LitChat. Part Two: publishing

Yesterday's post was getting too long so I split the interview into two chunks. What follows is more about publishing.

(These chats used to be archived. Mary Vensel White asked such good questions, I couldn't just let it get lost in the void!)

MVW: You’re what we call these days a “hybrid author,” meaning, you’ve published books in a variety of ways. Your first novel, Monsoon Season, was published by Canvas then you self-published A Long Thaw. Your third, Finding Charlie was published by Amazon as a Kindle Scout winner and with B&W, you decided to self-publish again. 

KO: actually, A Long Thaw was initially published by canvas. it was part of my original 3 book deal. when i got out of my contract with them, i rereleased it on my own. but since it had already been through the traditional editing process, all i had to do was get a new cover and put it on amazon. it helped me get a sense of what self-publishing is about, but I feel like Blood & Water is my first real experience launching a book on my own.

MVW: Do you think the publishing landscape has changed in recent years to allow authors more diversity and autonomy in the ways they put forward their work?

KO: i do. i still worry that the ease of self-publishing has flooded the market with unpolished work, making it harder for some writers to get noticed and make a living. but it has also made the process democratic, allowing consumers to decide what they're going to read instead of being told by publishing houses that might not be willing to take a chance on something not easily categorized. now writers are free to find their audience regardless of whether a publisher thinks they can. 

MVW: What was your experience like with the traditional publisher, Canvas, with your first novel? What were some benefits of being supported by an established publishing house? Were there any downsides?

KO: i was unhappy with my first publisher. i had very little control over the cover or how my work was promoted. there were long stretches of time when no one returned my emails and i assumed the book had tanked and the others might never be published- only to find out 6 months later, via an accounting letter, that Monsoon Season had sold 10000 copies. i was new to the publishing world and a lot of people thought i was crazy for getting out of that contract, but the lack of personal connection to people i’d trusted with my ‘babies’ felt wrong.  

i think the benefits can be more power behind you in sales, though it isn’t guaranteed and i didn’t get that with the 2nd book. the other benefit is some degree of respect. in a sea of self-published books, it can give you some credibility that you made it past the gate keepers.

MVW: How does an author take advantage of Amazon’s Kindle Scout program and what does publication with them look like? Do they assist with marketing and sales? Did you have any control over the final product?

KO: i think Kindle Scout is the best of both worlds. i got to design the cover and write the book my way; they provide editing, an advance and marketing. they even got me a Bookbub ad this summer. 2 years after publication, they’re still promoting the book and it’s done really well.  

MVW: You’ve returned to self-publishing twice. What do you enjoy about the process? What advice would you give to authors considering publishing their own work?

KO: i’ve found i like the marketing part better than i thought i would. it didn’t come naturally, but i’ve been figuring it out over the past 5-6 years. publishing is always changing and there’s new stuff to learn. i like the challenge but it’s time consuming. if you’re serious about doing the work to find your audience, it’s like taking on a 2nd job on top of writing.  

MVW: What are you working on now and when can we look forward to reading it? Will you continue writing books with these characters?

KO: i often go through a phase when i’ve just finished a book that i think i might never write again, but i just started working on something last week. i think it’s too new to articulate what it might be. if any of my characters decide they have more to say, i’ll be writing it down. the thing i’ve learned is that no story’s ever really over.

Please check out the first post in this series, on writing.

Litchat, Part One: writing

Last month, I participated in a twitter interview on #LitChat. I've attended these author chats before, but this was my first time being the interviewee. We talked about publishing and a bit about my latest novel, Blood & Water. Mary Vensel White conducted the interview and it was so fun I decided to post the content below:

MVW: Today we’re chatting with @katieorourke78. We’ll chat about her latest novel, Blood & Water, for the first half of #LitChat, and for the second half, we’ll discuss her experiences as a hybrid author.

Welcome, Katie! Can you give us a short summary of Blood & Water?

KO: when her life in NH falls apart, delilah takes off, driving across the country to her brother’s house in tucson, though she hasn’t seen him in years. the people she finds there, many of them strangers, become unwitting casualties of her early mid-life crisis, and end up helping her through it anyway.

MVW: What was your initial inspiration for the novel?

KO: i think the first scene i wrote is delilah beating a car with a baseball bat. the idea of an otherwise rational person being pushed into such an uncharacteristic extreme was interesting to me- how she got there and how she'd manage to right herself. the story grew from there.

MVW: I found it very interesting how Delilah and David came from the same parents but because of the age difference and other factors, it was almost like they grew up in two different families. Do you think siblings often have differing childhoods?

KO: i think when there's a big age span, you end up with parents who have different skill sets. parenting in your twenties is different than parenting in your forties, and that doesn't even take into account issues of alcoholism and recovery. there's an 18 year difference between david and delilah. in fundamental ways, they were raised by different people.

MVW: B & W is told in rotating POVs. How did you decide on this form? What benefits does it have?

KO: i always tell stories in multiple pov. it allows the reader to see the story from many angles and it means they end up knowing more than any of the characters. this story has 5 narrators who take turns in a sort of relay style. balancing five narratives so each character has their own arc and resolution while also contributing to the arc and resolution of the main story was probably the most complicated story construction i've taken on so far. by the time i realized how hard it was going to be, i was too far in!

MVW: B&W is your fourth novel—in your own words, a “family saga” with characters that overlap with your other books. Can you talk about this relationship between your novels?

KO: all of my books take place in the same fictional world, making it possible for characters from different books to meet each other, for a peripheral character from one book to have a leading role in the next. i don't write sequels, per se, and these books can be read in any order, but because all of the characters live in the same world, there’s an opportunity to revisit the past.

