Where I am not

Clients like to torment their agent too. This is from one of the Fabulosity who lives in Mexico in the winter. Yes, I am inquiring about the availability of guest housing!


As long as my bedroom will not be shared by this fine fellow:

and the transportation is not courtesy of this ensemble

but I might even room with Mr. Lizard and get hauled around by The Family Ox to see this

Tuesday Tea at the Question Emporium

I have an odd query question for you. I've read your entire blog and the query shark blog, and have never come across the situation I had recently. An agent responded to my query by asking me to rewrite my query and resubmit it to her. This seemed odd. If she hated my query, wouldn't she just say no? And if she was intrigued, wouldn't she ask for pages? Query writing is a blood, sweat and tears process, and I'm wondering if this is common for agents to ask for a query rewrite? Thank you!

Don't get me started on the number of times I've wanted to do just that! Without seeing your query it's hard to know what was wrong or just not right. 

And I too am not sure what the point is.  Maybe she's better at tormenting writers than I am.

Did you rewrite?  

Sunday Brunch at the Question Emporium

  -->

Should a writer include information in a query that isn't pertinent to the novel, but is pertinent to the agent being queried?

For example, if an agent expresses an interest in Kenyan protags, and my protag happens to be Kenyan, should I make it a point to mention that in my query? What if being Kenyan doesn't contribute to my plot at all- and isn't even mentioned until halfway through the novel? I can't decide if it is pandering to go out of my way to mention it, or stupid to leave it out.

If an agent has expressed interest in something particular, like Kenya, and your novel has a Kenyan character or setting, yes you mention it.  It's not pandering at all. If you changed the setting from Botswana to Kenya to get in good with the agent…that's pandering. Of course, you don't actually mention that you did that, and no one's the wiser.

This is usually called personalizing a query.  It's not a bad idea but I don't encourage it because I think it's too easy to get things really really wrong.

You might be surprised (I certainly was) at the number of queries I get that start "I know you'll be interested in this novel because you're interested in books with the death penalty."  Yes, I'm interested in books about the death penalty, it even says so on my website: Non-fiction books NOT novels. Those are two very different things.  I thought it would be obvious, and I thought it was clear on my website so if it's easy to make that mistake how easy is it to misinterpret a tweet or a casual reference at a writing conference?

I think the best and safest bet is have an enticing paragraph about what your novel is about.   That's really all I need to hear in a query: what your book is about.

Saturday Afternoon at the Question Emporium

I'm starting to research agents to query for the manuscript that's currently making its way through the teeth of my beta readers, and I find myself almost immediately stymied.

The novel I'm preparing to shop is pretty straightforward commercial crime.  While it's shopping, I'll be moving on to another project, and the three candidates clamoring for my attention are all various flavors of fantasy.  Looking at my portfolio of stuff in various stages of development and production, it's a pretty even split between crime/thriller and fantasy, with a couple that combine the two.

Perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself here, but should this affect what kinds of agents I seek out? Should I try to stick to agents that rep both genres?  If I do push ahead with agents who don't rep fantasy and get some interest, at what point do I break the news that they might not be so interested in my next novel?  I know agents are generally looking to establish a long relationship with an author, and I don't want to shoot myself in the foot before I even start.

You answered your own question there in paragraph 3. Yes, you are getting ahead of yourself. Don't worry about the second book until the first book has done more than wow your beta readers. This is akin to casting the movie roles for a book that hasn't sold yet.  It's fun, but it's diverting you from what you should be thinking about: writing.  

However, there is an answer to your question and it's this:  what will happen will depend in large part on the agent you sign with.  Some agents rep several kinds of genre, so an agent like that might very well rep crime and fantasy. Some agents work in larger agencies so if s/he doesn't rep something you write, s/he'll have resources in the office to draw on in-house. Some agents have cordial working relationships with agents not in their agency and enter into co-agent agreements.

You of course, being a smart writer cause you read this blog will know to Query Widely.

None of this matters now. What matters now is you spend your creative energy writing fiction, not spinning scenarios.

Why yes, I want to read this!

I always like "behind the scenes" looks at how things are made, so I was particularly interested in this blog post about the cover for PLANET THIEVES (May 2013: Tor) by Dan Krokos.


Even more interesting: Dan reveals he was a reluctant reader as a kid. Interesting how things turn out isn't it?

"I'd listen to him read the phone book aloud"

There's an old-fashioned compliment to actors--"I'd listen to him read the telephone book aloud" that I first heard applied to Richard Burton.

The version I apply to writers is: I'm enchanted by their dedication and acknowledgements page.

In honor of the publication day of TRICKSTER by Jeff Somers, here's what reminded me of that compliment recently:

Acknowledgements

Every novel has a team of people behind it. First of all, and most important, there is the author, the person who actually wrote it, that is to say, me.

 I’d like to start off by thanking myself for all those poor decisions in life that have conspired in complex and unknowable ways to bring me to this junction in my life.

Behind every author is a person who whispers encouragement and dire threats in his ear as he writes, and for me that person is and has been my lovely wife, Danette, to whom I owe everything and who knew I would sell this book, this book you are now holding in your hands, even before I had actually written it— such are the powers my wife possesses. —Let’s see how many commas I can squeeze in here, want to? Commas are fun, and underappreciated, much like writers.

Every author, the guy who actually writes the book, that is, me, has someone in a windowless room somewhere collecting the pennies that cascade in from our crime syndicates and book sales, and also who buys the author drinks, and that person is my redoubtable literary agent, Janet Reid.

Every author, that is, the guy who actually writes the book, which is to say, me again, needs hooligans who tempt him from serious work and encourage him to consume adult beverages in lieu of pious labor, and my hooligans—aside from my aforementioned literary agent, who on many occasions incapacitated me with drink when I should have been home tapping words into a hard disk—were fellow authors Sean Ferrell and Dan Krokos, who so often suggested I spend my time drinking curated whiskeys while viewing Internet celebrity gossip sites, supposedly in an ironic manner, although I suspect the irony was a pose, as I really do enjoy celebrity gossip.

Above and beyond all of these, of course, Olympian and leviathan-like, stands the man who actually signs the contract that sends those pennies cascading to be collected in unused mason jars by my aforementioned literary agent on behalf of me, the author, the guy who actually writes the book, and that person is, of course, my editor, Adam Wilson, whose suggestions and ideas for this book were disturbingly intelligent and interesting, and I thank him for it while simultaneously becoming enraged that anyone might contribute something to my story that I myself did not think of.

