What We Found: $.99 sale romantic mystery

$.99 sale 5/25-30: A romantic mystery: When Audra finds a murdered woman, she’ll have to stand up for herself to help the victim. It’s a risk, as is trusting the mysterious man who works with deadly birds of prey. But with danger all around, some risks are worth taking. 4.3 star average with 23 Amazon customer reviews.

What We Found

Finding a dead body changes a person.

22-year-old Audra Needham is back in her small New Mexico hometown. She just wants to fit in, work hard, and help her younger brother. Going for a walk in the woods with her former crush, Jay, seems like a harmless distraction.

Until they stumble on a body.

Jay, who has secrets of his own to protect, insists they walk away and keep quiet. But Audra can't simply forget what she's seen. The woman deserves to be found, and her story deserves to be told.

More than one person isn't happy about Audra bringing a crime to life. The dead woman was murdered, and Audra could be next on the vengeful killer's list. She’ll have to stand up for herself in order to stand up for the murder victim. It’s a risk, and so is reaching out to the mysterious young man who works with deadly birds of prey. With her 12-year-old brother determined to play detective, and romance budding in the last place she expected, Audra learns that some risks are worth taking – no matter the danger, to her body or her heart.

“Another action-packed suspense novel by Kris Bock, perhaps her best to-date. The author weaves an intriguing tale with appealing characters. Watching Audra, the main character, evolve into an emotionally-mature and independent young woman is gratifying.” Reader Ellen R.

Inspiration for the Book

A couple of years ago, I met a local falconer. I tagged along on hunts, as he released a falcon after homing pigeons on a cold winter morning or let a hawk chase rabbits on a spring afternoon. (For those of you who are squeamish, the birds of prey don’t succeed as often as you might expect, but they get exercise.) I visited the falconer’s home to see newly hatched hawks and falcons. I even wrote an article about him and his birds for a local publication.

Raising falcons is an intense, time-consuming, and expensive hobby, so I don’t plan to get into falconry myself. But as an author, I could do the next best thing – I could write about it.

In What We Found, a young woman stumbles on a dead body in the woods. Audra gets drawn into the investigation, but more than one person isn’t happy about her bringing a murder to light. Fortunately, she has some allies, including her brainy 12-year-old brother and self-appointed sidekick, Ricky; a sophisticated Navajo coworker, Nascha; and her goofy but loyal boss, Eslinda. And because this is suspense with a dose of romance, she has a love interest – Kyle, a mysterious young man who happens to be the brother of the murder victim.

Kyle is recovering from physical and psychological wounds he received during military service. He finds some peace helping his grandmother, Nancy, work with the falcons and hawks she keeps. Audra gets her first tour of the aviary from Nancy:

A beautiful bird sat on a perch. I couldn’t identify different kinds of falcons and hawks, but this was clearly a bird of prey, with a sharply hooked beak and long claws on the yellow feet. It was only about a foot high, but the tiny black eyes rimmed with yellow had a fierce look, warning that this was not a cuddly pet.

“This is Lucy,” Nancy said. “She’s a peregrine falcon, an old girl like me. She was a rescue.” The bird turned her head and shrieked, her little pink tongue visible in the open mouth. Nancy ran the back of her fingers down the bird’s breast.

I’d never been this close to a falcon before. She had beautiful coloring, dark brown on the head and back, with a white throat that gave way to a mottled pattern of cream and brown on the breast. I had the urge to reach out and stroke her like Nancy had, but I wasn’t sure the bird would take that from strangers, and anyway it seemed rude.

I drew closer and could tell one wing was different, part of it missing. I got a sudden image of Kyle and wondered if Nancy took in injured creatures of all kinds. “Are all your birds rescued?”

“No, but several are. Once I had birds, people knew me as ‘The Bird Lady’ and started bringing me injured birds.” She smiled at the falcon and I could feel the connection between the two of them. “In the summer, the hunting seasons are closed and the birds are molting. You can’t fly the birds, so I started breeding them. I think it’s good for their health, to pair up.”

