Why Do We Write by Linda S. Glaz

We each have a reason why we sit down behind a computer or in front of a typewriter or with a pen and legal pad (I’m sure there are other modes) and begin to write. We want to be rich, tell a family story, entertain someone, or what I see as possibly the most important reason: to expose and explore the human condition.

This last option has the opportunity to get folks talking.

Why would we want to do that? What purpose is there in getting people to open up about how they feel?

As humans, we often live in little bubbles. Without trying, we wall ourselves away from new ideas, new possibilities, and in doing that, we keep other people firmly in their bubbles as well.

Along comes the story: new ideas, new possibilities, new areas to discover. Hopefully it means we will open our eyes to the opportunity to walk in another man’s shoes. To see life through his mindset. To see what could happen when all of right scenarios come together at the right time. To discover the hearts of people we would never have come in contact with.

In other words, fiction. The safe place to explore all sorts of ideas and get folks talking.

Why would we want to get people talking?

Because when we talk, we reach out. When we reach out, we listen. And when we listen, we start to understand.

And understanding leads to…well…

Ask the Agent by Jim Hart

A while back one of my clients sent me some interview questions for her blog. Here is a portion of that exchange. I thought they could be helpful if you’re either looking for a literary agent, or just wondering what your agent does all day! 

Q: You get lots of emails, not just queries but from current clients, editors, etc... What tips or advice do you have for writers regarding queries?

A: Keep it brief and be professional. Don’t try to be all mysterious and cute (unless you’re a humor writer).  I want to see the title, genre and word count of your book. And then a brief synopsis of two, or three, paragraphs. Quickly tell me about yourself. Is this your first published book? Why did you write this book? Tell me something about your author platform.

If the book you are pitching has been previously self-published PLEASE indicate that first. In most cases a publisher will not be interested in a previously self-published book. It’s frustrating to find out on my own that the book being pitched has already been self-published and has been available on Amazon.

Q: What catches your eye?

A: Quick details. Author credentials. A plot or subject that is either somewhat original, or is handled or presented in a unique way.

Q: Is longer or shorter better?

A: I like a shorter e-mail. Just hit me with the details: what’s the book? Who are you? Any publishing history?

Q:What are some things you DON'T want to see in a query?

A: Poor writing. Desperation. I would prefer that the author does not copy and paste chapters from their book into the e-mail.

Q: What are you looking for in a proposal?

A: Honesty. I look for some sort of indication that the writer has good knowledge of the publishing industry. I need a good bio with only pertinent information. I look for a marketing plan that spells out what the author will do and has done, not just what they plan to do. Don’t plan on making a website for your book. You should already have one in place before sending proposals. I look strongly at the comparable/competitive titles section, so take the time to do research.

Q: You've requested a full manuscript. On the author side of things, it's a lot of waiting and nail biting and checking emails every five minutes. But what happens on the agent side of things?

A: I’m trying to find extended periods of time where I can read relatively uninterrupted. I like to try to get six to ten chapters reviewed in one sitting. Usually by that time I’ll know if I need to, or want to, continue. If the manuscript is really compelling I read it in one sitting.

I’ve read a manuscript that I loved while on vacation. Most of the time I also take notes – what I liked or did not like, what I thought worked well and what did not.

Q: Why can it take weeks to get back to authors on partials/ fulls?

A: Every day is a new adventure and I never know what is going to demand my attention at the moment. We could get contract offers from publishers that need immediate attention. There may be phone calls from clients and editors. These are some of the things that I do in the time that I’m reviewing a proposal or a manuscript:

• ·         I’m also going through my contacts, doing some research on possible publishers and taking notes in order to get an idea if a particular manuscript has a decent chance at getting picked up by a publisher.

• ·         I’m looking at their web page / blog / Facebook / twitter pages

• ·         I’m looking them up on Amazon to see any publishing history

Q: When is appropriate for an author to follow up on a MS request?

A: Six weeks

Q:  So you love the MS, and the author and you really seem to click...how do you decide to make that final step and offer representation? And, in the end, what makes you decide on sending a rejection?

