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Psychology in Fiction Q&A: Schizophrenic Families

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn Kaufman) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:19:00 +0000

Disclaimer: The information provided in this post is intended for writing purposes only and does not represent psychological advice.

QUESTION: What would a sibling of a person with schizophrenia function like? What are the traits of a schizophrenic family bind that I used to hear about?

ANSWER: Because schizophrenia is a biological disease, siblings of people with schizophrenia are 10 times more likely to develop the disorder than other people; they are also at greater risk for schizophrenic spectrum disorders like schizotypal personality disorder and schizoaffective disorder. In other words, some siblings may have schizophrenia-like tendencies of their own, even if they don't have the full-blown disorder.

Double-bind theory is Gregory Bateman's 1950's-era proposition that what causes schizophrenia is repeated no-win dilemmas in the child's family life. In other words, the child was repeatedly confronted with statements that contained two contradictory statements (i.e. a double bind). Because of the child's attachment to the caregiver, he was eager to do as the caregiver asked -- the problem was that by meeting one demand, he would be defying the other. Because he was presented with such double binds on a regular basis, and because he doesn't have the cognitive maturity to know how to choose one statement over the other to escape the double bind, he eventually escapes from the extraordinary stress the double bind causes by retreating from the "real world" and into psychosis (i.e. delusions and hallucinations).

Double-bind theory has fallen out of favor with regards to schizophrenia for two reasons. First, we have so much data that demonstrates a biological cause for schizophrenia, not an environmental one (though typically the biological tendency is triggered by environmental stressors). Second, double-bind theory is nearly impossible to test, so there is little empirical research that can support it.

There is research, however, to support the idea that a problematic family environment can contribute to the relapse of someone who's been treated for schizophrenia. Most notably, people with schizophrenia are likely to relapse when their family is high in expressed emotion (EE). Expressed emotion consists of three parts: criticism, hostility, and emotional overinvolvement.

People with schizophrenia are extremely sensitive to stress, and being treated with constant dislike, disapproval, rejection, disrespect, and the assumption that they are not capable human beings is enough to stress anyone out!

So even if the siblings in your story don't have schizophrenic tendencies themselves, you could make them somewhat critical and hostile people who show a lot of expressed emotion toward their brother or sister!

Hope that's helpful!

Remember, if YOU have a psychology in fiction question you want to see answered here, use the Q&A form on the Archetype site (note in the "extra information" area that you'd like to see the question answered on the QueryTracker Blog) or send me an email at c k a u f m a n (AT) querytracker (DOT) net. (Take out the spaces in the first word and please use Q&A in your Subject Line!).

The Contest is Now Closed

noreply@blogger.com (Suzette Saxton) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:19:00 +0000

Thank you so much for entering! Keep your eye on the blog for contest updates, and watch for more contests in the future.

If you missed entering the contest, you are welcome to query Anna Webman in the traditional fashion. You can tell her that the QTblog sent you.

Ready... Set... Go!

noreply@blogger.com (Suzette Saxton) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:00:00 +0000

The QueryTracker Blog's Young Adult fiction contest is now open.

You can find the entry form here: http://querytracker.net/contest.php

Entries are limited to seventy, and slots will fill quickly, so enter early.

Please see this morning's post for all the details.

Good luck!

YA Contest - How to Enter

noreply@blogger.com (Suzette Saxton) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:00:00 +0000

ENTRIES WILL BE ACCEPTED VIA A SPECIAL ENTRY FROM ON QUERYTRACKER.NET ONLY!!! Do not email the agent with your entry. Do not call the agent. There is only one way to enter!

Tonight's the night! Our YA contest opens this evening at 9 p.m. Eastern Time (6 p.m. Pacific) so here's everything you need to know:

Entries will be accepted on a special entry form on QueryTracker.net ONLY. The form will not be visible until the contest opens. This is a link to where the form will be: http://querytracker.net/contest.phpSo bookmark it for easy clicking tonight!

This contest is for completed Young Adult novels only. (All the genres that fall under the YA umbrella.)

You must have a QueryTracker.net membership to participate. (It's free!) If you do not have one yet, click here to sign up.

You will need to submit the following: Your first five pages AND a one-page synopsis. (Only one entry per person will be accepted.)

Due to the high word count of the materials being submitted, we will be capping the number of entries at 70.

You will need to CUT AND PASTE YOUR ENTRY into the submission form.

The entry form will not be visible until 9 p.m. Eastern Time (6 p.m. Pacific.) Be sure to submit early, as the slots will fill up quickly. And if you do not make it into this contest, don't feel bad - we have more contests scheduled in the near future!

To see some of the questions and answers about this contest, view the comments in last week's announcement post.

I'd like to shout out a big THANK YOU to Anna Webman of Curtis Brown Ltd. for juding our contest. Anna has graciously agreed to award the grand prize winner with a full submission, and partial submissions for runners-up. I'm lucky to have worked with Anna on a couple of different occasions, and can honestly say anyone who is represented by her is one lucky writer indeed.

Keep an eye on the blog for contest updates. Anna will need a couple of weeks to judge the entries (she'll have a lot of material to read!) Watch for an interview next week with last May's contest winner, Cameron Jacobs. She'll be giving us the scoop about her journey from winning the grand prize in our contest to signing with the agent who judged the contest. Cameron's book is now on submission.

Feel free to ask any questions in the comments of this post, or send me a message, my email address is to the right of this post. Best of luck!

Suzy

Don't Use That Voice With Me!

ElanaJohnson@gmail.com (ElanaJ) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Today, I'm going to talk about the voice of a novel, which is the literary term used to describe the individual writing style of an author. Voice was generally considered to be a combination of a writer's use of syntax, diction, punctuation, character development, dialogue, etc., within a given body of text (or across several works)... One author may have a voice that is light and fast paced while another may have a dark voice. (Source: Wikipedia: Writer's Voice)

So, how do you establish the voice of your novel? I've read it around a lot of publishing blogs. The voice of your novel is a deal breaker. Meaning, you need to have one. A strong one.

Most of us have a natural writing voice. It comes through in our blog posts, our informal emails, even out loud when we speak. You can write a novel in "your" voice. But what happens if you've A) already done that? or B) your voice doesn't match your character's story?

Let's explore.

Picture this: You sit down to write. You proceed to stare. Because you can't find your character's voice. Or your voice. Or any voice. This happened to me. I had a main character. He was in my head, talking away. He had a story. But he was vanilla. And while I like vanilla, I like it better with caramel and pecans and some of those peanut-butter-filled footballs. A lot better.

So how do you capture a new voice, one that isn't as familiar to you? Here are a few tips and tricks I learned as I went through this exact same problem.

Tip #1: Voice can't be forced, but it can be found.

If you're having trouble finding your characters voice, sit down to free-write from the point of view of that character. But don't write your novel.

What I Did: I imagined my MC in a high-stress situation, like he's been dating his best friend's sister, and his buddy just found out. I didn't worry about backstory, because I can imagine a situation like that. I simply wrote DIALOGUE my character would have with his bff. (Or do girls only have bff's?) The scene was mostly dialogue with some physical clues thrown in for emotional impact.

This showed me A) how my MC reacts in a tense scene and B) how he talks.

Then I imagined a completely different scenario. One where my character would have to convey information to the reader. Since I had just learned how he talked, I transferred that to narration. This second piece contained no dialogue whatsoever. Only narration. Establishing setting with sight, smell, taste, etc.

This showed me A) what details he might notice and B) how to move the unique voice most of us can establish in DIALOGUE into NARRATION.

Trick #2: Choose something unique and have your character use it consistently.

This is done to develop character, which is one of the parts of voice in a piece of writing. In Scott Westerfeld's PEEPS, one of the characters calls everyone "Dude." In Stephanie Meyer's TWILIGHT saga, Jacob always says, "Sure, sure." In Kristin Cashore's GRACELING, her narrating character begins a lot of sentences -- both in narration and in dialogue -- with "Well".

