time to reevaluate the blog. i've been cutting back while feeling guilty, but less time at the computer is simply something i have to do. so please forgive me for not leaving comments on your blogs, and for not posting here nearly as often. i think my biggest concern with blogging is the increase to an already sedentary lifestyle. combine that with getting older, and it's not a good thing.
on the writing front:
right now i'm working on a light edit. In the process i've come upon some things I want to revise, so this is going to take longer than i thought. a couple more weeks, max.
i've written 6 books for Penguin/NAL. Those were all two-book contracts. This current project is the last book of my most recent contract. a new proposal can't be submitted until 30 days after book 6 is approved. i'm guessing that puts us at around april 1 for the earliest possible submission date. I don't have to send NAL a proposal unless my next idea is a suspense with a paranormal element. if i decide to write a suspense with a paranormal they have first look. at that point they can turn it down and i can go elsewhere, or they can make an offer that i can accept or turn down. however i can't accept a lower offer from another publisher.
i've been toying with the idea of writing a book i've wanted to write for several years. it's something i should probably write without a contract because that would allow me more artistic control and also more control over my life during the project. the downside of that idea is no income. so i have a lot to think about, and a lot of decisions to make in the next several months.
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30 comments:
Nice to hear you're alive and well...I was starting to get a little worried. Sounds like a lot of decisions about directions to be taken coming up. Take your time, do what you need, blah, blah, we'll all be supportive fools for ya!
Trust your instincts, Anne. It's a big decision and you need to weigh all the options. Then, I'm sure, you'll do what will work best for you.
Anne, absolutely no need to feel guilty. The blogs consume a lot of time. The reality is, I love keeping in touch with my friends... but I wonder how many more books I'd read in a year if I wasn't on blogs?
Are we, in the end, shooting ourselves in the foot here?
All of which leaves me thinking about what we've talked about...
And on the other side of the coin, trust your instincts, as Anne McA said. You'll find your path.
Anne, another vote here for trusting your instincts. ((HUGS))
Ditto, ditto, ditto, and ditto.
I have a love hate relationship with blogging. But I can't seem to stop.
Sigh.
(((Anne)))
angie, yeah i thought i'd better post to let you know i'm still alive!
anne, decision making isn't something i'm good at, but i'll see what i can do! thanks for the support!
sandra, i've met so many people through blogging, so i would never reget the past 18 months, but i do think maybe you reach a time when you have to think about the consequences of too much time spent blogging. because it is addictive. that's the whole thing. i don't watch tv, go to movies, rent movies. hardly listen to music. i need more balance. and i really need to get off my ass!!
mary louisa, thanks so much! my instincts say pull back and write the book i want to write, but i'm not sure that's practical. no, it's not practical. i know it isn't! :D
i like taking risks, so that aspect of doing something so impractical really appeals to me! it's an all or nothing gamble.
heather, thanks so much. :) i love blogging. that's my problem. if i hated it i'd be better off. i might be happy to quit writing and just blog. and i do know that makes no sense unless i win the lottery!
Ah, so that's where you've been! :-) It's a good thing, editing. Of course, ya know, we forgive you.
Looks like you have a lot of things to think about. Good luck -- and I say choose what would make you happy. You only live once (in this lifetime, anyway). Subarashii - make the most of it!
(BTW, this post is actually quite helpful to me, because now I know what to call my novel in my queries: suspense with paranormal elements. Thank you! *G*)
Nah, I say go against your instincts. It worked for George Costanza.
Much as I understand the income thing, if you don't get on that plane you'll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But soon, and for the rest of your life.
Leave it to Bogart to reduce the complexities of life into one great line. Hey, it was that or something about gin joints.
You took a risk to get into this career, and it paid off, right? What makes you think this one won't?
I know of an author who, when faced with a similar dilemma, worked on her contract book most of the week... and saved Fridays for her "instinct" book. That book did sell and opened up an entirely new market for her, which she's become successful in. Is that a possibility?
I too vote for trusting your gut. It is the only way to run a writing business, IMHO (and experience).
haha! i feel like a kid in a candy store. i want to steal a piece of candy, and all my friends are cheering me on, telling me i can do it. i think that's because what i want to do goes against everything a writer is supposed to do. any agent would say it's a bad idea. the biggest problem is that i wouldn't have a book out for maybe two or three years -- if it sold at all once it was done. huge names are the only ones who can get away with that kind of gap without losing their audience.
christa, i could never do the weekend thing because i can only focus on one story at a time, but i had planned to write another book during downtimes while waiting for revisions, ect. but a million other things always required my attention, and i need those periods of non-writing to recharge and refill the well.
s.w. -- glad you can use the suspense with paranormal element!
jaye -- i keep getting the feeling that's what i should do! haha! go against my instincts.
So your gut says to go against your instinct? %)
christa -- heh!
that's it in a nutshell! :D
Could you do a proposal on a new suspense and then work your tail off on the instinct book while you're waiting to hear?
jaye, the instinct book will take a long time to write, and i want to eliminate stress and distractions while working on it. wow. that's a pipe dream. :D
Blogging: if it gets in the way of writing, then by all means, get it out of the way. Feeling guilty about not blogging is pretty much the same as feeling guilty about not turning up to nightclubs and parties every day. As writers, it is our duty to be anti-social to at least some degree. :)
Publishing/Writing: I don't really have any advice here, but I do know that writing the book that makes you want to get up in the morning will make for a better book by far.
Hey Anne, good luck with your decision. It's a tough one. I hope you find a safe and happy balance.
daniel, that's such a good comparison. but i have to say the only thing that makes me want to get up in the morning is chocolate cake. or that really good white cake they serve at weddings.
kelly, i'm a libra so i can't figure out why i'm not all over the balance thing!
i think the guilt is because a blog's success is largely due to visitors and comments. the comments are usually much more interesting and entertaining than the original post. so i do feel bad.
Anne,
You are forgiven. Not that I'm in any position to offer any forgiveness since I'm as guilty as you, if not worse. I haven't been blog hopping in months, but I've been writing, so I have a legit excuse--as I'm sure you have too. Don't apologize for doing what you're supposed to be doing.
Writing.
Tanya
Hiya kiddo. I don't know about you, but I came to blogging for the waters. (Damn that Stephen Blackmoore!) Seriously, if you need someone to talk things over with shoot me an email. I can be a good listener if motivated. I'll make you buy the coffee though, since you're still under contract, heh heh.
Besides, I still need a Polish Anne Frasier book.
Brrr, this Naked Wednesday thing might have to be rethought for Minnesotans at least. XO.
hulles, that polish book is still in my car. we need to get together for coffee soon. and yeah, the naked wednesday thing is downright dangerous. what were you thinking????
tanya, you're my role model. ;)
you do vanish for large periods of time and seem to get along fine.
Go for it Anne. The blog can wait. The book you've always wanted to write is the one you should be writing. If you can swing it financially, even thought it might be tight, be full of risks, I say dive on it anyway.
Yeah, but I always drag my ass back here, don't I? LOL!
movie trailer
ooops...
I meant:
B O O K
T R A I L E R
I know, I'm bad. :-)
jamie, you're a bad influence. or good. i'll let you know in about 3 years. ;)
this will be the first book that won't be written for a market, and that's very risky. which is why i used to always think i'd write it when i was semi-retired. but by then i won't have the energy or ambition. translation: i won't give a damn.
tanya: i think it's so funny that publishers are calling them book trailers. it'll be interesting to see what happens with that.
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