Heather B. Moore's Blog, page 18
December 8, 2010
My Publishing Journey--Part 10
Read Part 9 Here
My Publishing Journey
Part 10
A few months before Abinadi came out, I was sitting around doing nothing (kidding). But I did decide that now that I had 5 books almost out, perhaps I had developed enough of a platform to write on a non-fiction topic: Women of the Book of Mormon.
I often have readers tell me that they are grateful I've used women characters in my book since we hear so little about the women in the Book of Mormon. I agreed, but was I the one to do the research? Yes, I'd researched Sariah and a couple of the other women for various presentations I'd given, but was it enough to write an entire book?
Later, when I told my tax accountant that I had a book coming out on Women of the Book of Mormon, he said, "What is it, 5 pages long?"
The book ended up about 75 pages in manuscript form, and it took my nearly a year to write and research it. When I took the first chapter to critique group, they said it was reading rather dry. So I knew I had to make it more into a storytelling style—or essay style and not just a list of facts. So I got to work. I turned in the book the summer of 2009.
While slowly researching and writing "Women", I worked on Alma. I ran into a snag while writing Alma, which is kind of interesting. Writers call it "writing into a corner" where you don't know how to get out of it. I finally found a way out, but the plot had to get pretty creative. Originally I had the title for this book as Alma the Elder, but the publisher decided to have it plain "Alma" since he didn't have any children born yet to make him an "elder".
Alma was scheduled for a Fall 2009 release, and as soon as I got "Women" turned in, I started the next novel, Alma the Younger.
Alma the Younger was a bit of a different process. Yes, there would be the plot to follow in the book of Alma, but I had to make some character decisions about Alma the Younger. The book would ultimately turn out to be a character-driven book. I knew that some of my regular reviewers wouldn't like the story angle, and I was right. In fact one reviewer posted on Goodreads why she wouldn't be reviewing the book in her regular column. Researching Alma the Younger showed that he was a truly wicked and vile man, and I didn't gloss over any of his wickedness. This book was darker than my other books, and harder to write for that reason. It wasn't a happy "feel-good" book and covered some very difficult issues. It was writing about an antagonist who was also the protagonist of the story. I had one lady at a book signing say that she didn't want to read about the redemption of a prophet, but just about the good things he did—not about the struggles it took him to get there. She didn't want to have any bad thoughts about him.
But I was okay with that. The point of telling about Alma the Younger's fall into the dark abyss and his eventual rise to become a righteous leader is perhaps a beacon of hope for many of us who might find ourselves in the depths of despair. And I'd already heard the worst on the book from a copyeditor. (A copyeditor is one of the final editors who proofs the manuscript for typos, grammar, and inconsistencies.) Going through the copyedit, I immediately sensed she didn't care for the story. I discovered I was right when at the very end of the edit she proclaimed, "This book will kill your series." (Which, by the way, statements like that are NOT in the job description of a professional copyeditor.)
I think it gave my editor pause—she second-guessed herself, wondering with all the work she'd done, she had been missing something. I said to my editor, "What was your first impression when you read the story?" She said, "I loved it." I said, "Let's go with that."
Whatever the struggles I had with Alma the Younger, they were all completely erased when this review (by a non-member, no less), came in.
My Publishing Journey
Part 10
A few months before Abinadi came out, I was sitting around doing nothing (kidding). But I did decide that now that I had 5 books almost out, perhaps I had developed enough of a platform to write on a non-fiction topic: Women of the Book of Mormon.
I often have readers tell me that they are grateful I've used women characters in my book since we hear so little about the women in the Book of Mormon. I agreed, but was I the one to do the research? Yes, I'd researched Sariah and a couple of the other women for various presentations I'd given, but was it enough to write an entire book?
Later, when I told my tax accountant that I had a book coming out on Women of the Book of Mormon, he said, "What is it, 5 pages long?"
The book ended up about 75 pages in manuscript form, and it took my nearly a year to write and research it. When I took the first chapter to critique group, they said it was reading rather dry. So I knew I had to make it more into a storytelling style—or essay style and not just a list of facts. So I got to work. I turned in the book the summer of 2009.
While slowly researching and writing "Women", I worked on Alma. I ran into a snag while writing Alma, which is kind of interesting. Writers call it "writing into a corner" where you don't know how to get out of it. I finally found a way out, but the plot had to get pretty creative. Originally I had the title for this book as Alma the Elder, but the publisher decided to have it plain "Alma" since he didn't have any children born yet to make him an "elder".
Alma was scheduled for a Fall 2009 release, and as soon as I got "Women" turned in, I started the next novel, Alma the Younger.
Alma the Younger was a bit of a different process. Yes, there would be the plot to follow in the book of Alma, but I had to make some character decisions about Alma the Younger. The book would ultimately turn out to be a character-driven book. I knew that some of my regular reviewers wouldn't like the story angle, and I was right. In fact one reviewer posted on Goodreads why she wouldn't be reviewing the book in her regular column. Researching Alma the Younger showed that he was a truly wicked and vile man, and I didn't gloss over any of his wickedness. This book was darker than my other books, and harder to write for that reason. It wasn't a happy "feel-good" book and covered some very difficult issues. It was writing about an antagonist who was also the protagonist of the story. I had one lady at a book signing say that she didn't want to read about the redemption of a prophet, but just about the good things he did—not about the struggles it took him to get there. She didn't want to have any bad thoughts about him.
But I was okay with that. The point of telling about Alma the Younger's fall into the dark abyss and his eventual rise to become a righteous leader is perhaps a beacon of hope for many of us who might find ourselves in the depths of despair. And I'd already heard the worst on the book from a copyeditor. (A copyeditor is one of the final editors who proofs the manuscript for typos, grammar, and inconsistencies.) Going through the copyedit, I immediately sensed she didn't care for the story. I discovered I was right when at the very end of the edit she proclaimed, "This book will kill your series." (Which, by the way, statements like that are NOT in the job description of a professional copyeditor.)
I think it gave my editor pause—she second-guessed herself, wondering with all the work she'd done, she had been missing something. I said to my editor, "What was your first impression when you read the story?" She said, "I loved it." I said, "Let's go with that."
Whatever the struggles I had with Alma the Younger, they were all completely erased when this review (by a non-member, no less), came in.
December 1, 2010
My Publishing Journey--Part 9
Some updates: I turned in my next manuscript today (Daughters of Jared). Also, check out my holiday book signing schedule on the sidebar.
Read Part 8 Here
My Publishing Journey
Part 9
Writing the next book proved to be an interesting experience. For those of you familiar with the story of Abinadi, he is a man who is asked by God to preach to a group of wicked people. Abinadi warns them that if they don't repent, the Lord will destroy them. They, of course, throw him out of the city and King Noah threatens his life. 2 years later, the Lord asks Abinadi to return. Abinadi knows it's a death sentence and is eventually captured and executed. Not a cheerful story to tell.
I had planned all along to write in the point of view of Alma (high priest in King Noah's court) as well. I had planned for him to take up a chapter here and there, but as I started writing, he really nosed his way in and tried to take over the book. His character became an equal secondary character with as much storyline as the main character, Abinadi.
I also didn't know who Helam was until about 200 pages into the story. I decided to make him Abinadi's brother and so had to go back through the book and weave his character in. Helam ended up becoming quite pivotal to this book, as well as the sequel (Alma).
Several changes were in the works when I turned in Abinadi. I had a new editor and the book wasn't coming out in hardcover. Also, my publisher wanted to move away from "series titles," so although Abinadi would technically be the beginning of a next series, it would be promoted as a stand-alone book.
I was now on my 3rd editor. Ironically, my 2nd editor became the contract editor on Abinadi (even though when she was my editor, a contract editor did "Land of Inheritance").
