Are You Ready? by Jim Hart

When I receive a query that I find interesting my next step is to ask the writer to send me their proposal. At that point three things can happen:

1) The writer sends their proposal

2) The writer asks if they can send their synopsis, samples or manuscript

3) The writer ignores the request and sends sample chapters or the manuscript

Lately it seems as if options #2 and #3 are most popular. And that leaves me with three choices:

1) Ask again for the proposal

2) Respond that I am not interested in pursuing this project

3) Delete the e-mails and move on to something else

 

What this communicates is that:

1) The writer doesn’t have a proposal

2) The writer doesn’t know what a proposal is

3) The writer doesn’t have a clear understanding of how to get their book published

The simple point of this blog is this: don’t send a query unless you already have your proposal complete and ready to send. Without a book proposal an agent, or editor, will not be able to make an informed decision on what step to take next.

This is a challenging time to get a book published. And yet there are so many tools available, and information is so easy to find, that anyone can learn the steps needed to try and get a book published. The Hartline Literary Agency clearly spells out what we would like to see in a submission: http://www.hartlineliterary.com/guidelines.html

During the last two weeks I’ve participated in two free webinars, from two different organizations, and I gleaned a few more pieces of valuable information involving proposal writing and book launches. Did I mention that they were free? They only cost me two hours of my time. And of course the hosts of these webinars also had a product to sell at the end of the webinar. But you know what? I’m OK with that because I already received something of value for free, and honestly, the products being offered were competitively priced. If I was a writer with a manuscript to pitch, I probably would have purchased at least one of them.

Writers who fail to learn all that they can about the business of publishing, beginning with the query and proposal process, are just setting themselves up to fail. There are no shortcuts. For some of the authors that I’ve encountered over the past month it would have been far better for them to take another couple of weeks, or more, and:

1) Learn more about publishing

2) Research our agency

3) Have a completed proposal

So before you send your query, ask yourself: “Am I ready?”

Time to write by Terry Burns

When I get out of school I'll have time to write.

When I get settled in this job I'll have spare time to write.

When the kids get older . . .

When the kids don't have all these extracurricular activities . . .

When the kids leave home . . .

When I retire . . .

When . . .when . . . when

We have to face it, there is no such thing as time to write. Why? Because life expands to fill the time available. There will always be something competing for our available time.

Writing time has to be carved out and jealously protected. Ideally, loved ones understand what we are trying to do and help us in this process. My wife, my kids, my parents, the people in my life played a big role in what I have been able to write over the years. When I went into the study and closed the door they knew what that meant.

These days I don't get to write much, not what I would like to write, and I miss it. Pretty much all of my available time is dedicated to working for my clients. I made that conscious decision some time ago, that I could serve the Lord better by helping get a number of Christian books out than I could by doing one or two myself. I haven't regretted that decision.

But I still miss it. Maybe I haven't been taking my own advice. I'm going to carve out some time and do a little writing again.

How about you? Are you one of those forever complaining that you can't find the time to write? One of those waiting for some point in your life when you feel like the time will suddenly appear? Or are you carving it out, setting it aside and jealously protecting it.

Writing time simply does not exist . . . it has to be made.

You Can’t Quote That by Andy Scheer

Page 174 stopped me cold. Unless the novelist wanted legal trouble, something had to change.

In editing the novel, I’d already checked the copyright and permissions page. I saw the usual boilerplate acknowledging use by permission from several Scripture versions. But nothing about song lyrics.

Ideally, the author would have two choices. But this project was on a tight deadline. So page 174 had to change.

A character had just turned on her car radio, and it scanned to an oldies station. Suddenly she was back with her boyfriend in 1965 at their senior prom, hearing their favorite song.

A natural segue for a brief flashback. With one problem: the author quoted the song’s entire chorus.

Enter the copyright police. While lawyers struggle to define exactly how much of a copyrighted work an author can freely cite, printing the full chorus of a recent song (and 1964 is still considered recent) is clearly too much. Opinions vary about whether quoting even a line is kosher. But mentioning the title is safe.

I confirmed the author had neither the time nor the inclination to track down the song’s copyright holder. So now, readers will be told that Grace smiled when the radio played “Chapel of Love” by the Dixie Cups. The next paragraph will say they had expected that soon, they would go to a chapel and get married. And a paragraph later, the sweetheart will paraphrase a line of lyrics about loving until the end of time.

In the story, the former sweetheart had done four years in prison. I wouldn’t want the author to share a similar fate.

What’s Missing? by Linda S. Glaz

I’ve done my homework, attended conferences, taken dozens of classes, built a modest platform, and I’ve written two novels. What’s missing?

Why can’t I get published?

The state of the industry isn’t quite as friendly for new authors as it was, say, four or five years ago. I’m finding more editors than ever asking for new authors to have amazing platforms, in place, at the time of consideration. But we also have to consider whether or not a particular genre is moving at the moment. Or has another pushed to the top?

The two novels you’ve written might have been extremely popular when you started to write, but now the market has shifted.

Also, a lot of authors simply DO NOT want to be involved in marketing. They want to write, thank you very much, and after that, leave them alone.