That made me think of Mom. I was reading symbolism into everything.

The falcons are realistically portrayed in What We Found, so they don’t help solve the crime or anything like that. But the falconry aspect helped me develop thematic elements of the story, added some unusual action, and provided readers with insight into an usual pastime. One reader wrote, “The falconry aspect was almost as intriguing as the unveiling of the murderer!”

Writers hope to create characters readers will love. Secondary characters – villains, love interests, sidekicks, friends and family and others – can make the story world feel real, add tension and complications, and provide comic relief. They can also allow the main character to express herself in different situations and with different kinds of people, thus letting readers get to know her better. Each story requires a different cast of characters, but I like to include strong female friends, a gentle hero, a few quirky minor characters, and fascinating animals – wild or otherwise – if they fit.

For another aspect of the book, read the real story of our accidental involvement in a murder case, the experience that inspired What We Found, in a guest post on Digital Book Today. 

Finding Time to Write

This week as part of my “Surviving the Writing Life” series, I’m tackling a big question:

How do you find time to write?

Most of us don’t have the luxury of focusing on writing full-time. If you have a day job or kids at home, how do you squeeze in time to write?

– Set small goals and keep them. Write 2 pages or 200 words a day (or whatever your goal is), no matter what! Some people find it easiest to get up early and work before the rest of the family is awake. But if you can’t squeeze in the writing during the day, you do it before going to bed. (You may want to give yourself one day a week off. This can be motivating earlier in the week, as you want to save that free day in case you need it more later.)

– Remove distractions. When you sit down to write, write first. Don’t check email or Facebook. Close your email and browser window. Apps such as “Freedom” block you from the Internet for a set amount of time. “Write or Die 2” gives you rewards for writing and punishment for procrastination by images and sounds. There are many others. You can also turn off your Wi-Fi or unplug your Internet cable, and only check  email at set times.

Leave the house if you have to – go to a coffee shop or the library to write. One writer commented that she turns off the phone when she’s writing. Everyone knew to call her husband in case of emergency, which never happened. If she had her phone on, would people have come up with a lot more “emergencies”? Ellen Rippel, author of Outlaws & Outcasts: The Lost Cemetery of Las Vegas, New Mexico, says, “They usually say, ‘I know you said not to call at this time, but I thought you should know….’” 

But what if you have to research? Schedule times specifically for research, but don’t stop your writing to fill in one small blank. Checking a fact could lead to hours of book browsing or Internet distraction, so make a note in your manuscript such as [add appropriate clothing] or [check definition] and keep writing.

– Look for small chunks of time. When I had an office job, I wrote during part of my lunch hour. Some writers keep a notebook or tape recorder in the car and take notes while waiting in line to pick up the kids. A few minutes here and there can add up over the course of a week. Building habits takes time, so write anything, anywhere, to get in the habit, and don’t worry about quality or whether it’s something you’ll ever use.

– Look for bigger chunks of time. Some people may find it easier to schedule several hours to write on one weekend day instead of trying to write daily. Writing retreats – a weekend or a week away, with critique partners or alone – are also an opportunity to get substantial writing done. If you can’t afford an official writing retreat, see if you can borrow a friend’s house while they’re on vacation, in exchange for pet and plant care.

– Multitask. One of my friends wrote a novel over the summer, while her kids swam at the pool or had soccer practice. Look for similar situations, where you have to be physically present but can divide your attention.

Use a notebook or tape recorder to capture ideas when you can’t get to the computer. You can get a small digital tape recorder for about $30 and dictate while you walk the dog. Even brushing your teeth can provide an opportunity to ponder a plot problem or brainstorm ideas. For those who think in the shower, bathtub markers can allow you to jot notes.

