Laura Novak
  • Welcome
  • About
  • NYTs
  • Scribd
  • Murder
  • Clarity
  • Contact

Subject du jour: Amanda Hocking

3/5/2011

 
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
suzannero link
3/5/2011 04:39:12 am

All this information is exhausting, and Miss Hocking brings balance to the issue. I think it's interesting that she has become the unwilling hero of a 'bring-down-the-publishers" faction but is clearly aware of the importance of the industry to be part of the change.

Your fiasco is all of ours. The internet has given writers a place to feel supported in what was always a really singular and lonely profession. As a writer, I share your angst over being strung along by a recommended editor. Write on.

Phantomimic
3/13/2011 10:39:18 am

I want to comment on an issue. Of course all of us want to have perfect grammar as well as, like Amanda writes, tight sentences, non-repeated phrases, having good flow etc. But the point is that the technology revolution has eliminated the editor/publisher figures that used to act as gatekeepers to publication. Now you can market you work directly to the masses and the truth is that "the masses" will settle for much less than perfection. If they like a book they will buy it, it doesn't have to be perfect.

I have no resources to pay hundreds of dollars for editing and I have been reading about authors that publish less than perfect books that sell very well. My first language is not English but thankfully my wife has a tremendous knowledge of the language and she helps me with the editing of my articles. However, she has warned me that professional editing is orders of magnitude above what she does.

Well, I am not willing to go through that gauntlet. I don't want to write the next great American novel, I want to publish, have fun, and maybe earn some extra money. I have a day job and family responsibilities, I cannot devote all my waking hours to writing and marketing. Despite my efforts I know that I will put out an imperfect product and that is fine with me.


Comments are closed.

    Laura Novak

    Reporter, Author, Blogger, and Mother...

    Picture

    RSS Feed


    My novel is now on Amazon Kindle!!
    Picture


    Blogs I Read

    Getty Iris
    Cloisters Garden
    Daily Dish
    AlterNet
    Immoral Minority
    Hullabaloo
    Phantomimic
    Jotting Down a Life
    Lynnrockets
    Oakland Local
    Passive Voice
    LitBrit
    Onward
    Joe McGinniss
    Barbara Alfaro
    Suzanne Rosenwasser


    Categories

    All
    Brushes With Greatness
    Dance Number
    Education
    Friday Feature
    Girls On The Bus
    Good Men Project
    Just Sayin
    My Favorite Movie
    Neonatologist
    Private Parts
    Quick Take Tuesday
    Sarah Palin
    Scharlott Stuff
    Scribd
    Shrink Wrap Supreme
    Tao Te Wednesday
    True Confessions
    Vox Populi
    Writing/Publishing

    Picture
    View my profile on LinkedIn
    Picture

    Archives

    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

Proudly powered by Weebly
Photos used under Creative Commons from acidpix, sicamp, Clearly Ambiguous, breahn, hoill, William Arthur Fine Stationery, southerntabitha, *Vintage Fairytale*, NeoGaboX, Dana Moos, ButterflyOrb, ruurmo, MCS@flickr, h.koppdelaney, Andrew 94, MarkWallace, fdecomite, Wonderlane, christophercarfi, dreamsjung, the superash, euphro, melloveschallah, Rhett Sutphin, I Don't Know, Maybe., Harold Laudeus, h.koppdelaney, jennaddenda, Harrissa Sunshine, Wesley Fryer, fidalgo_dennis, bark, [cipher], fdecomite, Marcos Kontze, legends2k, optick, pjohnkeane, Kabacchi, Pink Sherbet Photography, h.koppdelaney, alexbrn, Elsie esq., Rafael Acorsi, naitokz, tiffa130, otisarchives4, Sheloya Mystical and Agrimas Gothic, allygirl520, tnarik, Daquella manera, peyri, Patrick Hoesly, Anderson Mancini, Abode of Chaos, joewcampbell, keepitsurreal, Jonas N, David Boyle, Gideon Burton, evmaiden, Mike Willis, ankakay, LadyDragonflyCC -Busy Wedding Week for BF Amy!, Cast a Line, aeneastudio, Lord Jim, hisperati, dbzoomer, Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com, thegardenbuzz, kamshots, AleBonvini, smadden, CarbonNYC