Many Agents Do Not Accept Unsolicited Manuscripts
In the fiction area of the book-agenting arena, other than some agents/agencies now requesting or requiring submissions via E-mail, the rules for presenting preliminary material have not changed appreciably in the past 15 to 20 years. What has changed is the number of agents who no longer accept unsolicited material or work that has not been referred by someone with whom that agent has a business relationship, such as a respected colleague, writer, or editor.
To Succeed in Finding an Agent, Create and Follow a Plan
But while the submission guidelines are still relatively unchanged depending on
the agent: one-page query; query with five pages; query, synopsis, five pages; query, synopsis, first three chapters, etc., breaking through is more difficult than every. A writer can save a great deal of aggravation, time, and expense by creating and following a plan that enables the potential for agent review to be in the author’s favor from the outset.
Identify the Sub-Genre in which your Manuscript is Written
First, it is critical for a writer to recognize in which sub-genre his/her work fits. For example, depending on who you talk to, there are now more than two dozen subsets in
the Suspense category, alone. Source agents who have found publishers for works in sub-genres the same as that in which your manuscript is written. The AAR web site is a great place to start, and another excellent free site is agentquery.com.
Query the Agents who Represent Authors your Style Emulates
Another option, if your story is written in the style of a well-known author, is to check the Acknowledgments page of a book by that writer, for his or her agent. Query this agent–even if the person professes not to accept unsolicited material. The worst that can happen is a rejection. But you could receive a request to see a portion of your novel, and there is a solid reason why:
Agents work in Genres in which they are Successful
People are generally most comfortable with what they know. Agents are no different. Familiarity, in this instance, is most often an asset and not a liability. Agents want books they feel they can sell, and will gravitate toward genres in which they have positive history.
Robert L. Bacon
robertlbacon@aol.com
Special Offer for Authors
Free Query Letter Review & Analysis, a $57.50 Value
Paste Query to theperfectwrite@aol.com (No Attachments)
For Information on Query Letter Design & Composition
Visit the Form Page on this Site & Follow the Simple Steps
For more information on how The Perfect Write® can craft material to benefit you, please visit us at theperfectwrite.com
Stumble Upon
Del.icio.us
Buzz
Nothing is more critical than the first few lines of a story, since this will often influence whether or not a reader will continue with a work. And a great opening is never more important than for both the budding author who is trying to acquire an agent or publisher and the non-established writer who is desiring to expand an audience.
Writer’s like Dickens and Woolf Provide a Lofty Pedestal
It would be wonderful if lines like “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” or “Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself,” were on the forefront of our thinking when we first sat down at a keyboard. The reality, however, is that this is not how it plays out for most of us mere mortals. But there are ways to attract a reader without having to conjure up the catch phrase of the century.
Think Along the Lines of Larry McMurtry
Larry McMurtry opened A DEAD MAN’S WALK by telling the reader about a naked 200 lb. prostitute, nicknamed The Great Western, walking down the street while carrying a snapping turtle. If into westerns, who wouldn’t want to find out why this woman was involved with this seemingly inane activity? The same as a feminist would be immediately taken by Clarissa Dalloway’s opening salvo.
But What if it Requires Time to Set up the Introduction to the Story?
This is when it gets sticky. Yet not impossible to remedy. A suggestion is to find the single most prominent element of the entirety of the opening and maneuver this to the top of the first page, and then write from that point forward. This might seem difficult, if not impossible, but with a little practice it can be done.
A good exercise is to write a page on a random topic–not considered previously–then locate the most significant facet of the text and place this as the lead sentence. Now rewrite the page with the narrative following this new opening. It might not be a bad idea to do this several times, each with a new topic, and then apply this technique to your novel’s opening.
The Opening Requires the Same Effort as the Book’s Title
It is prudent to apply the same effort for the opening as was expended to come up with the title for the work. Often, however, much more time is spent on determining the title. If this should happen to be the case (from the perspective of the amount of time spent on each), it could be suggested to reverse the process. A solid opening, whether it be a single paragraph or several, will eliminate the need to try to create one-line intro’s like “Who is John Galt?” or “They call me Ishmael,” which only happen on the rarest of occasions by even literature’s most esteemed writers.
Robert L. Bacon
robertlbacon@aol.com
Special Offer for Authors
Free Query Letter Review & Analysis, a $57.50 Value
Paste Query to theperfectwrite@aol.com (No Attachments)
For Information on Query Letter Design & Composition
Visit the Form Page on this Site & Follow the Simple Steps
For more information on how The Perfect Write® can craft material to benefit you, please visit us at theperfectwrite.com
On Writing for Publication–Will Agents or Publishers Edit a Manuscript?
A short while ago a young scribe wrote over a post of mine that writers did not need to have their manuscripts edited prior to submitting them to an agent or publisher. His rationale was that agents and/or publishers would provide the service, and therefore the writer could and should avoid the independent editor’s fee. I tried to explain the fallacy of this person’s thinking, and later I decided to take a closer look at why this sort of misunderstanding might occur. My findings are the purpose behind this article.
Editors Do Still Edit
Although I lead the topic line of this article with agents, I want to discuss editors first, and state without qualification that editors at the publisher level do still edit. But this is
far from universal, and there is widespread disparity as to who does what for whom. A franchise writer with a major house will have all the stops pulled out to see that his or her material is polished in every way. The executive editor who works with the writer may even personally edit this author’s manuscript if there is some last minute tweaking to be done. But more often than not, if a draft requires attention after it’s submitted by an established writer, this manuscript will be sent outside to an independent editor for fine tuning. And, yes, the cost would be absorbed by the publisher.
What I just wrote applies to large publishing companies. I’ve also noticed a substantial number of boutique publishers who’ve sprung up in the past few years who legitimately provide developmental editing, as well as line editing, for material they accept. The downside is that the editor is usually the publisher, and often he or she is one of only a couple people involved in the entire operation. Hence, with the backlog any start-up royalty publisher will generally have shortly after announcing the acceptance of material, lead times can soon run amuck. And if a writer does some research into these sites, my comment will be borne out. The most common lament I’ve read is that the publisher could not meet the promised release date–or anything close to it.
What If a Writer Isn’t at the Franchise Level or Interested in a Start-up Indie?
In the middle is everyone else, meaning 99.999 percent of all writers. And this is where there’s a rub. On the very day I was defending independent editing as a discipline, I received an e-mail from someone who was working to get a editing prospect of mine represented by an agent. I didn’t feel this man’s work was ready, but this liaison presented the draft to a major publisher and a high-powered agent. Both summarily dismissed the manuscript, with the agent saying that, in today’s market, a manuscript had to be perfect in every way to stand a chance. For me, that’s the end of story. But there is confusion because of what some agents do offer, and the way manuscripts are treated in other countries.
Some Agents Also Edit
In the scenario I just alluded to, this agent was not in a position to edit this writer’s draft. I can assure anyone reading this article that most don’t have the time or the staff. But there are exceptions. A well-respected agency states on its Web site that it works with its authors from a developmental perspective and will also line edit their work. I’ve never submitted to this agency, nor do I know anyone personally who is signed by this firm, so I won’t provide the company’s name, but they are legitimate in every respect and certainly do not charge fees for reading or editing. But I think someone will have to search long and hard to find a second such firm. However, I do know of independent agents who work with their clients’ drafts, so others of a similar persuasion do exist. They just aren’t on every corner.
In Other Countries Agents Routinely Edit Material
I noticed on the Web site of a well-known London agency, Jane Gregory and Company, that the lead agent boasts she works with her clients’ manuscripts extensively. She recently stated on her site that an average draft takes two years in-house before it’s ready to be presented to the publishing community. Obviously, if someone in the States reads something such as this, and doesn’t realize the agency is in the U.K., it’s easy to see how the person could be confused into thinking this is what happens here. I don’t know of any U.S. literary agents who advertise they’ll massage a draft for two years before sending it out. Frankly, I’m aware only of the one domestic agency I mentioned earlier that as a company policy offers editing for its clients.
So Do Agents and Publishers Edit?
It’s pretty clear: For a writer’s material to receive in-house editing, it depends on who the author happens to be, as well as the agent or publisher. I think I’m being accurate in stating that the overwhelming number of agents do not edit material for their clients. If the manuscript doesn’t look relatively clean to them, it’s rejected. But if a spotty draft somehow passes muster with an agent, what are the odds a publisher will accept it? I can’t answer that. However, when a work reaches an exalted point in the evaluation process, especially at the publisher level, I think any writer would be prudent to make certain the manuscript is in as
good a shape as possible, and this means having it professionally edited beforehand.
Genres can be More than a Little Confusing
There is perhaps nothing more perplexing in all of writing than trying to understand genre. While preparing this paper, I ran across the following sub-genres for Romance: Suspense, Paranormal, Fantasy, Time-Travel, Futuristic, Licensed Theme, Medical,
Regency, Medieval, Highland, War, Gothic, Western, and Mail-Order Bride. And these
are by no means all that fall into the Romance bailiwick. There were a couple dozen more.
In the Mystery category we have the Cozy, Police Procedural, Forensic Hard-Boiled Crime, Serial Killer, Suspense, Thriller, Legal Thriller, Medical Thriller, Technical Thriller; and other further Mystery subdivisions that include Science Fiction, Gay, Military, Political, Paranormal, and so many more that the separation becomes quite blurred. To confuse anyone to the point of no return, read a Writer’s Digest list of genres. And it, too, is not
all-inclusive.
What makes Genre even More Complex is that it is often Not Specific to a Particular Publisher
The editor-in-chief with a major publisher indicated to me that one of my novels was rejected because it did not fit into a tight enough genre, since it had military, espionage,
and medical underpinnings. What was really meant was that the book did not follow the exact template for their Thriller program, as was also indicated by another work I recently presented to this publisher. This firm’s Thriller program (sic, imprint) does not model the Thriller definition, since books under that imprimatur follow the “gruesome murders by
a serial killer who is being tracked down by a cop” pattern. Traditional Thrillers involve international intrigue and a life-and-death struggle to save the planet (or close to it).
An Author must Determine the Genre and Relevant Sub-Genre in which the Novel is Written
The point is obvious. A writer must determine the sub-genre in which his or her work is written, and then tailor the presentation to the agent and/or publisher to whom the material is being presented–as this relates to books that particular agent has placed or the publisher has printed. This requires parsing books on the agent’s or publisher’s list to make certain the submitted novel is indeed complementary. An author who makes this effort can eliminate the major hurdle that a submission is not a solid match, since the writer will know this could not possibly be the case. (A side-note here is not to imply in your query letter that you write like a specific author, but that your work mirrors the genre’s characteristics. This will be covered in detail during an upcoming article on the nuances of effective query letter writing.)
Robert L. Bacon
robertlbacon@aol.com
Special Offer for Authors
Free Query Letter Review & Analysis, a $57.50 Value
Paste Query to theperfectwrite@aol.com (No Attachments)
For Information on Query Letter Design & Composition
Visit the Form Page on this Site & Follow the Simple Steps
For more information on how The Perfect Write® can craft material to benefit you, please visit us at theperfectwrite.com
Query Letter Writing – a Daunting Dilemma
Some years ago, to add to a discussion I was encouraging related to the nuances of query letter writing, a woman who had just received a contract for her first novel–and
with Simon & Schuster no less–wrote me to lament how arduous she had found the task
of crafting her missive to appeal to agents. She admitted that she considered the query
more difficult than writing the actual work, and had spent over a year on her letter. For discretion’s sake, I won’t reveal the name of the author, but many people would recognize this now well-known Ph.D., and her breakthrough novel.
The Synopsis-Syndrome
I chuckled at her comment, not out of derision, but from empathy, since I have often
felt the same way about my own queries. While I haven’t spent a year on a letter to attract an agent, at times I wish I had. One of the problems is that I have often found my query turning into a synopsis. And in parsing the query letters of others, the synopsis syndrome, as I call it, seems to be the most chronic malady that inhibits the presentations (sic, queries).
For a Successful Fiction Query Letter, Size does not Matter
A writer desires to tell as much as possible about the story of which he or she is so passionate, and is often influenced by an industry success story in which someone has crammed as much as possible onto one page, even to the point of reducing font size to make the text fit. Unfortunately, in trying to mirror this, the end result for most is invariably a synopsis and not a presentation of the subtle plot and character elements that reflect the writer’s skill and which sets the work apart–and what will influence an agent to request the manuscript.
Think of a Query Letter as an Advertisement, and Sell the Sizzle and Not the Steak
An agent of mine once railed at me about a poor query I had sent him for a later novel because it told too much of the individual aspects of the story and not about the work as a whole. He said to write the query as if I was designing the liner notes for the novel. I found this to be some of the best advice I have ever received. As a comparison, if one wants to be successful in sales, one of the time-worn truisms is to “sell the sizzle and not the steak.” It might be suggested to apply the same axiom to writing a query letter. This can be like grasping Showing versus Telling the first time around (or the tenth), but it has to be understood if a query is going to work.
Write a Query from the Gut, not the Heart
It might help to think of your work in visceral terms; meaning, what are the hard-hitting aspects of your story from an overall perspective. This will take your thinking beyond the brick and mortar. And remember, most of all, you are wanting to provide the agent with just enough knowledge of your work (and ability) to create interest. If you can do this succinctly and with skill, would it not be logical that the agent might assume that your novel is written at the same level? Should you review queries that have garnered agent representation, please notice how little is told about the actual stories, but how much the successful letters reflect the authors’ competence for writing quality prose.
Robert L. Bacon
robertlbacon@aol.com
Special Offer for Authors
Free Query Letter Review & Analysis, a $57.50 Value
Paste Query to theperfectwrite@aol.com (No Attachments)
For Information on Query Letter Design & Composition
Visit the Form Page on this Site & Follow the Simple Steps
For more information on how The Perfect Write® can craft material to benefit you, please visit us at theperfectwrite.com
From academicians to book critics to lay readers, each is often eager to recommend a list of authors who will provide aspiring writers with a sound foundation from which to build. Any suggestions should be revered, and it would be ridiculous for one person to state that her/his idea of quality prose is better than another’s.
However, there are four aspects of the craft of writing that many who understand literature would argue have never been better addressed: Steinbeck’s perfection with dialogue, Faulkner’s depth of characterization, Hemingway’s precise narrative, and Fitzgerald’s palpable creation of mood.
Steinbeck’s Brilliance As a Dialogist
One of the quickest ways to appreciate John Steinbeck’s brilliance in the realm of dialogue is to read TORTILLA FLAT, THE WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT, and OF MICE AND MEN. Accents are often hard to maintain in a novel without eventually grating on the reader, yet Steinbeck’s last line of dialogue in TORTILLA FLAT is as fresh as his first. THE WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT provides a perfect medium for demonstrating his range. And it is then a simple step to OF MICE AND MEN to gain an understanding of Steinbeck’s genius in the art of writing divergent dialogue at an extraordinary level.
Faulkner’s Genius with Characterizations
The mere mention of William Faulkner can cause many to quail. But a lot of Faulkner aficionados, of which I am included in this group, feel he is unchallenged in the realm of characterization. Many erudite souls recommend ABSALOM, ABSALOM as an ideal example of why Faulkner rules the world of characterization, and one needs to read only the first paragraph in the initial chapter to realize the reason for this praise. Another suggestion is that serious writers read THE SOUND AND THE FURY. The characterization of Dilsey the maid is, in itself, a masterpiece.
Hemingway’s Impeccable Pitch
With simple words, Hemingway’s narratives are so powerful and his depictions so poignant that he is credited with creating a unique style. An efficient way to experience his skill is to read THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA. What is often overlooked about Hemingway’s crisp, concise style is the quality of pitch his technique enables. His passages of perfect pitch in themselves can be important to analyze by anyone desiring to become a better writer.