A: As soon as I am convinced that:

1) The writing is excellent and there is little or minimal work to be done on the manuscript.

2) I have identified a suitable number of editors to send the proposal to

3) I have a clear understanding of the author’s expectations and their writing goals for the future.

4) I get the sense that the author will be professional and pleasant to work with, and they understand that we will need to work as a team.

And that would be same criteria when I make the decision to not represent an author.

Q: What do agents do all day?

A: Drink coffee and use eye-drops! I try to send proposals to editors every day. Sometimes dozens will be sent in one day. We always have multiple e-mail conversations going not only with clients, but with editors. In addition to reviewing proposals and manuscripts I am reading industry newsletters, updating my contacts, researching publishers, trying to stay abreast of industry changes.

Q: Any other tips or advice or insider info?

A: Show the agent, through your query and proposal, that you are a hard worker. Do your research before sending a query or proposal to an agent. Don’t send a query until you have a great proposal complete and ready to send when it’s requested. I personally don’t mind when the proposal is attached to the query. That saves me time, and it’s one lest e-mail to keep track of.

And be patient!

THE COVER LETTER by Terry Burns

Editors and agents will review well over a thousand submissions a year but are only going to have the ability to take a handful. It doesn't take a mathematician to see that most are going to be passed over as they look for that diamond amidst the gravel. And it isn't the quality of the story that is the deciding factor, it's really good writing that just happens to fit with the openings they have right at that present time. So a wonderful book that the editor just has no place for is not going to make it. Ever get the dreaded "not a good fit" note and wished the editor had told us what was wrong? They did tell us when they said it wasn't a fit.
 

So if the point of a query letter or an interview is to get a proposal invited, then what is the point of the proposal? To answer all of the questions those people evaluating submissions use to toss out those who will not be contenders. I've seen editors at conferences working some submissions in spare time and have seen them open it, glance at the cover letter and put it back. 

Game over. 

What happened? 

The opening of the cover letter probably indicated it was a genre they don't handle. It should have never been sent to them in the first place. These situations can be avoided by simply reading the submission guidelines for that particular person and following them. I've seen some of those same submissions just thrown away, which told me the people never got a response at all.

It's a query letter if sent without an accompanying proposal, a cover letter if it is on the front of a proposal, and I like to see the same letter pasted into the email transmitting the proposal so I can see what I'm opening. I won't open a file if there isn't something in the body of the email that tells me what it is.

The principle for both the cover letter and the query letter is the same. On many submissions this is the only part of the proposal that will be read and sometimes not all of that. What do I mean? The moment an agent or editor reads something that tells them the project is not right for them, that’s where they stop. One of the most common might be if you say in the first sentence what your genre is and it is not a genre they handle. No point in going further.

First, of course, is the date. Be careful that the “automatic update” option is not checked if we use “insert date,” or every time the file is opened it will put a new date on it instead of the date it was actually sent.

Next is the address block. We should never send anything to “the editor.” That’s the same thing as saying “occupant.” We need to know the actual name of the appropriate editor and should have done some research so that we know they have been acquiring manuscripts that suggest ours might be a fit for them. Just going down the market guide and sending to everyone that has our genre listed as a possibility is a waste of time and money, but more important it burns a number of bridges that with the right approach might contain a good possibility.

We should always have a subject line that contains the name of the book, genre, word count and your name to make it easy to identify in a full inbox.

The opening line is the most important thing on the page. It has one job, to make them read down into the letter. It's an attention-getter. If we met the agent or editor at a conference and they invited the proposal, that invitation is the most important thing and should be in the opening. If there was anything vital about that appointment, this is where we remind them what it was. The bottom line is: why do we think the person is the right agent or editor for our project and that reason is what is presented in the first paragraph.

The second paragraph should be our elevator pitch or more likely the longer interview pitch. Just enough of our story line to interest the reader in looking at the sample chapters or synopsis.

