Kate Copeseeley's Blog, page 4
February 8, 2016
Hello From The Other Side (Of Christmas)
Uh... I think it's too late to say Happy New Year, so Happy Valentine's Day! I guess.
Things are busy over here. Over the holidays I (of course) got less done than I thought I was going to. Such is life.
I'm still going. I finished all my query stuff and I'm pessimistic about what the results will be, because I'm a pessimist. I mean, the odds of success are like... 1 in 10,000 or something. So it may be that in about 3 or 4 mths, I just put out another book. I mean, I think I've learned by now that I tend to write stuff that is a bit... unusual. Which is good for those of you who are fans, but for strangers I bet they scratch their heads and wonder what in the world goes on in my imagination.
I wrote a short fic for funsies, because nothing else would help me get over my angst over The 100 (if you don't know what I'm talking about WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN??? IT'S SUCH AN AMAZING SHOW!!! GO WATCH IT ON NETFLIX NOW!!!), but I'm finally getting back to Ignis which has been haunting my dreams with its insistence.
I'm hopeful it will go quick. I'm so close to finishing up this part of the Five Tribes that I can almost taste it! Just typing that feels good.
Finally, I chose my word of the year, which is STEADY. Because lord knows I need some steadiness in my life right now. Steady pace. Steady intentions. STEADY PROGRESS. STEADY RESULTS.
I think it's a good word for me. That's all for now. My time is pretty tight these days, so I'm putting most of my free time into writing. (Yes, I know, it's all good news over here, isn't it?)
Happy Reading!
Things are busy over here. Over the holidays I (of course) got less done than I thought I was going to. Such is life.
I'm still going. I finished all my query stuff and I'm pessimistic about what the results will be, because I'm a pessimist. I mean, the odds of success are like... 1 in 10,000 or something. So it may be that in about 3 or 4 mths, I just put out another book. I mean, I think I've learned by now that I tend to write stuff that is a bit... unusual. Which is good for those of you who are fans, but for strangers I bet they scratch their heads and wonder what in the world goes on in my imagination.
I wrote a short fic for funsies, because nothing else would help me get over my angst over The 100 (if you don't know what I'm talking about WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN??? IT'S SUCH AN AMAZING SHOW!!! GO WATCH IT ON NETFLIX NOW!!!), but I'm finally getting back to Ignis which has been haunting my dreams with its insistence.
I'm hopeful it will go quick. I'm so close to finishing up this part of the Five Tribes that I can almost taste it! Just typing that feels good.
Finally, I chose my word of the year, which is STEADY. Because lord knows I need some steadiness in my life right now. Steady pace. Steady intentions. STEADY PROGRESS. STEADY RESULTS.
I think it's a good word for me. That's all for now. My time is pretty tight these days, so I'm putting most of my free time into writing. (Yes, I know, it's all good news over here, isn't it?)
Happy Reading!
December 4, 2015
Ask The Author (the audiobook edition)
Laura asks:
Are you planning to have an audible version of Terris? I'm excited to read it - and am reading / listening to the first two books right now!
Well, Laura, as much as I do hate to disappoint my fans, the answer to this question is no. And now the super fun explanation as to why.
So, I got the AMAZING Em Eldridge to narrate my books in some kind of cosmic blessing that I still don't quite understand. I had signed up with ACX (which is like the indie author's marketplace for finding a narrator/producer for an audiobook). She did the first book and the second and Audible even kicked in like $2500 extra for her.
It used to be that an author and a narrator could make an agreement that they'd make the book together and share like... 70% of the profits, I think? Then ACX decided to slap both the creators in the face and knock that down to an absurd 25%. So I ditched ACX and never looked back.
Now virtually every good narrator on ACX is payment only (which is how it should be, since they got royally screwed over) and believe it or not, I don't have a cool $3000 lying around my house, waiting to be spent on audiobooks. I've got two kids, and a house payment... there are plenty of other places for that money to go!
I considered a kickstarter at one point. I really want you guys to have yourselves an audiobook if you want one, but I'm not sure I even have the audience to fund the thing. I'm no Amanda Hocking. So, Laura... I'm sorry to say that the audiobook isn't happening. Wish I had a better answer. :(
Happy Reading (errrr... listening)!
Are you planning to have an audible version of Terris? I'm excited to read it - and am reading / listening to the first two books right now!
Well, Laura, as much as I do hate to disappoint my fans, the answer to this question is no. And now the super fun explanation as to why.
So, I got the AMAZING Em Eldridge to narrate my books in some kind of cosmic blessing that I still don't quite understand. I had signed up with ACX (which is like the indie author's marketplace for finding a narrator/producer for an audiobook). She did the first book and the second and Audible even kicked in like $2500 extra for her.
