Fill Your Plot Holes
As much as I am in love with my current work in progress, I am aware that it has a few major problems. This novel truly is my tester novel, where I am making every writer mistake out there from spending too long on the first draft to under-developed characters to impressively poor world building.
Now that you all want to hire me to market your novels as well as I am marketing mine, let’s continue.
I have learned so much from making these mistakes, and though it is taking me some time to work through this novel, I know it will be worth it in the end.
My most recent round of editing has focused on filling potholes.
I mean, plot holes….see what I did there?..?..? Okay, moving on.
Since I initially wrote this story without an outline (big no-no, I would not recommend this) my plot was holier than a nun at a golf course. There were small plot holes, large plot holes, confusing plot holes and plot holes with the potential to turn into plot twists.
After navigating the treacherous plot road of my novel and carefully filling all the holes I could spot, I’ve learned quite a few techniques that I want to pass on to you wonderful readers. ...
Find the Perfect Title
As many of you know, this autumn Evolved Publishing will be releasing my first novel. The past few months have been a whirlwind of getting to know the Evolved team and editorial work. It’s been an eye-opening experience, and I’m so grateful to have the curtain lifted on this side of the business. But that’s a post for another day.
Parallel to the editorial decisions, there have been discussions about marketing, particularly cover and title considerations. This is a whole new ball game for me. Briefing a cover artist, what?! A title works in tandem with a book cover. They are like a pair of superheroes: Batman and Robin, Superman and Lois Lane, Danger Mouse and Penfold. They work together to attract your ideal reader.
Sometimes a title falls on your lap at the beginning of a project, and you know it is a perfect fit. More often, however, it’s a struggle to do justice to something you have been working on for months or even years. In these cases, a blueprint on how to find a title can be helpful. With the caveat that I’m no expert, I thought I’d tell you about my approach to picking a title. ...
Long Day’s Journey
When my first novel was accepted by HarperCollins — the HarperCollins, formerly Harper & Row, publisher of so many authors whom I adored — I thought that all my days of rejection were over. When my book began to be sold to foreign publishers via Harper’s Foreign Rights division, earning out the HarperCollins Advance within 6 months of acceptance, i.e., earning out its Advance before the book was published, I thought I was on the road to full-time writing. When the pre-publication and publication reviews for the first novel started pouring in — all good, and some absolutely stellar — I thought that all my years of hard work and ceaseless rejection had finally earned me a somewhat easier writing life.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The subsequent rejections started almost immediately.
With my editor. ...
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