The Path To My Book

If you follow my author site on Facebook (you should: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennifer-Wilck/201342863240160?ref=hl), you probably know that I’ve got a release date (!) for my next book (The Seduction of Esther), I’m proofing the edits my editor sent back to me, and that I have a gorgeous cover! What you might not know, aside from why there are so many exclamation points, is why I’m so excited.

Getting accepted by a publisher (also known as getting “The Call”) is awesome. If a book is compared, as it often is, to your baby, then finding out that someone wants to publish your book is similar to your kid getting into the college of their choice. It’s justification for how brilliant you’ve always known they are. “See, my kid IS as smart as I’ve always bragged about!”=”Wow, someone else other than me thinks this is a great story and that others will want to read it!!”

So you go around telling everyone you know that you’ve written a book and it’s getting published. Everyone tells you how happy they are for you.

And then you wait.

And wait.

And wait some more.

Because even though the editor and publisher love your book and want to put it into print, there are a ton of other authors on their list in front of you. And you have to wait your turn.

And waiting is boring.

If you’re smart, you’ll get to work on the next book. But you still check your email box multiple times every day to see if they’ve contacted you again. You still check their website in case there’s news about you there (I’m listed as a Rebel author here). You still hem and haw about asking questions.

Which is why, when my new editor sent me back my manuscript for me to review, I was so excited. Actually, it was one of the reasons. The other reason is that she edited it! One of the things I’ve been told about Rebel Ink Press, and one of the key reasons I’m so excited to work with them, is that they edit the heck out of your work. I love that. I want an editor to love my manuscript enough to publish it, but not so much that they don’t touch it at all.

When I was a senior in high school, I had an English teacher who used to give me an A++++ on every single paper I wrote. She was a real teacher, with a PhD and everything, but for some reason, she was under the delusion that my papers were perfect. I was 17. Perfect wasn’t possible. And after the first 10 seconds, those extra ++++s were meaningless.

I want an editor not only to show me she’s read what I submitted, but also to find ways of making my writing better—”Hello, Jennifer, let me introduce you to a Thesaurus, brush up on Strunk & White and please, for the love of God, work on your commas!” Something, anything.

I spent this weekend reviewing her changes and I have pages and pages and pages of things she changed. Yay! And everything she changed is for the better. She’s great—and not just because we share a name. ☺ As soon as I finish writing this blog, I’ll be going back to the manuscript and going over it again, making sure I try to catch any lingering mistakes.

As for my release date, I was given a choice of dates, and ultimately decided on June 3. I love summer releases and this one gives me just enough time to start promoting it without interfering too much with end of school year chaos and packing for camp. I’m trying a few different things this time around, so we’ll see what happens—more on that later.

But the most exciting part of all of this is that I have a cover (and it is GORGEOUS). The cover artist is a genius. Really, he is. When Rebel Ink first accepted my manuscript, they had me fill out a cover art form. The form asked questions about my book, offered a stock photo site for me to peruse and enabled me to provide as much guidance as I wanted for the cover. And believe me, I provided a lot of guidance. I spent hours picking out multiple photos—women who reminded me of my heroine; men who reminded me of my hero; alternative photos and ideas that could be used in place of a specific person. I gave color schemes, themes, textures. You name it, I provided it.

The cover artist created something completely different and it’s perfect. Somehow, he weeded through everything I thought I wanted, determined I was wrong, figured out what I actually wanted and gave it to me. How many people can do that???

I’m still waiting on final word before I reveal it, so if you’re not already a fan of my author page, like it (link is at the top) and you can see it there. You can also check my webpage, where I’ll post it soon (http://jenniferwilck.com).

Please, when you eventually see it, let me know what you think!