Suzanne Mattaboni On The 5 Things You Need to Know to Become a Great Author
Write what you love, but develop a thick skin — and keep going. You really have to love writing to do this, because it’s hard.
As part of my interview series on the five things you need to know to become a great author, I had the pleasure of interviewing Suzanne Mattaboni. She is the author of the coming-of-age novel, Once in a Lifetime and a Pushcart-nominated fiction writer, blogger, essayist, journalist, and corporate PR consultant. A former community service reporter for Newsday and a member of the Newsweek Expert Forum, her work has been published in Seventeen, Parents, Child, The Huffington Post, Mysterious Ways, Guideposts, Dark Dossier, Motherwell, and The Best of LA Parent. She has two talented children, one hysterically fun husband, and two ever-ravenous cats.
Thank you so much for joining us! Can you share a story about what brought you to this particular career path?
The big, tumultuous moment that brought me to this career path is … I was born. That’s all, LOL. I was always writing things in my head. I have notebooks with song lyrics in them in my basement dating back to second grade.
Of course, I wanted to be a bunch of other things as well. At five years old I wanted to be a fabulous talk show host. I drew up scenery and Scotch-taped it to the metal mesh radiator cover in our apartment, like that was my backdrop, because it had a curved cut-out that looked like the proscenium of a stage. I was always usually composing something, even if it was dialog for my imaginary guests. Sometimes Barbie and Skipper got to act out the plot to my imaginary screenplays starring a single mother and child. I was also constantly choreographing shows for all the kids in my neighborhood to perform in.
Can you share the most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your career?
Hmmm. I had a bit of a Cinderella moment at a conference after a “Read and Critique” session, where you anonymously provide a few pages, a panel of authors/editors give their input, and you sit and listen as all the blood figuratively runs out of your body.
The next day during our breakfast announcements, one of the panelists (a Bram Stoker Award winner) came to the mic and said, “There was one story in the middle grade R&C group last night where we really need to know who the author is.”
I sat there in front of my buffet breakfast thinking, Isn’t that nice, that was my group.
She went on, “Because the voice was so terrific, we think they’re really onto something and I want to introduce them to my agent… Something about camp… and tacos…”
And it dawned on me, Wait, THAT’S MY STORY! So, I gulped down a mouthful of eggs and waved my hand in the air in front of all 300 attendees, and my table started to clap. They asked me to stand up and the whole dining room started clapping. My best friend in the seat next to me cried.
Ironically, that book hasn’t been published yet, but even so. I think it counts as an interesting moment.
What was the biggest challenge you faced in your journey to becoming an author? How did you overcome it? Can you share a story about that that other aspiring writers can learn from?
The biggest challenge is there are so many easier ways to make a living, so it’s ever-so-tempting to settle into one of those other careers. Fiction writing is fraught with rejection and heartbreak and dismay, more so than anything I’ve ever encountered (and I worked in THEATRE!). It was easy for me to be distracted by a nice career in public relations, where they paid me well and I was helping a lot of people sell amazing technology. But in the end, the dream of writing that book drew me back. If you really want it, you have to just keep pushing. You can’t stop when it gets hard. I’d suggest writers maybe get a nice life together for themselves in the meantime, though, so they can first be grounded and secure in their self-worth.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
One of my first newspaper interviews: I wasn’t long out of college, and noticed an old friend from my teen years had become the news editor at Suffolk Life on Long Island. I asked for a meeting, and he said sure, come on down. So, there I was in my little business suit and my patent leather shoes, trying to look all experienced at the reception desk. I announced I had an appointment with Danny Aug. Because that’s what everyone called him when we were teenagers.
The receptionist laughed at me. “Dann — ee?” she blurted out. “Who’s Danny? Oh, you must mean Dan.”
I turned six shades of scarlet.
Danny gave me a weekly column anyway, and that was my first journalism gig. But at that moment I learned how important it was to address people by the right name in a professional setting.
By the way, he’s still my friend on Facebook, and he doesn’t mind at all that I still call him Danny. In turn, he tends to address me with a non-sensical nickname from when I was a junior counselor at day camp.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
I just started a stint as a contributor to the Newsweek Experts Forum where I’ll be writing about arts and culture, publishing, maybe technology. PR-wise, I’m working on announcements that involve distribution launches with companies like Microsoft and HP and have a few trade events coming up where I’m promoting some cool new solutions that let people collaborate more seamlessly. I’m also editing an eclectic collection of short stories. Busy, busy!
Can you share the most interesting story that you shared in your book?
