M. Pierce's Blog, page 3

Valentine’s Day with Matt and Hannah

 

 

Matt and Hannah celebrate Valentine's Day in Last Light, book 2 of the Night Owl Trilogy, and you can read Matt's cards for Hannah now. The first is over at True Story Book Blog, and the second is at Sub Club Books.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Night Owl re-release & giveaway!

Image credit: Janie (@oorjanie)

2.99 for a limited time!

 

Night Owl is finally available again! And to celebrate the re-release, I'm giving away five copies of the e-book. Maryse of Maryse.net, one of my favorite book bloggers/sites, has agreed to host my giveaway -- so head over to her site to enter!

And not only is Night Owl available again, but it's being sold at a bargain price for a limited time. Do please urge to your friends to pick up the book while it's cheap!

 

BUY LINKS:

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Editing

Some fellow authors and readers have been asking me about the "editing process" with a traditional book deal, so I'm going to describe it here. This process is particular to me and my editor and might vary with others.

So. I finished Last Light, book two in the Night Owl Trilogy. I proofed it three times on my own. I checked for inconsistencies in the story, weak motives, dragging plot, and all the technical junk -- typos, grammatical issues, tense changes, etc.

When I felt confident with my manuscript, I emailed the first draft to my agent and editor. And I waited.

This process is as agonizing as waiting to hear back from agents, or waiting to hear from your agent as he or she submits your book to publishers.

Why is it agonizing? Because, when an editorial house buys your books, they are buying a say in the final product which they must sell. And by "a say" I mean -- my editor has every right to read Last Light and ask me to rewrite the entire novel if it doesn't jive with her vision for the book, or if she feels she can't sell the story.

Nightmarish, I know.

But... that's part of a traditional deal, and that's what I went in for. There comes a point when, as writers, we get so close to our stories that we can no longer distinguish the good from the bad -- the strong chapters from the weak. That's part of why I signed a deal -- part of why I went traditional. I wanted that editorial input. I wanted to give you the strongest story I can write.

Fortunately for me, my agent and editor loved Last Light and had small editorial suggestions for the beginning and end of the novel, and requested some heavier edits to make the final third more dramatic. ("Heavier edits" = rearranging and rewriting scenes, deleting scenes (hint  -- you'll probably get to see these), writing two or three new chapters, and re-combing the book for inconsistencies.)

When my editor outlined the book's major problems, I saw them clearly for the first time. I'd felt those problems, struggled with a diffuse denouement, but I could no more address them than I could articulate them. I didn't feel insulted by the edits suggested. I didn't feel I was losing control of my story. Most importantly, I didn't feel that my vision for the story was being lost or overwhelmed. Rather, I felt that my editor was helping me give clearer shape to my vision. And that's what a writer-editor relationship should do.

The next step is editing. Taking my editor's notes (and my agent's notes) and making changes to Last Light. Proofing, rereading, rewriting, rearranging. When I like the look of the second draft, I will send it to them (again). And they will suggest edits (again). And I will revise (again). And this process will continue until my editor "accepts" the manuscript -- at which time, ideally, we both feel the novel is as sound and well-rounded as it can be.

Moral of the story: This process -- the editorial process -- is what I feared most about my book deal, and now that I am moving through it, I am humbled and grateful and I have zero regrets about taking the deal. If I were still self-publishing, I would have taken my current first draft of Last Light and published it -- not because I'm a lazy editor, but because I was incapable of seeing some of the book's major pitfalls. I'm truly appreciative of my editorial team, because I want to give you a great book, not just a good book.

Sentimental lines

Here is a thank you note I wrote to my agent:

Hi ______,

I hope you're doing well and surviving the snow.

Today I got ______________, and I felt very emotional looking at them.

People say I'm "so young" with regards to my little success, but this has been a long time coming. I was seventeen when I made my first submission to the New Yorker (and promptly received a form rejection). Over the last decade, I've applied to dozens of MFA programs, tried for a Stegner three times (and Bread Loaf and Sewanee), and never stopped sending my stories and poems to the magazines and competitions. My mail was a steady stream of SASEs. I watched all my creative writing colleagues graduate alongside me and move into various careers, leaving behind their writing ambitions. I had no friends as serious as I was about "making it" as a writer. About seeing it through. They courted the idea of writing, which was my only passion, and then they labeled it a hobby and let it fall by the wayside.

When I looked around at the age of twenty-eight, I saw no one struggling with me -- or with the same intensity.

Everyone in my family knew I wanted to "be a writer," and I was beginning to feel like a fool.

Anyway. I swear. What a life.

I don't know how to thank you for taking me on, but please know that you've helped me attain the only thing I ever wanted.

