Anna L. Walls's Blog

I've traveled quite a journey during the publishing of my books. My first book was published through AuthorHouse, a subsidy publisher. As subsidy publishers go, AuthorHouse is probably one of the better ones, and I do have a few good memories with them, but mostly the experience was a disappointment for me. Like all publishing houses where you hire them to publish your book, for a rather high fee, if you ask me, they run your baby through their mill and "BAM" you have a book, but really, what exactly do you have? Here is something of what I ended up with (http://annalwalls.blogspot.com/2012/1...).

If you know what you're doing, AuthorHouse can do you good, especially if money isn't much of an issue, but my journey wasn't so simple. You can get a small taste of it here (http://annalwalls.blogspot.com/2010/1...). AuthorHouse puts out a good quality book, mine happened to be error free, and there were a few things their editor caught that had slipped past me. However they did not go any farther than they absolutely had to. My baby was merely $$$ to them and nothing more. I got a cover that could have been better with a tiny bit of coaching on their part. Also with a modicum of effort along the line of word find and replace, they wouldn't have left behind the formatting errors I found AFTER the book was already approved and published.

This book was my first - I mean I knew nothing at all about writing let alone publishing, I was hoping to learn something. Boy, did I. My very expensive lesson? Don't pay for publishing. Don't pay for advertising. And if you are joining a publishing house, don't pay for copying fees, editing, not even the cover. If you are being asked to pay for any of these things, you better also be paying an independent contractor hired for the service BY YOU. If a publishing house offers these things at all, it should be free. A real publishing house makes their money from book sales, not from the writer.

Living in the wilderness can present problems in this writing/publishing journey, so I took my new knowledge and my new internet access and started searching for something that would work for me. I was blessed to find a very understanding publisher who has since published the first two books of my trilogy. Book 3 is due out next summer, and the next book is already sitting there waiting it's turn. It seems he either likes me or he likes my writing - hopefully both.

With this small victory under my belt, I confess to being a little impatient. Without actively searching, I still kept an eye peeled, and upon the recommendation of a friend of mine, I went ahead and submitted to yet another publisher, and low and behold, they too accepted and the publishing process was under way again. Now, while this publisher was a fine publishing machine, I find I preferred the more personal approach I got from my first publisher. I'm not sure I'll publish through them again. Sales haven't been all that great either, while my trilogy is doing very well by comparison. So, is it the publisher? Their advertising? Or is it the book, classified science fiction rather than general fiction? I have no way of knowing. They are all sold on Amazon.

To round out my publishing venture, I took the plunge (http://annalwalls.blogspot.com/2013/0...) and, thanks to a very generous donation, I was able to buy an awesome cover for my blog novel. Now that I had a cover, I wanted to turn it into a real book. I tried very hard to make reading the blog as easy as I could, but a blog is what it is, and unless you actively keep up with a blog novel, catching up is kinda awkward. It's still there though if any of you care to take a look. Just follow the link on the right.

At any rate, I couldn't afford an editor so I did it myself with utmost care, and then off to CreateSpace I went with my manuscript and my cover picture. I discovered that it was incredibly easy to do, just follow the directions. The most important part is to take your time and make sure it looks like you want it to. You are given the chance to flip through the pages and check every one. It is my advice that you look at EVERY SINGLE PAGE. Doing so allowed me to discover a tiny mark up near the title of one chapter. I was going to ignore it, it was just a little line, but then I found a couple other little things so I backed up and fixed it all. It's a year old now and so far no one has informed me of finding any errors (whew). The best part, even though I priced it nearly as low as I could, sales were good enough to pay for my internet for two months in a row. It's kind of settled down among the slush pile now even though I advertise every day, but with every new book, the older books seem to awaken a little, and every new friend I make on Facebook just might see my advertising and check out my books, and MAYBE they'll tell their friends and so on.

And so it grows, slowly but steadily. I plug away at expanding my platform. Of late, I've taken to offering what I've learned to anyone who might be interested. I know the value of another pair of eyes and officially offer the service on my website (http://annalwalls.com/writing-and-edi...). Most recently I've added ghost writing as well, thanks to negotiations with a friend. I am fully aware that starting writers are seldom financially comfortable, and hopefully I charge accordingly. I'm not trying to get rich, just trying to earn enough to pay for my next cover or to pay for my next book to be edited.

