Category Archives: advice

April 25, 2011   Jim   advice, feuds, Jim, marketing/publicity  
9

Don’t be a moron.

These are dangerous times to be a writer. The internet makes spreading information waaaaay too easy sometimes. Not when you want to, of course. Try to make your book trailer go viral, and you start to feel like Sisyphus. But say something mean about someone, and you can step back and watch the wildfire grow.

I know for a fact that authors love to witness the public meltdowns of other authors (I have the emails to prove it!). And I totally understand. There’s something really comforting about being able to stand back and look at someone’s breakdown over bad reviews, losing an award, not getting enough money, etc., and just think, “Thank God it isn’t me.” It’s not pure schadenfreude. I suspect that each of us possesses the ability to turn into a shrieking harpy on the internet, so each time we see someone else do it instead, there’s a degree of real comfort.

One piece of advice I share (too often) is simple: Don’t be an asshole. It’s advice I need to remind myself of sometimes when someone gets mean and all I can think is, “I can take care of this with a delicate combination of cutting wit and pure rage.” It’s just a bad idea. You always end up looking worse.

The easiest way to prevent yourself from looking like a tool on the interwebs is just to have someone trustworthy who you can run responses by. Someone who will be able to respond to your saying, “Really, I just think I have some perfectly rational explanations for why this reviewer is a toad, and I’d like to share them,” by telling you, “Shut up, or you’ll look like a moron.” I’m happy to report that there are several people in DGLM’s employ who are happy to tell me when I’m being an idiot. All. Too. Happy. Everyone needs one of these people that they can trust. A yes-man is lovely, but an honest opinion is vastly more useful.

The point is: publishing is a teeny tiny world and connections matter. People will forget that you got a bad review on your debut novel. They are much more likely to remember that you threw a hissy fit and threatened to TP the reviewer’s home.

April 25, 2011   Jane   advice, controversy, Jane, memoir, opinion  
4

Memoir writing revisited

Last Sunday night, right after I completed my blog post on memoirs, this report about Greg Mortenson appeared on 60 Minutes.  Once again, an example of memoir writing gone very, very wrong.

Here is an author (in this case a philanthropist who raises money for an important cause and who apparently takes advantage of his contributors) who has allegedly fictionalized his life experiences.  As was the case in the James Frey scandal, this not only hurts the author, his publisher and his readers but also everyone who might want to write a memoir.  In my opinion it is morally and ethically reprehensible and totally unacceptable.

To respond to a question I was asked regarding last week’s entry, and which is particularly relevant in light of these new disclosures, memoirs are meant to be true stories about the author who is writing them.  Except in rare instances, they should not be written anonymously and never “fictionalized” in any way.  Because of the James Freys and Greg Mortensons of this world, every memoirist is under closer scrutiny by publishers.

Good, effective memoir writing is a responsibility—of the author and of the publisher.  Here’s hoping Greg Mortenson’s “story” won’t be repeated any time soon.

April 22, 2011   Jessica   advice, Jessica, opinion, word count  
6

Length

I like long books. I finally read Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom (once again confirming the safe distance I maintain from the literary cutting edge). I enjoyed every blessed word. Other doorstops I have liked include: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, The Crimson Petal and the White, The Corrections, An Instance of the Fingerpost, The Power Broker, Wolf Hall and the list continues. That said, I am acquainted with of the hazards of nattering on. Most every day, I can witness my five-year-old tune out as I over-explain whatever gentle, educational, object-lesson- filled point I am trying to make.  Nothing like seeing the light of intellectual engagement switch off.

My enthusiasm for length, however, is finite, and pretty much stops where the query letter begins. Pitches for 150K first novels are usually non-starters, and 125K does its author no favors (200K and above is tantamount to self-immolation). Why? Lazy editors? Lazy readers? Hypocritical agents? Perhaps. But also, more often than not, unnecessary verbiage. I just looked at a collection of essays from a talented writer that were three times as long as they needed to be. My advice to him will be to lose two thirds of the material. Maybe three fourths. Or rewrite them as haiku. It’s hard not to fall in love with our own words, and many writers find the business of cutting excruciating.  One client of mine likened it to surgically removing his own tonsils. Much as he knew he did not really need them, there was still a lot of painful, mucky bloodletting along the way.

So what do you do when you suspect that something more than a judicious trim is in order? Or when you are convinced that every word is essential (also a reliable indication that you should unleash the red pen). Recruit a merciless fellow writer? Pretend to be a heartless editor/agent with zero respect for excellence and a mindless allegiance to word count? Or curse Jonathan Franzen for using up all the extra words?

