Location: Books & Such Main Office, Santa Rosa, Calif.

Friday!

We made it!

I like to use my Fridays as reading days. I enjoy reading and look forward to it, so it’s a nice, end-of-the-week treat. I read manuscripts and proposals by authors that I’m considering representing, but I also read proposals and manuscripts by my current clients. Some agents don’t bother to put in the time to read over a proposal before it’s submitted, but my reputation is on the line. I like to be sure that everything is in place so the project has the best chance of selling.

While I read, I’m looking for a clean manuscript with tight writing. For fiction, I also want a smooth, believable plot that interests me and is likely to have broad appeal in the market. A proposal must have a clear statement of what the hook of the book is and a detailed author bio (including details about why this writer is qualified to write the project).

In nonfiction proposals, I also like to see a marketing section and a market comparison section. The marketing section shows how the author plans to help to distribute the book. The market comparison section is a compare/contrast with other books that are on the same topic. It’s important to show how a nonfiction book is unique.

In novel proposals, I look for a synopsis that covers the beginning, middle and end of the story. Yes, I want to know how the story ends.

Happy Friday, everyone! Take some time this weekend to read, too!

Location: Books & Such Nashville Office

Weather: Summer Showers

What is a fiction series? The answer to that question is not as apparent as we might at first  think. A fiction series can be defined as a succession of related stories that usually focus on a continuing lead character. At least that generally was true until about twenty years ago, and it still holds for many series. Think Father Tim in the Mitford series or Hercule Poirot in the Agatha Christie mysteries.

Like many other aspects of writing, the basis for a series has broadened to include such things as different members of a family, a generation, a social structure, a time period, or a setting. Examples are Lauraine Snelling’s Home to Blessing series and Homer Hickam’s Coalwood series. In the later case, the success of Hickam’s best-selling book, Rocket Boys (1998), germinated the later books for a series; so some series start are on the success of a single title. But series are not to be confused with single titles by established authors even when they write in the same genre and have certain similarities, such as John Grisham’s mysteries. It’s the author’s name that connects the books.

Despite the popularity of fiction series, they usually are published only in paperback, as in the romance and mystery genres, which are the two most saleable formats at present. The publisher– and the author– hope and expect there will be another coming shortly, if not in the same series, then a new one in another series under the same banner.

We may need to be careful about this loosening the definition for a series if we are preparing a proposal. It’s so easy to start out with one good character and one good story but then be distracted by other elements and try to force a series construct. For that reason, the setting alone doesn’t always provide enough glue from one book to the next.

Lots to think about in a tale continued!

Location: Books & Such Main Office, Santa Rosa, Calif.

We know, we know, it’s Etta’s turn to blog this week. She’ll be back tomorrow to talk about book series.

In the meantime, we’ve been ruminating on a comment Nicole made Friday about the lack of sagas in the market these days. One of us had to visit the dictionary to define just what a saga is and found Nicole’s meaning in the third definition: “a series of novels about several generations or members of a family.”

She wanted to argue there wasn’t a difference between a saga and an epic, so we went back to the dictionary for epic: “a book that extends beyond the usual or ordinary, especially in size or scope.” We all agreed that would describe James Michener’s works very well, and also could apply to Alex Haley’s Roots.

Sagas made us think of The Forsythe Saga by John Galsworthy, Anthony Trollope’s The Chronicles of Barsetshire, and Elswyth Thane’s Williamsburg Series, which follows the Day family from pre-Revolutionary days until World War II. It also could apply to a lot of books made into films for Masterpiece Theater.

Thinking about sagas I’ve read, brought back a poignant reminder of long summer days with a series of fat books, an opportunity to spend delicious hours savoring the chronicles of people  whose family was familiar to me. And typing this just now, I wonder if that is where my fascination with genealogy began?

In contemporary terms, the books we thought of were some of the Karen Kingsbury’s series–following family members, though not necessarily in succeeding generations.

