On Your Mark, Get Set...Wait

Jennifer is waiting for the next step...

I’m in the “hurry up and wait” stage of the publishing process. I have two books with my editor. One has been fully edited and galley-proofed and all I’m waiting for is a release date. The other has been fully edited and I’m expecting to see a cover for it momentarily. In the meantime, I’m waiting on galley proofs for it.

The waiting is killing me. Now, before I say anything else, I’m not blaming anyone for my wait. It’s part of the process. I’m in the queue and when it’s my turn, I’ll get my release date and I’ll see the cover. But knowing those things are coming is what’s getting to me.

Anticipation is always the hardest part.

Once I have a release date, I can get started on my extensive marketing to-do list: sending out postcards to everyone I know, contacting bloggers, setting up social media tours, putting together my newsletter. But until then, I’m sitting on my hands and looking at my reminders every day.

Getting a cover is always exciting—and nerve-wracking. I’m dying to see if what I described in my cover art sheet translated well. Since they did such a great job for the first book, I’m have high hopes for the second one. But I’m still nervous.

In the meantime, I’m helping others promote their books, getting to know fellow authors, reviewing other manuscripts to get them ready for submission and doing all the things around the house I had to let slide while I was editing.

It’s a roller coaster, but a fun one (I hate the real ones), and I know I’m very lucky to be on this particular ride.

W Is For Work

Jennifer talks about her writing career...

I’ve been in a bit of a slump lately, publishing-wise. I’m still writing daily and have several manuscripts in various stages of completion. They will each be done within the next few months. My writing doesn’t stop.

However, my publishing has taken a back seat as I wait to see whether I can reach the next rung or not. I’ve got my agent working on some things, and until I get a definitive answer, I’m holding off on my own submissions.

On bad days, I feel pretty useless. On the rest of the days, I know I just need to exercise patience.

So it was a little disappointing for me to hear my daughter tell me that her friends and her friends’ parent don’t think what I do is actual “work” and certainly shouldn’t prevent me from catering to the needs of the children.

I try not to let people’s careless words bother me. I know what I do is work. Writing requires discipline, stamina and brainpower. It is not for the faint of heart. The fact that I continue writing even when I’m discouraged is proof of that. My ability to juggle many things and still write daily is a pretty impressive accomplishment, if I do say so myself.

Writing is a job with ups and downs. That’s part of its natural flow. Just because I don’t make money unless I publish and people buy my books does not make it less of a job. Just because it’s my choice to do this and I’m trying to fulfill a dream of mine, doesn’t make it less important.

My daughter gets it and she stood up for me. I care less that she stood up for me and more that she does understand, to some extent, what I do. She says she has two parents who work.

One of them writes.

And for me, writing is the work I want to do.

Y Is For Yes

Jennifer takes out her pom-poms...

Writing is a solitary endeavor. Sure, we have critique partners and beta readers and fellow authors and supportive friends and family. But when it comes down to it, we sit at our desks (or wherever it is that we write), tune out the world and write. We disappear into our own worlds of our own making, where we control the outcome.

And while we might be really good at solving the problems of our heroes and heroines, we’re not always good at maintaining our resolve. It’s easy to fall victim to our own insecurities, to look at the first draft of our first attempt to get our thoughts on paper and say, “Wow, this is awful!”

Although we might be the first to tell others their draft shows promise and to keep at it, when it comes to telling that to ourselves, we are sadly inept. Not only that, but we take it to the extreme—we will NEVER write anything good again.

So this is for all of us who think we’ll never get over that writer’s block, that our writing is awful and our editors must have been drunk when they sent us a contract, or that we’ll never write ourselves out of the hole we dug ourselves into:

Yes, writing is hard—all things worthwhile are!

Yes, we have talent—although it can always be improved.

Yes, we can do it—don’t give up!

Yes, the end result is worth it—remember that feeling of pride and accomplishment when we finish the book.

Yes, we can do it again—and again, and again and again.

Why?

Jennifer looks at why we write.

We all talk about how we are writers, implying that writing is a “job.” It might not be our only job, but we learn about it, perfect our craft, schedule time to devote to it and market our books. Even if we’re not yet published, we attend conferences and take classes, read books and devote hours to it. No one could call it merely a hobby.

But what do we get out of it? Putting aside the whole “publish a book” aspect of it, what makes us write? Is it a calling? Does it silence the voices in our heads? Is it a way to make our world a more perfect place?

For me, reading is a way to escape, and writing often provides that for me too. When I’m in the groove, all the daily stressors disappear and I disappear into a world where I can create all the drama, and fix all the problems. It’s cathartic to make my hero or heroine say the things I might wish to say in a similar situation. It’s satisfying to tie up all the loose ends and even to create an ending that is so much better than a situation might be in real life.

And it’s cheaper than therapy. ;)

Zero To Sixty

Last week, I wrote about the timing problem I found in my manuscript. I’ve spent the week revising and fixing that issue, but while doing that, I found something else. Actually, my critique partner did.

I had her read the first six or ten chapters because I knew I needed to add a few scenes; I just didn’t know exactly what needed to be added. I was hoping she could tell me what needed to be fleshed out.

You know when you read something you’ve written and you like it but you’re also like, “hmm, I’m not sure about this”? Well, I knew there was a problem, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. That’s why having a critique partner is so great.

She saw what the problem was immediately—I’d rushed the hero and heroine getting together. Zero to sixty is great for a car; less so for a hero and heroine who are developing a relationship.

So, as I’ve been reviewing my manuscript for the timing issue, I’ve also slowed down their meeting, liking and falling in love. Not to where it drags, but I’ve added a bit more tension, more wanting, more conflict. I hope readers like it and don’t find it slows down the pacing—I’ll be checking again with my critique partner for that problem.

But I think I’m on the right track.