Wow, this summer has FLOWN by! F-L-O-W-N. I swear it was just barely the last day of school, and next week I'll be starting a new school year. Cray-zy.
Anyway, there have been things happening, as I'm sure there have been for you as well. I had some lofty summer goals for my writing, and I'm happy to report on them.
1. Write the sequel to my adult romance. Check. I drafted the book in June--the same month I got two offers from publishers on the first book. The same month I signed with a new literary agent for that adult romance. So yeah, maybe writing that sequel was done on a high.
2. Edit the inspirational romance I'd written earlier this year. Check. I actually bought several of Margie Lawson's writing packets, and used her Deep EDITS system. I can't recommend it enough. I worked with highlighters and pen on a hard copy of the book, putting in about 10 hours each day for a solid week. Double check. Then I entered all the handwritten changes into the computer for another week. Triple check. More news about this book below.
3. Write the sequel to the inspirational romance. Check. My goal was to write 5000 words each day for 12 days in July, before my big dance trip to Vegas and my family reunion. I ended up drafting the 50,000-word book in only 7 days. Yes, it has holes. Things that need to be fixed, And 10,000 more words. But it's drafted!
So naturally, after my vacations and whatnot, I made myself a list of writing goals for the fall--my busiest time of the year what with school starting and everything. My son's a senior this year too, which means scholarship apps and all that. (I love paperwork, so I'm super excited about this!)
And I decided to publish my inspirational romance under a pen name. I've never been a fan of pen names, but I have all my YA and New Adult stuff under Elana Johnson, and my adult contemporary romance as well. This is inspirational--religious. I decided it needed to be delineated.
So I'll be releasing the first book in the series, SECOND CHANCE RANCH, on September 8. (You can pre-order here.) The second book is in edits right now, and it'll be out on December 1. I'm writing this series under the name of Liz Isaacson, and you can follow happenings for it on twitter, Facebook, and my blog.
About SECOND CHANCE RANCH: After his deployment, injured and discharged Major Squire Ackerman returns to Three Rivers Ranch, anxious to prove himself capable of running the cattle operation so his parents can retire. Things would be easier if the ranch wasn’t missing 1.6 million dollars, which forces Squire to hire Kelly, the girl who rejected his high school prom invitation, as his accountant.
She’s back in town with her four-year-old son, living in her parent’s basement until she can get her life back together. With fresh ink on her divorce papers and open gashes on her heart, she’s not ready for much beyond her new job on the ranch.
Squire wants to forgive Kelly for ignoring him a decade ago. He’d like to provide the stable life she needs, but with old wounds opening and a ranch on the brink of financial collapse, it will take patience and faith to make their second chance possible.
I'm toying with publishing my YA fantasy, but I also got an offer on one of my YA sci-fi novels from a publisher, and I'm thinking they might be interested in it. So I might wait on that. Either way, it's been an eventful summer!!
How has your summer been??
Okay, I feel like Anne Burrell or something. You know her show on Food Network, Secrets of a Restaurant Chef? Or maybe I'm the only one who watches copious amounts of Food Network and HGTV...
Ahem.
So I recently self-published a book. It was a very interesting experience for me, already having gone through the traditional publishing process for numerous works. There are a plethora of differences between the two processes, and there are a multitude of similarities too.
I think the biggest difference is the speed. Traditional publishing seems to take a long time, but the author has to handle very few of the details. You don't have to make (or contract for) a cover; you don't have to pay for editing (in fact, you get paid to do the editing!); you don't have to choose a release date; you don't have to worry about formatting the ebooks, or figuring out how to put them up on the retail sites. You basically get to write and edit -- and the business stuff is left to the publisher.
This can be both good and bad. I, personally, had a pretty good experience. I know others who have had a less fun experience.
I also have had a good experience learning all of the above things about self-publishing. It is a steep learning curve, don't get me wrong, but I enjoy learning the technical aspects of formatting, and I already know quite a bit of HTML.
I think the secret to self-publishing is understanding that it's not easier, it's not better, it's not worse, and it's not exclusive.
Let me explain:
Self-publishing is not easy: It takes a lot of work to get a book into publishable state. Anyone who's ever written a book knows this. Self-publishers should spend as much time editing and proofreading their books as they do writing them. Things happen in formatting that might mess things up.
For example, I am terrible at design. I can't decorate my house. I don't see balance or white space, or understand composition in visual art. Any cover I make is sure to be a disaster. I understand and admit this weakness -- and I think sometimes self-publishers refuse to admit any weaknesses.
So I hired a professional to create my cover.
I personally believe that authors grow and improve through professional editing. I have worked with 3 different professional editors through Simon & Schuster, and I have worked with 2 editorial, professional agents. I worked with a new editor for ELEVATED. I have learned something new from every single professional agent or editor I've worked with.
Secret: If you're a self-publisher and you skip the "professional editing" stage, you're making a huge mistake.
