Insider Info #7 - Idiosyncrasies of Publishers

This may not be an issue for all authors but we have discovered that, depending on a few factors, you may be or become one of the authors with a publisher who has a few... Hmm, how shall we put this? "Quirks".

We did a little poll through some of the authors we know, beyond our little group -though we did include our own experiences- to find out the answer to a question that kind of just came up during one of our Blog topic discussions. We did discover though that 99.999% of this issue tended to occur more with the e-Book industry publishers and less the more "traditional" print publishing houses. We're not talking about Harlequin, Random House, St. Martin's Press, etc, etc, for example. We're talking strictly e-Book first over anything else. We won't name any names but we're sure you can all come up with a list on your own.

The question was:  What is the biggest pet peeve you have with your publisher?

The answers were some we've all come across and a few that made us giggle too. And the answers were, in no particular order, limited only to ones that were clean and non-snarky.

• "Timelines for getting me my first/second round of edits, no consistency" -- Yeah, been there, done that! Sadly this is often the result of their work load on their end and the number of editors on hand at any given time. They do take holidays so give them a break. But keep an eye on the calendar and if your publishing date is approaching too fast, make some noise.
• "Seems like no one (left hand) actually knows what the others are doing (right hand)" -- Ouch! No solution here but to keep your own shit together and keep an eye on the horizon for any signs that their shit's about to blow.
• "My one editor seems to be great and the other has got to be having troubles or something because wow! Do they even read each other's notes?" -- No, we don't think they actually do, and you, the author, usually get blamed for that too BTW.
• "My publisher has a set of what they call House Guidelines for what can and can't be used in a story and how a story can flow. For example, they have this thing about semi-colons (that's the one used for a winky faced emoticon for all you new generation authors). But I'd swear they are not all using the same Guidelines! One says they all have to come out and the next editor goes and puts them all back in." -- Yeah, been there and done that too! Oh and you, the author, get blamed all the way for not using them where they should be if they should be.
• "I'm not sure what English language these people have studied and are "experts" at, but it's not the same one I was taught." -- It never is. We're pretty sure they all studied the Queen's English, in England, in the 16th century. Well, that's our take on that one anyway.
• "Vague emails to questions I have that really shouldn't be so hard to answer, what is with that?" -- Ahh, yes. This is the "covering our ass" diversionary tactic. Because the "boss" isn't always available and "legal" may be on a beach somewhere, there is some poor schmuck that is answering your email. High enough up the food chain to do so, but not high enough to give "official" word on anything. While irritating we found that just emailing back with a thank you and "can you pass this along to so-and-so so I can have these answered more to my desire" usually helps. But be nice and polite and ass-kissy.
• "Cover design, they ask what I want and don't want and then do whatever they want and yet I can't get it fixed or supply my own." -- Yikes! Ye-e-e-e-a-a-a-ah, been there too. This one bites the big enchilada for sure. Though, in a lot of cases, if you talk to your rep and explain why it's not your vision - or even what you requested per their nifty little form, they will get it fixed. You can even request a different artist to do the work from the supplied info you gave - not that they always will honor this one so be ready for a "no" on that.
• On a side note here: If you find a cover artist with your publisher that "gets" you and your visions, request them each time. Most publishers will ask you if you have a preferred artist when you do your cover art forms, FILL THAT PUPPY IN!

And the last one we put on the list... Because it was funnier than hell and, point of fact, happened to the author not once, not twice, but six times over a four month period making it even more amusing:

• "I think I was butt dialled by my publisher!" -- SWEET! But nothing here you can do except maybe send this person an email and let them know they might want to lock that puppy down when it's in a pocket.

We are sure there are many more out there. Actually, we know they are, but they were a little too personal and could involve privacy/contractual issues, so they were not added to the above list. There you have it. The joyous idiosyncrasies of dealing with a Publisher. If you have one you'd like added to our next list, we're sure there will be one, send it to us at:  the-unvarnished-author@gmail.com

The Moderator

Helpful Tips #8 - Location, location, location

Not only is this important in real estate, this is also important to your story. No matter what you choose as your backdrop think it through very carefully. And, whatever you do, keep very specific notes about said location.

Things to keep on hand about your locale's:

• State/Province, Country
• Area, ie: country side or city, suburbia or the crush of a down town jumping with action like New York or Vegas
• Buildings you use frequently, ie: where your characters live, work, play
• Side note here: basic descriptions of anything you use occasionally is good, but those places that they "live" in all the time, give more detail so people can visualize it all
• Know your weather patterns, ie: someone that's living in a Brazilian rain forest likely (though not impossible given weather patterns these days) won't see snow, so it shouldn't snow
• Neighbors, ie: do you have neighbors for your property, condo, whatever
• Side note here: if you do have neighbors give them names and basic descriptions if they are to be seen on occasion

Now, if you are doing Sci-Fi, or Fantasy, you need to do the same as the above but in even greater detail. You are creating a world, literally, for your characters to live in so ensure that you give amazing amounts of visual information. When you are creating something outside the "norm" if you will, you have to be even more verbose about it. Do not chintz out on your readers.

Oh, and don't just drop a bomb in the midst of things. For example, you give a great description of your world you've created, lots of this, lots of that, blah, blah, blah. And then you are into your story, character development, characters meeting and interacting, life is going well and then, BAM! You drop something in that is out of place and throws off their perception of the world you created.

We're not saying you can't add more detail, but keep it to the flow of the story, make it a part of what you've created instead of having it come off as an after thought. Thus why you should do your location development before you get too far into your story. The more you figure out ahead of time the more logical and real it will feel to your readers. You don't want to turn people off your story because it feels contrived or tacked on.

The Moderator