Self-Publishing vs Sushi

Picture a small town in Pennsylvania where the Amish ride horses through the streets and sell quilts at the market. A place where the locals have names for things most people in the country have never heard of. I went to a writer's conference in this town and met aspiring writers, top agents, and best-selling authors.

On the first day of the conference, a New York agent asked the locals of this small Pennsylvania town where to get some good sushi.

The response from everyone was pretty much the same: Sushi?!

We all had a good laugh about it and the agent handled the faux pas with grace, but it got me thinking. This agent is wonderful at her job. I'd have loved to have her represent me (only she didn't work in my genre). I don't think she's out of touch with readers. But I don't think she's in touch with every reader.

Agents represent books that they like and think they can sell to publishers. Publishers buy books they like and think they can sell to booksellers. Booksellers buy books they like and think they can sell to consumers.

But shouldn't that mean that there are books out there that would appeal to readers, but didn't make the cut because they didn't appeal to everyone else in the chain?

Readers like books from every part of this Venn Diagram. Except that little grey circle. Nobody likes those.

You may or may not like sushi. But if you were stranded and hungry in New York City, I’ll bet you could find plenty of delicious food. Still, you probably won’t find a gumbo that compares to the real thing from Louisiana, or real, honest-to-goodness Georgia peaches.

If you're reading this, odds are you love to read. Odds are, you've read hundreds of great books and are searching for your next. Imagine all those books, the great ones that didn't make the cut because a publisher didn't think it had "mass appeal".

That's why I want to self-publish. Because just like Georgia’s peaches, I have a story to tell that you can only get from me.

I'm not doing this because I think agents are bad people, or that publishers don't know what they're doing, or that chain bookstores are soulless. On the contrary. I think as readers, we’re indebted to them. They’ve made so many good books available to us. They don’t just shape the world of literature; they BUILT it.

But the publishing world is changing.

I’m not trying to find readers that hate all the books ever published so far. That’s crazy. It’s like saying you couldn’t find a single decent thing to eat in New York. I’m looking for hungry readers, the readers that might also like a book from a different source.

Think of my book as a new food or recipe. Are you willing to try it?

Define Rejection (and make it work FOR you)

Rejection. I've given my pep talk on why rejection isn't so bad because it brings you to something better, but I've been thinking about it. You know what? I'm really weird.

Rejection isn't just something I get through. I actually look forward to the query process. The form letters don't tear me apart. They used to. Man, those stupid emails filled with 'no' used to sting. But I think I understand more about the publishing industry and about my own weaknesses that rejection isn't personal.

We've all heard that: it's not personal. It's not a rejection of you, it's a rejection of this book at this time.

But if that's what the form letter isn't, then what IS it?

I'm not sure if that makes any sense. You can't define something by defining what it's not. You can't say that 'black' means 'not white'.

So what IS rejection?

When I'm querying, I check my email every day (okay, MULTIPLE times a day) hoping to hear back from an agent. Of course, I'm hoping for The One, but even if it doesn't come, I love to get replies.

Because a rejection is information. It's an evaluation of your query letter and maybe your first few chapters. Some agents request five pages or three chapters, others just want the query. Pay attention to who requests what. (I keep notes on each query using QueryTracker.net.) Because if you're getting form rejections from all the agents who requested pages, but you're getting personalized rejections or even partial requests from agents that only saw your query letter, you've learned something. It's your writing, and not your premise.Your query letter is fine. It's the writing sample that was weak.

There are lots of things you can learn by paying attention to your rejections. If you get nothing but form rejections no matter what you send, then you know you need to write another book. Don't bother killing yourself trying to make this book perfect. It wasn't even close. Go back. Try again.

So, I think that's why rejections don't completely suck for me. A rejection isn't a 'No'. It's a "No, but..." or a "No, and..."

Writing Pointers from Pennwriters -- The Query

Here are a few tidbits I picked up about querying:

• Make it personal. Agents want to know why you chose to query them, specifically.
• Your blurb needs to have voice and style (the same voice and style that's in your book).
• Be polite!
• Remember contact info!
• May is a good time to query. Fall is also good. Summer is a busy time for agents, so don't expect a quick reply. (I personally don't think you should sit on a book just because it's summer, though.)
• Send your query to yourself first to make sure it translates correctly. You don't want weird characters and formatting going out to every agent you query!
• Be specific. Too many times, the inner conflict is described as "his demons" or "inner struggles". What does that even mean? Give details to show why this character's struggles are specific to him and your story.
• More is less. One paragraph, maybe two. You're not writing a full synopsis. What you want to do is hook the agent by giving a few specific details about the conflicts. Show just how impossible your character's situation is.
• Remove all the telling. Don't tell me the book is exciting. Show it in the blurb.
• Agents say they want you to compare your book to other authors, but they really don't. Nine times out of ten, it'll hurt you more than help you. (Either you'll come off as overconfident or unclear, or you'll show the agent that you really don't know much about the current market.)