 

Whenever I express these feelings of rage to my aforementioned literary agent she pours two glasses of good Scotch, and at first I think she’s going to have a belt with me but then I slowly realize these are medicinally intended for me. And she’s right, I feel lots better.

 Of course, that's Jeff Somers, from his new book TRICKSTER:

Praised by the Guardian for stories that are “exhilarating . . . powerful and entertaining,” Jeff Somers returns with a darkly original urban fantasy series featuring a cadre of mages operating just under the radar of human society.



Magic uses blood—a lot of it. The more that’s used, the more powerful the effect, so mages find “volunteers” to fuel their spells. Lem, however, is different. Long ago he set up a rule that lets him sleep at night: never use anyone’s blood but your own.

He’s grifting through life as a Trickster, performing only small Glamours like turning one-dollar bills into twenties. He and his sidekick, Mags, aren’t doing well, but they’re getting by. That is, until they find young Claire Mannice— bound and gagged, imprisoned in a car’s trunk, and covered with invisible rune tattoos.

Lem turns to his estranged mentor for help, but what they’ve uncovered is more terrifying than anybody could have imagined. Mika Renar, the most dangerous Archmage in the world, is preparing to use an ocean of blood to cast her dreams into reality— and Lem just got in her way.

Friday Night at the Question Emporium

I have an offer from a small press and I have no agent. The publisher is a nice guy, I don't think he's trying to rip me off or anything but how do I know if what he says about the number of copies sold is right?  

Ahhh...this is why you want your contract to have an audit clause.

The audit clause generally comes right after the clause about how they'll pay you.  It needs to contain a couple things to give it some teeth.

1. Make sure it says "The Author or the Author's designated representative may examine the books"  Unless you're a CPA you won't know how to audit anything.

2. The publisher will limit the number of times you can audit to once a year, ask for reasonable notice, and probably limit the audit to information about your book (not the company as a whole.)  Those things are reasonable to agree to.

3. The cost of the audit falls to the Author. However, make sure you include language that says if there is a discrepancy of more than 5% to the author's disadvantage, the cost of the audit is borne by the Publisher.

4. And make sure that if there is ANY discrepancy to the author's disadvantage that the Publisher has to pay the sum due within a certain amount of time. I ask for 30 days, and I've settled for 60. What I do NOT agree to is "next royalty statement" because in some cases that's a year away.



Without the audit clause you have no way to verify royalty statements are accurate.  Most publishers are not trying to lie/cheat/steal or any other kind of chicanery. In most cases small publishers are people doing a LOT of jobs, and numbers and bookkeeping isn't one of the jobs they trained for.

We find a lot of errors on royalty statements but we rarely need to audit.  Most of the time, you can find the mistakes yourself because they're things like a royalty rate is wrong, a credit wasn't properly recorded, or the reserve for returns is too high.

Sean Ferrell live and in person!

 Don't miss this chance to come and see Sean Ferrell, live and in-person! 

Pants optional of course.

And then there are days like this

INTO THE BREACH!

A Review of Patrick Lee's Breach Trilogy

By guest reviewer

Andrew Salmon

In these days of overhyped, over-marketed, multi-volume mega-series, it's hard to find a series of novels that truly justifies their existence. It's all about branding and stretching stories out to 1000s of pages for purely economic reasons is, sadly, the norm these days.

Patrick Lee's incredible Breach trilogy is the exception to the rule.

In three of the best edge-of-your-seat thrill rides this reader has ever had the pleasure to read, Lee gives us a New Pulp trilogy for the ages. The novels are The Breach, Ghost Country and Deep Sky and all three are lean, mean, thrill machines you do not want to miss.

Read the full review


or, join me in dancing:

@aboy!

I'm a devoted fan of twitter and the world it offers to us.  Here's a wonderful blog post by, of all people, a medieval scholar, about how he started having fun and being productive on Twitter.

The only thing to say is @aboy!

(thanks for the heads up on this Mrs. Grant!)

What the hell do you DO all day?

I can hear queriers thinking "what the hell does she do all day" when they see that I'm two weeks behind on answering query letters, not to mention writers who have had fulls under consideration since November (Hi Adam!)  Not to mention clients who get apologetic emails that I still have this or that to finish.

It's the little unexpected things.

Sometimes it's GREAT news like your film agent calling to say we have twenty minutes to consider an offer and they need to talk RIGHT NOW.

Sometimes it's an author emailing to point out there's an error on Amazon of epic proportion and what the heck do we do now?

Sometimes it's just a small thing.  Tonight for example. An editor pal of mine is in Austin, Texas for the weekend. Why I do not know since he lives in New York City and why anyone ever wants to leave is beyond me.

Oh wait.

Temp in Austin today: 71
Temp in NYC today: 41.

Ok, got it.

Anyway, he's off lallygagging about in Texas and of course zips in to Book People in Austin.  And he spies a shelf talker about one of my clients. Being a good pal, he snaps a photo and sends it to me.

Huzzah!

But this is not like getting a snap of the Grand Canyon or even someone's new loinfruit. It's not Ooooh Ahhh Done.

No no no.

First of all, you forward to client.
Then you email Book People to say thanks.
Then you slither around the Book People site cause it's got some interesting stuff, sign up for the newsletter, and see who's coming to visit in the near future.

Then you post the picture on your blog (upper left corner) with a caption. And change it twice to get it right.

Sum total: 20 minutes. At 11:30pm on a Saturday night.

And all three of those things took about 90 minutes total. And they all happened in a 12-hour period. And it wasn't a particularly busy day. 

Dear Readers, I would not change any of this for all the tea in China.  I love my job. I LOVE that my clients get picked as staff faves, get movie deals, have books published.  It's absolutely the best kind of problem to have.

In fact, it's not a problem at all.

Unless you're the writer waiting for me to get back to what I was supposed to be doing tonight: answering queries (at 11:30pm on a Saturday night)

Here's a piece of a recent post by Kari Dell, one of the Fabulosity:

Since joining the board of directors at our local historical museum, my views on memoirs, family histories and even diaries have changed tremendously. I'd always thought of these things in one of two ways: either you had to live a big, important life to be worth writing about (aka, selling) or it only mattered to your family. Now I've seen how these personal accounts of a normal life can be a treasure trove for historians.

