How To Promote One Book While Writing Another With Christina Hoag

Welcome to the SNOB (Second Novel Ominipresent Blues). 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?

Today's guest for the SNOB is Christina Hoag, whose YA thriller Girl on the Brink was named one of Suspense Magazine’s Best of 2016 for young adults.

She's a former staff writer for the Miami Herald and Associated Press, and wrote from Latin America for Time, Business Week, New York Times, Financial Times, Times of London, Houston Chronicle and other news outlets.

Is it hard to leave behind the first novel and focus on the second?

I had the odd situation of having two novels published at the same time by two different publishers. What happened is that the first novel, Skin of Tattoos, was on submission for a long time with an agent. During that time, I finished Girl on the Brink and started sending it out. When I got Skin of Tattoos back from the agent, I revised it and then continued to send it out on my own to small publishers who didn’t require an agent. By that time I got an offer, I had also found a publisher for Girl on the Brink, and as it happens they were released in the same month. So basically, I promoted both books at once. That did save some time and money.

At what point do you start diverting your energies from promoting your debut and writing / polishing / editing your second?

Promoting the first one(s) did take up a lot of time. There’s a natural cycle of about three months of interest after the release of a book then interest basically drops off. So you do have to take full advantage of that window. It is gratifying though, to see your hard work come to fruition after years of slogging away so it was worth it. But I did start a new project right away, the problem was I didn’t know what I really wanted to write so I putzed around with several different ideas and books.

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 have to write for myself and just hope that readers will like what I write. Otherwise, I feel it’s not going to be as authentic. Luckily, now I have a list of concrete projects to go to so hopefully, I won’t waste as much time after the next novel floundering around as to what to write. I will say, though, that my writing has gotten a lot stronger with the constant practice.

Is there a new balance of time management to address once you’re a professional author?

Definitely. I’m a morning writer so that’s when I write. Marketing and promotional stuff I save for the afternoon, when I’m written out. And of course, I also write to make a living. I edit, write corporate public relations stuff and so on. So I also have to factor that in.

What did you do differently the second time around, with the perspective of a published author?

Start a newsletter to reach fans, network by joining writers’ groups and associations, attend writers conferences, generally follow any marketing opportunity. I’ve also learned to be more confident about myself and promoting myself.

Rachel Lynn Solomon On Loving Your Work

Welcome to the SNOB (Second Novel Ominipresent Blues). 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?

My guest for today's SNOB is Rachel Lynn Solomon, who writes, tap dances, and collects red lipstick in Seattle, Washington. She is the author of two young adult novels, You'll Miss Me When I'm Gone (out now from Simon Pulse) and Our Year of Maybe (out January 15, 2019). Once she helped set a Guinness World Record for the most natural redheads in one place. You can find her online and on Twitter.

Is it hard to leave behind the first novel and focus on the second?

Definitely, and for me the hardest part was accepting that my first book was “done”—no more middle-of-the-night epiphanies, no more last-minute tweaks. I had all these other versions of You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone in my head, but readers would only know one of them.

My first book was also a bit of a journey. I started working on it in 2013 while on submission with another YA (and then another) that didn’t end up selling. My former agent put it on submission for a short time, and after we amicably parted ways, I queried it for six months before signing with a new agent. Then we went on submission with it again. By the time the book was published in early 2018, it had been in my life for nearly five years.

In comparison, I started working on my book 2 in early 2016, though after You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone sold in a two-book deal in mid-2016, I set aside that book 2 for about a year while working on YMMWIG edits. I estimate that I worked consistently on book 2, Our Year of Maybe, for about a year, maybe less. So the amount of time I spent on each book was was wildly different.

I also felt torn between wanting to write the same book and trying to distinguish it from my debut as much as possible. Every time I read a positive review of YMMWIG that praised something I didn’t do in OYOM, I wondered if I should add it in, even if it didn’t fit the story. Ultimately, though, I found a balance, and I think OYOM has a lot in common with YMMWIG while exploring some themes (codependent friendship, obsession, self-discovery) my debut didn’t.

At what point do you start diverting your energies from promoting your debut and writing / polishing / editing your second?

In my case, these things overlapped quite a bit! YMMWIG came out early January 2018, and OYOM was sent to copy edits in late February. So the end of 2017 was spent promoting YMMWIG and revising OYOM, on top of working full-time.

I tried to focus on the aspects of promo that 1) I enjoyed and 2) increased visibility for the book. I wrote a blog post breaking down everything I did and how much money I spent.

Your first book landed an agent and an editor, and hopefully some fans. Who are you writing the second one for? Them, or yourself?

Most of the time, I find that I’m writing for my teen self: the books I would have loved, but more importantly, the books I needed. Of course, plenty has changed since I was a teen—I remember thinking texting would never catch on and resisted it until I was a senior in high school—so I keep the modern teen audience in mind, too.