Repost: Getting Your Novel Pitch-Ready

I mentioned in an earlier post that CJ Lyons gave an amazing seminar on pitches. Basically, she told us to whittle our books down to as few words as possible. This helps us to understand what our book is really about.

There are different kinds of pitches. I gave a ten-minute pitch at the conference to an agent. That's a pretty long time. With those, it's important to let the agent ask questions and let it be more like a conversation. Otherwise, the agent will probably lose interest. (I'm not sure I would want to listen to myself for ten minutes straight.)

But you may have also heard about elevator pitches. These are pitches that are so short, you could give them to an agent if you were caught in an elevator with them--maybe 15 seconds. The goal is to give them just enough that they want to know more. CJ said,

The trick with elevator pitches is to use something universally known (like Indiana Jones) or something current and trendy. You need to use comparisons your audience will understand, nod their heads and say, oh yeah, that sounds like something I'd read

Start with your tag line/log line/hook. This is one sentence, as few words as possible, while evoking as much emotion and imagery as possible. If you're familiar with archetypes, this would be perfect. For example, we had one guy give his pitch, which included "creationism" in it. CJ said "God exists" is more powerful. Everyone has some idea of what God is, where creationism takes thought. Many don't know what it means. Keep it simple.

The hook that CJ helped me make for Shadow Bound is:
A ghost comes back from the dead to save the girl he loves.

Okay, so you have a hook line. Sometimes that's all you need, the conversation will evolve naturally from there. [It did for me.] Other times you use it simply to attract attention and move into a more detailed description. This is where that 15-25 word story summary mentioned above comes in handy. The hook line hooks the reader into wanting (or asking to hear) the short summary.

CJ Lyons loves to help writers, so she gave us a handout with a ton of useful resources. First, she listed some books (the comments in parentheses are from me):
Noah Lukeman THE FIRST FIVE PAGES (read it. loved it.)
Stephen King ON WRITING (a must-read)
Christopher Vogler THE WRITER'S JOURNEY
James Frey THE KEY
Donald Maas WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL (another must-read)
Dwight Swain TECHNIQUES OF THE SELLING WRITER (this, for me personally, is my all-time favorite, most helpful book.)

Next, she gave some great websites:
Association of Author Representatives (check out the FAQ for great questions to ask potential agents)
Publisher's Lunch (industry news)
Buzz, Balls, and Hype (book marketing advice)
Backspace (writers forums and articles)
Publishers Weekly: news, blogs, features, deals, reviews
QueryTracker (an absolute must for anyone submitting to agents and now publishers!)
Nathan Bransford (an agent at Curtis Brown, great blog, wonderful links to everything!)

About CJ:
As a pediatric ER doctor, CJ Lyons has lived the life she writes about in her cutting edge suspense novels. Her award-winning, critically acclaimed Angels of Mercy series (LIFELINES, WARNING SIGNS, and URGENT CARE) is available in stores now with the fourth, CRITICAL CONDITION, due out December, 2010. Her newest project is as co-author of a new suspense series with Erin Brockovich. Contact her at cjlyons.net

The Skinny on Agents at Pennwriters Conference (plus some other little tidbits)

On Tuesday, I got home from the Pennwriters Conference in Lancaster, PA. This was my first conference and it. Was. Amazing. And guess what? You get to read all about it.

We had several seminars a day (three days) where I learned a TON. I asked permission to post the handout from Maria V. Snyder's seminar: Showing vs. Telling. Amazing stuff in there. I can't wait to share it. (And I think I may have to buy her books now.) I'll also post a little about what editor David Pomerico said about the fantasy/sci-fi markets and whatever notes I can scrape together. Mostly, I just wanted to sit and absorb.

The food was pretty good, the hotel was beautiful, and the people were some of the nicest you'll ever meet. I couldn't believe how easy it was to talk to everyone. I heard a couple of agents say this was one of the most prepared, educated groups of writers they'd ever met at a conference. The price was reasonable, too. So overall, the conference was an epic win. There were about 250 people there and over 50 of them were from outside the state of Pennsylvania.

I got to meet some interesting people and I know you all want to know what they're like in person. So here it is: the dish on the agents. I'm hoping I can give you some insight into these people so you can make a more informed decision about whom to query.

