by Riley Redgate
Last weekend, The Dark Knight Rises made $160.9 million.
Last weekend—as in, within roughly seventy-two hours—this film made a little more than fifty cents off every human living in the United States. Let's just let that sink in for a hot second.
Has it sunk in? Excellent. Moving on:
I saw The Dark Knight Rises in IMAX. (In fact, I saw it in IMAX from the front row, which was both terrifying and extraordinarily painful, but that's beside the point.) And it hit me while I was watching how much impact the phrase "high-budget" or "low-budget" has on the movie industry. All the spectacle of Nolan's film—I can imagine the creators burning through money, mowing it down, eating it up. Money for every explosion, every costume, every special effect. Would it have been remotely the same film if they hadn't spent $280 million on the thing? One can only imagine.
It's interesting on the other end, too—the output end. Only the rarest of authors make obscene amounts of cash, as opposed to the realm of wide-release films, a realm where $13 million in three days can be described as "paltry".
When it comes to cash, no one can deny that films have a higher throughput. Massive amounts in, and (hopefully) massive amounts out. Of course, artistic vision and creativity also have tremendous influence on the film industry—but budget has a huge impact on the final product, and of course, on the existence of the product in the first place. A film that costs zero dollars to put together would be quite an interesting film indeed.
In book-land, on the other hand, the place of origin—the author's brain—isn't necessarily influenced by money. (I say "necessarily" because I'm speaking as someone who has made exactly zero dollars from writing. There's probably someone out there who makes better first drafts when they're having money thrown at them, but whatever.)
The question: Is there a "budget" of sorts when it comes to writerly ways? I believe there is, and I've drawn up a list enumerating the sources that feed into this creative budget:
1) Time. Because there are never enough hours in the day. Time is a crucial resource, and authors who are lucky enough to have an abundance of it will probably see more productivity.
2) Command of language. Because a strong vocabulary, a good sense of orthography, and sentence-to-sentence flow are gifts that keep giving.
3) Familiarity with genre. Because knowing what's become a trope, what's fresh and original, what's familiar and loved, and what's expected from the genre is a well of knowledge you can draw on with every step down the noveling path.
4) Support. Because one is the loneliest number that you'll ever do. (Two can be as bad as one; it's the loneliest number since the number one.) A network of friends, beta readers, critique partners, and cheerleaders is on the "priceless" end of the value scale.
5) Inner peace. Because seriously, have you tried to write when you're having one of those no-confidence days? Don't know about you guys, but for me, that tends to degenerate into me typing one letter repeatedly and staring at my word processor. Confidence: vital contributing factor, in my opinion.
6) Emotional investment. Because it'd be mighty tough to make yourself write about your characters if you don't care about them.
Oh, and 7) Divine inspiration. Because life isn't fair.
People may rant and rave about how different books and films are, and how one shouldn't compare them. But when it comes to budget, the two mediums run on the same principle: When you make a high-budget film (hey there, James Cameron's Avatar) you're hoping to get at least as much as you spent back, right? The more you put in, the more you'll expect out. And similarly, when you put more time into writing, or when you read books in your genre and take mental notes, or when you edit until you're personally satisfied with it, you'll get output. Maybe not monetary output, necessarily, but hey, raise your hand if you think authors are in it for the money.
... yeah, heh, that's what I thought. But what you might get as payback from a big creative budget: personal satisfaction. Satisfied readers. And hopefully—most importantly—a damn good read. Here's hoping yours is a blockbuster!
Can you think of any other contributing factors to your personal Writer's Budget (tm)?
Riley Redgate, enthusiast of all things YA, is a bookstore-and-Starbucks-dweller from North Carolina. She blogs here and speaks with considerably more brevity here.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
Avoiding the Writer's Wall
by Stephen L. Duncan
In my fairly limited existence as an author, there have been many truisms that I’ve run across while trying to get the words onto the page. More often than not, these little bits of advice on the dos and the don’ts of being a writer get stuck somewhere in the back of my mind, only to be quickly forgotten. I'm just stupid like that. One, though, rings truer than others and I try to keep it in mind whenever a distraction attempts to call me away from the work.
Writing a novel is all about momentum.
You stick a word down, then another. Soon you have a sentence, and a paragraph follows until a page is filled. You do this over and over, and eventually you'll have all the pages your little spark of an idea needs to be a story.
That’s fairly simple, isn’t it?
Indeed. Yet there are always obstacles in our way. You’ve heard of one, no doubt. The dreaded Writer’s Block. I’ve never suffered from it, but it sounds horrible—a sort of frozen paralyzed state where words just don’t exist in the mind. Momentum can help prevent this little hiccup, because words are like water and a book, after all, is merely the result of a broken dam. The faster the flow, the harder it is to stop.
What I have experienced recently with the novel I just tuned in to my agent is the Writer’s Wall. If Writer’s Block is this leaded state of being that weighs you down, immobilizing you, Writer’s Wall is something you crash into.
In a way, it’s the opposite of Writer’s Block. You have too much going on in your writing life, too much spilling out of your head onto the page. And then, like something out of NASCAR, you hit the wall. (Hey, I’m from Alabama. I can only go so long in a day without a racing metaphor.) Your words are broken, not working, and your story seems futile. Worse, you're no longer certain you should be writing it.
The symptoms are these: From an abnormally confident valuation of your own work, often joined by a heightened productivity, you will experience a sudden onset of fear of publication characterized by a consuming doubt in your own taste and talent. Every word choice will be in question, every sentence’s worth made suspect. You will begin to negatively compare yourself to notable successful writers. While ideas and stories may flourish, you will encounter a paralyzing lack of esteem that prevents these ideas and stories from being realized.
A lot can steer you into a Writer’s Wall. Rejection. Negative feedback. Too much momentum. The list could go on and on. But the trick to pulling out of the crash is to take some time away from your work. Let it marinate in your head a little. Slow down. Live some of your life away from your computer.
Of course, if you’re like me, you might read this and then quickly store it in some recessed part of your mind, ready to be forgotten.
Write hard, y’all.
Stephen L. Duncan writes young adult fiction, including his debut, the first book in The Revelation Saga, due in 2014 from Medallion Press. You can find him blogging on INKROCK.com and on Twitter.
In my fairly limited existence as an author, there have been many truisms that I’ve run across while trying to get the words onto the page. More often than not, these little bits of advice on the dos and the don’ts of being a writer get stuck somewhere in the back of my mind, only to be quickly forgotten. I'm just stupid like that. One, though, rings truer than others and I try to keep it in mind whenever a distraction attempts to call me away from the work.
Writing a novel is all about momentum.
You stick a word down, then another. Soon you have a sentence, and a paragraph follows until a page is filled. You do this over and over, and eventually you'll have all the pages your little spark of an idea needs to be a story.
That’s fairly simple, isn’t it?
Indeed. Yet there are always obstacles in our way. You’ve heard of one, no doubt. The dreaded Writer’s Block. I’ve never suffered from it, but it sounds horrible—a sort of frozen paralyzed state where words just don’t exist in the mind. Momentum can help prevent this little hiccup, because words are like water and a book, after all, is merely the result of a broken dam. The faster the flow, the harder it is to stop.
What I have experienced recently with the novel I just tuned in to my agent is the Writer’s Wall. If Writer’s Block is this leaded state of being that weighs you down, immobilizing you, Writer’s Wall is something you crash into.
In a way, it’s the opposite of Writer’s Block. You have too much going on in your writing life, too much spilling out of your head onto the page. And then, like something out of NASCAR, you hit the wall. (Hey, I’m from Alabama. I can only go so long in a day without a racing metaphor.) Your words are broken, not working, and your story seems futile. Worse, you're no longer certain you should be writing it.
The symptoms are these: From an abnormally confident valuation of your own work, often joined by a heightened productivity, you will experience a sudden onset of fear of publication characterized by a consuming doubt in your own taste and talent. Every word choice will be in question, every sentence’s worth made suspect. You will begin to negatively compare yourself to notable successful writers. While ideas and stories may flourish, you will encounter a paralyzing lack of esteem that prevents these ideas and stories from being realized.
A lot can steer you into a Writer’s Wall. Rejection. Negative feedback. Too much momentum. The list could go on and on. But the trick to pulling out of the crash is to take some time away from your work. Let it marinate in your head a little. Slow down. Live some of your life away from your computer.
Of course, if you’re like me, you might read this and then quickly store it in some recessed part of your mind, ready to be forgotten.
Write hard, y’all.
Stephen L. Duncan writes young adult fiction, including his debut, the first book in The Revelation Saga, due in 2014 from Medallion Press. You can find him blogging on INKROCK.com and on Twitter.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Bloggers, Authors, Reviewers & Other Things that Thumper Didn't Anticipate
by Mindy McGinnis
Oh my.
I won't link to anything because by the time I do that there'll be a newer, bloodier author/reviewer battle to take the place of the one I linked to. Let's just say that there continues to be an epic clash of name-calling—peppered with the occasional well-informed and succinctly delivered opinion—in regards to the interaction between authors and reviewers who give them bad reviews.
But here's the thing, guys—it's not even about books anymore. It's not about authors, it's not about reviewers. It's not even close to being related to the publishing industry in some cases. It's about people who don't like each other saying mean things to one another in a public forum where their family, friends, and perfect strangers can chime in. And then when someone new gets insulted they get their feelings hurt and tell their friends, who valiantly swoop in to insult the person who insulted their friend, and pretty soon we've got a book-based Bloods and Crips situation going on that is debasing to everyone involved.
Good Lord. It kills me. It really kills me, because all of this is under the guise of literary endeavor, which automatically includes you, me, and anyone who puts pen to paper or fingertips to keys.
And there's nothing to be done about it. Engaging is the equivalent of borrowing the Olympic torch and dousing yourself in rocket fuel. There are plenty of even heads and well-placed comments that have attempted to stem the tide on any random debacle, but the voice of reason tends to go unheeded.
And why is that?
Because it's fun to have a tantrum. No really, it totally is. I'm a big proponent of adult tantrums when executed in private where you can't have a negative impact on others. Get mad. Throw things. Say mean shit to blank walls. Hell, lie down and scream and pound your fists on the ground if that's what helps you get your nasty out. But don't do it on the internet, because remember—the internet is forever.
Mindy McGinnis is a YA author and librarian. Her debut dystopian, Not a Drop to Drink, will be available from Katherine Tegen / Harper Collins Fall 2013. She blogs at Writer, Writer Pants on Fire. You can also find her on Twitter and Facebook.
Oh my.
I won't link to anything because by the time I do that there'll be a newer, bloodier author/reviewer battle to take the place of the one I linked to. Let's just say that there continues to be an epic clash of name-calling—peppered with the occasional well-informed and succinctly delivered opinion—in regards to the interaction between authors and reviewers who give them bad reviews.
But here's the thing, guys—it's not even about books anymore. It's not about authors, it's not about reviewers. It's not even close to being related to the publishing industry in some cases. It's about people who don't like each other saying mean things to one another in a public forum where their family, friends, and perfect strangers can chime in. And then when someone new gets insulted they get their feelings hurt and tell their friends, who valiantly swoop in to insult the person who insulted their friend, and pretty soon we've got a book-based Bloods and Crips situation going on that is debasing to everyone involved.
Good Lord. It kills me. It really kills me, because all of this is under the guise of literary endeavor, which automatically includes you, me, and anyone who puts pen to paper or fingertips to keys.
And there's nothing to be done about it. Engaging is the equivalent of borrowing the Olympic torch and dousing yourself in rocket fuel. There are plenty of even heads and well-placed comments that have attempted to stem the tide on any random debacle, but the voice of reason tends to go unheeded.
And why is that?
Because it's fun to have a tantrum. No really, it totally is. I'm a big proponent of adult tantrums when executed in private where you can't have a negative impact on others. Get mad. Throw things. Say mean shit to blank walls. Hell, lie down and scream and pound your fists on the ground if that's what helps you get your nasty out. But don't do it on the internet, because remember—the internet is forever.
Mindy McGinnis is a YA author and librarian. Her debut dystopian, Not a Drop to Drink, will be available from Katherine Tegen / Harper Collins Fall 2013. She blogs at Writer, Writer Pants on Fire. You can also find her on Twitter and Facebook.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Does It Really Take a Village to Write a Novel?
by Cat Woods
Think about that person in your life:
Yeah, that one. The neighbor, sister, co-worker or friend who proudly proclaims that all great accomplishments in life take the work of a village.
Sometimes I think "village" is code word for "I'm lazy" and the people who say it are nothing more than the village idiots.
Yet, my writer-ego believes the opposite. It tells me that writers succeed because of the village, not in spite of it.
Which writing villages are you part of? What is the biggest asset of your favorite writing village? The biggest drawback? How has your writing village played a role in your success as a writer, no matter how small or how great your feat? What tips do you have for writers as they embark on a journey to find a solid writing community?
Curious minds want to know.
Cat Woods used to be a village of one. After her closet door opened, she jumped key board first into a wide range of diverse and intriguing writing communites. You can follow her journey on Words from the Woods.
Think about that person in your life:
- The one who encourages his dawg to use your lawn as a canine commode.
- The one who leans on you to buy the Mother's Day presents and Christmas presents and wedding gifts and Easter baskets and ...
- The one whose contribution to group projects is her name at the top of the page.
- The one who "reluctantly" allows his children to spend the night at your house, night after night after freakin' night and never returns the favor.
Yeah, that one. The neighbor, sister, co-worker or friend who proudly proclaims that all great accomplishments in life take the work of a village.
Sometimes I think "village" is code word for "I'm lazy" and the people who say it are nothing more than the village idiots.
Yet, my writer-ego believes the opposite. It tells me that writers succeed because of the village, not in spite of it.
