Note: Congratulations to Jeannie Intrieri. She's the winner of the giveaway from Chuck Sambuchino's November 1 post.
By Kerry Lonsdale
First off, I have to credit Natalia Sylvester’s October 8, 2013 post at The Debutante Ball as the inspiration for this post. It was the first post I’ve read where an author confessed they don’t write every day.
Hallelujah! That post kicked a 50 pound self-inflicted guilt monkey off my back. Do I write every day? Heck no! I have a life that includes a husband and kids and more animals than I ever thought I’d adopt.
When I write I go deep in my head. It takes a lot of energy, and time, for me to write well. Even if my schedule permitted, I am mentally incapable of writing every day. While writing for me is a necessity—we’ve all heard the expression: writing is like the air we breathe, we have to do it or we die—it is simultaneously invigorating and exhausting.
But still…
We are supposed to write every day, right? That’s what the “experts” tell us.
The Rules of Writing
1. Write every day. Even if you’re suffering from writer’s block, just sit in your chair and write anything and something will come.
I admire any author disciplined enough to write every day, rain or shine, weekday or holiday. I don’t. I never have, and I never will.
Strike 1.
2. Set word counts. 1,000 words/day for 30 days. Or #1k1h. Or a chapter/day.
Hyperventilating. (frantically searches for paper bag)
I tried word count goals. My 1,000 words/hour always read like … well, they stink. And the time pressure stresses me out. For someone who already has enough stress in her life, I don’t need to inflict any more on myself. So I write what I am capable of producing during the time I have available. Some days it can be 3,500 words over a four hour period or one perfect sentence that has taken the entire day to construct.
Strike 2.
3. Read vast and often across multiple genres. The more well-read you are, the better writer you’ll be.
Confession: I am the slowest reader. Ever. I’ve always been this way, was even sent to after school reading tutorial sessions to improve my reading speed. I failed miserably. And it took many years for me to be okay with the fact I’m a slow reader.
But I LOVE to read.
Some months I can finish one book per week, when I have the time. Other months, I’m lucky to finish one book. Yes, I’m that slow.
My reading time is limited by the speed at which I read, so I don’t read vast and often. I read the most enjoyable book I can find in that moment I have available.
Strike 3. I’m out. If I can’t stick to the rules, maybe I shouldn’t write. Right?
Wrong. No more guilt monkeys.
Set Your Own Rules Guidelines
And don’t feel guilty about it, because your guidelines are right for you.
My guideline? Finish what I start.
Plot a novel? I finish.
Character templates? I finish.
Fast first draft? I finish.
Second draft? I finish.
Edits and revisions? I finish.
Plotting a novel may take a week. Character templates may take two hours. A fast first draft may not be very fast, taking months instead of weeks. But I finish each step, because every step gets me closer to a completed novel. And that’s more than fine with me.
What writing rules do you break? Which ones bother you the most? Have you set your own writing guidelines, and if so, what are they?
About Kerry
Kerry has written professionally for over twenty years. Prior to discovering a passion for fiction writing, she was a marketing executive. These days her writing is focused on Women’s Fiction and her work has received recognition in numerous writing contests.
WITS is happy to welcome Cynthia D'Alba. And psst, she has a giveaway . :-)
Hi all! Cynthia D’Alba here. Today we’re going to talk about going with a publisher, be it digital first (such as Samhain Publishing) or NYC publisher (like St. Martin’s Press, Harlequin, Penguin, etc) versus Indie Publishing (do-it-yourself, aka self-publishing). I have one short story, Texas Two Step: The Prequel, that I indie published. The rest of my work is with various publishers (Samhain, Running Press, and Cleis.)
If you are relatively new to writing and the publishing world (like the last 2 or 3 years), you might not be aware of how much and how fast this world is changing. I’ve watched the world of “self-publishing” transform from a looked-down-upon sneer to “indie publishing” where writers of all levels of experience, from newbie to established, are exploring the new publishing frontier. Before digital became popular, authors who wanted to self-publish were usually bamboozled by unethical “publishers” who took their money and produced poorly edited, cheap paperbacks. (I realize this is a broad generalization but bear with me.)