And editing isn't the only thing you should do. After you do a content edit (or 2 or 3!), you need a copy editor. And after that, you need a proofreader. You cannot be the copy editor or proofreader. It is my opinion that you must hire these things out, or at least ask beta readers to do them for you.
This is the process of traditional publishing, and self-publishers should embrace the same level of quality in their work.
For ELEVATED, I hired a professional copyeditor, and I farmed out proofreading to betas. There were still mistakes, even after multiple readers. (I will never name a character Honesty again! Different story for a different day.)
Self-publishing is not better or worse than other methods of publishing: I know there's still a stigma out there about it, and I wish it would go away. I have read a lot of books in my life, self-published, small press published, and "Big 5" published. Some of them I absolutely loved. Some I couldn't finish. Some I finished, but I didn't like. Some of the most popular books out there I did not like, because reading is so subjective.
I recently listened to an editor speak, and she said that she doesn't want to read the "self-publishing slush pile" and that traditional publishing allows readers to be able to avoid that slush pile too.
I think she's totally wrong. ALL books go into a reader's slush pile. Most readers don't understand the difference between big or small publishers, or the many imprints at those publishers, or Indie publishers.
They see a book with a cover and back cover copy. ALL books should strive to have the best cover possible, and the most professional cover copy possible. If a book looks good, fits a genre a reader likes, and sounds interesting, a reader doesn't care where it's coming from.
Secret: ALL books are in one giant slush pile, hoping to be noticed above the one sitting on the shelf next to it. At least for readers.
So it's my opinion that self-publishing isn't better or worse than any other form of publishing. For me, I used self-publishing as a way to continue to further my craft, as well as achieve a sense of forward momentum in my career -- a drawback of the traditional market (again, in my opinion).
Self-publishing is not exclusive: Anyone can do it! The real question is whether you're ready or not. I'm of the opinion that everything that a traditional publisher does, a self-publisher should endeavor to replicate. That means hiring professionals to do things by being honest with yourself about your skill set.
After that, I think we should focus on buying, reading, and talking about books we think we'll like, both as authors and readers. Publishing is not as exclusive as it used to be, and I actually think that is a very good thing.
Secret: There are tools for readers to use to gauge whether they'll like a book or not, and the publisher is only one very small piece of that.
What do you think? Am I way off-base? Or somewhat rational?
Okay, so I've been listening to a lot of WICKED in the car recently. You know how you turn it up really loud and scream-sing along with, pretending you're even half as good as Kristin Chenoweth? Yeah, maybe that's just me.
But anyway, my favorite song of the show is "Defying Gravity." It just seems to fit a lot of what I've been feeling, thinking, and going through lately.
So Glinda has told Elphaba that she "can still be with the Wizard. What you've worked and waited for." (Tell me that doesn't apply to publishing!)
And Elphaba says:
"I know:
But I don't want it -
No - I can't want it
Anymore.
Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm through with playing by the rules
Of someone else's game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes and leap!
It's time to try
Defying gravity
I think I'll try
Defying gravity
And you can't pull me down!"
I love that. You can't pull me down!
Then Glinda says:
"Can't I make you understand?
You're having delusions of grandeur."
(Also, publishing. Who among us doesn't have delusions of grandeur? I'm totally guilty as charged.)
To which Elphaba replies:
"I'm through accepting limits
'cause someone says they're so
Some things I cannot change
But till I try, I'll never know!
Too long I've been afraid of
Losing love I guess I've lost
Well, if that's love
It comes at much too high a cost!
I'd sooner buy
Defying gravity
Kiss me goodbye
I'm defying gravity
And you can't pull me down."
See? See how this applies to publishing? "I'm through accepting limits, 'cause someone says they're so." I absolutely love that line. And there are things in publishing that we don't understand until we try them. And things we're afraid of, and things we miss out on because of those fears.
Then Elphaba and Glinda have their little goodbye, and Elphaba sings:
"So if you care to find me
Look to the western sky!
As someone told me lately:
"Everyone deserves the chance to fly!"
And if I'm flying solo
At least I'm flying free
To those who'd ground me
Take a message back from me
Tell them how I am
Defying gravity
I'm flying high
Defying gravity
And soon I'll match them in reknown
And nobody in all of Oz
No Wizard that there is or was
Is ever gonna bring me down!"
Again, love. Because everybody DOES deserve the chance to fly, even if it's solo.
So today, I am getting on my broom and hoping it'll fly. I'm letting you know that I will be self-publishing a novel of mine on February 18, 2014. It's called ELEVATED, and it's about a girl who gets stuck in an industrial-sized elevator with her ex-boyfriend. It's a YA contemporary novel-in-verse.
That's right. Poetry. Every word.
And my good friend, Erin Summerill is making the cover with some exclusive photography she shot--and she is brilliant!
And in case you haven't heard of WICKED or Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel, you really should watch it.
Don't you think everyone deserves a chance to fly?
