It’s All About the Writing

by Jodie Renner, freelance editor
There's a lot of very good info/advice out there on self-publishing and promoting your book, including several excellent blog posts here on CFC. But first, make sure your book is ready for the critics: the readers and reviewers. I see too many aspiring authors whipping off a book, then rushing to send it to agents or self-publish it on Amazon, and then promoting it like crazy on Facebook, Twitter, blogs and wherever else, when what they really needed to do was spend more time and effort producing a quality story first. This race to publish prematurely can be incredibly damaging to your career and your reputation as a writer.

Want to sell more books? Write them well! Don’t shoot yourself in the foot and jeopardize — or completely ruin — your reputation as a novelist by rushing to self-pub or send off a first — or even second — draft. Develop your craft by taking courses or workshops, joining a critique group, and reading how-to books and articles on effective fiction-writing techniques. Then apply what you’ve learned to ratchet up your story. Go over your whole manuscript again, fine-tuning, smoothing out any clunky writing or overly wordy spots, finding just the right word, and amping up the characterization, tension and intrigue.

Then send it to a few trusted "beta" readers for their opinions, and incorporate any ideas that really resonate with you. Finally, use a freelance editor to find those plot flaws and inconsistencies, spots where it's lagging, and any amateurish techniques still lurking in the draft and to go over it with a fine-toothed comb, looking for grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors. (Or these two stages may be carried out by two different people, a content editor and a final copyeditor/proofreader.)

Kristen Lamb doesn’t mince words on this point in her recent blog post, “The Modern Author–A New Breed of Writer for the Digital Age of Publishing”: 

“We can’t put a shiny bow on a pile of literary dog poop and call it a rose. No amount of marketing is going to sell garbage. We have to learn to write good books. Notice I use the plural — books. We can't slave over one book forever making it perfect. I said we need to write good books, not perfect books.

"We also can’t toss junk out there and think promotion will make it a hit. Good books will always sell way more than crappy books. Not rocket science. We should always be learning as much as we can about our craft, our trade, our art. This is why I blog on craft and point you guys to the best teachers in the industry.”
http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/author/warriorwriters/

“Okay,” you say, “but I can’t afford an editor.”

Is it worth it to hire a freelance editor for your novel before sending it to agents or publishing it? I asked several successfully published writer clients and friends their take on this. Here are their answers.

Andrew Kaufman, talented bestselling thriller writer and fellow founder of Crime Fiction Collective, has this to say on the subject:

“This is an extremely important point and one I can’t stress enough. It doesn’t matter how good a writer you think you are. After numerous rewrites of a manuscript (which is just as important), you are too familiar with your work and have lost all objectivity.

“An editor with a fresh and critical eye will bring things to your attention you never knew existed, both developmentally and in the line/copy editing. These are the people who will help bring a novel to the next level. I consider their work to be an invaluable part of the process.

“And for those who say they can’t afford to hire one — I say you can't afford not to. If you’re serious about selling your book, then this is a step you simply must take.”
~ Andrew E. Kaufman, Sept. 2011, author of While the Savage Sleeps and The Lion, The Lamb, The Hunted. www.AndrewEKaufman.com 

And Andrew had this to add recently: “Another thing that comes to mind is that, with the extraordinary success of my most recent novel, The Lion, the Lamb, the Hunted, I’m getting more emails from authors asking what my secret is. I tell them there is no secret, that the single most important key to success is having a well-written, highly polished novel. Without that, all the promotion in the world won’t make a bit of difference. And you simply can’t get that by yourself. You need a professional. I’m not too proud to admit that, and you shouldn’t be,
either.” - Andrew E. Kaufman, March 7, 2012



I asked Allan Leverone, published thriller writer, what he thought about this topic. 

“As authors, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of our work, and it’s even easier to rush that work out before it’s ready. But in this day and age, when anyone with a computer and the time to string 80,000 words together can slap a price tag on his “book” and begin promoting, it’s even more critical to ensure your work is the highest quality it can possibly be. That means writing, rewriting, self-editing. And THEN working with a capable editor, one who is well-versed in your particular genre.

“And if you're reading this at the Crime Fiction Collective, you won't have to go far to find one. I was fortunate to work with editor Jodie Renner on my bestselling thriller, The Lonely Mile, and the result was a book far more suspenseful and page-turning than even I had thought possible. You worked hard on your book. Give it the best possible chance for success.”

~ AllanLeverone, Mar. 7, 2012, author of The Lonely Mile, StoneHouse Ink
“A taut crime drama full of twists and conspiracy” www.allanleverone.com

One of my thriller-writer clients, Ian Walkley of Australia, tells me he wrote eight drafts of his novel No Remorse, before realizing he needed some objective input from professional editors. “Like many debut writers, I’d been to writing courses and read books about writing, but I was worried that a professional editor would cost me heaps and, to be honest, thought the editor might tell me my work was crap or make me rewrite the story.” 

