Three Thoughts from an Editor

Today on Salad Bowl Saturday we welcome Kendel Flaum (Kendel Lynn) who I had the pleasure of meeting at Malice Domestic this year. There she appeared in both her role as Managing Editor (and proud mother of the Hen House) of Henery Press (which published among other books Susan M. Boyer's Agatha Winning LOWCOUNTRY BOIL), and as the author of BOARD STIFF. 

Since we have more authors as guest bloggers than we do editors, I asked her if she would put on her editor hat today.

~ Jim

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I’m writing today from the editorial desk, offering three quick bits of advice. Whether in the early stages of your publishing career or submitting to agents or editors, these little gems will keep you on top of your game.

Keep Writing

Writers hear this one repeated so often, it almost becomes null. But don’t let it breeze past you. Even before you sell your manuscript, even before you get an agent. Even when your manuscript is polished and sparkly and on its way, start the next book, whether a new standalone or the next in the series. Not only does it keep you focused on your writerly job and not the email box checking for replies, but it’s completely practical.

Editors/Agents want more than one title, they want a career. At some point, you’re going to be asked what you’re working on now and when will it be done. If you sign a multiple-book deal, you’ll have solid deadlines built in, and you’ll no longer have the luxury of unlimited time to write, revise, rework, beta test, revise, polish, and perfect. You probably spent years getting your first ready for publication. Don’t expect a six month rush job will net the same results.

  

Maintain Your Circle

Continuing the thought, don’t skip the editorial steps. Just because you sold your book, doesn’t mean you can cut some of the valuable processes that got you that book deal. Ask the largest of the NYT bestsellers, and they’ll tell you they still use their best betas, trusted freelance editors, and closest author friends to read, advise, and critique.

If you want adoration, give it to your mom (she’ll love it!). If you want the truth, give it to a writer you trust. And tell them you want the whole truth, the you’ve-got-a-glob-of-spinach-in-your-teeth truth, the you-can’t-pull-off-that-dress truth. It stings, it’s embarrassing, it’s hard to hear. But hear it, use it, work it. Make that manuscript as strong as your last. Better yet, make it stronger. Nothing kills your career like having a sophomore slump followed by a third book bust. Writers who rush to meet deadlines, cut important steps, may quickly find their career lasted three books.

  

Social Media

Please start now. Right now. Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, LinkedIn, Blogging. Whichever two or three best social media outlets suit you, go for it. Now. Did I say that already? Because I’m serious. Build your website – a professional-looking online “resume” of your writer life. It needs personality, projects, and contact. It doesn’t have to be fancy (news flash: very few author websites are), a simple WordPress (free) site works fine. Get yourself out there.

Build your Twitter and Facebook base early, before you sell your book. Way before. By the time you’re racing toward your release date, you’ll be swamped with editorial and promotional duties, plus writing the next book (for those who did not follow my sage advice three paragraphs ago), and you simply won’t have the time to gain followers, much less engage with them.

It’s fabulous to be out there tweeting your release all day, but if you’ve only got 127 followers, you might as well plop yourself on the front porch and tell whoever walks by. Plus, you can’t just shout at strangers (online or in the street) to buy your book, you need to interact with them, talk, reply, like things, so when they do see your name pop up with a book release, they are excited for you and want to buy it.

Thanks for reading, and thanks to Writers Who Kill for having me. I hope you find these bits helpful, and timely, and I hope to see you around the Hen House some day!

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ABOUT KENDEL FLAUM

Kendel is a Southern California native who now parks her flip-flops in Dallas, Texas. She read her first Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators at the age of seven and has loved mysteries ever since. Writing as Kendel Lynn, her debut novel, BOARD STIFF, won several literary competitions, including the Zola Award for Mystery/Suspense. Along with writing and reading, she spends her time as the managing editor of Henery Press where she acquires, edits, and figures out ways to avoid the gym but still eat cupcakes for dinner.

Henery Web: www.henerypress.com

Personal Web: www.kendellynn.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/kendel_lynn

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/kendellynn