Self-Pub Best-Seller Success Story + Advice for Indie Authors

Self-Pub Success Story!

This Wall Street Journal article (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204770404577082303350815824.html) opens by saying that author Darcie Chan’s debut novel, The Mill River Recluse, has sold 400,000 copies and has placed her on the best-seller list “next to writers like Michael Connelly, James Patterson, and Kathryn Stockett.” Then the next paragraph goes on to say, “It’s been a success by any measure, save one. Ms. Chan still hasn’t found a publisher.”

Needless to say, a statement like that grabbed my attention (something of an understatement, to tell the truth). And Ms. Chan’s story turned out to be inspirational, as well as instructional–one more light on the horizon for those of us who’ve decided to try a DIY (do-it-yourself) angle or two on our publishing journeys.

If you haven’t read this story yet, I promise that you’ll learn at least one thing you don’t know already about the worlds of self-publishing and e-books. Furthermore, if you’re trying to decide which way to go with your next book, I suspect that you’ll be a little closer to that decision by the time you finish this article. Enjoy!

The Big Reasons Indie Authors Aren’t Taken Seriously

Sometimes we writers have to pull our hands away from our ears and force ourselves to listen to tough words. At least, that’s what we need to do if we’re serious about growing in our craft and eventually finding a wide readership for our work. This article (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/30/indie-authors-struggle_n_1242935.html?ref=books) puts some of those tough words right in our faces!

Still assimilating the wealth of information from the 2012 Writer’s Digest Conference two weeks ago, I was drawn to this article for a number of reasons, the most important of which is the subject of editing. Not only were there dozens of references at the conference to this critical element of the publishing process, especially if you’re opting for a DIY avenue. But there are dozens more such references in the first year or so of this blog, as I was bringing my second novel, Separation of Faith, into life. Having learned the hard way what happens if you don’t invest in a book’s editing, I was determined to produce a novel comparable, or even superior, in editorial quality to anything coming out of the traditional world.

Separation of Faith has now placed in more than a dozen competitions. First Place continues to be elusive. But the novel has earned Runner Up to the grand prize winner several times, in addition to multiple Bronze prizes and a list of highly ranked Honorable Mentions. And most recently, even though there wasn’t an associated placement, the 2012 Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards produced the following feedback from one of the judges:

On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 meaning “poor” and 5 meaning “excellent,” please evaluate the following:

• Plot: 4
• Grammar: 4.5
• Character Development: 5
• Production Quality and Cover Design: 5

Judge’s Commentary:

What did you like best about this book?

Congratulations on writing and publishing your novel! The cover design and packaging is very professional. The back cover copy does a good job of maketing the book to potential readers. You have clearly done a great deal of research, which shows in the historical details and description that bring the scenes alive for the reader. You have created some interesting characters and brought them to life with strong dialogue and characterization. Good job balancing action, dialoge and narration. Good job with grammar, proofreading and formatting of the interior of the book.

How can the author improve this book? (Cheri’s Note: I decided to include this part as well, because I learned something, and I thought some of you might as well. And, we do need to strengthen our nerves so we can hear the improvements along with the accolades!)

Watch out for the overuse of italics, as this can be difficult to read, dilutes the emphasis, and makes the pages look a llittle disorganized. (Cheri’s Note: This comment addressed letters and journals written as part of flashbacks, several of which I formatted in italics.) Also, the book’s price seems a little high. These are minor concerns for a book that is quite strong overall.

The winners’ list for this contest will be announced by the end of this month, and I’m anxious to see who beat me. But the main thing I want to point out here is how important formatting and interior quality are with any book, but especially with self-published books! And even though Separation of Faith didn’t win a slot in this particular competition, the novel, as I said earlier, has placed in more than a dozen others. And there’s no doubt in my mind that a primary reason for that success is the quality of editing. (That’s also a main reason why I truly believe this entire endeavor will eventually take off! 🙂 )

Enjoy this important article (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/30/indie-authors-struggle_n_1242935.html?ref=books) — and have a wonderful Super Bowl weekend!

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2012 Writer’s Digest Conference–Nonfiction “Ask the Editor” Panel

Sunday, January 22–Panel Members:

• Phil Sexton–Moderator of Panel; Publisher, Writer’s Digest
• Karen Cooper–Publisher, Adams Media
• Michelle Howry–Senior Editor, Touchstone (an impring of Simon & Schuster)
• Donya Dickerson–Senior Editor, McGraw Hill

A. What is the most common mistake writers make in nonfiction proposals?

• Too much emphasis on the manuscript.
• Not enough evidence of need. Why does this book need to be in the marketplace?
• Not enough emphasis on the author platform.
• Not enough competitive analysis. Need to do research: a) Where will this book go on the shelf in Barnes & Noble? b) How does this book contrast with competitive titles? c) What does this book provide that no other book does? Check publicity volume of competition and occupied shelf space in bookstores. Also check Book of the Month Club offerings and other visible signs of a book’s sales/popularity.
• Writer is not realistic about competition for books by a “new author.” In proposal/query, presents him/herself as “the next ___________ (fill in the blank with a famous author’s name).” This approach brands the writer as inexperienced and unrealistic. Instead, the writer should answer: a) Here’s how my book fits into the market, and b) Here’s how my book differs …”

The approximate length of a nonfiction book proposal should be thirty pages, not including any sample chapters.

Include suggestions about where book could be sold outside of the trade (ex., Walmart, Costco …) Research should include publishers and where they sell.

