Given that so many have reached out to me over the years with questions about writing, I thought, instead of having a blog about this, that, and the other, I’d focus more on just writing. Then the snowball gathered speed, and I found myself caught in an avalanche. Should these posts be directed at wannabe writers (more on this below) or established writers? Should they be aimed at those wanting to self-publish or to those jonesing for a publisher? Should I just give you my take on things or state dyed-in-the-wool facts? And if facts, then whose? There’s more than one style guide, after all.
It didn’t take long to realize that I could never please everyone. There’s not a book ever written that pleases everyone, so why worry that my little blog posts about writing would? They won’t. They can’t. We all have different viewpoints on writing. Some of us have a dog-eared copy of the Chicago Manual of Style on our desks, while others have only The Elements of Style, and some don’t have either, preferring to wing it or relying on their superior intelligence. Plus, for those of you under contract with publishers, many publishers have their own style guides. In them, there are rules that the publishers want their flock to follow.
Many have preferred word counts, and some have formulas they want you to follow. Independent authors, like myself, only have the rules we’ve created for ourselves. It’s as simple as that, so if the book is longer than the norm, so be it. If love doesn’t conquer all, so be it. If the reader never knows if my main character’s faces are square, round, heart-shaped, or oval…so be it. In my opinion, it’s called creativity, and it shouldn’t be censored by rules. Plus, full disclosure, I’m a bit of a control freak, and I wear that badge proudly. It got me to where I am, so no apologies. Ever.
Right now, you’re probably thinking that I’m bashing publishers. Well, to be honest, I did have a bad experience with one who, I believe, was trying to take advantage of both my naivete and the hunger that all new authors get. A writer’s dream is to be published, and we get stars in our eyes when publishers pay us attention, yet when they try to capitalize on that? Offering us contracts that give them all the power? That’s where I have a problem, but do I believe all publishers are nefarious? Absolutely not.
Publishers are businesses, and they’re in the business to make money. If you find a good one, a reputable one that’s willing to help, not hinder, they can be awesome. They may have art departments that’ll create your cover and editing departments that’ll help point out the mistakes you need to fix, and even marketing departments that’ll get your book where it needs to be, or so they say. That’s the caveat.
If you are going the publisher route, do your homework. Do not buy into what’s being shoveled in threads all over social media. Some publishers promise the world, yet once you sign on the dotted line, that world gets a whole lot smaller. I had a friend who signed with a small publisher who talked up what they would do for her, and then they did practically nothing. When her contract finally ended, she had to fight to get her books back. Read that again.
Anyway, if you want to go the publisher route, I applaud you, but please, I beg you, do your own homework. Research their authors, and reach out to them if you can. Get their feedback on the publisher or, at the very least, look up some of the books the publisher has on the market. Do you like what you see? Is it formatted correctly? What about the reviews? Anything about mistakes, errors, etc.? And then there’s the money end of things.
I won’t dive too deep into that, but I can tell you that, as an Independent author, or Indie, if you prefer (not Indy – that’s the car race), I earn anywhere from 35% to 85% on the net sale of an ebook. By contrast, the contract a publisher offered me years ago stated I’d receive 25% of the net for my ebook. Now, a lot has changed over the past fourteen years, so I sure as hell hope that percentage has increased, but net is the operative word here because someone has to pay for all that cover design, editing, and marketing publishers offer, and that someone is you. All that comes off the top before the actual net is determined. But, no matter what changes may have occurred over the years to contracts and percentages, you still need to do your own homework. Hire a lawyer if you need to, but don’t sign anything until you know the perks…and the penalties.
Getting back on track (I get sidetracked a lot), my goal here is to offer some input about writing. It will be up to you, the reader of this blog, to decide what pertains to you and what doesn’t. I’m hoping, though, that something in this diatribe and those that follow will help you in one way or another.
Now, so we are all on the same page, I need to make something crystal clear. I have had no formal training in writing. Meaning, while I am a high school graduate, I did not attend a university, a community college, or any other institution that has hallowed halls or padded walls. I didn’t take online courses or even attend seminars, so I can only attribute my ability to put words on paper to something God gave me and to my own doggedness when it came to learning this craft called writing. To say I’ve spent hundreds of hours reading and researching punctuation, grammar, hyphenated words, etc., doesn’t even come close, and I am far from perfect, but I do my damndest to improve with every book I write. I wouldn’t put my name on the cover if I weren’t proud of what’s inside.
Lastly, I want to return to the “wannabe writers” term I used above. I said that because a lot of people, and I mean a lot of people, think they can write a book. Any established writer reading this right now is bobbing their head because they’ve faced the same thing. People think writing a book is easy. They think it takes no time, and since they went to college, they can do it.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying they can’t. I’m just saying that, as far as I’m concerned, there’s no place for ego in writing, especially collegiate ego. Case in point, some of the writers who never went to college include H.G. Wells, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Maya Angelou, Truman Capote, and Ernest Hemingway…just to name a few. Writing, in my humble opinion, isn’t as much about education as it is about imagination, determination, and endurance.
Having said that, you’re probably wondering, if ego has no place in writing, why do I think I know anything about writing that could help someone else? Excellent question, and the answer is going to be up to you, the reader of these posts, to determine. I’m sure along the way, I may ruffle a few feathers, but that’s truly not my goal. All I’m trying to do is share what I’ve learned, what I’ve seen, and what causes me to cringe. And if there’s something you want me to touch on sometime in the future, please feel free to drop me an email.
Next up…the dreaded dialogue tag.