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Another YA author’s take on the indie-traditional debate
I stopped reading debates about the merits of indie publishing versus traditional publishing a long time ago. I don’t think in straight black and white whether the subject is publishing or what’s for lunch, so I was turned off by how many writers sat squarely in one camp and totally decried the other. I needed a little more nuance and a little less outrage from my readings, but I was hard pressed to find it.
When YA author Annie Cardi pointed toward a blog she said “gives credence to both sides,” my curiosity was piqued. I trust Annie, and welcomed the thought of a balanced assessment vetted by her. I followed the link to Livia Blackburne’s post and was indeed delighted by what I found. I was so delighted, I typed out a long, thoughtful comment . . . which my iPad then devoured. Sigh.
Instead of typing another comment there, I opted to link up here and share the gist of my thoughts: Read more…
The sweet memory of magic
In 2004, I wrote a YA trilogy over the course of six weeks. The trilogy retold a story I’d begun as a vampire-obsessed high school freshman.
I ignored the trilogy for a long time and for many reasons. I’m not a writer, I told myself. I just wrote some stuff because I was bored and broke in the middle of nowhere.
When my mom died in 2010, I remembered all the times she’d encouraged me to write professionally and hated myself for waving her off every single time. I started editing the first book in my trilogy not because I suddenly saw myself as a writer, but because it was important to me to do this one thing in my mom’s memory.
I edited the book as I edit my contracts, parsing the story down to its barest essence instead of letting it breathe as fully as it needed to. 78,000 words became 52,000 words, and those 52,000 words were released as The Monster’s Daughter.
Over the last eighteen months, I’ve tried dozens of strategies to force myself to edit its sequel. I’d written a trilogy, by damn, and I needed to publish a trilogy.
I told myself it was OK to pause editing the second book if I wrote a new, unrelated book. I wrote the new book and still balked at returning to the second book of my trilogy.
I released a non-fiction ebook while beginning work on another non-fiction project. A few weeks ago, I set aside the non-fiction book in progress to work on a new fiction project. Anything to avoid returning to my trilogy!
The deeper I delve into my new project, the harder it becomes to imagine returning to my trilogy. It’s not that I don’t love the trilogy or its protagonist, Ginny, who made otherwise excruciating loneliness tolerable. I do love the trilogy, and I love Ginny, most especially when I am lonely or aching.
I love the trilogy the way I love Edward Scissorhands, The Bridge to Terabithia or The Escape Club’s “I’ll Be There.” Once, these things were my everything. They occupied my mind, my heart and even my aspirations, both for what they were and for the layers of meaning I added to them. When things are deeply beloved, it’s hard to look at the past they belong to head-on and embrace that it’s the past. The moment is gone, the moment’s magic transformed to the sweet memory of magic.
As I wrote to my friend El, to whom I first confessed I was thinking of letting The Monsters’s Daughter stand alone:
I think I was afraid of letting [Ginny] go, but it’s impossible to let her go; she lives in me, now and forever.
Watching the words pour out of me for this new project just makes it so clear that I need to follow whatever voice is singing to me right now . . . not try to catch a tune playing miles away, now.
Ginny and The Monster’s Daughter were once my everything. Today I set them free, with a sigh and a butterfly kiss, as I turn my ears toward the music that plays for me now.
Bon voyage, Ginny. Bon voyage.
Memos from Your Closet Monster
A prettified version of this image, originally found here in preface to “Six hands for lifting,” will be featured on the cover of a short ebook I’ll be releasing soon.
Lead page!
Regrettably, Memos from Your Closet Monster will only be available on Kindle for its first three months. Not so regrettably, you’re likely already acquainted with much of its material if you’ve followed my blog for a long time. Memos is geared toward folks not yet knowledgeable in the ways of the well meaning closet monster. 
All-new material will be coming via another non-fiction book late this year. I’m hard at work on that thanks to a kindly shove from a good friend.
The Monster’s Daughter‘s sequels are on editing hold, but all for good cause!
Man, does it ever feel good to be elbows deep in a new writing project.
What projects are you keeping you busy these days?
© 2012 Deborah Bryan. All rights reserved.
Duplication in whole or substantial portion is explicitly forbidden.
The Monster’s Daughter, free for the next two days!
ETA: It looks like the coupon is good through 23:59:59 Thursday, so download away!
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I meant to give away one book today, but I can’t seem to find the words for that post.
Instead I offer up free copies of my first novel, The Monster’s Daughter. Like the book I meant to give away today, it involves some hard choices for its protagonist. Unlike the book I meant to give away today, it involves monsters:
Ginny Connors doesn’t believe in vampires. There’s totally a rational reason her dad is a lot more bloodthirsty and a lot less interested in food than he used to be.
Still, she hangs a cross on her bedroom door. Just in case.
When Ginny discovers people aren’t the guests but the main course at her father’s New Year party, she wishes she could save the day with garlic pancakes. Instead, she must face the limits of her daydreams, and attempt to stop the monster her father has become.
If you’re looking for a vampire novel, I’m gonna be frank with you: this might not be your thing. Like the novel’s protagonist, I believe most vampires are improved by a stake through the heart.
