Loose Change

I’ve been following a thread on the Romance Writers of America loop that’s part of an ongoing discussion regarding the recognition of epublishers and small presses by this organization that represents thousands of romance writers and published authors. They just don’t seem to get it—the fact that the only real differences between the NY publishers and the epublishers have to do with the way they make payment. Where NY gives out a nice advance that the author must then earn back before seeing royalties, the smaller presses instead pay royalties monthly, with those payments often starting within a month of a book’s publication. Other than that, both companies offer stories, written by authors for the enjoyment of readers, no matter what the format. Whether it’s digital, print on demand, a small print run or a first run of a hundred thousand hardcover copies, it’s still a book.

An author of ebooks is an author, just as someone writing for one of the big NY pubs is an author. A publisher of ebooks is a publisher, whether they do POD, ebooks, short print runs or all of the above. The one place where they differ is in payment to their authors. I STILL get a quarterly check from Hard Shell Word Factory for books written prior to 2000, I still get a monthly royalty check from Ellora’s Cave for books written prior to 2002, and I am paid monthly by Changeling Press for novellas written prior to 2006. I did not get an advance from any one of those publishers, yet the royalty checks are a nice part of my income and one I’ve learned to count on. Did the lack of an advance stymie my career? Not one bit—in most cases, the royalty checks from my epubs arrived faster than my advance checks do from my NY pub. Yes, I do make a lot more money from my NY publisher, but I certainly don’t hold any of the smaller presses in less regard because of the format or distribution of their books.

I got my start in this business writing for epubs long before most people even knew what an ebook was, and I’ve turned my writing into an extremely successful career with what I learned from small presses. I would venture to say that the opportunities for publication and for earning a decent living as a writer are better within the community of small publishers than they are with the larger NY companies. The fact that they are treated as somehow less important to writers’ careers is demeaning to both the authors who choose that path and the owners of the companies doing their best to stay afloat in this competitive business.
I hear from writers all the time, asking me for advice in this business, which is a hell of a lot more competitive and cutthroat than I ever imagined. However, I’m reminded that it’s also filled with some of the most generous and sharing professionals around, and since I didn’t get where I am on my own, I intend to do my best to pay it forward whenever I can.

So, if you’re interested, here are a few words of advice from an old broad. First of all, don’t give up. If you’re miserable when you’re not writing, it’s because you ARE a writer. It’s somehow hardwired into your genetic structure and you can’t quit, so don’t fight it. But, keep improving—study the craft of writing. Get honest critiques of your work from other writers and pay attention—learn what your weak points are and strengthen them. Never stop writing, and never stop making it better.
Read. Read in the genre you’d like to write and read everything else as well. You might discover there’s something else that suits your particular style better than what you think you should be writing. I wrote contemporary romances for years that didn’t go anywhere. When I discovered erotic paranormal, I felt like I’d discovered gold and I truly had my Eureka moment. This is what I’m good at. I like writing it, and it shows. My readers can tell I love my work, and I make them love it too. I couldn’t do that if I didn’t honestly enjoy what I write.
Consider writing for an epublisher. What I love about working for a small press is the amazing sense of family most publishers have. You’ll get support from fellow authors, excellent editing and a chance to hone your craft among truly talented writers and support staff—when I finally made the move to my NY publisher, I’d been trained by some of the best editors and publishers around—the work you do with an epub will involve you in the process to the point where you truly own your work. You will know your writing inside and out, something that doesn’t always happen in a larger publishing house.

I’ve told my story a lot of times, how it took me twenty years from my first rejection in NY to the contracts I’m now filling, one book at a time. If I’d listened to my friends (and my mother) I would have quit years ago and saved myself the misery of so many years of rejection. Thank goodness I didn’t, because I would be missing out on an absolutely amazing career and a job that makes me smile every time I sit at my computer to write. Don’t let someone else make up your mind. If you write, you really don’t have a choice, whether you choose to do it for pleasure or for money. Never let go of the process, the pure joy of putting words on paper, and from one who knows first hand, never, ever let go of your dreams.

Kate Douglas
www.katedouglas.com


Kate Douglas (besides being a long-time critique partner for Margaret and I) is the lead author for Kensington's erotic romance line, Aphrodisia. Her WOLF TALES series pushes all the boundaries and her books continue to go into extra print runs as more readers discover that, at least once in awhile, those boundaries need to be pushed. She also has titles with Ellora's Cave, Changeling Press and Hard Shell Word Factory.

Thanks for guest blogging today!

This is mostly for those of you who are pantsers (well, and maybe for plotters, who must just hit this problem a little sooner when they outline.)  For years I was the Queen of the Three Chapters.  Three really good chapters and then nothing. 

