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What should you write?

Well, that’s a loaded question. Maybe we should first ask ‘why are you writing?’

If you are writing to unload your burdened soul, or because you particularly enjoy tapping rhythmic sequences on keys, then write whatever the heck you want!

But if you are writing for any other reason, you’ll need to take a step back.

Ask: do you want to sell your work? Who’s your audience? The Literati? Baby-boomers? Mass market paperback buyers? Want to get picked up to become a movie or TV series?

And the answer cannot be D) All of the above.

Before you start, go to the section of the bookstore where your writing will be. What’s already there? And what will this same shelf look like in two years? Ultimately it comes down to two questions: What’s similar to your work? How is yours different from everything else that’s there? If you can’t put your finger on those two facts, you are likely going to have a hard time selling your book.

No matter what you do, it’s a near impossibility that a publisher will simple take your writing and set it to print. Though you may have produced a work that is ‘your baby’, agents, editors and publishers will all have a different take on it.

I was offered a chance to publish RESONANCE as chick lit. I said no. By the same token, the original version was much longer and I let it be edited! No matter how much I loved it . . . it needed to be cut. I was surprised that the editor asked me to cut where he did but I took his advice. (and he was right!)

So write your work, but know who you are writing it for. (To me it’s simple. The stories are mine, but I’m not telling them for me, I’m telling them for you. – and I say ‘simple’ with tongue in cheek. The concept is simple, but learning that it was okay took a lot longer!) Draw your line and stick to it, just be sure there’s plenty of room to move on your side of the line, too!

So this post is a little out of order, but AJ is working on editing her third book (God’s Eye) while writing Phoenix. There are numerous phases of editing for any project. This post is about that last, final, all-in editing before you go to print. You should, of course, have a professional editor work on your writing. But that doesn’t mean you have to accept all of their changes. You absolutely must have the final say.

Some examples have come up recently that really hit home…

1) Make sure one edit doesn’t cause the need for another. I just purchased a non-fiction book that had an error on the very first page. I’ve changed the words to protect the author, but this was the gist of it:

“How much do you love ice cream? Would you do anything to get ice cream? If the answer to both of these questions is yes,….”

I’m guessing this was an editing error. There were probably 2 yes/no questions there originally, but the first one got changed somewhere along the way. The good news is that the message of the book redeemed its poor editing.

2) Intentional errors. I heard about this one from a fellow writer. The story included a newspaper ad that included a mis-spelling. The mis-spelling came up later in the story as a joke, but the editor had tried to take it out.

3) Read for flow. While it might sound ok to change a word in a sentence, be sure it fits into the big picture. When you read it back it may not be the best thing overall. The editor may suggest that you change “good” to “excellent” which seems great until you realize you’ve already said “excellent” three times in that paragraph.

The takeaway is this: proof, proof, and proof again. Make sure it says what you really want it to say. Every writer would rather be writing a new story than spending time editing an old one for the upteenth time, but I promise you it is worth the effort.

The hardest part of my job as AJ’s manager is to stay organized. I have files for everything from treatments, to convention newsletters, to legal paperwork. I have spreadsheets all over my computer with dates, notes, and reminders. You have to a system that works for you.

For Phoenix, we have to work backwards. We have a date in mind when we’d like to be published, but that will certainly move around some. There’s a 6 month period minimum where the book is completed but not available – this is when the reviewers get their hands on it. Continuing backwards, there’s the time it takes to have the books physically printed, layout and design, final editing, cover design, and publisher approval. All this comes after AJ finishes writing.

Each of AJ’s books is in a different phase of the process, so staying organized is key. Otherwise we could miss an opportunity or get pushed back. It happens all the time and then we have to decide if we delay the release to fix the missed opportunity or move ahead without it.

-Eli