What I Did: In my first novel, my character starts a lot of her sentences with "Yeah". (ex: Yeah, that doesn't work for me. If you read my personal blog at all, you'll notice that I do the same thing.) So I certainly couldn't do that again. As I was free-writing, I seized on a word that my MC said, and now it's his "thing." He uses it in dialogue and in narration. It's not something I would've chosen on my own, but something I was looking for during the free-write session.

Tip #3: Don't go overboard.

Don't get me wrong. Voice is essential in a piece of writing. But it's essential the same way baking soda is in cookies. No baking soda = flat cookies. No voice = flat writing.

But how much baking soda do you put in? Not as much as the flour. Think about it.

So watch yourself. Sprinkle it in consistently, but don't take off the lid and dump it on us.

I might be back with another post on voice. How do you find the voice you write with?

Publishing Pulse 11/6/09

marytlindsey@comcast.net (Mary Lindsey) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:00:00 +0000

The New QueryTracker Success Stories

Click on the names below to read the most recent success story interviews from QueryTracker members. Congratulations to these newly agented writers.

Tabitha Olson
Justina Ireland
Bethany Wiggins
Natalie Bahm
Coylenna Bain
Jamie Harrington
Shawntelle Madison
Stephanie Feldstein

Jen Nelson

New Agents Added to the QueryTracker Database

Several new agents and publishers were added to the QT database in the month of October. Check out the box labeled "New and Updated Listings" on the front page of the main QueryTracker.Net site and view their profiles for website links and genres they represent.

QT News and Congrats

Congratulations again to our own QT Blogger, Suzette Saxton, for her recent acceptance of an offer of representation from Brendan Deneen of the FinePrint Literary Management.

If you write YA, don't forget to enter our upcoming contest with literary agent, Anna Webman of Curtis Brown Ltd.

Tips, News & Other Interesting Info from Around the 'Net

Serendipity Literary Agency, in collaboration with Sourcebooks and Gotham Writer's Workshop is hosting its first Young Adult Discovery Competition.

Literary Agent Sara Crowe reveals what kind of YA submissions she's seeking and gives some examples of winning queries in her blog post, Call for Submissions.

Rachelle Gardner's post on How to Avoid Getting an Agent is a must-read for aspiring authors.

My favorite post of the week was a pep talk by Neil Gaiman for writers participating in NaNoWriMo.

Wishing everyone a fabulous weekend.

Mary

Agent-Judged Contest Announced!

noreply@blogger.com (Suzette Saxton) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Some of you may remember the series of agent-judged contests we hosted on the QTblog earlier this year. Great news - one of our contest winners went on to sign with the agent who judged the contest, and his book is now on submission. Contests are a great way to get your work noticed!

We are pleased to announce yet another contest. Literary agent Anna Webman of Curtis Brown Ltd. wants to see your stuff! She has generously agreed to peruse the first five pages plus a synopsis of your YA novel. What a great opportunity! Here are all the details:

This contest is for completed Young Adult novels only. (All the genres that fall under the YA umbrella.)

The contest will open this Tuesday, November 10th, at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. (That's 6:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.)

You will need to submit the following: Your first five pages AND a single-spaced one-page synopsis.

A free membership on the QueryTracker main site is required.

Submissions will be accepted through the official form on the QT main site ONLY.

Only one entry per person will be accepted.

Due to the high word count of the materials being submitted, we will be capping the number of entries at 70.

So now you're probably thinking (gasp!) not the dreaded synopsis! Never fear, Heather has two fantastic posts that will help you make yours shine:

Quantum of Synopses: Novel Synopsis Basics

In Short: Writing a Novel Synopsis That Rocks

Watch for a special post Tuesday morning with a link to the submission page, and then a post Tuesday evening announcing the contest's opening.

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments of this post. Good luck!

Suzy

Do I Feel a Draft?: The Wordcount Obsession of NaNoWriMo

noreply@blogger.com (H. L. Dyer) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:00:00 +0000

So yesterday marked the beginning of this year's NaNoWriMo event. Which brings the point of the mega-wordcount exercise up for discussion.

The point of NaNoWriMo (besides having a whale of time writing with abandon), if your ultimate goal is to publish, is not to write a novel in one month (despite what the website catchphrases would have you believe) but rather to write a draft.

Now, to some of you, that might seem like semantics, but it's an important distinction, I think. For two reasons:

First, to succeed at NaNoWriMo (or similar high-paced writing speed goals), you really need to accept the fact that your WIP is not going to be perfect. In all likelihood, your results will be the sort of prose you'll read later on, after you've edited or rewritten, and feel the urge to delete the original file from your computer completely. Or better yet, remove the contaminated harddrive and smash it to smithereens. And then torch the smithereens. And bury the ashes. At the North Pole.

The point of high-speed wordcount generation is simply to create a starting point. A virtual scaffolding. If you do not give yourself permission to let your writing stink at least a smidge, you will neither succeed nor have fun trying.

Second, when you're riding that high from typing those two heady words, "The End," don't let yourself get swept up in the intoxicating notion that you are done with your novel. That first draft is only the first step. Sure, you've given birth and naturally your book-baby is beautiful, but it's not ready to go out and find a job yet. You're going to want to nurture and shape it first.

I can't say enough about the importance of incubation and taking your time. If there is a single mistake that represents the most common downfall of a given project, it is rushing to the marketplace too soon.

So, NaNo or NaNo-No, get out there and churn out some brand-spanking new words, but recognize them for what they are: great raw material for the fabulous novel you will soon be polishing!

Those of you who have NaNo-ed before... what became of your previous projects? How many times did you edit your manuscript after the fact, and how much did they change along the way? And, those of you who are currently NaNo-ing, how's it going? Off with a bang? Or a whimper?

Myself, I wrote The Edge of Memory during NaNo '07 (well, most of it... I banged out 65K during NaNo and finished the draft in December). I let it sit for a month or so before I started editing and I edited it several times before it became the manuscript I submitted to my agent. I didn't get to play along with NaNo last year, but I'm hoping I'll have the chance this year (once I finish up this stinking 28-hour shift and get home to my beloved laptop. ;) ).

Publishing Pulse: 10/30/09

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn Kaufman) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Contests!

We’ll be having another agent-judged contest next week here on the QueryTracker Blog, so stay tuned for details on how to enter early next week!

Win a copy of BOOKLIFE: Strategies and Survival Tips for the 21st Century Writer -- visit Colleen Lindsay's blog The Swivet to enter before November 4th.

Agents

New Agent on QT: Marissa Walsh reps Children's, MG, and YA.

New Agent on QT: Jill Marr at Sandra Dijkstra is looking for commercial, historical, multicultural, thrillers/suspense, women's, and YA fiction.

Rachelle Gardner explains how she's changed what she's looking for.

Around The Web

Janet Reid gives you querying tips in a nutshell. And visit The Guide to Literary Agents for the extended version!

Rachelle Gardner teaches us All About Backstory. She also Gardner explains The Process of Getting An Agent...from the agent's POV!

Market My Words interviews Eric from Pimp My Novel on how sales and marketing works for publishers. Includes tips on how best to work with the publisher!

And of course, NaNoWriMo begins on Sunday. (That's National Novel Writing Month for the uninitiated -- you have to write a novel of 50,000 words or more in one month! Click the link to visit the official site and learn more.) Who's going to play this year?

Editing: How To Avoid Staring Into The Great Black Abyss

ElanaJohnson@gmail.com (ElanaJ) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Okay, so imagine you've finished the fifth draft of your amazing NYT bestseller. You've let some time go by. And now you're ready to edit the manuscript. Again. (*Note: for the purposes of this post, editing and revising are synonymous.)

