Dame Rinda
I am thrilled to introduce you to T. L. Schaefer. Not only has she become one of my best friends, she’s a great roomie at conferences and an all around cool person. (Our Runestone road trip is coming up soon, babe!)
She’s also a fantastic author. I had the privilege of reading an early version of Behind Blue Eyes and found it to be an exciting and romantic paranormal police procedural so I’m really looking forward to purchasing it to read again! It releases on August 3rd. Check out the book HERE and the excerpt HERE.
T.L has THE KNOWLEDGE when it comes to epublishing and she’s sharing. She’s also offering up a really nice giveaway. So ask away, share experiences–pick her brain!
ePublishing…A Boom a Decade in the Making (aka All Hail the eReader)
When Dame Rinda asked if I’d be interested in being a Dame for a Day, I have to admit I squeeeeeed quite unprofessionally for at least a full minute before taking a deep breath and calmly writing back “Are you freakin’ kidding? I’d LOVE to!” Then the awful truth of what I’d agreed to began to sink in. What in the hell was I going to write about? I’m not published by one of the big New York houses, so can’t offer advice, or even witty sidebars (really not all that witty anyway). I don’t write full time (I work for the Air Force), and worst of all, I’m also an editor (gasp!!).
After hyperventilating for at least twenty minutes, I poured myself a glass of wine and unwrapped some dark chocolate in lieu of the cigars I gave up 18 months ago. Hey, it doesn’t matter that it’s only two p.m. in Oklahoma, right?
So I pondered (and had another glass) and finally came up with a topic I sincerely hope will be mildly interesting…perceptions of the e-publishing industry–from someone who’s been there almost the entire time.
The tenth anniversary of my first published book rolls around in December (yes, you read that right…I epubbed a book ten years ago). The Summerland was my publisher’s second offered work, and I’m happy to say they’re still around and kicking, but focusing more on the erotic side of sales right now.
It took me a year to write Summerland, and when I got ready to submit, I tried epublishing first for two reasons…1) I can be incredibly impatient *G*, and 2) I hadn’t read anything remotely like it in traditional publishing, so had no idea who to even submit it to. I also wanted to see if it sucked or not.
That’s not to say I haven’t pursued traditional publishing. I’ve come “close” at least half a dozen times (according to agents and editors, not me), but close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, so I decided to stick with what makes me happy (see below), and maybe that will translate into a NY contract…or not. Although I have to say, if paranormal police procedurals become the new “big” thing, I’m pushing my next “wow, this would be fun to try” manuscript under the bed for four years and then resubmitting, because that seems to be the curve I write to…grrr.
So now it’s almost a decade down the road, and I’ve written five full-length books and six novellas, all published by reputable ePublishers. What have those ten years taught me?
First, do your research before submitting to a publisher, be they print or “e”. I happened to get lucky my first time out the gate, but I know many, many authors who’ve been royally screwed over the years, and again, not just by “e” publishers, although that tends to be the majority of failures we, as authors, hear about. These days anyone can make reasonably good cover art, run spell check and call a book “ready”. That IS NOT getting published, at least not by someone reputable who’s gonna pay on time. As authors, we all have to pay our dues, and part of those dues is going through the excruciating pain of edits *VBG*. If it isn’t painful…if you don’t curse your editor at least a dozen times while looking at the “suggested” rewrites…then something’s wrong.
Second, when it comes down to it, write for YOU. Yeah, that’s easy for me to say, since I’ve got a day job I’m going to hang with for the long haul, but I’ve tried writing to the market, and I’ve tried not eating, and neither sets very well with me. In the end, writing what made me happy…well, it made me happy. And therefore more productive, and more invested in my characters, and so on.
Last…the bonds you form with your brethren are not only important—they’re vital. It’s too easy to get bogged down in life and let those friendships and partnerships slide. I’ve been guilty of that myself, blaming it on the day job, quitting smoking, not writing, all manner of excuses, but at the end of the day, that’s all they were. Excuses. This is a solitary business, with almost all of the action going on inside our heads. To have someone understand those dynamics is a treasure beyond compare.
Yeah, a decade has gone by. I’ve seen the big “4” (at least IMO…EC, Samhain, Loose Id, and Liquid Silver) start up and flourish. I’ve seen spectacular crash-and-burns by folks with no real idea what it takes to produce, market and sell books. And in the end, I’ve found the freedom to write the kind of stories I want to write, I’ve learned how to become a better, more compelling writer through professional relationships, and I’ve seen my babies both on an e-reader screen and in print. And who among us doesn’t want that?
Now that I’ve blathered on for a good looooong time, let me end with a caveat…each of our journeys is vastly different (just look to this blog to see excellent examples), so take my words with a grain of salt. If print publishing is what you’ve set as your ultimate goal, then going with a straight-up ePublisher will be a disappointment, because it is a vastly different corporate enterprise. Each of us has felt the pain of facing the blank page, of deleting chunks of narrative, of seeing those dreaded red marks from our critique partners. At the end of the day, make the decision that will keep you waking up at night and reaching for the notepad!
For those of you who have made it through this RIDONCULOUSLY long post, comment about your experiences, ask a question, or whatever, and I’ll draw a random name for a signed copy of THE SAINTS OF MIDLAND and a $25 gift certificate to Amazon to celebrate my new release, BEHIND BLUE EYES.
Terri writes paranormal romance/romantic suspense as TL Schaefer, and erotic romance as Keira Ramsay. She is a Medical Risk Manager for the Air Force by day, the Editorial Director of Liquid Silver Books by early evening, and an author into the wee hours. Visit her at www.tlschaefer.com
But I’m excited about the release of Pray for Dawn and um, might have to somehow get my hands on a poster of that cover because WOW.
By the way, do I get like a small estate and some riches for this? How about a handsome duke or lord? A pretty regency dress?
