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Publishing Pulse for Friday May 25, 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Ash Krafton | @ashkrafton) — Fri, 25 May 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Success Story

Congratulations to Tracy Holczer, whose success story can be read here.

Query Tracker Database Updates

The profiles of four agents—Drea Colhane, Denise Marcil, Farley Chase, and Halli Melnitsky—were updated this week. Please make sure you double-check every agent's website or Publisher's Marketplace page before querying.

Also, five new publishers have been added to the QT database. You can check out the publisher updates page to see who's new.

If you're a QueryTracker member (membership is free) you can view the database of more than 1200 agent and publisher profiles. Premium Members can be notified whenever an agent or publisher is added or updates their profile, in addition to receiving access to several other enviable features.

Blogospherically Speaking…

Rachelle Gardner describes the editing process used by many publishing houses.

Nathan Bransford takes all of the fun out of a good knock-down drag-out Us versus Them fight in his article comparing traditional publishing to self publishing.

Want to know what he personally thinks is the right way? (Of course, you do. EVERYONE wants to know what Nathan thinks. He's Nathan.)

While Elsewhere On The Webs…

This recent survey of self-publishing authors suggests that a little bit of both types of publishing might be a good idea. Self-published writers who have an agent, or who go after a traditional deal on their own, earn much more than the average self-published writer.

Speaking of earnings, are you looking for a new job? Several big publishing houses are hiring. Brush up on your publishing know-how before you arrange an interview by studying this "convoluted and snarky, but not entirely untrue" infographic by Mariah Bear.

Food For Thought

One article suggests that what you read can have a lasting impact on your personality—and that the actions of fictional characters may actually influence readers' behavior. A slight alteration to my favorite phrase may be in order—not only must we be the change we wish to see in the world…we should read more stories about said change, too.

Happy Memorial Day!

If anyone will be attending this weekend's Balticon 46—a huge sci-fi/fantasy convention near Baltimore, MD—I hope you'll drop the Pink Narcissus table, where I'll be hanging out with my editors and fellow Pink Narc authors. (My mom made cookies to hand out so, really, I don't see what choice you have. They are MY MOM'S COOKIES. Oh yeah, I'll also bring my book, Bleeding Hearts. :D )

And for those who are unable to attend the con, here's a recipe for a sweet treat, perfect for your holiday picnics. (See what happens when I blog on an empty stomach?)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Ash Krafton is a speculative fiction writer who resides in the heart of the Pennsylvania coal region, where she keeps the book jacket for "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" in a frame over her desk. Visit Ash's blog at www.ash-krafton.blogspot.com for news on her newly released urban fantasy "Bleeding Hearts: Book One of the Demimonde" (Pink Narcissus Press 2012).

Free Internet Tools for Writers

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn Kaufman | @CMKaufman) — Wed, 23 May 2012 13:00:00 +0000

I recently attended a conference where we discussed online tools for teachers, and that got me thinking about online tools for writers. So today we’re going to look at a few of my favorites, and I hope you all will share your own favorites in the Comments!

1. JoliPrint

I’m a little old-fashioned in that I enjoy reading things on paper rather than online. And if I find something I want to read again, I need to do more than Bookmark it – I can’t find anything in all the bookmarks I have. But it’s kind of a pain to copy and paste an article and then reformat it into a Word document, especially if there are ads built into the page.

Enter JoliPrint, a free website that clears out all but the article you want and formats it into a lovely PDF for download.

For example, I need to write a synopsis, something that I can’t say is a strength. So I pulled up Jane Lebak’s QTB piece, Taming the Dreaded Synopsis. I pasted the address for the article into JoliPrint, and voila! I have a beautifully formatted PDF to print!

You can also add JoliPrint to your blog or website (I just added it to the QTB, you should see a JoliPrint button at the end of this post) or install it in your browser toolbar. You can even have a “magazine” of your reading list delivered to your iPad, mobile, or computer.

2. PhraseExpress

We writers sometimes have to type the same thing over and over again, whether because an unwieldy phrase or name appears often in our manuscripts, or because we’re working hard on those letters to agents.

PhraseExpress is a free text expansion program that resides in your System tray. In addition to learning and correcting spelling errors in any application you use (including email programs, which I find incredibly useful), the program will expand abbreviations as you type. For example, when I use my work email program, I can’t use italics (who knows why *grumble*), so I have to use CAPS to emphasize. I always worry that my students will misread this as nastiness on my part, so I set PhraseExpress to change #notyell into “I’m not yelling, I just can’t use italics in this email program.”

You can set PhraseExpress to quickly insert your author bio (you can even have several set up), your high-concept hook, your website or blog, your contact information, your signature, and other frequently-used phrases into your email queries.

One final use: I once wrote a novel in which the first 3 letters of any character’s name would expand to the full name – it sped up my typing when I was really in the zone and writing quickly.

3. Doodle

Need to plan a time for your writing group to meet, but you can’t find a time everyone can meet? Try Doodle, a website that lets you pick potential meeting times and lets everyone weigh in on what would work for them.

4. Pinterest

I’ll say upfront that I’m a Pinterest newbie, but writers can do a lot with the site. You can save favorite quotes; create story planning and character boards filled with images of people, places, and things related to your story; and share your writing space and favorite tools. How do you use it? Feel free to share your Pinterest writing boards in the Comments!

Your Turn

What other free online tools do you use to make writing easier, more collaborative, more creative, and more fun? Let us know in the Comments!

Carolyn Kaufman, PsyD's book, THE WRITER'S GUIDE TO PSYCHOLOGY: How to Write Accurately About Psychological Disorders, Clinical Treatment, and Human Behavior helps writers avoid common misconceptions and inaccuracies and "get the psych right" in their stories. You can learn more about The Writer's Guide to Psychology, check out Dr. K's blog on Psychology Today, or follow her on Facebook or Google+!

Think Like an Author

noreply@blogger.com (Danyelle L.) — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Courtesy of mrpac-man

Finding success in publishing is tricky.

For one, not everyone defines success the same way. For some, it's enough to capture a world on paper. For others, there's the desire for validation that comes from finding an agent, a publisher, and/or being read. And there are still others who measure success by dollar signs.

Success is also tricky because all but one of those terms of success relies on someone besides the author or writer.

QueryTracker's mission statement is "Helping writers become authors." I believe this is the first step to success, and that this can happen even before you find an agent or are published.

It all starts with *how* you think.

It has been said that everyone has a book inside of them. While this may be true, not everyone has the ability or desire to sit down and write their book. Of those that do, some find that while they enjoyed writing a book, it's not something they're all that passionate about. But there are those that find magic in their story. Those that find joy in weaving worlds out of words.

These are the writers.

How do they become authors? Somewhere along the way, they believed they were--usually after a lot of hard work, a number of novels (or non-fiction books), finding an agent, and then landing a book deal.

But to my way of thinking, especially with all of the craziness that is in the publishing industry, it can help bring some sanity back into a person's life if they train themselves to think like an author once they realize they're a writer.

What does it mean to think like an author? (For the purposes of this post, I'm defining an author as someone who writes with the desire to be published/read.)

Write with Intent

While everyone's process is different, a book seldom gets written that is not written with intent.

Back when I was just writing because writing was what I did in my spare time, I have a hundred story beginnings, a few middles, and no endings.

An author writes with the intent to be read, and to be read, a person needs to be published one way or another. Usually, people write with intent because they have something to say.

So if you're ever stuck in your story and all your characters and plot have gone on strike, remember back to when you first started. When you were writing with intent, and ask yourself why you started writing this story. What is it you wanted to say?

Finding the Discipline Within the Passion

Writing a book is hard work. Brain-being-shoved-through-a-colander-and-turned-into-oatmeal hard sometimes. Or maybe that's just me. :-)

I love writing. I do. I love the worlds and the people who live just around the corner of my own reality. But, being a naturally lazy person whose brain now shudders whenever I pass the cottage cheese at the grocery store, I'm not always that enthused to write. On the other hand, I'm always very enthusiastic at having written.

An author is someone who goes in and gets the job done. They can be loving the story and rushing back to it every second they can, thinking about it every spare moment, or they can be at a point where deadlines are looming, the rent needs to be paid, and really, there's this new idea that would like to be written once they're through with this one.

A hobbyist talks about writing. Writers, we are all experts at creative procrastination, talk about writing. Authors sit down and write.

Be Willing to Try, to Learn, and to Make Mistakes

One of the scariest things about being an author, in my humble opinion, is the certainty that I'm not always going to get it right. Most of the time I won't--at least the very first time I'm writing the story down.

Big things, small things, and in between things are always there waiting for me to fix during revisions and edits.

But even scarier than those things are the Other Things. The quirks and bad habits I don't consciously realize I have. At least, not at first. This is why it is so vital to keep on learning. To never accept your best as your very best for all time. To never believe you've made it to the top of the writing mountain, and now you have nothing left to learn.

There is *always* something new to learn or relearn. Always.

There are *always* more mistakes to be made. Always.

And that's a good thing. Learning, making mistakes, indicates that you're doing something more than gathering dust. It means that you're trying something new, something hard. Something that could very well end up turning into a beautiful piece of art.

Fear inhibits art, so an author gives him/herself permission to fail. Permission to try. Permission to do.

Be Proud of Your Work

There is a truism is writing, usually in reference to learning how to decide which bits of advice to take when revising your manuscript. You have to look at what aligns with the vision you had for the story and see what advice makes it stronger, clearer, and better.

Take that advice and strengthen your story. Everything else, just let it blow away in the wind.

The truth is, if you write something that comes from the heart, you're never going to please everyone. All books, everywhere, have their critics. And if you are an author and are writing with the intent to be published/read, those critics are going to find you.

It is then, before you read your first critical review that you'll want to remember the other side of the truth above: you don't want to please everyone.

Books that are written by writers who are seeking to please everyone will end up pleasing no one. Those books lose their voice, because they lose the heart of what they were trying to say in the beginning.

Authors know what they want to say (not always easy at first), and they say it without regret or apology. For their story to resonate with readers, it has to first resonate with themselves.

Be proud of your work. Own it. Believe in it. If you don't, how can anyone else?

Finally, I'd like to share a link to Neil Gaiman's Address to the University of the Arts I found via Dean Wesley Smith. It is, hands down, one of the best things I've heard about writing in a very long time. :) I hope you enjoy!

Danyelle Leafty| @danyelleleafty writes YA and MG fantasy. She is the author of The Fairy Godmother Dilemma series (Catspell, Firespell, and Applespell), and can be found on her blog. She can also be found on Wattpad.

The Publishing Pulse/May 18, 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Stina Lindenblatt) — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Social Networking

If you use Twitter or Facebook inappropriately, you could find yourself in trouble with the law. Here’s some advice to help you avoid this from happening to you.

