PUBLISHING SURVIVOR, DAY 3
Sunday, December 11, 2005
The best laid plans... You know how they go. You start out with such great intentions, then poof! The day is gone and you're wondering what happened to all those hours. Grrr!
On the other hand, I did have some quiet moments earlier in the day. Nothing like obsessing about your Amazon ranking before the sun comes up. Or wondering if you should call the Ingram's line again. I refrained from the latter, at least. I think I learned my first time around that you can only do so much once you've turned in the book. But knowing that and being okay with it are two different things.
Sometimes it's weird when you try to explain the publishing business to "civilians." Last night someone said, "So you wrote the book and your name goes on the cover and it's your name at stake once it hits the shelves, but you get very little input on the cover and the blurb on the back?" Yeah. Put that way, it does sound somewhat back-asswards. But I told this person, while reminding myself, that the publisher writes the checks, so if they want to put a two-headed Godzilla in a wedding dress on the cover...I'd think they were totally out of their ever-lovin' minds, but I couldn't do much.
Speaking of covers, when I spoke to my editor last Friday about the pending cover for my July release, STRIP SEARCH, she said it was definitely in progress. She said my heroine was wearing a sizzling red dress. That's the good news. But...that so doesn't tell me what I want to know. Um, hello? Is the hero on the cover hot? Trust me, it's all about him. As long as she's not wearing a burlap sack, I'm happy. But this hero... Let's just say that I have a pic of the guy I envisioned in this role. Virtually everyone I've shared it with has drooled in a big way. I'm pretty sure he's the most beautiful man on the planet--or in the top 2 at least. I'd share, but I'd probably be violating major copyright laws :-( Anyway, I really hope the hero on this cover is hot. The hero on the cover of BOUND AND DETERMINED was fairly easy on the eyes. But Rafe's not a smiley sort of guy. And he would never wear that loud shirt... I really hope readers don't avoid the book over that shirt. The rest of the cover is lovely, so maybe no one will notice.
It also occurred to me during the wee hours that I should be getting more reviews soon, especially from Romantic Times. I've had some wonderful ones for this book already, 10 of 10 from Romance Designs, a Gold Star award from Just Erotic Romance Reviews, 5 of 5 from A Romance Review. But, like any author trying to pull herself up from her bootstraps and convince herself that publishing all over again in a new genre is a good idea, I want more. It's painful to hear the not-so-nice comments. If they have constructive criticism, great. I'm also aware not book suits everyone. My book is no exception. And not everyone wants to read super sexy romances. Again, fine. That just leaves more books for those of us who do *g*.
Okay, misdirection aside, yes, I get nervous. I think a lot of people do. But less than perfect reviews aren't the end of the world. I've survived before. If they come with this book, I'll survive again. I'll wail and want to eat pounds of chocolate probably, but I will survive. Gloria Gaynor has nothing on me!
My 70's moment aside, here's today's Schedule:
6:27 am - I'm awake. Wow, 50 minutes later than yesterday. Shocking! Again, I'm the first one up, so I'll see what I can do with the time.
7:00 am - In my home office chair and been through all my emails, ever trusty Diet Coke slowly perking up my drooping eyelids. I'm working furiously on the chapter I started yesterday and can see the end in sight. But hark, what's that I hear calling my name? It's the damn laundry. Ugh!
8:15 am - Hubby is awake. Sunday morning is paper-reading day for him. Front to back. Don't talk to, play with, cajole, feed or otherwise breathe in his space until the paper is finished. Stick that hand in his direction and you might draw back a nub. Oh, well. At least I've got the first load of laundry going. Goal #2 is looking good.
9:20 am - Leave for gym to attending morning beating. Oops--make that my step aerobics/lift class. I see lots of people I know. Favorite instructor is there, so I feel happy now. Sweaty, but happy. And get good ideas for finishing current chapter on my way home, so double bonus! Good ideas and extra calories spent so I can eat a few of those white chocolate truffles my wonderful, evil neighbor brought me for playing party hostess last night.
11:30 am - Showered and cleaned up again. Feeling human but hungry. Hard to write with low blood sugar. And the laundry is calling again.
2:00 pm - CHALLENGE RESULT # 1 & 3: A little more writing (3 pages!), a little more arranging for promotion for my upcoming book. More angsting about whether I'm doing the right thing to launch the "new me." I have a freaking marketing degree. Gosh, they taught me how to come up with a slogan for Tide or monitor the life cycle of a widget. I'm not equipped for this! I have a plan here. Well, a spreadsheet. Oh heck, when it's you and your book and your career, being objective just isn't easy. To take my mind off my angst and cross another item off my list, I also order a Christmas gift online for my grandmother and have it shipped to her. I love online shopping. Anytime I can buy gifts still wearing my little pink slippers, I'm happy!
