Closing Session: Successful Authors... Their Different Journeys to Writing Nirvana

• Share This Post
• Pin It
• 0
• 1
• Sparkle (
  0
  )
   

Jory Des Jardins, co-found BlogHer
Ann Napolitano, author
Jean Kwok, author
Kathy Cano-Murillo, author

JORY DES JARDINS: We’re going to explore how these writers who were in print get to where they are now. We’ll start with Jean.

JEAN KWOK: I’m a debut author and it’s Girl in Translation. I was discovered quite early and it seemed like a dream come true, I was getting taken out to lunch, film companies were calling me, but what happened was that I fell in love with a Dutch guy. I picked up and moved to Holland just as all of this was beginning to happen in NY. I knew I had to write a novel. I wanted to write but wasn’t quite sure how to. It took a lot longer than I thought I finished it once after 5 year, then I threw it away, kept about 50 pages, write it again, and sent it off to an agent I really admired. He read it and said, “You know Jean, there is no market for this book.” I was crushed. “He said, if you need a new agent, I can help you.” He dumped me and my book. He was nice; he just didn’t think I was going to make it. I put it away, reread it a month later, and almost stopped publishing. It was a Thursday, I thought I’d give myself a year to find an agent. I sent out queries and had no contacts, hadn’t published in a while. I had nothing. Sent the letters to ten top agents and within 20 minutes had a request for a manuscripts and then offers. I signed for a much lager company. I never changed a word. I just had faith and send it in.

JORY DES JARDINS: Jean has amazing life experience that contributes to her life and writing.

ANN NAPOLITANO: I always wanted to be a writer. I was afraid to hone it so I got an MFA to have a degree behind it. When I finished my novel I sent it out and it was rejected by 80 agents. A lot had comments in the sides. It’s such a subjective field. One of the main characters was anorexic and the agents said it was too hot.

What does that mean?

Too saturated in the media. I put that book away, wrote another book. It took 3 years. Sent it out again, got 3 agents to represent me. She sent the book out and it didn’t sell. I had to put that book away as well. I started out of depression to write another book, I was thinking I should find a new career. This one was based on my mother’s family. I knew it wasn’t going to be published, but of course it was the book that sold in four countries. My second novel came out this past year.

KATHY CANO-MURILLO: My publishing career began in 1999 while working at a newspaper and they asked me to do a craft column and it became syndicated. I wanted it to go worldwide, and have everyone read it. I started blogging and had two different editors contact me about doing a craft book. It started easy, I had 2 books published but they started to get rejected after that. I always wanted to write a novel but thought it was too big of a project. I ended up with an agent that represented craft books, so I outlined for a whole year out of fear that I could never write that first page. I found out about national novel writing month, so I signed up and had to ditch Thanksgiving because I had to meet that deadline. I finished the first draft, sent it into my agent. The day my agent was going to call, I visualized he was going to love it and he told me it was a hot mess. And I thought, "What am I doing?" I’m living a daydream; I was cranky all the time.” A few months later I was hired to teach a workshop and I went out there. I started listening to the authors reading their passages and came home, redid the whole manuscripts, and my agent said she could sell it. We worked on it and it got 3 different offers on it. Going to nonfiction to fiction was two totally different worlds.

JORY DES JARDINS: Interesting that you had a story where you improved. You had a story where it just didn’t fit, but the agent wanted to stay with you. In many ways it’s so subjective. When you heard it wasn’t going to sell you still stuck to it. How do you know when you can’t do something with it and you have to change it.

JEAN KWOK: That’s a great question. As a writer you ask, “Do I listen to the feedback or go with my gut?” I’ve been lucky, great feedback. But I’m working on my next book, and I endlessly tried to make myself a better writer. I read books on how to write, I know that there is good author with a moving voice I read her. When I get feedback, it depends on who’s giving it to me. I want my editor to say, “Don’t change a thing,” but she explains how to change it. But when she gives me feedback, I listen to her and it hits me that she’s right. Sometimes I’m on the fence and I do it anyway because I trust her. And then other times I don’t. But as much as I can, I try to listen to her. In a writing group or with my other agent, when they said no I didn’t listen. I knew. Because if you start to edit and cut it to please everyone, you end up with a work no one loves.

ANN NAPOLITANO: I think that’s what you have to develop as a writer; you have to develop your own feedback. You have a gut instinct and you have to honor that. I have a group that might say, “You need to cut this by 50 pages” and they’re right.

JORY DES JARDINS: And where is it coming from? Is it ego, what is it? Do you think you’d ever go back and try to sell the other manuscripts again?

ANN NAPOLITANO: The first, no. The second needs some work. I can’t get myself motivated to revisit it – but I have to follow where my interests are.

JORY DES JARDINS: There is a certain glamor people attach to the writing life. You publish and book and that’s it – you just keep going and going.

KATHY CANO-MURILLO: I think people assume you get a lot of money, you’re all set. It’s actually a lot harder. It’s constantly keeping your name out there and promoting your books. Just because your book came out a year ago doesn’t mean you don’t have to do any work. It starts a whole new experience.