You sit down, open the document, and...proceed to stare into the great black abyss like somehow your MS will edit itself. Oh, sure, maybe you're like me and you immediately click on gmail when something earth-shattering doesn't hit you about your novel. Or Farmville. Or Cafe World. Or a writing forum. Heck, maybe you even distract yourself with Hulu and Free Rice. And when you get really desperate, well, let's not go there.

I know (trust me, I KNOW) the thought of editing an entire manuscript is overwhelming. Daunting. Like climbing the mountain--again.

So today, I'm going to give you some pointers that have helped me tackle my 320-page manuscript, edit it, polish it, get it to betas and then out the door in less than 30 days. Strap yourselves in.

1. Set goals. Not only a "finish-by" goal date, but goals for what you want to accomplish in the edit. Does character A need more depth? Do you need to introduce the antag earlier so readers know who/what the MC is up against? Do you need stronger world-building? Faster pacing? A sub-plot that needs fleshing out? What are you trying to accomplish with the edit?

Know what these are. Don't freak out that there's SO MUCH that needs to be done. Just make a list.

2. Chunk your MS. It's much easier to wrap your mind around 100 pages rather than 350. So chunk your MS into manageable sections. I split mine into three distinct pieces and worked on them individually.

Okay, so you really haven't opened the document and started yet. This is all the "behind-the-scenes" stuff that you can do in a notebook or in your head. It usually takes me 2-3 days to make my list and chunk my MS. Take some time to do this. It helps things settle in your head before you actually start.

3. Read. That's right. Hopefully, it's been a while since you've read or worked on your MS. You'll be able to see things with fresh eyes this way. I printed the first chunk and sat down to read. Yes, I had a pen (it was black, not red) in my hand. During this reading phase, I was doing three things:

Line-edits (for awkward phrasing, repeated words, word choice, paragraphing, funky formatting, etc. Everything looks new and different on paper. I strongly encourage printing the chunk and editing on paper.)
Outlining (I don't outline before I write. So I create my outline as I edit a finished draft. I have a pad of small (2-inch by 2-inch) post-it notes next to me. After I finish reading a chapter, I write the main focus of that chapter on a post-it and place it neatly in my manila folder. Can't sum it up? Maybe you don't need that chapter. Every chapter must advance the plot. Even if you write from an outline, you can do this to see if you've really used every chapter, every scene to advance your plot. And hey, maybe your outline has changed.)
Making Notes (I know my goals for the edit, so as I'm reading, I draw a star and make myself a note. Like, "Insert a memory about character B here." Or "This would be a great place to reflect on plot point G." Or "Introduce antag here by way of video." Or "More world-building/setting here." I don't actually write the insertions. I simply make notes of places where they could go.)

4. Transfer from paper to computer. Remember, this is only for the first chunk. For me, it was about 115 pages, and it took me about 3 days to read, line edit and make notes for the section. Then I finally opened my Word document and started with page one. I entered the line edits, written changes and deletions. When I got to spots where I had a note for new material, I wrote it. Everything is done with the "Track Changes" feature on, so I can see what I've done. Actually transferring the changes is easy. And since you have something tangible to do, you don't waste any time staring at the screen, wondering what to do and where to do it. Transferring only takes 1 day. Maybe longer if you have large sections to add/rewrite.

5. Rinse and repeat. After section one is transferred into the computer, print section two. Read, pen in hand, post-it's nearby, computer off. Transfer to manuscript. Print section three. Read, transfer. Since I only had three sections, I edited my entire novel in about 12 days. With the goal-making, I finished a round of (major) edits in two weeks.

(*Note #2: Some of you might stop here. If this is say, the second draft, and you're not ready to send to readers yet, you're done! In only 2 weeks. Leave the MS for a while, write something else maybe. Then come back and start with #1 with new goals for another edit.)

6. Send to readers. Now, this could be an entire post by itself. But I don't have time for that, so I'll just say to choose people who you A) trust and B) love and C) will read FAST. I mean, you only have 16 more days. I recommend recruiting a few (meaning: 2 or 3) readers who will critique as you finish chunks. So really, you could have stuff out with Beta readers after you transfer the first chunk. When they finish, send them the second, and so on. This way, you're not stalled at this point in the process, waiting for reads. You've been getting them back on shorter sections. Which is how you want to work anyway.

7. Go over crits, make changes. Add stuff, delete stuff, etc. This is just a polish. You've already done the major reconstruction. Now you're just smoothing over the edges, based on what your readers have said. If you have fast readers, you can probably get this done in a week or so. I think I had my chunks back and crits incorporated in about 8 days.

8. Leave it alone. Which means, leave it alone. Don't open it. Don't read it. You can think about it if you want. I didn't. 2 days. I actually did this immediately following the final transfer (step 5), while waiting for reads to come back on chunks. It doesn't matter when you do it, but it's vital. Seriously, leave it alone.

9. Send entire, repolished MS to trusted readers. These are NOT the same people who read the chunks. Different people. I had 4. I sent them the "final" MS as well as a list of my goals so they knew what I was trying to accomplish with the edit. (*Note, I did this because with one exception, my readers had already read my book, so I wanted them to know specifically what I was trying to do this time around.) Again, they need to be A) trusted B) loved and C) fast.

10. Final edits based on final reads.

11. Done!

This system worked for me. I managed to edit my 83,000-word novel, get reads, and polish it up in under 30 days. Hopefully, you've seen something in this list that can help you focus your energy into accomplishing an edit (no matter if it's your third draft or your, um, eighth) of your manuscript without falling into the great black abyss. What do you do that helps you get the editing done?

Wassup?

marytlindsey@comcast.net (Mary Lindsey) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:00:00 +0000

The five QT blog authors have had a great couple of months. Our subscribership here on the QT Blog continues to grow as does the membership on the new and improved main Querytracker site, which now features book publishers in addition to agents.

Most of my posts on this blog are industry related, but today I've decided to bring it closer to home and give you the lowdown on wassup with the QT Blog authors.

Suzette Saxton accepted an offer of representation from Brendan Deneen of FinePrint Literary Management. The project that resulted in the offer is a dark middle-grade mystery called Secret Sisters. Suzette is as amazing as her writing, so this news is the cause of great celebration around here. Congrats, Suz! More about Suzette and her projects can be found on her website and blog.

Elana Johnson's ebook, From the Query to the Call, was released recently--further evidence that she truly is the Query Ninja. Elana will be a guest speaker at the 2010 LDS StoryMakers Conference (Check out the impressive list of folks on the list with her). I love Elana's blog which is a great mix of humor and information. Info on her projects can be found on her website.

Carolyn Kaufman has been busy with final edits on her non-fiction manuscript, NERVOUS BREAKDOWNS AND PSYCHOPATHIC KILLERS: The Writer's Guide to Psychology, represented by Kate Epstein of The Epstein Literary Agency. The book is being published by Quill Driver Books. I've had the honor of reading the edits for the final draft, and the book is an outstanding resource for writing, as is Carolyn's website, Archetype: The Fiction Writer's Guide to Psychology, which has a useful Q&A section where you can ask your own psychology/writing questions. She also has a companion blog. Suzette, Elana, Heather, Pat and I want to give a special shout out to Carolyn for all her hard work as blog administrator and for creating the new look of the QT Blog.

Heather Dyer's women's fiction, The Edge of Memory, represented by Katherine Boyle of the Veritas Literary Agency is on submission with publishers. Heather has a terrific blog and I'm always humbled when I think about the fact she juggles her job as a doctor with writing. She must have found a way to squeeze more hours into the day.

As for me, (Mary Lindsey) my young adult paranormal romance, Soul Purpose, represented by Joan Paquette of the Erin Murphy Literary Agency, is on submission with publishers. Fingers crossed. I'm working on a middle grade fantasy/mystery and am hoping to nail down the first 50k of an adult paranormal during NaNoWriMo.