Focusing on writing while doing other things can take some practice. When I walk with my mini tape recorder, usually the first ten minutes involves churning through all the garbage in my mind, but I won’t allow myself to turn around until I start focusing on my story. I also find that a menial task like emptying the dishwasher can let me think about how I want to word the next section, but it’s important to concentrate and not get distracted by the “to-do list” or random thoughts.

I prepared this action-fantasy for
publication while juggling other jobs.

– Track your time. Just as dieters are advised to keep a food diary of everything they eat, keep a notebook for a week noting exactly how you spend your time. You may find that you are wasting more time than you realize on social media or watching TV. You may realize that a volunteer obligation has become too much of a burden. You may decide that it’s time to put other family members in charge of more household tasks. Or you may determine that you are doing the best you can already and should give yourself a break. Chances are you’ll learn something.

– Set your priorities. When you die, do you want people to say, “She was a fantastic writer” or “She kept a clean house and could always quote the latest TV show.” Fellow Mayhemer Joy McCullough-Carranza says, “I homeschool two children and manage a heavy freelance load, but I make time. It’s the only way. I’m the only one who cares if I write, when it really comes down to it. Family and friends are supportive, but if I don’t make time, then I’ll never progress. So I work really late at night and watch very little TV. Basically I have no social life, which suits me. If I were a more social creature, I would need to find a way to balance things, but I’m happy in my jammies with my laptop.”

– Stay organized. This is worthy of its own article, so I won’t go into detail now, but if you have a problem with disorganization or trying to do too many things at once, seek out resources to help. One great one is Managing Your Writing Space and Your Writing Time, by Kristi Holl, available as a free e-book on her blog, http://kristiholl.net/writers-blog/.

Need a chocolate fix to keep your energy up?

– Analyze why you procrastinate. Does it happen when you’re hungry? Keep some quick, nutritious snacks handy. When you’re tired or stressed? Take a 15 minute break for a walk, meditation, or yoga. When you are lonely or discouraged? Set a timer for 10 minutes of journaling about the situation, tell a family member or friend that you need a pep talk, or review some inspiring quotations – but set a limit so you don’t get distracted for the rest of your writing time. See Kristi Holt article on “Silent Sabotage“ for more insight.

In some cases, you may have more serious issues to tackle. If you are suffering from depression, get professional advice. Perfectionism, fear of failure, and insecurity can also interfere with your work. These may be life issues that need work before the more practical suggestions here will be effective.

Tip: If you have an issue that is interfering with your writing, chances are it is showing up in other areas of your life as well, such as exercise habits, eating, and even relationships. Look for these patterns. Do you binge, indulging in an activity to excess for short periods? Do deadlines and expectations immobilize you, leading to a cycle of guilt? Is your identity dependent on being perfect, so that you take on too many tasks and work yourself to the point of exhaustion? If you identify an ongoing problem in your life, take steps to mitigate it. This might include joining a support group, getting counseling, or discussing options with your doctor.

More help: read the comments as well as the post on the Writer Unboxed entry Protecting Your Writing Time – And Yourself.

Kristi Holl deals with many of these issues in her regular blog posts. She also recommends the book Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life, by Randy Ingermanson, and Switch On Your Brain: The Key to Peak Happiness, Thinking, and Health, by Dr. Caroline Leaf, who also has a video series available online (she speaks from a Christian perspective but brings science to the discussion).

There’s a pair of fun and insightful illustrated posts from Wait but Why on “Why Procrastinators Procrastinate“ and “How to Beat Procrastination.”

Chris Eboch writes fiction and nonfiction for all ages. Her book Advanced Plotting helps writers fine-tune their plots. Learn about her editorial and critiquing services, and find advice for writers, on her website.

Surviving the Writing Life III

In my recent posts I've talked about defining success for yourself and comparing yourself to other writers. Here I continue with issues people brought up during an SCBWI schmooze in Albuquerque. Maybe you’ll recognize yourself in some of these questions and find guidance in the answers. These work even better as group discussion questions, so consider bringing them to your critique group or discussing them over coffee with writing friends.

