Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Why We'll Never Read The Liar Society Again. Ever.

As most of you know, the publishing industry is TOUGH. And the really tough thing about having your first book published is that sometimes those big, amazing moments you have built up in your head kind of fall flat to the sound of a very sad trombone (wah wah wah).

The great thing about being debut authors is that you have so much energy. So much excitement. So much confidence that your book will be THE NEXT BIG THING.

And that very rarely happens.

And if you're like us, the road to publication doesn't have mere speed bumps. Oh no, our road was buckled and littered with fallen trees and sometimes it just sort of dead ended in the middle of nowhere.

But at the end of the day, our little book was released into the world. People actually bought it. And The Liar Society is in its 5th printing. Do you think anyone even remembers that the wrong cover was released on Amazon? Or that the book was originally supposed to be hardcover? Or that there are naked pictures of the cover model floating around the interwebs?

Nope. No one cared about any of that crap except us. Well, us and a handful of prison inmates with a thing for girls with pink hair.

Fast forward a year and we've gotten a little bit better about taking things in stride. The release date for The Lies That Bind has changed 3 or 4 times, but I think we're now officially settled on November 1, 2012. (YAY!) The original cover comps totally freaked us out, but they ended up settling on a gorgeous blue haired Kate who we fell in love with. We had to rewrite the damn thing more times than I care to remember, but we finally have a book that we'll be proud to have next to The Liar Society on shelves. Everything really does work out in the long run.

And in other news, we have a new book coming out with Soho Teen, um, well, sometime in the not-so-distant future.

Here's the blurb from Publisher's Marketplace:

Lisa Roecker and Laura Roecker's THE HUSH FUND, when a girl drowns at an annual private school picnic a group of friends pool their trust funds to expose the high society culprit, to Daniel Ehrenhaft at Soho Teen, for publication in Spring 2014, by Catherine Drayton at Inkwell Management (NA).
catherine@inkwellmanagement.com

We are so excited! I should be jumping up and down. YAY! But instead, the OCD writer in me is obsessing on the details. THE HUSH FUND takes place at a country club, NOT a private school. Rose doesn't drown at a picnic, she drowns at this crazy party on a yacht. And the release date? News to us. We thought it was coming out in Fall 2013. A big part of me wants to call Publisher's Marketplace and MAKE THEM FIX IT.

But the new, more rational Lisa, remembers that this is all small stuff. Yes, it's our book. Yes, we're super excited to share it with the world. But the little things don't matter. They really really don't.

What matters is that we're taking baby steps toward our dream. Every day. Every hour we spend at our computers tip tapping our key boards into the dead of the night.

So, my advice for debut authors out there? Don't obsess over what's going wrong. Focus on everything that's right. Close your eyes and let yourself truly appreciate the weight of your first finished copy in your hands. Marvel at the beauty of your book on a bookshelf. Run your fingers over your name printed on the cover of an actual book.

And do yourself a favor, NEVER read a final copy. You'll only see comma splices and the places where your copy editor trumped you and replaced "peeing your pants" with "peeing in your pants" which is clearly not as funny.

Whatever you do, make every effort to enjoy the journey. Dead ends and all.

39 comments:

Shannon Messenger said...

AHHHHH I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS ONE!!! Here's hoping for a less bumpy ride with this series (even though dude, you guys have better stories to tell than ANYONE) :)

Jennifer Rummel said...

Woo Hoo! Cant' wait for both books to come out! Congrats on the news!

Anonymous said...

Yaaaaaay!!!!!!! So excited for you both, and I can't wait. No matter when the book comes out, it's going to have pride of place on my shelf. Congratulations, Sisters Roecker!

Ghenet Myrthil said...

Congratulations!! Very excited to read both books. :)

Maggie Hall said...

Ahhhhh such great news! THE HUSH FUND sounds amazing, and obviously can't wait for Lies that Bind! YAY!

Unknown said...

Yea! I can't wait for both!!!! You guys are awesome!

Zoraida Cordova said...

This makes me feel so much better :)

Dorothy Dreyer said...

Awesome! Congrats! *throws confetti*

And I know what you mean about OCDing on the details. The Publisher's Marketplace announcement for my book says my protagonist is 17 when she's actually 16. Drove me crazy for a while but now I just shrug. I guess it won't really matter as long as the book gets read, lol.

Good luck with all your books!

Debra Driza said...

WOO HOO--so excited about THE HUSH FUND! You ladies are awesome for sharing your journey with us. <3

K. M. Walton said...

Congrats to you both on the new book!! I smiled when I saw it in my PM email.

I am 4.5 months into being published, and you are so right - spying CRACKED on a bookstore shelf is the perfect way to squash the little things gone awry.