Darcy Pattison discussed the author platform, and when you need to start creating yours.

Guest blog posts are an important way to promote your book. Anne R Allen shared her fifteen tips for being a great guest blogger.

Porter Anderson talked about the Twitter handle and how to use it to benefit yourself and others.

Publishing Information

To get a better idea of how a manuscript becomes a published book (fiction or nonfiction), check out this post and this post. Both will help you appreciate just how difficult it is to become published.

Your publisher has given you a deadline. Agent Jane Dystel explains what you can do if you’re have problems meeting it.

Miscellaneous

Author Jody Hedlund talked about jealousy. It doesn’t matter where you are on the publication pathway. It’s something all writers and authors have to deal with from time to time.

Here’s the latest on the Apple antitrust suit.

Do you suffer from these seven bad habits? Agent Rachelle Gardner explains how you can make the most of them.

Have a great weekend!

The Story Behind The Success: Lisa Amowitz

noreply@blogger.com (Ash Krafton | @ashkrafton) — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Query Tracker is a site devoted to helping writers who seek agent representation. In addition to the huge database of agent listings, Query Tracker also has a lively forum, full of writers and authors, each on their own journey toward publication.

There's also a section reserved for success stories. Each writer who signs with an agent is welcome to share his/her success story. The interviews are quite informative but sometimes they don't quite reflect the emotional details novice writers crave.

Success stories are about success. For many writers, however, the journey is discouraging and writers often feel alone in their struggles. Those stories can be cold comfort to a writer who feels passed over.

Lisa Amowitz was one such writer. She shares her story today because she knows, all too well, how important perseverance is when choosing the path of publication.

From Clueless Wannabe to Soon-to-be Published Author--The Eight-Year Saga of Lisa Amowitz

I got into serious writing pretty late in life. Though I’d always dabbled, I’m an artist and graphic designer by trade. But after reading the first three Harry Potter books to my daughter (in a very tacky British accent—yes—three entire books) something got under my skin.
I think it was a story.

So I wrote that story, hiding my activities like a CIA operative. It was two years before I admitted my now-overwhelming compulsion to write. My characters spoke to me at random moments—I was obsessed with writing that story.

But guess what? That first book was horrible. It has its fans but, plot-wise and premise-wise, it was unsalvageable. Subsequently, I joined an online critique group who really helped me to clean up my writing. But I still couldn’t plot to save my life.Heidi Ayarbe , Lindsay Eland, Christine Johnson and Kate Milford and a bunch of other up and coming writing stars of the future.), and I joined the Query Tracker forum (aka JustWrite—or JW as I became known), which at the time had about twelve members, including Leah Clifford (aka gypsy gurl).

We all became quite close, chatting day and night. I am still very good friends with a few of the originals (Michelle McLean (eknutswife) and Colleen Kosinski (Coll)—two very smart and determined ladies). The next wave, as QT grew brought in people like Jessica Verday, Elana Johnson Bethany Wiggins, and Mary Lindsey.

I’m dropping names here, because you should note that these ladies are all published. We all started together, whining, grasping at straws, dragging each other along. A number of them got lucky early on.
It’s not really luck—it’s just timing. Their time had come. And then, back in 2008, it seemed like my time had finally come, too.

I signed with a big agent for my third book. I thought I had arrived and would soon be ascending the steps to Writer Nirvana. Game over.

Was I wrong. The agent and I did not see eye-to-eye. She hated my revisions but didn’t really seem to know how to explain what she wanted from me. Her vision of my writing did not seem to mesh with the vision I had for myself. She liked my realistic style and characters but hated my fantasy. I started another book (my fourth book), which was not the one she wanted me to write. She preferred my other proposal, which, ironically became the book I eventually sold, my fifth book, BREAKING GLASS.

Yeah, yeah. She actually was right. But that isn’t the point—the point is that she tried to tell me who I was—she imposed her own wishes on me, which totally shut down my muse. I couldn’t write a word.
When she suggested we part in March of 2009, I was actually relieved. But by summer, I was DESTROYED. Devastated. My QT buddies were signing with agents and landing great deals, one by one—and I'd gone nowhere. I’d hit rock bottom. A shameful has-been.

It was hard. I was depressed and truly discouraged. With the help of my QT buddies and my crit groups, I just kept at it. Kept writing. In the winter of 2010, I submitted the first 150 words of my fourth book, LIFE AND BETH, to a Writer’s Digest contest and forgot about it until I won runner-up for second place out of 400 entries. Best of all, the contest judge--another very well-known but more down-to-earth agent—really liked my book.

However, I had a revelation. A very major revelation. I had to stop writing for others. I had to stop judging my worth as a writer by my outside success.

I had to write for me.

There it was: February 2010, the moment I came into my own.

I started to submit LIFE AND BETH. I got help from the esteemed Elana Johnson to perfect the best query ever (I designed her blog header in return—best barter I ever made!). And I broke ALL the query rules. You see, I didn’t care—I was going to write, and write, and write—and work on my craft. And NO ONE—no agent, editor, no arbiter of good taste was going to stop me.

I sent out NINETY queries over the span of five days. Yes—I knew my manuscript was polished to the best of my ability. Yes—my query was spot-on.

But 90? All at once? I got a request rate of about 27%.

Then came the phone calls from agents wanting to talk about revisions. At one point I had about fifteen manuscripts out for review. I was getting closer—I could feel it. All because I didn’t care. I was going to write my brains out, even if every agent in North America rejected me. The world of publishing was changing—you could smell it in the air. Indie publishing was growing in popularity and offered a new, attractive option.

During the summer, I got a phone call from the agent who had judged the Writers Digest contest. She gave me amazing tips on what I needed to do to make my book better. I began a major revision in hopes she might sign me.

But that never happened. In July 2010 I got an email from Victoria Marini, who'd requested my manuscript. She had about a hundred pages left to read of my ms and planned to finish the WHOLE thing that night. She did—and emailed requesting a phone call. I was expecting another revision song and dance.

Nope. She offered.

I asked for two weeks to consider the wisdom of signing with an untested novice. After contacting the bazillion other agents who had my full, they all stepped aside, including the contest agent (who was moving at the time and couldn’t read my revision that quickly.)

It took a lot of deliberation (Victoria was young, new—completely unknown) but my gut was screaming: YOU LIKE HER. SHE GETS YOU. SIGN WITH HER. I decided that Victoria, who would inspire me to WRITE and stand by me and cheer me on, was preferable to an agent who just didn’t get me, who made me question my skill as a writer.

Fast forward another year to 2011—Victoria went on to submit LIFE AND BETH with gusto. However, times were hard and it just never gained any traction. We both still love that book and have plans for it.

But here is the most important lesson to be learned: I DIDN’T CARE. I'd found my muse. I had an agent who passionately loved my writing, believed in me, and was going to sell my next book, or the one after that. My time would come.

In record time, I wrote BREAKING GLASS. It was almost a year after signing with Victoria, who in that year built her list and skyrocketed from unknown to a name brand. She’d made a good amount of sales and had networked her brains out. The woman is charming beyond belief and I felt so proud knowing that she was the one who would represent me.

We got very close to a huge deal with BREAKING GLASS. Then came an offer from Spencer Hill Press. They were small. I was skeptical. It felt like a repeat of my agent experience. But that had turned out okay. Better than okay.

So we went with Spencer Hill and I am thrilled with them. Now, not only do I have an agent who believes in me—I have a whole team. They even let me design my own book and trailer and gave me all the help I needed. From the incredible Kate Kaynak who has creative ideas streaming from her pores, to my supportive fellow writers like Kimberly Ann Miller, (TRIANGLES, 2013) to my editor, Vikki Claffone—they rock. They are not a publishing house---they are a family!

Am I rich? No. Will I get rich? Who knows. Do I care? Not at all. Money is not the reason I started writing in the first place. I started writing because I want people to read and love the stories in my head.
Thanks to my supporters, I’m going to write, and write, and write until the bones in my fingers crumble from overuse.

And that, dear people, is what it is all about. Love your craft. Don’t judge yourself against the successes of others. Persevere. Take advice. Understand the marketplace. Change, Grow, be fearless. Be a warrior. Love yourself and someone will eventually love you back.

You will get somewhere. Maybe not where you expected—but remember, it’s not the destination that matters—it’s the journey.

Check out Lisa Amowitz on Facebook, Twitter, and her blog. And check out Breaking Glass on Goodreads and YouTube.

Ash Krafton is a speculative fiction writer who resides in the heart of the Pennsylvania coal region, where she keeps the book jacket for "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" in a frame over her desk. Visit Ash's blog at www.ash-krafton.blogspot.com for news on her newly released urban fantasy "Bleeding Hearts: Book One of the Demimonde" (Pink Narcissus Press 2012).

Revise/Resubmit Requests

noreply@blogger.com (Jane | @janelebak) — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:30:00 +0000

The forums at QueryTracker.net have recently had questions about what to do when an agent gets back to you suggesting changes and asking to see the manuscript again afterward. You haven't been rejected, but you're not being offered representation either.

If this has happened to you, welcome to the Revise/Resubmit Request.

Receiving one of these is a positive sign: it means the agent thought your manuscript had enough promise not to reject it outright, but it still has quite a distance to go before the agent feels it's publishable. In a typical R/R, the agent will tell you exactly what problems s/he spotted, suggest a means of correcting those problems, and tell you to resubmit it after you're done revising.

If the agent only tells you the first part (the problems) that is not a R/R. It's a rejection with a reason attached. (You're still free to revise, but the agent isn't asking to see the result.)

The changes may be extensive. For example, my first R/R told me to remove two major characters, shift more scenes to the MC's job, build up the romance, and streamline the plot. This would require deleting 40,000 words, changing the timeline, and then re-writing to fill all the holes.

Let's say you receive a similar letter. What to do?

1) Think about it. Don't just scream or slam doors, but really think about what it would take to effect the suggested changes. Talk it out with someone who's familiar with your book. Think about how the changes would work with your own vision of the story.

2) Think about further changes that would be required because of that first set of changes.

3) Do not make any changes you do not fully understand.

4) Do not make any changes you do not agree with.

5) Do, on the other hand, give special attention to the places where you disagree with the agent's suggestion. If you find a better way to accomplish the same thing, use the better way.

For example, in my R/R I was told to remove two characters in order to streamline the story. Instead I removed one and downgraded the other from a major role to a minor role. This worked out because it retained this character's role in the B story, but it effectively removed him from the A story and allowed the romantic interest to do what he did best.

6) Take your time. Seriously, take as long as you need to, and then take longer. And then re-edit before you send it. Most agents would prefer you give the revision the full attention it requires than have you slap-dash some changes together. You're most likely not getting a second R/R from the same agent on the same manuscript, do get it all done right. And that leads to...

