Better Together

Five years ago, I was close enough to having a finished manuscript for my first novel, Even in Darkness, that I began to seriously explore how to get it published. The novel was a fictional rendering of the life story of a relative I’d known and admired and whose resilience and glass-half-full life philosophy deeply inspired me. Now I needed to use that inspiration to get her story into the world.

I studied writing blogs, learned how to pitch a book, studied catalogs of agents and editors, and attended writing conferences where I got my first practice at pitching agents in person. I got interest, requests for full manuscripts but no bites.

Then I took a webinar featuring Brooke Warner, publisher of She Writes Press, and unwittingly found my way to a cooperative, creative, supportive writing community with a membership of thousands of women, and a publishing cohort of hundreds of women who have contributed to my success as an author. From this community, I learned about the power of partnering with other authors for programs, publicity, and professional development, all of which have enhanced my experience in the wild world of publishing.

Full disclosure— I am a 68-year-old woman whose first novel came out three years ago, and whose second novel arrives on bookstore shelves on September 18. I had a rewarding, successful first career as a speech pathologist working with deaf children in schools. Other than a short story published in 2014, and winning a flash fiction contest, I had no author’s “platform” as a fiction writer and on paper, at least, I wasn’t a good bet for a publisher interested in a long-term investment in an author.  

Support, encouragement and education. These are not the first three concepts a debut author can expect to experience in a traditional publication process, but in fact, these founding principles set the stage for my encore career. Instead of a competitive, isolating process, I experienced the benefits of entering and contributing to a number of writing communities of mutual mentorship, partnership and support. Fellow authors have become my books’ beta readers, and I theirs.

We have co-presented at books events. These colleagues have been sources for endorsements, and resources for the all-important and ever-elusive best practices for marketing and promotion. We help each other. We promote each other. We value the sense that we are not alone in this chaotic world of book publishing  And we are all women— women with differing backgrounds, differing places on the political spectrum, and with very different books, but with the common notion that we are better together.

Admittedly, hybrid publishing, the path I chose to publication, contributes to a sense of control— of agency— in the publication process, by investing in my own work and participating in design and editorial decisions. My publisher set the tone for forming mutually supportive relationships with other authors by setting up group author calls in the months leading to our “publishing season,” allowing us to share questions and experiences with each other.

A Facebook group to ask questions, share victories, disappointments, advice and questions, allowed us to benefit from each other’s forays into garnering endorsements and reviews, hiring publicists, securing book events, producing quality programs, entering book award contests, investing in advertising online and in print, and developing quality websites, blogs, and newsletters.

Among the most beneficial collaborations have been partnering with other authors in different book events, including book store panel presentations, purchasing booths in book festivals, presenting panel discussions to organizations, conferences and libraries, and participating in social media events such as twitter chats, or “take-overs” of Facebook pages. These partnerships have been based on

1. Paths to publication- a bookstore panel of authors described hybrid publishing- its benefits and challenges- and featured a variety of books. Bookstores love these presentations because of the wider draw of having several authors with books of interest to different readers, and the appeal to writer/readers.
2. Genre- book festival booths in which several authors sell books of the same genre together. Added benefit- authors become adept at selling each others’ books, and books can be sold as a bundle for savings.
3. Unifying themes- some of the most interesting book events happen when authors of different genres present together on a single theme.  For example, four authors (of both memoir and novels) will be doing a joint bookstore event on “Courageous Pursuits- Four Authors Share Their Second Career Stories of Courage and Discovery”
4. Common mainstream reviews- A group of novelists featured as debut authors in Foreword Reviews decided to host a Twitter chat about our experiences as debut authors, deciding in advance what hashtags we would focus on, and how to tag each other…
5. Critique groups- The group of writers with whom I work on my manuscripts from the rawest beginnings to the final proofreading are my best and closest partners.  Our long-standing efforts have made all our work better, and we support each other on our paths to publication, and after, with social media boosts, attending book events, and sharing ideas and strategies for marketing.

Key to making these collaborations succeed is a willingness to understand another author’s work, find commonality in genre, thematic elements, style and personality in order to best appeal to an intended audience, and attention to good communication and organization with each other. Working with other authors in a supportive, cooperative environment has led to partnerships and a far richer experience for me as an author than I believe I would have experienced without these communities.  In a challenging publishing landscape, these relationships have been a welcome hedge against the isolation and discouragement that can hamper the work of a writer.

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Barbara Stark-Nemon, award-winning author of the novels Even in Darkness and Hard Cider, received a BA degree in English, and Art History and a MS degree in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Michigan.

Follow her on Twitter https://twitter.com/bstarknemon

Find out more about her on her website http://www.barbarastarknemon.com/

About HARD CIDER

Abbie Rose Stone’s acquired wisdom runs deep, and so do her scars. She has successfully navigated the shoals of a long marriage, infertility, challenging children, and a career. Now it’s her turn to realize her dream: producing hard apple cider along the northern shores of Lake Michigan that she loves.

She manages to resist new versions of the old pull of family dynamics that threaten to derail her plan―but nothing can protect her from the shock a lovely young stranger delivers when she exposes a long-held secret. In the wake of this revelation, Abbie must overcome circumstances that severely test her self-determination, her loyalties, and her understanding of what constitutes true family.

 

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing