The Birth of a Book
By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams
Something a little bit different this week. I thought I’d catch you all up on what’s going on with my soon-to-be-published book, Grave Consequences, A Charlotte Graves Southern Mystery.
I appreciate your patience as we await the birth of GC as I affectionately call it. Believe me, I realize it seems like forever ago that I began talking about this book. Well, the publishing process is long, y’all. Longer than most of us realize, I think. Any of you authors out there want to chime in, please feel free to throw in your two cents. Or a dime’s worth, if you have that much to say.
The Best Editor
First, after I won awards and interest grew, I had to come home and finish writing the book. And as I wrote, I realized that if I wanted to find a home for GC,I needed some help. So, I reached out to a well-known author who happens to also be an editor and writing coach. I asked her for help. No, she doesn’t love me enough to do it for free, if you are wondering that. Writing and editing and all things associated with the field are business. She happens to be good enough to do all those things . . . and more. She was and is a blessing, not only to me, but to thousands of writers worldwide.
She and I met once a week for several weeks, pouring over my story, line by line. She’d read what I wrote, make comments and suggestions via track changes in MS Word, and I would read over her comments, accept all or some, and then we’d meet the next week and discuss all that. Next, I’d work on the next three to five chapters until we finished the entire book. After that, we met again to read through it, out loud, and make any additional changes. Reading it aloud is huge. You actually hear words far differently from how you see them.
A Lot of Help From My Friends
In the meantime, I took it to conferences, entered it in contests where it won second and third place overall with some first-place wins for things such as title, first sentence, first paragraph, and the like. Now, if you’d told me five years ago when I happened upon Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference that I would have written an entire book, and have the likes of Eva Marie Everson, Yvonne Lehman, and Edie Melson work with me, I would have thought you were writing your own work of fiction.
But God.
Let me tell you here, I am so sorry if you missed Bob Hostetler’s keynote last May at BRMCWC. It was so good. And if you heard it, you know exactly what I mean. But God stepped in and doors opened, and then, He laid on my heart that I had to rewrite the entire book in first person point of view. Seriously. I did that . . . later. I sent the first revised chapter to my editor. It was at this point that the contract agreement was entered into with Firefly Southern Fiction. After my husband picked me up off the floor, I got to work and rewrote the entire book. Well, not every single word, but lots of it.
I changed it from third person she did this, Charlotte said that, to I did this, I said that. The time period changed from the current day to 1968. I knew 1968. That was a part of my youth. Let me tell you . . . it’s been a while since 1968, and you’d be surprised at what one forgets. Isn’t that odd? We were there and lived it, but now we can’t remember? I had to do quite a bit of research. Pages of it fill my notebook.
One Last Pass
But, at last, my book is in the hands of my very capable editor. She’s working her way through her final thoughts. Then it will come back to me and I will make the required changes. From there, it will go to the publishing house where it will go through even more edits. It’s rather like watching a tennis match but with a manuscript. Can you picture that?
I’m told that these edits at the publishing house will last about four months. Well, it isn’t just editing—it’s designing a cover and making galleys and lots of things I have yet to experience and can’t even imagine at this point.
But . . .
This Time Next Year
GC should be printed and out in the public by this time next year. Whew. At least, that’s what I was recently told. But the publishing world is an evolving world. If things change, I’ll let you know.
In the meantime, I’m busy on book two. It’s title is Grave Decisions, A Charlotte Graves Southern Mystery. Oh, the publishing houses often change titles, so we shall see.
Here is my one-line elevator speech: When an amateur genealogist goes digging up dirt, she unearths a long-kept family secret which leads to grave consequences.
The genealogist is Charlotte Graves. If you’d like to know more, comment below and let me know. What would you like to know about her? She’s an open book.
2 Comments
Hi, I’m Debra
Jesus Follower, wife, BoyMom, DD, author, blogger, musician, southern cook, amateur genealogist, amateur artist, living life with an accent on Southern.
The Conversation
Debbie, your description of getting a book published makes it clear, if a writer must really, really wants to hold the finished book in his/her hands, there is considerable hard work. As a writer and editor, I can say with experience: there is little, if anything, more difficult than changing third person to first person. There is so much more than changing pronouns. I admire your perseverance. Peggy Lovelace Ellis
This is so exciting Debbie. You’ll always be Debbie to me! That you have trusted God and followed your heart to reach your goals is such a testimony to His promises.
Can’t wait for publication!��
Much love and pride.
Susan Simmons Seay
AHS Class if 68