Fitzgerald’s Mastery of Mood
Mood, like voice, is one of those magical areas that is easy to recognize but impossible for a great many people to define. But whatever mood happens to be, it can be experienced in the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald. In THE GREAT GATSBY, THIS SIDE OF PARADISE, and TENDER IS THE NIGHT, there is an unmistakable mood that is so sentient the reader can easily and pleasantly become enveloped by it. A leading example is the opening paragraph in TENDER IS THE NIGHT, which sets the mood for the entirety of a story as well as any novel that comes to mind for many learned readers. Whatever Fitzgerald’s voice was, he found it. And whatever mood is, he created it with exceptional flair.
There are numerous other writing elements, and subcategories of each, that anyone serious about becoming a novelist must consider. But for those who desire an understanding of what many regard as the four pillars necessary for developing a proficiency in writing quality prose, especially if the interest is to be published by a major royalty publisher, it is difficult to argue against venturing into the oeuvres of Steinbeck, Faulkner, Hemingway, and Fitzgerald.
Robert L. Bacon, Founder
The Perfect Write®
New Free Manuscript Service for Serious Writers! The Perfect Write® is now providing a Free Opening-Chapter Critique and Line Edit. Paste the first chapter of your manuscript (up to 5000 words) to theperfectwrite@aol.com (no attachments). In addition to the critique, The Perfect Write® will line edit, if applicable, up to the first three-pages of your double-spaced material also at no charge.
Also Free! Receive The Perfect Write® Newsletters that feature articles on writing at a publishable level. Click here http://www.theperfectwrite.com and scroll to the bottom of The Perfect Write® Home Page for the simple two-step sign-up box.
The First Rule Is Still the First Rule
The very first thing that everyone learns about writing dialogue is that we can’t write exactly in the way people speak any more than we can speak in the identical manner in which people write. Yet I read material all the time in which good writers forget or stretch this axiom.
Let’s Begin with “Well”
Anyone who’s old enough to remember Ronald Reagan’s speeches–and he was nicknamed “The Great Orator”– is aware of how often he’d begin a line with “Well” and
then an extended pause. It was his trademark, and so well known that comics copied it in their routines, and even the single word “well” would have a crowd in stitches. But “well” doesn’t work when writing dialogue because it soon turns into a tic.
One “Well” Per Narrative, Please
There are indeed times in the dialogue of a story when “well” is perfectly acceptable. Just not at the start of every sentence spoken by a character, or worse yet by a number
of characters. Someone saying one time, “Well, I’m just not sure about that,” is a lot more palatable to a reader than a character’s, “Well, you need to go see Jerry,” followed by,
“Well, I can see where that could be important,” and then, “Well, how did it go?”
If writers will read their dialogue aloud, the superfluous nature of “well,”–and its redundancy if this should be the case–will quickly become evident.
“Oh” Is the Next Culprit
As someone said once, “If ‘well’ doesn’t get you, ‘oh’ will.” And this is true. In everyday speech, people are constantly saying, “Oh, come on,” or “Oh, I don’t know,” along with an inordinate number of other phrases that start with “Oh.” Start a half-dozen lines in a story with “Oh” and the reader is usually long gone before the next half-dozen.
Then There Are “Ah” and “Er”
“Ah” and “er” do nothing for dialogue, and while I don’t like the use of ellipses in a story, I’d rather see them any day in lieu of an “ah” or an “er.” Anything that retards the flow of speech is bad, and these particular words are two of the major culprits.
Combine These Examples for a Very Mushy Rhetorical Stew
It’s very common for someone to say, “Oh, well, ah, I guess so.” But please don’t write
it out this way. Instead, if you feel the pause is necessary to express to the reader, write something such as: Joan paused to think about it. “I guess so.” Or: Joan hesitated, then said, “I guess so.” Or even a simple: Joan paused. “I guess so.” This is an instance when a pause is just that, and the halt in the action defines what would have been said via “ah” or “er.”
“Hey” Has Only One Use in Dialogue
It’s common to see dialogue begin with “Hey.” This is another word that’s used as often as any to begin everyday speech but should not start a sentence of dialogue unless the character is yelling, “Hey, don’t walk out on me!” or “Hey, is Pete down there?” It’s not a word to use in standard runs of dialogue such as, “Hey, you know me,” or “Hey, you know what I’m saying.” (However, if you’re writing like Damon Runyon, “Hey, you know me,” was
a particular character’s comical speech pattern, and this is a different issue altogether.)
Phrases Such as “You know” and “I mean” Should Be Avoided
Even when writing slang these phrases should be avoided, as they tend to slow the reader. The best way to view both phrases is in the same way we’re admonished when it comes to our personal speech, and this is to eschew their use. It only requires a few times of reading “you know” or “I mean” before the readability of the story is seriously affected.
“Listen” Is Perhaps the Worst Offender of All
How many times when we’re on the phone do we tell someone to “Listen?” As if the person isn’t already doing that, ha ha. People love to use the word, but it has no place
when writing dialogue.
Hear Dialogue Read Aloud to Ferret Out Superfluous Wording
If the person reading the dialogue is hesitating, this usually means the text needs to be revised. I think it’s fair to state that the following doesn’t read smoothly: “Listen, ah, well, er, I mean, oh, hey, you know?” When one finally gets through that sentence, a question to ask is why would anyone really want to talk like this? Yet people indeed do–and all the time. Just don’t write it this way unless it’s a one-time line to show a character’s nervous behavior.
Robert L. Bacon, Founder
The Perfect Write®
Free Critique Service! The Perfect Write® is now providing a Free Opening-Chapter Critique and Line Edit. Paste the first chapter of your manuscript (up to 5000 words) to theperfectwrite@aol.com (no attachments). In addition to the critique, The Perfect Write® will line edit, if applicable, up to the first three-pages of your double-spaced material also
at no charge.
Also Free! Receive The Perfect Write® Newsletters that feature articles on writing at a publishable level. Click here http://www.theperfectwrite.com and scroll to the bottom of The Perfect Write® Home Page for the simple two-step sign-up form.
I’m often asked by both clients and those who attend my creative-writing workshops about using material from other work, whether it be citing a title or reprinting an entire passage. Citing a title of a work is not a problem, unless it could be construed in a negative way as it relates to the text in which it shows up, but I always give the same advice, and this is to be certain to gain permission if material in a passage is going to be used, no matter how limited.
All Mainstream Publishers Have a Permissions Desk
The desk or department grants rights for quotations, excerpts, photos, illustrations, charts, etc. Each publisher has essentially the same requirements. But there can be variations, so it’s important to understand that no one size fits all. For reasonable guidelines to follow, here are the requirements from the Penguin Group:
- The title and author of the Penguin Group (USA) book from which you wish to use material.
- The description of the exact material you wish to use.
- The title of the story or poem.
- The page number(s) on which the illustration(s), chart(s), graph(s), etc., appear.
- The name of the publisher who will be publishing your material.
- The title and author of the book (or other publication) in which you wish to use the Penguin Group (USA) material.
You will need to provide your publishing details:
- The publication date.
- The size of the first printing or circulation.
- The format (hardcover, paperback, CD, e-book, etc.)
- The list price.
- The total number of pages for each edition of the book (or other publication).
If a magazine, the circulation and frequency of the publication in which you wish to use the Penguin Group (USA) material.
Photocopying material has another set of guidelines.
Permission Is Not Necessary Until the Material Is Published
Many times a writer will ask when permission should be sought, and the answer is not what most people think. The Permissions Desk is a very busy place, and the personnel do not want to be involved with being required to perform their due diligence until it’s determined that a manuscript is definitely going to be published. Yes, this means an author should have a “backup” in case the request is refused (or be prepared to delete the reference), but it also behooves a writer not to get hung up on receiving a release until the correct time in the process.
The Chronology Must Also Be Understood
Permissions departments commonly work with a six to eight-week window related to lead time. But, again, this can vary by house. Also, permission requests are generally placed in a queue in the order in which they are received, so unless a writer is a big-time author or a staffer owing a colleague a favor, most people can plan on a couple of months before getting a response.
A Final Thought
Writers get excited about wanting to cite known material, feeling this will enhance their credibility. No doubt, in some instances this is correct. But, overwhelmingly, the reference to another work, song lyric, etc., has nothing to do with the quality of the narrative. Also, if work is in the public domain, no release is necessary, regardless of who is publishing the material.
A writer can start with THE CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE and move from it to any number of academic works on what a manuscript layout should look like. But adhering to the following eight suggestions will assure an acceptable format for almost all commercial fiction.
Hint Number One – Your Name, Page Number and Book Title in the Top Left Corner of Each Page
In the top, left corner of the page, many editors prefer your last name followed by a hyphen and the page number, and one single space below this, the title of your book. Then three single spaces below this (if you’re not beginning a new chapter, which I’ll cover later) begin your narrative.
Hint Number Two – Double-Line Space the Narrative
No one I know will accept a single-line spaced manuscript, and there is good reason. In the days of the covered wagon, when everything was edited with a pencil, the suggested corrections were made between the lines. Many of us still prefer to work this way, and the format is paramount when line-editing material. Plus, most people find double-line spaced copy on an 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheet of paper much easier to read and therefore more comfortable to work with.
Hint Number Three – Double Space After a Period
Double spacing after a period enables room to annotate punctuation changes and draw lines to move sentences around. I am aware that some people are saying this is “old school,” and therefore the double space after the period is no longer necessary, but every editor I know prefers or demands it, as do I.
Hint Number Four – Indent Paragraphs 1/2″
Most word processing programs seem to use a 1/2″ indention as standard, but I often receive manuscripts with erratic or inconsistent paragraph indentions. If you always indent 1/2″, then your text’s appearance will be consistent and this will also enable you to “fudge” when you want your text to look its best from an aesthetic standpoint.
Hint Number Five – Never Justify Text (Except for Chapter Delineations)
Under no circumstances should a manuscript be submitted with justified text. This makes line editing a nightmare (sic, impossible), since extra spaces between words are something a line-editor flags.
Hint Number Six – Locate the Chapter and its Number in the Center of the Page
As with unusual or inconsistent indentation, I receive a wide variety of chapter set ups. My suggestion is to type out the word Chapter with a capital C and follow this with the number 1, 2, 3, etc., one space after the word; i.e., Chapter 1. This isn’t as Mickey Mouse as it seems, because this differentiates a Chapter 1 from Part 1, for example. The Chapter designation is a location in which centered text is not only acceptable but desirable.
Space the chapter identification down however far you desire with an equal number of lines below it before your begin the narrative. Five single spaces from the book title in the top, left corner to the centered chapter identification, then five single spaces to the beginning of the narrative, is a good template.
Plus, this again provides room to “fudge,” if need be, during later revisions and not require a writer to have to repaginate an entire chapter–or even the entire book.
Hint Number Seven – Use 12 Point Times New Roman or Courier Font
Many in the publishing industry seem to recommend these fonts. Also, if a writer sticks with either Times New Roman or Courier, this could save having to manually go through an entire manuscript to clean it up should it have to be changed to either of these font styles. Because, even today, with all of the word processing genius that’s out there, different fonts don’t often wrap properly when the entire text is converted from one font style to another.
Hint Number Eight – Leave an Extra Double-Spaced Line at the End of Each Page
If you choose to ignore everything I’ve written, please don’t disregard this idea: Leave an extra line or even two at the end of each page, especially during the early drafts of your work. Meaning, instead of typing to the last line, which will generally be line 24 of double-spaced copy, type only to line 23. This has nothing to do with editing, but will enable you to revise and often not have to repaginate work, thus saving a huge amount of labor.
If you follow the suggestions outlined in this article, you will have a very happy agent, editor or publisher–and I hope all three.
Robert L. Bacon
robertlbacon@aol.com
Special Offer for Authors
Free Query Letter Review & Analysis, a $57.50 Value
Paste Query to theperfectwrite@aol.com (No Attachments)
For Information on Query Letter Design & Composition
Visit the Form Page on this Site & Follow the Simple Steps
For more information on how The Perfect Write® can craft material to benefit you, please visit us at theperfectwrite.com
There are abundant bear traps along the way that even writers who are old hands at accepting the vagaries of the publishing industry are having difficulty navigating in the current literary marketplace. Here are several issues–some old, some new–to consider.
Pitching a Book to the Wrong Agent or Publisher is Problem #1
Genre specificity plagues a lot of authors. It’s important to recognize that a hard-boiled detective mystery with a lot of torrid love scenes is not classified as Romance. If a writer is having difficulty pinning down the genre for a specific work, a friendly library staff member might be a wonderful resource (please don’t expect this person to read the entire draft). Only after the genre is identified can a writer adequately source the industry for suitable agents or publishers.
Agent or Publisher Bias can Knock a Work out of the Saddle
I recently presented material to a well-known independent publisher, only to be told that their firm did not handle anything dealing with Russians or the Mafia, something that was not mentioned in their already abundant submission guidelines. As luck would have it, a significant character in my narrative was a member of the Russian Mafia.
Of course this could be modified, but the point is that any writer can be blindsided by a bias against anything from Lithuanian folk dancers to fly fishermen from Montana. Keep in mind this is a quirky business, and it’s not always the writer. And it seems that once something is found to be deficient, the agent or publisher tends to turn up the power of the already very intense microscope.
A Manuscript can Suffer from the New Rock Band Syndrome
A manuscript can be deemed to be too close to other material. Or too far removed so that it doesn’t fit with anything else. Related to the way bands sound, I’m told these are standard rebukes in the recording industry. In the publishing business, either comment also follows with a rejection. My personal experience is that it would be easier to climb Mt. Everest than to persuade an agent or publisher to accept material for which they have a predisposition toward one or the other reasons for rejection that I just stated.
What if you Write the Perfect Manuscript, but It’s Really Not so Perfect After All?
This is the bitterest pill to swallow. If a partial or full manuscript is rejected numerous times, it is obviously necessary to take stock of the situation. Many writers contact a professional for assistance well after sourcing scores of agents and numerous publishers. There are only so many agents and publishers for any genre. And, unfortunately, agents and publishers inherently do not want to see work after they have previously rejected the material.
It is critical to have a manuscript polished to its highest sheen possible before submitting it. Quite often there are issues that are not apparent to the early-stage author which can be easily remedied, but when unchecked can send an otherwise solid body of work to the slush pile.
Robert L. Bacon
robertlbacon@aol.com
Special Offer for Authors
Free Query Letter Review & Analysis, a $57.50 Value
Paste Query to theperfectwrite@aol.com (No Attachments)
For Information on Query Letter Design & Composition
Visit the Form Page on this Site & Follow the Simple Steps
For more information on how The Perfect Write® can craft material to benefit you, please visit us at theperfectwrite.com
I recently read something that leads to me to feel that the field of professional developmental book editing needs to be covered in detail.
Editors in the U.S. have a Poor Reputation Abroad. Really?
I happened upon an Internet message board for writers on which someone was asking
if hiring an editor to critique a novel was a good idea. When I read a little further, I noticed the person was specifically asking about me and my company. This was certainly okay, as
I always strongly recommend scrutinizing any potential editor, agent or publisher. But what really piqued my interest was a reply from a person from Great Britain who said that editors were respected in his country but that their contemporaries in the U.S. did not enjoy the same standing. This was certainly news to me–and I imagine a few other editors in America if they’d read the same remark.
Rationale that Defies Logic
There were no comments one way or the other in response to the man’s query regarding me or my services, but it was mentioned that book editors had been the source
of a number of recent threads, so I decided to venture further into the site. Two hours later I pushed back from the computer, aghast at what I’d read. With few exceptions (very few), there were dozens upon dozens of posts vociferously denouncing editors. One of the site’s apparent gurus firmly stated that it would be of no value to hire an editor, because if a publisher sent a manuscript back to an author for correction, if an editor had been used, what would the writer do, since the person (sic, independently) would be incapable of properly making the requested modifications.
