The key...
Breaking News: from Publishers Lunch


Mario here:

I speak at several writing conferences and what I've noticed are how many wanna-be writers seem to have the attitude that we published authors are hiding the key to getting published. That this mysterious key will unlock the secrets to getting an agent and editor and securing a coveted deal.


Sadly, there is no key. If one existed, I'd use it to get all my trunk novels on the shelf.

The good news is that those secrets are no secrets at all.

Getting published is a matter of:

The Great Idea.
Execution.
Persistence.
Connections.
Timing and Luck.

The Great Idea: Agents, editors, and readers are always looking for a new story. Granted, there are no new stories, only twists of what's been told. But that's your challenge as a writer. For example, how many dinosaur movies have been made? Land of the Lost. The Valley of Gwangi. One Million Years B.C. What was so different from them and Jurassic Park? Plenty of course, but that's the unique twist. What about vampires? There's a big difference between Twilight and Blade.


Execution: So you've got The Great Idea. Thinking about it keeps you up at night. Now it's a matter of telling your story, and telling it well. This is why most of you come to writing conferences and take writing workshops. To hone your craft. To nail your voice. To discover your style. To remain inspired as you slog through the morass of The Second Act. We know how hard it is to hook an agent and get them to ask for your manuscript. We can't disappoint them, and ourselves, by not delivering a Holy Smokes, my eyes are burning, this is an amazing story.

Persistence: Here is where many wanna-be's fall away. Writing a book involves a lot of time and effort. It takes discipline to do more than sit at the keyboard. Forget waiting for the perfect moment of inspiration. Forget waiting for retirement and typing away at the beach. If it's not killing you now that you're not writing, then you're not a writer. Nobody but you gives a shit if you write your story or not. You've got to hack away at the narrative. Day by day. Sentence by sentence. Pile up tens of thousands of words. And you must stoke this persistence even after countless setbacks. Rejections. Getting your chapters mauled in critique. The distractions of day-to-day life: family, paying bills, traffic tickets, jerkoff neighbors.


Connections: There's a myth that writers are antisocial recluses. Some perhaps, but most of my fellow scribes are exceptionally gregarious and outgoing. Bouchercon is called DebaucherCon for a reason. Get us together over booze, and we cluck like happy chickens. Attending cons is an excellent way to meet agents and editors in person and learn that they're not mysterious creatures. Later, when you query, there's a face attached to your letter, and assuming you made a decent impression, that's one more reason for a yes. Also, with the time-suck of social media, you have to balance between being an annoying Me! Me! pain-in-the-ass, spending hours blabbing on about nothing (when you should be writing), or actually creating a worthwhile presence.


Timing and Luck: I've heard plenty of anecdotes that convince me that there are supernatural forces at work in publishing (some good, some evil). An example of good: a writer submits a story about undead midwives, and the receiving agent will recall a conversation with an editor who said her house is looking for something different in urban fantasy, say, undead midwives? Bingo. Now it's a matter of your execution. But as they say, Fortune favors the prepared.


I'm deep in the execution stage of my work-in-progress. At last, I typed THE END to the first draft of my manuscript. Now to connect the Hemingway Bullshit Detector and grind away at the narrative. Here's my recycle box stuffed with revised pages.

Labels: Betsy Dornbusch, Fallen, Jeanne Stein, secrets, writing

  ¶ posted by Mario Acevedo @ 8:40 PM  6 comments

  Don't Burn Yourself Mario here:

For some strange reason, the public thinks we writers are a bunch of smart people. But we are a delusional, angsty lot that does a lot of dumb things (like keep writing), especially when we get frustrated. This last week I finished teaching a workshop for WritersOnlineClasses.com and for the last class I listed advice for the dumb things to keep in mind:

1) Avoid any vanity press. They won't do anything for you that you can't do for yourself if you self-publish. Plus, you keep all your money. And DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!!! your contract may assign them the copyrights to your work so you can forget about taking your book somewhere else without forking over bucks to get your rights back.

2) A small press is a legitimate way to get your name out there. But another DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!!! Don't sign a contract for more than one book. Why? Because the contract may assign the publisher the rights-of-first-refusal for a bunch more books. And your small press book may get you a deal with a major publisher (HURRAH!) and then guess what? You're stuck. You can either split the royalties from the new books or buy out the contract with the small press. So if a small press is interested in your book, then by all means, sign with them if you think it's a good career move. But don't get blinded by gratitude and desperation that you give up too much.

3) Once upon a time, self-publishing your novel branded you as a desperate failed writer. But eBooks and Amazon have changed that. Many new and established writers have self-published eBooks to start or rejuvenate their writing careers. Don't be in a rush to publish before your work is ready and make sure to invest in a review by a professional editor. And don't skimp on a good cover.

4) Don't try and please everyone with your work. Do that, you lose your edge, weaken your voice, and end up with mush. No one likes mush. Find your writing tribe, the group of people who understand what you're trying to do and will urge you along (with an occasional kick in the ass). Don't join a critique group of thriller writers if you're working on a coming-of-age novel. Recognize that your manuscript will need work and it's a blessing when you can find understanding and demanding readers.

5) Once you've finished your manuscript, don't think you're another J.K. Rowling and the world can't wait for your work. DON'T write a flattering email to a favorite author and gush about their books, then turn around and By The Way, Would you mind reading my 240K opus? Maybe a blurb? Recommend me to your agent? Or hand out copies of your manuscript at a conference. People will speak about you with the same regard given to bedbugs and hangovers.

As for nuts and bolts writing advice, I demurred to someone who knows a lot more than I do:
Kurt Vonnegut with his Eight Rules for Writing Fiction.

PS. The movie The Hunger Games rocks. But...I still liked John Carter better. *sniff*

Labels: danger, Kurt Vonnegut, not writing, writing

  ¶ posted by Mario Acevedo @ 1:03 PM  8 comments