And…take a bow.
So, this is my "down week." I...
And…take a bow.
So, this is my "down week." I am getting caught up on overdue work, and letting my brain breathe before I barrel through Troll or Derby, prior to emailing it to my beta-readers.
Someone asked me recently what a beta-reader is. My first book was so *out there* that it was tough to find a decent beta. I mean, if someone is reading women's fiction (fka Chick Lit), they're not necessarily going to dig monster time travel past-life stuff.
But publishing that book has really opened me up to so many new people who like & get it, and from among them, I've chosen a few people to test out my YA fantasy. (I've also chosen some from without.) Even though it's intended for a different audience, I think my beta-readers are diverse enough to tell me if the story has gaps, if I've botched continuity somewhere, if I've neglected to explain something in my world-building…I'm really excited to hand the story off and get their feedback.
Publishing This Brilliant Darkness felt like this enormous risk. Like…from here on out, people who know me as a working journalist will not take me seriously. I'll just be The Girl Who Wrote That Weird Book, and they'll forget about my stories that went national, or the big name interviews I did, or all the emails they'd sent me thanking me for helping them through tough spots in their lives, just from having shared a column about my own. Yeah, that was going to happen.
I'm not going to lie to you. I think that has happened, somewhat. Not totally (for the most part, people still haven't made the connection that I wrote a book, at all)—but the existing prejudice against "that vanity press wacko who won't leave you alone" has been successfully applied long enough to writers that it's spilled over to the millions who seized the opportunity last year to self-publish.
And, you know…as a discerning reader, I can say without prejudice that *most* of those millions of ebooks are probably not best-sellers waiting to happen, but can you honestly say that none of it is? Of course not. So, yeah, I'm out there. Slugging my way through the New Slush Pile.
Honestly, I'm just grateful for each reader. I think about all those musicians putting their work onto iTunes at $.99/download, and how many successes there have been since iTunes opened those floodgates. This is a very similar thing happening, over at the Kindle site—the main difference being that the internet, itself, is a medium of primarily written words. It's not primarily a network of music. We do not sing ourselves from one website to next, and most of us do not riff a guitar line as a response to a blog post. We read and write on the internet, as part and parcel of its use…and so, providing publishing tools on the internet empowers anyone who wants to write, to write for money. Or, at least the dream of money.
And that can be a little tough. Especially when you look at what has happened to our economy, and you realize how many people are seriously in need of making it big, as a literary sensation. These ebooks are lottery tickets for so many people. They're really putting their hearts out there, holding their breath, making wishes, and dreaming big.
You don't have to have aced macroeconomics at your junior college to understand supply and demand. There's a big supply of books out there right now, and it'll take some time for people to realize that the $5.00/mo they've made in sales paired with soul-crushing reviews is a sign that their work is not meeting the demand. And with millions of new ereaders out on the market courtesy Santa, it'll be a few weeks or even months before readers realize "Hey, just because this had an okay cover and it was free, doesn't mean I like this book." And that's going to be a hard reckoning, I think.
I feel for my fellow slushies. Maybe if some of them are reading this, they'll look for beta-readers of their own. Fiercely honest beta-readers. Think "quality control," folks. Think "this is my career," gang. Take it seriously, okay? Anyway, what a digression. Off the soapbox now.
So, yeah, those five star reviews make me feel great. I am over being the weird girl. I am pleased to be be the weird girl who writes five star novels. My next novel is going to be even more bombastic (in a good way), and I am so invested in its success that I really want to just improve it as much as possible before I put it out there. Honestly, I'll be a bit disappointed if my betas don't have fixes, tweaks, issues, etc. I WANT SOMETHING TO FIX, so I'll know I'm not flying blind with this thing.
But, having said that, I feel so good about the book right now, it's just me and this fabulously cute owlet, taking a bow on a sunny log, today.
My plan is to read through the manuscript next week. I hope it will only take me a week. I don't foresee a whole lot of editing to take place in that week, but it's possible. Anything's possible, and my expectations may have to bend.
Hey, the ebook of TBD is free today and tomorrow on Amazon:
Thanks for listening to me talk shop there for a bit. It's some stuff that I guess has been on my mind for awhile. Funny how minds do that. Just brew stuff up and spit it out, when you least expect it. I had zero blogging agenda today, other than to mention TBD is free today and tomorrow, and to remind you to visit Mary's SweepingMe.com blog for the latest five star review of TBD. (And a giveaway of the paperback.)
OH, and hey—if you've won a paperback from me in recent days, hold tight. I am still catching up from losing a loved one over Christmas, followed by two bouts w/ fever and yick…I will get your book in the mail ASAP, I promise! Without kooties! :) Please feel free to email me if you have any questions about when your prize will arrive.
Click on the owlet to get a freebie ecopy.
