Hey, Ruthy here, and if you're not familiar with me or my work or my absolutely wonderful books, that's okay... Because you're probably here to see if there's some tidbit of wisdom or advice that's going to give you an edge on getting published.
First: GO YOU! This is a great dream, an awesome career and I am having the time of my life! Jump in. The water's fine!!!!
Second: Probably only about 35% of authors feel that way. To the other 65% (I am totally making that figure up, but I'm basing it on a lot of authors, so I could be right. I could be wrong. Take it with a grain of salt) it's work and a series of ups and downs and failures. But I went into this biz in 2002 and it took 8 years to get published, and honestly, those 8 years honed me and my craft. No regrets!
So yes, failures happen. Book failures, edits, revisions (Can you re-write the whole book please? Because it's awful...) and rejections. And after 61 books (with another four ready to be released in the next nine months) I still get rejected. In fact the most recent one let me know that my book wasn't the category I picked (subjective to publishers: Women's Fiction to one publisher is Mainstream with Romantic Elements to another or Trade-length romance to a third.) after he mentioned being so bored by the opening chapters that he put the book down because he couldn't care less what was happening to the heroine.
HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!
That would have crushed me eleven years ago. I'd have been curled up in a corner with my blankie and my ni-ni and my binky.
Now I look at it, barely read it, and know that I can put the finished book out as an indie next year and make money-- and good money because I've established myself as a hybrid author with indie and traditional publishing-- because first, he's wrong... it is a good book and the opening will grab a lot of women who've struggled with their pasts. I'm always surprised that even in this day and age an editor can't see beyond his or her preference to what relates to readers. Especially to women who've overcome problems... and second it's okay if the book didn't fit the targeted line but there were nicer ways of saying that. :) I share that because there are power struggles in publishing. Some are seen, some are unseen but they exist and that's part of why you need real backbone to survive and grit to thrive.
But today's point is scheduling. I started making two-year plans long before I was published. Having a simple schedule keeps me focused. And I don't lay out massive charts or plans, I keep it simple.
An excel calendar:
Award winning, USA Today Bestselling author Ruth Logan Herne is living her dream of writing the kind of books she likes to read, having crazy fun with other authors, working on her farm, spoiling her grandchildren and appreciating her many blessings! You can visit Ruthy on Facebook, email her at loganherne@gmail.com, stop by her website ruthloganherne.com or talk with her here in Seekerville. She loves chatting with readers and writers!
This helped me so much Ruth! Thank you! You've made a difference.
ReplyDeleteJeri, good! I'm glad... sometimes it just helps to see a visual. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteRuthy, this is spot on as usual and I love the "best job in the world" phrase. We don't HAVE to write, we GET to write. Some days it's more "work" than others, some days more fun.
ReplyDeleteI knew I'd turned a corner when I began to enjoy revisions (MOST OF THE TIME). When I began to care more about putting out a good finished product than my little ego. I had to "murder some darlings" yesterday and it didn't even draw blood.
I have the motivation (obviously four books in two years), but I've been fitting my writing around everything else and that's got to stop. My main goal for 2021 is to set regular office hours and stick to them.
Sorry about your rejection. Writing, and reading, are so subjective. I was just on Facebook with a niece who was agonizing about not finishing a book she just couldn't get into and I told her to cut her losses, it just wasn't the book for her. Of course I also recommended that she replace it with one of mine. Shameless self-promotion, what ho!
Back to my other job, may check in later.
Kathy Bailey
Your Kaybee
Oh, I get rejections regularly... it's part of the biz. And that's okay, right? In advertising, one campaign might get chosen out of a dozen attempts... Rejections just go along with the territory, my friend!
DeleteI love this post, Ruthy. Love it!
ReplyDeleteI tend to look forward five years. A year of solid goals, then four years of "directional goals." Lately, I've had to play pretty loose with those long-term goals, but the point is to keep working toward them. Day by day. :-)
Jan, I do that too.... I look ahead to see where I'd like to be in five years and then the two year goals are geared toward getting me there. But like you, I have to be flexible because things happen... life happens... politics happen... changes occur... and to stay current we embody some of those things into our work. I'm not surprised that we both do this!