Five Awesome Reasons to Be Part of a Writing Village
- It's dark and lonely in the writing closet—at least mine was. Any agents or editors living there before didn't leave a calling card ...
- It's impossible to critique your own writing. No joke. I don't care how good you are, everyone needs an extra set of eyes on their work.
- Networking, baby. It's hard to network effectively at a table for one.
- You have to find the answers somewhere from somebody, so why not from other, experienced scribes?
- Friendship. Pure and simple.
Five Awesome Gifts to Give your Fellow Villagers
- Time.
- Effort.
- Honesty.
- Expertise.
- Friendship.
Five Awesome Writing Villages
- AgentQuery Connect: Hands down, the best on the net. AQC boasts a robust writing community. It's free. It's fun. It's filled with advice on any topic. Did I mention it's the best on the net?
- Society of Children's Writers and Illustrators: The SCBWI is all things juvenile when it comes to literature. When you join ($70/yr), you receive the inside scoop on the publishing business where kids are concerned. They host conferences, workshops, face-to-face critique groups and an online forum. I've been a member for eternity. But don't fret if you don't write for kids. Each genre has a professional organization dedicated to helping writers connect with the business and other like-minded scribes. Examples include: RWA and HNS.
- Verla Kay's Blue Boards: Another juvie lit community that strives to provide a safe haven for writers penning scripts from board books to YA novels. The Blue Boards are free, but membership must be requested and accepted before you're given the magic key to the kingdom.
- NaNoWriMo: I know, it sounds weird, but I met some of my dearest and oldest writing friends during the month-long novel-writing frenzy. We then created a tiny village in the vast ocean of cyberspace on LiveJournal. This group of wonderful ladies got me out of the writing closet and into the writing world. National Novel Writing Month happens every November. It's completely free and totally off the wall. Nothing motivates me to write like my fellow NaNoers.
- Private writing groups: These micro-villages can go a long way in keeping us motivated while supporting our entire journey from start to finish. Often, you can find/create these groups after connecting with other writers on bigger writing sites. AQC, for instance, has a Want Ads section where writers can advertise.
Five Pitfalls to Avoid in your Writing Village
- Never get more than you give. It torques people off and makes them want to burn down your house.
- Never let your ego get in your way. Remember those village idiots I talked about earlier? Yeah, don't be one of them. As writers, we all have one end goal: getting our work published and into readers' hands. None of us are better or worse than our neighbor, no matter how much experience we have on our sides.
- Don't build a wall. China's is crumbling, Berlin's is gone. Writing communities are places to explore and unite, not isolate and divide.
- Don't be a jack of all trades. Writing communities are notorious for having so many fun alleys and shops that you want to get involved in the goings-on of them all. This is a huge time suck and doesn't really connect you the way you need to be. Instead, find a few niche areas that you can effectively and efficiently partake in and spend the rest of your time writing.
- Whatever you do, don't poop on your neighbor's lawn.
Which writing villages are you part of? What is the biggest asset of your favorite writing village? The biggest drawback? How has your writing village played a role in your success as a writer, no matter how small or how great your feat? What tips do you have for writers as they embark on a journey to find a solid writing community?
Curious minds want to know.
Cat Woods used to be a village of one. After her closet door opened, she jumped key board first into a wide range of diverse and intriguing writing communites. You can follow her journey on Words from the Woods.
Friday, July 20, 2012
5 Tips to Increase Writing Productivity
by Jean Oram
We could all use a little boost or kick in the pants when it comes to making the most of our writing time—especially in the summer when ice cream and sunshine threatens to pull us away from the glow of our monitors.
If you're wondering how to get more writing time in your life, try these five tips.
Feel inspired? Write it down right now. Right now. Just get it down. Don't edit. Don't jump back up a few paragraphs and tweak—leave yourself a quick note in the document if you need to, but don't move backwards—keep moving forward.
For example, sometimes I'll sit down and write three blog post drafts in forty minutes. Sure, it needs editing, but the idea is there and the main points are there. Later, when I need a post, I can add some polish, go find reference resources if needed and voila. Done. Way faster than trying to write a post when I am not inspired or trying to do it all in one swoop. I can edit in any mood. I can't write in any mood.
Same goes for your manuscript. Just write. Worry about edits later. Just get it down so you will have something to work with later.
If you can, write every day. This can do amazing things for your productivity because you are used to writing. Your typing speed increases, your finger muscles learn your keys (all keyboards are different!), your mind remembers where you were in the story and can pick up where you left off. Plus, you are in the habit of grabbing the right words from thin air.
Think of it as training. If you were going to be an elite runner you would run as often as possible, right? Same with writing. You need to build those muscles and keep them toned and warmed up.
I don't care if you can only squeeze in 15 minutes. That's 15 minutes more than 0 isn't it? And at the end of a week that is almost 2 hours of writing time that you've snuck in! You can get somewhere in 2 hours. Plus, because you are writing often, you won't take as long to jump into your story making those 15 minutes GOOD minutes. Maybe even better than if you sat down for a two hour chunk. You are fresh and ready to go. It's not a burden, it's a challenge to see how far you can get in that time and you are more likely to look forward to the next 15 minute chunk.
Are your notes and ideas all over the place? Get a notebook, binder, or document or folder and keep all your thoughts in one place. Then, when you are ready to go, you can find what you need with speed and ease and get down to it.
Personally, my "office" is wherever I can sit with my laptop. I use binders, notepads, and notebooks for my notes. I also use a writing program called Scrivener which is a place where I can keep all my electronic notes in one place—right in with my manuscript. When my notes are on slips of paper scattered all over I never want to work on the "hard stuff" because I don't want to have to dig around, organize it, and make sense of it all again. That's not efficient.
I use Scrivener, simply the best $40 I ever spent. It keeps me organized and I can jump around in my manuscript and leave notes for myself all over the place. This saves me an incredible amount of time. I can easily jump to wherever I need to be. I didn't realize how inefficient I was using Word until I made the Scrivener jump. I will never, ever go back. A writing acquaintance who has ADHD said Scrivener made writing possible for her because she doesn't get distracted. She can just write.
(Note: You can output your files in Word format using Scrivener—and even ebook formats. If you consider trying this program, I highly recommend doing the tutorial as the time you put into that will quickly pay off and help you get the most out of the program.)
As well, other writing programs such as the mind mapping tool, XMind, can help you map out complex ideas as well as brainstorm. In the end, with writing programs, it is figuring out how your mind works and then finding a program to help make you more efficient.
The average American watches enough television a week it could classify as a part time job. Think about it. How much TV do you watch during a week? Be honest with yourself. Now how much time do you spend writing? Actually writing. Not tweeting or updating your Facebook status. Pen to paper. Fingers to keyboard?
If you have to, cancel cable or put the TV in the basement. If you need a wake up slap, put it this way: Are you a TV consumer or a writer? If you watch an hour of TV a day and complain that you don't have enough writing time I will reach out and smack you. Got it? It's a choice YOU make.
Now that you have looked at increasing your writing productivity from the write angle, how about you? What keeps you efficient and on track? Do you use a writing program? How much TV do you watch? Share your tips in the comment section.
Jean Oram is an efficient mama making every moment count in her day of writing and parenting--especially in the summer. Instead of watching TV she blogs at www.jeanoram.com/blog (where she is talking about Scrivener today), shares play ideas on Facebook and tweets writing (@jeanoram) and play ideas for kids (@kidsplay) as well blogs kids play ideas for bored families who are trying to break the TV habit and play more at www.itsallkidsplay.ca. Oh, and she is sorta on Google+. and pins fun kids stuff on Pinterest as well. She's obviously traded TV for the Internet. ;)
We could all use a little boost or kick in the pants when it comes to making the most of our writing time—especially in the summer when ice cream and sunshine threatens to pull us away from the glow of our monitors.
If you're wondering how to get more writing time in your life, try these five tips.
5 Tips to Boost Your Writing Productivity
1. Fast Drafts
Feel inspired? Write it down right now. Right now. Just get it down. Don't edit. Don't jump back up a few paragraphs and tweak—leave yourself a quick note in the document if you need to, but don't move backwards—keep moving forward.
For example, sometimes I'll sit down and write three blog post drafts in forty minutes. Sure, it needs editing, but the idea is there and the main points are there. Later, when I need a post, I can add some polish, go find reference resources if needed and voila. Done. Way faster than trying to write a post when I am not inspired or trying to do it all in one swoop. I can edit in any mood. I can't write in any mood.
Same goes for your manuscript. Just write. Worry about edits later. Just get it down so you will have something to work with later.
2. Write Often
If you can, write every day. This can do amazing things for your productivity because you are used to writing. Your typing speed increases, your finger muscles learn your keys (all keyboards are different!), your mind remembers where you were in the story and can pick up where you left off. Plus, you are in the habit of grabbing the right words from thin air.
Think of it as training. If you were going to be an elite runner you would run as often as possible, right? Same with writing. You need to build those muscles and keep them toned and warmed up.
I don't care if you can only squeeze in 15 minutes. That's 15 minutes more than 0 isn't it? And at the end of a week that is almost 2 hours of writing time that you've snuck in! You can get somewhere in 2 hours. Plus, because you are writing often, you won't take as long to jump into your story making those 15 minutes GOOD minutes. Maybe even better than if you sat down for a two hour chunk. You are fresh and ready to go. It's not a burden, it's a challenge to see how far you can get in that time and you are more likely to look forward to the next 15 minute chunk.
3. Get Organized
Are your notes and ideas all over the place? Get a notebook, binder, or document or folder and keep all your thoughts in one place. Then, when you are ready to go, you can find what you need with speed and ease and get down to it.
Personally, my "office" is wherever I can sit with my laptop. I use binders, notepads, and notebooks for my notes. I also use a writing program called Scrivener which is a place where I can keep all my electronic notes in one place—right in with my manuscript. When my notes are on slips of paper scattered all over I never want to work on the "hard stuff" because I don't want to have to dig around, organize it, and make sense of it all again. That's not efficient.
4. Consider a Writing Program
I use Scrivener, simply the best $40 I ever spent. It keeps me organized and I can jump around in my manuscript and leave notes for myself all over the place. This saves me an incredible amount of time. I can easily jump to wherever I need to be. I didn't realize how inefficient I was using Word until I made the Scrivener jump. I will never, ever go back. A writing acquaintance who has ADHD said Scrivener made writing possible for her because she doesn't get distracted. She can just write.
(Note: You can output your files in Word format using Scrivener—and even ebook formats. If you consider trying this program, I highly recommend doing the tutorial as the time you put into that will quickly pay off and help you get the most out of the program.)
As well, other writing programs such as the mind mapping tool, XMind, can help you map out complex ideas as well as brainstorm. In the end, with writing programs, it is figuring out how your mind works and then finding a program to help make you more efficient.
5. Skip TV
The average American watches enough television a week it could classify as a part time job. Think about it. How much TV do you watch during a week? Be honest with yourself. Now how much time do you spend writing? Actually writing. Not tweeting or updating your Facebook status. Pen to paper. Fingers to keyboard?
If you have to, cancel cable or put the TV in the basement. If you need a wake up slap, put it this way: Are you a TV consumer or a writer? If you watch an hour of TV a day and complain that you don't have enough writing time I will reach out and smack you. Got it? It's a choice YOU make.
Now that you have looked at increasing your writing productivity from the write angle, how about you? What keeps you efficient and on track? Do you use a writing program? How much TV do you watch? Share your tips in the comment section.
Jean Oram is an efficient mama making every moment count in her day of writing and parenting--especially in the summer. Instead of watching TV she blogs at www.jeanoram.com/blog (where she is talking about Scrivener today), shares play ideas on Facebook and tweets writing (@jeanoram) and play ideas for kids (@kidsplay) as well blogs kids play ideas for bored families who are trying to break the TV habit and play more at www.itsallkidsplay.ca. Oh, and she is sorta on Google+. and pins fun kids stuff on Pinterest as well. She's obviously traded TV for the Internet. ;)
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
The Line Between Being Yourself and Being Professional
by R.C. Lewis
There's no doubt social media has changed the world in a number of ways. A particular difference that's struck me lately is the blur between the personal and the professional.
If you're on Twitter, you probably follow some industry professionals. Sprinkled amongst the #pubtip and #askagent info, you'll see tweets about this agent's cat, that agent's kids, and everybody's shoes. In some ways, it's nice to see that personal side. It makes the pros more real, and when querying agents, those little things can give us some clues about whether they're someone we'd want to work with.
Then again, I know I've unfollowed a few who went too heavy on the non-business side, particularly when those personal posts consist largely of rants and general negativity.
We can learn from this as writers. Should we keep our tweets (and other social media content) to all business, all the time? No way. There are approximately a gazillion-and-one of us out there. If we only talk writing, we'll likely blend into the background noise.
Personality is a good thing. It helps us stand out, create an impression, be memorable. Industry pros and readers alike can get to know us as people.
Where's the line between enough personality and too much? There may not be a hard-and-fast rule, but maybe we can come up with some general guidelines.
Sharing something quirky that happened to you today—Good Idea.
Sharing anything that prompts a "TMI" reaction—Bad Idea. (Mindy McGinnis manages to bend this one occasionally, but she's a professional. Don't try this at home.)
Discussing personal opinions—Good Idea ... within reason.
Discussing why every published book in your genre is terrible—BAD IDEA!
You can see I didn't get very far before I stumbled into the fuzzy gray area.
Maybe there is one rule we could follow, or at least a question we can ask ourselves. If an industry professional looked at our Twitter stream, what impression would they walk away with? Is it an impression that (1) reflects who we are, and (2) could lead them to want to work with us?
