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Would You Slow Down?

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

I’m in this weird, slightly unfamiliar place right now.

Even though I didn’t have deadlines pre book deal, I did have this drive to write fast. This inner urge to pound out the words, because the more stories I could write, the more I would learn, the better each novel would get, and the higher my chances for publication. I’m not sure if my reasoning was logical, but it was there. A sense of urgency.

Usually, we read about authors getting contracts and struggling with the new and added stress of deadlines. We hear about how much busier life gets once a person gets a book deal.

But I’m learning this isn’t always the case.

At least not for me.

I signed a two-book deal and both books are written. I have a third that is ready to go, but will have to sit tight until we’re allowed to submit it. There is absolutely no hurry for me to pound out the words. The pressure is off. Sweet bliss, right?

I don’t know. I’m kind of weirded out by it.

Tana asked: Do you find yourself writing more slowly now that you know how long the process takes? Have you cut back on your word count? Do you savor the storyline more?

Even though there’s no hurry to finish my current WIP, even though I can’t submit it anytime soon, I’m still determined to maintain my pacing of roughly 2 books a year.

Why?

Because. I’m paranoid. If I slow down, won’t I get out of shape? What if I lose my ability to pound out the wordage? What if my stories become a hot commodity (hey, a girl can dream) and my publisher wants more, but I don’t know how to write fast anymore?

This all leads to my recent dilemma: I’m having issues with my WIP. Big issues. Thankfully, they’re fixable. Not-so-thankfully, they involve scratching a big chunk of the 50K I have written. Herein lies the dilemma. I could force myself to plow through the rough draft. Get the story out. Fix it later. Or. I could pause. Figure it out now. Save myself from a whole lotta sloppy further down the road.

I’ve already made my decision and I won’t lie. It makes me nervous. But it’s also led to an epiphany: Sometimes, a person has to step back if they are going to move forward.

Let’s Talk: What would you do? Do you take your time through the writing process or do you feel a sense of urgency to pound out the words? If you didn’t have any reason to keep writing so fast, would you slow down? Do you think we can get out of shape when it comes to writing fast?

Because of Parent Teacher conferences next week, I won’t be blogging. See you on March 7th!

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Celebrate

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

“Celebrations aren’t limited to agent representations or book contracts. Celebrate those milestones along the way.”

Author, Lisa Jordan, wrote this in a very encouraging blog post last Friday.

Her words really resonated with me. I mean, really-really.
Because there are so many things to celebrate as we travel this crazy journey, yet we tend to downplay them. So many things that are just as important and just as beautiful as getting a call from an agent, or signing a book contract.

Pursuing publication is not for the faint of heart. It’s a long and often arduous road, filled with doubt, unmet expectations, rejection, and waiting. And because of that, we can’t afford to skip over any of the celebration.

So celebrate.

When you type the first page of a story? Celebrate! You just began an amazing, amazing journey that will build your character in ways you can’t even begin to imagine.
When you put your fingers on the keypad and pound out a thousand words? Celebrate! Keeping that butt in the chair takes an extraordinary amount of discipline and perseverance – two qualities that every published author needs.

When you finish that first novel? Celebrate! You just did what thousands of people only aspire to do. You wrote a book. You. Are a writer.

When a new story idea sparks? Celebrate! You just unearthed a hidden treasure.

When you send out a query letter? Celebrate! Putting yourself out there is an incredibly scary step, but you took it anyway.

When you receive your first (or second, or third, or….well, you get the idea) rejection. Celebrate! Each one means you are in it. Each one is proof that you are serious about publication. Each one brings you that much closer to a YES.

When somebody tells you that your words touched them? Celebrate! Because you are a Voice and your voice makes a difference.

When you enter a contest or submit a short story? Celebrate! You are taking active steps toward your goals.

When you write, day after day, through the doubt, through the fear, through the not-yet-realized dreams? Oh my goodness, celebrate! Because God, the Creator of the universe, in all His majesty and power, knitted you together with a gift. A passion. And He’s got a plan for your words.

So celebrate, my friend.

What you do matters. Agented or not. Published or not. It matters.

Let’s Talk: What things have you celebrated on your journey?

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Smart Marketing?

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

I was sitting in bed the other day, talking to hubby. Here’s the gist of our conversation.


Me: I’ll probably spend some money soon on writing.
Him: Like what?
Me: I want to get my blog professionally designed and maybe start thinking about a website.
Him: Will getting your blog designed help you sell books?
Me: Umm……

Let me clarify. My hubby is super supportive. He wasn’t trying to talk me out of spending money. He was simply curious. What’s the point or purpose in having a professionally designed blog and website?

Which feeds into the question I’ve been pondering lately: How can a fiction author build a readership before her book hits the shelves?

I mean…here I am. My novel’s not due to my editor until mid April. I’m over a year out from my first release. Yet, I want to do something. I want to be proactive. So what do I do? If I have money to spend on marketing, what’s the smartest way to spend it?

It’s a question I asked my agent, and she had a lot of practical advice. In fact, she wrote an amazing post a couple months ago, titled Marketing Yourself and Your Book. I devoured and bookmarked it.

And I got to thinking. All of us have our own successes and failures and opinions when it comes to effective marketing and branding. We either have experience with it, have thought about it, or will eventually think about it when we get a contract.

So this Friday, I don’t have a lesson or epiphany as I travel this new leg of the journey. I just have a bunch of questions.

Let’s Talk: If you’ve paid money for your blog or website, why did you do it? Who did you do it through and would you recommend them to me please? Do you think author websites help sell books? If not, why do so many author’s have them? What’s the wisest way to spend money when it comes to marketing? If you’re published, is there any one thing that you did to market yourself or your book that you think really helped?

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