Questions From A Writer

I'd originally shut down my blog for the second half of May to get a submission out the door. I'm still working on that submission, and I hope to have those sample chapters and synopsis out the door sometime in June. I am making progress, which is good, and I'm hoping this will turn into another book contract. Currently, I'm not under contract for anything, and I just found out that my book, Chesapeake Weddings, is out of print already! :-(

It's still available online and in a few stores, but, the publisher has discontinued the title and they told me that they're out of stock, and, so far, they have no plans for printing more copies of Chesapeake Weddings.

Anyway, I received the following questions from Lashonda:

I write romance fiction novels and young adult novels. I love your blog by the way I would love to read some of your books.

I was wondering how did you get published?
How did you get your books published by so many different publishing companies?


I talk a little bit about my journey to publication here and here.
If you want to get published traditionally/commercially, then you need to join a writers' organization. If you do romance, your best options would be American Christian Fiction Writers and Romance Writers of America. Once you join, interact with other writers at a writers conference. You can meet editors, agents, as well as mutli-published authors who'll mix and mingle, and share loads of advice. You can also pitch your stories to editors and agents. That's how I sold my first few books and I loved every minute of those conferences! :-)

I want to be a traditional published author as well but I am worried about the rights to my work. Is there anyway I can be a published author and maintain all the rights to my writing?

About rights, I'm not lawyer, so, take the following advice with a grain of salt, but, when you traditionally publish, the copyright of the work is made in your name by the publisher. They register the copyright once they acquire your work for publication with the Library of Congress. If you look in most traditionally-published books, on one of the front pages - before the story begins, you'll see the copyright symbol and then the author's name and then the year. The publisher is simply "borrowing" your work for a specified period of time. For example, if you sell a book to Doubleday, you can't turn around and self-publish that book yourself on the side - that would be unethical. The publisher has the rights to publish your book and pay you a percentage in royalties for each copy sold. Royalty percentages vary and I believe that they usually range anywhere between 8%-15%? That's a question, so don't quote me on that. I think the percentage is higher for hardcover novels. Also, if your book is picked up for bookclub distribution, the royalties are sometimes lower on the bookclub sales. It all depends upon the contract.
The rights to your work will usually revert back to you some years after the book has gone out of print. You'd need to read your contract to see how long that would be. Usually, once that time span has passed, and you want the rights back, you need to contact the publisher and tell them that you want the rights back to your work. You can then do what you want - self-publish it on your own, maybe do an e-book, maybe see if another publisher will acquire it and re-release it....I'm not sure what most authors do once they get the rights back to their books but those are a few options. If you're unagented, then you should get a literary lawyer to go through your contract before you sign. Some things are negotiable!

If you have time I would like you to check out the first 3 chapters of my Christian Romance Novel I just completed.
Sorry, but I didn't open your attachment and I don't endorse or read work by others. I judge contests that're hosted by different writing organizations every year, and that's my way of giving useful feedback to others. If you want an honest review of your work, I'd suggest joining a writers group and a critique group. There are a number of critique groups online and by exchanging work with others, you might be able to improve your craft while helping others do the same. The first few critique groups that I was in were found through writers' organizations. But, be warned, sometimes writers get their feelings hurt while being critiqued, also, it might take you awhile to find a group or partner that's a good fit for you. If you want to know more about my policy on endorsements and reading work by others, you'll find it on my website.

Oh and another thing can you add sex and making love in a Christian Romance? Some people have a problem with that.

Probably not. Most Christian fiction has no love scenes or sex scenes. Do you know which publisher you're targeting? If you do, then read a ton of books that are published by the line/publisher to which you want to submit. Once it's time to submit, you'll have a good idea about the types of books that this publisher/line/imprint publishes! If people do have sex in a novel that most consider Christian, the door is usually closed. Also, if people have sex outside of marriage, and the book is Christian, there are usually consequences involved with having sex outside of matrimony.

I'd like to add that, I have seen books that use the church, and church-related business as the setting, and there are sex scenes in those books. However, it's often been debated if those books are considered Christian fiction or Christian fRiction? Retailers will sometimes place books with a church setting in the Christian fiction section, and then readers will claim that those books couldn't be Christian because of the sex and profanity in the novels. I've heard that those books are termed as Christian fRiction instead of fiction? This is just what I've heard, I have nothing to back this up. I've heard writers talk about this at writers conferences.

Hope that answers your questions Lashonda! I'm glad you e-mailed me those questions!

~Cecelia Dowdy~