Fiction Scribe

Mr. Scribe here… Fiction Scribe is down & ill today, so I thought I’d contribute my 2c’s worth.

To me writing is about getting the idea in your head across to the reader. To do that, you first need to get their attention.

I’ve seen it quoted a number of times that an author has the title, the blurb on the rear cover (or inside the front cover for a hardback - either way it isn’t usually written by the author) and at most 3 paragraphs to grab the reader. If they haven’t been caught by then they put the book back on the shelf.

You may have the best thoughts of your generation, but if nobody reads them you go down into obscurity just like 99% of the rest of humanity - no-one will ever know who you were.

So there is the 1st point: good writing has to grab a reader and hold him from the start.

Good writing has to convey the ideas in understandable form. It could be sheer genius but if you require your readers to perform convolutions worthy of an eel on the end of a line to get to the meat of the idea, your thoughts are not going to transmit to a very wide audience.

Good writing needs to entertain. Yes, your work might be serious and needed to save humankind from destruction, but it also needs to keep the readers interested enough for them to spend the time reading it. Ideally it should entertain so well they stay out of bed to finish it.

To write well means to take a reader by the scruff, make her/him sit down & read your words, understand them well enough to assimilate them, & to engage them so well that even if they disagree with you, your words will inspire emotion in them and maybe cause a change in their lives.

Without that kind of response, your words fade rapidly and your book will not be the topic of conversation around the water cooler when they go to work. Money and fame may not be your personal goad for writing, but getting your words out there and having them talked about is something that an author needs to care about.
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On a personal note, FS is being looked after & hopefully will be back for you for the next post.

Path to Publication is still on hold for the moment, but the good news is the wedding plans are going splendidly!

I apologize for the delay.

With so much going on in my life right now, I have to admit I’ve fallen behind with submitting. Not to worry! I’ll get back on it soon.

In the current Australian Writer’s Market place, there are a total of 191 publishers.

Of the 191 publishers, 37 of them are children’s/young adult publishers.

Take out:
- Publishers who only accept manuscripts submitted by agents.
- Publishers who have specific age restrictions which don’t fit my novella.
and
- Publishing companies where “writers often contribute to production costs.

We are left with 22 publishing company options – without looking at the additional requirements noted on their websites.

As far as vocabulary is concerned, I’ve learned quite a bit. For the aspiring writer, there are some terms you should become familiar with not only in definition but in what market standards are.

What am I talking about? Do you know the difference between a query and a cover letter? Do you know the standard length for each chapter summaries?

My main resources over these weeks have been The Australian Writer’s Marketplace and Formatting and Submitting Your Manuscript, mostly focusing on the novel submission.

According to Formatting and Submitting Your Manuscript, the most asked for items are:

*Query Letter
*Synopsis
and
*Three Consecutive Sample Chapters

It’s common for a query to be requested on its own, which is referred to as a blind query or pre-proposal query. You are probing the waters a bit rather than diving in with all you have. You can submit everything you have, but only if the agent or publisher requests it.

Always follow the guidelines listed on the publisher’s or agent’s site! Nothing shows lack of preparation, research, and respect than showing them you haven’t read their guidelines by sending them the wrong things.

When you submit your query along with other pieces, then your query letter becomes your cover letter.

A synopsis should be about four to six paragraphs. You need to practice if you can’t yet do this. Try summarizing your book in a sentence. That’ll help you on your way.

If the publisher wants chapter summaries, they should be a few sentences each. I haven’t seen many sites which list chapter summaries, though. Most request sample chapters.

About your writer resumé: Keep it short and relevant. They don’t care about your job unless it relates to you being knowledgeable/having a unique perspective for your book or otherwise relates to your writing. Even then, use discretion. You may know your characters because you work at McDonald’s, but what is your agent going to wonder about you if you’re still working there at thirty?

Submitting the requested material and only the requested material shows you’ve done at least some of your research and gives you a toe up. Addressing your submission to the specific editor or agent you’re supposed to submit to gives you the second toe.

Think “professional”. Learn what a proper business letterhead looks like. The rest of the letter as well. Know what the publisher wants. Use professional language. (I’d like to see the author who tries to submit something while addressing the agent/editor as “dude”.) Don’t waste their time.

A big key is to keep things short and sweet. Make your pitch, all the while realizing how important the time of the person who is reading the submission is to him/her. Your submission is one of many. Be concise, be professional, and always follow guidelines.

writing, writers, fiction writing, submissions, query, cover letter, synopsis, agents, publishers, formatting and submitting your manuscript, the australian writer’s marketplace

Last week, I talked about the fear of rejection popping in every now and then while getting ready to make submissions to publishers. However, it’s not something I’m horribly worried about at this point. Yes, it invades my mind, but it’s not keeping me from pursuing getting published.

