These days, you don't necessarily have to wait for an agent and publisher to green light your book, because self-publishing tools make it possible to actually sell the book yourself. That's what Jenny Hall did for her first novel, Ice Charades. In honor of the upcoming winter Olympics in Vancouver, Jenny shared her tips on self-publishing, balancing motherhood with writing, and more.
Urban Muse: Ice Charades is based on your experiences as an ice skater. Where's the line between fact and fiction?
Jenny Hall: I wanted to keep the skating in the book real to document my life in an ice show, but I felt it would be more entertaining in novel format. The awkward and unusual situations are true, but plucked from different shows. We really did have to find and pay for our own hotels, which kept us constantly broke and we were weighed in every week, which kept us hungry much of the time. And neurotic. Take four showgirls, hungry and broke, sharing a cramped, run-down hotel room and you get dramatic dialogue.
After skating for thirteen years in various shows I also had countless costume malfunctions to pick from. These real events were the inspiration for the book, as I felt this was a world few people knew but many might find interesting.
The romantic storyline is more fictional. I didn't have that great a love life when I skated.
UM: Tell us about your decision to self-publish Ice Charades. What was the biggest challenge?
JH: I was a good candidate for self-publishing because there aren't other novels about ice skating, unless you count Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates. There are hundreds of biographies, memoirs and historical non-fiction books, as well as some skating murder mysteries plus one gay erotic title. But there was no women's fiction, or dare I say chick lit, on the subject.
I wanted to go the traditional route but agents don't seem to be taking on many debut authors these days. I also felt a looming deadline with the Winter Olympics coming and I didn't want to miss out on the time when skating gains many fans. So I changed tactics, stopped querying, and looked into self-publishing. I planned to focus on skaters and skating fans, a group which numbers in the tens of thousands, so that is not a bad niche market. The challenge now will be reaching them remotely. I currently live in Mexico City.
I think of this book as a hobby, but getting it into print felt like a full-time job at the end. That was the biggest challenge. I needed to research publishing companies, chose the right fonts and layouts, decide whether to own the ISBN number, figure out where to spend on marketing and promotion, and learn how to create a website. My husband and I did most of it ourselves, but used professionals where I felt I needed it - book cover and editing.
In the end, I published this book for show skaters and they are grateful to see their story told, but the response from everyone has been great. That makes me glad I did it.
UM: Any tips on balancing writing and motherhood?
JH: Dependable naps! But I only have one child and no job, so I have no excuses. Guilt is a good motivator for my writing. Now that my daughter is in school, I have free time that I don't want to waste. I don't know how someone with a full-time job, with or without kids, has the time and energy to write.
UM: What are some of your favorite books?
JH: My favorite classics are Main Street, Jane Eyre and Animal Farm. More recent titles include non-fiction favorites like Deborah Copaken Kogan's Shutter Babe and Scott Anderson's The Man Who Tried To Save The World. Not only are these books all over the map, all are outside the chick lit genre, so in the five years it took to write Ice Charades, it was truly a guilty pleasure to read countless chick lit books for “research” purposes. Even though I'm not a shopper, I do like Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic series and anything by Meg Cabot.
UM: What's next for you?
JH: The Ice Charades sequel, of course. Next stop, Japan. Having skated there for six years, starting in the late 80's, there is a wealth of culturally bizarre and wacky episodes to draw from.
From mixing with the Japanese mafia to locals wanting to touch blond hair or toilets that made bird sounds, I'm excited to fold this and more into another story.
Thanks, Jenny! Congrats on Ice Charades and best of luck on the sequel!
Images courtesy of Jenny Hall