The Writer's Predicament
This will be the first of what I hope will be a long, long series of blogs about writing and publishing genre fiction and everything it entails.
I’ve been writing fiction since 2006 when I started a novel called “An Innocent Client.” Twenty months and five drafts later, an agent named Philip Spitzer called me and said he loved the book. He wanted to auction it. I was thrilled.
The auction didn’t work out, but in October of 2007, Philip sold the book to New American Library, which is one of the many companies that make up the Penguin Group. I got a two-book deal and a fifty thousand dollar advance. By the end of the year, Philip had also sold the book to major publishers in Japan, Germany, France, Holland and Bulgaria, which brought me another forty thousand in advance money. Philip had brought in an agent from Hollywood named Joel Gotler and I’d already talked to a wealthy, reputable producer on the telephone about turning my debut novel into a television series. I was on my way to fame and fortune, or at least I thought I was.
It didn’t work out that way. Four and a half years later, I’ve published seven novels. The first three were published by Penguin and I’ve published the last four myself. I’m currently in a pseudo legal battle, attempting to get the rights back to my first three books. I’m making a living, but not a very good one.
I’m still writing, though, and within the next year or two, that living I’m making will change dramatically. If you read this blog, I promise I’ll tell you exactly how it’s going. I won’t puff up numbers. I won’t low ball numbers. I’ll tell you how many books I’m selling, what kind of marketing I’m doing, what’s working and what isn’t. I’ll also take you along during the process of writing my next novel and the one after that and the one after that. There might also be some frivolous information about family and dogs. You’ll have to accommodate me, just a little.
I’m calling the blog “The Writer’s Predicament,” because if you’re a writer of genre fiction, you’re constantly facing predicaments. The definition of predicament, for the purposes of this blog, will be “difficult situation.” The choices I’ve made as a result of my never-ending chain of predicaments have had a profound impact on my life. If you do this for a living, you know exactly what I’m talking about. If you aspire to do this for a living, you’ll soon find out.
The first predicaments involve story, plot, characters, things like that. They’re the nuts and bolts of writing. Then you have to figure out how to fit writing into your life. How many hours a day do I write? When should I start and finish each day? How many words should I write? Once you get a manuscript together, or nearly together, then you have to figure out how best to get it edited and into final form. Do I pay a professional to edit? Do I rely on friends or family? If I pay, how much should I pay? Will it be worth it? Once that’s done, is the book ready, finally, to go out into the world? If it is, to whom should I send it?
Those are just a few – a very few – examples of the writer’s predicament. Over the next few years, I’ll give you every example I can. I’ll tell you what I faced, the decisions I made, and the affect those decisions had on my career, my pocketbook, my family and my psyche.
I intend to enjoy the ride, no matter how it turns out. I hope you will, too. Check back regularly. I plan to post every three days or so.
I’ve been writing fiction since 2006 when I started a novel called “An Innocent Client.” Twenty months and five drafts later, an agent named Philip Spitzer called me and said he loved the book. He wanted to auction it. I was thrilled.
The auction didn’t work out, but in October of 2007, Philip sold the book to New American Library, which is one of the many companies that make up the Penguin Group. I got a two-book deal and a fifty thousand dollar advance. By the end of the year, Philip had also sold the book to major publishers in Japan, Germany, France, Holland and Bulgaria, which brought me another forty thousand in advance money. Philip had brought in an agent from Hollywood named Joel Gotler and I’d already talked to a wealthy, reputable producer on the telephone about turning my debut novel into a television series. I was on my way to fame and fortune, or at least I thought I was.
It didn’t work out that way. Four and a half years later, I’ve published seven novels. The first three were published by Penguin and I’ve published the last four myself. I’m currently in a pseudo legal battle, attempting to get the rights back to my first three books. I’m making a living, but not a very good one.
I’m still writing, though, and within the next year or two, that living I’m making will change dramatically. If you read this blog, I promise I’ll tell you exactly how it’s going. I won’t puff up numbers. I won’t low ball numbers. I’ll tell you how many books I’m selling, what kind of marketing I’m doing, what’s working and what isn’t. I’ll also take you along during the process of writing my next novel and the one after that and the one after that. There might also be some frivolous information about family and dogs. You’ll have to accommodate me, just a little.
I’m calling the blog “The Writer’s Predicament,” because if you’re a writer of genre fiction, you’re constantly facing predicaments. The definition of predicament, for the purposes of this blog, will be “difficult situation.” The choices I’ve made as a result of my never-ending chain of predicaments have had a profound impact on my life. If you do this for a living, you know exactly what I’m talking about. If you aspire to do this for a living, you’ll soon find out.
The first predicaments involve story, plot, characters, things like that. They’re the nuts and bolts of writing. Then you have to figure out how to fit writing into your life. How many hours a day do I write? When should I start and finish each day? How many words should I write? Once you get a manuscript together, or nearly together, then you have to figure out how best to get it edited and into final form. Do I pay a professional to edit? Do I rely on friends or family? If I pay, how much should I pay? Will it be worth it? Once that’s done, is the book ready, finally, to go out into the world? If it is, to whom should I send it?
Those are just a few – a very few – examples of the writer’s predicament. Over the next few years, I’ll give you every example I can. I’ll tell you what I faced, the decisions I made, and the affect those decisions had on my career, my pocketbook, my family and my psyche.
I intend to enjoy the ride, no matter how it turns out. I hope you will, too. Check back regularly. I plan to post every three days or so.
No comments have been added yet.
