Advice for debut-book authors

by RudyG

River Oaks Bookstore's Michael Jones & author

I've completed the initial segment promoting my first book, The Closet of Discarded Dreams, in Denver, Nuevo Mexico, L.A. and San Anto & Houston, Texas. While I'm still digesting events in N.M. and Texas, I thought it might be useful to summarize some of the most important things I learned in that they might help others succeed with the whirlwind experience that many aspire to. In no particular order, here are my preliminary points:

Fine tune your book tour schedule to your abilities and capacity for stress. Mine was a whirlwind, not only rushing past me like a opening Xmas presents as a kid, but with too little time between events, too much driving that wore out my coccyx and jet lag that often reminded me of my age. It should have stretched over months rather than weeks. Once yours begins, the rollercoaster makes no stops for huevones.

Rely on published authors you know. Don't be shy; ask them everything. Ask them what surprised them most. See if they'll share their contacts, Email lists, connections, data bases and then be surprised when your familia and closest friends bring wine, cheese and biscochitos to a read.

Prepare everything well in advance. I devoted two solid months before my publication date (40 hrs./wk.) to setting up artwork, printing and shipment of books, bookmarks, business cards, posters, flyers and coasters; making connections for venues; contact media for publicity ops like interviews and reviews. Then a two-by-four came out of The Closet and struck me because I didn't begin early enough and/or I should have left additional lead-time before the first appearance.

Your largest audience for your first reading/signing of your novel, collection or poetry book may be your hometown or wherever you're best known. (Unless you burned too many bridges, in which case you go for the out-of-towners.) Do everything to make it the best showing possible. Even though over fifty people attended mine, I later realized how many corners of my little corner I'd not reached.

Some of author's best supporters - la familia

Overestimate and anticipate your need for books and bookmarks, at least. One day I had sixty copies of my book. Ten days later pendejo-Me had to tell three audiences that there were none available there at the event. I did fine on bookmarks, but ran out of business cards. Another place I lagged was on solidifying publisher orders by those hosting me. Entropy and disappointment somehow seem to converge like white lies with getting busted. Improved handling of the two sources for books would have covered my nalgas in all cases.

Develop and constantly update your database of contacts, events, meetings, etc. I started out well two months before publication, but the constant stream of E-mails, meetings and phone discussions didn't always get entered. The bill for this will come due, I know.

Keep a detailed log of what happens to copies of your book. Beyond who you billed and who still owes, the flood of book exchanges with other authors, books promised for reviewers or others will soon overwhelm you if your memory is like mine, which is casi ausente. Some of this is relevant for tax purposes but more importantly, all of it is necessary for the success of your first book and the future of your second.

Take no one for granted. Obviously you need to remember who to publically thank for their help on your tour. But also, don't assume that anyone you interact with is less intelligent or capable as you. I did this a couple of times and set myself up to be big-idiota-center-stage when I should have been most alert and prepared. I believe these were cases of the dreaded muy-muy syndrome attempting to take root in my ego.

Go for a more perfect reading. Periodically look up at some length at gente at your readings, not just peeking to see if they're still awake; the one whose your age often won't be. I read once with five other authors, including experienced ones, and I was the ONLY person to do this; the others NEVER looked up once. This requires prepping your readings, reading them aloud many times by yourself or with a critic, using typed copy rather than your book (or at least within a copy of your book), marking up your copy for pauses, word emphasis, intelligent enunciation (like I had problems reading "of value" and had to pause after "of") and at least for me, using fourteen point type. One day it'll be sixteen. I also learned that I didn't need to rote memorize my text; that came from repeated reading.

Do your best, especially for small audiences. Experienced, even well-known, authors with publisher support that included airfare, hotel, big bookstore liaison in large cities advised me they had had audiences of 3 people. When only two or three showed at a couple of mine, I was ready to give them the greatest performance I could.

Tweet, friend, share, post and make it a joy to read. I won't nominate myself as the best at this (consider this post), but my wisest daughter Marika has impressed upon me the importance of keeping mi cara in front of my fans by sharing news every few days. And at least trying to make it fun, funny, informative, interesting to read.

Give of yourself to your audience. I'm guessing that the majority of an audience comes to hear you, not your text. Yes, they want to find value in your book and your words may be great. But they want to know you, be a part of the special thing that's fallen on you the author. Don't give them dry facts about you, your life, your road to authorship. Give them the funny, the thrilling, the emotion behind writing that book. If you have to, invent some. But relax because they want the real you. Take pride, yes, because they expect for you to convince they should buy/read the work. Then fulfill your responsibility to make them glad they came and they'll look forward to book two.

Author Garcia finally takes a break

Take breaks to give yourself a qué-suave! You got a book published! Enjoy the moments. Remind yourself of the major hurdle you just leapt. Have some beers, some agavero, some President (not in that order) with family, friends and colleagues. And laugh, with joy. Then get to writing whatever you have the most energy and ganas for, because you're meant to be a writer, not some puto self-promoter.