I realized that I was getting this problem again when I hit 8000 words on two recent stories and stopped dead. Not once, but twice. Nowadays when I hit a dead zone, I go back to the story and carefully figure out where I started to sputter.  Stopping dead usually means something went wrong and I have to redo the story from that point on.

But this time I had to go back to fundamentals and my simple rule about the middle of stories.  I get bored when I figure out the end and stop writing.  So the only way I can keep going is to throw in a big problem at the end (more or less) of three chapters, one that I can’t figure out myself, and let the characters try to solve it.

I feel reasonably sure that other authors have a much better solution for this attention deficit problem and I’d love to hear it.

Treva Harte
www.loose-id.com

Writers start off with relatively modest expectations. They want to be able to finish the book. When and if they do, things snowball from there. They want someone else to read it and like it.  If that happens, then they want someone to publish it.  And if that happens, they want someone to buy it.  They want LOTS of people to buy it.  They want good reviews and marketing. They want to write another book that’s better than the first.   They want sales to be even better next time.  They want multiple contracts…a bigger publisher…to quit the day job…to write full-time…to be famous…to be rich…to be admired by millions…
 
Don't tell me you don't.  And hey, it’s possible you will get it all.  Not probable, but possible.
 
But there are so many roadblocks along the way. Some are things outside author control – life’s curve balls, market trends changing, world events.  It’s hard for an author to control those.
 
I'm a control freak.  I'm willing to let loose control under certain conditions, of course of what I can't change.  (Death and power failure all along the Eastern seaboard, for example.) But what I can control and what I feel comfortable with, I do.  My control freak level and comfort level undoubtedly differs from yours.
 
But if you take a look at what you, the writer, control with all those things I listed on what writers want, finishing the book is the one absolute that only you can do.  Which is why as a writer I focus on that and all else is secondary to me.

M's Epilogue:

M: This is great -- as far as it goes. But unfortunately if you STOP there, Treva, you know as well as I do, it'll be your last book. No one's going to sell that book FOR you. Publishers and marketing people can help, but the ultimate responsibility for selling the book goes to the author. Share your enthusiasm for that story with others. Next up: Marketing. What works, what really, really, REALLY doesn't.

T:  I'll be waiting for that next blog from you, dear.  And I never said to not market.  Just that I have to work with others on that.

Treva Harte
www.loose-id.com

Margaret Riley
www.changelingpress.com

 

I’ve often had people say “Oooh, you write! [or you publish – that can get even more frightening because then they have plans for you]  I always wanted to write if I had time.”

 

This puzzles me.  Do they really think that someone will give you time to write and that’s when you can start?  It’s not going to happen.  Time for writing has to be stolen, borrowed and begged for. Even fans don’t understand how hard a process it can be.  It’s difficult even when you have managed some writing routine that works.

 

Even worse is when real life hits you hard. I understand the problems.  Often exhaustion and depression just don’t let you have the energy and creativity to write.  But I also see the different thresholds of problems that Real Life throws at an author and how many keep writing anyhow.  Death of a loved one, ill health – like hospitalization or severe illness-- natural disasters,  need for a regular pay check …  yes, it can stop authors.  Some keep going long after most people would stop.  Some write through their problems and some just can’t. 

 

That’s a shame.  Because someone who has to write but then has to give up is a frustrated soul.  But someone who is waiting for that mysterious time to arrive that will allow them to write just doesn’t know what writing is all about.

 

I’ve been writing steadily on my new story every morning before I start work on my Loose Id duties.  (Unless, of course, school closes and the kids descend on me even though it turned out to be just rain and not snow and ice in the roads, darn those school officials…But I digress.) For now writing every day is a joy, since for the past few years I haven’t had much time to devote to writing as Loose Id grew,  members of my family had serious health issues, and I still had the SDJ to handle.
 

This month I took the leap and quit the SDJ.  I still am busy.  Very. Somehow I didn’t expect to be quite so busy, although one problem I had previously was being unable to master the space-time continuum and be in two places at the same time.  Having time to think about anything longer than five minutes before I was interrupted was becoming an issue.  As was sleep.  I’m very happy with writing and editing, although I go through a periodic identity crisis when I try to explain to others what I work at now.  I’m still waiting to see how the finances will settle in, although I have an income and a husband with a SDJ (and his own writing habit to support.)
 

In short, I know the considerations I had before I did it, but I’m curious as to how other authors who write full time made the decision to go for it.  Once your writing is what you use to support yourself, how do you view writing?  Your publishers?  Your writing schedule?  How does your family handle it?  What have you changed and what has stayed the same?