How to Show, Not Tell

Yesterday, the Anna Karenina movie people released eight new posters for the film and I immediately clicked over to check them out. And I was so, so bummed.

At first, I couldn't figure out why--the sumptuous costuming and overall aesthetic are right up my romantic alley and JUDE LAW. The posters are ostensibly "exploring love" in all its types but...something about it felt cheesy to me.

Then it hit me. On each poster, you've got a caption over top that's all "ADJECTIVE Love." The problem is that the images themselves say so much more than any single adjective ever could. If they'd just put LOVE on each one, it would have been so much more sophisticated.

Is there a lesson here for writers?

Here are the rest.

And here are a series of UNCAPTIONED pictures of the cast that I think say a lot more than these tell-y posters.

Social Media RipOff

I hereby declare this the biggest social media conference ripoff ever. Ok, maybe not ever. But I don't waste my time researching bogus social media conferences (and you shouldn't either). So there.

$1,000. One day. No confirmed attendee list. I don't see any one-on-one time...AND they're promising you you can learn "best practices." Which you can learn here, here, or here. And many, many other places.

The truth is "best practices" of anything are going to be fairly basic--don't spam, don't overuse the hashtag, etc. You can't talk about best practices of the higher level stuff: crafting a campaign or talking to your specific audience, because there are too many variables. You have to be, at a minimum, familiar with the basics to get anything out of a panel or conference.

Guys, panels are hard. As someone who's been on them and listened to them, it's rare that I come out of a panel discussion with much more than one or two insights to ruminate on (which is usually worth it, actually).

This is because you've got 3 - 5 people, all with different agendas, none of whom want to give too much away, plus an agenda-ed moderator, PLUS a crowd that runs the gamut from someone who knows a lot about the topic to those who just heard about it. And, worse, those who just heard about it who think they're in a tutorial on, say, best practices of social media.

This last group is, unfortunately, the most likely to get suckered in to paying a GRAND to go listen to the head of McDonald's talk about their Twitter strategy. Because obviously what works for them, what's even FEASIBLE for them, should be on your radar, too? No.

Here's the thing about panels and conferences: you have to be really well versed in the topic long before you go there. Ideally, you should have dabbled a little in it, too, so you know what the glitches are for your specific situation. That's why we encourage so much research into agents and publishing before just showing up at a writer's conference thinking you'll get an agent or a book deal. If you don't know what you don't know, how are you going to glean the information that will help answer those questions?

For all of you who've walked out of a panel or a whole conference feeling like you just listened to people talk about totally company specific, personally inapplicable things, that's what happened to you.

So as for these social media conferences? Put your cash into a reputable freelancer who works in your industry and can speak to you particular strategy.

Have you been to a conference before? Did you leave filling fulfilled and knowledgeable or confused and downtrodden?

Why I Didn't Respond To Your LinkedIn Invite

It's weird when I get random friend requests on Facebook. If I don't know you well...and/or haven't talked to you in person or via phone in the last year, I don't want you creeping on my photos. I just don't. My Facebook profile is presumed personal--because I don't have a professional presence there.

BTW: that pro presence on FB is called a page, not a profile, and if you're thinking of starting an author page do it here. No, you can't just convert your personal profile to a professional Facebook presence by cleaning up your act going forward. If people "friend" you it's personal. "Like" you, professional. But I digress.

I get all sorts of LinkedIn requests via email, which is even weirder to me than the rando FB requests. Because, as Dana Kaye so eloquently puts it, is primarily a B2B (business to business) network. So companies do their recruiting there, for instance. It can get you a job. But no one gets to know you there. Name me one person that even logs in to their LI account more than once a week (as opposed to several times a day to Twitter and FB). To quote Dana, "Skip LinkedIn and focus on the communities that matter."

Plus, requesting to be my contact on LI has the connotation that I'm somehow endorsing you to professionally. Which is weird to ask when I've never met you or read any of your work (even if I have, honestly). But, again, digressing.

In short, stoppit. I'm not connecting to you on Linked In.

Houston Writer's Conference Countdown: How to Talk to Agents

This weekend, I'll be at the Houston Writer's Conference with the Houston Writer's Guild! This conference is especially close to my heart because, while I've never been to the conference before, I did grow up in Houston. So, in preparation for the big weekend, let's do a conference series!

Today through Friday, I'll be blogging about the ins and outs of some of the trickiest conference moments. 

