How to use this Page

As we do each year, Writer’s Digest is putting on some awesome (and HUGE) writers conferences on both coasts of the country. These conferences bring together writers from all over the country, and lead to all kinds of good things, like signing with an agent, meeting your writer friends for life, keeping your finger on the pulse of the industry, and/or simply recharging your writing bat. Read on for more info. We hope to see you there.

EAST COAST EVENT: NEW YORK CITY, AUG. 1-3, 2014

This event happens from Friday, August 1, through Sunday, August 3, 2014, at the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan, 45 E. 45th St, NYC, NY 10017. (There is a conference room rate, which you can learn more about here.)

There are many, many instructional sessions and panels at the event – on topics such as:

• “How to Write a Page-Turner”
• “Ask the Editors” (an open Q&A with NYC editors)
• “Ask the Agents” (an open Q&A with NYC agents)
• “How to Use Crowdfunding For Your Book”
• “Writing From Personal Experience”
• “How to Sell Your First 1000 Copies”
• Harlen Coben, a man with more than 50 million copies of his books in print, is a keynote speaker
• And many, many, many more. All classes details on the website schedule.

Get an agent: Like I mentioned, the big draw to the NYC event is the massive Agent Pitch Slam, which sees agents signing a few writers every single year without fail. Following previous events, agencies that have signed new writers have included ICM Partners, FinePrint Literary Management, Andrea Hurst & Associates, Rita Rosenkranz Literary, Stonesong, Movable Type Literary, and more. You can see a list of the 2014 pitch slam agents (and editors) online here.

WEST COAST EVENT: LOS ANGELES, AUG. 15-17, 2014

This second event — our “Novel Writing Conference” — happens from Friday, August 15, through Sunday, August 17, 2014, at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in LA, 2025 Avenue of the Stars, LA, CA 90067. There is a west coast event room rate, which you can find here.

NY Times best-selling authors David Morrell and Jonathan Maberry will be teaching special workshops as add-ons for attendees. Maberry will also be speaking as a keynote to all attendees. You can see the entire schedule here. The whole weekend is packed with instruction and advice to give you the tools needed to move your novel forward.

To keep the focus on instruction, there is no giant pitch slam at the west coast novel-writing event. That said, there will be 4-5 agents in attendance at our “Ask the Agents” panel who will also be meeting with writers for one-on-one pitch appointments (optional add-ons for writers) throughout the day.

There is a ton more information about our west coast conference. See it all here.

 

 

Add a Comment

So you want to be published? It’s been said that after the wild creative outpouring, real writing happens in the art of revision. Your best chance of attracting readers is through strong revision, or “re-seeing” of your work, to appeal to readers of all stripes. Writers who learn to love revision are more likely to write publishable work that wins readers and leads to deeper satisfaction in the writer’s craft. This live webinar, called “Revise for Publication: Revision Strategies That Will Improve Any Draft,” will help any writer with the goal of publication learn to love revision. You can learn to enjoy revision by breaking it down into simple, successful “waves,” and easy-to-use “tools” that you’ll use over and over.

By the end of this webinar you will not only have tackled revision issues within your work but will be able to embrace remaining revision with a positive attitude. The webinar happens at 1 p.m., EST, Thursday, June 26, 2014, and lasts 90 minutes.

 

 

ABOUT THE CRITIQUE

All registrants are invited to submit the first page of your work (300 words max) to assess whether it works or needs revision. All submissions are guaranteed a written response by Writing Coach and Author, Jordan E. Rosenfeld. Sign up for Jordan’s webinar here.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:

– Four fun strategies that give each stage of revision a “personality”
– How to inventory what you have before you begin to revise
– How to allow access to your wild creativity
– Pleasurable methods for sharpening and tightening
– The difference between “tinkering” and “transforming”
– A painless plot overhaul
– How to identify what’s missing from your manuscript
– How to add page-turning tension on every page
– A final checklist on whether you’re ready to seek publication. Sign up for Jordan’s webinar here.

INSTRUCTOR

Jordan is a writing coach, freelance editor and author of the writing guides Make a Scene: Crafting a Powerful Story One Scene at a Time, and, with Rebecca Lawton, Write Free: Attracting the Creative Life. She has also published two suspense novels, Forged in Grace and, under the pen name J.P. Rose: Night Oracle. Jordan is working on two forthcoming writing books from Writer’s Digest Books: A Writer’s Guide to Persistence: A Toolkit to Build & Bolster a Lasting Writing Practice (Spring: 2015), and, with Martha Alderson, Deep Scenes: Plot Your Story Scene-by-Scene Through Action, Emotion & Theme (Fall, 2015).

Visit her website: www.jordanrosenfeld.net. She leads Plot & Scene retreats with author Martha Alderson, The Plot Whisperer. http://www.Writerpath.com and will be presenting two workshops at the Writer’s Digest West Conference in Lost Angeles August 15-17, 2014.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

- Writers who are confused about where or how to revise
- Writers who are ready to revise but need support
- Writers who want to go more deeply into their work
- Writers stuck in a particular spot in their manuscripts
- Writers who want to be published in any form
- Writers who are self-publishing
- Writers who are seeking traditional publishing through an agent or publisher
- Writers who are beginning a new project
- Writers who have completed a draft
- Writers who consistently get feedback that your writing is good but are still not published
- Writers who want to put their best work forth
- Writers who want to be able to self-edit their work

 

Sign up for Jordan’s webinar here.

Add a Comment

Add a Comment

Photo by Quinnanya

I was at BEA two weeks ago (has it been two weeks already?!) and went for coffee with my agent after my autographing session. The BEA badge pinned to his shirt had LITERARY AGENT written across it, and I was shocked to witness people interrupting our conversation--literally interrupting--to pitch their novels to him.

Sure, I remember the urgency, the desperation, to get an agent and get published. Partly that's because I'm not twenty-something anymore, and partly it's because I wasted spent a lot of years telling myself I needed to have a real money-earning job and therefore I didn't have the time courage determination to write squeeze in a little bit of writing every day. Mainly it's because writers write to communicate and that generally requires us to have (cough, cough) readers. When you don't have any luck getting a manuscript represented, it's demoralizing. I get that. I've been there. I made every mistake in the book before I managed to get through the gatekeepers, snag an agent, snag an editor, and land a book deal.

But.

Having been through the trenches and having gotten more rejections than I can count before getting an agent myself, I'd like to share a little bit of what I learned. Let's start by busting some myths.

1. You have to know someone to get an agent or get published. Most agents are open to receiving queries provided you follow their guidelines. Get on QueryTracker.net, search the genre you are looking for, and you'll get the email address and submission guideline information right there. Or at least you'll get the web address where their submission guidelines are posted.
   
   For a nominal fee, you can even mark and track your submission there to find out what you have outstanding and where it is in the agent queue--i.e., how many other submissions have gone to that agent and are being tracked on QueryTracker. (Bear in mind that this isn't by any means anything more than a fraction of the queries and submissions the agents are looking at, but it lets you see approximately how quickly they are likely to get to yours.)
   
   
   
2. To get attention for your manuscript, you have to jump through hoops or make yourself stand out. The only thing that needs to stand out is your manuscript. Accosting an agent at a conference or trade show, sending them chocolate along with your query letter, or even going to their offices in person, isn't going to change how they feel about your manuscript when they read it. Unless they love the manuscript and think they can sell it, they're not going to take it on even if you knock their socks off with your winning personality.
   
   
   
3. The odds of getting an agent are so slim, you should query a hundred agents at once. Um, no. Trust me, I learned the hard way that a good query letter and a solid opening to your manuscript will get requests. If you send to fifteen agents you have carefully selected because they are looking for the kind of manuscript you have written and you don't get several requests, there is a problem with either your query letter, your story premise, or your writing. Don't query more until you figure out which. Take one of the inexpensive Writer's Digest workshops where agents review query letters and sample pages, attend a conference and pay for the critique, go through an online contest, or even go through our free First Five Pages Workshop. These will all help you figure out whether the problem is with the beginning of your manuscript or with your query letter.
   
