2020 New Year's Resolution for Writers: Begin

Pxfuel

I rarely make personal New Year's resolutions. (The one time I did, in 2018, it backfired so spectacularly, I will never resolve something personal again. I now take "Be careful what you wish for" very seriously.) However, all failures aside, I always make writer's resolutions. Those I follow faithfully, and without mishap.

In 2017, I resolved to write what I feared. In my case, it was a memoir. Fiction is easy to hide in. I can embed my quirks in a character or two, and write the truth without too much fear of exposure. A memoir was another matter entirely. All those secrets revealed, all that airing of linen, potentially quite dirty, all that risk. The very idea of writing a memoir terrified me.

So, I wrote one, because it was a resolution. And I am a woman of my word.

The following year, I resolved to finish, because my memoir was becoming a lengthy affair. At 120,000 words, and not even close to finishing, I was tempted to simply table the idea and get on with writing something more entertaining. But promises are promises, so I finished. The final product clocked in at 172,000 words, a length one agent characterized as "absurd."

Last year, I resolved to be true to my work. To thine own work be true is a piece of advice that is well taken for any writer. Writing for an audience, or for an agent, or a publisher, will only water down your work and turn it into something that says nothing. The only way your writing can achieve its full potential is if you say what you are compelled to say. Second guessing an audience will get a writer nowhere. So, I (mentally) told the agent who said my proposed memoir's length was "absurd" to go to hell, and added more.

This year, I am at an impasse. After spending two years spilling my guts out on paper, I feel emptied. Finishing a novel never has that effect on me; I only feel a sense of elation a "writer's high." But finishing my memoir about the two years I spent hitchhiking to Argentina has left me wondering what to do with myself. A novel? Another memoir? A screenplay? I don't know where to start.

I've come to the conclusion that it doesn't matter. The important thing is to begin, so that is my 2020 resolution: Begin.

Begin with a sentence, a phrase, a title. Begin with an image, song lyrics, something your mother told you when you were twelve. Begin with a phone conversation, an old letter, a shopping list. It doesn't matter how or what - just start. Inspiration will come after you begin to write. It always does.

So, dear writers, if you are staring at a blank screen ... write something on it. I promise it will take you somewhere you didn't expect to go. That is why we write, after all.

2019 New Year's Resolution for Writers: To Thine Own Work Be True

Pixabay

Every year, at about this time, I make a special New Year's writing resolution. To my credit, I have managed to carry most of them through. In 2017 I resolved to write what I feared. That resolution had to do with stretching my boundaries. I am a fiction writer, and I have terror of writing memoirs, so I began to write one. (And it has been every bit as frightening as I thought it would be.)

The following year, in the throes of memoir-phobia, I resolved to finish. Starting new projects is fun and exciting, but actually finishing them is another matter entirely. I promised myself I would finish writing my memoir in 2018. Sad to say, I failed. (In my defense, I did write more than 80,000 words of it. And I swear I will finish it before I die.)

This year, after giving much thought to the process of writing, I have resolved to ignore my potential audience, along with the requirements of agents and editors, and simply fulfill the potential of my work the best I can.

For writers, who lately have been saddled with all sorts of marketing tasks ("Who will read your book?" "Give us three comps," "Do you have an online platform?" and so forth.), simply maintaining loyalty to your work can get short shrift. What you have to say can get overshadowed by considerations of whether it will have market appeal, and if your hypothetical audience will want to read your words.

The primary loyalty of any author should be to the work itself. You have something to say? Then say it to the best of your ability, pushing all other considerations aside until you have fully expressed yourself. Once you have finished your book, it will take on a life of its own, much like giving birth to a baby. It will have its own personality, and it will acquire meaning, often independent of the one you have given it. But that will only happen if you devote yourself to putting the work first, and all other considerations second.

Now go tell your story, the way only you can.

How to Edit Your Own Manuscript

Writer's Block/Drew Coffman/CC license

You've written the last line of your book, and you have that expansive euphoria that comes with a job well done. An almost uncontrollable urge to share your accomplishment with the world washes over you. You want to show your new book to your friends, agents, publishers - or, God forbid, immediately self-publish.

Don't do it.

The first draft of anything you write needs to be your little secret. Hug it to your breast, murmur sweet nothings to its pages, but don't let anybody read it.

Why? Because it is filled with mistakes. There are errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, word choice, internal logic, voice, awkward constructions, typos. There are whole scenes you have left out, dramatic high points you have missed. There is a relationship between your characters that you have not fully developed. You may even have used impact as a verb! (AGH!)

If you think none of those things appear in your book, you are wrong. If you think nobody will pay attention to any of those minor blips, you are wrong. If you think your glorious prose will shine through, like the sun breaking through clouds of dangling participles, you are dead wrong. Left uncorrected, those errors will forever mar your work.

