Category Archives: advice

July 12, 2012   Stacey   advice, critiques, feedback, rejection, Stacey  
4

The positive power of rejection

The longer you live, the more rejection you are faced with. It’s as natural a part of life as breathing. As a writer, you put yourself in a position to face more rejection than the average person (actors probably have a leg up on writers, though, in the rejection department). How you handle that part of the process is key to your success. If you give up too quickly, you’ll never get where you want to go. If you take it personally, you’ll wind up angry and resentful. But if you use it to make your writing better, and take the feedback that rejections sometimes offer and revise your work to make it the best it can be, then you’re really getting somewhere that could wind up being great. Perhaps not necessarily what you originally envisioned, but even better than that.

I enjoyed reading this recent article from writersdigest.com about Aminta Arrington’s winding road to publication. She describes the various agents with whom she corresponded and how their feedback shaped and changed the book she wound up writing and selling to a publisher. While not all agents or editors can offer the type of constructive feedback it sounds like she received, there are certainly other places to go to get feedback on your book, whether it’s from teachers, beta readers, writers’ groups, or your most insightful friends and family. Taking the idea of rejection and spinning it into a chance for growth and introspection is a worthwhile concept.

And it got me to wondering about our own blog readers and their experiences with the positive power of rejection. I’d love to hear your stories of how a rejection shaped your work in a positive (or negative – sometimes enough rejection can get you thinking about a new project instead of staying stuck on an old one that isn’t working) way. And it doesn’t have to be agent or publisher rejection. Maybe it’s a friend who told you they didn’t like something you’d written, or a teacher who gave you a grade lower than you thought you deserved until you heard his or her explanation and realized maybe it really wasn’t your best work. Please share your  positive rejection stories and then we can all work on trying to remember to see the glass half full approach to rejection from now on.

June 19, 2012   John   advice, biography, John, recommendations, suggestions  
6

Bio recommendations

Having spent my lunch hour today booking rental cars for various trips this summer, I’ve got vacation on the brain, which means I’m also thinking about reading for pleasure. Not that I get a ton of time to read on vacation anymore—with two boys to chase after, my days of reading quietly on the beach seem to be a thing of the past. But nevertheless, I always try to leave the city with at least one more book than I think I will actually get through, on the off chance that I can snag a few hours of sustained reading time.

Anyway, I’m looking at my reading list, and it’s all novels. And while that’s fine, I do feel like I want to mix it up with at least one nonfiction piece. Typically, I indulge in a rock star bio, but I can’t think of anything recent that I want to pick up. So, anyone have a good rec for a new biography or autobiography? Would love a good tip for the trips!

June 01, 2012   Lauren   advice, book club, feedback, fun, Lauren, reading  
2

Organized nerdiness

Despite my love of reading and the sheer volume of it that I do every week for work, I feel like I don’t often enough do it just for fun.  I tend to cram it in in phases, desperately scarfing down book after book, before returning to a world in which TV and games on my phone exist and sometimes steal my attention away.  As much a fan of books as I am, I’m also a big nerd for systems and rules, so I decided to find ways to make sure I’m keeping up to a reasonable level of pleasure reading.  It’s hard to turn off your inner editor (maybe that National Book Award winner doesn’t really need my marginalia) if you never read enough for fun to find the work mode off switch.

My first step was to form a book club with my friends.  DGLM book club is great, but it’s geared toward learning rather than enjoying, and we don’t usually all read the same book.  I want to be able to chat about books with my friends, but with varied tastes and busy lives, it’s often the case that even those of us who are well read don’t overlap much.  Our first book is Jeffrey Eugenides’s The Marriage Plot, which I’m actually not that sure is going to be my cup of tea.  We shall see, I guess!  Those who’ve already read it suggest we’re going to have lots to talk about, so at least it should be interesting.  I’m pretty adamant that we not pretend to read a book and then gossip about other things instead—we do plenty of that without forming a book club, after all.