What falls on your own Do/Don't-Do list for social media? How do you show some personality and stand out without becoming unprofessional?
R.C. Lewis teaches math by day and writes YA fiction by every other time. You can find her (hopefully behaving herself) at Crossing the Helix and on Twitter (@RC_Lewis).
There's no doubt social media has changed the world in a number of ways. A particular difference that's struck me lately is the blur between the personal and the professional.
If you're on Twitter, you probably follow some industry professionals. Sprinkled amongst the #pubtip and #askagent info, you'll see tweets about this agent's cat, that agent's kids, and everybody's shoes. In some ways, it's nice to see that personal side. It makes the pros more real, and when querying agents, those little things can give us some clues about whether they're someone we'd want to work with.
Then again, I know I've unfollowed a few who went too heavy on the non-business side, particularly when those personal posts consist largely of rants and general negativity.
We can learn from this as writers. Should we keep our tweets (and other social media content) to all business, all the time? No way. There are approximately a gazillion-and-one of us out there. If we only talk writing, we'll likely blend into the background noise.
Personality is a good thing. It helps us stand out, create an impression, be memorable. Industry pros and readers alike can get to know us as people.
Where's the line between enough personality and too much? There may not be a hard-and-fast rule, but maybe we can come up with some general guidelines.
Sharing something quirky that happened to you today—Good Idea.
Sharing anything that prompts a "TMI" reaction—Bad Idea. (Mindy McGinnis manages to bend this one occasionally, but she's a professional. Don't try this at home.)
Discussing personal opinions—Good Idea ... within reason.
Discussing why every published book in your genre is terrible—BAD IDEA!
You can see I didn't get very far before I stumbled into the fuzzy gray area.
Maybe there is one rule we could follow, or at least a question we can ask ourselves. If an industry professional looked at our Twitter stream, what impression would they walk away with? Is it an impression that (1) reflects who we are, and (2) could lead them to want to work with us?
What falls on your own Do/Don't-Do list for social media? How do you show some personality and stand out without becoming unprofessional?
R.C. Lewis teaches math by day and writes YA fiction by every other time. You can find her (hopefully behaving herself) at Crossing the Helix and on Twitter (@RC_Lewis).
Monday, July 16, 2012
Bring on the Bio
by Jemi Fraser
We worry about what to include, what to omit and how to make ourselves sound interesting. I don't think we have to worry that much.
First of all, agents are humans and when they're reading query letters, they're actually hoping to like us and our stories. They also know that most of the people who are querying them don't have publishing credentials. That's okay. Agents take on first time authors all the time. So, relax.
If you don't have any publishing credentials, it's okay to ignore that. You don't have to point it out. If the agent doesn't see credentials listed, he/she will assume you're a newbie. Again, that's okay.
If it makes you more comfortable, you can actually skip a bio completely. Agents are looking at the story. Not having a bio paragraph isn't going to turn them off. 'Thanks for your time and consideration' might be all you need.
On the other hand, we're writers. We work in words. So, why not have a sentence or two that highlights your personality - that gives the agent a glimpse of you on top of the glimpse you've given them of your book? A well worded bio might be the extra push needed to get that request.
I'm by no means an expert in this department, but I think a bio should be:
Jemi Fraser is an aspiring author of romantic mysteries. She blogs and tweets while searching for those HEAs.
 |
| (source) |
A lot of aspiring authors struggle with writing the bio paragraph at the end of their query letters. Maybe 'struggle with' is too mild. Hate might be a better choice!
We worry about what to include, what to omit and how to make ourselves sound interesting. I don't think we have to worry that much.
First of all, agents are humans and when they're reading query letters, they're actually hoping to like us and our stories. They also know that most of the people who are querying them don't have publishing credentials. That's okay. Agents take on first time authors all the time. So, relax.
If you don't have any publishing credentials, it's okay to ignore that. You don't have to point it out. If the agent doesn't see credentials listed, he/she will assume you're a newbie. Again, that's okay.
If it makes you more comfortable, you can actually skip a bio completely. Agents are looking at the story. Not having a bio paragraph isn't going to turn them off. 'Thanks for your time and consideration' might be all you need.
On the other hand, we're writers. We work in words. So, why not have a sentence or two that highlights your personality - that gives the agent a glimpse of you on top of the glimpse you've given them of your book? A well worded bio might be the extra push needed to get that request.
I'm by no means an expert in this department, but I think a bio should be:
- short—no more than a sentence or two
- fun—keep it light, make the agent smile
- in your voice—sarcastic, snarky, sweet, quick witted, silly ... Go for it. Show who you are. If you're depressing and gloomy, you might want to pretend otherwise... :)
- interesting—not a list of things you've done—more a glimpse of who you are
Jemi Fraser is an aspiring author of romantic mysteries. She blogs and tweets while searching for those HEAs.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Breaking The Rules
by Calista Taylor
I'll admit, I have a running list of rules in my head constantly muttering and nagging at me when I write. Show, don't tell. Don't use "that". No head hopping pov's. Avoid dialog tags. The list goes on and on. However, this wasn't always the case.
When I first started writing, the only thing in my head were my characters' voices. I stuck to the rules of grammar, but other than that, I wrote with complete abandon, totally unaware of all the writing rules I was breaking and would mark my work as that of a young writer.
Needless to say, looking back at those first attempts at writing is pretty scary. I was cutting my teeth on those first attempts. And yet ... looking at my first completed manuscript (there were plenty of false starts), there's something about the voice and how the story's told that works. And it works in part because the rules didn't come into play.
Was the writing better back then? No. But I can say that it's made me realize something important. I know the rules. And now that I do, I can perfect breaking them.
Do you always follow the rules? Have you always ignored them? Or did you start only once you mastered them?
Calista Taylor is the author of two romance series, and also works as a cover artist.
I'll admit, I have a running list of rules in my head constantly muttering and nagging at me when I write. Show, don't tell. Don't use "that". No head hopping pov's. Avoid dialog tags. The list goes on and on. However, this wasn't always the case.
When I first started writing, the only thing in my head were my characters' voices. I stuck to the rules of grammar, but other than that, I wrote with complete abandon, totally unaware of all the writing rules I was breaking and would mark my work as that of a young writer.
Needless to say, looking back at those first attempts at writing is pretty scary. I was cutting my teeth on those first attempts. And yet ... looking at my first completed manuscript (there were plenty of false starts), there's something about the voice and how the story's told that works. And it works in part because the rules didn't come into play.
Was the writing better back then? No. But I can say that it's made me realize something important. I know the rules. And now that I do, I can perfect breaking them.
Do you always follow the rules? Have you always ignored them? Or did you start only once you mastered them?
Calista Taylor is the author of two romance series, and also works as a cover artist.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Juggling Multiple Manuscripts
by Lucy Marsden
I can't walk and chew gum at the same time, so I can't imagine what I was thinking when I took on that second story.
Actually, I tell a lie.
My critique partner dared me to do it, and I was feeling frustrated with my Work In Progress at the moment, and the temptation to escape my soul-searing lack of imagination* was overwhelming—that's what I was thinking.
You know how it is when you've got a story idea in your hand, bright and shiny as a new penny. It's all fun and possibility. It's researching, and running amok on Pinterest for pictures of the setting and characters, and putting together soundtracks for your hero and heroine, and not worrying at all about how you're to tell the damn thing. It's my favorite time during a story, before I feel as though the lovely, shimmering thread of it has been snagged, and knotted, and suspiciously stained, and generally pulled all out of shape by clumsy handling.**
So when, as I say, my critique partner issued her challenge, I leapt into all of the above with a gladsome heart, only to find...
My first story wouldn't let me go. Little by little, despite my bouts of frustration and heart-felt profanity, I had turned a corner with it. My characters were becoming real to me; they were pushing for what they needed, pushing back against each other, and the story was truly going somewhere.
At last.
And I decided that I didn't want to walk away from that to chase the shiny, not when I could feel my first story beginning to tell me what it wanted to be. So I let the second story go—not forever; it sends me postcards now and again, and points me to pertinent articles in travel magazines—it'll be waiting for me when the time is right. But for now, I'm choosing not to split my focus.
What about you? Have you been energized and inspired by the challenge of juggling multiple manuscripts at the same time, or discombobulated by the necessity of jumping back and forth?
Lucy Marsden is a romance writer living in New England. When she’s not backstage at a magic show or crashing a physics picnic, she can be found knee-deep in the occult collection of some old library, or arguing hotly about Story.
* Cue the violins.
** Ibid.
I can't walk and chew gum at the same time, so I can't imagine what I was thinking when I took on that second story.
Actually, I tell a lie.
My critique partner dared me to do it, and I was feeling frustrated with my Work In Progress at the moment, and the temptation to escape my soul-searing lack of imagination* was overwhelming—that's what I was thinking.
You know how it is when you've got a story idea in your hand, bright and shiny as a new penny. It's all fun and possibility. It's researching, and running amok on Pinterest for pictures of the setting and characters, and putting together soundtracks for your hero and heroine, and not worrying at all about how you're to tell the damn thing. It's my favorite time during a story, before I feel as though the lovely, shimmering thread of it has been snagged, and knotted, and suspiciously stained, and generally pulled all out of shape by clumsy handling.**
So when, as I say, my critique partner issued her challenge, I leapt into all of the above with a gladsome heart, only to find...
My first story wouldn't let me go. Little by little, despite my bouts of frustration and heart-felt profanity, I had turned a corner with it. My characters were becoming real to me; they were pushing for what they needed, pushing back against each other, and the story was truly going somewhere.
At last.
And I decided that I didn't want to walk away from that to chase the shiny, not when I could feel my first story beginning to tell me what it wanted to be. So I let the second story go—not forever; it sends me postcards now and again, and points me to pertinent articles in travel magazines—it'll be waiting for me when the time is right. But for now, I'm choosing not to split my focus.
What about you? Have you been energized and inspired by the challenge of juggling multiple manuscripts at the same time, or discombobulated by the necessity of jumping back and forth?
Lucy Marsden is a romance writer living in New England. When she’s not backstage at a magic show or crashing a physics picnic, she can be found knee-deep in the occult collection of some old library, or arguing hotly about Story.
* Cue the violins.
** Ibid.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Grammar Check: Have I Piqued Your Interest?
by J. Lea Lopez
Homophones are a grammar pet peeve of mine. There/their/they're. Your/you're. Its/It's. But the one that really gets me is peak, peek, and pique. One of the reasons this particular set of homonyms irritates me is that for every person who goes "Ohhhhh, gotcha, thanks!" when the error is pointed out, there is usually one person who will attempt to justify the mistake by trying to equate the definition of the word they've misused with the intent behind the sentence. But they're still wrong. Let me tell you how and why.
I am far from a grammarian, and although I know plenty about proper word usage (most of the time—Robb Grindstaff has to remind me about farther/further every time!) my eyes have been known to glaze over at some of the more complicated discussions of syntax and such. I don't want YOUR eyes to glaze over here, but in order to finally put the peak/peek/pique thing to rest, we'll have to dig into transitive and intransitive verbs a little bit, in addition to the actual meanings of the words.
Transitive verbs
A transitive verb is one that takes a direct object. She left the door open. Here, left is a transitive verb, because it takes the object the door. The action is being performed directly on the door. The sentence would be incomplete if there weren't an object to go with that verb.
Intransitive verbs
Intransitive verbs do not take a direct object, and are complete without one. Intransitive verbs are (often, I'm not sure if they are always) a state of being. The action is not being performed directly to or on someone/something. She left at intermission. Here, left is an intransitive verb. There is no direct object.
If you aren't sure whether a verb is transitive or intransitive, try to reword the sentence in passive voice, using "by". If you can, it's transitive. If not, it's intransitive. The door was left open by her makes sense. You can't rewrite the second sentence in the same way because it's an intransitive verb.
So what does this have to do with peak/peek/pique?
First of all, let's just throw out peek from this equation because we all know the verb to peek means to glance quickly. It is occasionally used instead of peak, but nobody has ever tried to use the different meanings of peek and peak to justify their misuse. It's mostly a spelling error. Though I hold you, dear readers, to a higher standard, so I really hope you're using that one correctly. ;-)
The big two offenders are peak and pique, which people seem to confuse not only in spelling, but meaning.
From Dictionary.com:
pique
verb (used with object)
1. to affect with sharp irritation and resentment, especially by some wound to pride: She was greatly piqued when they refused her invitation.
2. to wound (the pride, vanity, etc.).
3. to excite (interest, curiosity, etc.): Her curiosity was piqued by the gossip.
4. to arouse an emotion or provoke to action: to pique someone to answer a challenge.
5.Archaic. to pride (oneself) (usually followed by on or upon).
verb (used without object)
6. to arouse pique in someone: an action that piqued when it was meant to soothe.
peak
verb (used without object)
14. to project in a peak.
15. to attain a peak of activity, development, popularity, etc.: The artist peaked in the 1950s.
verb (used with object)
16. Nautical. to raise the after end of (a yard, gaff, etc.) to or toward an angle above the horizontal.
From these definitions, you can see that the proper statement would be That short skirt and low-cut top piqued his interest and NOT That short skirt and low-cut top peaked his interest.
The sentence clearly means that the provocative clothing aroused the man's interest. Further, you can look at the fact that if you used peak here, it would be a transitive verb, because it has the direct object of his interest. (His interest was piqued by the clothes.) But the only definition given of peak as a transitive verb (used with object) is a nautical reference. You can peak the gaff while sailing, which would mean you raised the after end above the horizontal. The other definitions are intransitive usages of peak.
While dictionary.com doesn't list peak as a transitive verb meaning "To bring to a maximum of development, value, or intensity" or "to cause to come to a peak", there are other sources that do. This is where you get people trying to justify the use of peak in sentences like the one above.