So, that's what we've been doing. How about you? Let us know wassup in the comments.

Have a great week!

Mary

Publishing Pulse 10/23/09

noreply@blogger.com (Suzette Saxton) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:00:00 +0000

New Literary Agents

Gwendolyn Heasley of Artists and Artisans represents the following:

Young Adult

Naomi Hackenberg of The Elaine P. English Literary Agency represents:

Young Adult.

Diana Flegal of the Hartline Literary Agency represents:

Religion and Spirituality

Amanda Lewis of the Doe Coover Agency represents:

Children's
Middle Grade
Young Adult

Yishai Seidman of the Dunow, Carlson, and Lerner Literary Agency represents:

General Fiction
Literary Fiction
Thrillers/Suspense
Celebrity, Pop Culture, Music, Film & Entertainment
Sports

On the Web

For a crazy-fun look at the dating equivalent of query-speak, go to Kit Whitfield's website.

The Exclamation Point!!! (And Other Annoying Devices) on Rachelle Gardener's blog.

The Essential Parts of a Novel Synopsis on GLA's blog.

Contest

This is your last chance to submit material to Blooming Tree Press for the Bloom Award. Open to unpublished authors of Middle Grade Mystery/Adventure Who-Done-It (fiction only), the winner will receive a publishing contract. Contest deadline is Halloween.

Have a fantastic weekend!

~Suzy~

Was Blind But Now I See-- Text-to-Voice: An Underappreciated Editing Tool

noreply@blogger.com (H. L. Dyer) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:00:00 +0000

So, we've already discussed the value of reading your work aloud during the editing process. This works amazingly well, especially for a specific scene or passage at a time. But, if you're planning a full head-to-toenails edit, you're gonna need an awful lot of tea and honey to read a full manuscript out loud.

Now, maybe some of you have spouses and/or BFF's lining up for the chance to read your novel to you, but for most of us editing is a pretty solitary endeavor.

If only there was someone else... someone who could read forever without getting hoarse or grumpy when you make them repeat the same sentence thirty-eight times in a row...

Well, if you have a fairly recent computer, chances are you do have access to such a person. Okay, fine, you have access to a robotic equivalent of a person, but still an amazing resource.

I'm talking about Text-to-Voice software.

I had heard that text-to-voice software was included on most recent PC’s (They are intended to assist users with visual impairments), but I’d never bothered looking up how to use it until a few months ago.

I find reading aloud to be a great editing tool, but impractical for completing a full edit at my (relatively high speed) pace. I have also noticed that when I read aloud from my manuscript, I sometimes still miss problems like missing or repeated words because I know what the text is supposed to say and my brain corrects the errors without my noticing.

I wanted something that would read my text to me, so I looked up where to find the preinstalled software. And there she was… Microsoft Anna, my robotic girl-crush, hiding under “Ease of Access” in my “Accessories” folder.

Together, Anna and I obsessed over each word of The Edge of Memory before I submitted my manuscript. Despite frequent careful editing by myself and hundreds of beta readers, I still found a few small typos. I’ve also found a few overuse quirks, like my apparent fondness for starting dialogue lines with “Well,” which each of my characters indulged to some extent until Anna and I were finished with them.

Now, granted... Microsoft Anna (or her predecessor, Microsoft Sam, and her Mac equivalent) is no Laurence Olivier. Her pronunciations and inflections aren't perfect (You can hear an example of Microsoft Anna's speech here.) but sometimes that can actually help you look at your prose in a different light.

So, if you haven't already, I suggest taking your resident Narrator for a test spin. You can even download other voices if you prefer.

Anyone else smitten with their computer Narrators? Thoughts on voice preferences? Anyone familiar with the Mac version? (I'm a PC gal.) Please chime in below in the comments!

Writing is a Business

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn Kaufman) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Imagine that you’ve invented something. We’ll call it a MacGuffin because it doesn’t really matter what that something is. You’re really excited about your invention, though, and the entrepreneurial bug has bitten you. You want to mass-produce your MacGuffin and see it in every home across the nation. Of course, you’re not independently wealthy, so you’re going to have to find investors who will back you financially and help you with mass production, shipping, and marketing.

You’ve heard that the first step in interesting investors is to write them a letter asking if you can send them more information about the MacGuffin, so you do that. Of course, nothing is ever easy, and you receive some polite responses suggesting that this company or that one isn’t the best match for your vision, but to keep trying.

What’s your next step? Do you get online online (Facebook, Blog, mySpace, etc.) and publicly

Rant that your MacGuffin has been rejected — again. Update the query stat blurb on your blog/email signature/Facebook: 19 queries sent. 15 rejections. 1 request for more information.
Bash (read: insult) the company that rejected you
Post a copy of the rejection so you can complain about it
Complain that these companies who aren’t falling all over themselves to give you money are clearly stupid — your MacGuffin is brilliant! (And while you’re at it, you mention a few MacGuffins that were bought recently and why they weren’t worth the money the investors paid.)
Complain that this whole process of having to go through investors n the first place is stupid — you deserve to be rich and famous, dammit!

If you’d do any of these things, stop right there. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, and definitely do not go online.

Option 1 is the equivalent of writing up a press release detailing how many companies think you’re a bad investment and sending it to all the major media outlets. Why on earth would you tell the world that someone officially doesn’t think your proposal is the Greatest Idea Since the Invent of Language Itself? Why would you create bad press for yourself? Because let’s face it – who wants to invest in someone with all that bad press?

Onto Options 2-5.

Now let’s pretend that the head of one of the companies you wrote to loves the internet. She gets Google Alerts to let her know whenever her company is mentioned. Or maybe she has a friend who likes to read inventors’ blogs. So it’s only a day or two between your post going live and it showing up in her email inbox.

As the head of a company, she’s well-connected in town. She sees both friends and competitors at conventions, charity dinners, and at the local country club. You’ve insulted her, her company, and her graciousness, and when one of the other business leaders in town mentions that someone did the same thing to him, your name comes up. In less than two minutes, you’ve been blackballed over cocktails. Not because your MacGuffin isn’t any good — it may be great — but because you haven’t appreciated that it’s all just business.

Now, wasn’t that stupid?

I’m sure it’s obvious that what I’m really talking about here is writing. The MacGuffin is your manuscript, and your business letter is your query. The business leaders are agents and editors.

And you can blackball yourself. SCBWI recounts Wendy Loggia’s keynote speech, which included the following gem:

The writer seems like a difficult person to work with. Wendy always Googles an author’s name before offering a contract. She says she may be prompted to change her mind about signing up an author if they share too much information in their blog, if they tend to blog a lot about how hard writing is, if they blog about being rejected many times, if they publicly bash a book she’s worked on, or if they bash a colleague in the business who is her friend.

Writing is a business. When you send out a query or a manuscript, you are asking someone to invest their time, energy, and money in you and your vision. If the person who gets your letter isn’t falling over herself with excitement, why would she agree to partner with you?

A literary agent only gets paid if she sells your project. Legitimate agents don’t make money on editing, submitting, or anything else. They make money when they make a sale, and then they only get 15% to 20% of whatever you get. Of course they’re going to choose only the very best projects and the ones they believe are going to sell well. Otherwise they literally can’t eat or pay their rent!

Some writers say they don’t need to be paid — they’d be happy to get published for free! Why would an agent want to represent them, either? Your agent needs to make a living. Publishers need to make a living. They only buy projects that they believe will fly off the shelves and make a profit so they can stay in business.

The Pimp My Novel blogger puts it this way:

I mean, think about your current job: would you make an acquisition or other career move that you thought would bleed money everywhere? How would you justify something like that to your colleagues and superiors? And, if you're nodding along with me now and admitting that you couldn't: what makes that any different from buying a nice book that just won't sell?

