I don't understand why I didn't find this site sooner.
I know quite a few writers/authors through RWA, but I don't know anyone with a situation like mine. I write novels, love stories that are hard to categorize. They're a cross between mainstream and romance. But I've only completed two, both published by Saga Books, in 07 and 08. The good news is one of my titles finaled in the National Indie Excellence Book Awards; the bad news is I got discouraged when I couldn't get a big league publisher to take on my second title. So I quit writing fiction and became a book reviewer, a contest judge, and a career couselor who writes resumes.
The reviewing career only lasted two years. But the judging work grew into a half-time position, equivalent. Well, after three+ years of judging, I turned around earlier this year and realized that the work had given me far better writing skills than I had when I was a fulltime author. That was quite a moment: one where you don't know whether to laugh or cry. You can probably guess where this is going. I dusted off the doc file of my favorite title and started rewriting it, wanting to see what I'd come up with. Well, I've been astounded at the improvements I've made w/o changing the basic story.
My author friends at the RWA chapter told me that traditional publishing was in such chaos that they didn't recommend I bother with querying. I didn't listen, but they called it right. So it looks like I'll be going digital indie just like they said I would.
But I still feel shock over the change in my writing. Before I send the ms out for formatting, I'd like to get a better feel for how good it is (or not). So I'll probably be moseying over to the the Discussion forum to see if I can interest anyone is giving me some beta reader feedback. If anyone has any advice, I'm all ears.
Oh, speaking of advice, my challenge as a writer has always been plotting. If anyone has any advice on getting past this type of blockage, I'd be grateful.
I know quite a few writers/authors through RWA, but I don't know anyone with a situation like mine. I write novels, love stories that are hard to categorize. They're a cross between mainstream and romance. But I've only completed two, both published by Saga Books, in 07 and 08. The good news is one of my titles finaled in the National Indie Excellence Book Awards; the bad news is I got discouraged when I couldn't get a big league publisher to take on my second title. So I quit writing fiction and became a book reviewer, a contest judge, and a career couselor who writes resumes.
The reviewing career only lasted two years. But the judging work grew into a half-time position, equivalent. Well, after three+ years of judging, I turned around earlier this year and realized that the work had given me far better writing skills than I had when I was a fulltime author. That was quite a moment: one where you don't know whether to laugh or cry. You can probably guess where this is going. I dusted off the doc file of my favorite title and started rewriting it, wanting to see what I'd come up with. Well, I've been astounded at the improvements I've made w/o changing the basic story.
My author friends at the RWA chapter told me that traditional publishing was in such chaos that they didn't recommend I bother with querying. I didn't listen, but they called it right. So it looks like I'll be going digital indie just like they said I would.
But I still feel shock over the change in my writing. Before I send the ms out for formatting, I'd like to get a better feel for how good it is (or not). So I'll probably be moseying over to the the Discussion forum to see if I can interest anyone is giving me some beta reader feedback. If anyone has any advice, I'm all ears.
Oh, speaking of advice, my challenge as a writer has always been plotting. If anyone has any advice on getting past this type of blockage, I'd be grateful.
to the Water Cooler!
