The weird things you don't know about writing romance until it happens.

Cathy C · Feb 27, 2009

I'll start with a few to open the ball game. Anyone want to tell war stories, ask questions or vetch?

1. Proofreading marks that publishers use (or: "What are those weird squigglies on my pages?"

)

2. Looking cross-eyed at your first royalty statement.

3. That @#*& cover artist, (or: "When did my heroine get a dye job?")

4. What slimeball thought up "reserves on returns?" (or: "But it's MY money! Isn't it?")

5. What to do when the THIRD book in a six-book series suddenly goes out of print. (or: "But that's when the big plot twist happens! What do you mean nobody can get the book?")

Let the discussions begin and please feel free to add your own!

brainstorm77 · Feb 27, 2009

I can only wish to experience all this at some point

Stacia Kane · Feb 27, 2009

I'd just like to add a big huge resounding YES to #3.

brainstorm77 · Feb 27, 2009

this should be a sticky

Deleted member 42 · Feb 27, 2009

Proofing marks--weirder still, they vary not only from publisher to publisher, but there are proofing marks and editor's marks, and then there are typsetter's marks . . . all of them clearly derived from [cough] Demotic Greek. Or chicken-tracks . . .

And royalty statements.

Ministers and saints preserve us--I use to prepare royalty statments and they make no sense to me; nor are any two publishers alike.

Jersey Chick · Feb 27, 2009

Did you ever have editorial suggestions that just don't make sense (and when you ask, even your editor isn't sure what she meant?)

And I'll echo the cover art - one of the original suggestions for one of my historicals was a very modern porn-star looking guy, in a sweater vest (WTF????)... It took me a few emails to get the artist to understand that there really weren't any sweater vests in 18th century America.

shameless · Feb 27, 2009

Ouch on all of them, but that number 5 is a bi***. :Hug2:

Deb Kinnard · Feb 27, 2009

Editorial suggestions such as, "You need to add more setting" or what have you, scritched into the margins of page 5, when you've spent umpteen paragraphs on page 4 doing exactly that.

Editors. Gotta love 'em. I've been blessed with a gem, but I can't count on having the same freelance editor through my entire career.

Soccer Mom · Feb 27, 2009

Oh where is Alissa Johnson? I remember when the publisher printed her book with the last couple of pages missing. No one caught it until after the book went out. Instead of a resolution, her novel ended abruptly in the middle of a scene. That was a huge oh noes!

Stacia Kane · Feb 28, 2009

Deb Kinnard said:
Editorial suggestions such as, "You need to add more setting" or what have you, scritched into the margins of page 5, when you've spent umpteen paragraphs on page 4 doing exactly that.

Editors. Gotta love 'em. I've been blessed with a gem, but I can't count on having the same freelance editor through my entire career.

Or "I don't understand how she came to this conclusion" when the MC has just spent a page and a half analyzing the evidence.

thethinker42 · Feb 28, 2009

*reads thread*

*whimpers in terror*

*prays to every deity known to man, plus a few I just made up, that my cover art makes me happy...*

brainstorm77 · Feb 28, 2009

Soccer Mom said:
Oh where is Alissa Johnson? I remember when the publisher printed her book with the last couple of pages missing. No one caught it until after the book went out. Instead of a resolution, her novel ended abruptly in the middle of a scene. That was a huge oh noes!

Geez, how could they have missed that?

JulesJones · Feb 28, 2009

A sex scene can be both boringly tame and so kinky that it should have had a warning.

Jersey Chick · Feb 28, 2009

There really are only so many ways to describe body parts.

Sakamonda · Feb 28, 2009

At least you get to approve your covers ahead of time. I've never, ever been consulted on ANY of my books' covers. In some cases, the first time I saw the cover was when the book actually CAME OUT.

Granted, I've been lucky so far and have had great covers. But when the publishers (more than one) do it without ever consulting the author (even when the contract says I have cover approval rights) it is really, really annoying.

shameless · Feb 28, 2009

Sakamonda said:
At least you get to approve your covers ahead of time. I've never, ever been consulted on ANY of my books' covers. In some cases, the first time I saw the cover was when the book actually CAME OUT.

How irresponsible of your publisher. Siren-BookStrand has a very detailed worksheet to help guide the artist, and the authors get final approval of their covers. I couldn't be happier with my cover artist's work.

Irysangel · Feb 28, 2009

My favorite: "Sorry, the schedule is full! We're going to push you out another year."