At this point, I may have sufficiently scared you into hiring an editor. Don't do it yet. First, give your book a once over. Maybe a twice over. Or a three times over. Take a jolly good crack at it before you send it off to be edited. (You will save yourself some money if the editor doesn't have to fix a multitude of mistakes you could have caught yourself.) Follow these steps:

1) Put your manuscript away for a few months. It will grate on you to simply park your project awhile, but I can guarantee you need a break from it in order to see it with fresh eyes. You can use the break to write something else. Or you can read a book. (Reading a good book can stimulate ideas about how to make your manuscript better. Either take notes, or make some changes on the spot.)

2) When you pick up your manuscript again, read it aloud. Reading aloud slows processing speed, allowing you to spot errors more easily. If you stumble while you are reading, revise that sentence or phrase. Stumbling means you've composed an awkward or ambiguous construction that readers will find difficult to parse.

3) Open your book to a random page to edit. Writers get "manuscript blindness" when they read their work from first to last page. It's a natural consequence of looking at something too many times combined with the inner knowledge of what comes next. To find errors you need to surprise yourself.

4) Read your first page. Pretend that your book will be judged on that page, and that page alone. (Often, readers don't even make it past the first paragraph. I know agents don't.) Polish that page until you can see your face in it.

5) Repeat step 4 for every page in your book.

Now you can show your manuscript to trusted friends or beta readers. After you have gotten enough feedback to hone your book even further, you can begin searching for an editor. At this point, you will have a much better idea of what kind of editor you need (line editor, proofreader, or, if you are still stuck on structural components, a developmental editor). This article will help you find the editor who is right for you: Editing a Self-Published Book

When, at long last, you send your book to an editor, she, or he, will find errors, because there are always errors. But you will have had the chance to take care of plot holes, character motivation, missing scenes, and all those things that only you, the author, can fix.

What Writers Should Do During the Dead Month

August is affectionately known as the "dead month" in the publishing industry. During August all work comes to a virtual halt as editors, agents, proofreaders, typesetters, CEOs, dog walkers and everyone else on the planet takes a much-needed vacation.

So, all you aspiring authors, don't submit your manuscript to publishers, and don't send your queries to agents in the month of August. (To be fair, the two weeks up to and after the Frankfurt Book Fair in October are not so great either, and mid-November to mid-January is also a bad time, but for different reasons.)

If your manuscript is ready to go, you have several choices of what to do during the dead month. You can head to the beach, you can write your next novel ...

... or

You can do research!

August is the ideal time to gather publishing ammunition. This is how to do it:

1) Make a list of agents. To assemble your list of ideal agents, go to agentquery.com and do a search on your genre (i.e. the genre of the book you want to sell). Make a list of all agents who are accepting queries in that genre. Then, once your list is assembled, go to each and every agency's website to make sure the information you have garnered from agentquery is current. While you are there, read the website, and study the bios of the agents. Do you think the agent will be a good fit for you? If not, take the agent off your list. Next type the agent's name into a google search. Look for entries from "absolutewrite watercooler" and from "querytracker." (Querytracker also allows you to search agents by genre.) Read what other writers say about these agents. If writers report bad treatment, then cross the agent off your list. (None of the agents on agentquery will charge a fee, but some who don't may recommend editing services for which they receive a kickback. Don't query an agent who also offers editing services.) Also check preditors&editors for complaints. It will take you at least a month to assemble your list, so have fun.

Sci-fi and fantasy writers, go here for a list of agents: Agents Looking for Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers

Paranormal romance writers, go here for a list of agents: Agents Seeking Paranormal Romance Writers

All other writers, go here for a long list of agents seeking all sorts of genres: Agents Seeking Clients

2) Make a list of reviewers. The time to contact reviewers is three to four months in advance of publication. So, if you have finished your manuscript and plan to self-publish as soon as the last word is written, STOP. Don't publish until you have reviewers lined up, and all your publicity in place. (Interviews, ads, etc.) Go to Top 12 Sites for Finding Reviewers for links to reviewers and review sites. Cull through these for reviewers who write reviews for your genre. Make a very long list. (You will need several hundred. Returns on review requests are modest.) Be sure to include their email address, or other contact information on your list.

