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Starting All Over Again: Rejection and Planning Again

Posted on March 20, 2016 Written by Pinar Tarhan

I haven’t updated my blog for a while. And when I disappear (from the blog) for that long, usually something is up. This time is no different

I want to move abroad, specifically to Vancouver, Canada. And no, it’s not because I’m an American and I’m running because of a scary but possible Donald Trump presidency. Although I’m scared of Donald winning, I have more pressing issues to deal with.

In between juggling writing assignments and editing my fiction, I thought I at least knew where my life was headed. I applied to a good master’s program in Vancouver at a school I could afford. They didn’t specify a reason for their rejection.

Now, I’m used to rejection. I get rejected as a writer. I move on and write pieces on how to deal with it because for the most time, it’s easy to move on.

But this time, I let it get it to me. It created a lot of questions. I always meant what I said about plans B,C,D and all the way to the Z in case plan A failed, but this time it took a while to get back to work:

I wasn’t sure where to start, and to add more confusion to overwhelm:

I had to stop working with several ongoing clients. (Either the projects ended, or their demands changed significantly). My income took a loss.
I caught a cold, which often can trigger a depressed state (why this happens is the subject of another personal essay entirely).
The winter kept bringing on highly unstable weather, which kept triggering my colds and affecting my social life,
And there’s a constant new tragedy in the world that affects you one way or the other.

I’ve been wanting to leave for a long time, but I’ve been adamant that not just any place will do. I want better conditions and not worse. I want to speak the language of the country, or at least know something about the culture & language . The countries I want to move to aren’t that thrilled to have freelance writers with unimpressive bank accounts, which ironically gets emptier with all the things one might have to do to deal with visa procedures.

The bank account does suffer from the feast or famine syndrome because I refuse to write about things I am not interested in, and I also have three separate fiction projects I’m trying to get off the ground.

But I’m back, and I’ll hopefully have a great April. March wasn’t kind.

How have you been?

Interview with Author Yvette Carol

Posted on February 17, 2016 Written by Pinar Tarhan

Hi everyone!

Today’s post is another great author and blogger interview. Yvette Carol is a good friend of mine from New Zealand, and she was kind enough to share her experiences about her writing and self-publishing.

Enjoy!

Can you tell us about yourself and your writing?

Hi, Pinar!

Yes, thank you for asking, and thanks for this opportunity. I write for fantasy fiction for the ‘tween reader, the 9 – 13-year-old

How long did it take you to complete your book?

It is a little hard for me to answer that question, as The Chronicles of Aden Weaver series started out life as a single volume in 2005. However, along the way, it got chopped into three stories, and the first book, ‘The Or’in of Tane Mahuta’ has been my work-in-progress as a single entity for probably the last five years or more.

Why did you take the self-publishing route?

When I was younger I did a lot of submitting to publishing houses and contests and the like. As I said in the speech at my book launch a month ago, ‘I set a glass ceiling for myself, that I would get that traditional book deal.’

Now that I’m older, the clock is ticking, there is no more time for waiting. I see other authors being intrepid and beating the Indie path and I hear the positive feedback returning from the front line, and my views are changing. I’ve stopped seeing the traditional book deal as the ultimate prize.

To my surprise, when I did let go of the trad. Publishing route idea, it was an instant relief. I’m not a gal who handles competition and the pressure of submitting and being rejected very well.

Also, it felt empowering. I was so glad to finally at last take up the reigns fully into my own hands and accept full responsibility for my “creative intelligence” and to own rights to my own work and success.

Which company did you use, which services did they offer, and how much did it cost you?

Carol J. Amato, of Stargazer Publishing, was the proof-reader I hired first, as she came highly recommended by my friend, author, Maria Cisneros-Toth. I spent the best part of a thousand dollars on this stage but then the exchange is brutal from the New Zealand end. Friends have recommended two kiwi proof-readers since then. For the second round of editing by a professional, I chose a local business called ProofPal. I highly recommend Katrien’s services. She was punctual and thorough. Nevertheless, it would seem $1000 is the going price for editing services on a full 60,000+ word manuscript, as in the end, I spent more or less the same amount.

Who did your cover for you?

People keep asking me about the cover art. Well they should do. I love it!

Once I had taken on the mantle of publisher, I began some serious investigating into the different options available today for digital online cover artists, many I found through Facebook. The going rate for that seemed to be from $5 – $400.

I had gone to various people asking questions. I really wanted to feel confident of the jacket. My story while set in the wilds of the planet Chiron is in reality based on earth, and while a story about shape-shifters in a time many centuries ago, reflects who we are today in a lot of ways. The cultures depicted are at once advanced and yet simple. It is a complex world and I felt the cover needed to be created with great care and precision. Let us just say it was not a book that could have stock art on the cover.

Luckily, I had the courage to throw caution to the wind and ask my nephew. Simon used to be a gifted artist in his youth, yet had not done any art since he left school. I asked would he create an image for the cover. He said yes. The rest is history!

Next, I hired the services of the guys at local printing outfit, BookPrint to do the formatting and layout.

Tim gave me files ready for upload onto CreateSpace and the Mobi file for Kindle Direct. These guys did a superb job with the digital side of things and everyone said the paperback they produced was top quality also. So a big “thumbs-up” for them!

Do you recommend them to other writers?

Yes, definitely!

How are you marketing your book?

Between the kids and Christmas, I haven’t yet found the time to do the marketing. I made a comprehensive list and have failed to do any of it. Today, I attempted to get an “Author Page” on Goodreads, and that’s the extent of my marketing so far. However, this is one of three posts which blogging friends have offered to post for me, so I guess I’m taking steps in the right direction at last.

