Blogger: Mary Keeley
Inevitably, December sneaks in through the back door while we’re still cleaning up the dining room after Thanksgiving. Rude, isn’t it. In another week, editors will cease entertaining submissions and focus on finishing current projects before taking time off for Christmas. I have to discipline myself to concentrate on execution of my to-do list for the next several weeks while my mind wants to jump ahead to the promise of 2015, a year for hope and fortitude.
I have a list of hopes for Christian publishers in 2015.
- I hope they have foresight rather than hindsight to see that readers become saturated with the tried-and-true story templates that have been popular and crave something fresh and new. They might not know what that is exactly until they see it in print. Editors who monitor trends, demographics, and their cultures will be able to take informed risks. Publishers who don’t take these risks will find themselves stuck in a revolving door, where there’s no forward momentum, while the world walks by.
- I hope they will recognize the wisdom of striking a healthy balance between acquisitions from their stable of contracted authors and investing in the future by acquiring promising new novelists with fresh, perhaps genre-stretching stories. If hindsight functions instead of foresight, they could lose bright new authors to indie- or self-publication.
- I hope they will be open to, and secure distribution outlets for, new genres such as Boomer Lit and New Adult fiction and nonfiction, which are popular in the general market. Otherwise they are sure to lose these CBA reader audiences—and revenue—to the general market, where a worldly, rather than Christian, worldview perspective reigns.
- I hope they become agreeable to raise the industry-standard e-book royalty rate to 30%.
- Don’t we all hope that publishers will invest more staff and dollars to market authors’ books. However, I realize publishers have only so much money to work with in order to stay afloat. If it were to come down to an either-or decision between this point and the first point, I would hope they’d choose #1 in 2015, because of the industry-wide benefits. Hopefully, publishers will trickle down some of those benefits in the form of more marketing dollars for authors in the future.
I also have a list of hopes for you writers to best position yourselves to reach your publication goals.
- Set aside funds to invest in a writers conference, website design or re-design, promotion, hiring a publicist, online training in social media marketing, and books on craft, especially if you might consider self-publication.
- Learn all you can about maximizing the return on your investment in social media advertising.
- Learn how to streamline your social media activity to save time.
- Continue to grow your craft. Practice. Polish. Practice some more. Polish. Edit.
- Learn the industry and grow your business sensibility.
- Develop a thick skin. Remind yourself that rejections and disappointments aren’t personal; they’re steppingstones.
- Follow publishing blogs like those Rachelle Gardner listed in her post yesterday. Agents follow these blogs too. It takes concerted effort to keep up with technology and the industry as they constantly change. I admit I need it, so I’ll be catching up with them over the holidays.
What do you hope publishers will do in 2015? What are your plans as a writer to make 2015, a year for hope?
TWEETABLES:
One agent’s lists for making 2015, a year for hope for publishers and authors. Click to Tweet.
Forward thinking by publishers + hard work by authors = 2015, a year for hope. Click to Tweet.
Hope, yes, plus prayer! This quotation from R.C. Sproul seems appropriate: “But hope is not simply a ‘wish’ (I wish that such-and-such would take place); rather, it is that which latches on to the certainty of the promises of the future that God has made.”
May 2015 be the year we all latch on to the certainty of God’s promises of the future.
Absolutely, Shirlee. I appreciate how you made the distinction between a wish and hope. Let’s all enter 2015 “latch[ing] on to the certainty of God’s promises of the future.”
Yes! Well put.
I want to look at my time management in 2014 and evaluate what worked and what did not. As I work my 2015 plan, I want to remember to focus on the things I accomplish and not to get discouraged when everything on the list does not get done.
Here is an example. This week, I planned a mailing as part of my marketing. Since my mailing list for this particular campaign is long, I could not accomplish it in one session. I had several choices: stop everything else on the to do list and just complete the mailing; resign myself to doing part of the job and stopping; or doing what I could in the allotted time each day, knowing that each day brings new time and new opportunity to reach my goal.