MVW: What was your writing process like for this novel, especially considering the existing links with your other books? Did you outline or just let it flow?

KO: i never know where a story is going. before i sit down to write, i spend a lot of time in my head just getting to know the characters, but i never know what the story will be or how it ends until i write it.

MVW: Your website calls your books “Contemporary Women’s Fiction.” You and I have been critique partners for years and I’d say B&W is your most literary work to date. Especially because this book was self-published, how difficult is it to settle on a genre when a book straddles two or more?

KO: i try not to think of genre while i'm writing. i do think this is more literary than my others, but i think the biggest difference is that my characters are older. because i'm older. it's about more serious things because i care about more serious things. since i'm the publisher, i don't have to let myself be pigeon-holed or told to write for a specific market. 

Tomorrow, I'll post part two of the interview, where we discuss publishing. Keep an eye out!

Ani Difranco might read my book!

The most exciting part about getting the rights to Ani Difranco's song lyrics in my novel, Blood & Water is the prospect that she might actually read it.

I've been a fan of Ani's since I was seventeen and I have all her albums. Her lyrics have been the soundtrack to my life and the lines I've quoted at the beginning of my novel are the premise for the story that follows:

I know that there's strength in the differences between us 

And I know there's comfort where we overlap.

When her management requested a complimentary copy, I began to have fantasies that she would read the book, love it, and we'd become great friends. I couldn't just send it in a generic envelope so I decided to have a little fun!

Print copies

I always get so excited when the box of paperbacks arrive! Blood & Water is my fourth novel, but this time was no different.

Over the years, I've become a reluctant Kindle user. There are definitely times when they're convenient for travel and having a diverse collection of reading material at your fingertips. But, if you're like me and appreciate the feeling of a good, old fashioned book in your hands, you'll be happy to know the print copies are now available.

Here it is with my last book, Finding Charlie. (Kindle Scout is running a 99 cent sale for that one all month.) Don't they look good together? Shout out to Deb, my amazing cover designer at thecovercollection.com.

How many of you are ignoring the ebook "trend" in favor of paperbacks?

A Long Thaw 99 cent sale!

This week, A Long Thaw is on sale for 99 cents! I'm gearing up for the launch of my new release, Blood & Water, November 28th.
I don't write sequels, but all my novels are connected and a familiar face from A Long Thaw shows up in the new book.

I’ve always imagined A Long Thaw as a modern interpretation of the old prince and the pauper story. Abby and Juliet are cousins who, until the age of ten, live the same privileged, sheltered lives in a big Irish Catholic family. When Juliet’s parents divorce, her mother moves across the country so that she no longer has that safety net. The cousins reconnect in their twenties and the book deals with the ways we are changed by our experiences as well as the ways we are unchangable.

As a writer (and human being), I am endlessly fascinated by issues of identity and family dynamics, by the nature vs. nurture debate. These are things that inevitably find their way into my fiction.

The blurb!

My amazing writer friend Mary Vensel White wrote me the best new promo blurb for Blood & Water:

"Delilah is leaving her cheating boyfriend and she has nowhere to go except the home of her brother, whom she hasn’t seen since their mother’s funeral five years before. David is a single father trying to manage his teenage daughter, and he’s not exactly pleased when his wayward sister shows up. 

From the opening of this absorbing novel, as Delilah nurses a black eye and ransacks her apartment, trying to decide what she can’t leave behind, I was fully along for the ride. The widening ensemble of characters each have their own voice, their own journey to define family and home. 

Blood & Water is Katie O’Rourke’s most compelling and heartfelt novel to date, a story about family—past and present, predetermined and chosen—and the deep veins that keep them connected. "

Such great words to hear from a talented writer I admire. Doesn't it make you want to get your copy right now, during the 99 cent launch sale? (Available at all major booksellers.)

;)

Book Launch!

I'm very excited to let you all know about the release of my new novel, Blood & Water  It's currently available for pre-order.

I'm a hybrid author. My debut novel,  Monsoon Season, was traditionally published along with A Long Thaw, which I later rereleased on my own. Finding Charlie, was chosen for publication by KindleScout in 2015.

I write family sagas with overlapping characters, so if you've read my previous books, there should be some familiar faces. The stories in these books exist on their own and can be read in any order, independently from each other. I don't write sequels, but because all of my characters live in the same world, there's an opportunity to revisit the past.

Here's the book description: 

Tucson, Arizona is a place for runaways. Everyone you meet here came from somewhere else and has a story about what they left behind. Blood & Water tells these stories in five alternating first-person narratives: a young mother named Ally, the deliberately childless Tim and Sara, single dad David with a college-bound daughter and David’s little sister, Delilah, who shows up on his doorstep with a secret.

Order your copy today!

Using song lyrics in your fiction

I've always heard that getting permission to use a musician's lyrics in a book is impossible. Everybody says so. Barring a huge publisher with deep pockets and a bunch of lawyers or a close personal friendship with Bono, it's best to avoid it.

So I emailed Ani Difranco's management knowing it was a long shot. The lyrics from her song "Overlap" are essentially the thesis statement for my new novel, Blood & Water:

I know there is strength in the differences between us

And I know there’s comfort where we overlap.

After sending the email request, I began to emotionally prepare to delete the quote before publishing. Honestly, I didn't expect I'd ever hear back.

But I did. First for more specifics on the terms of the request and then to approve the request. I am beside myself with unexpected joy!

I will write more soon about the book, which I'm planning to release in November. Stay tuned for the cover reveal!