7) Carry the changes through fully. If the agent says one of your secondary characters feels stereotyped, then after you make sure that character is fully realized, double-check all the rest of your secondary characters to make sure they too are not cliched and flat. If the agent says to remove a specific info dump, then make sure all your expository lumps are broken down to a manageable size and distributed evenly through the text.

8) This is actually something that should be done between steps 1 and 2. Thank the agent. Ask any questions you have about the agent's comments, and then give a time-frame for how long you think it will take. (Be generous with that time-frame, and don't give a date because you don't want to think of it as a deadline. The agent understands edits can take a long time.)

A revise/resubmit request can be a terrific opportunity not only to improve your story but also to show an agent how well you take criticism. It's a moment when you can demonstrate your dedication both to your craft and to your story. If you're given this chance, make the most of it, and good luck!

---

Jane Lebak's novel The Guardian will be re-released this September by MuseItUp Publishing! She is also the author of Seven Archangels: Annihilation (Double-Edged Publishing, 2008) and The Boys Upstairs (MuseItUp, 2010). At Seven Angels, Four Kids, One Family, she blogs about what happens when a distracted daydreamer and a gamer geek attempt to raise four children. She is represented by the riveting Roseanne Wells of the Marianne Strong Literary Agency.

Publishing Pulse: 5/11/2012

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn Kaufman | @CMKaufman) — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Success Stories

Congratulations to our latest success story, Katherine Ernst!

If you've never checked out one of our success stories, they're a great way to learn about how other writers found agents on their way to publication. And, success stories like Katherine's usually include the author's successful query, so you can learn from those who did it right!

Around the Internet

How do you deal with reviews? Author Karen Witemeyer gives you some tips in Riding the Review Rollercoaster on Novel Rocket.

Rachelle Gardner is all about finding ideas this week. Her post, 9 Ways to Outwit Writer's Block, is accompanied by another guest post from Ms. Witemeyer, who has more good advice about finding ideas in There's Nothing New Under the Sun.

Ever tell yourself lies to make the editing go easier? Better check out 10 Lies You Might Tell Yourself While Editing and its companion post, 10 More Lies.

Is it email or e-mail? Web site or website? Online or on-line? Find out on The Urban Muse!

Want to get more out of your Facebook fan page? Check out these tips from ProBlogger!

If you have trouble with getting that story started, visit Write It Sideways to learn how to draw in your reader.

Have a great weekend and we'll see you next week!

Character Connection

noreply@blogger.com (Stina Lindenblatt) — Mon, 07 May 2012 11:00:00 +0000

One of the most common reasons for rejecting a manuscript is when the agent or editor can’t connect with the main character. Sometimes this is subjective; other times it’s not.

First you need a multi-dimensional, sympathetic character. Next you need to examine your Motivation Reaction Units (MRU). A Motivation can be an action, dialogue, or description that leads your character to react. For example, if you are walking toward your house and it explodes, the exploding house is the Motivation. The Reaction is what YOU do in response.

The intensity of Reaction needs to match the intensity of the Motivation. If your house explodes, you’ll likely react with more than a mere shrug. If the Motivation is small and the Reaction is over the top, then you’ve got an issue with melodrama.

Reaction can be action, dialogue, visceral reactions (e.g. heart rate), and/or inner dialogue. Visceral reactions (the body’s response that you can’t control) ALWAYS come first. The rest is up to you and your genre. But if you’re finding you are getting rejections because agents aren’t connecting with your character, you might want to examine your inner dialogue. It might not be enough. Remember, though, it needs to move the plot forward, not force it to sit still while your character contemplates the non-relevant.

Read the following three versions of an excerpt from In the Dark of the Night by John Saul:

Version with no inner thoughts

“Guess what I have!” Ellen demanded. “You’re going to love it.” (Motivation)

Merrill’s eyes narrowed and she held out her hand. “Give.” (Reaction)

Version with most of the inner thoughts deleted

“Guess what I have!” Ellen demanded. “You’re going to love it.” (Motivation)

Merrill’s eyes narrowed as she ran through the possibilities, except that whatever it was was small enough to be held in one hand. (Reaction)

Merrill held out her hand. “Give.” (Reaction)

Version from the novel

“Guess what I have!” Ellen demanded. “You’re going to love it.” (Motivation)

Merrill’s eyes narrowed as she ran through the possibilities. With Ellen, everything was always wonderful, and everyone was always going to love everything, so she could be talking about almost anything. Except that whatever it was was small enough to be held in one hand. (Reaction)

Ellen Newell’s hands, of course, were larger than most, and stronger, too. Even though she was nowhere near her son’s size, she was just as good an athlete as Kent, and could still beat him at tennis without even breaking a sweat. If Ellen weren’t one of her best friends, Merrill knew she could have hated her. As it was, Merrill just held out her hand. “Give,” she said. (Reaction)

Do you see the difference?

HOMEWORK

Copy a scene from a story in the genre you write (preferably a book you love/admire) and highlight the inner thoughts. Do they move the story forward? Do they give you insight into the character and her goals? What do you like about them? What don’t you like? What do you notice about the amount of inner thoughts on a typical page (this is going to vary among genres)? Compare them to your writing.

Take a scene from your story and analyze each Motivation and subsequent Reaction. Is the reaction enough? Can you expand on it by combining more than one element (e.g. action and inner thought)? What is your character thinking after the Motivation? Would it help your reader connect with your character if you wrote it down? (Write it down. You can go back later and trim if need be.) You’ll be surprise just how much you can strengthen the characterization by doing this exercise. Better yet, do it for the entire novel. Yes, it takes time, but it’s worth it if readers are struggling to connect with your character.

Stina Lindenblatt writes young adult novels. In her spare time, she’s a photographer and blogging addict, and can be found hanging out on her blog, Seeing Creative.

Publishing Pulse for May 4th, 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Jane | @janelebak) — Fri, 04 May 2012 11:54:00 +0000

Happy Star Wars Day from QueryTracker.net.

May the 4th be with you!

New At QueryTracker:

Our website doesn't have any updates of awesomeness this week, but still make sure you double-check every agent's website or Publisher's Marketplace page before querying. Yes, it takes an extra few minutes. Yes, it's worth it.

If you're a QueryTracker premium member, then you can be notified whenever an agent or publisher is added or updates their profile.

Publishing News:

The Kindle Index, or how the entire ereader market is Apple's rounding error.

Meanwhile, Microsoft is investing $300million in Barnes & Noble's digital publishing.

Around the Blogosphere:

Jason Ashlock discusses how agents can begin thinking of themselves as business developers in a changing publishing field.

Check out Tolkien's ten tips for writers.

Janet Reid introduces a new agent at FinePrint Literary, Becky Vinter.

Kristin Nelson discusses why an agent won't take on any old thing just because it will sell.

Rachelle Gardner sends a message to a writer's Significant Other. (Good luck getting them to read it.)

Dystel and Goderich's blog encourages writers to send letters to the DOJ with their thoughts about the ebook pricing settlement.

Literary Quote of the Week:

What is wonderful about great literature is that it transforms the man who reads it

towards the condition of the man who wrote. -E. M. Forster

That's all we have for now. Until next week, keep those queries flying!

---

Jane Lebak is the author of The Guardian (Thomas Nelson, 1994), Seven Archangels: Annihilation (Double-Edged Publishing, 2008) and The Boys Upstairs (MuseItUp, 2010). At Seven Angels, Four Kids, One Family, she blogs about what happens when a distracted daydreamer and a gamer geek attempt to raise four children. She is represented by the riveting Roseanne Wells of the Marianne Strong Literary Agency. Also, she's got a teensie little announcement today at her weblog, so stop by to share the fun.

Headlines and Hooklines: Writing a Press Release

noreply@blogger.com (Ash Krafton | @ashkrafton) — Wed, 02 May 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Yesterday morning I thought I'd do something nice for my book…so I sent out my press release to almost a dozen newspapers around my area, hoping someone will pick up my story and run with it.

I know this sounds a little intimidating to novice writers (and perhaps a few not-so-novice ones as well.) Press releases sound like terribly official and extremely elevated forms of publicity. Celebrities and experts and gala events get press releases…not us.

But did you ever try writing one? It's really not that bad—and it can do your book a world of good.

A press release is free publicity.

Reporters for media outlets love them because they provide content. You, as a writer, should love press releases because they tell the audience exactly what you want them to know.

Even if you don't need a press release yet, it's a good writing exercise. We've practiced writing log lines and queries and elevator pitches. With that practice came ease and familiarity with simmering our 90k word masterpiece into pure concentrated glory. Use this as another writing exercise so, when the time comes to finally make an announcement, you can rip out a press release and send it to your editor so fast her head will spin.

Exercises like these often help writers find new focus in their manuscripts, as well. Writing a press release provides a sort of goal for the work-in-progress—how you want your book to be viewed once it's released into the world.

A Press Release is NOT an Advertisement.

The key to writing an effective press release is to keep in mind who your target is: the journalist.

Weird, right? It's not necessarily the publication's audience. Just as a query letter is designed to snare the agent, a press release is meant to snare the journalist and get him to explore your story further. A press release is a huge billboard that says THERE'S A GREAT STORY HERE! and it lures all the news-hungry journalists over to see what's going on.

Advertisements are for customers, not for journalists. Journalists aren't looking to shop—they are looking to write articles for their publication.

Never exaggerate or hard-sell your book. Write the press release as if you are an objective reporter who found a news-worthy topic. Share an overview of the book and a general bit about the author. Keep it clean, keep it short, and keep it sharp. Don't give a journalist the excuse to skim or, worse, pass on it.

Anatomy of a Press Release

Traditionally, a press release has a few main sections: the headline, the lead paragraph, the body, the boilerplate, and the close.

Headline: the title of your press release. This is the eye-catcher, the sparkling summary, the hook. Write it as you would a hook sentence. Inspire curiosity and an intense need to read further. You can also add a subhead, which is in smaller type below the headline. It's another sentence or two providing more information—and more hooks. They aren't always included but since this is an exercise for some of you, go the distance for extra credit. Make those hooks sharp.

Lead Paragraph: This should be informative, nothing more. This is the spot for the who-what-where-when of the press release. If you're promoting fiction, you have a little wiggle room. Make it interesting but make it tight.

Body: Use this paragraph to elaborate and support your news. Provide examples and author quotes and remember: you are still trying to sell this story to a journalist so write like one. Keep it clean of adjectives and sales pitches and puffed-up claims.

