I’m not going to lie. I was nervous.
I’m not sure why. I’ve talked to her in person at the ACFW conference. She already sent me a welcome-to-the-team email. And we weren’t even going to discuss revisions. We were just going to talk about what I can expect now that I’ve turned in my manuscript.
But I couldn’t help myself. I was nervous. And excited. And since I tend to talk too much when I’m nervous and excited, or tell people I have dreams about them (Hi, Rachelle), I gave myself a pep talk beforehand.
Basically the pep talk went like this: Don’t say anything stupid, Katie.
It worked. I think. At least I didn’t cringe when I hung up. Or blush. Or replay the conversation over and over again, wondering why in the world I said that. The entire experience was very pleasant. My editor has a calmness about her that put me at ease.
So what did we talk about?
Dates! We talked about dates! All kinds of wonderful, glorious dates.
Like my release date (scheduled for May, 2012).
When I can expect my content edit (that’s the big edit).
The due date for the revisions.
When we’ll do line edits.
When we’ll turn the manuscript over to the production team.
And when the ARC (advanced reader copy) will be ready. We’re thinking early fall….which means the cover will be done by then too. And if that’s not crazy, I don’t know what is.
We also talked a bit about marketing – how I’ll get this author questionnaire sometime soon. I’ll eventually have my own publicity contact person. My title may or may not change. It’s never too early to consider who might be willing to endorse my book (scary). And I do have to think about my “brand”. Which I found interesting, in light of recent blog posts.
Having read my work, she already has thoughts on my brand, but she also wants to hear my opinion. She likened the whole brand-thing to comparables in a book proposal. You know. Fans of such-and-such author will enjoy Katie’s work. Pinning that down really helps the marketing department.
She gave me some contact information. We talked a bit about other non-writing related things. And we said goodbye.
I hung up smiling. Big-time smiling.
And totally weirded out (in a good way) that by this fall, the ARC will be ready. Which is basically like a book, only it hasn’t gone through copy edits yet.
Three thoughts from this week:
- It’s completely normal to feel nervous. My agent said, “Eventually the nervousness will dissipate. You are still new at this!”
- The publishing journey travels in fits and spurts. I’ve been chilling out, maxing, relaxin’ all cool (Fresh Prince of Belaire style) for the past few months. But come May, things are going to start moving and shaking.
- Publicity takes a long time – which is why my ARC will come out eight whole months before my book release.
Let’s Talk: How do you feel about book trailers? Effective? Not effective? Any suggestions for a creative alternative? Play any good April Fool’s jokes on anybody today? Sorry, these have nothing to do with my post.
Fun news: His Masterpiece, one of my short stories, is out with CFOM this month. Even MORE exciting is that I’m being published alongside my local writing friend, Nichole Wagner, who wrote A Cup of Heartbreak. I hope you enjoy them both!
So…my heartfelt comments from yesterday didn't come through. Summary: So fun following your journey, and helpful, too!!! *jumps up and down for you*
Love hearing about your journey, nerves and all because it let's me know what I'm in store for.
This is so exciting!
Wow, what fun! And I'm so glad you didn't fall in your cake headfirst. Whew.
I never watch book trailers. I am so word-oriented that I'd rather decide whether I want to read it based on a written review. Plus, reading takes less time than watching for me, and I'm all about saving time.
No April Fool's jokes in our house, but my co-worker told me that when she was little her mom used to wake them up yelling, "It's snowing!" and they always fell for it.
When I'm nervous I blather dreadfully! And if I were in your situation I know I'd be worrying about my mind going blank and nothing of significance coming out of my mouth. ::sigh:: On the up side, I'm sure it's a blessing to have your editor walking you through what you can expect in this next year. Such an exciting time for you!
Awesome fun Katie! And hey, that's a pretty effective pep talk! Congrats on everything!
Great post. I tend to not talk at all when I'm nervous, which is probably just as bad! But getting all verbally gushy with your editor is a GREAT problem to have! Congratulations on that, and on your upcoming release. To answer a question you posed on the right side of your page, near the tweet image (which I have to respond to here because I don't tweet) is that the only answer to the slowing down post-contract (another nice problem to have!) is to write, write, write, and write some more, even if it's all bad. Remember Anne Lamott's theory of writing: sh***y first drafts are okay, even necessary. There'll be gold nuggets in them eventually.
