From Fan Fiction to Original Fiction: What it’s really like to write novels and get them published- PART II

Previously: After a lot of hard work and perseverance, My Secret O finally had the promise of contract in reach, a great success, but only the beginning to her adventures in publishing land. Read on to discover more of her journey while she shares invaluable tips.

 

Missed Part I? Find it here.

 

FROM FAN FICTION TO ORIGINAL FICTION:

WHAT IT’S REALLY LIKE TO WRITE NOVELS AND GET THEM PUBLISHED

PART II

 

AN OFFER FOR PUBLICATION DOESN’T MEAN THE WORK IS DONE…

With an acceptance letter and a promise to be published in hand the waiting ends and the work begins. Before I was offered my first contract, an acquisition editor from my publisher contacted me and asked me to resolve some of the problems. While I was inexperienced with active and passive verbs, punctuation use, and all the rest of the ‘trouble spots,’ she explained each and every one to me. We spent three weeks e-mailing each other, and she edited while I rewrote. I ended up rewriting four chapters. That’s more than ten thousand words right in the middle of my book. She said they were too ‘squicky,’ and while I didn’t agree, I rewrote anyway. Letting go of what I wanted was easier knowing a contract was around the corner. It was a test. If I was an author worth signing (and taking such a huge financial risk on), then I had to prove that I was willing to work hard and do whatever I could to get the manuscript the way they wanted it. Only after I completed the major fixes was I offered a contract, and all that work paid off.

From Fan Fiction to Original Fiction: What it’s really like to write novels and get them published- PART I

Welcome to our first Fangbangers Anonymous special feature courtesy of the wonderful My Secret O. In fan fiction the terms ‘writer’ and ‘author’ are often interchanged with little thought, but an author is a distinctly different thing. It indicates a writer is published and while we have many writers in fan fiction, we have few actual authors. my secret o is one of them, and with us she shared how with a lot of hard work, perseverance, and determination she came to be published and can rightfully call herself an author.

 

msbuffy is our resident beta at the directory, but she is, in fact, also a professional editor in real life and as well as working her magic on this, she interspersed a few tips of her own from the perspective of an editor.

 

This is a great resource for (aspiring) writers hoping to one day be published authors, but should also be a fun read for anyone who has ever wondered what it really takes to get published. -Enjoy!

 

From Fan Fiction to Original Fiction:

What it’s really like to write novels and get them published

Part I

 

It happens to the best of us. The moment one of your well-meaning readers tells you, “I love your writing so much! You should write original fiction!” Sure, you think, and then someone else tells you, maybe even a handful of people encourage you. That’s when you start taking them seriously. I’ve got lots of ideas. I can totally do this! So you start writing …because you love to write, and you write for you.

 

NOT AN EASY TRANSITION FROM FANFIC TO STRAIGHT FIC…

All of your ideas pour out of your fingertips and into your computer. You start to think about characters and where they’re going to live …which presents a whole new problem. Instead of working with the same characters you’ve come to know and love, you have to create believable, likeable, quirky, and weird protagonists and research endlessly about where they live (just in case one of your future readers has ever been there). Location is one of the most important elements of your book, and you must get it right. Research is crucial. If you can’t visit the place in person, talk to someone who has and take notes. Lots and lots of notes.