Writers need to do less of behaviors 1 to 5 and start focusing more on option 6:

6. Decide that you’re either not explaining your MacGuffin well enough or that the MacGuffin might need tweaked to truly be marketable — it’s a tough market out there, and you need to really shine!

Always keep these things in mind when you try to get your work published.

Writing is a business.
Your query letter introduces your vision/project and asks the receiver to consider investing her valuable resources in that vision/project.
If she says no, accept it with grace and move on to your next possibility.
If you get a LOT of no’s, consider the possibility that you’re either not conveying your vision well or perhaps that vision needs tweaked. In other words, maybe it’s not the process that’s flawed — maybe it’s your project. Go back to the drawing board.
If she says yes, send her the very best vision/project you can possibly come up with. Realize that lots of people have visions/projects, so yours better be presented as well as possible.
If she suggests revisions, realize that she knows the business and consider them seriously.
Continue to do what you can to make your project even better. Even if the agent agrees to represent you, she only gets paid if she sells your project.

Publishing Pulse 10/16/09

ElanaJohnson@gmail.com (ElanaJ) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:00:00 +0000

New Literary Agents:

Gordon Warnock of Andrea Hurst Literary Management. Specific genres Gordon represents include the following:

Non-fiction:

Memoir
Pets
Cookbooks
Self-help
True Crime
Current Events
Humor
How-To
Health and Dieting

Fiction:

Commercial Narrative
Character-Driven Literary
Monster and Disaster
Pets
Humor

Not Looking For:

Religious Fiction
Women's Fiction
New Age
Children's and YA

Cheryl Pientka of Jill Grinberg Literary Management. Genres Cheryl is interested in:

Fiction:

Chick Lit
Children's
Commercial
Family Saga
Historical Fiction
Literary Fiction
Middle Grade
Off-beat/Quirky
Women's Fiction
Young Adult

Non-fiction:

Narrative

Contests, Happenings, Etc.

Literary agent Mary Kole (Andrea Brown) is having a query contest for anything kidlit (YA, MG, picture books). Entries due by October 31. Check it out if you write in these genres.

Writer's Digest is having their Popular Fiction Contest. Entries due by November 2. The grand prize is $2,500.

The Literary Lab is hosting a Genre Wars contest. Entries (for short stories) are due December 1. Check it out for rules and genres.

Looking to get your work published? Check out Duotrope's Digest for a listing of magazines that accept submissions. I also stumbled across this blog about Creative Writing Contests last week. Short stories are a great way to get some publishing credits while you're revising or finishing your novel.

Inspiring Things To Read:

I loved this post that showed up at the end of September. Author Megan Crewe, guest blogging for Kristin Nelson, says that cold querying DOES work. This brings hope to all of us sending out our query letters, hoping to attract the attention of a literary agent. Read it. Be inspired.

I also enjoyed reading through the transcript of a twitter chat between New York editor Cheryl Klein and her client Sarah Lewis Holmes. Check it out for some amazing insight into publishing. Twitter is great for lurking and learning.

I loved loved loved this post about submitting from a fellow blogging author. Thanks Corey!

Have you seen the new groups over on the main QueryTracker site? They're awesome. There's one for Query Letter Critique s, Young Adult Writers and Mystery/Thriller/Suspense Authors. You can make your own group to discuss your writing needs, offer encouragement and make writerly friends. Be sure to check out this new feature of QT.

NaNoWriMo: Are You In?

marytlindsey@comcast.net (Mary Lindsey) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:00:00 +0000

November is National Novel Writing Month. For the past 10 years, writers have been participating in a growing phenomenon called NaNoWriMo. It started in the San Francisco Bay area in 1999 with around two dozen participants and has grown into an international creative event with around 119,000 entrants in 2008.

To "win" NaNoWriMo, a writer must complete at least 50,000 words of a new project between November 1 and November 30--an average of 1667 words a day. What is the prize? A website badge, 50,000 shiny new words and a sense of accomplishment.

I've never done it before because the creative voice in me says, "No way. I don't write on demand like that." On further evaluation, I've realized that indeed, I do write on demand. I've written 3 novels in less than a month each, not including revisions, of course. I've edited on demand for my agent, and hope to write and edit for a publisher, so why not begin and end on an artificial deadline for NaNoWriMo?

"Creativity can't be forced." Tell that to my published friends who write for multiple houses 3, 4, 5 times a year.

The goal of NaNoWriMo is quantity, not quality, which means turning off the internal editor. This can be good or bad--or both. The better I become at my craft, the harder this is for me, but I find my story suffers sometimes due my labors over sentence structure and word choice.

When teaching English, I would tell my students, "Get the words down, then worry about formatting and cleaning it up later." (Teens like to use creative fonts and formatting when publishing on computer.) I guess I need to heed my own advice to some degree. "Get the words down." I can always edit later.

I may have to revise more than I would on a relaxed schedule, but, hey, the words will at least be there.

One feature I really like is the NaNoWriMo Young Writer's program. Being a teacher and YA writer, I'm all about getting young people into writing.

My teen daughter, who is co-authoring a middle grade mystery/suspense with me, has registered and is looking forward to the workshops and productivity inspired by the program.

Here are some cool sites and resources:

NaNoWriMo Official Site

Spacejock has spreadsheets and organizational tools to keep you in line.

Here's an article on Squidoo on organizational techniques for NaNoWrimo.

This Squidoo article gives you step-by-step suggestions on how to prepare.

I've registered and am totally in for this year's NaNoWriMo. What about you? Tips? War stories? Links to great NaNoWriMo sites?

Let me know your thoughts on this.

Mary

Writing Under the Influence - Tips for Parents of Very Young Children

noreply@blogger.com (Suzette Saxton) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:00:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I enjoyed penning a post for parents who write. I've had several requests for an article pertaining to younger children. After brainstorming with Angie Lofthouse, mother of six and author of about a dozen published short stories, I have more tips that can help you find success and balance in your parenting and writing.

First, I think it is important to keep this in mind: Rather than daily life revolving around the children, the children should be involved in the life of the adult. This will result in well-rounded children, and happier parents.

Writing with Toddlers

Create a daily routine and stick to it. Toddlers thrive on a routine, and you will, too! Plan out specifically when you will write, and stick to it as much as possible.
Next, make sure the room or space you're in is as safe and toddler-proof as possible. This way you can just listen to what your toddler is doing instead of having to watch and chase all the time.
Going to the park or playing outside is also a good time to write. (A fenced yard is very, very nice!)
Having another computer (especially one that doesn't work!) allows Toddler to emulate mom or dad and pound away on the keys. Even just an old keyboard will work for this.
Turn the dining room table into a tent. Kids love this!
On rainy days, consider bringing some outdoor toys in. Riding a tricycle around the house can be a special novelty. This works especially well in an unfinished basement or an empty garage.
Water, water, everywhere! Kids love water. I remember plunking my kids in the bathtub for a good hour, and bringing my laptop into the bathroom to write. (Be sure to sit far away from splashes!)
Another way to use water is give your toddler a large bin with an inch of water in it, placing the bin on the kitchen floor or patio. Add water-proof toys for hours of fun. (Please note - always supervise Toddler around any type of water!)
Movies - we all rely on them at times. Consider amping up the education factor by adding subtitles and foreign language audio options. Exposure to foreign language at a very young age stimulates brain development.
This tip is from EASchechter (whose blog I can't link to for some reason - EAS, send me a link, my address is on the right.) Another thing you can do is see if there is an open play facility in your area. In Orlando, we have Amaya Papaya, which is open play for kids up to age five. You pay one price, and you have unlimited play all day, with reentry if you decide not to bring lunch with you. They offer free wi-fi and comfy chairs for parents, and a very welcoming atmosphere. www.amayapapaya.com
This from Nisa: I also like to give my kids crayons and paper while I write and I read off sentences from my story. (Obviously age appropriate sentences.) Little ones also love starfall.com, which is a website that teaches letters and reading. It would be a great activity for them to do while you're writing as long as they know how to use a mouse and the computer. My three year old does this with his 21 month old little brother. It's great time they get to spend together.