Boilerplate: otherwise known as the biographical section. Write a bio for yourself, much the same way you'd write in an agent query letter. Say good things about yourself, your accomplishments, or your relevant qualifications. Direct the audience to a website or point to other resources that might elaborate on the subject of your book. Again, keep it short (but make it sweet.)

Close: Your contact information. That way a reporter knows who to call to get his next story.

Additional Essential Elements

The press release also has two more details to include in order to maintain proper structure. I'll list the parts we already discussed and slip in the missing lines in bold face.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Headline

Subhead

Lead

Body

Biography

# # #

Release Information: generally written as "for immediate release" but can also be altered to fit your needs by writing, for instance, "for release after XXX date".

# # #: Tells the reporter this is where the printable text ends.

That's all there is to it, folks. Use this template to plug in your information and away you go. You and your book are newsworthy!

Helpful Tips

There's a few extra nuggets of wisdom to remember.

Use your headline as your email's subject line.

Keep it to one page-- 400 to 500 words is the sweet spot.

Write it in third person.

Research your target publications and tailor the release to keep it audience-specific.
Keep it factual. You sell yourself by giving the facts and making them interesting. No one wants fluff unless they are shopping for pillows.

Cast a wide net—approach newspapers, online news publications, and radio stations. Can you think of other places that might promote you by reporting about your book?

That's really all it takes to write a successful press release. It's a unique writing exercise that gives us the opportunity to create another effective marketing tool for our books. There is a world full of free press out there—and now you know how to grab some of it.

(Of course, that means also means assembling an entirely new list: publications, news editors, radio stations…and, lest we forget, a new group of data for our obsessing needs. After all, QT habits die hard.)

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn Kaufman | @CMKaufman) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:00:00 +0000

By Kristy Lahoda | @KristyLahoda

Disclaimer: The information provided in this post should not be used for malicious intent unless it is in the form of crime writing. The author is an explosives expert, not an expert in courtroom testimony.

QUESTION: I want to portray an expert witness on the stand in my novel. How does the expert witness become qualified?

ANSWER: Just because a scientist is summoned for his/her testimony in court, does not mean that the scientist will qualify to testify as an expert witness.

Courtroom Players

The Judge, who oversees the courtroom and ensures that the Rules of Law and Rules of Evidence are followed, decides whether someone can testify as an expert witness.
There are two lawyers who represent a case: The Defense builds a defense against the charges filed, and the case built, by the Prosecutor.
The Jury renders a verdict based upon evidence evaluation as well as witness testimony.
The Witnesses are those who add value to the case. They present evidence in the form of answers provided in response to the questions the lawyers ask.
The Bailiff is in charge of the defendant as well as security.
The Clerk of the Court is in charge of evidence and documents while the Court Reporter keeps a transcript of the trial.

The Accused

The rights of the accused include the right to: be considered innocent until proven guilty, a public or private defense attorney, a preliminary hearing to determine if there is enough for a trial, face accusers, cross examine witnesses, and/or disclose evidence from the Prosecutor. This latter right is called Discovery. Discovery requests can be made by the defense because they have a right to know the contents of the expert witness file such as conclusions drawn from evidence.

The Expert Witness

If your expert witness is testifying in court, it is because he/she was subpoenaed by either the prosecutor or the defense. A subpoena is an order to appear in a trial. However, this doesn’t mean that the expert witness will actually be qualified to testify as an expert witness. He/she must go through a Voir Dire examination first. Before someone can be qualified as an expert witness, the prosecutor will demonstrate his/her qualifications, expertise, and competency. The defense attorney could try to have the expert disqualified to prevent him/her from testifying.

It is important that the expert witness be truthful and impartial, while presenting the evidence clearly and concisely.

Beginning Voir Dire, the expert states his/her name. The questions that qualify him/her as an expert witness include:

By whom are you employed?
What position do you hold?
How long have you been so employed?
What is your educational background?
Are you certified?
Are you a member of any professional organizations?
Do you have any relevant specialized training?
Have you testified before? How many times?

If the expert answers these questions to the satisfaction of the attorneys and judge, he/she will be qualified to testify as an expert witness. During cross-examination it will be important to answer questions without bias toward the prosecution or defense.

When I participated in a mock trial as an expert witness, I found it difficult not to be suspicious of the defense because I was under attack. The defense tried to find a reason to disqualify me as an expert witness and when the attorney could not, he sought to find a hole in my testimony. With a number of tactics in the defense’s arsenal, it is important for the expert witness not take anything personally. The defense attorney is just doing his/her job. Even if your expert witness works for the state, he/she must present the evidence without bias. It is the job of the expert witness to maintain neutrality.

Let’s look at a few ways your expert witness, say Dr. Defensive Dan, can maintain neutrality. If Dr. Dan is feeling attacked by the defense attorney, Ms. Attacking Anna, he should keep a calm exterior while remembering that one way she can try to win the case is by making him look like an idiot. He should not lie under any circumstances—even if he can’t remember something correctly. Lying includes telling a falsehood or omitting something that should have been mentioned during cross-examination. If he lies or is defensive when she is asking him questions, he is going to look like he is working for the prosecution. The expert witness does not take sides. His job is to tell the truth and give his opinion on what the evidentiary results mean. If you write your character this way, then he/she will be a good expert witness.

Kristy Lahoda, Ph.D., is an explosives analyst contractor in a crime lab as well as a science content editor for a major educational publishing company. She writes Christian forensic suspense and discusses forensics on her blog called Explosive Faith. You can follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

If you have a forensics question for Dr. Lahoda that you'd like to see answered on the QueryTracker Blog, send your question via Carolyn Kaufman using the email link under Contact Us in the right-hand column of the main QTB page.

Publishing Pulse for Friday April 27, 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Ash Krafton | @ashkrafton) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Query Tracker Database Updates

Two agent profiles—Molly Lyons and Paige Wheeler--were updated this week. Please make sure you double-check every agent's website or Publisher's Marketplace page before querying. Also, a new publisher has been added to the QT database: Champagne Books.

If you'rea QueryTracker member (membership is free) then you can be notified whenever an agent or publisher is added or updates their profile.

Success Story

Congratulations to Jamie Wyman, whose success story can be read here.

To the Webs!

Ever wish you can go back and change your book after it had been released? Well, maybe you can. Read about one author's decision togo back and re-write the ending of her book after hearing what her readers had to say about the story. Elle Lothlorien suggests that indie publishing has fundamentally (and perhaps permanently) changed the dynamic between authors and readers.

Starting in early July, the whole Tor/Forge e-book catalog will be free of Digital Rights Management (DRM). What does that mean for readers—and other publishers?

Do you make your characters bite their tongues because you're afraid of hate mail? Rachelle Gardner ponders whether a writer is responsible for the things a character says or does.

It's nearly fifty years since Whovians began their take-over of planet Earth. Dr. Who is the longest-running science fiction television series…safe to say, the writers know what they’re doing. Their secret to writing riveting episodes isn't smoke and mirrors, either. See why the doctor and his adventures are virtually timeless. You can use their tricks to e your own marketing strategies.

Many writers have turned to blogging to build their platform, attract their audiences, and vent about the crushing humanity of it all. But do all of them consider the long term effects of what they write?

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Ash Krafton is a speculative fiction writer who resides in the heart of the Pennsylvania coal region, where she keeps the book jacket for "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" in a frame over her desk. Visit Ash's blog at http://www.ash-krafton.blogspot.com/ for news on her newly released urban fantasy "Bleeding Hearts: Book One of the Demimonde" (Pink Narcissus Press 2012).

The exclusive query?

noreply@blogger.com (Jane | @janelebak) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 11:20:00 +0000

No, really. I saw this.

A writer on another forum asked about an agent who says she responds faster to queries if you write "Exclusive Query" in the subject line. The writer was interested in whether queriers actually abide by this.

I was able to track down the listing, and this is the second agent I've seen who mentions exclusive queries as if they're a desirable thing. This particular agent does not demand exclusivity (only rewards it); the other one demanded it.

Most agents feel differently:

https://twitter.com/#!/jsinsheim/status/194494383201067008

https://twitter.com/#!/jsinsheim/status/194494705642381314

Here's a thought: any agent who demands an exclusive query must feel confident that s/he is the very first agent you are going to query. Otherwise, with agencies taking months to review queries, and writers sending out up to a hundred queries (not all at once, please!) and no-response-means-no, the agent would have to accept that s/he was probably your very last choice. By three months, after all the dust had settled.

So, what are exclusives? Some agents, when they request your full or partial, ask for the exclusive right to be the one and only agent reviewing your material. They generally set a time limit on how long that will be, and it's generally much shorter than the six months an agent might be expected to keep your full manuscript. This is fairly rare, but it does happen.

It's fine to tell the agent if you do not want to grant this (for example, if your manuscript is already in front of ten other agents.) Agents should be able to negotiate, right? If you don't want to grant an exclusive, you should also be up-front in stating that if you receive an offer, you will notify them immediately and give them a chance to respond before accepting. Be aware that some agents will rescind their request; others will allow you to submit on a non-exclusive basis.

I would recommend against sending a query on an exclusive basis, especially in a climate where many agents never send rejection letters. Your query could be rejected in an hour, but you might wait for months. Months during which you could be seeking representation.

Here's another thought, from the inimitable Miss Snark, talking about exclusive submissions:

I NEVER ask for exclusives and most of my fellow agent buddies don't either. I figure if you want to work with me I'd better be able to tell you why I am a great agent for your book and what I bring to the table that those other sloths in the industry do not. I specifically do not want to sign anyone who hasn't queried elsewhere. That's the fastest way in the world to get a client with buyer's remorse the second something goes awry (and the first rule of publishing is that EVERYTHING goes awry).

If you query only one agent because that agent demands it, and you are offered representation, you'll never know what other agent interest your work would have garnered; you won't have been able to weigh the different kinds of agencies (a solo agent versus one in a large agency, for example) and you won't have been able to hear how different agents talk about their work. You'll lack perspective, in other words.

So let's say you're researching an agent and it turns out the agent wants an exclusive query. What should you do?

First, and most importantly, DO NOT tell the agent it is an exclusive query if it is not an exclusive query. An author-agent relationship would ideally be career-long, and it should not begin with deception. Period.

(And think about it: a writer who lies about exclusivity is in a pickle if another agent makes an offer. What's the writer going to do? Dear Mr. Agent-Exclusive: I know I said you were the only one looking at my material, but a funny thing happened.... Sincerely, Liar-Writer. That's not how to increase membership in your personal fan club.)

Secondly, if the agent does not put a limit on the exclusivity, put one on it yourself. State in your query that the agent can consider this an exclusive query for one or two weeks (and then specify the ending date). If the "deal" is that exclusive queries get looked at faster, then it makes sense to advocate for yourself in this fashion.

Thirdly, be prepared that any request for materials will most likely also be on an exclusive basis.

