Imagine that you’re walking down the street, and you spot a mother pushing her new baby in a stroller. You stop to admire the newborn, gaze at her, tilt your head, and look up at the mother and say, “Wow! That’s one ugly baby you’ve got there.”

That new mom is going to stomp a mud hole in you. Unfortunately, many writers react like that new mom when they’re asked for edits.

1. Your book or story is not your “baby”

I feel a certain emotional attachment to my work too. I spend a lot of time on my writing, and when I need to cut out a scene that I particularly like, it can hurt. However, I also know that once my writing leaves my computer and goes out in the wide world, it will be read, interacted with, and (gasp) judged by others.

Let your baby grow up!

2. Whom are you writing for?

If you’re writing only for yourself, then by all means, ignore your editor. Of course, if you’re writing only for yourself, why are you sending your work out anyway?

If you’re writing for others…well, shouldn’t you be taking others’ opinions into consideration?

3. Get some good criticism

“Good” criticism doesn’t come from your mom, husband, wife, or best friend. Those people will tell you your book is great no matter how horrible it truly is. They love you, or at least like you, and they want you to feel good about yourself.

A writers’ group may be a source for a good critique. However, sometimes strangers are just as likely to feel uncomfortably offering criticism, even when it’s constructive. If your critique group doesn’t usually suggest something to improve on, they’re probably not giving you an honest critique. How many writers are there, after all, who really don’t have room for improvement?

4. Art or Excuses?

Ah, this is the one that’s likely to give some folks an apoplectic fit. Keep in mind my background… I did a grad degree in English and suffered through  endured was a part of many discussions about writing and art. These also included many deprecating comments about genre fiction (try saying it with a sneer, that works best… “genre fiction”… ew).

I write genre fiction.

Needless to say, I’m not big on the “art” side of things. I’m not interested in grad students doing theses on my work. I don’t care if some academic finds me worthy of study. I want to tell a good story and have readers enjoy it.

And that means I need to listen to readers when they tell me something isn’t working.

No, that doesn’t mean that I’d necessarily take any advice given, but I will consider it, and honestly. In most cases, the editor is right, and I make the changes requested.

Yep, this post was inspired by a request I got this week to make some changes to a short story before it’s published. Of course, I’ll make the changes, because the editor was right on the mark.

How do you feel about changing your work at an editor’s request?

Many publishers, magazines, and e-zines refuse to accept simultaneous submissions. This can cause inconvenience, and sometimes outright hardship, for authors who want to submit their work to them.

What are simultaneous submissions?

Simultaneous submissions occur when you send your work out to more than one potential publisher at the same time. The obvious benefit to you is that you get your work in the hands of more people, thereby increasing your chance of being published. So what’s the problem, right?

Why do so many refuse to accept them?

Let’s say you’re running an e-zine. You have an issue coming up in a week or so, and you’re choosing from your submissions and putting the online magazine together. You’ve notified the authors that you’ve chosen as submitters, but just before the deadline, an author contacts you to remove a submission. It’s been sold to another e-zine.

So, you’re left with only a few days before publication, and you have to pick a story to replace the one you just lost. It’s understandable that publishers want to avoid this situation. So, they ask that you submit your work to them exclusively, wait for a decision, and only then move on to submit to the next publisher.

How long does it take to get a decision?

It depends on the magazine, obviously, but it’s not unusual to see turn-around times of weeks, or even 2-3 months. Yes, that means that the great story you just wrote might get submitted to a half dozen, or fewer, publishers this year. That doesn’t make your chances of getting published great, does it?

Does pay rate have any affect?

I don’t have any official statistics, but anecdotally, I can say that no, it doesn’t. The e-zine that doesn’t pay anything is just as likely to demand no simultaneous submissions as the print magazine that pays good rates.

How do they know if I submit elsewhere?

They don’t, unless you have to pull a submission from them. You might send your story out to several places, ignoring the simultaneous submission rule. What happens when someone accepts the story? You’ll need to pull it from the others’ consideration.

It may be tempting, but your reputation as a writer can follow you. That editor will remember, and the next time you submit a story, it’s likely to get tossed out up front. Is it worth burning the bridge?

What I suggest.