How do you create a support system?

– Spend time with other writers at SCBWI meetings, critique groups, classes, or a retreat. Fellow Mayhemer Joy McCullough-Carranza says, “I’m so grateful for my support system, both from within the writing community and from my family and friends. When I was first starting out with middle grade, I struggled to find that support system. But before long, I’d found my people. I found them through reaching out to people whose blogs or message board posts I liked. (I met Project Mayhem’s Marissa Burt through Absolute Write, and now she’s one of my closest real-life friends.) I found them through participating in contests like Pitch Wars, and doing ‘critique partner dating service’ type match-ups.” 

– If you can’t make it to those groups, there are online places where creators can find support, such as The SCBWI Blueboard, which has discussion threads on many topics.

– Be willing to talk honestly about what you’re going through. Offer support and avoid competing.

– Ask for help, but don’t expect to get more than you give. Even if you’re a beginner, do your fair share. For example, lead a discussion where you share your favorite writing books. If you’re not confident about your critique skills, study editing techniques to make them better, and in the meantime offer emotional support.

– Ask for your family’s support and be specific about what you need. Mothers in particular tend to be givers who put everyone else first. But you owe your daughters and sons the example of what it means to be a strong, fulfilled woman. It may take time to train everyone to respect your dreams and goals, but it won’t happen at all if you don’t start – and take your dreams and goals seriously yourself. Speaking of which…

How do you get your family and friends to take your writing seriously?

– Treat your writing like a business. Schedule “office hours” and stick to them. Set specific goals with specific deadlines. Keep receipts for tax deductions. This will also help you take yourself seriously as a writer, and those feelings should carry over in your interactions. (Of course, if you don’t want to be a professional writer – if writing is a hobby – that’s fine. You still have a right to spend time on your hobby, but you might not organize it like a business.)

– If someone dismisses your writing because you haven’t earned money off of it yet, point out that developing a new career takes time. You must invest time (and sometimes money) in your education, the same way you will invest in your children’s education. If you’re still in the learning stage, it’s like you’re a part-time college student.

– Take yourself seriously and insist your family do the same. Don’t promise fame or financial success, but honor your right to do this for yourself, regardless of the outcome. Joy notes, “I have been fortunate not to have to do anything to get my family and friends to take me seriously. I think that’s largely because I take it so seriously that they wouldn’t dare do anything else.”

– Don’t give in to guilt. If you always put others first, you train them to believe your needs are not important.

Have you struggled with these issues? Do you have additional tips?

Chris Eboch’s novels for ages nine and up include The Genie’s Gift, a middle eastern fantasy, The Eyes of Pharaoh, a mystery in ancient Egypt; The Well of Sacrifice, a Mayan adventure; and the Haunted series, which starts with The Ghost on the Stairs. In The Ghost Miner’s Treasure, a brother and sister help a ghostly miner find his long-lost mine. Her book Advanced Plotting helps writers fine-tune their plots. Learn more at www.chriseboch.com or her Amazon page, or check out her writing tips at her Write Like a Pro! blog.

Surviving the Writing Life

In my last post, I talked about starting the new year by Defining Success for yourself, with tips on how to do that. That came out of several SCBWI schmoozes in Albuquerque on issues in the writing life. I thought I’d share some additional notes here, based on questions people had or areas where people were struggling. Maybe you’ll recognize yourself in some of these questions and find guidance in the answers. These work even better as group discussion questions, so consider bringing them to your critique group or discussing them over coffee with writing friends.

Is there value in comparing your path to others? How do you keep from being frustrated and discouraged when others seem to be doing better?

– Keep in mind many people are happy to share their successes but may hide their disappointments. It doesn’t mean the disappointments aren’t there. At our meeting, every author who had been published for at least 10 years had a gap of six or seven years between novel sales at some point. I had almost a decade between sales of original novels.

