Guest Post by Holly Schindler

The Long and Winding Publishing Road: Playing Hurt

We often talk about the road to publishing as though that’s where the story ends for a book:

a publisher acquires, it’s edited, it hits bookstore shelves—then, fade to black,

a happy ending is found.

Often, that initial publication can just feel like one chapter in a book’s journey. 

Playing Hurt was the second book I ever released. It hit store shelves in 2011, and received

positive

trade reviews and counted fellow authors Miranda Kenneally and Jennifer Armentrout

among its initial fans.

As it often happens in the world of publishing, the rights to Playing Hurt reverted back to me. 

I’ve been a hybrid author for several years, publishing my own work on the indie platform as well

as through traditional publishing houses. And as an indie publisher, I knew I wanted to revise

Playing Hurt. The world had changed quite a bit since 2011. I knew I wanted to address certain

issues in the manuscript differently. 

To start with, I knew I wanted a slightly different scenario regarding Clint and Chelsea’s working

relationship. They still do meet because Clint’s running a boot camp at the resort where

Cheslea’s family vacations, but I made sure that Chelsea decided not to be a client.

In the age of #metoo, I thought that was an important distinction. I also

added several new scenes this time around. And I continued to differentiate

the voices of Chelsea and Clint. I also did line edits throughout. 

It’s a really tricky thing reworking an old manuscript, though. It’s a constant balancing act: you

want to keep what the original fans of the book enjoyed (the connection between Clint and Chelsea,

the healing subplot, the humor injected by Chelsea’s brother), but you also want to make it relevant

to new readers. 

In order to tackle that balancing act, I dictated the manuscript. The whole thing. I opened up a

paperback of Playing Hurt, and I began to read, editing along the way. This time, I found there was

just something about hearing the book out loud that helped guide me. 

I also did decide to re-release the book as a new adult / contemporary romance, rather than a YA,

which was how it was originally categorized. I felt the ages of the main characters (18 and 19) and

the steamy passages make it better suited for an older audience. 

This time (as was the case in 2011), my favorite part of the book is the way Chelsea and Clint bring

each other back to the light in their lives. Those are my favorite romances—those in which the

characters change each other for the better. To me, that’s what makes romance enticing—it’s not

the physical, steamy passages so much as it is about how two people work past their own hang-ups

or fears in order to be together. 

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