Is this really a job you want?

HELP WANTED: AUTHOR. Available immediately.

 Must be proficient with MS Word. Must be able to show highly developed skills in the area of spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Must demonstrate an understanding of plot, character, world-building, dialogue, pacing, etc. Organizational finesse is a plus. Must be able to create large amounts of content on a daily basis. Must be able to develop and convey a unique "voice" for multiple characters. 


Must capably transform visual scenery both distinctly and memorably into the written form. Must be highly creative. Must be familiar with genre tropes and aware of the current market trends. Must be predisposed to research activities, and possess the focus to stay on task, thereby avoiding the loss of countless days spent tracking a small fact that ultimately has no bearing on anything other than your personal fascination and curiosity. 

Must be content to look at computer screen for indeterminable hours per day. Must be amenable to repeated rejection, and continue working, learning from mistakes, and maintaining a good attitude. Must be willing to work on a deadline. Must be agreeable to paying for own travel expenses to attend various industry conventions and talk in front of crowds on panels. Must be happy to pay for own promotional pieces such as bookmarks, postcards, signage for signings, blog tour packages and the occasional well-placed ad. 

Compensation: There are no medical/dental/vision benefits to be had. No 401K unless you DIY. If published, actual pay is widely varied, might break down to mere pennies per hour, and often depends on factors such as: amount of advance, if any; breakdown of advance; royalties, if any. Agent fees may apply. **Achieving goal of being published is not a guarantee. However, if publishing is achieved, applicant may count on: 

1.) having a lengthy editorial letter outlining specific and required changes. 

2.) having the editorial mark-up leave you feeling completely incompetent with your own language.   And, 

3.) having reviewers mercilessly shred your work and question your competence as a human being.

Seriously. 

Who in their right mind signs up for this?

("right mind" being the words to focus on)

But we as authors do sign up for this wild ride, blissfully and willingly ignorant of most of these underlying job-requirement truths. Oh, sure, we know the depressing facts are there, if we dare to look them up, but usually, we prefer to hide our eyes and let them spring upon us naturally, learning about/dealing with them in the unique order they come to us. We just want to write, and we are sometimes blind to all but this driving need to purge our words perfectly onto the page. Too soon, we are caught in the story's grip, writing, writing, writing...determined to finish, to sell--to be good enough--while doubting ourselves constantly because we work in that cubbyhole of an office, alone, except for that tiny doubting devil on our shoulder who won't stop whispering in our ear.

Like people who buy houses on fault lines and live in denial of ever being an earthquake statistic, we authors forge onward denying the unlikelihood of best-seller-dom, intrinsically believing we will make it, craving laurels for our stories, and all the while fearing the repercussions of sharing our wonderful words because opening ourselves to that criticism exposes our deepest vulnerability. 

Demoralization sinks her claws into all of us. But like any super villain, she has one mortal enemy. *cue heroic theme music*

DETERMINATION

I sold 3 books to Juno/Pocket Books. When the contract for the 4th was looming, I contacted a few agents in the genre. I felt like I should make a modest attempt. I didn't try for the biggest, brightest agents, not the one I really wanted. I'd entered the published arena  via the small-press door, so I didn't think a big name would be interested in me.

Two agents responded and in turn I sent them partials of other series/books I had, puzzled why they didn't ask to know about the series I had already going. I mean, I kinda had an implied contract in hand. Easy money to represent me then, right?

I got turned down. 

BY  BOTH

New-ish agents, growing their stable, turned down a writer with a contract in hand.

Demoralizing??? Can I get a "Hell yeah!"? 

I couldn't beg them to take a cut of my money. WTF???

So, feeling I had nothing to lose, but determined to keep on fighting this fight, I contacted my Dream Agent. Yeah. The one from whom I already had no less than 8 rejection letters in my possession. 

Crazy, right? Why would he bother saying yes now?

He asked me to send him the first 3 books. Happily, I did. At least he was considering it, yanno? He read them. He asked to see the manuscript for the 4th, understanding that in the meantime, I had to go ahead and sign the contract for the 4th in which he would not be representing me. Still, he consulted me on the fourth book. 

Why yes, you did read that right. 

Dream agent hadn't signed me on, and he still treated me like I was already in his stable. *Beaming and feeling special.*

Dream Agent did sign me and he represented me for two more contracts. He remains my agent and I adore his skills, and am ever-grateful that he took me on. So listen up, y'all: in the darkest moment of my demoralization, I stayed determined, and I ended up with my Dream Agent. 

MORAL of the STORY:

DO NOT LET DEMORALIZATION MAKE YOU GIVE UP.

 

You ARE stronger than that.

 

Love Me, Damn You -- Coping with Demoralization

How do I deal with demoralization as a writer?