With the digital revolution, authors were given direct access to the reader via online stores such as Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes & Nobles, etc. Writers could hire the most professional editors, the best cover artists, format the book themselves or hire that done, and publish their work to these online stores ready to be purchased by the reader. No driving around with books in the trunk of the car to sell.
I confess that I don’t blink at buying a book at $3.99 or less. Click. Bought. It’s that simple. I probably buy MORE books digitally than I ever bought in print. Those of us in this writing world hear fabulous stories of wealth and riches to be made via indie publishing. Authors report six-figure incomes without a hitch. So the question Laura Drake posed to me was … Why are you using a publisher when you could do all this yourself and make mega bucks? (Okay, she didn’t say megabucks but she did ask the first part of the question!) And it’s a good question!
Today, I read an article in Publisher Weekly that we may be seeing print no longer being the norm even for the big publishers. The pressure on the author and the publisher to get books out faster is changing how our industry works. Every major NYC publisher now has a digital only or digital first line. In fact, I’ll go further and say that when I first started, digital publishing was thought of as second rate at best.
So if readers are demanding faster turnaround for books and willing to the pay the author directly, why did I decide to go with a digital first publisher and not just indie publish my work?
Editing. With my publisher I had an experienced editor to work with. Now there are excellent freelance editors out there. You’ll see ads all over the place. I’m sure some of them are better than others, but how would I know? I was a relative newbie author. If I got a hack job from an editor, I don’t believe I would have known it. So the key was research. Lots and lots of research. Talk to other indie authors. Review editor websites. Read the books these editors had worked on. And while I’m researching who is a good editor, I have to also be researching what one pays a good editor. This is going to take time. Unfortunately, some indie authors use a good friend, or a relative, or another inexperienced author to “edit” the work and then pops it up for sale. Then the mistakes begin to surface … misspelled words, missing words, incomplete sentences, story holes, story plotlines unresolved, etc.
Bottom line is, I wanted to write, not spend time researching editors. And while I was new, I wasn’t so wet-behind-the-ears to believe my writing didn’t need much editing!
Talented Cover Artists – With my publishing company (Samhain Publishing) I am fortunate enough to have major input into the design of my cover. In fact, the last two (TEXAS TANGO and TEXAS FANDANGO) used a picture I sent them. So the cover department has been receptive even when I didn’t know what I wanted. Somehow my cover artists have been able to take my rambling on the cover art form and pull together exactly my vision, even when my vision wasn’t clear in my own head.
Again, there are independent cover artists for hire. Plus some authors are doing their own covers for their indie published work. Just as with an editor, who do I hire? What do I pay? What if I had a friend who can do it for free or cheap?
I think if I knew what I wanted on the cover, this is the smallest hurdle (for me) when thinking about indie publishing. I’ve seen some fabulous covers produced by freelance artists. But having Samhain's art department behind me on my first book was liberating.
Built-In Readership – As a newbie author, readers had never heard of me. Of course I could do lots of advertising, blogging, searching for readers online, participating on forums, etc. To do all the work to get my name out there for the readers “to discover” would be time consuming and possibly expensive. Going with an established publisher gave me a base of readers. Now, these readers may or may not like my book but at least it gave me a good starting point to build a readership.
Distribution – With indie publishing, I would be responsible for getting my digital book on all the sites, i.e., Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, All Romance ebooks … shoot, I don’t even KNOW where I need to put my books. With a publisher, they took care of that for me. They got my book all the places it needed to be to be found by readers. In addition, my book is available in print in the Ingram catalog, meaning bookstores COULD stock it if they wanted and the books are available to order for book signings. With indie publishing, getting your book into print and into the Ingram catalog is pretty much impossible.
Foreign Copies – Even though I haven’t sold enough to get picked up by a foreign publisher for my books, a book has to be with a US publisher to even have a chance to be picked up for foreign sales. One very well known author who had a best selling indie-published book, sold it to a NYC house based on that fact alone. She was getting interest from foreign publishers but without a US publisher, the foreign publishers wouldn’t move forward. She got a US publisher and the book is now an international best seller. So if you want the option for foreign sales, you have to be with a publisher.