For today? The Face-to-Face.

There you are, lurking sipping a cocktail near the bar after a fun-filled day of conference-ness. Across the room, you spot your Dream Agent chatting with Other Industry People, the group standing in what can only be described as a phalanx.

But with cocktails.

You want to go introduce yourself--after all, that's what you're here for, right? Some face time? Yes. You are. And this post is not about how to walk over there and politely break into the conversation. Because for that, you probably need this blog. Basically, walking over and incorporating yourself into a group of book industry people is just like incorporating yourself into any group. Watch for a lull in the conversation, approach from an angle that will put you next to the person with whom you want to chat, etc.

BUT. Once you get there, then what? What do agents like to talk about? Your latest book idea, right? Wrong. Don't pitch an agent at a cocktail party. Or in a bathroom or at lunch. Or anywhere except for a pitch session (which we'll discuss tomorrow).

You are at this conference for face time. You already admitted this to me. Face time is not pitch time. Pitches happen in one of two places: a query letter or a pitch session. Face time is about befriending, in some small way, the agent or editor you like. You should break the ice by mentioning something topical: a client's book release, perhaps. Or something he/she said on the panel you watched that you really agreed with or made you think or about which you've got a question (probs not the time to pick something you strongly disagreed with).

So, it'll go something like this:

You: "Um, Excuse me, Super Agent? Hi. I'm __________."
SA: "Oh, Hi ______. Nice to meet you."
You: "Yeah, I'm sorry to interrupt your chat, but I just wanted to tell you [TOPICAL THING]." (What you said about ____ today really got me thinking _________. or "I LOVED So-and-So's new/last book.)

You probably need some sort of immediate follow up: a question or comment of your own, because Super Agent's response may very well be "Thanks!" which gives you NOTHING to go on. Safest is to go with asking a question because then there is sort of a logical place for the conversation to go.

Do some chatting but don't overstay. Agents and Editors are (almost) all very friendly. If they're not engaging you in your purposefully un-pitchy conversation, it may be because something is happening that it would be impossible for you to gauge. Like, maybe they're doing their own sensitive networking with their Super Editor. Or something. So follow his or her lead. If you've got a card, offer it. Then say something charming in parting like "See you on Twitter!" (But only if they're active on Twitter! Don't show a lack of research!)

Questions? Lemme know!

Avoiding Misogyny In Your Query Letter

If you're presenting me with a piece of fiction that you've written, I expect that there will be a certain level of intentionality there. You made it up, after all. All the choices are yours...you made the characters who and how they are for a reason. Right? Please?

For the most part, un-intentioned characters--characters who feel like afterthoughts--are problematic simply because, well I expect that there won't be anything in there that feels like an afterthought. A tight, well-written novel is inherently thought-out.

But then there are times where character feels a bit random and flat, and the problem is bigger, at least for me. This character is the woman who sort of inexplicably loves some guy...a deadbeat or even a former abuser, who also tends to be the main character. And she just makes me go...What? Seriously? Why is this girl such a moron?

Same goes for a main character who just can't BEAT the women off of him. Really? Can't you get across his badassness in a more original, non-80s way?

This is not to say that this isn't something that happens. All the time. Women (and Men) love people who aren't good for them. Men (and women) are irresistible. But if you're putting these things into a novel, they better serve a purpose and feel intentional. Because otherwise I'm just going to think you're some creep misogynist. And no one wants that.

</rant>

New Author Promo Idea

Use your Twitter bios as a "flash" query. You know how Flash Fiction is a full story in about 50 - 200 words (which, by the way, is a great writing exercise)?

Yeah. Do that, but a query, in your bio. It's like the ultimate log line challenge, and it just might get you noticed.

Some log line theory and examples: http://www.screenplayers.net/loglines.html

Great Post from Veronica Roth on Author Intent

Check it:

http://veronicarothbooks.blogspot.com/2012/01/what-project-runway-taught-me-about.html

Agent Exclusives

Querying is a gauntlet. We all know that. For all the information out there about how to query (like here and here for instance), queries are still a major bugaboo for the writing community. I don't blame ya. They're hard. 

But even harder than querying is knowing what to do when you get something other than a form rejection in response.

It might be a simple request for a full, which is great! He/She liked it, really liked it!

But agents are often reluctant to sign an author off that full that you send them. They want "Revisions." Many people request those revisions before offering rep. I do because writing is a very different skill set than revising, and I want to see your revising muscles in action before signing you up. 

