Tag Archives: rj keller

From Self-Pub to Trad-Pub – Indie author R.J. Keller crosses the line

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R. J. Keller, author of Waiting for Spring and the forthcoming The Wendy House, my partner in the PaperRats writers’ relief YouTube series Inside the Writers’ Studio, Backword Books member,  and obsessive Star Wars fan, has recently had her independently released novel, Waiting for Spring, picked up by Amazon’s Encore imprint. Here, she answers some questions about going to the dark side.

Congratulations on Waiting for Spring‘s move to Amazon’s Encore imprint! What kind of day were you having when you heard from them, and what was the rest of your day like after that?

Thank you! The truth is I was having a rather shitty day (pardon my Bulgarian). The rural convenience store where I work, in the very rural town where I live, had recently burned down and I was transferred to a location in the city of Bangor (“city” is a relative term in Maine). My first shift was fairly hideous. The store is busy beyond belief and patronized by a rather rough crowd. Customers without proper IDs were refused alcohol and tobacco. Obnoxious kids spilled sticky Slush Puppy beverages on the counter, then burst into hysterical laughter. Insults and objects were hurled (not at the kids, although they deserved it). After ten hours of chaos, I was physically and emotionally drained, but by the time I got home – at shortly after midnight – I was too wound up to sleep. I checked my email and found a letter from AmazonEncore acquisitions editor, Terry Goodman, in which he offered to take on Waiting For Spring.

My first reaction was shock. It was one of those moments you hear about when you literally can’t believe what you’re reading. Then, of course, I “squeeeed!” a little. Or maybe it was a lot. Then I got nervous. I was afraid it might be a scam and I didn’t want to be taken in like an idiot. I’d heard of AmazonEncore, of course, but as I sat there in my Slush-Puppy-stained convenience store uniform, it seemed a little unreal that this email could actually be from them to me. Finally, I sent a copy of it to Craig Lancaster, whose novel The Summer Son had recently been acquired by Encore, with a note that asked, in part, “Is this the real AmazonEncore?” His response was, “This is the real deal! Congratulations!” After that, the Slush Puppy and obnoxious customers faded from memory.

For a while it seemed you were pretty committed to retaining control of your projects. Was it difficult to make a decision about whether to allow a publisher to assume control? And what is it that made you say yes?

To be honest, saying yes to Encore was both a no-brainer and a difficult decision. I really do like having control over my book. For example, the week before Encore contacted me I had updated Waiting For Spring’s cover and interior design. I had only just got my proof copy back from CreateSpace when Encore’s email arrived and I was very proud of how well it turned out. But the opportunities Encore could afford me, in terms of reach and budget, were very tempting. Ultimately, it was the knowledge that I would still retain a great deal of creative control over my novel, and that the people at Encore would work so closely with me, that convinced me to go with them.
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What was it about traditional publishing that didn’t appeal to you?.
At first, my decision to self-publish was based on the responses I got from agents and small publishing houses. So many of them loved my book, but didn’t think they could find a market for it. I was very confident that there was a market for it, and set off to find it. Who better to market a book than its author? The longer my book was out, and the more I learned about publishing, I came to realize that many traditionally published authors weren’t much better off than I was. Marketing budgets are shrinking and mid-list authors are getting the short end of the stick. I’m also not impressed with the way big publishing houses are dealing with the ebook market. They’re being very short sighted.
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What about self-publishing could you do without?
That’s a difficult question to answer, because self-publishing has been a very positive experience for me. I’m excited beyond belief about being with AmazonEncore, but I don’t feel like I’ve been saved from something unpleasant. Before this opportunity came along, I wasn’t pining away, wishing someone would come along and take a burden away from me.
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Having been an advocate of self-publishing for some time, do you feel strange, at all, for going to the other side?
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Well, they say the dark side has cookies, which is appealing. But for a day or two after I signed, I did feel a little strange, especially after re-reading what my friend and self-publishing advocate Zoe Winters sometimes calls the “rah rah indie!” articles I wrote for Publishing Renaissance, a pro-self-publishing blog. However, I don’t feel at all like I’m turning my back on anyone or anything by going with AmazonEncore. I’m proud of having self-published. I wouldn’t do anything differently. I’d do it in the future, if it came to that. But I’m truly looking forward to what I consider to be a new phase of my career. I look at is as building on my existing success with bigger tools.
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Waiting for Spring has done very well – and continues to do very well – as an independently released novel. There’s a lot of conversation among writers about agents and editors who seek out self-published authors who are already doing well to avoid risk and/or so they can, for lack of a more polite way to say it, ride on the back of the author. There are also plenty of people who defend editors and agents who actively pursue authors with already proven success, arguing that it just makes good business sense. Where do you stand on this issue?
I guess I’m torn. I can understand it, absolutely. The publishing industry is, as one agent once put it, a crap shoot. I’ve always believed in my book, and always felt confident that there’s an audience for it, but I can honestly see how it could be considered a high risk. Publishing is a business and publishers need a certain number of sure best-sellers to keep afloat. Agent are suffering in that atmosphere as much as writers, so I can see why approaching an author who has found success in self-publishing is appealing to them.
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As a rejected writer who has found success outside of that system, though, I will admit to moments of irritation about this practice. I personally think that if publishing houses looked at readers, instead of bookstores, as their customers, they’d be able to more accurately judge what The Market is really looking for and they wouldn’t be struggling to stay afloat. More importantly, maybe we wouldn’t be anticipating Snooki’s upcoming memoir.