It used to be that an author and a narrator could make an agreement that they'd make the book together and share like... 70% of the profits, I think? Then ACX decided to slap both the creators in the face and knock that down to an absurd 25%. So I ditched ACX and never looked back.
Now virtually every good narrator on ACX is payment only (which is how it should be, since they got royally screwed over) and believe it or not, I don't have a cool $3000 lying around my house, waiting to be spent on audiobooks. I've got two kids, and a house payment... there are plenty of other places for that money to go!
I considered a kickstarter at one point. I really want you guys to have yourselves an audiobook if you want one, but I'm not sure I even have the audience to fund the thing. I'm no Amanda Hocking. So, Laura... I'm sorry to say that the audiobook isn't happening. Wish I had a better answer. :(
Happy Reading (errrr... listening)!
November 16, 2015
*Insert Picture Of Head Hitting Desk Here*
The first two weeks of November have been JAMMMMMM packed, because it is that nano time of year and I decided that this would be the perfect time for me to get myself started on Ignis. Last year I did a side project (that I'm still currently revising) and even though I do have another side project about 1/2 way planned, I wanted to get right back into all the Five Tribes stuff this year.
Originally, when I started this, I gave myself one year apiece for these suckers. That was gonna be 5 books in 5 years. But... yeah, I keep getting caught up in other things: books, plot bunnies, LIFE. And well, I failed utterly.
But we're getting close to the end here, folks and this book number 4 is gonna be a DOOZY. Like, I've been wanting to write this particular book since the very beginning of the series and pretty much every tiny seemingly insignificant detail you may or may not have noticed over the course of the books so far will be brought back into play for this book. Did you notice perhaps a sword or a figurine or a character and thought, "Why in the heck did she talk about that only to drop it and never bring it up again?" Well, all your questions will be answered in this book and then some.
Of course, me being me, I will only end with more annoying questions. Because there is still one more book to be written after this one.
So far, thanks to the awesomeness that is nano, I have written about 30,000 words (about a quarter of the book, if you can believe it.) So, by the time nano is over, I hope to have almost half of the book finished (in draft form). My estimate for the book this time around is about 120k. That's modest by Kate standards, but don't worry. This book will be action packed!
So yeah, by the time nano is over, I'll have Nikka & Zyander 2/3rds of the way done. My plan has been to only write those two perspectives for this book and then work on Luka. If you finished Terris, you already know why I would write that perspective completely separate from the other two. If you haven't read Terris, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
So there you go.
In summary: 30k and 9 chapters into Ignis. Will be almost halfway done with the book by the time nano finishes. Halfway done with my final edit for the side project and halfway done with the planning phase for the OTHER side project.
And somehow I'm still supposed to get all the other crap in my life completed. Which is why I'm regularly up at 4:30 in the am, guys.
Happy Reading!
Originally, when I started this, I gave myself one year apiece for these suckers. That was gonna be 5 books in 5 years. But... yeah, I keep getting caught up in other things: books, plot bunnies, LIFE. And well, I failed utterly.
But we're getting close to the end here, folks and this book number 4 is gonna be a DOOZY. Like, I've been wanting to write this particular book since the very beginning of the series and pretty much every tiny seemingly insignificant detail you may or may not have noticed over the course of the books so far will be brought back into play for this book. Did you notice perhaps a sword or a figurine or a character and thought, "Why in the heck did she talk about that only to drop it and never bring it up again?" Well, all your questions will be answered in this book and then some.
Of course, me being me, I will only end with more annoying questions. Because there is still one more book to be written after this one.
So far, thanks to the awesomeness that is nano, I have written about 30,000 words (about a quarter of the book, if you can believe it.) So, by the time nano is over, I hope to have almost half of the book finished (in draft form). My estimate for the book this time around is about 120k. That's modest by Kate standards, but don't worry. This book will be action packed!
So yeah, by the time nano is over, I'll have Nikka & Zyander 2/3rds of the way done. My plan has been to only write those two perspectives for this book and then work on Luka. If you finished Terris, you already know why I would write that perspective completely separate from the other two. If you haven't read Terris, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
So there you go.
In summary: 30k and 9 chapters into Ignis. Will be almost halfway done with the book by the time nano finishes. Halfway done with my final edit for the side project and halfway done with the planning phase for the OTHER side project.
And somehow I'm still supposed to get all the other crap in my life completed. Which is why I'm regularly up at 4:30 in the am, guys.
Happy Reading!
October 1, 2015
Limbo Land
Just posting that title sounds like I'm at some new spot in Disneyland or something. "Welcome To Limbo Land, Happiest Place On Earth!" Except it's not if you're an overachiever like me.