Writing with Infants

The first thing to do when writing with an infant is lower your expectations. Don't worry, it's temporary! But babies do take a lot of time and care.
A baby sling is very handy; you can have your baby with you and still have your hands free.
Take advantage of nap time if you can... but if you are tired, sleep when Baby does. You'll need a clear mind to write effectively.
Angie used to carry a basket around with diapers, wipes, and other baby supplies so she would always have them handy wherever in the house she was. She put her notebook in there, too, just in case she had a minute to write.
Those baby play gyms that infants can lay under and play with are a good investment.
Is baby up at night? Why not write? It'll help the time pass.

Possibly the greatest gift we can give our children is the gift of reading - so be sure to let them see you read, and be sure to read to them daily.

I'll leave you with a quote from Angie: "The most important thing, though, is to enjoy the baby! They're only that small for such a short time. Writing will still be there when your baby gets a little older."

You can drop in on Angie's blog, Notes From the Writing Chair, for more good writing tips. Thanks, Angie, for your help with this article!

Do you have any tips to share? I would love to include them with this article and link to your blog!

Publishing Pulse 10/9/09

noreply@blogger.com (Suzette Saxton) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Happy Friday! Lately I've been hearing from our blog readers that they are exclusively querying agents listed here in the Pulse with much success. And today I have several new leads to report:

Sarah Heller of the Helen Heller Agency represents an internationally best selling list, specializing in first fiction, with a focus on high end commercial adult and YA fiction.

Terra Chalberg of the Susan Golumb Literary Agency is seeking commercial fiction, literary fiction, offbeat/quirky, and short story collections. In non-fiction she is seeking biography and memoirs, business and finance, history and military, journalism, narrative, science and technology, travel, and women's issues.

Monika Verma of the Levine Greenberg Agency is looking for a wide variety of material. From the LG website: Monika keeps a special place in her heart for pop culture, humor, narrative non-fiction, fashion, foodie, and music titles. She loves to represent books that makes people's lives just a few degrees sunnier, be those quirky memoirs, satirical humor collections, or old-fashioned cookbooks. On the fiction side, she stays up far too late reading literary mysteries and suspense, especially those from across the pond (some of her favorites are Kate Atkinson and Benjamin Black). She often suspects that she was born in the wrong century, and loves books that give her a window into an older way of life.

Erin Edmison of the Karpfingers Agency is accepting queries for literary fiction, multicultural fiction, offbeat/quirky, and short story collections. In non-fiction she represents biography and memoirs, celebrity, pop culture, music film and entertainment, cultural/social issues, current affairs and politics, history and military, journalism, multicultural, narrative, science and technology, travel, and women's issues.

Lucinda Blumenfeld with Fletcher & Company is interested in representing journalists, specialists, and emerging, young voices. Specific categories include: narrative and prescriptive nonfiction, business, memoir, YA, cultural studies, commercial and literary fiction.

And last but not least, Jason Yarn with Paradigm Agency is looking for just about everything but Children's. (Check out his QT profile for a complete list.)

Now head on over to the brand new Query Tracker and start querying! And be sure to mention in your query that we sent you. *wink*

On the Web:

Check out Writer's Digest's Popular Fiction Awards, a short story contest with lots of cool prizes. Entry deadline is November 2nd.

Rachelle Gardener delighted me with a blog post I love enough to print and frame: Gone Fishing is a delightful collection of ways to be the best writer you can be. Thanks, Rachelle!

Be sure to read GLA's post on What You Should Write in the Bio Paragraph of a Query.

SALE of a Secret Writing Weapon: Are you not getting the response you hoped for with your queries? Look no further than From the Query to the Call. Written by our own query expert Elana Johnson, it is on sale this weekend only. You can own this e-book, which could be your key to unlocking agents' doors. I recommend it whole-heartedly and would love to hear of your success stories resulting from it!

Have a fantastic weekend!

The Journey to Publication: Beware the Public Personal Diary

marytlindsey@comcast.net (Mary Lindsey) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:00:00 +0000

The secret diary: Most of us, especially women, had them as teens. We expressed our hopes, fears, problems and crushes in writing for various reasons. We railed against the mean girl who was our arch enemy. In some ways it was therapeutic. Sometimes the therapy came in the form power from the knowledge that we had a special secret journal of our personal life that we could choose to share if we wished or hide from the *gasp* authority figures in our lives.

Some keep diaries even as adults.

Now, I've never been a diary keeper. In fact, it never made sense to me at all. I tried as a teen because my best friend was the diary queen. She would hide her diary carefully from her family or "accidentally" leave it open to a page to indirectly pass on information. She could control how, when, and to what degree the information was disseminated because she had physical control of the diary itself.

Enter the electronic age and the blog.

As writers, we know we need to have a web presence. We are told that by other writers, agents and editors. But there is a difference in a web presence and a beneficial web presence. "Make yourself Googlable," agents tell us. Okay. Done. I start a blog. It's free, it's easy, and heck, it's even fun sometimes.

Many writers use their blogs to journal their road to publication. Any of us who are walking on the sharp rocks of that road in our bare feet know it is a hell of a tough journey. There are bloody footprints to prove it.

Here is the point of my post: Do not use your writer's blog as a private diary.

I pop onto aspiring writers' blogs all the time and large percentage of them are devoted to whining, complaining and lamenting the unfairness of the business.

Okay, Mary. It's my personal blog. I can write whatever I wish in any tone I wish.

Darn right. But writers need to be aware of the potential pitfalls.

Why do we blog? I think that is the first question to be asked. Specifically, What is the purpose of this particular blog? Who is the audience right now? Who will be reading it in the future?

My diary-loving friend would tell me how when she was famous, she was going to publish her diaries for lots of money. Again, she was physically controlling the information in that diary hidden in the bottom of her closet under her box of summer camp photographs.

In blogging, we lose control of the information the minute we hit "publish." There is a reason the button says that. "Publish" means to make known generally, and boy, do we. So many times on twitter I've seen people say something like, "How to alienate the children's publishing industry," or "How to never get published," followed by a link to the post of a poor writer who has lost control on her/his blog and gone off on a career-impacting rant.

Yes, we can set the permissions on our blog to a very narrow audience, rendering it private, but if we, as writers, are using the blog to increase our web presence or establish platform, that is not practical.

Keep the nastiness private. I have a crit partners who have endured endless rants about the difficulty of this business along with my insecurities all laid out for examination. I would never put these tirades up on my writer's blog. But to remain stable, most of us need to vent occasionally.

My advice is to never write anything on your writer's blog you do not want read by your agent, publisher, spouse, child or fan. If your career takes off, your unpleasant post could be more wide-read than you ever intended. Think long-range.

Do not give tallies of the number of queries sent/rejected/accepted. This never works as planned. If I'm an agent and you have queried me, I might google your name if I like the letter or pages. What if I go to your site and see you have received zillions of rejections and very few requests? Naturally, it's up for interpretation, but it might backfire.

What if you have ranted about how unfair and crappy a certain agent was with her form rejection? I work for a different agency, but we share office space (this is common) and talk every day. I like her. So much for the full request I was going to send you.

There is nothing wrong with opening your diary about the hardships of publication as long as you keep in mind the person you least want to read it probably will. Don't rant and don't give out your rejection count. I know of several cases where agents have told writers they requested material based on their sites or online presence (I'm one). I also am aware of a couple of cases in which an agent said that she found the presentation of the writer's blog offensive and unprofessional and were not going to pursue representation for that reason.

