Making Writing My Career

Originally, I called this Becoming a Successful Writer. This is my third year into this stage and I realize “success” was not clearly defined. Was it money, number of readers, good reviews, movie contracts? Maybe all of that, maybe not. Read on.

2008

¨ I keep boxes of Running Away in my car. When “I’m a writer” starts conversation, a copy comes out. “Read the first page” often turns into a sale. When I fly anywhere, I take copies and sell them in a new market. I also take pictures and notes for future stories when I travel.

¨ I take a course in Dreamweaver, build a website, find a host, and upload www.sherimcguinn.com.

¨ I send out short stories. Another is published in The Maverick.

¨ I attend the Henderson Writers’ Conference in Las Vegas and sign up for my pitch sessions. When there are extra slots available, I take them. I listen to agents and publishers in workshops and on panels. We chat at meals about their areas. I network with other writers. Three agents read the first pages of Running Away and ask me to send the entire manuscript; no sale, but they presumably read it.

¨ I keep selling, writing, and researching this whole process of writing and selling, and looking for markets online.

¨ I send copies of Running Away to multiple contests, to YALSA committee members, etc.

¨ The reviews by readers are positive and asking for more; I don’t like the review that now pops up when I’m googled. It sounds like they skimmed through and skipped the ending. I have to let that go.

¨ I start my next novel, then I need more detail. I combine a road trip to research that with marketing Running Away. I take notes for the new novel and visit runaway shelters, rape crisis centers, anywhere they might find Running Away a useful tool to open communication. I give them copies and get their emails. I sell copies to bookstores or convince them to order the book through Ingram. The plot for the new novel reveals itself.

¨ Running Away gets an honorable mention in the Writer’s Digest 2008 International Self-Published Book Awards.

¨ I keep hearing my father’s advice “Just don’t give up. Keep trying.”

¨ I make a three year plan including a day job. Evenings and other time off will all go to writing and marketing.

2009

¨ I hole up in Angel’s Camp to write while waiting for day job interviews. I give myself ten days to finish the first draft of Michael Dolan McCarthy so I can get feedback and re-write in time for the Amazon Breakout Novel Awards. The winner gets a $25,000 contract with Penguin. Every day, I write at least 5,000 words. One day, I finish 11,000. I email Michael Dolan McCarthy to writer friends for critique, then head back to Arizona.

¨ I let the manuscript sit a week, then take readers’ comments, re-read it myself, do the re-write and pitch, and decide where to stop the excerpt. This contest has no fee, but is limited to 10,000 entries. When it opens, I am sitting in the dark in my car outside our closed library, ready to submit my second draft.

¨ I am offered a teaching job. I move to San Jose with all my teaching and writing materials. I expect to start right away, but that is delayed. While waiting, I cleanup my address book for promotion, catch up on old writers’ magazines, and work at developing an online presence—visiting websites, participating in related blogs, building a better MySpace and inviting more friends. I research website design. Writer’s Digest publishes the winners of their International Self-Published Book Awards in the March/April issue. I’d known Running Away was getting an Honorable Mention; I hadn’t realized how few books were chosen for that honor! Michael Dolan McCarthy is one of 500 ABNA Quarter-Finalists. I am already a winner—Publishers Weekly will review the complete manuscript. The school district finally admits they’ve decided not to fill the position. They’ve wasted my money, but not my time.

¨ At an open mic, I read the pitch for Michael Dolan McCarthy and talk about self-publishing. Barbara Bruce interviews me on White Mountain Radio. Her next guest doesn’t show; I volunteer and interview about Mary Stuever’s The Forester’s Log. I get copies of both interviews for marketing. I do a major revision of http://www.sherimcguinn.com/ using MSWord. Updates will be easy. Friends tell me it’s working on different computers. Michael Dolan McCarthy is not on the list of semi-finalists. When the Publishers Weekly review arrives, it is clear why: “slow-moving” and “tedious” shock me. When I review the manuscript, I realize they are right. I rushed the revision. The middle needs major slashing and more tension. At least they said “The prose is decent line-to-line, and issues of race and identity are nicely handled.” I have the skills to fix the problem.

¨ I go to the LA Times Festival of Books, talk to dozens of authors and representatives of writers’ organizations, take notes, and swap business cards. Follow-up will include emails to new contacts.

¨ I polish the screenplay for Running Away and apply for a Nichol Fellowship.

¨ I start the screenplay for Michael Dolan McCarthy, working on that sluggish middle.

¨ The Great American Pitchfest is mid-June in LA. I make contacts with screenwriters from Stockholm, Toronto, Vancouver, Australia, and all over the states. I chat with Sandra Lord and Judith Smith about networking and career strategies. I meet for a half hour with Barri Evins to improve my pitch. By planning ahead and researching companies, I pitch to nineteen agents, managers, and producers in my area.

¨ I get a teaching job near Fresno. It is physically and emotionally exhausting, but continued correspondence with talented writers from the Pitchfest and the commitment of updating this website keep me going. I still enter contests.

2010

¨ I’m not doing any direct marketing, but hours devoted to writing melt away and leave me energized. I finish the re-write of Michael Dolan McCarthy and get it into ABNA again. A regular online reader sends a letter of encouragement before I even realize the pitch didn’t make the first cut.

¨ I’ve given a copy of Running Away to a troubled teen; she wants the next book. When she finds out about ABNA, she says I’m a good writer and asks what I’ll do now. That night, I write a new pitch and send it to a likely agent.

¨ My readers offer the best kind of pressure to keep on trying.

¨ For me, the process of writing is not complete until readers become involved in the story. They often see things I missed or see things differently than I intended. For me, that is what makes my writing real.

What do I do? I am a writer.