Personally, I hope this kind of request doesn't become an industry standard. But remember, if you come across something like this, play smart. It's your time and your career: manage them wisely.

---

Jane Lebak is the author of The Guardian (Thomas Nelson, 1994), Seven Archangels: Annihilation (Double-Edged Publishing, 2008) and The Boys Upstairs (MuseItUp, 2010). At Seven Angels, Four Kids, One Family, she blogs about what happens when a distracted daydreamer and a gamer geek attempt to raise four children. She is represented by the riveting Roseanne Wells of the Marianne Strong Literary Agency.

A Scavenger Hunt In Reverse

noreply@blogger.com (Jane | @janelebak) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 11:09:00 +0000

One good thing about being a writer is you can talk about the best ways of burying bodies, and no one phones the local boys in blue.

(True story: I was knitting a sock at a writing convention when a woman said, "May I see?" Ordinarily I'd hand over the sock, but I was with other writers, so I handed over one of the double-pointed needles. The woman balanced it her hand, sighted along it, and said, "You could kill a man with this." I replied, "I'd suggest a number five straight needle instead.")

There are better things to bury than bodies, however. Let's talk about burying details.

The details are where I have the most fun in my writing, and the majority of that fun happens in the editing phase. If you're one of those writers who hates editing, put down your number five straight needle and hear me out: most of the fun in an edit is the addition of depth.

Whether you're an outliner or a pantser, you don't know your main characters as well at the beginning of the book as you will at the end. That's just a factor of spending a hundred hours writing these guys. It's inevitable that as you go back through the book, you're going to find places where, early on, you just didn't know them as well and you glossed something which became more important later.

That's where it's fun. You find places to bury the details. You use that editorial needle and inject their deepest, most hidden motivations under the surface of the story. It emerges in one verb choice rather than another. In chapter three of the first draft, your MC is reading a book; now you'll know the title. In the first draft, your main character seems to have spent a lot of time looking at the moon; well, now you'll know why, and you can change the things she thinks while she gazes.

This phase is like a scavenger hunt in reverse. You know enough to go back and give the underlay. It's as if we need to know the contours of our characters before we can give them their bones.

Will every reader catch all these little moments? Of course not. In fact, I hope not. If someone does catch them all, you're not being subtle enough. But like real people, your characters will have thoughts and motives they're not aware they possess. There will be lies they believe, only they don't know either that they're lies or that they believe them. A lot of these details are there only for me, like a secret I'm telling myself. Why did Tabris look off at the trees when the other angels were joking about board games? A reader could figure it out, but most probably won't take the time.

In my own edits, my agent cautioned me that a certain change might be too much muddying of the character's motivation. I replied, "It's already there. It was already in her, and it took only a few changes in wording to evoke it."

In other words, sometimes you're not adding. You're just transforming potential into reality. You just needed to find it yourself before you could bury the clues for others.

In my sophomore year of college, my English professor spent the first ten minutes of class annoying the hell out of me. She was asking us why Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra was great literature, and no matter what answer we gave, it was wrong. Finally, I raised my hand. "Did you think it was great?" I said. (If you think I'm arrogant now, you really didn't want to know me in college.) When she said yes, I said, "Why do you think it was great?"

She said, "Because it asks great questions."

A year later, another professor said that if you want people to talk about your work forever, leave a few unanswered questions. Leave them something to debate.

I'm not telling you how to get into the 2410 edition of the Norton Anthology. But I will tell you that if an agent or editor continues pondering your novel for days after finishing, you've got a better chance than if they close the book and never think of it again.

Not that you want to leave your story muddy. Instead, you want to leave us with the sense that all the answers are right there, right in our hands. That the characters, just like all the other people you know, are multifaceted and complex. That they resonate because of the many layers to their motivations, their thoughts, their decisions.

And so, without ever saying it explicitly, you convey that your character has a sweet tooth, or that she found a home base in her grandfather, or that he never feels entirely comfortable with the comfortable life he's inherited. Maybe she has an enigmatic tattoo you never fully explain. Maybe you never even tell us she has a tattoo, but her reaction to someone else's tells us she's got one somewhere under her clothes.

Editing isn't just fixing your errors. It's also fixing the underpinnings of your characters so that they resonate in our minds.

---

Jane Lebak is the author of The Guardian (Thomas Nelson, 1994), Seven Archangels: Annihilation (Double-Edged Publishing, 2008) and The Boys Upstairs (MuseItUp, 2010). At Seven Angels, Four Kids, One Family, she blogs about what happens when a distracted daydreamer and a gamer geek attempt to raise four children. She is represented by the riveting Roseanne Wells of the Marianne Strong Literary Agency.

The Publishing Pulse: April 20, 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Stina Lindenblatt) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:00:00 +0000

The Pulitzer Prizes were announced, but alas no fiction books were award a prize.

According to author Cory Doctorow, the problem isn’t piracy. It’s obscurity.

Lawsuits alleging an ebook-pricingconspiracy, like in the US, have been filed in Canada.

If you’re considering exploring the self-publishing path, agent Natalie Lakosil has put together a Q & A that might address some of the questions you have.

Publisher Liz Pelletier explained the journey a book takes from query to stores’ bookshelves.

Social media is important for writers. But please check out this post by agent Rachelle Gardner to make sure you are not these serious mistakes. Your writing career will thank you for it.

Are you a craft junkie?

Here is a letter from Norman Maclean to a publisher that had previously passed him over, when they had the chutzpah to ask him for an early look at his next manuscript.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Stina Lindenblatt writes young adult novels. In her spare time, she’s a photographer and blogging addict, and can be found hanging out on her blog, Seeing Creative.

Figuring Out Your Writing Style

noreply@blogger.com (Danyelle L.) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:53:00 +0000

Courtesy of typofi

One of the most important things a writer can learn is what type of writer they are and how they work best.

Writers, like any artist, have their own way of doing things. One way is not *better* than another, just different.

We all have the same tools, but learning how to apply them--and which ones we work best with--can make all the difference.

There really is no One Right Way to do it.

Think of all the water colorists, photographers, or sculptors we'd be missing out on if we insisted that 'real' art or paintings that are worth anything can only be done in oils. Or pastels. Or pencils.

Some writers know how they work from the start, while others have to move around a bit to get a feel for each different technique. The key is to keep learning and trying new things until you find what works best for you. (And even then, it never hurts to try something new, just in case. :))

The following are different techniques for how and when to get the writing done, and are by no means an exhaustive list.

The two groups of writers most often discussed are the outliners and the pansters. There are many shades and subgroups for each type, but for simplicity's sake, I'll be referring to each in their most general role.

Outliner
Outlining can be strict and detailed or light and loose or anything in between. It can be plotting out a scene, a chapter, a novel, or the entire series. It can be a few sentences to give a flavor or create a mood, or it can catch all the fine details and turnings of the stories. It can even be a work of art in its own right.

Outliners thrive in knowing what comes next. It helps them shape each part of the story if they can see what the overall design is supposed to look like. Seeing the beginning through to the end can also keep the writer from making unnecessary detours or wrong turns. On the other hand, adhering to a plan when the characters and story have grown in a different direction can stifle the spark of magic in the story.

Panster
A panster can have a loose plan or a vague idea of where they want to end up, or they can have a blank piece of paper that's just waiting for them to populate a new world. Sometimes they know how the story is going to end, and sometimes they just wing it.

Pansters thrive in getting to know their characters and world as they go along. It's not about the destination so much as it's about the journey. Letting your characters map the story can lead to new and exciting discoveries. On the other hand, allowing your characters to exist without purpose can damage the structure and meaning of your story over all.

Like anything else, it's all about finding the right balance, for both outliners and pansters.

Another useful thing to know about yourself is if you're a day writer or a night writer or a snatch-the-time-whenever-I-can writer.

My right brain is my writing brain, and my left brain is my editing brain. I've found that I write better at night and edit better during the day. Once I figured this out, I had a lot less frustration, because I could plan my writing and editing around when the different parts of my brain are most alert. My writing and editing flow smoother when I do them at my peak times instead of trying to force my brain to accommodate my to-do list.

When we consider what type of writer we are, sometimes we get so caught up in the outliner/panster debate, that we forget there is another subset type: sprinters and marathon writers.

Sprinter
A sprinter does short bursts of writing at a time. They can do a number of repetitions--say, writing 100-500 words at a time or in ten minute increments--but the actual writing time is in small, contained phases.

When I'm tired or just not feeling the writing fire in my veins, I do sprints. Timing myself stresses me out and blocks the words, so I do my sprints in 500-word increments. (Or 250 if I'm *really* distracted.) After I reach 500 words, I get to check my email, a few forums, and anything else I want for about five minutes. Then I go back and do another round. Rinse and repeat until I hit the word count for the day I was aiming for.

Marthon Writer
These are the writers that can sit down and write for as long as they're able. The people that can do 5,000 or 10,000 or 15,000 words in one day. People who can finish novels in a week or so.

Pacing yourself, being well rested, and minimizing your distractions can help. Some marathon writers do short marathons (5k) on a regular basis, while others go for the bigger word counts a little less frequently.

And then there's a whole world in between sprinting and writing by marathon method. The key here is knowing what your limits are and stretching yourself without breaking your brain. For example, right now I can write at least 2k a day, 6 days a week. When I first started writing professionally, I struggled to get down 500 words a day. My goal is to one day be able to do 4k a day, but it's something I'm having to work toward.

Like any muscle, your creative endurance can grow if you work it out regularly within a range that will challenge you without burning yourself out.

Another way to determine how you work as a writer is to examine how your brain works in your creative process. How you get your ideas and how they connect to each other.

Flypaper
Some people have minds like flypaper. Their brains are sticky and have no trouble catching every idea that comes near them. These are the writers that have more ideas than they'll ever be able to write, because there just aren't enough hours in the day.

The problem with this is that it can lead to a lack of focus. A thousand novel beginnings without any middles or ends. Something you can do to combat this is keep an idea journal. When a new idea comes, write it down in as much detail as you have and then go back to the novel you're working on. This allows you to keep all your ideas without distracting you from finishing what you're working on, because you can always come back to it later.

Fisher
Other writers are more like fishers. Ideas might be harder to come by and/or require more patience to suss out.

This can lead to frustration if you're a fisher, but surrounded by writers who have flypaper brains. The important thing to remember is that it doesn't matter whether you have one idea or a hundred. What matters is what you end up with in the end, and a polished, professional-grade novel requires hard work no matter how you get your ideas. Knowing that it takes you a little longer to find that perfect idea can lessen your frustration with yourself and your story.

Because that's what matters most in the end: the story. Knowing how *you* best get from 'Once upon a time' to 'And they all lived happily ever after' can only deepen the joy of the process.