Marketing – Now I’ll be the first to admit I don’t take advantage of most of the marketing services Samhain offers me, they do get my book to reviewers, a task that would be another time suck for me to do myself. I am positive there are marketing services Samhain has that I don’t use but that’s my error. I know that my publisher will send Samhain labeled promo items (pens, mouse pads, etc) if I requested. Again, I just haven’t. Still, it is a benefit offered.
Conference signings – Conferences (RWA, RT, etc.) are becoming much more friendly to indie authors. However, to participate in a signing as an indie author, I would have to front the expense of printing the books and getting them to the conference and that’s IF the conference allows indie authors to sign. There are changes coming down the pipeline. New and exciting innovations to allow for signing digital books may produce a positive change for book signings in the future.
In a nutshell, I choose to go with a digital first publisher rather than an indie publisher because I wanted to share the post-writing workload. I didn’t want to spend my time researching editors, cover artists, distribution channels, book reviewers, reader locations, etc. I enjoy the marketing (i.e., blogs, chats, Facebook, Twitter, etc) but beyond that, I like having a team behind me.
And I like that I provide employment for others.
There’s nothing wrong with indie publishing and in all likelihood, I’ll do more in the future. But I’ll have an established reader base then and maybe not such an uphill struggle with sales.
About Cynthia & fun stuff ...
Maybe you’re curious about Cynthia D’Alba. Here’s a little more about me: I was born and raised in a small Arkansas town. After being gone for a number of years, I’m thrilled to be making my home back in Arkansas living in a vine-covered cottage on the banks of an eight-thousand acre lake. I started writing on a challenge from my husband in 2006 and discovered having imaginary sex with lots of hunky men was fun.
My first book, Texas Two Step, released in 2012 to outstanding reviews, was a Samhain Publishing best seller. The second book in the Texas Montgomery Mavericks series, Texas Tango, released November 5, 2013, again from Samhain Publishing. In February, 2014, Texas Fandango, a Novella in the Texas Montgomery Series will be released by Samhain Publishing. I am currently at work on book 3 of the Texas Montgomery Mavericks series (Texas Twist).
I love love love to hear from readers and there are lots of ways to find me. Online, you can find me most days at my website or my group blog.
To send me snail mail, write to: Cynthia D’Alba, PO Box 2116, Hot Springs, AR 71914
Now some fun stuff! :-)
In the spirit of Christmas sneaking up on us, I’ll pick among the comments for someone to take home a western-themed ornament. Here’s just a sample…
Plus, I'm doing a TEXAS TANGO Jewelry-Themed Rafflecopter Giveaway. Since we are on a WordPress.com blog, the widget can’t be embedded. BUT if you click HERE, you’ll be magically transported to my Facebook page and a back-up Rafflecopter widget. Also check out my personal blog for other places you can enter! Here’s the loot you can win…
AND I have swag for the asking! But when it’s gone, it’s gone. Pens, jar openers, postcards, bookmarks, trading cards…just go by my contact page and send me a note.
Thanks for coming by! Be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win one of the Christmas ornaments!
For the past few months, my guest posts here at Writers in the Storm have taken a look at different aspects of the author estate plan. This month, we’ll finish the series with a problem every author faces: selecting the heirs.
In some cases, choosing who will inherit an author’s copyrights isn’t difficult – for example, when the author has a spouse but no children, children but no spouse, or simply wants to leave the estate to charity. For most of us, however, inheritance issues require at least a little thought.
Let’s take a look at some of the available options you might–or might not—have already considered:
1. One heir, one copyright – splitting the works. When heirs don’t get along, authors sometimes consider splitting copyright ownership by leaving each heirs full ownership of a different copyright. A spouse might receive some of the works, and the author’s children each end up with ownership of a different novel. Generally speaking, this is not a good idea, especially if the author writes a series. Conflicts among the heirs may tie the works up indefinitely, and publishers don’t want to contract with different heirs for different works. As a general rule, splintering ownership of a literary estate creates more conflict – and more chance of everything going out of print – than treating your body of work as a single “property” or estate.