What’s been the most surprising thing about working with a publisher?

I can only speak to how AmazonEncore works, but I think what I find the most surprising is how quickly things are going. I signed my contract in September. Here it is, a little more than a month later, and my book has already had a thorough copy-editing, promotional material is being readied, and the new book cover is ready. My head is spinning with how much has been accomplished so quickly.

Sometimes, the little things about an experience can be some of the most exciting. What were a couple of “whoopie!” moments you’ve experienced, so far, in dealing with Encore?

First of all, I cannot sufficiently express how much I love the new cover. It so perfectly conveys the tone of the book. I don’t think I’ve stopped smiling since I got it.

But my biggest moment of WHOOPIE came when I received the promo material to look over. I had to call my friend and editor, Amy Rogers, right away and scream girlishly for awhile, because that’s when it hit me: There are people who are being paid to read my book and to think of ways to encourage other people to buy it. It was The Moment for me.

How involved have you been able to be in the process?

I feel very fortunate to have been involved in every step so far. I very much appreciate how open everyone at Encore has been to my input and how much they’ve included me in the process.

What are you hoping will be the result of publishing with Encore?

I won’t deny that, in the deepest corner of my wildest dreams, I sometimes imagine movie deals and appearances on The Daily Show. But my original goal in putting my book out into the world still stands. I want to get as many people to read it as I possibly can. Encore has the resources to put it into more hands than I could ever dream of doing on my own.

What is Waiting for Spring‘s official release date, and will you be celebrating on that day?

The official re-release day is May 11, 2011. There will be much eating of pie and drinking of celebratory beverages. And I’m trying to figure out a way to share the day with my very loyal and very vocal readers. They’re the ones who have helped WFS get this far.

Are you interested in publishing The Wendy House with Encore?

If, once it’s finished, they’re interested in publishing it, I’m definitely up to letting them do so.

(I interview R.J. Keller about  The Wendy House, when it was just a work in progress,  here.)

Pre-order your copy of Waiting for Spring.

A WIP interview with R.J. Keller about her WIP, The Wendy House

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Some time ago, I wrote about RJ Keller’s Waiting for Spring in my review titled, “Waiting for Spring: what is ‘white trash,’ anyway?” Well, RJ Keller is now working on The Wendy House, her prequel, of sorts, to Waiting for Spring. The Wendy House, in RJ Keller’s words, “follows an alcoholic, deadbeat dad during the course of one day as he prepares to kill the man who murdered his daughter, all while having hallucinatory conversations with his long-dead wife.”

I thought it would be fun to be the very first person to interview RJ Keller specifically about The Wendy House, so I made sure to catch her in the WIP (work in progress) stage.

What’s the most difficult question someone has asked you about The Wendy House?

Over the weekend I was asked if I intended to cut down on the profanity and sex in the new novel, since most of the criticism of my first novel, Waiting For Spring, centers around those things. The truth is that there isn’t as much profanity and sex in it as there is in WFS, but that has nothing to do with any criticism the first book received. It’s just that this story and its characters don’t call for it. But it’s frustrating to think that it might be perceived that way.

I think Waiting for Spring has just the right amount of swearing, sex, drugs, alcohol, sex, swearing, and other kinds of vulgarity.

Why is your follow-up to Waiting for Spring called The Wendy House? Who’s Wendy? Where is her house?

The term “Wendy house” comes from the novel Peter Pan. When Wendy Darling first arrives in Neverland, she is injured, so Peter and the Lost Boys build a house around her where she can recuperate.

In my novel, the title character, Wendy, comes from a very strict, religious family who lives in a very small town. She has an adventurous soul, and longs for the day she can leave home and be free to roam the world. But she gets pregnant at seventeen and ends up having to stay put. So her “Wendy house” isn’t literal. It represents that feeling of being trapped in a life of domesticity.

Whose character are you having the most fun writing?

Actually, Wendy. The odd thing is that during the bulk of the novel, she’s been dead for about fourteen years. It’s written from her husband Rick’s point of view, using flashbacks and diary entries to tell her story. But Rick also has hallucinatory conversations with her. She’s so blunt and nasty to him in his imagination (ie, he’s actually being blunt and nasty to himself, he’s just using her voice and image to do it) which is an absolute blast to write.