So you know, I've crossed all the things off my list:
Finished last Terris draft and sent to my proofreader (Who will be done literally any second now. Eep!)Set up everything online to publish TerrisFinished Second to last draft of WIP and am waiting for feedbackWrite draft of query letter for WIPWrite draft of synopsis for WIPCompile comprehensive list of agents for said queryingFinish Bellarke FanficSo yeah, I'm in a holding pattern. Everything I've been working on is in someone else's hands right now and I'm stuck here twiddling my thumbs, waiting. Perfect time for a blog entry, right?
Let's talk about a few of those list things. I didn't add that I'm outlining for the next Five Tribes book. I can even tell you its name, because when you publish your own stories, you don't have to call things "untitled" if you have an actual title. Which I've had for like a year. The next book is Ignis, of course, because of the tribe in which it's based.That's right, Astra Cida (after which this blog is secondarily named) is coming up after Terris and Nikka is supposed to be hanging out with the Ignis during that time of year. I won't spoil anything, but it's never that simple. :)I'm also outlining for the 5th (and final) book, because these two last book are going to be tightly entwined, and for the sake of continuity, it would be helpful to make sure everything is connected properly. Seriously, guys, series are hard. Don't do them!
Other things on the list. Yes, I'm going to be querying something. If you don't know what that means, I'm going to try and find an agent for this new side project book I wrote. This is a weird thing for me. I never pictured myself trying to get something traditionally published, but there are a few reasons for that.
The first is that Five Tribes has from the beginning been something that I conceived of as self-published. When I wrote the very first words, I always pictured these books as something I would take care of myself. I was approached by an agent about the series, but I believe my exact words were, "I don't know what I'd do with an agent right now." And I didn't. I was also approached by a really great small publishing house about the series, but they were ebook only and I couldn't see what they could do for me that I couldn't do for myself. (This is what happens when you are an independent and highly motivated person. You learn to do things for yourself.)
But then I wrote this other thing and suddenly, I knew that it was something that might be appropriate for the whole publishing industry rigmarole (and believe me it is definitely rigmarole). So I've been revising and revising and revising and revising... there is a part of me that knows I have to stop trying to make it perfect, but until that part of me starts kicking and screaming, I probably won't listen.
I will soon have something else to occupy my time, though, because nano is coming up and that's when I plan on starting the next Five Tribes book. Until then, I'll just work on keeping myself busy... somehow... :)
So you know, I've crossed all the things off my list:
Finished last Terris draft and sent to my proofreader (Who will be done literally any second now. Eep!)Set up everything online to publish TerrisFinished Second to last draft of WIP and am waiting for feedbackWrite draft of query letter for WIPWrite draft of synopsis for WIPCompile comprehensive list of agents for said queryingFinish Bellarke FanficSo yeah, I'm in a holding pattern. Everything I've been working on is in someone else's hands right now and I'm stuck here twiddling my thumbs, waiting. Perfect time for a blog entry, right?
Let's talk about a few of those list things. I didn't add that I'm outlining for the next Five Tribes book. I can even tell you its name, because when you publish your own stories, you don't have to call things "untitled" if you have an actual title. Which I've had for like a year. The next book is Ignis, of course, because of the tribe in which it's based.That's right, Astra Cida (after which this blog is secondarily named) is coming up after Terris and Nikka is supposed to be hanging out with the Ignis during that time of year. I won't spoil anything, but it's never that simple. :)I'm also outlining for the 5th (and final) book, because these two last book are going to be tightly entwined, and for the sake of continuity, it would be helpful to make sure everything is connected properly. Seriously, guys, series are hard. Don't do them!
Other things on the list. Yes, I'm going to be querying something. If you don't know what that means, I'm going to try and find an agent for this new side project book I wrote. This is a weird thing for me. I never pictured myself trying to get something traditionally published, but there are a few reasons for that.
The first is that Five Tribes has from the beginning been something that I conceived of as self-published. When I wrote the very first words, I always pictured these books as something I would take care of myself. I was approached by an agent about the series, but I believe my exact words were, "I don't know what I'd do with an agent right now." And I didn't. I was also approached by a really great small publishing house about the series, but they were ebook only and I couldn't see what they could do for me that I couldn't do for myself. (This is what happens when you are an independent and highly motivated person. You learn to do things for yourself.)
But then I wrote this other thing and suddenly, I knew that it was something that might be appropriate for the whole publishing industry rigmarole (and believe me it is definitely rigmarole). So I've been revising and revising and revising and revising... there is a part of me that knows I have to stop trying to make it perfect, but until that part of me starts kicking and screaming, I probably won't listen.