3:00 pm - Friends drop by to watch Dallas Cowboys play the Kansas City Chiefs and help us eat leftovers from yesterday's party. Had fun taking a break from grind. Still folding laundry in the middle of it all, but it's a great game. Though WHY do they all have to have high drama up to the expiration of the game clock? Gosh, give me a heart attack, why don't you? But the Cowboys won, so we celebrate! Mexican food all around.
6:15 pm - CHALLENGE #2 RESULT: Yeah, laundry is done! We sit around and talk about outcome of game and gear up for the Survivor finale. But our friends' 11 month old gets cranky because she's cutting molars. They head home. We clean up the house and give our child a quick bath.
7:22 pm - FINALLY, Survivor starts. Couldn't they cut 60 Minutes short so we could start watching the show we've been waiting on all season? I mean the stuff about the sharks is interesting, but any idiot who gets in a cage to see a shark up close and personal has some sort of death wish. Can you tell I'm not an adrenaline junkie?
9:30 pm - Dang it, Steph didn't win. I'm pouting. The jury members are predictably bitter. The game is called Survivor. Outwit, Outplay, Outlast. Not Friendliest, Hardest working, Most honest. Seriously, the show is designed for players to stab each other in the back. You may not think a lot of them as people, but some of these players know how others think and work and can figure out their angle. No one liked Brian Heidik, who won in Thailand. The dude was a used car salesman (with a soft porn background, as whispers have it...), but he understood people. He knew it wasn't a popularity contest, but a strategic one. He's still my fave. One smooth operator... Oh well, Danni was nice enough and did exhibit some strategy late in the game. Next season they are in Panama. Don't know when it starts, but since CBS is done with their version of the show for now, you'll have mine for the rest of the month.
10:30 pm - Put clean sheets on the bed. Run a sinfully hot tub of water in my one indulgence, my Jacuzzi tub. Big hugs for hubby for being so much help this weekend. Avoid thinking that, tomorrow it's back to the grind. I didn't get in time for that manicure and pedicure. Maybe next weekend...
So... for tomorrow's Reward Challenge, I must:
1) Write at least 3 pages on current manuscript
2) Help child with homework
3) Go to the gym.
What do I get if I succeed? Hmm, how about a new book to read this coming weekend? Looking forward to that!
Tune in tomorrow for my results!
The best laid plans... You know how they go. You start out with such great intentions, then poof! The day is gone and you're wondering what happened to all those hours. Grrr!
On the other hand, I did have some quiet moments earlier in the day. Nothing like obsessing about your Amazon ranking before the sun comes up. Or wondering if you should call the Ingram's line again. I refrained from the latter, at least. I think I learned my first time around that you can only do so much once you've turned in the book. But knowing that and being okay with it are two different things.
Sometimes it's weird when you try to explain the publishing business to "civilians." Last night someone said, "So you wrote the book and your name goes on the cover and it's your name at stake once it hits the shelves, but you get very little input on the cover and the blurb on the back?" Yeah. Put that way, it does sound somewhat back-asswards. But I told this person, while reminding myself, that the publisher writes the checks, so if they want to put a two-headed Godzilla in a wedding dress on the cover...I'd think they were totally out of their ever-lovin' minds, but I couldn't do much.
Speaking of covers, when I spoke to my editor last Friday about the pending cover for my July release, STRIP SEARCH, she said it was definitely in progress. She said my heroine was wearing a sizzling red dress. That's the good news. But...that so doesn't tell me what I want to know. Um, hello? Is the hero on the cover hot? Trust me, it's all about him. As long as she's not wearing a burlap sack, I'm happy. But this hero... Let's just say that I have a pic of the guy I envisioned in this role. Virtually everyone I've shared it with has drooled in a big way. I'm pretty sure he's the most beautiful man on the planet--or in the top 2 at least. I'd share, but I'd probably be violating major copyright laws :-( Anyway, I really hope the hero on this cover is hot. The hero on the cover of BOUND AND DETERMINED was fairly easy on the eyes. But Rafe's not a smiley sort of guy. And he would never wear that loud shirt... I really hope readers don't avoid the book over that shirt. The rest of the cover is lovely, so maybe no one will notice.
It also occurred to me during the wee hours that I should be getting more reviews soon, especially from Romantic Times. I've had some wonderful ones for this book already, 10 of 10 from Romance Designs, a Gold Star award from Just Erotic Romance Reviews, 5 of 5 from A Romance Review. But, like any author trying to pull herself up from her bootstraps and convince herself that publishing all over again in a new genre is a good idea, I want more. It's painful to hear the not-so-nice comments. If they have constructive criticism, great. I'm also aware not book suits everyone. My book is no exception. And not everyone wants to read super sexy romances. Again, fine. That just leaves more books for those of us who do *g*.
