This week LUV's spotlighting author @lizbasswriter. Elizabeth Bass is a writer with over forty romance and women’s fiction novels to her credit. Under the pen name Liz Ireland, she also writes the Mrs. Claus cozy mystery series. LUV: You have experienced publishing from both sides of the page – as an editor and as a writer. What has one taught you about the other? Liz: This is such a great question! Being an editor taught me a lot about the publishing business, which is invaluable to a writer. While it sounds obvious, the most important lesson it’s taught me is that publishing is a business. If the book you’ve poured your heart into gets rejected, it’s heartbreaking and difficult not to take the rejection personally. But so many considerations factor into a publisher’s decision: the editor’s personal taste, trends, the publisher’s inventory, etc. Absorb whatever feedback you’re given, but know that publishing luck is often the alchemy of your book hitting the right editor’s desk at the right publishing house at the right time. It’s also taught me that editors are not adversaries. In fact, they’re often working on projects they’ve gone to the mat to acquire and also feel invested in the book’s success. So when processing editorial advice, I ignore the defensive impulse that rises up and try to give the editor’s instincts equal weight. (Conversely, I also realize that editors are fallible like anyone else!) On the flip side, being a writer has taught me to be more frank as an editor. I know there’s nothing more frustrating than to receive vaguely worded editorial letters that I’ll spend hours trying to interpret, like tea leaves. So I try to be specific with suggestions whenever possible. Being a writer has also taught me to focus more on the positive: Authors sometimes need to hear what is really wonderful about what they’re doing so they can develop confidence and lean into their strong suit.

Posted by LUV Team at 2023-07-10 19:01:00 UTC