The Brutally Honest Author - Part 2

Ready for another session with my foul-mouthed self? God, I hope so because I have some questions that demand to be answered.

Want to know more about where "The Brutally Honest Author" started? Read this post.

Once again, remember, these are my experiences and opinions only. Others may think or feel differently than me because they've experienced things differently. I'd love to hear your opinions as well, so please do respond in the comments! And if you got questions, ask away and I will try to get to them in the next “Brutally Honest Author” post!

@NicoleDCarver asked me a bunch of questions! This post is all for you, Nicole.

1a. "What did you unexpectedly learn about traditional pub?" & "What surprised you?"

Man, where do I even start? I had done a lot of research into traditional publishing before attempting to go that route. I wanted to be prepared so there wasn't a whole lot that surprised me or that I learned unexpectedly.

I did learn a few things second hand in my experience. Some have inspired blog posts like 'Critical Critique Conduct: Handling Feedback like a Pro'. There is a bit in there about arguing over edits with a publisher. Had I written that post the way I really wanted to then it would have been the true first post in the Brutally Honest Author series.

Things that surprised me but should have were the amount of fucking authors that fight over every little error (like, seriously, who the fuck fights over fixing a damned spelling error???).

2. "Do you have an agent and if so how did you decide they were a good fit?"

I do not have an agent and I'm not 100% sure I will go that route since I am rather content with my current situations and contracts, but I did ask a good friend to answer this who does have an agent. When I have an answer from her I will tag you in a revisit of this question!

However, I do have an opinion on one thing. Don't be so desperate for an agent that you say yes to someone that you are not comfortable. Remember you fucking have to work with this person, they are representing you and your novel. Also, do your research, talk to agents when you see the #AskAgent tag pop up.

Hell, be a stalker and learn all about the ones you're interested. Do not be afraid to make sure you like this person.

3. "Why did you do trad pup after self-pub?"

Before I ever did self-publishing, I'd had a dream of being traditionally published.Not going to lie self-publishing is a hard row to hoe, but traditional is no walk through the garden either.

I knew this before I wanted to try and see if I was good enough to find someone who believed in my work too. I want to learn more about the industry as well. I do not regret doing self-publishing first, I regret not doing my research before I did it and being so quick to give up a dream of mine.

4. "How did NaNo help you write?"

NaNo (aka NaNoWriMo -- National Novel Writing Month for the unindoctrinated) first taught me to finish a draft. It taught me the art of fast drafting. It gave friends that understand writing to lean on. It allowed me understand the value in a shitastic first draft.

Seriously, so many look down on NaNo because "all you do is produce crap". Well, yeah, that's the fucking point of it. Not to be good, not to worry about if it makes sense but to just write. That seems to be where so many aspiring authors struggle. Not only writing, but writing to completion.

NaNo gives you the freedom to totally suck...and in sucking at writing that first draft, you end up learning HOW to write a first draft. And then after that you learn to edit those drafts.

Everyone who reads this, though, do me a fucking favour. Do NOT think you wrote the great <insert country of origin here> novel in 30 damned days. You didn't. Editing is a thing for a reason.

Join me next time for questions from @BBMorgan_W and @jlperidot