Why aren’t they popular these days? Could it be a generational situation?

So our question to you all is, do you enjoy sagas? Which ones? And into which generation do you fall?

Location: Books & Such Main Office, Santa Rosa, Calif.

Yesterday Gina brought up an excellent reason for why some multi-published authors might end up writing the “same” story more than once. She pointed out that authors often write on contracted deadlines. The books are to be written and turned into the publisher by a certain date. This does leave much less time for the rewriting and editing that can eliminate the “ruts.” (Thank you, Gina.)

An author’s first book isn’t usually written on a deadline. An author can take years to work over the manuscript. Then the book is published, does well, and the author is offered a new contract based on a synopsis and the first few chapters of a story. The new contract comes with a due date for the complete manuscript. Suddenly there’s pressure! Without a doubt the shortened amount of writing time can cause lower quality work.

Then there’s the “P” word. PROCRASTINATION! I’m guilty of it, are you? I’ve heard of many an author waiting until the last month before the deadline to write the contracted book. The publisher allotted the author 6 months to a year (typically) to write the book, but the author didn’t start until the last minute. Imagine what would happen if the author got sick during that month! Life happens, and it seems to “happen” all the more when you procrastinate. So, while writing on a deadline can affect the quality of an author’s work, procrastination always results in a rush job.

My advice to you: When writing on a deadline, set up a word count goal for each day or week and stick to it. Also leave a little time toward the end for feedback and revision. You owe it to your reader, your publisher and yourself to do your best!

Location: Books & Such Main Office, Santa Rosa, Calif.

I was reading a non-work-related novel over the weekend and found that I was slowly being driven crazy by the continuous mention of CHILDREN! I love kids, don’t get me wrong, but this author allowed the main character to talk about her children nonstop. The plot was significantly hindered by the amount of time I had to spend reading about kids. This was not a parenting book! The author had unintentionally created a rut.

As I was discussing this book with my colleagues here at Books & Such, Michelle brought up another example of a rut. She’d read a book recently where the main character cooked chicken for dinner every night. This marked the passing of time, but did the reader really need to read about dinner prep more than once? Or was it even necessary to include dinner at all? And why chicken?

Janet read a book where eyes were the main focus. Emotions were described using eyes and an entire section of the novel listed in detail what each character’s eyes looked like at that moment. This might be a cool idea, but if it becomes the only descriptor for all the characters, it’s a writing rut.

Our attention was pulled away from the main points and plots of the books by an overused writing device.

I’ve also encountered authors who use the same words over and over again. One author I’ve read refers to young people as “youths” in nearly every book she’s written.  Another author refers to character complexions as “sugar and spice.” I’m not even sure what that means in reference to a complexion.

Writing ruts can occur in nonfiction as well as fiction. An engaging metaphor can be used as the foundation of the manuscript, but if the chapter titles, subheads, and illustrations all tie into that metaphor, the word picture becomes overused and pulled beyond its ability to stretch. The reader grows bored with the idea.

What writing ruts have you noticed in books you’ve read? No need to mention book or author, just describe the distracting element.

Location: Books & Such Main Office, Santa Rosa, Calif.

I’ve spouted a number of opinions about how a writer can break out from the pack this week. I could have added so much more, including:

–the importance of knowing what’s happening in publishing. Not just in your genre, but also in the broader industry. Read professional blogs and publications that give industry trends. It helps you to know what the current climate is in publishing, and that will inherently inform your writing.

–pay attention to authors who suddenly break out. Study what they and/or their publisher did that made a difference.

–know who the leading authors are in your genre. Read them. Even if you think their writing isn’t as good as yours, set that aside and ask yourself why they’ve succeeded. Is it some marketing angle? Is it some type of appeal to readers?

–don’t assume that you are the first one to come up with your latest idea. There’s nothing new under the sun. From the get-go, think about how to go deep with your topic, go in a surprise direction with your characters (if you write fiction). And really study places like Amazon to see what’s already published so you can steer in a different direction.

