One of the things that's been so great about having my shop on etsy is all the interesting and talented people I've met. Author Lori Brighton is one of them. Her first book Wild Heart, a paranormal historical romance, was published in November of 2009.
Anyone who knows me on the web knows I'm not one of many words. A couple of paragraphs is the most you'll get out of me. Writing has never come naturally to me. Therefore, I've always admired people who have the gift.
After reading Lori's wonderful book (which I highly recommend) I started wondering more about the writing/publishing process. I asked her to tell us a little about it - it's very interesting and not entirely what you might expect:
In the Beginning…
I certainly never thought I’d be an author when I grew up but I’d always had a huge imagination. I suppose it was that one defining moment when I decided to actually put a story to paper that I became a writer. Of course writing a manuscript was just the first step. Having no idea if my writing was good enough, nor how to get a book published, I had to start searching for information. Thank god for the internet. I found critique groups to join and polished my manuscript until I couldn’t polish it anymore.
Please Stand In an Orderly Fashion…
One of the most difficult and most exciting parts of a writer’s career is sending out those query letters. A query letter is a letter you send to editors and agents that basically sells your book. In this letter you have a paragraph or two about your book and a little something about who you are. In most instances a writer will query an agent first. Why do you need an agent? An agent is a person who should know the business, a person who fights for you, whether it is to get you more money, or make sure your publishing contract is legit. Also, many publishers won’t even look at books unless they come through agents.
Of course, every writer hopes they’ll have editors and agents lined up out the door, waiting to buy their book. The truth is you’re happy if even one wants it. For me, I had no luck getting an agent. But that didn’t stop me. I entered Wild Heart, my debut book, in writing contests. There is a fee, but the final judges are often editors. Fortunately for me, Wild Heart finaled in one of those contests. The final judge was an editor from Kensington who ended up buying my book.
Show Me The Money…
What’s the most surprising thing about being an author? How little money you make. There are basically two ways an author makes money on her book: royalties and advances.
An advance is the money an author is given up front for her book. Depending on the publisher and how many publishers want your book, will influence how much your advance will be. If more than one publisher wants your book, the book may go to auction, in which publishers bid on the book. This, of course, is every author’s dream as the sky is the limit as to what your advance will be. Unfortunately it doesn’t happen often.
Royalties are the percentages an author gets paid for each book sold. The average royalty is 8%. For my first book my royalties were 6%. Which means I get 6% of $4.99 (what my book is selling for). The author doesn’t start getting royalties until they’ve paid back their advance, which can take a year or more, depending on how well your book sells.
Interested to know how much of an advance publishers give? Here’s a website that shows:
http://www.brendahiatt.com/id2.html
This website claims that Kensington pays an advance of about $3,500 for a book. Great, right? But remember, that money is all an author will get paid for at least a year or more. And that’s before taxes are taken out. It takes an author about 6 months to a year to write a book. Imagine making only $3,000 in one year.
A Quote from a NY Times Bestseller? Sure….
Some writers are frantic when their edits arrive for publishers may have you change major plot points. Fortunately for me, I only had to delete a prologue that my editor didn’t care for. After those major edits come the minor line edits such as grammatical and spelling errors. Those are definitely less painful.
By far the most exciting part is when you get your book cover which happens months before your book comes out. Every major publisher has an art department. They will actually hire models to come in and pose in period clothing. In some instances publishers will use old covers and change coloring and background to make it like new. The author pretty much has no input on a cover and once you get your cover, it’s often too late to change anything. When I received my cover for Wild Heart, I was horrified to realize my hero and heroine had the wrong hair coloring. When I told my editor, she said it was too late to change. I could either leave it as is, or change it in the manuscript. I changed the coloring in the book.
And on that beautiful new cover, publishers will often place a quote. I can still remember the day my editor emailed saying “Do you have a cover quote? And preferably one from a NY Times bestseller.” I thought, sure, I’ll just get out my address book of NY Times Bestsellers and call one up. Unfortunately, every author I emailed (and begged) said no thanks. Fortunately, my editor came through and got one from historical romance author Hannah Howell.
Publishers and book sellers like to put quotes on the covers because they think it helps sell books. Perhaps it does. But I’ll tell you the truth, most of those quotes are by authors who are giving a quote merely because their editor/agent asked them to. Half the time, they barely read the book, basically skimming it. So be aware if you’re buying a book based on the quote.
What Do You Mean My Baby Is Ugly?
For an author, getting a book published is often like having a baby, but much more painful.
Before your book is released you’ll find out what your Print Run is going to be. The print run is how many books they’re printing to send out to stores. This often has to do with how many books the stores have been preordered. Once your book is released, you can only pray it sells well. If you don’t have a decent print run and your book doesn’t sell well, you probably won’t be recontracted.
But sales aren’t the only thing you have to worry about once your book hits the shelves. Everyone and their mother has a thought on your book and they aren’t shy about exclaiming how much they hate or love it on a website. It’s pretty much like someone telling you your baby is ugly. Of course, as with most instances, the negative people scream the loudest. As an author you have to develop thick skin fast, if not, you’re in for a short career of heartache.
Did I Mention I’m Published? Immediately following your release you’ll be incredibly busy doing blog tours to promote your book. But then…it all dies down and you realize that if you want to keep being an author, you’ll have to sell another book. Being that you’re published, editors are more likely to look at your next book, but it doesn’t mean they’ll buy it. But I’m published, you’ll want to scream over and over. Sadly, in the publishing world you’re only as good as your next book. And if an editor doesn’t like your next book, there’s often nothing you can do but writer another. In many ways, selling your next book is often like starting all over again.
Leave a comment or just say hello! Two people will win a copy of my debut book, a historical romance titled Wild Heart.
Giveaway ends on Sunday March 14th; Two winners will be randomly
picked and notified by email.
Thank you Lori for taking the time to stop by,
and for the generous giveaway!!
New Art: Paper Princess
In the Beginning…
