Thursday, September 20, 2012

More Author Insight: Pieces of Publishing


 What is one thing you'd like the world to know about publishing?


"I wish my mom would stop thinking my life is like the guy on Castle." - Barry Lyga, author of I Hunt Killers



"Hmm. Publishing. That you are so lucky if your book is out there. That it’s a lottery. That editors really ARE looking for the next great book." - Huntley Fitzpatrick, author of My Life Next Door



"That I feel privileged every single day to be a part of it." - C.J. Redwine, author of Defiance.



"That it’s a great supportive group of people who love books. Kami Garcia (Beautiful Creatures) gave me a wonderful blurb for my book. Then the amazing Dean Koontz wrote that he loved it and said 'Starters is a smart, swift, inventive, altogether gripping story. The narrator, Callie Woodlawn, deserves a series.' It came in too late to put it on the first printing, but we plan to use it on the second. Book people are the best people." - Lissa Price, author of Starters. 





"If you’re going to write, write because you love writing. If you have any other reason it won’t be worth it." - Janette Rallison (AKA C.J. Hill), author of Erasing Time.




"It’s unpredictable. Utterly unpredictable. And the journey is different for everyone, so don’t waste your time or energy comparing yourself to the success of others (that way madness lies!)." - Sarah Maas, author of Throne of Glass





"It's slow. Most people don't realize that it usually takes well over a year to bring a book to market. I certainly didn't." - Leigh Bardugo, author of Shadow and Bone


"If you want to write a book, write one. If you want to share a book with your friends and family, share it. If you want to publish a book and submit it to the world and a wide audience and get money involved, you should know that it is a business. A noble business, but also a business. You’re entering into a partnership with marketing people, sales people, and number crunchers. You’re also putting your book into an industry that produces thousands of titles each year. All that can be overwhelming. Your book will always be your book to you, but it will be a product to others. And, the more people your book is read by, the more people won’t like it. Of course, there will also be the people who love it. Make sure to smile and do a Snoopy Dance every time you get one of those notes from a fan."  - Kevin Emerson, author of The Lost Code



"That being in this business is the hardest, most rewarding thing I can think of doing.  I wouldn't have it any other way." - Jessi Kirby, author of In Honor




"It is nothing like on TV. It is a very slow process. You write more than one draft; it may take years to find an agent and editor; it takes months to years from acceptance to publication; not every book ends up in the big chain stores, and those that do don’t all get big face-out displays; you (mostly) don’t get a book tour or go on talk shows; you (mostly) don’t hit the bestseller list. (But it’s still fun.)" - Jennifer Hubbard, author of Try Not to Breathe.


"Authors have the best job in the world, but it isn’t easy. It can be a very solitary profession since the only way that story is going to be written is to sit in front of a computer and write it! There have been so many people who have told me that they have an idea for a book. The only difference between myself and those people was that I actually sat down and wrote (my first book took me five years to get into a good enough place to send to publishers). So while it isn’t easy to get a book published, the only way you’ll ever know is to try." - Elizabeth Eulberg, author of Take a Bow.



"Great question! First off, it's not like you see on TV. This is true for all forms of publishing. Magazines, books, etc. It doesn't take three months to get a book published (cough, Gossip Girl, cough), unless you're rushing out a book in reaction to a news story. Magazine offices are not like Ugly Better or Just Shoot Me—they're more like The Office." - Cara Lynn Shultz, author of Spellcaster



Come back for the next round of Author Insight in October!

No comments:

Post a Comment