If what you’re looking for is strength in hard times, you might just find something useful in this book. As reviewer E. L. Faris wrote:
If The Monster’s Daughter is read as simply a coming of age story for
a heroic young woman (and you will have to read the book to see just how
heroic she acts for I refuse to spoil it for you), you will love it. If, however, you
read it as an allegory for the life of an abused child and young woman, then
you will find great satisfaction and perhaps even catharsis as you read the
this amazing first novel by author Deborah Bryan.
Curious? Click here to begin the free download process. If you don’t already have a Smashwords account, you’ll need to create one. Once you have an account, simply add the book to your cart and enter the discount code WW68H. This will enable you to download it free of charge in your favored e-book format before May 3, 2012 (Pacific Time).
Stay tuned for the giveaway I’d actually planned!
© 2012 Deborah Bryan. All rights reserved.
Duplication in whole or substantial portion is explicitly forbidden.
Free book! Cover reveal?
The Lucky Mom, Lisha, delighted me by buying not one but a few signed copies of my first novel, The Monster’s Daughter.*
When she announced that one of those copies was for a giveaway on her blog, “delight” was upgraded to “true love.”
If you’d like a chance to win a signed copy of The Monster’s Daughter, check out Lisha’s review and giveaway post. Don’t be in too much of a hurry to leave afterward; there’s a whole lot for a reader to love there! (“The Mistress” is one of my favorite reads there.)
If you’d like to tell me to hurry up with editing its sequel already, you can feel free to do that here. I’ll take your words under advisement, especially if you send them over with an extra hour or so from your day. And I’ll leave you with this tiny preview of a draft of its cover, which Bright Strange Things is crafting and tweaking now!**
Don't you just wish you could see the WHOLE THING?!
* Incidentally, I should be working on editing its sequel right now. But look, I still have 31 whole minutes to edit this morning! (Yes, it remains largely true that if editing were weight-lifting, I’d be benching three ounces.)
** Probably not right now. I’d wager she’s mostly hard at work snoring right now.
© 2012 Deborah Bryan. All rights reserved.
Duplication in whole or substantial portion is explicitly forbidden.
The care and tending-to of story ideas
Concealed in my closet amongst actual shoes there rests a Converse shoebox full of something else. Something altogether unshoelike.
Twenty years ago, I tucked every story idea that danced through my head into that same shoebox. I was too full of story ideas, beginnings and characters to actually sit down and develop any of them, but I’d get around to it someday.
Someday, I knew, those little scraps of paper would metamorphosis into page after page of beautiful tales.
In my mid-teens, I met my first boyfriend and stopped opening the shoebox. Still, I moved the box with me when I headed to Los Angeles for law school.
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After you’ve read the rest of this post over at Avery’s Book Nook (a delightful nook indeed!), I’d love your thoughts–over there–on your own story ideas. Do you keep them? If so, for how long? Have you ever found yourself revisiting any of them later? I’d love to know what you do with the ideas you can’t yet use!
Thank you for any comments you leave there. Guest posting feels like being the new kid in school, which isn’t so bad at all once folks start saying hi.
In pictures (and words!), a year of being an author
Seven years ago, I wondered if I could write a book in a week.
I answered that question soon after by the following voice post:
“Six days and 67,000 words later, I’ve written a novel, and I’m now going to sleep for nineteen years. Good night.”
I celebrated the accomplishment by writing the book’s two sequels in quick succession. After realizing I hadn’t written a single perfect book the first time around, I banished the books to a suitcase, where they lived for several years.
I wrote about the journey from unearthing them to editing the first book here.
On January 18, 2011, I was feverish and feeling crummy, but not enough to keep my paws off the just-received first proof of my soon-to-be-published first novel, The Monster’s Daughter.
Not feverish enough to mistake the book for a unicorn
Barely more than a week later–a year ago today, to be precise–my name showed up in Amazon searches. The ex-boyfriend who’d suffered my typetypetyping through much of his visit to Japan was the first person to buy a copy of my new novel. I whooped at the picture he sent me:
Hey, that's my name!
I went into indie publishing understanding sales would be slow, especially for the first couple of years. Indeed, I just sold my 100th copy of the novel last month.
I wouldn’t be heartbroken if I’d sold 1,000 or 5,000 copies instead, but am I disappointed by the hundred? Only if the sky is zebra-striped today, for my hope was that somebody else “could come to love [Ginny Connors] the way I do.”
A hundred pairs of hands have held my first novel. Some of the hearts behind those hands were moved by it, and by Ginny, as is evidenced here.
Am I disappointed? Looking at these pictures, how could I possibly be?
Pictured (Top to bottom, left to right):
(1) Angel Girl. (2) The Dash Between and her daughter, Megan. (3) I Want A Dumpster Baby‘s
hand. (4) Running from Hell with El. (5) MAD Queendom’s crown. (6) MAD Queendom.
(7) Madilyn. (8) GoGuiltyPleasures and her extremely literate canine, Uncle Jesse.
Pictured (left to right):
(1) Transitioning Mom‘s daughter C. (2) Sapphire and Rain‘s son Chubbs.