Yes. Al (the most patient postal clerk I have met) and I will chat again tomorrow.
Great way to end the year, Carol. Thanks for sharing. Taking the time to evaluate what worked and what didn’t is possibly the surest way to refine our plans for 2015. That plus a little research on how the industry and reader demand might be trending in the next year.
Your example of grappling with the three choices we often are faced with often has to be made on an individual circumstance basis, depending on time and place and need, don’t you think? Or, do you have a simple rule-of-thumb way of approaching these choices?
Mary,
I do agree that a deadline or fresh opportunity can rearrange the priorities within my writing schedule. At other times, I need the repetitive routine to make sure I am covering all of the bases.
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus Christ, my righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.
That’s what popped into my head as soon as I read the title of today’s post.
I love that hymn, and there’s so much power in the words.
2013 was my stepping stone year, and 2014 was my year to embrace polishing.
I do think my word for 2015 is “change”. So much is happening within my family (daughter starting to shine, eldest son off to the North to begin a career), that I know even more change is coming down the pike.
I’m so thankful God has me in the palm of His hand, or none of this would make any sense.
What do I hope publishers will do in 2015? Arm wrestle over my work so much that my sweet agent hasn’t to call in the refs to bust things up.
Jennifer, I love that hymn too. It’s appropriate theme as we march into 2015. I’m ready and eager to tackle arm wrestling tussles for your work.
*has* to call in the refs…
And thank you!!
I meant to say this earlier. That hymn came to mind as I read this post too. 🙂 Great minds sing alike, eh? 😉
Yes, they do, EH? 😉
Amen (singing my way to work!)
My hope for publishers…that they will embrace books with realistic character emotions as well as books that don’t quite fit into the normal boxes.
My hope for my writing…after eleven years writing slowly and learning learning learning, 2014 was my year to learn how to finally write fast. I wrote 3 manuscripts in 2014. Two novellas and a middle grade. Never thought I would say that. And 2014 saw my first acceptance for one of those novellas! 2015…I hope this is the year that I polish and shine and finally find an agent. Here’s to hope and wishes and hard work and letting go and trusting God.
Ugh! My math is terrible. Writer’s brain I guess. That would be 12 years writing slowly and methodically. Oops.
Kristen, you are a perfect example of how practice, practice, and more practice make things happen. I’m thrilled for you that you kept at it and obviously continued to improve. Congratulations on the acceptance of your novella this year.
“My hope for publishers…that they will embrace books with realistic character emotions as well as books that don’t quite fit into the normal boxes.”
YES!!
I like the idea of 2015 being a year of hope. For me, I hope to finally have something worthy of querying (by worthy, I mean a story that has a chance of getting a yes:) ). I hope to grow in my learning and in applying craft to my stories. I hope to find an agent.
And I hope to figure out the whole social media streamline thing. Haven’t mastered it yet. 🙂
Jeanne, my impression from your daily interaction on this blog is that you are a thorough, meticulous writer, who is committed to practicing the craft and polishing your work until it shines. You are an example of the kind of writer I look for.
I know what you mean by trying to streamline social media. Just when things seem to fall into sync, something changes again.
Thank you for the encouraging words, Mary. And yes, those social media changes? I guess we just accommodate as we are able, yes? 🙂
Hmmm, didn’t you win the MBT Frasier this year???
(I knew that but I wanted to congratulate you again 😀 )
I hit ‘post comment’ too soon…
You work SO hard, and you are so dedicated, I hope this year is the year you find your agent.
Mary,
I smiled as I read your post.
Yes! Pour on the hope!
I loved your list–for both publishers and authors, and I so agree with everything you mentioned.
Years past were seasoning periods and valleys of refinement. “Now” is all about patience. The future is filled with hope and expectation.
Two key goals for next year include:
*Cementing my brand within my target niche while continuing to grow my blog readership.
*Complete website redesign. (I love my cozy cyber home and I think a face lift will enhance some new ideas I have, as well as improve speed and performance.)