More and more, agents are asking for these revisions on an exclusive basis because, naturally, we don't want all our hard editorial work wasted if you abandon us, cold and alone, for someone else...with our carefully thought out edits.

But be careful. Recognize that the agent is taking a voluntary risk by doing that editorial work without officially signing you. You aren't beholden to him/her, and you don't have to stop everything else because they gave you notes. If someone asks for an exclusive but you're still awaiting word from Dream Agent, it's OK to say no to that exclusive.You are only required to be transparent and professional, so if someone else asks for revisions too, you should let Agent 1 know about it, and tell Agent 2 where you are with Agent 1.

If the revisions conflict, well, that's the risk you took in querying multiple agents at the same time (which I support).

If the agent likes your work enough, they'll carry on even if you won't give them an exclusive. If they say nevermind, well, you were waiting for Dream Agent anyway.

How To Get A Job In Publishing

When I got out of college and decided I wanted to do that publishing stuff, I liked some weird fiction. Fiction that, however artistically valuable it's now been decided to be (cough...30 years post-publication), would never ever be mistaken for "commercially viable."

That's why I have some empathy for people like the ones detailed in this NYT article. They're young, more than likely brilliant, and they love writing. Maybe their own, definitely others'. And they can't get a job in publishing.

These job seekers, not to mention the NYT, sort of likes to talk a lot about the "publishing establishment" as this big bad elitist enclave of insular haters. And that's why these brilliant, writing-loving people are having trouble getting publishing jobs.

But you know what? That is a big fat load of stuff-that-also-fills-crocks. 

And I know, because I would have made prime member of one of those classics-and-poetry reading clubs where people complain about The Publishing Establishment. But I was lucky. I got a job in publishing (a luck-filled story for another time), and I learned real, real quick that publishing is about loving the classics--but about knowing today's market and today's publishing landscape. And did I mention I was lucky?

This is a business. As much as every single person I've ever met that works in publishing LOVES writing and LOVES authors and loves art, they are also people who do relentless market research and read two or three published books every week (almost).

Now, the people in this particular article might not even want to be a part of the publishing industry...shoot. They might not want to be a part of any establishment. They seem happy, which is great. But, for people that do want to be in publishing, the industry (which is also full of art, if not exclusively):

Put down the Sartre and read some Suzanne Collins. Read Malcolm Gladwell and the new political nonfiction. Find out what categories you love and read what's coming out now.

Honestly, you'll be leaps and bounds ahead of your peers when you walk into an internship interview.

How to Read Your Beta Readers

Yesterday, I wrote a post about when to query your manuscript.

But astute #AskAgent participant pointed out something else: It's hard to incorporate advice when all the beta readers say different things.

This is true! And agents face this all the time, too. When subbing a client's book to editors, we frequently get completely conflicting feedback from the different editors: I LOVED the worldbuilding! The worldbuilding just wasn't there...what do you believe?

The truth is it's good when everyone is saying different things. It means that there's nothing glaring that you're missing. And, if all of the feedback is generally very positive, it means the book is probably pretty ready to go.

Beware, though, that you don't try to make consistent feedback into divergent feedback. If all of the critiques coming back are character related (the voice isn't right, they feel flat, they annoy me, she doesn't feel real--all technically "different things"), it means that character is NOT working. It might mean it's up to you to put your finger on exactly why, but your Betas are telling you something useful.

Look for trends in your beta feedback in the following major areas:

• Character
• Worldbuilding
• Pace
• Plot
• Tone

When Is My Manuscript Ready To Query?

One of the excellent contributors to #AskAgent yesterday asked about what state a manuscript must be in before being sent out to query agents. My response is this: you should feel like the book could go to print tomorrow.

And, of course, everyone feels like their book is perfection. That's why they wrote it that way. But an astute writer understands that a whole team is involved in sending a book out into the world. Agents and editors edit and write kickass pitches to sell first the editor and then the sales team on the book.

So, not having HarperCollins' editorial staff on hand (unless you do...and if so call me), you have to do your best to replicate that team. So having beta reader feedback is essential. Using available resources to perfect your pitch (query) is essential. In short, yeah. You put some work in beyond typing "The End." A skeleton model of this looks thusly:

1. Finish the book.
2. Let it sit for a week
3. Reread the book, correct inevitable glaring things.
4. Send to beta readers.
5. Consider reader feedback and incorporate. This take humility, which you will need in spades.
6. Let it sit for a week.
7. Reread, re-edit. Perhaps send to your most trusted Beta.
8. Reread one more time.
9. Query!