There was no real debate on the title for Abinadi. It was going to stay plain and simple. The editing process went very smoothly and there were no real glitches. During 2007-2008 you might remember that the economy took a massive plunge (due to those high gasoline prices). This trickled into all industries including the publishing industry. Reports were coming in that Simon and Schuster had laid-off 125 employees. It was felt by everyone and trickled into the smaller presses as well. Many friends of mine were having book contracts canceled or release dates pushed back.
I was lucky enough that Abinadi retained a 2008 release date, but only barely. It was pushed to November. This wasn't so fun for promotion since I really only had about 4-5 weeks of promoting before the holiday season ended. So I went out on a limb (money limb) and purchased an ad on the local radio station (KSL). I first paid for the radio personality to do a live read of the advertising copy. Then I was told that he couldn't do a live read because my book was too religious (translate "too Mormon"). I guess even in Utah, that becomes an issue. So the radio station produced the commercial instead of the live-read.
The only thing that really caused me a bit anxiety with Abinadi was the cover image. It was literally not finished until a couple of days before the book was released. How can that be so? It seems that a book can go to press, then later the cover is glued on. But I never had the cover image in advance to do any sort of pre-promotion.
My editor asked me for character descriptions because they were thinking of photographing live models for the cover. In my opinion, it would have resulted in poor sales, since it would either look like a YA novel or a Romance novel. That same weekend I was at a book signing and browsed through the covers. I found a couple of other historical novels that had live model pictures and asked the employees if the men picked up these books and bought them. The resounding answer was "no." My publisher and I had gone to all the work of changing my name to H.B. Moore to attract the male audience, and now with the Abinadi cover, there was potential to alienate them.
So about midnight that night, I wrote my editor, telling her all the reasons why I didn't want Abinadi to have live models on the cover. They ended using one, but it was just the "tied hands" and looked great. I guess I just needed a little more confidence.
Abinadi would eventually go on to win a Whitney Award for Best Historical (which was a shocker since I'd won the year before with Land of Inheritance), and it also won 2009 Best of State in Literary Arts.
My favorite reader response about Abinadi came from my son who was 14 at the time. When he told me he finished the book, I asked what he thought. He didn't look too happy. He said, "Why did you have to kill Abinadi at the end?" I said, "Because that's what happens in the Book of Mosiah." He said, "So? You could have changed it. You made everything else up!"
Read Part 8 Here
My Publishing Journey
Part 9
Writing the next book proved to be an interesting experience. For those of you familiar with the story of Abinadi, he is a man who is asked by God to preach to a group of wicked people. Abinadi warns them that if they don't repent, the Lord will destroy them. They, of course, throw him out of the city and King Noah threatens his life. 2 years later, the Lord asks Abinadi to return. Abinadi knows it's a death sentence and is eventually captured and executed. Not a cheerful story to tell.
I had planned all along to write in the point of view of Alma (high priest in King Noah's court) as well. I had planned for him to take up a chapter here and there, but as I started writing, he really nosed his way in and tried to take over the book. His character became an equal secondary character with as much storyline as the main character, Abinadi.
I also didn't know who Helam was until about 200 pages into the story. I decided to make him Abinadi's brother and so had to go back through the book and weave his character in. Helam ended up becoming quite pivotal to this book, as well as the sequel (Alma).
Several changes were in the works when I turned in Abinadi. I had a new editor and the book wasn't coming out in hardcover. Also, my publisher wanted to move away from "series titles," so although Abinadi would technically be the beginning of a next series, it would be promoted as a stand-alone book.
I was now on my 3rd editor. Ironically, my 2nd editor became the contract editor on Abinadi (even though when she was my editor, a contract editor did "Land of Inheritance").
There was no real debate on the title for Abinadi. It was going to stay plain and simple. The editing process went very smoothly and there were no real glitches. During 2007-2008 you might remember that the economy took a massive plunge (due to those high gasoline prices). This trickled into all industries including the publishing industry. Reports were coming in that Simon and Schuster had laid-off 125 employees. It was felt by everyone and trickled into the smaller presses as well. Many friends of mine were having book contracts canceled or release dates pushed back.
I was lucky enough that Abinadi retained a 2008 release date, but only barely. It was pushed to November. This wasn't so fun for promotion since I really only had about 4-5 weeks of promoting before the holiday season ended. So I went out on a limb (money limb) and purchased an ad on the local radio station (KSL). I first paid for the radio personality to do a live read of the advertising copy. Then I was told that he couldn't do a live read because my book was too religious (translate "too Mormon"). I guess even in Utah, that becomes an issue. So the radio station produced the commercial instead of the live-read.
The only thing that really caused me a bit anxiety with Abinadi was the cover image. It was literally not finished until a couple of days before the book was released. How can that be so? It seems that a book can go to press, then later the cover is glued on. But I never had the cover image in advance to do any sort of pre-promotion.
My editor asked me for character descriptions because they were thinking of photographing live models for the cover. In my opinion, it would have resulted in poor sales, since it would either look like a YA novel or a Romance novel. That same weekend I was at a book signing and browsed through the covers. I found a couple of other historical novels that had live model pictures and asked the employees if the men picked up these books and bought them. The resounding answer was "no." My publisher and I had gone to all the work of changing my name to H.B. Moore to attract the male audience, and now with the Abinadi cover, there was potential to alienate them.
So about midnight that night, I wrote my editor, telling her all the reasons why I didn't want Abinadi to have live models on the cover. They ended using one, but it was just the "tied hands" and looked great. I guess I just needed a little more confidence.
Abinadi would eventually go on to win a Whitney Award for Best Historical (which was a shocker since I'd won the year before with Land of Inheritance), and it also won 2009 Best of State in Literary Arts.
My favorite reader response about Abinadi came from my son who was 14 at the time. When he told me he finished the book, I asked what he thought. He didn't look too happy. He said, "Why did you have to kill Abinadi at the end?" I said, "Because that's what happens in the Book of Mosiah." He said, "So? You could have changed it. You made everything else up!"
November 17, 2010
My Publishing Journey--Part 8
Some good news. Last night I received the first edit back from an alpha reader on my work-in-progress: Daughters of Jared. (Pitch letter here) She said: Heather, honestly, I have loved all of your books, but this . . . this is my favorite. Yay, so that is a major hurdle for me to overcome to get that first bit of feedback in.
Read Part 7 Here
My Publishing Journey
Part 8
My fourth book was hard to write. It wasn't that I didn't have the motivation, but I knew one of the main characters in the story would have to die. So I guess subconsciously I wanted to put it off. I even started writing a few chapters of a different book (Abinadi), but that one wasn't much better because the main character in that book dies as well. So I had to talk myself out of procrastinating and take the dive.
I was able to finish the manuscript and get it edited, thanks to my always great alpha readers, and turn it in at the end of November. This meant that I actually got some holiday shopping done in more than one store. I was able to revise my motto of "If Costco doesn't sell it, then don't put it on your Christmas list."
In mid January of 2007, I found out that book 4 had been officially accepted. I was excited to be close to the completion of the Out of Jerusalem series. Little did I know that I was about to enter the toughest road of editing I had ever experienced.
Maybe a disclaimer here would be good. With my publisher, I was on my second editor because my brilliant first editor had decided to go into another career. My second editor had worked with me on book 3, and she was wonderful to work with. But for book 4, she was swamped and I was assigned to a contract editor. It became pretty clear from the beginning that we weren't on the same page (no pun intended). So the story that follows in no way reflects on my publisher whom I owe a huge debt of gratitude for investing in me as an author. In fact, when all was said and done, my regular-but-too-busy editor took my side 100% and all was made good. Sharing this experience is in no way to belittle or bash any editor, but I think it's a good learning experience for any of you out there who are aspiring authors. In other words, sometimes (and only sometimes), the editor is wrong. I'll call the contract editor Ms. X.