———————————————————

B. How important is the author’s writing in nonfiction?

• Depends on the imprint, the book idea, and how hungry the editor is for an acquisition.
• Authors should not have someone else write the proposal. Both the manuscript and the proposal need to have the same style. Editors can tell if they’ve been written by different people.
• Editors/publishers vary regarding how important the writing is. If the concept is great, the quality of writing is not as important. Writing can always be beefed up through input from agents, editorial staff, or even ghost writers contracted through publishers.
• The author’s platform plays a role in how important the writing is. The more the author already has in place to help sell the book, the less important the actual writing becomes.
• Editors differ with respect to the weight applied to a) good writing, b) promotion, and c) platform.

————————————————————

C. How has the view of self-publishing changed?

• All three editors said they would enthusiastically look at proposals that included self-published books.
• Writers should keep in mind that, if an author is doing well with self-published book saes, then there is a strong case to be made for not going with a traditional publisher.
• However, publishers can offer access to additional distribution channels, unique book promotions, etc.

———————————————————

D. What is the most compelling proposal you ever received, and why?

• Wreck This Journal. Original proposal was a mock-up that was intended to be torn apart (as is the final product). Sometimes editors have to do a hard-sell job with odd ideas like this one, when channels like Barnes & Noble and Amazon have decided to passed on a project.
• The Starbuck’s Experience. Author had gained full access to Starbuck’s operations. (The publisher was instrumental in changing the title from the original.)
• The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook. Author had secured permission from J.K. Rowling to use the Harry Potter name.
• Retail Hell. The proposal came in as a self-help book. The publisher reworked it into a memoir.

Editors and publishers want authors who are cooperative and willing to listen, who respond positively to input, and who want to work in a partnership to produce the best quality book possible.

–Cheri’s Note: I’m now studying up on how to write a nonfiction book proposal. I will keep you posted on what I’m learning and how the process unfolds once I actually begin writing the document.–

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Fiction Lovers’ Alert! Separation of Faith Places in Seven (7!) Contests

… with More to Come!

One of the questions I’m asked by authors who are getting ready to bring out their first books is whether or not I think that contests are worth the time, effort, and entry fees. And my answer is–especially for the increasing numbers of authors who’ve opted for a non-traditional publishing path–yes! Enter every contest you can get your hands on!

That resounding encouragement is not just because my second novel, Separation of Faith, has proven (unbelievably) to be a story with “contest legs.” Contests are not just about placing or winning. (And so far, Separation of Faith has not grabbed a first prize but has come so-o-o-o close! A full list of the contests and the specific placements is at the end of this post.) For all of us, yet particularly for those of us carrying the entire promotional load required to get our work into the hands of readers, contests can provide a much-needed assist. Each contest–even the list comprising all of the “festivals”–has a separate and independent panel of judges, and no matter how your book ends up doing overall, you’ll receive at least one piece of valuable input per experience. Of course, that input might not be something you want to hear, but sometimes the toughest feedback can turn out to be the most important in the scope of your entire writing/publishing Journey.

A case proving that particular point involves my first novel, The Truth About Cinnamon. Just like every other aspiring author out there, I was absolutely convinced that Cinnamon was what the publishing community had been missing. This novel was going to change the world! Well … that was seven+ years ago, and although the world has changed, Cinnamon is certainly not the reason. Contests, however, were instrumental in helping me understand a lot of things about my debut novel, not the least of which is the key role professional editing needs to play in your process if you’ve decided to follow a non-traditional publishing path. Unfortunately, as I was working on the final iterations of Cinnamon, I still believed that all of the edits I’d performed on the book myself (especially since I was an official freelance editor, which surely gave me all the tools I needed) would be more than sufficient. Plus, the book had been put through several proofing rounds performed by educators in my circle of family and friends. What more could I have possibly done? Well … a lot! And I could not have been more wrong about thinking I could manage that critical element on my own! That fact first began creeping into my world through feedback from contest judges.

The Truth About Cinnamon never placed once in any contest. And, after awhile, I stopped entering the book because I recognized that the results were never going to change unless I pulled the book out of circulation, made a ton of major changes, and then handed the book over to a serious, professional editor. Eventually, that’s exactly what I did do, but not until I’d finished writing Separation of Faith, which was subjected to intense (and seemingly endless, at the time) rounds of professional editing from the get-go. Many of the major lessons learned through The Truth About Cinnamon originated in feedback from contest judges. Those lessons included favorable input on characterization, descriptive elements, and the basic storyline. “Needs improvement” comments almost universally centered around point-of-view inconsistencies, unnecessary background information, and confusion in the timeline. But the single most cited reason for Cinnamon’s lack of success in every contest was the poor editing.

That lesson was so indelibly (and painfully) etched on my writing psyche that Separation of Faith–my second novel and the beneficiary of lots of heartbreaking input from novel #1–has actually been cited for editorial excellence! And the whole subject and scope of editing was covered extensively in this blog as I was documenting the editing phases of Separation of Faith in real-time. If you search this blog for “editing,” you’ll find a whole bunch of stuff that might be of value to you, because the time to concentrate on editing, of course, is before you publish you book–:-)–not afterward, as I originally did with Cinnamon.

