Indie Life - It's All About The Editing

I'm very excited to be part of The Indelibles Indie Life series. These posts run on the second Wednesday of every month and include ideas and articles from a wide variety of indie authors. Check out the links below to learn more about INDIE LIFE.

When people say editing, I know many writers who groan. I used to be one of them, but the more projects I work on...the more books I write, I realize that I actually love editing. It's now become my favourite phase.

Maybe it's because I've learned to refine the process, to figure out a way that works well for me. I thought I'd share the way I work in the hopes of helping some and maybe getting tips and advice from others.

Okay - so I suffer from First Draft Blues Syndrome. When I'm writing my first draft, it sucks. My book is crap. No one will like it. However, once it's done, once I can step back and take a breath, I start to see that there is potential in my work.

A few months ago, I read a really excellent book written by Rachel Aaron.
2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love. The reason I loved it so much is because she works in a very similar way to me. We both thoroughly plan, then write, then edit. Our processes are efficient. One tip I picked up from her that I found so spectacular was the idea of Story Mapping.

Once my first draft is down, I go through the manuscript - just skimming - and jot down what's happening in each chapter. Just bullet points. I then add any notes. For example in Ch 1 of my current project, I've noted down that I need to make the mother's reaction stronger to the situation she finds her daughter in. Chapter 2, I've made the comment that the guy the MC has a crush on drives a Jeep not a car and that I need to ask my California friends for a specific location to set the next scene in. Further down in the story I need to add a scene and I've also figured out that shifting one scene from Ch 13 down to Ch 17 will have a bigger impact and show my character's growth in a more realistic way.

Tomorrow I am going to start going through each chapter and following through on my notes. Once that's done, I will do a full read through to check on flow before sending it off to my 5 critique readers who will tell me what works and what doesn't. 

Once I get their feedback, I go through with my rewrites and changes then start the tweaking edits. You know the read through where you refine your writing, changing little words here and there for greater impact. One thing I'm planning on doing this time as well, is reading through Self-Editing For Fiction Writers by Browne and King. I've read it a couple of times already. I have a paperback copy that is looking well loved. It's so brilliant and I want to have it fresh in my brain before I tackle my book for the tweaking round. 

Once I've finished that, I will then send it on to my copy editor. A professional who will hopefully find very little wrong with the manuscript :D

So what's your editing process like? 

How do you go about making your manuscript worthy of reading?

Indie Life - It's All About The Release

I'm very excited to be part of The Indelibles Indie Life series. These posts run on the second Wednesday of every month and include ideas and articles from a wide variety of indie authors. Check out the links below to learn more about INDIE LIFE.

I have talked about a variety of things over the past five months - from attitude about writing to getting the exposure we need in order to make our writing a success.

Following along that line, I want to talk about "The Release." That moment you work so hard to obtain. Weeks and months of hard work have been poured into your book, it looks fabulous, it reads well, your beta readers love it and now it's time to share it with the world.

I have always struggled with this moment in my book's life. It's nice to let it go and pass it on to the world, but I also find it really challenging. How do I get the world as excited as me and then how do I turn that excitement into actual sales?

I have read articles that say it's all about the pre-buzz. Getting people so excited about the book that when you do finally release it, they're so desperate they buy it straight away. I have done this a little, not much. I probably should have started months earlier and maybe I will with my next book. For now, let's focus on the actual day of release.

I am learning as I go and there are plenty of things you can do with the release of a book:
- Facebook release parties
- Blog Tours
- Giveaways
- Paid advertising
- Asking people to spread the word for you
- Book signings

These seem to be the most popular that I know of, but which are the most effective and what can you afford to do? You have no doubt spent money on editing and cover design, how much is left to throw at marketing?

Because my funds are tight and I want to produce quality, I tend to put most of my money towards editing and cover design, but I have quickly learned that spending money on marketing is just as important. In an attempt to use my funds wisely, I have decided, with the release of my trilogy, to save up most of my funds and spend it once the third book is released.

Unknown - Book 1 - came out yesterday. So far I have asked people to spread the word and have gathered up a few reviews. I'm also running a giveaway on my blog. All very low cost things. I will be doing the same for Unseen - Book 2 - when it comes out in July.

