It’s IWSG Day! Our members are blogging away, posting their thoughts on their own blogs, expressing struggles and triumphs, doubts and fears. You can go HERE to read what they have to say. Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.
IWSG was founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. He saw a need for encouragement and he filled that need. On September 7, 2011, Alex launched the monthly blog posting of the IWSG and it has been going strong ever since.
Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post.
The question is optional!
January 8 question – Describe someone you admired when you were a child. Did your opinion of that person change when you grew up?
I really can’t remember anyone I admired – well, on second thought, I can. A 6th grade Texas history teacher that disappointed me. But I was a dumb kid. I took everything at ‘face value’ back then. Believed everything I saw and heard. I don’t often make that mistake today. In fact, I’m probably a little too suspicious of everyone. So moving on …
You know I’ve had an agent for the past three or four years. We haven’t accomplished much. She’s been trying to sell my romantic suspense. I don’t like calling my book a romantic suspense. I much prefer labeling it a romantic mystery. Anyway my agent sent the proposal to four publishers: two didn’t like the subject matter since it has to do with bomb threats in a school. They said readers would find that a sensitive subject. The third publisher said I have no platform but she’d be willing to reconsider if I grow my mailing list and social media by 500+. That’s all well and good, but growing it isn’t my real problem – maintaining it is. Maintaining is tedious. And does that mean she expects those on my social media/mailing list to actually buy the book or just pass along info regarding my book?
The 4th publisher my agent sent the book to never responded. Evidently when one doesn’t respond that’s a NO. I think that’s ridiculous in the age of quick emails. All she needed to do is say “No thanks” to my agent and we’d mark them off the list. Instead, they’re just “hanging out there.”
So what do you think? Should this book be self-published even though it might trigger anxiety in parenting readers? I don’t have any triggers that I know of, at least nothing that’s reared its ugly head to date, so I can’t answer this question. I’ve tried to put myself in a parent’s place but I easily separate fiction from reality. This makes me wonder about other triggers: like unwanted pregnancies and hidden babies, and divorce, and abuse, and car wrecks and anxiety in general, cold blooded murder that’s in most mysteries, alcoholism and death. Are those things triggers for readers?
Any thoughts on what to do with my book with bomb threats in the school and two explosions outside the school? I know of two authors who have books out using this backdrop but their books came out before school terrorism got so bad. My characters aren’t harassing the school; rather someone IN the school.
I normally read the blurb on the back of a book. If there’s something that doesn’t appeal to me, I don’t buy/read the book. Come to think of it, I might have a trigger. Airplanes. I hate flying. I mean I truly. HATE. flying. I will not buy or read a book or watch a movie that has to do with flying. Is that my trigger? Oh, and I don’t buy medical romances or watch those kinds of movies either. I don’t even like walking into a hospital. Yeah, that might be another trigger.
My agent is encouraging me to “self-pub” but my heart isn’t in it. She says the story is good and deserves readers. My thought is if a traditional publisher isn’t willing to take a chance, am I? My self-promo skills are sorely lacking.
My agent has a second book I’ve written in a different genre. A romance. After her critique, I’m fleshing it out a little more and rewriting the first few chapters. I did a lot of telling in this book.
And after I do that …
If this new book doesn’t sell to my targeted publisher, I’m thinking of putting novel writing behind me. I like writing short. Short articles, short stories. More instant gratification. There are so many other time-consuming things I want to do.
So here’s the big question: if you were 76 years old, had an agent, knew that if she sold a novel to a traditional publisher it would be a year or two before it hit the stands, what would be your career plan? Do you realize how close 76 is to 80? (Yeah, slapping the side of my head.)
Thanks for your help. I’m looking forward to your comments.
JRF
My first and only agent died far too soon, but she did get me an interview in London, with Hodder. .
TMI now about personal medical history, let alone someone else’s She died, I miss her still.
Social media platform ? None, ID fraud and more, when Facebook was just a baby.
Tried many slushpiles, and the impossible almost happened. One of the Five liked my sample, wanted the rest, liked that too. ( can’t you tell how this will end?)
Just one thing… Need more tension…
Basically, a key protagonist had to cheat on her husband. The Big Five story mirrored , exactly, a vicious little scandal surfacing exactly where I live – in the loved to death Lake District. Not an option., plus, if I’d written their version, they might still have turned me down.
Eventually, involved in a three-way non-fiction research project, UK, French, German, I met The Spy – about 4ft 9, almost 90, ex Naval Intelligence, codebreaker, Bletchley Park. * Who would publish our work? ‘ Publishing has changed, she said. ‘Do it now. You’ve no time to lose.’
So we did.
* Age UK once asked this little old lady if she’d like to learn about computers. Thanked them, said she was fine.
.
Wow, Esther!
I’m self published, so I tend to fall on that side of the fence with advice. As far as triggers, I don’t worry about those. I put a content warning below my story descriptions on the retail pages (rape, graphic violence, love scenes, etc.), to help readers decide if the book is for them, but I don’t feel the need to mention every little detail that might possibly bother someone.
When I read fiction, I like it to take me on a rollercoaster of emotions and spit me out on the other side, saying, “Man! What a ride!” If someone is so sensitive that a minor detail in a story upsets them, it should be on them to vet the books they buy. I know there are people who have lived through horrible traumas, and my heart goes out to them. But, society as a whole has become too soft, IMO.
Thanks Melissa. Great comments. I agree.
As long as the blurb on the back of the book mentions the school bomb threat, that should eliminate anyone who would be triggered as they wouldn’t buy the book.
I certainly don’t believe you are that old!
Thanks Diane. Yep, I’m old! It’s been a few years since we’ve seen each other.
Hey, I’m a big fan of J.A. Jance. (I’ve also read J.D. Vance. I don’t get them confused.) J.A. Jance is getting up there in years too. She seems to have two or three books progressing through the publishing process. She might be a good one to ask for advice. I try to keep up reading her weekly, Friday blog post.
Thanks Larry. I didn’t know J.A. Jance had a blog. I’ll check it out.
Happy IWSG Day, Jessica! I hope all is well with you. I’m a big believer in writing what you want to write. I’m a former elementary school teacher who has been locked down with my students during security threats. I think reading about something scary that you have experienced can be cathartic and help you process it. It’s reader’s who choose what they want to read or not. I would be open to self publishing if that was what I needed to do. All the best to you!
I’m self-published, and have had short stories, poems, and one novella published by small and trads, so I can say, yes, marketing is work, but that’s there regardless of type of publication. As far as what you want to do next – whether you indie publish or not – I recommend going with what you love best, If you love short stories, go for it. All the best!
Hi,
Have you thought about self-publishing?
Shalom shalom