Undoubtedly I've forgotten or not emphasized things that should be. Any one of these items could be expanded. This is also just one author's experience. I welcome additions, corrections, elaborations and contributions from others who know more. Or less.

Adelante con otra obra! 

RudyG, aka Rudy Ch. Garcia, author of The Closet of Discarded Dreams, taking a break before visiting northern and southern Colorado to share my work. Sometime soon after I catch my breath and get some more pinche books.

My first book-editor experience

by Rudy Ch. Garcia

You're at a writers' conference and you finally get to ask your question--what was it like working with your first editor?--and the panelists give you some minutes and maybe a good story or joke and then they go on because there's lots of others like you and lots more questions. Below I relate more of the details you wish others had given.

I just finished four days on the first round of editor's mark-ups of my debut novel The Closet of Discarded Dreams. First came the dread, the dread of neophyte novelist anxious about what the editor will find! My description would be belied by Neil Gaiman, so I'll let him talk:

"The first problem of any kind of even limited success [RG-like first novels] is the unshakable conviction that you are getting away with something, and that any moment now they will discover you. It's Imposter Syndrome, something my wife Amanda christened the Fraud Police.

Neil Gaiman

Imposter Syndrome induced by the Fraud Police, in my case, my first editor, who maybe carries her own titanium clipboard, razor-edged. Would she bust me for mediocre prose, cardboard characters and MIA plot points? Would she run to the BIG editor and threaten to resign if I wasn't reassigned to someone younger who hadn't earned their clipboard, yet?

In the real world, you can get busted by your story's editor. Earlier this year, one of my short stories came back ALL marked up, changed, critiqued, and probably had clipboard indentations that I didn't notice. At the end was a long note that described how many of the editor's hours and hours my weak writing had cost. I followed each of his notations and spent my hours and hours on rewrites, and to this date don't know if it will be published. So there.

Back to this editor-experience. I'm a fairly thick-skinned writer, given that it's gotten wrinkly, desiccated and flab-uloso, so the editor's comments, suggestions and questions don't bother much. There's chingos of them, but, really, I expected more, and worse. Like something the Fraud Police might say, like "This book sucks." But not this time.

When I was less experienced, and thinner-skinned, so many ideas from someone else about MY writing would probably have raised the hairs on the back of my neck, gotten me to pull my feet up onto the chair in dread, or maybe made me rise off the chair to pace the whole patio, exclaiming, "That's not how I wrote it!" But I have more experience now--especially the experience of countless form-rejection letters that didn't provide opportunities to improve my prose.

That's exactly the point of editing, no? I didn't write it that way and somebody else who's providing a different perspective is telling me maybe I should have written it differently. They're also giving me one last chance to change, improve it.

So I spent hours in four days running my editor's gauntlet. Could I make it? I went thru and took care of the easy stuff, mostly punctuation and realizing things like, "Oh, that's not what that word means, exactly?"

In the next round I dealt with more significant edit remarks in the realm of, "Think about changing this word/phrase/sentence/paragraph because . . ." I've heard other authors talk about having a good editor, or their editor catching errors that the author didn't. I get to realize what that means and I go with the flow. Mostly.

Then I'm done, but only with my editor's eagle-eye catches. I have one saving round yet to tackle: what did the editor, and me before that, miss that somebody should have caught? To salvage my POWER, CONTROL, PERSONAL WORTH and prove to the world that this is MY stuff. This sounds somewhat like a passage from The Closet of Discarded Dreams hero's suffering. It actually wasn't that melodramatic, but a bit of that sensation was there. And of course I do find stuff. And work into the late night, patio lights fixated on me, but my vision blurring from the moonlight, my wizard-brain and writer-soul in the flow 'cause this is what writers do, until it's . . . all . . . fixed. I gotta quit my day job! Oh, that's right--I don't have one!


Al final, I sent off the revisions yesterday. Await her final verdict. Hope it's close. Close to perfect is what some might wish for. I just want close to finished. Not because it's too boring or tiresome or demanding of a process. Because it's no different than raising a son or daughter, or a lot like putting the last layer of shellac on a carpentry project. I need to say Finis and let the work stand on its own two or four legs, as the case may be. A writer's passion is to write--not linger and lounge and homestead a work--and then move on to new writing.

At this point, initial reaction from the editor is very positive. I'll get finals back from her tomorrow. Then, in some days, BIG editor will go over it. And the last round will begin. That's what I get for writing a novel, no? For wanting el mundo to see it. Qué no? Plus, at least so far, it was a much less agonizing experience than I would have imagined.

Then I'll be ready for: What new thing should I start writing? So I can get edited, again. Esperamos. . .

Es todo, hoy,
RudyG

Rudy Ch. Garcia's alternate-world epic recounts a Chicano's experience going through worse than his first editor, but maybe not as bruto as your own as a latino in Gringolandia. The Closet of Discarded Dreams will be released Sept. 1 But read this before you buy it.