~snort~           ~snicker~          ~rolls on floor~

Dear readers, last week I re-engaged in the great Agent Quest. Since this is not my first time into the foray, I find this week's topic a wee bit amusing. You see, my previous stories were shot down in great flaming blazes of form-rejections.

~clutches pearls~

~slaps back of hand to brow~

~nails couch landing~

The first time, I took rejection like a champ. I mean, hey, I have a lot of stories spinning through my head-space. I'll just write something else. Something different. I reminded myself the rejections weren't personal (as if any of these people knew me, psht). I pulled up a new doc and stared at the blank page one.

~blink, blink~

 ~drum, drum~

~spin, spin~

It occurred to me that maybe, just possibly, there was something "wrong" with the way I'd written my first story. I mean, I hadn't even scored a personalized rejection. No one said, "hey, your writing is great but the market's oversaturated with this genre. Sorry." So, analytical me took some classes. I worked on my craft. I learned I'd committed some fairly atrocious sins that were common among beginners. The second story I wrote committed none very few of those tell-tale crimes.

Nobody wanted Story Two.

Honestly, the second round of canned Hell-Nos was harder to accept. I'd done what I was supposed to. I'd honed my craft. It was, I felt, on par with works in print. Why didn't anybody want this story? Why couldn't I get a nibble? Thanks to the handful of professionals who taken the time to personalize their response, I learned what I'd done "wrong." What I viewed as the genre of my story was not what the professionals considered it. Sure, it had elements of Genre A, but it was far more like Genre B, a genre-pool in which they did not swim. When I submitted to folks of Genre B, they responded with "too much like Genre A, we don't want it."

~blink, blink~

 ~drum, drum~

~scowl, scowl~

Fine. Be that way. Since publishing is a game of hurry up and wait, I had written Stories Three and Four. This time, I made sure the stories fit within the tropes and expectations of a very specific genres. I chose Story Four to be the one to brave the Agent Quest again. How will it do? Too soon to tell.

I haven't gotten remotely close to the other potentially demoralizing trials of being an author -- 100 page editorial letters, scathing reviews, poor sales, dropped contracts, etc.  I'd like to think I'll cope with them in the same way I deal with rejections.

Keep Learning. Keep Writing.

There is only so much within my control.

What about you, darling readers, how do you cope with discouragement?

Why It's Crucial for Writers to Reward Themselves

This is my new wind sculpture.

It's by Lyman Whitaker, shown by the Wiford Gallery here in Santa Fe. This is the one we picked out in motion. That animation is a bit misleading, however, because the true movement is much smoother. One thing I love about this artist's sculptures is how effortlessly the pieces flow with the slightest breath of wind - almost as if they're moving on their own.

Magic.

I've wanted one of these sculptures for most of my life. Whitaker has been making them for 40 years and I've probably been looking at them nearly that long. We used to come down from Denver on spring break or long weekends, because my mother is an art nut. (I come by it honestly.) I remember being a little girl and staring up at the spinning sculptures in awe.

So, what happened is, I got my first advance check. Kensington sent the check for Book 1 (formerly called The Middle Princess, soon to be called something ELSE) of my Twelve Kingdoms series. This is not only my first check from them, for this trilogy - it's my first advance check EVER. Since my first professional publication in 1996, I've been paid for my work either upon completion or with royalties from sales. For those who don't know the business, and "advance" is shorthand for "advance against royalties." Kensington pays me ahead of time for the book that will eventually be published and will deduct my royalties from book sales from that money until I "earn out" the amount of the advance, at which point I get royalties.

It's a big step towards being Grown-Up Writer.

Those of you who follow my personal blog know I pre-spent some of this advance money when I bought my treadmill desk. I wanted to start off the new year on a healthy note, which has been working great. (At my lowest weight and body fat since early 2012, thank you very much!) When Agent Pam said she was sending my advance check (and made me tell her that she looked great in her new glasses first, which is another story), I realized that I intended to deposit the money and pay various bills with it.

Which seemed kind of wrong.

See, I've been working towards this moment - working pretty damn hard, in fact, what with the day job career, too - and it occurred to me that I should enjoy the reward. When I mentioned this idea on Twitter, a couple of people said that's the Christina Dodd Rule. She says every writer should spend his or her first advance check on something frivolous, in celebration. After all, it's a milestone event and should be treated as such. There will be plenty of opportunities later to pay bills.

So, that's what I did. Being my mother's daughter, I bought art.

Being a writer can involve long, tedious slogs of unrewarding work (see "since 1996" above). In fact, this week's topic is "How do you deal with writerly demoralization?" It's not an easy career - full of rejection and sometimes poor reviews and times when it seems Everyone Else's books are selling better than yours. There are long periods when nothing seems to happen at all. What keeps us going is hope and determination. The determination is the engine, but hope is the fuel.

Now, when I look out my studio window, I see the sculpture spinning - hope made manifest.