3) If you have written short stories or poems, make a list of literary journals. Trust me, even those few journal editors who say they accept submissions all year round don't read in August. The best way to submit to literary journals is to have a list of 20 or 30 at the ready. If you are going for fame, then start your list with the journals that don't accept simultaneous submissions. If you simply want to get some writing credits under your belt, then make a list of those that do accept simultaneous submissions - and submit to all of them at once. In September. Go here to find short story markets: Top 5 Online Resources for Short Story Markets. Go here for poetry: Top 5 Resources for Publishing Poetry

4) Write templates of query letters and review requests. All letters, whether they are to an agent or a reviewer, need to be individualized. Always include the name of the agent or reviewer in your salutation, say how or where you found them, and tailor your initial pitch to that person's stated interests. That being said, there are some things that will not change from one submission to the next. Your blurb (for reviewers) or pitch (for agents) will be the same, as will your word count, genre, bio and other pertinent information. It is a lot easier to write a template query or review request and tweak it than to compose a new email for each submission. Once you are happy with your template, copy it and paste it into an email. Don't send. Just save it as a draft. Having a draft online will save a lot of time later.

Note: Writer's Digest has a great series on successful queries, which is one of the best resources you will find on how to write a winning query letter.

5) Make a submission packet. If you are submitting directly to publishers, you will need a submission packet. A submission packet typically includes a synopsis of your book, a bio, and a pitch (one paragraph), as well as sample chapters, and log lines, depending on the publisher. It also may include a proposal and a marketing plan if you are publishing a nonfiction book. If you don't know how to write a pitch, or a proposal, or a log line, or a query - now is the time to do some studying. Believe me - and I say this from bitter experience - you don't want to find out what these things are after you have begun contacting agents, publishers, or editors. There is a lot of information online about how to write all of the components of a submission packet. In fact, some agents and publishers are even kind enough to spell out what is involved on their websites.

6) Last, but not least - don't read your manuscript. I am aware that everybody under the sun will tell you to read your manuscript once again to check for typos, logic errors, and awkward syntax that you swear you did not write. (The syntax gremlins did it.) But, if you read your manuscript too many times in succession you will develop manuscript blindness. 

Have you ever noticed that when you look at a word too many times, the spelling no longer makes sense? That is exactly what happens when you read your manuscript too often, especially if you read it from beginning to end. After several readings you can't see your mistakes. If you really must read your book -  yet again - make spot checks. Simply scroll down to a random spot on your manuscript and read whatever paragraph your cursor lands on. I will guarantee you that nine times out of ten you will find something that needs fixing.

So, while your future agent/publisher/editor/reviewers are on a beach enjoying themselves during the month of August, you will be hard at work, proving to them that you are worth their time and attention.

Disengaging from Readers: Dealing with Trolls, Cyber-bullies, and Other Web Cranks

It is received wisdom that writers must actively participate in the online community by joining discussions, replying to comments made on blogs, posting their views on forums, and so on. These interactions, collectively referred to as "engagement," are presented as requirements for building an audience.

There are scads of articles for how to maximize "engagement" on the net, however, for the purposes of authors, most of these recommendations are completely misguided.

Before I get into why these internet pundits are wrong, let me clarify what that term "engagement" actually means for writers.

Engagement, as a marketing term, means getting someone to buy something or exhibit interest in your product in some tangible way. If you are a writer, engagement means getting someone to buy your book, or write a review. If you are a blogger, it means traffic to your blog. If you have launched an author website or Facebook page, it means having people visit, read your page(s), and make return visits.

In short, engagement boils down to numbers.

Keeping that definition in mind, how does it benefit you, as an author, to enter into an online fracas with a person whose sole purpose in life is to annoy people? In fact, some of these "trolls" are even willing to pay for the pleasure of harassing writers. Now, if you were riding on a bus and a complete stranger sat down and starting berating you, you would simply get off the bus. It would be useless to try to argue with them. When someone does that online, it is equally as pointless.

If you are a budding author here are a few simple rules to follow when embarking on "engagement:"

1) If someone makes an insulting comment on a public forum about your book, or anything else you've written, do not reply, even to defend yourself.

2) If someone writes a spiteful comment on your blog or Facebook page, delete it.

3) If someone writes an inappropriate review, personally attacks you, or uses your book for a negative ad campaign, make a complaint. Do not address the "reviewer" directly. (Some of these "reviewers" get paid for driving down the ranking of competing titles by posting negative reviews. Recently, on Amazon, I found 22 identical negative reviews for books on pain management, all of which were posted within a two-day period. I flagged every one of those reviews as inappropriate.)

4) DO NOT argue with people on blogs, or any other public site. Your remarks will come back to haunt you.

5) DO express your thoughts in interviews. Interviews do more to help build your profile than leaving a comment on a blog, and interviews have the added benefit of providing a buffer. (Suggestion: Book reviewers frequently post author interviews.)

6) DO reply graciously to people who give your books a thoughtful review, or who leave good comments, but only if the site is moderated, or if it is your own blog, website, or Facebook page.

Reward people who behave themselves. Ignore those who don't.

