http://www.blogtalkradio.com/stations/AuthorsOnAir/RomanceRadio/2009/02/09/A-Red-Hot-Valentines-Day-on-Romance-Radio

Today I'm doing another in my series on the journey a book takes to publication, based upon what I'm doing at the time. LOL So today I'm starting the revisions on my November 2009 release, What the Duke Desires. There are two kinds of revisions in my mind, there are the ones I do myself before I turn the book in (going through my first draft myself and making final changes), and then there are my official revisions.

My revisions come in the form of an email from my editor (they used to come in a letter). It's usually somewhere between 3-6 pages (although that's just what I've gotten, many authors get much smaller or much larger letters, it just depends on the book and the editor). In the letter my editor tells me what she has liked about the story (my favorite part) and what she thinks needs changing or tweaking.

Now her changes are suggestions, of course, but we're all working to make the book the best possible, so I always make an effort to try everything she asks of me. Lots of times the changes are easy, something that a line or two can alter. Sometimes they have more depth (changing the motivation of a character, for example, can change an entire book and make for a much deeper revision).
Also, she lists "line edits" which are edits on a specific page or line of a page. These are normally very small things. A sentence didn't make sense, a character's name changed, a piece of conversation didn't work, whatever.

So how do I tackle the revisions. I find them to be quite overwhelming if I try to see them as a whole book, so generally what I do is first go through the line edits and figure out which pages coincide with which chapters. Then I start with chapter one and read it, keeping in mind the revision requests. If I need to make changes, then I do, then read the chapter out loud again for consistency. Also, I make any of the line edits that exist in that chapter. When I'm totally done and feel comfortable, I move on to the next chapter. In the end, I read the entire book again and usually have a friend review it who hasn't read the book before, to make sure there aren't any blips where I inserted changes.

Then the book goes back to my editor. She'll read the book again and she always has the option to give me more suggestions, although I don't think that's ever happened to me (I take that back, I think once she asked me to change a line in the first chapter of a book). Once she says the book is okay, I get paid the second half of my advance and the book moves on to copyedits, which I've talked about in this blog before.

So those are revisions! Or at least revisions the way I have experienced them.

Today is another of my series of questions from readers and writers. Anyone can ask a question for the blog, just post it as a comment in any blog I've written or as a message here at MySpace. I'll answer them in the order I receive them. Today's question is from Gem:

I have one question, How do you come up with your characters and set of a scene, Could you like me doing the washing up and then you get a story in your mind?....

Absolutely! I get so many ideas while showering or driving or doing other things (cleaning is a big one). I write full-time and spend a huge amount of time contemplating the writing or my career, so I think when turn off my mind, am thinking of other things, the ideas have a little more space to come through. ....

Also, a lot of times secondary characters I’ve written in the past make it easier to find a story to write. For example, the character of Caleb Talbot in Lessons From A Courtesan (July 2008) was very compelling to me (and to you readers if my inbox is any indication) and so deciding to write a story for him was easy (it will be the third in the series I’ll be starting with What the Duke Desires in November of 2009.

But sometimes a character just comes pops up and their story seems so important to write. My hero, Nicholas, in the April 2009 book Her Notorious Viscount was a very strong when he came to me. I knew he was the surviving brother of a set of twins, that he had gone underground for a time and made a living as a boxer and that he had just inherited a title he didn’t want. ....

Building the characters through my character sheets (which you can find at Passionate Pen), also sometimes sparks further motivation and thus, story. A character’s past or relationships affect their actions and that can sometimes make me take a turn in a story.

At any rate, all of these things are some of the most exciting parts of my process. I love getting an idea that really excites me and then building that into a book. ....

Hope that helps!.

Oh, and I REALLY need more questions, so feel free to post here or as a message at MySpace.

Today is another of my series of questions from readers and writers. Anyone can ask a question for the blog, just post it as a comment in any blog I've written or as a message here at MySpace. I'll answer them in the order I receive them. Today's question is from Jennifer:

I understand that publishers allow you to send in your work without an agent. Are you allowed to get an agent to view your work if you have already sent it to a publisher or do you have to wait for the publisher's response before an agent can decide to represent it?....

Well, the publishing world seems to be forever tightening, which means that New York based big publishers are getting harder and harder to query without representation from a literary agent. There are a few who will take a query letter, but the days of sending a full manuscript “over the transom” are pretty much over. That means that getting a good literary agent is a very major step in a writer’s career.....

Your question relates to this because you want to give your potential literary agent every chance in the world to represent your work the best she can. If you’ve already sent out queries, partials or full manuscripts to publishers, this really limits what an agent can do for you. If your book is rejected in those early stages, what else can your agent do for you? Not a lot.....

So I would always recommend sending queries to literary agents before you look at publishers. However, if you have already sent a proposal to a publisher, you are by no means limited in looking for an agent (however if you get to the stage where either the publisher or the agent asks for a full manuscript, I would recommend telling any potential agents about who is looking at your work). There are no “rules” like that. A literary agent works for you, for your best interest as a writer. The publisher is a whole other thing, so if you look for and get a literary agent while a publisher has your work and they make an offer, great. You already have an agent to negotiate the deal. If they are still looking at your work when you get your agent, wonderful. Your agent can push that process along. If they reject you, well your agent will likely have other potential publishers to send your work out to.....

Hope that helps.....

Today is another of my series of questions from readers and writers. Anyone can ask a question for the blog, just post it as a comment in any blog I've written or as a message here at MySpace. I'll answer them in the order I receive them. Today's question is from That TANTALIZING Tres:

I have a few stories that I've been toying with however they are set in odd historical times. One is Egyptian and one is Aztec. Now in all my reading and research, I come away feeling like writing something like this is a waste of time. I still do because they are fun and interesting to ME. Do you have any insight at all regarding how publishing houses view these time frames and the depth of research you feel needs to be done to really bring them to life?....

I’ll have to answer this honestly. Most major publishing houses are just not interested in books set outside of England and the 19^th century (some medieval, too, but virtually all England). The reason? Well, they just don’t sell enough. I know people say they want time periods and other settings, however the sales numbers don’t reflect a big enough audience. Especially in current economic times, it’s going to be hard to get them to take a chance.

This is especially true with a new author. It’s already hard enough to build a new name, add in an odd time period or setting and that’s going to make it even harder.  Someone with a very established name might have a better shot, but even then most of them see a dip in sales with something really out there.

So, I guess if you want to sell something to a big New York publisher then you’re going to struggle if you’re too far out of the box. If you want to sell to a smaller or epress, then it might not matter as much. Many of them are more open to something different, mainly because they don’t need such large numbers to consider a book to be a ‘success’ so niche subjects aren’t as much of an issue.

You said you’re writing these stories because they interest you, so I think that’s great! Just as long as you have a realistic view of the chances of their sale. Not absolutely zero, but you’re definitely going to have a much, much harder time selling to a larger publisher and making significant sales if you did manage to get a contract.

Hope that helps!

Hi everyone and a big Happy New Year to you all.

This year (2009), my site for aspiring authors, The Passionate Pen, is turning ten years old. I can't believe a decade has slipped by since I started the site, but somehow it has. I'm very happy to be holding a HUGE anniversary celebration for the entire year. There will be interviews, prizes and so much more for aspiring authors! This month's interview, a top ten list and a BIG contest (with a prize you usually have to pay for in an auction) are up right now! So come on by and be a part of my celebration!

http://www.passionatepen.com

And please feel free to pass the word along at your blogs, MySpace pages, RWA chapters and anywhere else where writers collect. I would love it if more and more authors found out about this completely FREE resource that is so close to my heart.

JennaP