When readers order copies of The Truth About Cinnamon now, though, they receive a re-edited Second Edition that has addressed the issues raised by readers as well as contest and other feedback while also cutting 20,000 words. That re-editing effort took nearly a year (as I squeezed that work into the rest of my life). Aspiring authors often get themselves into the same situation because they’re so excited about “finishing” their first book that they become impatient. If they’re pursuing a traditional publishing path, they begin sending the manuscript prematurely to agents and editors and end up with piles of rejections. If they’ve decided to take an alternative publishing path, they do as I did and publish too soon. Note to aspiring authors: If you’ve finished writing your first novel, that book is still an early draft until you and the book have been through at least two rounds (and probably more) of professional editing. If you’re sending in a manuscript–or if you’re publishing a manuscript–that hasn’t been professionally edited, you’re submitting/publishing a premature draft that will inevitably disappoint you. And that was the most important lesson gleaned from contest input.

Even after pulling Cinnamon and basically rewriting the book, the editorial quality of the new version still doesn’t equal that of Separation of Faith. But at least the new Cinnamon is miles better than the original–and I’m even considering submitting the novel to a few contests again, just out of curiosity. 🙂

Meanwhile, Separation of Faith is on a contest role–and although the story and characters have obviously made some contribution to these placements, another primary reason for the novel’s success is the excellence in editing. A few competitions haven’t announced the winners yet, and I have a list in front of me of another dozen contests to enter (all named below). Here’s what’s happened so far:

1. Amazon’s 2011 Breakthrough Novel Award: Made Round 1 Cut. Feedback from Round 2 was interesting and included reports from two judges. One evaluation was glowing and would have moved the novel into Round 3. The second evaluation was the exact opposite and didn’t even sound like the same book had been read by the two judges. So, keep in mind that there’s a great deal of subjectivity in contest judging–just like there’s subjectivity in readers themselves. That’s why I’m entering as many contests as possible. The more feedback you can get, the more you’ll see the consistencies (the positives and negatives) come through in the feedback.
2. 2011 Paris Book Festival: Runner-Up to Grand Prize Winner.
3. 2010 DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Book Festival (one of the most prestigious and most important for self-publishers): Runner-Up to Grand Prize Winner.
4. 2011 San Francisco Book Festival: Honorable Mention (2nd from top) in General Fiction.
5. 2011 Beach Book Festival: Honorable Mention (top of list) in Fiction.
6. 2011 New York Book Festival: Honorable Mention (top of list) in Fiction.
7. 2011 Hollywood Book Festival: Honorable Mention (4th from top) in Fiction

Still waiting for results:

1. 2011 Reader’s Favorite
2. Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards–winners to be announced October 14, 2011
3. USA Best Books 2011–finalists and winners to be announced in October 2011

Contests still to enter:

1. Los Angeles Book Festival
2. Benjamin Franklin Awards
3. IPPYs (Independent Publisher Book Awards)
4. Los Angeles Book Festival
5. Foreward Magazine Book of the Year
6. London Book Festival
7. New England Book Festival
8. 2012 Indie Excellence Awards
9. Green Book Festival
10. Hudson Valley Festival of Books

And I’m sure there are others. You can’t enter too many, in my opinion. Remember, also, that placing is fun, but what you end up learning about your writing and the story you’ve entered is the most important part of the process in the long run.

Good luck to you if you’re also on the contest path! Please let me know how you’re doing!

• Separation of Faith (Kindle, Paperback & Hard Cover: http://tinyurl.com/3jaqgva
• The Truth About Cinnamon (Kindle, Paperback & Hard Cover): http://tinyurl.com/3fa3vqr

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Unbelievable! Separation of Faith Places Yet Again!

Good News Is Especially Fun When You’re Exhausted!

Hi! This will be the quickest of posts since this moment finds me literally buried in the chaos of the move. But my genius computer fellow just finished reassembling the technical elements of my office about an hour ago, in the new (and amazingly wonderful) space where I will now be blessed to write each day.

So, after he left, I stopped unpacking for a few minutes to check email–and there I found a message announcing that the winners of the Paris Book Festival had been announced. And guess what? Separation of Faith has placed as runner-up to the winner … again!

I am pleased beyond measure about this string (we’re now at #4) of contest successes! There are five or six contests still outstanding (I think that’s the right number–need to double check), and now there’s even more anticipation than before!

Although I am immensely grateful that Separation of Faith is being so well-received in the book contest world, I remain ever hopeful that when I scan the eventual results of the remaining competitions, there will be that one glorious moment in time when the title Separation of Faith will be at the very top!

Well … no one is going to do my dreaming for me! 🙂

And … if you have a book (or almost have a book) that you’re working hard to promote (or plan on promoting), be sure to check out the whole contest avenue. The 2011 Writer’s Market (http://www.amazon.com/Writers-Market-Deluxe-Robert-Brewer/dp/1582979499/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1305661286&sr=1-2) has an entire section devoted to contests, and pursuing those competitions just might help open some doors that you might not have known were there. (The 2012 Writer’s Market will be out in September. The Deluxe Editions of both the 2011 and 2012 WM come with a searchable DVD of the entire reference.)

Also, please keep in mind one of the key messages delivered many times throughout this blog (through posts as well as reader/writer comments): Quality editing is as important to the success of your book, if not more so, than the quality of your writing and the creativity of your plot. A poorly edited manuscript (or one with no editing at all, other than your own) will cause readers, agents, editors, and yes judges, to bypass a project that is otherwise terrific. And this is true no matter which path to publishing you decide to follow. I’ve seen some very poorly edited books coming out of mainstream houses lately, which never (or hardly ever) used to happen, so remain vigilant if you’re going that direction. If you’re exploring the alternate routes, be sure to have your book professionally edited. Skipping that step will make this steep climb even steeper.

