June 2016
So I kind of pride myself on being not the artsy fartsy kind of artist. I have four kids, a happy marriage, and a budget. There’s not a lot of room for brooding and what not. I don’t get to throw myself into my room for days at a time and write. I don’t get to wear all black and get enigmatic tattoos and moan and groan over the fluidity of my sentences. I don’t get to travel around the world on my own doing nothing at all but thinking deep thoughts and writing them down.
And the truth is that I’m kind of glad.
I like my family and my budget. I like not being depressed and stressed. I understand, as do so many in-the-trench artists that being a little too consumed with your art is being a little too consumed with yourself. And people who are too consumed with themselves don’t always make the greatest artists anyway because they have trouble understanding the world from any perspective besides their own.
BUT.
Recently, when I was working into the late hours of the night, reading my manuscript for the 40,000th time and trying to make sure no typos in the universe were left upon its pages (there are probably still typos left upon its pages), and also stressing about the cover, which wasn’t working out to the satisfaction of both my co-writer and me…Anyway, while all this was happening, I kind of got my artsy fartsy on. I worried about everything, even the minutiae–especially the minutiae. I brooded. I whined to people. I was a little selfish and a little crazy. Sure, people were starving in the world. Sure social injustices were occurring. Sure crimes against innocent people were being committed. But what if I never got a cover I liked. And why couldn’t the rules for dialogue punctuation be a little more straight-forward.
It was quite the dilemma. Except that, of course, it wasn’t. And when I came up from the brooding for air, I felt a little guilty about the whole thing.
AND YET.
One of the parts of being an artist is caring. It’s a deeply important part, and something we should give a little space, and a little grace. It’s true that there are bigger problems in the world than your book (or sketch or song). And yet it’s also true that if you don’t really care at all about your book (or sketch or song), it will most likely never have the power to influence the world, and also–most likely–never have the power to influence you and those you love. So while I don’t plan to get a tattoo of a teardrop seared into my face any time soon, I also recognize that I do care about my little piece of art. It’s one of my contributions to my world, my friends, my kids, and myself. And sometimes in that caring, it’s okay to get a little carried away, a little over-invested. No, we shouldn’t let ourselves drown in our art. When we do our art loses an outreach and a compassion that good art needs to have. Yet we should also be kind to ourselves; we should realize that when we get a little lost in our art, it’s because we love what we do. Deeply. And there’s something pretty forgivable–in fact, something kind of wonderful–in that.
We’ve had a minor kerfluffle (note: spell check does not recognize ‘kerfluffle’ and/or my spelling thereof as valid) with my cover. Which means there’s a little more waiting time than I had anticipated before Grey Stone comes out. In the meantime, my 11-year-old daughter has been sketching her own way through the story. She has, in fact, inspired me to begin a fan art page (more on that coming soon). Below as a teaser, you’ll find my five favorite sketches that she has created.
- Savah
2. Wolrijk
3. Humphrey (anime style)
4. Ellza
5. King Crespin
When to Get Involved? When to Write Alone in Your Dark and Lonely Corner?
I loved pretty much everything about graduate school. I went to Colorado State University to study creative writing after getting a BA in vocal music from Brigham Young University (so, um, I was clearly concerned with making tons of money in this life). Anyway, I loved grad school. I learned so much from my teachers and my peers. I loved the classes, the writing workshops, the reading assignments, the writing assignments. I loved the criticisms given to me by teachers and peers. I loved the critical thinking and discussions. I loved having people read my work and then tear it up and tell me what needed to be improved. I loved dreaming about being published and the resources presented to me about that.
I believe that going to graduate school improved my craft, gave me a group of mentors to lead me along, and inspired me to be a writer.
After grad school when my husband and I moved to California, I was ready to jump into a new group of writer/critiquer/friends. I was still writing, after all, and wanted to continue my learning. I remember that I went to a writer’s group at Barnes and Noble. They exchanged manuscripts they’d been working on, so that the others could critique and comment. It was a nice group. I fit in there. I had a manuscript I’d been working on–a novel in fact. Surely it could use some input.
Then I went home and never went back. Walking out of the bookstore that night I realized that I didn’t want to be in another writer’s group. Not right now. I’d spent the last three years with lots of good and helpful voices in my head–shaping my craft, guiding me along. But now I needed time to write for a while in silence, to find my own voice, my own interests, my own way.
Both of those choices–the choice to open myself up in grad school and the choice to close off afterwards–were some of the best decisions I’ve made as a writer.
For years after graduate school, I wrote alone. Occasionally, I would ask a friend for some input, but generally I holed up by myself and wrote.
And then one day, almost ten years later, I had another completed(ish) novel in hand. It was a YA fantasy, which I’m not sure I ever would have found if I’d let too many literary voices into my head. And I was proud of it. But it was time, I realized, for another shift, a new step.
