Publishing is a business.  Depending on your perspective that sounds bloody obvious, bloody cold, or bloody immoral. If you write in the hopes of one day being published AND monetarily compensated for it, then it’s all of them.  If you accept this premise then you should also take this on board – you are both writer and businessperson.  That means it’s incumbent upon you to learn enough of how this business works so that you can make informed decisions.  If, on the other hand, you find writing for money  unpalatable, then you probably aren’t reading this so I’ll carry on.

PS Simply knowing where the exits are isn’t enough.  Check the doors and windows to see that they actually open before pandemonium breaks out.  Trust, but verify. 

I write primarily in the early morning, usually from 6 to 8.  It’s not an inviolable rule, but it’s what I aim for most days.  For me, this is the ideal time.  I put on the coffee, read a little news on the web, check work email and then read over notes I made previously about the novel.  At this point in the day everything is still ahead of me and all I see is potential.  No one is calling yet, no one is in the office, and the traffic outside is still quiet.  Perfect.  I write, have a light breakfast, then go out for run in Central Park, shower and clock in to work around 9.  Some days I will write in the evenings as well, but usually the bulk of my writing gets done early.  As for word count, I don’t really keep track.  I’ve tried at different times, and now that I have contractual obligations I will likely pay closer attention to my progress although I am loathe to get too caught up in that lest the word count drive the story, and not the other way around. 

I landed a big book for next summer that should find itself right in the middle of election politics.  It’ll be formally announced shortly, but I’m excited because it’s not a polemic and should shed some light on a very divisive subject that needs it.  Meanwhile, there’s been interest expressed by a national television show in Band of Sisters.  Marketing a book today is in large parts trying to create critical mass, and doing so from the bottom up.  Readers, and that’s all of us, don’t like to be told what to read.  Well, a lot of readers don’t.  They like to discover an author.   Publishers can and do spend massive amounts of money to promote a book, but the only thing that guarantees is that the publisher spent a lot of money.  Word-of-mouth is the Holy Grail.  You need people to take up your cause as if it was their own.  Nothing really new here, but it’s worth remembering because an author can and should play a large role in this.  As an editor, I judge the commercial viability of a book on more than just the written word.  An author who can help him/herself is a huge asset. 

I’m hiring Charlie as my publicist!  Thanks to everyone who’s taken the time to drop by and say hello.  And a big merci to Charlie for introducing me around. This really caught me off guard and threw my plan to update my blog once a week right out the window.  I’m a ‘babe in the woods’ here so please bear with me (hmm, perhaps I’m more a cub in the woods) as I learn the finer points.  I haven’t had a chance to look at many other blogs yet, but over the next week or two I plan to. 

I’m writing a fantasy series entitled The Iron Elves.  The first book, due out July 2008 in hard cover from the nice folks at Pocket Books (Simon & Schuster) is titled A Darkness Forged in Fire.  At the moment, it’s a bit of a beastie at 160,000 words so some judicious editing is in order.  My editor at Pocket is currently reading through the ms and will be sending me his revisions shortly.  Concurrent with that, my agent, Don Maass of the famed (dare I say world renowned) and eponymous literary agency, is finalizing the details of the contract with my editor.  If you’re at all interested in being a writer then you’ve probably contemplated the choice of finding an agent versus finding a publisher.  It might seem like a Catch-22, and in some ways it is, but I firmly believe that if you are pursuing a career in the field then you will want an agent.  More on this later.

Meanwhile back at the day job, my book (and when I say my book it’s with my editor’s hat on) Band of Sisters: American Women at War in Iraq by Kirsten Holmstedt, is going on sale July 4th.  I’m damn proud of this book, this author and these amazing women.  I had a chance to meet several of the women soldiers in the book at the recent Book Expo America (BEA) held in NYC at the beginning of June.  We held a book signing on Sunday morning and after going through nearly 300 copies we had to turn people away.  I hadn’t been sure what to expect, so seeing such a huge and positive response was very gratifying and seems to bode well for the success of the book.  We’re beginning to get reviews and full articles in newspapers around the country and radio and television appearances are stacking up.  It should be a very good summer.

My intent, and no doubt life will modify it with all due haste, is to update my journal and subsequent website about once a week.  Why anyone will want to drop by and read it may very well remain a question for the ages, but two possible answers are they are related to me and/or I paid them to do so.  Far less likely is that you’ve heard I’m writing a fantasy series and wanted to see what the fuss, such as it is, is all about.  So far…not much.  In contravention of most good writing advice here’s what happened before you got here:

The day I successfully defended my MA thesis I went home and started writing a fantasy novel…naturally.  That was nine years ago.  Between then and now I attended Clarion East, the science fiction and fantasy writing workshop for aspiring writers, took second place in the Toronto Star Short Story Contest, was hired by Del Rey Books to edit military history and science fiction and fantasy, went to Europe several times as a historian on battlefield tours, was hired by Stackpole Books to edit military history, history and current affairs and conflicts, wrote another fantasy novel, some short stories, started a couple of other novels, tried speed dating, took up running (it’s not sex, but you do wind up sweaty and wanting a snack,) and watched every episode of the Sopranos – marone!