Comments on: Published vs Unpublished–What A Difference A Day Makes

By: Jordan

Jordan — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 16:22:22 +0000

Amie, I think that you brought up a good point. Once you sell, you never know what direction your career will move in. That’s why so many authors at conferences tell you to make sure that you LOVE whatever you’ve submitted because you may end up writing in that genre for YEARS.

By: Jordan

Jordan — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 16:19:55 +0000

You’re welcome, Kim.

By: Jordan

Jordan — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 16:19:13 +0000

Jill, LOL! Nope, you’re not alone. Sounds very familiar, including the part about only giving it a brief thought. I think the bottom line is that you can listen to published authors talk before you’ve sold, but there is no way you can anticipate ALL the changes that take place after that phone rings with the blessed news.

By: Jordan

Jordan — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 16:15:38 +0000

Patrice, I wish that my writing was getting smoother. If anything, it’s getting much harder. Maybe I’m making it harder than it needs to be, but the last few books have taken me far longer to write than previous novels. I totally understand the swamped feeling of having edits arrive in the middle of trying to write the ‘next’ book. Ugh!

By: Jordan

Jordan — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 16:13:24 +0000

Jeaniene, Yes, the busy work is quite surprising. I can’t believe how much time it eats up. That said, I know a lot of friends who keep up with their blogs, but don’t allow much else to interfere with their writing. My goal is to eventually follow in their footsteps. Otherwise it just becomes too much.

By: Jordan

Jordan — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 16:05:19 +0000

Sarah, You’re definitely not alone. We all knew that there would be a lag time, but I don’t think any of us could’ve imagined how LONG that lag time would actually turn out to be. For example, my book for Tor was bought last Halloween (06) and it won’t be out until next November (08). I submitted the partial in 05. Talk about a lag time. :-O

By: Jordan

Jordan — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 16:01:06 +0000

Camilla, Sorry it’s taken me so long to comment. I spent yesterday packing for the upcoming move. A few things to keep in mind, I think it’s important to have as many books written ahead of time as you can get. Yes, there’s a chance that your series won’t be bought, but the exercise of writing them won’t be wasted. Christine Feehan had the first three or four books written of her Dark series before she sold to Dorchester. It ended up helping her. You could always write a few, then work on something else so that you have several projects available. As for writing what you want, you can write what you want. I fell into the trap of thinking that you couldn’t for a while. I’m so glad I dug my way out of that mindset. It’s made me a much happier writer.

The thing that you can’t control is whether a publisher will buy your work. But if you believe in these books, then write a few and put them in a drawer. You never know when an editor/agent will ask to see your other projects.

By: kim

kim — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 02:14:01 +0000

thank you received books and cards

By: Jill Myles

Jill Myles — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 21:09:44 +0000

Oh my god, are you totally speaking to ME OR WHAT????!!

I didn’t think this was bitchy at all. And to be honest, I’m right there with you. I never gave it more than a brief thought as to what all I’d be doing once I got a contract.

Now between marketing my book, writing the sequels, keeping my name out there, and all the other good stuff, I have to come up with new ideas! Shiny ideas! Original, better ideas! But oh yes, they must all sort of fit into the same mold as my original idea, so I don’t lose my audience by skipping around.

It has totally fried my brain. Thank god I’m not alone in all this!

By: Patrice Michelle

Patrice Michelle — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 19:34:47 +0000

I think the biggest one for me is adjusting to NOT having all the time in the world to write my books. While in some ways the writing moves much smoother now that it did when I first started writing, in others the process is much harder. For instance, getting edits on the first book coming in on top of having to write to deadline on the next book can make you want to pull your hair out, especially if the edits are extensive. Sure we do it and move on, but that was a eye-opener and something I’ve had to learn to adjust to.