Having spent 5 years in a grueling critique group with esteemed writers such as Annette Lyon, Michele Holmes, Jeff Savage, Lu Ann Staheli (and would eventually include James Dashner, Rob Wells, Sarah Eden), I felt I knew a thing or two about crafting a story. And, I always paid my due diligence by taking my chapters through my critique group and also going to outside alpha readers who specialized in various things that pertained to my particular books, such as ancient history, Book of Mormon doctrine, etc. So for whatever I lacked in writing, it was certainly made up for in the editing process—this all before I submitted to my publisher.
Ms. X asked me to do several things with Book 4 (Land of Inheritance) that went completely against the rules of fiction writing or would affect the purity of my series.
1. Cut the first 80 pages and put the death of the central character into a flashback.
If you have ever attended a class taught by Jeff Savage, you will know that he would have never spoken to me again if I started my book that way.
2. Get rid of the scenes that follow the scriptural account. Everyone knows what happened and it's boring to read about.
Of course I couldn't do that because that was what my whole series was based on. Book 4 wasn't just Book 4, but a continuation of the previous 900 pages (of volumes l-3). So really it was pages 900-1200 in a series and if I suddenly changed methods of storytelling, the series would lose its niche.
3. Focus more on the suspense. Don't write overlaying points of view where we know Jacob is safe, and then we are in his mother's point of view, not knowing he is safe.
This is one that I might have paid some attention to, but I decided that I wasn't writing a suspense novel, but a historical adventure, which didn't need the cliff-hanger aspect that a suspense novel has.
When I started to state my case, I was surprised at how quickly the "debate" turned personal, and Ms. X said that only a handful of readers would appreciate what I was trying to do--and those were only made up of a few scholarly types such as my dad. (So obviously she knew who my dad was.)
I remember calling my super-busy-editor and asking for advice. Thankfully, she understood where I was coming from and asked me to do what I felt was best. Of course I was nervous about taking such a strong stance, so in the meantime, I begged two readers to do an emergency read of the first 100 pages over the weekend. One was a best-selling historical novelist, the other a well-respected historian. Both came back with encouragement to stick to my original story.
The payoff came when the reviews started coming in. They were literally overwhelming to me. My favorite being from AML reviewer Andrew Hall, who said, "In the first three volumes of her Book of Mormon historical fiction series, Heather B. Moore showed that she could create a view of an ancient world that combines the best scholarship with a lively imagination. She does a fine job of walking the tricky line of faithfulness to the scripture and creative storytelling. She opened up the hearts of her characters in ways both remarkably touching and authentic. In this fourth and final volume she does all of that, as well as writing one of the most exciting adventure tales that I have read in a while."
The final payoff came when Land of Inheritance was nominated as a finalist for two Whitney Awards: Best Historical and Best Novel. It won the Best Historical category, validating that I had made the right choices, and that, yes, sometimes an editor is wrong.
Read Part 7 Here
My Publishing Journey
Part 8
My fourth book was hard to write. It wasn't that I didn't have the motivation, but I knew one of the main characters in the story would have to die. So I guess subconsciously I wanted to put it off. I even started writing a few chapters of a different book (Abinadi), but that one wasn't much better because the main character in that book dies as well. So I had to talk myself out of procrastinating and take the dive.
I was able to finish the manuscript and get it edited, thanks to my always great alpha readers, and turn it in at the end of November. This meant that I actually got some holiday shopping done in more than one store. I was able to revise my motto of "If Costco doesn't sell it, then don't put it on your Christmas list."
In mid January of 2007, I found out that book 4 had been officially accepted. I was excited to be close to the completion of the Out of Jerusalem series. Little did I know that I was about to enter the toughest road of editing I had ever experienced.
Maybe a disclaimer here would be good. With my publisher, I was on my second editor because my brilliant first editor had decided to go into another career. My second editor had worked with me on book 3, and she was wonderful to work with. But for book 4, she was swamped and I was assigned to a contract editor. It became pretty clear from the beginning that we weren't on the same page (no pun intended). So the story that follows in no way reflects on my publisher whom I owe a huge debt of gratitude for investing in me as an author. In fact, when all was said and done, my regular-but-too-busy editor took my side 100% and all was made good. Sharing this experience is in no way to belittle or bash any editor, but I think it's a good learning experience for any of you out there who are aspiring authors. In other words, sometimes (and only sometimes), the editor is wrong. I'll call the contract editor Ms. X.
Having spent 5 years in a grueling critique group with esteemed writers such as Annette Lyon, Michele Holmes, Jeff Savage, Lu Ann Staheli (and would eventually include James Dashner, Rob Wells, Sarah Eden), I felt I knew a thing or two about crafting a story. And, I always paid my due diligence by taking my chapters through my critique group and also going to outside alpha readers who specialized in various things that pertained to my particular books, such as ancient history, Book of Mormon doctrine, etc. So for whatever I lacked in writing, it was certainly made up for in the editing process—this all before I submitted to my publisher.
Ms. X asked me to do several things with Book 4 (Land of Inheritance) that went completely against the rules of fiction writing or would affect the purity of my series.
1. Cut the first 80 pages and put the death of the central character into a flashback.
If you have ever attended a class taught by Jeff Savage, you will know that he would have never spoken to me again if I started my book that way.
2. Get rid of the scenes that follow the scriptural account. Everyone knows what happened and it's boring to read about.
Of course I couldn't do that because that was what my whole series was based on. Book 4 wasn't just Book 4, but a continuation of the previous 900 pages (of volumes l-3). So really it was pages 900-1200 in a series and if I suddenly changed methods of storytelling, the series would lose its niche.
3. Focus more on the suspense. Don't write overlaying points of view where we know Jacob is safe, and then we are in his mother's point of view, not knowing he is safe.
This is one that I might have paid some attention to, but I decided that I wasn't writing a suspense novel, but a historical adventure, which didn't need the cliff-hanger aspect that a suspense novel has.
When I started to state my case, I was surprised at how quickly the "debate" turned personal, and Ms. X said that only a handful of readers would appreciate what I was trying to do--and those were only made up of a few scholarly types such as my dad. (So obviously she knew who my dad was.)
I remember calling my super-busy-editor and asking for advice. Thankfully, she understood where I was coming from and asked me to do what I felt was best. Of course I was nervous about taking such a strong stance, so in the meantime, I begged two readers to do an emergency read of the first 100 pages over the weekend. One was a best-selling historical novelist, the other a well-respected historian. Both came back with encouragement to stick to my original story.
The payoff came when the reviews started coming in. They were literally overwhelming to me. My favorite being from AML reviewer Andrew Hall, who said, "In the first three volumes of her Book of Mormon historical fiction series, Heather B. Moore showed that she could create a view of an ancient world that combines the best scholarship with a lively imagination. She does a fine job of walking the tricky line of faithfulness to the scripture and creative storytelling. She opened up the hearts of her characters in ways both remarkably touching and authentic. In this fourth and final volume she does all of that, as well as writing one of the most exciting adventure tales that I have read in a while."
The final payoff came when Land of Inheritance was nominated as a finalist for two Whitney Awards: Best Historical and Best Novel. It won the Best Historical category, validating that I had made the right choices, and that, yes, sometimes an editor is wrong.
November 10, 2010
My Publishing Journey--Part 7
Read Part 6 Here
My Publishing Journey
Part 7
Doing book signings for my 2nd book was a bit more exciting. People started to show up who had read my first book. Also, my book signing table looked more official when I had two books instead of just one. I was starting to feel more like a real author. And better yet, I was well into writing book 3 and had put together a reasonable writing schedule.