So I turn to you for tips:  are any of you in a book club?  Any pitfalls to avoid?  Ways that your book club really made things interesting?

May 30, 2012   Stacey   advice, editors, Stacey, submissions  
4

Tips from a former editor, now published author

Following up on my last blog post, I’m writing today with more advice from a (in this case former) big-house editor. I worked with Chris Pavone when he was an editor at Clarkson Potter, as well as when he was at Artisan, and now he can add bestselling author to his resume since his first novel, THE EXPATS, has hit the list.

I really like seeing the insider information from WritersDigest.com and was especially curious to see Chris’s tips on how to avoid editors rejecting your work. There is some solid if basic (and blunt) advice here, mostly for beginning authors. Much of what he suggests it seems to me is really more for authors before they’ve pitched to agents. I’d hope that most agents submitting projects to editors have made sure their authors have corrected all of these holes before the proposal or manuscript hits the desk of an editor.

What I love most about the piece is the comments. Writers are so grateful for seasoned feedback, and it’s clear from Pavone’s background that he knows of which he speaks since he rejected hundreds if not thousands of proposals and manuscripts in his day.

It got me to thinking of asking the question of our readers – what’s the best publishing advice you’ve ever received? From whom? And the worst? Where do you go when you need advice on how to pitch your work? Please share your stories and ideas here and let us know what’s helpful, and maybe more importantly, what isn’t.

May 21, 2012   Jim   advice, conferences, Jim, teachers  
19

Buying Better Writing

So I got roped into teaching a webinar next week on “the ten elements of a saleable novel today” over at Writer’s Digest. http://www.writersdigestshop.com/10-elements-of-a-salable-novel-today?lid=wdcsblog

 

WD had the topic all ready to go, but they needed to replace the teacher, so I’m filling in at the last minute. This will be my first ever webinar, so I’m excited and a little nervous. Creating a PowerPoint presentation for it might not, um, utilize my, um, best talents. Also, I can talk for a long while, but whenever I prepare for a conference, there’s the comfort of knowing that if I time a session terribly, I can ALWAYS fill time with questions from the audience. This has a more structured time breakdown. That means I’ll be sitting on my couch this weekend talking to myself while holding a stopwatch.

 

Regardless, the point of today’s entry is that I know there’s a charge for this class, and it isn’t cheap. I’ve always been aware that conferences are pricey, but that never really settles in because there are so many attendees and also so many participants. Now people are paying to learn from me and just me, so I’m extra concerned about folks getting their money’s worth. So I’ll be dusting off my best material and worrying about letting people down which I hope ultimately means I’ll deliver a great class (I’ll know next week!).

 

In the meantime, as I pondered this over the weekend, I was really left wondering how much money aspiring writers have had to lay out for their craft. I imagine it’s cheaper than acting (fewer headshots and diction classes), but there are so many workshops and classes and conferences out there that even from the other side of the table it looks a bit overwhelming.

 

So my questions for all of you: how much have you spent trying to make it as a writer? What was worth it? What wasn’t? And who wants to come give me a PowerPoint tutorial before next Thursday?

May 16, 2012   Stacey   advice, blog-to-book, cookbooks and food writing, food, future of publishing, Stacey  
2

If you want to write about food, read this now

As you know by now, I’m a bit obsessed with food, and I love cookbooks (both selling them and using them). There have been a couple of recent articles published about food writing that have caused quite a stir in the business, so I thought I’d talk about them.

The first was published last month by Food 52 founder Amanda Hesser, and it talked about the ways in which the food writing business has changed, and resulted in an inability for an aspiring food writer to make a living the old fashioned way writing about food in newspapers and magazines. It also gave some smart advice on how aspiring food writers can rethink their options.

Then last week Wiley editor Justin Schwartz’s blog post came out about publishing a cookbook. His piece offers very straightforward and specific advice on what not to do when you’re putting together a book proposal.