2. All heirs, all copyrights – treating the copyrights as a bundle. When authors want multiple heirs to share the benefits of the author’s literary estate, the best (and easiest) way to address the issue is to name a literary executor and/or “managing heir” who has responsibility for managing the entire literary estate, and then leaving each of the other heirs an “undivided percentage interest” in the literary estate as a whole.
In simpler language, an author who has three children might name the oldest child the literary executor and/or “managing heir” (the person who will work with the lawyer or literary executor to manage the estate) and leave all three children an undivided 1/3 ownership interest in the literary estate (meaning the author’s copyrights and the right to receive a 1/3 share of royalties and other income generated by the author’s works). Sometimes, authors prefer to leave the managing heir a slightly larger share, or to split the percentages unevenly – all of which are normal variations on the theme.
This way, if one novel or series generates more income than the others, the inheritance isn’t split in a lopsided manner. This is the most common, and usually the simplest, way of splitting an author’s literary estate.
3. Life estates and multi-generational heirs. Sometimes an author wants to leave the copyright income to one set of adult heirs and also to ensure that the literary estate will pass to a younger set of heirs (for example, the author’s grandchildren or great-grandchildren) at some future date. The author accomplishes this through a “life estate.
A life estate is a type of inheritance in which a person inherits an asset (in this example, the right to receive a share of the income from copyrights) for as long as that person lives, and upon the named heir’s death, the asset automatically passes to another person (called a “remainderman”) named in the author’s will or trust.
An example of “life estate” language might look like this: “I leave ownership of my copyrighted works, and the right to receive all income and profits therefrom, to my son George for his lifetime, and thereafter to all of my living grandchildren in equal, undivided shares.”
Authors should always consult an attorney before attempting to draft or create multi-generational inheritances and life estates in estate planning documents. In many states, special legalese is required to create a life estate and other special estate planning interests. “Estates and Future Interests” are a special law school course – sometimes taught as part of property law as well as estate planning classes – and the attempted gift can fail if the language isn’t properly worded. Even worse, a person can inadvertently create one of several rare but tricky “future interests” that causes a truly difficult probate snarl. If you want to create a specialized estate plan, it’s worth the time to find an experienced, reasonably priced attorney in your area who understands the special needs of intellectual property (copyright) inheritance issues.
4. Charities. Leaving part or all of your estate to charity is a noble, and often beneficial, act. Many of my clients do include favored charities in their wills and trusts, though charitable in the author estate plan can create some unique and unusual issues.
First, most charities aren’t set up to manage copyrights and other intellectual property interests. An author’s literary estate might bring in thousands of dollars a year, money a charity might well need and put to excellent use. But if the charity’s work is focused on fighting hunger by equipping and training individuals in developing countries, that charity might not have the time, staff, and capacity to manage copyrights on the side. In many cases, it might even cost the charity more to manage the copyrights than the literary estate is worth.
If you want to leave a portion of your estate to charity, consider leaving the charity a share of your liquid assets (cash, or the proceeds of selling stocks and bonds) or a percentage-based interest in the income from your literary estate—but placing the burden of managing the literary works on a different heir (who should probably also receive a percentage share, or the right to payment, in compensation for managing the literary estate). The less work a charity has to do to manage its “inheritance,” the better the organization can use the funds to accomplish the charitable purpose you intended to support.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this series on author estate plans and how to manage them! Join me next month, when I’ll start a new and exciting series to carry us into 2014!
If you have questions about this or any other author estate planning issues, please do ask in the comments – I love to help!
About Susan
Susan Spann is a publishing attorney and author from Sacramento, California. Her debut mystery novel, CLAWS OF THE CAT (Thomas Dunne Books, July 2013), is the first in a series featuring ninja detective Hiro Hattori. Susan blogs about writing, publishing law and seahorses at http://www.SusanSpann.com. Find her on Twitter @SusanSpann or on Facebook.