   
   
4. A query letter doesn't have to be perfect. Agents are going to look at the first pages of the manuscript anyway. Some agents will read the opening pages of your manuscript first and some will read the query letter first. But the chances are, even if they love your opening and see that you can write their socks off, they still need to know that you have an actual book that they can sell. That means they have to see that you know what your story is about. It took me a while to figure out that the trouble I was having putting together a hook and brief synopsis of what my book was about was because my book wasn't really clear enough yet and the hook wasn't strong enough. For the manuscript that landed an agent and a book deal, I wrote the query letter before I started writing the book. That query letter basically became the pitch my agent sent out on submission, and it is, in large part, the copy that's going on the book jacket. I still can't come up with a good query letter that accurately describes what my first two books are about. Which means I still need to work on those books. (And no, I don't need to query those books any more, but if I ever decide to resurrect them and send them to my agent, I would still want to be sure that I had a good, solid pitch. The fact that I can't define them well means they're not really ready for human consumption.)
   
   
   
5. Agents (and/or editors) don't really know what they're doing, so you should just go ahead and self-publish if you've been rejected by everyone. Self-publishing is not a solution to rejection. If your book is good, it will likely find a home in traditional publishing, even if it means going to a smaller press. But that doesn't mean that traditional publishing is for everyone either.
   
   The bottom line is that you have to examine what you really want out of publishing, and you have to:
   • know the strength of your manuscript,
   • your ability and willingness to market it,
   • and your ability to write additional work very quickly.
   
   Independent publishing works best for writers who have:
   • a manuscript that agents (or editors) are saying they love but can't sell,
   • manuscripts that need to get to market very quickly,
   • authors who have an established network of potential readers already,
   • very motivated and entrepreneurial authors who are willing to spend a lot of time and possibly money to market their own work.
   
   Indie-publishing also requires hiring a professional editor, a professional copyeditor, a professional proofreader, a professional cover-designer, and a professional book-formatter. Some of these may be the same person, but the steps can't be skipped.
   
   Readers deserve good content, and putting out a manuscript that is less than professional, and less than it could potentially be, isn't going to help you in your career as an author. And yes, I'm assuming with all of this, that if you are/were looking for an agent, it's because you want to publish more than just one book

Add a Comment

Beth Fantaskey is the author of the YA books JESSICA'S GUIDE TO DATING ON THE DARK SIDE and JESSICA RULES THE DARK SIDE as well as JEKEL LOVES HYDE. Her newest YA book, BUZZ KILL, is a fun teen mystery and we're happy to have Beth on the blog today!

Don't Write The World's Best Novel by Beth Fantaskey

When I first got serious about writing – and hopefully selling – a novel, I joined Romance Writers of America, on the advice of a friend who was a successful author with Harlequin. That was a great suggestion – but it was something she said after I was a member that made all the difference in my career.

We were at the national RWA conference in Atlanta, and I hadn’t signed up in time to get a room at the main, ritzy hotel that served as headquarters. I was in this dive down the street, so every morning I had to schlep over to where all the “real” authors were staying, getting all hot and sweaty, because it was the South – in July. Then I’d attend these workshops where it seemed as if everyone knew more than me about writing, and the marketplace, and networking. I was supposed to be getting inspired, but I never felt like my goal was so far away.

And things got worse when I attended a panel discussion by literary agents. It was held in a ballroom – a HUGE ballroom – and it was PACKED. That was the first time I really understood how many people shared the same dream. What were the odds of ever standing out? Of selling anything?

Then my wise friend, Mary Leo, shared some life-changing words, telling me, “You have to be the person who never gives up. Half the people in this room will quit with their first rejection. The next rejection will take out fifty more. And so on, and so on. You have to be the person who’s still standing at the end.”

I’ve always liked solitary, endurance sports. Running and biking. I understood that advice, and I sort of realigned my goal. I didn’t have to write The World’s Best Novel. I had to be the mentally tough person who had the guts to get knocked down by rejection, pick myself up, and try again.

Oddly enough, I didn’t really get tested that way until after I was published three times. I’d written Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, Jekel Loves Hyde, and Jessica Rules the Dark Side – but then I wrote a novel that I believed in, but which my editor hated. In fact, I wrote it three times, and it got rejected three times.

Ouch.

It got to the point where my publishing house and I basically parted ways. It was amicable. They told me that I was welcome to submit a manuscript in the future, but there were no guarantees.

I spent about a week reeling. Then one day, I was on the treadmill, doing my solitary endurance thing, and I decided to look at this rejection as something positive. I was no longer bound by a contract or a genre. I could write the book of my dreams. So I did.

I didn’t know if anyone would want to publish Buzz Kill. I just sat down every day at my computer and told myself that if I wrote something that made me laugh, or cry, or get excited, I’d had a successful day. In fact, success would not be in “getting published,” it would be in dealing graciously with the setback. A few months later, I sent the manuscript to my agent and editor – and they loved it.

I’m probably more proud of Buzz Kill than I was of my first novel, even. While I was excited about Jessica’s Guide, I didn’t work as hard to see it published. With Buzz Kill, I had to wake up every morning and say, “I can still do this. And if I do somehow fail, I can’t let that define my life.” That was a challenge for me, because I’m a Type A person who likes to succeed.

And that brings me to another great piece of advice that I got, one day when I was really stuck in the middle of a manuscript and getting way too upset. My husband walked into my office to find me on the brink of tears, and he asked, with all sincerity, “This is supposed to be fun, isn’t it?”

He was right. If it wasn’t fun anymore, why was I doing it? That sort of became my mantra. If I wasn’t having fun creating a world and the characters to populate it, what was the point?

These days, I write where my heart takes me, and if it ever starts to not be fun again, that’s the day I’ll walk away, knowing I’ve done my best and proud of the books on my shelf that bear my name.

About The Author

1. My favorite hobby is traveling the world - but my biggest fear is flying.
2. My second-biggest fear is public speaking… but I’m a college professor (who sometimes teaches public speaking!)
3. I have two 8-year-old kids - who AREN’T twins.
4. My weirdest work experience was helping to “tan” deer hides using cow brains. (I was actually writing a magazine story about it.)
5. I’ve only been fired once, from a job as a bookstore clerk.
6. My best educational experience was doing research in India on the Dalit (“untouchable”) struggle for human rights. (See maarpu.org)
7. My worst experience, ever, was getting food poisoning while riding my bike from the Missouri River to the Mississippi. (My friend told me the chicken tasted strange…)
8. Whenever I visit a new country, I try as many ketchups as I can. (Best: Poland, Worst: China)
9. I am an uncommonly bad volleyball player…ask the team that ALMOST won a championship.
10. I also suffer from mild “ichthyphobia,” or “fear or fish.” I don’t bother trying to overcome that one!

Website | Twitter | Goodreads

About The Book

In this fresh and funny teen mystery, seventeen-year-old Millie joins forces with her classmate, gorgeous but mysterious Chase Albright, to try to find out who murdered Coach Killdare.

Putting the dead in deadline
To Bee or not to Bee? When the widely disliked Honeywell Stingers football coach is found murdered, 17-year-old Millie is determined to investigate. She is chasing a lead for the school newspaper - and looking to clear her father, the assistant coach, and prime suspect.

Millie's partner is gorgeous, smart-and keeping secrets
Millie joins forces with her mysterious classmate Chase who seems to want to help her even while covering up secrets of his own.

She's starting to get a reputation…without any of the benefits.
Drama-and bodies-pile up around Millie and she chases clues, snuggles Baxter the so-ugly-he's-adorable bassett hound, and storms out of the world's most awkward school dance/memorial mash-up. At least she gets to eat a lot of pie.

Best-selling author Beth Fantaskey's funny, fast-paced blend of Clueless and Nancy Drew is a suspenseful page-turner that is the best time a reader can have with buried weapons, chicken clocks, and a boy who only watches gloomy movies…but somehow makes Millie smile. Bee-lieve it.

Pair with Fantaskey's best-selling Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side.

Amazon | IndieBound | Goodreads

Add a Comment

I love writing. I love talking about writing. I love writing about writing.