Janet Reid: way funny, brutally honest. She cracked jokes left and right during her seminar on social media. Unfortunately, it was late in the conference and I think her audience was a little too tired to keep up with her. But seriously, she's hilarious and is interested in helping writers to get better. I didn't go to her read-and-critique, but from what I heard, she's like the Simon Cowell of the literary world. She gave some very helpful advice, but if she didn't like something, she told you. (I like that.) Unfortunately, she doesn't represent my genre.

Emmanuelle Alspaugh: very nice, professional, direct and honest. (Don't worry about getting false hope from her. If she requests pages, she's really interested.) I hear she didn't ask for many partials. She was perfectly polite and seemed interested in my book, even after declining representation. (She doesn't take on very much YA.) I didn't see much of her around the conference.

Jennifer Jackson: down-to-earth, genuine, dry sense of humor, personable. I really liked her. She wasn't larger than life like some of the other agents. She was... normal. She was funny and her presentation on queries was very entertaining. She spent time with the writers and shared what she knew.

Jenny Bent: I only met her briefly. She's really cute and has a sense of humor. From what I heard she's sweet and very nice. Most of the writers who pitched to her told me they were nervous going in, but she put them at ease right away.

I also met author Cyn Balog. She writes young adult urban fantasy, so I was especially interested in what she had to say. She is so cute and very approachable. I really enjoyed talking to her. I bought an extra copy of her book Fairy Tale, which she signed. I'll be giving it away in a contest soon, so keep an eye out for that. (I'm reading my own copy now. It's fantastic.)

Author CJ Lyons is apparently a regular at Pennwriters. She's spunky, funny, confident, and she knows her stuff. I can't believe how helpful she was. My first seminar was her class on pitching. She challenged us to boil our books down to 25 words. Then 15 words. Then 5. Seriously, give it a try. The goal is to use words that immediately bring up an image and/or emotional response.
So, though my book's main character is Rachel, I used the word "ghost" in my short-short pitch: A ghost comes back from the dead to save the girl he loves.
CJ also led our general read-and-critique, so she helped me with the first page of my manuscript (along with author Jonathan Maberry).

Jonathan Maberry was also incredible. He knew so much about craft and is obviously well-read. He seemed to know something about every genre. He was the perfect choice for the general read-and-critique. (By the way, he'll be the keynote speaker for next year's conference, so mark your calendars!)

The keynote speaker this year was adventure thriller writer James Rollins. (He's also dabbled in YA and Fantasy.) This guy is so funny. I don't think he had any prepared material for his speech, he just talked to us about his career, how he got his start, and how anyone can be published if they keep at it. He actually was a veterinarian for 15 years before officially pursuing writing as a career.
When asked if he still does veterinary work, he said he does some volunteer stuff and mentioned that he traps, neuters, and immunizes feral cats. "So basically," he says, "On weekends, I remove genitals. It's a hobby." Great guy and so inspiring!

That's all I can think of without delving into my notes. Feel free to ask questions. (And if you were at the conference, I'd appreciate your commments.)

Like I said, look for future posts on what I learned at these seminars, my own personal experience at the conference, and the contest where I'll be giving away a signed copy of Cyn Balog's Fairy Tale!

Tips for Submitting to Agents

In a hurried, last minute effort to get a post out on time (I know, I know. Sorry.) I'm simply going to post my favorite article from this week: The First Novels Club: We Got Sharked! Where literary agent Janet Reid gives some tips to queryers.

Wait! Don't Sign that Contract!

Most writers would do anything to get published. (Sometimes for the wrong reasons, but that's another post.) Aprilynne Pike, author of Wings, posted about her Firsts -- the book that got her an agent and the book that got her published. And no, they weren't the same book.

In this post, she discusses the importance of landing the right publisher, not just the first publisher who likes your book. Signing with a smaller publishing house can hurt your career.

So here are some Tips to Avoid a Publishing Dilemma that I thought might be equally helpful. :)

Coping with Rejection as a Writer

The rejections are coming in. Some are more helpful than others. Each rejection tells me one of two things: either the story isn't a good fit for the agent, or my writing needs some improvement.

And I'm okay with that. No agent has told me, "Please never send me any more of your material. You'll never get good enough." I will get better. It may be that Shadow Bound is the book that will get me published. It may be the next book. Or maybe not. As long as each book is better than the last, I'm happy. For now. ;)

Whether I get an agent for Shadow Bound or not, I'm starting the early planning stages of my next project: Phantom. I'm so excited about this book. I've already worked through lesson 6 of How to Think Sideways, using whatever I can apply to this new project. I'm really pumped about this one. I'm really going to focus on voice and character with this one. There's always room for improvement with voice and character.