Time away from a book is really important in the editing process so that you don't get buried in knowing how it's supposed to read. Fresh eyes.

Take these steps and you'll not only be querying a damn fine manuscript, but you'll be leaps ahead of the people who don't do this work. Don't you want that? 

Jennifer "The Brilliant" Laughran on "The Market"

Wondering if "there's a market" for what you're writing? You'll want to read Children's agent Jennifer Laughran's (aka Literaticat) post on the topic. It's here:

http://literaticat.blogspot.com/2010/06/theres-always-market-for-awesome.html

The Tweakers: Steve Jobs and Writers

I read a very, very excellent article by Malcolm Gladwell last night on the train home. It was about our recently departed Einstein of Design (he would have hated that), Steve Jobs. 


Gladwell points out that there are two types (well, for our purposes) of genius: the Creators and the Tweakers.


The creators make huge innovations. Come up with things that have never been done before. The Tweakers, well, "tweak." Tweakers make the "micro inventions necessary to make macro inventions highly productive and remunerative." In other words, tweakers take the big bangs and, with a series of small, well-placed sparks, make a bigger one.


I think this is relevant to writing, in the sense that writers live in fear of not being original. Fearful of that old adage: "There are no new stories."


Gladwell points out, and I agree, that small innovations are as important as the earthshaking ones--can, in fact, be the earthshaking ones. 


So write what you're writing, and don't worry that J.R.R Tolkein did it first. You're doing it different. Shoot, you might do it better. (Just don't tell me that in your query)

Query Etiquette

A lot of people ask me how long they should wait after a rejection to requery the rejecting agent.

That timeframe depends on what you'd be querying when you do requery. A new project? A new draft of the old?

If it's the latter, a new draft of an already-queried book, I'd say you should wait at least a year. And in that time you should be revising and using beta readers to figure out how the book can be made genuinely better. We all know my opinions on too-quick revision. (If not, read the #AskAgent archives)

If it's a new project, I say you can requery immediately, so long as the book is ready. Meaning it's been read, revised, read by beta readers, revised, let sit, revised again, and then queried.

A different project, for me, is a fresh start.

Why Janet Reid Is My Idol and Should Be Yours

This post, right here, on platform.

Also, I'm at the BACKSPACE CONFERENCE OF AMAZING today and tomorrow.

Conference 101: Know Before You Go

Prior to a writer's conference, it's natural to feel overwhelmed. Most authors go to conferences with a sense of "Do-or-Die": pitch your heart out and get signed or...well...something terrible will happen. There's a sense that there are people at a conference that could make or break your writer self and the pressure is immense.

I encourage you to take a different, more laid-back approach to conferences. Here's the number one reason why:

Agents and editors don't go to a conference specifically to find new clients.

It's true. Here's why. There are other, better mechanisms in place for finding new clients. For agents, that's the query. It gives an agent time to read your pages, Google you, etc. Get a full picture of the project and of the client. For editors, it's the agent. There's a reason that most houses don't accept unsolicited manuscripts, and being at a conference doesn't mean you'll jump that policy.

The mechanisms already in place for connecting authors, agents, and editors actually benefit the author, too, by providing you a way to pitch your work in the format you're comfortable in: writing. True, some of you are as comfortable speaking about your work, but for the most part people find verbally pitching a book really, really hard. It's not an ideal way to present your work (more on this later).

So go to your conference more focused on networking than getting signed (which will for-sure not happen to you at the conference). Get to know agents and editors, exchanging Twitter handles, finding other writers that might for critique groups for you.

Go to the conference armed with the following research, and you'll be well-prepared to network:

• Check out the photos of the various faculty at the conference. This is so you can say Hi with confidence if you find yourself in an elevator with them.
• Find the agents and editors that will be at the conference on Twitter and follow them.
• Have a book in mind that each editor worked on, that you would like to talk to them about--a list of books might be in his or her bio on the conference website, or you can find it on Publisher's Marketplace if you're a member.
• Pick a client whose work you like from each agent's list and do some research on that author and his or her books. If you can't find a client you like, that's probably not the agent you want to be chatting up.
• Take a look at blogs like Galley Cat and Media Bistro in the weeks leading up to the conference. Know what's going on in the publishing world.
• Who are the major author guests at the conference? Take a look at their blogs and books in case you get a chance to chat.

