Once again, health ....

I had a tooth pulled on Wednesday -- didn't plan on it, I thought I was going in for a consultation and an hour later, I left with a bunch of gauze packing my mouth. Yeah, it had to be pulled but I just wasn't quite ready for the event.

Funny how we can handle just about anything if we're prepared for it. I knew this tooth had to come out some time -- it's been bothering me for years. But Wednesday it sort of ached so I thought, 'ah, call the surgeon and see if she can look at it.'

I got there, she looked, she said, 'let's pull.' They took my blood pressure before and after the event and I'll tell you, it's never been so high. I just wasn't ready.

This made me think of writing, of course (it seems like everything leads me back to my 'other' career). I've been chugging along, publishing with small publishers, and I'm pretty happy overall. Now and again I'm plagued by 'should I strive for more' thoughts.

Am I ready for More? Good question. Do I want to be wedged into deadlines, deal with other kinds of publicity, open new doors, learn new things?

Things to consider as I recover from dentistry (and prepare for more dentistry: bridgework, here I come).

New books are a lot of effort

You think writing the book is work? Try promoting it! I've got to get out on the loops, post excerpts, chat with people, update my web site, update my blog (here), update my other blogs (MySpace, LiveSpace, BookPlace, CrimeSpace) ....

The list goes on. You'll note that the picture of my book has goofy colors. I'm not sure why. I've tried loading it twice, and both times it was goofy. I'll try tomorrow since Blogger is goofy today.

So I'm back in the swing of promotion. I've got a short window of opportunity for concentration on this one because I have another book coming out in July. So I want to hit the loops now with this one then hit the loops with the other one in mid-July.

I'll try to upload a new picture tomorrow, when Blogger isn't burping. If you want to see the real cover, go to http://www.jayellwilson.com/.

3 publishers, 4 editors, 5 books

It's juggling time again. I have signed contracts with 3 publishers for 5 books using 4 editors. I've gotten final edits turned in on 2 of the books, but I've got nit-picky details to finish on 1 more, 2nd round edits to do on another one and final edits to do on another one (haven't seen those yet).

And I'm going to a conference this weekend.

Plus I'm working on a WIP, of course which is going really well so I hate to take time out from it to deal with books I wrote a year or more ago and haven't even thought about in the intervening months. But edits mean 'drop what you're doing, put your head in a totally different place, work like crazy then drop it again and go back'.

I'm looking forward to getting out of town just to get away from the juggling!

Chapter 1 ... the longest chapter in the book

That 'in-between place' I talked about? I'm out of it and into the next book.

I made my first tentative start on the next book in the Bea & Lucas series -- the final book, I believe it will be. I always pick at Chapter 1 and write and re-write the opening. I really don't feel I can move on until I get it nailed down well. Sometimes I'll get to chapter 3, realize that's where the book really starts then go back, tear up chapters 1 & 2 and rewrite them completely.

I think I've got a good start on this one, though, so once I carve out some time from my To Do list, I can sit down and write.

I have a book coming out next month that's the first book in this series, and I just edits in for book 2 of the series, so the timing is auspicious -- I'll be promoing the characters and the series while writing the third one. Hopefully I'll get some overlap that way and the writing will go quickly.

So I'm putting myself on the line here: I started this book on May 1. I want to write "The End" by July 1. You read it here!

It's a balancing act ....

... and sometimes I feel like I'm on tightrobe, trying to stay upright.

There are just times when it feels as though a bunch of stuff is ganging up on me all at once. This is one of those times. I'm trying to help some writers organize a contest, I want to prep a book for submission, I'd like to review 4 other books I wrote and get those prepped, and of course there's about 3 books I'd like to write. This doesn't take into account things I HAVE to do: get my cover art request in, work on edits for a book coming out this fall, get ready for a conference coming up.

Then there's work ... real work, the one that pays the bills. And the newsletter for my local writing chapter. And my newsletter.

I usually have a very fine sense of priorities and juggle things that way, but it seems like everything is important right now. Deciding what to postpone is tough.

I'm sure it will sort itself out. But right now I feel like one of those jugglers on the old Ed Sullivan show on TV, where I race from plate to plate, trying to keep it all in the air.

If you hear a crashing noise, you'll know I dropped something.

Some interesting statistics

I am preparing some information for a talk I'm giving later this week to the local Rotary Club. Actually, 'talk' is a misnomer. I'm just going to chat about my publishing experience. But to prepare for it, I decided to try to research some actual statistics about the whole publishing business.

This information comes from assorted blog posts by agents and editors. It can’t be taken as ‘gospel’ but it gives you a feeling for the publishing business.

• Most editors receive 15-25 submissions a week. Many editors will not read anything unless it’s forwarded to them from an agent.


• An editor will find 1 manuscript every 2-3 weeks that she thinks has promise. She has to get buy-in from other editors, so she’ll send it to colleagues.
  
  
  
  • If no one else likes it, it’s rejected.
  
  
  • If others like it but the editorial director doesn’t, it’s rejected


• An editor will usually buy 1 book every 4-8 weeks out of the 160 or so that she reads.


• Most books in the ‘slush’ pile (unsolicited manuscripts sent by authors with no agent) are never purchased or even read completely. Most editors read the first page at the most. If it catches their attention, they read on.


• Most publishers receive between 7,000 and 20,000 submissions every year.


• Most publishers publish around 180 books a year.


• Most agents will agree to represent 1 in 500 submissions.

So there you have it -- the odds, as it were, of getting noticed. I thought I'd just post some of these statistics now and again so people realize that this is a tough business. Probably about as tough as the music business, or fine arts, or restauranting -- any endeavor where there's limited purchasers and lots of sellers.

Interesting, eh?

Leaping into the unknown

One of my best friends quit her job and is not sure what is next in her life. That's a big leap into the unknown, but it's one she felt she had to take given the job, where she is in life, etc.

The next few months are a series of leaps into the unknown for me. I'll have two books out this month. Granted, they're in download so for a lot of folks, those don't count but for many, many people they do count (especially for my publisher). I am now entering Unknown Territory: chat promotions, online promotions, contests, and creating a 'web presence'. Then the books will go into print and there will be all new leaps -- as I try to convince bookstores to carry the books, as I seek an agent and perhaps new publishers or new markets.

The thing I keep in mind about all this is something my father told me: "Will a child die if you don't accomplish ? If the answer is no, it's really not that critical."

I can do what I'm comfortable with and just enjoy this, and I plan to do just that. Sometimes leaping into the unknown can be fun, sometimes weird, sometimes scary. But it's ALWAYS interesting.