Liz Coley was, at alternating times, funny, personable and just downright quotable. She recounted the tale of the first time she wrote a novel backed by a PowerPoint of unpublished novel covers, success stories, and the occasional pun. Her first manuscript - The Captain’s Kid - was a YA ride through space featuring a young boy and his space captain dad. She said that what really sparked her start writing novels was the lack of kid-friendly science fiction for her boys. Since then she’s written near a dozen manuscripts and published two novels. Out of Xibalba, the tale of a girl trapped in an ancient Mayan city during the 2012 apocalypse, was self published by Coley. The other, Pretty Girl 13, is a dark psychological piece to be released by Harper Collins in 2013.
With her success in both self-publishing and the traditional arena, Liz Coley is a unique and handy source for us burgeoning writer-types to find our own way through the confusing maze of publishing. During her visit, Liz went through aspects of both sides of publishing to help us understand the differences between self-publishing and traditional.
When talking about traditional publishing, Coley spoke specifically about finding an agent. She said “poppycock” to anyone who thought they didn’t need an agent. She warned us that publishers are no longer the gate keepers they once were. There are no more slush-piles in a world where publishers expect works to be screened by an agent first. However, she warned that finding an agent wasn’t everything - there was still work to be done. Specifically that “finding an agent is like finding a leprechaun; you still have to get it to take you to the pot of gold.” Some other bits of advice were to make sure you’re submitting to the right agents for your work, submit in the relatively holiday-free start of the year, and just persevere. “It takes 10 years to be an overnight success,” she said.
On self-publishing, Liz enlightened us. She warned us that it isn’t all roses and daisies. Although writers have all of the control, she told us, they also have all of the work and responsibility. In her words: “Total control...itty bitty market space.” You really have to design, market and fight for your work constantly in the self publishing market. In fact, Coley told us that she would choose traditional publishing over self-publishing because with traditional publishing, there is an advocate for your work that isn’t just you.
At the bottom line, Coley says, there are three very important things every writer needs: vision to see where you want yourself and your books to be, persistence in developing your craft and push on in spite of rejection and, finally, friends to support you through the entire agonizing process.
Liz Coley was a very appreciated guest by those of us here in the CWG. Look forward to her latest novel, Pretty Girl 13, in 2013.
Some link suggestions by Coley:
For Writing
For Critiquing
For Agent Search
For Market Search
For Self Publishing
To Follow Liz Coley
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