Once you've written your manuscript and have submitted it to publishers and have received the exorbitant amount of rejections, you may find you get lucky and finally find a publisher who likes your story, making all of those rejections worth it.
That said, so many people write stories these days, and they wind up self publishing. Although anybody can do it, it doesn't mean they should. Writing takes a certain degree of talent, and not every Tom, Dick, and Harry can do it. And while I say "Kudos" to those who make the attempt and then put themselves out there by self publishing, I don't feel that many of them take the time to respect the craft. Writing takes a lot of research. It is an endeavor that should hold up against your story line. The story itself should not be flimsy, and it turns out that those who want a book published simply so that they can get the faux respect that comes with having a book published often do not back up their work with the strength of a real author; this, one can imagine, is disrespectful to real authors, such as myself and many others. In my opinion, and in the opinion of many other authors, you are not a legitimate author until a publisher says you are; until a publisher takes you under their wing. With the advent of self-publishing, as mentioned, anybody can do it, but again, and I cannot stress this enough, not everybody should. It's frustrating.
I would like to take this time to point out, however, that I have become friends with and am familiar with authors who do take the route of self-publishing, and they are serious authors. There are plenty of serious authors that prefer self-publishing, but they are publishing their works alongside those who simply want to be published authors. Research who the respectable self-published authors are before downloading their stories.
Rayne Hall is one such author, and I've had the good fortune of getting to know her through Twitter. You can check out her stories on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_10?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=rayne%20hall&sprefix=rayne+hall%2Cstripbooks%2C232&rh=i%3Astripbooks%2Ck%3Arayne%20hall
And on Twitter she can be found at: @RayneHall
I of course have met many more self published authors, but Ryane is one of the most serious authors.
Author of the Bandita / Billy the Kid Series and currently working on and writing a contemporary novel with plans to publish soon. www.nicolemdixonauthor.com Follow Me On Twitter: @NMDixonAuthor Like My Bandita Page @BanditaBonitaandBillytheKid Website: NicoleMDixonAuthor.com
Sunday, October 6, 2013
The Big Pay Off
Once you've written your manuscript and have submitted it to publishers and have received the exorbitant amount of rejections, you may find you get lucky and finally find a publisher who likes your story, making all of those rejections worth it.
That said, so many people write stories these days, and they wind up self publishing. Although anybody can do it, it doesn't mean they should. Writing takes a certain degree of talent, and not every Tom, Dick, and Harry can do it. And while I say "Kudos" to those who make the attempt and then put themselves out there by self publishing, I don't feel that many of them take the time to respect the craft. Writing takes a lot of research. It is an endeavor that should hold up against your story line. The story itself should not be flimsy, and it turns out that those who want a book published simply so that they can get the faux respect that comes with having a book published often do not back up their work with the strength of a real author; this, one can imagine, is disrespectful to real authors, such as myself and many others. In my opinion, and in the opinion of many other authors, you are not a legitimate author until a publisher says you are; until a publisher takes you under their wing. With the advent of self-publishing, as mentioned, anybody can do it, but again, and I cannot stress this enough, not everybody should. It's frustrating.
I would like to take this time to point out, however, that I have become friends with and am familiar with authors who do take the route of self-publishing, and they are serious authors. There are plenty of serious authors that prefer self-publishing, but they are publishing their works alongside those who simply want to be published authors. Research who the respectable self-published authors are before downloading their stories.
Rayne Hall is one such author, and I've had the good fortune of getting to know her through Twitter. You can check out her stories on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_10?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=rayne%20hall&sprefix=rayne+hall%2Cstripbooks%2C232&rh=i%3Astripbooks%2Ck%3Arayne%20hall
And on Twitter she can be found at: @RayneHall
I of course have met many more self published authors, but Ryane is one of the most serious authors.
That said, so many people write stories these days, and they wind up self publishing. Although anybody can do it, it doesn't mean they should. Writing takes a certain degree of talent, and not every Tom, Dick, and Harry can do it. And while I say "Kudos" to those who make the attempt and then put themselves out there by self publishing, I don't feel that many of them take the time to respect the craft. Writing takes a lot of research. It is an endeavor that should hold up against your story line. The story itself should not be flimsy, and it turns out that those who want a book published simply so that they can get the faux respect that comes with having a book published often do not back up their work with the strength of a real author; this, one can imagine, is disrespectful to real authors, such as myself and many others. In my opinion, and in the opinion of many other authors, you are not a legitimate author until a publisher says you are; until a publisher takes you under their wing. With the advent of self-publishing, as mentioned, anybody can do it, but again, and I cannot stress this enough, not everybody should. It's frustrating.
