I Published My NaNo Novel! Jason Hough on the Denial that Comes With Being a New York Times Bestseller

Jason Hough is the NYT best-selling author of The Darwin Elevator , a science-fiction novel set in Darwin, Australia. An alien race has built a space elevator there without explanation, and a deadly disease has started to spread across the planet, turning even survivors into “subhumans”.  We were blown away by Jason’s success and he was kind enough to answer a few questions for us.

You’re a New York Times Bestseller! Congratulations! How does it feel?

When my editor called, he asked me if I was sitting down. I said I was, but in truth I had my toddler in one arm and was pouring milk into a sippy cup with the other. Anyway, he took me at my word and broke the news. He and my agent were freaking out, sending virtual high-fives and hugs and tears. I was #24 on the NYT Bestseller list! All I could think was, “24 out of 25? That barely counts!”

So I think I’m still in denial. This all happened very fast, and I’m still in the mindset that I can’t believe anyone likes the book, let alone a lot of people. I’m trying to stay focused on what’s next and continuing to improve as a writer. Hopefully this doesn’t sound smug, but I know I’m just getting started.

How many times have you participated in NaNoWriMo? What have your NaNo experiences been like?

Twice. I first did NaNoWriMo in 2007. That was my first time writing anything with any seriousness. It was a romantic comedy called Tact or Fiction, and I went in with virtually no plan. What I thought was an idea for a novel was really just a single chapter. The story fell apart after that one scene, and it was a real struggle from there.

But, I did manage to finish (50,280 words). Afterwards I was proud, but I also had a newfound respect for authors. It was hard work! So hard that I decided screenplays would be my thing, instead. So that April I did Script Frenzy, and I was armed with a decent outline and a co-writer. It was much easier and resulted in a finished product I’m still proud of.

The friends I made during NaNoWriMo talked me into doing it again in 2008. This time I was determined to end up with a draft of a novel I could keep working on. I went in with a highly detailed outline, lots of character sketches and maps, and most importantly some idea of what I was getting into. That November resulted in the first 50k words of The Darwin Elevator, and I haven’t done NaNo again because I’ve been working on that book (and two sequels) ever since.

After November’s over, revision time inevitably rolls around. What was your revision process like? Do you have any advice for those of us who are struggling in the revision doldrums?

Step away from the project for a bit. How long is different for everyone. It could be a few days, or a month, or six. The benchmark to use is to wait until that time when you suddenly realize you haven’t thought about that project at all in a few days. That’s when you’re ready to go back to it with fresh eyes. If you can, get some people to read it during this “away time”, people you trust to give you actual honest feedback.

I know tools don’t really matter, and some people can write world-changing novels in longhand on paper, but considering using software tailor-made for writing a novel. Something like Scrivener. It makes the revision process so much easier!

Once your novel was polished up, what was your journey to publication?

Funny, even now I still feel like it could use more polish. But in my case, after I did my own revision pass I decided to hire a freelance editor. I really think this is something anyone serious about publication should do (especially self-pub!). He found all sorts of problems, big and small, and the resulting draft was much stronger.

Once that was done, I started to research agents and drafting a query letter. I had about twenty agents on my initial list, ranked by how good of a match they seemed to be for me. I spent a month or so reading queryshark to learn what the common mistakes were.

In the end I only queried my top choice, expecting a rejection that I might be able to learn from. Instead she signed me! Because of this the only advice I can really give on finding an agent is: do your homework! At least 75% of queries are discarded almost immediately by agents for simple mistakes. Lesson: It doesn’t take much to increase your chances significantly.

What is your favorite word and why?

'Was', because every time I see it, I get to destroy it. Incidentally that's one of the best and most succinct bits of writing advice I've yet received.

Jason M. Hough (pronounced ‘Huff’) is a former 3D Artist and Game Designer (Metal Fatigue, Aliens vs. Predator: Extinction, and many others). Writing fiction became a hobby for him in 2007 and quickly turned into an obsession. His debut novel, The Darwin Elevator (Del Rey), released on July 30th in the US and reached the New York Times Bestseller list the following week.

The trilogy, collectively called The Dire Earth Cycle, will be released in the summer of 2013. He lives in San Diego, California with his wife and two young sons.

Keep up with Jason:

On his website
On Twitter
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