What kind of writer are you? Any I missed?

Danyelle Leafty| @danyelleleafty writes YA and MG fantasy. She is the author of The Fairy Godmother Dilemma series (Catspell, Firespell, andApplespell) and can be found on her blog.

The Breaking Point...and Beyond

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn Kaufman | @CMKaufman) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Have you ever seen the TV show nip/tuck (2003 - 2010)? It's an unusual show, because you're watching along, and they imply that something really edgy is going to happen. A main character is feeling kind of turned on by the super-expensive sex doll modeled after his business partner's ex-girlfriend. A plastic surgery patient character has threatened to perform her own mastectomy.

Most writers would turn away, getting their characters out just in the nick of time. Of the few writers who decided to go all the way, most of them would never show the actual event. In nip/tuck, they Go There. All the way. And they show all of it. The sex with the doll. The woman who does the mastectomy on herself with an electric carving knife in the doctors' waiting room. And then they show the fallout. These characters never get a break.

Going There is what intrigues me. Not what happens when the hero gets there in the nick of time, but when the worst the hero can possibly imagine happens. And then sometimes...that's not all. Next come a few things the hero couldn't possibly have imagined in his worst nightmares. And then, of course, there's the fallout. Shattered relationships. Grief. Nightmares. Depression. Post-traumatic stress disorder. Suicidality. And the humiliation of having had all those reactions in front of other people.

Maybe it's having been on the frontlines and counseled people who have had things worse than they could ever imagine happen to them. Maybe it's just having lived through a few things in my own life. But I Go There in my fiction. A lot.

I don't see it as torturing my characters. I see it like this: Life can really, truly be that ugly. Human beings do horrible things to other human beings, and sometimes they even do them intentionally. I don't pretend otherwise when I tell a story.

One of the best ways to learn about the dark side of life is to be willing to be open, and to listen. Everyone has suffered indignities, and some have suffered horrors. But those things are invisible unless you're open and willing to other people, including the really nasty, awful bits. Like Mary Lindsey once said to me, the people who seem the most benign are often the ones who hide the most. Because they've had to learn to seem benign to be accepted by a world too horrified by the realities of their lives.

The same thing is true with your characters. You have to be willing to really listen to them, and if they have to Go There, you need to be brave enough to go with them. Carl Jung talked about how we all have a dark side to our personalities (which he called the Shadow), but only a few of us are willing to confront that side and integrate it into the Self. I've always believed that part of what makes Stephen King so great is that he faces his own Shadow and then writes about what he finds.

So how do you do that , avoid giving in to the urge to look away from the dark stuff?

The most important word in your story is NO. Whatever your character wants or needs, the answer must always be NO. Once in a while, it may seem that the character is getting a yes, but in reality that yes must ultimately drive them farther from what they want or need. I believe strongly in the NO. It always leads to a better story.

Have you ever seen Cool Hand Luke? No matter how many times they drag Luke back to the chain gang, he always takes off again. He can't seem to help it. After the second time he escapes, the boss makes him dig a trench. Then fill the trench. Then dig the trench. Then fill the trench. Over and over and over, until Luke finally breaks down, half dead, and begs to be allowed to stop. But they keep pushing him. The other inmates turn away, horrified by what's left of this free spirit they all admired.

Still, later in the film, Luke escapes again, this time with another inmate. The friend laughs, crowing that Luke's groveling was so convincing that "They didn't know you was foolin!" And Luke says "Foolin, huh? You can't fool them about somethin like that. They broke me."

So forget a little spilled milk, a few broken eggs. For me the real question is...what does it take to break your character, and what happens to him after he's broken?

Publishing Pulse: 4/13/2012

noreply@blogger.com (Danyelle L.) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Success Stories

Congratulations to our fellow QueryTracker's newest success stories:

Michelle Krys and Julie Murphy

Also, congrats to Pat for QueryTracker making Writer's Digest's 101 best websites for writers!

Publishing News and Around the Web

From Publishers Weekly, a good overview of the Hatchette, HarperCollins, and S&S Price-Fixing Settlement. In related news, an open letter about the lawsuit from Macmillan's John Sargent.

From The Bookseller, a few of the major US publishers are refusing to renew their contracts with Amazon.

New details on J. K. Rowling's new book via Galleycat. Also from Galleycat, Smashwords is going to keep its agency pricing model.

Author Nathan Bransford has an awesome post on the Ten Commandments for Editing Someone's Work.

From Writer Beware, Poetry.com is making its comeback and the reasons why some small publishers fail.

Author Patricia C. Wrede has some great ideas on what to do when you run out of ideas.

Have a great weekend!

Danyelle Leafty| @danyelleleafty writes YA and MG fantasy. She is the author of The Fairy Godmother Dilemma series (Catspell, Firespell, and Applespell) and can be found on her blog.

Taming the Dreaded Synopsis

noreply@blogger.com (Jane | @janelebak) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:48:00 +0000

We'd all like to live in denial that this thing exists at all, but you need one if you're querying. The synopsis. The 800-word summary of your 95,000 word novel.

(Nonfiction writers, you may breathe easier: you do not need to produce one of these monsters.)

The query and the synopsis are different animals. Your query needs to entice and leave tantalizing questions. Your synopsis needs to tell a story and provide us with answers. And despite the three-times-greater word count, your synopsis has more than three times as much work to do, so you still need to write tight.

Like the query, the synopsis is primarily a selling tool. It will give a quick overview of your entire novel from soup to nuts, proving to the agents and editors that you understand story structure, that your story has both a plot arc and a character arc, and that you know how to pull together a satisfying ending. Your synopsis will also need to show how the stakes increase during the course of the story. It will need to hit all the major plot changes and introduce the major characters and their issues. Readers of your synopsis will need to care about your character and root for the character to succeed. For SF/Fantasy writers, you'll need to include world-building as well.

Many of the techniques you use for writing fiction will have to come to bear in the synopsis. Powerful verbs, sentence rhythm, saying a thing once and not needing to repeat it. And other techniques will just have to go by the wayside.

The synopsis should run between 500 and 1000 words, unless the agent or editor requests a different length. (I've seen several who want a one-page synopsis. Give them what they want.)

A synopsis is not a chapter-by-chapter outline of what happens. I've tried that, and it's a mess. Instead you need to focus on the frame of your story and give us the "story beats," (as Blake Snyder would say in Save The Cat) and give us only what we need.

1) Your main character's inciting incident, with a description of your main character worked into that description.

2) What your main character decides to do about that.

3) Descriptions of other main characters as necessary, but worked into the story.

This is how I opened the synopsis for the revised edition of my first novel, The Guardian.

The Guardian opens as a guardian angel stands trial for murder. Although the other angels, and even Tabris himself, expect God to send him to Hell, God inexplicably grants Tabris mercy and a second chance. On probation, Tabris is deployed as an assistant guardian to a ten-year-old girl named Elizabeth.

Where does this fall flat? I didn't give any description of Tabris. I could have said everyone was shocked because Tabris was considered one of the most conscientious angels until this happened. I could have said Tabris was a former commander in Michael's army. I felt the setup here was compelling enough that the description could wait.

You'll need also to establish the stakes.

Although Tabris tries to fit into the new routine with the family's other guardian angels, he's torn by grief and guilt. His new companions don't want him around, speculating that he must have hated his previous charge and wondering if he might harm Elizabeth--or the other family members. Tabris still loves God but can't bring himself to pray, convinced that when he does, God will refuse him. The only one who does seem to want Tabris is, unfortunately, Zeffar, a demon who changes names every time they meet but always presses for the same thing: he wants Tabris to join him in rebellion so he'll fall forever.

So we've got stakes (both internal and external), we've got both internal and external opposition, and we've got an antagonist.

And after that, I set out to follow the threads of the A-story (how Tabris adjusts to guarding Elizabeth, and what Elizabeth's guardian does about his presence) and the B-story (how Zeffar begins seducing Tabris in order to assure his fall.)

As you go through your synopsis, think broad strokes. Your novel is the Mona Lisa, but your synopsis is going to be a coloring book rendering of the Mona Lisa. Give us the outlines. The novel will have to provide the shading and the contours.

Make sure your synopsis mentions the midpoint of the novel (where the plot probably takes a major turn, along with the false-high or a low,) the point where "the bad guys close in" (or the situation takes a sharp turn for the worse,) the main character's darkest hour, the "help from outside" (or however your character manages to get his groove back) and then the climax. Make sure to mention how both the A-plot and the B-plot are resolved.

If you're not sure what I'm talking about with some of these "story beats," here's a brief summary of Save The Cat.

While in a query you must not answer all the questions (all the better to tantalize) you must do so in your synopsis. If there's a secret ending, for the synopsis it should not be secret anymore. All the major plot twists and turns must be included. Yes, Luke, I am your father, and all that stuff no one suspects while they're going through the book? It'll have to be in there.

In eight hundred words or thereabouts.

It's not fun, but it's doable. Good luck!

---

Being Subtle With Subtext

noreply@blogger.com (Stina Lindenblatt) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Fiction is like an iceberg. Only twenty-five percent of it is visible (the words on the page). The other seventy-five percent is known as subtext. Subtext enables your reader to see that more is going on than what is in the text. It enables you to create a richer, more emotion packed story. It’s the part that is tricky to convey, but when you do it right, it makes for a compelling story.

There are numerous ways to show subtext, this post will cover three of them.

Action and Dialogue

Imagine your character has an issue with his car. The door has a major design flaw that the automaker knew about, but while the character’s car was under warranty, he was never warned it might be an issue later on. Naturally, the door’s status deteriorates after the warranty expires, and he’s left with a hefty repair bill. He goes back to the dealership and asks if anyone during his regular service appointments checked the status of the doors while the car was under warranty.

The last thing the service guy wants to do is answer the question. He’s been coached on how to approach it. He keeps avoiding a direct answer. Meanwhile, he’s shifting nervously on his feet and shooting panicked looks at his co-workers while they pretended he doesn’t exist. He knows he’s failing miserably at keeping to the script, and this makes him more nervous.

When you write dialogue, ask yourself what is really happening that the character isn’t saying. Then show it. Have your main character interpret the other character’s actions and body language. Occasionally have your character misinterpret them to misdirect the reader. But make sure it’s believable. If your reader can guess the truth behind the subtext, your misdirection will come off as contrived and your character will sound like an idiot. Nothing irks a reader more than when he feels manipulated.

Symbolism

One way to create a richer story is by weaving symbolic subtext into it. This is also a great way to reveal the story’s theme. It’s not hard to do when you consider how many things in our world have been assigned different meanings. For example, we associate red with passion, anger, embarrassment, danger, power.