Okay, misdirection aside, yes, I get nervous. I think a lot of people do. But less than perfect reviews aren't the end of the world. I've survived before. If they come with this book, I'll survive again. I'll wail and want to eat pounds of chocolate probably, but I will survive. Gloria Gaynor has nothing on me!
My 70's moment aside, here's today's Schedule:
6:27 am - I'm awake. Wow, 50 minutes later than yesterday. Shocking! Again, I'm the first one up, so I'll see what I can do with the time.
7:00 am - In my home office chair and been through all my emails, ever trusty Diet Coke slowly perking up my drooping eyelids. I'm working furiously on the chapter I started yesterday and can see the end in sight. But hark, what's that I hear calling my name? It's the damn laundry. Ugh!
8:15 am - Hubby is awake. Sunday morning is paper-reading day for him. Front to back. Don't talk to, play with, cajole, feed or otherwise breathe in his space until the paper is finished. Stick that hand in his direction and you might draw back a nub. Oh, well. At least I've got the first load of laundry going. Goal #2 is looking good.
9:20 am - Leave for gym to attending morning beating. Oops--make that my step aerobics/lift class. I see lots of people I know. Favorite instructor is there, so I feel happy now. Sweaty, but happy. And get good ideas for finishing current chapter on my way home, so double bonus! Good ideas and extra calories spent so I can eat a few of those white chocolate truffles my wonderful, evil neighbor brought me for playing party hostess last night.
11:30 am - Showered and cleaned up again. Feeling human but hungry. Hard to write with low blood sugar. And the laundry is calling again.
2:00 pm - CHALLENGE RESULT # 1 & 3: A little more writing (3 pages!), a little more arranging for promotion for my upcoming book. More angsting about whether I'm doing the right thing to launch the "new me." I have a freaking marketing degree. Gosh, they taught me how to come up with a slogan for Tide or monitor the life cycle of a widget. I'm not equipped for this! I have a plan here. Well, a spreadsheet. Oh heck, when it's you and your book and your career, being objective just isn't easy. To take my mind off my angst and cross another item off my list, I also order a Christmas gift online for my grandmother and have it shipped to her. I love online shopping. Anytime I can buy gifts still wearing my little pink slippers, I'm happy!
3:00 pm - Friends drop by to watch Dallas Cowboys play the Kansas City Chiefs and help us eat leftovers from yesterday's party. Had fun taking a break from grind. Still folding laundry in the middle of it all, but it's a great game. Though WHY do they all have to have high drama up to the expiration of the game clock? Gosh, give me a heart attack, why don't you? But the Cowboys won, so we celebrate! Mexican food all around.
6:15 pm - CHALLENGE #2 RESULT: Yeah, laundry is done! We sit around and talk about outcome of game and gear up for the Survivor finale. But our friends' 11 month old gets cranky because she's cutting molars. They head home. We clean up the house and give our child a quick bath.
7:22 pm - FINALLY, Survivor starts. Couldn't they cut 60 Minutes short so we could start watching the show we've been waiting on all season? I mean the stuff about the sharks is interesting, but any idiot who gets in a cage to see a shark up close and personal has some sort of death wish. Can you tell I'm not an adrenaline junkie?
9:30 pm - Dang it, Steph didn't win. I'm pouting. The jury members are predictably bitter. The game is called Survivor. Outwit, Outplay, Outlast. Not Friendliest, Hardest working, Most honest. Seriously, the show is designed for players to stab each other in the back. You may not think a lot of them as people, but some of these players know how others think and work and can figure out their angle. No one liked Brian Heidik, who won in Thailand. The dude was a used car salesman (with a soft porn background, as whispers have it...), but he understood people. He knew it wasn't a popularity contest, but a strategic one. He's still my fave. One smooth operator... Oh well, Danni was nice enough and did exhibit some strategy late in the game. Next season they are in Panama. Don't know when it starts, but since CBS is done with their version of the show for now, you'll have mine for the rest of the month.
10:30 pm - Put clean sheets on the bed. Run a sinfully hot tub of water in my one indulgence, my Jacuzzi tub. Big hugs for hubby for being so much help this weekend. Avoid thinking that, tomorrow it's back to the grind. I didn't get in time for that manicure and pedicure. Maybe next weekend...
So... for tomorrow's Reward Challenge, I must:
1) Write at least 3 pages on current manuscript
2) Help child with homework
3) Go to the gym.
What do I get if I succeed? Hmm, how about a new book to read this coming weekend? Looking forward to that!
Tune in tomorrow for my results!
posted by Anonymous at 1:41 PM
2 Comments:
And here I thought just getting published was the challenge!!!
I totally saw that porn Brian did. Not like I sit around watching porn but I recognized him with that big tiger tattoo. It wasn't that bad. just had to share.
steph
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