Of course no matter how well you plan, life gets interrupted. One of my greatest challenges became focusing on the writing time I had set aside. Not checking emails, not answering the phone, not getting side-tracked. Writing time varied from early mornings, nap times, and late nights, with snatches in between.
While researching book #3 (Towards the Promised Land), I realized that my series was not going to be a 3-volume series, but would need a 4th book. For those of you who are familiar with my Out of Jerusalem series, book 3 is about the time when Nephi builds the ship in Bountiful then sails to Mesoamerica. When I learned that building the ship took 2-3 years, I didn't want to skim through it in a couple of chapters. My publisher agreed to the idea.
I continued with my critique group, meeting almost weekly. I also joined the LDS Storymakers writers group during this time. Some of the people I met that year through Storymaker events would soon become important parts of my writing-life, such as Tristi Pinkston, Rachel Nunes, Josi Kilpack, Julie Wright, and James Dashner.
One of the amazing things about meeting other authors, who live in the same type of zany world of imagination, is that friendships become valuable because we authors tend to write in isolation. Who else can I chat with about character motivation? Who else can give me advice on making an opening hook stronger? Who else to commiserate about a bad review?
Writing a book (or should I say, completing a book) is a lot like going back to college. There is a lot to re-learn, because, let's face it, I wasn't really paying a lot of attention to synopsis-writing in high school. I never thought at the time I might have to write one for a publisher and that a design team would use it to create the cover and backliner for my book. Not only do we have to learn to transfer the idea in our head and make it into a cohesive story on paper, but we need to learn to promote ourselves. We need to understand the business and how to position ourselves as an author. We need to know what we can write off on our taxes, and how best to invest and divide our time between writing and promotional stuff.
Book 3 done and turned in November 2005. Then the wait began.
Book 1 took 11 months to get accepted.
Book 2 took 3 weeks to get accepted.
I didn't hear back from my publisher on book 3 for 3 ½ months. I was getting a bit nervous, but apparently, the person who was supposed to call hadn't. So I found out from my editor a bit after the fact. Not that I wasn't worried . . . :-)
My Publishing Journey
Part 7
Doing book signings for my 2nd book was a bit more exciting. People started to show up who had read my first book. Also, my book signing table looked more official when I had two books instead of just one. I was starting to feel more like a real author. And better yet, I was well into writing book 3 and had put together a reasonable writing schedule.
Of course no matter how well you plan, life gets interrupted. One of my greatest challenges became focusing on the writing time I had set aside. Not checking emails, not answering the phone, not getting side-tracked. Writing time varied from early mornings, nap times, and late nights, with snatches in between.
While researching book #3 (Towards the Promised Land), I realized that my series was not going to be a 3-volume series, but would need a 4th book. For those of you who are familiar with my Out of Jerusalem series, book 3 is about the time when Nephi builds the ship in Bountiful then sails to Mesoamerica. When I learned that building the ship took 2-3 years, I didn't want to skim through it in a couple of chapters. My publisher agreed to the idea.
I continued with my critique group, meeting almost weekly. I also joined the LDS Storymakers writers group during this time. Some of the people I met that year through Storymaker events would soon become important parts of my writing-life, such as Tristi Pinkston, Rachel Nunes, Josi Kilpack, Julie Wright, and James Dashner.
One of the amazing things about meeting other authors, who live in the same type of zany world of imagination, is that friendships become valuable because we authors tend to write in isolation. Who else can I chat with about character motivation? Who else can give me advice on making an opening hook stronger? Who else to commiserate about a bad review?
Writing a book (or should I say, completing a book) is a lot like going back to college. There is a lot to re-learn, because, let's face it, I wasn't really paying a lot of attention to synopsis-writing in high school. I never thought at the time I might have to write one for a publisher and that a design team would use it to create the cover and backliner for my book. Not only do we have to learn to transfer the idea in our head and make it into a cohesive story on paper, but we need to learn to promote ourselves. We need to understand the business and how to position ourselves as an author. We need to know what we can write off on our taxes, and how best to invest and divide our time between writing and promotional stuff.
Book 3 done and turned in November 2005. Then the wait began.
Book 1 took 11 months to get accepted.
Book 2 took 3 weeks to get accepted.
I didn't hear back from my publisher on book 3 for 3 ½ months. I was getting a bit nervous, but apparently, the person who was supposed to call hadn't. So I found out from my editor a bit after the fact. Not that I wasn't worried . . . :-)
November 3, 2010
My Publishing Journey--Part 6
Writing update: Yesterday I turned in a non-fiction book with my co-author, Angela Eschler. We are really excited for the book to go through the evaluation process. It's called: Not as the World Giveth: Christ's Gifts to Women.
Read Part 5 here.
My Publishing Journey
Part 6
I started writing "Of Goodly Parents" (my first book published) in the summer of 2002. It came out in the fall of 2004.
27 months.
It sounds like forever. But it's the business. Some of my manuscripts wouldn't be published, others would take much longer than 27 months, my 2010-release novel (Alma the Younger) was as short as 11 months from first word to release date.
The difference between writing my "first" book (as in the book that was actually published) and my "second" book was the timeline and the feeling of pressure. My first book was all self-motivated, with a deadline in mind, but very open-ended. My second book was the opposite. Every word written and every hour spent on research was with a deadline facing me. And with the thought of "someone will be reading or editing the paragraph I'm now writing." That thought was very surreal. Now that I had experienced the creation of a novel from start to finish, it was pretty amazing to begin the process all over again.
It also took a lot of motivation and patience. Motivation to crank out my daily and weekly writing goals, and patience to know that eventually the few pages I was able to write each day WOULD become a full-length manuscript in a few months.
You'll be happy to know that I did meet my Dec 1 deadline, but Christmas shopping would have to wait. I was called as Primary President in my ward right before Thanksgiving. And as you know, December is probably the busiest month for that assignment. I remember one comment from a lady at a ward Christmas party was, "I guess you won't be writing books anymore since you're primary president." I don't think the lady knew I'd just spent two months getting up at 4 a.m.
I survived December (and January! Which is also busy) and did so for the next four years. Serving as Primary President did keep me busy, but it also kept me serving, which is always a good thing.
Edits for book two came around, and luckily I had the same editor for my second book as my first. One of the first things he said to me was to cut down the number of points of view in the novel. I had 9 and he wanted 4. I think I ended up keeping 5 points of view, but it was a major undertaking. It didn't change the plot or the characters, but it took time to go into each scene and revise so that we were in a different point of view.
Now, looking back, point of view is a very important writing tool. The point of view character in each scene should be the character who will be the most effected in that scene.
Read Part 5 here.
My Publishing Journey
Part 6
I started writing "Of Goodly Parents" (my first book published) in the summer of 2002. It came out in the fall of 2004.
27 months.
It sounds like forever. But it's the business. Some of my manuscripts wouldn't be published, others would take much longer than 27 months, my 2010-release novel (Alma the Younger) was as short as 11 months from first word to release date.
The difference between writing my "first" book (as in the book that was actually published) and my "second" book was the timeline and the feeling of pressure. My first book was all self-motivated, with a deadline in mind, but very open-ended. My second book was the opposite. Every word written and every hour spent on research was with a deadline facing me. And with the thought of "someone will be reading or editing the paragraph I'm now writing." That thought was very surreal. Now that I had experienced the creation of a novel from start to finish, it was pretty amazing to begin the process all over again.
It also took a lot of motivation and patience. Motivation to crank out my daily and weekly writing goals, and patience to know that eventually the few pages I was able to write each day WOULD become a full-length manuscript in a few months.
