Congrats to Susan B., winner of CALLING ME HOME!
From the 2013 Debs…
Deb Dana had her first book signing last weekend at Barnes & Noble, where she got to meet Deb Amy’s lovely parents!
Deb Susan is eagerly awaiting the first pass pages for CLAWS OF THE CAT, which left New York last night and should arrive on Tuesday morning – her first look at the publication formatting!
Deb Amy is thrilled to announce a Goodreads giveaway of THE GLASS WIVES. You can enter here!
Deb Kelly is honored to share an endorsement from New York Times bestselling author Sarah Addison Allen, who called GOOD LUCK GIRLS… “a delicious concoction of reality and fairytale — the ideal summer book!” Kelly is thrilled!
Past Deb News
Deb Joelle Anthony is teaching a workshop on “Writing Memorable Characters” at the Galiano Literary Festival on Friday, February 22 (11am-12pm) To register, or for more information, please visit the festival’s homepage.
Deb Linda Grimes has a new Author page on Facebook – stop by and check her it out!
and Deb Jess Riley’s new novella, CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR would make a great late valentine’s gift for someone special.
Deb Dish – How many drafts did your debut novel go through before publication?
Deb Amy: Oy. I rewrote the entire novel three times before I started querying agents. I did two major rewrites with my agent and another with my St. Martin’s editor. That’s six. I actually think I’ve blocked out some of the rewrites. That’s normal, right?
Deb Dana: I’m with Amy: OY. Like her, I rewrote the book numerous times before I even started querying agents. Then I did another rewrite in the middle of querying agents, thanks to some early feedback. Once I landed an editor, I did a major rewrite, and then two smaller revisions (e.g. add a short scene here or a bit of dialogue there). And…I think that was it? Again, like Amy, I think I’ve blocked some of them out.
Deb Susan: Nine. Seven drafts before the one my agent, Sandra, read at the time she decided to offer me representation. Sandra had a few comments (which became draft 8), and draft 9 incorporated my editor’s comments. That’s standard for me … the reasons for which will become more clear next Thursday!
Deb Kelly: One million. 999,998 that I did and then undid again. One for my agent and one for my editor that stuck.
Your Turn!!
It’s so much fun to watch the current Debs progress through the milestones of their debut year! 🙂
How many drafts did my debut novel take? That’s a tough one for me to determine, since I’m a compulsive “tweak as I go” writer. I’m constantly adjusting the early chapters even as I write the later ones. The whole process of completing the first draft encompasses many, many partial rewrites.
Thanks, Linda! It’s great to have so many great authors from prior years cheering us on and sharing the experience, too. Being part of the Deb Ball is a wonderful thing!
I hear you on the idea of “many partial rewrites” – I had to develop a system to figure out when a draft deserved a new “version number” and when it was just tinkering that didn’t need renaming. Took me forever to figure that out. The things we learn in the process!