If Professional Editors are Such a Bad Idea, Why do so Many Best-Selling Authors Praise their Work?
Logic like what I’d just reported doesn’t deserve the compliment of rationale opposition, to quote Jane Austen, but let me at least provide a little help for those who universally defamed professional editing. As one lone brave contrarian who responded to the thread stated, if editors are such a horrible idea, why do so many best-selling authors, in their respective Acknowledgments, extol the value of those who edit for them? To step farther onto this cold deck, I’d like to see a list of best-selling authors who say they don’t use an editor. I even noticed a piece the other day from a man who has edited for both Stephen King and John Grisham. Both those authors surely must need to have their respective heads examined for employing this fellow at some point in their futile careers.
There is a Time when Amateurs Critiquing other Amateurs Doesn’t Work
I facilitate writing workshops sponsored by the local library system, and at times I encourage workshop participants to critique each other’s work. But I also make it crystal clear, if a writer is serious about having material considered by a major royalty publisher,
at some point the material will require a professional review.
Here is What Editors Do
Professional editing is not about correcting grammatical errors, punctuation, and syntax issues, even though certainly anything a writer might have missed will be identified. Editing at a professional level entails considering a work related to its publishability in the current literary market; and specifically what it will require to polish a draft so it will be accepted for review by a respected royalty publisher. Depth of characterization, quality of the characters, character arcing, transitioning of the exposition and dialogue, dialogue quality, dialogue rhythm, story pacing, the pitch of the scenes, lack of contrivance, point-of-view consistency, redundant words and phrases (this is a bigger deal than most amateurs think), the strength of the story, and the overall readability of the narrative, are just some of the issues an editor must address.
An Amateur Can’t Know What the Industry is Looking for
For many experienced writers, this is the number-one reason to employ a professional editor, since he or she will know what is working in the business at a given point in time–
and what isn’t. The professional editor will also know where and with whom agents are placing work. This is particularly important because there are often esoteric happenings in the publishing industry that only an editor and other insiders will be aware of.
A Professional Editor can Save a Writer a lot of Money, Time, and Aggravation
It doesn’t cost a lot of money to have a professional editor read a manuscript and provide a critique. For even some of the most competent editors, it’s usually around a buck per double-spaced page. Isn’t it a lot better to find out from a professional if a work has a chance, rather than to send out queries and submission packages with no idea of the true caliber of the material? Over the years I’ve read an inordinate number of drafts from writers who have spent years promoting work that has no chance of being published in the condition in which I received it. And what unfortunately happens to an often-rejected writer who doesn’t understand a work’s deficiencies is that he or she becomes disillusioned and at times even bitter.
Having a Work Professionally Edited is a Means to an End
For the overwhelming number of writers who are with major royalty publishers, professional editing is not only a means to reach a satisfactory result, but the only way.
For anyone who wishes to question this remark, I only ask this person to seek out any wildly successful author and ask if a professional editor has helped that writer become published–and stay that way.
When Two People Are Speaking, Less Is More
It’s always crucial to make certain the reader knows who’s speaking, but when it is just two people, it’s not necessary for one to identify the other in every other sentence: “John, it’s wonderful to see you again.” “Martha, I’m so glad you feel that way.” “Why, John, I didn’t know you cared about me.” “Martha, I care about you a lot.”
This reads like something that’s made up be comical, but here’s the same material without the speaker identification in each line, set up by a simple phrase to begin the segment: Martha sat down next to John and said, “It’s wonderful to see you again.” “I’m glad you feel the same way.” “Why, I didn’t know you cared about me.” “I care about you a lot” In this, is there any question as to who’s speaking once it’s identified that Martha began the conversation?
A Character’s Actions Can Indicate Who Is Speaking
“Darn, this crate is heavy.” As Don pushed the heavy cargo in a cart, his foreman bumped into him as he was coming around a corner, almost knocking him down. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you making that turn.” Don smiled at his boss’s comment and got a tighter grip on the handles. “I’ve been doing this for so long, I know what to expect.” His boss nodded. “I guess, but I still should’ve been paying more attention to where I was walking.” He looked at his watch and then to Don. “Why don’t you stop in my office later today when you have a minute? I might have a new job for you.” “Really?” “Yep, I believe your attitude has earned you a promotion.”
In this material, there’s no question which character is saying what. And as with Martha sitting next to John and initiating a conversation that doesn’t require additional speaker attributes, a character can do common things, such as look at the other person, to indicate who’s speaking. Jack glanced at Joe. “You sure we can do this?” Joe shook his head. “Nope.” Or something like this: Joe threw his shovel in the ditch. Jack heard it hit a rock. “You don’t look none too happy.” Paul pushed up his Stetson. “I ain’t.”
Multiple Speakers Create the Need for Speaker Attributes
When there are three or more people speaking, direct speaker attributes, such as Don said or Martha said, must be used with greater frequency. But if the same two speakers
are exclusively involved in an exchange, once they are identified for the reader, it’s not necessary to treat this as any different from the two of them talking to each other with
no one else around. This only changes when another character enters into the dialogue.
Analyze the Way Your Favorite Author Handles Speaker Identification
This is the suggestion I always give in my creative writing workshops. If you like Cormac McCarthy or Nora Roberts or Nelson DeMille or Clive Cussler or James Patterson
or Jody Picoult, grab one of their books and study how a major writer such as one of these structures speaker attributes and interior monologue so the reader always knows who is who. You will see a lot of good old-fashioned he said and she said, but you’ll also notice some masterful skill at adding variety to this most important aspect of writing effectively
for what is often a sophisticated audience–you.
Robert L. Bacon, Founder
The Perfect Write®
Please note before reading this piece that it is lengthy, almost 1500 words. But since the agents, publishers, and the other professional editors I know feel that Point of View is not a subject to be taken lightly, I decided it should not receive short shrift.
Some Writers Fight to the Death of their Material Defending their POV Shifts
What prompted me to address POV at this time is that I recently read a scene that contained four POV shifts, and when I brought this to the author’s attention, I was told this was the intent. And it was explained to me in no uncertain terms that the writer did not see the problem–because in this person’s mind there wasn’t one.
The Significance of Understanding POV Cannot be Overstated
Let me state flat out that the importance of understanding and writing consistent
POV cannot being overstated, since this is one of the first elements agents, publishers,
and professional editors notice, since shifting POV is considered not only a deficiency but
a sign of amateur writing. I can’t always tell writers how to get published by a major royalty publisher, but I am certain of ways not to. And the unskilled shifting of POV is one of the fastest ways I know for material to end up in the slush pile.
Some Highly Skilled Writers Can Indeed Shift POV Effortlessly
There are of course exceptions. Some highly skilled writers can shift POV seamlessly. But their POV shifts are done sparingly and generally at high tension plot points in which the writer is not concerned with the movement because the scene is so powerful that the other character’s view is necessary. And not expressing that POV would hinder the scene.
I wrote an article last year on POV in which I illustrated an instance in which I felt the shift was not only acceptable but desirable. So the issue is not confused, I’m not going to include the article at this time, but will mention that E. M. Forster said that POV shifts are fine–as long as nobody notices them (his remark made me laugh too). The difficulty for most writers is that POV shifts are most often not only noticeable, but overwhelmingly detrimental to the narrative.
Even Some of Literature’s Most Famous Writers Have Made POV Mistakes
It does not require close reading to find problematic POV shifts, and even some of literature’s most famous writers err. For a developmental writing workshop series I facilitate, which is sponsored by the local library system where I reside, I reread Saul Bellow’s THE VICTIM, since I use it in one of my syllabuses and I wanted to refresh my memory on one aspect of the plot line. I noticed two instances in the story in which Mr. Bellow shifted the POV, and to the extent that I required me to reread both passages,
one several times.
A callow youth might read something by a famous author that contains jarring POV shifts and assume this sort of writing is acceptable. I’m sorry, it is not! Especially if a writer has hopes of being paid for being published in today’s highly selective literary marketplace.
A Clear Explanation of POV
If POV is foggy, perhaps this will make it clear: A character whose POV the scene is written around (maybe it would work best to consider this the “lead character” for this illustration) can demonstrate actions and express thoughts. Every other character in the scene can demonstrate actions but never thoughts, since the thoughts of another character in the same scene automatically reflect that person’s POV–and what is referred to as shifting POV once the scenes initial POV is established by a character. How POV is maintained for the reader–related to which character’s thoughts are driving the scene–is the key to POV consistency.
Along this line, it is important to keep another point in mind. Even though this lead character can show actions and thoughts for the reader, he or she must couch the viewing of others. This means that the lead character can state what he or she desires, whether this be personal information or material about other characters or situations, but he or she can only suppose what is going on in the mind of others. Hence, we read phrases in which the lead character says that it seemed, or it appeared, or it looked like something was occurring related to another character or circumstance. Again, for POV consistency, once this lead character is established, no other character can express an opinion via interior monologue.
Examples of POV – The Right and Wrong Way
Here, now, are examples of the same scene with John and Mary written three ways. The first in John’s point of view.
“Hi,” John said to Mary. He gazed into her eyes, more nervous than he had ever been in his life.
“I’m happy that you came by,” Mary said, her voice sounding positive to him.
John, uplifted by her tone, experienced a sudden burst of confidence that he hadn’t thought possible. But as he continued to stare at Mary, she blinked several times before turning away. He could only guess at what had caused her sudden change in comportment.
He took a deep breath and his voice was shaky. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Mary kept her head down. He heard what he thought was a muted sob, then she looked up at him and seemed to force a smile. “No. I thought I could but I can’t.”
Note that John can state his positions because he knows for certain what he is feeling, since this scene is written in his POV. His thoughts are “leading” the scene. But he cannot know for certain what Mary is feeling. He cannot know for example that she forced a smile, only that she seemed to have forced one. It is only after she says “no” that the reader can infer that John might have made a correct assumption. If the last spit of dialogue read, “Yes, I thought I couldn’t, but I can,” this could mean that her smile wasn’t forced, but was one of subtle satisfaction with her decision. What follows is the same scene in Mary’s POV:
“Hi,” John said to Mary, as he gazed into her eyes.
John’s anxiety was obvious to Mary, even by his one-word greeting, since his voice had cracked.
“I’m happy that you came by,” she said in a soft tone, hoping this would provide him with some degree of self-assurance.
John seemed uplifted, and appeared to experience a sudden burst of confidence that pleased Mary. But as he continued to stare at her, she blinked several times before turning away. She hoped that he wouldn’t misinterpret her actions, because it was she who now needed to gain composure.
He took a deep breath, but his voice was still shaky. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Mary kept her head down, hoping he wouldn’t know she was crying inside, but then she looked up and forced a smile. “No, I thought I could but I can’t.”
Here, now, is the same scene with the POV’s shifting back and forth–and the consequences:
“Hi,” John said to Mary, as he gazed into her eyes, wondering if she really wanted to see him.
“I’m happy that you came by,” Mary said, her voice soft, and thinking she should’ve been more aggressive, since he’d made everything so awkward.
John, however, was uplifted by her tone, and experienced a burst of confidence that she hadn’t thought possible. Then he thought he’d noticed a change in her comportment as she looked away. He needed time to think and she wished he were someplace else.
Mary kept her head down and made what sounded to John like a muted sob. Then she looked up and forced a smile. As they stared at one another, he dreaded the words: “I thought I could but I can’t.”
This example is overkill, but I’ve read material just as bad, and it demonstrates just how devastating inept POV shifts can be. Lack of speaker designation is the most common issue with POV shifts, as depicted in the last paragraph, since the reader is unable to determine who was speaking.
A Final Bit of Advice
As I mentioned earlier, there are exceptions to strictly maintaining POV via one character. But if a writer is trying to find a quality agent to become published for the first time by a bona fide royalty publisher, I strongly suggest avoiding POV shifts altogether.
A short time ago I received a request to review an author’s query letter. It was awful. The letter was written in a structure that would make a seventh-grade English teacher cringe. And as is commonly the case with writers who are unfamiliar with the nuances of
the publishing industry, the genre definition for the novel was incorrect.
A Monumental Mistake Compounded
While discussing how to improve the letter, one question led to another, when the
author informed me that over time he had used SIX editors on his novel (he was dead serious). This floored me. How does a writer find a half-dozen editors on this planet who don’t understand the genre of the work they are editing? This ineptness by both parties
(I’m lumping the editors together as one entity) brings up several issues that I feel a responsibility to address.
Anyone can Claim to be an Editor
First, sadly, anybody can claim to be an editor. There is no formal credentialing. I know of people who cannot write but claim in their advertising to have helped dozens of writers get their novels into print, only to learn that every one of these works was self-published.
I have had people attend my creative writing workshops who do not understand writing at anywhere near a professional level, but have “Editor” printed after their name on a business card. History is littered with editors making all sorts of outlandish assertions, such as guaranteeing a writer a contract with a major royalty publisher (which landed the principle of one editorial outfit in jail a few years ago).
The Problem with a Manuscript can Generally be Attributed to One of Two Factors
I’ve found that working with clients is about honest relationships as much as writing. Which brings me to the next point, and this is the time when hiring an editor should not be part of the equation. If a writer has found a competent editor, and nothing has happened in a positive way with respect to the manuscript after exhausting all of the available avenues, there is likely something wrong with the concept for the market in which the work is intended–or the writing is not up to the demands of the industry. This last statement does not imply that the editor was less than scrupulous in supporting the manuscript, only that there is only so much anyone can do with a project. And my experience is that hiring another editor will not help.
Respected Editors will not Compromise their Relationships with Top Agents
Another thought to bear in mind is that most industry-respected editors have long-standing relationships with A-grade agents. One reason for writers to employ highly regarded editors is the desire to have their manuscripts presented to those agents with whom these editors have a fellowship. This is particularly important today, because more and more of the top agents are not accepting unsolicited material, and the bulk of their referrals come from editors. But, emphatically, no editor I know of wants to deprecate his or her reputation by suggesting material that is not thought to be publishable.
The Best Advice Anyone can Receive
Now back to the fellow whose experience with six editors fostered this article. I have to assume he was either quite naive or very unlucky, as somewhere along the way one of the editors had to have told him the truth about his writing. Or he didn’t want to listen and kept burning through editors in hope of finding someone who would like his work. There is no value in dragging along a corpse. Related to his fiasco, from my personal experience as a writer and not as an editor, the advice someone gave me decades ago is in my opinion still the best suggestion anyone can receive about a manuscript that is not going anywhere–and this recommendation was to write something else.
Two Critical Issues to Understand and Accept
I want to offer a final remark on query letters and another on editors editing manuscripts: For an unpublished writer, the greatest query letter ever written is not going to enable a deficient manuscript to become accepted by a major royalty publisher. And neither can a host of the best editors in the industry, short of one of them ghosting the entire piece, save writing that is flawed.
I don’t know when, on the writing curve, Stephen King or Nelson DeMille might seek editorial advice, only that it is documented that they do. So it begs the question, for the writer trying to break into the business with a major royalty publisher–and who accepts
that a professional editor looking at the manuscript might not be a bad idea–when is the right time to hire a book editor.
Generally there are Two Issues
For most people it’s a matter of time and money. Let’s look at the time element first.
A common practice is for a writer to send a manuscript to an editor for a critique after it
is felt that the material is in A-grade condition and ready for market–except for perhaps
the slightest touch up. But if it is determined that there are problems with plot or character elements which cannot be remedied by modifying, deleting, or inserting a few sentences here or there, then the entire piece will often require a wholesale revision.
How Much Time Does a Writer Have?