You'll be happy to know that I did meet my Dec 1 deadline, but Christmas shopping would have to wait. I was called as Primary President in my ward right before Thanksgiving. And as you know, December is probably the busiest month for that assignment. I remember one comment from a lady at a ward Christmas party was, "I guess you won't be writing books anymore since you're primary president." I don't think the lady knew I'd just spent two months getting up at 4 a.m.
I survived December (and January! Which is also busy) and did so for the next four years. Serving as Primary President did keep me busy, but it also kept me serving, which is always a good thing.
Edits for book two came around, and luckily I had the same editor for my second book as my first. One of the first things he said to me was to cut down the number of points of view in the novel. I had 9 and he wanted 4. I think I ended up keeping 5 points of view, but it was a major undertaking. It didn't change the plot or the characters, but it took time to go into each scene and revise so that we were in a different point of view.
Now, looking back, point of view is a very important writing tool. The point of view character in each scene should be the character who will be the most effected in that scene.
October 27, 2010
My Publishing Journey--Part 5
Read Part 4 Here.
My Publishing Journey
Part 5
For the first nine months of 2004, it was pretty exciting to know my first book would be out in September. At times it seemed surreal to think about. The editing process began, and I had my first experience working with an editor. One of the first things he told me was to change my epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter. He wanted them to be all from the Old Testament. Then I had to write chapter notes, a bibliography, a preface, and acknowledgments. All of which I'd eventually become well versed at, but for the first book, it was a lot of work that I wasn't expecting.
I also had to "tone down" a few things, something I expected because my publisher is very strict on content. For my first book it wasn't too much, but in future books, it would become more of a trial to find that balance.
The publisher also decided to switch my series title with the volume title. My original series title was "Of Goodly Parents" because of Nephi's famous line, and the reader would know right away that it was a series on Nephi. Then the volume title was "Out of Jerusalem" (with subsequent volumes as "Into the Wilderness," etc.). I wasn't sure about the switch. I asked a few friends, and they liked my publisher's decision. So I decided I could live with it after all.
Everything would be wrapped up in May, which was good timing since my baby was due the beginning of June. The final project was to have an author picture taken. I was nine months pregnant, but it was only of shoulders, up, right? The photo session went well and I had high hopes until I received the proofs back. The woman in the photo wasn't me—or at least she wasn't who I saw in the mirror. I asked my editor, "Can I NOT have an author picture in my book?" Thankfully he said I didn't need to have one.
Just before the cover was designed I had a strange phone call from my editor. "We were wondering if we could change your name. We'd like to use your initials: H.B. Moore." I thought of the years I'd spent writing, the rejections, and finally having a book published . . . and now no one would know it. My editor explained that it would broaden my target audience and men would be more willing to buy my book if they didn't automatically think it was a romance. And if I decided to write in another genre, then they could use Heather Moore (it would take me 8 books to get to that point, and not having an author picture in my first book further perpetuated my secret identity as HB).
My top 5 best moments in publishing:
1. Acceptance of book
2. Seeing cover for the first time (and loving it)
3. Holding actual book in hand
4. Having someone you don't know at all tell you they liked your book
5. Finding out your book went into a second printing
More good moments would come, and they are all tempered with challenges (which you'll all get to hear about eventually).
Back in the day, my publisher scheduled book signings like crazy—weeks of Saturdays filled with multiple signings. Eager and ready to be an author, I jumped on board. Problem was, I had four little kids at home, and my son was playing flag football on Saturdays (which would turn out being NOTHING when my daughters started soccer).
Also, I was nursing a 3 month old baby.
If the book signing was a fair distance (everything is far away when you are nursing), my husband and kids would drop me off, then pick me up two hours later. I'd nurse the baby, then go to the next book signing.
One of the first things people would ask me is "If this is a series, when does the next book come out?" I'd say, "Next fall." But then I decided to ask my publisher about it. I emailed the managing editor: "If I want my next book to come out next September, when do I have to turn in my next manuscript?" Her response: "December 1." I looked at the calendar. It was the middle of September.
To write, to research, to edit, took me about 6 months on my first book. I had 2.5 on my second book. Yes, I had about 50 pages drafted, but a long way to go. I couldn't imagine how I'd meet the deadline with four little kids, and one of them 3 months old. But I had made a commitment when I first got my acceptance that I'd turn in a book a year. I set my alarm for 4:00 a.m. for the next 6 weeks and worked from 4:00-8:00 a.m. and then a few snatches throughout the day. Sleep had become a thing of the past.
My Publishing Journey
Part 5
For the first nine months of 2004, it was pretty exciting to know my first book would be out in September. At times it seemed surreal to think about. The editing process began, and I had my first experience working with an editor. One of the first things he told me was to change my epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter. He wanted them to be all from the Old Testament. Then I had to write chapter notes, a bibliography, a preface, and acknowledgments. All of which I'd eventually become well versed at, but for the first book, it was a lot of work that I wasn't expecting.
I also had to "tone down" a few things, something I expected because my publisher is very strict on content. For my first book it wasn't too much, but in future books, it would become more of a trial to find that balance.
The publisher also decided to switch my series title with the volume title. My original series title was "Of Goodly Parents" because of Nephi's famous line, and the reader would know right away that it was a series on Nephi. Then the volume title was "Out of Jerusalem" (with subsequent volumes as "Into the Wilderness," etc.). I wasn't sure about the switch. I asked a few friends, and they liked my publisher's decision. So I decided I could live with it after all.
Everything would be wrapped up in May, which was good timing since my baby was due the beginning of June. The final project was to have an author picture taken. I was nine months pregnant, but it was only of shoulders, up, right? The photo session went well and I had high hopes until I received the proofs back. The woman in the photo wasn't me—or at least she wasn't who I saw in the mirror. I asked my editor, "Can I NOT have an author picture in my book?" Thankfully he said I didn't need to have one.
Just before the cover was designed I had a strange phone call from my editor. "We were wondering if we could change your name. We'd like to use your initials: H.B. Moore." I thought of the years I'd spent writing, the rejections, and finally having a book published . . . and now no one would know it. My editor explained that it would broaden my target audience and men would be more willing to buy my book if they didn't automatically think it was a romance. And if I decided to write in another genre, then they could use Heather Moore (it would take me 8 books to get to that point, and not having an author picture in my first book further perpetuated my secret identity as HB).
My top 5 best moments in publishing:
1. Acceptance of book
2. Seeing cover for the first time (and loving it)
3. Holding actual book in hand
4. Having someone you don't know at all tell you they liked your book
5. Finding out your book went into a second printing
More good moments would come, and they are all tempered with challenges (which you'll all get to hear about eventually).
Back in the day, my publisher scheduled book signings like crazy—weeks of Saturdays filled with multiple signings. Eager and ready to be an author, I jumped on board. Problem was, I had four little kids at home, and my son was playing flag football on Saturdays (which would turn out being NOTHING when my daughters started soccer).
Also, I was nursing a 3 month old baby.
If the book signing was a fair distance (everything is far away when you are nursing), my husband and kids would drop me off, then pick me up two hours later. I'd nurse the baby, then go to the next book signing.
One of the first things people would ask me is "If this is a series, when does the next book come out?" I'd say, "Next fall." But then I decided to ask my publisher about it. I emailed the managing editor: "If I want my next book to come out next September, when do I have to turn in my next manuscript?" Her response: "December 1." I looked at the calendar. It was the middle of September.
