Wednesday, August 10, 2016

So...after all these years...


I'm finally gonna (self) publish a romance novel.

I've been dabbling for over a decade. It's been a cycle of love and self-doubt and life getting in the way.

Much to some of my chapter-mates continual confusion, the drive to get a publishing contract just isn't there. Never really has been. It's not that I wouldn't love to make money with my writing, but that's not my motivating factor.

When I first joined my writing group, getting a contact with one of the Big Six Publishing Houses was still the be all, end all of writing. The landscape was changing, however. The first e-publishers had been around trying to make money, trying to gain respectability. Some have come and gone, many are still around. But the e-book market is booming. I prefer an electronic book these days to paper.

Much as I loved reading Harlequin and Silhouette romances growing up, I never really wanted to submit to them, or any of their brethren. I had some minor experience with an e-pub early on and that seemed like a good way to get some publishing experience--working with an editor, meeting deadlines, making editorial changes. But it still didn't feel quite right.

And for the last I don't know how many years, the self-publishing option has been on the table. For me, being more of a hobby writer, the ability to self-publish feels just right. As to why it's taken me so long to finally get around to it, well, that's a journey I've been on and here I am.

In a couple of weeks, I'll be sending my book, by no means the first one I've ever written, off to a content & copy editor. It's a bit nerve wracking. Yes, other people have read my work. I rarely get anything but complimentary comments. This particular book has even been read by a handful of others, including a chapter mate who also copy/content edits for pay. But sending this book to a person who doesn't know me from Adam, who I'm paying to give me her expert (?) opinion--well, I'm nervous about it. I know that even though I've been writing and learning my craft for close to a decade, that I struggle with certain aspects of story telling. So hearing what a complete stranger thinks of my skills--it's a good thing, but scary. Can I fix my mistakes? Can I strengthen the book's weaknesses?

It's time to find out!

Stay tuned for highlights of the journey. :)


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Go Jen! Cheering you on :-)
Nancy

Jen FitzGerald said...

Thanks, my friend!!