Regarding the move, the furniture will be in my new place this Thursday (day after tomorrow), so I’ll be waking up here on Friday morning! I’ll check back in through another post at that time, and then there will be photos loaded shortly thereafter.

Meanwhile, please have a beautiful and productive week on whatever path you’re taking to your own Dream!

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Separation of Faith Listed “Live” on USA Book News

As a consequence of entering Separation of Faith in the “Best Books 2011” Awards competition (one of about 15 contests entered during the last couple of months), this increasingly high-powered little novel of mine is now listed “live” on USA Book News (http://www.usabooknews.com/generalfiction.html).

Winners of this contest will not be announced until October (2011), so the wait for some of these results seems rather interminable. But meanwhile, there’s new visibility as a byproduct.

Book Promotion

The list of promotional to-dos for Separation of Faith seems to grow exponentially by the day, appearing even longer, I sometimes think, because authors have to do all the work themselves (until they become famous … 🙂 …). I’ve been collecting promotional tips, which I’ll be sharing with you in a post later this week.

Current New Project

This is also the week that I will finally begin earnestly writing my next book, which I’ve decided will be my nonfiction story about the last year initiated by the breast cancer. (You can search this blog for all relevant references once the breast cancer popped up.)

Because I diligently kept a daily journal for many months after the diagnosis, and then wrote substantial notes thereafter, I believe this book will be the quickest to complete and properly edit. (You can also search this blog for all of the references to editing Separation of Faith, the most critical of all the steps in the production of this novel. I believe with all my heart that the high quality of editing is directly correlated to the success we’re beginning to realize in contests. Poor or nonexistent editing can squash the dreams about an otherwise well-written, innovative novel. And that’s the most important lesson learned from the post-completion phases of Separation of Faith!)

Once my nonfiction project is comfortably out of my head, I’m confident that focusing on novel #3 will become easier. As long as the nonfiction effort remains incomplete, I’ve found that there are too many distractions that keep me from the heads-down attention required to effectively fire up the next novel.

Lesson: If you have more than one book in your head, pick one to finish. Spending time scattered across more than one project ends up producing nothing of value at all. As we travel this Journey, unless we’re already celebrities, no one is going to be interested in our “ideas.” The only things publishing professionals want to see are finished books!

So, here I go, all set to create a work of nonfiction that will hopefully prove helpful to women who are finding themselves in the same place I was a year ago. More later on this project as the chapters materialize. Really fun (and incredibly fulfilling) to be moving back into the writing part of this Journey.

Hope you all have a great week!

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81–Blog’s First Anniversary Posting!

First, I’m Late …

Hi! My apologies for not being around very much over the past few weeks. This blog’s first anniversary was on November 4, and I had planned to publish this post on that day. However, another unexpected medical situation arose in late September and then accelerated through October. Long story short, I was in surgery again on November 3 and wasn’t able to work for the next several days. During that time, things piled up … and, well, here we are. This new medical “thing” is unrelated to the breast cancer, which is going to be fine. But there will be some sort of further “something” required to totally flatten this new one, and I’m supposed to know what that “something” is by the 19th.

Meanwhile, I’m celebrating the first anniversary of this blog in a number of ways. Right off the top, I’ve added a blog roll to the site where I’ve listed the blog/Web site addresses for all of the wonderful acquaintances I’ve made over the last year. Everyone on that list is going after the same dream in one way or another, and re-reading the comments from everyone has been fascinating and heartwarming at the same time. I can’t believe how many lives have intersected with mine over twelve months through this medium, and I’m unbelievably grateful for each one!

Another way that I’m celebrating the blog’s first anniversary is by reflecting on the original mission (established in the November 4, 2009 Blog Launch Posting). There were several goals:

1. Complete and publish my second novel, Separation of Faith, and that objective was gloriously met in mid September (a little behind the original schedule, but met nonetheless).
2. Completely re-edit my first novel, The Truth About Cinnamon, and then publish the shiny new Second Edition. We’re about two weeks away from the fulfillment of that objective. All of the edits and reviews are complete, so we’re just waiting for the book to go live everywhere. I’ll let you know the moment that happens.
3. Share through the blog all of the steps involved to accomplish the first two objectives, including the things that went wrong as well as the things that went smoothly. (And some of those steps where things went wrong turned into full-blown stories themselves, if you have time to check out the posts sequentially.) Throughout the process, the subject of editing and the critical importance of that element emerged as a fourth goal.
4. Ensure the highest quality possible in terms of both editing and writing, especially for Separation of Faith. After a huge amount of effort and about five additional months that I hadn’t calculated in the plan, that second novel earned the Editor’s Choice designation from my publisher (iUniverse), a level achieved by fewer than 10% of books they publish. The Second Edition of The Truth About Cinnamon wasn’t submitted to as much rigor, but I cut out 20,000 words and tightened things up substantially without changing any of the original story.
5. Share tips, articles, other bloggers’ posts, and any relevant/interesting information I might come acoss to help fellow writers on the same path. Toward the end of this anniversary post, there will be another list of things to share that I’ve been collecting.