And you mentioned Boomer Lit. Would really like to see this take off in the CBA. I heard a shopper in my favorite book store ask the manager about this. Even the manager agreed that it’s an underserved area.
On another note… if anyone needs a pick-me-up today, I seriously recommend the Godiva Strawberry Cheesecake Truffles. Oh, my gracious! (They pair so nicely with that afternoon cuppa!) 🙂
Cynthia, those are timely goals. I’m cheering you on.
Yes, Boomers make up a large segment of the population. Typically, they are avid readers, and generally they have more discretion money to spend on books. Christian publishers are taking a greater risk in delaying serve this demographic. If they wait much longer to catch up with this audience, these readers will become loyal to their favorite general market authors and may be reluctant to try out CBA books for Boomers.
Cynthia, I loved this line: “Years past were seasoning periods and valleys of refinement. “Now” is all about patience. The future is filled with hope and expectation.” What a great outlook.
And those truffles you mentioned have my mouth watering! 🙂
Jeanne, my sister gave some for my birthday and they are sooo deelish!! 🙂
And yes–here’s to hope! 🙂
Boomer Lit? I have to claim ignorance on that one. What exactly is it?
And if you mention those truffles? Remember what they’d say in school. “if you don’t have enough to share…ya oughtta be mailing them across the border”.
My question exactly.
Boomer main characters?
Set in Boomer formative years (60s-70s-maybe 80s)?
Boomer themes (whatever they are)?
Hope for 2015 … oh, I need it. I hope to continue to improve in writing and to discover where I fit in … where I need to be plugging in.
I’m enjoying Susan May Warren’s Conversations with a Writing Coach. And I was so encouraged just today by Ane Mulligan’s interview here — http://mtlmagazine.com/mtl-newsletter-26/
I love how Ane says that her first book “was fun to write, and taught me how to do research. It now resides beneath my bed, but it was a wonderful learning vehicle.”
I’m so glad you plugged in here, Shelli. I’m loving getting to know you better. 🙂
Thank you, Jeanne. You are all so encouraging … each step of the way. I miss Andrew. 🙂
Shelli, you are wise to have chosen two knowledgable encouragers. Susan May Warren’s enthusiasm is inspiring. I love the way Ane described her first book–honoring its important place in her writing journey.
Davis Bunn wrote seven books in nine years (practice) before he had a published book. Where you fit and where you need to plug in tend to fall into place as you continue to practice and find your voice and pinpoint your passion. I hope al those happen for you in 2015.
Thank you, Mary. I need to start a new project … for practice, if anything. But I want it to be the right project. After working on the middle grade and discovering they are hard to place (and plus, just simply in the learning the craft phase) … I’m leery of just jumping in there. I’ll probably be too cautious now. 🙂
Shelli, it’s a mistake to try to follow trends and write for what is currently popular. You need to identify where your passions are. What kinds of books do you enjoy reading? Are they fiction or nonfiction? What do you love to learn about? Do you like historical or contemporary characters? And keep going. That exercise will help you to land where you should be. Then stick to the genre you identify as your fit. You have to stay true to who you are because that is where your best writing will come from. And there is the practical side as well. Authors begin to grow an audience with the first book they write, so they need to stick with that genre for a good long time to continue to grow their audience. If they were to switch to another genre, they would have to start all over building a new audience. In the meantime, the audience for the first book would get tired of waiting for the author’s next book in that genre and move on to find a new favorite.
Genres go in cycles. For example, right now many publishers have over acquired historical romance so they aren’t looking at those proposals from new authors, unless the writing and story are so sublime they don’t want to risk losing out on that author. But in a year or two, they’ll be looking for historical romance proposals again.
I hope this is helpful information for you.
Ane’s just a wonderful person all together, and such a resource and encourager for all writers!!!
Cough…reminds Shelli what I said, way back…cough.
