February 2011

What’s a Poor Vampire Writer to Do?

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Dear Editor…

It’s no secret that editors and agents are sick of werewolves, ghosts, and especially vampires. So is there really any point in writing a vampire novel right now? Don’t agents and editors just roll their eyes when they see the words “Vampire” and “Young Adult Paranormal” in a query letter?

Sincerely,

Megan

Dear Megan…

If that’s all your story is—“a vampire book”— then yes, they’ll roll their eyes. The market has plenty of those. That hook is no longer enough to make a sale. Your paranormal story must be more than its monsters. One thing I hear editors asking for now is cross-genre paranormal to offer readers who love vampires something fresh. “Vampire” has been done; “Vampire astronauts who take over the first human colony on Mars” has not. Don’t simply get gimmicky, though. A genre blend must be a natural one, with a solid story at its core. Gimmicks may get attention, but solid storytelling earns the sale.

Happy writing!

The Editor

Formatting IM Exchanges in a Manuscript

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Dear Editor…

I have a lot of text/IM conversations in my YA novel. Is there a way to distinguish this in my manuscript? How creative can I get?

Sincerely,
Anne

Dear Anne…

Your chief concern is distinguishing the IMing exchanges from regular dialogue and making sure readers can follow who is “speaking” at any given moment. Look inside Lauren Myracle’s TTYL to see how you can lay out the IM lines and the character names during an IMing exchange; it’s very clear in that novel. As for the graphics in TTYL, skip those for now. They’ll make your manuscript “gimmicky” to editors and agents. Leave that for a seasoned book designer when your book is being readied for production. In your ms, your creativity should be limited to picking an IMing font that is different from your narrative font but complementary, and perhaps using dark gray, black, and, if necessary, a complementary shade of blue to distinguish each speaker. You want clarity, not distraction.

Happy writing!

The Editor

Submitting on Your Own When You Have an Agent

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Dear Editor…

I have an agent who has submitted my novel to all her connections. I would like to pursue sending it out to some smaller publishers now.  Should I start sending it out on my own with a note to inform them I do have an agent? What do you think I should do about this?

Thanks for your help!

Amy

Dear Amy…

There’s no need to mention your agent to the publishers if you’re the one doing the researching and submitting. Just have a conversation with your agent about the situation before you proceed. That’s necessary for your professional relationship—and you may need to put something in writing to address language about “next published work” in your agency contract. If the agent still wants to be part of this gig, then work out an agreement for this one book where you do the legwork and the agent makes the contact and negotiates the contract for a smaller percentage of your royalty. I’ve personally seen that scenario, with all parties happy about it. It’s professional and fair to all.

Happy writing!

The Editor

Help with Hooks

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Dear Editor…

I am having trouble with query letters. Any tips on writing an awesome tagline or hook? I’ve recently started my second project and I already have that hook down. But my first eludes me, I think I may be too close to it. Please help!

Danielle

Dear Danielle…

Don’t try to nail “awesome” on the first try. As with a story itself, awesome hooks are built through multiple drafts. Start by drafting a pretend CIP summary line. That’s the utilitarian description of a story that appears in the CIP data on a novel’s copyright page. CIP summaries always state the main character, that character’s situation/conflict/goal, and specific details that distinguish the story from all the others in the library—such as era, age of the protagonist, location, that sort of thing. CIP summaries are bland but good at pinning down the details that give each story its unique context. When you’ve nailed that one key element that really makes your story different from the others in its genre, then you can get funky. Rework the wording to emphasize that core distinguishing element, making it tempting, surprising, or in some way intriguing. You’ve struck “awesome” when you can intrigue your hook reader.

Happy writing!

The Editor

Guest Editor Darcy Pattison re: Virtual Book Launches

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Dear Editor . . .

I’m looking for suggestions and ideas on how to pull off a successful virtual launch party for a self-published book.

Sincerely,
Michael

Dear Michael . . .

You’re all ready to launch your book by doing a variety of online activities: webpage, Facebook page, blog tour, email blast, book trailers, etc. What are the two most important things you should know?