I understand you named a character after me. What’s she like? Is she the most important character in the book?

I did indeed. Kristen Lancaster is a woman from Rick’s past whose presence, and subsequent absence, in his life had a big impact on him. As a teenager, she was both a corruptive influence on him and a source of rare happiness in an otherwise loveless and uninspiring childhood. As an adult, she’s cleaned up her act and is trying to live down her past when Rick shows up and threatens to ruin everything. So although she isn’t the most important character in the book (sorry, Kris), she definitely plays a big role in it.

Yeah. I know what it’s like to have a big impact on a man. Tell me, are any other characters named after people you know?

There are three others. Rick’s brother, Jimmy, is named after author Jim Chambers; your namesake’s last name, Lancaster, comes from author Craig Lancaster; and Shannon Kinney, another strong woman in Rick’s life, is named after a very good friend of mine.

What are some of the issues The Wendy House explores? Why did you choose those issues?

I originally started writing this novel to explore the chasm that exists between what children know of their parents’ lives and the reality of those lives. In Waiting For Spring, we see Brian’s parents, Rick and Wendy, from his viewpoint. Thus we see an angel and a devil because their lives are filtered through his perception. That’s not an uncommon thing even in the happiest and most normal of families. The truth is usually a lot more complex, though, and I was interested in seeing how that was the case with this fictional family I’d already created. I think Waiting For Spring readers will be interested in that, too, but I try to explore those dysfunctional family relationships in a way that will – hopefully – help The Wendy House resonate with readers who are unfamiliar with the first novel as well.

Share your favorite line of dialogue, so far.

Well, my favorite contains a big, fat spoiler. But this spot of dialogue, between Rick and his girlfriend, was fun to write:

“Did the camera see you come this way?”

Jesus. Not her, too.

“No. I went in through the apartment and out the back.”

“Did you make sure to—”

“Yes. Whatever it is, yes, yes, yes. I did. Now can we please just get going?”

Why is that your favorite?

I think it’s because it was when I first lost myself in Rick’s character. It was difficult at first to write from a male point of view. I kept looking at Rick through a woman’s eye instead of becoming him. When I wrote the above dialogue, though, I finally felt like I understood him. I felt truly frustrated about being nagged by this woman – actually, because of the chapter preceeding this conversation, a series of women – instead of looking at Rick as an irresponsible guy who needed the nagging to keep him focused.

What character do you think readers will like best, and why?

I’m hoping that they’ll come to like Rick, or that they’ll at least start to feel for him. On the surface, and even under the surface, to a degree, he’s a very unlikable guy. He abandoned his family, which is pretty unforgiveable. But my goal is to deconstruct him and show what got him to where he is. Not in order to excuse him, but in order to understand him and to help him redeem himself.

What has been your greatest challenge, thus far, in writing The Wendy House?

Finding its narrator. When I began writing the first version of the novel, over two years ago, it was told in first person from Wendy’s point of view. It turned out to be very limiting since … well, since she dies and all. Then I tried using both Rick and Wendy as narrators, giving them alternating chapters. That was even worse. Finally, last November, I decided on Rick alone, which is when things really clicked.

When can readers expect to get The Wendy House on their e-reader?

I originally planned to release it, both in print and in ebook, this fall. But it looks now like it might be closer to next January or February. I know that readers will be bummed out about that, but I want to make sure the novel I release is the best it can be, and I’m willing to push back to release date to do that.

Do you have any cover ideas or a mockup, yet?

I have a few ideas, yes. And this time I plan to work with a professional to bring the cover to life instead of making it myself. I’m looking forward to that.

Will it look something like this?


Yes! Exactly!

My co-worker made it.

He’s hired!

Thanks, Caroline!

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About two weeks ago, Caroline Leavitt (whose new novel Pictures of You will release this November) – a huge fan of the Inside the Writers Studio videos – allowed RJ Keller and me some space on her blog to answer questions about our writing. Thank you, Caroline! Keller and I discuss NyQuil, literary drinking games, the problem with sex in novels, and more. Check it out here.

Leavitt, who is also a book reviewer for a couple of major publications, a screenwriter, and the author of  nine novels (to include Girls in Trouble, Coming Back to Me, Living Other Lives, and Into Thin Air), loved the Inside the Writers’ Studio videos so much she asked if she could be a guest.

Of course we said, “YES!”

Here is Caroline Leavitt as a guest ‘star’ in episode IV of “Inside the Writers’ Studio: Self-Promotion FAIL”

Inside the Writers’ Studio Episode II: Writers and grandiose delusional disorder

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The American Psychological Association estimates that each year thousands of writers suffer from delusions of inflated worth, knowledge, and identity. In our latest episode of Inside The Writers Studio, we visit one such author, R.J. Keller, as she is interviewed by a hair-obsessed reporter.