Today I rejoice a year of being an “author,” a word it’s taken me most of that year to grow into. I celebrate the new connections I’ve made–to other writers, readers, bloggers and generally good folks–and the new lives that have since bettered my world.
I’m so thankful to those who have shaped, read and shared this book. I’m especially thankful to Mackenzie, who designed the book cover, the real Miss Sassypants, beta reader extraordinaire, and Silver Star, who read virtually every draft of The Monster’s Daughter, including the first one. And still loved me.
Soon she’ll have finished writing her own first novel. As you can see, she’s got more than writing to keep her busy in the meantime:
Silver Star and her apprentice
As for me, today? I’m just going to keep sitting here listening to “Tattoo” and grinning at how very, very grand it is to see that releasing Ginny freed me, too.
© 2012 Deborah Bryan. All rights reserved.
Duplication in whole or substantial portion is explicitly forbidden.
The book winners are . . .
In the wee hours of the morning, I used random.org to generate some random numbers.
What. Isn’t this how you start your mornings? A little random number sequencing?
Okay, so I don’t start every morning like this. Just this morning.
I had some books to give away!
The first randomly generated number was 10. The second, 30.
I’d scrolled halfway up the numbered list of entries before it hit me: 10/30 is my birthday. (Way to start the morning spooky, random.org!)
Congratulations, #10 and #30! Or, for the non-psychic among you, first place winner Jessica W and second place winner Natasha D! I’ll be emailing you today.
I’m so grateful to everyone who entered and shared this giveaway. If you entered the giveaway and would like a The Monster’s Daughter bookmark (if only to have something that’s not a bill in your mailbox), please reply to the entry confirmation email I sent you with your mailing address.
Thank you again, everyone, and congrats, Jessica and Natasha! Happy reading to all, and to all a good week!
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© 2011 Deborah Bryan. All rights reserved.
Duplication in whole or substantial portion is explicitly forbidden.
A book giveaway & a lot o’ reviewer love
Yesterday was an incredible day for reviews of my first novel, The Monster’s Daughter.
In one review, a reader wrote:
If The Monster’s Daughter is read as simply a coming of age story for a heroic young woman (and you will have to read the book to see just how heroic she acts for I refuse to spoil it for you), you will love it. If, however, you read it as an allegory for the life of an abused child and young woman, then you will find great satisfaction and perhaps even catharsis as you read this amazing first novel by author Deborah Bryan.
In the book’s first iTunes review, another reader wrote:
This is the coolest vampire book I have read yet! I truly loved it! I never expected this book would tug at my heartstrings like it did.
In the final review of the day, one reader wrote:
If you’re thinking that vampire stories are not for you, that’s okay. This book is much more than that. It is the story of a girl who overcomes many obstacles to find herself stronger and more capable than ever.
Other reviews are available here, but you should only check those out after entering the book giveaway below!
On December 19, 2011, I’ll give away a signed copy of The Monster’s Daughter and a $15 Amazon gift card to the first randomly drawn winner. A signed copy of The Monster’s Daughter will go to the second randomly drawn winner. If you live in the United States and would like a shot at winning one of these three copies, do at least one of the following prior to 12:00 AM Pacific Time December 19, 2011:
1. Send me an email with the subject: “Free books FTW!”
2. Tweet about this giveaway, mentioning @deb_bryan, and send me an email with the subject: “I tweeted it!”
3. Share this link on your blog and send me an email with the subject: “I blogged it!”
4. Share this link on Facebook and send me an email with the subject: “I pimped it on Facebook!” For an additional entry, tag my author page when you share the link.
If you’d like more than one shot at winning, do more than one of the following! You’ll be entered once for each of the above actions you take.
Y’all are winners in my eyes, but book winners will be announced by first name on or shortly after December 19, 2011.
And, reviewers? Mad love to you. For you I am so, so very thankful.
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(c) 2011 Deborah Bryan. All rights reserved.
Duplication in whole or substantial portion is explicitly forbidden.
Author Deb on The Monster’s Daughter, writing & flying
Elizabeth Wakefield, identical twin protagonist of a few hundred Sweet Valley books, is blonde, blue-eyed and size 6.
I wanted to be just like her when I grew up.
Wait, you don’t think it’s because of what I wrote above, do you?
Of course it isn’t! Well, the absolutely splendiferous nature of her childhood was appealing, but there was something else about Elizabeth that evoked a yearning in me.
She wanted to be a writer.
More than that, she took actual steps toward becoming a writer. She wrote. She submitted stories. She worked on the school newspaper.
I thrilled to read these things, and imagined I could be like her someday.
So while my mom cursed when she found out I’d been reading Sweet Valley High books, that series was much more blessing than curse for me.
But that, my friends, is another story. Specifically, it’s one told in my first author interview ever, which you’ll find by clicking the book cover below:
CLICK PICTURE
I’m not Elizabeth Wakefield. I’ll never be her.
Nor, it turns out, would I want to be.
Not as long as I can keep writing me.
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(c) 2011 Deborah Bryan. All rights reserved.
Duplication in whole or substantial portion is explicitly forbidden.
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