– Honor yourself for continuing to show up and try. Many people drop out and we never hear of them again. You are farther along the path to success than all those people!

– Try to put aside the concept of “failing” and instead focus on “learning.” So your manuscript was rejected by 50 agents. Are you a better writer now than you were before you wrote it? Do you know more about querying? Have you developed a new resistance to rejection? Then that process was a success.

– Understand that learning new skills takes time. How much time have you really put in – not in years, but in hours? You may have heard of the “10,000 hours” rule – that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert in something. You may have been writing for 10 years, but at five hours per week, that’s only 2600 hours. (Lest you find that discouraging, you may need fewer than 10,000 hours because you learned some of your writing skills throughout your school years. You may still need to spend a few thousand hours learning fiction writing or writing for children, though.)

– Remember that not everybody has the same obligations (family, job), training, financial resources, or family support. All those things affect your career path. Do the best you can with what you have.

– You are more than just a writer. Honor and celebrate your whole self.

– It’s not us versus them (unpublished versus published, or debut author versus famous author.) We are all on the same path. You’re part of that continuum. Some people may be further along the path, or moving more quickly, but this isn’t a race with only one winner.

Fellow Mayhemer Joy McCullough-Carranza adds, “I’m in a position where critique partners I’ve had for years have all gotten agents and most have gotten deals with major publishers and I’ve done neither (despite their assurances that it’s my turn! Now!). It’s difficult not to compare, and even more difficult not to become discouraged sometimes. But I’m still able to take huge joy in their successes. Their successes don’t diminish mine – if anything, they increase my opportunities and knowledge. I have walked with my writing friends along their journeys and feel like I know the ups and downs of that path so well already. They’ve got a wealth of experience to share, and they do so generously.”

More help:

Chugging Through the (Early) Stages of a Writing Career by L.B. Shulman: common psychological pitfalls from beginning to first sale.

When Rules Aren’t, by author Alina Klein: “There are no absolutes when it comes to story, and what is acceptable or worth telling.”

This post is reprinted from the Project Mayhem blog.

Chris Eboch writes fiction and nonfiction for all ages. Her book Advanced Plotting helps writers fine-tune their plots. Learn about her editorial and critiquing services, and find advice for writers, on her website.

Defining Success

This is reprinted from the Project Mayhem blog.

Last winter we did several SCBWI schmoozes in Albuquerque on issues in the writing life. During one meeting, we explored the idea of success. Here are some notes. Consider getting together with your critique group, other writing friends, or your family, to share these goals and figure out ways to keep each other on track.

Defining Success

If you have only vague ideas of what “success” means for your writing career, spent some time defining what success means to you. Set specific, achievable goals. Preface your resolutions or goals with a phrase such as, “I’m going to make my very best effort to _____________.” Ask yourself:

• What is my primary writing goal?

• What are my secondary writing goals?

• How can these goals work together? Do they contradict each other at all? Do they interfere with other career, family, or personal goals?

• What steps do I need to take? Do I need to work on specific craft techniques, time management, market research, or submissions?

• Which steps come first? How can I schedule the steps to reach my goals?

It’s easy to set goals and then forget all about them, so find a way to check in regularly – put a pop-up notice on your computer calendar, make goals check-in a monthly part of your critique group meeting, or have a weekly online chat with friends where you check progress.

More help (some of these posts are from last year, but the ideas are just as valuable):

Goal Setting Without Fear, from Crime Fiction Collective, by Peg Brantley: “One of my favorite sayings is ‘It doesn’t matter where you start out. What matters is where you end up.’”

Kelly Bennett on defining what you want as a writer: “I defined for myself what being a successful writer meant. Not vague “I want to be somebody,” wishes, either….”

Luke Reynolds on Redefining Success: “Redefining success allows us to continue to focus on the work at hand rather than the result.”

A Writer’s HAPPY New Year, by Kristi Holl: “I am going through my goals list again. B am adding goals geared toward renewal.” (Kristi has a great inspirational blog on issues in the writing life, such as overcoming self-doubt.)