April 18, 2011   Jim   advice, Jim, queries, writing  
10

Synopsis Hell

I mentioned last week that I was at the Romantic Times convention in LA. While there, I led a workshop on how to write “a sensational synopsis.” Before the class, I panicked that I wouldn’t have enough to say to fill my two and a half hour time slot. You know what? I can TALK. I ended up barreling through those hours and actually ran out of time at the end. And that was in spite of nattering on right through a fire alarm. It turns out people in other places pay attention to alarms. Dean Koontz’s class got cleared right out. No one even stopped in to check on us. Apparently folks are totally content to let the agents burn. I see how it is…

What I loved about the workshop (other than the opportunity to hear myself talk for several hours) was that it gave me an insight not only into how much people freak out about trying to synopsize their books, but also the ways in which they trip themselves up. A synopsis seems to be the new query letter. Everyone hates them, panics about them, and then writes a bad one. With so much information out there about writing queries, the quality has gone up astronomically over the past ten years. Most synopses on the other hand still kind of suck.

It probably has to do with the conflicting advice: Tell us everything, but be concise. Write the details as plainly as possible, but make sure the writing is still great. Don’t be jokey, but I love to laugh. (That last one might just be me). After working through a few valiant volunteers’ samples, I realized that the single thing people have the hardest time with is choosing what to include. One of my most common questions when reading a synopsis is a simple, “Hrrh?” Because when you’re cramming 100K words into a page, things tend to get confusing and I often find that authors lose track of what they have shared in a synopsis and what they need to lay out more plainly.

The synopsis, happily, isn’t the most important part of any submission. It still can only hope to have a good one. To that end, if you’ve been asked to submit one, my advice is this:

Chart the action of your novel. Actually map it out and identify the key points. Identify cause and effect between those key points. Then narrate it so that you tell us A which leads directly to B, how B then leads to C, and so on. If you can map it out in a straight line in front of you, it will read cleanly. This isn’t where you get to dazzle us with your subplots, your thematic resonance, or your brilliant character descriptions. Usually, we’re only reading this to make sure you know how to tell an actual story. The synopsis is ONLY about the plot. People get bogged down trying to encompass everything about their novels in a handful of pages. If that was possible to do, you wouldn’t have written a novel. You’d have a short story with too many words.

And then read it back trying to pretend you know nothing about the story. Can you still follow the action without knowing what you know of the book’s content? It’s tricky to be able to remove your knowledge of your own book, but try to think critically. “Here I say that Dave shoots Donna. Has Dave been introduced? Has Donna?” And only introduce new knowledge when it is absolutely critical for the reader to know it. There’s no foreshadowing in a synopsis—it’s just too confusing.

One piece of advice I garnered just by running the class itself: have other people read your synopsis back to you. Once we got going, writers would stop me and say that though they had read their own pages over and over, there was something about hearing me read it out loud that made them realize how extraneous some information was. Or how awkward some phrasing was. So if you can force a friend or family member to read it back at you, that can only help. Go ahead—exploit them. That’s what they’re there for!

And the last piece of advice makes it counterintuitive that I spoke on the subject for two and a half hours: don’t worry too much about them. Don’t overthink them. They really aren’t THAT important.

April 18, 2011   Jane   advice, bestsellers, Jane, memoir, opinion  
12

I think I’ll write a memoir

Have you noticed that so many writers these days are writing memoirs?  There are some modern classics:

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Dress Yourself in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris

There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz

One L by Scott Turow

And then there is the current New York Times hardcover Non-Fiction Bestseller list (April 17/11):

# 1:   Onward by Howard Schultz

#  5:   Red by Sammy Hagar with Joel Selvin

# 6:    All My Life by Susan Lucci

#13:   Decision Points by George Bush

#14:   Come to the Edge by Christine Haag

#15:  Blood, Bones and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton

And perhaps the ultimate, a memoir by the White House janitor.

The problem is that those considering writing about an emotional point (or points) in their lives, and in many cases, that is what a memoir is, don’t consider seriously enough whether they are ready to do this.  Are they ready to open themselves up and truthfully tell this story, which will expose them to a large audience in a way they have never been exposed before?  Are they ready to deal with probable criticism from those close to them about what they’ve written?

The point I am trying to make here is that before you think about undertaking this most difficult and personal effort, you should give very careful consideration to whether you can accept the results.  If not, then move on to an easier and safer undertaking.  If so, then go for it.  Writing your emotional and hopefully fresh and inspirational story might be the best thing you can ever do for yourself.

Have any of you ever thought of writing a memoir and decided against doing so?  What went into your decision making process?

