Today’s guest for the SNOB is Rebecca Kim Wells whose debut novel Shatter the Sky was a New England Book Award Finalist, an Indies Introduce selection, and a Kids’ Indie Next Pick. She is also the author of Storm the Earth (October 2020) and Of Blood and Briars (2021), published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. She holds a BA in Political Science from UC Berkeley and an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Simmons College.
Whether you’re under contract or trying to snag another deal, you’re a professional now, with the pressures of a published novelist compounded with the still-present nagging self-doubt of the noobie. How to deal?
Is it hard to leave behind the first novel and focus on the second?
I think it’s always a little difficult to finally close the door on a book. Shatter the Sky is my debut, so it will always have a special place in my heart. I worked on it for about three years (from the first draft to when it went off to the printer), and I definitely got a little emotional thinking about not working on it anymore. But it wasn’t too devastating—since my second book Storm the Earth is a direct sequel, I didn’t have to say goodbye to the story or the characters. (Now that Storm the Earth is off to the printer, I am getting super sad and scheming ways to return to that world, but that’s another story!)
At what point do you start diverting your energies from promoting your debut and writing / polishing / editing your second?
A lot of people (myself included) don’t realize how much non-writing work is involved in being an author until they’re actually doing it! For Shatter the Sky, I found myself pitching author events, doing interviews, learning basic graphic design, feeling obligated to spend time on Twitter, Instagram, and other social media… Time can get away from you so quickly.
That being said, I got pretty lucky with timing. I sold Storm the Earth (book two) to my publisher at the end of 2018, after most of the writing work for Shatter the Sky was done. In the spring of 2019, I spent most of my time working on the first draft of the second book. I turned in the first draft of Storm the Earth at the beginning of June 2019, and then had most of June and July to promote Shatter the Sky, which came out at the end of July. Then my editor sent edits back to me toward the end of August, so flipping back to work on the second book came very naturally. Most of the difficult revision and polishing work on Storm the Earth happened last autumn and winter, once I had finished the bulk of my promo work for Shatter the Sky.
The state of the world is vastly different from what it was at this time last year—a lot of things I learned from my experience don’t necessarily apply right now. But one thing I would still say is, whether you are using social media for promo or just to hang out (or both!), try to be intentional when it comes to the amount of time you spend on it. I certainly wasted a lot of time on Twitter because I felt like I “had” to be there, and only had emotional ruts at the end of the day to show for it.
Your first book landed an agent and an editor, and hopefully some fans. Who are you writing the second one for? Them, or yourself?
I’m so grateful for the people who have read and loved Shatter the Sky, and I appreciate all the readers who have taken the time to tell me how much they enjoyed it. That being said, ultimately, I have to write for myself. Obviously I want readers to be happy—that’s what books are all about! But I’ve learned over the years that I can’t really make progress in my work unless I tune out outside voices completely and try to focus only on what is right for the story I’m telling. I do the best I can, and all I can hope for is that readers find the same satisfaction in reading my books as I aim for while writing them.
Is there a new balance of time management to address once you’re a professional author?
Absolutely! I touched a little on this while talking about switching between promotion for Shatter the Sky and the work of writing Storm the Earth, but it bears repeating and elaborating: If you are an author, especially if you are writing one book per year, your responsibilities are going to overlap and exponentially increase as promotional work comes into play. I’m not sure what I would have done if the timing hadn’t worked out such that I could mostly trade off the writing and promoting work. For anyone gearing up to do this, I would suggest making a promo/marketing schedule for yourself—perhaps set aside one day per week to take care of email pitches, interviews, designing graphics, scheduling Instagram posts, etc. Then (ideally) you’ll be done and you won’t have to worry about it while you’re writing!
What did you do differently the second time around, with the perspective of a published author?
Okay, so…I would say that these are more things I intend to do differently this time around—we’ll see if I actually can keep those promises!
I want to spend less time on social media, honestly. I do find value in it, but it stresses me out so easily and can really cast a pall over the rest of my day. I’m going to try to schedule my social media time and not exceed it.
At the same time, the bulk of my promo work will likely be online for the next…while. I’m planning to go to a craft store and stock up on a few pretty fabrics and knick-knacks for photo shoots. (Keep the receipts to write off of taxes!) I’ve been making do with what I have around the house, but there are some people on Instagram who have gorgeous feeds, and it pays off. I’m moving soon, and I also plan to stage a bookshelf to use as a background for virtual events or shooting videos.
This is something I have been doing: For those intending to do author appearances or readings (virtual or otherwise), I’d recommend attending a few events and taking notes on what worked for you and what didn’t. Preparing for events makes them way less stressful.
And lastly, I’m spending more time supporting other books and authors I love—buying books, checking books out from the library, retweeting them, commenting on/liking posts, shouting about them online, signing up for newsletters, posting reviews and pictures… Publishing and authoring is a very odd business to be in, and kindness and enthusiasm go a long way.