This is the fifth post in the “How To Break Into Publishing” Series. If you’re coming in late, Part One: What Even is Publishing? (Different types of publishing) is available here!
Writing is a very solitary endeavor. Only, it’s not. We’ve got our CPs and betas (Don’t know what I’m talking about? You missed a blog! Part Four – Let’s Get Critical), our agent (we’ll get to that in the next blog post), and our editor. But that’s not nearly enough. I don’t know about you, but I’m only pretending to be an author. In reality, I’m three nervous opossums in a trench coat.
My friends and family are GREAT. Like the absolute best. And they have absolutely no idea what I’m going through when it comes to publishing. They don’t know the difference between curated best sellers lists and starred industry reviews. Even when they want to be supportive, they don’t really understand that you’re trying to navigate this scary new world.
I’ve got my CPs. Remember how I talked about when you start off, it helps if you’re all in the same place? That’s great and all, but as time goes on, people will drop out and new people will join. Some people will get big publishing deals and others will quit writing completely. This group is a valuable and trusted part of your support system, but if they’re in the querying trenches and you’re discussing cover art option with your editor, they aren’t the ones to talk to about publishing woes.
I jokingly call my agent my part-time therapist and that’s true to an extent but I’m not going to holler at them in the middle of the night because I had a nightmare that my book literally exploded.
That’s where my writing group comes in.
Caveat: My goal for this blog series is to educate, not discourage. Getting a book published seems so very simple at first glance. It’s really, really not! But when you (like me) would rather be writing than pretty much doing any other thing, it’s worth it. As always, this is based on my limited experience and limited understanding. Your mileage may vary!
Join A Writing Group
I got lucky. I’ll admit it. I was invited into the best writing group on the planet, with the best of the best people in this group. I don’t think I could have survived my debut year – the highs or the lows of it – without the #Berkletes. We talk about everything from workshopping titles to the pros and cons of banana pudding milkshakes.
Find your group. If you’re a debut author, search Twitter for #debut. Ask your agent if they know any good groups. Ask your writer friends how they found their groups, or beg for an invite. Join a group. Join several groups – you might decide that one is be a better fit for you than another.
I can feel you rolling your eyes already. You’re a lone wolf. You don’t have time to make new friends. You’re not much of a joiner anyway. Before you dismiss this idea completely, let me give you some examples of how a good writing group can save your life. Well, not your life maybe but your sanity.
- Shared experience. You’re going through this publishing journey alone, but you don’t have to. Just knowing that there are other people going through the same thing can make it easier.
- Asking the stupid questions you can’t ask anywhere else. Rather than bug your agent and editor about every little thing, ask your group if anyone else has seen/experienced something that is bothering you. Chances are, someone in the group knows the answer already and is happy to share!
- Venting. The number one rule in publishing – and I can’t believe I haven’t mentioned this before – is Do not flash you ass in public. Not only do you not want to be a jerk, but there is likely a clause in your contract that your publisher can cancel your book if you bring down enough negative publicity onto yourself. There are going to be times that you need to vent – you got a bad review. Someone was mean to you on Twitter. You’re having a bad day. Don’t vent in public. Don’t respond to bad reviews or mean Tweets. Vent to your group and let them talk you off the ledge instead of sparking an internet fire that can consume your publishing career.
- ARCS. Here comes another insider secret. ARCs (Advance Reader Copies) are the greatest thing that ever happened to authors. Imagine reading all the next best sellers before anyone else does. Yeah, you get to do that. A lot of your ARCs are going to come from your writing group and before you know it, you’re going to be swimming in them. Always thank people for ARCs and write a glowing review if you liked it!
- Trading blurbs. You’ve sold your book and gone through multiple rounds of edits, and now its time for your editor to send your book out for blurbs (author endorsements). The first thing that your editor asks is “Do you know any writers that might blurb your book?” and you freeze. You’re brand new to this publishing game. You know no one, and you’re pretty sure that Stephen King isn’t going to blurb you. But the folks in your writing group might, or they might know someone who can.
- Cross promotion. You want to get your news out to the widest possible audience. You can boost your writing group members’ posts, and they can boost yours. It helps when you’re genuinely excited for them and just want to share their successes with the world and boosting their posts helps drive engagement. You can also trade newsletter mentions, coordinate giveaways, meet up for a live (or virtual) events, or go to your local bookstore, point to their book, and tell the person browsing that you know that author and the book is very good.
- Sharing resources. Just today someone from my group asked if anyone had any discount codes for getting bookmarks printed. Within minutes, three people responded with sales, services they’d found that were better and cheaper, and ways to get more discounts.
- Emotional support. Remember how I said that publishing was hard? Well, it is. Some days are harder than others. And on those days, your writing group knows better than anyone what you’re going through. They might not be able to fix it, but they can offer sympathy, suggestions, and silly gifs.
And at the risk of sounding like a sap, not only have I met some amazing authors through my writing group, but I’ve also made some very real friends that I will cherish forever. (If any of you are reading this, :heart emoji: :poop emoji: :crying laughing emoji:)
Thank you for continuing to read this series! The next blog, Part Six: Get Down To Business (Getting an agent and a publishing contract) will be released next week.
How To Break Into Publishing:
- Part One: What Even is Publishing? (Different types of publishing)
- Part Two: You Are What You Read (Catching up with genre trends)
- Part Three: Wait, I Have to Actually Write This? (Spoiler: You do)
- Part Four: Let’s Get Critical (Critique Partners, Beta Readers, Ghost Readers, and Editors)
- Part Five: Misery Loves Company (So find yourself some!)
- Part Six: Get Down To Business (Getting an agent and a publishing contract)
- Part Seven: Party Hard, You’ve Made It! (The cold hard checkbook)
