Danielle Jackson on Taking Things in Stride

It’s time for a new interview series… like NOW. No really, actually it’s called NOW (Newly Omniscient Authors). This blog has been publishing since 2011, and some of the earlier posts feel too hopeful dated. To honor the relaunch of the site, I thought I’d invite some of my past guests to read and ruminate on their answers to questions from oh-so-long-ago to see what’s changed between then and now.

Today’s guest for the NOW is Danielle Jackson, the author of The Accidental Pinup which is the story of rival photographers who are forced to collaborate on a body-positive lingerie campaign, but they might have to readjust their focus when sparks fly.

Has how you think (and talk) about writing and publishing changed, further into your career?

I think there are so many opportunities for different authors to showcase their storytelling. When I first started working in publishing (way back in 2008), there was an ongoing conversation about “discoverability”—how do readers find books? How do they find their auto-buy authors? With the advent and importance of social media, readers can find exactly what they want to read at any given moment. They can find authors who share their core values and speak directly to their id, and books what can scratch any reading itch. 

Let’s about the balance between the creative versus the business side of the industry. Do you think of yourself as an artiste or are you analyzing every aspect of your story for marketability? Has that changed from your early perspective?

I have been lucky in that I’ve worked with books from almost every angle possible—I was an English major, I worked as a publicist at a publisher, I was the editorial manager for a review website, and I’m the events coordinator at an independent bookstore. So on the one hand, I’ve known what to expect throughout the journey to my debut release. On the other hand, I definitely have had to compartmentalize what I know—including what can go wrong!—but I also know that so much is out of my control once my book is available to the general public. And that is mostly what I keep in mind when I’m close to spiraling over some setback and negative review. It's mostly about balance, but I’m human! I still get upset over the little things. And I relate to the authors I used to work with way more, on a different level. 

The bloom is off the rose… what’s faded for you, this far out from debut?

So, The Accidental Pinup is actually my debut novel! But I’ve been a part of publishing for over a decade, and like I mentioned earlier, having worked on so many sides of the publishing process and book business, I have a unique sense of what has changed over the years. Considering when I first started working in publishing I was writing but not necessarily with the intent to be published and now I have a book available, there’s been a change in how I look at the things we all go through as authors. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes that readers don’t know about, and until they are in the midst of publishing, many authors don’t know about as well. I wouldn’t say things have faded per se, but my perspective has continued to evolve, and I take everything in stride and I try to think about things from a variety of sides before making decisions that could impact my career as an author. 

Likewise, is there anything you’ve grown to love (or at least accept) that you never thought you would?

I love the comradery among authors—especially among romance authors! The citizens of Romancelandia are so special and I’m glad to be a part of it. 

And lastly, what did getting published mean for you and how was it changed (or not changed!) your life?

Getting published is a dream come true! For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved books. I remember being read to when I was little, and I remember staying up all night to finish any number of unputdownable books over the years. To think that someone may feel this way while reading my book is amazing, and I hope I can bring readers the joy I’ve felt as someone who not only loves to read, but also loves sharing books with other people through my “day job.” I have such appreciation for the people who have helped me get to this point along the way and I cannot wait to see what is next. 

Danielle Jackson is a contemporary romance author, avid reader, lackluster-yet-mighty crafter, and accomplished TV binge-watcher. Once upon a time, she was a publicist in publishing and continues to cultivate her love of books and reading by chatting with the best authors in the business as an event coordinator at an independent bookstore and as the co-host of the Fresh Fiction podcast. She also moderates panels, interviews authors, and hosts a romance book club. Danielle lives in Chicagoland with her very own romance hero husband, darling daughter, and two tempestuous cats. For more information, visit https://daniellejacksonbooks.com/ and follow her on Twitter and Instagram, @DJacksonBooks.

Ellen Barker on The Balance

by Ellen Barker

We’re two years past the “we’re all in this together” phase of the pandemic and two years into rising talk and social clashing over climate, immigration, and a host of other issues. Racial hatred is out in the open. “Truth” has lost its . . . truth. Fires rage throughout the western states.  And then the invasion of Ukraine, a nuclear threat. We need a respite, we need some hope.