I’m also often writing to counteract negative portrayals of girls in YA (particularly the ones I read as a teen), mainly when it comes to sexuality, desire, and ambition. I don’t think it’s selfish to write for ourselves first. We should enjoy and take pride in the work we’re creating—how can I expect someone else to love something I’ve written if I don’t love it first?

Is there a new balance of time management to address once you’re a professional author?

After a lot of planning, I took a leap into FT writing in the fall of 2018. I’d been working FT from home prior to that, which unfortunately meant it felt like I was always working. When I had time to write, I’d stress myself out so much because I didn’t know when I’d have that writing time again. I sold two more books to Simon Pulse in mid-2018, and I was hungry for time not just to write them—but to truly enjoy writing them.

One thing I didn’t realize, though, was that a decent chunk of time spent author-ing isn’t actually spent writing. You’re also responding to emails, promoting your books, interacting with other authors, reading their work, standing in line at the post office, etc.

I try to plan out my weeks so I’m writing every morning for about four hours. Afternoons are for promo, freelance editing, errands, or whatever else needs to get done. It’s still a work in progress, but I think I’m getting better at the time management element.

What did you do differently the second time around, with the perspective of a published author?

I’m a lot calmer now than I was the first time around. All of this still feels new and exciting, but the first half of my debut year, I had a hard time not constantly comparing myself to others. You see something great happen for someone, and you’re thrilled for them, but you still wonder: “Why not me? Why not my book?” It’s impossible to avoid—even if you’re getting a couple of those great somethings. And I truly am happy with my debut experience.

Then, halfway through the year, I felt a shift and gained some much-needed perspective. Part of it was sparked by this excellent blog post from Susan Dennard. It hit me that the only way I’d have a chance at achieving any of my author bucket list goals was by writing the next book. And then writing the one after that, and so forth. That’s really the only thing we can control in this industry. So I’ve made a concerted effort to channel that into my writing, and to put out both positivity and honesty on my social media whenever I can. Because at the end of the day, I feel so incredibly lucky that I get to do this again.

Lish McBride On the Stress of Sophomore Novels

I'm lucky (or cunning) enough to have lured yet another successful writer over to my blog for an SAT - Successful Author Talk. SAT authors have conquered the query, slain the synopsis and attained the pinnacle of published. How'd they do it? Let's ask 'em!

Today's guest for the SAT (Successful Author Talk) is Lish McBride author of funny and creepy Young Adult books such as Hold Me Closer, Necromancer; Necromancing the Stone; Firebug; and Pyromantic. Lish got her BFA in creative writing from Seattle University and her MFA from University of New Orleans. Lish is also currently a bookseller and event host at Third Place Books, a giant thriving indie bookstore just outside of Seattle.

Are you a Planner or Pantster?

I am, at heart, a Pantser. I know certain things I’m aiming for, but I often don’t know a lot of the in between stuff until I let the characters come out to play. That being said, occasionally planning is helpful. I’m doing a full rewrite right now, and we have an outline for that. (It’s a co-written book, so an outline is super helpful.)

How long does it typically take you to write a novel, start to finish?

Oh, man. If left to my own devices, I’d probably have a full draft in 2-3 months. That being said, I’m never left to my own devices. Right now I have a day job, two kids—one of whom is three so…yeah. It’s hard to write when someone is screaming at you for snacks and keeps trying to take your laptop. Ha! I also do a lot of freelance stuff, so things have been more molasses-like around here.

Do you work on one project at a time, or are you a multi tasker?

I’m a multitasker, partially by necessity (those bills aren’t going to pay themselves) and partially because of training. I have an MFA, and while I was getting that I had to write pieces for several classes at once, so I was often working on a story, a screenplay, and then sometimes an essay or my thesis (my first novel) on top of that. I got used to jumping around.

Did you have to overcome any fears that first time you sat down to write?

The very first time? No, because I was in kindergarten and I didn’t know what I was getting into. My picture book, which made zero sense, won the young writers thing my school was doing, which was great, but no one will ever see it. First, because it made no sense, and second because I think it was one of the many things that my mother still had of mine that hurricane Katrina ate.

When I started my first novel there wasn’t any fear because my first novel was my thesis to graduate my MFA, so I didn’t think it would really go anywhere. Certainly no one was going to read the thing. The pressure wasn’t there.

Now, if you want to talk about when I sat down to write my follow up novel, Necromancing the Stone, then yes. SO MUCH FEAR. People think that when you get published, all of that doubt goes away. For many of us, it seems to double down. You have all of your original doubts, but now you have a fresh crop to go with them. What if that first book was a fluke? What if you can’t write another one? What if everyone hates it? Whatifwhatifwhatitwhatif—until your head explodes.

Suddenly there is pressure and expectations heaped onto your writing, and it’s scary. On top of that, you’re getting constant feedback on the book that just came out. I had to turn off my alerts early and stop reading reviews. If the review was good, I panicked that I wouldn’t be able to repeat my performance. If it was bad, I questioned my skill set. Neither response was helpful to me, so I ignore them now and leave the reviews for the readers.