First off, the obvious path is to seek out publishers who accept simultaneous submissions. Many do, so give them first crack at your work.

Consider submitting to a publisher who refuses simultaneous submissions if the pay is high enough or the prestige of publishing there is good enough. In these cases, it’s worth the time spent waiting. Of course, it’s up to you to decide what’s high enough and good enough.

Also consider it if you’re unpublished. You’re better off getting some publishing credits, even if you have to wait for them.

If a magazine is unknown and pays little or nothing, then I’d avoid submitting to them unless they accept simultaneous submissions. In that case, the publisher probably needs your work more than you need to be published, so they should be more flexible.

If you read the Lifehacker site, you’ll find this interesting, but even if you don’t, it’s a worthwhile read. While many authors also write blogs as a way to connect to their readers and recruit new ones, this is exactly the opposite situation.

After blogging for nine months, Gina Trapani, the Lifehacker editor, got an offer from an agent. How many authors fantasize about something similar happening? It just goes to show you that the dream of becoming a published author is within grasp, if you keep working at it.

Speaking of working at it, how is that goal setting coming? I’ll be posting here shortly concerning my own.

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First off, I did take advantage of Lulu‘s free offer a couple years ago for NaNoWriMo winners. I got a copy of my NaNo novel printed up for free, and I was very pleased with the results.

• The book comes back to you EXACTLY as you sent it out. So, if there’s a little mistake in the cover art, it’ll be there on the book too. This is also a good thing in that you can get exactly the book you want.
• You do the cover art. Lulu has some stock covers to choose from, but you’ll probably want something unique. If you’re not artistic (like me!), then you’ll definitely want to enlist some help in this department.
• You do the layout work, based on Lulu’s guidelines. Based on the size book you’ve chosen, you’ll have layout guidelines to follow. It can be a bit tedious, but it’s not difficult. I think it took me and my husband several hours of tweaking to get this just right.
• It’s free!! Can’t beat that price, can you? Set up and listing is free. I believe they’ll even host your e-book for free. Then, for each book you sell, Lulu takes a cut and you get the rest. I won’t go into the fee structure here, but it’s not unreasonable.
• You can pay about $100 and also get an ISBN, which allows you to get listed on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. That one’s a no-brainer, in my opinion.

I know there are other sites that offer more help, but they also charge fees. Since I haven’t used any of them, I can’t speak for the quality or whether the fees are worth it. Anyone?

For those of you planning on publishing a novel — whether it was part of NaNoWriMo or not — will you choose the traditional publishing route or a self publisher or print on demand publisher?

I don’t agree that POD or self-publishing are strictly vanity presses. I think they also have benefits to offer serious writers as well. From my readings, here’s what I’ve gathered about the alternatives.

1. Time. It may take a year or more to find a traditional publisher, and then you’ll need to go through their publishing process. Your book won’t see the bookshelves any time soon with a traditional publisher. If you choose POD or self-publishing, you can have something ready in a matter of days.
2. Money. A traditional publisher won’t charge you anything, and you may get an advance. Depending on the route you choose for self-publishing, you may have to pay set up fees. You might want to check out Lulu . They seem like a reputable POD publisher, and you won’t pay to set up your book.
3. Promotion. Many traditional publishers will expect you to do some of your own marketing, but you’ll certainly need to plan on doing even more if you self-publish.
4. Prestige. Obviously, being published traditionally offers more clout, but self-publishing doesn’t have to mean a vanity press. If you market your work and achieve respectable sales, you can do a lot to offset that impression. Of course, there’s always the chance that you’re self-published book will be successful enough that a traditional publisher will want to pick it up.

In my opinion, it all boils down to time. If you think the work is marketable, then it’s worth a shot at a traditional publisher. However, you may not want to wait for months (or longer) to find a publisher. If that’s your situation, then self-publishing might be a better choice.

Either choice you make, you’ll want to put your best writing forward. If you self-publish, you may want to pay someone to edit your book. If you’re looking for a freelancer to do just that, check out elance . I’ll give more information on elance and choosing a freelancer in another post.

I’m leaning toward making at least a few overtures toward a publisher and/or agent. If things don’t go well, then POD is always an option.

Good luck everyone, and keep writing!