Primal Instinct: Gone But Not Forgotten - Things I Learned

My mom called me, quite sad, a couple of days ago. She had gone to Walmart to purchase a copy of my book for one of her friends, but it wasn't there. Thinking they had just sold out, she headed to another store where they were in the process of packing up any of the remaining April Harlequin Intrigues and putting out the May books.

My mom, of course, threw herself on top of the books in protest. But she couldn't stop the inevitable.

That's right, Primal Instinct, my first novel, is gone forever from the shelves.  Such is the nature of category romances: they're only around for a month. It's sad, because I can't go visit my book at the bookstore six months from now just to see it. (Although it will always be available on Amazon)

But the fact that six more new Intrigues just hit the shelves is the reason I'm a published author in the first place. Category romances are short and inexpensive. Many readers still buy all six every month straight from Harlequin as subscribers. Publishing 72 books a year (and that's just in the Intrigue line) means a lot more new authors get a chance to publish.

Some of the most famous names in romance got their start in categories: Nora Robers, Linda Howard, Elizabeth Lowell, Suzanne Brockmann. Maybe someday someone will include my name in a similar list.

But now that it's gone, I just wanted to point out some discoveries I made in the last month as my book came out. These are in no particular order or of any particular relevance. Just my observations.

1. Primal Instinct is also the name of an Australian tanning lotion. Evidently I searched Primal Instinct enough that the interwebs decided I was desperately searching for tanning lotions because they showed up in every ad space for a while.

2. If you ask for reviewers on Goodreads (where all the reading people hang out) as I did, and mail them a free copy of your book in exchange for an honest review, only about 20% will actually leave a review. The rest will sell your book on Amazon or Ebay.

3. It was exciting to see how Primal Instinct looked all over the world.

It was part of a Mother's Day "box set" in Australia:

It was available in India, and didn't even have my cover:

And for the U.K. Mills & Boon release, they used just a picture of hunky Agent Perigo:

4. The Atlanta, Tampa and Indianapolis areas were the places where the largest numbers of my book sold.

At this point (almost exactly one month after Primal Instinct's release), I know I have sold over 9,000 copies (not including books sold at non-tradition bookstores such as Walmart, etc). But I don't get too excited about that considering I make less than $.50 per copy. As soon as I have more solid numbers, I will be sure to do a post entitled "How Selling A Romance Novel Will NOT Make You a Millionaire..."

5. I gave the Virginia Beach public library two copies of my book so they could put them in circulation. But they refused because they don't keep category romances on the shelves. Even for local authors. <sad face> Even when I showed them the Romantic Times Top Pick review! <super sad face>

6. Now that you're a published author, a lot of friends will want your advice or input on their writing or want to know if you've got any sort of "in" for them with any editor or agent (which, unless you write category romantic suspense, I don't). Because you care about these people you don't want to say "I don't really know anything about the non-fiction/angels vs. demons/biography/Christian/superhero/etc." markets. So you read their stuff, provide advice and hope you're steering them in the right direction. But you're probably not and one day they'll hate you for it.

Good times.

Oh, and that look on the PTA president's face when she realizes the newsletter, now written by the published author, is still just a crappy ol' newsletter? Priceless. (I tried to fit a couple of FBI agents and a serial killer in there, but alas...)

6. Last, but most importantly, I learned that I have crazy supportive friends and family. They stepped up and sent me the greatest pictures from all over the country!

No matter how many copies of Primal Instinct sold, whether it exceeded Harlequin's expectations or not (I don't know the answer to that. I wish I did), I consider the release of this first novel a success. I'll never have another first and it will always be special to me. (Plus, I got some good news about doing the follow-ups to Primal Instinct recently, so hopefully I'll have an official announcement about that soon.)

But now, I've got to get back to writing the four other books for which I've been contracted. Because this release process happens all over again for my next book beginning in December 2014!

In Which I Happy-Dance And Run Joyously Screaming Through the House

So, some exciting stuff happening on my first novel (Primal Instinct) front. As I posted a couple of weeks ago (here), I finished both my copy edits and my AAs (Author Alterations).

After talking with a few established author friends, and reading what others had posted elsewhere, I realized how blessed I was that my copy edits were pretty basic, and all ones I agreed with. (Or, since we’re talking about copy edits, I should say: all ones with which I agreed.)