April 15, 2011   Michael   advice, book fairs, Michael, recommendations  
2

A random collection of thoughts

I couldn’t come up with any great way to tie some of my random thoughts from this week together, so bear with my bullet point list here. And maybe one of you writer-types will know how to organize this into something more cohesive!

  • First, some advice: Unless you’re being referred to me by someone I know, whether it’s an author, editor, colleague or friend, you are not a referral. And saying you’ve been referred when in fact you haven’t is worse than not having a referral. We read everything that comes in, and it’s obvious quickly when someone is playing games. So don’t!
  • Am I the only one who gets super tense when my schedule is thrown off? It’s strange, because while I thrive on change (one of the reasons I love my job is that each day is different), I do not like to deviate once something is planned. I had to change some travel dates today, and boy was that stressful. But now that I’m all set again, I’m totally relieved. I guess what I really don’t like is the unknown–the part where I know that one plan is off but I’m not sure what the replacement plan is. As writers, do you like to have plans? Do you plan your writing, both content and schedule, in advance? Does it stress you out when those plans are thrown off?
  • The London Book Fair was this week, and the Bologna Book Fair was just a couple of weeks ago, and I keep calling and emailing people who are off gallivanting across Europe. I have to say, I’m eager for everyone to be back next week! But from various reports, it sounds like both fairs went very well (you can read about them here and here), and I’m glad to hear that people are generally more upbeat than in the past couple of years.
  • Is anyone else reading Bossypants by Tina Fey? I’ve been sneaking chapters right before bed most nights, because a good laugh is the perfect way to end the day. As with all things Fey, I recommend it highly!

That’s what’s running through my head at the moment. Anyone else have some random thoughts?

April 12, 2011   John   advice, children's books, conferences, John, middle grade, opinion, YA  
1

Retreat! Retreat!

Like Jim, I was away last weekend on book-related activities. I attended the SCBWI Eastern PA Poconos Retreat, doing manuscript critiques and a first-pages session, as well as sitting on an author/editor panel. Maybe it’s because I haven’t done a retreat in a few years, or maybe because this one was simply exceptional, but I came away as excited and rejuvenated about kids’ books as I’ve felt in quite a while.

First off, I was thrilled to see the traditional balance of projects among the writers, i.e., half picture books and half fiction. For so many years now, YA and middle-grade have dominated the kids’ books scene, and I’ve often felt a collective sense of despair among the picture book authors that there’s just no interest in their work. So it was very heartening to see that, despite no real signs of improvement in the market, authors are still coming up with stories for the youngest reader—and more importantly, are actively trying to get them published. No doubt, it’ll continue to be a struggle, especially as it’s generally not economically feasible for agents (like me) to rep text-only picture books until conditions improve. But I’m hopeful we’ll see more author/illustrators push things forward to a point where authors-only can get a shot, too—so keep it up, team!

I also noted more realistic fiction among my critiques than fantasy, which was a welcome shift. By far, the bulk of the queries I receive are fantasy-based or have paranormal elements, and while that’s all fine and good, I’d LOVE to see more fiction that deals with kids in contemporary, realistic settings. And it’s not that these stories can’t be creative or plot-driven—too often, I feel like authors equate fantasy with action, while realism is reserved for “issues.” There are tons of possibilities for high-concept storylines that don’t involve alternate worlds or werewolves, and I was very glad to see some of them this weekend.

Finally, it was great to feel just some good ol’ fashioned love for the book. We spend so much time wringing our hands over ebooks and the future of publishing (yours truly, guilty as charged), yet on the bus back to the city I realized that over the course of the weekend I only had one in-depth conversation about ebooks, and a good one at that. Moreover, as part of a silent auction, there was an impressive collection of picture books and novels from the 1940s and 1950s, including Adam of the Road with Robert Lawson’s illustrations and the original version of Ray Bradbury’s picture book Switch on the Night. Nothing like some beautiful oldies to reaffirm your faith in the printed word…

What’s your feeling about writers’ retreats? Do you find them inspiring? Helpful for your craft? Do they provide a sense of where the market’s headed? Or have you had bad experiences? I hope that’s not the case, but if so, what happened? I’d love to hear, as I’m trying to schedule some more retreats for 2011 and 2012—hey, maybe I’ll even see you at one of them!

April 04, 2011   Jane   advice, fun, inspiration, Jane, opinion, optimism  
12

The Ultimate Lesson

With all of the negative talk about the future of book publishing and what is going to happen to reading and writing, I was reminded this week of a lesson I learned early on: Never give up!