Four months into 2022, my book club had finished The Personal Librarian, Defending Jacob, The Girl with the Louding Voice, and The Mountains Sing. Then we took on The Four Winds. “We need a break,” one member wailed. “We need something uplifting.” And she’s right. We choose books, fiction or nonfiction, that will inform us, teach us, get us inside the heads of people whose points of view are not our own. But right now we need to lighten it up a little, for our own sanity. We’re not looking for a beach read, not for book club anyway. But something with a little levity and a good dose of hope. I strongly believe in the power of the novel to inform by engaging our minds and hearts. The best novels make us both laugh and cry, and something about each one lingers. They balance entertainment—which takes us out of ourselves for a while—with something more. Something that raises the book above escapism and makes it worth dragging our attention away from the latest Russian bombing or U.S. school shooting.  Those books are what we need right now.

Fans of Anthony Trollope and Charles Dickens know all about this. Their Victorian-era novels take us right into the politics and social conventions of the times in a way that no history book can, because the characters and their travails and triumphs stick to us and we can relate them to our own times. Or think of Mark Twain: the mental image of Injun Joe dead on the raft in Huck Finn will live with me forever.  To Kill a Mockingbird is another obvious example, with beloved characters and beautiful story-telling wrapped around the stark reality of racial injustice. And The Red Tent, with so much to learn from Anita Diamant’s intriguing novel: fictional history that brings to life the subculture of women in male-dominated societies in all times and places.

Modern novels are just as potent. Alison McGhee’s Never Coming Back gives us a look into something many of us will face: watching a parent lose ground to dementia. It’s a tough topic. But it’s the daughter’s story too, and the daughter has a funky job and her own issues. Her world is populated with quirky friends and an amusing recurring Jeopardy! theme that lighten up the dementia story and leave us entertained along with knowing a little more about Alzheimer’s. 

In Allie and Bea, Catherine Ryan Hyde mixes a glimpse of teens in foster care with a crazy car adventure. You’ve got to love a book that has chapters titled “Rude Checkbook” and “How to Pet a Bat Ray.” If that ever comes up in your world, you’ll know how to do it.

In the category of “nonfiction that reads like a novel,” a lot of great new books are out there. Tyler Merritt’s I Take My Coffee Black and Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime are eye-opening with a side of comedy. Tyler, for example, takes drama class to avoid the gangs because he’s more afraid of his mother than the gang. Trevor’s mother saves money on gas for their VW bug by making Trevor get out and push the car when they are in rush hour and only inching along.

In East of Troost, I put you right inside the head of the first-person narrator as she navigates her new financial reality in a dilapidated house in a sketchy neighborhood. She talks to her dog, talks to herself, and is afraid of her own basement. She takes us out of ourselves and gives us a break from our own persistent worries. We can love her, laugh with her, roll our eyes and yell at her. But she also narrates the social phenomena that reduced her home and neighborhood to the rubble it isn’t quite, but could be soon. The ending of East of Troost can still make me cry, but in a good way, a few tears of relief—and hope.

Ellen Barker grew up in Kansas City and had a front-row seat to the demographic shifts, the hope, and the turmoil of the civil rights era of the 1960s. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Urban Studies from Washington University in Saint Louis, where she developed a passion for how cities work, and don’t. Her first novel, East of Troost, will be published in September 2022. Prior to East of Troost, her most recent publication is “She Gathered it All,” in Art in the Time of Unbearable Crisis (2022, Stephanie Raffelock, ed.). She has also published essays in Fine Homebuilding and the Palo Alto Coop News.

Dianne C. Braley on The Submission Process

If there's one thing that many aspiring writers have few clues about, it's the submission process. There are good reasons for that; authors aren't exactly encouraged to talk in detail about our own submission experiences, and - just like agent hunting - everyone's story is different. I managed to cobble together a few non-specific questions that some debut authors have agreed to answer (bless them). And so I bring you the submission interview series - Submission Hell - It's True. Yes, it's the SHIT.

Today’s guest for the SHIT is Dianne C. Braley who is the author of The Silence in the Sound, a coming-of-age story woven with addiction, love, and celebrity.

How much did you know about the submission process before you were out on subs yourself?

The bare minimum! I swear I thought the biggest challenge was finishing the book. Many of us newbies think that the first agent/publisher will see that they just read the query for the next best seller once we submit. At least I did, and boy was I wrong!

Did anything about the process surprise you?

So much surprised me. It dumfounded me that I now had to write a query letter to pitch my book that felt as hard as it was to write it, which took nearly eight years and 500 revisions. Then there’s the synopsis, another mountain to climb and wait. . . every agent prefers different things sent and formatted in different ways. Some want the first three chapters in Chicago manual style and a synopsis, while others want nothing except a query, a list of comparable titles, a one-sentence pitch, and for you to stand on your head while waiting one year for them to respond and oh wait, they don’t guarantee any response even if they request your entire manuscript. 