Yes, there were a lot of corrections in my copy edits, but none of them changed the feel or flavor of my writing. Nor were any of the changes particularly nit-picky, imo. Evidently, nit-pickiness does happen and I’ve heard horror stories of manuscripts returned with dozens of requested changes per page.

Some edit marks you may not be familiar with

That sort of overhaul is frustrating for a writer, because often you’ve labored meticulously over the flow of specific pages, paragraphs, sentences and even individual words. Then a copy editor – who only works with the book once, and never has to see it again – can come in and rip it to shreds. Then you have to decide as an author what to change, what to fight to keep, and what to cry about losing. It can be hugely frustrating, I’m sure. Fortunately, my set of copy edits wasn’t like that at all.

My AAs I had a month to complete. This was the last chance for me to look at the book. I had a trusted friend read it and she found half a dozen spelling errors – those tricky ones where the misspelled word spelled another word correctly, so they’re easy to miss. I also made some changes to a few sentences that made me cringe, and then sent it back to my editor, weeks earlier than my deadline.  And now it’s completely out of my hands.

Last week I was asked for two more important pieces of the book: the “cast of characters” that goes at the beginning of every Intrigue novel and my book dedication. Both of those were special to write.

But yesterday the bestest, most surreal thing happened. I was talking to some Intrigue friends about the February covers that were just released and could only be found by doing an advanced search on Amazon. So I looked through those, and then OF COURSE I did an advance Amazon search of the April 2014 Harlequin Intrigue releases, and low and behold:

THAT’S MY BOOK!!! No cover yet, of course, but THAT’S MY BOOK!!! (And it’s available for pre-order. That’s just ridiculously awesome.)

And if you click on the author link: THAT’S ME!!

I have to admit, my heart went a pitter-pat. I got up and happy-danced around my living room and ran screaming through the house (clutching my laptop). It was an amazing feeling.  I’m trying to relish these moments, because I know they’ll come only once. If you rush through them and don’t take the chance to enjoy them, they’re gone forever.  Parenting taught me that. And how to happy-dance.

So there you have it, my thrilling news for the week. I resisted the urge to pre-order a copy of my own book, but you all feel free to purchase all you want. :)

The Road to Publication - What Happens After "The Call"

So, evidently once you write a book and the publisher accepts it and agrees to publish it, you have to do more than just sit there and wait for the royalty checks to come rolling in.

Go figure.

Since I got “the call” a couple of weeks ago that Harlequin wants to publish my book, I’ve had to convince my four kids (and some of my most-supportive/naive friends, bless them) that I am not going to be famous just because I publish one book.  Kiddo #3 wanted to know if people were going to stop me on the street and want my autograph (and, you know, perhaps his too…  since he’s my son).

I think I put the issue to rest by taking them to the library and pointing out the 1000s of books there. Could they picture the face of one single author enough to be able to recognize him or her in the street and ask for an autograph?

Kiddo #3 again: Sure, Mom. You. I love that kid. Seriously.

The point is, I don’t think there’s any danger of the paparazzi following me around any time soon. Or ever.  As a matter of fact, this is the most accurate statement I’ve seen about writing in a long time:

But don’t get me wrong, it’s still exciting.  Especially on days like today:  I received my request from Harlequin to complete the Art Fact Sheet for my book .  

 They need all sorts of details. A brief synopsis. Detailed description of the characters, settings, and themes (which, interestingly, are from choices in a pull down menu --  evidently, there really isn’t anything new under the sun).  They even want celebrity look-alikes for my characters, if I can provide them.  Um, you mean like Shane West?

Hehehehe. No problem.  

I also have to write a couple of scenes, not that necessarily happen in the manuscript itself, that capture the book’s essence.  All of this to give the artists an idea of what my book is about because they don’t actually read it. Which I guess is right, but not what I expected. I'm so excited to see what they come up with. But that probably won't be until near the end of 2013.
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I also have to create an Online Retailer Biography - info sent to booksellers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. and will appear on their websites about me when my book is released. They want to know everything that can be known about me!!  In 500 characters or less.  :-)

Next week, I head to Atlanta for the Romance Writers of America national conference. I’m excited that I’ll be able to meet my editor face-to-face, as well as a number of writing friends I’ve been talking to for months now.  I’ll get to attend multiple writing workshops, a Harlequin-author-only dinner, and even a… pajama party?  Ummmm… okay.

It’s a little nerve-racking, navigating this road to publication. But exciting most of all.