Now, to this maudlin note, I want to attach my thanks to you, my readers. I've thanked you before -- but I can't thank you enough, or often enough. Those of you who follow me on Twitter know that the past few weeks have been difficult for me. The crowning difficulty was my family's rejection of my writing -- their vocal "disappointment," "unhappiness," and dismissal of the Night Owl Trilogy as "porn."

I knew this was coming, and I knew when I published Night Owl that I was playing with fire.

The outpouring of support from you all has been the only thing that kept me from a feeling of devastation. You reminded me how much my story meant to you -- how much more than "porn" it is -- and told me that you were proud of me, and that I should be proud of how hard I worked to get here. Thank you for that. I needed to hear it -- so much.

As I think about the events of the past weeks, I keep coming back to two things. One -- that I published Night Owl knowing my family would despise it, and that I did it anyway, because it's a beautiful love story that doesn't shy away from intimacy. Two -- that my fiction and my faith don't stand on opposite sides of some imagined fence. My God is much larger than that.

Thank you again for reading my story, for enjoying my story, for seeing that life and love aren't wrong.

Yours,

M. Pierce

 

Win a signed paperback!

Head over to Aestas Book Blog, a blog I love, and enter to win one of two signed copies of the new edition of Night Owl, releasing in July 2014. Prizes will be sent when the book releases.

Under construction

 

You may notice my blog looking ridiculous for a few days. This is because I'm working on a new layout. Sorry for the inconvenience; things will be running smoothly again soon!

Night Owl for Nook!

So many readers have asked me when Night Owl will be available for Nook, and I’m pleased to (finally) say, it’s here! You can now pre-order Night Owl for your Nook for just 2.99 and have the book on February 11th. Happy reading!

 

 

 

Cover reveal + giveaway!

Pre-order for Nook, iBooks, Kobo, and more, just 2.99!

I’m so proud to unveil the new e-book cover for Night Owl, created by the talented Kerri Resnick. Stay tuned for the new trade paperback cover reveal — a different design, also created by Kerri — here and on all participating book blogs. If you’re interested in getting signed up to participate in Night Owl Trilogy promos and reveals, please contact Lisa at TrulySchmexyPR@gmail.com.

I owe a HUGE thanks to Lisa of True Story Book Blog for helping me arrange this last-minute reveal, and to Aestas of Aestas Book Blog for letting me know the cover was online around midnight, and for staying up past 1:00 a.m. to announce it on Facebook and post the cover reveal on her awesome blog.

Anyway, without further ado, here’s the reveal giveaway! And it’s open internationally. Thanks for ALL your support, especially your optimism about this lovely new cover, and I hope you’ve taken the time to “like” those book blogs on FB.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

* The signed paperback prize will be the new SMP edition of Night Owl and may have a different cover than the cover depicted here. The e-books will be sent on February 11th and the paperback prize will be sent in July when the new edition is available.

5000 likes giveaway

JANUARY 19 — FEBRUARY 1

 

I want to say thanks to you guys — for liking my Facebook page, following me on Twitter, writing Night Owl reviews on Goodreads and Amazon, reviewing Night Owl on your book blogs & interviewing me — basically for EVERYTHING you’ve done to support me and my book.

So, now that I’ve reached 5,000 likes on Facebook, it seems like a good time for a giveaway.

 

The rules:

1.) There will be ONE winner of all three prizes — a LUSH bath bomb (a product that features in Last Light, book 2 of the Night Owl Trilogy), a sterling silver heart & owl necklace from Amazon, and a signed copy of SMP’s new edition of Night Owl, releasing this summer.

2.) The first two prizes will be sent ASAP, while the signed book will be sent in the summer.

3.) This contest is open in the US only. I am SO sorry to do this — and please know that I will be running another competition open internationally in the near future.

4.) How to enter! Just write a comment in reply to this post, describing yourself in ONE or MORE words. Make sure you begin your comment with the words “5000 LIKES GIVEAWAY,” this way it won’t get stuck in my spam filter.

5.) I will be selecting a winner randomly on February 1st at midnight, and I will reply to his or her comment (and send an email) to notify the winner. You will then have a week to email me with your mailing address to claim your prizes. If you don’t reply within that time, another winner will be selected.

Thanks again for all your support,

M. Pierce

P.S. Did I mention that I’ll be wrapping the necklace box with a page from the Last Light manuscript?

P.P.S. Please don’t worry if your comments don’t appear immediately — I have to go in and approve comments manually in order for them to appear.

Night Owl for Nook!

So many readers have asked me when Night Owl will be available for Nook, and I'm pleased to (finally) say, it's here! You can now pre-order Night Owl for your Nook and have the book on February 11th. Happy reading!