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About Heather Webb

Heather Webb is the international bestselling author of historical novels Becoming Josephine, Rodin’s Lover, The Phantom’s Apprentice, and Last Christmas in Paris: A Novel of WWI. In 2015, Rodin’s Lover was a Goodread’s Top Pick, and in 2017, Last Christmas in Paris became a Globe & Mail Bestseller. To date, Heather’s books have sold in multiple countries worldwide, received national starred reviews, and have been featured in print media including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Weekly, and more. As a freelance editor, Heather has helped over two dozen writers sign with agents, and go on to sell at market. She may also be found teaching craft courses at a local college. When not writing, Heather feeds her cookbook addiction, geeks out on history and pop culture, and looks for excuses to head to the other side of the world.

Recent Posts by this author:

  • Truths about Publishing You Can Only Learn in the Trenches
  • I Think I Lost my Writing Mojo in the Turkey
  • Your Story Deserves More: Putting in the Time
  • Writing the Authentic Modern Woman (especially if you’re a man)
  • Is Collaborative Writing on the rise? And Making the Most of It
  • Build a World, Hook a Reader
  • Juggling Multiple Writing Projects at Once: Exhausting or a Bright Idea?
  • All the King’s Editors–Heather Webb
  • Good Advice, Bad Advice: Writing through the “Shoulds”
  • Serendipity, Zeitgeist, and the Interconnectedness of All Things (In Writing)
  • They Put Your Book Down, but Don’t Take it Personally
  • Harnessing the Kinetic Energy of Writing, and What Happens if You Don’t

    • Truths about Publishing You Can Only Learn in the Trenches

    By 35 Comments

    I’ve worked like a dog the last two weeks on EPIC copy edits so today, I’m running short on inspired creative thinking and tall on advice. It’s January, after all, and isn’t that when we’d all like a little advice, a little pep in our step to help us take on the new year? I know I do, so here we are with some of the most important things I’ve learned as a published writer (regardless of the publishing path you choose to take). WARNING: some of it isn’t pretty.

    Professional Behavior is Paramount

    Though professional behavior should go without saying in your field of work–in this case, publishing–you’d be surprised just how damned infrequent it is. It’s important to remember, people perceive who you are as a person as well as who you are as a writer by your behavior. Like it or not, them’s the breaks. Here are a few tips:

    • Make your deadlines. When a production schedule must be adjusted, it affects many other projects in the publishing line up, and it really ticks the publisher off (as well as other authors whose release dates are being juggled like lemons and sometimes dropped because of you). If you absolutely cannot make the date because something has happened in your personal life, give your agent plenty of notice so she/he can request more time from your editor. They will be a lot more flexible the more up front you are, and as always, the sooner the better.
    • Reply to important emails and other requests. If you’re a freelancer of some sort or replying to booksellers, book clubs, or other events (also to other writers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), a week is a reasonable amount of time to reply to emails. Inversely, this means, you should hold your horses and allow up to a week for people to respond to your messages. There’s nothing more irritating than having someone send another email when it’s been only two or three days, or worse, bombard you from multiple social media platforms. Gah! It’s true that we’ve all grown very impatient these days with our cell phones and instant gratification, but we aren’t robots with unlimited time. Respect both your personal workday hours as well as those of others. Boundaries are what keep us sane in a difficult business that often feels very intrusive and also like a rat race.
    • If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it at all. Do not bash your fellow writers, don’t give them poor book reviews, and do not show your envy of their successes—in public. Recently, I’ve seen a handful of Twitter shitstorms from very big authors and it blew my mind. How would they have felt if the tables were turned on them? Sure, we’re all human and need to blow off steam sometimes, but that’s what your critique partners and writer friends are for, to help you wade through the negative feelings that crop up from time to time and to keep you grounded and focused on what matters—the writing.
    • Always respond to blurb or event requests with grace. Ignoring them is not an option. You would be surprised how often this happens, EVEN FROM FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES. Seriously, I’ve been there a few times, and when you’re hopeful and waiting on them and they don’t reply, it’s not fun. Even worse, is when an author you admire makes some rude comment. Don’t be that person. We all have long memories when it comes to a slight, or what feels like one. If you don’t think the work is for you or you are simply too busy to spend the time on it, tell them you’d like to help but simply can’t this time around and wish them luck. Simple, short, polite. Always respond.

    Writing what you want versus writing what will sell

    Most writers have at least one idea—well, let’s be honest, we likely have many ideas—that aren’t all that viable for the marketplace for a variety of reasons. The reality is, a working writer who becomes a part of the “publishing machine” very often must limit their scope to the brand they are establishing. Narrowing our scope isn’t something we like to do as creatives, but it’s an essential part of reaching your developing fan base. This is what publishers are concerned with. If we reach our fan base with a reliable brand, we all make money. If you want to go outside of that brand and you’re anything less than bestselling, opt for a pen name.

    The other thing worth mentioning is that publishers have loads of data at their disposal and usually can gauge how well a particular topic will sell, at least within a reasonable guesstimate. When they believe they have a product (I know, cringe, but yes, books are products) that can sell quite well, they put all of their marketing power behind it. This, however, is becoming rarer by the minute, these days. Which leads me to my next topic.