I will soon have something else to occupy my time, though, because nano is coming up and that's when I plan on starting the next Five Tribes book. Until then, I'll just work on keeping myself busy... somehow... :)
September 17, 2015
The Power of the Reader
I came here to post good news: my book is with the proofreader and half-way through editing! Yayayayayayay! Things are looking good for a September publication. I also have my book cover. Which I'm happy to share with you all. Here you go!
I won't give any hints on what happens in this book, but as you might guess from the cover image... Luka figures rather strongly into the storyline.
As I said, I came to tell good news, but along the way I got sidetracked. I found some long-lost comments that got sidelined for moderation and decided to "get rid of the spam" as it were. Except, they weren't spam! They were lovely comments from my readers, telling me how much my stories have meant to them. They brought tears to my eyes and made me remember again why I keep doing this.
Because, honestly, I do ask myself sometimes (mostly when I'm doing line edits. yick). Why do I keep doing this? It's hard. It's long and complicated. It's time consuming. And it's just a story, right?
But you all have reminded me, time and again, with emails, with comments, with goodreads messages, that my silly little stories mean something to you. That you want to know what happens next. That you still wait for the next edition.
Which makes me excited that I'll be able to share it with you soon! Happy Reading!
I won't give any hints on what happens in this book, but as you might guess from the cover image... Luka figures rather strongly into the storyline.
As I said, I came to tell good news, but along the way I got sidetracked. I found some long-lost comments that got sidelined for moderation and decided to "get rid of the spam" as it were. Except, they weren't spam! They were lovely comments from my readers, telling me how much my stories have meant to them. They brought tears to my eyes and made me remember again why I keep doing this.
Because, honestly, I do ask myself sometimes (mostly when I'm doing line edits. yick). Why do I keep doing this? It's hard. It's long and complicated. It's time consuming. And it's just a story, right?
But you all have reminded me, time and again, with emails, with comments, with goodreads messages, that my silly little stories mean something to you. That you want to know what happens next. That you still wait for the next edition.
Which makes me excited that I'll be able to share it with you soon! Happy Reading!
July 10, 2015
Look What The Cat Dragged In
Well, hello friends! It's been a while, or so I see from the date of my last post. I promised myself I wasn't gonna say anything unless I had NEWS and guys, I have news in spades!
First off, I'm in final edits for Terris, (book three) of the Five Tribes books. It's been a long time, and 145,000 words coming. Some time has come my way (for now) and I have made good use of it. I'm hoping, HOPING for late August, but just to be safe, I'm gonna say September.
The book cover is in the hands of my cover artist and should be finished in a little bit. I'll post it here and on goodreads when it's done.
And as one final gift for those of you who have waited literal years to read the third book and have MY memory, I'm going to include a detailed summary at the beginning so that you don't have to read through everything all over again to get the important info.
In other news, I just finished a standalone book that is pretty much in an opposite vein from anything I've ever done before. It's the first time in a long time that I have written a story that doesn't have like 4 more books coming after it and let me tell you, it was a refreshing change from having to keep track of a thousand little. It's not for everyone—it's a Regency/fairytale fusion and it was a lot of fun to write. Still haven't decided what I'm going to DO with it. I may actually send this one around and see if it's mainstream enough to traditionally publish. I'm getting feedback on it right now. :)
That's all from the land of Kate.
Happy Reading!
First off, I'm in final edits for Terris, (book three) of the Five Tribes books. It's been a long time, and 145,000 words coming. Some time has come my way (for now) and I have made good use of it. I'm hoping, HOPING for late August, but just to be safe, I'm gonna say September.
The book cover is in the hands of my cover artist and should be finished in a little bit. I'll post it here and on goodreads when it's done.
And as one final gift for those of you who have waited literal years to read the third book and have MY memory, I'm going to include a detailed summary at the beginning so that you don't have to read through everything all over again to get the important info.
In other news, I just finished a standalone book that is pretty much in an opposite vein from anything I've ever done before. It's the first time in a long time that I have written a story that doesn't have like 4 more books coming after it and let me tell you, it was a refreshing change from having to keep track of a thousand little. It's not for everyone—it's a Regency/fairytale fusion and it was a lot of fun to write. Still haven't decided what I'm going to DO with it. I may actually send this one around and see if it's mainstream enough to traditionally publish. I'm getting feedback on it right now. :)
That's all from the land of Kate.
Happy Reading!
September 6, 2014
The End of the End
I've struggled with how to write this for so long that I think I've started this entry in my head at least a dozen times. And then never finished it. Because as sure as my brain says, "YES, YES, YES," my heart says, "NO, NO, NO."
Me, fleeing the scene every time.