Doing the above will ensure that you have a head start on conference conversations, and that you will come across as a well-informed publishing aspirant. If all you can talk about is yourself and your book, you're not going to get much out of the organic connections that are there to be made in a conference setting.

Getting The Most Out Of Conferences

Conference season lite has started, and there will only be more throughout the Winter and Spring, so I figured I'd do a little series on what the best practices are for a conference. For reference, I'll be attending:

Backspace Writer's Conference November 3 - 4 2011
Oklahoma Writer's Federation May 5 - 3 2012
DFW Writer's Conference May 19 & 20 2012


And I'm also going to be teaching a webinar for Writer's Digest sometime this winter. More on that soon!


For our first installment, I thought I'd start with why one even goes to a writer's conference. What's the point? Does anyone actually get signed off of a pitch session???


Well, maybe. It's hard to say whether verbal pitch sessions are really all that great for authors...more on that in subsequent posts. But conferences are excellent places to get other things accomplished: to ask industry people the questions to which you can't find answers. To talk face-to-face with people with whom you have chatted here and there on Facebook or Twitter or via email. To find Beta Readers.


Conferences are excellent resources for your writing career...even if you don't come out of it with any new insights on your craft (although I bet you do). Panels and impromptu conversations at conferences give you a better handle on the Industry as a whole, which makes you a more astute and appealing queryer to agents or a more prepared self-publishing candidate. They're also amazing networking events.


I highly recommend them!


In the next few days, we'll address how to go in to a conference well prepared, how to deal with pitch sessions, how to work the room, and how to go to panels. Any specific questions leaping out at you already?? I'll try to tailor the posts.

Jumping The Gun

One of the most important skills to develop as an author, particularly an unsigned one (i.e. my favorite type of author) is patience.

patience

It's a beautiful word. It's nigh perfect. It sort of takes a long time to say, too, which sort of fits. Am I hyperanalyzing here? Perhaps. 

But I can't explain how much better and easier your writerly career will go if you also treasure this virtue. Do your research. Give that manuscript one more week to sit, so that you can read it one more time with fresh eyes. Take care with your queries so that the list of agents is right, you have your personalization planned, and you make a good impression. If you're think about going the self-pub route, get all the information and plan out what your journey will look like.

You'll be glad you did.

We need to talk about Beta Readers

I love the "off-the-page" opportunities afforded to books. New things are happening every day! But I never lose sight (as I hope you don't either) of the fact that books are first and foremost about writing. Writing stories.

These stories might take different forms: images, video, etc. etc. etc...but they are first of all stories. And there are some things about writing stories that will never change.

Stories have to have good pace. The characters have to feel real and deep. The tone has to fit the subject matter. The writing has to be beautiful or fantastic or funny or lively enough to pull someone all the way through your thriller.

All those things take a lot of editing. These will never ever come together all on the first go. And the one universal truth about editing is that you can't edit yourself. Just trust me. You can't!

You're too close to the writing and to the story. Meaning it all makes sense to you because you conceived it all. But how about what your readers will perceive? The only way to find out is to have readers read it.

Please, please get Beta Readers. Please get them before you query me and please listen to them. If they tell you to change something, consider it! If they tell you something and then it's corroborated, REALLY consider making the change. If nothing else, it'll be good for you to feel what it's like to change something because others perceived a flaw--something you'll be doing a lot of if you get agented and get an editor.

Don't know how to find Betas? Leave a comment with your genre and category and we'll see what we can do here for ya. Got opinions about Betas? Leave those too!

I just had the best idea for a mystery/crime novel plot

So. What if the serial killer kills his/her wife/husband and then hires our private eye main character to solve the case. THEN the serial killer kills all the suspects as the main character discovers them and presents them to the client/serial killer (I guess as client updates or something? This part is your job).

SO THE SERIAL KILLER IS THE LAST PERSON CONNECTED TO THE KILLING LEFT ALIVE AND THE PRIVATE EYE MAIN CHARACTER FIGURES IT OUT BUT ALSO HAS TO FIND A WAY TO NOT LET THE SERIAL KILLER KNOW HE/SHE KNOWS!!!

ok, that's free. Go with it!