As is often the case, Mary, you speak my mind! There are many of us who have gone indie for some of the reasons you mention here. Many think we are opposed to traditional publishing. It’s not that. It’s that we do not like the direction traditional publishing has taken recently. Part of the constricting in the industry is due to competition with independent authors. And yet the publishers are actually making moves that will turn more authors to this avenue, only constricting their viability in the market more. I want to see CBA make changes that will improve the industry as a whole—especially since their message is so important! You hit on exactly the moves they will need to make. I hope they listen!!! I would only add that they should also give authors direct and immediate sales information so they can better evaluate marketing decisions they make in terms of ROI and the like.
And as always, authors need to grow their knowledge and craft in order to make it in this field.
Connie, your additional point is well taken and should be added to the list. Upon an author’s request, publishers need to provide him or her with current sales numbers for exactly the reason you mentioned. That said, one of the reasons publishers are reluctant to give those numbers upon an author’s request it is that the author could get current sales numbers one day, and then the publisher could receive a boatload of returns the next day. Or the opposite could also be true. On the day an author requests current sales numbers, the sales could be lackluster and discouraging, but a big box store could purchase a large quantity the next day.
I think authors still have a right to ask for sales numbers so they can evaluate the success of their marketing efforts and make adjustments. Publishers need only to include a disclaimer that the numbers they quote one day have the potential to change up or down drastically in a matter of a few days.
Hope for 2015! I love everything a new year represents. Hope, change, new beginnings, refreshment, possibilities, and on and on. 2014 was an amazing year all around for my writing and my family life. It was a great stepping stone. I continue to learn so much about writing with each project I work on (or re-work on). My hope for Christian Publishers is that they are proactive, instead of reactive. I hope they take calculated risks and that they find great success. When publishers succeed, we all succeed.
Thank you for a great year, Mary! I look forward to all that 2015 has in store for us.
“My hope for Christian Publishers is that they are proactive, instead of reactive. I hope they take calculated risks and that they find great success.”
Ooooh, well said!!
I’m with you, Gabrielle. I love everything a new year represents. December is a time for tying loose ends, completing tasks, and planning ahead so the new year truly can be a fresh start. You put it nicely, hoping CBA publishers are proactive rather than reactive. Yes, let’s hope so for their continued success and financial viability and ours.
Don is unable to respond to this posting.
He is still cleaning out the refrigerator leftovers from Thanksgiving.
Don, just a warning so you’re not taken by surprise. When you finally close the refrigerator door, turn around. December is staring at you.
2015 is the year I put myself out there and face the possibility of rejection from an agent. It’s also the year I dig in my heels and say “good enough” is not, in fact, good enough. Whether it’s my walk with God or my writing – I want more than good enough. I want the kind of excellence that feeds a fire deep down inside where neither wind nor rain can quench it. 2015 is going to be a spectacular year!
I love that admonition , “Good is the enemy of best”.
“Good enough” is fine for putting the crayons back in the box, or sorting a mountain of Lego, it is not something one should aim for in any other realm.
Heather, those words are worth being savored, remembered, written down and hung above our computers so they can be repeated as often as needed. Let them be our theme for 2015.
Friends, I have a brief message from Andrew…
“Perhaps 2015 is the year to nurture hope that there IS hope, that our beloved dreams will begin to bloom…might you also pass along my thanks for the prayers and good wishes of all?”
Bless him!
Continuing to pray.
Praying for him still!
It’s a gift to our community that he’s back to being able to “message” us.
This blog was so heartening, I’m saving it to favorites. I am waiting for a publishing house to take an educated chance on something new and a bit off-beat, and I believe 2015 is the year it will happen. Jennifer, I write Boomer Lit. I think you’d like it!
I learn something new every day thanks to the wealth of information available on blogs. We must always “sharpen the saw” or become dull. Whatever our endeavor or industry, change is constant. I resisted blogging, but have discovered it is a tool to help me become a better writer and allows me to share my faith. My hope is in Jesus. He’s in charge of who will read what I write. I place my hope in him.