I would like to take this time to point out, however, that I have become friends with and am familiar with authors who do take the route of self-publishing, and they are serious authors. There are plenty of serious authors that prefer self-publishing, but they are publishing their works alongside those who simply want to be published authors. Research who the respectable self-published authors are before downloading their stories.
Rayne Hall is one such author, and I've had the good fortune of getting to know her through Twitter. You can check out her stories on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_10?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=rayne%20hall&sprefix=rayne+hall%2Cstripbooks%2C232&rh=i%3Astripbooks%2Ck%3Arayne%20hall
And on Twitter she can be found at: @RayneHall
I of course have met many more self published authors, but Ryane is one of the most serious authors.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
The Frightening Thing About Putting Myself Out There.
I very often wind up panicking. As a first time soon-to-be published author who has written about a popular entity I'm afraid of not only what my influences will think, if they think anything at all, but often if I did something wrong. The latter stems from the fact that I basically wrote fan-fiction about a real-life, well-known figure that many people are actually very interested in. I respect Billy the Kid and what he represented, and the last thing I wanted to do was do anything that was in anyway disrespectful to someone else’s life, but to tell his story I absolutely had to tell it in a different way, otherwise I'd be a thief and a hack. I try to remember that the reality is this…with all the celebrities that people are so caught up in, and all the writers who are brilliant and extraordinarily successful, who the hell is ever really going to concern themselves with what I’ve done other than me? I fight with myself as to whether or not I met my ultimate writing goal or not, and I think the point I’m trying to make here is, when it comes down to it, it only matters if I’m proud of myself for what I’ve accomplished, and I am.
The Frightening Thing About Putting Myself Out There.
I very often wind up panicking. As a first time soon-to-be published author who has written about a popular entity I'm afraid of not only what my influences will think, if they think anything at all, but often if I did something wrong. The latter stems from the fact that I basically wrote fan-fiction about a real-life, well-known figure that many people are actually very interested in.
I respect Billy the Kid and what he represented, and the last thing I wanted to do was do anything that was in anyway disrespectful to someone else’s life, but to tell his story I absolutely had to tell it in a different way, otherwise I'd be a thief and a hack.
I try to remember that the reality is this…with all the celebrities that people are so caught up in, and all the writers who are brilliant and extraordinarily successful, who the hell is ever really going to concern themselves with what I’ve done other than me? I fight with myself as to whether or not I met my ultimate writing goal or not, and I think the point I’m trying to make here is, when it comes down to it, it only matters if I’m proud of myself for what I’ve accomplished, and I am.
Friday, September 20, 2013
How I, A Woman, Came To Write A Novel On Billy the Kid
Because people are always surprised and they want to know... Firstly, I've been writing since I was six years old. But until now, I never, ever, attempted anything serious with my writing. Quite frankly, as far as Billy is concerned, it's because I fell in love him. That sounds weird to say, and I'm sure it's weird to read, because let's face it, it's just flat out weird. But follow me if you can...
I fell in love with him from a historical standpoint. When I was thirteen and went to the movies to see Young Guns, that portrayal of him fascinated me. Okay...it helped that it was Emilio Estevez up there, but still, I was beside myself. But might I just say here that, though Emilio played him right for the screen and I wouldn't want anything changed, I'd be willing to bet a lot that he got it wrong personally. No way, by all accounts, was Billy actually like that.
I've always loved the old west, and I can't tell you why; I can't tell you how it started. And I've adored Billy the Kid ever since that day in 1988. So in 2009 when I caught Young Guns on cable I flipped out. It was just as bizarre as it sounds. Something about that film and remembering William H. Bonney (and Emilio Estevez in that role) struck a chord with me. I remembered being thirteen and trying to find every bit of information I could about Billy, and how I wanted to write a book about him all the way back then, but in those days we couldn't Google information, and based on the fluff out on there on the internet today, I'm not sure there's so much difference between then and now. But in 2009 I was reminded of how I was never quite sated. I knew things about him, had also forgotten things about him, so I decided to buy several books about him and finally learn everything there was to learn. Michael Wallis' book was the first biography I read, and though I appreciate his book and carry it with me while I'm writing out my fan-fiction in case I need to check up on some facts, he seems to speculate a bit too much and extrapolate, which is fine for me as a reader, but as someone who wants to know the facts as best as they can be recalled, it doesn't always work so well. I wanted to be responsible in writing my novel.