To write, to research, to edit, took me about 6 months on my first book. I had 2.5 on my second book. Yes, I had about 50 pages drafted, but a long way to go. I couldn't imagine how I'd meet the deadline with four little kids, and one of them 3 months old. But I had made a commitment when I first got my acceptance that I'd turn in a book a year. I set my alarm for 4:00 a.m. for the next 6 weeks and worked from 4:00-8:00 a.m. and then a few snatches throughout the day. Sleep had become a thing of the past.
October 20, 2010
My Publishing Journey--Part 4
Had a great time at Bouchercon (Writers Conference) in San Francisco this past week. It was hard to be in a hotel, so my husband and I escaped quite often to go sight seeing.
Now, onto continuing my Publishing Journey series:
Read Part 3 Here
My Publishing Journey
Part 4
In Feb 2003, I started submitting my third manuscript, a historical novel set in 600 BC Arabia, main character Nephi. My first manuscript—WWII historical—had received plenty of rejections. My second manuscript—kidnapping mystery—had received three rejections, but my heart wasn't in the story enough to go through revisions. First publisher submitted to: Deseret Book. Two weeks later I received a rejection letter. It was nicely written, but really a form letter. Upon first glance it looked pretty customized, but I'd received rejections from DB on my other books so I recognized the wording. One thing that was different was: "We don't publish any Book of Mormon fiction."
I felt my options were really quite limited as far as publishers went for this book. There were three more publishers that were possibilities: Covenant, Cedar Fort, and Granite (who were still publishing fiction at the time). I submitted to Covenant next. This was the end of February and the next response I heard from them was in August. I received an email that it had gone through the evaluation process and the consensus was that they wanted to see more of Lehi in the book (Nephi's father). I went through the manuscript and changed some more scenes into Lehi's point of view, then resubmitted.
A small break in my writing career happened in the fall. I was published in the Rose & Thorn literary magazine with a fiction excerpt from my WWII novel. I forwarded the publication to the managing editor at Covenant to show, hopefully, that my writing was viable and competitive.
To stay sane, I was also working on another book: a paranormal set in Puritan New England, 1840's.
The week before Christmas, the managing editor, Shauna Humphreys, called me. The news wasn't good.
Covenant was worried that my series would compete with another series they were publishing. Both series were set in the same time period, but they had different main characters. So of course I didn't agree. There had been other Book of Mormon novels published, and I was certain there would be many more, all by different authors.
I had waited ten months on one publisher only to be rejected. We discussed my WWII novel and Shauna asked if I'd considered making any of the characters LDS. No, I told her. That would have completely changed the main character's journey. We talked about my paranormal book, but it wasn't a genre Covenant was seeking. So the phone call ended on the note that Covenant really enjoyed my writing, but the project wasn't for them.
Well, as you can imagine, I was devastated. 2003 was a year to forget. I had lost a baby that summer and my book I had fully believed would be my debut novel had just received a rejection from possibly the only publisher who could properly publish my series.
So I asked my husband what I should do. He wasn't nearly as bummed out as I was (probably since he hadn't written the dang thing). But he's a sales guy and his response was "When a deal goes south, that means it's a real deal, and it's your job to get back in there and close it." He told me to set up a meeting with Shauna and present a marketing plan that explained all the reasons my book would sell and all the reasons readers would be buying it.
But this wasn't software, this was a novel! Plus it terrified me to think of pitching my book like a sales person. I had been fired from a clothing store because they told me I wasn't outgoing enough with the customers (another story—in my stubbornness, I ended up working in retail for several years and becoming a store manager). Then I realized I did have my stubbornness on my side. So I decided to take another shot and set up a meeting with Shauna after Christmas. It would give me a week to put together a marketing plan. Worst case, I would still be rejected, best case, they might reconsider or they'd be open to another book from me down the road.
I met with Shauna, feeling pretty nervous, and I was surprised at how absolutely nice she was. Not that I didn't think an editor could be nice, but Shauna was a genuinely sweet person. I wondered if she was like this with everyone or if, perhaps, she really did like me. We went over my list of how my series was different from what they were already publishing and how I felt there was a place for it in the market. She seemed impressed with my ideas. Again, I wondered if she was just being nice. But she did promise to take my ideas back to the committee.
When the phone rang on January 7th and I saw Covenant Communications on the caller ID, I barely had time to think of what it might mean before I answered it. I had a house full of little kids since I was babysitting the neighbor's kids, so I stepped into the freezing cold garage to take the call and have some privacy.
Shauna told me the committee had reconsidered and decided my series would complement their line-up instead of compete. They were worried that I wouldn't be able to deliver a book a year, but I assured her I would (of course!). She said the release date was set for September 2004 and would come out in hardcover.
After hanging up with her, I was elated. I didn't know what to do first. But my feet were freezing. I called my husband and then called my parents. Nine months seemed forever to wait for my book to come out, but I had crossed a major threshold. I was also pregnant again. 2004 was definitely looking up.
My Publishing Journey--Part 3
Had a great time at Bouchercon (Writers Conference) in San Francisco this past week. It was hard to be in a hotel, so my husband and I escaped quite often to go sight seeing.
Now, onto continuing my Publishing Journey series:
Read Part 3 Here
My Publishing Journey
Part 4
In Feb 2003, I started submitting my third manuscript, a historical novel set in 600 BC Arabia, main character Nephi. My first manuscript—WWII historical—had received plenty of rejections. My second manuscript—kidnapping mystery—had received three rejections, but my heart wasn't in the story enough to go through revisions. First publisher submitted to: Deseret Book. Two weeks later I received a rejection letter. It was nicely written, but really a form letter. Upon first glance it looked pretty customized, but I'd received rejections from DB on my other books so I recognized the wording. One thing that was different was: "We don't publish any Book of Mormon fiction."
I felt my options were really quite limited as far as publishers went for this book. There were three more publishers that were possibilities: Covenant, Cedar Fort, and Granite (who were still publishing fiction at the time). I submitted to Covenant next. This was the end of February and the next response I heard from them was in August. I received an email that it had gone through the evaluation process and the consensus was that they wanted to see more of Lehi in the book (Nephi's father). I went through the manuscript and changed some more scenes into Lehi's point of view, then resubmitted.
A small break in my writing career happened in the fall. I was published in the Rose & Thorn literary magazine with a fiction excerpt from my WWII novel. I forwarded the publication to the managing editor at Covenant to show, hopefully, that my writing was viable and competitive.
To stay sane, I was also working on another book: a paranormal set in Puritan New England, 1840's.
The week before Christmas, the managing editor, Shauna Humphreys, called me. The news wasn't good.
Covenant was worried that my series would compete with another series they were publishing. Both series were set in the same time period, but they had different main characters. So of course I didn't agree. There had been other Book of Mormon novels published, and I was certain there would be many more, all by different authors.
I had waited ten months on one publisher only to be rejected. We discussed my WWII novel and Shauna asked if I'd considered making any of the characters LDS. No, I told her. That would have completely changed the main character's journey. We talked about my paranormal book, but it wasn't a genre Covenant was seeking. So the phone call ended on the note that Covenant really enjoyed my writing, but the project wasn't for them.
Well, as you can imagine, I was devastated. 2003 was a year to forget. I had lost a baby that summer and my book I had fully believed would be my debut novel had just received a rejection from possibly the only publisher who could properly publish my series.
So I asked my husband what I should do. He wasn't nearly as bummed out as I was (probably since he hadn't written the dang thing). But he's a sales guy and his response was "When a deal goes south, that means it's a real deal, and it's your job to get back in there and close it." He told me to set up a meeting with Shauna and present a marketing plan that explained all the reasons my book would sell and all the reasons readers would be buying it.
