STOP! STOP! STOP!
(This
blog is the text of a speech given as part of a panel discussion on ebooks for
the California Writers’ Club Redwood Chapter’s “Next Step” Conference, April 27-28 2012. Also on the panel were Scott James, Robert
Digitale, and Mark Coker.)
Okay,
a man walks into a bar and orders a beer. The bartender, making chit-chat asks,
“What do you do for a living?”
“I’m
a writer. I write mystery novels.”
“Wow.
Have you sold anything?”
“Yes. My car. My boat. My motorcycle. My golf clubs. My mountain bike...”
This
writing is a tough business.
But
this new world of ebooks presents a great opportunity. You’ve heard about it
today at this conference and you see it every time you go on-line: GO GO GO.
E-PUBLISH IN MINUTES. GO GO GO. PUBLISH PUBLISH PUBLISH!!!
Ebooks
are a great opportunity but there’s also a great danger and temptation of
uploading and publishing your book before it’s ready. So I want to share with
you the most important thing anyone could possibly tell you about e-publishing
or any type of publishing.
STOP!
STOP! STOP!
Yes,
stop.
When
you are done writing and rewriting and polishing do NOT automatically up load
your manuscript for the world to see. I’ll repeat this because it is crucial: When you are done writing and rewriting and
polishing do NOT automatically up load your manuscript for the world to see.
The
desire to be published is intoxicating
Being
published is exhilarating.
The
effort inherent in writing a book—any book: fiction or non-fiction—the hours of
effort; the planning; the disappointments; the obstacles and triumphs: all this
effort would seem to warrant every book publishable and sale able.
But
there also should be a Tooth Fairy and an Easter Bunny and a Santa Claus.
And
as we all know, there isn’t, so STOP!
Just
because you can “Upload in Minutes” doesn’t mean you should.
Here’s
what you should do:
Print
your book out and seal it in a manila envelope. Don’t look at it for at least
two weeks. This is called putting it in the Deep Freeze.
During
this period of “deep freeze” do not read your book on the computer. Begin
outlining your next book project. Take a class. Re-read a favorite book. Blog-tweet-twat-diddle on line. Take a long
nap. Just stay away from the book that has been your companion and your
focus—consciously and unconsciously—for the past few months. Then, after the
requisite two weeks, open the envelope.
But
not in your office.
Repeat:
Do not open it in the room where you wrote it. Retreat to the kitchen or a park
or the library or a terribly trendy coffee shop.
There’s
a rationale for all this.
The
two weeks off and the geographical shift will afford you the emotional distance
you need to properly evaluate your manuscript.
Now
you get to sit down and read this book.
A
book that you previously—and honestly—considered honed, perfect, and ready for
prime time will be riddled with grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.
Perhaps even errors in plotting, structure, and characterization. And these errors will JUMP out at you.
They
will now seem obvious because you’ve established the proper professional distance
and taken the correct amount of time to re-evaluate your manuscript in a
professional manner.
Please,
do yourself a favor—save yourself some possible embarrassment—and follow this
procedure.
Would
you send your children out into traffic without explaining red lights, green
lights and looking both ways before they cross the street?
Of
course not.
Do
yourself a favor and utilize the power of this simple and essential technique.
STOP!
STOP! STOP!
For
a couple of weeks. Rewrite. Polish. Sharpen.
Then
do it again.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
My
books get bad reviews (and good reviews) but the bad reviews are because they
are tasteless and offensive, not because they are amateurish and poorly
written.
As
a writer, you NEVER want to be perceived as an amateur or a dilettante. Ignore
this advice at your own risk and remember: STOP!
Then
proceed with enthusiasm.
The
first speaker on a panel is like a lead-off batter in baseball. The lead-off’s
job is simply to get on base. The lead-off speaker is required, simply, to
finish on time. Today I’m here as a “resource” but I am first and foremost and
always a writer who is constantly looking for an insight that will improve my
writing and marketing skills. So I’ll stop talking right now, because I want—and
need—to hear what these other three guys on the panel have to say.
Thanks.
Keep writing. Never give up.
______________________________________________________
For
an example of Rob’s tasteless and offensive writing check out:
