How to Avoid Epic Book Fails and Another The Final Omen Gift Card Giveaway

This week is my book blitz through Xpresso Book Tours. As part of the event, I'm giving away a $40 Amazon Gift Card. Check out the post I shared about avoiding book fails and enter the Rafflecoper below.

The Final Omen: Second Sight Book Four was the one for me—the book that would have me banging my head against the walls and questioning why I ever decided to print my stories for the world to see. Every possible book related catastrophe has plagued me since I began writing the novel and I hope to share some of my insight to prevent the same fate from befalling other writers.

I’ve got a MacBook now, it’s all good…

After my Windows computer went wonky on me and contracted some sort of zombie virus, I decided to save up my pennies and upgrade to a MacBook. The Apple brand gave me a fall sense of security, as if nothing ever bad could happen to my livelihood if I used a MacBook. So very freaking wrong! One hard drive crash later, I was left scrambling to try and find a data recovery firm who could get my precious novel off of the MacBook. When it didn’t work, I was forced to work off of a partial copy I had emailed myself a month earlier. This disaster led me to discover the wonders of Dropbox: an online document storage system that every writer should have installed on their computer.

My editor is the shizzel, I can’t wait to hear her thoughts on my final book…

A month past my expected publication date, I had finally managed to recreate The Final Omen as best to my ability as I could. I was all set to send my manuscript to my editor when all of a sudden her email address isn’t working. I go to her Elance page and it’s gone. No!!!! Since we only communicated via email, I had no way to track her down. This meant I had to start over with a completely new editor who hadn’t read or worked on the three previous books in the series. My point is that don’t assume anything. In hindsight, I should’ve worked out the editing details way in advance.

I can do it all on my own! I don’t need any help!

I bit off way more than I could chew with The Final Omen. I lost a month’s worth of work and tried to cut corners to get the book out on time. It was a bad call on my part and I finally had to take a step back and ask for help. Since my original cover art was lost on my computer, I tried to redo the cover using a small file I saved online. It was frustrating and time-consuming and I finally scraped it altogether and hired a cover artist. The end result? A cover that I love! I’m not a graphic artist or a formatter and I learned that although doing these things myself could save a few bucks, it’s not worth the headache.

When you’re a writer, it’s a constant learning experience. As crazed as I may have been because of these issues, I’m sort of glad they happened. It’ll make the process of publishing my next novel much easier.

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How to Avoid the Rejection Blues

As a part of my blog tour, I wrote a guest post about how to bounce back after having your manuscript rejected. Make sure to check out the stops on my tour to enter for a chance to win an Amazon Kindle or an Amazon Gift Card.

Being rejected by an agent or publisher can be par for the course when you’re a writer. Although you know in your head that you’re more likely to be rejected than accepted, it usually can’t stop your inner monologue. Why did they tell me no? Should I give up writing completely? Why can’t they see the sheer genius on the page?

Well, don’t break out the booze and tissues just yet. Writers today have plenty of ways to get over the heartbreak of having their manuscript rejected.

Learn from the Experience

Due to the high number of submissions, agents and publishers tend to use form rejection letters. However, a few editors may take the time to offer feedback with their rejection letter. Use these suggestions to improve your manuscript. Resubmit with a note letting the editor know you’ve made the requested changes and ask if they would be willing to give it a second look.

Review Guidelines

You could be just sending your work to the wrong agents and publishers. Find agent and publisher contact information through sites like Agent Query and Preditors and Editors. Check the websites of the contact to see their submission requirements. If your manuscript doesn’t meet these requirements, it will automatically end up in the slush pile.

Make a Plan B

Going indie is tres hip these days. Many of writers are starting out through small publishers or self-publishing and finding plenty of success. If you have a good book and a marketing plan, you can do really well on your own. Also, for subsequent novels, publishers and agents will take notice if you were able to move a decent amount of copies on your own.

Whatever you do, don’t stop writing! Writing should be fun and you don’t want bad feelings associated with something you love doing. Just focus on the work and tune out any negative influences.