But this wasn't software, this was a novel! Plus it terrified me to think of pitching my book like a sales person. I had been fired from a clothing store because they told me I wasn't outgoing enough with the customers (another story—in my stubbornness, I ended up working in retail for several years and becoming a store manager). Then I realized I did have my stubbornness on my side.. So I decided to take another shot and set up a meeting with Shauna after Christmas. It would give me a week to put together a marketing plan. Worst case, I would still be rejected, best case, they might reconsider or they'd be open to another book from me down the road.
I met with Shauna, feeling pretty nervous, and I was surprised at how absolutely nice she was. Not that I didn't think an editor could be nice, but Shauna was a genuinely sweet person. I wondered if she was like this with everyone or if, perhaps, she really did like me. We went over my list of how my series was different from what they were already publishing and how I felt there was a place for it in the market. She seemed impressed with my ideas. Again, I wondered if she was just being nice. But she did promise to take my ideas back to the committee.
When the phone rang on January 7th and I saw Covenant Communications on the caller ID, I barely had time to think of what it might mean before I answered it. I had a house full of little kids since I was babysitting the neighbor's kids, so I stepped into the freezing cold garage to take the call and have some privacy.
Shauna told me the committee had reconsidered and decided my series would complement their line-up instead of compete. They were worried that I wouldn't be able to deliver a book a year, but I assured her I would (of course!). She said the release date was set for September 2004 and would come out in hardcover.
After hanging up with her, I was elated. I didn't know what to do first. But my feet were freezing. I called my husband and then called my parents. Nine months seemed forever to wait for my book to come out, but I had crossed a major threshold. I was also pregnant again. 2004 was definitely looking up.
October 13, 2010
My Publishing Journey--Part 3
Good news! I've finished the first draft of Daughters of Jared. A copy of my pitch letter to my publisher is HERE. I'll take a week off and then start on the second draft process, then off to alpha readers. I hope to turn it in by December.
Read Part 2 Here
My Publishing Journey
Part 3
As a teen I read everything that Mary Higgins Clark wrote. But her most inspirational book was called Kitchen Privileges: A Memoir. In the book she details the writing schedule she carved out for herself as a widow and working mother of several children. 5:00 a.m.-7:00 a.m. At the time, I didn't realize how useful this sound advice would eventually become.
Around the time that I finished writing my mystery, which changed several times, and finally landed on the title 72 Hours (because, of course, it all took place in 72 hours), a young woman in Utah was kidnapped. The story of Elizabeth Smart made national news and became the focal point of media attention for many months, when finally, and miraculously, she was found alive. This took a bit of steam out of my kidnapping mystery. But the manuscript was finished so I decided to submit anyway.
1. Rejection
2. Rejection, but a long editorial letter detailing what I'd need to do to get the manuscript into shape
I had moved up in the rejection ladder. Writers understand that being completely ignored is the bottom rung , getting a form rejection is the next rung up, and getting a customized rejection with editorial notes is even higher. I was excited. I was devastated. I read through the two page letter and my heart sank further and further. I now couldn't say—oh it just wasn't for them—I now had everything that was wrong with my story and plot written out in black and white.
Without pulling it out and reading over the painful comments again, I do remember the basics. "I was really excited when I started reading this manuscript. Until about page 35 when things began to fall apart. It was obvious you hadn't done your police procedure research. . ."
So, I was expected to interview a police officer? Sounded a bit out of my comfort zone. As I read the letter several times, I realized that my heart was no longer in the story. I didn't want my novel to be seen as a copycat to the events surrounding the now infamous Utah kidnapping, and I didn't know if I had the stamina to write in the mystery genre, and research all that needed to be researched.
I decided that since I'd written two full novels, only to receive rejections, I'd use another approach. I studied the smaller presses and read some of the books they were publishing. I looked for a niche that I might be able to fill for one of them—both to target their readers and to write something that I truly enjoyed.
Historical fiction has always been a great love of mine. Reading historical novels, or watching movies based on historical facts have always kept me enthralled. But one of the publishers I researched published religious books for the LDS market. I'm LDS, but I hadn't considered writing and LDS book. The LDS novels I had read seemed too much like a Sunday School lesson. But two of my critique partners were writing for the LDS market. Jeff Savage had a suspense novel out and Annette Lyon a contemporary romance. And I really enjoyed them. So I thought there might be hope for me in that market. But what to write? I didn't want to work more on the mystery. I didn't want to turn the WWII novel into an LDS novel. What historical aspect did I have a true interest in that also connected with LDS readers?
There were a couple of big name LDS historical novelists, Dean Hughes and Gerald Lund. Neither had written anything on the Book of Mormon—a historical record of people who lived in b.c. Mesoamerica. Perhaps I could try it. The more I thought about it, the more the idea appealed to me. I had lived in Jerusalem as a teenager so I felt I had a bit of a connection to the culture that Lehi and his family grew up in (their story takes place in the first "book" of the Book of Mormon). But I was not a scripturian, in fact, far from it. I'd hardly been to Sunday School myself as an adult since I was always teaching in Primary.
But I had connections. My father, S. Kent Brown, was a scholar—specializing in the New Testament, but also very well versed in the Book of Mormon since he was a professor at BYU. I asked if he might be interested in co-writing a series on Nephi's journey. After hemming and hawing a bit, he finally said no. He wasn't interested in writing fiction. But I had my source in place. With my dad's brilliant mind, I could ask him a question, and he could direct me to the most relevant source without me spending thousands of hours reading every bit of research. I only had to spend hundreds of hours.
I wrote the first five pages and brought them to critique group, feeling like I was finally going somewhere with a story idea.
The first thing they said to me after I explained my project was: Haven't you read any of the Book of Mormon fiction that's already been published?
To my dismay, I hadn't realized there was any out there, which shows how "new" I was to the LDS market. But after reading my first chapter, my group assured me that my manuscript was unique in its own way and could stand on its own.
The journey writing "Out of Jerusalem: Of Goodly Parents" had just begun in 2002, and would take over 2 years to hit the shelves because of the many roadblocks were about to stand in my way.
Read Part 2 Here
My Publishing Journey
Part 3
As a teen I read everything that Mary Higgins Clark wrote. But her most inspirational book was called Kitchen Privileges: A Memoir. In the book she details the writing schedule she carved out for herself as a widow and working mother of several children. 5:00 a.m.-7:00 a.m. At the time, I didn't realize how useful this sound advice would eventually become.
Around the time that I finished writing my mystery, which changed several times, and finally landed on the title 72 Hours (because, of course, it all took place in 72 hours), a young woman in Utah was kidnapped. The story of Elizabeth Smart made national news and became the focal point of media attention for many months, when finally, and miraculously, she was found alive. This took a bit of steam out of my kidnapping mystery. But the manuscript was finished so I decided to submit anyway.
1. Rejection
2. Rejection, but a long editorial letter detailing what I'd need to do to get the manuscript into shape
I had moved up in the rejection ladder. Writers understand that being completely ignored is the bottom rung , getting a form rejection is the next rung up, and getting a customized rejection with editorial notes is even higher. I was excited. I was devastated. I read through the two page letter and my heart sank further and further. I now couldn't say—oh it just wasn't for them—I now had everything that was wrong with my story and plot written out in black and white.
Without pulling it out and reading over the painful comments again, I do remember the basics. "I was really excited when I started reading this manuscript. Until about page 35 when things began to fall apart. It was obvious you hadn't done your police procedure research. . ."
So, I was expected to interview a police officer? Sounded a bit out of my comfort zone. As I read the letter several times, I realized that my heart was no longer in the story. I didn't want my novel to be seen as a copycat to the events surrounding the now infamous Utah kidnapping, and I didn't know if I had the stamina to write in the mystery genre, and research all that needed to be researched.