What one thing can you do differently that will help you to break out?

Location: Books & Such Main Office, Santa Rosa, Calif.

How do you make an editor or agent notice your work? I think most of us realize that editors and agents are bombarded with ideas every day. So far this year, our agency has received several thousand queries and proposals, yes, thousands. So how do you break out of the pack to get noticed?

Often what we’re looking for is a project that springboards off of a tried-and-true idea but adds a new twist. For example, one of my clients did that very skillfully with what she called a “rollicking Regency.” She took the well-defined genre of a Regency romance and added lots of sassy spirit to the heroine, as well as a wonderful, tongue-in-cheek wit to the writing. Entitling the novel All the Tea in China, Jane Orcutt created a manuscript that readily snared editors and publishing committees. It was fresh, yet it wasn’t straddling genres or taking some Grand Canyon leap that sales reps wouldn’t even know how to describe.

What Jane did was masterful. And the book sold with nice energy. Sadly, Jane died shortly after writing the book; so she wasn’t able to continue the series this book launched. And just to show how good she was, our agency tried hard to find someone who could continue the series in the spirit and with the verve that Jane began it, but no such person could be found.

Consider how you can take a perennial idea and make it new–but readily recognizable. It could lead to your breaking out from the pack.

Can you think of other books that set the writing course for their writers?

Location: Books & Such Main Office, Santa Rosa, Calif.

Recently I was a guest interviewee on the popular blog, Seekerville.  I love the blog’s sassy attitude, and interacting with the blog’s commenters was stimulating and fun since topics ranged from scone recipes, to dogs, to writing, to publishing.

One question I was asked that I keep going back to in my mind is whether I see the same ol’ story ideas in queries.

Indeed I do.

What, the person asked, as a followup question, can a writer do to be sure the idea he or she is passionate about is fresh and not a rehash of what keeps cropping up in my query garden?

A recent production I saw on PBS’s “Masterpiece Classic” is instructive. Entitled “Small Island,” the drama recounted the lives of Jamaicans who were sent to Great Britain during WWII and then chose to return to London at the end of the war despite the prejudice they encountered because of their skin color. Jamaican Michael had a brief affair with Londoner Queenie during the war, and she became pregnant. He was missing in action after the war. What will she do when her starched-collar husband returns from the war and Queenie delivers a black baby? Several Jamaicans are boarding at Queenie’s house, including Hortense, who loved Michael but married Gilbert because Gilbert would take her to London with him from Jamaica. The two had just met the afternoon Hortense offered to pay his passage to London on the condition he marry her. All this occurs in the first of two episodes.

What do you think happens in episode two? I had envisioned that Michael, who seemed always to stir up trouble, would return to London, discover Queenie had had his baby but that Hortense, now married but not in love with her steadfast Gilbert, was a boarder at Queenie’s house. Sparks would fly!

But the writer took the story in a different direction. Michael may have set much in motion in episode one, but the significant mover of the story turns out to be Queenie and how she responds to her husband, her boarders, and her clearly black baby. The author took the road less traveled and delivered a fresh story as a result. (If you’d like to watch “Small Island,” it’s available in streaming video here. (Some sexually suggestive scenes are in the video.)

What does that have to do with your writing? If you want to break out of the pack, it’s instructive to think about the logical, reasonable, expected direction for your fiction or nonfiction to take–and then take the reader elsewhere. Rather than having the character who is so afraid of going to war turn into a quivering mass at the bottom of a foxhole, have him discover he revels in killing. Rather than structuring your nonfiction book in a linear way; organize it in a way that surprises yet delights your reader.

Now, tell us about a book that delightfully surprised you. Or tell how you found a fresh direction for your current work.

Location: Books & Such Main Office, Santa Rosa, Calif.

