The edits...they are done. Also, a question for you
Greetings and salutations from author-world!
I feel like I've hit a growth spurt in my writing journey.
First off, I finished the first and biggest round of revisions for my debut novel — Love in the Eternal City, a Catholic romcom set in Rome! Phew. I've spent years giving authors a looong list of things to change and make better, and then wandered along my merry way.
Dear authors: I am SO SORRY. This is hard. So hard.
But now that it's over, I am proud of myself and all the ways I think I made Love in the Eternal City so much better.
I rounded out Beni and Elena's characters, making them way more 3D (and Elena now has a baking habit.)
Thanks to input from Andreas Widmer, a former Swiss Guard, I switched the action of Act 3 from the Sala Clementina to the Casina Pio IV, home of the Pontifical Academy of the Sciences.
I removed German and Italian cuss words and added a milder one I just learned from the Widmers, Gopferteli! (Gosh darn it!)
I added a few additional chapters, gave Elena the therapist she desperately needed, and removed an uncomfortable number of -ly adverbs.
We've got a ways to go yet, but I loved diving into my editor's insights into the story and her guidance for making it better. Never underestimate a good editor.
Accepting my author identity
One of my other big growth points has been fully accepting my identity as an author. For a couple years now, I've been trying to squoosh my editing, writing, and reading all together in my social media/website/newsletter. But that wasn't working, and it certainly wasn't selling books. So I decided to just...actually act like a writer. I started focusing on my writing on Instagram, and I think I've gotten more legit followers in the space of two weeks than in the last six months.
Speaking of Instagram, I've started posting character introductions, Rome photos, and fun facts about the Swiss Guards, so give me a follow if you don't already! But if you're not on that platform, I'm planning to do a character roundup once the series is over.
And in REALLY EXCITING news...
I am about to reveal the cover design for LEC!
The official cover reveal is February 25, but I'm going to do an early preview for you newsletter folks on February 12. This cover...my gosh, it's amazing. I hate to say "everything I hoped and dreamed" but it might just be. It hits all the right notes and captures Beni and Elena's story so well!
A question for you
Should I switch to Substack?
Chances are, you're subscribed to at least a dozen newsletters, and chances are, you've started seeing writer after writer switch to Substack. I love Buttondown because it is just so darn simple to use, and I don't know that I have much need to switch. But I'd love to hear from your end — do you like/prefer the Substack format? Or what don't you like about it?
Oh, and editor-me has been working on a few things.
An article for the Catholic Writers Guild blog:
Your Author Toolkit: Pitching to an Editor
PraiseWriters also picked up an older article of mine on pitching to an editor, and republished it here.
And I'm working on a presentation for the Catholic Writers Conference Online, which will address comparison titles (comp titles) — what they are, how to find the right ones for your book, and how to use them for your own writer formation, pitching to a publisher, and marketing. If you're a writer and you haven't signed up for CWCO, pop over there and take advantage of all the fantastic resources that will be available.
That's all today!
In Christ,
Rebecca W. Martin
All opinions are my own, and are not endorsed by Our Sunday Visitor, Chrism Press, the Order of Preachers, or the Catholic Writers Guild.