Elizabeth Drakes's Site

Fantasy Romance

Professional

Progress Report

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I thought I’d give a quick progress report for where things are in my preparations to launch To Love a Prince.

Butterflies with acid wings keep flitting through my stomach as I write this, so here’s hoping nothing goes awry!

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Now imagine that’s acid on their wings!

1. Cover

I found a cover artist without a six month wait list. I really liked her sample work, and I the butterflies got worse when I saw her first draft. I’ve asked to change a few colors, but I still can’t believe I’ve seen a mock-up cover with my name on it!

 

2. ProWriting Aid

I’ve figured out more about how to make the program work for me. It’s a good program, BUT you still have to be smart about it. There could be things it doesn’t like you must learn to ignore. You are not going to make all of the red flags disappear, which drives my OCD a little crazy. At least I didn’t make them all disappear, and I was still happy with how much stronger my writing was.

3. Figured Out More About Scrivener

Scrivener is another fabulous program I’ve just started learning. It has so much depth and complexity that it can be overwhelming. But, it is a magnificent tool. I own Scrivener for Dummies, but I haven’t been patient enough to work through it. Still, I was able to use the book and Google to figure out how to do some things I want, and I was able to save those things as a custom setting. Nice.

4. Finished running To Love a Prince through Pro Writing Aid. Again.

Once I figured the program out a little more, I re-ran my novel through it. Took some time, but I think it was worth it.

5. Finished a Final Polishing Edit

I’m not sure I will ever be “done”, but I have to let go at some point. I’m hoping this is it.

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More zen than I’ve felt. Ever. But still feels pretty good to be polishing up a final draft.

6. Met with a Pro to Get Help on the Blurb

I know attractive covers get books read. You’re not going to click on a less-than-awesome cover most of the time. I also know blurbs get books read. Once a potential reader has clicked the cover, the blurb has to convince them they want to read it.

No matter how many times I wrote and rewrote the blurb, it was flat at best. Yeah, it told about the story, but it didn’t grip you. I think the help she gave me will result in a much stronger blurb. I’m hoping I can take what I learned and apply it to the next blurb.

Next step is to format the book for ebook and Createspace. I have read tutorials on doing this out of Scrivener, but I am really considering purchasing Vellum. I want the end result to look as professional as possible, especially after all eleven drafts it took to get the story as good as I could.

 Soon I’ll be trying to figure out how to launch a book. If you have any pointers on any of this, either as a writer or a reader, please share them!

"Aspiring" Writer

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One topic I’ve seen a lot lately is the discussion wrapped around calling yourself a writer. Not an aspiring writer, but a writer.

I think I understand where this advice is coming from. This is a really hard field to get into, and it’s easy to get disappointed. I am experiencing my own doubts about my work and if I should continue to write.

I do not like the process of trying to find an agent or publisher. It really puts me out of my comfort zone, and the constant rejection is disheartening.

So calling yourself a writer is supposed to be an affirmation.  A way to keep yourself going when you’re thinking of quitting.

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But I feel like this is somewhat disingenuous. In my experience, most people who say they want to be a writer or are aspiring to be a writer mean they want to write full time. Most are already slugging away in their basement, spare bedroom, or if they’re really lucky, home office. But what they want is for their writing to support them and their family. They don’t want to have to hold down a day job so they can make ends meet.

So I get it. If you write, you’re a writer. You are doing the act of writing, and it doesn’t matter if you ever publish your work or not, if you never earn a dime from your work. And the publishing aspect is the part I like the least. I hate spending my few writing hours a week looking up agents, rewriting queries, etc.

I suppose if you’re an actor, you act. Even if it’s only at your community theater.

A co-worker of mine wanted to be a baseball player. He made it the minor leagues but got hurt. It ended his baseball career. He still plays baseball for fun, but he never says he’s a baseball player. To him, calling himself a baseball player means something very different than playing in his weekly rec league.

I suspect the same is true for writers.So, this affirmation feels a bit…I hesitate to say it…patronizing.

J.K.Rowling posting her rejection letters, (harsh, scathing rejection letters), did far more to motivate me than all of the “you are a writer” posts combined.