So when people ask me questions about writing, I will blether away happily about how I write, why I write, where my ideas come from, what my writing process is, and how I edit. Whether I’m talking to 500 pupils in a theatre, or 15 kids at a workshop, or 1 child in a signing queue I also ask about how they write, how they feel about writing, what they enjoy about writing …

I also try to remember to give the usual health warning: there are lots of ways to write, I can only talk about how I write, don’t assume I know everything. Over time I’m gathering examples of writers who work differently from me, so I try to give glimpses of their methods too. I’ve recently discovered that the lovely Roy Gill, who is also published by KelpiesTeen, writes at the other end of the pantsters / plotter spectrum from me, so we are able to chat to kids together about our different methods and how we wrote Mind Blind (my one) and Werewolf Parallel (his one), which is a lovely way to show that there really is no one way to write.
So, talking about writing, to other passionate young or old writers – that’s fine. Because I’m a writer. I know (a bit) about writing. 

But I don’t know a THING about publishing!

Yesterday an aspiring writer (an adult, not a child) came up to me after an author event to ask for advice about getting published. This is a question I am fielding more and more often. Yet it’s not something I know anything about at all! I am published, yes, but I still don’t entirely know how it happened. Unlike my close personal relationship with my own writing process, every time I get a book published it seems like a bit of a miracle which I only had a small hand in, and the elements of success and failure seem to be completely different with every book. So I only know how I got published and even then, I’m not really sure how it works! (That’s why I have an agent, so I don’t have to know more about publishing…)

Therefore I don’t feel even remotely qualified to give advice on getting published! I tend to witter on about writing the best book you can, and persevering, and the market changing all the time, and finding an agent being the best thing I ever did. But I feel like a complete fraud.

So, apologies to the chap I waffled at yesterday.

And what do other writers do when asked for publishing advice? Do you waffle, or do you have any really useful to say (and if so, can I borrow it?)



 

Add a Comment

Middle grade (MG) books, intended for readers 8-12, aim to capture an audience that appreciates thrilling adventures, stories of everyday kids just like them, and everything in between. Writing an enthralling voice and selling it in just the right place and time to hook this audience, however, can be a challenge. In this live webinar, “Writing the Breakout Middle Grade Novel,” you’ll see what makes a success story in the MG market, through examples of popular books from Percy Jackson to Origami Yoda. By looking at these popular books and seeing what they do-or don’t-have in common, you’ll learn what piques the interests of middle-grade readers and the editors who work on books for them.

Drawing on her experience as both a literary agent and a librarian, Carlie Webber (CK Webber Associates) will take you through a brief history of popular MG fiction, show you where the market stands right now, and how you can build a future for yourself as a writer of MG fiction. It all happens at 1 p.m., Thursday, May 29, 2014, and starts at 1 pm, EST. (Sign up here.)

 

 

ABOUT THE CRITIQUE

All registrants are invited to submit the first 500 words of your middle grade novel for critique. All submitted openings are guaranteed a written critique by literary agent Carlie Webber.

Please Note: Even if you can’t attend the live webinar,registering for this live version will enable you to receive the On Demand webinar and a personal critique of your material. Purchasing the On Demand version after the live event will not include a critique.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:

– What defines a MG novel
– What separates a MG novel from a Young Adult (YA) novel
– What elements make up a captivating MG voice
– How to build a believable MG plot
– What editors at publishing houses want to buy right now
– Why series books are popular with MG readers
– What gives a MG novel lasting power. (Sign up here.)

INSTRUCTOR

Carlie Webber refused to major in English in college because no one would let her read Stephen King or R.L. Stine for class. After college, she obtained a Master of Library and Information Science at the University of Pittsburgh and worked as a YA librarian and professional book reviewer for publications including KIRKUS REVIEWS. Wishing to explore her interest in the business side of publishing, she enrolled in the Columbia Publishing Course. After working for the Publish or Perish Agency/New England Publishing Associates and Jane Rotrosen Agency, she has established her own agency, CK Webber Associates. She is seeking young adult, middle grade, mystery, thriller, suspense, science fiction, and contemporary fantasy. Follow her on Twitter: @carliebeth.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

– Writers who are interested in learning more about MG fiction
– Writers who think they want to write a MG novel
– Writers who want to know more about the present state of the MG market
– Writers who want to learn the elements of a successful MG novel
– Writers looking for suggestions on how to target MG readers
– Writers who have written or are writing a novel for young people and want to know more about the division between MG and Young Adult
– Writers who want to know more about today’s tween audience

 

Sign up for the webinar here!

 

 

 

Add a Comment

During this all-new June 2014 boot camp (starts June 18) called “Your Submission Tools: How to Write Excellent Queries, Opening Pages, and Synopses,” literary agents will show you how to put together the best query letter, opening pages, and synopsis to hook the attention of agents and editors. As you learn what makes up an amazing submission package, 5 literary agents from Corvisiero Literary will tell you what agents look for when reviewing your work.

They will help each and every boot camp attendee draft and perfect your query letter, your book synopsis, and the first two pages of your book. Every participating writer will not only learn how to properly prepare a captivating submission package that will show results, they will also receive a critique with customized tips and suggestions from a literary agent. Seating is limited, and WD boot camps frequently sell out, so sign up today.

This program will show you how to do the following:

• What information should be included in your query letter.
• How to avoid vague language that will sink your submission.
• How to boil down your entire book into 1-2 paragraphs.
• How to understand the differences between pitching fiction/memoir (where the story is key) vs. pitching nonfiction (where concept and platform are key).
• How to draft an effective synopsis.
• How to properly introduce your story’s main characters and, if necessary, the story world.
• How to pull agents in and get them interested in your main character(s) – and their journey.
• How to understand clear core points in your story that are mandatory to present your story.
• How to give visual snapshots of your book.
• How to apply the golden rule of pitching: Show, don’t tell.
• How to identify the most exciting elements that illustrate your work.
• How to build in a cliffhanger – leaving the ending to your story unclear, with agents wanting more.
• How to eliminate commonly used yet ineffective cliches in pitches, such as rhetorical questions.
• How to deliver enough of the flavor of the book to wet the reader’s appetite for more and how to keep the momentum going.
• How to make your query letter (or in-person pitch) entice an agent/editor to request your full manuscript!

By the end of this Agent One-on-One program, you will be chock-full of actionable wisdom. You will take away well drafted materials that will get you noticed. The critiques will cut through the mystery of attracting an agent or editor to say YES, and you’ll have a clear path on what to do next. Sign up for the boot camp here.

Here’s how it works:

On June 18, 2014, you will gain access to a special 60-minute online tutorial presented by literary agents from the Corvisiero Literary Agency. This tutorial will provide nuts & bolts advice on how to help you prepare your query, your synopsis and get your first two pages ready for review.

After listening to the presentation, attendees will spend the next two days revising materials as necessary. Following the tutorial, writers will have two days in which to log onto the blackboard and ask your assigned agent critiquers questions related to revising your materials. The agents will be available on the blackboard from 1-3 p.m. (ET) on both Thursday, June 19 and Friday, June 20. No later than Saturday, June 21, attendees will submit their completed pitch & pages for feedback directly to the boot camp literary agents.

The agents will spend up to 10 days reviewing all assigned pitches and provide feedback to help attendees. (The agents reserve the right to request more materials if they feel a strong connection to the work and want to read more; note that multiple agents have signed writers before from WD boot camps.) No later than July 1st, agents will send their feedback to writer attendees.

Only registered students can access the blackboards. You’ll also be able to ask questions of your fellow students. Feel free to share your work and gain support from your peers. Please note that any one of the agents may ask for additional pages if the initial submission shows serious promise.

About the instructors

Marisa Corvisiero: Marisa is the founder of the Corvisiero Literary Agency. She is a literary agent there and continues to practice law in New York City specializing in Corporate, Intellectual Property and Publishing and Trust & Estates. She loves Romance novels for most ages (above 17) as well as Thrillers, Adventure, Science Fiction and Fantasy stories. She love mixed genres and will read anything that is unique and well written. She also reads a lot of non fiction in selective topics such as Business, Science, Self-Improvement and Spiritual. Cookbooks and books about pretty things with awesome pictures welcome.