Dozens of factors come into play when submitting work for an author.

But two will never get old: hone your craft and write an amazing story.

Eventually your topic will be hot again and ready to move. Will you be ready when it does?

It all boils down to whether or not you have what it takes to stick it out until an editor falls in love with your work, takes it to committee, and puts it into print.

Perseverance! Always perseverance!

Surviving that Desert Season by Jim Hart

If it seems like nothing is happening with your writing goals, here are eight tips that can help you get through a season of disappointment:

1) Keep your spiritual gas tank full
Maintain your private prayer, worship and devotion time. Be stubborn and tenacious in this area of your life. Surround yourself with worship music that is God focused – His power, might, majesty, salvation, grace, mercy, faithfulness – it will change your perspective! Roll down the windows of your car and sing out loud "My God's not dead, He's surely alive!"
 
This passage of Scripture has seen me through those desert times:  Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.  Jeremiah 17:7-8 (ESV)

2) Focus on the good stuff
Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Philippians 4:8 (MSG)


3) Don’t be a loner. 
Be intentional about hanging out with a friend or two. Time spent with a person who is supportive and positive can naturally make you feel better yourself. God may lead you to be an encouragement to someone else! Trust me, it can happen!

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. (Romans 12:15 ESV)

4) Don’t overly compare yourself to others

This is one area in which we can become even more discouraged. But fight it! God has a unique plan for each of us, including you.

In John 21 Jesus has just restored Peter, and told him the type of death he would face.  Of course Peter pointed at John and asked Jesus “what about him?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” John 21:22 (ESV)

5) Laugh!
It’s healthy for both mind and body. Find a good comedian on YouTube and just laugh out loud. I suggest Jeff Allen and Tim Hawkins.

6) Discipline yourself to keep writing.
“I only write when I am inspired. Fortunately I am inspired at 9 o'clock every morning.” William Faulkner

So don’t stop writing!

Joseph, while in Egypt, named his second son Ephraim and said "God has made me fruitful in this land of my grief."  Genesis 41:52 (NLT)

If your manuscript is going nowhere, if you can’t get a literary agency to sign you, look for other avenues:

·         Write magazine articles

·         Submit to other blogs. Do you have a hobby or other area of expertise? Write about it

·         Write and submit flash fiction or short stories

·         Volunteer to write content such as press releases or ad copy for non-profits: church, ministries, missionaries, day care, animal rescue shelters, soup kitchens, etc. This will be encouraging to others and will keep you productive!

7) Take care of your physical health. 
Giving your body the care it needs will help you feel less discouraged.  Eat a healthy diet, exercise regularly, and get enough sleep. Or at least two out of three….

8) Know the publishing industry.

Educate yourself! Subscribe to newsletters and blogs from publishers, editors and other authors. Keep current with the changes that

It's just a proposal by Terry Burns

Giving a workshop on making submissions a number of the writers there admitted to just "throwing stuff into proposal" to flesh out what it called for. I mean, it's just a proposal, right? The main thing is for the writing to be really good.

Actually no, better than 80% of all submissions are rejected without a word of the writing being read. WHAT? That can't be, you say?

You see whether they admit it to themselves or not, most agents and editors know that any submission they are looking at will not work for them. They aren't being negative, the numbers tell them that. They are looking at dozens, for many even hundreds of submissions for a painfully few available slots. The time pressure is great so they just read until they find the 'no fit' point where they can respond that it won't work for them and move on.

That 'no fit' point probably comes in reading the proposal. Something in it tells them that the project won't work for them and chances are that is the point where they quit reading. It may come as early as the subject line of the email or the cover letter.

A successful submission does depend on the quality of the writing, but to get to that point we have to survive our way through the reading of the proposal and be one of the few manuscripts left on the desktop at the end set aside for reading. The 80% number sounds very discouraging, but what that means is we are only up against the 15-20% of the writers that are doing it right. Pretty good odds.

So the writing does have to be stellar,  but every piece of the proposal tells whoever is reviewing the submission something important. The cover letter grabs their attention and lures them into reading the proposal. The author bio shows we are serious about writing. The comparables serve to identify our reader base in terms an agent or editor can identify with. The marketing information tells them we have a plan to sell books and that can be vital. The writing same includes the most critical part of the whole manuscript. Does the first page have a hook that forces the reader to turn the page? Is the reader invested in the story by page ten? Does each chapter push the reader on to the following one? Most acquisition people can accurately determine if the whole project will work for them or not just on the strength of this sample.

Just a proposal? If the proposal isn't crafted so it will do it's job, the actual writing may not get a chance to show its worth. I know there are some exceptional projects that slip through just because the author did not present it properly to get it the full consideration. It's just how it works.

You can add to that the fact that the proposal is the tool we use to sell the project if we decide to take it on. That means we are looking at every one of them and asking "Can I use this to sell this project?" Initially the proposal is more important that the manuscript itself.

I don't mind losing out, either on a submission of my own or on one for a client if the submission makes to to the stack on the desk to be read. If I do that means somebody just wrote a better book, and I'm good with that. But I don't want to lose out because I failed to present a proposal that got the job done to get that manuscript considered.

None of us want that.