Best Method for Handling Rejections (and getting published)

Updated 8/6/24

Nobody likes to be rejected. Even the most seasoned, thick-skinned, successful writers hate getting rejections.

Unfortunately, for aspiring authors rejection isn't just a passing disappointment - it's a way of life.

As a writer, you can count on getting hundreds of rejections. And - I hate to say this - your hundredth rejection will sting just as much as the first.

At some point, you will be tempted to throw in the towel.

Don't do it. Try my foolproof method instead.

The method

Before I explain my tried-and-true method for handling rejections, I have to preface it with the admonition that it will take a little organizational work on your part. Ideally, you should do this before you start submitting your work. After all, you want to avoid as much pain as possible. Of course, if you have already started submitting your work and are in the throes of an existential crisis, it still isn't too late.

1) Make a 'top 50 list.' Find 50 places to submit your work and rank them in order of desirability. (For example, if you are submitting a story, the top slot could be the New Yorker.)

If you are submitting a short story, go here, and find 50 literary magazines. Also see 325 Paying Markets for Short Stories, Poetry, Nonfiction.

If you are submitting query letters to agents, go to Agentquery and make a list of 50 agents for your genre. (Be sure to check the Agents Seeking Clients page.)

Find resources for Science Fiction/Fantasy writers here. Also see Mega-List of Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazines - Paying markets.

Resources for Children's and YA writers are here.

Resources for Romance writers are here.

Resources for Mystery/Thrillers are here.

Resources for Historical Fiction writers are here.

Go HERE for hundreds of short form markets

2) If your top slot says "no simultaneous submissions" then, immediately after getting your rejection, submit to the #2 spot on your list.

3) If your top slots - or your remaining slots - don't say "no simultaneous submissions" submit to all of them at once. One of them will take you, and your waiting time will be considerably reduced.

4) If you are submitting to agents, make sure you revise and hone your query letter as you submit, but keep working your way down your list. Don't stop. You may need to revise your query letter along the way if nobody asks for a partial or a full.

5) When you get close to number 50 (and I have done this more than once), make a new 'top 50 list.'

Do this doggedly - without pausing to contemplate the futility of writing or the pointlessness of existence -  and you will do just fine. And keep writing! Having several of your works making the rounds on your 'top 50' will increase your chances of success.

You may find, as I did, that by using this technique you will not only avoid the rejection blues, you will get published.

When to Stop Sending Queries to Agents

Updated 7/27/24

When I first wrote this post in 2014, I had received 140 rejections. I am now up to over 700. I'm going for a record! But I probably won't beat C. S. Lewis, who got 800. (You can read his and other famous authors' rejections here.)

After you've sent out a few dozen queries to literary agents, and either not received a response from any of them, or gotten polite form rejections designed to soothe your pain while simultaneously increasing it, it's time to either hunker down or make a new plan.

(Frankly, it's better to get an email that says your work is "unreadable, unmarketable, and unpublishable," than a bland "Your story does not fit into our list, right now." At least you get to work up some righteous indignation.)

The other day I ran across an article on Writer's Digest by Kristi Belcamino - "Don’t Give Up Until You’ve Queried 80 Agents Or More." The article inspired me to get into my files and look up how many rejections I had received: 140. I clearly have a lot more work to do if I'm going to fulfill my New Year's resolution.

Kristi has given writers four pointers:

1. Perseverance. Be stubborn and refuse to ever give up.

2. Work. Cultivate a constant desire to improve as a writer. This means putting words, lots and lots of words, on paper. This also involves studying the craft of writing and reading as much as you can as often as possible. 

3. Teflon Mentality. Develop a force field to deflect ego-smashing rejections. It is crucial to have the ability to effectively handle rejection, letting them bounce off you, and not allowing them to stop you from plugging away. (See #2 Work.) 

4. Patience. Here’s a little secret — the world of publishing runs on a completely alternate universe concept of time. Tired of waiting to hear back from an agent or publisher or editor? Grab a beer and put your feet up.

If you keep all of the above in mind, and, in Ray Bradbury's words, "Write like hell!" I'm sure you can beat my record. (Although, you may not beat C. S. Lewis'. Click here for his truly astonishing number of rejections.)

That being said, you should keep in mind that the lines are increasingly becoming blurred between traditional publishing and self-publishing. Because of the dramatic success of Fifty Shades of Grey and Wool, publishers are beginning to accept works that have been previously epublished. Some agents are seeing the writing on the wall as well.

What this means for you, as a writer who does not want to go fifty shades of gray waiting for an agent to call, is that you can do both. If you've given it all you've got, don't grab a beer - design a cover, and publish.

Helpful resources:

Query Shark, a site maintained by agent Janet Reid, has some highly instructive critiques of query letters.

Writer's Digest lists successful query letters, along with analyses by agents. Read these!