Saritza Hernandez: Saritza is the Sr. Literary Agent at the Corvisiero Literary Agency and is known as the first literary agent to represent authors in the digital publishing landscape. While continuing to seek traditional publishers for her authors, Saritza is the leading literary agent in digital publishing deals. An avid coffee-drinker with a Kindle book obsession, she enjoys a steaming cup of strong Cuban coffee every morning while reading an erotic contemporary romance or action-packed science fiction adventure. A strong advocate of the GLBT community, she enjoys fresh voices in Young Adult and New Adult genre fiction.

Sarah Negovetich: Sarah Negovetich is fully aware that no one knows how to pronounce her last name, and she’s okay with that.  Her favorite writing is YA, because at seventeen the world is your oyster. Only oysters are slimy and more than a little salty, it’s accurate if not exactly motivational. Sarah’s background is in Marketing. FYI, your high school algebra teacher was right when they told you every job uses math. She uses her experience to assist Corvisiero authors with platform building and book promotion

Ella Kennen: Ella Kennen has a Masters in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. She is a nomad courtesy of the US Air Force. She’s lived here, there, and everywhere and done this, that and the other. She’s always on the lookout for new things – in the real world or on the page.An experienced editor who came to Corvisiero from a publishing house, Ella loves working one-on-one with writers to help mold their manuscripts into the best possible stories. When she’s not busy interning, she works at Rate Your Story, a service that helps writers make sure they’ll stand out of the slush pile before they submit. She also teaches drama and creative writing to school-aged kids.

Cate Hart: Cate is all about guilty pleasures. She loves salted caramel mochas, Justin Timberlake, Fox’s Sleepy Hollow, and Steampunk. As a native Nashvillian, Cate’s biggest guilty pleasure is watching Nashville. When she’s reading, Cate looks for character-driven stories, a distinguished voice, and intriguing plots. She loves characters that surprise her, like the pirate with a heart of gold, and plots that keep her guessing until the very last page. When she’s not reading queries, Cate works with clients to build their platform, works on PR projects to help promote clients’ books, and reads manuscripts with an editorial eye.

Sign up for the boot camp here.

Add a Comment

Add a Comment

New Adult fiction (novels featuring protagonists ages 18-25) has swiftly become the hottest thing in both self-publishing and traditional publishing. New authors are making astonishing strides in this category and making great deals with the big traditional houses. Recent success stories include Molly McAdams, whose new adult book Taking Chances has sold more than 200,000 copies so far. And then there’s Jamie McGuire’s Beautiful Disaster, a new adult novel that caught the attention of Warner Brothers and had its film rights optioned. Other bestselling NA novelists include Coleen Hoover, Cora Carmack and Tamara Webber.

In this new boot camp starting May 8 (sign up here), the agents at Foreword Literary will help you understand New Adult fully from all aspects of the business. Whether you need to know the rules of the category, how to pitch it to agents, or how authors are hitting the bestselling lists with modern marketing techniques, Foreword has the answers for you.

The rise of New Adult has introduced questions, such as: How many agents are seeking it? How do you define it? How is it different from YA? Despite all the questions around this growing genre, New Adult manuscripts have been selling remarkably well, no matter how it is published. The readers want it, it is here to stay, and Foreword is among many agencies actively looking for it.

Once you register for this May 8 One-on-One Agent Boot Camp, you’ll be assigned your own personal agent for the event. He or she will review the first 1,200 words and 1-page synopsis of your work-in-progress. You’ll get personalized feedback on the quality of your writing, as well as insights into how to generate the most revenue in today’s market. At the end of the boot camp, you’ll have a greater understanding of which publishing options to pursue and how to make the most of them.

 

 

Here’s how it works:

On Thursday, May 8, you’ll gain access to a special one-hour presentation by agents Gordon Warnock, Laurie McLean, and Pam van Hylckama Vlieg. Together, they’ll explore the New Adult category and teach you how to reach key readers and bloggers, and how to market your title. You’ll also receive an email detailing your assigned agent for the boot camp.

Each New Adult agent brings something unique to the table: Pam is also a popular book blogger (Bookalicious.org) and will explain how blogging and using social media will help you expand readership. Laurie was also a 20-year high-tech marketing CEO before becoming an agent and will discuss how branding is essential to every writer. Gordon has edited and sold New Adult memoir and will explain the rules and the tropes to make sure you manuscript will sing to the readers.

On Friday, May 9, from 2-4 PM Eastern time (11-1 PM Pacific), your assigned agent will be available to answer questions in an exclusive discussion session for boot camp participants.

By 10 a.m., Sunday, May 11, you will submit the first 1,200 words and synopsis of your book for review. The presenters will carefully read your materials and will return their feedback no later than end of day, May 21.

*Please note that all attendees should have the first 1,200 words and synopsis of their piece finished and ready to submit to the agent prior to the beginning of the event.

RECAP ON DATES:

Thursday, May 8: Online Tutorial

Friday, May 9: Agent Blackboard Q&A 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM (Eastern Time)

Sunday, May 11: Submit Materials for Critique

Wednesday, May 21: Agent Critiques Due

Only registered students can access the blackboards. You’ll also be able to ask questions of your fellow students. Feel free to share your work and gain support from your peers. Please note that any one of the agents may ask for additional pages if the initial submission shows serious promise.

In addition to feedback from agents, attendees will also receive: 1-year subscription to the WritersMarket.com literary agent database

If attendees have a preferred agent, they want to work with, please notify WD. Though not guaranteed, we will try to link attendees with a preferred agent if they have one. Sign up for the boot camp here.

ABOUT THE AGENTS:

Laurie McLean spent 20 years as the CEO of a publicity agency and 8 years as an agent then senior agent at Larsen Pomada Literary Agents in San Francisco, plus completed three manuscripts, before forming Foreword Literary with Gordon and Pam. At Foreword, Laurie specializes in adult genre fiction (romance, fantasy, science fiction, mystery, thrillers, suspense, horror, etc.) plus middle-grade, young adult and new adult fiction. She does not handle non-fiction, or commercial, literary or women’s fiction, nor does she handle children’s picture books or graphic novels. For more on Laurie, check out her blog at agentsavant.com, follow her on Twitter @agentsavant, and visit her Facebook page at Facebook.com/laurie.mclean.

Gordon Warnock brings years of experience as a senior literary agent, marketing director and editor for independent publishers, freelance publishing consultant, and college-level writing tutor to Foreword Literary. He frequently teaches workshops and gives keynote speeches at conferences and MFA programs nationwide. He is an honors graduate of CSUS with a B.A. in Creative and Professional Writing. With a zest for fresh, new voices and a deep love of the classics, Gordon actively seeks out both the timely and the timeless. In that spirit, he establishes involved, long-term working relationships with talented and dedicated authors of many genres. While he does seek out a small amount of quality fiction, Gordon primarily seeks non-fiction in the following areas: Memoir (Adult, New Adult, YA, Graphic), Cookbooks and Food Studies, Political and Current Events, Pop-Science, Pop-Culture, Self-Help, How-To, Humor, Pets, and Business. You can find him on Twitter @gordonwarnock.

Pam van Hylckama Vlieg started her literary career as assistant to Laurie McLean in early 2012. Within three months Pam was promoted to Associate Agent at Larsen Pomada. After selling twenty-one books in her first year of agenting, Pam was promoted to Agent. When Laurie mentioned creating Foreword, Pam jumped at the chance to follow her mentor and create a new agency together. Pam blogs at Bookalicio.us, Bookalicious.org, and Brazen Reads. She partners her blogs with her local bookseller Hicklebee’s where magic happens daily. Pam grew up on a sleepy little Podunk town in Virginia. She’s lived in the UK, several US states, and now resides in the Bay Area of California. She has two kids, three dogs, two hedgehogs, but only one husband. You can find her mostly on Twitter where she wastes copious amounts of time. Pam seeks both fiction and non-fiction (specific genres are listed at the Foreword Literary website).

 

Sign up for the New Adult Boot Camp here.

Add a Comment

The rest of the dates that we will be posting about PubSmart are

April 26th (part two)
May 8th (part three), 10th (part four), 22nd (part five), and 24th (part six)

So make sure you follow along with the posts!

