She's right: the Internet is abuzz with news of her not-overnight success, only as this young writer laments, it is laid out as overnight success. Calling her post: Some Things Need to be said, this successful Paranormal writer says the following, which I took to heart in particular:
I don't think people really grasp how much work I do. I think there is this very big misconception that I was like, "Hey, paranormal is pretty hot right now," and then I spent a weekend smashing out some words, threw it up online, and woke up the next day with a million dollars in my bank account.
This is literally years of work you're seeing. And hours and hours of work each day. The amount of time and energy I put into marketing is exhausting. I am continuously overwhelmed by the amount of work I have to do that isn't writing a book. I hardly have time to write anymore, which sucks and terrifies me.
I also have this tremendous sense of urgency, like if I don't get everything out nowand do everything now, while the iron is hot, everything I've worked for will just fall away. For the first time, I truly understand why workaholics are workaholics. You can't stop working, because if you do, it unravels all the work you've already done. You have to keep going, or you'll die.
Or at least that's how it feels.
And then she goes on to write something that has particular meaning for me at the moment:
There is so much stress in doing it all yourself. The editing is never good enough. And finding an editor isn't as easy everyone thinks. People thinking an editor is just having someone read through it a few times, checking for basic grammar and spelling, and while that is part of it, it's also much larger than that. It's helping tighten up sentences, watching repeated phrases, helping with flow, etc.
And it is really, really hard (or at least, it has been for me) to find an editor that can do all that. My books have all been edited - several times, by dozens of people with varying backgrounds - and people still find errors.
I have just come off a fiasco of editorial proportions. For six months I have waited for developmental edits from a highly-praised, strongly-recommended editor who also provided copy edits on my manuscript. Instead of telling me that the project wasn't working for her, the editor just strung me along. Now I am six months in the hole and feeling every bit of urgency and worry that this wonderful young writer has articulated. And of course, I am writing this instead of trying to sort out my manuscript myself. For more from Amanda Hocking, check out her blog/website:http://amandahocking.blogspot.com/2011/03/some-things-that-need-to-be-said.htmlweeblylink_new_window
I don't think people really grasp how much work I do. I think there is this very big misconception that I was like, "Hey, paranormal is pretty hot right now," and then I spent a weekend smashing out some words, threw it up online, and woke up the next day with a million dollars in my bank account.
This is literally years of work you're seeing. And hours and hours of work each day. The amount of time and energy I put into marketing is exhausting. I am continuously overwhelmed by the amount of work I have to do that isn't writing a book. I hardly have time to write anymore, which sucks and terrifies me.
I also have this tremendous sense of urgency, like if I don't get everything out nowand do everything now, while the iron is hot, everything I've worked for will just fall away. For the first time, I truly understand why workaholics are workaholics. You can't stop working, because if you do, it unravels all the work you've already done. You have to keep going, or you'll die.
Or at least that's how it feels.
And then she goes on to write something that has particular meaning for me at the moment:
There is so much stress in doing it all yourself. The editing is never good enough. And finding an editor isn't as easy everyone thinks. People thinking an editor is just having someone read through it a few times, checking for basic grammar and spelling, and while that is part of it, it's also much larger than that. It's helping tighten up sentences, watching repeated phrases, helping with flow, etc.
And it is really, really hard (or at least, it has been for me) to find an editor that can do all that. My books have all been edited - several times, by dozens of people with varying backgrounds - and people still find errors.
I have just come off a fiasco of editorial proportions. For six months I have waited for developmental edits from a highly-praised, strongly-recommended editor who also provided copy edits on my manuscript. Instead of telling me that the project wasn't working for her, the editor just strung me along. Now I am six months in the hole and feeling every bit of urgency and worry that this wonderful young writer has articulated. And of course, I am writing this instead of trying to sort out my manuscript myself. For more from Amanda Hocking, check out her blog/website:http://amandahocking.blogspot.com/2011/03/some-things-that-need-to-be-said.htmlweeblylink_new_window
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