1) Consistency. Be consistent in your visual image across all your efforts. Make sure you “build your brand” carefully by consistently using the same author photo, the same logo, the same cover image. Don’t confuse the message you’re sending by being too creative with the images. Certainly, photos from a brick-and-mortar signing are fun to look at, but don’t use these photos in your publicity. Readers should see the same image everywhere, so they start to associate a certain book/image with you. If you do want to show other photos, create an album on your Facebook page and link to it. Better yet, use those photos in an updated promotional book trailer.

2) Call to Action. You should be very clear about what you want people to DO as a result of your efforts. Here are some ideas: buy a book, write a review on Amazon, tell a friend about your book, download and read a sample chapter, sign up for your newsletter, or enter a contest for a book giveaway. Be consistent across all your efforts and ask viewers/readers to do one thing. Only one thing. Be sure to ASK for the action you want them to take; if you don’t ask, they won’t do it. And make sure it’s very easy for people to do, or they won’t do it. Track the results of efforts by tracking how many times that one action was taken. Did you get 25 Amazon reviews? Fantastic! That’s a successful virtual book launch!

Darcy Pattison, Guest Editor for the Day

Author and teacher Darcy Pattison (www.darcypattison.com) writes about how to improve your fiction, DIY book publicity and book trailers (www.booktrailermanual.com). Watch a trailer for The Book Trailer Manual
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rogq93aYvkQ.

Average Wait for Agent Response?

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Dear Editor…

I wonder what the current wait for a response to a pb submission is? I have waited five months, and sent a sase.

Thanks!

Lisa

Dear Lisa…

I know you’re up to here with waiting, so here’s the quick answer: three to six months. The longer version: At three months, it’s fair to send a follow-up letter asking about the status of the submission. Do that now if you haven’t already. If you’ve had no reply after six months, consider this a “no deal” and move on. It’s possible you’ll hear back after that, but not likely. Meanwhile, if you haven’t already done so, multiply submit that ms to other agents pronto, noting “multiple submission” in the query letters. No need to keep your future agent waiting on an agent who isn’t replying.

Happy writing!

The Editor

Verifying a (Novel) Novel Idea

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Dear Editor…

How do I tell if my novel’s basic premise is unique, and how can I research to see what other books have been published similar to my new idea? I’ve heard some editors do this for marketing purposes and in-house meeting proposals, so they must have SOME way of going about it!

Thanks!

Carol

Dear Carol…

Editors generate those lists primarily from their own market knowledge and that of the editors and the marketing and sales staff that surround them. To check if they’ve missed anything, they turn to a source available to you, too: Amazon.com. Go there, type in any similar titles you can think of or just type the topic and genre into the Book search field (i.e., “tanks memoir” or “vampire young adult”). See what appears. Click promising titles and consult their “Customers Who Bought This Also Bought” sections. Now click on the reviews for relevant Also Bought books to see if the reviewers mention other books. Follow those leads. Also, ask your writer’s group if they know of similar books, and ask the staff of the independent bookstore near you, too. If it’s a children’s book, ask your children’s book librarian.

This targeted search is no substitute for developing your knowledge of the marketplace long term. That’s how editors spot a fresh idea when they see one. At a minimum, you should be getting the free Publishers Lunch enewsletter every day. Bump that up to a Publishers Lunch Deluxe subscription to learn which editors are buying which projects from which agents and for (generally) how much—that way, you’ll know your competition before it even hits the market.

Happy writing!

The Editor

NEWSFLASH: The Free MG/YA Edit Giveaway Winner

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Dear Readers…

We have a winner for the YA Dummies Celebration giveaway for the FREE MG/YA EDIT. Read on for the winner….

Dear Readers…

The giveaway for one free edit of a MG/YA manuscript is over. This morning I used Randomizer.org to select the winning entry. It’s my pleasure to announce the winner: LAURA CHESTERSON, with her middle grade manuscript Rebel Magic. I look forward to working with Laura and learning what’s so rebellious about her hocus pocus.

Thanks, everyone, for celebrating with me! There’ll be more giveaways to come—after all, I still need to celebrate the Writing Young Adult Fiction for Dummies publication, and my National Book Award win and my Nobel Prize in Literature…. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Tomorrow, I’ll post a question-and-answer about a not-so-sneaky but really-darned-useful way to know what editors are buying and from whom . . . and sometimes for how much.

Happy writing!

The Editor