They argue that the sexy clothing could have brought the man's interest to a maximum of intensity, or could have caused his interest to come to a peak, and so that sentence could be correct.
But it's not. It sounds ridiculous, and it looks ridiculous. As a reader, I would never assume a writer intended that meaning of peak, and as a writer, I would never construct a sentence that way. If that's truly the intent of the sentence why wouldn't one simply say The short skirt and low-cut top brought his interest to a peak. There's no grey area about meaning there. Although it's still a ridiculous sentence. If some skimpy clothing brings a character's interest to the highest point, I sure hope that character is a 12-year-old boy who gets big thrills from very little.
To be honest, I don't know why some dictionaries list peak as a transitive verb in anything other than the nautical usage. (Dictionary.com doesn't; Oxford doesn't; Merriam-Webster does, but doesn't specify anything about nautical usage; You Dictionary does; American Heritage does.) Perhaps it's an old usage that has fallen out of style? I'm not sure. But it's used so far and between that I couldn't find a single usage of it as a transitive verb after lots of Googling and discussion with word nerds on Facebook and Twitter.
So there you have it. Now you know the proper definition of pique versus peak, and should you ever forget which you want to use, look at whether you're dealing with a transitive or intransitive verb. With the exception of the nautical usage we covered above, you should NOT be using peak as a transitive verb. That should take care of using peak when what you want to use is pique.
And of course, please don't use peek when you mean to use either of the other two. Just don't.
If I ever see any of you write "It peaked my interest", I will call you on it. I might have a temper tantrum about it first, but then I'll call you on it.
What are your grammar pet peeves? And which mistakes do you find yourself making?
J. Lea Lopez is a writer with a penchant for jello and a loathing for writing bios. Find her on Twitter or her blog, Jello World. She has had some short stories published, most recently in the Spring Fevers anthology.
Homophones are a grammar pet peeve of mine. There/their/they're. Your/you're. Its/It's. But the one that really gets me is peak, peek, and pique. One of the reasons this particular set of homonyms irritates me is that for every person who goes "Ohhhhh, gotcha, thanks!" when the error is pointed out, there is usually one person who will attempt to justify the mistake by trying to equate the definition of the word they've misused with the intent behind the sentence. But they're still wrong. Let me tell you how and why.
I am far from a grammarian, and although I know plenty about proper word usage (most of the time—Robb Grindstaff has to remind me about farther/further every time!) my eyes have been known to glaze over at some of the more complicated discussions of syntax and such. I don't want YOUR eyes to glaze over here, but in order to finally put the peak/peek/pique thing to rest, we'll have to dig into transitive and intransitive verbs a little bit, in addition to the actual meanings of the words.
Transitive verbs
A transitive verb is one that takes a direct object. She left the door open. Here, left is a transitive verb, because it takes the object the door. The action is being performed directly on the door. The sentence would be incomplete if there weren't an object to go with that verb.
Intransitive verbs
Intransitive verbs do not take a direct object, and are complete without one. Intransitive verbs are (often, I'm not sure if they are always) a state of being. The action is not being performed directly to or on someone/something. She left at intermission. Here, left is an intransitive verb. There is no direct object.
If you aren't sure whether a verb is transitive or intransitive, try to reword the sentence in passive voice, using "by". If you can, it's transitive. If not, it's intransitive. The door was left open by her makes sense. You can't rewrite the second sentence in the same way because it's an intransitive verb.
So what does this have to do with peak/peek/pique?
First of all, let's just throw out peek from this equation because we all know the verb to peek means to glance quickly. It is occasionally used instead of peak, but nobody has ever tried to use the different meanings of peek and peak to justify their misuse. It's mostly a spelling error. Though I hold you, dear readers, to a higher standard, so I really hope you're using that one correctly. ;-)
The big two offenders are peak and pique, which people seem to confuse not only in spelling, but meaning.
From Dictionary.com:
pique
verb (used with object)
1. to affect with sharp irritation and resentment, especially by some wound to pride: She was greatly piqued when they refused her invitation.
2. to wound (the pride, vanity, etc.).
3. to excite (interest, curiosity, etc.): Her curiosity was piqued by the gossip.
4. to arouse an emotion or provoke to action: to pique someone to answer a challenge.
5.Archaic. to pride (oneself) (usually followed by on or upon).
verb (used without object)
6. to arouse pique in someone: an action that piqued when it was meant to soothe.
peak
verb (used without object)
14. to project in a peak.
15. to attain a peak of activity, development, popularity, etc.: The artist peaked in the 1950s.
verb (used with object)
16. Nautical. to raise the after end of (a yard, gaff, etc.) to or toward an angle above the horizontal.
From these definitions, you can see that the proper statement would be That short skirt and low-cut top piqued his interest and NOT That short skirt and low-cut top peaked his interest.
The sentence clearly means that the provocative clothing aroused the man's interest. Further, you can look at the fact that if you used peak here, it would be a transitive verb, because it has the direct object of his interest. (His interest was piqued by the clothes.) But the only definition given of peak as a transitive verb (used with object) is a nautical reference. You can peak the gaff while sailing, which would mean you raised the after end above the horizontal. The other definitions are intransitive usages of peak.
While dictionary.com doesn't list peak as a transitive verb meaning "To bring to a maximum of development, value, or intensity" or "to cause to come to a peak", there are other sources that do. This is where you get people trying to justify the use of peak in sentences like the one above.
They argue that the sexy clothing could have brought the man's interest to a maximum of intensity, or could have caused his interest to come to a peak, and so that sentence could be correct.
But it's not. It sounds ridiculous, and it looks ridiculous. As a reader, I would never assume a writer intended that meaning of peak, and as a writer, I would never construct a sentence that way. If that's truly the intent of the sentence why wouldn't one simply say The short skirt and low-cut top brought his interest to a peak. There's no grey area about meaning there. Although it's still a ridiculous sentence. If some skimpy clothing brings a character's interest to the highest point, I sure hope that character is a 12-year-old boy who gets big thrills from very little.
To be honest, I don't know why some dictionaries list peak as a transitive verb in anything other than the nautical usage. (Dictionary.com doesn't; Oxford doesn't; Merriam-Webster does, but doesn't specify anything about nautical usage; You Dictionary does; American Heritage does.) Perhaps it's an old usage that has fallen out of style? I'm not sure. But it's used so far and between that I couldn't find a single usage of it as a transitive verb after lots of Googling and discussion with word nerds on Facebook and Twitter.
So there you have it. Now you know the proper definition of pique versus peak, and should you ever forget which you want to use, look at whether you're dealing with a transitive or intransitive verb. With the exception of the nautical usage we covered above, you should NOT be using peak as a transitive verb. That should take care of using peak when what you want to use is pique.
And of course, please don't use peek when you mean to use either of the other two. Just don't.
If I ever see any of you write "It peaked my interest", I will call you on it. I might have a temper tantrum about it first, but then I'll call you on it.
What are your grammar pet peeves? And which mistakes do you find yourself making?
J. Lea Lopez is a writer with a penchant for jello and a loathing for writing bios. Find her on Twitter or her blog, Jello World. She has had some short stories published, most recently in the Spring Fevers anthology.
Friday, July 6, 2012
Amazon is Like a Chowder Festival
by Pete Morin
Like most self-published novelists looking to crack the Amazon sales riddle, I’ve spent some time in the Kindle customer forums, and trawled the myriad of eBook sales websites that offer freebies, near freebies, advertising, interviews, etc. After nearly a year of it, I can confidently say that I have no better idea today how to sell successfully than I did the week before I uploaded Diary of a Small Fish.
And that’s okay, because the playing field is different today than it was then. Hell, it’s different than it was yesterday, and it’ll be different tomorrow.
But while I have been unable to extract any stone tablet Strategies for Novel Marketing that apply across the board to all fiction, I do occasionally come up with a nifty metaphor to keep my blogging active and current.
Amazon is a chowder festival.
For those unfamiliar with New England clam chowder (I shall not abide a diversion to that inferior stepson, the Manhattan clam chowder), it is a recipe with base ingredients of clams, potatoes, onions, and cream (or milk), and has been around in limitless varieties for hundreds of years. You can add dill, or rosemary, or coriander, or chocolate—anything—but the bottom line is, if you haven't used the magic 4 ingredients in roughly correct quantities, your chowder will fail.
In summer months, many seacoast communities have Chowder Festivals, where local restaurateurs compete for the prize of Best Chowder. I was, for a time, an avid participant in the Cape Cod Chowder Festival (now in its 32nd year!). The winner of the contest is not chosen by culinary experts of the chowder genre, however.
The winner is chosen by customers.
This is where the Amazon-chowder metaphor works, I think.
Chowder eaters come in all varieties. Some understand the fundamentals of chowder (can’t have too many potatoes or too few clams, can’t use too much pork fat or bacon, and for god’s sake, forget about the corn starch!), and some haven’t a clue what good chowder is, they just like to taste. I overheard one “judge” express his adamant preference for chowder thick enough to stand a spoon upright. This is utter heresy, as chowder aficionados know, but as the old saying goes, the customer is always right.
Still, while clueless chowder judges may indeed outnumber the culinary experts (you can tell by the plaid shorts and sunburn), never do they elevate a pasty gruel to the top of the chowder heap. Why?
Just because. No product ignorant of cooking fundamentals tastes good. Crap chowder always tastes like crap, even if you salt the hell out of it. People will taste it, go “Ewww” and move on. They don’t have to determine that the potatoes were mushy, the onions were undercooked or the clams were spoiled (I’ve seen that train wreck before). They just “know.”
A novel is like chowder. It has clams (plot), potatoes (characters), cream (voice) and onions (structure). In a good novel, each ingredient is of good quality, and in proper proportion to the whole. Too little of one (or more) results in a reader’s diminished enthusiasm. Too little of all is a revolting experience.
There is a lot of bad chowder out there on Amazon. But Budweiser isn’t the #1 selling beer in the world because beer customers have discriminating palates. A Burger King Whopper isn’t made by a graduate of the American Culinary Institute. But damn, it tastes good.
You can’t worry about that, though. You can’t make a sublime paella and expect it to sell better than a Big Mac. The numbers just don’t work in your favor.
But you can always make a good chowder, if you just get the basics down. Then you can add whatever you want to make it your own.
Amazon is the ultimate test kitchen. There is always a multitude of tasters, looking for cheap eats. Give them more for their money than they expect, and you’ll do okay.
Just don't add corn starch.
Pete Morin is the author of Diary of a Small Fish and can occasionally be found swimming in his own pond.
Like most self-published novelists looking to crack the Amazon sales riddle, I’ve spent some time in the Kindle customer forums, and trawled the myriad of eBook sales websites that offer freebies, near freebies, advertising, interviews, etc. After nearly a year of it, I can confidently say that I have no better idea today how to sell successfully than I did the week before I uploaded Diary of a Small Fish.
And that’s okay, because the playing field is different today than it was then. Hell, it’s different than it was yesterday, and it’ll be different tomorrow.
But while I have been unable to extract any stone tablet Strategies for Novel Marketing that apply across the board to all fiction, I do occasionally come up with a nifty metaphor to keep my blogging active and current.
Amazon is a chowder festival.
For those unfamiliar with New England clam chowder (I shall not abide a diversion to that inferior stepson, the Manhattan clam chowder), it is a recipe with base ingredients of clams, potatoes, onions, and cream (or milk), and has been around in limitless varieties for hundreds of years. You can add dill, or rosemary, or coriander, or chocolate—anything—but the bottom line is, if you haven't used the magic 4 ingredients in roughly correct quantities, your chowder will fail.
In summer months, many seacoast communities have Chowder Festivals, where local restaurateurs compete for the prize of Best Chowder. I was, for a time, an avid participant in the Cape Cod Chowder Festival (now in its 32nd year!). The winner of the contest is not chosen by culinary experts of the chowder genre, however.
The winner is chosen by customers.
This is where the Amazon-chowder metaphor works, I think.
Chowder eaters come in all varieties. Some understand the fundamentals of chowder (can’t have too many potatoes or too few clams, can’t use too much pork fat or bacon, and for god’s sake, forget about the corn starch!), and some haven’t a clue what good chowder is, they just like to taste. I overheard one “judge” express his adamant preference for chowder thick enough to stand a spoon upright. This is utter heresy, as chowder aficionados know, but as the old saying goes, the customer is always right.
Still, while clueless chowder judges may indeed outnumber the culinary experts (you can tell by the plaid shorts and sunburn), never do they elevate a pasty gruel to the top of the chowder heap. Why?
Just because. No product ignorant of cooking fundamentals tastes good. Crap chowder always tastes like crap, even if you salt the hell out of it. People will taste it, go “Ewww” and move on. They don’t have to determine that the potatoes were mushy, the onions were undercooked or the clams were spoiled (I’ve seen that train wreck before). They just “know.”
A novel is like chowder. It has clams (plot), potatoes (characters), cream (voice) and onions (structure). In a good novel, each ingredient is of good quality, and in proper proportion to the whole. Too little of one (or more) results in a reader’s diminished enthusiasm. Too little of all is a revolting experience.
There is a lot of bad chowder out there on Amazon. But Budweiser isn’t the #1 selling beer in the world because beer customers have discriminating palates. A Burger King Whopper isn’t made by a graduate of the American Culinary Institute. But damn, it tastes good.
You can’t worry about that, though. You can’t make a sublime paella and expect it to sell better than a Big Mac. The numbers just don’t work in your favor.
But you can always make a good chowder, if you just get the basics down. Then you can add whatever you want to make it your own.
Amazon is the ultimate test kitchen. There is always a multitude of tasters, looking for cheap eats. Give them more for their money than they expect, and you’ll do okay.
