Vicki, you completed an MFA in Creative Writing. What skills did it give you that helped your career?
I’m a strong proponent of education, but I can’t point to any one thing in my career and say that getting a degree did this or that or any specific thing. What I can say is that the work a writer does to earn a degree broadens and deepens the writer’s personal creative well. Can that work be done outside an academic setting? Yes. It’s the writer’s desire to learn and acting on it that is the defining factor.
Every writer has a creative well–their basic knowledge and interests, their perspective, their ability to view people, events, situations through others’ perspectives; observations, logic, and reasoning skills; motivations and the driving forces behind them, and an innate and intense interest in other human beings: who they are, what they do, why they do it–everything about them. These are all part of the skill-set common to writers. From that skill-set we see that everything is fodder. So everything we learn from all sources is useful. In doing the work of learning, writers gain experience and become aware of or become better at implementing writing tools that enable them to communicate and convey their ideas more deftly. Every writer draws fodder from his/her own creative well to write. So the more s/he learns, the deeper the well. Similarly, the more skills in your writer’s toolbox and the more deft the writer is at using them, the more able the writer is to effectively convey what s/he wants to convey in the writing.
More writers, I think, have challenges on the business end of writing. If you’re writing for yourself, of course, this doesn’t factor. But if you’re writing to sell, it is significant. Having a strong grasp on how the industry works is even more essential now than, say, a decade ago. Significant changes that impact the writer are occurring at a dizzying pace. (These changes impact the publishers and booksellers and distributors–everyone in the business, too.) The writer needs marketing and promotion skills as well as writing skills. More and more, authors are being called on to do more networking and promoting/marketing of their own works.
24 novels published and 4 more on the way. How do you manage to maintain a high standard of writing book after book?
I have one writing rule, and I believe it is key: I will not write a book I don’t love. To love it, for me, requires purpose. When you infuse a work you love with purpose, you’re motivated to give it only your best. If it takes five or ten drafts to massage the work into your best work, you’re willing to do it. Wouldn’t consider not doing it. So I believe the writer’s love and purpose provides the ultimate quality control. Only your best is good enough.
You have worked with many publishers now. What has your experience been with them?
Overall, very positive. Points of conflict occur, of course, but so long as all parties address them from the perspective of our common goal, equitable resolutions are attainable. Too many consider these relationships adversarial. That’s destructive and, in my opinion, a mindset fraught with obstacles and complications. It’s a breeding ground for trouble.
Instead, approach these relationships as strategic business alliances. Two groups (or three, if you include agents) come together with the common goal of ending up with the best possible book. The writer creates a work s/he loves and infuses with purpose, the agent markets to a publisher s/he believes will best serve the work and because it does it best serves the author, and the publisher hones the work to best publish and sell it to its established, identified reader base, hoping to expand it. Everyone wants the best, and everyone relies on everyone else to achieve it.
You can see where understanding the business benefits the writer. The more s/he understands, the more informed s/he is, the more active a role s/he plays and the more weight his/her ideas or opinions carry because the cooperative effort being firmly integrated has a positive impact on sales. In the business of selling books, the bottom line is sales.
Many writers sniff as if that’s distasteful, but the fact is no writer wants a fiscally irresponsible publisher. That hurts everyone in this strategic alliance. If writers look at points of conflict in a broader context, they often see that what appears to be negative actions (like publishing delays, like imprint cancellations that displace them) are necessary acts and often negate future challenges for the author, as well.
An example. The publisher cancels an imprint. The author has a book written that will not be published. Rights will revert to the author, and the author retains the advance paid on the contract.
Now many authors view this as a bad thing. But is it?
Well, for the publisher, it’s difficult, but it is more fiscally sound to not publish than to publish. So while there is a negative cash flow, it’s less of a negative cash flow than it would have been had it published.
For the writer, the advance paid is kept and the work reverts. So s/he can resell the work. It might need some adjustments, or it might not. Different publishers have different slants, different reader bases. But the work is still written and marketable.
Now many say the publisher should publish the books anyway. Well, sometimes they do. But too often what happens is that sales reps know the imprint is going away. Booksellers know it, too. And so orders are more difficult to get, and that drags down the authors sales. Fewer books are printed, on the shelf, and available to readers. And that drops the ceiling on the author for future sales. This is not beneficial to the author. It creates a low ceiling which makes him/her unappealing to other publishers. All know what’s happened, but it takes extra work and a healthy slice of the budget to overcome these type of challenges.
So was reverting the book and not creating a new low-ceiling on the author’s sales a good or bad thing? Each author will vote. I know mine.
In author/publisher relations, the bottom line, I believe, is having a constructive, healthy attitude and working together to achieve the best for everyone involved. Authors mistakenly want to make a killing. Instead they would be wise to seek win/win situations. Then everyone is invested and working together from the same page. A win for one party is a win for everyone involved. That’s a firm foundation for strong alliances and beneficial relationships.
You run frequent contests giving away your books and attend various conferences. Is it fair to say you place a high value on connecting with your audience?
It is fair. Connecting with readers isn’t just necessary, it’s joyful. We both love books. We love stories. We love talking about those things, sharing our enthusiasm. Have you ever been in a conversation and tried to talk books with someone who doesn’t read? About two sentences in, their eyes glaze over. It’s a blessing to talk with others who love what you love–even when they don’t like the same things about it, or the same types of stories. Readers are invested. They care and so do you. It’s a potent bond.
Personally, I’m a people person. I love being around people, hearing what they have to say, what they think, how their minds work. It’s a joy to me. But by necessity writers spend a lot of time alone. So I look for ways and opportunities to visit with readers. That’s why I’m involved with so many groups and I spend so much time on the social networks like Facebook and Twitter. I enjoy feedback, good or bad (both have value), and love chatting. When I’m on Facebook/Twitter, in my mind, I’m sitting at my kitchen table across from those in the discussion. We are talking over cups of coffee or glasses of iced-tea. It’s up close and personal, and it’s a privilege and a pleasure I need as much as want.
What makes a Vicki Hinze novel stand out from your average carbon-copy story?
Every writer sweats blood in writing a book. I think my stories are uniquely mine, for better or worse, because of that infusion of love and purpose. Because of my intense interest in people, my personal aversion to self-pity and apathy, a strong respect for those who accept personal responsibility, and a commitment to morals and personal ethics.
Who the writer is as a person determines what kind of stories are written, how they’re written and structured, what’s included and what isn’t. It’s how they view the world and those in it that drives everything from setting to character to plot. My interests are broad, my innate demand is for justice in a world running rampant with corruption and greed, my love for people shines through in a thousand ways. It’s those things I think that make my books uniquely mine.
Simply put, I write healing books. In them, someone scarred or damaged (and aren’t we all in some way by the time we reach puberty?) experiences events that are larger than themselves. But through these experiences and the choices they make, they heal, and they’re wiser and stronger for the experience. The characters don’t just cope and survive. They thrive. That offers constructive solutions to universal challenges. My deepest hope is that the works offer inspiration to seek constructive resolutions, affirmation that solutions exist, and confirmation that if the character can find them, then the reader, who might be suffering the same type of emotional challenge, can too.
In short and for better or worse, my books are infused with love and purpose and the hope that in them readers find inspiration, affirmation, and confirmation for challenges they or those who impact them face.
I know. Huge hopes and dreams for one little author. But no author who sweats blood on a page is afraid to hope or dream huge. The work demands it.
To learn more about Vicki Hinze, visit: http://www.vickihinze.com/
Related posts:
No Comments on "Vicki Hinze – Interview"
Trackback URL