Life After Nano: 10 Step Guide

NANOWRIMO 2012

To all my fellow nanoers, let me start off by saying: you did it!!! Congratulations! Or you went as far as you could go, which is an accomplishment in itself. As we all know, finishing is the hardest part. Even I only made it halfway through this year, unfortunately! But stronger souls than I pushed on, and you should all be proud of your accomplishments!

There is, of course, the terrifying next step. What now? Is there a life after nano? As an editor of a small publishing company, I'm here to hold you hand and tell you, yes, there most certainly is life after nano. To help you along the process, here is my ten step process to make sure your lovely nano novel (which you've poured blood, sweat, and coffee into) does not simply sit there gathering dust after November:

1. Sleep on it.
You've had a frantic month of living and breathing your own writing. It's imperative that you take the time to put the pen down, catch up on some much needed sleep, and take a nano breather. Right now, you're in an intense relationship with your nano and you both need a little personal space. Whatever you do, don't start drafting letters to publishers on December 1st. The editing process is really it's own beast, and you don't want to run a new marathon on aching feet. Give your nano some space so you can tackle the second draft with a fresh and critical eye.

2. Get a critique.
Once you've caught up on a little shut-eye, chances are, you're still not going to want to reread your entire manuscript. Hey, maybe the more ambitious of you will, and if you have that kind of motivation, go for it. Give your manuscript a full read-through. More power to you. However, chances are you're not going want to invest that kind of time back into your manuscript. In fact, trying to edit it now on your own might just make you crazy. I've been there. I completed my script frenzy (ah, the good ol' days...) and tried to instantly jump into editing without letting other people look through it. And I demolished my script. I wrote and rewrote without any real guidance and drove myself insane.

What you could really benefit from is a fresh pair of eyes. Get your friends to read it. Your family members. Your fellow nanoers. Keep in mind that the best "betas" that you can find are probably not your parents. Rather, try sending your manuscript to someone who not only knows your genre, but will also give youhonest feedback. Yes, coddling is nice, but constructive criticism is nicer.

There is, of course, the professional option. Since I owe so much to nanowrimo, I thought I'd give back a little this year. I talked my publishing company into letting me give 15% off our manuscript critiques to anyone who emails us with a nano novel. Pretty neat, eh? I will personally read through your entire manuscript and offer a 7 + page critique that will take into consideration the strengths and weaknesses of your piece, the plot structure, character development, and even identify your target audience. You can find a sample critique here. If you want more details, email me at morganhufstader (at) gmail.com. Anyway, that's just one other option if your parents aren't given you the feedback you hoped for. //shameless self-promotion.

3. Come up with a synopsis for your novel.
If you're a die-hard nanoer, you probably already have a short paragraph synopsis up there on your nano page. Still, it's very important to have a short synopsis of your novel that you can send to editors and publishers. I stress the word short because we really, really don't have the time to read summaries that go on for pages. A synopsis will let the editor/publisher do a couple things:

• Determine whether or not your novel is the type of genre/content they publish.

• Determine how much the author knows about his/her own novel.

• Understand what you're trying to accomplish with your novel.

• Weed out the sections that don't strengthen your plot or characters.

In short, summaries are your friends. Don't overlook them.

4. Don't layout your novel.
Here's a little something that most writers don't know: your word document is not your final layout if you plan on turning your novel into a printed book. Layout (cover design, interior design, book size, etc.) is its own entity. I know you want to make your novel look as stylized and pretty as possible in word, because youwrote a book and you want it to look like one, right? Well, it might look pretty, but we're just going to have to reformat it anyway to make it fit into a printed book. The best thing you can do is leave your manuscript as is; don't play with the margins, don't put little flower images on every page. Some publishers will havevery specific guidelines they want you to follow in regards to font type, size, etc. If you're not sure how to send it, Times New Roman, 12 pt, single-spaced is a good bet. Old school is the good school.

5. Spell-check your document.
Oh man. If everyone who ever sent me a manuscript just clicked the simple spell-check button once, I'd be such a happy camper. No, spell-check won't clean up all your errors. Yes, there are going to be a couple mistakes littered about your novel. But you're human. We understand that. That's what we're here for, to super-humanly clean up all errors. However, spell-check separates the teacher's pets from the detention punks. It's simple, it's quick, and it saves us work and saves you money. Win-win, right?