Make Your Own Luck, by Angela Ackerman: We tend to say, “If I could ____, then it would help me succeed. Whatever your blank is, instead of thinking that it’s too hard to do, or something out of your control, Make Your Own Luck.”

Writing and Life Balance, by Susan Uhlig: on Discipline, Setting Priorities, and managing Life and Volunteer Duties.

Did you make writing resolutions this year? Did this post inspire you to start? How are you going to make sure you stay on track?

Chris Eboch writes fiction and nonfiction for all ages. Her book Advanced Plotting helps writers fine-tune their plots. Learn about her editorial and critiquing services, and find advice for writers, on her website.

What Do Amazon Sales Rankings Really Mean?

I was answering a question about Amazon rankings on a listserv. Since I looked up some information, I thought I'd share it here as well. Authors can get wrapped up in their sales rankings, but how much does your Amazon sales ranking really mean?

Some books will have very low rankings but may do well in school and library sales. There may also be different rankings for the paperback and e-book versions. For example, here's what Amazon tells me:
Copies sold are for the last year to date, Feb. 21, 2012-Mar. 3, 2013, per BookScan, which is available to authors through their Author Central page. "BookScan estimates they report 75% of all retail print book sales." – this includes chain and some independent bookstores, NOT just Amazon, but does not seem to include libraries. Amazon sales rankings are current, which pays most attention to recent sales, I believe. Yes, it's comparing apples to oranges. That's my point

Milton Hershey: Young Chocolatier sold 4491 copies in the previous year and is currently ranked #5,397,877 in Books, #49,604 in Kindle Store

Jesse Owens: Young Record Breaker sold 3980 copies, ranking #2,146,498 in Books (no Kindle)

The Well of Sacrifice sold 586 copies, ranking #239,389 in Books,  #320,872 in Kindle Store

What's really interesting is that Milton Hershey has the most copies sold according to  BookScan, but the worst Amazon sales ranking. That suggests it sells better through non-Amazon  channels. The Well of Sacrifice, on the other hand, apparently sells pretty well through Amazon.

FYI, my royalty statements usually show sales of around 2000 copies per year of The Well of Sacrifice, compared to the 586 showing up through BookScan, although the dates aren't aligned to the calendar year there, and I haven't yet gotten my statement for the last half of 2012. The difference may be that this book sells well to schools and libraries.

The main take away is, don't take your sales rankings too seriously!

New Year's Resolutions and Writing Goals

I have mixed feelings about New Year's resolutions. On the one hand, January 1 is just another day of the year, and it seems like most people set up vague and overly-ambitious resolutions that they quickly drop. On the other hand, I am in favor of regularly reviewing writing and life goals. That's the only way to clearly see what path you are on and figure out how to get where you want to go. And the beginning of the new year is as good as any time to do that!

I'll be leading the January SCBWI schmooze in Albuquerque, where we'll continue a series on the writing life. This time, we'll be discussing our goals and how to make them happen. In preparation, I've been tracking other blog posts on goals and resolutions. There's lots of great advice here.

Redefine Success, from Luke Reynolds (highly recommended).

Set Goals NOW for 2013, from Writers First Aid by Kristi Holl.

How's the Work Going? It All Depends: Focus on this moment, this day, this year, also from Writers First Aid by Kristi Holl.

Make Your Own Luck, by Angela Ackerman: What can you do to give yourself the best chance of success? 

Margaret Peterson Haddix on how she has defined success. (Hear how other authors define success with Cynsations Career Builder series.) 

Writing and Life Balance (Discipline, Setting Priorities, and Life and Volunteer Duties), by Susan Uhlig.

Writing In No Time, from this blog.

Debut Author vs. Career Author (although this one is targeting published authors, much of the planning and organizational advice should be useful to pre-published authors as well).