Rather than blathering on, I'm going to refer you to one of the masters, William Zinsser, whose book On Writing Well is considered a touchstone for non-fiction writers. This article from The American Scholar is a wonderful read:  How to Write a Memoir

From that article I condensed this nugget, a bit of advice any writer in any genre should heed:

"When you write...don't try to be a writer....Be yourself and your readers will follow you anywhere. Try to commit an act of writing and your readers will jump overboard to get away."

So write your story, large or small. You never know what value they will hold for those to come.

could not have said it better myself (which is of course why Kari is the writer, and I am the ...not)

Can a graphic designer save the world?

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead.

oh yes!

thanks to Joelle Anthony for the link!

Send All is not your friend

Recent email from a writer "I'd like to update you on my project!" followed by all sorts of news that if I was actually interested in the project might be useful.

Of course, I'd passed on the project some weeks back, so this email was not only useless it was annoying.

When you are querying agents there is absolutely NO circumstance, up to and including your death, for which you will email every agent on your submission list.

Send All is the tool of the devil and is designed to consign your email to a fiery pit, and if I had my way, you'd be following.


The problem of course is that this blog doesn't reach the miscreants who do this. I know this for an ironclad fact because the queriers who are paying attention are the ones I talk to during the Chum Bucket experiment and every last one of them does it right. Even if some of it's wrong, it's never this wrong.

But just in case some errant new querier sees this, here's how querying works:

1. You send a query
2. I respond

2a If I ask to see pages you send them
2b If I decline to see more, that's IT

No replies to 2b. Not even thank you, although that doesn't annoy me quite as much as other replies do.

Any questions?

 THE FINEPRINT INTERNSHIP: A Novel Nonfiction Experience

The Premise:
FinePrint Literary Management, a full-service literary agency based in New York City, is accepting internship applications for Spring 2013. More specifically, we are seeking an enthusiastic, self-starting individual to assist, enable, and otherwise entertain agents Janet Reid (me)  and Brooks Sherman (my boon colleague in crime)

The Plot:
The intern will work closely with the above agents and learn about the agenting and publishing process. Duties will include reading and evaluating submissions, writing readers reports, performing general administrative tasks, and dusting Janet's extensive whiskey collection. The intern will also be invited to attend readings, panels, and other industry-related events.

The Protagonist:
Ideal applicants will have completed at least two years of college; have an avid interest in the publishing industry, a strong familiarity with various forms of social media, a working knowledge of frontlist fiction and nonfiction. The commitment is two days/week, in-office.

The Pitch:
Please email your cover letter and resume, both within the body of the email (NO attachments), to Brooks Sherman (Brooks at FinePrintLit com)




this is unpaid :((

a turn of phrase that just turns my crank

From a recent query: This email is about  my forthcoming book, for which I will require representation. 


No. No, no.
This is NOT a good turn of phrase for the Savvy Querier.

Your book isn't forthcoming until it's been sold. If you're looking for an agent, we HOPE the book will sell, but it's not on any publication schedule, thus not "forthcoming"

Unless you mean it's forthcoming from your printer, in which case, you better write the thing before you query.

And "require an agent" Well, yes, sure, I think having an agent is a good idea but saying you require one sounds as though you think the only thing you need to do is announce you need one.
Am I the first to tell you that is not the case?  Well, sorry for the bad news, but there it is.

This is not artful or courteous or gallant language.  It's pretentious and does not serve you well.  There's a lot to be said for just telling me what your book is about.  

 

Helllooooo Agatha!

 Nominations for  the Agatha Awards have been announced and I gotta tell ya, I'm pretty much thrilled to bits to see Stephanie Jaye Evans in the Best First category!  And what LOVELY company she has there!

Agathas are part of the Malice Domestic convention, a convention for readers of traditional mysteries. It's a wonderful event, held every year around the same time, near Washington DC.  If you love to read delicious cozies, wickedly charming procedurals, and just good books in general you'd have a good time here!  (This isn't a craft conference--no panels on how-to. It's just your favorite authors and more!)



Best First Novel: 
Faithful Unto Death by Stephanie Jaye Evans
 A Killer Read by Erika Chase
 A Scrapbook of Secrets by Mollie Cox Bryan
 Iced Chiffon by Duffy Brown
 Lowcountry Boil by Susan M. Boyer



Best Novel:
The Diva Digs Up the Dirt by Krista Davis
A Fatal Winter by G.M. Malliet
The Buzzard Table by Margaret Maron
The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny
The Other Woman by Hank Phillippi Ryan



Best Non-fiction:
Books to Die For: The World's Greatest Mystery Writers on the World's Greatest Mystery Novels by John Connolly/Declan Burke

Blood Relations: The Selected Letters of Ellery Queen, 1947-1950 by Joseph Goodrich, Editor

More Forensics and Fiction: Crime Writers Morbidly Curious Questions Expertly Answered by D.P. Lyle

Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies by Ben Macintyre

The Grand Tour: Around the World with the Queen of Mystery Agatha Christie by Mathew Prichard, Editor

Best Short Story:
"Mischief in Mesopotamia" by Dana Cameron (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)
"Kept in the Dark" by Shelia Connolly (Best New England Crime Stories 2013: Blood Moon Anthology)
"The Lord is My Shamus" by Barb Goffman (Chesapeake Crimes: This Job is Murder)
"Thea's First Husband" by B.K. Stevens (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine)
"When Duty Calls", by Art Taylor (Chesapeake Crimes: This Job is Murder)

Best Children's/Young Adult Novel:
Seconds Away by Harlan Coben
The Edge of Nowhere by Elizabeth George
Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead
The Code Busters Club, Case #2: The Haunted Lighthouse by Penny Warner
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Best Historical Novel:
The Twelve Clues of Christmas by Rhys Bowen
Dandy Gilver and an Unsuitable Day for Murder by Catriona McPherson
Murder on Fifth Avenue by Victoria Thompson
An Unmarked Grave by Charles Todd
Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear

The Code

One of the many many benefits of the Chum Bucket experiment is I'm forced to write back to authors about why I'm not going to read more of their work.  This is harder than you'd think, and with Chum Bucket "cause your writing sucks" is never the answer.**

In the last round, I received a query from a good writer who had a mystery novel featuring a police detective. Her query referenced Steve Ulfelder's novels. She'd read them and liked them.  It seemed then that I might like her book.

