The Kill Zone is an awesome blog for readers and writers to check out. They’ve had a number of excellent stories recently. I try and get over there a few times a week. Somehow, I missed their Grafton coverage. It’s interesting, though, because they point out that Sue is wrong when it comes to authors like me but totally correct when it comes to hacks who write during NaNoWriMo and publish their books in December before they’re ready.
The only problem is: I was that very NaNoWriMo’er! Wools 2, 3, and 4 were written during NaNo 2011. And so: I am what Sue and others say to do. I am the supposed exception. And yet: I am also doing what they say nobody should be doing.
Read their coverage. After the break, you can check out the comment I left.
My comment:
It’s interesting that I’m supposed to be an exception and an outlier due to my success, and this same article (an excellent one, btw) cautions against publishing a NaNoWriMo book on December 1st.
The series that launched my career, Wool, has five parts. Parts 2, 3, and 4 were written during NaNoWriMo 2011. All three parts were published before the end of the year. Part 2 was published *in* November. *During* NaNoWriMo. The books have sold over 200,000 copies and hit the NYT and USA Today bestseller lists. Ridley Scott picked up the film rights and Random House is releasing a hardback in the UK in January. We’ve turned down 6 and 7 figure advances from major publishers here in the States.
The success of Wool largely hinged on my seeing the breakout of the first novelette and being able to satisfy demand with quality stories delivered swiftly. The delay encouraged by Grafton and the like would have destroyed my momentum.
I point this out to support those who have had success with NaNoWriMo and who enjoy writing and publishing on whatever schedule best fits their work ethic. Holding me up as an exemplar of taking one’s time and the NaNo’er as the other extreme is ironic, since I am that NaNo’er. :)
18 replies to “Don’t Do as I Have Done”