DeleteI have to be flexible too. Guess what else happens? Retired husbands.
DeleteOh, yes, Kathy! Many of us are living that scenario!
DeleteYou're always an inspiration, Ruthy! Thanks for the post and the encouragement to set realistic goals. It's also so helpful to hear about the rejections successful authors have endured, and still do. I know it's a part of the business, but I'm still getting used to it. Maybe one day they'll be, like a precious former boss of mine used to say, "Like water off a duck's back." (Remembering that always makes me count my blessings, because it was when I worked at a fast food restaurant, and customers would be rude. I'd much rather be dealing with rejections from agents and publishers than flipping burgers.)
ReplyDeleteOh, and I am highly intrigued by the title "Deceiving Death," and would love the opportunity to read it!
Rachel, tucking your name in!
DeleteAnd yes, water off a duck's back is how inconsequential these things need to become because we have so many options, especially now! I waitressed for 11 years, so I know how crazy that can be, but also I had so much fun doing it! Did you know that one of my customers gave me her daughter's Brother Word Processor back in the nineties because she heard I wanted to be a writer! And a cousin gave me her old little computer in the early 2000's because she heard I wanted to be a writer. I ordered an internet line... and I had AOL!!!! "You've got mail!" There are so many nice people in this world!
Oh, what sweet memories! <3
DeleteGreat post, Ruthy. I need to be more intentional with my planning. Right now I am still trying to revise the book I wrote. It is easy for me to make the time to write words, but revising the whole book is just so daunting for me. I like your idea of printing out every 100 pages and correcting. I might try that. I have already bought this novella and look forward to reading it!
ReplyDeleteWhen does your next Guideposts mystery series come out? I am really enjoying the Savannah Secrets series. I love Meredith and Julia!
Oh, Sandy, I love Meredith and Julia, too! They are such a great pair. Let's see... Patterns of Deception comes out in March: "Patterns of Deception"!!!!! And then book 20 for that series is me, too and that's December: Jingle Bell Heist! And they are so much fun to write, I'm finishing up Jingle Bell Heist right now and it's crazy fun.... Those gals are awesome! And I was book 2 in a new series "Miracles and Mysteries of Mercy Hospital" and that series starts this spring so I'm the July book for that one.... so three mysteries come out this year.
DeleteI'm so glad you're enjoying them, Sandy, because I love writing them!
Ruthy, I love, love, LOVE this. Such wonderful, sound advice. I tend to look at the year ahead, but I like this two year(+) plan. Now if I could only figure out how to create an Excel spreadsheet. #Technochallenged
ReplyDeleteMindy, mine is on the broken computer but I found this one ONLINE.... and just filled it in! :) I searched through Duck Duck Go for Excel Calendar spreadsheet and it came up with a bunch of monthly ones... All I had to do was fill in the spots... so we don't even have to know anything! :) PARTY BONUS!
DeleteRuthy, I love this post. Thanks for always sharing your learned wisdom and for keeping us in line and realistic. Also, I'm super excited about a fourth Wishing Bridge book! I enjoyed the first three very much. :-)
ReplyDeleteAmy, thank you so much for those kind words! And yes, spring should bring Wishing Bridge 4.... and I absolutely love the story of a young Amish woman looking for her stolen babies... it's a story that isn't your typical Amish... but a beautiful story of a woman who needs the kind of love and support that Wishing Bridge is known for. :) I'm so glad you enjoyed the first ones!
DeleteLove your work ethic, Ruthy, and your heart for aspiring writers!
ReplyDeleteAlso, what's a ni-ni?
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DeleteI was trying to figure that out, too, Erica.
DeleteOh, man... so a "Ni-Ni" is some kind of lovey that littles carry to bed at night-night time. Are my grands the only ones who said Ni-Ni? Maybe!!!!!
