Saturday Scribbles: Goal Setting

I am a Cappy. We like goals. We love to come up with a game plan, put it in action and see it work. Yeah, we're fun at parties. (and no, I am paying no attention to the changes, so there).
But, as an author, you need to have personal goals. I know, that sounds silly, but you MUST have goals. The problem I have experienced, and seen many friends do it too, is that their goals are not personalized. Remember, the reason I write is different than the reason you write. We all have different factors in our lives that effect our careers.  If you are someone who does this as your job, no day job, and you actually want to MAKE money at it, then you are going to have to write more than someone who just it as a creative outlet. There's nothing wrong with either path. It is yours and you should do what makes you happy. But, when making your goals, keep a few things in mind:

1. Set the goals, but make sure they are flexible.
With writing, you are self-employed. You must allow for things to blow up in your face. I didn't do this and it sent me way off schedule, behind schedule and made my life hell. Always leave padding in your writing schedule for things like illness, moves, unexpected things. Schedule down days to give yourself a rest.

2. While being flexible, make sure you don't give yourself excuses all the time.
It is really important that you hold yourself accountable. No one else will. Yeah, you may have contracted work. If you need to write X amount of words one day and you don't make it, make sure not to blame youself. Just make up the words, even if it means you just add another 50-100 words a day.

3. Be realistic.
This is very important. I write a LOT. I mean, I can write 5-10K  a day when I am in rough draft mode. I have friends who take a week to get to that point because they either don't have the time, or they edit while they write(which I cannot do). And, not everyone is built to write like I do. Know your limits, but stick to them.

4. Share your goals.
If you have a friend, writing or otherwise, family members or a blog, share it with people. Let people in your life know you have these goals. They need to know there are times you need to work. As many of you know, I have finally learned to balance writing and family. I went the opposite way most people do. I can be a workaholic, so my family got shoved away. I finally learned to keep everything into perspective. Most people go the other way. They put their family first, which is not bad, that is actually good. But, make sure that you allow yourself the time to write. And that those you care about know that you are not choosing this above them, but that you need time for both.

5. Do not set goals that rely on other people.
You cannot say I will be published this year, or I will get an agent. You cannot control those things. What you can control is how much you write and how much you submit. You can have the perfect story and it just isn't the time for it. Make sure those goals are the tings you can handle.

To help with your goal setting, I would suggest a spreadsheet or at least some kind of recordkeeping. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the word count you have set. But a record allows you to see how far you have come. We are only human and we must learn to focus on the positive things we have done. Those little reminders can keep you from losing your momentum. If you fall off, dust yourself off, and get back on.

Saturday Scribbles: The Argument For More Than One Publisher

Hey, everyone. Are you proud of me? I'm actually making my first scheduled Saturday blog. Don't get used to it.

 If you are an author, publisher, editor, or review and would like to write an article for the blog, contact me for dates open.  This is the first of my blogs on the writing biz. It will cover everything from writing basics to promo. Today, I am tackling the idea of having more than one publisher.

Many of you probably don't know my publishing history. In the winter/spring of 2004, I was offered my first contract for the book The Hired Hand from WCP Torrid. But, because I write so fast, I had other books out to other publishers. Within six weeks I found myself signed with three different publishers.  So, from the beginning of my career, I have always had more than one publisher. And in today's market, I think it is a smart thing for an author to do, especially if he/she writes as much as I do.

Just an FYI before I go on further. I am not talking about NY publishers. I'm not published by them, never will be published by them, so I pay little to no attention to what they do. What I am talking about is small press publishing. That is something I know very well. I've had eight publishers in the last 6 years. I still have a lot of books at six of them. And, I have enjoyed a lot of benefits from it.

The main one is diverse reading audiences. This is changing a little bit as the readership shifts to buying their digital downloads from publishers to retailers like Amazon and Barnes and Noble. But, you still find readers are loyal to the publishers. As a reader, I skip around, but many do not. You will find die hard Samhain fans, long time EC readers and Siren has created a frenzy with their Menage Amour line. Many of them will not venture to another publisher, unless they have read you with that publisher. Writing for the different publishers allows you to tap into that well of readers and bring them your other work.

Working with more than one publisher also give the opportunity to work with more than one editor. I have always enjoyed editing. Oh, I bitch until the end of time when I have edits, but I do like to look back and see how different my writing is because of my editors. I have had some good and some bad editors. But, I think all of them taught me something along the way.

To make a living in this business, you need more than one publisher. Okay, there are a few people who do not, but for the average author like me, having more than one publisher allows you to have more releases a year. Some publishers have caps on how many books you can have coming out, the more money you can earn. I'm sure you can tell by looking at my sales ranks at different places, you can tell where I make my most money. But making the big money is also about having your books out there, and even if I don't earn as much money off one book or another, it is all part of the pie of wonderful royalties. Maybe I feel this way because I can finish a rough draft of a category book in less than a month.  But, remember, while you might not make as much money at one place as you do another, you need to take them all seriously.

And, to speak to that last point. I have had a lot of people come to me and ask if a publisher will get upset if they go somewhere else. Has this happened to me? Yes. I had offered rereleases to one publisher. My editor said, thanks, but no thanks, I want your new stuff. I was cool with that.  I then went somewhere else with the books and the publisher got pissy about it. Do I regret it. No, not one freaking minute. Of course, when I explained to the publisher that I had offered it to my old editor and she had passed without even looking at it, there wasn't much they could get pissed about. It is irrational for a publisher to expect you to hold onto things they don't want. Your writing is your business (and this is for those popular fiction people out there. I do not want a bunch of people who could care less about making money tell me that  I am wrong. This is for people who want to make a living at writing popular fiction).

Of course, this is a business. While I get pissed when I am ignored sometimes I do understand that I do not garner the attention as, say, the lovely Lauren Dane. She's a national best selling author, so she is of course going to get more attention. It is a waste of energy to get pissed if a publisher should pay attention to her.I would question the business sense of a publisher if they ignored someone like Lauren. She is an excellent writer with a huge following who does great things for any publisher she writes for. So, imho, it makes good business sense for the publisher. That makes me have more confident in the publisher, to tell you the truth.
 But, it is also irrational if a publisher turns something down and you go somewhere else and they get upset. Hell, even if you want to go to another publisher and don't offer it to your main publisher, they have nothing to complain about, unless it is covered in your contract.

 This is a business  and you are your best advocate. No one, not your editor or even your agent, is going to look out for you better than yourself. Loyalty to publishers is a big thing, but you can be loyal to several. I know that sounds odd, but in my book, being loyal means putting out the best work you can, working with your editor and the marketing department, and promoting your book.

As I said, you are your best advocate. As we have learned in the past, publishers can close without warning, can be bought out, or editors can leave and you can be assigned to someone who hates your work. I am not just talking about small press either. Dorchester just announced a major change that sent ripples of anxiety through the industry. Authors found themselves in an odd situation, and without protection. You need more than one publisher for that protection. You need that safety net to keep your name out there with the readers so that you can keep selling. And that is the name of the game. If you want to be successful, you can only go so far with one publisher. There is always a chance that you will hit BIG and explode in sales with one book, at one publisher. But, as a Capricorn, I always like a back up plan, a safety net as I mentioned before. If you are uncomfortable with being at more than one publisher, then stay.I am not saying this is the only way to make money. What I am saying that is you can diversify your reading audience, build a reputation and protect yourself if you do. Remember, this is your business--have I said that enough?--and you have to do what is best for you.