A Slice of Orange

I’m a go-for-it, goal-setting kind of person so I had to really think hard about the advice I’d give myself if I were just starting out. My mind drew a complete blank, because I never look back with regrets. Every day I learn something new about writing, the craft, the business and the interactions between authors and friends.

When I first started out, I was forewarned not to sell to a flat-rate publisher, but my gut instincts told me, this would be a good move. I wrote 3 books for the Kensington Precious Gems line and still keep in contact with those authors today. As it turned out, my next sale was with Harlequin Historicals and having those Precious Gems books in print, meant something. It provided me with credibility as a published author, got me a very decent advance and established me as a sell-on-proposal author. Nothing but good came from that controversial decision. I trust my instincts and always have.

There’s no doubt that there’s a lot of self-doubt in the publishing world. Writers are always second-guessing themselves, so if you have good instincts, you’re halfway there. Ultimately you have to go with what your heart tells you – I’m a big believer in that. If you fail, you can only point your finger at yourself and say, “Next time, I’ll try harder,” or “Okay, I learned from that, now I’ll do it differently.”

I really believe events in life happen for a reason and that eventually everything will fall into place. With a positive outlook, the glass half full philosophy – lemonade really can be produced when you’re handed a bagful of lemons.

So what would I have done differently?

I could say, nothing.

But that’s not entirely true. I’ve learned a good deal about promotion these past few years. I see newbie published authors struggle with this all the time. They ask themselves how much promotion should I do when I can barely meet my next deadline? What avenues do I tap into that best suit my needs? Your first book might have taken years to write; honing, polishing and revising so when you finally have to deliver a book on deadline, you’re stumped and can barely get the words on the page, much less promote it.

So my advice to myself would be to have learned the ins and outs of promotion a little bit earlier on. As a category author, what kind of promotion works and what doesn’t? How do I best reach my readers and garner new ones? How much do I spend? Are there easier and less expensive ways to do what I’m doing now? And the big one, how do I know it’s working? How do I gauge my own personal success?

I find that now, I’m spending half my time working on promoting my books and half my time writing them. It’s truly 50/50. I’ve sought advice from professionals, read everything I could on promotion, taken workshops and trusted my own instincts when it came to decision-making.

The second piece of advice I might give myself, would be to write for one line, solely. There are definite advantages in doing that, but there are disadvantages as well.

The advantage is that you build a readership more rapidly. If you’re a prolific writer and can produce several books in one year, the readers recognize you and you tend to do better in that one line. Establishing yourself as a writer of hot, sizzling love stories, or fun, light-hearted romps or military thrillers will bring you readers who will love what you write, eagerly await your next story and always buy your books. Every author wants to be an “auto-buy.”

I write for two lines, Harlequin Historical and Silhouette Desires. I’ve split them down the middle, writing equally for both.

I feel writing in two time periods keeps my writing fresh and compelling. When I’ve had my fill of urban alpha males in the corporate world, I mosey on over to my western writing roots and delve into my cowboy stories. And when I tire of no indoor plumbing, I head back to the contemporary settings. It’s ideal for me in a craft sense. I love writing both.

Having been involved in various lines folding, I feel it’s a little safer writing for two lines. It’s the “cover-your-butt” philosophy that seems to work for me. But is it wise to have two very diverse readerships? Honestly, I don’t know. There comes a time when you have to distinguish between what’s right for you business-wise and what’s right for you as an author? What’s most important is that you write what you love and you love what you write.

Then everything else falls into place and you take that tall drink of homemade lemonade.

Charlene Sands
www.charlenesands.com
Winner 2006 National Readers’ Choice Award
Bodine’s Bounty – November 2007
The Corporate Raider’s Revenge – January 2008
Taming the Texan – March 2008