Now, I don't mean you have to be serious and stuffy and only blog about writing. Your website can handle that part. Quite the contrary. A blog is where you let your personality show. I'm not much of a blogger by anyone's standards. I blog mostly about writing and my road to publication, but on the rare occasion when I post, I try to make it fun for myself. The posts where I am "me" are the ones that get the most hits. I've blogged about singing out loud in a Waffle House and getting caught at the country club in my pajamas. It lets my online friends get to know me as a woman and not just as a writer. It doesn't mean I don't get discouraged and have posts that reflect that, I just refrain from ranting, venting or giving out information that will come back to bite me someday (My ever-tolerant crit group receives the full force of all of that).

One last parting bit of advice from someone who needs advice herself: Refrain from mentioning anyone by name in a negative light. Most folks are aware of this, but I'm a total technotard and found this out a year into my writing career *blush*: There is a thing called "Google Alert." If a person has it on their name (as I do now), she will receive an alert every time her name is published online. I get dozens of alerts a day, most of them not about me, but some are. Agents/writers/editors use these. Your private diary can now broadcast with pinpoint accuracy to the people you are talking about.

Be yourself on your blog, but remain professional. Use care. Be aware of the image you want to project and keep in mind that every person with a computer holds the key to your private diary.

Have a fantastic week.

Mary

Owning Up To Your Mistakes

ElanaJohnson@gmail.com (ElanaJ) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Okay, not really your mistakes. But those your characters make. By the end of the novel, do they need to own up to their mistakes?

As authors, we want to create characters that grip the hearts of our readers. This means that we put them through horrible things. We make them choose things that some might see as "wrong" or that could be illegal. We do this to show them as 3-dimensional, real people.

All these bad things your characters go through is good. The bad choices they make are even better. I mean, the more layers your characters have, the more levels on which your readers can find a connection. (I mean, come on. How many of us have made bad decisions? Go on, raise your hands. Yeah, me too.) Those are the characters we identify with, the ones we love--the ones who are imperfect yet lovable.

Because that's how real people are.

So back to the question at hand. At the end of the story, does the character have to own up to the things they've done wrong?

My advice: Make it authentic. If a punishment is necessary for character growth and plot development, then yes. Absolutely make your character go through that ring of fire and brimstone. Give them emotional consequences. Real-world consequences. Allow them to grow. And allow us to experience all of that with them.

Now, that doesn't mean that every little infraction they've committed has to be brought to light. In real life, people get away with things all the time. I do believe, however, that if you bring your characters to the fire--and then pull them through it--your readers will identify more strongly with them. Think about it. Who wants to read about someone who gets away with everything? Never has to pay for a mistake? Go on. Raise your hands now. Mine's not up, because I'd rather experience the growth of a character that comes from learning the hard way.

Creating memorable characters is essential in good fiction writing. If you make them pay for the (major) things they've done wrong, they'll be richer, deeper, unforgettable. So go on! Make them suffer, just a little bit more.

Publishing Pulse 10/2/09

marytlindsey@comcast.net (Mary Lindsey) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:00:00 +0000

The New QueryTracker 3 Launched this Week

QueryTracker.net received a face lift that included not only a new look, but exciting new features. In addition to the extensive list of literary agents and features already in place, networking and publishers have been added. You can read about the upgrade here and visit the new QueryTracker here.

New Agents Added to the QueryTracker Database

Several new agents were added to the QT database in the month of September. Check out their profiles for website links and genres they represent.

Teresa Kietlinski joined the Prospect Agency.

Myrsini Stephanides is new to the the Carol Mann Agency.

Kerry Evans is now with Levine Greenberg Literary Agency.

Leslie Kaufmann joined Kneerim & Williams at Fish & Richardson.

Adriana Dominguez is now an agent with Full Circle Literary, LLC.

QT Congrats

Congratulations to QueryTracker member, Scott Tracey, whose book, Witch Eyes, was sold to Flux Publishing in a 2 book deal. Mr. Tracey is represented by Colleen Lindsay of Fine Print Literary Management. Congrats, Scott!

Tips, News & Other Interesting Info from Around the 'Net

Literary agent Kristin Nelson blogged about how agents make money.

I liked Eric's post over at Pimp My Novel called "Never Give Up! Never Surrender!"

Guide to Literary Agents is hosting a fun contest called "The Worst Story Ever Told."

Dial Books editor Liz Waniewski is interviewed by author Cynthia Leitich Smith on one of my favorite blogs, Cynsations. You should also check out Cynthia Leitich Smith's website. She has great information for writers including children's and young adult literature sources and agent interviews.

Wishing everyone a fabulous weekend.

Mary

Talking QueryTracker 3 with Creator Patrick McDonald

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn Kaufman) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:45:00 +0000

We wanted to get the inside scoop on the new QueryTracker.net, so we decided to interview QT creator Patrick McDonald.

QueryTracker Blog: Tell us a bit about what inspired you to create QT in the first place.

Patrick McDonald: You know the old saying, "Necessity is the mother of invention" and that's so true here. A friend and I were querying a collaborative project, and back then there wasn't anything like QueryTracker. You had to use AgentQuery (a great resource, by the way) and then keep a separate list on your own of who you queried and who you didn't. Then constantly check back and forth between them. After a few dozen queries it became very difficult to keep track. As we were discussing the problem, someone said, "Wouldn't it be nice if we could just check them off right there on the website?" Then I realized, Hey! I can do that.

QTB: How long has QT been operating, and what kinds of recognition has it gotten?

PM: QT first opened for business in May of 2007, and it has been a surprising success ever since. I never expected it to take off like it did. We were only a few months old when we were added to Writers Digest's list of 101 best websites for writers, and have been honored now two years in a row.

Agents are mentioning us in their blogs and on their websites as a resource for writers, and I even know of one agent who suggests QT in her rejection letter. I really appreciate the recognition, and often equate it to how it must feel to write a successful novel. A task that still eludes me, by the way, but somehow it doesn't seem as important anymore.

QTB: How did you decide what would be added to version 3?

PM: Each re-write is based on the needs and requests of the members. As more people use the site, the need for certain capabilities reveal themselves, or come in the form of suggestions from users.

For instance, I noticed on the agent profiles, that a lot of people were using the comment section to communicate back and forth among themselves. This is cumbersome and not what the system was really designed to do, so something better had to be found. It seemed obvious that what was needed was a method for sending private messages between users, and even a way to set up discussion groups for more in-depth conversations. So, QT3 will now have all that and more.

I've noticed friendships forming between writers here and on the QT forum, and realized that a support group of friends is extremely valuable to writers enduring the query process. So, methods to bring people together were found.

A good example of a user suggested feature is the publisher list. I received countless requests to add publishers to the database. It was something I was always hesitant to do because of the difficulty and effort involved, but the crowd finally won me over.

QTB:What was so difficult about listing publishers that you wanted to avoid it?

PM: Well, QT has always been dedicated to quality listings. I'm very careful with the agent database, and only add agents who are proven legitimate and have the proper experience needed to do the job. That kind of research takes time. There's a lot more to it than just throwing up a list of names and addresses. In order to properly research publishers, I had to learn about how their side of the industry worked, what were their standard practices and what the red flags were. I then had to commit to the time it would take to keep the list updated and to continue to add to it.

QTB: You screen every listing? Why do you do that?

PM: I could just list everyone and save myself a lot of time and trouble, but not every writer on the internet is savvy enough to know when an agent is a scammer or when they are legit. And I certainly don't want to help any scammers.

But there is another danger that many writers don't realize; that an inexperienced agent can be just as dangerous as a scammer. You can't just wake up one day and decide you want to be a literary agent. There is much more involved than just liking books. You have to know the ins and outs of the publishing business, understand the contracts and the terminology. I had no idea how much was involved until I started to interact with some of the agents on QT. I can tell you horror stories about how well-intentioned "agents" set back their client's careers.