I write. I write almost every day. I wrote on my birthday, Valentine’s Day and Easter. I wrote when I had a cold. I wrote when I had bronchitis. I wrote when I didn’t want to write anymore.

So I am a writer, but I’m also an aspiring writer.

I am aspiring to find an agent. Aspiring to publish my first novel. Aspiring to make my writing profitable enough that it can pay for a laptop dedicated to it. Maybe even the latest version of Word.

I may not be good enough, lucky enough, or connected enough for any of this to happen. But I’m working for it. Aspiring towards it.

On Feedback

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Mariah over at 600 Second Saga recently posted about feedback on writing.

This has been a tricky area for me as I am coming closer to finishing a project and preparing it for publication.

I don’t exactly broadcast that I’m a writer. Only a few members of my family and a couple of friends know. None of my co-workers do. I might be a full on closet writer, and I prefer it that way.

Part of it is I worry my work sucks. Back in my youth, when I did let the world know I wanted to be a writer, a lot of people wanted me to review their work. Almost all of it was terrible. Really, really terrible. I tried at first to give good feedback. When that backfired, I learned a “pretty good!” usually made them happy and let me get back to my work. But then I started to wonder if mine was that bad, too. It probably was.

I even took a Writing for Publishing class, and the only thing I got out of it was meeting my DH. So, really, big win there. Writing wise, even the professor was terrible at giving constructive feedback.

I don’t even know what to ask the handful of people I trust.

I have never signed up for any kind of book swap or reading other people’s work and giving critique in order to receive it. As my only finished piece of work is novel length, I feel like these venues don’t work well other than knowing if the first few pages has a good enough hook.

I am extremely lucky that I have an excellent beta reader that I happen to be related to.

Finally, an area I have been seeing in posts lately is on paying professionals to edit, beta read, whatever. I agree, professionals need to be paid. I get paid to do my day job, and I’d stop going if they stopped paying me.

I have not paid a professional for help with my current manuscript. Not sure I will.

First, it’s hard for me to justify the expense to my family when my writing has never earned a dime. From what I’ve read about author’s advances and royalties, and comparing that to the fees professionals charge, there is the very real possibility you’d end up paying more than you’d ever earn. That’s fine if you can afford it. I can’t afford expensive hobbies right now.

Second, I don’t know how to judge quality. Some of the fees I’ve seen for a professional edit cost more than painting my house. I’ve got a pretty good idea if the painters did a good job painting or not. How do you know if an editor did a good job or not? How do you even find one? I found the painters through word of mouth because lots of people I know need their house painted. They were happy to tell me if someone did a great job or if they sucked. No one I know needs a book edited.

This is definitely a tricky area. On the one hand, you want to be viewed as a professional. Getting professional advice and services can make your work better. On the other hand, if it is a hobby (or still is one), and you aren’t a professional, it’s difficult to afford. And a part of me wonders if it’s worth it. As I have never been able to afford it, I can’t say.

Next Up – Synopsis

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After slogging through a query letter (thanks to my two beta readers who really helped me with it!), now I am supposed to write a synopsis.

There is far more information out there on query letters than on a synopsis, so I dropped a question in the inbox of a freelance editor’s blog I follow. He was kind enough to answer with more detail, and industry experience, than what I’ve seen out there.

Still, it’s “ugh”. I don’t want to write a synopsis. I want to work on my current project.

Know what? It’s still a hobby to me. I have published nothing. My day job pays the bills. I am going to run with the glory and joy of a new project until the words stop coming like rain on the 4th of July. (Maybe that’s just my 4th of July, but whatever).

I will write the synopsis. And revise it 17-18 times if my query is any measure, but I will do it when it doesn’t suck the joy out of the project I am currently working on.

No, not very professional of me. But I’m not a professional writer. Yet. Maybe not ever. I’m not published, and I may never be. But inspiration is so fleeting, and my muse loves to hide for long stretches at a time. That seems like a better time to take on the job aspects of writing a synopsis  rather than when my muse is screaming in my ear and I can’t find the time to listen or type fast enough when I do have some time !