Questions: on "The Call," spirits, and online presence

Mary Beth asks:

1) In the days before the call, how did you keep your spirits up with the rejections? 2) Did you have your agent before the contract? 3) I know you had a blog presence prior to publication and I love your When Good Advice Goes Bad series. How important do you think those craft posts are to establishing an online presence?

Thank you so much! I’m a love the WGAGB series, too! It’s been a while since we did one of those, hasn’t it?

This is another question where I’m not entirely sure what you’re asking, so I’ll answer both. There were definitely “days” leading up to the call, because of the way an auction works. I was mostly nerves about who was going to be offering and how it would all shake out. Yes, I did have an agent (question 2). I got her by sending her a query letter, sending the partial when she asked for it, and then accepting her offer. (I was simultaneously submitting to several agents, which I HIGHLY recommend. Exclusives suck, as many have said before me.) I heard this once when I was still a newbie author, and I firmly believe it: “With the right project, getting an agent is relatively straightforward. Otherwise, it’s impossible.”

Did I mention that she’d rejected my last book? That I’d just had another book rejected by another agent a few days before? That I’d gotten dozens of rejections in the previous six months and was in the process of submitting my sixth project? It’s not all peaches and cream.

But I suspect that we’re not talking about literal days. Just about how I kept my spirits up when I was unpublished. Which brings me to my other point about “The Call.” It’s not as simple as “Before The Call” and “After The Call.” For a given book, sure. But I know plenty of previously published writers who have had or are having a HELL of a time selling books.

I don’t think there’s anything different with my spirits now than there was before I sold my first books. Things aren’t always hunky dory now, and they weren’t always dreadful before.

I had good days when I was uncontracted: a request, writing a great scene, a contest win; and I had bad days: a bad writing day, crappy scores on a contest, a rejection.

Now I have good days: a good review, writing a great scene, news of strong sales; and bad days: a bad writing day, a bad review, a rejection.

Did you see that? “A rejection.” It’s all the same. I get rejections now. We all get rejections, no matter what stage we are at. Please keep that in mind. It’s not over when you get “the call.” It’s not even necessarily easier. I think I probably had a couple months in 2005 right after I sold my first book where I was disgustingly happy all the time, but that’s the usual “honeymoon” thing. Otherwise, I’m happy sometimes, and sad sometimes. Sometimes rejections or reviews really throw me for a loop, and sometimes they roll off my back. Can’t really explain why.

There was actually only one time that I can remember really considering throwing in the towel, in the summer/fall of 2004. I was doing an agent search with my fourth manuscript. 21 submissions, 18 rejections. Not to mention the rejections from two awesome editors at two awesome publishers. Oh, and three hurricanes hitting my house. And my job was starting to suck. And I didn’t know what I wanted from my future. I was thinking maybe I should chuck the writing and concentrate on getting a real career in the occupation that was actually paying the bills.

I was a finalist in a writing contest called the Maggies put on by the Georgia Romance Writers, and there was a conference and an awards banquet up in Atlanta and I almost skipped it. We didn’t have electricity in the house and I felt hot and bummed and not in the mood to go off with a bunch of writers for the weekend since I apparently sucked so much. But my friends convinced me to go, and it turned out that I’d won the contest, and I got to get all dressed up and get my award (a pretty silver pendant) in a big banquet hall in a fancy dress. And I can’t tell you how much that meant to me.

I went home completely rejuvenated. I was going to do this, and nothing would make me quit. And if I managed to forget again, I had my Maggie to remind me. I wear that pendant like a talisman. If you’ve met me, you’ve probably seen it around my neck. It’s one of my most precious possessions, because it’s a symbol that I can do this. In fact, I was recently out to dinner with a friend and she said she’d never seen me wearing another necklace. Sometimes we need a reminder like that.

Oops, tissue break.

To make a long story short, I’m a fan of the “comfort object.” Maybe it’s a copy of the first check you ever got for your writing, or an award, or a critique where the reader said, “I loved this!” or a bit of fan mail, or a request letter from your favorite publisher. Whatever makes you believe and keep grasping for that brass ring. Maybe it’s a copy of the NYT bestseller lit with a circle around it and an arrow pointing out “you are here.” (Hmmmm, that’s not a bad idea… but I have my Maggie.) Maybe your comfort object is a spouse or partner who does all the believing for you, and kicks you in the pants every time you start to whine. Whatever works.

Okay question number three, re: online presence.

Yes, I had a blog before I was published. I don’t think anyone read it beyond a few friends before I sold my first book. Seriously, the day I announced my book sale, I had more hits on my blog than I had for the entire seven months before several times over. Blogging authors weren’t super big in early 2005. I only knew a few others who did it. I’d never heard advice about having a blog because no one was giving that advice. It was just something I did for fun, like the majority of bloggers in the world. If you go into blogging with the sole intent of promotion you’re probably going to be disappointed. I don’t think it has a big effect on book sales. I read blogs by authors whose books I don’t buy, and I’m sure I have visitors here who don’t buy my books.

And I know that there’s a certain cognitive dissonance to me saying on the blog I’ve had for years that I don’t think there’s much value in having an online presence before publication, but it’s the truth. Nothing got me published except for my book. Really. Honest. Maybe if I had 20k hits per day like John Scalzi or something, but otherwise… no.

I know a lot of people are going to disagree with me on this, but I think the advice that aspiring writers should blog to attract agents and editors is pretty much bullshit. Yes, I know writers who have attracted agents through their blogs. But, trust me, these writers would have gotten agents if they’d sent out query letters. I also know plenty of unpublished writers with amazing blogs and no one signed them up for their blogs. Just for their books. It’s the truth.

I know some agents say they look at an author’s blog before they sign them, but that only means don’t have a blog that reveals that you trash editors or eat kittens or are actually a Neo-Nazi skinhead. If the author doesn’t have a blog but has a great book, the agent isn’t going to pass. (And if you do have a blog, try not to reveal your kitten-eating tendencies, unless you’re submitting a cookbook of feline recipes.) Also, note that the agents who are saying this are the ones with blogs.

So, to wit: I don’t think it’s vital. It’s just something I do for fun and because I love talking about craft and the industry. Period. I really don’t think of this as a promotional tool. I do promo here because it’s what’s on my mind, same as I do craft posts or posts about monkeys or whatever else. If the promo works, great! But that’s not why I’m doing it. I know a lot of people will disagree with me here, but that’s because, hey, they are reading the blog, so it’s clearly something that works for them! But, really, do NOT worry about having a blog. Worry about having a good book. Really really really really really.

And regarding craft posts? Nah. One of my favorite author blogs, Jess Riley (see right) never talks about writing at all. She just talks about her life, but it’s done with such humor and style that I am CHOMPING AT THE BIT to read her book! When, oh when is that thing coming out, Jess?!?!?!

I do think when an author has a book out, they should create a website. So if people want to find them, they can. Considering that people’s first line of research these days is the internet, it’s nice if the number one thing under your name on google is something you made. (My #1 is my blog, and my #2 is my website.) And if you want to blog, by all means, blog. Someone said to me the other day that they think a blog is more useful because it just comes into your RSS feed whereas you actually have to go looking for a website. But there are author newsletters if you want to be able to deliver your news right to people’s inboxes, too. I don’t think a blog is necessary, and if you do decide to have one, know that it’s a lot of work. If you don’t write something most days a week, you’ll never build up a readership. If you don’t want to devote the kind of time a blog takes, make a nice website instead. And I don’t think any of this is necessary until you have a book contracted for release.

Hope that helps!