Sunday, September 24, 2017

Hurry Up And Wait

If I needed any reminder of what this publishing business is all about, I got it in the past few weeks. You Hurry Up and finish your WIP, only to set it aside for a few weeks to simmer before you polish it up and send it off into the world, in whatever avenue of publishing you choose. That's the first Hurry Up And Wait moment. If you enter it into a contest you Hurry Up and submit before the deadline and then Wait impatiently until the finalists are announced.

I recently attended an event at my local library on self-publishing. The main gripe about traditional publishing is the lag time between when you sign a contract and when the book is released. With the advent of small press publishers, the lag time isn't nearly so great as it used to be–my first book was contracted for in March and released in May, giving me barely enough time to set up my website and this blog. So that argument against using a traditional publisher doesn't hold much water anymore. There are still pluses and drawbacks and it's a very personal choice. But at least now, in this day and age, we authors have many paths to publication.

But say you do want to go the self-publishing route. There's still a Hurry Up And Wait aspect to it. You want to spend time, and unless you have a Fine Arts background, money, on a decent cover and a good editor–preferably two editors. These people, if they're good (and good's what you want) have many other authors as clients, so you need to be worked into their rotations. There can be months of lag time between when a manuscript is submitted to an editor and when the final product goes live on Amazon and other outlets.

If you go the traditional route with a small press, the lag time can be quick or tedious. I mentioned my first book only took two months. My most recent one has taken me since January, when I turned it in, and still there's no release date in sight. I keep telling myself it will happen, I didn't have to find and pay for an editor, a cover, or a formatter, so I'm good with it, but it's been a struggle.

And a Big 5 publisher? One of my favorite small press publishers got bought up by a Big 5 last year, and they've done a fabulous job of promoting my backlist. I want to work with this publishing house again, now since they're part of a Big 5, so I submitted a manuscript to them. It's Book One of a new series, and I've had my fingers crossed for months now. I guess I should spend the Wait time working on the second book in the series, but I find it hard to work with my fingers crossed and holding my breath. Maybe I'll hear something this week...

How about you? Would you like to work with a Big 5 or do you want complete control? Or both? In any scenario, there will be many Hurry Up And Wait moments.

12 comments:

  1. The hurry up and wait is the worst...almost as bad as the hurry up and wait and then get rejected! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you this week.

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    1. That's what worries me--after all this waiting I may get rejected. Then, I'll have to start all over again. The way I'm looking at it now, there's no real hurry to start book 2.

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  2. This post is so on point. Thanks for verbalizing the angst. I try so hard to push aside everything else and keep writing but it's not easy.

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    1. Thanks, Charlotte. Nice to know the angst is not limited to my own journey. We all suffer from it.

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  3. Thanks for the timely reminder and the thoughtful post. Hurry Up and Wait is pervading every aspect of my life at the moment but it helps to know I'm not the only one.

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    1. You're right, Katie. We're all in this together.

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  4. Yep hurry up and wait is a tough part of the publishing industry. I'm
    Right there with you. Patience is a virtue I don't own but do my best. But I see I'm in good company! Write on!

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    1. Thanks, Tena. You're right. We're all going thru the same thing.

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  5. So much truth in the words "hurry up and wait." I recently received a rejection to a query I'd sent out more than a year ago. Took me by surprise because I had forgotten all about it.
    Happy to meet others who are going through the same process.

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    1. Like you, I got a bite on a manuscript for which I'd sent a query a year ago. They asked if it was still available. I said yes and did they want to see it? Still haven't got an answer, but it hasn't been a year yet.

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  6. When I first started, I figured it all came with the territory. I don't like it, but I usually start work on a new book while I'm waiting.

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    1. It's probably a good idea, but I'm scampering after another idea right now.

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