So often during the course of our work, we get discouraged.  Publishers don’t see the proposals or manuscripts the way we do, Authors are depressed when we can’t sell their work right away and we become exhausted by rejection.  Indeed, when I first started out as an agent I would take this rejection quite personally.  Then I had a chat with myself and realized that if I continued to do that, I might as well find another career.

Over the years, I have had my fair share of rejection, but I have also experienced many instances where, after trying and trying to sell something I believed in and refusing to give up, I’ve ultimately succeeded and seen the book I sold become a huge success.  Some examples:  The Simplify Your Life series, In Memory’s Kitchen, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

This week I sold a novel I had shown to over 40 publishers.  I believed in this novel and in its author and I decided I simply wouldn’t give up; the author continued to encourage me to keep going and I did.  Finally, last Thursday afternoon we had our offer and we completed our deal on Friday.  The novel will be published next April.

Once again, my confidence in the value of persistence was renewed.  I’d love to hear your stories of grit and perseverance.

March 30, 2011   Stacey   advice, Stacey, writing  
11

Give Yourself A Break

Writers have a tough job. It’s no easy task to be working on your own, often for long stretches with little feedback, developing ideas, stories, plots, characters, and sometimes grasping at straws in the hope it will all come together into a cohesive whole.

I often talk at length with my fiction (and sometimes nonfiction) authors about their next books, whether they’ve been previously published or not. Should they stick to the same category? Try something new if a book hasn’t sold to a publisher, or if a first published book hasn’t succeeded in the marketplace? What about going from adult to children’s? That’s something a lot of authors are thinking about and doing these days, including several of my own. These conversations can be difficult or invigorating, and usually it’s a healthy combination of both. Sometimes it takes a long time and a lot of brainstorming to come up with the right answers. Sometimes these conversations need to happen between each and every book! Patience is an important part of this book development process.

The bottom line is, whatever that next idea may be, it has to come from the heart, and it has to be compelling and passionate to the writer from the beginning. It’s a tricky balancing act trying to write what you love and write for a fickle and unpredictable market, but the starting point has to be writing what makes you feel like writing and keeps you motivated to do so. Jim and Steph tackled aspects of this predicament this week to great response in their Why do you write? and I have no comment at this time.

My contribution to the conversation comes from a brief piece I found in Author that speaks to some of these conflicts that arise while crafting a book. It talks a bit about the benefits of starting with an outline, but that is difficult for many authors, so it goes on to suggest that the best thing a struggling writer can sometimes do is throw it away and start over if it’s not working. Hard advice to hear when you’ve spent so much time on a project, but there are some books that are just not meant to be. If the struggle is there from early on, listen to your instincts to put it aside and try something new. Perhaps you can pick it back up at a later date, or not. But don’t beat yourself up over wasted time or energy, or feeling like you’ll never be able to write another sentence again. It’s a process, an imperfect and sometimes long one, but that’s what makes it endlessly frustrating, and rewarding.

Share your thoughts with us on your favorite feeling of frustration or excitement during the writing process. We know there will be some good ones!

March 22, 2011   Stephanie   about us, advice, agents, optimism, Stephanie, submissions, truth, writing  
10

Fears and hurdles and send buttons

In my daily swim through queries, I’ve noticed an interesting trend in opening sentences—something to the effect of “I feel that now is finally the right time to send this your way,” or “I’ve been sitting on this novel, too afraid to send it out until now.” Which leads me to believe that as many people as there are that email me telling me they’ve gotten over the fear of reaching out, there are just as many–if not more–who are still hesitant to hit the Send button. In past blog posts I’ve talked about the query process, but today I wanted to dig a bit deeper and reach those who haven’t yet cleared that first hurdle.

My question is: what’s holding you back? Maybe it’s timing, maybe it’s perfectionism. And I’m willing to guess it also rests in that highly inconvenient fear we all experience throughout our lives of rejection.  But I won’t deny that you also probably feel the odds—technical, rather than emotional—stacked against you.  If you’re keeping yourself informed and involved, reading blogs, and doing whatever you can to learn more about the industry, there’s no doubt that you’re hearing different advice from different sources: “do this” or “don’t do this” or “text attached” or “text included in the body” or “spell check.” Everyone remembers spell check, right?

The fact is, it’s competitive out there, and a realistic attitude is an imperative. And expectations are inevitably high because we want to see the absolute best that you have to offer. It’s a tall order, I won’t deny it.  But here’s the thing: sometimes you have to tune out the noise and dive in. Of course you want your work to be as perfect as it can be, but you also can’t wait forever for that perfection to happen.  At a certain point, you have to go for it, because you never know what could be waiting for you on the other end.

Are any of you out there are feeling this? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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