Letter to an Aspiring Romance Author
{ Posted by Sabrina Darby on Dec 09 2009 }
As I revise the first romance manuscript I ever wrote, I’ve been wondering what advice I would give the Sabrina who first daydreamed about Regency characters of her own creation. Perhaps––
Dear Sabrina,
Three years from today, you’ll be a published author. Trust your instincts. Don’t be lazy. Edit. Promote. Trust your instincts. And don’t expect it to get easy after the call. Keep writing, roll with the punches and learn as much as you can about the industry before you sign any contracts, written or verbal. Trust your instincts.
For every three times you use a particular word for either male or female genitalia, cut another instance out.
And be patient. Be very, very patient.
Love,
You, in three years.
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- Dec 23, 2009: Romantic Inks » Blog Archive » Letter to the Future
Oh, if there were only do-overs or a time machine! Great advice, but like a parent to a child, do you believe we would have listened to our future selves any better? I think my letter would have read-
Dear Hailey,
In two years, you will be grateful a thousand times over that you turned down the contract for Lineage. It’s too valuable to allow impatience to ruin its possibilities. You will also have been published twice. Due to your impatience, you’ll wish you had waited, learned, or at least considered the staying power of the published word.
I can say I’m proud of you for taking a year off to hone your craft. I would say the time off was well spent, as the project written during that time will be your best to date and earn you a spot at Samhain, where I know you so wanted to be.
We’ll get there. Slow down. Take your time.
Love,
You, in two years
I like you letter and Hailey Edward’s response. I’ll take them as letters to pre-published me.
Letter to self:
Dear Younger, wiser, thinner self;
Get your bum off the couch, exercise… because this journey to published writer is going to take you a while. If you’re smart, you’ll send me an email and I’ll get you a lottery ticket so your impatience will assuaged with many goodies and fine living while you’re waiting.
LOL… Oh, and be patient with your husband. He’s going to be putting up with a lot of you over the next few years.
One last thing, give those babies of yours a hug because at 8-9 they’re starting to get WAAAYYYY too independent to sit still for long.
Love you from your still unpublished self,
April
Love the letters and ain’t they telling the truth. My letter would pretty much be the same.
Dear Mel,
Sit down, get a brown paper bag and breathe. Publishing isn’t going anywhere. It’s okay to take a few months and work on that book you are itching to send to your editor. Because that’s the point of it all–the book. Not you, not your brand new career, but the book. The book is why you started writing in the first place. The only way to do that is to let the book cook a little longer. Everything will come to you in time. And truthfully if you put the book first everything will fall into place.
Second, if you put the book first and take yourself out it, you’ll save yourself years of headaches and heartbreaks. You are not your book. But you are a work in progress. The wonderful thing is if you allow yourself as person to cook a little bit longer everything will fall into place. It’s funny, but you will be a better author because of it.
Lastly, craft is the means to a good story, not God. Publishing and writing are separate entities. And, yes that woman was truly an buttmunch, it wasn’t just you taking anything personally.
Love,
Mel three years later
Absolutely ‘not getting easier after the call’, or email in my case, lol But we never believe that either.
I’ve been thinking about messages to the past because of the ‘Dear Me @ 16′ that’s been floating about on Twitter. Mine to myself of a three years back would have been:
Dear Kim,
In three years, you’re published with EC and Loose ID. Seriously. Oh and you rediscover your love of science fiction, and even better than that, you can put sex in it! Lots and *lots* of sex – which you’re good at writing, btw. You won’t see that one coming…
It’s not an easy ride – 2008 will be craptastic – but you carry on writing through it. You will write stories you never thought you could.
The main thing is don’t give up writing. Even though that option is really, *really* tempting.
Love,
You, in three years.
I love all these letters. Thank you!
I love the part about it not getting easier after ‘the call’. That is so true! I would only add for myself to choose who I query carefully and make sure my book is beyond ready. The most important thing, like you said, trust your instincts!