But today. Today is the day I rip that freaking bandaid off and just say it. Okay. Yeah. I'll say it.
Life, everyone. Life gives you stuff and it also takes stuff away. And without going into a lot of excessive detail, I'll just flat out tell you, Life has taken away all my time. Normally, with a job I'd be like, well, I can still get up at 5 in the morning and work. Not this time. This time, (and for the foreseeable future) every single extra moment is taken up with school. Lots of it. More of it than I planned on for myself at this point.
Things happen, plans get messed up, and now I have a rough draft that most likely won't be finished for a long time.
And it sucks. It does suck. I love to write and I want to have time to do it, but I'm also a grown up. I have to devote my extra time to other stuff. Writing is fun, and Lord knows I'd PAY to do it, but there comes a point in your life where you have to look at the payout and realize your favorite hobby is a time suck that pays minimally and even though you want to do it right now, you can't.
So yeah. I can't. I'm sorry, for those of you who have emailed me and asked. I'm sorry for those of you who like the books and bought them and now are angered that you don't get to finish the story. (at least not now) If you want the rough draft and a story outline, email me. I'll try to set something up for you.
I could pull a GRRM and promise you for 7 years that it's coming out, but let's face it, I'm not George. He's a genius that people would wait decades to read. I'm not.
I'm not saying it will be decades. Not at all. But until school is finished, my writing is halted. That's a good two years, at least, I'm afraid.
Love to you all and sorry I was too sad to post earlier. I will take it up again when I can, but I understand if you've all moved on by then. Good luck to you, and happy reading.
Me, fleeing the scene every time.But today. Today is the day I rip that freaking bandaid off and just say it. Okay. Yeah. I'll say it.
Life, everyone. Life gives you stuff and it also takes stuff away. And without going into a lot of excessive detail, I'll just flat out tell you, Life has taken away all my time. Normally, with a job I'd be like, well, I can still get up at 5 in the morning and work. Not this time. This time, (and for the foreseeable future) every single extra moment is taken up with school. Lots of it. More of it than I planned on for myself at this point.
Things happen, plans get messed up, and now I have a rough draft that most likely won't be finished for a long time.
And it sucks. It does suck. I love to write and I want to have time to do it, but I'm also a grown up. I have to devote my extra time to other stuff. Writing is fun, and Lord knows I'd PAY to do it, but there comes a point in your life where you have to look at the payout and realize your favorite hobby is a time suck that pays minimally and even though you want to do it right now, you can't.
So yeah. I can't. I'm sorry, for those of you who have emailed me and asked. I'm sorry for those of you who like the books and bought them and now are angered that you don't get to finish the story. (at least not now) If you want the rough draft and a story outline, email me. I'll try to set something up for you.
I could pull a GRRM and promise you for 7 years that it's coming out, but let's face it, I'm not George. He's a genius that people would wait decades to read. I'm not.
I'm not saying it will be decades. Not at all. But until school is finished, my writing is halted. That's a good two years, at least, I'm afraid.
Love to you all and sorry I was too sad to post earlier. I will take it up again when I can, but I understand if you've all moved on by then. Good luck to you, and happy reading.
June 15, 2014
The BIC (Big Inner Critic)
Lots of writers talk about their inner critic. For most of us, it's that loud, cranky voice the comes in objecting to every word of the current manuscript we happen to be working on. In my case, it's the annoying harbinger of doom that comes around whenever I'm editing. And kicks my butt the entire time.
The good news is, I have completed the first markups of my rough draft for Terris. The bad news is, I haven't made any changes yet. Oh Lord.
But since I've put in multiple hours this weekend, I'm now giving myself a mini-break in the form of imparting my editing wisdom to all of you.
1) If you have a Kindle, USE it. (No, I did not get paid by Amazon for this promotion. Although, wouldn't that have been nice!) It's often way easier to read these things in book form and get an overall idea of where the plot is going rather than line-by-line in a word processor.
Yes, a lot of authors print out their work on paper and do it that way. Okay, that's good, but it might cost you a pretty penny if you're an indie author like me and your book is 130,000 words long, like mine is.
2) Why use paper and a red pen when you have Kindle Touch and highlights? OMG, highlights are the best!!! They're like a red pen, except you can add notes to them.
3) Which brings me to my next point... hey, guys, did you know about Kindle's word completion software for notes? It's awesome! Let me explain how it works.
You highlight a passage, and add a note and type in what you want. But Kindle's word completion software has a memory for your most used words.
So if I type in "rewrite" into kindle and select it when the word comes up, it remembers my choice for next time. Now all I have to do is type in "r" and rewrite pops up right away. So it's pretty much perfect for editing, as long as you remember what everything means.
rewrite, repetitive, more, huh, confusing, transition, new (for new line) I use these words all the time for my editing, and I do it only having to type in one letter before the word pops up. So great.