And I did, but there was something missing.

I thought for awhile about Conway Sax (the protagonist in Steve's novels.)  Conway is an interesting character, a recovering alcoholic, a guy who drank away his career in racing, and now struggling to find his place in the world.  A guy who frequently acts not in his own interest, but in the interest of others, even when it gets him in to trouble.

In this way, Conway is not just a protagonist, he's a hero.  Not a superman hero, but heroic.  He has committed himself to a code: he's going to do whatever his AA group The Barnburners ask of him. Maybe that's break the legs of a loan shark. Maybe it's drive someone to a safe location, some days away.  Conway knows breaking legs is bad. He knows he should be at work, not on the road. He does these things anyway. He has a Code.

I think that's one of the main reasons I want to be in the Conway Sax world. Same reason I want to be in Jack Reacher's world, or Spenser's.  These are guys with codes that say they're choosing to be heroic. I want to live in a world with heroes. Who wouldn't?

What I'm not saying is that every character has to be like this. In fact, not every character can. Some have to be venal.  But your main guy, the guy we're going to root for, spend time with.  Does he have a code? Does he need one? What is it?

You might not spell it out on the page although Robert Parker spent a lot of time doing that with Spenser.  You might refer to it only elliptically or only by the consequences that adhering to the code generates.

But if your hero has a code, the readers should know or be able to intuit what it is. Which means we need to see it in action.




**Queriers to the ChumBucket are almost 100% thoughtful, well-prepared writers with good material.  It's really rather wonderful.

Win a free registration to Backspace!

 Backspace is offering three scholarships to attend the upcoming May conference!

The contest to win the scholarships is called

This Manuscript HAS to Become A Book!

(click the link for further info)

The deadline is March 1.
Voting commences March 5 (will I be watching? yes indeed!)

The conference itself is May 23-25 here in NYC.

Last time we carried on despite Hurricane Sandy.  I can only imagine what the Writing Deities have in store for this time.


I cannot urge you strongly enough to attend this conference if you think a conference is the next step in your career.  Backspace is well-run, gorgeously organized and managed with a great deal of care and consideration.  I participate in this conference pretty often (though not this particular time) and each time my respect and admiration for the organizers increases.

Invest your hard earned money wisely.  If a conference is the next step, this is a good place to go.

Have petard, will hoist

Earlier today I went on a rampage about "realistic fiction."

I thought it was not a good phrase; I'd never seen it in a bookstore; good fiction isn't realistic but believable...rant rant rant.

One of my blog readers sent me this soon after:

Oh Category, how evil are your ways

From the incoming queries today came a novel categorized as a "realistic fiction novel."

Of course the juxtaposition of fiction and novel pretty much assured my first reaction was downright horror and revulsion. I managed to control myself long enough to have second thoughts.  Maybe the querier meant "realistic fiction" and that it was a novel (not a memoir.)

Fair enough.

Don't do that.

There's no such category as "realistic fiction." I know this cause I've spent some time in bookstores.

When you think about it, and I hope you're thinking a LOT about how books work, fiction has to be believable, not necessarily realistic.  Is it realistic that Jack Reacher always wins fights? No. Do I believe he does? You bet.

And more important: I don't read novels to get a dose of reality. That's what I have the New York Times for. I read novels for lots of different reasons but reality isn't on that list.

What does this mean for you? Don't over-think category. It's really ok to call your work a novel and leave it at that.  If you write genre novels, use the broadest category you fit.  Don't try to be clever.

Clever is how you get your blunderbuss aimed at your Buster Browns.

The Question Emporium has rare Saturday hours today

A few months ago, I won a contest in which my partial would be critiqued by an indie press. I thought, what the hay, the more feedback the better, right? And it was through a blog I've been subscribed to for a while and liked. 

Except, it turned into more than just a partial critique. The press requested the full and now will be contacting me Friday about recommendations, adding how much they've loved the book. By the end of the week, I may or may not be receiving a publication offer. 

I've lived in the mindset where publishing happens like this: Write a Book > Get an Agent > Save the World. So this potential offer, while exhilarating, is at the same time terrifying.
My question is this: What should I do about the query letters now sitting in a dozen-or-so agent inboxes in the event the press wants to publish me? 

Should I send the agents an email like I would if another agent had requested representation? Would an agent care if an indie press wants to publish it? It's not like it's Simon and Schuster knocking on my door or anything.

 I fear sounding like I'm rubbing my offer in their faces and my email coming off like, "You better hop on this train cause I'm taking it to Money Town." Which is just not the case. I didn't seek an indie press. I totally expected to go the agent route, but my expectations and reality are rarely in sync**.

I realize it's not your job to be my life counsel, but any advice you could offer would be very much appreciated.


You email the agents who have your query with the subject line: publication offer from (publisher)

Then you tell them what you've just told me here. Leave out the funny parts. Time for that later.

Do NOT be surprised or hurt if this does not result in agents beating down your door. Many of us now have to be careful about taking on small contracts cause they end up costing us money instead of making us money.

If you do NOT secure representation with this offer, let me know and I'll give you the names of some contract review specialists who can keep you out of harms way even without an agent.



**you're a writer. That's how all writers are or they'd be something else.

"This book is a blast!"--Meg Gardiner

A starred review in Booklist!

Haynes steers the array of heavy themes (Arab Spring, biological weapons, child soldiers, and secret societies) into a strong, complicated plot as believable as any real-life terrorist threat.

Daria is destined to become a favorite in the growing arsenal of female thriller leads. She combines brains and experience to craft unbeatable strategy, and she has the requisite combat skills to quash any agent in her path as well as a witty, moderately well-adjusted (under the circumstances) perspective that’s sure to charm.

Oh baby yes yes yes! You can pre-order a copy today!

How to get your writing career started

tip of the hat to Editor Amazing for the link found here.

Clean or messy?

I like a clean desk.
My two office mates think that's insane.
Fortunately, they have to listen to me, not the other way around.

