Tuesday, August 3, 2010

It Takes An Army!

Yeah, I know---it takes a village. I'm just thinking about all those volunteers during the RWA convention, and let me tell ya what--army is a better term. These people are organized, on time, in formation, and expecting those around them to pick up the slack and do the same. (Especially the pitch appointments...do not get between those women and their line-ups. You're not fifteen minutes early for your scheduled time? Fagettaboudit!)

Getting the book written is very much the same. You can only coddle yourself for so long; then it's down to brass tacks and results, baby! Where the heck are those pages you promised yourself? So what if the day job's a time suck and your research is grueling? Get in there and get it done, so you can sell that bad boy (really, I hope he's a bad boy...I have such a soft spot for a rebel...). Then the small army it will take to sell your book can hop to it; the copy editors, the cover artists, the contract wizards. The tiny little bunch of bound pages isn't making to the shelves without a lot of hard working folks wrapping up their piece of the puzzle.

RWA great news #1:  I heard so many people asking about Westerns and American set historicals. Don't believe me? Hey, go check out Pub Rants here. I consider this under the "Thank Heavens and It's about Time" category.

4 comments:

Terry Stone said...

Gillian, I hope you had a great time at conference. And, WooHoo, finally! on the westerns and American settings. That makes my day!

Gillian Layne said...

Hearing publishers talk about buying unconventional settings and time periods makes my day, too! :)

Renee said...

I'm so glad I didn't give up on my Western when all I heard last year was that they were dead.

Gillian Layne said...

I think of it more as "hibernation". ;)