However in August, when Unleashed - Book 3 - comes out, I will be pulling out all the stops. I have an FB event planned for shortly after the release. I have a blog tour running in September and shortly after that I will be paying for advertising on the first book. I'm really hoping that combining the marketing funds for all three books will help me gain the trilogy some decent momentum. I will hopefully see a flow on effect from sales, because all three books will be available at once.

It will be interesting to see and I can't wait to come back in October and let you know how I got on.

So what do you do when releasing a book? How do you turn your enthusiasm into book sales?

Indie Life - It's All About Attitude

I'm very excited to be part of The Indelibles Indie Life series. These posts run on the second Wednesday of every month and include ideas and articles from a wide variety of indie authors. Check out the links below to learn more about INDIE LIFE.

I have only been doing this a couple of months. So far I have touched on the aspects of balance and quality.

Today I want to talk about attitude.

Being an author, you need a really tough skin. Your work of fiction is a part of you. It's born in the heart and grows over the days and weeks as you put the story together. Finally you have this baby that you want to share with the world...and that's when you're the most vulnerable.

Readers are honest and they have every right to be. You have put yourself out there and they are free to respond to your work as they see fit. Unfortunately that can be a really painful experience. Getting those five star reviews puts you on cloud nine. You feel elated that someone out there thinks your work rocks. You have given them an escape from reality and they have enjoyed it. But then come the one and two star reviews and these sting. Your work is torn to shreds as readers find every mistake and reason not to like it. Ouch! It really hurts.

It's in moments like these that you have to decide what attitude you'll take. As a child I always loathed criticism. I didn't fight it or try to justify it, I just believed it. This whole writing experience has taught me that I don't have to do that anymore.

Reading is subjective. I don't like every piece of fiction I read, so why should everyone like my stuff. I know some authors say you shouldn't read reviews at all, but I feel that if someone has taken the time to write a review for me, then I should take the time to read it...even the bad ones. Yes, they sting, but sometimes I have learned things that I can tuck away for future projects. I have to remind myself that it is just someone's opinion. Sometimes I want to respond, to write to the reviewer and explain why I did something the way I did, but I don't feel like that will get my anywhere. If anything, it'll just make me look desperate for approval. I don't need their approval. I have it from various other places. I wouldn't have even published the book in the first place if my beta readers hadn't told me it was worth it. No matter what, I have to brush off the biting words and focus on the five star reviews. And then I keep writing. I keep working on my craft and I make sure to never let my attitude slump into a place that will stop me from doing what I love.

Writing is a tough job. It can be lonely, frustrating and it takes a lot of work, but if you love it enough, you'll stick with it.

How do you cope with negative reviews?

Good Stuff To Know - January 2013

Hey everyone. Yay, my first "Good Stuff To Know" post of the year. How completely cool.
I have a nice little list for you today. I hope you can find something useful within it.

Jodie Renner Editing put together a great post listing a bunch of excellent resources for writers. There is a long list of helpful books here plus a couple of "must read" articles for aspiring authors.

Once again, The Bookshelf Muse (I love these guys!) has put out another great post. This one is called, What Makes A Strong Author's Visit - A Teacher's Perspective. Being a teacher myself, I found it really interesting and I thought there were some great points here. If you do have the opportunity to ever do author visits or public speaking, this article is worth a read.

The lovely, Suzy Turner, led me to this post - The Ultimate Complete Final Social Media Sizing Cheat Sheet. It gives you dimensions for all the different social media sites. An excellent resource for you to refer to.

I stumbled across this blog post through Indies Unlimited and I wanted to share it, because I thought it was really interesting. Aaron Patterson shared his publishing predictions for 2013. His message at the end - "Just keep writing" is why I wanted to share this post. He's got a really good point.

I've decided to sign up to be part of The Indelibles: Indie Life monthly blog hop. I missed the January one, but come February I will share my first post (the 2nd Wednesday of every month). At this stage there are 30 blogs involved and I think it's a great way to share information and learn from each other.

Indie Book Bargains is a UK site that I subscribe to. I get daily emails with current bargains and I find it really interesting to skim through and see what's out there. They have just completed their 2012 Book Awards. I thought there might be a title or two in there that interests you. Oh yeah - and Betwixt won Best YA!!! Sorry - just had to share. Super excited!

That's me for this month. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for more helpful links and resources to share in February. If you have any you'd like to add in the comments section, please feel free.