How many trunked books (if any) did you have before you were agented?

I didn’t have any, which is weird. I actually wish I’d had a few. Some more experience would have been nice, for sure. Hold Me Closer, Necromancer was my first attempt at a novel. It’s not like I’ve escaped the experience, though. I’ve just had to shelve my current YA project. Whether or not it stays trunked forever, we’ll see. It’s super discouraging. I have a nice support system of authors and friends who can help me keep my chin up on the hard days. The people who remind me that I don’t, in fact, want to chuck my laptop and become a goat farmer. Those people are worth their weight in gold, and many of them are readers. Thanks, team!

Have you ever quit on an ms, and how did you know it was time?

I don’t think it’s a permanent quit, but my last YA novel and I are definitely on a break. My agent had to tell me it was time. We just couldn’t get it to a spot where he felt it was ready to send out. It was heart breaking.

Who is your agent and how did you get that "Yes!" out of them?  

My agent is Jason Anthony from MMQLIT (Massie & McQuilkin Literary Agents). He’s been my agent from the get-go, and it was a bit of a fluke. I wrote Hold Me Closer, Necromancer as my thesis to graduate my MFA program at the University of New Orleans. My thesis director was pretty suspicious of genre fiction, because her heart belongs to literary fiction. We had to have a lot of discussions about why on earth I wanted to write about zombies. Ha!

Anyway, she mentioned to her agent that I was writing a book and she loved it despite the zombies and werewolves, and she asked if he knew anyone who handled such projects. Her agent passed my draft off to Jason Anthony (my current agent). It was a mess—I would never have sent it out as a proper query. If Jason hadn’t offered to see it knowing it was a really rough draft, I wouldn’t have shown it to anyone. He read it and called me two days later. We had a long discussion about what he loved, but mostly about what needed to be fixed. We spent about three months revising it, and then he sent it out. So not your typical journey. I’ve never actually had to write a query letter. The timeline went from me sending it to Jason about April/May 2008 when I was about to graduate to selling it to Henry Holt in October.

Any advice to aspiring writers out there on conquering query hell?

I know it sounds simple and you’ve likely heard it, but just keep trying. Even though my query process was nonexistent, I’d dealt with plenty of rejection before that. Rejection from MFA programs, rejected short stories, and so on. You have to learn to listen to the feedback you get, discard what doesn’t work, apply what does, revise and just keep trying. If you’re not putting yourself out there, there is zero chance of you getting published. I went to school with some amazingly talented folks. Some of the main reasons I got published before them wasn’t because I was a better writer. It was because I finished a novel first and sent it out. Don’t take the rejections personally. Just keep sending out the best book you can.

How did it feel the first time you saw your book for sale?

Surreal. It still feels that way when I see them on a shelf. It sort of feels like a really long, elaborate practical joke and that someone will eventually yell, “Just kidding!” and take it all away.

How much input do you have on cover art?

Very, very little. They mostly show me mock ups and ask what I think…but I think they just do what they want, really. I’ve been amazingly lucky so far that I’ve been paired with great artists and have had some really stunning covers.

What's something you learned from the process that surprised you?

How very little I knew going in. I didn’t know anything about how writers got paid, how little control we have over a lot of it, basically a lot of ignorance to the business end. I also wasn’t prepared for the stress of book two. So now when friends get published, I congratulate them, take them to lunch, and we have a long talk about what’s coming. It helps to know that you’re not alone.

How much of your own marketing do you?  

I do most of it. I’m on my…eighth? Ninth?...publicist, and it’s hard to get any sort of consistency between books when that happens. Also, your publisher is putting out a lot of books in a season, and unless your book is the one they’re really pushing, you basically get lost in the shuffle. So I have a newsletter, twitter, facebook, instagram, Patreon and blog. I make my own bookmarks (which means I pay an artist to design them and then pay to have them printed), buttons, flyers, and stickers. Most writers have to make their own book swag. It’s great when the publisher handles things, because you can’t beat that amazing juggernaut of support, but I’ve learned that I can’t rely on that, either.

When do you build your platform? After an agent? Or should you be working before?

I built it post-agent, because again, hadn’t really planned on sending things out yet. I do think building pre-agent is smart. Going online to connect to other authors and learning about the community is really helpful. (You can also learn about all that tricky business stuff.) I also know that for young adult, publishers do look at that sort of thing. I should have done mine much sooner than I did. Bottom line, though? Book comes first. If you don’t have a good book to send out, it won’t matter how many Twitter followers you have.

Do you think social media helps build your readership?

I do. Social media has helped me meet new readers. It’s also helped me get closer to librarians, teachers, readers and other authors, who help spread the word. On top of that, it helps me let readers know about books, stories or other content that they might not have known about. I know that when I finish a book that I love, I immediately go to the author’s site or social media so I can see what else they’ve done. I also check out their feeds to see if they have any authors or books that they love, because I’m always looking for MOAR, you know? Books forever!