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| Nicole Murphy – Photo by Cat Spartks |
I hope you’re all comfortable, because boy could I go on about this for ages!
When you’re a newbie, you’re so focused on the publishing dream – getting good enough that you can sell a novel, seeing it on a shelf with your name on it.
It is, my friends, a wonderful thing.
But you cannot see the joys inherent in being a newbie. For example – you can write anything you want. There are NO expectations of you, your voice is still developing so you can just fling yourself at any story idea that comes along.
This is DEFINITELY not the case early in your published career. Sure, once you become ‘a name’ you can write what you want, but up until then, both your publishers and your reading public are going to have certain expectations of you.
I’ve had a few ideas for novels, but the one I ended up developing to pitch to the publishers for my next contract is a sequel to the first trilogy.
Why?
Because the Nicole Murphy name is coming to mean something and right now, that something is light urban fantasy romance. If I deliver an epic fantasy or dystopian horror, then it’s going to be a hard sell for publisher and reader alike. Like starting all over again.
So I say to all you newbies – enjoy this moment. Try anything that comes to mind. Don’t get caught up in what you think you will sell.
It’s tempting to look at what’s coming out at the moment, eg steampunk, and decide you’ll write that too cause that’s what the publishers want. No, that’s what the publishers wanted when they bought it two-three years ago and they didn’t want it cause they knew it was part of a trend – they wanted it cause it was a damn good story.
Also, you’re going to be writing in that genre for some time as you establish your career, so make sure it’s something you enjoy writing.
Challenge yourself. You never stop learning. NEVER.
I recommend that you:
- Attend courses.
- Find critique groups (be they face to face or online).
- Read writers you admire and then study how they did it.
- Submit.
- Take your rejections on the chin (they come, even when you’ve scored a big contract – I get new bruises every month) and keep submitting.
- Educate yourself on the industry.
So educate yourself. Subscribe to industry publications. Attend conferences. Follow publishers, authors and agents blogs (a fabulous one is Kristine Kathryn Rusch http://www.kristinekathrynrusch.com/).
It’s changing so quickly. I only signed my first contract two years ago and I can tell you, my next contract (should I get one) is going to be REALLY different.
Over in the States, writer friends are now reporting ebook sales running at the same rate as print sales. Publishing companies are establishing global brands as the growth of electronic publishing crashes the old territorial rights that were once the mainstay of print publishing.
You know, it’s easy to look at all this and panic. Really, really easy. But at the end of the day, remember this – there’s no deadline on your dream. It doesn’t matter if you don’t achieve it this year, or next year, or the year after.
What matters is that you don’t give up cause if you do – then you’ll NEVER get published.