If an author should seek an editor to review a story concept and its set up from an early point in the creative process, steps can be taken to keep the plot elements in focus. And
the time saved can be substantial, since a rewrite can often require months. From a time standpoint, isn’t it better to catch any problems early–and rectify them–rather than spend considerable time on a draft that will have no prospects in its current condition? If a writer has the discipline to work with an editor during a manuscript’s developmental stage, this initiative can be a valuable time saving practice.
How Much Money Does a Writer Want to Spend?
No one likes to pay a second time for a process that failed initially. This is the most salient reason I can think of to justify bringing an editor into the fold at the start. The early-stage placement of a manuscript with a professional editor is almost always the
most economical way for a writer to work, and usually substantially so.
Does Anybody Really Work This Way?
Unfortunately, many unpublished writers will consider an editor only after a series of rejections from agents, or publishers who accept unagented submissions. This article is not going to change the modus operandi of a lot of writers who are already ensconced within the publishing labyrinth. But I hope these contentions might motivate some others who read this piece to consider contacting a professional editor toward the beginning stages of the first draft and not when it is completed.
Editors are Becoming More Flexible
As with most everything facing a writer who is hoping to become published for the first time, there is no one size that fits all. And while I hate to close an article with a disclaimer,
it is important to report that many well-respected editors only want to see completed manuscripts. Yet it seems like more and more highly regarded professionals in the literary industry are acceding to this article’s primary premise, which is to encourage authors to present early-stage material for review.
Can an Unknown Writer Compete at a Higher Price Point Than a Franchise Author?
The question posed by the subtitle is too absurd to even consider, yet it happens all the time. My favorite story involves a fellow who thought so much of his skill that he priced his e-book at $16. After a year of vigorous promotion he complained he’d sold only four copies, and one his wife bought for a relative. If e-books by major authors are priced in the $10 range, shouldn’t this have told the writer something about pricing his work?
Success Stories Abound for the $.99 E-Book
All anyone has to do is look at Amanda Hocking’s success and the way she priced her material. If I remember correctly, she even gave away some of her work to “grease the wheel.” Many authors, who often possess more marketing savvy than writing skill, have given away three-fourths of their books and offered their respective endings for a buck
or so. And some of these books have sold in the tens of thousands of copies–and in a few instances even more.
It Seems Like $2.99 Is the Far Outside
I attended a seminar not long ago at which a successful e-book pioneer discussed pricing. This person had experimented with all sorts of price points and determined that $2.99 was the absolute outer limit for an e-book that was not previously released by a mainstream print publisher. His position was that $2.99 is the stretching point an e-book
can withstand that’s not of the Stieg Larsson ilk, and anyone even remotely attune to the the publishing industry knows how seldom a phenomenon like that occurs. It might be worth noting that the first e-book concerning Bin Laden’s death was released at the same time as the print version, and the e-book price tag was $1.99!
So It Appears That $.99 to $2.99 Is the Comfort Zone
At the recent BEA conference, the CEO of one of the major publishing firms explained what everyone already knows, and this is that no one in the print business has yet learned how to market e-books. He went on to say that all of the distributing mediums which currently exist are quite good for hunters (of material) but not very good for what he called gatherers. With this in mind, it’s paramount for e-book writers to understand that unless a marketing plan is in place to drive a reader to a particular work, even a free book won’t be read–because no one will know it exists.
The first obvious issue for any reader of this article is the title, since it strays dramatically from the norm of using “versus” to separate the two mediums. The reason
for my word choice is because technology now enables anyone to self-publish for very little out-of-pocket expense.
This still doesn’t imply that self-publishing is not loathed by the major print publishers and upscale indies, along with the agents who support them with submissions, but the rising presence of this electronic medium seems to have created a degree of acquiescence for the digital aspect of self-publishing. I want to reiterate that this newfound tolerance should not be considered akin to support, since the stigma assigned to self-publishing by the mainstream industry remains as strong as ever, and the purpose of this article is solely to try to provide a degree of clarity.
POD is Not Self-Publishing
Print On Demand is confusing to some people, who assume this to connote self-publishing. POD has nothing to do with self-publishing, except that it enables a self-published book to be converted into a hard copy–and at a heretofore unavailable low cost. A single copy in a paperback book, including cover artwork from a template, can be printed for as little as $35, with the entire process taking less than an hour. And an even much shorter time frame is available if the latest technology is used (the “technology” is essentially a sophisticated printer, which I seem to remember has a price tag of around $100,000).
A run of a few hundred copies or less of a book, depending on the purveyor, can reduce the cost to under $10 per unit. According to industry figures, the average self-published book (average in this instance refers to the mode or most common number), sells 41 copies. For someone bent on seeing his or her name in print, I think most folks would agree a single shopping bag full of books is indeed preferential to a garage loaded to the ceiling with them.
Major Royalty Publishers are Utilizing POD
Because of the high cost of distribution and warehousing of non-bestsellers, especially since gross retail sales for a particular title are usually far from a sure thing, it only makes sense that major royalty publishers have embraced the POD model. Publishers can produce an exact replica of a soft-back book on demand–and at a profit–and not have to keep the book in inventory awaiting a consumer buying decision that might never come.
From a business standpoint, the POD model for a soft cover (and probably hard cover
in the not too distant future) makes all the sense in the world. This might mean that the few major book retailers still out there will be reduced to kiosks in the mall, and considering the high cost of maintaining large retail space, this dramatic change could occur quite soon.
So What about Self-Publishing?
Self-publishing is changing too. Authors are now being solicited (okay, badgered), via a constant barrage of POD options presented by the self-publishing houses, to buy the books the writers themselves wrote. Rather than once again creating a new business model, it’s much easier for a self-publishing company to access the convenience of POD and not view
it as a competitive medium. Unfortunately, self-published writers unwittingly fall for their respective publisher’s constant solicitations and still end up with a trunk full of unsold books (which once again I guess is advantageous to a garage full).
Self-Publishing is Still Self-Publishing
Like leopards not changing their spots, self-publishing is what it is. And my advice is still the same for any writer who has run out of patience and tossed in the towel: self-publish as inexpensively as possible. With E-publishing, a book can be made available with an ISBN number or its counterpart for less than $100 (and closer to $50 in many cases, I’m told). If a hard copy is necessary, the POD element enables this starting at $35 for a single copy. But once an author, and particularly a novelist, elects the self-publishing option, the writer needs to be aware, if it should be desirable at a later date to ply the major royalty publishers, it could be like springing Bernie Madoof and introducing him as the guest of honor at your fundraiser.
Before Self-Publishing, Consider the Regional Independent Publishers
The advance from a major royalty publisher (the big six plus Kensington) for a heretofore unpublished author for a work of fiction is generally in the neighborhood of $20,000. There are, however, some very well-respected independent presses (this “indies” name you’ve been seeing) that are worth looking into after the big guys have sent out their rejection slips. The advances will be smaller, but still in the $1000’s in almost all cases, and a writer might have to do more grassroots marketing (although the majors are requiring this, too, and more so than ever).
Publishers Marketplace is the “Old Reliable”
Publishers Marketplace, via its newsletter Publishers Lunch, shows which agents are placing what with whom, and a writer can learn which indies to ply for a specific genre by checking the respective links. A writer can also Google the words “Independent Publishers” and create a list. The problem with this, however, is sifting through the vanity presses that disguise themselves as legitimate royalty houses. This is why I always suggest Publishers Marketplace as the first, and in my opinion, best resource for accurate, concurrent information. But before jumping on the indie express, and to take one more precaution against ending up with that garage full of books I always warn against, I also recommend that authors make a visit to the Predators and Editors Web site. This will be time well spent and enable one more snapshot of what can be lurking in the bushes, which can be something with the body of a lamb but with a head that immediately morphs into a hydra the moment the contract is signed.
A Final Word
In fairness to self-publishing history, there are indeed accurate tales about people who have self-published and been wildly successful. But to my knowledge, all had one of two things in common: phenomenal marketing created via a gargantuan Internet presence or a highly successful commercial advertising career. In the nonfiction market, those who made it were also the undisputed experts in their respective niches. Most of us mere mortals aren’t fortunate enough to fit any of these categories, and this is why I keep stressing to self-publish the absolute cheapest way possible, should this be perceived as the only option still available.
Fact: Query Letter Writing is an Art Form.
Make no mistake about it, writing queries that produce results is a craft.
Fact: A query should not be written like a synopsis.
I devoted an entire article to this, yet writers who have read the piece continue to
send me sample queries that ignore this premise. Yes, there are exceptions. There are exceptions to everything in publishing. But if an author wants to entice an agent to stand
up and take notice, as I said in the prior article, sell the sizzle and not the steak. Pure and simple, for fiction a query is best written if it mirrors liner notes.
Fact: A writer has to know the genre in which the work is written.
If the author doesn’t know the genre in which his or her work is written, any bona fide editor can explain it. A writer who doesn’t take the time to figure this out has virtually no chance. Genre identification is paramount. And while critique groups, etc., are a wonderful sounding board, they are historically populated by amateurs, and as such not the place to learn about genre specificity in today’s complicated and ever-changing
market.
Fact: Structurally, a query can be designed like a short theme.
Yes, a simple but effective way to structure a query is like a theme. Begin with a core thought that highlights two or three critical plot elements. Justify these issues in the next paragraph, then close the letter with the thrust of the thesis: Why Readers Will Gravitate
to the Story. Personal credentials if they pertain directly to the work can be added in a final brief sentence or two, along with a statement of appreciation for the agent’s or publisher’s time.
Fiction: Copying the words or phrases from a successful query will assure another query’s success.
Nothing could be further from the truth. A query should define the voice and strength of the writer and the project. An experienced agent or publisher can pick up the nuances of a writer’s style. Counterfeiting doesn’t work.
Fiction: Query letters should never contain questions.
This farce has been bandied about for some time and is ridiculous. No one likes a query that reads like a movie opening: In a world…followed by a “what if” scenario. But there is nothing at all problematic about asking an agent or publisher to consider a novel’s most poignant issue or issues. And if some agent has written to the contrary, so be it. Hundreds of other agents, and all of those I know and work with, think differently.
Fiction: A query should fill as much of the page as possible.
It’s quality not quantity that matters. A query with 500 words jammed on a page is not going to be perceived to be any better than 300 words that clearly and concisely reflect the writer’s skill and the “hot points” about the story he or she has written. An overwritten query can plant the thought that the novel is also structured in the same manner.
What can distort this last remark are the bloated query examples posted by some writers whose work has been accepted for publication. But when a query turns into a synopsis, which is almost always the tendency in longer efforts, it’s generally a quick
reach by the agent or publisher for the SASE or the rejection template on the computer
file.
Fiction: If my query doesn’t work the first time, I can write another one later to the same agent for the same book.
Agents keep records. At least many of the good ones I know do. And, universally, as I’ve experienced it, agents never want to see a query about the same material a second time any more than they will consider a manuscript they previously rejected. So it is imperative to get it right the first time.
A final thought: A poor query will never get a book in front of an agent; however,
a great query can influence an agent to look at a novel that might just require a touch
up. And critical feedback can often be gleaned from an agent. For anyone not using a professional editor (curses), I cannot think of a better way to receive professional advice without having to pay for it. However, most authors would be way ahead of the game if they sought professional direction to assure a quality query before bombarding a highly selective marketplace with less than sterling requests to review material.
It’s not uncommon for authors at all levels to be wary of editorial assistance if this means it will involve actually omitting or adding material to their drafts. When completed, will it still be “my” work? is the question on these writers’ minds.
Handled Correctly, the Writer Will Notice Only One Thing
This single issue is that the narrative will read better than what was submitted originally. But it will not read any different from the original draft from the perspective or voice. And any competent editor will make certain to not only maintain the voice but the tone as well.
Only After Voice Is Established Can Any Editing Begin
The very first issue the editor must face is to read enough of the manuscript to get a clear understanding of the writer’s voice. No competent editor would change one word or clause without being 100 percent certain of the author’s voice, since this influences syntax at every level of the narrative.
Whatever the Voice of the Narrative, the Editor Must Never Lose Sight of It
Does my changing this spit of dialogue, for example, alter the way the reader will perceive this character? And if I modify this run of internal monologue, am I certain I’m adding to the dimension of this character–without changing the character? These are the questions every good editor asks. And the reason is so the voice of the writer is always respected.
Maintaining Voice Is Not Limited Solely to Characters
All areas of a narrative have the identical requirements. A 12-year-old with normal intelligence can’t suddenly sound like a college professor any more than a scene can be described by an Ivy League lawyer in the syntax of the average high-school kid bagging groceries.
The Narrative’s POV Determines Voice
It’s easy to think that POV is limited to tone, but I’ve found it’s generally more indicative of voice. A skilled editor will assess the POV in the various scenes to come away with a voice for the entire piece. Disparate scenes and their inherent nuances won’t influence the way these elements are presented to the reader any more so than the way the characters in the story are depicted. Unless someone is writing in distinctly different voices, such as what’s displayed in the Vintage International compilation in one volume of Thomas Mann’s DEATH IN VENICE AND SEVEN OTHER SHORT STORIES, the voice of most narratives will be consistent throughout. And a good editor will understand the author’s voice and protect it when making all revisions.
Robert L. Bacon, Founder
The Perfect Write®
Free Critique Service! The Perfect Write® is now providing a Free Opening-Chapter Critique and Line Edit. Paste the first chapter of your manuscript (up to 5000 words) to theperfectwrite@aol.com (no attachments). In addition to the critique, The Perfect Write® will line edit, if applicable, up to the first three-pages of your double-spaced material also
at no charge.
Also Free! Receive The Perfect Write® Newsletters that feature articles on writing at a publishable level. Click here http://www.theperfectwrite.com and scroll to the bottom of The Perfect Write® Home Page for the simple two-step sign-up form.
One of the most confusing issues in all of publishing involves ISBN codes. How does a writer get an ISBN for a book? How much does one cost? What does the number mean? Does a book require a new ISBN if it’s reprinted? Are the numbers different in countries outside the States? The list goes on, but unfortunately seldom if ever are the most important questions asked. The purpose of this article is to explain how the ISBN works.
I’ll also be providing several links along the way for verification and clarification purposes, but I think it’s important to explain the basics of the ISBN first.
The ISBN is One of Many Codes
ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. The definition of the ISBN is provided by isbn.org, but a simple explanation is: The ISBN code is a unique identifier
for books that are intended to be sold commercially. The system was created in the U.K.
in 1966 by W. H. Smith and called SBN or Standard Book Numbering. It was adopted in 1970 as the international standard ISO 2108. Another number, the ISSN, or International Standard Serial Number, is used for periodicals such as magazines.
Be Aware that Different Codes are in Use in Countries Outside the U.S.
The first issue to keep in mind is that many countries use their own ISBN system. For example, Canada uses the CISN format, which means Canadian ISBN Service System. Also, Amazon uses its own identifier, which the firm calls ASIN (however, the number follows the ISBN code). The second issue to be aware of is that the ISBN has no relationship whatsoever to the Library of Congress Control Number (which is free, by the way). I think anyone serious about becoming published in any medium would be prudent to click the Library of Congress link and spend the 15 or so minutes it will take to read through the FAQ’s.
Instances in Which a Writer Doesn’t Need an ISBN
It’s important to understand that if a writer has no intention of selling his or her book via a commercial setting, handing it off to a wholesaler, or is not planning on placing the book
in a public library, there is no need to apply for an ISBN. But, if the author plans to sell the book through an outlet(s) of some sort, to answer the first question I posed, the ISBN may be purchased from only one official source provided by the U.S. government, and this is publisher R. R. Bowker, 630 Central Ave., New Providence, NJ 07974-1154. The company’s toll free phone number is 877-310-7333.