I thought of this when I read Robert Gray's piece.  I knew I liked him, now I know he's my idol.  Just look at his desk!

Are you clean or messy?


Send me a photo of your desk and I'll post it here on the blog!  (sorry, I have to actually go get some work done now!)
And when you're done with that, make sure you subscribe to Shelf Awareness.  It's a free daily email about the book biz, and you can't be in the book biz and not read it. 

"I prefer clean but tend to the 'messy' so this picture taken this morning just happened to be a 'clean' day, for which I'm grateful :)"

--Peter

 "Advice from you about the query letter is tacked on that bulletin board"--Sara, Nova Scotia

"Like a good reader/writer…I’m already subscribed to Shelf Awareness and have been for about a year"--Donna

"Before!"--Nancy

"After"--Nancy

"Laptop (wifi), basic comfortable sofa, wood stove, local red wine. (Bordeaux is an hour away)" -Hank

Joelle Anthony's treadmill desk!

The Pixie's Lair!

"go make something"

I love NY!

Get the obvious out of the way!

 The 22 rules of storytelling, according to Pixar 

(hat tip to Kelly Cogswell for the link!)

Sunday Morning at the Question Emporium

I was wondering about using a pen name if my name is similar to someone who has a quasi-known name.

There is a Harvard law professor named James L. (my last name) who has published non-fiction books on economics. I would like to use my own name Jim (my last name) but, is that too close?

Should I go by Initials + Last name? Does it even matter if I would theoretically be writing fiction?

I've already started to try to build a brand around my name. If I was to switch to a pen name, would prefer to do so as soon as possible (reserving domain names, twitter accounts, etc.) 

I think you're probably safe using Jim (your last name).
If your name was Steven King, not so much. (The "other" King is Stephen but you'd be surprised how many people misspell it)



If you did want to use a pseudonym, you sign your query letter with your real name and then under it you list your pen name, and your contact details:

Yours truly,
Steven King
(writing as Felix Buttonweazer)
@FelixButtonweazer
www.FelixButtonweazer.com


And you're quite right that consistency is important. Building your twitter following and reserving domains should all have the SAME name.

Friday Night at the Question Emporium

Your website states that queries should include the first 3-5 pages of the novel. My novel has a unique format. The protagonist writes mystery novels and in the early chapters the protagonist's narrative alternates with passages taken verbatim from the mystery novel he's currently writing. Both story lines merge later in the novel. The first chapter is twelve double-spaced pages. The passage from the protagonist's mystery novel begins on the ninth page. You would therefore be missing an important element if I only sent the first 3-5 pages. Can I send all twelve pages of the first chapter in my query?

of course you can. There's no such thing as the Query Police despite my longstanding efforts to find and train a battalion of ninjas to spring from the rafters when writers do things that are charitably labelled "clueless": Dear Agent/bcc the entire AAR membership/quoting form rejection letters like blurbs.

That said, I won't read 12 pages.

What does that mean for you? Not anything terrible. The purpose of sending those first 3-5 pages is not to see if the novel works or to get the "important elements."  It's to see if you can write. 

It is a lamentable maxim that great concepts are more often accompanied by bad writing than good.  And the reverse is true: really good pages are often preceded by dreadful DREADFUL query letters.

The bottom line is: don't worry. Send the first chapter if you can't bear the idea I'll only read 3-5 pages. Do NOT send 35 pages. There's no way to read 35 pages in the body of the email without wanting to kill things preferably the sender.

Thursday Night at the Question Emporium

How does an author handle multiple requests for "exclusive" reads. Let me present an exact scenario:

- On Monday, I send out several queries.
- On Tuesday, Agent A writes back to say, "I'm intrigued. Can I see for the full ms on a two-week exclusive?"
- On Wednesday, Agent B asks to see the full ms as well, exclusive or not.

I've said it before, I'll say it again: EXCLUSIVES STINK. They're almost always never in a writer's  best interest.

If you send it to an agent on an exclusive basis, and they offer you representation, you don't have any time to send it to other agents and perhaps choose from MANY offers.

Agents are not widgets, interchangeable pieces of the Publishing puzzle.

You might not know if an agent is the best choice for you until you've talked with several.




Here's what I think you should do:


1. If an agent requests an exclusive, you say no.  You're polite but honest: You've sent out several queries, you're hoping several agents want to read, you don't want to give an exclusive yet.


2. If the agent won't read your work with that reply, you know something pretty valuable about the agent.


3. If the agent does read despite asking for an exclusive, you've lost nothing.


And to my agent colleagues who request exclusives: get over yourselves.

Building platform for non-fiction

Platform is essential for non-fiction. Platform means "how do people know who you are NOW" which means  it's not "I will build a website" or "I will go on TV" cause those are things you'll do in the future. Platform is about NOW, before the book proposal.

One good way to build platform is to have articles or opinion pieces published in major media. If you don't know how to do that, there's a way to learn. It's called The OpEd Project and they offer seminars on how to pitch yourself and your topic to editors, as well as other things that help you build platform.

I attended the Core Seminar  here in NYC yesterday.  I think it's well worth the investment to attend.  Seminars are held across the country.  Their website gives details on the project itself, and the upcoming seminar schedule.

Still not there

Where I'm not again

Where I'm not

one of my clients winters in Baja.

I'm pretty sure coveting my neighbor's ass was mentioned in that pesky list of Commandments, but really that does NOT cover the kayak...does it??

Chum Bucket NOT tonight

Sorry guys, I'm under the weather and not up to doing Chum Bucket tonight (and you don't want me reading your queries when absolutely nothing sounds good or fun!)

Next week!

How I missed hearing about this I do not know, but let me just make sure that none of YOU miss this now that I know about it: Tracy Kidder has a new book coming.

You don't even need to know what it's about to know you should read it. Tracy Kidder is one of those writers that you read cause whatever he writes is amazing. 

In case you're wondering which title to order though it's this one: Good Prose: The Art of NonFiction.

Giving a whole new meaning to syntax

The poet for the inaugeration is Richard Blanco.


Blanco's books include Looking for The Gulf Motel (University of Pittsburgh Press), Directions to the Beach of the Dead (University of Arizona Press) and City of a Hundred Fires (University of Pittsburgh Press)

You can damn well bet I just ordered all of them.  I would like to be completely prepared for a substantive conversation should the poet ever need to practice his syntax.