Add a Comment

Beverley Birch is friend and mentor to many slushpilers and published authors alike. She was a senior commissioning editor for Hodder Children's Books and three times shortlisted for the Brandford Boase Award in recognition of the editor’s role in nurturing new talent. She is a writer of more than 40 books including novels, picture books, biographies and retellings of classic works and folk

Add a Comment

BY EVE BRIDBURG, Executive Director of GrubStreet

The first time I heard the term “publishing agnostic” was in November of 2011 at the Park Plaza hotel in Boston.   Barry Eisler used it during a talk he gave to the GrubStreet community as part of our NEA-funded Publish it Forward series.   He had shocked the publishing world by turning down a very lucrative book contract from St. Martins arguing that he could do better on his own.  But by November he had decided to publish with Amazon instead.

Some fellow writers and pundits criticized this move to Amazon.   “What gives? “ They asked.  “We thought you had defected to the self-publishing club.”   It was by way of explaining his move from St. Martins to self-publishing to Amazon that Barry described himself as agnostic.

As one definition goes, an agnostic is someone who holds neither of two opposing positions.   I think that’s how Barry was using the term.  He was making the point that his decision to self-publish in the first place wasn’t about his endorsement or love of self-publishing, but rather about choosing the best way to reach his goals.   When a new pathway emerged which better served those goals, he felt no conflict about changing tactics.

But Barry, whether he realized it or not, in using a term with deeply religious connotations, was also asking us – a room full of believers – to be doubters.  He was asking us to question our blind faith in what almost every serious writer we’d worked with up until that point had ever wanted:  a book deal with a traditional publisher.  The bigger the publishing house, the better.

And it wasn’t just our writers.  It was us, the teachers at and leaders of a major independent writing center.  Having existed in the margins in our early years, we were understandably hungry for a track record, for evidence that our work mattered.   And so we celebrated hugely when one of our flock got a story in the Atlantic Monthly or a book deal with Simon and Schuster.   In 2003, we launched our first Muse and Marketplace Conference and soon began inviting literary agents and publishers to Boston to meet our writers.  Many book deals followed.

After Barry’s talk, I started to wonder what being publishing agnostic might mean to us as an organization, and to writers everywhere.   When the world is changing fast under your feet, you need to find your footing before you can decide where to go.   We therefore started articulating our values and principles.

Here’s where we landed:

1. Writing excellence is paramount because it is “good” writing that transforms lives and the world and entertains at the highest level.  We can debate what “good” means, but for us it’s about the search for truth, hard work, and dedication to the craft no matter the genre.
2. We are grown-ups. It’s up to each of us as writers and as the professionals supporting writers to understand and own the entire publishing process. It’s incumbent  on each of us to engage in honest self-assessment to determine goals and objectives, strengths and weaknesses.
3. Community is the glue.  Writing is a lonely, difficult pursuit.  Finding your people and being as generous as possible with them is key.
4. Success in this space isn’t just measured monetarily.  Money is nice of course when it means book sales for authors and the ability of a place like GrubStreet to provide more jobs, scholarships and free programming, but it’s not the only or most important measure.
5. Choice is good, especially choice which respects the central role of writers and places control and financial equity in their hands.

These are the things we think about now when evaluating what kinds of programs to offer or who to invite to our Muse and Marketplace conference. This year, we’ll be welcoming A-list literary agents, editors from Random House and Penguin, along side e-publishers like Vook and Amazon.  We’ll have an editor from Ploughshares and another from Electric Literature.   As we always do, we’ll have a bookseller on hand selling the books of our visiting authors, but we’ll also be running an independent author shop for any participant or small press attending the conference.   In short, we’ll be hosting a hybrid conference, inclusive of the many choices and pathways available to authors today.

Most of our writers seem to want the traditional path and that’s great, but it’s our responsibility as a professional development organization for writers to educate them about all pathways, especially since the industry is changing before our eyes.  In our own work and what we bring to writers we now preach agnosticism and save our blind faith for the power and necessity of words.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Eve Bridburg is the founder and Executive Director of GrubStreet, one the country’s leading creative writing centers.  A former literary agent, Eve developed, edited and sold a wide variety of books to major publishers before returning four years ago to GrubStreet to oversee an expansion in programming designed to better equip writers to thrive in the digital age.  She has presented widely about publishing at conferences and writes a monthly blog post called Publish it Forward which can be found at Grubdaily.org

.

Add a Comment

The idea’s the thing. If you build your story around a unique and compelling idea, your odds of selling it increase dramatically. Often, a perfectly good project will go unsold because the premise on which it is based is too predictable, commonplace, or over-published. Whether you’re writing a novel or a short story, a screenplay or a memoir, you need to find a way to set your story apart from the competition — and the competition is tougher than ever in today’s marketplace.

But in this one-of-a-kind boot camp — “The High Concept Novel: How to Create a Premise that Sells Boot Camp”

(starting April 11) — you will learn the ins and outs of high-concept, as literary agent, author, and content strategist Paula Munier reveals how you can transform your story idea from “same old same old” to “high-concept hit.”

 

 

WHAT YOU’LL LEARNSign up for the boot camp here

.

Here’s how it works:RECAP ON DATES:registered students

can access the discussion boards. You’ll also be able to ask questions of your fellow students. Feel free to share your work and gain support from your peers.

Please note that any one of the agent may ask for additional pages if the initial submission shows serious promise.

In addition to feedback from agent, attendees will also receive:About the Agent Sign up for the one-on-one Agent Boot Camp here.

Add a Comment

The following is a guest post from the grand prize winner of our 1st Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published e-Book Awards (featured in InkWell in the May/June 2014 issue of Writer’s Digest).

The View from Casa Chepitos: A Journey Beyond the Border*   *   *   *   *

The other bad news, for me at least, was that I’d written a memoir. Word on the ground was that memoirs were no longer “de rigeur.” Unless you were a rock star or a lapsed Mormon, a refuge from a currently war-torn country or the victim of incest, chances were slim any editor would be interested. Memoirs written by middle-aged white women were a “dime a dozen,” according to one agent. What agents were looking for was prescriptive nonfiction written by experts with built-in audiences, YA books and genre novels. Thrillers, mysteries, and romances were high on their lists. A semi-literary memoir about Mexican immigrants was not.

I’d gone to the conference thinking I had at least a 50-50 chance of getting an agent’s attention but have since learned that the odds are steep: most of us madly pitching our manuscripts to agents that weekend would probably never land a book deal with a major publisher. So why bother to attend these conferences? Because you can learn about other paths to publishing, and make your dream come true all by yourself.  

I learned from Keith Ogorek’s panel on Navigating the World of Self-Publishing, and by talking to a number of representatives for independent publishers, that self-publishing was the fastest growing segment of the industry. Every week companies were sprouting up to meet the demand in the independent market. Even the big guys wanted in: Simon & Schuster was developing a self-publishing arm (Archway Publishing), Amazon had hired Larry Kirshbaum to head up Amazon Publishing, and the following July, Penguin would buy Author Solutions for $116 million.

Print-on-demand (POD) had finally been perfected to such a point that it was difficult to tell if a book was produced via POD or printed on an offset press. It was faster, easier and cheaper to create a book yourself than ever before. At the WD conference, tables were set up in a hallway where Abbott Press and a number other self-publishing companies were showing off their wares. Examples of books that looked professionally produced and felt good in your hands abounded.

My own prejudice against self-publishing began to wane.

Back home I began researching my options. I looked into the various packages offered by Author Solutions, Archway and Abbott Press. I studied the websites of Bookbaby, CreateSpace, Smashwords and Lulu to see what they had to offer. For various reasons, most of them having to do with the cost, I decided not to use the services of any of the self-publishing companies. I wanted complete control of my product and royalties and figured I could get more bang for my buck by doing it myself. My husband had years of experience in the printing industry and had worked with many small publishers. I’d run my own retail business for thirty-five years and I knew about marketing. Between the two of us we had the skill and expertise to do it.

So, in the summer of 2013, we registered Davis Bay Press with the state of Washington. A few days later I hired a copy-editor and a book designer, and signed Lightning Source on to print 1500 books. By late September my book, The View from Casa Chepitos: A Journey Beyond the Border, was published in e-book form and shortly afterwards in paperback. (I probably could have done it even more quickly if I hadn’t also been working full-time at my day job.)

