The Waiting Game

By Maureen L. Bonatch

I was a reader long before I was a writer. There was nothing more exciting than finding an new author, or series (there still isn’t). However, when I discover my latest favorite author, one book is never enough. 

Like a bag of potato chips, I have to fight the urge to devour them all. So when I would go look for the next book in the series and discover it wasn’t ready yet, I’d become impatient.

 I wanted to demand, How long until the next book? More like—Why is it taking you so long to write it? 

I need to know what’s happening with these characters that have become part of my life! 

Then, I became a writer and realized that sometimes the birth of a book takes longer than anticipated, or the delay might be out of the author’s control. 

Book 2 Where Are You?

My series, The Enchantlings, has one book available (DESTINY CALLING), and I have the next two books in

the series in draft. Book #2 is with my editor, and book #3 is just waiting in line for it’s turn to be polished and produced. (Sorry, to my dismay, no cover to share yet! So I'll share the cover for Book #1.)

The wait for Book 2 (NOT A CHANCE) to finish can be just as frustrating for me as an author, as it is for readers. The difference is that I know there are so many steps from writing the book until it’s available for reader consumption. 

Editing, creating the blurb, cover, tagline etc. etc. They all take time, and a small tribe of people involved in the process. 

Patience for Perfection

Part of me understands the delay because I want to create the best book possible and striving for perfection takes time. Yet, another part of me wants it done…yesterday.

I want to continue the story. But alas, I must wait. So until then I temper my impatience by working on other stories, reading fabulous books—and repeatedly checking my email for my editor. 

Thus, I’m a little more patient as I wait for the next delicious installment from my favorite author. A little, but not much. I still want to devour all the books in one setting. So I must remind myself that taking time to savor can be a good thing.

How Well Do You Wait?

Author Bio: Maureen Bonatch grew up in small town Pennsylvania and her love of the four seasons—hockey, biking, sweat pants and hibernation—keeps her there. While immersed in writing or reading paranormal romance and fantasy, she survives on caffeine, wine, music, and laughter. A feisty Shih Tzu keeps her in line. Find Maureen on her website, Facebook& Twitter

Willing to Wait

I am currently waiting to hear back from a major publisher about one of my novels. I submitted the novel over three years ago in December 2014.

No, I’m not kidding. Nor am I surprised--I expected a long wait when I made the decision to submit to this publishing house. Nor is this a complaint. Far from it. Publishers are inundated with manuscripts these days (I blame the invention of the personal computer) and I am grateful that they *have* a slush pile. They are one of the few major SF/F publishers still out there that accept unsolicited manuscripts (i.e. unagented.)

 About six months after submission I heard back that my manuscript had passed the first hurdle and had passed on to the “serious consideration” pile, but that there were a large number of manuscripts ahead of mine. Every year I receive a kind note, thanking me for my patience, and assuring me that I am still in the queue.

All of this used to be the norm for writers without agents, but as self-publishing has taken off, I think the willingness to wait has grown rarer. Many of my writer friends are puzzled by my patience.

Why am I willing to wait? For a number of reasons. One, because this is a “trunk” novel that I wrote years ago. Right now I have a backlog of completed books, and it isn’t a hardship for me to wait for one. In fact I’ve had an entire trilogy released from a different publisher in the time I’ve been waiting. Two, because if the book is rejected I can always self-publish it then. Three, because my husband’s salary supports our family. I fully acknowledge that many writers can't afford to wait this long.

Mostly, I am willing to wait because if I succeed I believe it will give my career a leg up that any number of indie-published novels won’t. I have published sixteen novels. Two are self-published. I sold three copies of them last month. Five came out from digital publishers. I sold one copy of those last month. Five were put out by small print publishers. All are currently out-of-print. (Rights have reverted to me and self-publishing them is on my to-do list for the year.) I consider one of those small print titles to be a success: Frost sold about 5000 copies, mostly because it was selected for the Forest of Reading program and a large number of Ontario schools bought copies so their students could participate and vote for the award. (I was 2nd runner up.)

Four of my novels have come out from major publishers. One to Scholastic Canada, which earned out its $1000 advance (this was 1989) plus a little more. One to Tor/Forge, my only hardcover, which tanked and never came close to earning out my advance.

My other successes were the two books that my then-agent sold to Pocket Books, Violet Eyes and Silver Eyes. Violet Eyes earned out its advance and went for a second print run. It sold 28,000 copies. I attribute most of its success to the fact that Barne & Noble picked it as one of its featured teen books and displayed it face out. Silver Eyes sold half the number of copies (this is standard for a sequel) and only earned out after a number of years. In fact, I *still* get very modest royalty checks for these books, fifteen years later, from ebook sales. Violet Eyes is my only book to have over a 1000 Goodreads reviews, despite being released a decade before Goodreads existed. In contrast, most of my other titles have less than a hundred reviews. Most of my fans are fans of that particular series.

So, what have I learned from my experience? That big publisher books can fail or succeed depending on factors I have no control over, but that if they *do* succeed, they will reach a bigger audience. And that, to me, is worth the risk of waiting.

Caveat: 

Obviously, every author has different experiences. There are authors who have succeeded in indie publishing far beyond my small successes in traditional publishing (and been able to keep a larger percentage of the pie). Also, most of my experiences are based on the young adult market. (Romance is a whole other ball of yarn. Romance readers have embraced ebooks to a much greater degree than other genres.)