Birthing a Novel
"No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader." ~ Robert Frost
It’s been a long time since I last blogged—ten months, to be exact. Until about two weeks ago, I was too busy even to think about it, and now that I finally have some time, my mind feels mostly blank. It’s still stuck in the ruts, like wheels spinning along a well-worn track, as I push to get my second novel, The Better Part of Worse: A Novel of Hope, out the door and ready for sale. The plan is to release the paperback, e-book, and audiobook all on the same day, January 7.
I’m currently awaiting reviews from Kirkus, BookLife, and four other authors to whom I sent a pre-release copy of my manuscript. I’ve received the first few chapters of the audiobook from my narrator, Madeline, and am thrilled with her work. All this waiting isn’t easy—it’s filled with a hefty dose of anxiety. I doubt I’m the only author who battles self-doubt at this stage of the publication process; I suspect it comes with the territory.
A friend of mine, who’s not an author, can’t understand my anxiety. She asks, “How many times have you done this now?” She knows this is my fifth book (I write nonfiction under a different name). But each time feels different, with fresh worries, I think. I liken it to giving birth. Just because a woman has labored and delivered one child—or nine—it doesn’t make the second or tenth any less challenging.
Right now, I’m in the stage of labor where I feel I’m too old to do this anymore. But I suppose it’s like asking a woman, in the throes of labor, how she feels about having another baby. Timing is everything.
The first draft of my novel was completed by the end of June this year. In two subsequent revisions, I added chapters and made some changes while essentially keeping the plot intact. In early September, when I thought the manuscript was polished, I sent it to my editor, Patrice. By September 17, I had it back. Buoyed by her light editing, I incorporated her edits. I sent it to my proofreader (an accomplished author, editor, and publisher) four days later.
Within forty-eight hours, I received an email requesting a video conference the following day to discuss an “issue.” During that meeting, my proofreader, who is also an excellent editor and runs a publishing company, urged me to rewrite the entire book from a 3rd-person limited point of view. She said the book would be “so much more powerful.” She convinced me.
Fifteen days later, after leaving my “cave” only for the bare essentials of body, mind, and soul, the next version of the novel was born. Three days later, it went to another proofreader. Five days after that, it came back with only a handful of edits, which I mostly incorporated. I sent it to the audiobook narrator two days later and forwarded the final page count to the cover designer.
And that brings us to the present time of... waiting.
Promoting A Novel
Authors used to be able to write a book without needing to "sell" themselves on social media. They could secure book contracts without submitting a detailed marketing plan, including social media strategies and a self-funded national book signing tour to promote their work. (No, that contemplative woman isn't me, but I always wanted to be a blonde ;-). That was before the rise of self-publishing. Not so paradoxically, self-publishing has earned some respectability, largely due to self-promotion on social media.
In the past, introverts like me could write in the privacy of their own 'thought castle' without needing to invite others into their inner sanctum. I confess I’m not very good at this—I can’t even fake it. I want to sell books, just not myself. Let my work stand or fall on its own merits. Maybe that will be my authorial demise.
Aspiring authors didn’t have to post images of their personal lives and make videos. I’m okay with sharing nature photos or inspiring quotes from others, but mostly, I project who I am into the heartbreaks, challenges, and insights of the characters in my novels. Like my first novel, my second is gritty, inspirational fiction with a Christian worldview. It deals realistically with mental illness in the first half of the twentieth century. More to come soon!
However, I did get more personal in this book’s Author's Notes for The Better Part of Worse than I usually do. I had two versions: a safe version and a risky-for-an-introvert version. After a bit of encouragement, I went with the latter.
“Any amount of theology can now be smuggled into people’s minds under cover of romance without their knowing it.” ~ C.S. Lewis. |
Denise-Marie Martin is the author of Tangled Violets: A Novel of Redemption, her first novel.
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