Tammatha, thanks for inviting me back to talk about my books! A lot has happened since the last time I was on your blog. On Tuesday, October 4, 2011 my second novel will be published by Astraea Press and I’m really excited!
When Tammatha asked me to do this blog, she said that things had been moving fast for me since getting my first novel published. I had to think about it for awhile, because I hadn’t realized just how fast things had moved. In between these two books, I got a short story published and have had lots of experience with marketing and editing. I thought I’d share with you some of the things I’ve learned along the way.
First, things never go as you plan. My first novel, The Keepers, was published in June of 2011. It got off to a great start and was staying at the top of the Best Sellers list on Astraea’s website. It was also ranked pretty high on Amazon and things were going exceptionally well for a small press release. I didn’t actually pick up the book and take a look at it until a couple of months in and well that’s when I suffered a bit of shock.
The MS we had painstakingly pored over and edited was not the one that got published and there was a slew of errors in the printed and eBook. I was devastated, needless to say. A couple hundred books had gone out and I knew I’d have to make a difficult decision. In August, I had the publisher pull the copy so we could start back at square one and reedit.
I remember crying for three days after. No one ever wants to back track once the ball gets rolling on your growing a fan base. Happily, In September, the book was placed back on the websites and is currently being readied for print again. My biggest fear during this time has been that I would lose the momentum that I gained and all the hard work I’d done would be for naught. So far, that hasn’t been the case, as things have begun to pick up again.
Just remember when you get published that much like the rest of life, things will not be smooth sailing for everyone. The best thing you can do is relax and believe that everything happens for a reason. It just so happens that during the time my book was down, I got gravely ill and wouldn’t have been able to give it the time it needed anyway. So see it all worked out in the end.
Another valuable lesson I’ve been forced to learn is that no matter how hard you work, or how many good reviews you get, someday you will get a bad review. Also, no matter how much you think you’re prepared for it, it will hurt. When I read the first review that slammed my book (there have only been a couple thankfully), I remember getting angry, and then crying and feeling defeated. I actually thought, why am I even writing?
It’s really important to keep everything in perspective. You can be perfect and not everyone is going to adore your writing. Maybe they won’t like the story, the characters, the setting, the editing, and your writing. Let’s face it, there are a lot of things that go into a person enjoying a book, and most people don’t even realize it. Now days, I try not to read the bad reviews. Truth be told, we need to remember why WE started writing in the first place and keep our minds focused on that. You will have fans, people will love your writing, but there will always be the few who hate it because they are hard to please, because they have never actually written anything themselves, or maybe just because you didn’t capture their attention and they’re being honest.
I hope my experiences help you relax a little and know that everything will work out, no matter how bumpy your path becomes during publication.
Hope to check back in with you soon! Thanks again Tammatha.
Monique O’Connor James
www.facebook.com/moniqueoconnorjamesauthor