Yea BABY!

Will Saudi Arabia ever change?

There's a very thoughtful look at this question in the New York Review of Books.  One of the books reviewed is Tom Lippman's SAUDI ARABIA ON THE EDGE (Potomac: 2012)

Sacré Livres BatHomme

The American Library in Paris is sponsoring a prize for the best book of the year in English about France or the French-American encounter.

The American Library in Paris has attracted and celebrated writers for all of its ninety-two years. The Library was created in part as a memorial to a young American poet, Alan Seeger, who wrote the well-known poem “I have a rendezvous with death” not long before he died in action in France in 1916. One of the Library’s founding trustees was Edith Wharton. Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein, among many other writers of note, contributed reviews to the Library’s literary magazine, Ex Libris. Stephen Vincent Benet composed John Brown’s Body at the Library. And authors of every generation have worked and spoken at the Library: Ford Madox Ford, Archibald MacLeish, Colette,  Henry Miller, André Gide, Anaïs Nin, James Baldwin, Irwin Shaw, James Jones, and Mary McCarthy, to name a few.

Today the Library is the pre-eminent center in Paris for evening talks by prominent authors who write in English. The Library now looks to extend its commitment to outstanding writing by awarding an annual literary prize under the supervision of its Writer’s Council. A generous grant from the Florence Gould Foundation has allowed us to make this idea a reality.

There are more details here!

A tip of the chapeau to blog reader Angie Brooksby for info!

I really liked this article by Lee Child about how to create suspense in novels.

NYT Bestselling author Lee Child; Stephanie Jaye Evans; NYT Bestselling author Patrick Lee

thanks to blog reader Kelly Cogswell for this link!

Best excuse EVER not just 2012

A pal of mine  is on vacation someplace I'd never heard of. Her boss casually mentions to me that "her work e-mail has locked her out of remote access."

Even if she wanted to work, she can't. Literally can NOT.

So I googled the name of the place where she is:

And then, just to add salt to the wound, I get an email from her PRIVATE non-work email with a photo:

And yes, that low moaning sound you hear is me keening with envy.


 All I can hope for is that her return trip pilot turns out to be named Otto.

Conference focused on narrative non-fiction

There aren't a lot of conferences that focus on non-fiction so I was pleased to see this one:

The 2nd Annual River Teeth Nonfiction Conference 

May 17-19, 2013 

Join us in Ashland, Ohio for two full days of manuscript consultations, seminars, readings and community, all focused on the craft of nonfiction. The conference will focus on essay, memoir, and literary journalism.

There's not an agent or editor among the panelists (which is GOOD!)==this is a conference to focus on craft first.

 More details at the website.

Friday Night at the Question Emporium

When an agency's website says "do not send multiple queries" or "only query one agent", does that mean only query one agent, period, or only query one agent until you get a rejection and then you're free to query another? 


It's hard to tell, isn't it?

I know several agencies who have a central pool for queries. You send a query, they select which agent gets it and that's it.  You've queried once, you're done.

Other agencies, like ours here at FPLM, doesn't do that. You query one agent, you hear back, you are free to query another.  What you shouldn't do is query all of us at the same time.

So, how to tell?

The query address is a clue: if you send your query to "Queries @ Best Sellers & Arus.com" you can assume that the queries are sorted there, and it's one and done.

Another way is to pay attention to the query chatter on Twitter. @AskAgent is a good way to hear agents talk about how they receive queries.

Another way is to look at the discussion boards at AbsoluteWrite.com  There's a wealth of information there (most of it correct!) about how agencies handle queries. Make sure to read the most current information first, because how agencies handle queries changes.


And in the end realize there is no such thing as the Query Police.  If you query twice or three times, but you personalize the letter and don't send to everyone all at once, you're not going to end up on some urban legend blacklist.   Those spots are reserved for people who query repeatedly and stupidly. The fact that you've asked the question, and are a regular blog reader precludes you from joining that list.

Just the thing to cheer you up!

Nicki Leone's piece about her rescued pit bull Lucy is just exactly what you need to read.

And if you're looking for more great dog stories, you can't go wrong with I'm A Good Dog by Ken Foster.

Source: pittbulllovepanic.tumblr.com via Brianna on Pinterest

Yup, this is exactly what I meant to say**

"What happens to your characters isn't what drives the story. It's how your characters respond to those events that makes up the plot."

---blog commenter Theresa Milstein

I think this is very well said in a nice compact phrase.

**but needed a writer to make it sound right!

oh hell yes!

thanks to blog reader and companion in crime Terri Lynn Coop for the photo!

RATLINES contest results!

Entries that left me hungry for more (and by more I do not mean more cowbell!)

Yvonne Osborne  12:04pm

"Snake longed to be free of the capitalists and their dangerous shortcuts."

eclectophilia 1:07pm 

"I toed the metal wire and felt the electric jolt through my shoe. Another Christmas with the folks."

One of the most incredibly creepy lines of all time: 

Wry Wryter 3:23 pm 

"Tomorrow I am coming home to bond with you."

Just creepy as hell--I'm a tad worried about you guys!

Kathryn Leonard-Peck 1:22am

Christopher James 5:24am

Probably the best use of POV in a flash fiction contest I've ever seen

French sojourn 6:55pm

utterly delightful

Amanda Capper 1:45pm

Entries that left me shaken if not stirred!

Otin 12:08pm

kregger 6:45pm

Nice turns of phrase:

Simon Lewis 12:35pm "napalm sum"

Pjcasselman 10:41pm "Revenge is my ruin."

Poems!

Rhen Wilson 7:46pm

Cynthia Ivers 3:26am

Talk about ominious!

Flo 8:39pm "
When the Reaper showed, she would settle her debt.

Meta-entry!

Simon Hay Soul Healer 8:39pm

Great line:

 Terri Lynn Coop 6:08pm

 "I had my fuck-you duffle of Benjamins and a one-way ratline to somewhere warm."

Kristopher 11:22pm 

 “No need to look out a front window to hell if you have a backdoor to heaven. Run!”"

Kim Velk 12:05am 

"“No swords in church!” the deacon bellowed"

KarinB. 1:02am 

"Everyone in the asylum’s an expert."