DeleteWe call it a lovey...or if the stuffed animal has a name, we call it by name like it's a member of the family...because it is! :)
DeleteYup, I know lovies.... and moo-moos (stuffed cow), puppy (probably self-explanatory) and Tigey (which is really a puppy but because big brother has a "Tigey" tiger, little sister named her puppy Tigey....) I am in love with this conversation!
DeleteThank you for the encouragement! It was much needed today.
ReplyDeleteI also love a good spreadsheet, lists and sheets and calendars are how I keep my brain in order.
Sarah, I'm great at keeping a plot in my head, but I like a nicely laid out plan to keep me from going crazy when there are so many busy facets of life. And as long as I don't mess up my writing production schedule, it all works out. And glad to see you here!
DeleteYou write the most motivating posts. Seriously, I always walk away from reading your posts going, "YEAH! I can do this! I can write more than one book a year! I CAN!"
ReplyDeleteThis year, I AM! My goal this year is two books. My goal next year is three books. I'm going to write consistently and I WILL CONQUER." Whew. That's my "Ruth" talk. :)
I am soooo curious about the little drop-down arrows by the Month cells on your spreadsheet. What do they do?
HAHAHAHA! I have no idea what they do, Sherrinda! Who cares? :) I stole the spreadsheet image from a Duck Duck Go search because my schedule is in my broken computer so I came up with a one year reasonable facsimile. Which shows that you don't even need Excel expertise because the calendars are available online. :)
DeleteBut yeah, go for it. Steady pace. Make it just part of the daily routine. Then there's no consternation, no recrimination, no nothin'... but knowing that you're creating! Yay!
A two year plan seems to focus so far ahead, but now that you've said it, I realize I've got a two year plan, too. I just turned in a book that will release next February or March...that's 2022. I'm writing a book that will release...June or so. And I'm sifting ideas for my next proposal that starts in 2023. I've got it, too. No details but the over arching idea!!! So that's a full 2 years ahead.
ReplyDeleteExactly, dork. You and I used to talk about this, about planning enough ahead to keep the next two years in line but not so far out that you had to keep changing things. And I figure if we did it before we had publishers, how much smarter is it to do it now when we have publishers and deadlines and proposals and indies... That way I can glance at it (I keep the icon on my desktop, I probably should have mentioned that!) and make sure I'm not overlooking anything. It just keeps it in my head as needed.
DeleteI think Margaret Daley or Lenora were the first ones I heard talking about looking and planning ahead and they wrote with such vigor and ability that I wanted to grow up and be like them! :)
It all seems so organized. I love it!
DeleteOh, and I never print up a book. Tell me why you do that? What is the benefit? I'm open to it, I've just never done it.
ReplyDeleteHi Mary: Sometimes computer stuff is stolen both computer and any backup drives. Some writers like to make comments on paper printouts. Others like to use postanotes to mark passages in a ms and make it easy to flip from section to section. I've often read in writing books to make hard copies of your books and store them somewhere that would not go up in the same fire if your house burns down. Of course, with stuff stored on the cloud now, that is not so much a risk if you backup to the cloud. That's a few reasons. I wonder if Ruth has the same reasons or different ones.
DeleteMary, I find mistakes and over-used words better this way... and I don't drop threads (lost puppies, babies, characters) that I tend to misplace over 300 pages... so it's a help to me because I see better on the hard copy. Repetitious things jump out at me. My goal is always to cut down revisions/edits... Mostly it works until it doesn't and I have to re-write, LOL!
DeleteThanks for your tips Ruthy. This is the first year I've set specific writing goals and that's because I have found my groove. I've also discovered what's possible to achieve writing-wise during this particular season of life. (Please throw my name in the hat).
ReplyDeleteLee-Ann, yes! Throwing your name in and honestly, the sky's the limit... and it's fun to raise goals when we find we're hitting the initial ones easily. Good for you, Lee-Ann!
Delete