Anatomy of a Writing Career - Quarter 1

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One of the things I hear again and again from new (and even seasoned) writers in our genre is the inability to gauge where you are versus where everyone else is on their career path. What is normal? What is successful? When should you worry? When should you celebrate? Can you ever slow down and take a breath?

Anyway, lots of confusion, lots of competition, but not a lot of concrete information to compare your own experiences with. So I thought it might be both fun and interesting to track the steps of a completely new M/M author for one year.

I chose S.C. Wynne as my guinea pig. You may have heard of her. Probably not. And that's really the point. S.C. is funny, smart and talented. She is disciplined and driven to succeed. Are those things enough? Well, we shall see over the coming months.

For our first interview with S.C. we're just going to set our baseline, as it were. Ask a few basic questions and get some advice from readers and authors alike that S.C. can put into practice -- or not. And then we can view the results. By next quarter we should even have some actual sales figures.

So here we go!

S.C. Wynne started writing m/m in 2013 and did look back once. She wanted to say that because it seems everyone’s bio says they never looked back and, well, S.C. Wynne is all about the joke. She loves writing m/m and her characters are usually a little jaded, funny and ultimately redeemed through love.

S.C loves red wine, margaritas and 7 and 7s. Yes, apparently S.C. Wynne is incredibly thirsty. S.C. Wynne loves the rain and should really live in Seattle, but instead has landed in sunny, sunny, unbelievably sunny California. Writing is the best profession she could have chosen because S.C. is a little bit of a control freak. To sit in her pajamas all day and pound the keys of her laptop controlling the every thought and emotion of the characters she invents is a dream come true.

If you’d like to contact S.C. Wynne she is amusing herself on Facebook at all hours of the day. She is blogging here. Her website is under construction here.

 

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:

 

1 - If you had to describe the type of M/M stories you write in just a few words -- such as in an author tagline -- what would you say? 

Humorous, romantic and light hearted but with a healthy serving of sizzling sex per book.  

2 - Where are you right now in your writing career? Are you writing full-time? How many books are you contracted for (titles and publishers)?

 I’m just beginning. I was fortunate enough to sell the very first m/m story I wrote to Loose Id but I have so much to learn it’s daunting. Writing isn’t just sitting and making up stories. There’s so much more to it and that’s where the challenge is for me. I’m truly the cliché of the writer who lives in her pj’s and doesn’t brush her hair all day. I do brush my teeth religiously for the record. But the promotion side of it is where I struggle. There are so many avenues to promote yourself now it’s sometimes hard to navigate which ones are useful and which ones are a waste of energy and time.

No I am not writing full time. Yet.

 I have two novellas contracted with Loose Id Hard-Ass Is Here coming out October 15, 2013 and Hard-Ass Christmas tentatively slated for December 17, 2013. I also have a short story I sold to Evernight Publishing which is just a little Christmas story called Christmas Crush. 

3 - What are you doing now to prepare for the launch of your first book?

 Taking valium with my Cheerios every morning. No I’m kidding. But I would be lying if I didn’t admit I’m terrified of the unknown. I’ve got my website started, a blog at wordpress.com going and I try to be active on Facebook and Twitter.  

4 - Do you have any idea of what to expect following publication of your first book? What do you hope for? What do you fear?

I have no idea what to expect. I assume it being my first book nothing much will happen. I think I’ll be invisible until people know who the heck S.C. Wynne is. But soon I shall rule the world—oh sorry that’s my other alter ego.

Naturally I hope to have good sales and not be humiliated. If only my mother and neighbors my mother threatens buy my book it could be awkward.

I fear I will not sell any books and or people will be mean to me and say my stories are bad. Is that childish? Well you did ask what I fear and that’s me being serious for once. That was a strain, I feel drained. 

5 - How many hours a day are you able to write? How much time do you currently put into promotion?

I own a business and I work thirteen hour days five days a week. But when it’s slow at work I do write. On my days off if I have edits or a submission deadline I write from the time I get up until around ten o’clock at night. If I have no deadlines to meet I still spend at least three fourths of my days off writing. Fortunately I love writing so it is enjoyable to immerse myself in these stories. This is going to sound corny, but I look forward each day to spending time with these people I’ve created. (Now I sound like I have a God complex.)

 6 - Do you use a Critique Group?

I do. They have been a huge help to me. I can ask them newbie questions and they answer them patiently. They’ve been amazing.

 7 - What do you most enjoy about writing?

Getting to create anything I want. Any story that comes out of this brain can potentially become a book. That’s incredibly fulfilling creatively.

8 - What is the hardest part about writing?

Edits. They are so painful sometimes. Having someone come in and change what you’ve put your heart and soul into is difficult to accept. Thank God you don’t sit next to your editor to do the edits. Can you imagine? There would be screaming and hair pulling, maybe even a black eye or two. To be honest that happens when I’m alone going over my edits.

 9 - What are you working on right now?

I’ve got so many stories going right now it’s stupid really. I have a Cowboy Barista story, a Bodyguard story, a Doctor and a Cop story, one about a guy who loses his partner and learns to love again kind of thing… Oh and I’m about to start a vampire story. I’ve been watching anime and I’m in love with Luka from Uraboku. I must have him.

 10 - Describe where you think you'll be by the time we check in again next quarter?

Hopefully holding a big nice royalty check. They pay quarterly right?

In all seriousness I’m hoping I’ll feel more at peace with what this is all about. I’m so new that the process is intimidating. I’m torn between wanting to look like I know what I’m doing, and not actually knowing what I’m doing. So when we meet again next quarter I hope I’ll be able to look back (for real this time) and be proud of what I’ve accomplished so far.

So readers, any advice for a very new writer just dipping her toes in social media and promotion? Authors, any words of hard won experience for a wet-behind-the-ears rookie?