Just don't add corn starch.
Pete Morin is the author of Diary of a Small Fish and can occasionally be found swimming in his own pond.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Getting Out of the Writer's Nest
by Cat Woods
Happy Independence Day, everyone. Today I'm taking a different spin on the idea of independence.
There are four ways baby birds leave the nest.
Only one of them is a round trip ticket back inside.
Writers are similar to birds, and the adage—survival of the fittest—rules both the success of fledglings as well as the longevity of writers.
CAT'S GUIDE TO LEAVING THE NEST GRACEFULLY
But what if we're the Mama Bird? How do we know when to encourage our fellow writers to leave their nests? And is it even our job to do so? Can we do more harm than good when trying to boost others from the nest?
Curious minds want to know.
Cat Woods has built her writer's nest at Words from the Woods. So far she's managed to write by choice while evading hungry predators. In her free time, she moderates at AgentQuery Connect, raises her own fledglings and freelances for local businesses.
Happy Independence Day, everyone. Today I'm taking a different spin on the idea of independence.
There are four ways baby birds leave the nest.
Only one of them is a round trip ticket back inside.
Writers are similar to birds, and the adage—survival of the fittest—rules both the success of fledglings as well as the longevity of writers.
CAT'S GUIDE TO LEAVING THE NEST GRACEFULLY
- Don't stand too close to the edge, lest you lose your balance. I see this all the time in my windy neighborhood. Unprepared birds gawk out into the world. They haven't committed to flying, yet they don't want to stay confined in their little twig home. They hover precariously with one foot on the ledge until a puff of wind carries them over. Writers, either write or don't. Declare yourself a writer—to yourself and others—so you leave the nest by choice. Otherwise, you'll putz your way through the vast world of publishing and likely starve long before you actually realize you're on the ground. Make writing-to-publish a conscious choice, one in which you are responsible for the path you will take.
- Don't jump before you've strengthened your wings. Okay, I don't actually know if birds jump before they are ready, but I suspect a handful of daredevils each year try flying before they've done the appropriate exercises. In fact, there's a fledgling in my backyard who is extremely motivated or exceptionally stupid. Either way, he's out of the nest more than he's in it and always needs my help getting home. I won't beat a dead bird here, but I will say this: do not submit your first novel the second it is done. Do not. Learn to write. Learn to edit and learn to polish. These are all separate things and you can't succeed without learning all three. There are no shortcuts to publishing well.
- Don't get eaten. Birds of prey love to swoop down and snag unsuspecting babies from the nest. It's not a pretty sight. Nor is it pleasant to watch eager writers get stalked by scam agents, editors or publishers. Even worse, jealous fellow writers who can crush the hopes and dreams of their competition as easily as a grackle can crush a tiny robin. To protect yourself, research BEFORE taking action. We have a whole list of resources for you to pick through. Use it.
- Do prepare yourself. Nature has a way of letting birds know when it's time to fly. They've eaten enough grubs to gain weight, they've earned their feathers and they've strengthened their wings. Be the bird. Be deliberate about your passion and turn it into your job. Work hard and work smart. To do anything less will have you walking down the middle of the road peeping for help that will never come.
But what if we're the Mama Bird? How do we know when to encourage our fellow writers to leave their nests? And is it even our job to do so? Can we do more harm than good when trying to boost others from the nest?
Curious minds want to know.
Cat Woods has built her writer's nest at Words from the Woods. So far she's managed to write by choice while evading hungry predators. In her free time, she moderates at AgentQuery Connect, raises her own fledglings and freelances for local businesses.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Hangin' with Jennifer Rofé
by R.S. Mellette
How lucky am I?
For months and months I've been getting e-mails from my local Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) about schmoozes they have for authors in the area. And for month and months, I've been too busy to go. Finally, I got the e-mail right when I had nothing on my schedule and could easily make it. And what's the topic of this get together of local writers? Jennifer Rofé, of Andrea Brown Literary Agency is coming for a living room chat.
Awesome!
The hour plus discussion with Jennifer and a handful of writers was informal and off the record, so it would be improper of me to get into details, but I don't think it's out of bounds to say that she is:
I wouldn't advise asking her for an opinion if you're not ready for a raw, honest answer. And believe me, that's refreshing here in Hollywood.
Blogs were mentioned as the evening broke up and Jennifer said to pass on her mantra about queries. MAKE THEM PROFESSIONAL. Of course, if you're reading this blog, then you probably know about AgentQuery Connect and have worked hard to have a professional letter, so no worries there ... right?
Something else she said that I think all writers—or, in fact, all people—should hear again and again.
Don't live your life in fear.
Jennifer was talking about writers who are afraid to do this-or-that, when in fact both this and that fall well within the realm of reasonable professional behavior. Say a writer meets an editor at a conference who invites the author to submit. "Should I?"
"What do I do?"
"Will this ruin my career!?!"
Don't live your life in fear. Do what your intelligent, professional gut tells you is right. Wars will not be started over your submission. There is no patient on the table waiting for brain surgery, so relax. Take it easy.
Of course, we hear this over and over again, but it always bears repeating. Go for the gusto. Live life like there is no tomorrow. Learn the rules, then break them. Enjoy yourself.
And I can't help but think, here we are, writers. Like gods, from nothing we create people that live in the minds of others. We turn blank paper into whole new worlds, and yet we're afraid to say hello to an agent at a conference.
Live life without fear.
Live life like the characters you create.
R.S. Mellette is an experienced screenwriter, actor, director, and novelist. You can find him at the Dances With Films festival blog, and on Twitter, or read him in the Spring Fevers anthology.
How lucky am I?
For months and months I've been getting e-mails from my local Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) about schmoozes they have for authors in the area. And for month and months, I've been too busy to go. Finally, I got the e-mail right when I had nothing on my schedule and could easily make it. And what's the topic of this get together of local writers? Jennifer Rofé, of Andrea Brown Literary Agency is coming for a living room chat.
Awesome!
The hour plus discussion with Jennifer and a handful of writers was informal and off the record, so it would be improper of me to get into details, but I don't think it's out of bounds to say that she is:
- Hilarious
- Delightful, and
- Wonderfully blunt.
I wouldn't advise asking her for an opinion if you're not ready for a raw, honest answer. And believe me, that's refreshing here in Hollywood.
Blogs were mentioned as the evening broke up and Jennifer said to pass on her mantra about queries. MAKE THEM PROFESSIONAL. Of course, if you're reading this blog, then you probably know about AgentQuery Connect and have worked hard to have a professional letter, so no worries there ... right?
Something else she said that I think all writers—or, in fact, all people—should hear again and again.
Don't live your life in fear.
Jennifer was talking about writers who are afraid to do this-or-that, when in fact both this and that fall well within the realm of reasonable professional behavior. Say a writer meets an editor at a conference who invites the author to submit. "Should I?"
"What do I do?"
"Will this ruin my career!?!"
Don't live your life in fear. Do what your intelligent, professional gut tells you is right. Wars will not be started over your submission. There is no patient on the table waiting for brain surgery, so relax. Take it easy.
Of course, we hear this over and over again, but it always bears repeating. Go for the gusto. Live life like there is no tomorrow. Learn the rules, then break them. Enjoy yourself.
And I can't help but think, here we are, writers. Like gods, from nothing we create people that live in the minds of others. We turn blank paper into whole new worlds, and yet we're afraid to say hello to an agent at a conference.
Live life without fear.
Live life like the characters you create.
R.S. Mellette is an experienced screenwriter, actor, director, and novelist. You can find him at the Dances With Films festival blog, and on Twitter, or read him in the Spring Fevers anthology.
Friday, June 29, 2012
What Are You Reading?
by Matt Sinclair
“What are you reading?”
It’s a question I ask people all the time—and not always when they have a book or e-reader in front of them. I haven’t conducted a doctoral study on the subject, but I believe that intelligent people read regularly. I’m aware, however, that there’s a dangerous tautology involved in that statement. Does it imply that people who don’t read regularly are not intelligent? No, though some might infer it, regardless.
But when I ask the question of a writer, every once in a while I receive a shocking answer. “I’m not reading anything right now. I’m writing. I don’t want anything to influence my story.”
I worry about such writers. They don’t seem to realize where the muse comes from and how she must be fed. A well-nourished muse inspires thoughts and dreams that might smack of something familiar but are also spiced up with an innovation that you can claim to be your own. Go ahead, take a shoulder ride like you did when you were little. It really helps you gain a new perspective.
Now, if the reason you’re not reading is because you’re writing and you simply have no other time to read, well, I get it. Trust me, as the father of twin three-year-olds, I totally get it. But I think it’s important to try to get your reading in, too.
I suppose it’s hard to call it “reading for pleasure.” People like us understand how and why stories are structured in a certain way. We see the seams more easily than other readers or recognize symbols and metaphors that border on the cliché that other readers think of as oh so clever. But we must strive to never lose our ability to enjoy the pure thrill of new writing that causes us to think new thoughts. Even when we’re writing.
You’re entitled to disagree. But from what I’ve seen, successful writers tend to be voracious, omnivorous readers, making some of the most obscure tomes dog-eared from repeated page-turning.
Over the past several years, I’ve noticed established authors include lists of what they were reading while writing the novel I was holding in my somewhat ink-stained hands. While I suspect such things are inspired by lawyers or marketing departments (or both) to cover fannies and assuage readers’ varied interests, the sheer volume of books, published and unpublished, that some of these authors consume while writing their own should be enough to quell the fears of unpublished writers and enable them to enjoy their teetering piles of “to be read” books at bedside.
What’s behind that fear? I can’t say for sure, but I think part of it is the idea that somehow a basic premise of a popular contemporary work will overwhelm their own story. Still, I suspect J.K. Rowling was familiar with Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings trilogy before she conjured up Harry Potter. For all I know, she might even have re-watched or reread them. But then again, she didn’t really have to. The similar tales of an unexpected hero, guided in part by a magical, mystical mentor are rooted in story archetype.
As most writers know, at their root modern stories are retellings of ancient tales: a quest, love lost and found, youth coming of age, an unlikely hero overcoming the seemingly invincible, a mixture involving several or even all of these elements.
And you think that you’re going to be swayed in your story because you read within the same genre at that time? You believe that people will see the magic sneakers your character wears or enchanted guitar he plays will be recognized as just another ring of power or light saber or cloak of invisibility? Suit yourself. Personally, I think my imagination can only benefit from frequent exercise.
Keep reading my friends. Your muse will be glad you did.
Matt Sinclair, a New York City-based journalist and fiction writer, recently published a short story anthology called Spring Fevers, which is available through Smashwords, Amazon, and in print via CreateSpace. It includes stories by fellow FTWA writers, including Cat Woods, J. Lea Lopez, Mindy McGinnis, and R.S. Mellette. He also blogs at the Elephant's Bookshelf and is on Twitter @elephantguy68.
“What are you reading?”
It’s a question I ask people all the time—and not always when they have a book or e-reader in front of them. I haven’t conducted a doctoral study on the subject, but I believe that intelligent people read regularly. I’m aware, however, that there’s a dangerous tautology involved in that statement. Does it imply that people who don’t read regularly are not intelligent? No, though some might infer it, regardless.
But when I ask the question of a writer, every once in a while I receive a shocking answer. “I’m not reading anything right now. I’m writing. I don’t want anything to influence my story.”
I worry about such writers. They don’t seem to realize where the muse comes from and how she must be fed. A well-nourished muse inspires thoughts and dreams that might smack of something familiar but are also spiced up with an innovation that you can claim to be your own. Go ahead, take a shoulder ride like you did when you were little. It really helps you gain a new perspective.
Now, if the reason you’re not reading is because you’re writing and you simply have no other time to read, well, I get it. Trust me, as the father of twin three-year-olds, I totally get it. But I think it’s important to try to get your reading in, too.
I suppose it’s hard to call it “reading for pleasure.” People like us understand how and why stories are structured in a certain way. We see the seams more easily than other readers or recognize symbols and metaphors that border on the cliché that other readers think of as oh so clever. But we must strive to never lose our ability to enjoy the pure thrill of new writing that causes us to think new thoughts. Even when we’re writing.
You’re entitled to disagree. But from what I’ve seen, successful writers tend to be voracious, omnivorous readers, making some of the most obscure tomes dog-eared from repeated page-turning.
Over the past several years, I’ve noticed established authors include lists of what they were reading while writing the novel I was holding in my somewhat ink-stained hands. While I suspect such things are inspired by lawyers or marketing departments (or both) to cover fannies and assuage readers’ varied interests, the sheer volume of books, published and unpublished, that some of these authors consume while writing their own should be enough to quell the fears of unpublished writers and enable them to enjoy their teetering piles of “to be read” books at bedside.
What’s behind that fear? I can’t say for sure, but I think part of it is the idea that somehow a basic premise of a popular contemporary work will overwhelm their own story. Still, I suspect J.K. Rowling was familiar with Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings trilogy before she conjured up Harry Potter. For all I know, she might even have re-watched or reread them. But then again, she didn’t really have to. The similar tales of an unexpected hero, guided in part by a magical, mystical mentor are rooted in story archetype.
As most writers know, at their root modern stories are retellings of ancient tales: a quest, love lost and found, youth coming of age, an unlikely hero overcoming the seemingly invincible, a mixture involving several or even all of these elements.
And you think that you’re going to be swayed in your story because you read within the same genre at that time? You believe that people will see the magic sneakers your character wears or enchanted guitar he plays will be recognized as just another ring of power or light saber or cloak of invisibility? Suit yourself. Personally, I think my imagination can only benefit from frequent exercise.
Keep reading my friends. Your muse will be glad you did.