Yes, R. R. Bowker is the Only Official Government Purveyor for ISBNs in the States
Now that I’ve clearly established Bowker as the originator of ISBNs, what about the inordinate number of firms and individuals who resell the numbers? Here is where it really gets sticky, but let me begin with cost first. The cost of a single ISBN from Bowker is currently $125, while ten ISBNs are sold to the public for $250 or $25 each. The first question is, why would anyone need more than one number? And the answer is, the
person wouldn’t–unless the writer plans on having a book published in multiple mediums.
If the latter is the case, each format, such as an e-book, hardback, softcover, trade paperback (which is smaller than softcover), etc., requires a different ISBN to identify the particular medium for the book. Simply, one number applies to the hardback and another
to the softcover, etc. But as long as nothing changes in a book in the original medium in which it is published, it can be reprinted ad infinitum under the same ISBN. But change any wording in the narrative, or the medium in which the book was originally published, and a new ISBN is required. Not rocket science, but we’re not even close to through with this.
A Barcode is Necessary for All Books Sold Commercially or Placed in a Library
The next issue is the need for a unique barcode number, and this must also be purchased from Bowker (I know, how convenient). A unique barcode number is necessary so the bookseller can identify the price point at which you want to sell your book. So the first rule is not to purchase a barcode until you determine what price you want your book
to sell for. And since you might have an e-book priced at one price point and a softcover release at another, you would need a separate barcode for each; hence, again, the need
for more than one identifier.
Barcodes don’t have the dramatic price drops that are commensurate with ISBN codes (more on this to come). A barcode is $25 each from 1 to 5, $23 if purchased in lots of 6 to 10, and $21 in any spread from 11 to 100. Again, since they involve price points, you will have to tell Bowker your retail pricing for each style book so everything can be keyed-in accordingly. While we’re still a long way from quantum physics, what comes next is a black hole that can reshape a writer’s universe–all the wrong way.
The Following Section May Be the Most Important Information a Writer Seeking Publication Will Ever Read
A great many publishers and individuals resell the ISBNs, and it certainly appears advantageous for a writer to buy a single number for say $40 in lieu of $125. The problem is, who owns the legal right to the title the ISBN identifies if the author has not received
a release from the company or person who sold the number? According to the staff at Bowker, and I pressed them on this issue several times to make certain of the consistency of what they were telling me, each year they are contacted by a multitude of writers who are justifiably distraught after they learn the rights to their book are really owned by the person or company that resold the ISBN to them!
I would think this is also a double-edged sword for the individual of company that is retaining the rights, especially if either is the publisher, since if the work is plagiarized, the publisher is always sued right along with the writer. So, unless the staff at Bowker is lying to me to protect their interests, I think it would behoove any writer to make certain a release is signed before getting an ISBN from anyone outside of Bowker. By the way, 100 ISBN’s are only $575 (according to what Mrs. Milsey taught me in the 4th grade, that’s $5.75 each), and 1000 are just $1000! It’s easy to see why buying in bulk and reselling the numbers at a 20 to 40 times markup has substantial street appeal.
The ISBN and Barcode Can Be Combined on One Format
If you should be interested in how the barcode is determined, since it also has a book’s category and other information embedded, Barcode Graphics Web site explains the process in detail and this is why I chose to highlight the firm in this section. Included in their definitions is the tidbit that the Bookland EAN symbol is the barcode of choice in the book industry throughout the world because it allows for the encodation of an ISBN with the barcode on a single label.
This company’s price for 1000 of a single label with a both codes in a standard configuration is $27.75. So once a writer has the ISBN, and a price point, a single label can be ordered. Just be aware that there are a gargantuan number of graphics outfits that can print labels, so it would behoove a writer to shop around, but I imagine $27.75 for 1000 labels is a pretty strong baseline.
To recap, if you’re going to sell your book outside your individual efforts, you will have
to acquire an ISBN and a barcode number that can be affixed to each book (unless of course the publisher prints the Bookland EAN combined-label somewhere on the book). And, again, as with changes or different formats that will require a separate ISBN, you will need a unique barcode for any price points that aren’t the same.
The Release Should Be Issue Number-One
Regardless of from whom anyone acquires an ISBN outside of Bowker, the single most important issue is that the writer have a release signed by someone who has the authority to do so (which is another subject, and a monster in its own right). My opinion, if anyone wants it, is that it’s probably better to go ahead with Bowker, buy ten ISBNs, get the exact number of barcodes that are needed initially, and be done with it (other than getting the labels printed in some manner if your work is not exclusively an e-book). And if someone accepts my quantity suggestions for each component, the total for everything for one e-book and one printed book that can be sold by a wholesaler, retailer, or placed in a library, looks like a price tag of around $325, give or take $10.
By the way, it would be easy to load up on Bowker because of the company’s obvious monopoly status, but in fairness, would it be conceivable to have a hundred different authorized outlets dispensing numbers? This seems like perhaps the only instance I can think of in which our government could’ve handled something internally–such as via a Library of Congress affiliate agency of some sort, especially since this is already being
done with periodicals–and made money rather than turning it over to a private concern.
But, as many have said before me and many more will say after, who knows?
I never realized the problem with writing a novel that fit in with many genres until I received a rejection many years ago from a publisher who had at one time been my editor. She told my agent that my thriller fit medical, military, and political genres and her imprint’s guidelines were too restrictive to support a book such as mine. Of course I was crushed and couldn’t understand such lunacy.
Readers of Certain Imprints have Specific Expectations
It required many years before I finally accepted what I’d been told, and I feel what I eventually understood is worth passing on. First and foremost, it might be obvious that a person reading an Avon book expects a Romance, and a particular sort of story with a specific set of characters. And it’s just as obvious that readers of Pinnacle thrillers anticipate a mass murderer, killing victims in a gruesome manner “on stage,” while pursued by a cop who will have the tables turned on him or her, and this person’s lover will also be brought into the fray.
Platforms have Little or No Wiggle Room
As the latter example indicates, a single murder wouldn’t work, nor would a potential catastrophe of cataclysmic proportions. For a book to be accepted by Pinnacle, there must be a heinous mass-murderer on the loose, and the story needs to contain a traditional law enforcement element pursuing the evil-doer. So, no virus can be about to be unleashed or there can’t be an imminent nuclear threat, along with some prefabricated agency’s personnel trying to save the day such as with 24.
If a Genre is Not Specific to the Story, a Myriad of Problems Can Develop
I’m often faced with having to explain to my clients that their respective books not only fit into multiple sub-genres, but cross the lines of major genres too. I find this particularly common when someone is writing YA material that begins as a Mystery and then turns into pure Fantasy. Or YA material that suddenly depicts a murder or a sex scene in somewhat graphic terms, making the work unsuitable for young adults yet overall too soft for the adult market. Another problem area is Adventure that becomes Sci Fi. If you bought what you thought was a James Bond type of story that suddenly became Dr. Who, how would you feel about your purchase?
Distinct Boundaries Exist
I hope this is now starting to make sense for readers of this article much quicker than it did for me many years ago. There are specific guidelines that publishers expect their stories and therefore their authors to follow. And now with all the sub-genres, these parameters are more restrictive than ever. So when I suggest that writers approach only those agents or publishers who have placed or published material in the genre or sub-genre in which their story is written, there is a definite method to my madness.
I’ve written many articles during the past few years on the art of composing query letters, and these have consistently ranked among the most popular of anything I’ve published. But even after explaining what an agent is looking for, and that a query must read like liner notes and not a synopsis, I continue to receive questions from writers.
So I thought it might be a good idea to dissect a query down to what I call its capillaries.
Successful Queries Consist of Four Distinct Parts
The four parts of a query letter are: the hook, the layout, the reason the book will appeal to a wide market, and the writer’s credentials.
The Opening Paragraph
The opening paragraph must contain a hook that differentiates the story from all others. It also must encapsulate the primary focus of the novel. Then it has to tell the agent that what follows is genuinely scintillating material which will be indicative of a story that is going to be a blockbuster, since all agents and publishers want only the next big book. This is not a joke or hype, even though some agents or publishers might intimate otherwise, especially when they are in a professorial mood.
Here’s What Not to Write for an Opening to a Query
My 85,000-word historical novel opens with Ma and Pa leaving Virginia in 1872 with plans for settling in Missouri. Uncle Dirk goes with the family and is arrested for killing a man in a bar fight. Pa tries to spring him from jail, but shoots the sheriff and gets himself arrested too. Ma goes on by herself with the family and meets a man in Missouri who she decides is more to her liking than Pa. Especially since Pa probably won’t get out of jail for several years, if ever. Ma has a baby by this man, a boy who grows up and runs for public office, but Pa comes back and tells Ma she done him wrong and is going to tell everyone what kind of woman she really is, and that her son is illegitimate. She decides to shoot herself rather than face her shame.
Here’s the Same Opening for a Query That’s Not in Synopsis Form
A VOW NOT TAKEN, my 85,000-word work of Commercial Fiction, is the story of a young woman whose husband is sent to prison in 1872 for trying to spring his brother from jail and shooting the sheriff during the botched escape. Emily Davis must brave the frontier to find a new life for herself and her family, and she discovers love and happiness with a man after she settles in Missouri. Her life is everything she could hope for, until her husband shows up 20 years later and threatens to expose her as a bigamist; and her son, who is now running for public office, as a bastard.
Now that the agent is excited, what more can the author offer? The woman has decided to shoot herself rather than face her shame. Is this by itself enough to build on? Let’s see.
The Second Paragraph Has to Elevate the Query to the “I Need to Read This Book,” Level
Emily contemplates taking the easy way out. One shot from the pistol and she is free. But as she places the gun to her temple, her life flashes in front of her and she uncocks the hammer. If only her husband had listened to her and left his brother in jail. She never told him what Dirk had done to her. Getting free of him was going to be a blessing. Why would her husband not leave with her and the children when she had asked him? Why wasn’t he stronger–and why wasn’t she?
The Third Paragraph Cinches the Deal
A VOW NOT TAKEN is a story of a woman in conflict, yet Emily’s methods for defeating adversity will give readers a window into their own hearts and a different perspective on
the difficult decisions that form people’s lives. Decisions, like Emily’s, which are not made because of necessity or convenience, but for love. Emily shows that clarity is a matter
of conviction solidified by time, and readers will be gratified when she is rewarded for maintaining her dignity while in the throes of intense peer pressure and public scorn.
A Little About Yourself and a Request
A VOW NOT TAKEN is my first novel. I have an English degree from CCNY, and I finished first-runner-up in statewide creative-writing contest sponsored by the local library system where I live. I maintain an active blog on which I offer chapters of my novel for review,
and I am encouraged by what has become a substantial following. I am writing to ask if
you would be interested in considering A VOW NOT TAKEN for representation. I am most appreciative of your time, and a SASE is enclosed for your reply.
Write a Comprehensive Opening Paragraph and Break It Down
Everything in this query for this pretend story, other than what I wrote at the end, came from the opening paragraph. Look for the parts in your story that set it apart. Is there love, hate, joy, fear, anxiety, jealousy? What is the story’s strongest element? That should be the lead.
In the make-believe novel I invented for this exercise, a woman is left to carry on by herself because of a husband who did not exercise good judgment. But can he be faulted
for his brotherly love? Yet was he completely ignorant of his brother’s violation of Emily? I chose not to focus on the latter issue in this storyline, but in your treatment it might be the compelling plot element. Then why would he try to rescue his brother? Didn’t he care about what was going on with his wife? Or was he scared of something else?
Once it’s established what makes the story tick, the entire query can be designed around this. It’s solely a matter of filling in the blanks. Just be certain not to “tell” the story in the query. Instead, “show” what makes the narrative work.
If querying literary agents isn’t difficult enough, how is a writer who is attempting to break into the business supposed to decipher the sales figures that are posted by major agents in areas such as the Dead Reckoning section of Agent Search (which is superb by the way) when individual statistics during a 12 month period might indicate the placement
of over 100 titles by a single agent?
Sales Numbers can Reflect the Entire Agency and Not the Individual
Keep in mind that an agent such as Richard Curtis, who Agent Search credits with
159 titles sold during a 12 month period, is likely stating the figures for his entire agency. Prolific producers such as Richard Curtis, Sterling Lord, Al Zuckerman, and Jane Dystel
are historically providing numbers generated by their respective agency imprimaturs and not their individual sales, although they may play a role in each transaction.
Query the Right Agent
If you check their individual web sites, you will notice that some of these high production agencies are mammoth, employing a couple dozen agents and numerous subordinate staff members, such as readers. This is why it’s imperative to find out which representative at
an agency is the right choice for a particular work. And why it does not behoove a writer to send material to the lead agent when another person is better suited.
Be Careful of the Agent on the Marquee
The reason for this admonition is because most agencies don’t pass material from
agent to agent to see who might like it from a genre perspective. So in instances in which
a cozy mystery might be ideal for Jane Jones, it might not be suitable for hard-boiled police mystery guru John Jones. And if John Jones is the agency founder–and the person queried–his personal attache may only look for material that will fit his eye if the query is addressed to him. And no one I am aware of enables a writer to submit to multiple agents within the same agency, as this seems to be universally disparaged.
There is an Exception to be Aware of
There is, however, one disclaimer that must be made, since there are indeed some agencies for which all queries are reviewed by a submission coordinator, regardless of to whom the letter is addressed. This submission coordinator often screens queries and passes those that are deemed worthy to the agent who is thought to best fit for the project. But I don’t think anyone would consider it bad advice to suggest that a writer find the right person to query, from the outset.
Proactive Things a Writer Can Do that Will Work
Nothing about locating the right agents to query is easy, but with the last sentence in
the preceding paragraph in mind, a serious writer can save a lot of time and aggravation
by making the effort to do these four things:
- Closely follow Publishers Marketplace to learn which agents are selling what and to whom.
- Become knowledgeable of the content of the recent book(s) an agent of interest has placed so something can be referenced in the query, especially if there is a plot or thematic similarity.
- Utilize the Agent Query web site to verify the agent’s title, address, etc.
- While on the Agent Query site, access the agent’s web official page (the URL is almost always shown). This is important because the submission criteria listed on the agent’s actual site is often more detailed and current than what is provided in the short bio provided on Agent Query.
A writer making the effort to complete these four tasks will be ahead of 95% of the querying competition–which is an immense advantage when considering the overall numbers.
Why Does Word Count Matter?
It’s a common question, and not one that can be easily answered, if at all, but I’ll attempt to offer at least some degree of clarification. However, it must be kept in mind
that much of what is written in this article will be nugatory if in ten years almost every
book is published in an e-book format.
The First Issue to Consider Is If a Writer is Presently Unpublished
Previously unpublished authors seem to be scrutinized much more closely than well- known writers with an established readership. A 150,000 word book by an unknown has
one obvious thing going against it from the outset, and this is the cost to publish the book
if it’s twice the size of an average work in the same genre. This would likely entail a higher price point, and the immediate concern that the buying public will be reluctant to pay more for a book by someone who is heretofore unknown. (With an e-book, this of course is a non-issue.)
So What About the Previously Published Writer?
This seems to be what causes the most confusion. Some people might love to read Joe Jones so much that every word is a trip to Nirvana and therefore the more text the merrier. Also, publishers might be reluctant to come down too hard on their revenue producing writers and consequently they leave their overwriting alone. Or, simply, publishers aren’t editing their successful writers’ works, and what is submitted is essentially what is going to be put into print.
There are Some Quantifiable Answers
And these relate to genre. In Literature, for example, how can any book be too expansive? Yet, in the Police Thriller world, there is a model in the 100,000 word range,
give or take 10,000 words either way, that seems to work best. Perhaps the rationale is
a ten-hour or so read for the average individual taking part in a round trip, coast-to-coast flight. This might be a silly analogy to some, but look at 80% of the novels in an airport bookstore and get back to me if you think I’m altogether wrong.
