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Blogger: Rachel Zurakowski
Location: Books & Such Main Office, Santa Rosa, Calif.
Two days ago, Kristen brought up a hard-to-answer question about series romance. To view her comment click here. Her question left me thinking about who’s really in control of what’s being published. Here are my free-for-all questions:
Does the market really reflect what readers want to read, or are readers only being fed what publishers want readers to read?
How do you see the newish era of e-books affecting the future market? I wonder, in twenty years will there still be fads like Vampire and Amish, or will everyone separate out into small reader circles because of the ability to publish anything online?
I look forward to reading your thoughts! Thanks so much for your great comments this week. 
Blogger: Wendy Lawton
Location: Books & Such Central Valley Office
Weather: 82º (Ten degrees hotter than yesterday)
Great comments so far on queries. Today we are going to get into some dos and don’ts. Let me say again, these are not rules, they are suggestions and they are subjective. My don’ts might just be another agent’s dos. But discussing it will only help us examine the process further.
When you are sending a query, don’t try to be clever. I know you want your query to be memorable, but humor is the most subjective art form there is. Think about what makes you laugh out loud. I’ll bet you have a friend who is annoyed by the very same thing. I love Garrison Keillor. If I could chose a spiritual hometown it would be lake Woebegon, but I have friend who finds him obnoxious. Go figure. (more…)
Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant
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?
Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant
Location: Books & Such Main Office, Santa Rosa, Calif.
Last week I spent most of my time working with clients in preparing proposals for submission to editors. As I interacted with various clients, I observed a truth I’ve seen time and time again–each of us has a preconceived notion about our projects that can make us intractable on certain points. And that inability to see a project with fresh eyes can keep us from finding a publisher for our work.
Two cases in point: (more…)
Blogger: Etta Wilson
Location: Annapolis, MD
Weather: Low 70s and overcast
All week I’ve been thinking and blogging about poetry—its appeal to different ages, its forms, its seemingly universal origins. I don’t know if I’m any closer to a definition of what poetry is than I was on Monday, but the questions are a little clearer. Thanks to those of you who have responded and helped me in the process. Here, on this last day of Poetry Month, are some questions for us to ponder:
1. At what age do you remember reading your first poem? Do you remember what it was?
2. Is there any particular person, friend, family member or author, whom you associate with poetry?
3. Who is your favorite poet, excluding the Bible and Shakespeare?
4. Do you like poems with rhythm and rhyme or free verse? Poems with open-ended lines or not?
5. When did you last read poetry and what kind was it? How did it make you feel?
6. When did you last read poetry aloud to someone else?
That question may be edging toward the romantic, and I haven’t mentioned those great poets known for their romantic sentiment, Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. For different reasons their work is hard to quote, but here are the first two lines from Robert’s “Never the Time and the Place”:
Never the time and the place/ And the loved one all together!
This path how soft to pace!/ This May–what magic weather!
Happy May Day.
Blogger: Etta Wilson
Location: Books & Such Nashville Office
Weather: Slight chance of showers
Recently an author asked me how many poems she should include in a manuscript for a picture book of poetry. I had no idea how to answer until I knew the length of the poems, what form they were in, and how they were intended to be used.
That made me think more about the distinction of poetry as a separate form from prose and how to tell one from the other. At an earlier age, we might have said poetry is either lyric or narrative. When we heard the rhythm and rhyme of spoken words, we knew we were hearing poetry. But like so many aspects of life and literature today we are ever straining toward new forms. (more…)
Blogger: Etta Wilson
Location: Books & Such Nashville Office
Weather: Fair and low 70s
I love April! For many of us it signals the sure re-awakening from winter. Each spring I count the different blooming plants and trees in my yard and set out a number of others. The calendar announces the arrival not only of spring but also of the annual celebration of Poetry Month.
Last June I attended a local writing conference and heard Wyatt Prunty, professor at University of the South and a published poet, describe some basics of poetry writing and reader responses. Since then it seems poetry is on the horizon at every glance. Is this simply heightened awareness on my part or is it really a time in which poetry is coming to the fore? It would be interesting if at this point, when we are pursuing ever-quicker means of communicating (think text messaging), we offset that with more attention to the lyrical beauty and revelation of truth found in poetry. (more…)
Blogger: Rachel Zurakowski
Location: Books & Such main office, Santa Rosa, Calif.
Little bits of encouragement picked up along the way can be lifelines to authors during the difficult and depressing moments that sometimes threaten the writing journey.
What is one of your lifelines? What encouraging word or gesture has made a difference for you?
Blogger: Rachel Zurakowski
Location: Books & Such main office, Santa Rosa, Calif.
I think it’s time for some real-life examples of positively rejected manuscripts…that were published.
My client, Sarah Sundin, spent seven years pitching and perfecting her WWII historical romance. She received many positive rejections. Publishers and agents wrote back to her and told her that her writing was good but historicals weren’t selling.
Sarah didn’t give up. She kept revising her manuscript and had hope. Finally, in 2008, she attended the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference and met an editor from Revell. The editor and Sarah connected, and the editor requested Sarah’s book.
Revell loved Sarah’s writing and story and offered her a contract for three books! A Distant Melody released in March. The second book in the series, A Memory Between Us, releases this September.
The timing was perfect because there weren’t many historicals left on the bookshelves. It was also perfect timing for Sarah. She admits that until 2008 she wasn’t in the right place in her life to publish a book. With young children and a job, the demands of edits, marketing, etc. could have overwhelmed her. For those of you who haven’t yet experienced all that goes into getting the book out after the contract, take note that it’s a lot of work!
Another good publication story is Madeleine L’Engle’s for A Wrinkle in Time. You can read it in her own words here.
And one more to check out. Wendy Lawton’s client, Jill Eileen Smith, worked hard toward publication for twenty years! Check out this interview where Jill shares a bit of her story.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on these stories And published authors, please feel free to post your story!
Blogger: Wendy Lawton
Location: Books & Such Central Valley Office
Weather: 73º and sunny
Yesterday I set up a worst case scenario about fickle genre fashion using the yet undiscovered (or just plain fictitious) genre, edgy Brit-lit. Here’s what I wrote:
You’ve read nothing but edgy Brit-lit your whole life. When you began to write you were told you had the perfect voice for edgy Brit-lit. You’ve written three complete edgy Brit-lit novels and you are now ready to seek an agent and get published. As you begin to put out feelers you find that the interest in edgy Brit-lit is right below inspirational techno thrillers.
What do you do?
Here were the options. Again our reader’s comments were far wiser than any I’d make here. I suggest you go back and read them. I’ll comment here:
A. You vow to never give up and you spend your days discussing the importance of your genre on every blog that will still allow you to comment. You work hard not to grow bitter. I thought it interesting that Morgan saw this as a positive. I meant it as a somewhat snarky jab at the writers who go on endlessly about the unfairness of reader’s tastes. But you know what? Morgan was right. If you are hanging out on genre-specific blogs you are building your potential audience and you are connecting with readers and enthusiasts of your genre. Good catch, Morgan.
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