JORY DES JARDINS: Does a strong online experience help you?

KATHY CANO-MURILLO: Yes, kind of. When my novels came out, I thought all my followers would buy my book. Some did, but some said, “But I need that money for glitter.” Random Books bought both my books for audio books for 2012, but it does take a lot of work. You have to get them inspired to read it. I never really ends.

ANN NAPOLITANO: I think the biggest myth is if you’re published by a big hours you make enough to earn a living. And only about 5% of fiction writers make a living in writing. In 15 years of me very seriously writing and publishing, only 3 supported me in that. I make so many sacrifices. This is my passion and what I need to do but it’s not glamorous. That’s the biggest myth. You do it for the love of what you’re doing, because it’s what you need to do.

JORY DES JARDINS: You took a job as an assistant – was that an active decision not to pursue something full time?

AH: Yes, because I needed to stay away from a full time job. It was flexible enough that the family I worked for knew I was a writer and I carved out time.

JEAN KWOK: I feel lucky because I do write full time. But it’s rare and I appreciate it. My first book has done really well but I have no idea how the second one will do. The pressure is much greater. You have to earn back the bigger advance. As an author you have an image of yourself as a diva and with Penguin, they are so nice but I treat this as a job. If I don’t do well, I ask for feedback. I am professional; I can help them as an author. Publishing companies are trying to make it work for you. They know what they’re doing and they want to sell your book. They are not trying to get it tanked. I let them make the decisions like the cover because they know the market and I let them do their job,

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Do you guys write by hand? Do you use computers? Do you have more advanced techniques?

KATHY CANO-MURILLO: I start in an art journal. I am very visual. Then I pull it into an outline, sometimes twice. Then I type it.

ANN NAPOLITANO: I type it, and I have a scene in my head and I write it as it happens. Someone will enter the room, someone will say something. But it took me 7 years to finish my last book. This time I am thinking about this book, taking notes.

KATHY CANO-MURILLO: Even when you outline the story can be different.

JEAN KWOK: I so agree – I threw away 350 pages of writing and it almost gutted me to do that. At the beginning I followed the story, but I didn’t get anywhere. I didn’t know how to put the material I wanted to talk about. I had a moment of revelation – I saw the whole book in a moment. I saw a teddy bear notebook from my son and I scribbled it all down. When I started I had a basic outline of scenes. But the book has changed from the time I sent it in; my editor caught and had me change it. I still start with the teddy bear notebook because I’m attached to it. I work in Scribner; I do the outline and attach the scenes in. Everyone wants to fix the language but that is the easiest. If the language works but the structure doesn’t – no one will buy your book. I make sure the structure works before I write it all out.

KATHY CANO-MURILLO: The best tip I ever got was from my agent. She said, “Whatever doesn’t’ move the story forward, cut it.” So once I processed it, I thought of that. What purpose does that scene or character serve? Nothing, then cut it.

JORY DES JARDINS: What are your goals now? Where do you want this to go?

KATHY CANO-MURILLO: I’m working on a third book now and I am sharing my stories about creative women.

JORY DES JARDINS: Is print something you need to pursue or are you happy online?

KATHY CANO-MURILLO: I’m happy with either, as long as I can make stories that make people happy.

ANN NAPOLITANO: I want to make each book better than before. New challenges, new writing. If I have an idea and I’m taking it on, and I feel compelled to figure it out, I know I’ll work on it and become a better writer. I’ll have to climb to a height I’m not at right now.

JEAN KWOK: I think we all dream of having a career as an author. You don’t get one book published and have a career. You want to be better, but writing is the most important. As you write it gets better and better. My second book is almost done and I hope it’s better than the first – for myself and my readers. You have people who love you and invested in you. And I hope they love it.

JORY DES JARDINS: One more question. In this day and age when you write a book you have to have an online platform – how do you structure your time? How do you compete? How do you strategize working on your craft and working on getting it out?

ANN NAPOLITANO: My first book came out and there was no social media. Right now I’m still working it out, still finding a balance. But what I plan to do is spend an hour every day and shut it all down after that. At the moment I’m still juggling it all.

JEAN KWOK: I’m just a little further than Ann because Girl in Translation came out in hardcover and then paperback – Penguin did an amazing job ad there was a lot of publicity. There was an initial push and then a second one for the paperback. The book has been published in 15 countries so I’ve had to do so much publicity for it. I’m so worried about my second book and my publisher sends me emails about if I’m writing. I’m constantly trying to juggle it all. I link up to Twitter and Facebook once a day. Both can be great procrastinators.

KATHY CANO-MURILLO: I do all my writing at night. Sometimes I have to unplug the internet so that I can get things done. I get a lot of tweets and emails, but I have to do something drastic to get things done. Nighttime is my sacred time. Best tip to all of you – if you want to be published you have to write. The rest will all follow but you have to write.

JORY DES JARDINS: Thank you for sharing.