I thought a "getting to know me" post was in order. It's always nice to know a little about the people whose books you're reading, or who says funny things on social media and before you know it, you're getting their emails. So here's a really short story about how I landed here, editing my second novel and writing to you, and a lot of carrying on about some of the most important bits of what I've learned along the way. Because since publishing Everything You've Ever Known in August, I've had some time to reflect on what it actually took to get here. Here here, from all the way back there. Just hang in there. I'll get to that.

When I started writing my debut in January of this year, I was completely oblivious to all the things I didn’t know. I had no idea it took that many rounds of revisions to have a semi-finished manuscript ready to head off to the copyeditor. I had no idea I needed to buy ISBNs, where to get a cover designed, how to format a book. Looking back, what was ahead of me looked a heck of a lot like an iceberg — a cute little hunk of ice holding up some little baby seals as they romp and lounge in the sun, with Mt. Kilimanjaro lying in wait under the surface.Not to be over-dramatic or anything.

But the comparison between what I thought I still had left to learn and do and what was actually ahead of me was pretty dramatic. This article would have taken on a completely different tone had I not spent every spare moment I had learning about the publishing industry and then dissecting every itsy bitsy step required for self-publishing. I devoured every bit of information I could find, in any format I could find it in. (We'll get into my right to dangle my prepositions on another day. I'm from Chicago. It's in my DNA.)

Full disclosure, this next session is a lot of yammering on about different resources I've picked up along the way. If this would be a major snoozefest for you, I will not be hurt if you want to skip ahead. Scroll to the area just beyond the *** and everything will be back to normal.
I bought reference books and spiral bound my favorites: Do your characters do a lot of various breathing types, sighing, gasping, and holding their breath? Yeah, mine do, too. Rather, they did. The Emotion Thesaurus, The Emotional Wound Thesaurus, and The Conflict Thesaurus (among many others) by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi are crucial elements in any writers toolkit. A few more goldmines include Intuitive Editing and its new sibling, The Intuitive Author by Tiffany Yates Martin; and last but certainly not least, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Brown and Dave King. For anyone looking to learn about newsletters and get information you can use immediately, look no further than Newsletter Ninja. I got through it in an evening and if you ask me if it works... raise your hand if you got here via an email from me. I rest my case.

I took an intro and then the full Facebook (Meta) Mastery for Authors courses by Matthew J. Holmes and I recommend them to any author who wants to learn more about this marketing strategy and appreciates detailed step-by-step instructions. I watched YouTube videos, read blogs (Jane Friedman's blog is an indie author's dream come true), followed links to other blogs and read those, and listened to a dozen podcasts, like The Best of Book Marketing with Lainey Cameron and Paulette Stout. (I listen while I’m driving, so my kids could probably hold a Ted Talk on the subject.) I went to the bookstore and picked up novels by other independent authors to see how they laid them out, what the covers felt like, how big they were. I learned so much in the last 10 months, but not just about publishing… about myself as well. 

1) I learned that sometimes you’re 49 when you find out what you should have been doing all along. I have done it all, folks. I started out at 18 in management for a large drug store chain and have taken some crazy hairpin turns since then. I scrubbed toilets when my oldest was a baby. It was the most humbling period of my life, but one I derive a great deal of pride from because I was a new mom doing whatever it took to give him everything he needed. We grew up together, and I wouldn’t trade that time for anything.

I took a leap from toilets to IT when I accepted a job as a receptionist and they tested me for logical thinking, then subsequently trained me as a computer programmer. If you had painted this picture for the 17-year-old voted "Most artistic" who spent most of her time listening to Depeche Mode and The Cure mix tapes while driving in loops around Hickory Hills, IL, there's not a virgin's chance at prom that she'd believe you. But she's about to find out I traded in my combat boots and Nirvana t-shirts for a pocket protector and a laptop in case of late-night emergencies and, later, testing for Y2k compliance. Crazy times, I tell ya!