4) If you're not sure about how the words sound, then you need Free Natural Reader. As the title suggests, it's free. What it does is take text and read it out loud to you. If I'm not sure about a passage or I'm worried that I missed something in a conversation, I put it in natural reader and I can tell where the rough parts are.
So that's my technique for silencing the Inner Critic through hard work and toil. Next up comes beta reader feedback and then my next set of edits. (yay!) Finally looking like this book may get wrapped up.
Happy Reading!
The good news is, I have completed the first markups of my rough draft for Terris. The bad news is, I haven't made any changes yet. Oh Lord.
But since I've put in multiple hours this weekend, I'm now giving myself a mini-break in the form of imparting my editing wisdom to all of you.
1) If you have a Kindle, USE it. (No, I did not get paid by Amazon for this promotion. Although, wouldn't that have been nice!) It's often way easier to read these things in book form and get an overall idea of where the plot is going rather than line-by-line in a word processor.
Yes, a lot of authors print out their work on paper and do it that way. Okay, that's good, but it might cost you a pretty penny if you're an indie author like me and your book is 130,000 words long, like mine is.
2) Why use paper and a red pen when you have Kindle Touch and highlights? OMG, highlights are the best!!! They're like a red pen, except you can add notes to them.
3) Which brings me to my next point... hey, guys, did you know about Kindle's word completion software for notes? It's awesome! Let me explain how it works.
You highlight a passage, and add a note and type in what you want. But Kindle's word completion software has a memory for your most used words.
So if I type in "rewrite" into kindle and select it when the word comes up, it remembers my choice for next time. Now all I have to do is type in "r" and rewrite pops up right away. So it's pretty much perfect for editing, as long as you remember what everything means.
rewrite, repetitive, more, huh, confusing, transition, new (for new line) I use these words all the time for my editing, and I do it only having to type in one letter before the word pops up. So great.
4) If you're not sure about how the words sound, then you need Free Natural Reader. As the title suggests, it's free. What it does is take text and read it out loud to you. If I'm not sure about a passage or I'm worried that I missed something in a conversation, I put it in natural reader and I can tell where the rough parts are.
So that's my technique for silencing the Inner Critic through hard work and toil. Next up comes beta reader feedback and then my next set of edits. (yay!) Finally looking like this book may get wrapped up.
Happy Reading!
April 18, 2014
How Self-Publishing Fosters Diversity
I've got my angry-pants on today. (Please don't confuse these with my snarky-pants or my fangirl-pants.)
I got angry because I read about a bazillion articles on the internets this week about diversity in the publishing industry (diversity doesn't make me mad, but lack of it irks me something awful). These reports come out every year, and for like a week everybody and their brother is all, "Oh, that's awful. Something should be done. We should do something."
And then, literally nothing happens. EVER.
Oprah and I agree on this one.
And GAH, it is so annoying. I mean, really. This is what I'm reading, over and over again.
Daniel Jose Older writes:
WHY IN THE HELL ISN'T THIS CHANGING FOR THE BETTER? I mean, what do we need? Do we need to talk about this for longer than a week? Start a petition? Make our displeasure known?
I'm not naive. I understand the power structure at work here. I know that agents and publishers choose manuscripts. And that publishers and their marketing people decide how the book cover/description should look in order to "sell the most copies" or whatever. But the thing that pisses me off is that they do some tiny focus group (maybe?) and just assume they know what readers want.
Like, they haven't asked me. They haven't sent me an email and said, "Hey, we noticed you read YA. What would you like to see more of?" No, they just make the decision for the readers, which is almost as insulting as denying diversity a spot on the playing field.
And it's kind of a big deal that most of what is available to us the readers is white characters with a limited perspective. Because the truth is, all we readers have is the power of the purchase. If none of the publishers put out books featuring Hispanic main characters, how can we support them? How can we vote with our dollars? The obvious answer is that we can't.
We can get on twitter, we can rant from our collective blogs, and we can talk to each other, but OBVIOUSLY SOME BIG PEOPLE AT THE TOP JUST AREN'T LISTENING.
So I'm going to go all rebel now, and I might just throw around some grown-up words, because:
Let's take the middle man out of this equation! Just Self-Publish. Screw the system! Go around them! Let the readers decide what we want to read!!! I'm so freaking sick of someone else deciding what goes in my local giant megamart bookshelf/library/big chain bookstore. I'm so tired of seeing the same old plots over and over and over again.
Self-Publish, and no one will tell you what you can write. You can make your cover as diverse as you like. You can make your characters whoever you want.
