Monday, February 27, 2017

IBC



So this month I realized something. All my good topic ideas only last four weeks. And this month technically has five weeks. Not cool, March. Not cool. So instead of talking to you guys about *&^*#%*& (next topic is still under wraps, you know *wink*), I’m going to take this week to tell you about some cool new things that I’ve discovered over the last few months. Starting with one you might’ve heard me talking about before!

Indie Book Connect


If you’re a follower of the RAD Blog, then you’ll know how crazy cool I think these guys are. If you’re not, then you’re about to find out how crazy cool I think these guys are.

See, indie books a lot of the time get overlooked by a lot of people. I know that because I write indie books, and because I work for an indie publisher. (yes, publishers can be indie) They’re the books that don’t generally make it onto the shelves at Barnes & Noble, and if they do make it onto those shelves, they’re not ones most people would pick up.

Know what I’m talking about?

I’m sure you do, because a lot of you on here are indie writers, and you’re always on the lookout for other indie writers that you could read, because hey, we’re all indie and we want to support each other.

Well, I urge you to check out Indie Book Connect.

They’re a monthly subscription box (think Cratejoy, BarkBox, or Julep) that sends out two awesome quality indie books every month. They work with authors to get out the best work possible, in the best timing possible. Which is pretty darn cool, if you ask me. 

And these books are ones that you wouldn't normally find!

It’s a subscription box where you won’t be getting the same books as you see in Barnes & Noble, or the ones you see pushed on Amazon or on the shelves at the supermarket. These are books by people who haven’t struck gold yet, but who still have some amazing words that really ought to be read.

If you’re an author and you have a book you want to include, I urge you to contact them about it.

And if you’re a reader who loves to support the indies, then please, go sign up! 

You won’t regret it.


[love]

{Rani D}

Friday, February 24, 2017

___ until you ___



Friends, it’s time for the final thing that you should be doing, as a writer. In a month full of dos and don’ts, this was the one that I deemed important enough to leave for last, that I thought would be the most fun to talk about in this, our last post of the month. (Yeah, yeah, I know there’s one more Monday in the month, but who wants to end a series on a Monday? Not me)

Anyway.

This is the topic that’s really been stuck in my head all month, as I’m deep in the throes of edits in more projects than I’ve ever had to work on at a single time before. I’m good at that, did I mention? But this is what’s stuck with me, after a full month of it.

Revise, Until You Can’t Stand It


And I don’t mean it's revisions that you can’t stand. I mean, revise until you know your manuscript inside out and upside down, until you know every single facet of every single thing, until you’re so weary of looking at these words that you really have to get someone else to look at them, because you can no longer tell what’s good and what isn’t.

Believe me, I know that feeling very well. As an author and an editor, I’m very well acquainted with it. Not that it’s my favorite feeling in the world, but I know what it means.

See, when you get to that point in writing your manuscript, in revising to the point that you’re pretty sure you know absolutely everything, that’s when you’re best able to ask for help—and that’s something all of us need to admit, whether we want to or not.

We can’t do this alone.

We need other authors to help keep us upright, because writing is a lot harder than people make it out to be.

We need friends to remind us that the whole world does not revolve around our writing.

We need editors to keep our work standing on its own legs, even after we’ve revised it so many times that we’re not entirely sure how it stands anymore.

We need others, around us, to make sure this thing gets a running start.

So friends, revise. Revise until you can’t stand it, until you have to fall back on someone else because you just can’t look at these words anymore. Do it one time, at the very least. Do it once, and you’ll know what it is to be helped by someone else. You’ll see what a lift it is, to hand your work off to someone else, for them to manhandle.

And you’ll feel an amazing sense of release, to know that you’re not the one doing it anymore. Because you’ve already done your part. You’ve revised and revised and revised, and now it’s someone else’s responsibility to put on the polish.

Know whose responsibility that is?

That’s right. Your editor.

Find one yet?

[love]

{Rani D.}

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Broken Record



At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I’m going to say this one more time. And I’m going to say it because not enough of you are listening, whenever I say it. You’re still looking at me with those blank stares, like you don’t understand why I would ask this of you, when you already know that your work is amazing. That’s why I’m telling you again.

Get an Editor


See? Broken record. I just keep repeating myself. But I’m repeating because it’s an important fact, which some of you seem to be neglecting. And in a month of dos and don'ts, this is one I really want you to take to heart.

And here’s what you’re not seeing, whenever I tell you this:

I believe you, when you say that your work is awesome.
I believe you, when you say you don’t think you need an editor.
I believe you, when you say you think an editor would spoil your plans for this work.
I believe you, when you look me in the eye and tell me you think I’m wrong.

But I think you’re wrong, too. Because I’ve done it the other way, without an editor to my name. I’ve self-published a book, one that was copyedited by outsourced people in India who didn’t understand that sitting across from someone wasn’t the same as sitting across someone. I’ve cried my eyes out wondering how I was ever going to fix the mess that my so-called publisher had gotten me into.

And I’ve seen a lot of other good authors go through the same, when really, they didn’t need to.

I know it sounds daunting. It sounds like I’m asking you to go out and spend a ton of money on your work, when you don’t even know what the finished product will look like when it’s over. Some of you are afraid that it won’t look like your work anymore, that you won’t even recognize it.

But again, I think you’re wrong on that.

Not every good editor charges an arm and a leg. Not every publishing house will screw you over. There are good people out there, who only want to help authors. I happen to know several of them.

The thing is, your work literally (and I mean that in the literal sense of the word, not the figurative) cannot reach its full potential without editing.

Believe me when I say that you cannot catch every mistake that you make. And no, your editor won’t catch them all either, but you know what they will do? They’ll find those three plot holes you missed. They’ll fix that grammar error that you couldn’t figure out how to mend. They’ll make sure your characters stay in character. They’ll make your story what it wants to be, and what one person on their own could never make it be.

They’ll make it shine.

So, friends, listen to me. Please, listen to me. And understand what I’m saying, when I tell you that you need an editor.

[love]

{Rani Divine}