Trust Yourself

I was wandering around the Internet this week reading and catching up on blog posts written by my colleagues and the one thing that really struck me, in all the advice we’re giving and the guidance we’re providing, is that the key to all of this is you really have to trust yourself. Simply because you’re here reading this blog I assume that you’re one step ahead of many writers out there. In other words, you’re taking the time to learn what industry professionals think and understand the business. Presumably you’re reading this blog as well as others and participating in things like writer’s forums or critique groups. In other words, whether you realize it or not, you have become a student of publishing and, to some degree, have taken a role in the publishing business.

You know what each of us thinks about certain practices and procedures and you’ve learned firsthand how subjective everything can be, from whether or not we like a book to how we like our query letters. Therefore, when push comes to shove there’s only one person you should be listening to, and that’s you. When it comes time to write your query, choose an agent, find a publisher, sign a contract, and write the next great American novel, you need to trust that you can take all you’ve learned and are continuing to learn and do what’s best for you and your career, and do it with your own personal flare and style.

Jessica

Fiction with Nonfiction Characters

Can one write a story with historical figures with plotlines involving these characters including historical truths as well as substantial fictional elements? And if so when submitting it does one say it is a fictional story based on true characters…or do you just leave it alone?

Absolutely! In fact, I think the best historical fiction includes a great number of facts, and the occasional historical figure or two. It only make sense really. How would you write about the Civil War without including at least some reference to some of the most famous generals this country has ever seen?

You didn’t make it very clear in your question, but do you plan to write a fictional story based on a real-life character or include real-life characters in the book you are writing about someone else? Certainly both have been done, done a lot and done well, but I’m just wondering. If you are writing about more famous historical characters, like, for example, Abraham Lincoln, and the story is really about him, I think you’re going to have a much bigger challenge. This is someone whose life has been written about numerous times and true fans might have trouble with the fictionalized tale. If, however, you are writing about John Jones, a fictional character during the Civil War, and Lincoln makes an appearance or has a regular role in the story, I think fans of Lincoln and the Civil War will likely be more forgiving.

Jessica

Waiting by the Phone

In February I attended a writer's conference, pitched to an agent and he asked for my full MS. We had a very pleasant and positive meeting. Eight weeks later I followed up and he quickly and warmly replied that he'd get to it ASAP. Two weeks later I contacted him again because another agent requested a partial, but as an exclusive. I let the first agent know, because I wasn't sure how I was supposed to handle the issue and to try and nudge him for an answer since he'd had my MS for ten weeks. Once again I received a prompt and warm reply. He encouraged me to send my partial to the other agent and said he was still "looking forward" to reading MS. That was four week ago.

Am I being naive thinking this guy will ever read my work? Other than not getting an answer, all my communication with him has been positive. Do I contact him again or move on?

Anything is possible. What I would focus on is moving on. It’s hard, I know, not to try to put all of your eggs in one basket, but since you are getting requests for partials from other agents I would keep querying, keep submitting and continue to touch base with Agent #1 every 3 to 4 weeks or so. By my calculations he’s had the material for about 12 weeks now. That’s about when I would think you should be hearing from most agents. While I know many will say he’s probably just not that interested if he hasn’t gotten to it yet, and certainly that’s sound advice, it also doesn’t mean he won’t be all over you with interest once he’s finally had a chance to read it. I know that frequently I’m overwhelmed by the submissions that are taunting me (and yes, they do taunt) and sometimes I find myself frozen by their glaring eyes. Even though I’m excited to read a certain submission, the shear numbers of submissions I should be reading overwhelm me. What finally breaks it for me is that one book that gets me excited to offer representation again.

Never give up, but keep moving on and checking in, with everyone who is reviewing your work. You never know when that offer will come, who it will come from or what it will spark from other agents.

Jessica

More Thoughts on Re-Pitching Agents

I’ve always taught that if you have made significant changes to your book for one reason or another you should definitely consider re-pitching agents. I’m sure there are plenty who cringe when hearing me give that advice, but the truth is, what do you really have to lose? The one thing that always strikes me, however, when I read the comments to those types of posts is how pleased authors are, and that worries me just a little, tiny bit. What it makes me wonder is are you continuing to rework and re-pitch the same book over and over or have you moved on. I will tell you right now, if you don’t learn to move on, to write the next book and query the next book and write and query the next book after that you will never be published.

No agent and no publisher wants an author for only one book, and if you spend years reworking and re-pitching that same book you’re not making yourself a very marketable or publishable author.

So yes, while you can certainly re-pitch if you’ve done work, the key to success is forward momentum. Make sure you’re headed in the right direction.

Jessica

Publishing Tip #1

Do not query until you’ve at least started writing the book.

It’s a disturbing trend lately, but I’m getting a lot of queries from people who have an idea and “plan to start writing soon” or are “about 5,000 words into it.” I know people are excited and I would suspect that any of you reading this blog would never dream of doing such a thing, but there it is. Happens all the time, almost every day, in fact.

Jessica

Definition of Query

According to Dictionary.com the definition of a query as it relates to publishing is:

an inquiry from a writer to an editor of a magazine, newspaper, etc., regarding the acceptability of or interest in an idea for an article, news story, or the like: usually presented in the form of a letter that outlines or describes the projected piece.

So what, I ask you, is a prequery? If a query is “an inquiry regarding the acceptability of or interest in an idea,” then why would you need to prequery, I ask? It amazes me how so many seem to want to waste my time. Maybe that’s the idea: if enough time is spent with one author and queries, prequeries, preprequeries, and simple questions, eventually the agent will just assume they’re working together.

At least once a week I reject a query only to later be berated by the author because in fact it wasn’t a query, but she was just checking to see if it might be something I would be interested in. Or, I actually get queries that state that before querying she just wanted to make sure I’m accepting queries. Huh? And then of course there is the query that’s actually labeled “prequery.”

A query is a query is a query no matter what you want to call it or how you want to spin it. If you don’t feel you’re ready to query then don’t, but don’t waste the agent’s time by tiptoeing around the process. If you are sending any question pertaining to your book you are querying the agent, so make it good.

Jessica

But I Was Young and Stupid

One of the things we’re so frequently warned about is to be careful what we put on the Internet because once it’s out there it’s out there for good. So, if you plan to be a NYT bestselling author and don’t want your readers to someday know the story of exploits on a bar top, you might not want to post the story or the photos anywhere online. But for how long will we really have to worry about this?

We live in an age when the Internet is an integral part of our lives. There is rarely a day out of 365 that I don’t log on for some reason, usually it’s to check email and do work, but sometimes it’s just to find a recipe or search for Santa. We are raising children who think it’s normal to video chat with Grandma and see their dance recital photos posted online; they live a much more public life than the one we were used to as children and someday those children will be running the world. I have to think that this stress on being careful about what you post online because it could haunt you 15 years from now might be less and less important as the days go by. After all, if I find drunken spring break pictures of you I don’t judge who you are now based on that. Why would I? I assume that you are no longer feathering your hair and wearing neon leg warmers so I also have to assume you’ve stopped dancing on bars and listening to Milli Vanilli.

I know this has little to do with publishing and I’m not saying you shouldn’t be conscious of what you post, we should always be conscious of what we post, I’m just suggesting that it already doesn’t matter as much as it did five years ago and won’t matter as much five years from now.

Jessica