The thing is, I fully and completely DENY that most readers give a crap what color or ethnicity their main character is. It's not like we look at a book and think to ourselves, "I don't know if I can relate to this main character because they're Asian." We don't care, as long as it's a good story.
We like good stories. We like learning about how different people (even aliens from outerspace) live their lives. We like exploring new worlds. We like being totally and completely removed from the boring old world that we normally exist in and being given the gift of altered experience.
So, if you want to write about your lesbian MC who loves rollerderby, do what Red Tash did, and SELF-PUBLISH.
If you want to have a gay MC in outerspace, do what Hugh Howey did and SELF-PUBLISH.
If you want to have a kick-ass black woman an urban fantasy world, do what Kenya Wright did and SELF-PUBLISH.
If you want to write about Korean culture in relation to Kdramas, do what Girlfriday and Javabeans did and SELF-PUBLISH.
Are you getting my point? Just. Self. Publish.
Let me give you my money and together we can show the world what readers REALLY want.
Sincerely,
One Angry-pants Reader.
Sources HERE HERE and HERE.
I got angry because I read about a bazillion articles on the internets this week about diversity in the publishing industry (diversity doesn't make me mad, but lack of it irks me something awful). These reports come out every year, and for like a week everybody and their brother is all, "Oh, that's awful. Something should be done. We should do something."
And then, literally nothing happens. EVER.
Oprah and I agree on this one.
And GAH, it is so annoying. I mean, really. This is what I'm reading, over and over again.
If you’re a parent of a child of color, finding relatable kids’ books can be something of a challenge. Just ask Lori Tharps, an African-American journalism professor and the mom of three bilingual, bicultural children. “I’m not trying to make my kids read about slaves all the time,” she says. “A black wizard story would be nice. Flat Stanley could be Asian or Latino. But they’re not there… at least it would be one less blond-haired, blue-eyed heroine or hero to worship.” A survey of 3,200 children’s books published in 2013—out of a total of 5,000—found that only 67 were by African-American authors, and only 93 titles centered on black characters. That’s the lowest number of black protagonists since 1994, when the Cooperative Children’s Book Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison began tracking that data.If the percentage of black citizens in the US is about 13% , then that means that to be properly represented in our country, the number of titles centered on black characters should be more like 400 (if we go by the originally surveyed 3200) a year in the children's book market.
Daniel Jose Older writes:
The disproportionally white publishing industry matters because agents and editors stand between writers and readers. Anika Noni Rose put it perfectly in Vanity Fair this month: “There are so many writers of color out there, and often what they get when they bring their books to their editors, they say, ‘We don’t relate to the character.’ Well it’s not for you to relate to! And why can’t you expand yourself so you can relate to the humanity of a character as opposed to the color of what they are?”And again, in Publisher's Weekly:
“We regularly beat ourselves up about this. There’s no one in the industry who’s not aware of this,” said Karre, who was interviewed on the topic by NPR in 2013. That program discussed the growing disconnect between the demographics of children’s book authors and characters, and that of young readers: 50% of all children in the U.S. under age five are identified as non-white. “This is not some parochial concern," he said. "Everyone’s conscious of this – or they should be.”
WHY IN THE HELL ISN'T THIS CHANGING FOR THE BETTER? I mean, what do we need? Do we need to talk about this for longer than a week? Start a petition? Make our displeasure known?
I'm not naive. I understand the power structure at work here. I know that agents and publishers choose manuscripts. And that publishers and their marketing people decide how the book cover/description should look in order to "sell the most copies" or whatever. But the thing that pisses me off is that they do some tiny focus group (maybe?) and just assume they know what readers want.
Like, they haven't asked me. They haven't sent me an email and said, "Hey, we noticed you read YA. What would you like to see more of?" No, they just make the decision for the readers, which is almost as insulting as denying diversity a spot on the playing field.
And it's kind of a big deal that most of what is available to us the readers is white characters with a limited perspective. Because the truth is, all we readers have is the power of the purchase. If none of the publishers put out books featuring Hispanic main characters, how can we support them? How can we vote with our dollars? The obvious answer is that we can't.
We can get on twitter, we can rant from our collective blogs, and we can talk to each other, but OBVIOUSLY SOME BIG PEOPLE AT THE TOP JUST AREN'T LISTENING.
So I'm going to go all rebel now, and I might just throw around some grown-up words, because:
Let's take the middle man out of this equation! Just Self-Publish. Screw the system! Go around them! Let the readers decide what we want to read!!! I'm so freaking sick of someone else deciding what goes in my local giant megamart bookshelf/library/big chain bookstore. I'm so tired of seeing the same old plots over and over and over again.