Once again, I looked up my local book store to see if they had a writer’s group. They didn’t exactly, but they had a writer’s guild–a group of writers–who came together once a month to discuss different aspects of writing and publishing. It was time again to step away from my desk in a corner, and get to know some other writers, expand my circle. I haven’t regretted it.
So when is it time to open yourself up–to critiques, to networking, to whatever? And when is it time to step away and write in the quiet corners of your life?
I’m not sure I’ve really got an answer for that. But I will say that there is a place, a very important place, for both in your life. And you should exert a little effort to find them. They don’t necessarily have to come in big chunks like mine did. And you should never feel guilty or like you’re doing something wrong for utilizing either avenue. You should never feel weak for asking for help or guidance, should never feel like less of a writer for exploring networking and marketing. On the flip side, you should never feel guilty for stepping away from the crowds and critiques for a while, for finding your writerly self in the quiet times and dark corners of your life.
Sometimes as a writer you need to hide in the darkness (or, heck, sit in a sunny bright drawing room) and get to know yourself. Other times, it’s important to open up and let others in to critique, guide, and help you. Find those times. And enjoy them.
Recently I attended a panel discussion on different types of publishing. We discussed traditional publishing, both through small and big publishers as well as different types of self-publishing, I learned a ton and thought you might too.
Here are the bones:
Traditional Publishing. This means that someone else pays to publish your book. It could be a big publisher like Random House or a small publisher like Ink Smith. Either way, you don’t front any money, and they take care of the editing, cover, etc. In exchange for them taking on the risk and financial burden of publishing your book, they take a cut–sometimes a big cut–of the money you earn.
Self-Publishing. You produce your own book. You can do this all by yourself on a place like CreateSpace. Or you can pay various other printers, editors, artists to help you in the process.
Below is a breakdown of the pros and cons of each:
Traditional:
Pros:
-You don’t pay a thing; your risk is very low. Your publisher takes care of everything–editing, art, getting reviews, getting it to bookstores, libraries, etc. (This might take more proactivity with small publishers; they won’t automatically put your book in every bookstore in the nation, but they will be able to easily put it where there’s interest.)
-Your work is slightly more accessible to readers and easy to find and purchase from various vendors.
-They may make some effort towards marketing your book (as in to put it on lists and catalogs that you don’t even know about), though most of the marketing falls to your court, especially if you’re a no-name/first time author.
-Most of the NY Times Bestsellers are with traditional publishers. Their reach and budget is simply (potentially) greater than yours. That doesn’t mean they always exert that reach and budget for you, but if they want to, they can.
Cons:
-You have to spend time and energy to find an agent and/or publisher and have them agree to publish your book. Sometimes this can take a LONG time.
-You may have less of a say in things like cover art (although with smaller publishers you’re a little closer to the process and tend to have a bit more say).
-You lose a big chunk of profit to the publisher if your book makes any money at all. Your royalties usually only range between 8 and 25%, so everything else is going to the publisher to pay their costs and pad their wallets. Ouch.
Self-Publishing (Vanity–as in the type where you pay to have your book produced, edited, and printed)
Pros:
-You are in complete control of your book.
-Once the initial costs are earned back, you’re in a position to make more money off of your book.
Cons:
-You are in complete control of your book, and some of that stuff isn’t easy to do.
-There is a significant up front cost, usually at least $1000 and more if you want art or extra help with your editing.
-You’re on your own. You’ve got to figure everything out.
-You may not be able to get into certain markets as a self-published author. It’s sometimes harder to get your books to book fairs or even in bookstores (sometimes).
Self-publishing (CreateSpace–free):
Pros:
-Very little risk.
-Very high potential to earn money. Most of the money you earn from your book will come to you, plain and simple.
–Complete control over your book and any artwork in it.
-It’s quick. In the time it might take me to shop my book to agents or publishers, you could have published the first two books in your series.
-There are crazy awesome things that you can do to make more money–like running $.99 sales for your ebook or using Kindle (KDP, meaning you only use Kindle for your e-sales) to sell your book and getting paid by the page read (the catch is if you do this you have to use only Kindle. The point is that the freedom to do different things is yours. You don’t often get that with traditional publishing.
Cons:
-You have to know your way around a computer and be able to do everything for the publication process (cover, your own editing, art, etc.), though this is getting easier and easier.
–You won’t have the editing support you’d get from a traditional publisher, and if you don’t have a careful beta reader, your book could come out with plot holes, grammatical errors and who knows what else.
-Your reach as a self-published author is potentially smaller. Again, it’s harder to get your book accepted certain places as a self-published author. Not impossible by any means, but a little harder.