1. How long did it take you to publish, ‘Kiss and Kin?’
About six months, from mid-2008 to the beginning of 2009. I wrote it specifically in response to an open submissions call from Samhain Publishing, for their Sexy Shifters anthology.
I had been working on Yours, Mine and Howls, which became my second book, for about two months when I read the submission call. I was having trouble figuring out who my main characters were, and I thought since I’d already started building this world, why not use it? After a couple of false starts, Kiss and Kin sort of fell out of my head. (I wish another one would do that.)
After I’d submitted Kiss and Kin I found it easier to figure out Cade and Ally’s back stories and I figured out how to link them to the Houston Pack.
2. If you could choose one thing about the whole work involved from writing your first book, to its publication, what would you say was the hardest thing to achieve?
Writing the damn book. That is ALWAYS the hardest part for me – besides figuring out what’s going to happen next (I hate plotting). I have a very, very, very hard time making myself sit down and just. Get. The. Words. On. Paper. I have ADD, which I’m sure accounts for some of it. Sometimes I have to pull out a pen and notebook because it’s easier to get the thoughts out in handwriting. I honestly don’t know what the problem is. I will have dialogue and entire scenes in my head but when I put my hands on the keyboard....nothing.
3. Of all the books you have written, which book did you enjoy writing the most?
I think Yours, Mine and Howls, because the other two are novellas—they had to be because they were both written for anthology calls. But I don’t think novellas are my natural habitat—I’m too wordy and my stories are too...leisurely, maybe? YMAH is a little shy of 100,000 words and that felt just about right. The book I’m working on right now probably won’t be quite that long, but it’ll definitely be over 60,000 words.
4. How long did it take you to get your first successful book published?
Like I said, around 9 months. Hey-my second baby!
5. If you could give one piece of advice to a new writer, what would it be?
Set yourself a weekly word count goal and stick to it. If you leave the writing to when you feel like it, or get around to it, you’ll most likely not get around to it enough. You have to write regularly, which means you have to make yourself write when you don’t want to and even when you don’t know what to write.
As the great Nora Roberts says, “Butt in the chair, hands on the keyboard.” Also, “You can’t revise a blank page, but you can revise crap.”
6. Many writers are warned about the dreaded ‘rejection letter,’ but speaking from your own experience, what is your take on the rejection letter?
I’ve never had a rejection letter—remember, I’ve only published three books so far, all for Samhain. The first one was submitted for an open submissions call, which means it didn’t go to the slush pile. That’s what normally happens when an unknown author submits a book.
7. What would you say is the first steps of publishing?
Oh wow – it’s so different today, and changing all the time. I’m glad I got into it when I did, right when e-publishing was gaining popular attention and legitimacy.
If you want to be published by one of the New York biggies, I’d say the first step is getting an agent; very few traditional publishers accept unagented manuscripts and for those who do, such manuscripts go straight to the slush pile. It’s not impossible to get discovered that way but it’s rare.
If you go with an e-pub house, you don’t need an agent. You’ll probably get an answer much faster; if they buy your book, you’ll be published a LOT sooner than in print and you’ll start making money almost immediately, rather than in a year or eighteen months.
E-publishers don’t pay advances, as traditional houses do, but I don’t think that makes a difference any more.
8. If a new and upcoming writer was trying to publish their own novel, how would you recommend they go about it?
First, foremost, most importantly – if you’re going to self publish you MUST hire an editor. A professional, experienced editor. YOU HAVE TO DO THIS.
In my opinion—and this is only my opinion—you probably shouldn’t self-publish until you’ve been professionally published at least once. The reason? Editing. You don’t know how important an editor is until one has ripped up your book and made you stitch it back together. No matter how much you love that book, it needs improvement. And an editor will know better than you what it needs.
9. We all love writing our own characters, giving them personalities, histories and lives, but if you had to choose two characters from your own books, which two would you say are your favourites?
Nick and TJ. I love them to death and I’m terrified of writing their story because I’m afraid I’ll screw it up. (Yes, I do have the beginning of an outline.)
10. The publishing industry is beginning to get increasingly difficult, with less and less books being published each year, and this year is no exception. Book deals and publications are at an all-time low.
Many writers are turning to Amazon, Smashwords, Nook, etc. and self-publishing their books.
But this choice isn’t for everyone.
What would you say to young, unpublished writers out there who are debating about which route to take?
And had you been starting out all over again, would you still take the same route?
Like I said – and this is only my opinion and I don’t mean to offend – I don’t think self-publishing is the ideal way to get your first book out there. I think the experience of being professionally edited is extremely important. Going through a publisher is certainly cheaper – if you’re thinking that you can self-publish for no money, you’re going about it the totally wrong way. You must pay an editor and you must pay a cover artist, and you should, optimally, pay a copy editor/proofreader, although that last one is easier to do yourself or with a volunteer depending on your grammar proficiency. But it’s NOT just a matter of banging out a story and releasing it into the wild. So I’d say try going through a publisher first—e publishing is not necessarily easier to break into but once accept your path to publishing is much shorter. And you start receiving royalties as soon as your book is out there.
Of course, if you try for a long time to get a publishing contract and it’s not working, I understand why you’d want to go the DIY route and I’m glad that we have that option today.
Lastly, I’d like to point out a post on self-publishing on Chuck Wendig’s blog – a lot of great observation and thoughtful comments. (Note: language warning.) If you’re going to self-publish you need to be aware of how many readers are mistrustful of the quality of indie books.