The articles are very different, but it’s worth reading both to get two experienced perspectives on a broadly similar topic.

The thing that’s great about Justin and his post is that he says it like it is. No sugar coating, no nonsense, no b.s., just clear and very detailed advice. He could start a consulting business and charge money for this stuff, but instead he shares it for free so those of you interested in writing cookbooks can learn what to do, and what not to do.

It’s funny because I had not one but two cookbook clients send me revised proposals this week, and both had read Justin’s post and included things that weren’t there before, like an author photo. And it definitely made for a better package to present. Sometimes the simplest advice is the most effective.

Amanda’s piece is more of a big picture view, and while it might on the surface feel depressing, it offers valuable takeaway suggestions about how to rethink a career in the food industry. Traditional writing jobs are out, but there are other ways to build up a successful brand, like some of the bloggers she mentions including Pioneer Woman, Smitten Kitchen and Simply Recipes.

If you are interested in learning more about this area, take a look and let us know what you think of Justin and Amanda’s advice. And if you have any other tips of your own for getting a cookbook published, or trying to make a career as a food writer, please share them.

May 14, 2012   Jane   advice, contracts, deadlines, Jane, opinion  
13

The ominous delivery date and what happens when you don’t make it

Most writers know that as a part of the book publishing negotiations, a delivery date is established in the publishing contract.  I usually leave this date entirely up to my clients, telling them that they should take a realistic amount of time to complete their manuscripts.

Most opt for a year or twelve months from their receipt of the publisher’s on-signing money.  Sometimes they will go for less, especially if the subject matter is a timely one or if there is a competitive book in the works.

And then there are those who take well over a year to complete their book and then wonder why they have to wait yet another year before it is published.  (This of course is the way traditional publishing works – a general rule is that there is a 12-months lag between manuscript acceptance and book publication).

But what happens when the author is late?  I thought about this when I ran across this piece which appeared in last Thursday’s Wall Street Journal.

Usually the first thing that happens when  authors tell me they are going to be late with their manuscript is that I go to the publisher and with the author’s agreement establish a new delivery date.  “Extensions” as they are called are not at all unusual, but the publisher is generally not willing to grant more than one or two at most.  After these are exhausted, more often than not, the publisher will cancel the contract if the manuscript has not been delivered, and as a result, the author has to pay back all of the monies he or she has previously received.

Sometimes though, as in the piece above, the publisher tolerates an author being late, hoping that when the manuscript is finally delivered, it is so good that it is well worth the wait.  I actually have a project which is currently about seven years late, so late, in fact, that the acquiring editor left the company for a new career for a number of years and then decided he really wanted to be an editor so he returned to the same house to find that the manuscript was still not delivered.  This is one of those cases where the hope is that the final result will improve with age.

My own feeling about late deliveries is that they are unfortunate but often unavoidable.  The most important thing is that the author do everything he or she can to effect the ultimate delivery of a solid manuscript which the publisher will be happy to publish – even if it is seven or ten or fifteen years late.

I wonder what you think about the question of the timeliness of manuscript deliveries?  Should the author be allowed an unlimited number of extensions?  Should they be penalized for being late, even once?  Or is a good book worth the wait?

May 02, 2012   Stacey   advice, Stacey, timing, writing  
10

Are you too busy to write?

When I saw this piece from Writer’s Digest about finding time to write when we’re all so busy, it struck a chord with me. I love seeing the spreadsheet for planned writing days and goals laid out on the page. It appeals to the organized side of my brain. The problem is that that side is always fighting it out with the other, less organized, lower tech sphere, and sometimes for me the spreadsheet doesn’t come out ahead.

Of course, I’m not a writer. I represent writers. But we all have obligations, goals, deadlines (I’m late for my blog deadline today as a matter of fact), and we need to keep it straight. Sometimes things come up that take us away from the task at hand. Especially in our digital world (see my recent post about this) where we’re pulled in a lot of directions each day.

