{"id":5717,"date":"2015-03-29T07:00:38","date_gmt":"2015-03-29T06:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/janetgover.com\/?p=5717"},"modified":"2015-03-29T07:00:38","modified_gmt":"2015-03-29T06:00:38","slug":"surviving-as-a-writer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/?p=5717","title":{"rendered":"Surviving as a writer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Eloisa<\/a>
Eloisa James speaking to a rapt audience at the RNA meeting.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Talking to other authors, particularly the top-selling authors, is a great way to learn.<\/p>\n

Not long ago,\u00a0the fabulous Eloisa James spoke to a fascinated audience at the RNA meeting in London.<\/p>\n

Eloisa writes historical novels that are regulars in the New York Times bestseller lists \u2013 and I was ready to learn whatever she had to teach me.<\/p>\n

Her theme was the things she knows now that she wishes she had known back when… and this is what I took away.<\/p>\n

Be strategic.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Read what\u2019s selling now, look for reasons why it\u2019s selling. Find the things about that book that work for you \u2013 the \u2018reader pleasure\u2019 moments.\u00a0 And read widely \u2013 not just your own genre. She suggested reading the best books a second time \u2013 being very analytical as you go. She also suggested finding something popular to attach your book to \u2013 if there\u2019s a royal wedding in the air, write a royal wedding book. If fairy tales are selling \u2013 write a fairy tale. But take care not to leave it too late and get left behind.<\/p>\n

Read your own work analytically too. It\u2019s important to know what you do well and to work to your strengths.<\/p>\n

Get into your Zen.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Things go wrong \u2013 even for someone who makes the Times Lists. Don\u2019t let it get to you.<\/p>\n

If it\u2019s a problem with the book, listen to your editor and work to fix it. Ignore bad reviews. If your career has a hiccup \u2013 accept it, do what you can to fix it and move on. Don\u2019t let those bad moments bring you down.<\/p>\n

Sometimes you write rubbish.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We all do it and that\u2019s fine. Let yourself do it, then accept it\u2019s rubbish and fix it and write something better.<\/p>\n

Be a businesswoman.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We write because we love writing \u2013 but it is a business. We need to understand the contracts we sign. We need to understand tax rules. If we need help understanding this stuff, get help from a lawyer or accountant \u2013 here in the UK, the Society of Authors is very helpful.<\/p>\n

Be a manager.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Manage your career. If you have an agent and an editor \u2013 manager them too. This really means work with them. Tell them what you want to achieve , or what you want them to do for you.<\/p>\n

Publishing a book is humiliating and risky.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you send your book out there, you are exposing yourself to criticism. Genre fiction , and particularly romance, is sometimes viewed as \u2018trash\u2019. Or not even a \u2018real book\u2019.\u00a0 Don\u2019t buy into that. Romantic fiction will not change the world, but you can deeply move an individual reader or maybe help them through a difficult time in their life. That\u2019s a good thing \u2013 be proud of that.<\/p>\n

Manage your grief<\/strong><\/p>\n

Books fail. Contracts fail. You will get bad reviews. You can learn from these \u2013 but first you have to manage the totally understandable emotional reaction. Do whatever you \u00a0need to do to get past it. Eat chocolate. Take a long bath. Go to bed for a day. Then leave it behind and learn form it.<\/p>\n

Never respond.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you get bad reviews or are attacked on social media. Or misquoted. Don\u2019t respond. That will only make it worse and could even expose the bad comment to an ever greater audience. It will take longer to get past it. Just ignore it and move on.<\/p>\n

Never Make bad blood<\/strong><\/p>\n

There will be unpleasant moments with other authors, or with agents or publishers. Don\u2019t let things get nasty. You never know when you will come back into contact with that person again \u2013 or in what roles.<\/p>\n

Your friends aren\u2019t always your friends<\/strong><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t let your friends, however well meaning, take control of your writing. Don\u2019t give your manuscript to too many people to read.. and don\u2019t react too quickly to what they say. If you change your style or your voice or your story with every comment from every person \u2013 you will lose your own voice.<\/p>\n

If you want a critique partner or beta reader, find someone you trust, whose opinion you value and work with them.<\/p>\n

But at the same time \u2013 the friends you make among other authors will be among your very best friends.\u00a0 We should always be there for each other. Supporting each other. Helping each other write the best books we can.<\/p>\n

There are too many reasons not to read \u2013 tv and computers and whatever \u2013 we all need to work together to make sure there are so many brilliant books out there that the readers keep coming back.<\/p>\n

All very well said Eloisa \u2013 thank you. I\u2019ll do my best.<\/p>\n

\"ej<\/a>
Some of Eloisa’s books – such lovely rich covers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Talking to other authors, particularly the top-selling authors, is a great way to learn. Not long ago,\u00a0the fabulous Eloisa James spoke to a fascinated audience at the RNA meeting in London. Eloisa…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7g6jm-1ud","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5717\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}