Matt Sinclair, a New York City-based journalist and fiction writer, recently published a short story anthology called Spring Fevers, which is available through Smashwords, Amazon, and in print via CreateSpace. It includes stories by fellow FTWA writers, including Cat Woods, J. Lea Lopez, Mindy McGinnis, and R.S. Mellette. He also blogs at the Elephant's Bookshelf and is on Twitter @elephantguy68.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Do You Want to Know a Secret? Do You Promise Not to Tell?
by Riley Redgate
Back when I took acting classes, one character-building activity in particular stuck with me: the Secret. The goal of the Secret was simple and self-explanatory: Come up with a secret for your character, something the character never says onstage or even references subtly. Tell no one what the secret is. Harbor the secret. Supposedly, this helps breathe inner life into your performance.
But I always felt like the point of the Secret wasn't to give the character inner life, but to create a semantic attachment between actor and character. Similarly, what I love about creating characters' backgrounds in writing is that it makes me feel like the character and I are getting to know each other. Yeah, a significant portion of what I craft for my characters never makes it "onscreen"—but since such a vital portion of writing consists of nailing a character's voice, every little bit I can do to connect to them seems to help. It's not that I'm furthering the character so much as furthering my ability to communicate who he/she is.
Which brings me to the larger issue: What happens when your character's Secret is actually your Secret? And how much of an author's life seeps into the creation of a novel? I know some writers who base entire characters off people they know in real life. (I have been known to borrow a characteristic here and there, but I've never had a specific friend/family-member/enemy/what-have-you from my personal life in mind when I've come up with characters.) Of course, there are "easter eggs" lying around here and there—something in a line of dialogue will be a reference to a thought I had while driving to school, or there'll be some loosely adapted translation from a foreign language for a character's name. Nothing too major, though.
Interestingly enough, a fellow writer once told me about one of her easter eggs before I read her novel—and that knowledge ended up ruining the character for me, because every time I read one of his lines, I was like, "THIS DUDE IS BASED ON SOMEONE I KNOW." It was sort of uncomfortable. And invasive-feeling.
However, when another friend told me one of his character's secrets—a secret relevant only to the character, nothing drawn from my friend's real life—it didn't bother me at all. I felt like it maintained the illusion, and actually assisted it, instead of destroying it. It seemed like he'd applied the acting activity, and it'd worked.
I started to wonder, though—if my first friend hadn't told me a thing, would I even have noticed? Would I have enjoyed reading that character just as much as the character in Novel #2? Many writers look down on blatant authorial self-insertion, but as long as there's that barrier between author and reader, does it really matter? Technically, doesn't all writing (and acting, for that matter) involve a degree of self-insertion, assuming we're writing (or acting) from a place of sympathy? Dark and scary questions indeed.
Of course, the question would eventually become this: if the author relies on self-insertion, will he/she ever be able to write an entirely different main character, a character who isn't him/herself? And heck, I've got to admit, when an author has an obscenely long series of books, I sort of start to wonder if they've forgotten how to write in any other character's voice.
Do you think that self-insertion, if unknown to the reader, is acceptable? Do you draw directly from real-life experiences (or people) when you write? Are your characters' secrets their own, or yours?
Riley Redgate, enthusiast of all things YA, is a bookstore-and-Starbucks-dweller from North Carolina. She blogs here and speaks with considerably more brevity here.
Back when I took acting classes, one character-building activity in particular stuck with me: the Secret. The goal of the Secret was simple and self-explanatory: Come up with a secret for your character, something the character never says onstage or even references subtly. Tell no one what the secret is. Harbor the secret. Supposedly, this helps breathe inner life into your performance.
But I always felt like the point of the Secret wasn't to give the character inner life, but to create a semantic attachment between actor and character. Similarly, what I love about creating characters' backgrounds in writing is that it makes me feel like the character and I are getting to know each other. Yeah, a significant portion of what I craft for my characters never makes it "onscreen"—but since such a vital portion of writing consists of nailing a character's voice, every little bit I can do to connect to them seems to help. It's not that I'm furthering the character so much as furthering my ability to communicate who he/she is.
Which brings me to the larger issue: What happens when your character's Secret is actually your Secret? And how much of an author's life seeps into the creation of a novel? I know some writers who base entire characters off people they know in real life. (I have been known to borrow a characteristic here and there, but I've never had a specific friend/family-member/enemy/what-have-you from my personal life in mind when I've come up with characters.) Of course, there are "easter eggs" lying around here and there—something in a line of dialogue will be a reference to a thought I had while driving to school, or there'll be some loosely adapted translation from a foreign language for a character's name. Nothing too major, though.
Interestingly enough, a fellow writer once told me about one of her easter eggs before I read her novel—and that knowledge ended up ruining the character for me, because every time I read one of his lines, I was like, "THIS DUDE IS BASED ON SOMEONE I KNOW." It was sort of uncomfortable. And invasive-feeling.
However, when another friend told me one of his character's secrets—a secret relevant only to the character, nothing drawn from my friend's real life—it didn't bother me at all. I felt like it maintained the illusion, and actually assisted it, instead of destroying it. It seemed like he'd applied the acting activity, and it'd worked.
I started to wonder, though—if my first friend hadn't told me a thing, would I even have noticed? Would I have enjoyed reading that character just as much as the character in Novel #2? Many writers look down on blatant authorial self-insertion, but as long as there's that barrier between author and reader, does it really matter? Technically, doesn't all writing (and acting, for that matter) involve a degree of self-insertion, assuming we're writing (or acting) from a place of sympathy? Dark and scary questions indeed.
Of course, the question would eventually become this: if the author relies on self-insertion, will he/she ever be able to write an entirely different main character, a character who isn't him/herself? And heck, I've got to admit, when an author has an obscenely long series of books, I sort of start to wonder if they've forgotten how to write in any other character's voice.
Do you think that self-insertion, if unknown to the reader, is acceptable? Do you draw directly from real-life experiences (or people) when you write? Are your characters' secrets their own, or yours?
Riley Redgate, enthusiast of all things YA, is a bookstore-and-Starbucks-dweller from North Carolina. She blogs here and speaks with considerably more brevity here.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Haste Makes Waste
by Sophie Perinot
I am not ordinarily the bible-quoting type. This bit of Ecclesiastes, however, addresses a problem I’ve been seeing a lot lately. On-line writing communities have been overrun by the hasty. Perhaps it was always this way and I just failed to notice it. Perhaps technology has made us less patient even as it makes it easier to act instantly on our impulse to share what we’ve written. Whatever the reason, most of the advice I’ve doled out in the last couple of weeks can be boiled down to this—“slow down!”
I remember completing my first manuscript. It was a spectacular feeling. As you type your last words you can’t imagine any better feeling. But there ARE better feelings to come—like the feeling of signing with an agent, and the feeling of inking your name on a publishing contract. If you rush to take a newly minted manuscript to market you will not get to feel those bigger highs. You may turn your beloved tome (the one you’ve poured your heart and months or years of your life into) into nothing more than a pile of waste-paper.
Here are a few things to remember in your heady rush to share what you’ve written:
1) If your manuscript is not done agents don’t want to hear about it. You’d think this would go without saying. You’d be wrong. Just last week someone asked about querying an unfinished manuscript in an on-line forum. Fact: getting an agent is a long shot—as in single-digit percentage long shot. Why would an agent who receives hundreds of query letters a week EVER ask to see an incomplete manuscript? Even if the premise is brilliant there is no guarantee—until the book is done and the agent can read it—that the execution will live up to it. “Ah,” you say, “but the agent won’t know my book isn’t finished. Querying takes a while and while my letter is sitting on all those laptops I’ll wrap up the writing and editing.”
ACK! If you were here I would stab you with my letter opener (yes, I still have one.). First off, it is not uncommon to get a quick response to a gripping query pitching a concept that seems highly saleable. Second ...
2) The first time you think you are done with your book you are SO NOT DONE! In fact, the second time you think you are “done” you probably aren’t either. It’s not just YOU, it’s every debut writer. I could have sworn my first manuscript was done after I’d edited it twice and received feedback from a couple of beta readers. Boy was I wrong. It took three additional critique partner reviews, the removal of several sub-plots and the clipping of over 30,000 words (yeah that’s right 30k+) before I was actually done. In this market—with publishing in flux and publishers feeling risk adverse—your manuscript had better be spit-shined and nearly flawless before anyone who matters has a look at it. Every time you send out your manuscript prematurely you are wasting an agent name from your list.
“But,” you say, “I thought my agent would offer editorial suggestions and, eventually, the editor at my publishing house will as well.” Very true (notice how I am putting the letter opener back in the pencil cup). When you sign with an agent you are often standing on the tip of the revisions iceberg. But cutting corners in your personal edits on the theory you can make all the improvements at once is a mistake. You can’t get to the next round of edits without this one. Editing is a part of writing—often the biggest part. Your attitude towards it needs to be “early and often.”
When you finally have your manuscript edited to perfection, you are set to query. But again, hold your horses ...
3) Easing into the query process gives you the best chance of querying successfully. Remember how you thought you were done with your manuscript and you weren’t (see last point)? Well, chances are when you mail/email those first query letters out you’ll discover your letter isn’t ready either. There is really only one way to gauge whether your query letter is in good shape—see if it gets requests. If your letter isn’t up to the job it is better to find that out after you’ve sent twenty letters than two hundred. Send a couple of ten-letter trial batches out to a mix of agents from your A & B lists. Wait until you’ve got responses (or 2-3 weeks have passed at which point you count the non-responders as “not interested”) and if your rate-of-request isn’t in the 10% to 20% range revise your query. Repeat. The time to send out query letters as quickly as your mouse-hand can click is once your letter is topping the 20% request-rate mark.
You are going to meet with a lot of rejection on the way to being agented and/or published. Everybody does. If rejection makes you impatient, you stand a good chance of selling yourself and your manuscript short. Remind yourself again and again ...
4) How quickly people can read your book is NOT the ONLY goal to consider. As writers we want an audience. As writers with completed, polished manuscripts we want an audience NOW (now, now, now! do you hear me?). After months of editing and weeks (or months) of querying nearly every writer has the following thought: “I don’t care who publishes my book or how many people read it, I just want somebody other than my mother to see it.” Before the rise of self-publishing this thought wasn’t particularly dangerous because, unless you were going the vanity route, there was no easy way to just “get the book out there.” Now you (the writer) need to impose your own cooling off period and make certain you understand your personal goals for your book. Ask yourself, HOW BIG do you want your audience to be? Will you be content if two-dozen people read your book in the first year? If two hundred people do? How about two thousand? Ten thousand?
If you want thousands of people to read your book then you probably want to pursue the sometimes glacially slow agent-to-major-publisher route. Now before everyone attacks me, I am not saying that self-published or small-press published books can’t reach thousands of people, I am just saying the odds are longer. If you rush to self-publish or publish with a small press and then are disappointed with the number of readers your book gets, there isn’t much you can do. You can “start over” and try for an agent and a deal with one of the big 6, but you will need a new manuscript to do that.
Let’s say you do decide to self-publish ...
5) Professional looking self-published books take time. You can decide to self-publish your book today and have it available on the internet tomorrow, but chances are it wouldn’t be well presented. Nor well promoted. If you are going to do everything yourself—editing, cover-design, layout, promotion, advertising—you are going to need a plan, and good plans take time. You will also want to invest time in the pre-publication process (design, editing) to maximize you chances of success.
Getting back to Ecclesiastes (I do like things tidy) people run races to WIN. The ultimate prize in writing is a published book with a significant fan-base—significant enough that you have pecuniary reasons for writing your next book. It takes slow, deliberative thought and action to reach that goal. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Behave accordingly.
Sophie Perinot is an author with Penguin’s New American Library (NAL). Her debut novel, The Sister Queens, is on sale now at bookstores (brick-and-mortar and virtual) everywhere. You can connect with Sophie at http://www.sophieperinot.com/, on Facebook, or on Twitter.
“... the race is not to the swift”
Ecclesiastes 9:11
I am not ordinarily the bible-quoting type. This bit of Ecclesiastes, however, addresses a problem I’ve been seeing a lot lately. On-line writing communities have been overrun by the hasty. Perhaps it was always this way and I just failed to notice it. Perhaps technology has made us less patient even as it makes it easier to act instantly on our impulse to share what we’ve written. Whatever the reason, most of the advice I’ve doled out in the last couple of weeks can be boiled down to this—“slow down!”
I remember completing my first manuscript. It was a spectacular feeling. As you type your last words you can’t imagine any better feeling. But there ARE better feelings to come—like the feeling of signing with an agent, and the feeling of inking your name on a publishing contract. If you rush to take a newly minted manuscript to market you will not get to feel those bigger highs. You may turn your beloved tome (the one you’ve poured your heart and months or years of your life into) into nothing more than a pile of waste-paper.
Here are a few things to remember in your heady rush to share what you’ve written:
1) If your manuscript is not done agents don’t want to hear about it. You’d think this would go without saying. You’d be wrong. Just last week someone asked about querying an unfinished manuscript in an on-line forum. Fact: getting an agent is a long shot—as in single-digit percentage long shot. Why would an agent who receives hundreds of query letters a week EVER ask to see an incomplete manuscript? Even if the premise is brilliant there is no guarantee—until the book is done and the agent can read it—that the execution will live up to it. “Ah,” you say, “but the agent won’t know my book isn’t finished. Querying takes a while and while my letter is sitting on all those laptops I’ll wrap up the writing and editing.”
ACK! If you were here I would stab you with my letter opener (yes, I still have one.). First off, it is not uncommon to get a quick response to a gripping query pitching a concept that seems highly saleable. Second ...