This is my journey so far. Share some of yours.

Head Hopping

What is head hopping?

If you've read any of my posts, you know that I can be rather OCD when it comes to consistency and logic. I am reading this four-book series, and there are three main characters. Written in first person there is the main POV, the girl, and then there are her two guys. Lets call one, her 'Addiction', and one, her 'Perfect' match.

I've been in a trio like this exactly once and believe me, I have no desire to ever repeat it. For one evening I thought it would be nice if an ex-boyfriend/still friend returning from basic training in the Air Force could come along on an evening out with me and my current boyfriend. Boy was I mistaken. Current bo driving, me in the middle, ex-bo on my other side in a truck. I don't even remember what we did. There was so much tension in that vehicle, I could have cut it with a knife if I had one. To draw this torture out through all four books is insane, but I digress.

Back to head hopping.

All the way through the first three books, the story follows the girl as she struggles to maintain her relationship with both guys. From her point of view, they fill different places in her heart, but the two guys couldn't possibly be worse enemies. Their feelings for her are all that keeps them from killing each other. There is of course lots of outside drama going on in these books, but this triangle is the core of the entire series.

So, like I said, all the way through the first three books, the story is told from the girl's POV and in first person, then suddenly, in the very last chapter of the third book, we find ourselves in a different location talking to a different character, and saying things that just don't fit. Not that they are not possible, I was just left struggling as to how we got there and why we were talking to this other character, and why they were saying what they were saying. Turns out we were suddenly in the head of Mr. Perfect.

There is nothing wrong with the way this POV was changed, it's just ... why wait all the way until the very last chapter of the third book to do it? And why make me struggle for like two pages before telling me I'm now inside the head of Perfect? If you're going to go head hopping in your book, by all means do it right, but also be consistent, and please bring on the clues very early on. At this point, though Perfect's drama was very well written, and I did feel incredibly sorry for him, that feeling was nothing new. I already felt sorry for him, in my opinion, this chapter did not further the story. Nothing would have been lacking if that chapter were left out of the book.

Begin book four and we're back where we are used to being, at least for a little while. I have no problem with head hopping, and it was well done here, but why so late when there were opportunities throughout the series for other head hopping that would accentuate the agony of these two guys and give us a window into their thoughts and concerns rather than keeping us guessing like the girl has to. Why are we now sharing only with Perfect? There was a super opportunity to get inside the head of Addiction in book two, but no, we only find out what was happening with him after the girl gets involved with him again, and even then, it's only bits and pieces.

I look back and think that there surely should have been at least one chapter devoted to each guy in each book, course I would have preferred more. I mean, if you're going to do it at all, get into it. Either that or leave out the other POVs altogether. I'm sure us readers could have struggled along just fine, even into the fourth book, with only the one POV as she learns what happens around her like always.

Things like this make me wonder if the publisher was paying attention. Of course, big publishers can't pay intimate attention to any one book, but really, one series should at least have the same editor. I'm convinced this was not the case. A professional editor isn't likely to allow such a drastic change in story structure so late in the course of a series. Or would they? Hmmm Maybe her editor isn't as picky as I am.

What do you think?

Stop by my blog and tell me what you think of my latest cover. Candice Bowser does such an awesome job. Don't you just love those eyes?

Anyway, enough of my drooling over this. Since I'm going to read through the book one last time before putting it under this awesome cover, I thought I'd spend the time with a little give-away contest. The prize will of course be this book signed.

Once it's in the system on CreateSpace, it'll take it a couple days to be available as an eBook and maybe a week for it to be up as a paperback, if everything goes smoothly. At that time, I'll order a box and as soon as it is here, the person who can guess the name of the book will get a free copy.

This contest will run until I load it up on CreateSpace. You will be competing with people from Google+ and my Facebook friends and fans. The people from LinkedIn and Twitter will see this only if they click on the link when I advertise this blog.

You get as many guesses as you like until someone gets it right. I will confess that I am seriously considering changing the name but that will only affect the published product, not this contest. Have fun.

