This is Read an E-Book Week!
From March 7-13 Celebrate with me as we promote electronic books. Starting on Wednesday the 10th and ending Saturday the 13th, I'll be giving away a free electronic copy of my latest release, Meander Scar, to everyone who leaves a comment with your e-mail address.
Today, please welcome Cathy Bryant, who started her journey to publication with an electronic book.
Cathy Bryant, author of Texas Roads, book one in the Miller’s Creek series
Cathy, how long did you work toward publication? What three things do you know now about the publishing world that you wish you knew when you first started?
I know this answer will probably sound trite and contrived, but I honestly didn't set out seeking publication. I set out to write a book to honor God and to share my spiritual journey in a fictionalized form with the hope it would help someone else. Once the book was written, I lost my focus and started believing that I had to have a publishing contract.
God brought me to a place where I realized I had taken my eyes off Him, and I sensed then that He wanted me to take a different route with the story. To answer your question, in one sense my whole life has brought me to publication; in another sense, three years.
Hmmm, what three things? First, publishing is a business, not a ministry. Publishers, and the people who work for them, may desire to honor God with their work, but first and foremost, publishing is a bottom-line kind of deal. They are in business to make money.
Second, writing is a thousand times more difficult than I ever expected it to be.
Third, writing is not the career for you if you're expecting a hefty paycheck. It's hard work with little (if any) remuneration.
How did you decide on your current project? What have you learned about writing and yourself since you started it?
The story really came about from my own desire to find a home and put down roots. For several years it seemed like we moved from one small Texas town to another. Just about the time we would begin to feel like a part of things, God would move us on somewhere else. Through the process God taught me that home isn't a place. Home is God. Having a relationship with Him means making Him your home.
I believe my writing skills have increased greatly through the writing (and re-writing) of TEXAS ROADS. I've learned so much about what to avoid, the importance of emotion in my writing, and story structure. As far as what I've learned about myself, I would have to say that the main thing I've learned is to trust God with my writing. I thought I knew that going in, but in my experience, the lessons God teaches us are often what we thought we already knew.
Tell us about your stories, and about working with Smashwords.
While it might look like I only have one story, since TEXAS ROADS is the first novel out there, I have hundreds of stories brewing inside. For those who haven't heard about the book, it's a Christian contemporary love story about a disillusioned widow's quest for home. Here's the back cover copy:
City gal Dani Davis just wants to find a place to call home. Miller’s Creek, Texas, with its quirky residents, quaint charm and business potential seems like the perfect place to start over. Perfect, that is, except for the cowboy who gives her a ride into town...
Dani secretly finances renovations to downtown Miller’s Creek, but malicious rumors force her to choose between keeping her involvement a secret and the home for which she’s always longed. Then a devastating discovery propels her down a road she never expected to travel.
Steve Miller is determined to save his dying hometown. When vandalism jeopardizes theMiller's Creek restoration project, he can’t help but suspect Dani, whose strange behavior has become fodder for local gossips. Will Steve and Dani be able to call a truce for a higher cause, and in the process help Dani understand the true meaning of home?
The next book in the Miller's Creek, Texas series is tentatively titled A Path Too Narrow and tells the story of single mother determined to fend for herself when she has no way to do so. The background scripture is Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all you heart. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths."
The third book in the series, The Way of Grace is about a live-by-the-rules kind of girl and how she grows to understand grace from a down-and-out musician. I also have plans for a dark women's fiction story entitled When Mercy Hurts and a story about a hurting misfit who recognizes the grace of being adopted--both into an earthly family and by a loving God.
Working with Smashwords has been a great experience for me. It was a little daunting to format TEXAS ROADS for e-book format, but the site offers a lot of help. Learning to format also helped me as I prepared the book for the printing process.
What are the five best things writers can do to meet the challenges of the 21st century?
First, pray about what God wants you to do with your writing. Don't naively assume (like I did) that He wants you to follow the path of traditional publication. Also don't assume that He doesn't. Don't allow anyone other than Him to dictate what you do with your writing.
Secondly, learn the ins and outs of the industry. Learn about your options.
Third, force yourself to leave your comfort zone. Most writers I know are introverted, and would prefer to hide away behind their computers, writing away. God gave you your story for a reason. If it's for you only, then by all means keep it that way. But if He means for you to share it, that's your responsibility. It's extremely difficult to market your work, and it can come across as self-seeking and self-serving, so we shy away from it. It's a very uncomfortable process. Find a way to get the word out about your work in a way that feels comfortable to you.
Fourth, be prepared for the change that's coming. I love holding a print book in my hand, love the sound the pages make when I thumb through, love the smell and feel and look of the printed page. I hope print books never go away. But e-books are the wave of the future, whether we like it or not.
Fifth, think long-term. With the length of time it takes to get a novel from concept to printed word, you would think writers would know how to take the long view. But speaking from my own personal experience, I tend to be short-sighted. Thinking about long term results and changes helps me keep things in perspective.
Who in the profession would you most like to sit down with, and what would you ask?
I'd love the chance to speak one on one with Francine Rivers, since it was her books that touched my heart and gave me the desire to write stories that shared spiritual truth.
Tags:
cathy bryant, read an e-book, texas roads
Posted at: 03:24 PM | Add Comment
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