Highlights

As I was reviewing the November 4, 2009 post, several points and passages stood out as being major reasons behind my starting this whole thing in the first place:

1. I was close to finishing my second novel, but I had no idea which publishing direction I wanted to pursue. Then I attended the first annual Writer’s Digest Conference in September 2009 where the realities of the publishing world today were painted very graphically for us. (All of that is covered in detail in the November 4, 2009 lauch posting.)
2. In the opening address of the conference, the speaker (Mike Shatzkin) told us that, in today’s publishing environment, our books, no matter how fabulous, are completely irrelevant if we don’t already have a clearly defined platform and a foundational readership/following in place before we ever submit a query letter. In the same address, Shatzkin also let us in on a little secret: The first thing that happens now in the agent’s/editor’s office is that someone (a staffer, most likely) Googles the name of the writer sending the query letter. If nothing shows up that demonstrates some sort of following or platform already in place–one that’s relevant to the author and the book being queried–a rejection letter/postcard is generally sent out immediately, with no further exploration of the writer’s actual writing. WELL … since I was one of those writers who’d been resisting the all-time-consuming entry in the land of social media, the fact that I had a problem was rather obvious–thus the launch of this blog and everything else that’s happened over the last year, all chronicled herein for the perusal of interested parties.

As an aside–and as I mentioned in a posting a couple of weeks ago–the second Writer’s Digest convention is happening in January (21st-23rd). If you’re only going to attend one conference in your life (or if you haven’t been to one in awhile), this is the one. Check out the details at: http://www.writersdigest.com/conferences-events/. If you decide to attend, let me know. I’d love to connect with you while we’re there!

How’s Separation of Faith Doing?

Great, I think (especially since I’ve had two major surgeries in the seven weeks since the novel was released). Amazon rankings go up and down. (I can follow them hourly on my Amazon author site, but that can really drive a person nuts, so I don’t do that anymore.) I won’t know the exact number of books sold for awhile, since all I get at the moment are rankings, and I won’t receive my first royalty statement until the end of this quarter. But the reviews coming in, from both individuals and review sites, are all wonderful. If you haven’t been there yet, I invite you to check those reviews out at http://www.amazon.com/Separation-Faith-Novel-Cheri-Laser/dp/1450232183/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1289665738&sr=1-1.

At first, the hard cover was outselling the paperback, and then that reversed. So far, the best ranking has been 60,963 for the paperback at 2:00 pm on October 31. And to show you how fast the numbers can change, the hard cover had crept up to 1,707,759 on the morning of November 9. But at 3:30 that afternoon when I checked again, the hard cover was at 152,959. I don’t know yet how many books that represented, but the change was stunning (and very exciting).

One of the things I’ve learned in the last seven weeks of promotion is that if I don’t prime the pump every single day through some combination of activities–blogging, tweeting, Facebooking, tag surfing, etc.–absolutely nothing–zip, zero, nada–happens. And since we’re all responsible these days for the promotion of our books, regardless of whether we publish traditionally or otherwise, building that sales record is a huge challenge.

There is supposedly a point–if we’re putting a great story out there that’s meticulously edited, and if we’re promoting that book in some fashion seven days a week–where the momentum will become somewhat self-propelling, at least for awhile. But everything I’ve read and heard from the experts says that a minimum of six to eight months of concerted effort (and probably longer) is required before any sort of buzz can become self-sustaining for any period of time.

So, we march forward! Things like this posting by Glenda Bixler (a reviewer) on Facebook today can be incredibly uplifting when you start thinking that you’re never going to get “there”: http://gabixlerreviews-bookreadersheaven.blogspot.com/2010/11/cheri-lases-latest-is-separation-of.html.

When I look back through all the postings on this blog over the last year, though, I realize that an enormous amount has been accomplished, and I’m very grateful to be where I am (which is a millenium further than I was when I walked into that 2009 Writer’s Digest conference).

Some Information to Share with You

I’ve been accumulating these links for a few months now. Because, in addition to promoting Separation of Faith, bringing out a new edition of The Truth About Cinnamon, and being stuck in a surgical revolving door, I’m also trying to get started on my third novel, I’m drawn more to articles about writing now than I am to those about publishing and promoting, for the moment anyway. And I realized that I’d unknowingly been collecting lists, which I’m putting in numerical order for you, just for fun. Hopefully, one, some, or all of these links will prove useful to you as well:

1. Five questions to ask yourself before you start revising: http://elanajohnson.blogspot.com/2010/08/questions-to-ask-yourself-before-you.html.
2. Six personality types who will succeed as writers: http://victoriamixon.com/2010/07/13/6-personality-types-who-will-succeed-as-writers/.
3. The ten commandments of fiction writing: http://www.writersdigest.com/article/The_10_Commandments_of_Fiction_Writing/.
4. Janet Fitch’s 10 rules for writers: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2010/07/janet-fitchs-10-rules-for-writers.html.
5. 11 plot pitfalls and how to rescue your story from them: http://www.writersdigest.com/article/rescue-your-story-from-plot-pitfalls/.
6. 12 dos and don’ts for making the first page of your novel more compelling: http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com/2010/08/act-first-explain-later.html.
7. Secret emotional triggers for your writing: http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/2010/07/18/SecretEmotionalTriggersForYourWritingCapitolCityWritersRecap.aspx.
8. You can learn as much from writing friends as writing experts: http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/2010/08/24/YouCanLearnAsMuchFromWritingFriendsAsWritingExperts.aspx.
9. How to write the ending of your novel: http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2010/08/09/how-to-write-the-ending/.