 Here are the seven finalists:

(1) Carolyn 12:07pm

"What's this, now? In the witching hour of the night?"
"Three bonny lads, seeking asylum."
"Bonny do you be? And what proof of that?"
"We bear the Bond of Swords. It came straight direct from your last lodger, who passes on his good tidings."
"Did he now? Then gave you the seal?"
"Had no need of it, he said, on account of going abroad."
"Abroad? I heard he traveled six feet deep into yonder county's soil."
"Who said such lies?"
"Ten of his kin on the hunt for the rat who killed him. They're in a line behind you."

(2) dremadrudge 12:43pm

Looking down from my window ledge, I judged the ground fairly friendly, compared to the confused collage of my life. The fire department offered a ratline asylum, and as I slipped a bit, I clung to it. How could I feel so ambivalent? No job, no love, a petty crime sure to mean time. Betrayals, his and mine. No! I would no longer be a life lodger: with both the swords I had threatened my would-be saviors with, I cut the bond, and with a triumphant yell, I fell.

(3) Lauren 1:38pm (but she's not invited to dinner!)

In the Ratline region of northern Burbia, Margery Bond, the innkeeper, welcomed a lodger on a wintry evening, despite news of an escape from the nearby asylum.

Beatrice huddled in front of the fire, in the parlor, waiting for the nightly toast. As she raised her glass, the lights flickered then darkened. Amid the tap of approaching footsteps, flames brightened the lodger’s scarred face.

“Nice night for a fire,” he said, “to enjoy among friends.”

“And a good meal, too,” Margery added, then pulled a sword from her skirt and severed his head.

“It’s about time. I’m starved,” Beatrice said.

(4) Wendy 8:50pm

Bond frowned as he leans out to peer around to the head of the line.

"This will take forever."

A guy in the next line snickered. "Should have tried the roachline. The ratline is shorter, but the roachline moves faster. Those guys don’t eat as much."

The buffet at the asylum was an extravaganza when the humans slept. Bond eyeballed the aisle, drew his plastic martini swords and dashed across to cut into the roachline.

A huge shoe came down from the sky and mashed him to a pulp.

"Ugh. New lodgers always forget to mind the gap."

(5) Beta Shy 9:44pm

Don't you have to close up all these holes before you lay the bait?

Nah- these fuckers can gnaw through anything. Even tried mixin' my own home-made bond for a job at the asylum a few years back. Shit just stank up the whole place.

So what's this?

Rat bomb. Go 'head. Lodg'er in there.

What's in it?

Zinc Phosphide. Other stuff.

Like what?

S-words.

Huh?

Don't worry 'bout it.

Huh?

Jesus. Strychnine. Spam. Shark. What do you care?

So when'll we know if it worked?

Day or so. They'll be all lined up stiff, single file.

Ratline. Cool.

(6) Salsa Girl 9:10am

New Year's Eve, all the locals and winter lodgers packed into the bar like rats. A familiar pick-up line whispered just behind my shoulder. "Do you sense a certain bond between us?" I turn around. Nobody there.

Bartender hands me a drink I didn't order. Martini with an olive impaled on a miniature plastic sword.

Then Runaway Train by Soul Asylum starts playing from nowhere, and I seriously feel my hand begin to tremble. I mutter, "Happy new year," to the space by my shoulder.

Lights flicker. Power goes out. And I hear: "Not for me, darling."

(7) Michael Seese 10:04am

The bonds we forged over a lifetime of summers...

Playing pirate with swords forged from Christmas wrapping paper rolls.

Seeking asylum from our sisters in your treehouse (accessible only by a really cool, real rope ratline fashioned by your dad).

Finding a family of possums, lodgers under my front porch.

Games of stickball in the street.

Discovering what the girls in our class would look like in a few years, courtesy of my big brother’s Playboy collection.

All of that came unraveling in one horrible second when you yelled, “Police! Put up your hands, Bobby!”

And I drew first.

---------------------


All the finalists were very good, but to quote one blog commenter "the last one knocked it out of the park."  I couldn't agree more.

Michael Seese, if you'll send me your mailing address, you're the lucky winner of my ARC of RATLINES by Stuart Neville. If by some chance you've already got a copy, let me know and we'll find another title for you.

Congratulations to all the entrants!  This was a great way to start the new year!

RATLINES by Stuart Neville

There's a reason I'm behind on my submissions reading and it's RATLINES by Stuart Neville. Could NOT put it down.

RATLINES pubs tomorrow 1/1/13 and Stuart Neville was kind enough to answer a few questions for me for this blog post today:

1. Tell us what RATLINES is about
RATLINES, set in 1963, is about a Dublin intelligence officer called Albert Ryan who must investigate the killings of several foreign nationals. When he realises they were all former Nazis granted asylum by the Irish government, and that he has to protect the infamous Nazi commando Otto Skorzeny, he tries to put aside his distaste at working for those he fought against twenty years before. Blood and mayhem ensues.



2. How long did it take to write?
The first draft took maybe six months all together, but there were a couple of years of research before that, and another six months of editing.



3. Early on in RATLINES you have the phrase "a nationalist without a nation." You point to several well known nationalists [Che Guevara; Yassir Arafat] who were in fact foreigners to their revolutions. I'd never thought of this before; how did you get interested in this?

That’s a trend I’d noticed a few years ago, and I always found it odd that some men would fight so hard for countries that weren’t the places of their birth. Two close-to-home examples were Eamon de Valera and James Connolly, two of the leading figures of Irish republicanism – but although both had Irish roots, de Valera was a US citizen born in New York, and Connolly was born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland. More directly relevant to RATLINES, both Hitler and his favourite commando, Otto Skorzeny, were actually Austrian by birth, rather than German. You keep seeing this with revolutionaries throughout history, so I thought it was worth noting in the book.



4. You're writing a book set in living memory, but not your living memory. How did you research and verify details, things like the Irish soldier seeing pasta for the first time, no menus in Sicilian cafes?

I’m lucky to have a couple of friends who were around Dublin at the time Ratlines is set. The thing that was impressed upon me by them was how grey and insular Ireland was at the time. A recurring tic in the book is Celia asking for lime in her gin and tonic, and how hard it was to come by. Restaurants in Dublin were generally very basic, and I was told the height of sophistication was a mixed grill in a hotel – a plate of meat and potatoes, in other words. I’d been to the tiny Sicilian island of Ortigia for my honeymoon while I was researching RATLINES, and I kept thinking how exotic somewhere like that must have been for an Irishman like Albert Ryan. And the most traditional eateries there still don’t have menus – you’ll eat what you’re served!