In personal news, I've been invited to join the Project Mayhem group blog. Learn about the new members here. I'm planning to stop posting to this blog (though I'll leave it up so you can visit the archives) sometime in the near future, and move my activity to Project Mayhem. I'll still be talking about the craft and business of writing, along with some other book topics. I'm looking forward to a new venue, a lighter schedule (a couple of posts per month from me), and the chance for a little more diversity in my topics. Please consider following Project Mayhem for news and thoughts from "The Manic Minds of Middle Grade Writers."

Like a Young Burt Reynolds: Problems with Character Description

Jodie Renner had a good post on description at Crime Fiction Collective recently. It got me thinking about something that bothers me: too much character description. Jodie's post talked about how too much character description can slow the story, especially when given in bulk for minor characters. 

If the characters aren't important, something like "Juan Lopez, the youngest of the group" is enough to suggest his rough appearance. By giving more details, as a reader I feel like I'm supposed to pay attention. It pushes me out of the scene, and I might pause to study who had what color eyes/hair etc., assuming I'll want to know what they look like later. If they never appear again, or aren't important, you've wasted my time.

But there's another problem with detailed character descriptions. You're trusting your reader to have the same reaction you do, and that might not happen. This is especially dangerous if the character is supposed to be romantically appealing. I've read several romanctic heroes with a cleft chin, which is not something I find particularly attractive. Mention it once, and I can skim over it, but if a character trait is reiterated every time the character appears, it's hard to ignore.

Another problem is describing someone as looking like a celebrity. I've heard that technique described as lazy, but what I think is worse, it could have the opposite effect you intended. I recently read a book which was overall very good, but the romantic hero was described multiple times as looking like "a young Burt Reynolds." Since I don't find Burt Reynolds attractive, this came across as a negative thing. Plus, I only knew what Reynolds looked like in middle age.

You also risk the celebrity technique backfiring if the reader has no idea what that person looks like. I don't watch TV or see a lot of movies, and I don't follow celebrity gossip. There are names that I vaguely know as being popular, but I couldn't tell you what they look like. And as the years pass, some of those names will fade from popular consciousness – or worse, become associated with something negative. Imagine reading a book with a main character who has the sweet, girl next-door wholesomeness of Britney Spears. Might come across as a little dated now, huh?

For me, a brief character description works best. Let me fill in the rest with my imagination. 

On Becoming a Writer: My Path to Publication

I'm on a listserv for mystery fans, and we recently had a discussion on paths to publication. I wrote up my experience, so I thought I'd share it here. People often don't know what they're getting into when they decide to "become a writer," and no one outside of the business has a clue how challenging it is. Here's just one example. [Note – many, many people on the list didn't start writing until they were in their 40s, 50s, 60s or 70s, and many also took 20 or more years to get published.]

My path to publication is unusual – I sold the first novel I ever wrote, before age 30. 

But wait! Before the other authors start throwing things at me, let me tell the whole story.

I first went to art school (Rhode Island School of Design), where I studied photography. I learned I didn't want to be a photographer, but I got a great education in creativity and critiquing. Learning how to analyze and express what I feel works and doesn't work in other people's art has served me well in analyzing my own writing and especially in teaching/critiquing others. And learning how to take a critique as a learning experience helped build a thick skin. I also started writing for the school paper and got interested in journalism.

After two years of going nowhere much, I went back to college for my MA degree in Professional Writing and Publishing. Although I was focused on magazine nonfiction, I took classes in fiction, children's picture books, and book publishing. I went to New York City to look for work in magazines. While job hunting and doing temp work, I decided to start a novel for my own entertainment. I had an idea for a middle grade (ages 9 to 12) novel set in Mayan Guatemala, where I'd spent a summer traveling after college.

That became The Well of Sacrifice, which got me an agent and a book contract with Clarion – mainly because I was very, very lucky. First of all, historical fiction for kids was selling much better then than it does today. And there was no other historical fiction about the pre-Columbian Maya for middle grade kids. I didn't know that, or that kids study the Maya in fourth grade, or that teachers often use supplemental fiction when they teach history. So I accidentally wrote a book that was very marketable. It came out in 1999, and I still get a nice royalty check twice a year, mainly because of school purchases.

