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The Writer's Corner: The Wandering Ways of Your Wages

Everyone talks about how the publishing industry is changing — and it is. Today, I am thinking about the flow of money, particularly where it flows, to whom, and in what order. Most professional novelists have an agent who is part of that flow.

Under the original model, agents handle all aspects of the business and financial side of things. It is written into the contract that 100% of all money earned from  the sale of a book will go directly to the agent. So, all advance and royalty checks are received by the agent, who then cashes these checks, keeps 15%, and sends the novelist his/her 85%.

Saturday Morning Moment of Cuteness

It's really been cold here in Oregon--like unseasonably cold.  Normally, we get a little weather in the low twenties in January and February, but not weeks and weeks of it on end.

JC and I have a wood stove insert out in the living room, and we've been living in that area of the house lately.

So have our cats.  The girls are nine months old now.  I can hardly believe it.  

A few days ago, I brought my computer out to "the warm area" to write while sitting on the couch, and this how I found them, on their favorite blankie.

“Tales” and What’s to Come…

It has been a while since we did an update on “Tales from the world of the Noble Dead Saga.” Time for a little catch-up on this and a few other Noble Dead related topics. As previously mentioned before S3B2: The Dog in the Dark hit the shelves, we told our publisher we would not release any “tale” during the month before (and after) the release date of a new book in the saga. As we near the end of that window, here is what is coming…

The Writer's Corner: Do Traditionally Published Writers Have More of an Edge than just Name Recognition?

This post might get me some hate mail, but I feel the need to express some thoughts here.

I had a strange epiphany yesterday while doing a read-through of a 16,000 word story that I'd just finished.

Last spring, JC and I launched a self-published project called "Tales from the World of the Noble Dead."  We write stories between about 50 and 150 pages all set in the world of the Noble Dead Saga.

Tales

This project has been surprisingly successful.  One of the reasons for this is probably that JC and I do have some name recognition and a built-in fan base, and our website is now receiving about 12,000 hits a month (this has been steadily climbing).

But as I was completing the first draft of a new story yesterday, something important occurred to me.

I've been working with Roc Books for twelve years (since 2001).  Over the years, I've had three very good editors who all focused on slightly different elements of fiction during the editorial process. I've learned a great deal from all three of them, and they have made me a much better writer.

I am not some Prima Donna writer who thinks that solid gold fiction comes straight out of my bottom.  Creating something publishable takes work and revision.  My current editor always calls me on things when I've taken the easy way out or when I have not justified a plot point enough.

Yesterday, when I was going through my story, I had a pad and pen in my hand, and four times I stopped and thought, "Susan would never let me get away with that."  Then I jotted down notes regarding certain sections still needed more work.

I haven't always agreed with my editors, but they have always made me think, and they make me work harder, and with this Tales project (where JC and I are functioning as each other's editors), I want to make a story as solid as possible before he reads it.  Then I want the final product to be as professionally written as my novels being published by Roc.

As a result, I go through the stories and look at them through the eyes of my New York editor.  I really do believe that this would give any traditionally published writer an edge over a writer who has never worked with a professional editor.

This might be one more reason for fledgling writers to consider a traditional publisher before going indie.

Just a thought for today.

Writing Spaces . . .

I've always been envious of writers who can take their notebook computers and go to a coffee shop, order up a foamy latte, and then be able to actually sit there and write. To me, this image is so romantic--the fiction writer in hipster glasses pounding away in the coffee shop, able to shut out the world, and yet still be able to sit there in the middle of the world writing away.  I love to envision myself in this setting.

Tragically, my brain doesn't function that way.  I need to be able to mentally "vanish."  I need to absolutely forget my surroundings and step inside the story.  In order for me to do this, I need to work someplace that is so utterly familiar that I don't notice it.

 To this end, at present, there are only two places where I am able to write.

Baby, it's cold outside

I've heard it said that the northwest is a good place for writers . . . as it rains all the time, and so they just stay indoors writing.  That isn't exactly true, as the summers and early falls here in Oregon are gorgeous.  But compared to Colorado, it rarely snows.  We're having a hard cold snap here this week though.  It's 22 degrees outside this morning, and it snowed last night.  JC and I have plenty of food and firewood, and we really are just going hole up here today and write.  Here's a shot of the tree in our front yard.  It's a winter wonderland out there.

Book Release Week!

Yesterday, JC and I drove to our nearest Barnes & Noble to sign some copies of the newly released hardcover of The Dog in the Dark.  For me, seeing the new book on the shelf never gets old (smiles).


While we were there,  I picked up a copy of the mass market edition of Between Their Worlds . . .


And I was excited to see that at the end of the new mass market, our publisher put in a "teaser" for The Mist-Torn Witches, and they included the prologue.  So . . . if you want a sneak peak at the The Mist-Torn Witches, just glance at the end of the mass market paperback for Between Their Worlds.

Myth Busters: Marketing