Subtext works both at a conscious and unconscious level. When we read a book or watch a movie, some symbols will jump out at us, especially if the creators have done a good job drawing your attention to it. With other symbols, you won’t stop to analyze it. For example, if the scene takes place in a room with green walls, you won’t be thinking that the director wanted to reveal the subtext of life. But you can guarantee someone behind the scenes purposely picked that color because of what it symbolized and not because it was her favorite color.

In the book Where the Heart Lies, Billie Letts used a tree to represent life and growth. Pregnant seventeen-year-old Novalee is abandoned by her boyfriend at a Walmart store. With nowhere to go, she secretly moves into the store. A woman mistakes her for a young girl she once knew and gives Novalee a Welcome Wagon gift of a buckeye tree. When the tree starts dying, Novalee tries to return it to the woman, who suggests they plant it in her garden, but only if Novalee comes by regularly to take care of it. This is the turning point in Novalee’s life. Ruth Ann’s actions are the first act of kindness Novalee has experienced in a while, and under the mothering of Ruth Ann, Novalee turns her life around. And of course (during the movie), we are reminded this with regular shots of the growing tree.

Imagery

The use of imagery, such as a metaphor or simile, can enrich your story by adding subtext. For example (Whispers by Dean Koontz):

“ . . . Mr. Frye believed that his mother—I think her name was Katherine—had come back from the dead in someone else’s body and was plotting to kill him. He hoped that the Marsden journal would give him a clue about how to deal with her.”

Joshua felt as if a large dose of ice-cold water had been injected into his veins. “Bruno never mentioned such a thing to me.”

If Joshua had said, “Hey man, you’re spooking me here,” the scene would not have been as powerful. He doesn’t want the other person to know just how unnerved his is about the situation. But the reader needs to know this.

It isn’t always necessary to spell out the subtext for your readers. Often it’s more satisfying for the reader if you let him figure it out for himself. That’s the beauty of fiction. It exercises our brains. However, if the subtext is confusing and is going to frustrate the reader, then definitely have a character spell it out.

Do you enjoy writing subtext? Is it something your focus on when editing a draft?

Stina Lindenblatt writes young adult novels. In her spare time, she’s a photographer and blogging addict, and can be found hanging out on her blog, Seeing Creative.

Interview with Ash Krafton: Approaching Publishers Directly

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn Kaufman | @CMKaufman) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Today we're talking with our own Ash Krafton about her journey with getting her debut novel, Bleeding Hearts! Read on to learn more about approaching publishers directly, being a great social networker, and researching Egyptian mythology!

Though your first novel, Bleeding Hearts: Book One of the Demimonde is being published this month by Pink Narcissus Press, you’ve also written a lot of short stories and poetry (and won a lot of awards for them)! How did you start writing?

I began writing as a form of cheap therapy (*grin*). I have a high-pressure medical job that was becoming increasingly stressful…so I did the sane thing and retreated inwardly. I've always had a literary soul (my mom has a stack of my writing from when I was in school.) Going back to writing was a natural thing and it really helped me to focus and enjoy my time off.

I ended up writing passages and scenes from a fantasy that eventually became a novel-in-progress. But it wasn't serious. It was, like I said, cheap therapy. Then I got the idea for Bleeding Hearts—and the whole game changed. I was serious about this project and, with the support of my family, I worked on that project until it was a candidate for publication.

The "short stuff" as I call it, is the result of a mishmash of things—some of it I wrote to combat writer's block, other things I wrote to express ideas that didn't fit into my novel writing. I also began to explore traditional forms of poetry—sestinas, villanelles, ghazals—because the mixture of meter and cadence and line count and rhyme is a decidedly scientific thing. It helps keep my left brain happy.
That the short stuff has ever been worthy of recognition still blows my mind.

Did you have an agent or go directly to a publisher? If the latter –writers are often curious about books that were sold directly to a publisher, without the help of an agent go-between. How did you decide to submit directly, rather than using an agent? How did you find publishers to submit to?

I queried Bleeding Hearts and eventually signed with an agent. However, our work together didn't result in a fairy tale ending. There were a lot of challenges and, after about nine months, we ended our contract.
I was in a bad place then—I had no idea what to do next. The agent had submitted the proposal to just about every big house so there wasn't anything left for another agent to do. Honestly, I felt like my chances were completely blown…

My QueryTracker friends were very supportive and helped me to find my way through the fog. (Hug, ladies, and my unending gratitude!) I decided to tread water for a while and went back to entering novel-writing contests. I couldn't let my project die just because of a failed agent episode.

Then I learned about the small press market.

My greatest resource became Duotrope (http://duotrope.com), which is a free resource for writers that primarily offers an extensive, searchable database of over 4000 current fiction and poetry markets. They also offer a submissions tracker for registered users that not only organizes my work and the markets to which I've submitted, but also uses the data to calculate stats (QueryTracker fans LOVE stats.)

Up until then, I only used Duotrope to find poetry and short fiction markets for my work. However, the site has a growing database of small presses looking for novel and novella-length work.

I went back to querying—and, by this time, I was a pro—and started knocking on the doors of the little houses.

My world completely opened up. The contests I entered started announcing results—and in a short period of time I found out I'd made finals in several RWA contests. That is BIG TIME publicity for a writer. I was absolutely floating on air…then I got the first offer of publication.

Okay. Game time.

At the time I got the first offer, I had about a dozen queries out to other small presses. Some had already asked for a partial or a full, others I hadn't heard back from at all. I sent everyone an email with the subject "Offer on the Table for Bleeding Hearts" and explained I had an offer and wanted to know if they'd had a chance to read my submission or if they were interested in making an offer.

I got three non-responses, one "best wishes, we're backlogged and can't get to your sub and don't want to hold you up," and five more offers.

It really came down to two of them. (I can make my decision-making process a post in itself.) I couldn't have made a wrong choice…and I am head-over-five-inch-heels for my publisher. (If I could do cartwheels in these things I would.)

You do an amazing job of networking and building buzz for your work. What were some of the things you did to make people aware of Bleeding Hearts? If you were going to give other writers one tip for building buzz, what would it be?

Don't be shy.

Self-promotion is a scary thing for writers but you have to approach this thing as a business. A network is essential. How many readers are there in the world that might like your book? Do you honestly think you can reach them all on your own? Social media is the Technology God's gift to authors. We can send our messages out to our peers, who may repeat the information to THEIR peers, and so on. Promotion is a pass-it-on deal. Be confident, reach out, and let the world know you have a message worth sharing.

As for me, I'm just a grown-up kid who loves playing with her computer. I got my first real PC and Internet service in '93 when I was in college. I remember how angry my mom used to get because she'd try to call and get a busy signal because I was on-line. So, for a nerd like me, this isn't really work. Networking was tough in the beginning because I was shy and had no confidence and knew nothing about publishing. However, with time and a lot of reading and fooling around at Query Tracker's forum, I learned the ropes, made writer friends, and decided it was time to do what everyone else was already doing: building my social network.

My husband accuses me of fooling around on-line. When will he learn that I'm really *working*?

Anyone else interested in *working* with me? I'm on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads. I also blog at http://ash-krafton.blogspot.com and call http://ashkrafton.com home.

In Bleeding Hearts, you focus on the Egyptian god Horus. What kinds of research did you do?

Studies of Egyptology have been my hobby as far back as I can remember. I love museums and my family indulges me by accompanying me to every exhibit we find. I got to see the huge King Tut exhibit that came through the Franklin Institute a few years ago (although my son drew the line at the Mummy exhibit. Chicken. Scooby Doo ruined my kid on mummies forever.).

I also own a lovely translation of the Book of the Dead. Although I didn't have it for the writing of this book (I used what I could find on-line) I have found some amazing stuff that is inspiring passages for the sequels, which are in-progress.

I'm not an expert. I'm just someone who loves the study of Ancient Egypt and that love somehow found its way into my story.

(No mummies in Bleeding Hearts, though…at least not yet.)

Tell us a little bit about Bleeding Hearts and how we can get it!

BLEEDING HEARTS: Book One of the Demimonde

Saving the world one damned person at a time—shy advice columnist-turned-oracle must find a way to save her dangerous demivampire lover from the fate that threatens each of his race: evolution and the destruction of his soul.

(Note:this is a log-line that I wrote using tips from the Query Tracker Blog…and it even got a mention in an agent-run contest on another site!)

When advice columnist Sophie meets dark and alluring Marek, she learns life-changing secrets about them both—he’s a demivampire struggling to avoid evolution and she’s an empathic oracle destined to save him. Sophie possesses the rare ability to reduce the spiritual damage that causes a demivamp to Fall, making her the only thing that stands between a DV and evolution. However, as Marek's dangerous past propels him toward his desperate fate, his enemies make darker plans for him: once vampire, powerful Marek would be second only to the Master himself. The vamps want to cause Marek's Fall and they intend to use Sophie to do it....

Join the Demimonde!

Bleeding Hearts on www.PinkNarc.com: http://pinknarc.com/books

Bleeding Hearts on Amazon

Bleeding Hearts Goodreads page

Bleeding Hearts on Barnes & Noble

Publishing Pulse: 3/30/2012

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn Kaufman | @CMKaufman) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Success Stories

Congratulations to our latest success story, Krista Van Dolzer!

If you've never checked out one of our success stories, they're a great way to learn about how other writers found agents on their way to publication. And, success stories like Krista's usually include the author's successful query, so you can learn from those who did it right!

Around the Internet

Danyelle Leafty's Kindles for Kids is winding down, but you have until 12:01 am on Saturday to enter a contest to win some great prizes! Get over there to check it out before it's too late!

Some writers get bogged down in showing every last thing that happens in the story, and that can make them lose forward momentum. Adventures in YA and Children's Publishing teaches you how to use effective transitions and keep your forward momentum.

Writing Books is A Lot Like Competing in American Idol: some advice on dealing with all the things others tell you to do to change your story!

A great post on Showing Character Motivations, packed with questions you need to ask yourself depending on the type of motivation you're using.

Baby Got Backstory: A step-by-step guide to figuring out when and how to use backstory.

Have you ever thought about how things like culture affect naming trends? In other words, if you are creating a culture, your characters' names should probably show some patterns. The Name Game--Keeping Character Names Consistent will help you with this.

Publishing Lessons From The Investment Industry

noreply@blogger.com (Stina Lindenblatt) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 13:00:00 +0000

What do the investment and publishing industries have in common (other than the desire to make money)? My husband works in the investment industry, and it recently dawned on me, while listening to him, how many lessons we can learn about publishing based on insights from the investment industry.

Diversify

In investing, this means not owning shares in only one company (see Get Rich Quick to learn the dangers of that). You want to consider your financial goals (which are partly based on how close to retirement you are, as well as numerous other factors beyond the scope of this post), and plan your investments accordingly.