About six months, from mid-2008 to the beginning of 2009. I wrote it specifically in response to an open submissions call from Samhain Publishing, for their Sexy Shifters anthology.
I had been working on Yours, Mine and Howls, which became my second book, for about two months when I read the submission call. I was having trouble figuring out who my main characters were, and I thought since I’d already started building this world, why not use it? After a couple of false starts, Kiss and Kin sort of fell out of my head. (I wish another one would do that.)
After I’d submitted Kiss and Kin I found it easier to figure out Cade and Ally’s back stories and I figured out how to link them to the Houston Pack.
2. If you could choose one thing about the whole work involved from writing your first book, to its publication, what would you say was the hardest thing to achieve?
Writing the damn book. That is ALWAYS the hardest part for me – besides figuring out what’s going to happen next (I hate plotting). I have a very, very, very hard time making myself sit down and just. Get. The. Words. On. Paper. I have ADD, which I’m sure accounts for some of it. Sometimes I have to pull out a pen and notebook because it’s easier to get the thoughts out in handwriting. I honestly don’t know what the problem is. I will have dialogue and entire scenes in my head but when I put my hands on the keyboard....nothing.
3. Of all the books you have written, which book did you enjoy writing the most?
I think Yours, Mine and Howls, because the other two are novellas—they had to be because they were both written for anthology calls. But I don’t think novellas are my natural habitat—I’m too wordy and my stories are too...leisurely, maybe? YMAH is a little shy of 100,000 words and that felt just about right. The book I’m working on right now probably won’t be quite that long, but it’ll definitely be over 60,000 words.
4. How long did it take you to get your first successful book published?
Like I said, around 9 months. Hey-my second baby!
5. If you could give one piece of advice to a new writer, what would it be?
Set yourself a weekly word count goal and stick to it. If you leave the writing to when you feel like it, or get around to it, you’ll most likely not get around to it enough. You have to write regularly, which means you have to make yourself write when you don’t want to and even when you don’t know what to write.
As the great Nora Roberts says, “Butt in the chair, hands on the keyboard.” Also, “You can’t revise a blank page, but you can revise crap.”
6. Many writers are warned about the dreaded ‘rejection letter,’ but speaking from your own experience, what is your take on the rejection letter?
I’ve never had a rejection letter—remember, I’ve only published three books so far, all for Samhain. The first one was submitted for an open submissions call, which means it didn’t go to the slush pile. That’s what normally happens when an unknown author submits a book.
7. What would you say is the first steps of publishing?
Oh wow – it’s so different today, and changing all the time. I’m glad I got into it when I did, right when e-publishing was gaining popular attention and legitimacy.
If you want to be published by one of the New York biggies, I’d say the first step is getting an agent; very few traditional publishers accept unagented manuscripts and for those who do, such manuscripts go straight to the slush pile. It’s not impossible to get discovered that way but it’s rare.
If you go with an e-pub house, you don’t need an agent. You’ll probably get an answer much faster; if they buy your book, you’ll be published a LOT sooner than in print and you’ll start making money almost immediately, rather than in a year or eighteen months.
E-publishers don’t pay advances, as traditional houses do, but I don’t think that makes a difference any more.
8. If a new and upcoming writer was trying to publish their own novel, how would you recommend they go about it?
First, foremost, most importantly – if you’re going to self publish you MUST hire an editor. A professional, experienced editor. YOU HAVE TO DO THIS.
In my opinion—and this is only my opinion—you probably shouldn’t self-publish until you’ve been professionally published at least once. The reason? Editing. You don’t know how important an editor is until one has ripped up your book and made you stitch it back together. No matter how much you love that book, it needs improvement. And an editor will know better than you what it needs.
9. We all love writing our own characters, giving them personalities, histories and lives, but if you had to choose two characters from your own books, which two would you say are your favourites?
Nick and TJ. I love them to death and I’m terrified of writing their story because I’m afraid I’ll screw it up. (Yes, I do have the beginning of an outline.)
10. The publishing industry is beginning to get increasingly difficult, with less and less books being published each year, and this year is no exception. Book deals and publications are at an all-time low.
Many writers are turning to Amazon, Smashwords, Nook, etc. and self-publishing their books.
But this choice isn’t for everyone.
What would you say to young, unpublished writers out there who are debating about which route to take?
And had you been starting out all over again, would you still take the same route?
Like I said – and this is only my opinion and I don’t mean to offend – I don’t think self-publishing is the ideal way to get your first book out there. I think the experience of being professionally edited is extremely important. Going through a publisher is certainly cheaper – if you’re thinking that you can self-publish for no money, you’re going about it the totally wrong way. You must pay an editor and you must pay a cover artist, and you should, optimally, pay a copy editor/proofreader, although that last one is easier to do yourself or with a volunteer depending on your grammar proficiency. But it’s NOT just a matter of banging out a story and releasing it into the wild. So I’d say try going through a publisher first—e publishing is not necessarily easier to break into but once accept your path to publishing is much shorter. And you start receiving royalties as soon as your book is out there.
Of course, if you try for a long time to get a publishing contract and it’s not working, I understand why you’d want to go the DIY route and I’m glad that we have that option today.
Lastly, I’d like to point out a post on self-publishing on Chuck Wendig’s blog – a lot of great observation and thoughtful comments. (Note: language warning.) If you’re going to self-publish you need to be aware of how many readers are mistrustful of the quality of indie books.