I decided that since I'd written two full novels, only to receive rejections, I'd use another approach. I studied the smaller presses and read some of the books they were publishing. I looked for a niche that I might be able to fill for one of them—both to target their readers and to write something that I truly enjoyed.
Historical fiction has always been a great love of mine. Reading historical novels, or watching movies based on historical facts have always kept me enthralled. But one of the publishers I researched published religious books for the LDS market. I'm LDS, but I hadn't considered writing and LDS book. The LDS novels I had read seemed too much like a Sunday School lesson. But two of my critique partners were writing for the LDS market. Jeff Savage had a suspense novel out and Annette Lyon a contemporary romance. And I really enjoyed them. So I thought there might be hope for me in that market. But what to write? I didn't want to work more on the mystery. I didn't want to turn the WWII novel into an LDS novel. What historical aspect did I have a true interest in that also connected with LDS readers?
There were a couple of big name LDS historical novelists, Dean Hughes and Gerald Lund. Neither had written anything on the Book of Mormon—a historical record of people who lived in b.c. Mesoamerica. Perhaps I could try it. The more I thought about it, the more the idea appealed to me. I had lived in Jerusalem as a teenager so I felt I had a bit of a connection to the culture that Lehi and his family grew up in (their story takes place in the first "book" of the Book of Mormon). But I was not a scripturian, in fact, far from it. I'd hardly been to Sunday School myself as an adult since I was always teaching in Primary.
But I had connections. My father, S. Kent Brown, was a scholar—specializing in the New Testament, but also very well versed in the Book of Mormon since he was a professor at BYU. I asked if he might be interested in co-writing a series on Nephi's journey. After hemming and hawing a bit, he finally said no. He wasn't interested in writing fiction. But I had my source in place. With my dad's brilliant mind, I could ask him a question, and he could direct me to the most relevant source without me spending thousands of hours reading every bit of research. I only had to spend hundreds of hours.
I wrote the first five pages and brought them to critique group, feeling like I was finally going somewhere with a story idea.
The first thing they said to me after I explained my project was: Haven't you read any of the Book of Mormon fiction that's already been published?
To my dismay, I hadn't realized there was any out there, which shows how "new" I was to the LDS market. But after reading my first chapter, my group assured me that my manuscript was unique in its own way and could stand on its own.
The journey writing "Out of Jerusalem: Of Goodly Parents" had just begun in 2002, and would take over 2 years to hit the shelves because of the many roadblocks were about to stand in my way.
October 6, 2010
My Publishing Journey--Part 2
Good news! AMMON has been officially accepted and slated for release in June 2011!
Read Part 1 Here.
My Publishing Journey
Part 2
(Year 2001)
With my husband moving out of our home office, things quickly came together. I had an office, a computer, and an imagination. My grandmother had finally consented for "someone in the family" to write her personal history. That someone turned out to be me. I spent time with her each week going over questions and various aspects of her life. She was a young woman during the WWII era, and some of the things she shared catapulted me into my first story.
I wrote during naptime and in the evenings when the kids were in bed. My husband was currently traveling a lot, and my usual evening hobbies slowly disintegrated as I became more and more involved in writing.
Summer came and I signed up for a couple of creative writing extension courses through a local college. I had my degree, but not in creative writing, or English for that matter. The only thing that was holding my story together was my love for reading and general understanding of what made a decent book.
The first creative writing course was a let-down. The instructor began by telling the group of adults that we had little chance of getting published. He also told us that he was tired of the stay-at-home mother who thought she could make an extra dollar or two by publishing a novel.
Moving on. The next creative writing course was better. The instructor, Rachel Nunes, had actually published several novels (unlike the previous instructor) and was a mother as well. Part of her advice was how to balance family and writing time. My eyes were opened, and I came out of the workshop feeling very motivated.
I had no idea how to find a publisher. Through some internet searches, I discovered a book called The Writers Market. I spent time in the library writing down names and addresses and submission guidelines. Impatient, I finally purchased my own copy and proceeded to highlight all of the publishers I wanted to submit to.
I bought paper, envelopes, stamps, labels and started submitting. The rejections started coming in. Well, that wasn't working so well. Another plan maybe. I decided to start smaller. I wrote a couple of short stories and sent them to magazines. One reply was, "This story is too sad." Another reply was, "There is a glaring error in your work, and we don't publish sub-standard submissions."
Mostly the replies were form letters. Maybe I didn't have what it took after all. I searched the internet again, looking for more workshops when I found the League of Utah Writers. It was November, and the next meeting wouldn't be until January. I eagerly went to the Wednesday night meeting in January at the Provo Library. Jeff Savage was the speaker. Annette Lyon was the Chapter President who ran the meeting. Jeff shared how he got published. Little did I know but within a few months' time, I would replace Annette as Chapter President and I would join Jeff and Annette's critique group.
The one message I came away from Jeff's presentation was that it was possible to get published if only I persevered. Jeff was published with a local publisher, Covenant, something I hadn't considered before. So I decided that since I loved reading mysteries, I'd consider writing a mystery for the Utah market. I'd continue submitting my WWII novel, but I was willing to try other avenues as well.
So I began what I now call the great mystery-novel failure.
Read Part 1 Here.
My Publishing Journey
Part 2
(Year 2001)
With my husband moving out of our home office, things quickly came together. I had an office, a computer, and an imagination. My grandmother had finally consented for "someone in the family" to write her personal history. That someone turned out to be me. I spent time with her each week going over questions and various aspects of her life. She was a young woman during the WWII era, and some of the things she shared catapulted me into my first story.
I wrote during naptime and in the evenings when the kids were in bed. My husband was currently traveling a lot, and my usual evening hobbies slowly disintegrated as I became more and more involved in writing.
Summer came and I signed up for a couple of creative writing extension courses through a local college. I had my degree, but not in creative writing, or English for that matter. The only thing that was holding my story together was my love for reading and general understanding of what made a decent book.
The first creative writing course was a let-down. The instructor began by telling the group of adults that we had little chance of getting published. He also told us that he was tired of the stay-at-home mother who thought she could make an extra dollar or two by publishing a novel.
Moving on. The next creative writing course was better. The instructor, Rachel Nunes, had actually published several novels (unlike the previous instructor) and was a mother as well. Part of her advice was how to balance family and writing time. My eyes were opened, and I came out of the workshop feeling very motivated.
I had no idea how to find a publisher. Through some internet searches, I discovered a book called The Writers Market. I spent time in the library writing down names and addresses and submission guidelines. Impatient, I finally purchased my own copy and proceeded to highlight all of the publishers I wanted to submit to.
I bought paper, envelopes, stamps, labels and started submitting. The rejections started coming in. Well, that wasn't working so well. Another plan maybe. I decided to start smaller. I wrote a couple of short stories and sent them to magazines. One reply was, "This story is too sad." Another reply was, "There is a glaring error in your work, and we don't publish sub-standard submissions."
Mostly the replies were form letters. Maybe I didn't have what it took after all. I searched the internet again, looking for more workshops when I found the League of Utah Writers. It was November, and the next meeting wouldn't be until January. I eagerly went to the Wednesday night meeting in January at the Provo Library. Jeff Savage was the speaker. Annette Lyon was the Chapter President who ran the meeting. Jeff shared how he got published. Little did I know but within a few months' time, I would replace Annette as Chapter President and I would join Jeff and Annette's critique group.
The one message I came away from Jeff's presentation was that it was possible to get published if only I persevered. Jeff was published with a local publisher, Covenant, something I hadn't considered before. So I decided that since I loved reading mysteries, I'd consider writing a mystery for the Utah market. I'd continue submitting my WWII novel, but I was willing to try other avenues as well.
So I began what I now call the great mystery-novel failure.