At a writer’s conference, Ian met a professional editor whom he engaged to undertake a structural edit — advising on the structure of the book. “It was a good experience, and not as costly as I’d anticipated. The plot and scene structure were certainly improved to add suspense and pace. As a result of that, I hunted around for a copy editor.”

“I found several editors, including Jodie Renner, on Facebook, and I had them demonstrate their editing style with ten pages or so of my book. I contracted Jodie because she was thorough and I felt comfortable with her changes. I absolutely enjoyed the experience working with Jodie, who suggested numerous plot and character changes that improved the book. I certainly have a much better published novel because I used an editor.”  

~ Ian Walkley, March 2012, author of action-thriller,

 No Remorse. www.IanWalkley.com.

Even editors need editing!

A few years ago, I edited a novel for a professional editor, Eve Paludan, and here’s what she said back then:

“I am a professional editor of scholarly work at a university but I hired Jodie Renner to edit my romantic suspense novel manuscript of 108,000 words. Just like a surgeon wouldn’t perform surgery on himself (or on his family), even a professional editor needs a second pair of sharp eyes to discern, deconstruct, suggest changes and help polish the language.

 “Your mother shouldn’t edit your work and neither should your best friend. Nor will spellchecking save your manuscript. So who should you hire to edit your work? I suggest choosing someone who doesn’t already love you, has stellar qualifications, and possesses a sharp eye and a true affection for your genre.

“Books about writing are helpful, and so are classes, but neither reveals what is wrong with your story, page by page, even line by line. A live professional editor like Jodie Renner has just the right one-on-one editorial style. […]

“It’s thrilling to experience the evolution of my novel manuscript and see both its strengths recognized and its weaknesses revealed, through Jodie’s eyes. Writing is a solitary endeavor but editing, for the eventual goal of professional publication, is a team effort between author and editor. This novel is the most important thing I’ve ever written. I trusted Jodie Renner with my huge manuscript and am happy to report, she’s worth every cent.”
– Eve Paludan, February 2010, author of The Man Who Fell from the Sky, (Angel Detectives, Case #1)  http://evepaludanbooks.com 
 

Related article: "Don't Shoot Yourself in the Foot" - on taking care with your query letter.

And then of course we need to search out good formatters and cover designers, to give the book that final polish. See LJ Sellers' excellent post, Invest in Your Own E-Book, here at CFC. Also, see Publishing Yourself, by Helen Ginger, on Blood-Red Pencil blogspot.

Readers and writers - what's your experience with all this? Expensive? Worth it? Is cutting corners before publishing worth the risk? And how do you feel when you buy an e-book and find errors on the first page? We'd love to hear your opinion on these issues.

Jodie Renner, a freelance fiction editor specializing in thrillers and other fast-paced fiction, has published two books to date in her series, An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction: WRITING A KILLER THRILLER and STYLE THAT SIZZLES & PACING FOR POWER (Silver Medalist in the FAPA Book Awards, 2013). Both titles are available in e-book and paperback.

For more info, please visit Jodie’s author website or editor website, or find her on Facebook or Twitter.

Interview with Thriller Writer, Ian Walkley

I love your action-thriller No Remorse. It’s your first published novel. How did that come about?
My kids were almost finished school and I had the opportunity to sell my business. Also, a couple of friends’ health scares made me realize I didn’t want to die wondering if I could write the action thriller I had always dreamed about... So I took the plunge, just as I had when I started my own company. I’m single-minded on a task (so my wife says). Once I put my mind to it, I just wrote. And wrote. The plot and characters sort of evolved. I wrote 300,000 words in nine months.

Three hundred thousand words?!
At the time I had no idea a novel was supposed to be around 80,000-110,000 words. Later, of course, attending writers’ courses, I found out many things I hadn’t been aware of.

You chose to write a thriller with the main character having a military background – why?
I’ve always loved thrillers and have had an interest in all things military, so I guess maybe it’s a way of linking this interest with my writing. No Remorse isn’t a military thriller though – the main character just happens to have that background.