Self-Publish, and no one will tell you what you can write. You can make your cover as diverse as you like. You can make your characters whoever you want.
The thing is, I fully and completely DENY that most readers give a crap what color or ethnicity their main character is. It's not like we look at a book and think to ourselves, "I don't know if I can relate to this main character because they're Asian." We don't care, as long as it's a good story.
We like good stories. We like learning about how different people (even aliens from outerspace) live their lives. We like exploring new worlds. We like being totally and completely removed from the boring old world that we normally exist in and being given the gift of altered experience.
So, if you want to write about your lesbian MC who loves rollerderby, do what Red Tash did, and SELF-PUBLISH.
If you want to have a gay MC in outerspace, do what Hugh Howey did and SELF-PUBLISH.
If you want to have a kick-ass black woman an urban fantasy world, do what Kenya Wright did and SELF-PUBLISH.
If you want to write about Korean culture in relation to Kdramas, do what Girlfriday and Javabeans did and SELF-PUBLISH.
Are you getting my point? Just. Self. Publish.
Let me give you my money and together we can show the world what readers REALLY want.
Sincerely,
One Angry-pants Reader.
Sources HERE HERE and HERE.
March 22, 2014
So Excited I've Been Spouting Gibberish All Day!
Well, you might have a guess about why I'm so crazypants excited today, readers. Terris is finished. Yes, FINISHED. Yay for me. I'm awesome. Oh yeah.
Liz Lemon says, "High Five for you, Kate!"
Seriously though, I know this has been a long wait for you, so thanks for hanging in there with me. (And for emailing me several times to ask when the third book will be out.)
But it's not all sunshine and roses, I'm afraid. Right now the book is in three different files (which I have to admit went way better. Will definitely be doing that again next time.) so I have to put it all together. Then I'll be rereading the first two books (which is hardly a trial or anything. lol). Then I do a first read through of Terris, and look for any parts that make little to no sense, or don't work for the flow, or contradict stuff that I wrote before. You know, the parts where I sucked at writing.
After I've gone through to make it at LEAST understandable by humans, I'll be sending it out for some plot feedback from my team of people who enjoy telling me all the ways in which I've failed. (Alright, they're actually very nice people.)
Then comes yet another plot edit. This is more of a fine tooth comb sort of thing, but I'll still be looking at plot issues, if anything of note comes up with the betas.
Finally, the MS goes to the proofreader for red pen work, and then it will be formatted and uploaded on various sites.
So, we're honestly still looking at August, if I want to be realistic. Or maybe July, depending on how busy I am this summer. My kids will be gone at their grandparents' for a week, so hopefully I'll be able to push hard during that time period. :)
But I'm thrilled, beyond thrilled to be done. I'm excited where this book has gone, and ecstatic to pick it up for the fourth edition. I'm over halfway done with this series, and I'm both happy and kind of sad. I've devoted so much time and energy to these characters that I really hate to leave them behind.
For now, however, Nikka, Luka, and Zyander are back and they are happy to hold your attention for a bit.
Happy Reading!
Liz Lemon says, "High Five for you, Kate!"
Seriously though, I know this has been a long wait for you, so thanks for hanging in there with me. (And for emailing me several times to ask when the third book will be out.)
But it's not all sunshine and roses, I'm afraid. Right now the book is in three different files (which I have to admit went way better. Will definitely be doing that again next time.) so I have to put it all together. Then I'll be rereading the first two books (which is hardly a trial or anything. lol). Then I do a first read through of Terris, and look for any parts that make little to no sense, or don't work for the flow, or contradict stuff that I wrote before. You know, the parts where I sucked at writing.
After I've gone through to make it at LEAST understandable by humans, I'll be sending it out for some plot feedback from my team of people who enjoy telling me all the ways in which I've failed. (Alright, they're actually very nice people.)
Then comes yet another plot edit. This is more of a fine tooth comb sort of thing, but I'll still be looking at plot issues, if anything of note comes up with the betas.
Finally, the MS goes to the proofreader for red pen work, and then it will be formatted and uploaded on various sites.
So, we're honestly still looking at August, if I want to be realistic. Or maybe July, depending on how busy I am this summer. My kids will be gone at their grandparents' for a week, so hopefully I'll be able to push hard during that time period. :)
But I'm thrilled, beyond thrilled to be done. I'm excited where this book has gone, and ecstatic to pick it up for the fourth edition. I'm over halfway done with this series, and I'm both happy and kind of sad. I've devoted so much time and energy to these characters that I really hate to leave them behind.
For now, however, Nikka, Luka, and Zyander are back and they are happy to hold your attention for a bit.
Happy Reading!