Then, because the editing of our books is so unbelievably important (poor or inadequate editing will eliminate a book from contests and consideration by agents/editors, and will cause readers to put the book down, just to name a few things that will happen), I’m including a couple of links to articles about editing:

1. The myth of the evil editor: http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2010/07/myth-of-evil-editor.html.
2. A 4th of July lesson in the value of editors: http://writingfordigital.com/2010/07/04/a-fourth-of-july-lesson-in-the-value-of-editors/.

And lastly, for those of us intent on pursuing the traditional publishing path through agents and editors, here are two enlightening links:

1. What writers wish they’d known before pitching: http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/2010/07/29/WhatWritersWishTheydKnownBeforePitching.aspx.
2. How to ensure 75% of agents will request your material:  http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/2010/08/16/HowToEnsure75OfAgentsWillRequestYourMaterial.aspx.

Hopefully, you’ll find these tips as interesting and useful as I did/do/will.

In Closing

As I wrap up this first anniversary blog posting, I want to thank everyone I’ve encountered over the last year for the wealth of information and the generosity of spirit I’ve come to know in the writing community. As significant as this year has been, I have great hope that the next year will be even better for each of us. And I’d like to close with the last passage from my November 4, 2009 blog launch posting:

“I believe very strongly that there’s enough room in this dream for all of us, but we need to get our arms around the realities of the publishing world and then take control of our own destinies. Here’s to the journey!”

Have a great weekend. I’ll look forward to talking with you soon.

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61–Latest Interior Changes for Separation of Faith Approved

Getting Back on Track

The forty-eight changes submitted when we pulled the title back two weeks ago have now been reviewed and approved. I sent my “okay to go” email about thirty minutes ago. We still have to tweak the cover design slightly so the dust jacket will fit properly on the hard cover. But otherwise the final production steps should be moving forward very shortly.

As I was reviewing the interior changes, the thought occurred to me that you might find the specifics of that process interesting (for future reference, if nothing else). And given the emphasis in this blog on the importance of editing, I also thought you might like to see the painstaking detail involved with this last round of changes.

As I mentioned during that panicked weekend at the beginning of August (#57–Blip in Production), a couple of the issues I discovered were really serious, for example using one character’s name when another character was actually intended (called a content error and viewed as a major editorial slipup). A lot of the forty-eight changes submitted might be considered “nits” and yet, if uncorrected, would have affected the total editorial quality of the book. Some were word changes because there was a repetition issue where the same word was used in close proximity. (This type of issue is really hard to spot when reading your own work.) Other changes were things I learned as a result of the copyedit. One example is in dialogue where a character is interrupting someone who’s speaking. I had been ending the interrupted line of dialoge with ellipses, but the correct form is to end the line with an em dash.

Even though the changes might not make a lot of sense out of context, I thought you might be interested in seeing the actual proof form that I had to complete and submit. Someone in the production department at iUniverse then made the changes and returned a corrected pdf of the fully formatted book to me. Referencing my proof form, I then double checked to make sure the changes had been correctly implemented. (We’ve been through this process four times since I first submitted my manuscript last fall.)

In keeping with the mission of this blog to track every step of my publishing Journey, I’m attaching the latest proof form so you can see all the detail I’m referencing. Keep in mind that the issues listed on the form were still in the book following two editorial evaluations, a copyedit, six full-manuscript revision cycles, a proofreading, and one last revision cycle. For that very reason, traditional publishing houses typically assign five different people to edit and proofread galleys because you can’t have too many eyes examining a manuscript. And when we’re pursuing an alternate path on our publishing Journeys, we have to be extra diligent with respect to the editorial quality of what we’re putting “out there.”

I’m sure there are still going to be a few things that have slipped through in Separation of Faith, even after all the diligence (because I don’t think I’ve ever read even a traditionally published book that didn’t contain something that had been missed/overlooked). But I can honestly say that we’ve been as thorough as humanly possible with this particular novel.

Thanks so much again for your interest in what’s going on here. I’ll be back as soon as there are any new updates/developments.

RE-DO INTERIOR CHANGES.Proof Form (Click to see proof form.)

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58–Hold Onto That Enthusiasm … Just A Bit Longer

URGENT: Update on Separation of Faith/Newly Designed Blog/Etc.

Hi, everybody! Sorry I’ve been a little awol, but I had an unexpected stay in the hospital last week for three days preceded by the infection and fever that had me out of commission for five days prior to being admitted. I’m fine now–just a little bump in the reconstruction process.

Meanwhile, lots of things started happening ahead of schedule and have sort of launched Separation of Faith a smidge prematurely. (But at least you’re all getting to see the cover now … 🙂 …) The social media group at the publisher developed the new blog site, which is supposed to be secondary to my standard “Journey from Publishing Obscurity” site. I’ll be straightening that out on Monday.

Also, since we had to pull the book back briefly (see blog post #57), Separation of Faith is not actually available yet–and consequently, this new blog site should have been held back as well. I’ll also be straightening that out on Monday.

In short, we’re almost there–and I’m deeply grateful for the excitement I saw from several of you once this new site hit the air waves. I do apologize, however, for your need to put the horse back in the gate for just a little while longer. The updated galley for Separation of Faith should be in my hands this coming week, I hope, and assuming all is well, the title should go live again shortly thereafter. I’ll post at least a sentence or two daily to keep you current.