Cathy C · Feb 28, 2009

Or worst, Irys---"We'll have to move your book to December."

That doesn't sound so bad at first. But there's no competing on any known list with The Grinch who Stole Christmas or The Polar Express.

It's a doomed slot for paranormal and will likely die on the shelf until people are redeeming gift cards.

And what about lists, anyway? How can you make USA Today and NOT make BookScan, or make an overall mass market list, but not the inhouse genre list?? WTF? :Wha:

Susan Gable · Feb 28, 2009

Cathy C said:
Or worst, Irys---"We'll have to move your book to December."

That doesn't sound so bad at first.

I dunno, Cath. My first book was a December release, and belive it or not, it sold quite well. I may have gotten lucky. <G>

I never really knew the sheer subjectivity of it all. As I've mentioned before, the book that's out now was rejected by the last senior editor. Got a new senior editor, I asked if I could resubmit, and the new senior editor bought it. It's the SAME BOOK (well, it was a proposal) that it was before. One liked it. One didn't.

So it wasn't ME. It wasn't my writing. It wasn't MY STORY.

:Shrug:

So much of this is out of our control.

Susan G.

L.Jones · Feb 28, 2009

That even within a house or line or with a single editor writers are rarely treated the same - one author is told never do X and the other is told more X, we can't get enough X. It's all different so comparing doesn't help. Commiserating often does.

Never get too attached to a title. Like never name the farm animals you might have to eat later if you fall in love with your title, it will leave a bad taste in your mouth to have to promote the wacky, icky, strange, generic, meaningless, inappropriate, fabulous but not for your book, etc title later.

It's one of the best ways imaginable to make a buck but don't take it or yourself too seriously.

annie jones
Somebody's Hero (Love Inspired) OUT NOW

Cathy C · Feb 28, 2009

Ah, but yours wasn't paranormal. Warm, fuzzy, holiday feelings don't play well with the otherworldly, unless the plot is themed or, at least, people don't die bloodily.

So what ARE the best months to publish? Well, as Susan says, much of it is out of the author's control. But there are some months that are better than others for a release. September is a hard month to be issued because so many adults are buying "required reading" books for kids or college. Money's tight and luxuries (including books) don't always make it into the cart. April is a tough sell because of tax time empty wallets, and October is hard for anything OTHER than paranormal.

But there are some things that an author CAN do to help the book do better. Figure out if there's something in the plot that can be capitalized on by marketing. Is there a St. Patrick's Day brawl in the book, or the heroine participating in a Race for the Cure walk? Remind your editor. It might get you a slot with a higher budget that can be paired with a bigger author or pushed to the public with magazines or reviewers.

Also, if you can BEAT the deadlines for editing and copy editing, you can sometimes pick up an earlier slot from an author who was slow in turning in their book. We got bumped up two months because of that once, and it was a TERRIFIC slot.

Anyone else have any tips for debut authors that they might not know?

Jersey Chick · Feb 28, 2009

I'd suggest not falling in love with any particular scene, either. I had one that I adored because I thought it showed one of the hero's flaws as a strength as well. My editor thought it made him look cold blooded and cruel. I ended up rewriting the scene, which I liked, just not as much as the original...

ETA - rewriting that one scene let to several more scene rewrites... the domino effect, i haz it.

Cathy C · Feb 28, 2009

Oh, and if you have a debut coming out and attend a conference where a) your favorite author; and b) a big box book buyer you've never heard of will be attending---forego the meet and greet with your fav writer and go to the book buyer's workshop instead. You'll find out INSANELY useful things and upcoming co-op possibilities that could bump up orders of your book by distributors.

Robin Bayne · Feb 28, 2009

Jersey Chick said:
Did you ever have editorial suggestions that just don't make sense (and when you ask, even your editor isn't sure what she meant?)

Yes, and "suggestions" that would completely change something in your complicated time travel plot. :rant:

Robin Bayne · Feb 28, 2009

Soccer Mom said:
Oh where is Alissa Johnson? I remember when the publisher printed her book with the last couple of pages missing. No one caught it until after the book went out. Instead of a resolution, her novel ended abruptly in the middle of a scene. That was a huge oh noes!

I can't think of the author's name, but a well known romance author tells the story of how her editor changed a secondary character, a best friend, into a raccoon.

Yep, made a person into an animal. Now *that's* a horror story.

The weird things you don't know about writing romance until it happens.

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Deleted member 42

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