I'm savoring every word of this post. Enjoy your ride!
I got Ivy good, twice this morning. *wink* I loves it when my plan comes together.
I'm so excited for you, Katie. And I cannot wait to hold your book in my hands.
Thanks for showing us a peep into your world now. 🙂
Wow. Okay, this is going to sound weird, but after reading this, I'm actually kind of relieved that I'm not with a big publisher. I doubt I could handle the pressure. As is, I don't have my own publicity person, which would probably be nice, but I'm thinking a lot of people are going to be expecting huge things from you because of who you're publishing with. Do you feel like that? That would kind of freak me out a bit. My publisher is small and people are only going to hear about my book if I do the work to make sure that happens. You on the other hand are going to be famous! HA. I'm glad you're taking it all so calmly and I'm excited to hear more about your journey.
So exciting, Katie!
Are you nervous or prepared for the edits in May?
Love the Fresh Prince song. It'll be stuck in my head all day. 🙂
Is it May 2012, yet?? I'm so friggin excited!
I'm glad the call went so well, Katie. How exciting to find out when each step will take place. A little over a year from now, your book will be in your readers' hands, including mine, which is way cool.
Woohoo! Happy dance!!!
You'll be surprised how quickly everything goes. 🙂
So glad you had a good phone call with your editor. I can't wait to hold your book in my hands.
Super exciting, Katie — congrats on keeping your cool!
As for book trailers…I don't know. Frankly I think they are a little weird. I mean, aren't trailers for movies? I guess I'm old-school…on the other hand, I sort of see with web promotion and all how a book trailer might be useful, especially if it goes viral and starts popping up in the sidebars of everyone's blogs (a la Ann Voskamp).
In other news, I played the standard, "There's a mouse!" April Fool's joke on my kids this morning. Works every time…of course, they are only 6 and 9.
One more thing (longest comment ever): right after I read your post on branding the other day, my husband clipped a cartoon from the New Yorker for me. It picture a Dad standing over his daughter, who is hunched over the computer. The caption reads, "I'm not wasting my life online — I'm building my brand."
I can relate to that one!
Most book trailers are really bad, amateurish, etc. I don't bother w/ them, even if they're good. But, I don't know of any creative alts, just the usual stuff.
I would've been nervous, too. I'm a queen of saying stupid things.
That's great that your ARC will be out by fall. Sounds like they are really on the ball at Multnomah!
Welcome to the new world of the publishing process. Never hesitate to shoot me an email. 🙂 Things sometimes feel weird on this side of the fence. Right now, for instance, my book releases to stores in only two weeks (though it launches in May) and I am having that strange "radio silence" feeling that happens when you know your publishing team is working on your stuff but you're not hearing from them because they're too busy working. Which is why I'm here blathering. 🙂
Oh, how exciting for you! 😀 It gets easier once you've gone through the whole process. ^_^
Book trailers: in some cases, I like them, in some cases, I don't. I think it's a matter of taste and whether watching a trailer sparks my interest or just seems like a hundred other trailers just like it.
However, my co-author made a trailer for our book series, and I think it has been effective for us.
I don't like book trailers. To me, they kind of come off as corny.
I'm happy for you getting all that exciting news from your editor. It always amazes me how much time it takes to get books from an author's Word Processor to the bookshelves.
Katie, thanks so much for sharing all this with us!!! I remember reading Jody's publication journey posts and being in awe of that, it's happening all over again with your sharing!!
I'm not a book trailer fan, but I suspect many are. I'll have to think about marketing ideas. First thing that popped into my head was to play a guessing type game on your blog/twitter/facebook to prime your friends for the release–you know, get them seriously anticipating the release so that they can read it to find out the answers. Would that work with the story you're getting published?
How exciting! Glad it all went well. I like booktrailers, probably because one of my favorite parts of going to the movies–previews!
I think book trailers are brilliant and they do grab my interest. I also think it would be a fun creative project. Best wishes!
Glad it went well and a date! yay! I'll watch book trailers sometimes but they've never made me buy a book. They're like the decoration on the cake.
Oh my goodness, I'm so nervous FOR you!!! Just reading that is exciting! I can't wait to see the cover. 🙂 And to read it of course. Woohoo!!!!!
And no April Fools jokes for me. I'm not witty enough for that stuff. I am slow enough to fall for them though, so I'll be on my guard today. lol