So now that the dust has settled over my big news, I had time to do a little thinking on why this book sold.
This book being the book that I told everyone was ‘crap’.
Obviously someone thought it wasn’t crap, even though I was convinced it was.
So why did I think it was total and complete crap? (Yes, ‘crap’ became my favorite word while writing this proposal….*g*). It took me awhile to figure that out. And I didn’t realize until after I made the sale why I thought it was crap.
Because it wasn’t what I typically wrote. I write hot…really hot….erotic romance. And as I plotted out this book I realized there were very few paces I could put the really erotic stuff. Well, I thought, this isn’t me. This isn’t a trademark “Jaci Burton” book. I was suddenly floundering outside my “comfort zone”.
That comfort zone had been my lifeline for several years now. It was easy, it was comfortable and my writer’s voice sang within it. But it also wasn’t getting me anywhere with the NY houses, unfortunately, for one reason or another, because as we all know, they are buying the ‘high concept’ stories. Not that there was anything wrong with the books I was writing. They were selling, they were popular, reviews were great, yada yada….but when I was proposing for my agent, these kind of storylines weren’t going anywhere with other publishing houses.
Surving Demon Island is a high concept story, and it scared the living hell out of me. But fortunately my agent is a lot smarter than I am, and she read the proposal, loved it, and sold it. I also have some pretty amazing friends who kicked me, beat me and threatened me with dire consequences, convincing me that the story wasn’t ‘crap’…..and I will be forever grateful to them because of it. Clearly they saw what I could not see in this book. I love you Mel, Angie, Mandy, Shannon and Bree.
And it’s also quite clear I need to step outside my “comfort zone” more often….