The main character, Lee McCloud, is described as “a loose cannon” by his superior in the secret organization he is forced to join. Why?
McCloud is a special ops guy, trained for the toughest missions, deniable, highly intelligent, used to making quick decisions under extreme pressure. You can bet his bosses worry about whether someone like that can be controlled. Especially after McCloud leads an unsanctioned mission to rescue two kidnapped girls, which goes terribly wrong. As it turns out, they actually want a military man who is a loose cannon. Can’t tell you more than that…

And what’s the background on Tally, the woman Lee McCloud has to work with?
Tally is a computer specialist with a photographic memory. McCloud feels that Tally belongs in an office, not in the field where it’s dangerous. Tally also has a haunted past, which sets up some good conflict and humour, because McCloud has had problems with women. Recall the Moonlighting TV series, and the movies Mr & Mrs Smith, and Romancing the Stone? Tally’s a strong woman, but not a stereotype. She has her own unique traits and point of view that make her strong in her own way.

How much research did you do for the book? You live in Australia, yet No Remorse starts out in Mexico, then is mostly set in the Middle East. Did you go to those places to find out firsthand what they’re like? Or did you mostly rely on online searches?
I enjoy the research side. I’ve travelled extensively through the Middle East, thankfully just before the “Arab Spring”. And I like to get hands-on experience. For example, I want the weapons to be right, to understand more about how they feel, so I go out and shoot a sniper rifle. 

What made you decide to go the self-publishing route?
I probably submitted my manuscript before it was ready. It was rejected by about twenty agents and publishers. Later, I was told by an agent that out of 120 novels submitted to him at Thrillerfest, about 85 were about terrorism. They were looking for something fresh. Still, I wasn’t going to have my work sacrificed, so (thanks to Amazon) with self-publishing considered a viable route for both new and published authors, I decided to publish it myself. I’m glad I did. With the industry in its current state of turbulence, there are many authors out there waiting for a publisher or agent, who will die before they find one. The world of publishing has changed dramatically in the last three years. 

On the upside, we’re also seeing a large number of new publishers emerging that are offering a new publishing model, with higher royalties, and fewer levels of bloated bureaucracy than the traditional firms. The first thing the industry should do is combine wholesalers and distributors, to cut out one of the unnecessary layers of people on the take. I have now created a publishing imprint, Marq Books, which I am making available to other indie authors. Even so, I would still prefer to use a traditional publisher to do the marketing, so I can spend my time writing. 

But you used professionals?
Oh yes, this is critically important for any indie writer. I used the editing services of Jodie Renner, who, in addition to copyediting, was of vital assistance in suggesting several new chapters and various other changes that improved both character and plot. Jodie also helped with American idiom and French. I also used a professional designer for the cover. 

What are the things you’ve had to overcome, in order to be published?
Having confidence in what I’ve written. Of course, not everyone will like the story, but so far all the reviews have been quite complimentary. The second thing is the distribution network. Most buyers of fiction buy debut authors on impulse. So I am working hard to get the book known through social marketing and traditional media. I’ve produced marketing material, media releases, and information sheets, and have had copies printed for the Australian market, where I can take a more active role. Again, I am using professional PR people and distributors.


Is there any advice you would give to emerging, unpublished writers?
Listen to the criticisms carefully. Most people are reluctant to be critical enough early on, but it’s important to identify weaknesses so you can address them. Network in the industry wherever possible. The wallflower writer will not be published. Attend writers’ courses and writers’ conferences, and buy books about writing such as Donald Maass’ The Breakout Novelist. And don’t give up – keep writing, submit to wherever you can, and start the second book while you’re still editing the first. And dream about being a best-selling author by all means, but don’t expect this to happen. You can build it, but they won’t come without the marketing.


The process seems frustrating. Why would anyone want to be a novelist?
Good question. I think publishing must be one of the toughest industries to be in. Many people tell me they have a novel inside they’d love to write. But most won’t. You have to be a certain type, and willing to sacrifice money and social contact to follow through. I gave up managing thirty-five staff, a good salary and profit share for a solitary existence with a computer screen, living off my wife’s income for three years. It’s not for everyone. Sometimes I think I’m crazy.

Has writing changed you as a person?
I’m definitely more relaxed, more self-reliant, and paradoxically a more social person. Still very driven, but I don’t have to worry about others delivering to the standard I expect. I only have to meet those standards myself. And I enjoy the social networking with other writers and readers.


What is your next challenge?
Finding the balance between promoting book one and working on book two. Credibility is built through completed works in this industry. I’m also keen to help other writers get published, so they don’t have to spend the time I did learning what to do.

I’ve sold several thousand copies of No Remorse in about six weeks, which is good for a debut novel, I’m told by other authors. And having a book in print is a great motivation to keep writing.


Ian’s debut action thriller, No Remorse, is available at http://www.amazon.com/No-Remorse-Ian-Walkley/dp/0980806607/

If you don't have an e-reader, you can download the free Kindle reader for PC or iPad or phone at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

Ian’s second novel, Bait, a crime thriller set in Australia, will be released in late 2012.