Friday, March 20, 2009

The Friday Five

1. Are any of you still reading our awesome blog, Author2Author? Lately I feel like I'm talking to an empty room. I know, so many blogs, so little time.

2. A friend over at Livejournal, Brian_Ohio, asked the question, "In this economy, would you rather have a book on submission or a book hitting the shelves?" Then he went on to say, "And I think I'd rather have one on submission. Honestly. The thought of hoping/asking readers to part with money to purchase my book right now is daunting. Really. Maybe some of you authors 'just on the shelf' can shed some light on this. How nervous/anxious are you?"

The good news about the kidlit world is there is not this sink or swim thing thing going on the first 30 days like there is in the adult market. I think I've said this before, but sometimes a book for kids or teens takes time to gain momentum. Because kids read in school, books are often passed between teachers and students, students and students, librarians and students, etc. SO, our books can do well over time even if the first few months aren't what we hope in the retail setting. Those authors who had the foresight to see the need for books like Twilight and got on that a couple of years ago and are hitting this sweet spot right now, their books are no doubt doing incredibly well. The rest of us, we just have to hope our books get noticed in other ways.

And even getting on one state reading list can do wonders for a title. But that takes time - a book may hit a list a year or even two years after coming out, if I'm understanding it correctly.

Don't get me wrong, my friends will tell you I get plenty nervous about sales. And yet, I know I'm so fortunate to have books published and more on the way. Being on submission is fun and exciting at first. It's filled with possiblity. But after awhile, it's not so fun anymore. The waiting is really hard. Well, you all know that!! So, sorry Brian, I wouldn't trade places with you.

And is this a good place to say - if you haven't bought a book in awhile, I think you should go and buy one this weekend! I bought two last weekend!

3. Next week is Spring Break for my kids. My 6th grader has a big science project to work on. I guess they should change the name to "Spring Break - Pysche! Not Really A Break."

4. I'm currently reading Saundra Mitchell's SHADOWED SUMMER. It is REALLY good. I should have finished it by now but I had to stop reading at night because I'm a big wuss and get scared easily. Yes, it's a ghost story if you haven't heard. Which if you haven't heard, where have you been? It seems like everyone has talked about this book and I'm one of the last to do so. ANYWAY, since I do 90% of my reading at night, I'm not finishing it as fast as I'd like. But the writing is excellent, and I'm a sucker for books where there's a little of that Southern drawl going on.

5. Tomorrow morning, I must wake up and go deeper into the revison forest. I received more detailed notes from my editor yesterday. Four pages to be exact. The marked up manuscript is coming today. It's quite ironic that I have to add more scary parts, even though I don't really like scary. So get ready Saundra - ha!

4 comments:

  1. I just read the Author2Author blog and saw your post. I LOVE reading manuscript to agent to editor to published stories. I'm so glad you had an agent and editor that fought for you!

    Congrats on your next three books!

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  2. I love author to author!

    When you say a book on submission are talking about with an agent? I'd much rather be in your shoes, and hope to get there soon! Good luck!

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  3. Well, Brian was actually referring to people who have agents submitting manuscripts, trying to sell them right now. Like in this economy, isn't it a sucky time to be selling a book? But then he thought, for those of us with books on the shelf, isn't it a sucky time for us too? Who wants to part with money now, you know?

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  4. Hi Lisa,

    How are you?

    i'm sorry to bother you, but I've recently started up a community forum for writers called the The Writer's Chronicle(mainly for those who blog) where we can meet and discuss all that is writing with other 'online' writers. Also with the recent addition of some published author members we have decided to set up a section to support published writers and help them promote themselves and their books - as we all know how hard it is to get published and how its even harder to get a large readership!

    I know this email is out of the blue, but i was hoping that you might drop in and take a look around and perhaps join if your interested?


    I'd greatly appreciate it,

    thanks

    Emily Cross

    Here is the link: http://thewriterschronicle.forumotion.net/forum.htm

    ReplyDelete