One of my writing mentors, Bob Mayer once said, ‘Focus on craft; not marketing and promotion. You can’t promote crap. The best marketing is a good story; better marketing is more good stories.’ I, too, adhere to this approach!

Do you have tips for writers who can’t decide between self-publishing and traditional publishing?

Yes. One of the successful kiwi authors I admire and now also call a friend, Donna Blaber, had some sage words on this very topic. She’s had thirty or so books published, traditionally. She published her last book herself.

Donna told me, “Now, that I’ve self-pubbed once, I’m never going back. With trad. Publishing, someone takes their bite of the pie all the way down the line, until there’s nothing left and they haven’t done anything! Whereas, when you publish yourself, all the profit is yours.”

Also from the amazing Bob Mayer again. “The gatekeepers are readers. While traditional publishing is still a viable path, they no longer control distribution. This is such a fundamental change in the business paradigm, I truly believe very few people grasp the implications. New York is hanging on to its antiquated business model instead of embracing change.”

These are people I look up to in the business at the moment.

Which blog(s) and social media accounts can we follow you on?

Website: http://www.yvettecarol.com

Blog: http://www.yvettecarol.wordpress.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/YvetteCarol1

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/yvettecarol

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/yvette.carol

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/yvettecarol/

How Not To Pitch An Editor: Be Vague and Impatient

Posted on January 27, 2016 Written by Pinar Tarhan

I published the post The Number One Tip for Querying and Pitching: Being Personal & Specific in 2013, and the advice remains as relevant as ever. However, a recent guest post pitch I received compelled me to write a sequel.

Now, there were several things wrong with the pitch. While the person used my name while pitching – points for finding the right name as opposed to calling me by my twitter handle – and didn’t make any glaring language mistakes, she did commit two annoying no-nos.

It goes without saying that you should find out the editor’s name if you can. With some publications it is easier said than done, but when you are pitching a one-person blog, you absolutely have to find the correct name.

And by now, pretty much everyone who’s sane and has written about writing wrote about the importance of using language properly.

But the pitch isn’t done just by using English well and finding the correct name.

Because guess what? I have four blogs. If you say “I want to write for your site,” I’m not going to lose time by asking you which one. It should have been in your subject line or at least in the body of your email.

And another thing you shouldn’t do is to follow up after a week saying you are waiting for my reply. It’s okay to follow up after two weeks if you have faith in your pitch, but before pestering the editor for a response, you might want to check if you did a good job the first time around.

Bonus tip: Don’t offer irrelevant information.

The writer said where she was from, and I couldn’t care less. I only care about your idea, your attitude, and how you laid out your idea in your post. Things like where you are from, your age and gender are irrelevant unless they have a direct relationship to what you’re writing.

If you’re pitching a post called “Dating Problems 30-Something Men Have in Manhattan”, and you are a 30-something male in the Manhattan dating scene, please do tell me that. Otherwise, I couldn’t care less.

So to pitch well, the least you can do is:

Be specific with what you’re pitching and where you are pitching.
Call the editor by the right name.
Wait for about two weeks before following unless the guidelines state you shouldn’t follow up, or you should follow up after a certain period that’s not two weeks.
Use language well.
Don’t offer any irrelevant information, and don’t leave anything relevant out.

There you go. Happy pitching!

If you have any other tips to add, share away in the comments. I love hearing from you. 🙂

Life is Too Short, David Bowie is Dead, and Why You Should Make 2016 Your Best One Yet

Posted on January 11, 2016 Written by Pinar Tarhan

Life is too fucking short. Sometimes, euphemisms and politeness just don’t cut it.

To be honest, I feel more disappointed, surprised and confused than sad about David Bowie dying. For one thing, I didn’t know he had cancer. For another, part of me genuinely believed he’d actually live forever. He was human? Are you serious?

Now, I was never his biggest fan. I appreciated his work, talent, creativity, later style and personality, but I was never the one with posters on or a collection of his albums. I loved some of his songs: Jean Genie, Dancing In The Streets, Under Pressure to name a few. I loved what he stood for.

He was just one of those people who I just admired a ton. He felt like such a big part of the world. Some people are ridiculously overhyped. Bowie never felt like that. I loved how and why he was famous.

So when I checked my Facebook yesterday to goof around and see something funny, it was seriously infruating and depressing to learn that he was dead. What the hell?

And once again it was one of world’s biggest enemies, cancer –and I really have no clue how we still don’t know how to cure it. I’d rather not have a more developed computer or a self-driving car, and and we focused our resources on curing diseases instead. Obviously this part of the rant isn’t just about Bowie, and when it’s cancer we’re talking about, I’ll allow myself not to be too logical.
But moving on…

So here’s what I did after I learned about his passing: Before posting a tribute or sharing someone else’s link, I did what felt natural to do: I opened up my writing and submitted the latest version to a reader I’ve been meaning to send to for a while.

Then I met a friend for lunch, laughed a lot and came home to work some more. I also rewatched some of my favorite scenes from Laggies and A Royal Affair. I danced to I’m So Sorry by Imagine Dragons (I just love that song), and I finally brought myself to write this post.

Nothing quite depresses and motivates like death. This isn’t my first post about it, and while it’s not easy, it’s one efficient form of release.

So it feels sad, but I do hope there’s an afterlife, and it’s a good one. Wouldn’t it be cool if he was singing Under Pressure with Mercury right now?

The point is, whatever you want to do, get on it. You might live 40, 50, 60, 70 more years, but nothing is certain, so let’s just rock the shit out of whatever we have.

Love, and write on!