On the release of my second Indie novel and what I've learned...
by Linda Hall
It’s relatively easy to get your first book out
there as an Indie author. You probably already have that one novel in a drawer
which has been through the rounds of agents, editors, elevator pitches, and
fifteen-minute-conference-sessions-with-experts. Despite all the good advice,
you still don’t have a publisher. So you decide to follow
the lead of many modern authors and self-publish it. After hiring a cover
designer and editor, it’s out there. And it wasn’t
so hard. It’s really not rocket science. Getting that
second one out there, however, and the third one, the fourth, can be more challenging.
After publishing twenty
mysteries with traditional publishers in the Christian/Inspirational market I
was ready for a change. I wanted to branch out and write not romance, but
mainstream mystery. Everyone was down on the idea, though. My agent told me I
would lose readers. Writer friends would say, “What if you lose your fan base.
Do you really want to do that?”
Yes. I really wanted to
do that. If I had to stay one more day in Inspirational Romance, well, I’m afraid I would go screaming into the night
with my can of spray paint.
When my agent couldn’t sell it, my only recourse was to strike out
on my own and publish it myself. Well, I digress, I did publish something else
first. As a sort of experiment, I put together a bunch of short stories that I’d had in drawers and notebooks and file
cabinets and entitled it Strange Faces. That was a few months before
I released Night Watch. I guess I wanted to see what would
happen. When the sky didn’t fall, I got Night Watch ready for publication.
Night Watch, the first book in my new mystery series had
gone through so many edits and agent edits that I was pretty confident of the
story and the solidness of the writing.
That was fall of 2014,
and then it hit me. I was in this. I had to come up with a second book. Fans
were already emailing me! With a bit of fear and a lot of trepidation I
started on The Bitter End. But, this time I was really on my own.
I had no agent to bounce ideas off of, no in-house editor to brainstorm with.
I used NaNoWriMo to get
the bones down for the story. I rewrote and polished and rewrote and polished
and paid for a professional editor and cover designer was able to release it
this past November, just about a year after I started it. Now, I’m working on a third. Maybe there will even
be a fourth.
Here’s what I’ve learned:
1.As an Indie author,
you are chief cook and bottle washer, table setter, waitress and sign painter
and ad copy writer. You are everything. If there is a typo, you can’t shake your head and say, “Oh, that stupid
publisher of mine.” But have no fear, there are a whole lot of good people
(editors, designers, formatters, publicists) out there waiting for you to hire
them.
2. Write your heart. I
had all sorts of people, which included fans and readers, who wanted me to
continue in Christian romantic suspense. I could not. My heart wasn’t there. (Cue the spray paint.)
3. Use NaNoWriMo each
November to get down the skeleton of the book. At the end of that crazy month
you will be surprised at how much work is done on the book.
4. Hire professionals. I
shouldn’t even have to say this - but get
professional editors, cover designers, formatters, proofers etc.
5. Schedule your days as
if you had a contract. Back when I was writing for publishing companies, my
normal output was a book every twelve to 18 months. I’m a slow and careful writer, and it does take
me that long. No matter what I do, I can’t make that timeline any faster. The
time it takes is the time it takes.
6. Don’t let people tell you that good writers always
outline. Don’t let people tell you that good writers write
never outline. Your book is your baby. About a hundred years ago when I
was a young mother and had small babies, I remember all of the “advice” that threatened to turn me into a neurotic
new mother. I finally learned to simply smile and thank people for their
unsolicited advice, and then do my own thing regarding my child. Your book is
your baby. You know what’s best for it.
7. Give yourself
permission not to do any of the above. Writing should be a joy not a burden.
Linda Hall
Linda@writerhall.com
Bio:
Award-winning author Linda Hall has written twenty mystery
novels plus numerous short stories. She has written eighteen novels for
traditional publishers like WaterBrook Press, Random House and Harlequin. In
the last couple of years, however, she has decided to go it alone, and is now
Indie publishing her mysteries and stories, and loves the freedom and control
this brings.
Most of her novels have something to do with the sea. She
grew up in New Jersey and it’s along it’s shorelines that her love of the ocean
was born. during the summer they basically move aboard their 34’ sailboat
Linda has achieved the rank of Senior Navigator, the highest
rank possible in the national boating safety organization. CPS. Her Senior
Navigator diploma hangs proudly on her
office wall. What this means is that she knows how to use a sextant and
can ‘theoretically’ find her way home by looking at the stars.
Her new mystery series, Night Watch and The
Bitter End feature a female boat captain who happens upon mystery and
murders on the high seas.
During the summer she and her husband basically move aboard
their 34’ sailboat aptly named Mystery. and sail down from their home
province of New Brunswick, Canada
She and her husband Rik have two grown children, seven
grandchildren and one very spoiled cat named Captain Hook.
The Bitter End -
Website: http://writerhall
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Twitter: @writerhall
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