I also got lucky because I didn't make any of the mistakes first novelist typically make. I saved those for my second book… And my third… And my fourth… In fact, I went on to write something like eight novels that I couldn't sell. I don't know if I would've had the stamina to keep with it if I hadn't had that early success. 

I had naïvely quit my job at a magazine and moved west after selling the book, because I had money in the bank and thought I could make it as a writer. Over the next decade, I did work for hire nonfiction, sold a couple of short stories and a larger number of articles, and taught writing for children through a correspondence course and at local colleges (and did a lot more temp work).

I finally sold a series in 2008. Haunted, about a brother and sister who travel with a ghost hunter TV show, launched with three books. Then my editor got fired and the publisher canceled the series. You know how common experiences like this are? I was recently on a panel about "hope and rejection" at a writers schmooze, and three of us have had gaps of at least seven years between book sales. The fourth person had sold her first novel a couple of years prior, but the publisher went out of business six months before they were supposed to release it. Another publisher took on the book, but her editor had just rejected her second novel.

A couple of years ago, I was feeling burnt out on writing for children, so I decided to start writing romantic suspense for adults. My former editor had become my agent, and he wanted to represent my first book. However, I had been reading a lot about new options in indie publishing, and I wasn't happy with what I was hearing from traditional publishers (lower advances without higher royalties, etc.). I said I was thinking about self-publishing, and my agent agreed that was the best path today for genre fiction.

I have released three books for adults in the last two years, under the name Kris Bock, to separate that work from my children's books. I haven't sold a lot of copies yet, but I have gotten good reviews, even from strangers. I've been focusing more on getting the first books out, so that I could market a body of work. I didn't want to get bogged down in publicity after just one book. I've also been learning a lot about publishing and publicity, so hopefully I can be more focused with my time.

I also released two of my unsold children's books – the fourth book in my Haunted series, because I'd already written it and I had an interested audience. And a mystery set in ancient Egypt, The Eyes of Pharaoh. Although many of my early, unsold books were not publishable, I was confident this one had merit. It was a finalist in the New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards, and it has been picked up by several teachers for classroom use. It's the one making me the most money so far. Second is Advanced Plotting, a guide for writers adapted from my workshops, blog posts, and articles in Children's Writer and Writers Digest.

I'm still doing a lot of work for hire (children's nonfiction, test passages, manuscript critiques, writing articles, workshops) to pay the bills. 2011 has been fairly good financially, but my goal is to shift more of my income to my fiction.


I'm thinking about doing a breakdown in the new year on where my 2011 income came from, as an example of how a professional writer makes a living. Would you be interested in hearing about that, or should I stick more to writing craft?

Another Company Enters the Self-Publishing Market

Simon & Schuster has announced a new self-publishing imprint, Archway Publishing. The imprint is run by Author Solutions, a vanity press with a long and questionable history. Here are a couple of blog posts on the subject. These contain individual opinions,but the bloggers' numbers appear to be correct based on a quick look around the Archway site. Please be very cautious about doing business with anyone who claims to be representing Penguin who may really be trying to sell you services through Archway. A traditional publisher NEVER asks for money up front.

A New Way To Rob the Poor?, By Andrew E. Kaufman

Simon & Schuster Joins Forces With Author Solutions To Rip Off Writers

This may sound familiar because Penguin’s parent company, Pearson, purchased Author Solutions in July. (Here's an opinion on that: Penguin’s New Business Model: Exploiting Writers) My personal opinion: Big publishers need to look for innovative ways to increase revenue. Valid options include starting e-book-first imprints and lowering or eliminating advances while giving authors a greater royalty rate. They do not involve lending the publisher's name to a shady and overpriced vanity press.