Meet the Author: Jennifer Gracen

Jennifer Gracen grew up torn between her two great loves: books and music. She spent most of her younger years unable to choose whether to be a writer or a singer. After spending her youth writing in private and singing in public, she now only sings in her car and fully embraces her lifelong passion for writing.

Jennifer has four full-length novels: SHADES OF DENIAL, AUTUMN GETAWAY, and FINDING WAYS, a sequel to AUTUMN GETAWAY, as well as a novella, CONNECTING.

Launching a STAR contest recently awarded Jennifer 3rd Place in the Single Title Category. She is a member of Romance Writers of America (with PRO status) and the Long Island Romance Writers (RWA Chapter 160).
  

When she isn’t taking care of her family, reading, or feeding her addiction to Twitter, Jennifer is writing women’s fiction and contemporary romance. She is also actively pursuing her ultimate goal: to become a published author. She is seeking agent representation.

For more about Jennifer, visit her sites below:

Author’s Blog

Twitter

Facebook

The Process of Self-Editing:

A publisher once told me, she tells her authors to “puke it out.” As crass as that sounds, I agree. Don’t try to edit as you go along; get the story out of your head while it’s fresh.

When I edit, I read the entire novel without touching a finger to the keyboard. I download to my Kindle and simply highlight. It allows me to read as the prospective reader. My mind remains focused on the story, not the editing process. And, something I might have suggested the writer remove, might make sense once I’ve read the entire manuscript.

Next, go back chapter by chapter and add the emotion and action you may have missed on the first run through. Then, read again, preferably aloud. The moment something stumps you, stop and edit accordingly. If you, as the writer, get tripped up, imagine the reader. They don’t know the characters as intimately as you do.

Another good technique is to make a list of common, rookie writing mistakes. They’re easy to find. Follow some of your favorite agents' blogs and Twitter accounts, and believe me, they’ll tell you what they hate (I’ll do that here in a second). Add to your list commonly misspelled and misused words, again this is not difficult to locate. You’ve all read books and blogs that the author didn’t see the need to edit properly. What bugs you? Head hopping, the use of passive statements, the overuse of words such as very and hopefully. Too many dialog tags is one of my peeves, and sometimes, “he said” is sufficient. The tag is only there to remind the speaker who’s speaking. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Let the characters' words and actions speak for themselves.

This process should put you minimally at three self-edits, but don’t think for a minute you are through. Nope, now you need your Beta to read your masterpiece. When she’s finished and has made her suggestions, rewrite, and read again. Don’t want to upset you, but you’re still not finished. Now, you need a professional editor, or if your work is clean, a proofreader will suffice. But wait, there’s more. After you receive your manuscript back from your chosen editor, you need to accept or reject her recommendations, and yep you guessed correctly, read through your work one final time. So, Darin Calhoun, you are correct. My suggestion is at least six to seven read-throughs before you are ready to query or self-publish.

Anything less and you’ll just be a blip on the screen.

At what point do you throw in the towel OR self-publish?

Stop! Read that title again before you freak out.

If you misread my title as self-publishing is throwing in the towel, read it again. I said, “At what point do you throw in the towel OR self-publish?” Self-publishing is not giving up, and I truly do not feel that is the case. The only way you give up is if, as I said, you throw in the towel on querying and refuse to self-publish. Now that that is clear let’s continue.

However, like it or not, it is the way many view the act of self-publishing. After all, who writes a manuscript with the initial thought, “I’m going to write this book and self-publish it?”

The answer: no one. Not unless they’ve been through the querying gamut before and decide they’re not even going to bother this time.

Be honest. Doesn’t every author originally have dreams of grandeur, thinking they wrote the next Gone with the Wind, only to watch their dreams crumble as their inbox fills with one rejection after another?

I have spent years watching aspiring authors pour their heart and soul into a novel, heck two novels and in many situations three and four. They keep typing away, waiting for that gem that will eventually land them on the New York Times® Bestsellers List.

After every novel, they start anew the querying process. Usually they query the same agents who rejected them before, with the attitude: This is it! This is what the agent’s profile says she wants. Only to be rejected again.

So, what does it take? It’s not just a matter of having a well-written manuscript; I’ve certainly seen my share of horribly written novels. It cannot be just that it’s lacking originality. I’ve seen a plethora of the same story until I want to puke, example: vampire and werewolves...sorry, no offense.

So what is it? What does it take to have an agent or publisher notice you?

Again, I apologize; I wish I had the answer. Unfortunately, I do not.

But, here’s what I can tell you. If you have written a novel, have had it read by several beta readers (not just friends and family), and have had it professionally proofed for errors, not necessarily edited, just checked over for errors and you are still not getting a request to publish… Why not try self-publishing? Stories abound of Indie authors who took a chance and that chance paid off. They let the readers decide, and guess what?

The readers said, “Yes!”