Karen Mahoney said...

First of all, I cannot WAIT for this book! (Though, apparently I have to. ;))

Second of all, you know that you can email PM and get them to change your announcement. I have done that before. MANY TIMES. *cough* *shifty eyes*

Third of all. Um... Thirdly: I loved this post and can relate to so much of it!!

CONGRATULATIONS on the new book deal. :)

Kaz

Kimberley Griffiths Little said...

Lisa and Laura, YAY for another Liar Society book - I loved the first one!

And yes, publishing has LOTS and LOTS of sucky moments and disappointments. BUT 5 print runs!!!!!! That's more than 99% of the books out there so you gotta be proud of that!

HUSH FUND sounds fantastic, too! Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!

Marsha Sigman said...

YEAHHHHHHH. Look at you two go!!!

So happy for you and can't wait to read both new books!

Miriam Forster said...

HOLYCRAPMONKEYS!!!!!!

You guys are awesome and that book sounds amazing. I'm so HAPPY FOR YOU! *jumps up and down*

Sara B. Larson said...

So SO happy for you both!! The new book sounds awesome! And this is such a great post. Thank you for your honesty and for just being you!

Christa Desir said...

Awesome news, awesome advice. And just so you know, since I work for a romance company, I can off the top of my head name 4 prominent cover models who are on porn sites. All YA covers. So whatevs

Laura Pauling said...

Congratulations you guys! Sounds awesome! I want to read both your upcoming books now! Waaaa!

Very encouraging post! :)

Kelly Polark said...

BIG CONGRATULATIONS!! Looking forward to your next two releases!!

Dara said...

Hooray!! Big congrats!!

Also, your The Lies That Bind will be coming out on my birthday. :) Yippee!!

erica m. chapman said...

Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!! WHOOOOOOOOO!! CONGRATS!!!! SO thrilled for you both <3<3<3

Stephsco said...

congrats on new books! Whether it's a private school or country club, still sounds interesting! I'm sure those details drive you crazy, though.

Vicki Tremper said...

Yay, congratulations on the new book deal! Sounds awesome and amazing and I can't wait to read it!

Jessica said...

COngratulations! Though they may have gotten the details wrong, the important news is that a new awesomesauce book will be coming out from you two!! LOVE IT. Cannot wait. :)

Sandy said...

Yay another book for me to be excited about woot ^_^.

JEM said...

Congrats! Also, great advice for all writers, not just debut authors. And good advice on the not reading a final copy, because I'm definitely the kind of person who would get pissed (no pun intended) if someone changed my word choice.

Dianne K. Salerni said...

Congratulations, ladies!!

Don't forget -- most of the readers of THE HUSH FUND will never read the Publishers Marketplace blurb. Those details are small potatoes. Plus, after somebody submits that blurb to Goodreads, as they inevitably will, you can edit it. :D

Good advice on the final printed version. Also, don't answer the phone if it's your mother calling minutes after she bought the book, because she will certainly tell you if a whole sentence was repeated for no particular reason on page 38.

Little Ms J said...

Seriously. A machine. How many times have I said this?!

Congratulations! I'm so excited for you and had no idea! I feel so famous by proxy.

Lisa Schroeder said...

Great advice!!

And a HUGE congratulations on the new deal - sounds awesome!

Nicole Zoltack said...

Yay, congrats!

Anna Staniszewski said...

Amen. And HUGE congrats on the new book! How exciting!

Lynne Matson said...

Huge congratulations!! *throws confetti*

And great post. Thanks for such inspiring honesty.:)

Unknown said...

YAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!! Can't wait for both new books!

Casey McCormick said...

Was so excited to see this in PM this morning (even if some of the details are wrong). CONGRATULATIONS! I can't wait to read it.

Anonymous said...

Fantastic job ladies!! I am so excited and proud of you both!

as for the latest John Travolta news...o_O

Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...

This makes me so happy. Oh man, it's seriously awesome news!! Love that cover for THE LIES THAT BIND, by the way. It's rockin.

Man, I miss you guys. It feels like it's been ages.

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Woo-hoo on the great news (even if it wasn't reported right). I love your advice and attitude.

Kristin said...

Congrats, ladies! Take it in stride. I'll try to remember that one! And I like the blue haired Kate, too.

Hardygirl said...

WHOA!!!!! Super-humongo congrats!!! I'm so happy for you.

And, whoa again. I really, really needed to read this post today. Like, really, really needed it.

love ya both!
sf

Janet Gurtler said...

I love you guys. And congrats on pubbing with Dan!!!! Soooooooo coooooool!!

Also. Your cover model has nude pics on the internet. That is kind of funny and all kinds of wrong.

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