6. Get an editor.
Remember, your editor and your publishers are not necessarily the same. Sure, sometimes you'll find a publishing company that also offers editing services. However, some publishing companies might, at best, hit the spell-check option and call it a night. Unless you're with a publishing company that takes their editing seriously (which, granted, do certainly exist), you might want to consider hiring an independent editor. You can either go freelance or tap into an editing company that will offer you in-depth services. You want to give a publisher your manuscript in its best possible form, especially if you're looking for traditional publishing. All the hard work should be done by time you reach that stage.

7. Come up with a marketing strategy.
I know what you're thinking. Wait, I'm an author, why I doing sales? This is probably the least pleasant part of getting your book out there, but it'll give you a massive advantage when you send your book out for publication. You have your critique(s), so you should know your target audience by now. You have an edited manuscript, so you know the content is up to snuff. Now, you just have to find a way to get it out there. Here are a couple things you can get started on, even before you get your book published.

• Start a blog detailing your writing journey.

• Start a Facebook/twitter/all of the above for your book.

• Connect with other authors and author services (World Literary Cafe is something of a saving grace here, they're free to sign up for and they do all the networking for you).

• Come up with out-of-the-box ways to plug into your target audience. If your main character is autistic, work with autism-awareness groups, become an "expert" in your field.

• Come up with a book trailer. If I know my nano audience, I bet you already have one made. Don't lie. Post it up on youtube and see what happens.

• Pitch an idea for a sequel or a series. No one wants to invest in a one-hit wonder; if you've got more ideas up your sleeve, boast them. It'll work in your favor.

Here's the trick: you don't have to be a marketing genius. You don't have to have ten million twitter followers. But once a publisher sees that you have a direction, that's going to pique their interest. If they see that you're willing to work with them to get this book sold to as many people as possible, they're going to want a piece of that. See where I'm going with this? It gives you a leg up in the traditional publishing world and, if you decide to self-publish, gives you a map of how best to market your book and yourself (note:don't forget to brand you, because you want these readers coming back to read all the books you intend to write).

8. Get your book out there!
Finally, the moment of truth. Come up with a list of publishers that you want to send your book to and just start getting it out there. Remember, we're in the digital age, so save some trees and send your books electronically. Don't focus solely on the top book publishers either; try publishers that work specifically with your genre, or a local, small press. J.K. Rowling was first published via small press, so if it's good enough for J.K., it's good enough for you!

Tip: Copyrighting your unpublished manuscript isn't necessarily the way to go. If you copyright your first draft, you have to copyright your second draft, then your third, and that'll eat away at your bank account. Instead, ask your editor and/or publisher if they'll supply an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement). Some will even offer an NDA before you ask. Once the author and publisher sign the NDA, your work is officially protected and you don't have to worry about someone running away with it.

9. Grow a thick skin.
The truth of the matter is, there are a lot of books out there. And, these days, you have to do a song, a dance, and a magic trick to get the attention of most publishing companies, especially the big boys. Brace yourself for rejection letters and remember that this is not the end of your writing career. A publishing company may very well pass up on a great book simply because that book doesn't align with certain values the company is trying to promote. Publishing companies sometimes run like TV channels: for example, you wouldn't look for Kill Bill on Lifetime and you wouldn't expect to find Toy Story on Spike TV. Publishing companies are much of the same, only they're a little harder to feel out. At the end of the day, all you can do is continue to send your manuscript to as many publishing companies as possible until one sticks. And don't lose faith!

Of course, if you won't want to go the route of traditional publishing, you can always try vanity publishers like Createspace or Lulu. Smashwords will also get an ebook out there. If you're a self-publisher, there are some publishing companies that work specifically for self-publishers, so keep an eye out.

10. Keep writing!
No matter what, keep writing. If you've written 50,000 + words in one month, it's time to admit it to yourself: writing is in your blood. Keep the nano spirit alive and try to write a little every day, even if you don't meet your word count. Keep in touch with the friends you've made during nano and continue to support one another with your novels because, chances are, you're 50,000 words into the first act. Look at this as one of many nano accomplishments to come. I wish you the best in all your writing endeavors and I am already looking forward to next year--who knows, maybe I'll even win next time!
I hope I've clarified a couple things rather than overwhelmed already exhausted authors! If you have any questions/comments, feel free to ask them here! And if you don't know what nano is, visit nanowrimo.org and watch November take on a whole new meaning.