5. I didn't realize Otto Skorzeny was a real person until I read your list of source books. Did you have to alter much to make him an interesting character?


Skorzeny was such a larger-than-life character that, if anything, I had to tone him down a little to keep him believable. I read so many stories about him, from rescuing Mussolini from a mountaintop to his dalliances with Eva Peron, that I realised I could never invent a character like him. I was discussing him with my good friend and WWII expert James Benn, and Jim pointed me in the direction of research that suggested Skorzeny’s mythology was exactly that – a myth. Most of the accepted facts about him where actually his own fabrications. All of a sudden he became a lot more interesting, and much more human.



6. Celia's landlady Mrs Highland has all of two/three scenes, and mentioned maybe two other times, but she's absolutely three dimensional and memorable. How much did you have to know about her to get her on the page so neatly?

Mrs Highland came fully formed, really. I just thought of a prickly, middle-aged spinster landlady, and let her get on with it. Sometimes it pays not to overthink a character, and just let them behave as they will.



7. Do you outline, or just write by the seat of your britches?
Seat of my britches. I need a beginning and an ending; what happens is between is a process of discovery.



8. What did you learn when you wrote it?
With a novel like this, I learned so much history I feel like I deserve a diploma. But it’s the small details that stick in my mind, like Irish seaside guesthouses being named after saints.



9. When you're stuck while writing, what do you do?
I get out my notebook and pen and start jotting down thoughts about the characters: what are their desires? What are they willing to do in pursuit of them? How do their desires conflict with those of the characters around them?



10. What did the copy editor catch that made you groan?
She caught something that a historian beta reader missed, and that would have been quite embarrassing: Dublin’s main train stations were renamed in 1966 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising. I called them by their modern names, not as they were known in 1963. I dodged a real clanger there thanks to a copy editor with some local knowledge.



11. Do you have a favorite book about the craft of writing?
 On Writing by Stephen King is a must read.



12. A memorable book you've read this past year, and what made it stand out?
Absolute Zero Cool by Declan Burke; it’s one of the most original and, frankly, bonkers crime novels you’ll ever read.



13. If you could save the life of any one fictional character who would it be and why?
I always wanted to know what happened to Babe Levy after the end of William Goldman’s Marathon Man. In the novel, a cop finds him skipping diamonds across the surface of the Central Park reservoir. Babe tells the cop where to find Szell’s body. I wonder if Babe was able to convince the authorities of the truth, or was he treated as a murderer?



14. What things (other than books) have had an effect on your writing?
I’ve been a musician most of my life, and I think that must play into the creative process somehow. So many writers are also musicians, I don’t think it can be a coincidence.



15. Is there a book that makes you think "if I could write something like this, I'd die happy?"
Either James Ellroy’s American Tabloid, or Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities; how those authors can juggle so many plot points is beyond me.



16. Care to confess to any guilty pleasures?
I’ve got a soft spot for reality cop shows, the ones that focus on the really mundane crimes and the lowlifes who perpetrate them.



17. How does your dog or cat make you laugh?
Watching dog Sweeney and my baby daughter Issy become best buddies makes me smile.

Flash fiction contest!

Let's get the New Year off to a ROUSING start with a flash fiction contest!

I just read RATLINES by Stuart Neville and it's a sox knocker for sure!

Winner of the flash fiction contest gets my copy of the ARC of RATLINES!

Usual rules:

Write a story using 100 words or fewer.

Use the following words in your story:

ratline
asylum
lodger
swords
bond

Contest opens on 12/30/12 at noon


and closes at 12/31/12 at noon. All times are eastern shark time.




Post story in the comments section of THIS blog post. (comments are closed till contest opens)

If you need a mulligan, delete and repost.  Only ONE entry per person.

All decisions by the judge will be highly subjective and not subject to any kind of review.

Prize is the ARC of RATLINES (or if you've already got that, we'll come up with something else)

International mailing unless you live on Mars.

Questions? Tweet to me @janet_reid

Ready?
SET?
GO! Closed!

While you wait for the results, here's more about RATLINES by Stuart Neville!

#26Acts

This Yes yes yes.


When I thought about what I could do, I realized that it would have to be something completely unrelated to publishing, critiquing, querying, editing. I want to do something that has no chance of benefiting me professionally.

I'm not sure what it is yet, but I'm thinking.

I found this article at The Striped Nickle. Thanks Anna!

Did you miss it?

Did you miss Lee Child's cameo in Jack Reacher?

Here's a helpful hint from Mystery Scene magazine about where it is in the movie!

The thing that made me happiest in 2012

Chum Bucket.

After 16 weeks of Chum Bucket nights, I'm in awe of the talent, courtesy and tenacity of the writers who query me.

I hope I don't sound maudlin if I say it restored my faith in the query process.

It came about by sheer accident (but then, a lot of great things -- at least in my life -- do!)

I'd been on a query hiatus. When it ended, I forgot.  Query writers did not. They queried. I wrote back. I'd fallen out of the habit of clicking the form response.

Then, a miracle.

A miracle in the form of Ashley Z writing back to thank me for what I'd said. She pointed out it hadn't taken me very long to write the email, but it was of great value to her. 

Such a small thing, and yet, that's what it took to make me realize that if people WANTED feedback, and were willing to buy in to the social contract to not respond angrily, we could do some really good work here.

And we have.

I confess I'm astonished we've gone 16 rounds with not a single angry response.  Let me assure you that it wasn't cause the replies were decorated in flowers and pink frosting either. I was as direct and to the point as always---and that's the kind of stuff that is VERY hard to hear.

I truly believe the secret is that we aren't talking about it widely. I've asked people not to tweet about it, or blog about it.  It's something you know about if you're paying attention to my blog, or my twitter feed. That means the people who are participating are generally the ones I WANT to talk to. The ones willing to hear direct comments. To suck it up and come back for more.



Can it go on? Probably not forever, but honestly, at this point, I'm in. 

Thank you to all the writers who queried during Chum Bucket. You made my year.


And let's hear it for our Number One Chum: Thanks Ashley!