Last November I promised to share everything that happens on this Journey–the good, bad, and the ugly–and this little situation is sort of a real-time issue that I will be unwinding before your very eyes. 🙂

Meanwhile, since there’s lots of information available on this new site now about Separation of Faith, I welcome any comments and input regarding your first impressions, the cover, etc.

Hurray! The Truth About Cinnamon Reduction Edit Is Complete–At Last!

Those of you who’ve been following this Journey will know how monumental these words are: Last night at 10:30 I emailed the edited Cinnamon manuscript along with cover updates to the publisher! Honestly, I was beginning to think that this part of the Plan was never going to be finished. Last week while I was in the hospital, I worked many hours on the edit, simply because there wasn’t much else I could do there while lying there on IV antibiotics. All I can say now is, “Thank God that part is over!” (The edit as well as the antibiotics.)

Once the new version of Cinnamon goes into production, the original version will become a First Edition and will no longer be available on Amazon, etc. Hopefully the Second Edition will become available by the official (the way it’s supposed to happen) launch of Separation of Faith in September.

I will keep you posted. Meanwhile, if you’d like to secure a First Edition copy, you can still do so through Amazon, etc., or directly through the bookstore on my Web site (www.cherilaser.com) where you can also request a customized autograph.

Sorry Again for Any Mixups/Confusion about Separation of Faith

This was one moment in time when dealing with breast cancer and trying to bring out a new book didn’t gel very smoothly. Hopefully, order will be re-established early this coming week.

Thanks so much again for hanging in there and for being excited. You’re going to love the video book trailer, which will be ready very shortly and then linked into everything as soon as the title becomes live again (I will post when that happens).

Here Are a Couple of Interesting Links I Found While in the Hospital. Hope There’s Something of Value/Inspiration for You!

• http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/2010/08/11/FromSelfPublishedAuthorTo3BookDealTheStoryOfKieraCass.aspx  This one especially caught my attention … 🙂
• http://www.writersdigest.com/article/rescue-your-story-from-plot-pitfalls/

Take Care & Have a Terrific Weekend!

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57–Blip in Production for Separation of Faith

Separation of Faith Is Back in the Proof Process–A Great Big Yikes!

Fortunately, the panic is over, because every single person I’ve communicated with at iUniverse in the last three days (counting today) has been phenomenal! Unbeknown to me, they have a 24/7/365 customer support operation, and when I called (mildly hysterical) to leave a voice mail at nine o’clock on Saturday night, a real person actually answered the phone! So my heart rate dropped, and I was actually able to sleep that night.

Here’s what happened. On Friday, I received the printer copies (one copy each of the hard and soft covers) of Separation of Faith. There was an issue with the way the dust jacket was folded on the hard cover, but I figured that was relatively minor. The panic began setting in as I was forcing myself to read through the printed book one more time. (Keep in mind that 325 books–my entire promotional launch supply–were, I thought, in the printing process.)

And (no surprise here) that whole subject of editing suddenly began rising up to claim my sanity. As I was reading, I intermittently came across little things (mostly minor punctuation issues) that had been missed in one edit or another. But then, as I moved deeper into the book, I came across two major errors that were my fault that arose in the final revision process after I received the last proofreader’s input. As we all know as writers, every time we write something new, we run the risk of adding new errors to the mix. And that’s precisely what I did.

The recommendation had been made to me at some point in the editorial process that I should put the book through two proofreading cycles, which would have, in hindsight, most likely have prevented this current situation from unfolding. (Traditional publishing houses put their titles through two or three or more.) But I thought I’d be okay with one–and I’ll never forget that I was wrong. Fortunately, thanks to the fact that I made myself read the book right away, and then that the iUniverse folks responded so quickly, we avoided a catastrophe.

Otherwise, here are two of the errors that would have been in the book:

• Right in the middle of a sentence there was “Eight-foot-deep” instead of “eight-foot-deep.” I know that seems small, but it’s so obvious that it means someone (in this case me) wasn’t paying attention.
• The worst: I had Zoie looking over Isaiah’s shoulder when it should have been Ava looking over his shoulder. This is called a content error–something hugely major that would make a reader stop and say, “How could they have missed something like this?” And some of those readers would have been judges in the many contests I’m planning to enter. A content error like that would have most likely resulted in the book’s being disqualified from the contest.

 When added to the list (a short list, but still a list) of punctuation issues, those errors would have seriously downgraded the quality of the book I’ve been working so hard to elevate above the pack. And it’s all about that editing thing again. Thank God I read that book as soon as UPS brought it to me! But if I had only put the book through that second proofreading … If only … If only …

I’m sharing this with you because I’m hoping the timing will hit someone out there who could use a little timing help/wake-up call.

All of the necessary changes have now been submitted, and the title has been pulled from print. So 325 books that would have put me in the hospital are not, in fact, on their way to me. This slight setback will only mean a delay of a week or ten days probably. And I did have to pay a redo fee. But that is many thousands of dollars less than what it would have cost to have me committed … 🙂

I’ll let you know when I get the new proofed copy back for my review.

The Video Book Trailer

This magic little one-minute, forty-five second wonder is almost complete. We’ve been tweaking things after seeking input from objective viewers, and I’m at the point where I can’t even imagine what’s involved with full-length feature films that we see in theaters! The link for the video will be included with every piece of promotional material sent out, as soon as Separation of Faith is fully available everywhere online and through bookstores. And as we now know, that will be a couple of weeks later that originally planned …

The Truth About Cinnamon

The re-edited manuscript will be submitted to iUniverse by the end of this week. The goal is to have the 2nd Edition of Cinnamon available as close as possible to the full release of Separation of Faith. (I absolutely cannot believe how long I’ve been working on this!)

