Guest Post
Germ of an IdeaThree years ago this week, I sat on a bus riding to New York City for the publishing conference Book Expo America and for a brand new conference about Wikipedia. I had, just that April, finally written a modernisation of Pride & Prejudice. That story had been in my head for years and I was thrilled that I had gotten it out of my head and on the page. I was thinking about what I wanted to write in July. Both April and July are part of National Novel Writing Month's annual activities. The main event is always in November, but in April and July authors set their own goals. I was trying, as I rode through New England, to find a new challenge. Completing a NaNoWriMo event is not so much of a challenge these days. I have been participating and winning since 2004. I had only failed to complete the project one time in those 10 years.
I had loved modernising Pride & Prejudice, but realised I more often wrote around a Persuasion trope. That is, I love, love, love to write stories where characters have a second chance at love. I wondered if I could write a modernisation without spending years planning out the story and learning the characters. I had never done that before, but I did know Jane's characters. The key was if I could see their modern counterparts and develop my plot in the next 2 months. I played with a few ideas, but it took the one day I skipped out of Book Expo to give me the real idea.
I have gone to Book Expo almost every year since 2004 (2004 was an important year for me). It is my favourite conference to attend, but 2014 was going to be different. I was skipping the last day so I could be a speaker at a conference about Wikipedia, my big professional librarian interest. The day I was skipping happened to be the day the conference organisers were trying something new. For the first time, they were dedicating a day to letting the public in, like a comic con. I was happy to skip that day, but I heard stories from friends and those stories increased in drama with each telling. I started wondering, what if it really had been an absolute disaster? Thus, Modern Persuasion was born.
The Confidence to Publish
It took me 2 years to find the confidence to publish Modern Persuasion. I happened to start meeting with a group of local authors who were either self-published or working with very small publishers. They told me their stories about publishing, they encouraged me to edit my stuff and they gave me tips on how to move forward. I had read plenty of Jane Austen Fan Fiction, so I knew I could find my perfect reader. I started a plan to self-publish the book. I didn't know if I wanted to bother with the rejection from publishers. I didn't know if I wanted to do all the marketing and promotion of the book just to give most of the profit to someone else. Then I stumbled on a small, new publisher looking for manuscripts. They started taking submissions early in 2016, but I hummed and hawed until I decided that one rejection would be a small badge. The problem was, they didn't reject the manuscript.
From Having a Publisher to Being a Publisher
I was on the schedule to be published almost a year after I signed the contract. It was just a month ago, after nearly a year and release changes, that my publisher decided to shut down. Publishing is not an easy industry to make it in and it's sad when the small, independent publishers have to shut down. They returned the rights to me and encouraged me to pick up where they left off. There were some cover drafts, but nothing was finished. They hadn't started formatting the manuscript, they hadn't done any editing of their own and they hadn't started their promotion. The rights were returned to me and I was left with the encouragement that they had been so excited about my book.
I spent 24 hours trying to make a plan. We had been promoting dates for a cover reveal, a blog tour and a release date. I had one week to the planned cover reveal and one month to the release date. I decided to just bite the bullet and do it myself. I had the support system in place thanks to my group of local authors. Designing a book cover in 1 week is intense. I had the benefit of seeing the planned direction and knowing what I liked. I knew I wanted 2 fonts on the cover, for example. One to evoke the feeling of a classic Austen novel and one to ground you in the here and now. I knew I didn't want to put faces on the cover. I don't want to define who you see as the characters. In fact, I want to see if people would cast the same people I had! Really! I got obsessed with the idea of holding hands. You can't imagine how many pictures you can find of this! I fell in love with one that evoked the right feeling in me. The problem was, it was in Paris and winter! My book was all over the place, but not Paris. My book takes place in summer and there was no time to change that.
Through the entire process, I have learned how to not just be a better writer, but also how to be a publisher. The whole experience has been positive, even with all the hiccups from the past month. I can't wait to do it again next year!
Book Blurb
What would you do if given a second chance at that decision?
Eight years ago Emma Shaw picked her career and family over the man she loved, Fredrick Wentworth. Since then she has built a career in publishing and spends her free time making sure her father and sisters are taken care of. Fredrick has spent the same years building his career as a screenwriter under increasing public scrutiny as a celebrity. When the editor of Fredrick's first book is injured, Emma is forced to travel with Fredrick on his book tour.
Tension builds for the two former lovers over the course of the tour. Emma and Fredrick must face their emotional baggage and their misunderstanding about how their break-up impacted the other. Will they be able to find their way back together for a second chance at love?
Author Bio
Giveaway
Thanks to Sara's generosity, readers can participate in two giveaways. The prize for the first contest is an e-book of Modern Persuasion offered to my blog's lucky reader. Just leave a comment about your favourite Jane Austen's novel and the reason behind choosing it or show the author some love. The deadline to submit your comment is next Sunday, 4 June 2017.The lucky winner will be announced a few days later and must contact me within 72 hours after the announcement of prize winner. Failure to do so would mean that you have given up your claim the prize and thus a new winner will be selected instead. Please take note that although you may have written your email address in your comment, you still need to inform me.
As for the second competition, the author is personally hosting it but it is restricted to US residents only. Sign up for Sara's mailing list and then fill up the Rafflecopter form below to to be in the running to win Fredrick's book tour knick knacks and an autographed paperback edition of Modern Persuasion.
My favorite JA book is "Persuasion". I love the delicious agony they go through, and of course, THE LETTER!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite JA book is Persuasion so I'm excited to see another variation of it as there are not nearly enough. It's my favorite because I relate more to Anne than any other JA heroine and I love the theme of second chances. Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeletePlease don't enter me for the giveaway, but I just wanted to comment on how much I enjoyed this post. Good on you for firstly deciding to publish and then deciding to go it alone Sara!
ReplyDeleteWow, that must have been such a trying time for you and you're to be congratulated on pulling it all together and still getting your book published in the end. Thanks for letting us have a little more insight into your writing life, too.
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