How I got my book published: One author tells all

This week, my second novel will be released. It’s an exciting time, even though my day-to-day life is the same as when I wrote nothing but ads and occasionally, the school newsletter. Still, there are books with my name on the spine in libraries, and that feels great – because books matter.

Every book is a story in itself. How the author got the idea, how it came to be published and how well it’s doing.

This is the story of my first book:

It started life as a TV show. I’d spent years in ad agencies, and when I was home with my first baby (watching a bit of telly) I started thinking, ‘Advertising isn’t as hard as agencies make out.’ So I worked up an idea for a reality show that had two teams of regular people coming up with ads for a real product. I made it look pretty with Word Art and sent it off to the networks. One liked it. Big excitement. The idea was developed and a pilot was made. I was going to be rich, RICH, I tell you! But it died in the arse because advertising agencies (the network’s bread and butter) hated it. In my show, regular people were making decent ads for five thousand dollars. Ad agencies charge … a bit more than that. Oh well.

I went back to watching Oprah, but the idea wouldn’t go away. ‘I know!’ I thought, ‘I’ll write it as a book. About kids who make their own ads.’  I got cracking. Then I got bored. Books are loooong. What if it’s no good and I’ve wasted all that time? I needed some expert advice, so naturally I turned to Google. I found writer Rebecca Sparrow’s website (I’d been a fan of her novel The Girl Most Likely and enjoyed her newspaper column), so I sent her this email:

Hi Rebecca,

I’m assuming if you put your email address on your website you don’t mind getting emails from strangers. I guess they are easier to ignore than phone calls or Mormons. Anyway. Not sure how you can help me – perhaps you can point me in the right direction for help.

I’m about 20,000 words into a novel for teenagers (writing it, not reading it). It’s about a bunch of Brisbane kids who start their own ad agency to save a struggling local soft drink company. It’s a bit Enid Blyton for a new generation. Fewer lacrosse games and midnight feasts.

I’ve spent the best part of 20 years as an advertising copywriter and am finding this kind of writing fun, although I am now struggling with plot etc. I am unused to writing anything that takes longer than 30 seconds to read aloud.

Also, I have no idea if what I have written is complete shit or not. My husband thinks it’s great but he’s an accountant who likes Clive Cussler. Any suggestions of who in the literary world might want to take a look and tell me honestly if I should stick to writing brochures?

Cheers,

Kate Hunter

Luckily for me, Bec was at a point in her own work that had her jumping at any distraction (a Facebook alert, an episode of the Brady Bunch) and she replied straight away, suggesting I join the Queensland Writers Centre. Her email (and this proves either her generosity of spirit, or the depth of her boredom) ended with an invitation to send her what I’d written, and she’d let me know her thoughts.

I did, and happily Bec liked it enough to send it to her publisher, who offered me a contract on my unfinished manuscript.* This doesn’t happen often. I’m very, very lucky. I still had to finish the story and deal with edits and deadlines and covers and titles. But almost exactly two years after sending that email, Mosquito Advertising The Parfizz Pitch was a real, live book.

Since then, I’ve discovered that books are just one part of being an author. So what else is there? Lord knows it’s not money. Even JK Rowling says she’d be writing if she wasn’t paid a penny. Of course, she said that from her Lear Jet.

Like JK, I get asked about being an author quite often. Unlike JK, I’m barely qualified to answer. But here are my answers to the five questions I’m asked most often.

1)    Are you rich? I get a royalty of 10% on the sale of each book. This is typical. My books are for kids so they retail at about $17.95 including GST. An Australian book is considered successful if it sells more than 5000 copies. Authors don’t see any royalties until they’ve paid back any advance the publisher paid. I’m holding back on placing that Lear Jet order for a little while yet.

2)    When do you find time to write? I’m not a morning person, but I’m a morning writer. I write my fiction when it’s still dark, when the house is still calm. I can write other stuff during the day.

3)    Do you need an agent? Probably. I didn’t with my kids’ series, but I got lucky. I’m writing something for adults now and will hopefully work with an agent who can field the onslaught of offers (tee-hee). Agents know the industry and lots of publishers won’t look at work by unrepresented authors. Of course, agents will take a percentage, so that has to be considered.

4)    How good does it have to be? A story needs to be original and well-written. That doesn’t mean flowery, but easily understood. Publishers want to know what a story is about (orphaned boy-wizard goes to magic school), not what it’s like, (oh, it’s a coming-of-age journey set in a magical boarding school that’s kind of like a Scottish castle).

5)    What do you do if you run out of ideas? Just write. You can fix up crap words but not a blank page.

*In order to save her sanity, Bec no longer reads the manuscripts of aspiring writers but believes Bryce Courtney has time on his hands.

One of the best things about being an author is the fun of meeting other writers – online and in real life. There are lots of writers in the Mamamia community – published and unpublished, in print and online. Are you one? How do you write, where do you write, why do you write? What’s your story?