2) The first time you think you are done with your book you are SO NOT DONE! In fact, the second time you think you are “done” you probably aren’t either. It’s not just YOU, it’s every debut writer. I could have sworn my first manuscript was done after I’d edited it twice and received feedback from a couple of beta readers. Boy was I wrong. It took three additional critique partner reviews, the removal of several sub-plots and the clipping of over 30,000 words (yeah that’s right 30k+) before I was actually done. In this market—with publishing in flux and publishers feeling risk adverse—your manuscript had better be spit-shined and nearly flawless before anyone who matters has a look at it. Every time you send out your manuscript prematurely you are wasting an agent name from your list.
“But,” you say, “I thought my agent would offer editorial suggestions and, eventually, the editor at my publishing house will as well.” Very true (notice how I am putting the letter opener back in the pencil cup). When you sign with an agent you are often standing on the tip of the revisions iceberg. But cutting corners in your personal edits on the theory you can make all the improvements at once is a mistake. You can’t get to the next round of edits without this one. Editing is a part of writing—often the biggest part. Your attitude towards it needs to be “early and often.”
When you finally have your manuscript edited to perfection, you are set to query. But again, hold your horses ...
3) Easing into the query process gives you the best chance of querying successfully. Remember how you thought you were done with your manuscript and you weren’t (see last point)? Well, chances are when you mail/email those first query letters out you’ll discover your letter isn’t ready either. There is really only one way to gauge whether your query letter is in good shape—see if it gets requests. If your letter isn’t up to the job it is better to find that out after you’ve sent twenty letters than two hundred. Send a couple of ten-letter trial batches out to a mix of agents from your A & B lists. Wait until you’ve got responses (or 2-3 weeks have passed at which point you count the non-responders as “not interested”) and if your rate-of-request isn’t in the 10% to 20% range revise your query. Repeat. The time to send out query letters as quickly as your mouse-hand can click is once your letter is topping the 20% request-rate mark.
You are going to meet with a lot of rejection on the way to being agented and/or published. Everybody does. If rejection makes you impatient, you stand a good chance of selling yourself and your manuscript short. Remind yourself again and again ...
4) How quickly people can read your book is NOT the ONLY goal to consider. As writers we want an audience. As writers with completed, polished manuscripts we want an audience NOW (now, now, now! do you hear me?). After months of editing and weeks (or months) of querying nearly every writer has the following thought: “I don’t care who publishes my book or how many people read it, I just want somebody other than my mother to see it.” Before the rise of self-publishing this thought wasn’t particularly dangerous because, unless you were going the vanity route, there was no easy way to just “get the book out there.” Now you (the writer) need to impose your own cooling off period and make certain you understand your personal goals for your book. Ask yourself, HOW BIG do you want your audience to be? Will you be content if two-dozen people read your book in the first year? If two hundred people do? How about two thousand? Ten thousand?
If you want thousands of people to read your book then you probably want to pursue the sometimes glacially slow agent-to-major-publisher route. Now before everyone attacks me, I am not saying that self-published or small-press published books can’t reach thousands of people, I am just saying the odds are longer. If you rush to self-publish or publish with a small press and then are disappointed with the number of readers your book gets, there isn’t much you can do. You can “start over” and try for an agent and a deal with one of the big 6, but you will need a new manuscript to do that.
Let’s say you do decide to self-publish ...
5) Professional looking self-published books take time. You can decide to self-publish your book today and have it available on the internet tomorrow, but chances are it wouldn’t be well presented. Nor well promoted. If you are going to do everything yourself—editing, cover-design, layout, promotion, advertising—you are going to need a plan, and good plans take time. You will also want to invest time in the pre-publication process (design, editing) to maximize you chances of success.
Getting back to Ecclesiastes (I do like things tidy) people run races to WIN. The ultimate prize in writing is a published book with a significant fan-base—significant enough that you have pecuniary reasons for writing your next book. It takes slow, deliberative thought and action to reach that goal. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Behave accordingly.
Sophie Perinot is an author with Penguin’s New American Library (NAL). Her debut novel, The Sister Queens, is on sale now at bookstores (brick-and-mortar and virtual) everywhere. You can connect with Sophie at http://www.sophieperinot.com/, on Facebook, or on Twitter.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Weighing the Worth of Bios and Bylines
by Cat Woods
During an online discussion the other day, a fellow scribe stated he didn't usually submit to non-paying markets. I, on the other hand, have.
My first published gig was a short story. It earned me my biggest check in terms of time spent versus money earned and had the most circulation of any of my published works by ... oh ... a million or so readers. It did not, however, earn me a byline.
Over the years, I've written pro-bono for non-profits, hourly for businesses and per project for individuals. I've had poetry, short stories and articles published in newspapers, newsletters, magazines and online. Not everything I've written has earned me cash, nor have they earned me acclaim.
Yet, they are all satisfying in their own right.
To know if certain types of publications are worth your time and effort, you must first assess your writing goals. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers here, only what works for you. Do you want money, recognition or an audience for your thoughts? What is your brand or envisioned brand?
Next, you must understand the different types of publications and what they have to offer you. Below is a simplified list of what that might look like.
Obviously, the most attractive "sale" is the exchange of literary rights for money, a byline and exposure. But that doesn't mean we need to discount the other types as worthless or even worth less.
Sometimes simply sharing an idea is enough, even if we don't get credit for the way we state it. This type of publication cannot be used in a bio, per se. Unless we've garnered permission from the publisher who owns the works, we can't take credit for the words we've penned. We can, however, use the practice (and the cash) to further hone our writing skills or to buy a new pair of shoes to keep us inspired.
Building a platform? Writing nonfiction nearly always requires a solid platform and a stellar bio. You not only need credentials, but you also need exposure. Your platform must support you as THE ONE to write your topic. You must have a marketing plan that includes lots of name recognition and expertise in the area you wish to publish. In this respect, bylines can help tremendously, whether paid or unpaid.
To a certain degree, this name recognition is also important for fiction writers. Readers read via word of mouth. Get your name out often enough in connection with quality writing and a charming personality and sales of future projects are far easier to garner. You want your name at the top of the search engine page so potential readers can find you quickly and easily.
Cross-genre publishing? Some people will tell you to only focus on one genre or age group in all your publishing endeavors. I'm not completely sold on this, as I feel that all writing has worth in terms of sheer mechanics, and that learning to Cross-Train your Writing Brain can be beneficial across the board. I firmly believe that my start writing short stories has given me an edge when working on my shorter juvenile fiction. It's taught me to build robust characters in a teeny tiny word count. All valuable lessons for picture books and chapter books.
The flipside: it is difficult to cross-genre publish and doing so can take away from a writer's ultimate brand.
Which leads us to the question: To Bio or Not To Bio?
First, understand that unless you are writing nonfiction or building a freelance business to support the fam, you don't need a bio. Oh, they are nice to have and look impressive as that final paragraph on a query, but they are not essential to getting an agent or a publishing deal. In that respect, we need to be careful about the writing credits we slap into our bio sections.
When querying agents for my juvenile literature, I DID NOT list my hot-between-the-sheets short story on my asset side. I didn't mention my articles on mental health or the lack thereof. I simply stated my membership in the SCBWI (a highly respected organization for juvenile literature) and let potential agents know that I was the contributing editor for a monthly newsletter for kids in the age range I was querying. Period. They didn't have to know that I'm an online editor for a high-circulation swine newsletter in the midwest.
Yet, all these credits have earned me something: either money, a byline or a bit more clout in the writing world.
Do you have an intended focus audience for your work, or are you still feeling your way around the publishing arena? If you have a publishing goal, how are you working toward reaching it? In which ways have you been side-tracked with other projects? Do these side-projects have worth in your journey? How do you feel about writing for "free?"
Curious minds want to know.
Cat Woods is but one of the names this writer publishes under. A short story in SPRING FEVERS, is Cat's most recent fiction credit. She hopes to have another one in the upcoming anthology, THE FALL. In the meantime, she has an article on pigs to write and a post to polish for her blog Words from the Woods.
During an online discussion the other day, a fellow scribe stated he didn't usually submit to non-paying markets. I, on the other hand, have.
My first published gig was a short story. It earned me my biggest check in terms of time spent versus money earned and had the most circulation of any of my published works by ... oh ... a million or so readers. It did not, however, earn me a byline.
Over the years, I've written pro-bono for non-profits, hourly for businesses and per project for individuals. I've had poetry, short stories and articles published in newspapers, newsletters, magazines and online. Not everything I've written has earned me cash, nor have they earned me acclaim.
Yet, they are all satisfying in their own right.
To know if certain types of publications are worth your time and effort, you must first assess your writing goals. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers here, only what works for you. Do you want money, recognition or an audience for your thoughts? What is your brand or envisioned brand?
Next, you must understand the different types of publications and what they have to offer you. Below is a simplified list of what that might look like.
TYPES OF PUBLICATION
- Fee: I've seen rates as low as two cents per word, moving upward to $2 per page or $2,000 per project depending on the publisher and the type of submission. Fee publications may or may not offer bylines. Fee publications can include anything from a church anthology to a regional newspaper to reputable magazines and e-zines. They may also include contracted writing for publishing companies or businesses.
- Byline Only: Non-profits or small presses often offer bylines and contributor copies in return for a well-written short story, article or poem.
- E-Exposure: Newer to the playing field and harder to assess is the worth of publishing digitally. Blogs, e-newsletters and e-zines use a lot of material in a short time and are constantly searching for new voices to help promote themselves or satisfy reader appetites. In turn, writers usually garner a shout-out of some kind and a link back to their blog or website.
Obviously, the most attractive "sale" is the exchange of literary rights for money, a byline and exposure. But that doesn't mean we need to discount the other types as worthless or even worth less.
Sometimes simply sharing an idea is enough, even if we don't get credit for the way we state it. This type of publication cannot be used in a bio, per se. Unless we've garnered permission from the publisher who owns the works, we can't take credit for the words we've penned. We can, however, use the practice (and the cash) to further hone our writing skills or to buy a new pair of shoes to keep us inspired.
Building a platform? Writing nonfiction nearly always requires a solid platform and a stellar bio. You not only need credentials, but you also need exposure. Your platform must support you as THE ONE to write your topic. You must have a marketing plan that includes lots of name recognition and expertise in the area you wish to publish. In this respect, bylines can help tremendously, whether paid or unpaid.
To a certain degree, this name recognition is also important for fiction writers. Readers read via word of mouth. Get your name out often enough in connection with quality writing and a charming personality and sales of future projects are far easier to garner. You want your name at the top of the search engine page so potential readers can find you quickly and easily.
Cross-genre publishing? Some people will tell you to only focus on one genre or age group in all your publishing endeavors. I'm not completely sold on this, as I feel that all writing has worth in terms of sheer mechanics, and that learning to Cross-Train your Writing Brain can be beneficial across the board. I firmly believe that my start writing short stories has given me an edge when working on my shorter juvenile fiction. It's taught me to build robust characters in a teeny tiny word count. All valuable lessons for picture books and chapter books.
The flipside: it is difficult to cross-genre publish and doing so can take away from a writer's ultimate brand.
Which leads us to the question: To Bio or Not To Bio?
First, understand that unless you are writing nonfiction or building a freelance business to support the fam, you don't need a bio. Oh, they are nice to have and look impressive as that final paragraph on a query, but they are not essential to getting an agent or a publishing deal. In that respect, we need to be careful about the writing credits we slap into our bio sections.
When querying agents for my juvenile literature, I DID NOT list my hot-between-the-sheets short story on my asset side. I didn't mention my articles on mental health or the lack thereof. I simply stated my membership in the SCBWI (a highly respected organization for juvenile literature) and let potential agents know that I was the contributing editor for a monthly newsletter for kids in the age range I was querying. Period. They didn't have to know that I'm an online editor for a high-circulation swine newsletter in the midwest.
Yet, all these credits have earned me something: either money, a byline or a bit more clout in the writing world.
Do you have an intended focus audience for your work, or are you still feeling your way around the publishing arena? If you have a publishing goal, how are you working toward reaching it? In which ways have you been side-tracked with other projects? Do these side-projects have worth in your journey? How do you feel about writing for "free?"
Curious minds want to know.
Cat Woods is but one of the names this writer publishes under. A short story in SPRING FEVERS, is Cat's most recent fiction credit. She hopes to have another one in the upcoming anthology, THE FALL. In the meantime, she has an article on pigs to write and a post to polish for her blog Words from the Woods.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
The Balancing Act
by MarcyKate Connolly
Most writers are not able to write full time. Most of us need to work a regular job in order to make a living, eat, have a roof over our heads, etc.
This can often lead to conflict in our daily lives. We need to go to work and do our jobs, whether they may be mundane or fun or a little bit of both, so we can support our writing habit. But sometimes the drive to do what we love, not what we must, can get in the way.
We want to write, but we need to work. If only writing could be our work ... So goes that slippery slope. Sound familiar?
It’s all too easy for our lives to lean too far in one direction and make us feel off-kilter and unhappy. Major work projects can take over our lives, making it seem like we’ll never get back to writing again. Never finish that project into which we’ve been pouring our souls.
Lack of balance can lead all too quickly to discouragement.
So, as the creative folks we are, we have to find ways to put things back in balance. Personally, I like to write on my commute since I have a half-hour train ride. That’s an hour of writing time each day that I wouldn’t have otherwise. I know others get up crazy early or never sleep (ahem, GUILTY) just so they can have a few more minutes living in their story-worlds.
Of course, this is not always easy. Sometimes, work or family or other real life demands are such that we just can’t devote that time on our commutes or lunch breaks or wee hours of the morning to writing. Lately I’ve found myself both working on the train and staying up late just in an attempt to get back on track from a project that massively derailed earlier this month.