The iUniverse Avenue

Each of us is writing with different motivations and objectives, and if we want to see our books in print, we each have dfferent reasons for that as well. Some of us just want to share things with family and friends. Some of us just want to write and publish for ourselves. But if we want to write and publish so that lots of other people will want to pay their money to read our work, we either have to keep plugging away trying to get the attention of someone in the traditional publishing world, or we need to opt for an alternate route.

If you’re looking at the alternate avenues, I highly recommend exploring iUniverse. Yes, this is a big company. And yes, they take a piece of each book. But they honestly do value their authors, and the way they’re running their operation speaks to that point. They also do most of the work that full DIY authors have to learn how to do (and then do) themselves. There are trade-offs with each choice. For me, iUniverse is the best way at the moment for me to get where I want to go (see November 4 Blog Launch Posting).

Once again, however, if you’re really serious about being taken seriously as an author–no matter which avenue you select–you absolutely must put your work through an extensive editing process, either through the professional services available through a company like iUniverse or through professional editors that you find on your own. But as I’ve just learned again this past weekend–even though I’ve talked about the editing thing a million times in this blog—we all avoid/dodge/decide against a comprehensive editing process (or even a single step of that process) at our own peril.

Hope You All Have a Great Week Ahead!

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55-Fear of Sharing

The Editing, Opening-the-Kimono Thing Again

Following yesterday’s post, I was having a conversation with someone about the importance of having our work edited and the various reasons why writers remain hesitant to seek input. For me, that hesitation existed in spades years ago, before I grew my sea legs as a writer. That’s when I was still trying to make myself believe that I had somehow been miraculously born with everything I needed to know about writing novels already embedded in the creative side of my brain.

I remember one editor I’d queried directly (at a major New York publishing house, something you could still do in those days), who actually asked to see the entire manuscript of my first novel, The Truth About Cinnamon. I believe there was a dust cloud behind my car as I raced directly to the closest Federal Express office. After spending all that money to overnight the manuscript, I waited a couple of months to hear back from her. Then she called me (!), giving me a valuable few minutes of her time over the phone, a gesture I absolutely did not appreciate as I should have. (I’d be groveling all over the floor if something like that happened today!)

At any rate, during that call, she said something like, “Your first draft of The Truth About Cinnamon isn’t a bad outline for starters.” And then she proceeded to give me a list of things that she thought needed to be changed/added/deleted/thrown into oblivion, if I wanted her to consider taking on the book. She was truly offering me a gift of immeasurable proportions. But, of course, I thought the manuscript was completely finished and ready for a multi-million dollar distribution–and, of course, I thought the editor was nuts, out of touch, off base, and you know the rest of the litany. Ah, the lament! If I had only listened to her, I would have certainly saved myself years of wasted time and effort. And hers is only one example of advice I foolishly turned away in those early days.

Instead of having the effect she’d intended, however, that editor’s input only caused me to pull inward for a long time, avoiding any further possibilities of having someone else tell me that what I’d written wasn’t very good. (Never mind the fact that she never said my work wasn’t good. On the contrary, she was trying to tell me that I might have a shot. But I wasn’t paying attention or hearing her at all.)

Hey! What if I’d let a professional editor into my writing world before I’d even begun querying—especially before I’d begun querying? Who knows what would have happened, because here’s one unavoidable truth we all need to keep in mind: No matter what we attempt to do in life, we learn how to inprove ourselves and our craft/sport/art/business by playing with people who are better and more accomplished than we are. And no matter how good we become, there will always be people who are better than we are. For aspiring authors, those “people” are editors.

Believe me when I say that I remain fearful to this day of hearing anyone tell me that something I’ve labored to write needs a lot of work. But now the years have instilled in me the confidence that I can actually fix problems, once I’ve given people permission to point issues out to me. That entire process is intended to make the writing/story better, not to make me (or any writer) feel bad.

The person with whom I was speaking yesterday after my post was published said that, in addition to the editing thing, a lot of writers are also fearful of sharing their work because they think their idea(s) might be stolen. That particular reason hadn’t occurred to me, but my conversation with him was freshly on my mind this morning when Jane Friedman of Writer’s Digest posted this link in her “Best Of Tweets for Writers” list from last week: http://jasonlbaptiste.com/startups/they-will-steal-your-idea-they-cannot-steal-what-really-matters/. The article centers more on techical writing and development than on fiction, although the concept is still totally applicable. Aside from the fact that legitimate editors are not in the business of stealing writers’ work, even if they did decide to co-opt an idea for a novel, there’s no way anyone could steal the author’s planned implementation for that novel, the essence of all the characters, the plot twists that exist only in the author’s head, and so forth.

Basically, in the end, there isn’t any legitimate reason for avoiding a professional edit of our work—or for releasing our work into the hands of beta readers–and there are plenty of reasons for submitting our work to such scrutiny. Removing all the excuses for not having our work placed under a microscope is the goal—my goal–and hopefully the link and the additional thoughts shared in this post will be further steps in that direction.

We need to believe in ourselves, but not exclusively in ourselves! So let “the people” in. 🙂

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