Archive for March, 2011

Mar

The 3 P’s of Publishing

Posted by: Michell in About Writing, Irreverent Muse

Patience, perseverance and preparation are three words that tend to repeat a lot as my personal mantra. They are important to my writing life, my personal life and my work life too. They are a lot more than just words to me. They are the fundamentals to getting published.

That may seem like an odd thing to say. After all, isn’t getting published all about writing the best book possible?

I don’t deny the best book trumps all else, but if you have written a good book but give up after the first rejection, you will never live to see it published. The same holds true if you aren’t willing to wait for the book to work its way through the process.

Publishing is a slow process. Getting an agent can be a slow process. Patience is key.

That brings up the preparation portion of the equation. Preparation means knowing who you are submitting to whether it is to a publisher or agent. Preparation means working at your craft and improving yourself. Preparation also means building a platform and getting your name recognized so when your book is eventually published you have people interested in buying it. That preparation might also help get you picked up by a publisher or agent.

It has been a difficult to follow the 3 P’s at times. Patience is one of those virtues that I do not have in great supply. I remember how difficult it was to wait for that first answer for my first novel. I didn’t actually write anything while I waited those four grueling months.

Then there is persistence. No matter how much you believe in yourself and your writing, there are times when the rejections are piling up that you wonder if you are any good. Those are the times I’ve had to dig deep and fight my way forward.

Finally there is preparation. How do you know where to go and what to do? Even when you think you have covered all your bases you find more and then there is the entire time-committment to keeping those preparations going.

It feels a lot like work. Probably because it is. It is hard work with little reward for the most part. That’s when I remember that I do it, not for the potential money (I’m sure there are writers out there laughing when I say that), but because I enjoy telling stories and entertaining people. That’s when I start chanting the mantra all over.

Tags: desire, irreverent muse, Michell Plested, patience, persistence, preparation, writing

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Mar

The Secret is (finally) Out

Posted by: Michell in Irreverent Muse

I’ve been hinting at a secret project for several weeks/months that I finally announced during Episode 53 of Get Published. For those of you who either don’t listen to the show or haven’t yet heard, spoiler alert. You may want to avoid reading further until after you have listened to the show. For the rest of you, read on.

The secret project is actually my first collaborative writing project. I am working with author, podcaster and social media personality, JR Murdock who currently has two books up on Podiobooks.com. We are writing a Steampunk, YA, Superhero mashup.

What is making it fun for both of us is the way we are writing the story. JR is writing the part of the hero and I am writing the part of the villain.

When we first started tossing story ideas around I knew that the part of the villain would be a blast to write. Naturally, I figured I would have to fight JR to the death to get the part. As it turned out, he felt exactly the same way about the hero so we had an accord right out of the gate.

So how did we go about getting ready to write as a team? Well, the first thing we did was come up with a high level outline. We decided how we wanted the story flow to go and went from there. We had most of the plotting completed prior to NaNoWriMo and started writing during November.

Weekly meetings to compare notes really helped and gave us the opportunity to bounce ideas off each other. We are now about 70 – 80% finished the first draft and then we will get down to revisions. The story has been a LOT of fun to work on and I can’t wait to share it with you all.

Tags: Get Published, jr murdock, Michell Plested, secret project, steampunk, superhero, YA

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Mar

Get Published Episode 53 – JR Murdock Self Publishes Astel

Posted by: Michell in Get Published (Podcast)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

A Twitterfriend of my mine, JR Murdock, is self-publishing his YA Fantasy novel Astel. He tells me it is partially prompted by this show and the growing interest and success of self-publishing. Especially for eBooks.

Naturally, I had to get him on the show to learn more about his endeavour and what he has learned by doing it himself. He has become quite the resource for DIY publishing. He has also kindly provided a rebate code for his book in case you would like to purchase a copy of your own.

For the print edition - https://www.createspace.com/3551482 and use the discount code HCKBWXRB to get $2 off

For the ebook edition - http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/43948 - SQ67K to get 50% off

I was also fortunate to get another segment from CA Marshall for “Tips and Typos”. In this segment she talks about query letters. Certainly a shortcoming of mine.

Last but not least, I’ve been hinting about a secret project for several weeks/months. In this episode I actually begin talking about it.

That’s the lineup for today’s show. I hope you enjoy it.

Show Notes

00:00 — Opening – Get Published Episode 53 – JR Murdock Self Publishes Astel