Basically, life happens.
So if life happens to you in ways that make it difficult (or even nearly impossible) to get to your writing, don’t beat yourself up too much. I know we all hear the adage that writers must write every day (and in an ideal world, wouldn’t that be lovely?), but sometimes you need to set other things right before they can be balanced again. Sometimes you just have to take that time away, then come back refreshed, rejuvenated, and relieved to have your writing to transport you during that commute or lunch hour.
Maybe you’ll even appreciate it a little more than you did before.
How do you keep your writing life in balance with real life demands? Feel free to leave your tips in the comments!
MarcyKate Connolly writes young adult fiction and becomes a superhero when sufficiently caffeinated. When earthbound, she blogs at her website and ferrets out contests on Twitter.
Most writers are not able to write full time. Most of us need to work a regular job in order to make a living, eat, have a roof over our heads, etc.
This can often lead to conflict in our daily lives. We need to go to work and do our jobs, whether they may be mundane or fun or a little bit of both, so we can support our writing habit. But sometimes the drive to do what we love, not what we must, can get in the way.
We want to write, but we need to work. If only writing could be our work ... So goes that slippery slope. Sound familiar?
It’s all too easy for our lives to lean too far in one direction and make us feel off-kilter and unhappy. Major work projects can take over our lives, making it seem like we’ll never get back to writing again. Never finish that project into which we’ve been pouring our souls.
Lack of balance can lead all too quickly to discouragement.
So, as the creative folks we are, we have to find ways to put things back in balance. Personally, I like to write on my commute since I have a half-hour train ride. That’s an hour of writing time each day that I wouldn’t have otherwise. I know others get up crazy early or never sleep (ahem, GUILTY) just so they can have a few more minutes living in their story-worlds.
Of course, this is not always easy. Sometimes, work or family or other real life demands are such that we just can’t devote that time on our commutes or lunch breaks or wee hours of the morning to writing. Lately I’ve found myself both working on the train and staying up late just in an attempt to get back on track from a project that massively derailed earlier this month.
Basically, life happens.
So if life happens to you in ways that make it difficult (or even nearly impossible) to get to your writing, don’t beat yourself up too much. I know we all hear the adage that writers must write every day (and in an ideal world, wouldn’t that be lovely?), but sometimes you need to set other things right before they can be balanced again. Sometimes you just have to take that time away, then come back refreshed, rejuvenated, and relieved to have your writing to transport you during that commute or lunch hour.
Maybe you’ll even appreciate it a little more than you did before.
How do you keep your writing life in balance with real life demands? Feel free to leave your tips in the comments!
MarcyKate Connolly writes young adult fiction and becomes a superhero when sufficiently caffeinated. When earthbound, she blogs at her website and ferrets out contests on Twitter.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Agent Research: QueryTracker
by Jemi Fraser
I'm getting closer to finishing up my WIP. I'm still in the polishing and shining stage, so I won't be querying for a while yet, but I've started researching agents. It's a fairly involved process, so I thought I'd take you through my procedure—which of course won't work for everyone—but it might give you some ideas of where to start.
There are a lot of fabulous agents out there. Many of them will be the perfect choice for you. How do you find them? In this post I talked a bit in general about AgentQuery, QueryTracker (QT) and Preditors and Editors. Today I'm going to focus a bit more specifically on QT and their searchable agent database today. Last time I checked, there were over 1000 agents listed. Obviously you need to narrow your search. QT allows you to narrow down the list by choosing the genre(s) of your story/stories. You can choose multiple categories to narrow down your search further.
I'll use my recent searches as an example. My story is a romance with a strong subplot of suspense/mystery. So, I chose fiction–romance, then fiction–mystery, fiction–suspense. I had 114 agents to search. When I searched romance only, I had 189 agents. Not a huge difference for me, but if you're planning on writing fantasy and thrillers for instance, it would be nice to know which agents rep both.
QT lists the agents in alphabetical order by last names. It shows if they accept email or snail mail queries or if there's an online form. Once you click on an agent's name, it gives you more information.
Speaking of that premium membership, it's $25/year. The basic membership allows you to track your querying process for one project. Among other perks, the premium membership allows you to track 20 projects. When you're tracking project 2, it reminds you if you queried each agent with project 1 and how that turned out.
Now, as good as QT is, it's not enough. Once you've narrowed down the list of agents you're interested in querying, I'd suggest a few more steps.
Click through to the agency website and the agent's personal blog if she/he has one. You can find out a LOT of information this way. The lists of genres is sometimes a bit deceiving. As I said, I'm looking for agents who represent romance. By visiting the websites I eliminated at least a dozen agents who only want to see historical or paranormal romance and one who wants only multi-generational stories. Agents are busy people. I'd rather not waste their time querying for something they're not interested in. I'd rather focus on those agents who state they're looking for contemporary stories.
QT has a 'Notes' space where you can keep track of your thoughts about the agent. I use it to track those tidbits I might use to personalize my query when I do get to that stage.
There are a LOT more features on QT that I didn't mention. I'll do that in another post.
Any questions? Anything you'd like to see in that post? Have you used QT? What's your favourite part of it? Any other tips?
Jemi Fraser is an aspiring author of romantic mysteries. She blogs and tweets while searching for those HEAs.
I'm getting closer to finishing up my WIP. I'm still in the polishing and shining stage, so I won't be querying for a while yet, but I've started researching agents. It's a fairly involved process, so I thought I'd take you through my procedure—which of course won't work for everyone—but it might give you some ideas of where to start.
There are a lot of fabulous agents out there. Many of them will be the perfect choice for you. How do you find them? In this post I talked a bit in general about AgentQuery, QueryTracker (QT) and Preditors and Editors. Today I'm going to focus a bit more specifically on QT and their searchable agent database today. Last time I checked, there were over 1000 agents listed. Obviously you need to narrow your search. QT allows you to narrow down the list by choosing the genre(s) of your story/stories. You can choose multiple categories to narrow down your search further.
I'll use my recent searches as an example. My story is a romance with a strong subplot of suspense/mystery. So, I chose fiction–romance, then fiction–mystery, fiction–suspense. I had 114 agents to search. When I searched romance only, I had 189 agents. Not a huge difference for me, but if you're planning on writing fantasy and thrillers for instance, it would be nice to know which agents rep both.
QT lists the agents in alphabetical order by last names. It shows if they accept email or snail mail queries or if there's an online form. Once you click on an agent's name, it gives you more information.
- The overview tab lists the agency's website and the agent's personal blog and twitter if applicable. It also links to their information on AgentQuery, Preditors & Editors, Publishers Marketplace, AAR and sometimes interviews as well. There are a few agencies without an online presence, but these are included in the listings as well.
- The comments tab shows comments by QT members who are willing to share who they queried and what the response was. It's easy to find out from this tab if the agent only responds if interested and what their form letters are like.
- One tab shows the clients of the agent. This is really handy. Even though the agent might rep a wide variety of genres, you'll see quickly what they have sold. Some of the agents in my search sold almost exclusively nonfiction books. I would assume that's where their best contacts in the publishing world are. By checking out the clients, I also find out if the agent already reps someone who sells stories similar to the one I'm querying. That all helps me decide where the agent fits on my wishlist.
- There is another tab for reports. This can show you how many queries the agent has received, in what genre, how they've responded ... Some of these features are exclusive to the premium membership.
Speaking of that premium membership, it's $25/year. The basic membership allows you to track your querying process for one project. Among other perks, the premium membership allows you to track 20 projects. When you're tracking project 2, it reminds you if you queried each agent with project 1 and how that turned out.
Now, as good as QT is, it's not enough. Once you've narrowed down the list of agents you're interested in querying, I'd suggest a few more steps.
Click through to the agency website and the agent's personal blog if she/he has one. You can find out a LOT of information this way. The lists of genres is sometimes a bit deceiving. As I said, I'm looking for agents who represent romance. By visiting the websites I eliminated at least a dozen agents who only want to see historical or paranormal romance and one who wants only multi-generational stories. Agents are busy people. I'd rather not waste their time querying for something they're not interested in. I'd rather focus on those agents who state they're looking for contemporary stories.
QT has a 'Notes' space where you can keep track of your thoughts about the agent. I use it to track those tidbits I might use to personalize my query when I do get to that stage.
There are a LOT more features on QT that I didn't mention. I'll do that in another post.
Any questions? Anything you'd like to see in that post? Have you used QT? What's your favourite part of it? Any other tips?
Jemi Fraser is an aspiring author of romantic mysteries. She blogs and tweets while searching for those HEAs.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Before You Can Bask in Acclaim, You Have to Earn It
by R.C. Lewis
I've blogged before about the difference between accomplishment and prestige, as well as where we as writers look for validation. More recently, I blogged about the problems of ungrounded "self-esteem". Today, I'm going to try to tie all that together.
And yes, it involves discussing both traditional publishing and self-publishing.
I'm all for being supportive and encouraging to people at every stage and on every path. It's critical. Tearing each other down? Not helpful. But that's not what this is about.
Recently, a fellow writer bemoaned the fact that self-published authors don't get the same respect and regard as traditionally published authors. I will concede that the moment the debut novel from either becomes available for purchase, this is true. More importantly, I'm going to claim that this is as it should be.
Here's why: It is dirt simple these days to self-publish. I could self-publish my old college essays right now, and it'd take me about ten minutes. The act of self-publishing in and of itself is not an impressive accomplishment.
Self-publishing successfully is NOT dirt simple. Those who succeed more than likely spent some time learning how to craft a story, edited and revised carefully (often investing in a professional edit), got a solid cover design, and educated themselves on effective marketing and publicity.
Half of the key is my ninth grade English teacher's favorite word. WORK.
The other half is evidence of that work being apparent for the world to see. That's where I see the key distinction between traditional and self-published authors.
While I firmly believe the best of self-published novels are on par with the top shelf of traditionally published, I'm just as convinced that the worst of self-publishing is far, far below the most dire novels released by the Big Six. (I know you think you've seen some truly awful books from the Big Six on the shelves. Trust me, they cannot possibly be as bad as some of the dregs I've had the misfortune of stumbling across in the world of self-publishing.) It's a wider range for the self-published, so when it shows up on the virtual shelves, it could be anything.
The moment a self-published book makes its debut is the moment it begins proving itself. A traditionally published book (in particular by a well-established house) has generally already proven itself to an agent, at least one editor, and an entire acquisitions team.
That doesn't make the book or author better by default. It doesn't make them 100% proven, either. I'd say it makes them halfway proven, and the rest is left to the reactions of readers and critics.
When a writer gets a traditional publishing deal, yes, I find it worthy of acclaim. Not just anyone can do it, so it is impressive.
Likewise, when a self-published author climbs the rankings and earns more than pocket change, I find that worthy of acclaim, too.
Many things are accomplishments—completing a novel is one of them, regardless of the path you choose to take. Some, however, are more prestigious than others. (See my earlier post.) As writers, we need to be mindful of when and where we seek our validation. And we need to remember that validation within ourselves is more important and more lasting than any external praise.
R.C. Lewis teaches math by day and writes YA fiction by every other time. You can find her at Crossing the Helix and on Twitter (@RC_Lewis).
I've blogged before about the difference between accomplishment and prestige, as well as where we as writers look for validation. More recently, I blogged about the problems of ungrounded "self-esteem". Today, I'm going to try to tie all that together.
And yes, it involves discussing both traditional publishing and self-publishing.
I'm all for being supportive and encouraging to people at every stage and on every path. It's critical. Tearing each other down? Not helpful. But that's not what this is about.
Recently, a fellow writer bemoaned the fact that self-published authors don't get the same respect and regard as traditionally published authors. I will concede that the moment the debut novel from either becomes available for purchase, this is true. More importantly, I'm going to claim that this is as it should be.
Here's why: It is dirt simple these days to self-publish. I could self-publish my old college essays right now, and it'd take me about ten minutes. The act of self-publishing in and of itself is not an impressive accomplishment.
Self-publishing successfully is NOT dirt simple. Those who succeed more than likely spent some time learning how to craft a story, edited and revised carefully (often investing in a professional edit), got a solid cover design, and educated themselves on effective marketing and publicity.
Half of the key is my ninth grade English teacher's favorite word. WORK.
The other half is evidence of that work being apparent for the world to see. That's where I see the key distinction between traditional and self-published authors.
While I firmly believe the best of self-published novels are on par with the top shelf of traditionally published, I'm just as convinced that the worst of self-publishing is far, far below the most dire novels released by the Big Six. (I know you think you've seen some truly awful books from the Big Six on the shelves. Trust me, they cannot possibly be as bad as some of the dregs I've had the misfortune of stumbling across in the world of self-publishing.) It's a wider range for the self-published, so when it shows up on the virtual shelves, it could be anything.
The moment a self-published book makes its debut is the moment it begins proving itself. A traditionally published book (in particular by a well-established house) has generally already proven itself to an agent, at least one editor, and an entire acquisitions team.
That doesn't make the book or author better by default. It doesn't make them 100% proven, either. I'd say it makes them halfway proven, and the rest is left to the reactions of readers and critics.
When a writer gets a traditional publishing deal, yes, I find it worthy of acclaim. Not just anyone can do it, so it is impressive.
Likewise, when a self-published author climbs the rankings and earns more than pocket change, I find that worthy of acclaim, too.
Many things are accomplishments—completing a novel is one of them, regardless of the path you choose to take. Some, however, are more prestigious than others. (See my earlier post.) As writers, we need to be mindful of when and where we seek our validation. And we need to remember that validation within ourselves is more important and more lasting than any external praise.
R.C. Lewis teaches math by day and writes YA fiction by every other time. You can find her at Crossing the Helix and on Twitter (@RC_Lewis).
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