Rejection happens a lot to many writers. It can sting, but it’s a growing experience. I had posted up a question for my fellow 451press bloggers asking about rejections. A few people, ones I mentioned in part one and those I’ll mention here, responded.

Bobbi has a quote in this post about rejection from the book Writing Brave and Free by Ted Kooser and Steve Cox:

“Build rejection into your expectations; plan to have magazines reject your writing,and treat it as a gift when you get published. As hard as it is to accept, every failure is a chance to learn.”

I honestly expected a little piece about rejection I could agree with and perhaps gain a bit more perspective about rejection from, but instead I found that quote. A quote which made me a bit angry, truth be told.

I’m sorry, but no. I will not build rejection into my expectations. If you are in any way a believer in The Secret (which basically says you will attract what you think about most) then you’ll agree with me. Yes, rejections have and will be sent to me, but I won’t expect them to come. I’ll merely trudge along if they do.

Expect rejection? No. I have too much optimism left in me (apparently) to go in with the expectation of being rejected. That’s entirely too depressing a thing to do, in my opinion.

Samantha Schwartz’s Australian Guide to Getting Published lists several reasons you might not get published, which might make you feel better the next time you get a rejection letter.

“The publishers:

*Don’t publish those kinds of books. For example, it is futile to send a New Age manuscript to a publisher of high school text books.

*Genuinely don’t have space in the list for more books (budget constraints).

*Think the writing is fine, but that the book would need expensive promotion, more than the publisher can afford.

*Think the writing isn’t strong enough and don’t have the time, interest, or capital to work with the author.

*Think that the ideas, or the content, isn’t sufficiently original or contributes nothing new to the subject area from which it derives.

*Think that the author doesn’t have a sufficiently high profile in their subject are. This is especially true of poetry and some anthology publishing which is traditionally very hard to sell.

Or,

*Think that the writing is just awful or the subject totally unmarketable.”

Okay, so not all of those may make you feel better, but now you see that rejections aren’t always sent just because “you and your writing suck.”

So don’t worry, and keep plugging away. I certainly will.

While I’m looking at publishers, getting together needed attachments for submissions, and looking over my manuscript again and again, of course possible rejection is on my mind.

There’s a certain excitement - at least for me, the paperwork and organization addict - when putting all these things together, but there’s a niggling every now and then in wondering if it’s all for naught.

Of course, as life always seems to go, I received this email notification from one of the writing groups I’m in:

“Confessions of a Small Publisher

At our monthly meeting of writers recently we invited a small publisher to tell us about the book publishing realities. Here are some useful comments:

They get an average of 35 book submissions every week. Agented and otherwise. That’s at least 1500 per year and they publish only 5-7 every year. That’s about 99.5% rejection rate…

We asked about criteria for rejection. They take first 30 pages of your manuscript and give it to at least 5 independent “readers” who then suggest to the publishers which manuscripts to read in full. You have to submit those 30 pages as a Word attachment in e-mail with a book synopsis and brief bio. Do not expect an answer for about 90 days…” - Courtesy of Szuprowicz

And that is a small publisher.

I’m not horribly worried about rejection in general. What I’m afraid of is a rejection letter like the one Law Mummy talks about in this post about a rejection letter she received. I know, like her, I could take it, but I wouldn’t like that period of upset, which would likely emerge every time I looked at the letter.

Alas, you can only deal with such things when they come. I’m not letting fears stop me, by any means.

But there are so many things said about rejection…

As you may know, I’m in the process of getting a novel published. Now, I hate to go into anything completely unprepared, so I’ve been reading the beloved Australian Writer’s Marketplace at the library, as well as renting books about the publishing industry and getting published.

As far as the publishing industry goes, I have a slight advantage having taken Graphic Communication classes in college.

I’ve decided not to go with an agent this time. Perhaps in the future when I’m seeking publication for my longer fantasy novels. I’ve decided against an agent because, while I would like this to get published, I don’t want to stay with the young adult market and have to switch agents after one or two books. Perhaps it’s a bit high thinking of me, talking about how to switch agents, but I’ve thought it over and have decided to skip over all that trouble.

Through all my investigations into submitting directly to publishers, I’ve come across these things that can be asked for in a submission:

Cover Sheet
Synopsis
Writer’s Resume
Chapter Summaries
Sample Chapters
Full Manuscript

And,

SASE - Self-addressed, stamped envelope

**Some of the links provided aren’t writing submission specific, but they can at least give you an idea.

Obviously sending all of these to one publisher would be overkill. As always, you want to follow the publisher’s guidelines as close as humanly possible. A few publishers, I’ve discovered, have “template” documents available for the parts they want.