Asking About Word Count is Normal
I also find myself looking at word count whenever someone presents me with a novel
to edit. And there is good reason. If a writer has a 250,000 word Science Fiction first draft,
I know right away this is not the project for me. On the other hand, if someone has a work of Commercial Fiction that is 125,000 words, and even though I can almost always assume the novel is going to be 25,000-35,000 words too long, it’s something I can generally handle.
Don’t be Bunged Out by Word Count
Some of the word count hoopla is just that, in my opinion. I remember an absurd situation a dozen years ago that was the result of sending a manuscript of mine, at
the request of my editor at the time, to a well-known agent. My story comprised 78,000 words and contained a romantic element that was significant to one of the story’s developmental arcs. The august agent informed me that a novel needed to be in the 120,000 word range to enable a “juicy enough romance to develop.” Go figure.
The bottom line is that nothing is more subjective than word count, but if you’re trying
to become published for the first time, I think you’ll find it to be a good idea to try to fit
your story within the current parameters for the genre in which you write.
Even the Size of Specific Mediums is Conjecture
A while ago I read a paper that offered guidelines which ran from a page for flash fiction to 60,000 words as the starting point for a work to be considered novel-length. I’m not remotely qualified to comment on flash fiction, but it seems 60,000 words is an acceptable number for a narrative to be classified as a novel.
If the 60,000 Number is the Starting Point for a Novel, What is Considered Too Long?
When I began querying my initial novel over 15 years ago, and called a few agents to get a feel for the market, I remember the first words out of several agents’ mouths: How long is your manuscript? I thought it was quite odd to ask this without knowing one thing about the story. But when I began editing for a living, I often found myself requesting–also early in the conversation–the same information. What follows are a couple of reasons why.
The Interest in Length in Many Cases Relates to the Cost to Print the Book
It’s very hard to get many agents to consider a mammoth work from a heretofore unpublished author because they know submissions editors will balk at considering something that is essentially a tome. This doesn’t mean the author of a substantial body
of work cannot achieve success, but large books cost more to print and consequently
often retail for more money.
It’s hard to entice readers to pay an additional amount for something written by an unknown author. Certainly e-publishing renders the increased-cost argument nugatory,
but until the industry reaches a point at which nothing will ever be printed, the original contention will likely retain some degree of validity.
Traditional-Length Stories are What the Public Desires
Commercial Fiction in the 80,000 to 90,0000-word range seems to be what appeals
to the general public, since this provides an 8 to 10-hour read for most people, and it’s
the ambit a great many agents and publishers recommend their authors’ works fall within. Of course a book could be 55,000 or 120,000 words (or whatever), but the 80,000 to 90,000-word model provides a good framework, especially for an unpublished writer trying to break into the business.
It’s Always Important to Understand there are Exceptions
A single factor normally determines why publishers allow exceptions, and this pertains
to an author’s following. This implies the writer was published in some medium previously and has achieved considerable success. And the publisher is gambling that the next book will sell, regardless of its size. I could be very wrong, but if J. K Rowling had written the
first installment in her series at the length of some of her later works, we might never have heard of Harry Potter.
One Rule
The rule is: there isn’t one. But as I constantly write, unpublished authors have to jump a very high bar, and it’s constantly being raised. So it’s imperative to make an agent or publisher’s work–as it applies to accepting a manuscript–as comfortable as possible.
Some of the positions maintained by agents are purely personal and even regrettable. But regardless of the reasons for agents’ and publishers’ purported biases, writers have to be prepared to work around those that are extant. And it seems an unpublished manuscript thought to be too short or too long for its genre is toward the top of the list of known red flags. But I must state that I recently spoke with a highly regarded submissions editor who said she has never found word count to matter, irrespective of the genre.
I honestly feel, however, that anyone who is unheard of and unpublished is going
to have a very hard time getting an agent or publisher to consider a first novel with an unusually low or high word-count, regardless of the genre, although Literature has considerable latitude. I realize this article is fraught with contradictions, but the business is tough enough without trying to circumvent what are considered the traditional word-count metrics by many if not most of those who make the ultimate decisions regarding the fate of a story.
____________________________________________________
Robert L. (Rob) Bacon, Founder
The Perfect Write®
Please contact me with questions or comments, and let me know if there is an area in the field of professional writing you would like addressed in a future newsletter from The Perfect Write ®.
For authors, The Perfect Write ® is now providing a FREE OPENING CHAPTER CRITIQUE and up to a FREE 3-PAGE LINE EDIT (if applicable).
Paste your material (up to 5,000 words) to theperfectwrite@aol.com (no attachments).
For authors, The Perfect Write ® is also continuing to offer
FREE QUERY LETTER REVIEW AND ANALYSIS.
Paste your query to theperfectwrite@aol.com (no attachments),
and visit our Sample Letters Page for examples of successful query letters.
Many of us who professionally edit manuscripts spend a great deal of our time providing our clients with query letter assistance. And happily so. Because if we’re not coaching those who use our services on how to write effective query letters, a lot of very good authors are often unaware of some of the more critical nuances.
It’s a lot More than Eschewing Adverbs and Running Adjectives
Forever, it seems, we have been warned against using adverbs in queries, the mind-set being that an agent will think that adverbs are indicative of the writer’s overall style. Hence, the novel will be teeming with “stopped suddenly” and “smiled broadly” sorts of tautological expressions. Or that there will be a plethora of “irregular, big, burgeoning, brown spots” or “loud, cantankerous, feeble, wrinkled, old people” lurking somewhere. These are givens in the realm of query letter writing, but what is to follow is not.
Avoid the Temptation of Comparing Your Writing to that of Another Author
First and foremost is the necessity of crafting a query that highlights the relevant hooks in the story and not to permit the letter to come across as an overzealous personal pitch vehicle for the author.
For example, if a query says that the work is written like a Pat Conroy novel, an agent can and often will infer that the author is stating that he or she writes as well as Mr. Conroy, a lofty goal indeed. If comparisons to other works are desired, it is much better to simply imply that the novel is written in the style of a particular noted author–and not that your ability mirrors that person’s skill sets, regardless of how you or others in your circle of friends and acquaintances might rate your talent.
Humility is a big plus; conversely, braggadocio is a sure way of turning off a literary agent, since how you comport yourself by the content and tone of the query can have
a great deal to do with how an author’s representative will perceive working with you.
Be Certain to Write the Query in a Way that is Indicative of How You Wrote
the Novel
The well-respected literary agent and oft-published author, Noah Lukeman, wrote
about how too much information via a writer’s bio can be more damaging that helpful.
And so much so that the bio can serve as the means for rejection–and not the text of
the manuscript itself.
When I first read Mr. Lukeman’s position on this I was appalled and offended, but as I thought about it more, I decided not to blame the messenger. If a writer is an academician in a scientific field, and that person’s query letter style, for a mystery novel for example, doesn’t indicate anything to the contrary, why should the agent think that the book is
not written like a professorial thesis. In the same vein, if someone has been designing advertising copy for 20 years–and that individual’s query for a police thriller is rife with overblown rhetoric–why would the agent think any differently about the condition of the narrative he or she is being asked to read?
If Applicable, there are Facts about an Unpublished Writer’s Background that can be Advantageous
In line with what I’ve just illustrated, I suggest that unpublished writers write sparingly about their credentials, except should their CV include writing honors they’ve received,
and only if this pertains to the genre in which the book they are presenting happens to be written. Workshop or symposium awards, and book competitions in which germane work was singled out for excellence, etc., are what the author would want to present at the close of the query. Forget everything else. Just thank the agent for his or her time and rest your case.
Give Yourself a Chance
If you’re careful about hype, watch the obvious benchmark rejection issues such as unnecessary adverbs and running adjectives, and keep you CV pertinent to the novel you are presenting, you’ll enable the description of your story’s features to dictate if the agent
is going to request your manuscript. And you won’t be rejected for reasons that may have nothing to do with the quality of your work.
Robert L. Bacon
robertlbacon@aol.com
Special Offer for Authors
Free Query Letter Review & Analysis, a $57.50 Value
Paste Query to theperfectwrite@aol.com (No Attachments)
For Information on Query Letter Design & Composition
Visit the Form Page on this Site & Follow the Simple Steps
For more information on how The Perfect Write® can craft material to benefit you, please visit us at theperfectwrite.com
As an independent book editor who freely solicits outside material to edit, I receive a great many manuscripts with this caveat: I have sent my manuscript to many agents but received rejections that indicated my work needs editing by a professional. If I have you edit my manuscript, should I send it back to agents who have previously rejected it?
Agents Don’t Want to See Material a Second Time
At least this has been my experience for more than 20 years, during which time I’ve queried a half-dozen of my own novels. There are exceptions, but an editor for whom I carry great respect told me early-on that he had never heard of an agent representing a book from a heretofore unpublished author he or she had rejected earlier. And while I’ve had a well-regarded submissions editor refute this, until a writer tells me his or her personal book was accepted by the same agent after it was rejected, I’m sticking with my original statement and what the first editor told me. If someone was already published and has a following, this is a horse of a different color, but for industry unknowns, again, once a draft is rejected I suggest moving on to more fertile ground.
A Writer Can’t Be Faulted for Not Knowing the Nuances of the Business
There is no handbook on how to deal with agents or to what level an author’s representative will go to support a draft. Most novice writers think that if their work is good enough, an agent will accept the manuscript and polish it for them. Nothing could be further from the truth. But, again, it relates to where the writer is on the usefulness curve. If a writer is an established property, whatever an agent might not do a publisher will. Many publishers send drafts written by their franchise writers to editors for extensive revision. These editors are not often listed in the acknowledgments, but in some instances they do more writing on the work than the author. It’s just the way the business works.
Publishers Do Indeed Edit
To reinforce what I just wrote, when a problem is discovered, quite often the publisher will revise the text and sometimes this can entail major effort. But this is likely not going to involve a new author’s material unless that work is thought to have blockbuster potential. And even though every publisher wants “the next big book,” none are naive to the reality
of the probable sales numbers for the material they have agreed to publish.
There Is a Moral to This Story
And it pertains to timing. Few writers I have come in contact with, and I’m included in this lot, have not opted for Plan A and have sent out material that wasn’t ready. This is
why I’m particularly sympathetic to writers who typify this modus operandi. We all think we wrote something really good, and that if it needs a little touch up this will be provided at the agent level.
Unfortunately, an average agent’s workload consists of upwards of 50 queries each day, along with several manuscripts each week. Add to this the existing clients they represent (and specifically their needs) and how much time does an agent have left to edit material? Sure, the larger agencies have personnel to assist with the day-to-day chores and even to edit, but most employ or use interns as readers and do not have the capacity to hire editors.
However, there are agencies that do claim to provide extensive editing services for
their clients at no charge, including line editing. And while this might well occur, I have no personal knowledge or experience with any agencies that offer these services to heretofore unpublished writers. All I know about about are the crooked outfits that have scammed unsuspecting authors, and I’ve done my best over the years to alert writers to avoid them.
Same Old Same Old
My harangue is identical to what it has been for years. For all practical purposes, a draft gets one chance with an agent or publisher–and that is all. So I don’t think it’s out-of-line to suggest having a professional critique material before sending out queries for it. Because,
in addition to the moon and the planets needing to be aligned in a precise syzygy, the one indisputable fact, if there is one in the publishing industry, is that a manuscript should be in the best possible shape the author can get it into, period, before submitting it for consideration by an agent or publisher.
Robert L. Bacon, Founder
The Perfect Write®
New Free Service for Serious Writers! The Perfect Write® is now providing a Free Manuscript Opening-Chapter Critique and Line Edit. Paste the first chapter of your manuscript (up to 5000 words) to theperfectwrite@aol.com (no attachments). In addition
to the critique, The Perfect Write® will line edit, if applicable, up to the first three-pages of your double-spaced material also at no charge.
Also Free! Receive The Perfect Write® Newsletters that feature articles on writing at a publishable level. Click here http://www.theperfectwrite.com and scroll to the bottom of The Perfect Write® Home Page for the simple two-step sign-up box.
During a writer’s workshop of mine, I was asked by one of the participants the very question that is the title of this article. At the time I was discussing the merits of Proust and I guess this is what triggered the thunderous applause that followed. I quickly cited a few examples of florid writing from SWANN’S WAY that I felt were incontrovertible and moved on. Later, it dawned on me that anyone writing in earnest and hoping to be published deserves an honest answer to the question: Why are so may novels on the bestseller lists lousy?
How Well Known is the Fiction Author?
Is this ever a huge issue. Publishers want books that can sell. A well-known author will have a guaranteed sale of “x” number of books, regardless of the quality of the work. This is why we can pick up a book written by a heretofore quality author that reads as though it had never come across a line-editor’s desk. And, if the truth be known, the novel might not have.
Do All Prolific Authors Write Their Own Work All the Time?
No. Is it realistic to think that a person can write an 80,000-word novel each and every month? Yet a hugely successful Romance writer puts out work at this very pace. And I’ve been told by a writer friend of hers that she is a workaholic who writes every line. I respect the author who told me this as believing it to be true, but I don’t. Famous writers have admitted to employing a dozen or more full-time people, not to provide ideas–but to write the material we see in airport gift shops and bookstores. That I do believe.
Bestseller Lists can be Skewed, Very Skewed
I recently attended a popular fiction writer’s presentation of his latest offering. He told the group his agent had informed him earlier in the day that the novel was going to open at number 12 on the New York Times Bestseller List. How is this possible when the first copy has not been sold? If a publisher arranges enough presale commitments from bookstores, libraries, etc., a lofty position on a bestseller list is not a difficult chore. Especially if one keeps in mind that 20,000 copies sold will land a book on the NYT list.
What is the Answer?
If books are not always written by the person who is listed as the author, material is not edited, and presales cannot be representative of actual sales, what is a the public to do? My best answer is to be certain the store a person purchases from will accept a return. It is the only prudent course of action I can recommend.
Publishers are in the most demanding positions of their collective corporate lives. They want to go with what brung ‘um. If an author of theirs has sold well, he or she will be provided with the opportunity to sell well again, unfortunately many times to the detriment of the consumer. This is why so many novels on the bestseller lists are lousy.
Robert L. Bacon
robertlbacon@aol.com
Special Offer for Authors
Free Query Letter Review & Analysis, a $57.50 Value
Paste Query to theperfectwrite@aol.com (No Attachments)
For Information on Query Letter Design & Composition
Visit the Form Page on this Site & Follow the Simple Steps
For more information on how The Perfect Write® can craft material to benefit you, please visit us at theperfectwrite.com
One of the main principles behind sound plot development is the change a major character must experience for the storyline to be effective. And make no mistake about it, this character must be different at the end of the story from what the writer presents at the outset. Yet the ability to show the changes in believable ways is just as important as the modifications themselves.
“The Elements of Screenwriting” by Irwin R. Blacker Provides a Solid Template to Follow
In my creative writing workshops I often allude to books on screenwriting to help writers structure their novels in a technically correct manner. Irwin R. Blacker’s “The Elements of Screenwriting” offers superb advice with respect to the principle characters’ requiring change, and he explains ways this can be accomplished.
Changes to a Character, While Essential, Cannot Be Sudden
One of the most important issues Blacker points out is that writers often show a character’s shift in persona occurring too abruptly. I will occasionally ask a writer to look at the draft and pinpoint the exact location in the story where a major change occurred with one of the primary characters. If the writer can go to a single paragraph in the narrative, this lets the author know that the change wasn’t subtle enough–and too much happened at one time.
Gradual Changes Also Move the Plot Along
The biggest downfall to a sudden change is that it doesn’t give the character a chance to adequately develop. And the pacing often will flag, as one seems to have an inverse relationship to the other, especially if too much of a change occurs too rapidly. Small changes that take place as the plot moves along serve two main purposes from a technical perspective, as the reader’s understanding of the character can be advanced at the same time it’s being solidified.
