Ask the Author: Laura Mills-Alcott
Answered Questions (7)
Laura Mills-Alcott
Hi Sanam :)
Thank you! Yes, my second book comes out next year (which starts tomorrow! Happy New Year!) We are starting a newsletter for multiple historical authors. You can join at historicalromancerra@googlegroups.com. My newsletter is LaurasBooks@googlegroups.com.
Neither group is spammy :)
Hoe you have a wonderful New Year!
Thank you! Yes, my second book comes out next year (which starts tomorrow! Happy New Year!) We are starting a newsletter for multiple historical authors. You can join at historicalromancerra@googlegroups.com. My newsletter is LaurasBooks@googlegroups.com.
Neither group is spammy :)
Hoe you have a wonderful New Year!
Laura Mills-Alcott
There is no magic formula. Just keep writing, and learning, and writing some more. The industry has entirely changed over the last decade or so, and I expect it to continue to change.
Just write the best story you can, knowing it needs to be just about print ready in quality of story and storytelling, and the technical aspect, before an editor at a major publisher (or even some of the smaller presses) will even read beyond the first couple of pages (if that).
And even if you choose to self publish, you need to give readers a book on par with what the major houses are publishing, because that is your first introduction to new readers, and the last thing you want to do is turn off a new reader because of grammar, punctuation or a story that could have been told better - readers do not care if you didn't have access to a professional editor or you're not an experienced author. And it's difficult enough to find a new reader who wants to take a chance on what you've written - it's 10x harder to bring a reader back that you turned off on their first taste of your work.
So that's it. Write, write and write some more, learn what to delete and then learn how to edit like a professional editor at a major house, so that whether you're submitting to Harper Collins or self publishing on Amazon, your book is one of the best books an editor or reader has read in a long time.
Just write the best story you can, knowing it needs to be just about print ready in quality of story and storytelling, and the technical aspect, before an editor at a major publisher (or even some of the smaller presses) will even read beyond the first couple of pages (if that).
And even if you choose to self publish, you need to give readers a book on par with what the major houses are publishing, because that is your first introduction to new readers, and the last thing you want to do is turn off a new reader because of grammar, punctuation or a story that could have been told better - readers do not care if you didn't have access to a professional editor or you're not an experienced author. And it's difficult enough to find a new reader who wants to take a chance on what you've written - it's 10x harder to bring a reader back that you turned off on their first taste of your work.
So that's it. Write, write and write some more, learn what to delete and then learn how to edit like a professional editor at a major house, so that whether you're submitting to Harper Collins or self publishing on Amazon, your book is one of the best books an editor or reader has read in a long time.
Laura Mills-Alcott
I really don't. I had an extended case of writer's block during a period of my life that was very difficult, and I could not find the words to write. Anywhere. And I couldn't get my head into any story I'd started enough to keep writing. To me, that's absolute writer's block.
Otherwise, if I'm having a hard time continuing with a story, I find the most emotional classical music I own, and I begin reading whatever it is I want to work on - to get myself really into the story. It might be only a chapter or so before the place where I'm having the block, or it might be the start of the manuscript, depending on how stubborn the block. That *usually* helps.
Otherwise, if I'm having a hard time continuing with a story, I find the most emotional classical music I own, and I begin reading whatever it is I want to work on - to get myself really into the story. It might be only a chapter or so before the place where I'm having the block, or it might be the start of the manuscript, depending on how stubborn the block. That *usually* helps.
Laura Mills-Alcott
Being able to create a story (or other work) that *I* enjoy, and then to see others enjoy it, as well.
Laura Mills-Alcott
I am currently rewriting a few chapters and doing a final edit on THE LOCKET (Regency Era Historical set in London)
Laura Mills-Alcott
The inspiration for a story usually begins as a "what if", and that first few chapters comes pretty quickly as the seed of the "what if" begins to grow.
Laura Mills-Alcott
When I heard the Ballad of Barbara Allen on Dolly Parton's "Heartsongs" album, and then researched the history of the ballad, the story began to play out in my head.
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Jan 03, 2020 02:58PM · flag