Though sending all of these to one publisher would be too much, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a copy of each ready.

My plan (and suggestion to readers) is to have a specific folder with all these items in it on your computer. (Don’t forget to back it up elsewhere!) That way you can just go in, adjust as needed, and print off as needed.

The journey continues…

Well, I’ve finally taken a step I’ve never taken before - I looked for publishers.

I’ve gone to the local library a few times and already had the Australian Writer’s Marketplace picked out. But whereas I’d only used it to look through the writing events and groups, I went straight for the Australian publishers’ section.

It took a couple dollars to copy all those pages, but it certainly was better than the AU$40+ that I would have paid for the entire book. I then sat down and went through all those publishers, crossing out and highlighting like I would in the classifieds section of a newspaper.

There’s something ultimately exhilarating about taking another step towards getting published. It’s part doing something for yourself in general, but it’s also part having enough pride in your work to take a step towards the often difficult publication market.

So, there’s another step towards trying for publication. Here’s to taking another.

Cheers.

I had been despairing over the fact I started this category with the intent to get a manuscript I have published, only to discover… Well, it’s explained in this post. In short, I didn’t have a manuscript close to being ready to be sent off.

Weeks later, I found a strange file in one of my folders. I discovered my friend Hawke had edited one of my manuscripts, and I’d forgotten all about it! (Sorry, Hawke.)

I was absolutely delighted when I realized the manuscript needed a bit of tweaking but could otherwise be sent off to publishers soon.

I had written the novel a few years ago simply for absolute love of the simple (simpler than my usual plots, anyway) plot and two characters I absolutely adored. Mind you, I’m not just preparing it and sending it off just because I have it; I have a genuine belief it would be a good young adult fiction book with room left for writing sequels if called for.

The young adult market isn’t my big goal, but I have a manuscript I believe in, and I want to accustom myself to the submission routine. (All my past submissions haven’t been traditional.) So, ladies and gentlemen, I might bounce around between talking about the novel I started and getting “Edo” ready and submitted, but I’ll try to keep everything relevant.

I’m so excited! I also have no idea why I just left “Edo” to the dusty shelf for so long.

To quote my 11th grade composition teacher’s brother (why does that sound funny to me) who worked in the publishing industry: “If you decide to ‘just sit on’ a manuscript for a while, the only one who is going to be reading it is your ass.”

There are moments in life that will delight you like no others but won’t mean a single thing to the next person. When you try to explain, you will be met with silence, puzzled expressions, and staring. Yet the moment will still be the bright moment of your day, week, month, or even year. You won’t care about the people staring at you because you are just too excited to care.

Thank goodness my fiancé is a writer. He understands.

My bright moment came while writing my novel “X” the other night. I love when you’re writing your story and something just falls into place. Like the one ton weight falling from the sky in a classic cartoon, the element is suddenly there, falling on the exact right spot.

For example, I have a character who has been reading a book since I wrote his first scene. He not only reads the book, but when he finishes, he pauses for a moment and begins reading it again.

When I wrote his first scene where he was reading the book and wrote later scenes with him reading it repeatedly, he, the book, and the reading had no point. I just knew I would need at least one extra body in the story, and I knew I wanted him reading a book.

Much to my delight, pages later and still reading his book, he took on a new importance which influences not only “X” but all the following books as well. He turned into the important figure I didn’t know I needed and became the owner of the book already mentioned in following novels I already have finished.

Ah, I love it when things fall into place. What I love even more is my fiancé just smiles when I stand up and, without a word, start dancing around the living room.

Have you had any wonderful moments like that in your writing?

The sensation can come at any time. You may be reading a novel and thinking how wonderful it will be when you get into print. You could be working on your latest writing project. Or, like me, you could be typing a post on something do with creative writing.

Then it hits you - the seed of doubt.

You begin to wonder why you bother with writing. Perhaps you begin thinking it’s not worth it because there’s so little a chance you’re going to get published anyway. Maybe it’s simpler for you: your seed out doubt simply says you’ll never make it.

I’ve encountered it a few times while I’ve been writing the first pages of my novel, and with it setting in so early it’s been difficult to keep writing. I keep on, though, because I know it has the potential to be a fantastic novel.

Positive affirmations may seem a bit silly when you’re actually doing them, but they can help you combat the doubt and fear that comes along with being a writer. The negative feelings may seem to come at every stage - writing, editing, querying, submissions - but every negative response should encourage you, not tear you down.