Once in a Lifetime is women’s fiction that takes place in the 1980s, although I admit the stories in the book are exaggerated or displaced versions of things that I ran into in my life. It’s set in New Hope, PA, which long before the Pride movement was a very LGBTQ+ friendly enclave and tourist town. One of my favorite moments: The main character Jessica is an art student who’s waitressing for the summer to scrape up enough money to afford a cool art program in London. The restaurant where she works hires a drag queen/bartender to try to boost traffic, and the two of them become buds. One night when Tye, the drag queen, is modeling a gorgeous sequined gown for Jess, to get her opinion for an upcoming performance, a drunken brawl breaks out at the party Jess is working in the dining room. Tye bounces a bunch of intoxicated preppy guys out of the restaurant on their asses, all while in a spiral permed wig, platform heels, and a sparkly column dress slit up-to-there. I called that scene Party Out of Bounds. Like the B52s song.
What is the main empowering lesson you want your readers to take away after finishing your book?
I want women to realize they have to be true to themselves and their own goals before they can prioritize a relationship. The heroine in Once in a Lifetime is dying to get her life and career going, and that seems to scare the heck out of whatever guy she’s with. Her ambition almost becomes an antagonist in the story, and she relies a lot on the strength of her girl friendships to pull her through and shape her priorities. That’s why I call this story a romantic comedy that’s not all about the guy.
Based on your experience, what are the “5 Things You Need to Know to Become a Great Author”? Please share a story or example for each.
1) Write what you love, but develop a thick skin — and keep going. You really have to love writing to do this, because it’s hard. It’s a lot of work before any recognition comes, and it’s a Murphy’s Law kind of business. Things will fall through, people will reject you left and right. You have to just keep writing. I once hooked up with an agent who loved my book and worked with me for eight months, only to leave the business entirely. I was back on the writers’ conference circuit pitching within a month.
2) Get used to promoting yourself. Take a class if you need to. Learn to write press releases, research editors, and pitch stories. Or hire a publicist. I’ve been a PR director by trade and I still feel weird about promoting myself, but I push through it. Tip: Send press releases via a wire service, but take advantage of a single state circuit instead of the national circuit — it’s much less expensive and you get all the same online headlines as with the more expensive circuit. Then when people go to Google search you and your work, they’ll see the releases you’ve put over the wire.
3) Know when to partner. If you’re smart, you’ll realize that you can’t do everything, and that there’s great value in partnering with a person or a company that has the contacts and the skills that you’re missing. If you try to spread yourself too thin or start from scratch in developing industry contacts, you can still get to your goal, but it will take you a lot longer.
4) Join a writers’ group, and go to conferences. Join a critique group, too. It’s difficult to keep going and to maintain a healthy perspective without belonging to some kind of support community. This also give you an opportunity to network, and that’s where you’ll start to find people with complementary skills to yours that you can look to partner with. I belong to at least a list of writing associations (Pennwriters, Horror Writers of America, Women’s Fiction Writers Association, The Author’s Guild, and the Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group) and have been on the board of the two regional groups I’m in. Sometimes they’re my saving grace.
5) Treat your book like a product, one that requires a certain investment not only of time but also of money. As a PR director, I work with companies that understand that you can’t sell anything without investing in some kind of outreach, marketing, PR, etc., and they pay for it. Otherwise, no one would know their stuff exists. I couldn’t approach my own product with any less of a strategy. I come across a lot of people who won’t even so much as submit to a magazine that has a $15 submission fee, as if that’s insulting. Meanwhile, some of these independent publishers that produce anthologies wouldn’t even exist without submission fees. So, look at it like you’re supporting the marketplace, and bite the bullet.
What is the one habit you believe contributed the most to you becoming a great writer? (i.e. perseverance, discipline, play, craft study). Can you share a story or example?
I am stubborn as a bull, and I stand up for myself. I reflexively get all out-of-joint when someone tries to take advantage of me. But in general, this may be one of the reasons I’m successful, especially as a woman in a male dominated field, like when I work with high tech companies.
Which literature do you draw inspiration from? Why?
I miss the off-kilter and irreverent literature of the late 20th Century, like weird Tom Robbins books, and stuff by Douglas Adams and Kurt Vonnegut. Back then you could write about the adventures of a couple in a silver minivan with giant chicken legs welded to the sides, or a guy hitching a ride across the universe with the double-headed President of the Galaxy. Novels were so much more experimental and non-formulaic. Readers just ran with the concept and had fun. Pick up Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins. Time will stop for you.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
You’re right, which is why my paranoid side won’t reveal the answer to that question. Someone else will snap it up before I do! That said, I’m looking to remind women that if they want the same rights and jobs as men then they have to get out there and build companies of their own instead of waiting for men to make room at theirs.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
You can follow on:
· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/suzanne.mattaboni
· Twitter: @suzmattaboni
· Instagram: @suzannemattaboni80s
o Then there’s my previous Instagram that was hijacked, which has a bunch of cool ’80s memorabilia on it: https://www.instagram.com/halcovan7_457_ga/ Anybody who knows how to un-hack an Instagram account, contact me with instructions!
· www.onceinalifetimenovel.com
· https://www.newsweek.com/experts
Thank you so much for this. This was very inspiring!
