RTW: Running the Publishing Bases

And now, it's Road Trip time! This blog carnival is hosted by the lovely folks over at YA Highway, and if you haven't participated yet, you really should. All you have to do is pop over to their website, answer the prompt on your blog, and leave a link in the comments section of today's post. Easy peasy, right?

Today's question: How far would you go to get published? (The following image was included as reference)

 

 For me, the bases aren't really in the order of severity I would have chosen. Making minor revisions to sign with an agent is the least severe for me, so I would put that as first base, and be more than willing to run there. In my opinion, unless you self-publish, you're always going to have to make some minor changes in order to make your book more "accessible." It's not that big of a deal, as long as your story and characters remain true to your vision.

Switching to a well-selling genre would still be second base, and here's where it gets tricky. If this means switching to YA because YA is buzzing, then I'm fine with going there. I write YA anyway. But if it means switching to dystopian just because that's what's hot, then unfortunately, that's where I draw the line. I don't believe in following a trend just for the sake of making a buck (which is why jumping on the trend train would be my homerun, and I wouldn't go that far). I write because I love it, not because I want to get rich from it. I'm a nanny to make money. I'm a writer to make myself happy. Based on that, I'm not really sure if I'd even make it to second base. 

Third base, in my opinion, would be major revisions requested by an editor. If there were some scenes that needed to be added or deleted, fine. As long as my book remained true to itself and my vision for it, that's not a big deal. If the editor was suggesting a major plot overhaul or character shift, though, I don't think I could do it. 

Jumping on the trend train is a fate worse than death, so I know I wouldn't make it to a homerun. I guess after all is said and done, I'm not willing to let go of my creative freedom just for the sake of getting rich. Hopefully the publishing world will be kind to me and land me an agent and a publishing house that will respect my artistic vision. One can always hope, right? :)

How far would you go?

J

Back to Normal...Sort Of

So, in case you didn't notice, I took a bit of a hiatus last week. There was a lot of errand-running to be done, what with having to change my last name on EVERYTHING I OWN, so I didn't really have much time to blog. This week should be somewhat back to normal...but I'm not promising anything. :)

I have some big news from the weekend, as well. We're moving! We've been living with C's parents for the last year, which has been wonderful and has helped us save money, but we really need our own space. Especially now that we're married and have a buttload of awesome wedding presents that we can't even use right now. We've been hunting for the perfect apartment for about two months now, and it's been brutal. We've visited between 15 and 20 communities, and seen everything from super cheap but super trashy, to luxurious but astronomically expensive. We were starting to think we'd never find a place that met all of our requirements (pet friendly, washer and dryer in the unit, walk-in closets, lots of space, within our budget). And then yesterday happened.

We found a 1200 square foot apartment that was still on special (the last one on special, I might add), and was right within our budget! All the utilities except electricity are paid for, there's a community dog park for Puppy, it's spacious, newer (so things aren't falling apart), has a washer and dryer, and the closets are HUGE! We're in love. :D Oh, did I mention we get the keys in two weeks? Because my life isn't chaotic enough as it is. O.o

Honestly though, I'm excited. Sure, it'll be a little chaotic around here for the next few weeks while we pack and unpack everything. But the majority of our stuff is already in boxes because there wasn't enough room to unpack everything at C's parents house, and the rest is wedding presents. We'll be able to open up all the wonderful gifts we got and put them to use (Hello new dishes, hello waffle maker, and hellllooooo Black Friday television!) We'll have more privacy, and we'll be able to have our own home office/library. I'd say the good far outweighs the bad in this situation. :)

So, to sum up, I'm going to try to schedule the majority of my posts for the next two weeks to keep this place hopping, but don't be surprised if I miss a day. Maybe someday my life won't be so crazy...

Here's hoping!

J