We officially launched the book in November. More than two hundred people packed the hall at Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle that night and we threw a festive Mexican-style fiesta with Mexican fare from the local taco truck and lots of tequila afterwards. We sold lots of books that night. As a matter of fact, in less than six months we’ve sold more than half the books we ordered (in only seven stores) and many more on Kindle.

Despite the long lines at that Pitch Slam at the Writer’s Digest 2012 conference, and lots of authors going way beyond their allotted three minutes, I did manage to successfully pitch seven agents. All of them asked to see the manuscript. Several actually got back to me. Three of them referred to the book as “the next Under the Tuscan Sun.” Unfortunately, none of them offered to represent me. But I’m okay with that.

I’m okay with it because I produced a beautiful, award-winning memoir that is selling well for an independently published book. It’s second only to Tony Cohan’s On Mexican Time for the number positive reviews on Amazon in the Mexican travel category. I’ve already recouped my initial investment, and not a day goes by that I don’t get an email, a note on Facebook or a card in the mail from someone who read it and wants to tell me how much they loved it.

Maybe I could have gotten a small advance and I might have sold more books if a traditional publisher had picked it up. But I doubt if the Mexican family I write about would be benefiting from the book’s success like they are today if one had. Because all of the proceeds from the book sales in Mexico go to them.

The “windfall” enables Lupe to buy shoes for her kids and hire tutors for her daughter who is struggling in school. It helped the entire Cordova-Rodriguez clan take their first-ever vacation—to the beaches of Zihuatanejo in December. Seeing photos of my Mexican godchildren romping in the surf and my friend Gracia and her husband (neither of whom had ever seen the ocean before) dancing in the sand brought me more happiness than a $2,000 advance from a big publishing house ever could have.

Add a Comment

Add a Comment

Hi, WD community! Today we’re sharing a guest post from J.E. Fishman, a former editor and literary agent turned author. He has penned Dynamite: A Concise History of the NYPD Bomb Squad and the novels Primacy, Cadaver Blues, and The Dark Pool. His Bomb Squad NYC series of police thrillers launches this month with A Danger to Himself and Others, Death March, and The Long Black Hand. In September comes Blast from the Past. He divides his time between Chadds Ford, PA, and New York City.

Today he shares a somewhat unconventional decision to publish four—yes, four—books in less than a year. Here he is:

–

This is the story of how I decided to publish four novels in six months. It begins with a general principle, which is that writing in any form—and certainly storytelling—is a means of communication. I have never subscribed to the belief that writers write solely for themselves.

Even Emily Dickenson, so reclusive that she rarely left her room, sent poems off to be published (although only a dozen or so appeared in print during her lifetime). This proves to me that she must have imagined a reader out there somewhere on the other side of the window for the 1,800 unpublished poems that she also wrote. Shyness couldn’t stop her voice from crying out through the tip of her pen. She wanted to be heard.

It is the same for all who write successfully, I think. (By success, I mean creating what we set out to create, not necessarily raking in the bucks.) We deeply desire to give voice to something within us, and we want someone out there to read our stories. How do we accomplish these twin goals?

As anyone knows who’s attempted to write, while stories still reside solely in our heads, they contain a kind of perfection that we rarely manage to preserve when we attempt to express them in print. And it’s the same with our efforts to bring them out into the light of day. In the perfect world, we can write whatever we want whenever we want to write it, and readers yearn for every word we produce. In the real world, we operate with constraints and may never get discovered.

As a novelist, I think it pays to be aware of the three aspects of the storyteller’s endeavor. First, every story begins with something that interests the author. Second, if storytelling is a form of communication, we must take account of the reader. Finally, an increasingly disrupted marketplace challenges us to find our audience — or, more to the point, to induce them to find us.

 

Inspiration

Sometimes I feel as if I have a new story idea every day. These stories might float up to me unbidden while I’m driving in the car or dozing off on the couch. But most of the time something instigates them. It could be an item in the news or another work of art or an experience I had. I’ll think, “That would make a great story,” and then I’ll mull over how I might go about telling it.

And then, most of the time, I don’t write that story. I could plead limitations of time — life intervening or some other writing project currently claiming my efforts — but the real reason most of these stories don’t happen is that they’re not ripe. Their day may come, but not yet. Some story ideas marinate this way for years.

Once in a while, however, a story idea comes along that I personally find so compelling I can’t get it out of my head. So it was with my new series, Bomb Squad NYC

.

Five years ago, my wife, my daughter and I left the New York area for the Brandywine Valley outside Wilmington, Delaware, not far from Philadelphia. We left, but we didn’t leave with both feet, as we decided to buy a smaller house and throw in for an apartment in Manhattan’s West Village, which we visit with some regularity.

We love going to the theater in New York, seeing independent films, window shopping, and the whole foodie scene. Admittedly, we’re pretty spoiled, although the apartment is a petite one-bedroom, and when we’re all in town my daughter sleeps on a pull-out couch.

To the occasional visitor, New York must appear to be an overwhelming agglomeration, but it’s really a collection of distinct neighborhoods, each with its own personality and its quirks. The West Village has become known for its restaurants and access to the Hudson River park, but one of its less remarked-upon features resides in a pair of nondescript garages at the rear of the local police precinct.

When we walked past those closed garage doors we noticed painted shields upon them indicating the headquarters of the NYPD Bomb Squad. One summer evening, as we returned from dinner, we found the doors open wide with a number of cops (all detectives, I’ve since learned) hanging out with a dog in front of the response trucks. We had a nice chat, and they showed us the robots they use. I learned that this wasn’t any old bomb squad, it was the Bomb Squad — the one that strives to keep all of the city safe from explosive devices.

As we walked away from the garage that night, heading for our apartment, it hit me: These guys deserve their own series. Not, I hasten to add, because they’re heroes — although they are. But because, from my perspective as a novelist, their existence carries with it a motherlode of storytelling material that has largely remained untapped.

Lots of bombs go off in thrillers and other novels, of course, but the bomb guys typically get only subplots, if any acknowledgment at all. Few novelists have attempted to crawl inside their heads. I wanted to explore not only what these guys do—which can be highly technical—but how they think, the challenges they face, how they experience life.

For many months I couldn’t get the NYPD Bomb Squad out of my head (news flash: I still can’t!), and the more I thought about it, the more compelling the material looked to me. I decided to pursue the subject with all the vigor I could bring to it.

 

Creation

I began this series the only way a writer can ever begin anything: with an interest in the subject matter. But then, if writing is primarily a means of communication, how would I connect to the reader? It soon occurred to me that these novels should take the form of thrillers.

The ticking time bomb is the essence of suspense. (Remember Alfred Hitchcock’s explanation: “Four people are sitting around a table talking about baseball or whatever you like. Five minutes of it. Very dull. Suddenly, a bomb goes off. Blows the people to smithereens. What does the audience have? Ten seconds of shock. Now take the same scene and tell the audience there is a bomb under that table and it will go off in five minutes. The whole emotion of the audience is totally different … Now the conversation about baseball becomes very vital. Because they’re saying to you, ‘Don’t be ridiculous. Stop talking about baseball. There’s a bomb under there.’”) But it needn’t be an actual time bomb. In some sense any bomb that has not yet detonated is a time bomb. As Hitchcock suggested, the fact that a bomb might soon go off at any moment engages the audience’s attention. Therefore, I concluded, these books called for the thriller genre.

I also concluded pretty quickly that the novels should have a “police procedural” element to them, which is to say that they should give readers a level of technical detail about police work that goes beyond what they’d get from less immersive sources. But here I faced a daunting challenge. I didn’t know any cops, let alone bomb technicians, and I could hardly spend my research time standing on the street and waiting for those garage doors to open again.

Fortunately, by pursuing the proverbial six degrees of separation (the details are a story for another day—but it only required three degrees, to be honest), I eventually hooked up with the commander of the very squad I wanted to write about, Lieutenant Mark Torre. Mark already had some experience providing feedback to novelists, among them Patricia Cornwell. We met and hit it off, and he agreed to act as my technical consultant for the entire series, giving me insights and a degree of accuracy that I was unlikely to achieve any other way.