I received Fredrick Nolan's The West of Billy the Kid for Christmas, devoured that, and began working on a biography of Billy. There are so many bios out there, and since I was attempting to write another, I decided I'd come from the angle of a character study. See, all of the books tell you what happened when and where, and they delve into his life (what little is known) and what he was like as a real, living breathing person via interviews through people who knew him, but the books never seemed to examine "why". Sure enough the writer's have flare, I'll give them that, but I wanted Billy "invented" for me. So I began working on my own consideration of him, and after a long stretch of writing, I determined that not only would it be a waste of time to write another biography of Billy, but that it would also consist of my being a hack and stealing the hard work of others, namely Fredrick Nolan, the accepted, noted authority on Billy the Kid, and Bob Boze Bell. And as far as my gimmick of turning it into a character study, without the educational credentials, who would take my character study seriously? I mean, the thing is, I'm an excellent student of the human condition--I think most of us are--and I think it was fair enough for me to try and explore him from a more humane angle and give him three dimensions, but I knew it could not only ultimately result in a pointless endeavor, but again would simply result in me stealing from the authors who took the time to track down and reveal information previously unfounded and I am no hack! Nolan wrote a book called The Lincoln County War, and I consider it the bible on the Lincoln County war. It's amazing. The book includes letters from all of the key players--it's unbelievable!
And Bob Boze Bell wrote up a wonderful book in which he includes his own illustrations alongside what basically amounts to a book-length timeline with a lot of interesting information. The book itself is called The Illustrated Life and Times of Billy the Kid and it is incredible!! I simply adore it! His artwork is simply amazing! No, it's quite stunning to say the least! So...I've always been a writer and wanted to write about Billy, and in not being a hack, what was I to do? I knew it in my heart, down to my bones, however you want to say it, that I WANTED to write about him. That *I* wanted a chance at telling his story as I understood him in my own mind. I knew I'd be responsible and fair towards him. So, I guess I did what any writer would do and "created". I wrote what basically amounts to fan-fiction, though my goal was to express this boy as I felt he may have been in life, and I am strict in regards to the facts in his life (aside from the fictitious characters I had to create, of course). I had no choice but to write fan-fiction because his story has been told over one hundred different ways already. I had to bring something new to the table, but in order to do that I needed a protagonist that I could understand and use to help me accomplish my goal, so I created Lucy, the girl who falls in love with Billy. By using a female who becomes intimate with the Kid, I was able to get close to Billy in the way another man could not. And in being a 16 year old girl myself once upon a time, I could guide her. I could use her to describe him and his reactions--his personality. I could make him live, even if only on paper, so that even I myself could get a better idea of him. I was absolutely fascinated with his life. Think about it: This young, misunderstood, six-shooting desperado trying to push back against the crooked political machine that dominated out west. Well, I guess he got to me the way he got to many of the girls he knew while alive. Whatever passion he had in life always managed to jump out through the pages of the books I read as though it couldn't be helped. I don't think there is a way to make Billy the Kid boring--not if you decide you want to learn about who he was and take up the challenge of picking up a book that discusses him. He was definitely the perfect object/historical figure for me to write about. And it helps that today he is still a contemporary figure of controversy.
All-in-all, it took me 3 years of research in preparing to write my book and its sequel, and another year and a half between editing and finding a publisher. A good book takes time, people.
I fell in love with him from a historical standpoint. When I was thirteen and went to the movies to see Young Guns, that portrayal of him fascinated me. Okay...it helped that it was Emilio Estevez up there, but still, I was beside myself. But might I just say here that, though Emilio played him right for the screen and I wouldn't want anything changed, I'd be willing to bet a lot that he got it wrong personally. No way, by all accounts, was Billy actually like that.