Anyway, I know some of you are dealing with rejection, so over the next couple of days I thought I'd share some posts that I've found helpful.

Killing Time Between Projects

I'm itching to get started on my next project: Phantom. But I'm making myself wait until October. As much as I want to buckle down and plan, I feel like I should let my brain rest a little from writing. I'm always amazed by how much good can come from breaks.

My main character is starting to take shape, though. An eighteen-year-old girl with a fiery personality. Not at all like Christine. (I always thought she was a bit of a wuss in the book.)

Waiting is tough. I focus on querying agents instead. And reading. Always lots of reading.

Which reminds me... look me up on Goodreads.com. It's a great website. You can use it to see what I'm currently reading. (Okay, I'll tell you. I'm reading The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan. It's fantastic.) I use Goodreads to keep track of my to-read list (which is constantly growing).

What are you reading?

Query Letters: How Much is Too Much?

As I query agents, I wonder what I should include and what is too much information. For example, I research the market. I wouldn't say I'm an expert, but I know things. I know:

--That YA sales haven't suffered from the falling market like other genres have. Neither has fantasy. (Or romance, if that's what you write.)
--I know that the market is saturated with vampire novels. Although they're still selling well, their sales are predicted to drop.
--Werewolves are in the same boat.

I want to tell agents what I know, but I don't want to come off as desperately clamoring for attention. I want agents to know that I'm aiming to reach fans of Stephenie Meyer and Patrcia Briggs (and I've included that in some of my queries), but I don't want to sound like, "Look, I'm just as good as Stephenie Meyer and Patricia Briggs."
Because let's face it--I'm not. Stephenie Meyer is a young writer, but her characters are amazingly real. Their dialogue, the voice, it's all there. Patricia Briggs also has a great voice and characters. And her stories have such depth, so many layers... No, I don't think I'm that good yet. But I hope to be.

Shadow has avoided vampires and werewolves and has a (relatively) new kind of paranormal: ghosts. Okay, ghosts aren't new, but my story uses ghosts as a medium for original ideas. The premise is, as far as I know, original. I've looked for books like mine. Either it's a relatively new idea, or I suck at looking.

So how does one say, "I know the market. I'm avoiding trends. I want to be as good as the best someday." ?

How to Submit and Query Agents, Part 4

Since I'm really focusing on this at the moment, I've found a few extra tidbits on querying and finding an agent. (If you're interested in this, you can go back to Part 1 of this series.) Since I've already given you all I know on the subject, I'll just post what I've found during the last couple weeks or so.

Get Published Now has a mailing list you can sign up for. Several, in fact. You can choose what areas you're most interested in.

Molli Nickell does a lot for rising authors, especially when it comes to breaking in. Her blog, The Query Letter Wizard, focuses on--you guessed it--query letters. Everything from when to submit to how to craft and polish your letter.

Hope these help! I'm still submitting, but haven't heard back. The world of publishing works on a different clock. It could be several weeks before I even get a reply. I may start planning my next book a little early. :)

What Now? Life after the manuscript.

I think the manuscript is ready for submission. So right now, I'm nervous. I don't want to get my hopes up and then be let down, but I really think this one has a shot. It's ten times better than my last novel.

I've already sent 7 queries--my top picks. I'm on edge, expecting a reply any day, though it could take months. I'm still researching queries and agents and all that good stuff. I think I'll write another post on the subject, since I've found some good stuff.

So for the rest of the month, I'll submit my story to a few agents a day until I've exhausted my list of potentials. Starting October 1, I'll begin planning my phantom novel :) I'm excited about that. I may not be able to wait.

Question & Answer: Where are you in the process?

I thought I'd do a short update post in response to a comment on my post How to Submit and Query Agents, Part 3:

Wow, Emily. I like your blog. It has a lot of useful information. I have a question for you: Have you actually started the Query process? Or are you working on your Query letter? Have you gotten any bites? I'm interested to know what you are going through right now with your novel and if you think you spent enough time revising it or not.

Reply:
Thanks, I'm glad to hear my blog is helpful! I queried for my last manuscript (a lot). No bites on that one.
For my current project, I'm compiling a list of possibilites (I have about 20 so far). I'm also working on my query letter in between editing sessions. I think it's pretty polished up at this point and may be done.
I think Holly's one-pass is working really well, but I think I'll print it out when I'm done and read through it (maybe out loud) to catch any little things I may have missed.

How to Submit and Query Agents, Part 3

First, Authorial, Agently and Personal Ramblings has a list of Query Dos and Don'ts that provides an excellent segue from Part 2 to Part 3.

So you know what agents you'd like to query. The big question: How do you query?
There's so much advice out there, I don't know where to begin.

