Spring Cleaning - by Kathleen Cook

Spring again! YAY! And with it comes SPRING CLEANING! Oh no … not the dust bunnies behind that huge armoire that you never move, or the attic and garage mess. I'm talking about SPRING CLEANING YOUR OLD BOOKS!

I wrote a book back in 2008 that I rushed to put up on Amazon. It was dismal. When Amazon visitors previewed that one, they didn't care to read my other works. If you are like me, once you put a book up on Amazon it stays there, whether it sells or not (usually not). But what are these books saying about you as a writer? How much have you grown, learned, expanded since then? Has your grammar, syntax, use of passive language, use of clichés, etc., changed since you first published your works? What are passing book browsers learning about you if they only glance at your early works? Believe me, it happens!

I decided last year to review that 2008 work. UGH! The premise and plot were good. The characters needed a facelift but were mostly solid. But by the third chapter, I was screaming at my book, "IF YOU SAY THE WORD "UNFORTUNATELY" ONE MORE TIME, I'LL THROW YOU IN THE WOOD STOVE!!! I opened chapter four and read, "Paul laughed when he heard what he thought was a joke. Unfortunately, Marion's icy stare corrected his error a moment too late." ARRRGGGHHH!

There are a lot of people who believe that once a book is self-published, the author has no right to go in and quietly fix minor mistakes. Baloney. If you are using Amazon's free ISBN instead of your own, then you can upload a new edit any time you wish to revamp your work. You can even make major changes, if necessary. No labeling as a new version is required, and no new ISBN is needed. Even so, you may wish to retire your old book and replace it with a new version. I revised The Sun Always Trumps last year and extended it, so I republished it as a new edition.

If you are using a purchased ISBN number to sell anywhere, then yes, you'll need a new ISBN to change any part of the book. But even so, it may be worth it to retire that old version and publish anew. If an Amazon (or any) passerby judges you by your old works, you want them to see the best you have to offer, not the embarrassing follies of your youth.

You may not have read your old works in years. It's time to do so. Every writer should read their own books again every five years, at least. If those books need a good spring cleaning, then do it before others see the cobwebs they've gathered in too many passive clichés, tired or outdated language patterns, or just too many repeats of that darned, “unfortunately.” 

If you're unpublished, bring out those old manuscripts that you've been meaning to edit. View them with a new eye and the courage to chop them to pieces. As an editor, I've often seen a 600-page bad novel turn into a 300-page great one. If you're an unpublished but inevitable author, get cracking on those old works gathering dust in that armoire, you know, the heavy one you never move.

Spring is a time of renewal, regrowth, and for peeking out from behind the lethargy of winter. Let's face it, we all get lazy over the holidays and winter in general. A cozy fire and a hot cocoa promote inactivity, a time to take in and absorb the year, process it, and turn over a new chapter in your life. But winter is over, and we've already absorbed, processed, and planned our resolutions for the year ahead. Spring is the time to implement those resolutions. 

While I'll be broadforking the garden every morning this spring, the afternoons will be spent with a good old book … my own! What did I get right? What did I get wrong? Time to find out and fix! Happy spring to all of my fellow authors, published or inevitable!

Kathleen Cook is a retired editor and the author of more than twenty books. A former copy writer/editor for Demand Studios, she also served as the Fictional Religion Editor for the ODP (Open Directory Project) in the internet’s early days. She spent twenty years before retirement as a freelance editor, and is currently the Arizona Authors Association editor and website technician. Find out more about Kathleen HERE. 

The vicissitudes of remaining published - by Vijaya Schartz

Yes, publishing companies do close their door, and more often than you think. Here are some of my sci-fi romance titles recently republished with new covers, after their previous publishers who closed their doors.

                

You have slaved for months if not years writing the perfect book. After pitching it at conferences and being rejected by many agents and publishers, you are finally accepted by a small publisher. They love your book. They want to publish it. After doing your happy dance, you sign on the dotted line, and soon you will be a legitimate published author. Congratulations. Now, you are a professional author, with deadlines, edits, and promotion strategies. Finally, friends and family will take you seriously as an author. You are on your way.