More kids came and with them, a requirement to master a whole new set of skills. Overnight, and it's impossible to get it all —or even mostly — right. These kids don't come with instructions or guides, and all the information you do find is entirely subjective and contradictory. Anyway, after three kids, I transitioned from a hybrid role to stay-at-home-mom and it was glorious. I'm so grateful for having had that opportunity because, holy heck, did that go fast. They warn us, don't they? And we just don't listen.

So moving on, I re-entered the workforce as a childbirth instructor and doula (and accidentally delivered a baby!) Around 2008, I started building websites which led to writing SEO content, which led to my absolute favorite job ever, a marketing copywriter. I’ve been there for 10 years and I really love what I do and the people I work with, but there was always something missing. It wasn’t until I typed “The End” on the first draft of Everything You’ve Ever Known that I realized what it had been.

I. I learned that I don’t need an agent or a big-five deal, or really anyone else but a few hired professionals to accomplish my ultimate goal. I knew from the start that I was going to self-publish, and all the stuff I’d already jumped headlong into for the previous 49 years — and survived — gave me confidence that I could succeed (in that goal at least). 

II. I learned that you have to check on your ads every day or an entire commas-worth of $$ could just fly away. Whoops!

III. I learned how to track my income and expenses, and this would make a few certain people very, very proud.

IV. I learned how to format a book, how to hire a cover designer, open a KDP account, and get into Author Central. That was an adventure. Who knew you had to have a book loaded first? Not me! Oh, so many hours wasted clicking and swearing.

V. I learned that I am a plotter and why my previous attempts at writing a book had failed spectacularly. It’s all about the process! I need a system and a process!

VI. I learned that I am not creative in the early morning hours, but I am productive. So I get up with the dogs at 6:30, have a cup of coffee, light a candle, and get all my admin stuff out of the way. 

VII. I learned I have a pen and notebook fetish and I’m not even a little bit ashamed.

VIII. Can we start a movement? I firmly believe that all resource books should be spiral bound, but in most cases, it’s too cost-prohibitive for the publishers to provide them in that format. So, as a result, I learned that Kinkos will take care of rebinding them for about $5. Yay!

IX. I (kind of) learned how to use Notion and I’m way more organized which helps my creativity flow. If I’m wondering about what I was supposed to do today, or when the last time was that I posted a blog, I’m not thinking about my characters and fun things they could be doing.

X. I learned that some of our very best friends will come into our lives when we least expect it.

XI. I learned how to properly edit a book, and then….

XII. I learned that I work better using more of an inside out approach.

My editing and revision process looks a lot like this:

1. Write the outline.
2. Plot out scenes.
3. Write a rough draft.
4. Complete the first round of edits: Dialogue tags, some beats, copyediting (I know! I know!)
5. Add in descriptions and humor/emotion.
6. By now I’ve got a really good sense of the story and my characters, so I read it on my Kindle Scribe and make notes on potential beats and scenes, and things that were missed or in the wrong place.
7. One more revision to address all my notes. This takes the most time.
8. One more round of copy edits.
9. Off to the editor.
10. One more round of revisions.
11. Off to the proofreader.
12. Phew!

XIII. And finally, I learned that you can indeed teach an old dog new tricks, but you’d better have some cheese handy. And of course, all of this took time to learn, but there has been very little time wasted. I’ve been able to try each technique, strategy, and tip I’ve learned on for size or add it directly to my skill set, which isn’t always the case when you’re learning about a topic as broad as this. 

I’m on to book two in my series now, and it’s a lot easier this time, not having to learn on the fly or see around the next corner. I already know what’s coming, and if I encounter something new, I have faith I’ll be able to figure that out, too.

If you have something you’ve always wanted to do, or a goal that has always felt like a bridge too far, remember how far you’ve come to be sitting where you are now and all that you had to overcome and learn and work around to get here. Creativity has no age limit and learning is a lifelong pursuit.

Go get it!

Jess