Did you research the editors you knew had your ms? Do you recommend doing that?

Yes, that’s another thing. Research the agents/editors you will submit to so you can personalize each submission to them. Make sure to spell their name correctly, please! I made that mistake once. While I didn’t notice if it made a difference or not, I think it’s always helpful to personalize an email. It gets their attention and lets them know you did your homework. 

What was the average amount of time it took to hear back from editors?

It was so crazy during the pandemic, and so many agents/editors on Twitter would post how backlogged they were. Using Query Tracker, you can see where you are in their queue, and I recommend buying the subscription. I think it is $25 if I remember correctly. Although looking at that generally doesn’t do anything except drive you crazy about why they passed you and haven’t messaged you yet. For me, it was between one day and one year. I’m not lying or exaggerating. But on average, I’d say between four to six months.

What do you think is the best way for an author out on submission to deal with the anxiety? 

Set up a separate email only for submissions; that way, you are notified only if an email hits that address. This will stop you from looking incessantly because of all the other emails you need to answer. Start your next project. Writing poetry, an essay, or a short story and submitting it to websites, magazines, etc., helps me. It’s fulfilling and quicker. It also keeps me distracted, and if something I sent gets picked up, it’s a little high and a small win. Fill your life with small wins while you wait for the big one. 

If you had any rejections, how did you deal with that emotionally? How did this kind of rejection compare to query rejections?

Rejection in any form isn’t easy. When you get your first few rejections, it is gutting. I was a total wreck. Agents, as of late, aren’t providing much feedback being so busy, so it’s hard to know what you need to change. If they only requested the query, it’s that. Try a few more and consider tweaking it. If you sent opening pages, have some beta readers or critique partners take a look. I was lucky to have a decent number of full requests but still only had little feedback. It’s so hard. Feel your feelings but keep going! I eventually revised the timeline of my whole book. It gnawed at me, and I thought it might be better if I did, but I didn’t want to do it. Then after so many rejections, I had to, and it worked out for the best! Your work may get that much better from it. 

If you got feedback on a rejection, how did you process it? How do you compare processing an editor’s feedback as compared to a beta reader’s?

I took it much harder when it was an agent or an editor. Beta readers are meant to help shape the work by providing feedback, while I felt like the agent/editor was the end of the road. I soon learned that’s not true either, but it can feel that way, and I guess you are on the road to the end if you exhaust all who take your genre. 

It all depends on how they word it. Some agents/editors are abrupt and cutting, telling you quickly and short why your book isn’t for them—OUCH, it stings. But weirdly, it gets easier, or you get numb to it all. Take what they say and listen, see if it rings true. You may have to make some changes, and that’s okay but if it doesn’t resonate, stay true to your work. 

When you got your YES! how did that feel? How did you find out – email, telephone, smoke signal?

I was in utter disbelief. I received an email from the acquisitions editor at a publisher who told me how much he loved my book. He went on and on, detailing all of what he liked and how it made him feel. I felt such a solid connection to this man as he seemed to “get” my work. We then scheduled a call with the publisher. It was supposed to be a casual call, and he asked me for a pitch of the novel. I panicked, thinking I was past this point as the editor had already read it! I didn’t do my best job, but the editor chimed in and saved me, speaking at length about what he felt the entirety of the work to be about. It was the first time I’d heard a two-sentence summary about my book that grasped it, and I felt I could speak to this statement all day long—told through the voice of Georgette. The Silence in the Sound is a provocative coming-of-age debut revealing the lasting effects of growing up in addiction. But it also demonstrates a young woman’s strength as she navigates friendship, love, and heartbreak while finding her hidden strength along the way.  

Did you have to wait a period of time before sharing your big news, because of details being ironed out? Was that difficult?

Yes. Not long, but long enough. You never want to make any big announcement until a contract is in hand and signed. I told my husband and sister because I wouldn’t die if it fell through, and they knew. I’d need them to collapse on.

Dianne C. Braley is a registered nurse with a passion for music, poetry, and literature. Dianne has been featured in various online and printed publications, including Today’s Dietician and Scrubs Magazine. Her nursing blog, Nursing the Neighborhood, was named one of the top nursing blogs of 2018 by Nurse Recruiter.