There Is a Point When the Reader Must Know the Change Has Taken Place
With everything I just wrote about subtlety, at some place in the story the change in a character must be obvious to the reader. This skill in presenting these subtleties so they ultimately develop in dramatic fashion can make or break a story. The authors of the following works accomplished this end in splendid form and contributed greatly to why each became a classic.
When does Gregor Samsa, and therefore the reader, realize there is no possibility of his returning to his normal body? When does Pierre realize his life will never be the same, even if he can reclaim his position with the royal family in Russia? How about the Reverend Dimmesdale’s realization that he can no longer endure Chillingworth’s prodding? Or Raskolnikov’s acceptance of the reality of his crimes during his gut-wrenching confessions? And, in a more contemporary vein, Meggie’s acceptance of her life after the birth of a son she never reveals to the priest who fathered the child?
Find a Pace for Each Character
Studying this sort of outstanding material can give writers a feel for the pace of each character’s development–and change–in their own works. By translating the concept of rhythm to their personal narratives, authors can learn to sense when something should be foreshadowed and to what degree. Handled properly, the ultimate result will be both dramatic and obvious in the mind of the reader, which should be every writer’s goal.
Robert L. Bacon, Founder
The Perfect Write®
Free Critique for Serious Writers! The Perfect Write® is now providing a Free Opening-Chapter Critique and Line Edit. Paste the first chapter of your manuscript (up to 5000 words) to theperfectwrite@aol.com (no attachments). In addition to the critique, The Perfect Write® will line edit, if applicable, up to the first three-pages of your double-spaced material also at no charge.
Also Free! Receive The Perfect Write® Newsletters that feature articles on writing at a publishable level. Click here http://www.theperfectwrite.com and scroll to the bottom of The Perfect Write® Home Page for the simple two-step sign-up box.
Words that Define In Absolute Terms and Those that Don’t
Amateur writing is full of misused modifiers and other syntax culprits that foul a narrative, but nothing may be more glaring than the improper use of some of the
rudiments of rhetoric such as “a” and “the” or “will not” and “would not.”
Tex Must have Entered a Bar on the Verge of Foreclosure
The words “a” and “the” are often interchanged without the writer understanding the implication. The cowboy sauntered up to the bar and pulled out the stool, says to the reader that there was just one lone bar stool in the place, since the article “the” implies there is only one of something. Hence, Tex should’ve sauntered up to the bar and pulled out “a” stool.
Chronology also Impacts Correctness
If it’s established for the reader that Tex had pulled out the stool at an earlier point in the scene, then it would be perfectly acceptable for our cowboy to pull out “the” bar stool he’d sat on earlier, since in the world of rhetoric he had taken possession of the object via his prior action. Likewise, if an author had written there was only one open bar stool, or there indeed was only one stool in the bar, then it would be correct to write that Tex sauntered up to the bar and pulled out “the” bar stool, since there would be no other stool
in the saloon for him to grab.
Won’t and Wouldn’t are not Synonymous
I read a message on a blog by a fellow who didn’t understand the difference between “won’t” and “would not,” but who was published by a small indie. I’m glad he got it right if
he used the words in his story, or certainly his publisher would’ve called him on it. “Won’t,” as the contracted form of “will not” is definitive; conversely, “would not” is imprecise. I “wouldn’t” do something means that you don’t want to do whatever it might be, but it’s not
a certainty. It’s the little bit of wiggle room that “would not” provides that distinguishes its meaning from “won’t.”
Don’t Forget “That” and “Which”
It’s easy to lose sight of “that” and “which” as defining modifiers, but they are. It took me the longest time to understand an example I read years ago that differentiated “that” and “which.” It went something like this: The lawnmower that is in the garage is red. The lawnmower, which is in the garage, is red.
The “that” example implies there is more than one lawnmower, but that the specific lawnmower in the garage is red. The “which” phrase means there is only one lawnmower, and it’s in the garage and happens to be red.
If any of you are like me, this at first will make no sense. If anything, it might even seem the opposite should apply. But if you think about it long and hard, at some point
the meanings of “that” and “what” in these examples will become clear. And once this is understood, a writer is one step closer to crafting prose with modifiers that accurately define.
Parse a Manuscript for Places where Words are Placed in the Incorrect Context
It’s easy to make mistakes with either of the sets of words I mentioned in this article. With most narratives, “a” and “the” are much more problematic than “will not” and “would not,” but it’s incumbent on the author to make certain these words convey their intended meaning.
Did Tex really pull out the only bar stool in the Long Branch Saloon? And what did he actually mean when he said he wouldn’t go upstairs to see Madam Carlotta? I don’t believe there was only one bar stool in the Long Branch any more than Tex would never make a visit to Madam Carlotta’s boudoir again.
To write a novel that will be appealing to a major royalty publisher involves more than just talent and hard work. It requires creating a plan from the outset and the discipline to follow it.
Everybody Has a Story Worth Telling
If you have begun reading this article, there’s a good possibility you have either been told this, heard this, or feel this way for your own reason(s). And while it may not be irrational to believe that each of us has a story worth publishing, doing so in a manner that is palatable beyond our family and closest friends is indeed what separates writers. But is the latter part of the preceding statement always true?
It’s Often Not a Matter of Ability
I don’t think it would be out of line to state that we’ve all read a novel which we’ve paid our hard earned money for and later shaken our heads in wonder and disgust at how the book every got published. You might have even said to yourself (and often) that you’ve written material much better than what you just read, but your story was rejected. So why did a writer’s inferior material attract a publisher when your superior work hadn’t?
Specific Manuscript Faults that Can Cause Rejection
Assuming that basic grammar and punctuation were not an issue, several factors can determine why a manuscript was never considered publishable. In no particular order, here are some of those reasons. And please note that all of these shortcomings are the result of inadequate editing.
- Certain plot elements seemed contrived
- The characters were not interesting
- The scenes were not fully developed
- There was not adequate conflict
- The dialogue was not realistic
- The pacing was slow
- The premise was poor
- Formatting was wrong for the genre
- Paragraphs and/or chapters were too long
These are some of the common reasons for rejection, yet you may have just read material from
a major imprint that contained some if not many of the very flaws that are listed. How is this so? Read on.
The Not So Obvious Reasons Poor Material is Published
It is important to understand that today’s publisher is interested in readership potential more than ever, and an established author with a guaranteed readership is key. The penchant to print books that will assure a certain number of sales encourages the following:
- Books are written too fast, and this results in diminished quality
- Books are poorly edited, since many publishers do very little of this work any longer
- Some of the most successful authors do not write all of their material
- Some of the most successful authors do not write any of the material under their signature
The list is much longer, but the point is obvious. And this is why a plan is critical for an unpublished author or an already difficult task can soon become insurmountable.
Before you Commit the First Word to Paper, Formulate a Plan and Force Yourself to Follow It
For those writers who have the foresight to create a plan and the discipline to follow it, here
are a few suggestions that will at least give each of you a fighting chance to have your novel considered by a quality agent and a bona fide royalty publisher:
1. Determine the genre or sub-genre in which you will be writing. If you should be having difficulty with this, go to the free http://www.agentquery.com/default.aspx web site for definitions.
2. Review current novels in your genre to determine the authors who are being published and by whom. Make a list of these authors’ agents (they are generally referenced on the novel’s Acknowledgments page). This will provide you with a group of agents to query, and you’ll likely find that some (or another agent in their agency) will accept unsolicited material.
3. More important than any of the issues in this list, it is imperative that you write your novel
so it is an exact fit for the publisher’s definition of the genre.
4. Pay attention to word count, paragraph length, chapter length, and general layout. Avoid long runs of italics and all parentheses (the latter is purely a personal hang up of mine).
5. You can certainly take advantage of critique groups, writer’s workshops, and friends and relatives. But have a professional editor–whom you have thoroughly checked out–at least read your manuscript before sending it off. And if you do take my advice on this, find an editor who
has experience with royalty publishers in your manuscript’s exact genre.
6. You will not get a second chance with an agent or publisher. And the list of good ones who are still accepting unsolicited material in both arenas is dwindling fast. So make your manuscript as perfect as possible in every way prior to sending it.
Put the Cart in Front of the Horse and Create Your Liner Notes First
This is the time to put two paragraphs of your dreams for your novel on paper. Design beforehand what your liner notes (and ultimately your query letter) should look like when your manuscript is finished, and your characters will never be shallow and your scenes can never be weak. Now follow your dreams.
Robert L. Bacon
robertlbacon@aol.com
Special Offer for Authors
Free Query Letter Review & Analysis, a $57.50 Value
Paste Query to theperfectwrite@aol.com (No Attachments)
For Information on Query Letter Design & Composition
Visit the Form Page on this Site & Follow the Simple Steps
For more information on how The Perfect Write® can craft material to benefit you, please visit us at theperfectwrite.com
What is a Redemptive Character?
In writing workshops, I’m often asked what is meant by writing redemptive characters, and even by experienced writers, so it’s not surprising when there’s confusion about the meaning. Simply, it implies writing a character(s) in a way that readers can find something about the person(s) to identify with or care about, and in best case scenarios–root for. But this paints the explanation in rather simple strokes. I find there’s much more to it, so let me spend the rest of this article providing some concrete ideas on how to apply this definition in a broader sense; but a little history first related to the traditional concept of the redemptive character.
Very Few Successful Novels are Solely Plot Driven
I once asked an erudite workshop group to make a list of well-known novels with absolutely not one character who could be liked. After several months we’d parsed hundreds of books. There were a few honorable mentions (or dishonorable, if you so choose) such as ON THE ROAD and TROPIC OF CANCER. And I think THE SUN ALSO
RISES and BREATHING LESSONS made the “almost list.” But when we’d finally completed our task, and a dozen people had contributed to this study of what amounted to more than
a thousand works, only STUDS LONIGAN and WUTHERING HEIGHTS made it to the top of the heap. So writing a book that will sustain a reader without a likeable character is not an easy chore.
Manuscripts are Rejected because Agents and Publishers Aren’t Invested in the Characters
Not becoming invested in the characters is often because these figures weren’t found
to be redemptive. Another knockout factor is to hear that the characters just weren’t interesting. So this begs the question, “What is a way to make a character interesting?”
One answer lies in writing a character who is genuinely likeable and therefore patently redemptive. Another technique is to make a character compelling, but with the reader’s approval of the person’s actions not entering into the equation.
A Character Doesn’t have to be Paddy in THE THORN BIRDS to be Redemptive. Understand What Like Means, and You can Provide the Reader with a Reason to Like to Hate Your Character
This is one time when there is a magic bullet, and it’s a Howitzer. But the answer is not always obvious. In THE GODFATHER, most of us pulled for Michael, along with the Don (and in separate eras). The majority of people cared about Clarice Starling in THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, but Hannibal held many people’s interest even more so as an antihero.
Perhaps with the Don and Hannibal, readers (and moviegoers) respected their power, however disparate its source. Yet while many people had their vicarious sweet tooth satisfied by the earlier Don, they later sympathized with the older character, which is a tribute to Mr. Puzo’s immense skill in character transitioning. With respect to Hannibal,
he was viewed as an enigma. But since a lot of people were enticed (by Thomas Harris’ brilliance) to want to know why the good doctor had become a monster, this was the epicenter of the latest installment. For whatever the reason, many people unquestionably remained curious about the Hannibal Lector character.
Redemptive Character Writing Covers a lot of Ground, so There’s Plenty of Room to get Comfortable
Don Corleone and Hannibal Lector might not seem like sterling examples of my
original definition of redemptive characters, but each in his own way is just that. Look at
the recent vampire groundswell. The creatures are written in a manner that render people compassionate for their plight. A key to becoming published is to write characters who, regardless of their proclivity, are redemptive in the eyes of the reader.
Robert L. Bacon
robertlbacon@aol.com
Special Offer for Authors
Free Query Letter Review & Analysis, a $57.50 Value
Paste Query to theperfectwrite@aol.com (No Attachments)
For Information on Query Letter Design & Composition
Visit the Form Page on this Site & Follow the Simple Steps
For more information on how The Perfect Write® can craft material to benefit you, please visit us at theperfectwrite.com
A Great Title May Not Get Your Book Published, but It Can Get Your Story Noticed
When I was recently asked to write an article on how to come up with a great title for a book, it would have been easy to suggest that someone should craft a great story first. But GONE WITH THE WIND, THE SUN ALSO RISES, THE SOUND AND THE FURY, and THE POWER AND THE GLORY would’ve been exceptional books regardless of their titles. So would THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN, AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY, SHIP OF FOOLS, and ATLAS SHRUGGED. But in both groups, only SHIP OF FOOLS would’ve been a certain match for someone browsing the shelves of a library for something to read, since the story did indeed take place on a ship on which a lot of foolish people had embarked.
An Author’s First Responsibility Should be to Identify the Story’s Most Significant Element
Just as many writers have difficulty recognizing the genre in which their story is written, authors are often perplexed at how to express their story in terms that clearly relate its unique characteristics. If a writer works on this skill, and anyone who has any hope of becoming published must do this, channel this presentation into a ten second elevator pitch, since you’ll need to perfect one of these too. In these ten seconds, you’ll likely have spoken 15 to 20 words. Assuming you’ve toiled long and hard to craft your short presentation, what is the message?
Use the Power Point in the Elevator Pitch to Create Your Title
Since you’ve now analyzed your story to its most definitive level, something in the story has motivated you to come up with a powerful spit of rhetoric that says it all. Your story is brilliantly conceived and Fitzgerald should only have written as well. Now remember your favorite novels and think about the story lines and the titles. Look at your manuscript in the same way and imagine what would best reflect the words you wrote.
KANSAS FLASH might not be about University of Kansas and Chicago Bears football great Gayle Sayers, but the life of a county fair huckster who became a phony tent evangelist and then really turned to God (a modern-day Beckett); THE CRUMBLED HEART, instead of romance or horror, could be a story of the inability of a child prodigy to attain expected greatness; THE BITTER TASTE OF SWEET SUCCESS might tell the tale of a character like Harry Angstrom in the RABBIT series.
Keep in Mind that Your Publisher Will Have the Final Say
I happened to check Amazon for each of the three titles I just made up and none of them were listed. I suggest doing the same (and with your local library) with whatever you create. This is especially important if your title matches or impinges on another author’s in the same genre in which you are writing. This happened to me twice in fifteen years, so this is one subject I can relate to from personal experience and wish I couldn’t. And remember that no matter how good you think your title might be, the publisher may suggest or even require something different.
Robert L. Bacon
robertlbacon@aol.com
Special Offer for Authors
Free Query Letter Review & Analysis, a $57.50 Value
Paste Query to theperfectwrite@aol.com (No Attachments)
For Information on Query Letter Design & Composition
Visit the Form Page on this Site & Follow the Simple Steps
For more information on how The Perfect Write® can craft material to benefit you, please visit us at theperfectwrite.com
The Problems with Contrived Writing Cannot be Overstated
Someone recently asked me about the meaning of contrived writing, and when I was coming up with some flagrant examples, this brought to mind a wonderful crossword
puzzle phrase: deus ex machina. I couldn’t remember how to pronounce it, so I went to dictionary.com and an elegant female voice enunciated it with what I assume to be the perfect inflection. And the correct delivery is critical to express the gravity of this devilishly problematic writing nightmare, which is any artificial or improbable device resolving the difficulties of a plot.
The Meaning of Contrived Writing Must be Clearly Understood
Some people assume “contrived” relates to material that is “obvious.” This, too, is certainly a meaning; but in the context of this article, contrived writing relates to anything that would not occur in a particular scene without some sort of miraculous intervention. What makes contrived scenes particularly difficult to reconcile is that a great many genuinely superb writers have resorted to fantastic good fortune to preserve their plot lines. Unfortunately, this weak writing does not often save the story. It is important for a novelist to consider that a large number of readers will put a book down for good when a character’s actions are deemed to be beyond fortuitous.