I’ve said it before, as have others, as will many others to come: You are a writer because you can’t imagine not being a writer. There are exceptions to every rule, but you are a writer because there is a passion within you to create with the written word.

Have faith. Trust in your passion. Remember love, even for writing, is a dance of give and take, and sometimes you’ll have to give more than you expected.

In honor of time management, I made a list of things I’d like to accomplish.

Finish editing “Butterfly”
Write “X”
Go through bookmarks - I have entirely too many writing sites bookmarked
Finish the links page on my website
Finish NaNoNovel
Set up documents for conversion to PDFs
Scan one edited page for example on blog post
Write a short for Glimmertrain

Now, if we take out the non-writing focused ones…

Finish editing “Butterfly”
Write “X”
Finish NaNoNovel
Write a short for Glimmertrain

See how east that was? Now I organize in order of priority

1.) Finish editing “Butterfly”
2.) Write a short for Glimmertrain
3.) Write “X”
4.) Finish NaNoNovel

Given Butterfly has the greatest amount of work needed and will grant me the biggest rewards for finishing it, it’s only natural it goes in first place even though a short for Glimmertain is due sooner.

I further split this up into tier one and tier two, because the 1 and 2 combined are infinitely more important than 3 and 4.

Here is how my current works stand:

Butterfly - I put aside my other story and wrote something completely different. I needs some major editing, though.

2,720/3,000-5,000

X

2,688/80,000

NaNo

31,984/50,00

So I’ve made some progress, but I need to get working harder.

Of course, time management is almost never that easy, but it is a matter of giving some things priority that you know have priority, even if you’d rather they didn’t.

Good luck and fair weather for all your writing.

Well, dear readers, it has been an exciting week in my world. From going engagement ring shopping to finally setting the firmest date for a wedding thus far, you can imagine I haven’t had much of a head for writing. Well, I have solutions for that.

When I find I can’t write, for various reasons, I either edit my work or organize it. When I’m not in the mood for editing my work, I either work on my writing or organize my writing projects. When I’m all organized, I either write or edit.

A circle of three which has worked for me for ages.

Anyway, with all these goings on, things are shaping up like this:

Contest Piece

1,366/4,000 = 34,15%

Novel One - X

~1,000/80,000 = 1.25%

NaNo Novel (no, I didn’t finish on time)

31,984/50,000 = 63.968%

Add on top of that, an endless number of one page projects started, story ideas just waiting to be written, and manuscripts waiting for an edit. Plus, I have been trying to get ahead on this blog.

All in all, I’m fairly proud of myself. Now if someone could point me to a cheap, simple wedding dress, I’ll be set! Maybe I’ll wander over to Wedding Tactics.

I’d love to know how your writing is going, if you care to post a comment. Remember, through the rest of the month, one of your comments could mean $500 dollars in your pocket.

Target audience. If you’ve been looking seriously at trying to get published, you’ve heard this term. What is it? Basically the group of people you’re writing for. Young adult fiction. Sportman’s monthly.

Too often, the target audience for whom you are writing gets looked over. I admit to looking over it as well. I mainly write for the pleasure of it above all things and hope I’ll find a publisher or agent along the way who will like my work.

However, if you plan on freelancing before you get “that big book deal” then you have to take your audience into absolute consideration. (more…)

A note before I get started. I read back over my previous posts and realized I didn’t give you the link to Word Count Journal. I apologize. I had to retype that post about three times because of technical difficulties. The site is now up and running. See you there if you choose to participate. (Oh, and here I am.)

Okay, ladies and gentlemen, it’s a new year and for the “Path to Publication” category, I’ve decided to take a step back. I’m starting a novel from basically scratch so I can really get into all aspects of being a writer.

Also, the reason I have decided to stray away from editing and sending in one of my novels, is because it’s part of a quartet (or quintet if I can think of a suitable plot for one of my ideas), and I had the unfortunate luck to write the novel and then think of prequels instead of sequels. I’m going to write the first, work on sending that one in, and go from there.

The bad thing about writing the fifth book (or third or…) before the first is the more you write and the more that happens, the more trapped you become in what has to happen in the first book. This isn’t always the case, but often can be. If you become too trapped, you’ll be more likely to become bored with your writing and abandon the project altogether.

Or, like the predicament I was facing, you’ll be forced to do a major rewrite on the book/all of the books you have written each time something comes along in the first (or whichever book you’re working) that acts as a ripple effect and changes things through all the books.

I highly suggest if you have a novel and have prequels floating around in your mind (sequels are easier to deal with in this situation), start working on Book One.

My question to you is: Have you or anyone you know written something completely out of order and it worked without anything more than the usual necessary edits?

(If so, I’d like to know how they did it. )