So, I’d love to hear from our readers. How do you fit in writing time in your busy life? Does it take priority over other things? Do you work late at night or early in the morning? Do you write in your head while you’re driving to work? Or do you, like the author of this blog post, create spreadsheets outlining your short and long term goals? Please let us know, and enlighten us about what you’ve found to be the most effective methods of writing. I’m sure there are lessons to be learned for other writers, as well as the rest of us.


April 30, 2012   Jane   advice, future of publishing, Jane, opinion, publishers, retailers  
5

What you can do about the DOJ lawsuit

Following up on my previous blog—and having read a huge amount in the last two weeks about this matter—I feel more strongly than ever that we all, agents, authors, publishers, independent bookstore owners, and readers, can and should do something about the settlement the DOJ is proposing.

In order to try to stop the Department of Justice there is something called The Tunney Act, which allows members of the public to comment on any proposed settlement by the government on a civil antitrust suit.  The “Competitive Impact Statement” filed in court by the Department of Justice on April 11th states that the Depart of Justice will cause written comments received from any person to be filed with the court and published in the Federal Register.

If you are in agreement that the terms of the settlement are onerous for publishing and bookstores, you  need to write a letter and send it to:

John R. Read, Esq.
Chief, Litigation III Section
Antitrust Division, United States Department of Justice
450 5th Street, NW, Suite 4000
Washington, DC 20530

You may also submit your comments attached in an email to john.read@usdoj.gov (with a copy to stephen.fairchild@usdoj.gov).

Please be sure to reference the name of the litigation in your comments.  We suggest the following or similar reference:

United States v. Apple, Inc. et al., No. 12-CV-2826(DLC) (S.D.N.Y.) – Comments on Proposed Final Judgment as to Defendants Hachette, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster

All public comments received will be considered by the U.S. Department of Justice and will be filed with the Court and published in the Federal Register (the Daily Journal of the U.S. Government).

These letters and e-mails must be received by June 23rd so please read all you are able to about the issues and write and mail your letters expressing your opinions as soon as you can.

I feel strongly that we must keep the publishers and bookstores alive—both independents and the remaining chains.  I hope you all will help.

April 04, 2012   Stacey   advice, debut fiction, inspiration, Stacey, writing  
6

A story with sea legs

For those of you who regularly read our blog, you probably know I’m a sucker for a good, inspirational publishing success story. With so much uncertainty in the industry that sometimes swirls into negativity, for me at least it’s like a breath of fresh air to read something wholly positive.

I loved this piece from today’s New York Times about Charlotte Rogan’s The Lifeboat, which has a fantastic premise and a great back story of finding its way to print. I’m very much looking forward to reading the book, which is generating good buzz and positive reviews.

I’m drawn to Ms. Rogan’s story personally because she has college-age triplets. As a mom of twins, parenting multiples is an area of great interest. I hear the word triplets and my ears perk up.

From a publishing perspective, I’m intrigued by her story because of how long it took her to seek a publisher, and how she came at writing from a hobbyist’s perspective – taking classes here and there, finding time when she could, working when the kids were in school. I love at the end when she says that there were times when just the writing of it was enough (with the day-to-day of parenting triplets, I’m guessing it was a pretty good escape at times). It’s wonderful to see an example of a passion that satisfies without the promise of a book deal or lucrative career as a published author. That’s refreshing.

I am also impressed with the ways in which she found and researched her topic. As idea generators it’s interesting to me to see how people come up with their ideas.  I am always looking at a story with an eye to whether it might translate to a book. For Ms. Rogan, when she saw an old case in one of her husband’s criminal law texts, it served as inspiration for the book that followed. Then she drew on research and personal experience to flesh it out.

I wonder if some of our readers might share their stories of how they came to their book idea. Every story has a story behind the story, right? Sometimes those are as interesting and enlightening as the book itself. Do tell. We’d love to hear

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