We Might Expect Superman to Break Down a Door and Save the Editor of The Daily Planet, but Not to do so on The Nightly News.
I refer to the writing of impossible scenes as the Marquez Syndrome. ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE is a terrific story and in large measure contributed to Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ Noble Prize for Literature. But did the story require the mysticism? For me, it detracted from an otherwise perfectly executed saga. But this wasn’t contrived, just a vignette he employed in the tale. Some writers, however, have taken his technique to heart and utilized preternatural events to cover a plot point instead of writing relevance into the scene. Contrivance is much easier than going back in the narrative and creating a set up
for the overall plot element, with some authors forgetting that a single nonconforming thread can dog an entire story.
Even the Bard Wasn’t Immune
But Shakespeare had an excuse. Other than CORIOLANUS and a couple of other not
so egregious exceptions, he apparently was forced for a number of reasons to stick pretty close to a two hour time frame for his plays. Yet he made a mockery of the audience and later the reader with THE TEMPEST, a play that is one of his most acclaimed, and from which I remember several movies being made in just one short stretch (PROSPERO’S PAPERS, et al). With the ship being destroyed and the survivors stranded on the island in the opening act, the plot is horribly and irreparably vitiated when at the one hour and fifty-nine minute mark the ship is found essentially intact. At least this story was a fantasy from the outset, although Prospero’s powers as a magician never enabled the wrecked ship to appear in relatively sound condition. Chronology made this happen, not conjuring. Novelists are generally not on Shakespeare’s clock.
Not Many can Claim the Skills of Marquez or Shakespeare
And since most of us don’t possess their genius for writing, or dozens of titles under our belts and an international following, we’re probably better served if we write our scenes–and most certainly our story finales–with acceptable possibilities. If anyone should remember the ending in the television series DALLAS, this is a prime example of what constitutes a contrived scene–and how devastating it can be to an entire work. Contrived scenes are a certain sign of lazy writing, and as harsh as this sounds, one of the best ways to guarantee never being considered for publication.
Robert L. Bacon
robertlbacon@aol.com
Special Offer for Authors
Free Query Letter Review & Analysis, a $57.50 Value
Paste Query to theperfectwrite@aol.com (No Attachments)
For Information on Query Letter Design & Composition
Visit the Form Page on this Site & Follow the Simple Steps
For more information on how The Perfect Write® can craft material to benefit you, please visit us at theperfectwrite.com
A Time when Size Really Matters
When is this chapter ever going to end?” This is a common rebuke heard by many
a weary soul. The quality of the story may not have diminished, but the chapter is not consistent in length with the rest of the book. And the reader is uncomfortable. No time
was allowed for the person to relax with the words.
Consistency with Chapter Length is Important
Harry Crews, whose writing is far-removed from the mainstream, dissected Graham Greene novels related to how many chapters they contained and the length of each. Crews had a number of reasons for doing this, and it can be suggested that a writer should look at his/her own work as Crews parsed Greene’s to create visual continuity that can translate to pacing and tone.
Genre as an Influence
However, when reviewing chapter length, a number of issues must be considered,
none-the-least of which is genre. A writer of literature, such as Pat Conroy, will have different chapter parameters from a mystery author like James Patterson, with the
separate and distinctive narrative nature of the disparate stories influencing chapter
length.
Clever Techniques that Provide the Perception of a Shorter Chapter
If a writer finds a chapter, for whatever reason, too long, there are techniques that can
be used to shorten the perception of a chapter’s length and provide the reader with some breathing room. One is to add an extra line space after the paragraph and the beginning
of the next (three spaces instead of two in a raw draft) to indicate a shift in the scene that, though evident, is not so great that a new chapter is desirable. Simply, the whole is still within the theme of that chapter. The other device is to use dots between a line break
to indicate a shift in the direction of the scene that is substantial, but still not such that a new chapter is deemed appropriate. Some publishers use elaborate symbols to accomplish the same thing.
Prudent Reasons for Section Breaks
It must be kept in mind that section breaks must have a distinct function–such as denoting a passage of time, a change of setting, or a point-of-view shift–to indicate a transition point that would otherwise confuse the reader by its absence. But just as section breaks enable the reader to take a deep breath, too many of these breaks, or if they are ill-placed, can confuse the reader as to why the change of direction was necessary. The story will appear choppy and therefore a poor read.
The Ultimate Test for a New Chapter
If you feel a chapter is too long or bloated, a good test is to look closely at the point at which you are contemplating a section break. Apply a simple concept: If you were getting tired of reading the chapter, wouldn’t the reader likely be feeling the same way?
Robert L. Bacon
robertlbacon@aol.com
Special Offer for Authors
Free Query Letter Review & Analysis, a $57.50 Value
Paste Query to theperfectwrite@aol.com (No Attachments)
For Information on Query Letter Design & Composition
Visit the Form Page on this Site & Follow the Simple Steps
For more information on how The Perfect Write® can craft material to benefit you, please visit us at theperfectwrite.com
For many, tone and voice seem synonymous, and it is easy to see why people might
feel this way, however, the terms are decidedly different. But before either can be properly differentiated, it is important to take a close look at writers who mastered voice.
Thomas Mann’s Short Stories Showcase Voice
One of the best ways to understand something is to provide different treatments of
the subject. Thomas Mann’s eight stories in the popular Vintage imprint with DEATH IN VENICE as the lead title is ideal to work from since each story is written in a different voice. Yet Mann’s masterpiece, THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN, depicts his voice as a separate entity unto its own–and one could say that it was his true voice.
While the short stories in the DEATH IN VENICE Vintage compendium enable a relatively quick study of the range voice can take, this is far from conclusive. The reason is because voice is without boundaries. This open architecture, in and of itself, leads to much of the confusion about voice. And this is the first distinction between voice and tone, since tone can generally be identified without too much of an argument.
So What is Voice?
When someone hears that a “new voice has exploded upon the literary scene,” does one automatically expect to read the next Marcel Proust, Virginia Wolfe, Ann Rand, Ralph Ellison, William Faulkner, or Erskine Caldwell; or should we seek writers from our current era such as Pat Conroy, Elmore Leonard, E.L. Doctorow, Tom Clancy, or Barbara Kingsolver for reference?
Each of these writers possesses a distinctive voice, but what do we say about authors who create work in the same genre and are similar in style? Does each writer still have a separate voice? Of course he or she does. Just as one singer can sound like another but not possess the identical range in every key.
An Attorney Letter and Family Correspondence on the Same Subject Illustrate the Difference
One of the best ways I can think of to express voice is to compare an invitation to the reading of a will from an attorney with the same request from a close relative.
The first might read something like this: Dear Mr. David C. Howson: Please be advised that your attendance is requested on Thursday, January 11, 2009, at 1:00 p.m., in the offices of John Carlton Jones, Esquire, Attorney at Law, 201 West Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60601, for the reading of the Last Will and Testament of Horatio Clark Howson, etc.
Conversely, here is an invitation from a close relative: Dear Davey, your uncle’s will
is going to be read next week at our attorney’s office, and we look forward to seeing you there. Jo Ann will call you for with the details. Love, Aunt Mary.
Style Establishes Voice, but There’s a Lot More to it
Same message about the dearly departed, and although both are conveyed in what is considered a soft tone in relative terms, they are written in decidedly different voices. So while it is safe to say that style creates voice as much as the words that are used, what about an academic paper written in an authoritative tone? Isn’t this also an authoritative voice? Certainly, except it would probably be easier for definition purposes to claim the voice as authoritative and the tone as strong.
Tone has Three Basic Mediums
For practical purposes, tone is either soft, moderate, or strong. These areas of course can have any number of gradients, from very soft to aggressively strong, but the three delineations provide the basis for comparison. This is still speculative, because what one person considers moderate another might feel is strong (and of course vice versa). But
it’s much easier to come to a consensus on a specific tone than to devise a chart that categorizes voice.
So, Again, What is Voice?
Voice is you. Should you and another person write a book about the identical topic, your story will reflect your way of telling the tale via words and syntax that differ from what the other writer has used. So when you write a book, and the critics proclaim a fantastic new voice has roared onto the scene, these pundits are talking specifically about you, because you are the voice of your writing. And a unique voice indeed.
Robert L. Bacon
robertlbacon@aol.com
Special Offer for Authors
Free Query Letter Review & Analysis, a $57.50 Value
Paste Query to theperfectwrite@aol.com (No Attachments)
For Information on Query Letter Design & Composition
Visit the Form Page on this Site & Follow the Simple Steps
For more information on how The Perfect Write® can craft material to benefit you, please visit us at theperfectwrite.com
It is important to recognize all of the various writing components that can be utilized
to develop and enhance characterization. Yet while dialogue is definitely one of these elements, it is often reduced to a lesser status. Here is a typical textbook definition that,
via the specific omission of dialogue by name, diminishes this writing medium as a valuable means for crafting characterization:
Characterization is the process of conveying information about characters. Characters are usually presented through their actions, dialect, and thoughts, as well as by description. Characterization can regard a variety of aspects of a character, such as appearance, age, gender, educational level, vocation or occupation, financial status, marital status, social status, cultural background, hobbies, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ambitions, motivations, personality, etc.
While dialect is mentioned, and this reference certainly indicates the use of dialogue,
the insinuation can hardly be described as comprehensive. Perhaps nothing can more adequately place the reader in the mind of a character than the dialogue attributed to that individual. Nor can we learn any more about an environment, whether physical or social, than through reading dialogue.
A Contemporary Novel with 100% Dialogue
For an exercise in excellence in this medium, regardless of one’s liking or not for Stephen King (as a writer, I regard him as a super genius), DELORES CLAIBORNE is an extraordinary example of the use of dialogue to tell a story. And in this instance, the entire text is structured around Delores speaking, and without one word of interior monologue or
a single adverb attribute.
Reading Suggestions that Demonstrate Outstanding Dialogue
GOD’S LITTLE ACRE, THE SOUND AND THE FURY, RABBIT RUN and TORTILLA FLAT
are all classics that contain extraordinary characterizations portrayed through dialogue.
For purely contemporary readers, anything by Elmore Leonard will be of benefit, however, GLITZ may be the book to parse first.
Many find creating good dialogue to be the most arduous aspect of their writing. And
it is hard to argue that straight dialogue can be inherent with problems. But when a writer considers dialogue as a means of communicating characterization, then the task can be much less daunting and a perfect way to present a story with greater depth and more definitive focus.
Robert L. Bacon
robertlbacon@aol.com
Special Offer for Authors
Free Query Letter Review & Analysis, a $57.50 Value
Paste Query to theperfectwrite@aol.com (No Attachments)
For Information on Query Letter Design & Composition
Visit the Form Page on this Site & Follow the Simple Steps
For more information on how The Perfect Write® can craft material to benefit you, please visit us at theperfectwrite.com
It would be nice to relate that few writers ever have pacing issues, but as any novelist knows, the story’s tempo is often–as it should be–on the forefront of an author’s mind.
In the writing workshops I facilitate that are sponsored by the Palm Beach County Library System, budding authors often ask about ways to better pace their material. One
of my suggestions is to insert dialogue if the scene is flagging. This, of course, isn’t always possible or even practical, however, I find this option is available more often than it isn’t. And this is another reason why learning to craft effective dialogue is important (sic, paramount) to any writer’s success.
Dialogue can Promote “Showing” and Eliminate “Telling”
Another of the greatest benefits of developing dialogue skills is the inherent subjugation
of the dreaded “Show Don’t Tell” dilemma. This is because dialogue automatically creates action, since the characters are speaking. As a bi-product, dialogue also encourages the writer to maintain an active tense and write around passive tense; i.e., “have been,” “had been,” “would’ve been”, etc.
Reading “Out-Loud” What We Write is Never More Important than With Dialogue
In discussing dialogue in general, it is critical to understand that we can’t write like we talk, anymore than we can talk like we write. It is the ability to write between the two that makes for quality dialogue. And the best way to determine if the goal has been met, as in all writing, is to read aloud what was written.
And if it sounds bad the initial time we read it, it isn’t going to get any better, no matter how many more times we traipse through it. What will happen by re-reading is that we will memorize the lines or the pattern of the dialogue so we can read it more fluently. But the person who will be reading it for the first time is not going to have the author’s patience or persistence. Hence, if we stumble the first time and we wrote it, rewrite it!
Steinbeck and Leonard as Models of Great Dialogists
I wrote in an earlier Ezine article, “Four Authors of Classical Contemporary Literature Defined the Craft of Writing Perfect Prose,” and stated, as a dialogist, it is hard to dispute Steinbeck’s brilliance. In the medium of dialogue, if he is not considered the quintessential classicist, few would dispute that he is certainly near the very apogee of this element of the craft. However, from a purely contemporary standpoint, many, of which I am a subscriber, find Elmore Leonard the current standard-bearer.
Editors Often Consider a Writer’s Dialogue Skills First
Regardless of whomever and from whichever era a writer chooses to study material, many renowned managing editors have documented that dialogue is often the first aspect
of a novelist’s ability they consider when contemplating a work for publication. That, in itself, should tell anyone the importance placed on dialogue.
Robert L. Bacon
robertlbacon@aol.com
Special Offer for Authors
Free Query Letter Review & Analysis, a $57.50 Value
Paste Query to theperfectwrite@aol.com (No Attachments)
For Information on Query Letter Design & Composition
Visit the Form Page on this Site & Follow the Simple Steps
For more information on how The Perfect Write® can craft material to benefit you, please visit us at theperfectwrite.com
Sometimes Telling is More Effective than Showing
An author and scholar for whom I have immense respect added fuel to a long simmering fire by stating in a recent book of hers on writing that too much is made out of Showing instead of Telling. To paraphrase one of her points, she writes that the avoidance of telling leads to confusion which causes novice writers to think everything should be acted out. And to quote her, “There are many occasions in literature in which telling is far more effective than showing.”
Agents and Editors are the Harshest of Critics
If everyone wrote as well as this woman (she has over two dozen titles to her credit), or the brilliant mostly classical authors and their literary works she cites in her book, who could argue? And that is the rub. Especially for someone trying to become published for the first time, and who is having his or her manuscript viewed by the harshest of critics–book agents and book editors. People who are seemingly searching, as if with an electron microscope, for the most miniscule detail to warrant rejecting material.
Don’t Wave a Red Flag – Avoid the Dreaded “Been’s”
In the real world of an author fighting tooth-and-nail for his or her manuscript to receive a fair hearing, the writer has to provide a narrative that does not wave a red flag–or even a yellow one. Nothing can kill a book quicker than if it is perceived to be written in a passive voice, which is most often indicative of scenes crafted in a Telling rather than Showing form. Other than breaking up too many uses of “was” or “were” by substituting an occasional “had been” or “have been,” it is important to avoid the “been’s” and therefore the passive voice narratives that Telling has a tendency to engender.
If a Choice, Overwrite Show Rather Than Tell
While it is 100% correct that many times it is advisable to Tell instead of Show, for most authors pursuing a major royalty publisher, it is much better to have overwritten Show than Tell. Let me put it this way: I’ve never heard of anyone being rejected for the former, but very often for the latter. So while the ongoing Show versus Tell debate may whet some appetites for eschewing the argument altogether, writers need to incorporate as many accepted elements as possible into their material, and Showing (and the active voice is supports) is considered a component of quality prose writing in the overwhelming number
of instances.
Robert L. Bacon
robertlbacon@aol.com
Special Offer for Authors
Free Query Letter Review & Analysis, a $57.50 Value
Paste Query to theperfectwrite@aol.com (No Attachments)
For Information on Query Letter Design & Composition
Visit the Form Page on this Site & Follow the Simple Steps
For more information on how The Perfect Write® can craft material to benefit you, please visit us at theperfectwrite.com