With my novels roughly using the storytelling conventions of thrillers, and with Mark looking over my shoulder, I set about plotting and writing the first book, A Danger to Himself and Others

.

The more I learned about the real world and about my characters, the more ideas I had for other stories and plot points. Using an ensemble cast, I could see a whole series stretching before me. I’d write two more, however, before rushing into print, because a final consideration remained: How best to bring this series to the public.

 

Publishing

We all know that book publishing faces forces of massive disruption. Online sales … ebooks … the power of Amazon … publishers consolidating … bookstores closing … the rise of indie publishing … All of these factors can be summed up thusly: It’s easier to get your work out there than ever before, but harder than ever before for a given work to get noticed.

Depending upon personality, one might take the changing landscape as an exciting challenge or a soul-crushing obstacle. I look at it this way: A writer’s gotta write and—eventually—a writer’s gotta publish. It’s just what we do.

In that context, it’s worth noting that we’ve sort of been here before. Mark Twain is reputed to have said (he probably didn’t really say it, but never mind), “History doesn’t repeat, but it does rhyme.” When it comes to publishing, ebooks are relatively new, but disruptive technology isn’t.

Perhaps one can hark back to what the monks thought of Gutenberg’s printing press, but I have something much more contemporary in mind. The publishing consultant Mike Shatzkin, among others, has observed

that there are many parallels between the introduction of mass market paperbacks and ebooks.

Without rehashing the entire history of mass market paperback publishing, let’s acknowledge three important elements that impacted the market then and are doing so again: (1) new means of distribution; (2) discount pricing; and (3) binge consumption.

First, neither the distributors of mass market paperbacks nor those of ebooks were content to distribute through old channels. In both instances they realized that new customers could be found for books outside the bookstore. In the case of mass market, that meant newsstands, drugstores, and grocery stores. In the case of ebooks, it meant cyberspace.

Second, technological advances allowed both of these media to set price points well below the price of a hardcover. In fact, the sweet spots of original mass market and current ebook pricing share a ratio. They both correlate closely to approximately 10 or 15 percent of the price of a hardcover book.

Third, as prices drop and novels become more accessible, the average reader can consume with more intensity.

It’s interesting to see all of the press lately about “binge” watching of television series, because binge consumption of genre fiction has been around since the advent of so-called dime novels and continued through the introduction of mass market paperbacks. I distinctly recall my wife discovering mystery writer John D. MacDonald in the ’80s and almost immediately purchasing every Travis McGee mass market paperback she could find. (In those days she had to comb multiple bookstores.) She wouldn’t have behaved the same way for books priced ten times higher.

But many authors who made a name for themselves via mass market publishing encouraged binge reading from the early days. Consider that MacDonald published four Travis McGee novels in 1964 alone. Ed McBain, whose 87^th Precinct series is something of a model for my own, published 54 of those books in 50 years, but 13 in the first five.

Yet by the standards of a few other novelists, those guys were slackers. Louis L’Amour, the legendary writer of westerns, published 100 novels in 37 years. The great science fiction novelist Isaac Asimov published 506 books in 32 years. When I was at Doubleday, just managing Isaac was nearly a full-time job for one of my colleagues.

To take another example, romance author Nora Roberts has published more than 200 books in 31 years and is still going strong. The British mystery author John Creasey, writing under several different pseudonyms, published 600 novels in 41 years.

And in a career spanning 75 years, Barbara Cartland, the mother of all romance writers, published 722 novels. Think of it. That’s almost ten novels a year. In 1983 she published 23 novels!

Does that sound like madness? In a sense, of course it is. But my subject today isn’t what kind of mind it requires to be so so! so!! prolific. It is simply to say that this stream of material made great business sense in the mass-market-paperback age, and it makes great business sense at the dawn of the ebook age.

All of the authors mentioned above wrote genre fiction, and all of them wrote at least a few series. That’s not a coincidence.

Reading novels is an investment not so much of money but of time. Through their buying habits genre readers have told us that they’re more inclined to purchase the books in a series that’s well established. (If the series is working, sales build over time.) But these days, when so many things compete for an audience’s attention, how many opportunities does an author get to establish that series? The answer is: not many.

The triumph of mass market houses in the last century, combined with the rise of mall bookstores and superstore chains, led to the mass marketization of hardcover fiction, whereby authors like Sue Grafton, Lee Child, and John Grisham—to name but a few—could make their names with a single book and subsequently release one title a year to great fanfare.

But if ebooks are the new mass market paperbacks—and I think they are—we’re in a time when newer writers will have to resurrect the old mass market approach to establishing their brand. It isn’t easy, and I won’t be catching up to John Creasey anytime soon. But four books in six months makes a start.

 

 

 

 

Add a Comment

Welcome to the 14th (free!) “Dear Lucky Agent” Contest on the GLA blog. This is a recurring online contest with agent judges and super-cool prizes. Here’s the deal: With every contest, the details are essentially the same, but the niche itself changes—meaning each contest is focused around a specific category or two. So if you’re writing contemporary middle grade fiction, this 14th contest is for you! (The contest is live through EOD, March 18, 2014.)

 

 

WHY YOU SHOULD GET EXCITEDTamar Rydzinski (The Laura Dail Literary Agency)

, signed one of the three contest winners. After Tamar signed the writer, she went on to sell two of that writer’s books! How cool! That’s why these contests are not to missed if you have an eligible submission.

HOW TO SUBMITWHAT TO SUBMIT@chucksambuchino

somewhere in your mention(s) if using Twitter. And if you are going to solely use Twitter as your 2 times, please wait 1 day between mentions to spread out the notices, rather than simply tweeting twice back to back. Thanks.

WHAT IS ELIGIBLE?CONTEST DETAILSPRIZES!!! WritersMarket.comMEET YOUR (AWESOME) AGENT JUDGE!

Christa Heschke is an agent with McIntosh & Otis. (Find her on Twitter

, and see her blog, Neverending Stories.) Christa graduated from Binghamton University with a major in English and a minor in Anthropology. She started in publishing as an intern at both Writers House and Sterling Lord Literistic, where she fell in love with the agency side of publishing. Christa has been at McIntosh and Otis, Inc. in the Children’s Literature Department since 2009 where she is actively looking for picture books, middle grade, young adult and new adult projects and is currently building her list. Here are some great books that she or her agency has represented:

 

 

      

 

FIND THESE FUN BOOKS ON AMAZON:

Freddie & Gingersnap

by Vincent X. Kirsch (Hyperion)

To All My Fans With Love

from Sylvie by Ellen Conford (Ig publishing)

The Sittin’ Up

by Shelia Moses (Putnam)

Animal Hide and Seek

by Dahlov Ipcar (Islandport Press)

 

 

 

———-

Want to build your visibility and sell more books?
Create Your Writer Platform

Order the book from WD at a discount

.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add a Comment

How do you hook an agent right away, keep them hooked, and make the most of your new publishing relationship? In this all-new March 2014 Boot Camp, “How to Find and Keep a Literary Agent,”

you’ll learn how to get a literary agent’s attention through a great submission, and also how to navigate the process of working successfully with an agent. After hearing instruction from the agents at Kimberley Cameron Literary Agency, you’ll also work with an agent online to review and refine your all-important query letter and the first five pages of your novel with the agents. This Boot Camp will cover a range of important questions:

• What keeps an agent reading? What makes writing jump off the page?
• What are the most common Chapter 1 mistakes that make them stop reviewing your submission?
• What are the steps you need to give your query and manuscript the best possible shot?
• What are the turn-ons and turn-offs when it comes to queries?
• How do agents make judgment calls?
• And much more. Sign up for the boot camp here

.

 

 

With real-life examples of queries that do and don’t work, you will learn how you can refine your own query letter and get an agent to request your novel.

The world of literary agencies can be an intimidating place. You’ll be lead through the inner-workings of finding the perfect literary agent, working with an agent and how to get the most out of your relationship. See what a day in the life of an agent looks like, and get tips about how to find your perfect author-agent match that will result in a successful partnership.

The best part is that you’ll be working directly with a knowledgeable and experienced agent, who will provide feedback specific to your work. Sign up for the boot camp here

.

Here’s how it works:Recap on Dates:About the Instructors:Sign up for the boot camp here!

