Something Old, New Again

That's me in high school. There isn't a date on the back of the photo, but I believe this portrait was taken in my senior year--mostly because I have a "flip" hair style, which was very popular and a Madras blouse--also quite the rage at the time. Madras clothing was guaranteed to bleed--and so it did. My brother had a Madras jacket. He got caught in the rain one day when he was wearing it. His white shirt underneath was ruined. The jacket didn't fare well either.

Styles come and go. For the most part, old ideas are simply reinvented and brought out to a younger generation. Did you read my post on the Granny dress? That short-lived trend wasn't ground-breaking, just another case of making something old new again.

Literary styles change as well. Right now, Young Adult appears to be the crowd-pleasing favorite. But Fifty Shades of Grey was also a success. Do you remember when Chick-Lit was in? We also have Steam-Punk Gothic now. What is that? I consider it a hybrid--sort of historical/fanatasy/Gothic/horror. However, there are those more knowledgeable on that topic than I.

Still, it's confusing. There's nice list of sub-genres of various novel categories at Writer's Digest, but that doesn't include some of the "newer" classifications.

Will I write a Young Adult novel just because that is the current favorite? I don't know. In a sense, I've written a Young Adult novel--but it's set in another century. In Patriot's Heart, which will be released in February, the heroine is just eighteen, but she's living in 1778. That makes it a historical. Oh well.

My advice to aspiring writers is this: write what you want to write. Then fix it. But make sure you are happy with it. In the end, you are writing to please yourself. If you're lucky, other people will like it, too. It doesn't matter what genre or sub-genre it is. It's your story. Your style.

Start your own trend. Don't make something old new again.

For What It's Worth

I became serious about publishing over twenty-five years ago. I started writing at the age of nine, but it took a long time before I really got the itch to get my books published. First, I had to get an education, then I had to get a job, then I married the love of my life and popped out three daughters. Then the publishing bug hit me--and it hit full-force.

After my first rejection, I joined a professional writers' organization where I was inundated by tons of advice. I now belong to three professional writers' organizations. I've read innumerable books about writing and publishing and I have no doubt I could write my own non-fiction book about publishing--but I won't.

Writing is a solitary act. A fiction writer makes up stories and then commits her waking dream to paper. There is no right way to do it. Every writer has a different method. Some are very organized and plot everything in advance of the actual writing. Some are very unorganized--being quite free and loose about the process. There are many writers who use some of each system. It doesn't matter how the writer gets the job done, but she must have a good story and there should be no grammatical errors.

However, while a writer may believe she has written a good story, a publisher--or agent--will not necessarily agree with her. I could wallpaper a room with my rejections and so could most published writers. It can be very discouraging to get rejection after rejection. I have seen plenty of writers give up.

I did not give up. On the other hand, I did not wait to be published by one of the big publishers. I took what I could get. When e-publishing came into being, I jumped on the bandwagon. It made sense to me even if it didn't make sense to most people at the time.

So I was published, though in the opinion of those who were published by the big publishers, I was not published. I didn't care. Nevertheless, I continued to go to writing workshops and conferences. I took notes and carefully decided what was good and useful advice for me. My family and my real job came first. Of necessity, writing had to take a back seat. Nobody can do it all at the same time. There should be balance in one's life. It should not be a juggling act. I had my priorities and I stuck with them. I still do. I do not regret it at all.

Naturally, I did not make much money, but I had fun writing stories when I could squeeze in the time. Writing is a blast.

Despite the fact that smaller publishers thought my books worthy of publication, I still could not get a big publisher to give me a contract. Yes, I continued to get rejected. But I won two EPPIE Awards and was nominated for a Reviewers Choice Award.

Then e-publishing exploded. Now anyone can be published. I republished Prince of the Mist on my own. It had been originally published by New Concepts Publishing. I gave it a new cover and uploaded it. I am not getting rich, but the book is selling.

I may publish another book on my own if I believe in it and several publishers do not. Publishers have proven to be rather shortsighted when it comes to choosing books. Still, there are many advantages to having a publisher. Publishers edit books and give them covers. Of course, sometimes publishers give books really horrible, rotten covers. :^(

For what it's worth, my advice to new writers is to join a professional organization. Attend workshops and conferences. Shift through all the information and decide what is right for you. Do not abandon your husband, children, or your regular job to become famous. The odds are against you. However, if you don't give up, if you write well, and you keep your ear to the ground for breaking news in the publishing world--you can be like me.

Satisfied.