit: How can I get my first book published? There is a ton of excellent free advice already available on this subject and I don't claim to be an expert. I'll give you my opinions, though, and point you to some pros. 1. Finish the book. Actually, at this point you'll be calling it a manuscript, and it ought to be completely finished before you approach anyone about publication. We've all heard stories of books sold off verbal pitches or short written descriptions. A lot of those stories are true. But I feel confident that when it comes to fiction very few of those authors had never been published before, in one form or another. If you're a celebrity, a journalist, a produced screenwriter, or if you've done something else involving telling stories professionally, you might be able to skimp on this step (up front, at least). For everybody else, finishing the book is good advice. Every new author starts out without a publishing track record; a completed manuscript is the best way of convincing agents and editors that you can deliver the goods. 2. Revise your manuscript, preferably more than once. Finishing a manuscript is hugely exciting. If you're like me, you knew what the cover ought to look like before you wrote the second chapter, you're tired of slogging away in obscurity, and you WANT TO SEE THINGS HAPPEN. Until you've revised your manuscript, though, you're not ready to send it out. Go over it once or twice as critically as you can. Then, if at all possible, put it away for a few weeks. I promise that when you come back you'll see lots of things that you missed before—sometimes those things are mistakes, and sometimes they're opportunities. Revise accordingly, then polish to the best of your ability. Consider showing your story to someone who you know will give honest feedback, such as a teacher or critique partner. Then, if you still think your manuscript's ready, it's finally time to submit! 3. "But it's going to be a series. . . ." Pitching a series is challenging when you haven't been published before. Your first book will need to stand on its own to interest most agents and editors. If Book 1 is a strong, satisfying read in its own right, then people will be excited to know you have sequel ideas. My advice is to concentrate on writing and polishing Book 1; then move on to step 4 below. Your new agent can tell you how best to pursue the series angle. 4. Look for an agent. You don't have to have an agent to get published, but it's likely to be a big help. Due to the volume of manuscripts received, many publishers don't want to look at unagented work (also known as slush). Moreover, submitting to multiple publishers involves some complicated etiquette that it's better not to get wrong and negotiating contracts properly takes so much time to learn (and keep up on) that most writers prefer to spend those hours writing. If you choose to hire an agent—and I'd recommend that—the good news is that you can stop worrying about how to approach publishers because all of those headaches will become your new agent's job. The less-good news is that landing a qualified agent is a job in itself. Here's where the pros come in. There are so many things to know about the process of querying and retaining an agent that whole blogs are devoted to it. Here are my two favorites, both written by respected literary agents and so full of valuable information that you should plan to spend a few days (or weeks) combing their archives. Do it while your manuscript is taking that time-out!
5. Pace yourself. Publishing is a marathon, not a sprint. Lots of people work at it for years before they finally succeed, and many published authors never succeed in placing the first book they write. Some of us end up grateful for that. :-) 6. Don't give up! See step 5 above. People say that the best thing you can do while your first manuscript is out on submission is to put it out of your mind and write your second manuscript. I would have to give myself a big Fail on putting things out of my mind, but writing that second manuscript? That's solid advice. Thanks for visiting! Laura
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