Add a Comment

by Addy Farmer Peering through my spectacles this week, I spotted this interesting article in The Guardian.  It examined the reaction to writer, Lynne Sheperd's piece in The Huffington Post in which she urged J.K.Rowling to stop writing and give other people a crack at earning some money. She says: I didn't much mind Rowling when she was Pottering about. I've never read a word (or seen a

Add a Comment

12 – Being famous – worked for Whoopi Goldberg, Julie Andrew, Madonna, etc. 11 – Playing for Chelsea - worked for Frank Lampard. 10 - Posting your manuscript through J.K. Rowling’s front door.  She probably has a bin under the letter box … Continue reading →

Add a Comment

We have a very special new contest going down right now on the GLA Blog. Here’s the deal. On Broadway right now, there is an awesome play adapted from John Grisham’s novel, A Time to Kill. It features a huge cast, including some amazing veteran actors you’ve seen in a bunch of movies — such as Tom Skerritt of Alien, Top Gun and MASH. It was adapted to the stage by Tony® Award-winning playwright Rupert Holmes, and Grisham himself says the result is amazing. We’re giving away tickets on this blog. Keep reading if you want to win a pair!

THE GIVEAWAY: This contest goes for 2 weeks through EOD, Oct. 16, 2013. The play opens on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2013, at the John Golden Theatre (252 West 45th Street). With the help of Serino/Coyne in NYC

, we are giving away two (2) free pairs of tickets to random commenters. The show itself is a limited run, and ends at the beginning of March 2014.

HOW TO WIN: 1) Comment on this post for one chance to win. 2) If you want two chances to win instead of one, here’s what to do: In addition to commenting, you must share news (a link) of this contest at least once through your blog, Facebook or Twitter. If you tweet the news, just include the “Seminar” handle @ATimeToKillBway in your tweet, so we can find it later to verify. If you blog or Facebook the news instead, please include your actual link within your comment below. Easy peasy! Questions about the contest? E-mail me at [email protected]. We’ll pick winners soon after the contest ends, and you can use the tickets during the show’s 6-month run.

 

 

THE SHOW: “A Time to Kill, the popular courtroom drama, tells the emotionally charged, now-iconic story of a young, idealistic lawyer, Jake Brigance, defending a black man, Carl Lee Hailey, for taking the law into his own hands following an unspeakable crime committed against his young daughter. Their small Mississippi town is thrown into upheaval, and Jake finds himself arguing against the formidable district attorney, Rufus Buckley, and under attack from both sides of a racially divided city. This drama is a thrilling courtroom battle where the true nature of what is right and what is moral are called into question.”

This new Broadway play holds the distinction of being the first-ever John Grisham property to be adapted for the stage. Ethan McSweeny will direct. Sebastian Arcelus, Chike Johnson, Patrick Page, Tony Award® winner Tonya Pinkins, Emmy Award® winner Tom Skerritt, Fred Dalton Thompson, John Douglas Thompson, and Ashley Williams plus Dashiell Eaves, J.R. Horne, John Procaccino, Tijuana Ricks, and Lee Sellars will star. (If you do not win but want to see the play, here is the info for you: Tickets are available now at The John Golden Box Office (252 West 45th Street), online at Telecharge.com or by calling 212-239-6200.) For more information about the play, see its official website

, see the Facebook page, and find their Twitter account.

 

 

Comment below for a chance to win. Comment and explain how you mentioned it on social media (provide a link, includea Twitter handle, etc) and get TWO chances to win instead of one.

Add a Comment

I’m blogging at Books & Such today. Here’s a preview:

When you’re a debut author trying to break in to traditional publishing, one of the most important things to remember is this:

Minimize the obstacles.

You already know it’s not going to be easy to break in, so you want to avoid making it even more difficult on yourself. This is why agents give so much advice on their blogs. Not every piece of advice applies across the board to every author, but we’re trying to help you have the best chance of attracting an agent and publisher.

Assuming you’ve written a terrific book…

What are some possible obstacles to finding an agent and publisher?

Read the post at Books & Such to find out. Click Here.

 

The post Minimize the Obstacles appeared first on Rachelle Gardner.

Add a Comment

The opening of your novel sets the stage for everything you want to accomplish. You only have one chance to establish a memorable voice and get readers to follow your characters into your story. Writing YA or MG presents the additional challenge of an audience of discriminating, impatient readers who won’t wait until page 40 for your book to get good.

That’s why we have literary agent Carlie Webber (CK Webber Literary) teaching the new webinar, “Writing Great Openings for Young Adult or Middle Grade Novels”

at 1 p.m., EST, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013. It lasts 90 minutes. After sharing her own best practices, Carlie will use opening pages from published books to show you the dos and don’ts of opening your YA or MG novel (including: never start with your main character getting out of bed), and the common mistakes that stop agents from reading beyond your first page.

Don’t forget that multiple agents have signed writers after critiquing their work as part of a WD webinar. Also, all attendees receive a critique from Carlie.

 

                         

 

 

ABOUT THE CRITIQUEAll registrants

are invited to submit the first 500 words of their novel. All submissions are guaranteed a written critique by literary agent Carlie Webber. Carlie reserves the right to request more writing from attendees by e-mail following the event, if she deems the writing excellent.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:Sign up for the webinar here.

INSTRUCTOR WHO SHOULD ATTEND? Sign up for the webinar here!

Add a Comment

Maybe you’re the next Stephen King, maybe you’ve written a New York Times bestseller, but if you don’t know how to query, no one will ever know. Learning how to write a great query, one that will not only make an agent want to read your book but pick up the phone and call you the minute he/she reads your query, is essential if you want to be a published author.

Literary agent Jennifer De Chiara will guide you, step by step, in writing the perfect pitch for your book. She’ll offer do’s and don’ts from her 16+ years of agenting and share queries that got her attention and those that didn’t. De Chiara will also give tips on how to find the right agents to query – if you’ve written a dynamite query, it’s still worthless if you’re not sending it to the right agents. It’s all part of her new webinar: “Querying 101: Putting Your Best Book Forward.”

The webinar happens at 1 p.m. EST, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2013, and lasts 90 minutes. All attendees receive a query critique. Don’t forget that at least 4 agents have signed writers after critiquing their work as part of a WD boot camp or webinar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ABOUT THE CRITIQUEAll registrants

are invited to submit their query letter for review. All submissions are guaranteed a written critique by literary agent Jennifer DeChiara. Jennifer reserves the right to request more writing from attendees by e-mail following the event, if she deems the query excellent.

Please Note: Even if you can’t attend the live webinar, registering for this live version will enable you to receive the On Demand webinar and a personal critique of your material. Purchasing the On Demand version after the live event will not include a critique.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:Sign up for the webinar here.

INSTRUCTORJennifer DeChiara Literary Agency

, which she founded in 2001. Before forming the agency, she was a literary agent with two established New York agencies, worked in the editorial departments of Simon & Schuster and Random House, and was a writing consultant for several major corporations. A New York City-based writer, she is a frequent guest judge for the WRITER’S DIGEST, WOW! WOMEN ON WRITING, and THAT FIRST LINE writing contests, among others, and is a frequent guest lecturer on publishing and the art of writing at universities and writers conferences throughout the country, which have included New York University’s Summer Publishing Institute, the Penticton, Canada Writers Conference, the San Diego State University Writers Conference, Backspace, the International Women’s Writing Guild, and the Learning Annex. The agency represents both children’s and adult books, fiction and non-fiction, in a wide range of genres and represents many best-selling, award-winning authors, including Pen Award-winning author Carol Lynch Williams, Edgar Award-winner and Pen Award-Winner Matthew J. Kirby, Newbery Honor Medal-winner Margi Preus, Lambda Award-winning YA novelist Brent Hartinger, best-selling children’s book authors Chanda Bell and Carol Aebersold, best-selling, award-winning Cathie Pelletier (aka K.C. McKinnon), and #1 New York Times’ best-selling author Sylvia Browne. The agency has a strong presence in Hollywood and is affiliated with many of the top film agencies there, with many film and television projects in development, several of which DeChiara has created and/or co-produced.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?Sign up for Jennifer’s new webinar here!

Add a Comment