The next paragraph contains writing credentials. Depending on what we have to offer in the way of credentials, the purpose of this is to show that we have done some writing, are very serious about it, and that we have completed projects. Remember that getting published is a survival process, not a selection process. Only by going successfully all the way to the end can we achieve the results that we want. Each point in the letter, each piece of the proposal, only has one job, to move the reader on through the process. None of these items can close the deal by themselves, but any of them have the ability to convince the reader the project is not good fit thus ending its consideration.

Finally we ask for the sale. In the case of a cover letter, that means we ask for the chance to talk to them about it or the chance to send them the full manuscript.

All of this effort and what do we hope it will accomplish? We want them to turn the page and start looking at our proposal.

A Tale of Two T-Shirts by Andy Scheer

It was like social media with fabric
I'm big into antique cars and antique jazz. So a few weekends back, for two of the days I attended the Evergreen (Colorado) Jazz festival, I wore car-themed T-shirts. Both days, they resulted in friendly conversations.

The first day, several people who saw my shirt asked about the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg festival, held every Labor Day weekend in Auburn, Indiana. Both fast and luxurious, the Duesenberg gave rise to the expression, “It's a Duesey.”

The second day, a guy asked about my T-shirt for the Cussler Museum. (Author of numerous action-adventure stories, Clive Cussler has collected exotic autos for forty years. He maintains a museum of some 75 cars in nearby Arvada, Colorado.) Turns out that Walt, like Clive Cussler, is also a diver and likes antique autos. He's even read several of the Dirk Pitt adventure novels.

With several common interests, Walt and I hit it off. He gave me his full attention as I described Cussler's car collection. He had no objection when I gave him the museum location and its hours. He didn't mind hearing details about the cars.

This weekend, Walt sent me an email saying he'd had a great visit to the museum. “Would never have known about it had I not seen your T-shirt,” he said. “ Indebted for your info.”

Kind of like how social media's meant to work. I simply wore the shirt, allowing anyone interested to make a comment. Nothing pushy. No attempts to sell people products. Nothing to insult people who didn't share my views.

Lately on Facebook, I've increasingly found myself clicking the option to turn off similar posts from certain individuals. Even if I fit their target market (do my “friends” really think I want to attend an online party to buy makeup?), I don't sign on to “social media” so people can try to sell me things.

Knowing I'm in the minority about really liking old cars and old jazz, maybe I'm also in the minority in my opinion of people using social media to give their “friends” a hard sell. But maybe not.

Distractions by Terry Burns

We have coffee each morning out on the front porch. Usually a neighbor or two come join us. We kinda line out our day to get the most out of it. If the wind dictates we often do back deck instead. Usually we watch the sun come up out there.

Front or back deck I see the things that need to be done while I'm sitting there and the priorities of what I have to do often get re-arranged. If I am going to do something outside I have to start early and finish mid-morning when it starts getting very hot.

The things that need to be done are a distraction from what I need to do as an agent or writer. Necessary, or it will entirely get away from me, but a distraction. This morning I was aware of how many distractions there are vying for my time. Our kids have grown up and gone so I can't claim that one, but we have two dogs that demand a lot of attention and care.

Facebook, twitter and other social media are a distraction and we talk about that a lot . . . generally on facebook or twitter. Some degree of interaction there is a necessity but do we spend too much time there, or in the task of promoting ourselves and getting our name out there, too little? Interesting question and one we talk about a lot.

Then there's the list. You know, THE list. Honey-dos, things that need to be done that I don't want to forget but are not as important as something else on my plate at the time. Priorities on this list seem to constantly shift as things are moved forward or back in relation to other things. A lot of things would fall through the cracks without this list but it is always there, nagging me, demanding time.

The world is a big distraction. What is happening in our country and the world at large is hard to ignore. But we can control the amount of time that we allow it to intrude on our thinking.

I have responsibilities to the family, to church, to friends and neighbors and along with responsibilities come tasks and demands on my time. My in-box is a distraction and has to be dealt with, but it is also an important link to my clients and what I need to be doing for them. Most of the time they all need something, and priortizing who to work on can be quite a problem.