Small publishers are wonderful, and I love them. They take chances with mixed genres, like sci-fi romance and medieval fantasy romance. They provide the same services as a large publisher with editors, cover designers, some marketing… and they get your books out in the world, in all formats, on all retail sites, and in print… although the print is sometime on demand.

It means that they are ecologically responsible, but most likely, your local bookstore will refuse to order that book for its shelves… because most print on demand books are non-returnable, and chain bookstores refuse to stock them. They still operate on the newsstand magazine model, where what didn’t sell that week or that month goes straight back to the publisher.

Never mind the naysayers. You are happily published. You love your cover, the book does sell copies in the first month. Your social media friends are buying it. You had a successful book signing in an independent (or second hand) bookstore, and you are writing the sequel. You are living the dream.

I forgot to tell you, the weakness of small publishers is that they are small, usually operated by a handful of people, but owned only by one or two of them, who are in charge and oversee the entire operation. Without them, the company cannot survive.

As you all know, life has a way of throwing off the best laid plans. Even in a large publishing company, if your editor goes on maternity leave and decides to stay home and raise her child, you may not get along with your new editor. He/she may not like your book as much or have a different idea of what your characters should be. He/she might request changes that will make you cringe. Unfortunately, you are locked into a contract, and your only option is to grin and bear it.

But when the main operator of a small publishing company has a life-altering accident (like it happened for Sapphire Blue Publishing after a few years) or is diagnosed with a serious health problem and can no longer handle the stress of running the company, (like it happened last month with Desert Breeze Publishing after a decade of success) the small publisher will have to close their doors.

That will make you an orphaned author, with orphaned books most established publisher will shun, because they are last year’s chutney… Of course, you get your rights back. Which means you could self-publish your orphans, or, if you are lucky, find another small publisher who will love them, like it happened for me with BWL Publishing. It’s all part of an author’s life.

If you lose your publisher, don’t despair. Keep writing. Nothing like a new release to lift your spirits. And this new publisher of yours might like your new book so much, they’ll ask you if you have anything else ready to go. Then you can pitch them your little orphans.

I was lucky that way. White Tiger was published several times by different publishers. The last one was Desert Breeze, where it became a series. But this book is in its twilight, and next time, I’ll republish that series myself, just to keep it available online. Aren't the covers stunning?

Two of my Desert Breeze sci-fi orphans, however, will be republished next year by BWL Publishing, for whom I’m currently writing the new Azura Chronicles sci-fi series. These two, set on a space station, will be a spin off from the Azura Chronicles. Of course, I’ll be rewriting these orphans to fit in the new universe I created for BWL Publishing, then add new titles to both series.

It sounds like a lot of work, but I think authors like challenges. I’m excited about re-writing these. Sci-fi was my first love and creating new universes is my thing. I also like kick-butt heroines, brave heroes, and cats. So, get ready for more sci-fi romance coming from Vijaya Schartz in 2019 and 2020.

In the meantime, you can read ANGEL MINE, Book 1 of the Azura Chronicles.

What in the frozen hells of Laxxar prompted Fianna to pursue her quarry to this forbidden blue planet? Well, she needs the credits... badly. But as if crashing in the jungle wasn't bad enough, none of her high-tech weapons work. She'll have to go native, after the most wanted felon in five galaxies. It's not just her job. It's personal.

Acielon has never seen an outworlder like this fascinating female, strangely beautiful, and fierce, like the feline predator loping at her side. He always dreamed of exploring the universe, despite the legends... and the interdiction. Is it truly a hellish place of violence, lies and suffering? If it spawned this intriguing creature, it must also be a place of wonders, adventure and excitement...

Fianna's instincts tell her someone is watching. Sheba, her telepathic feline partner, doesn't seem worried... yet, something on Azura isn't quite right.

"I don’t know how Vijaya continues to write books that both aggravate you to no end and keep you on the edge of your seat. You can’t put it down until you know what happens next. Before you know what happened, you are at the end of the book and wondering how you got there so fast. It is hard not to get caught up in and lost in the imagery created on the pages of the locations. You can even smell what is in the air. Yet another page turner I couldn’t put down! Thank you Vijaya for keeping me entertained." 5-stars - Beverley J. Malloy on amazon

Happy Reading!

Vijaya Schartz, author

http://www.vijayaschartz.com

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