I've always loved the old west, and I can't tell you why; I can't tell you how it started. And I've adored Billy the Kid ever since that day in 1988. So in 2009 when I caught Young Guns on cable I flipped out. It was just as bizarre as it sounds. Something about that film and remembering William H. Bonney (and Emilio Estevez in that role) struck a chord with me. I remembered being thirteen and trying to find every bit of information I could about Billy, and how I wanted to write a book about him all the way back then, but in those days we couldn't Google information, and based on the fluff out on there on the internet today, I'm not sure there's so much difference between then and now. But in 2009 I was reminded of how I was never quite sated. I knew things about him, had also forgotten things about him, so I decided to buy several books about him and finally learn everything there was to learn. Michael Wallis' book was the first biography I read, and though I appreciate his book and carry it with me while I'm writing out my fan-fiction in case I need to check up on some facts, he seems to speculate a bit too much and extrapolate, which is fine for me as a reader, but as someone who wants to know the facts as best as they can be recalled, it doesn't always work so well. I wanted to be responsible in writing my novel.
I received Fredrick Nolan's The West of Billy the Kid for Christmas, devoured that, and began working on a biography of Billy. There are so many bios out there, and since I was attempting to write another, I decided I'd come from the angle of a character study. See, all of the books tell you what happened when and where, and they delve into his life (what little is known) and what he was like as a real, living breathing person via interviews through people who knew him, but the books never seemed to examine "why". Sure enough the writer's have flare, I'll give them that, but I wanted Billy "invented" for me. So I began working on my own consideration of him, and after a long stretch of writing, I determined that not only would it be a waste of time to write another biography of Billy, but that it would also consist of my being a hack and stealing the hard work of others, namely Fredrick Nolan, the accepted, noted authority on Billy the Kid, and Bob Boze Bell. And as far as my gimmick of turning it into a character study, without the educational credentials, who would take my character study seriously? I mean, the thing is, I'm an excellent student of the human condition--I think most of us are--and I think it was fair enough for me to try and explore him from a more humane angle and give him three dimensions, but I knew it could not only ultimately result in a pointless endeavor, but again would simply result in me stealing from the authors who took the time to track down and reveal information previously unfounded and I am no hack! Nolan wrote a book called The Lincoln County War, and I consider it the bible on the Lincoln County war. It's amazing. The book includes letters from all of the key players--it's unbelievable!
And Bob Boze Bell wrote up a wonderful book in which he includes his own illustrations alongside what basically amounts to a book-length timeline with a lot of interesting information. The book itself is called The Illustrated Life and Times of Billy the Kid and it is incredible!! I simply adore it! His artwork is simply amazing! No, it's quite stunning to say the least! So...I've always been a writer and wanted to write about Billy, and in not being a hack, what was I to do? I knew it in my heart, down to my bones, however you want to say it, that I WANTED to write about him. That *I* wanted a chance at telling his story as I understood him in my own mind. I knew I'd be responsible and fair towards him. So, I guess I did what any writer would do and "created". I wrote what basically amounts to fan-fiction, though my goal was to express this boy as I felt he may have been in life, and I am strict in regards to the facts in his life (aside from the fictitious characters I had to create, of course). I had no choice but to write fan-fiction because his story has been told over one hundred different ways already. I had to bring something new to the table, but in order to do that I needed a protagonist that I could understand and use to help me accomplish my goal, so I created Lucy, the girl who falls in love with Billy. By using a female who becomes intimate with the Kid, I was able to get close to Billy in the way another man could not. And in being a 16 year old girl myself once upon a time, I could guide her. I could use her to describe him and his reactions--his personality. I could make him live, even if only on paper, so that even I myself could get a better idea of him. I was absolutely fascinated with his life. Think about it: This young, misunderstood, six-shooting desperado trying to push back against the crooked political machine that dominated out west. Well, I guess he got to me the way he got to many of the girls he knew while alive. Whatever passion he had in life always managed to jump out through the pages of the books I read as though it couldn't be helped. I don't think there is a way to make Billy the Kid boring--not if you decide you want to learn about who he was and take up the challenge of picking up a book that discusses him. He was definitely the perfect object/historical figure for me to write about. And it helps that today he is still a contemporary figure of controversy.
All-in-all, it took me 3 years of research in preparing to write my book and its sequel, and another year and a half between editing and finding a publisher. A good book takes time, people.
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