Aside from a few great books by Leonard Marcus (Dear Genius is genius!), the author-editor relationship is probably the least examined aspect of the writing process outside the walls of an editor's office. Is it because editors shy away from the spotlight? (Yes.) Does it seem weird to gush about how much you like your authors or for you authors, how much you like (or hate?) your editor? (Naw.) The author/editor relationship can be at different times and on different days scary, exhilarating, frustrating, liberating, fun (We get paid to make up stories and read them!) and utterly dull (but wah, we still have to make copies, go to meetings, and fill out forms.) Ups and downs abound, but in the end you come out of it with an amazing book, something that you are both incredibly proud to bring into the world.
This week Kimberly Pauley and I celebrated something we’re both super proud to bring into the world—Still Sucks to Be Me, the sequel to her acclaimed novel Sucks to Be Me. In honor of that book birthday, I wanted to give you a chance to be a fly on the wall for a real-life author-editor conversation, and perhaps gain a little insight into the author-editor relationship yourself.
I hope you enjoy it! If you have a question for me or Kimberly, post it below and we’ll answer it in the next installment!
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NH: What was your worst fear about the publishing process?
KP: Well, honestly, that I'd never get published! But that's probably not what you meant. I suppose it was that I'd wind up with an editor that didn't get me or my book and would demand tons of changes that would weaken or change my story beyond recognition. I've heard lots of horror stories over the years about exactly those kinds of things, but some of the stories you have to take with a grain of salt. Many authors (and I can sometimes be guilty of this too) are very protective over their words and have a hard time accepting constructive criticism. I feel like I've been really lucky because (and I'm totally not sucking up here, even though it sounds like it) I really think you've made my books much better than they otherwise would have been. I'm entirely too nice to my characters, especially in first drafts.
NH: Aw, thanks! Your books are always so fun to work on. I think we have a similar sense of humor and outlook so that helps.
KP: What's the one thing you'd change about publishing if you could (process, industry, or otherwise)?
NH: Ooo, tough question. I am frustrated by publishing’s returns policy (which allows bookstores to return the books they order if they don’t sell). It’s a model that was established in the Depression era to keep bookstores and publishers afloat. With this model, books are tracked by sell-in (copies ordered by the stores) and sell-through (actual sales to customers). The books are printed based on the pre-ordered sell-in, but if they don’t sell through, thousands of books are sent back to publishers, at no cost to the bookstore. Often publishers end up having to throw all the excess copies in landfills because it’s cheaper to chuck them than it is to store them in the warehouse. Not only does this pain me from an environmentalist point of view, but it impacts authors directly and their ongoing success. If your first book had hot sell-in but bombed on the sell-through, you may be less likely to get a second book deal than if you’d had a modest sell-through that sold out and was reprinted. It’s a tricky system and it’s rife with problems. But changing the habits of an entire industry is unlikely if not impossible.
The main thing I’d like to change, that I do have power to change somewhat, is to find a way to get our books into the hands of more readers. It’s very hard for a new book to get noticed these days. There are more books being published than ever before, meanwhile the channels for distribution and publicity are becoming more and more streamlined. With fewer and fewer independent bookstores, there’s fewer opportunities for handselling. But, luckily the rise of blogging has given voice to niche readers and communities. I love all the blogs out there about books. Ten years ago, authors didn’t have any easy, inexpensive way to publicize their own books and build a community of fans. And editors didn’t have a way to talk directly to readers about the books they loved working on. I’m hopeful by joining in to the blogging world through this site and getting authors to do the same, I’ll be able to help the books I work on get noticed and in the hands of more readers who would enjoy them.
NH: Before you were published, you made a name for yourself and made lots of connections by starting up your own web community, YA Books Central. How do you think that shaped your career as an author and what recommendations would you have to new authors trying to get noticed by blogging or starting a website?
KP: It definitely shaped my career! While the business isn't quite as "it's who you know, not what you know" as some people think it is, it definitely helps not only to know people but to have knowledge about the industry and how it works. That's where it was most valuable to me. I knew a bunch of authors and publicists and editors from running the website and I knew how things worked (mostly). Ultimately, it was an author friend of mine that introduced me to you and Wizards of the Coast. While I'd like to think that Sucks to Be Me would still have found a home (someday) it's hard to say if it really would have. It might have been the book that stayed in my drawer for years.
My advice today is that authors really need to have a web presence and that it's never too early to start yours. That said, you need to pick and choose which ones you utilize...and keep in mind that there will always be some new social networking thing around the corner. Right now, I'd recommend Twitter and Facebook and MySpace (and, of course, your own site/blog), but how you divide your time is up to you. You can't completely keep up with all of them or you won't get any writing done. The key thing is that whichever avenue you choose as your primary avenue— you should actually keep up with it. An author who has a presence but then doesn't respond to readers is worse than an author who has no online presence at all. And, above all, be true to yourself. Teens especially can see right through someone being fake.
KP: What are three things you wish all first-time authors knew BEFORE you sign them?
NH: First, the extreme importance of self-promotion, even before your book is published. As a smaller publisher, we probably devote more than your average amount of publicity to each one of our authors, but there’s only so much we can do. Those authors who make an effort to publicize themselves early on through the web, through school visits, and whatever connections they can think of sell a lot more books, which is a mutally beneficial thing. More books sold equals more royalties for the author and more revenue for us, which means we can sign up another book and continue our relationship together. I know not everyone has the personality to promote themselves (as an introvert myself, I understand!) but I’m more and more convinced that you just have to put on your performance face and accept that it’s part of the deal if you want a lifelong career as a writer.
Second, approach revision with a professional, positive attitude and check your ego at the door. Publishing is a creative collaboration and I’m open to any approach that will solve an issue I raise on revision. But I really don’t want to read a three page letter on why you can’t do any of the revisions I suggested. Channel that energy to finding a better solution! I prefer working with writers are excited by revision letters and dig into revision with creative energy. I think most editors feel that way.
I’m not sure I can think of a third thing. I’ve been really lucky to sign up a lot of great first time authors (like you!) who had just the right attitude and who I love working with again and again!
NH: Let’s talk about Sucks to Be Me. One of the things I liked best about it as a submission was the funny, spot-on teenaged voice. The first paragraph is a great example of writing that hooks your reader right away: “My parents are trying to ruin my life. Oh, yeah, I know that every teenager says that, but I really mean it – literally. They want to see me dead. Or, actually, undead.” Have you always been a funny writer? Or did it take you time to find that voice?
KP: That's a good question. Looking back, I'd say that there's always been some level of humor in my writing. Sometimes it's a really dark humor that I'm not sure anyone else would get. I'm really quite funny....in my own head. In person I probably don't come across as all that funny, except in an "OMG, You're so SHORT!" kind of way. For some reason, people always expect short people to be cute and funny.
Sucks to Be Me was really the first time I tried writing something novel-length in first person. And, on top of that, I wound up writing in first person, present tense because I wanted the reader to experience things as Mina did. I think first person lends itself well to humor, but also to action as well. Most of the first chapter is pretty much exactly as I wrote it down the first time. I really found that Mina had a strong voice in my head...and was pretty opinionated too. Her sense of humor is a lot like mine and I find it (far too) easy to write in her voice.
Of course, like many YA writers, the teenager in me is buried pretty close to the surface. So that probably helps.
To Be Continued . . .
And don’t miss Kimberly Pauley’s awesome launch contest for Still Sucks to Be Me!
Read my previous post.