In writing, diversify can refer to many things:

You’ve written a book and have started querying it. But instead of working on a new project, you tweak the manuscript while waiting to hear back from agents. You get feedback and tweak it some more. You take an online course. Another person beta reads it. And it each time you get the feedback, you keep tweaking your manuscript. There’s nothing wrong with this, except all your hopes are clinging to this one story. If you continue to get rejections, tweaking it isn’t going to save it. There may be deeper structural problems or issues with characterizations that you’re ignoring. Often we don’t realize these things until we put the book aside and work on something else. Most authors’ first books are never published, and there’s a good reason for that. But they realized it was time to move on and work on a second or third or fourth book. If they hadn’t done that, they probably never would have been published.

This term also applies to querying only your dream agent. I’ve seen this mentioned a number of times on the writer forums. The writer only queries his dream agent. Great, except the writer’s book might not be the agent’s dream book and she rejects it. The smart writer hasn’t put all his hopes on the one individual. He’s queried other agents who he thinks might love his book. This increases his chances of landing an agent who turns out to be a better match than the so-called dream agent.

Diversify can also mean writing short stories, novellas, and novels, instead of focusing solely on writing novels. It can mean writing young adult and middle grade stories, or it can mean writing several different subgenres under the umbrella of romance. It’s okay, while you’re trying to become published, to experiment with different genres. You might have your heart set at becoming the next Margaret Atwood, but it might be that you’re the next Dean Koontz. However, be careful with spreading yourself too thin once you’re published, unless you’re a prolific writer. If it’s takes you two years to write a book, you might want to keep to one genre so that you can build your author brand (and thus your fan base).

Long Term Investing

The wise investor chooses stocks that will continue to earn income over the long term. You don’t want to invest in today’s hot stock, which you bought at an outrageous price, only for it to tank tomorrow and leave you with nothing. The same deal with your writing career. For most authors, it takes time for their fan base to grow. And for most authors, it takes several books before they are finally published. Overnight successes are rare.

Think of everything you do as part of investing in your writing career. This might be buying that writing-craft book everyone’s talking about, joining a writing association, taking an online writing course, attending a conference. Everything you do is an investment in your career. Your long term writing career.

Trends

You’ve heard company XYZ is issuing shares and it is being touted as the next big thing. Naturally, you have to buy shares. You’d be an idiot not to.

Wrong. By the time you buy them, the price is ridiculously high and you’re already too late. Sound familiar? It’s the same thing with publishing. When Twilight became the next big thing, writers rushed to write vampire stories, and by then it was too late. Agents and editors already had all the vampire stories they could handle (unless something really stood out from the crowd). The same thing happened with YA dystopian, angel stories . . . .

The best thing to do is write what you love to read and be the creator of the next trend, not the follower.

Get Rich Quick

Does anyone remember Bre-X? It was a Canadian mining company that claimed to be sitting on a massive gold deposit in Asia. It was a hoax that cost many investors their life savings. They ignored the wise saying: “If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.” Unfortunately, they jumped in without taking the time to do the research and without taking the time to make sure they were doing what was right for their financial security.

With the growing popularity of self-publishing, it’s easy to be lured into it. You don’t have to wait for the publishing industry to realize you’re a writing genius. You don’t have to put up with nothing by rejections from agents and editors. You love your story. Your mother loved your story. Why not self publish it and become the next J.K Rowling?

If you’re not looking for a long term writing career, go ahead and jump in. But if you are hoping to develop a fan base that will grow with each book you publish, take the time to do things right. Take the time to understand the pros and cons of self publishing. Take the time to understand what you’ll need to do to self-publish your book (e.g. obtaining the ISBN). Take the time to get a great cover and have the book professionally edited. And take the time to research how you’re going to promote the book and come up with a plan of action (this is also true if you are traditionally publishing your book). While you don’t have to wait as longer as traditionally published authors to see you book in print (so to speak), don’t rush the process and end up like so many Bre-X investors—regretting your decision.

Have you learned anything as an investor that makes you a smarter writer? Or, have you learned anything from other investors’ mistakes that you can apply to publishing?

Stina Lindenblatt writes young adult novels. In her spare time, she’s a photographer and blogging addict, and can be found hanging out on her blog, Seeing Creative.

Authors and Social Networking

noreply@blogger.com (Danyelle L.) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Courtesy of svilen001

You're getting published and have a book coming out. Congratulations!

Now what?

As the publishing industry evolves, it's becoming increasingly common for authors to help market their books. (Mileage will vary on this.) And with the explosion of social networking, what more could an author need? From all I've been able to glean, word-of-mouth is the most effective way to get your name out there, and what better way to do that than through social networking?

Social networking is a tool like any other, so it's important to understand what it does and how best to use it. No point in using a hammer to remove a doorknob. (Unless you want to replace the door as well. ;-))

First off, it would behoove authors everywhere to look at things like Twitter and Facebook from their readers' perspectives. (To keep things simple, I'm going to focus on Twitter, but all of this can be applied in general terms over all the social networks.)

As a reader I:

am a person, not a wallet
tune out commercials
want to interact socially
want to feel like I'm a part of things
don't want to have to jump through hoops

As an author I:

am a person, not an institution
want to increase my readership
want to interact socially
want to succeed
want to write the next book

See where the two intersect? Social networking is aptly named. The average person is tweeting to connect with others. For myself, I've met a lot of wonderful people I wouldn't have been able to otherwise. I find people of like interests to talk to and discuss things with.

So where can this go wrong?

I think part of the problem is the pressure put on the author to do well. To succeed. Especially when basically the only thing that is within the author's complete control is writing the best book they can.

So we use things like Twitter to get our names out there. That, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. In fact, done right, it's a very good thing. Never has it been so easy to interact with authors before. And never has it been so easy to interact with readers and potential readers before.

And that's awesome.

But it has a dark side:

Automatic DMs to new followers advertising your book. For me, this is a major turnoff. As a reader, this makes me feel like a wallet, not a person. If I follow you long enough, I'll see your tweets and be able to find your books if I'm interested in reading them.
Cliques. The point of social networking is to be social. If I, as a reader, notice that the Author of Awesomeness that I've followed *never* replies to me and only to a select few of his or her Fellow Authors of Awesomeness, well, all that Awesomeness crowds me right out and I stop following. We're all busy, and no one can reasonably expect a reply to every tweet they send out, but cliques should have no place on social networks.
Tweeting about your book and only your book 24/7. When I get new followers, the first thing I do is look at a sample of their feed. If all of the tweets, or nearly all of them, are nothing but non-stop advertisements for their books, I don't follow them back. I'm not saying authors should never talk about their books, because they should. They just shouldn't turn into commercials in my Twitter feed. O:)
Follow then unfollow. Sometimes, in an effort to boost their numbers, authors will follow people, wait until they follow them back, and then unfollow them. I think such a practice speaks for itself. Social networking isn't meant to be an echo chamber. It's meant to be a place where people can get together and interact. Socially. :p

Ways to do it right:

Be yourself. It's simple really. And quite effective. It's impossible to connect with a product, but awesome when you can connect with a person.
Be kind. Text is naked, so some emotions don't convey themselves very well. (Like sarcasm.) When in doubt, give people the benefit of the doubt. Also, remember that the world is a big place full of people with different opinions. For me, I've found that the most effective approach--even for things I feel very strongly about--is to avoid name calling and generalizing. It's easy to be anonymous on the internet, so why not be a kind anonymous? :D
Be courteous. Think of Twitter as a giant worldwide water cooler. Go with the flow of the conversation an start new conversations. I've found that it's very effective to be less about ME and more about YOU. That doesn't mean I never share Tweets about my books, etc. Only that I do so in moderation. I try to follow the 1 in 5 rule. For every 5 tweets, only one of them can be about me, Me, ME. (Or my books.)
Be interesting. Sometimes it's all about voice. Or it could be that you have a talent for finding awesome posts you like to share. My favorites out of the people I follow are those who are interesting, who can make the mundane into something funny or wonderful or amazing. Do they do that with every tweet? No. But in general, they tweet interesting things.

What about you? What social networking practices have you noticed that are especially effective?

Danyelle Leafty| @danyelleleafty writes YA and MG fantasy. From March 12th-31st, she will be donating royalties from both paper and digital copies of THE FAIRY GODMOTHER DILEMMA: CATSPELL to purchase Kindle Fires for a pediatric unit in a local hospital. Click here if you'd like to learn more. She is also hosting a short story contest for Kindles for Kids.

Publishing Pulse for March 23, 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Jane | @janelebak) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:00:00 +0000

New At QueryTracker:

We have one new agent this week in the QT database, Paula Munier of Talcott Notch Literary Services. Four agent profiles were updated, including two who have closed to queries, so please make sure you double-check every agent's website or Publisher's Marketplace page before querying.

If you're a QueryTracker member (membership is free) then you can be notified whenever an agent or publisher is added or updates their profile.

Publishing News:

Based on a quick scan of Twitter, everyone in publishing is a little bleary-eyed from attending midnight showings of the Hunger Games movie last night. Be gentle with your agent or editor today, just in case.

Someone mailed eleven pounds of marijuana to St. Martin's Press, to a fictitious employee named Karen Wright. We at QueryTracker always encourage our readers not to engage in attempted bribery of editors or agents, but the story is pretty funny.

The New York Times discusses the neuroscience behind reading fiction, and why it's good for you. (I hate saying it that way, like reading is the equivalent of flossing.)

Around the Blogosphere:

Agent Rachelle Gardner discusses whether non-fiction writers should write the whole book.

Agent Janet Reid asks where we think the page number should go, and then tells us where she wants us to put it.

Agent Kristin Nelson speculates as to whether geeks are the next big thing in YA.

Oh, and if you're querying? Don't do this.

Take a look at twenty rare literary interviews.

Awesome News of Awesomeness:

Our very own Ash Krafton celebrated the release day of her novel Bleeding Hearts! Congratulations!

Sophie Galen is an advice columnist who is saving the world—one damned person at a time.

Over at Goodreads, you can enter to win one of five copies. Do it. Do it now.

Literary Quote of the Week:

"Nothing can be made of interest to the reader that was not first of vital concern to the writer." -John Gardner

That's all we have for now. Until next week, keep those queries flying!

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Jane Lebak is the author of The Guardian (Thomas Nelson, 1994), Seven Archangels: Annihilation (Double-Edged Publishing, 2008) and The Boys Upstairs (MuseItUp, 2010). At Seven Angels, Four Kids, One Family, she blogs about what happens when a distracted daydreamer and a gamer geek attempt to raise four children. She is represented by the riveting Roseanne Wells of the Marianne Strong Literary Agency.