Ever since I started on this road to publishing, I heard people lament how long it takes to get published. First there was the grueling effort to achieve an agent, and then there was another grueling wait, hoping they could squeak their baby in the door somewhere. The journey could take years, and there was no guarantee of ever succeeding. Many writers were impatient with this. I admit it, I was too. I'm no spring chicken and I had a dozen manuscripts to get out there. At an average of one book per year, provided that ball got rolling, that was 12 years. Add an unknown number of years just to get an agent (hoping that agent wanted all of my work, but possibly not), then add another unknown number of years to get into a publishing house. I would never see my last book published, if any of them.

With the advent of CreateSpace, SmashWords, and yes, Barns & Noble's NookBook, publishing became incredibly easy, even free, not counting the cost of a cover, and if you can do your own cover, the profits are all yours. I published one book through CreateSpace and B&N NookBook and have recouped my cover cost by 200%. One happy camper here.

However, those first indie books were a shining example of why the long, grueling route was the way to go. Fortunately, some indie authors were aware of this and acted accordingly. They went to the trouble of finding a good editor and multiple readers to help them iron out the issues in their baby. They also worked hard to spread the word that such action is vital to the success of their books. Me? I was very picky to begin with. I wanted my books to be the very best they could be. My first book, published through a seemingly reputable subsidy publisher, was error free, but certainly less than it could be, but what did I know?

Now, I've come up in the world. I have my own Kindle now and have read quite a few books so far. Not a lot yet, but I'd say maybe a dozen since getting it last Christmas. So far, by comparison, writers still need to slow down and take the time to ensure their book is the best it can be.

Reputation is still important. The reputation of the big publishing houses is still that they turn out great books, as as far as I can tell, they do. The indie publishing pool started out with a very bad reputation. Rife with errors and bad formatting to boot. Today, I think writers are slowly dragging the indie reputation up out of the mud, but we're not there yet.

Recently, I was asked to promote a book offered free, in an effort to spur interest in the rest of the series. Personally, if this had been my book, I might have made the mistakes at first (though seriously, less than I found), but I'd certainly have gone through the book again before trying such a promotion. Heck, even the reviews on Amazon should have been a clue to the writer that something needed to be done. I rated it 3 stars, but before I posted a review, I read a few of the other 3-star reviews. They too said the book was frustratingly full of errors. I didn't read all of those reviews, but when the top handful of 22 3-star reviews mention many errors, you'd think she'd have taken the hint. But no, she went ahead and pumped out another five books in that series, and has 18 others. Like I said, reputation matters and first impressions are paramount. I will not be reading any more of her books, and I actually liked the story, but if the writer doesn't care about the book, why should I?

So gee, people. Slow down. Even if you can't afford an editor, there are ways to ensure your baby is as polished as it can be. I have my computer read aloud to me. That nifty little trick is priceless. Even if you read aloud to yourself, you'll say the words your brain wants to be there; it's up to your eyes to catch the difference, and if they can't, the error slides by. However, your computer isn't so talented. It will read exactly what is on the page and even pause for commas or sound run on if a comma is needed. It also finds those pesky words that look almost the same but sound and mean something entirely different. As you can see, it is a very cool tool. I recommend you figure out how to use it ASAP. That aside, a good editor is still highly recommended, even if you think you can be your own editor, it's best to turn your baby over to another professional. You know, kings used to do that with their sons; it was too easy to overlook some kind of vital training or be to lenient with your own offspring. The same goes for your book.

Do you take time?

So exactly what is writer's block? According to Wikipedia, it can be as minor as a temporary interruption in productivity or as bad as a complete abandonment of writing altogether. The writer can simply run out of inspiration, or it can be that the work is simply beyond the writer's ability; I've run into that one a time or two. There are also as many coping strategies as there are writers having this problem. You need to fish around and find what works for you.

I discussed my first confrontation with this issue here. Ultimately I went back and rewrote that part, and the story continues to flow now. The interruptions are still in place, and even more have been added, to include a paid editing project I've been working on lately. So Druid Derrick may be my biggest project; it is also my longest ongoing project. But I hope to have it finished one day relatively soon.