That's why QT tends to err on the side of caution when it comes to deciding who gets listed. It's much better to let one go, then to risk harm to a user. It's all about quality, not quantity.

QTB: Tell us a bit about the success stories.

PM: I'm very proud of the success stories. Almost as proud as if it were me landing the agent and getting published. Maybe I'm living vicariously through QT members, but I still get rush each time it happens.

And let me take this opportunity to congratulate Jessica Verday. Jessica was our first success story, and thanks to the slow moving publishing business, it has taken this long for her book to finally make it into stores. I now have my signed copy of THE HOLLOW and it is going in a place of honor on my bookshelf. Thank you Jessica.

QTB: What are some of your favorite new features?

PM: I'm a technophile, so for me it has to be the new technology that went into QT3, making it more convenient to use. The pages no longer have to refresh themselves every time you want to do something. That may not sound like much, but after you've used it for a while you'll appreciate it. Things are now at your fingertips where before you had to move to another page to find them. The new technology also makes the site faster, which is always a plus. And, of course, making it faster and more convenient to add query results will help increase the amount of data available to everyone.

One addition that I think will be a lot of fun are the user profiles. Like on a social networking site, you will be able to set up your own personal profile. But on QT, everything is designed with the writer in mind. So, as part of your profile you can add lists of your favorite books, authors, which genres you write and which you read. You can even opt to display a list of the agents and publishers you've queried and what the results have been. You can then do a search for other members who have the same interests as you.

If you do choose the option to display your query list to others, there is another new feature that I think will be useful. On the agent (and publisher) profiles there is now a list of all the other users who have queries that agent (or publisher). So, if you, for instance, have a query out and want to talk with someone else who queried this agent in the past, you can click over to their profile and send them a message. As I mentioned earlier, forming friendships with other writers really helps the process, and this is one of the ways to do it.

There're also some seemingly minor additions that I think will be big hits, like the "Quick Filters" on the Query List page.

QTB: What can we look forward to in the months ahead?

PM: I hope to spend the next few months addressing feedback from members telling me what they like or don't like about the new QT. For instance, the social networking aspects added to QT are an experiment. If people like and use them, I can add more. Just let me know.

Introducing The New QT3

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 15:57:00 +0000

I usually leave the blogging to the Blog Team because they are so much better at it than I am. But, this was a special occasion and I thought it was time to come out of seclusion and say a few words.

And the reason for my seclusion? I've been locked away, busy writing a totally new and improved version of QueryTracker. We're calling it QT3 (and I can't wait for version 3.141593, because then we can call it QT Pi. Sorry, that's a math joke.)

I'd like to talk a bit about some of the biggest changes in QT3.

The first is aesthetic. The site got a whole new look. It was time, and it was appropriate considering all the other changes. The black quill logo has been replaced by a much more modern writing tool, which is symbolic of the modernization of QT.

Second. The new technology that went into QT3 gives the site a speed boost and a more convenient user interface. For more information about these changes, take a look at the what's new video.

Third. I resisted the idea for years because of the extra work it would generate, but the requests kept coming in and I couldn't say no any longer. So, a list of publishers has been added to the QT database. The list is short right now, because of the time it takes to research each one, and make sure they meet QT's strict requirements. This is done to protect our members. What are our requirements?

The publisher should accept queries from unagented authors. This rules out most of the major houses.
No vanity or fee charging publishers.
No publishers who are "Not Recommended" by Preditors & Editors, or on the Writers Beware thumbs down list.
The publisher should be well established with at least several published books to their credit. This is to protect members from potential scammers who are hiding behind the new publisher mask.

And finally, QT is venturing into the social networking realm. Not because it's the trendy thing to do, but because I've watched how the friendships formed on QT grew into important support and morale boosters for writers. Let's face it, the query road can be a difficult and frustrating path. It's much easier to bear when you walk it with friends who understand what you're going through. So, several new features have been added to help bring people together, including the ability to send personal messages to other users, create a personal member profile, and interact with other users in custom discussion groups.

Where we go from here is up to you, the users. I'm leaving it in your hands to tell me what is useful, and what isn't about QT3. This will allow me to focus on what you really want, and make everyone's QT experience the best it can be.

Thank you all for making QueryTracker a success, and an industry standard.

-Patrick McDonald
Creator and Proprietor of QueryTracker.net

Publishing Pulse: 9/25/09

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn Kaufman) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Big News - We're Launching QueryTracker 3.0 This Weekend!

QueryTracker.net will be getting a great new look -- and some fantastic new features -- this weekend! As part of the move to QT3, we'll also be updating the QueryTracker Blog with a fab new look. We're really excited about our remodeling and upgrades -- and we know you're going to love our changes!

Here's the schedule:

On Saturday afternoon, we'll be making the changes to the QueryTracker.net Blog. We expect this to take between 1 and 2 hours. You'll still be able to link to and read posts, but some of the widgets you're used to may be down during the transition. Any links or bookmarks you have to our blog will continue to work, both over the weekend and going forward.

On Sunday morning, QueryTracker.net will be down for 3 to 4 hours while we make the upgrade. The QueryTracker.net Forum will not be affected and will continue to run as normal.

Want a sneak peek right now? Check out these videos!

Great Posts From Around the Web

Rachelle Gardner asks, Is Your Novel's Main Character Proactive or Reactive? and reminds us that a good query should explain what happens in the story in Tell Me the STORY.

Kristin Nelson reminds us that Agents Get Rejected Too (and that attitude is everything!)

Planning to pitch an agent at a conference? Coach Larina Kase, PsyD gives you The 5 P's to Powerful Presence.

Dr. Carolyn Kaufman is a clinical psychologist and professor residing in Columbus, Ohio. A published writer, she runs Archetype Writing: Psychology for Fiction Writers and an associated blog. She is often quoted by the media as an expert resource.

Have a psychology/writing question? Send it to me (using my email address to the right) and you may see it answered on the QueryTracker.net Blog!

Good Rejection Letters

noreply@blogger.com (Suzette Saxton) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:00:00 +0000

"Good rejection." Sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? But there are different kinds of rejection letters, and some of them may hold more information than you realize. A rejection letter could be a source of advice that can guide you through your revisions.

First, there are “form rejections.” This a standard rejection letter that an agency sends out when they have decided not to pursue representation of your work. While not helpful, at least they supply a definite “no” and you can move on with your life. The letters are usually along the lines of “not right for our list” or “not what I’m looking for.” A super sneaky way to check if yours is a form rejection is to look at an agent’s profile on QueryTracker. Many people post their verbatim rejections in the “comments” section beneath the profile. (Click on the picture below to see an up-close view.)

A good rejection typically comes from an agent who has read some or all of your manuscript. Many agents will tell you what is working – and what isn’t. “I fell in love with the character, but not with the plot,” for example. If you get this kind of rejection, hang onto it! You may need to take some time to get past the sting of being rejected, but later you will want to go back and really absorb what the agent is telling you. Then, revise your manuscript while keeping the agent’s advice at hand and in mind.

A friend of mine received a rejection from an agent detailing very specifically what was wrong with the plot of her middle grade mystery. My friend replied with a big THANK YOU and asked if she could resubmit – the agent said no, but he knew of another agent within his agency who might like the book once it was revised, and promised to pass it along.

Last week our own Heather Dyer mentioned her agent-inspired “eureka moment” that led to revisions and, down the road, signing with an agent.

An agent told another friend of mine that her premise (and therefore the whole book) was not competitive enough for the market – but the agent had some very nice things to say about the writing style and invited the author to submit future projects for consideration. (And luckily this friend has been querying long enough to know that this is a fantastic opportunity!)

We all know agents are some of the busiest people on the planet, and for them to take time to offer feedback is a really big deal. Their honesty about your work is a boon – so be sure to thank them for it.

Do you have a “good rejection” story you’d like to share? (And please, let’s keep it positive and anonymous.)