Many people think writing a book is easy, and they don't
consider it a real job. They think all
we have to do is sit in a chair typing our stories on a computer, go out to
lunch with our friends, eating bon bon's and just working when we feel like
it.
Some of this may be true, but there is so much more involved
in writing books. On one of my Yahoo sites, we have been discussing what people
think of us. Writers get irritated by the assumption that there isn't any work
involved in writing.
Often times there's research involved before an author can
even start to write. Unless, you're a
panster (someone who writes by the seat of their pants) you have to make an
outline or synopsis of your story, so you know where you're going. You have to have character profiles
(descriptions of each character, knowledge of their work, car they drive and
their home), and usually that's a beginning. This can be a chore just to do
that much.
I'm a panster because I don't want to get locked in, but I,
also, do a general outline of some of the scenes I want in the story. I always do character profiles because I need
to know as much about them as I can at the beginning. There are times I add more characteristics or
back story to these characters as I write.
When this happens I often have to go back to the early part of the story
to insert hints relating to the add-ins.
It depends on the link of the story as to how long it takes
to write. Many authors can produce four
or more 200 page books a year, but they work all the time. I know one author who produces 4 books a year
for Harlequin, works full-time and goes to all her kids' sports events. She
writes while she's at these events, she writes at the beach, Starbucks and
anywhere she can. Another author just
signed a 12 book contract with Harlequin.
She won't have a life for a long time because she'll put one out every
two months.
Once an author finishes a book, she submits it to a
publisher and waits for it to be accepted.
When it is accepted, she waits for the edits to come to her/him. Everyone hopes the edits won't be extensive,
but if they are they'll be life consuming because you are required to get them
back by a certain date. While the editor
is editing your book, you have to give the cover artist a description of your
hero/heroine, clothes, come up with a possible blurb, etc.
Then comes the edits for the author, and she/he will go
through this process until the editor is satisfied. I can expect as many as three edits with my
publisher, and then the book is published.
Hooray! This part of the process
of writing a book is enjoyable for me.
Then the not so enjoyable part of the work is next. To be completely honest this is what I
detest. Promotion is a necessity because
when you sign your contract with a publisher it's in your contract that you
must promote your book. If you don't,
the publisher can cancel your contract.
If your sales are low, they can cancel your contract. In that case, you will get the copy rights
back to your book and you can do whatever you want with it. Most go to another publisher, self-publish or
rewrite the story completely before doing the first two.
Here's how you promote your book: you can hire a publicist
if you're rich, do a blog tour (this can cost unless you just use friends
blogs), advertise in magazines (costs), Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and
numerous other sites. It's tiring to do
all of this, but it has to be done. All
of this requires coming up with new blogs about your books. It requires a lot of work, and it seems to
never end because with the next book it starts all over again.
It's a whole different ball game if an author
self-publishes. They have to do the
cover art, or hire it done, do formatting for the different sites (Amazon,
Barnes and Noble and others), and get their book up on these sites. Everything is different for each one, and it
is work. I will never do this unless I
pay to have it done, and I am critical about the way things are done, so I
would need to do it myself.
Many authors suffer burn out because of this process. I've known many good authors who have quit
after their first or second book because of burn out. But, I know an author in her 80's who is
still writing. Smile! She doesn't do a lot of promotion, but her
work is well known.
I prefer to have a life, and I'm trying to find a balance
with my writing and my life.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you come back next
weekend. Have a great week.
Sandra K. Marshall
http://www.eirelanderpublishing.com