Okay, first: be polite.
Second, get the agent's name right.
Third, make sure to include your contact information.
Fourth, include your book's title, genre, and word count.
Without these, you may as well bang your head against a wall.

Then try How to Get An Agent. Robert Gregory Browne gives a breakdown of the "logline". If you have a good logline (or The Sentence, as Holly Lisle calls it), you'll at least get your foot in the door.

Dame Devon from Deadline Dames says, "The most important thing is that it makes your book sound exciting, interesting, engaging. It’s a sales tool, not a dictionary entry." This is so true! I know it may seem obvious, but your job is to make the book sound interesting. Your job is NOT to list plot points. It's like the hook that you might read on the back cover of a book. They give you just enough that you know what kind of book it's going to be, and hopefully, the hook makes you ask enough questions that you want to read the book.

17 Reasons Manuscripts are Rejected is a list of what not to do. It has some pretty good tips.

And then you get to worry about all the other stuff, as listed in: What you can do: Twelve Easy Steps. Yeah, it's a long road. Hope you love what you do!

Dame Jackie of Deadline Dames wrote three articles about submitting to agents. The first is here.

Part 1 of Querying Agents here.
The next part, Querying Agents Part 4, is here.

How to Submit and Query Agents, Part 2

Now that you know the basics, how do you know who to submit to?

Honestly, a huge part is personality, which I can't help you with. Sorry.
BUT
I can help you narrow it down. Hopefully, you've done your research and have gone to the websites I gave you in Part 1. If not, I'd highly recommend you go back and do that.

After that, what I do is start pulling up the websites of literary agencies. That's right. One. At. A. Time. It's tedious. It takes forever. But I like to be thorough. Like I said before, I use QueryTracker to do this. I search their database for any and all agencies that take the genre of my current book (in this case, young adult fantasy) and I get a handful of pages of agencies.

I'll go to each agency's website. First impression: Is the website professional looking? Do they publish books similar to mine (at least somewhat)? If so, I keep going.

Usually, they have a page that lists the agents that work at that particular literary agency. Go there. I read each bio and try to get a feel for which agent is the best fit for my book. Things I consider: what genres they take, how much experience they have, what authors they've worked with, and overall gut feeling.

DO NOT submit to more than one agent at the same agency. Find the best one for you and if you think it's a good fit, query him or her. If it's not a good fit, move on to the next agency.

Here's why: Let's say you have the next Twilight novel and you go to Good Publishing Literary Agency. (not a great name, but hey--I'm winging it.) Agent A represents paranormal romance and Agent B at the same agency represents young adult urban fantasy (most likely, there'll be some overlap). If you submit to agent A at Good Publishing Literary Agency and they decide it's not right for them, but that the book has great publishing potential, they'll forward it to agent B. (Maybe Agent A has a full plate or doesn't connect to your character's voice or whatever.)

Next, try to find Submission Guidelines. Each agency has its own preferences. Some may want you to include the first five pages posted at the bottom of your query. Others may want you to have something specific in the subject line. If you don't do this, your query may be deleted without anyone reading it. And that's bad.

Part 3: Query Letters and other fun stuff to send to agents

How to Submit and Query Agents, Part 1

So, when you've written the best novel you possibly can, all tweaked to perfection, what do you do next? You submit.
My recommendation: query agents. You can query publishers, but it takes forever and you're less likely to get a sale. You can self-publish, but you lose a lot of credibility that way. (Quite frankly, I don't have enough knowledge to help you in these areas anyway.)

So this next series of articles is going to be about submitting your manuscript to agents.

First, an agent is someone who works with you, the writer, and publishers. They can negotiate contracts, they know all about what rights you're selling, they know editors, they know marketing. So where do you find a reputable agent?

The Association of Authors' Representatives (AAR) has a (very long) list of agents that are most likely reputable. Check to see if an agent is on their list before you sign anything. (If an agent asks for money from you, s/he's probably not reputable. Check out Writer Beware, a website that closely follows scam artists that target rising authors. This site in particular has a list of red flags to watch out for. ) AAR has a fantastic FAQ. Read it.

There are a number of sites that list good agents. Some more helpful than others. I use QueryTracker. This site has a slew of agents that you can search by genre, but better than that, it lets you tag agents you'd like to query in the future. You'll have your own list of agents you want to query, agents you have queried, and agents that have replied. QueryTracker also has a blog that posts useful information.

Similar sites include Query Shark and AgentQuery.

Seriously, if you haven't already, spend a couple of days on these sites. Get familiar with the basics of a good query letter and what an agent does. The next part of this series will cover how you find the right agent for your book.