A few weekends ago, I joined my book club on a Dashiell Hammett tour of San Francisco. We ate at John’s Grill (which appears in The Maltese Falcon, the book our club read in preparation for the tour). The guide has been leading Dashiell Hammett tours for 30 years and was a fount of knowledge about not only Hammett but also Lillian Hellman (who was Hammett’s long-term lover), the history of mystery writing, and the current state of publishing. Despite the physical challenge of taking a walking tour in San Francisco, the time was enthralling.

One of the comments Don, our guide, made was regarding the importance of icons in a novel. He used the figure of the Maltese falcon as an example. That started my mind going on other icons that were introduced in literature and have become a part of our culture. Dorothy’s red shoes and Scarlett O’Hara’s Tara belong on that list.

What do I mean by icon? The traditional meaning is a religious symbol; some of these symbols are believed to be imbued with spiritual power, others not. The cross is an icon.The Silver Chalice (which was a novel and then a film in the 1950s centered on the cup Jesus used at the Last Supper) is an icon.

A more contemporary understanding of icon is a symbol that communicates a certain meaning. The Maltese falcon symbolizes the lust for riches; Dorothy’s shoes symbolize an adventure to another land while longing to return home. The films of both of these books were instrumental in making the bird and the shoes iconic. Nowadays we speak of “icons” as computer symbols that we click on to get to Twitter or Microsoft Office.

But what does an icon have to do with your writing?

Once a person is published, he or she soon realizes that merely being published isn’t enough to keep a career alive. The next step is to figure out how to break out from the pack; how to develop momentum and build on a strong foundation.

One of the ways to purpose to break out–or to break into publishing–is to write a manuscript centered on a powerful image. The book’s readers are the ones who make the image into an icon, but without the image, there is no icon.

Such imagery is important in nonfiction as well as fiction, especially today, when story is an elemental part of successful nonfiction. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings conveys, even in its title, a powerful image.

I just checked the New York Times best-seller list to see which book titles contain an evocative image. In nonfiction we have Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin and Oprah by Kitty Kelley, which reminded me that a person as well as an object can be an icon. In fiction, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo conveys the iconic importance of tattoos in current culture. And The Aloha Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini, who has built a successful series on quilts called the Elm Creek Quilts Novels.

What books can you think of that have center on a powerful image? And the much bigger question, do you have a powerful image at the core of your work in progress?

Location:    Books & Such Nashville Office

Weather:    Low 70s and Lovely

The essence of my ruminations on poetry is how it can enliven and engage readers in our other writing, particularly fiction. I’m reading Brenda Vantrease’s The Heretic’s Wife, a new fiction title set in England as Tyndale was being persecuted for having translated the Bible. Aside from being compelling and well-plotted fiction, the writing has so many poetic phrases, e.g., “The smashed press . . . hulked like some great squat beast,” and “the constant clamor of polyglot curses and riotous greetings, the sounds of rolling carts on cobblestones and the jangling of harness bells.”

Note the way the choice and rhythm of words re-enforce their meaning and sound in reality–the very things poets and good fiction writers strive for. Poets may work a little more with the melody of the words, while fiction writers work with the pictures they create in the mind. But both appeal to the imagination.

We can keep the same things in mind for contemporary fiction. We look to the place, the time, and the nationality and speech patterns of our characters, and then let them set the tone for the words we write.

A helpful exercise when you’re writing fiction is to read poetry written at about the era and on the same theme as your novel. For example, if you’re writing a contemporary murder mystery, reading a sonnet such as Jay Rogoff’s “Murder Mystery 1″ can get your juices rolling. Here are the last six lines:

The poet, crammed into his seat with bright/lights blinding, when interrogated, said,

“I don’t know what you mean.” A lie. The light/was brightened, handcuffs clamped. He stood and read

a poem. Finished, he sobbed, “We used to fight./ I’d never kill her. But I’m glad she’s dead.”

There’s a suggested plot for you! In their excellent Creative Writer’s Handbook, 3rd ed., Jason and Lefcowitz include three chapters on poetry before they treat fiction and drama. First things first, I guess.