Guest Blogger Melissa Marr

Today we're welcoming Melissa Marr as our guest blogger.

"Melissa grew up believing in faeries, ghosts, and various other creatures. After teaching college lit for a decade, she applied her fascination with folklore to writing. Wicked Lovely, the first novel, was simultaneously released in the US and UK by HarperCollins in 2007 (with translation rights also sold in seven countries). Critical responses both here and abroad have been positive. Ink Exchange, the second novel, released in late April 2008 in North America. Both books debuted as New York Times bestsellers. Currently, Melissa lives in the DC area, writes full time, and still believes in faeries and ghosts.

Melissa's going to talk about the writing process. Enjoy!

Melissa:

I just returned from my first bit of the Ink Exchange release tour, and one of the interesting topics that came up in discussion was the demand, errrr, I mean suggestion that I should get back to my desk and write the next book. The idea was that if I could write it faster they could have it faster. I found this very sweet, but I also realized that the process of birthing a book was unfamiliar to a number of my readers. We talked (at more than one event) about this, so I thought I'd talk about it online too.

NOTE: Not all of these steps are sequential. Some happen simultaneously.

A general step-by-step on the process of an already-contracted-book going from my mind to readers' hands:

STEP 1: Draft said book.
In some ways, this is the easiest part. . . or maybe it only feels that way because I'm at a much later step right now. At his point, it's only my book. What editors, crit partner, daughter, readers (etc) expect doesn't matter. This is just me and my characters hanging out. My music is screaming in my ears; the tea is nonstop; and the excitement and abject sense of impossibility are vying for dominance. On Monday, I love it. It's better than anything I've ever written. By Thursday it's a pile of nonsense, fit only for shredders and fires. By Tuesday, I'm madly in love & manic to the point of forgetting to put on my shoes when I go to the mailbox.

STEP 2: Revision and tightening
Trimming away the nonsense, adding clarity, re-organizing, etc., etc. This step will repeat up until we reach copyedit.

STEP 3: First thru Xth readers.
My crit partner, my daughter, & my agent all read it. They say lovely things which I ignore. Then they tell me where it sucks horribly. More revision.

STEP 4 : Give the book to both editors . . . no, let go of it. You have to.
This is the first moment of terror. There will be others. This one is hard though. These two (two bc the book is simultaneously acquired by the US & UK so I get two equal editors) people are tough critics. I adore them. I fear failing them. A lot.

STEP 5 thru 36: Oh look, more revisions!
Ok, this one is going to drive me mad. It's never-ending--and awfully fun. Most of the time, revision is the best part. My editors send detailed notes that often conflict with each other. We do several rounds of this, and I despair and thrill and ultimately say something to the effect of "omg, I adore you two." (I might also say "I despise you." or rant at length. We all know this will happen, so we have a "cooling off" period btw receipt of editorial slashing of text and conversation.) During this, I talk to both editors. I meditate. I hike. I write manically. It's the best part.*

[*Yes, I know there can't be a whole bunch of "best parts" logically, but really, there are.]

STEP 6: Titles
Ugh. I hate this step. I try on different titles as I write & revise. My US and UK editors eventually take the title I've picked to the Powers That Be. They say, "no." As the book is co-acquired, I must find one they both like. I'm on the 3rd book. I've also written 3 manga stories and a short story for the Love is Hell anthology. Of the 7 titles, only one was the title I'd chosen from the beginning (Ink Exchange).

STEP 7: Copyedit
Ok, I like this step a lot too. I adore my copyeditor, Janet. She is frighteningly good. She catches minutia; she knows the obscure mechanics I like. I kinda adore her. She and a second reader both scrawl on the manuscripts, then Anne scrawls, & then I get them with a variety of pretty colours of ink. I get to fix more things. I'm a total mechanics geek, so I get weird pleasure out of this stage.

STEP 8: Art/Cover Design
Alison, Art Goddess Extraordinaire, and editor Anne and I toss around ideas. I am very lucky in that they actively include me. I've been allowed to pick the models for the first two books. Hmm. This is a favourite part of the process too.

STEP 9: Cover copy
My editor & I go back and forth in writing the flap copy. If co-writing an actual book is this much fun, I want to try it. Anne & I eventually both say, "Yes, that's it."

STEP 10: First Pass Galleys
These are the pages of the book all laid out. Very few changes will happen here, but some still do. We also look for "orphans" and "widows" that need attention (basically places where words' breaking onto lines looks weird).

STEP 11: Anglicisation
My UK editor sends the Britified version of the book. British diction and spelling and slang replace the problematic Americanisms. Oh, dear, this one's a favourite step too.

STEP 12: Various Marketing Requests Happen
This step is like revision in that it never ends. My Italian publicist sends an interview ("Can we get this by tomorrow?") My US publicist tells me there are a few invitations. My UK publicist sends articles and reviews from overseas.

STEP 13: Translation Questions
On page x, you say, "example of weird phrase" would this mean more "not quite right" or "very wrong" or "yes, this one." These fascinate me. I love hearing from my translators.

STEP 14: Sales & Marketing
There are meetings, catalogues, chats with booksellers, ads, review copies, industry conventions (some you might attend).

STEP 15: Early Responses
Reviews, email from booksellers and librarians, email from readers . . . This is as scary/scarier than that moment where you give the book to the editors.

STEP 16: It's out . . . and btw, it's tour/event time!
I love this too. Suddenly, the book we've been dealing with the past year+ is on a shelf, and I'm on a plane. At this point, I'm revising the next book, writing the one after that, & . . . having a lovely time of all of it.

I'm sure there are more, but these are the big ones. A book may start in the author's mind, but it travels through a fair number of people's hands before it reaches a shelf. I'm quite happy to go back to my cave and write, but writing faster isn't going to change the master schedule that much (if at all).

Melissa