It can take a full day to work up a submission, go through my publisher database and get submissions out on a client. With sixty clients that would seem to suggest taking two months to work my way through, but as with other things, nothing is quite that simple. External forces and industry communications can force a client to the top of the list or away from it.

There are submissions coming in from people who would like me to represent their work. How long each of them takes depends on how long it takes to come to a decision as to whether it is a fit for me or not. Yes, I do respond to each one, momma raised me to be courteous.

There's a lot more but you get the idea. All of these forces pulling on me, decisions to be made on the allocation of my time. All of this makes me . . . well . . . normal.

We all have things competing for our time. In fact it is an old saying that "Life expands to fill available time." We just have to be smart about how we do the allocating so that time gets applied to what is most important to us.

How about it? What are the demands on your time? We have 24 hours a day to spend and there won't be any more made available. Are we truly spending it on what is important to us?

Where Do Your Readers Live? by Andy Scheer

They might be clustered in these 20 cities.
Here's one fact about your target readers you likely never consider in your proposal and marketing plan: the cities where they live. But if a recent Amazon statistic is true, that location might make a difference.

The mega-retailer recently released its fifth annual list of the “most well-read cities in the U.S.” The ranking of twenty cities is based by tallying sales data for all book, magazine, and newspaper sales—in both print and electronic format—from April 2014 to April 2015. Cities with more than 500,000 population were ranked according to their per capita sales.

For some reason, the top spot went to Seattle, Washington, home city for Amazon.

The other 19:

2. Portland, Oregon

3. Las Vegas, Nevada

4. Tucson, Arizona

5. Washington, D.C

6. Austin, Texas

7. San Francisco, California

8. Albuquerque, New Mexico

9. Denver, Colorado

10. Louisville, Kentucky

11. Charlotte, North Carolina

12. Baltimore, Maryland

13. San Diego, California

14. Houston, Texas

15. Indianapolis, Indiana

16. San Jose, California

17. Jacksonville, Florida

18. San Antonio, Texas

19. Nashville, Tennessee

20. Chicago, Illinois

If your target readers are clustered in these cities, take a bow.

As for me, I'm happy to live under the radar in a city with only 416,427 population. (In case Amazon is watching, I do subscribe to print versions of two daily papers.)

Slept off the Jet Lag by Linda S. Glaz

Finally home and slept off the jet lag. Great conference in Montrose with wonderful people. Classes and more classes.

I thoroughly enjoyed this week with many brand new writers. They are why I do what I do. The looks on faces when they “get” a concept is priceless. You can tell they’ve been chewing on it for some time and suddenly the light goes on to use a trite expression.

There is a flair and excitement with a huge conference, and there are plenty of them to attend, but for me, the smaller more intimate conferences are where I love to teach and take appointments. You get to know folks on a completely different level. You make friendships that last for years. And, yes, I’m a George Bailey. I love to meet and make friends who come from all imaginable backgrounds and with stories to tell.

And with so many things to learn…for everyone.

Hopefully new writers leave with a better understanding of the elements of writing. Seasoned writers might pick up that one nugget they’ve been searching for, or an agent, or a contract as one woman did last week. The agents and editors might get a stronger grasp of the fears writers carry with them and how to better help them get over those fears.

For me, it’s a matter of getting to know more folks. Seeing into the human condition and hopefully walking away a better person. I do try.

Can we learn from each other? Yes. Can we help one another over bumps in the road? Yes. Can we strike a chord in someone else’s life? Absolutely.

In a couple months, I’ll head out for another venue very similar to Montrose. I’ll be going to Maranatha on beautiful Lake Michigan close to where I grew up. There, another group of emerging authors will be waiting: to learn, to interact, to get over fears, to show their mettle. And I’ll love every second of it until I come home, collapse in my fave lounge chair, and sleep off some of the jet lag. Or, in this case, car lag.

One thing I’ll never forget is the look on faces when someone finally gets it, and I’ll go back again and again in the hope that I can say or do one thing that will encourage a writer to keep writing until they feel as much an author as they truly are.

Enjoy the conference season, folks. It’s gold!