    Stomaching the realities of Marketing & Publicity

    Budgets are being slashed across the board. It’s a sad fact, but it is what it is and the sooner the writer understands this, the sooner they can adjust and find creative ways to make the most of their platforms and their budgets. A few words of wisdom:

    • High Turn-over Rates: In publishing, there is an enormously high turn-over rate, in particular in the areas of publicity and marketing. It’s a difficult and demanding job and can often prove to be unrewarding. They’re harassed by constant emails and phone calls, and have a tremendous amount of work for editors, agents, and authors to juggle. Because there’s a high turn-over rate, it may also mean you’ll get a brand new publicist who doesn’t have a lot experience or connections assigned to your book. This can be quite disheartening. Your best bet is to split the work with your publicist and try to be as flexible as possible. Also, be a polite pit bull. Persistence and follow up are key, but keep it brief and professional—and don’t overdo it. Do your best to keep your emotions out of things. That never helps.
    • Set Aside Money in Advance: You have to spend money to make money. This is the most basic marketing manifesto. It’s also the truest. If you aren’t willing to shell out some dough to give your book a push, chances are it won’t go anywhere. If you’re one of the lucky lotto winners at your publishing house, more power to you, but there are so few of these—even for many big, established authors. It’s best to look at your market placement realistically so you can give your book its best chance in the saturated reader-sphere.
    • Devise a Plan: What will you need all that money for? Ads in papers, magazines, bookish websites, and also Instagram tours, Facebook ads, and/or in-person tours. You may seek out a professional to help you with this. There are some very knowledgeable and reputable organizations that help promote writers. (BUT BE CAREFUL. Do your research. Ask for final numbers, click-throughs, impressions, and also take a look at their client lists. There are loads of Mickey Mouse operations out there robbing authors of funds.)  Also as a side note, in-person tours can be very expensive, are rarely covered by your publisher, and hardly ever sell enough books to make it worthwhile. Plus it can be truly humiliating sitting there all afternoon with a stack of books, only to have people walk by you all day and avoid your gaze. I say this with five books under my belt worth of experience. It can be worth it, but you have to really know what you’re doing and that takes loads of time and research.
    • Hiring Personal Publicists, yay or nay: If you can pull out at least one major hook—and I don’t mean a cliffhanger style pitch, and I don’t necessarily mean the themes in your book—but one major idea that will resonate strongly with media outlets, it may be worthwhile to hire a publicist. Then again, you may be better off just buying up ad space to advertise the book. Most seasoned authors I know swear by the ads-only approach. That said, most of them have also tried working with publicists. The difficulty is, neither of these options can truly be measured. Publicity, in particular, is difficult to gauge. Publicists spend a lot of time researching and pitching articles, interviews, and other projects, and then they have to follow up and “wait and see” if the book they’re working with will be chosen by the media outlets. It’s a BIG FAT “maybe”, in other words.  But hey, all of publishing is a risky business. On this point, I think trial and error and going with your gut are the way to go. I have two books that wouldn’t have benefited from a publicist, necessarily, and two that could have. It just depends. Like everything in publishing, it depends.

    You will change agents or editors, or both, at one point This is a sad inevitably of the business, but one we must embrace if we want to get our books out there. Publishers merge or close, or begin (!). Editors retire or change jobs to a new publishing house. The same goes for agents. Sometimes, you aren’t being treated particularly well by an agent or editor, and it’s time to take matters into your own hands and make a move. One or both of these things have happened to 98% of all authors I’ve ever met, me included. Embrace the inevitability. It allows you to keep your focus where it should be—on the writing.

    The Post-Partum Blues

    Launch day arrives to lots of fanfare, and you’re excited as hell! You check yours stats obsessively and bask in the great reviews and publicity, the sheer joy of having your story join the canon that is our great big world out there. It’s truly wonderful. But there’s an aspect few discuss in book publishing, and one worth mentioning both for debut novelists and for anyone, really, who is extremely invested in how those of us with several under our belts. It’s the post-partum blues.

    The excitement of a new book launch wears off in a few days, or a few weeks and suddenly, there’s nothing but: [Read more…]

    Is Collaborative Writing on the rise? And Making the Most of It

    By 6 Comments

    There’s no disputing that social media has disrupted and changed, perhaps forever, the way we receive and deliver information. It has also changed how we read—and because of this, I think it goes without saying that it has influenced our stylistic choices as writers. But another phenomenon seems to be emerging, beyond style and digitized […]

    Build a World, Hook a Reader

    By 11 Comments

    One of the most compelling elements of any novel is the setting in which it takes place. If a reader can smell the burning sugarcane in the hazy Caribbean heat or feel the scratchy mittens that ward off the chill of Irish winter, the author has done their job. But how does an author create […]

    All the King’s Editors–Heather Webb

    By 18 Comments

    Welcome back to All the King’s Editors, our regular feature in which one of Writer Unboxed’s stable of editors line-edits a few pages that has been submitted.  This gives you a chance to see editing advice applied in its natural habitat. If you’d like to contribute a sample to be edited, click HERE for instructions.  Remember, editing is as […]

    Harnessing the Kinetic Energy of Writing, and What Happens if You Don’t

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    Everyone here at Writer Unboxed thinks of themselves as a writer; someone who loves words, appreciates beautiful craft, and spends many dedicated hours on their storytelling. But at the core, we’re more than just wordsmiths. We are creators. This is a hugely important distinction. The word creator is far more accurate a depiction of what we do […]

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