The books not getting Dan Brown coverage…

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…can be tricky to find out about because, well, they’re not getting that coverage.

But there’s a blog site I discovered yesterday that can make finding something to read much, much easier. A number of books you may be interested in, and that are being favorably reviewed, appear in  The New Book Review, blogged by award-winning author Carol Howard-Johnson and named to Online Universities’ 101 Book Blogs You Need to Read.

This review spot is NEW because it embodies the new idea that a book should not be judged by its cover or its press. If a reviewer thinks a book is great, The New Book Review lets readers know about it. – Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of  the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers.

I’ll be interviewing Carolyn for the Self-Publishing Review in the next day or two about her blog and her books, and I’ll post a link when it’s live. What I’m most curious about is what prompted her to start the blog, and whether there are books she discovered and came to love as a result of starting the blog.

Speaking of the Self-Publishing Review (SPR), the website has been revamped and looks outstanding. Check it out. What used to be an online publication is now a combination online publication and community for readers and writers. Like the oringal SPR, the site can still be  accessed by people who simply wish to read the articles and opinion pieces, but those who want to be part of the reader/writer community may also create a membership and participate in the new chat forums.

And in more updated website news, Waiting for Spring author RJ Keller has a beautiful new site just waiting for a domain transfer. Here’s  her blog. I’m sure she’ll post an update when the site is ready for bookmarking. She sent me a link to the site in progress, and I couldn’t help it; I was so impressed by it that I used the same web design creation site (wix.com) to create a new homepage, myself. ‘Tis the season!

R.J. Keller’s Waiting for Spring: what is “white trash,” anyway?

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I don’t use “white trash” in conversation, don’t generally label people, or groups of people, or see them in such a one-dimensional way, but I have to use “white trash” here because I understand the way it’s used, and what people think it is, and how they look at “those people”… and I appreciate the way R.J. Keller offers a deep exploration of “those people.”

First, here: a “white trash” definition offered at the blog WhiteTrash.net:

“…a racial epithet usually used to describe certain low income persons of European descent, especially those perceived as having crude manners, abnormally low moral standards, and lack of education.”

Well. If I’m not one of “them” now, I sure used to be. When I lived where I lived and did what I did. Or didn’t do.

And I think the characters in R.J. Keller’s Waiting for Spring are people those who use that particular pejorative would call “white trash,” too.

What I love about Waiting for Spring is that Keller’s small-town Maine “white trash”-ians are examined so closely and so honestly that – even if it wasn’t her goal – Keller’s readers get a quick lesson in people-are-people, whether a first-impression glance leaves you thinking they’re “white trash” with dirty jobs or sophisticates who might nibble shiny, little fish eggs in the Hamptons.

I shouldn’t admit, here, that I don’t read much of what would be called “women’s fiction,” because I’m a female fiction writer. What I mean, though, is that I don’t read much fiction written by women that uses, in an obvious way, any of the following as the central conflict:

1. Death

2. Disease (namely cancer)

3. Depression (or other mental maladies)

4. Children/families

5. Abuse (rape, spousal beatings, or the like)

It’s not snobbery; I’m just not drawn to it. It’s possible I got my fill during my Danielle Steel years, or maybe I’ve seen too many movies on a popular cable women’s network that seems to think women are only interested in death, family, children, disease, spousal abuse, and – of course – crazy stalkers, be they men or women.  (Why can’t they play more romantic comedies? Or more movies with hot guys in them doing hot guy things? Or even just a straight-up comedy? What, we don’t like funny? The man-channel, at least, offers a variety with its action and comedy mix.)

Keller’s novel isn’t the kind of fiction by women I usually pass by. Instead, it’s the gritty and straighforward and honest fiction I love. The kind of fiction that doesn’t care to pretend politeness out of respect for people’s personal beliefs or subjective morality: it is what it is, whether you like it or not.

Sure…in Waiting for Spring, Keller’s characters have been touched by life’s unpleasantness (drugs, emotional neglect, abuse), but those touches are presented as scenery, the way a dark spot in the forest would look on a drive down a country road. We notice it, it’s there, it affects the larger picture, but we’re not consumed by it. Life is life, and almost everyone, at one point or another, has suffered from something. A life wouldn’t read realistic without giving those sufferings mention and recognizing they add to, and take away from, who a person is.

Keller’s novel is character-driven, and her characters – so real, and revealed to such a degree it’s difficult not to wince at their vulnerability and feel the need to walk away, apologize for prying  – create a powerful story of strength and weakness, untidy but pure love, and both the destructive nature and the beauty of human bonds. And they remind us – as we so often need to be reminded – that as unique as we like to fantasize we are, none of us is really so different from the other.

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