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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Publishing Interview with Terri Bruce Part II

Yesterday Part I of a five part interview with Terri on publishing started here on the Write Time.  Today is Part II of the five part interview.

Em has more on this over at The Realms of a Fantastical Mind.


I am thrilled to be here today to talk about navigating the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of publishing. Many, many wonderful people helped me on my road to publication—sharing information, resources, and their experience—and I jumped at the chance to do the same when Emily and Dean offered me the opportunity.

With so many indie presses, conflicting information, and scam artists out there, Dean and Emily asked me to stop by and talk about what I learned while I was searching for a publisher and why I made the decision to work with a small press with a questionable (internet) reputation.

Why did you decide to work with Eternal Press specifically?

I see many new authors become completely wrapped up in and stressed out believing there is only one right publisher/super awesome publishing deal, and that accepting anything else would be a monumental failure. The truth, however, is that unless you only plan to write one book, you will probably work with many different publishers during your career (see this story about John Grisham for an example). Your work will appear in magazines, anthologies, novellas, novels, and possibly even graphic novels. You may start out with one agent or publisher and then outgrow him/her. The publisher may not want everything you write or some of what you write might be a better fit for another publisher. Your career goals and values may change over time. The world will change and things like self-publishing and e-books will be invented and change the game.

There’s a saying: don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. I had three (smaller) publishers, including Eternal Press, interested in my book and I was starting to get nibbles from agents. I could have held out for that “perfect” offer, but when I looked at what EP was offering, it was a good deal. I think it’s critically important that authors have a set of goals in mind when they begin searching for a publisher and to refer back to that list of goals frequently so they don’t become sidetracked. What is it you really want: is it to make money from your book—if so, how much money and in what time frame? Is it prestige, critical acclaim, validation, peer recognition, to cross an item off your bucket list? All of these things will make a difference as to what a “good” offer will mean to you. And, remember, that list of items might vary by story. I believe that the novel I just sold, “Hereafter,” has commercial potential—it’s a fun beach read. And so I wanted a commercially viable publisher for it (with or without an agent). I also have a future noir in a drawer that I know will never be a commercial success, but I do believe it’s a work of literary merit—when it comes time to seek publication for that, I’m not going to bother looking for an agent. I’m heading straight to micro-presses that specialize in quirky, “thinky” and experimental fiction. 

Continued on Part III

Biography:

Terri Bruce has been making up adventure stories for as long as she can remember and won her first writing award when she was twelve. Like Anne Shirley, she prefers to make people cry rather than laugh, but is happy if she can do either. She produces fantasy and adventure stories from a haunted house in New England where she lives with her husband and three cats. Her first novel, HEREAFTER—a contemporary fantasy about a woman’s search for redemption in the afterlife—will be released by Eternal Press later this year. Visit her on the web at www.terribruce.net.

Connect with Terri:

HEREAFTER

Coming August 1, 2012 from Eternal Press

Thirty-six year old Irene Dunphy didn't plan on dying any time soon, but that’s exactly what happens when she makes the mistake of getting behind the wheel after a night of bar-hopping with friends. She finds herself stranded on Earth as a ghost, where food has no taste, the alcohol doesn’t get you drunk, and the only person who can see her is a fourteen year old boy-genius who can see dead people, thanks to a book he found in his school library. This sounds suspiciously like hell to Irene, so she prepares to strike out for the Great Beyond. The problem is, while this side has exorcism, ghost repellents, and soul devouring demons, the other side has three-headed hell hounds, final judgment, and eternal torment. If only there was a third option…


1 comment:

E.B. Black said...

Thank you. I'm already a little clearer about what my goals are for getting my next novel published than I was before I read this post. I plan to read the rest of the interview. It's very informative already.