So, do you have a block sitting right in the middle of your writing? I think it happens to all of us at some point and to some degree. I have found that the myriad of distractions in our lives can be the biggest blocks, taking the form of a type of procrastination. I know, ever since I got internet and started promoting my books and socializing, my disturbance-free window for new creation is very small. Many of my writer friends lean on music to inspire them and maybe help set the mood; I happen to find the noise distracting. My husband is one of those people that simply has to have some kind of noise going in the background. If not the radio, then the TV as soon as the generator is running. Since the TV is sitting directly in front of me, only the width of the table away, it's quite a distraction. Given the opportunity, I get up early and write before anything else gets turned on (and before my husband gets up). Sometimes I'll get up in the middle of the night when an idea won't let me rest.

I like to give my stories their own life, and a life needs attention just like any child you're trying to raise to a strong, self-sufficient adult. If you don't give this life enough attention, it will be less than it could be. Also, as a 'life', sometimes you might want to go in one direction but your story simply insists on going another way. My advice is to listen to your story. Most of the time, it really does know best. It's another way of saying 'listen to your subconscious mind'. If you're not comfortable with a scenario, change it. If you are still stuck, shoot the idea at anyone, me if you like, I'm a good sounding board. More often than not, either an idea will ring true with you, or the mere act of asking will turn on the light in a dark room and a new idea will occur to you all of your own.

My issue with Druid Derrick was something of a redundancy. At first a traditional Christian marriage that would make her parents happy, and then a druid marriage my character would see as far more binding. I did all the research. I had it all planned out, but it was like my character had simply dug in his heels and refused to go forward with it. There is also the issue of redundancy, and though the ceremonies would be drastically different, there was still the issue of getting married twice. What was the point? What was the real value to the story? Through the course of this story, it became my window into today's druid society, but though a druid ceremony would have been interesting, in truth, Derrick's wife is a very secondary character and the second ceremony would have been overdoing it. It's still something that might happen, but really I don't think so. There's already a lot of things planned for this book, and this particular issue has been semi-permanently shelved. You never know, a birth is expected, Derrick might want to cement his relationship over that. We'll have to see. At the moment, he's still learning how to socialize. He's reached a point in his druid life where he can no longer afford to hide, nor does he need to; he's a big boy now.

What is your strategy for dealing with Writer's Block? Do share; it might help someone else.

I am, what I consider, still a newbie when it comes to the writing world, though I now have four published books under my belt. I'm not sure I'll ever consider myself a professional - I am my own worst critic and I know it. I've only been online for four years now, though I spent several years before that pouring my stories out into my computer, amassing near thirty stories full length and short, and yet it wasn't until I got online that I actually started learning the tricks of the trade. Up until then, I knew how to type, and I could tell a story.

Being my own worst critic, I find it highly frustrating to discover others who don't seem to care. Now back when I was just learning, I read a lot of other works from other writers in my same boat. They, like me at the time, were just writers seeking helpful feedback in order to improve their craft. I'm still very willing to help in any way I can. I have no issues with answering questions no matter how stupid they may sound. How else is a person supposed to learn if they don't ask questions. Sometimes there's only so many places one can look without knowing what to look for.

What really tweaks me in my four-year-old-age is buying a published book, no matter how cheap - even free, and finding something riddled with mistakes like missing words, misspelled words, and totally wrong words (not those clever words that sound right but aren't).

I have tried my hardest not only to know what my writing weaknesses are, but to figure out tricks that will find these kinds of mistakes.

If you're going to put a book out there for anyone to read, take a little pride in the finished product. A mistake or two here and there is one thing - it can happen to the best of us, and we can all overlook the occasional goof, but something that looks like it was written by a grade schooler and then tossed out into the world is just wrong.

Earlier today I made a decision about this site, Goodreads. I've been a member for a while now, and I've belonged to a variety of groups. I am aware that I have a rather selfish nature, so I have to make myself be a little more giving. My decision today was to post my reviews here as well as on Amazon, and to do some recommending of those books I think deserving. Until now I've just been posting my reviews on my blog, and a few on Amazon recently. Today, I discovered those few reviews I did post on Amazon no longer exist - something I'm not too happy about. My apologies for flooding you all with book reviews and recommends. I hope you consider them. I wouldn't steer you wrong.

Hello everybody. I'm a new author and growing less new every day. I live in the Alaska wilderness. With a few modern conveniences, I live the life of a homesteader. Ask any question. We can talk about anything you like. Keep it civil please - don't say anything you wouldn't want your mother to read. ;)