Lee Rene's Blog, page 6
March 14, 2016
What Every Self-Published Author Needs to Know About Taxes
It's tax season and writer/blogger Jane Friedman posted a timely article by attorney Helen Sedwick (@helensedwick). 
Ms. Sedwick is the author of the Self-Publisher’s Legal Handbook, now available in ebook and paperback formats.
This information is general in nature and should not be used as a substitute for the advice of an attorney authorized to practice in your jurisdiction.
Most writers don’t realize that their memoir, short story collection, children’s book, or novel could mean money in their pockets, even if sales are disappointing.
Suppose you spend $5,000 hiring editors, designers, and other freelancers to publish your book. At the end of the year, you’ve made $2,000 in sales, which you offset with $2,000 of expenses. Can you deduct the remaining $3,000 from your “day job” income and reduce your income taxes?
Yes, if you treat your writing as a business and not a hobby.
U.S. tax code encourages new businesses by permitting entrepreneurs to offset losses from one business from other income as long as the owner has a serious intent to operate the business at a profit. The IRS wants you to succeed, so they can tax your income later.
For a long time, the IRS followed the rule that an income-producing activity was considered a hobby unless it showed a net profit during three out of five years. (If your writing is a hobby, then you may deduct book-related expenses only from book-related income.)
In practice, the hobby rule is not that strict. If you have a serious intent to make a profit from your writing (and quit your day job), a little advanced planning and discipline will help convince the IRS you’re an entrepreneur.
Treat your venture as a business.
Set up a website and advertise. Print business cards and bookmarks. Promote yourself and your book on social media and other venues. Hire experts to advise you. If you don’t treat your writing as a business, no one else will.
There is no need to incorporate or form a business entity. Your business is just as legitimate as a sole proprietorship. Maintaining an entity is simply too expensive, unless you are making $5,000 or more in net income. In that case, don’t worry about hobby rules, but discuss forming an entity with a tax professional to save on self-employment taxes.
Give your business a name.
Having a name helps you and others separate the business from your personal activities. File a Fictitious Business Name Statement (also called a DBA, doing business as, filing) with your local county. I suggest using a service, such as the DBA Store.
Obtain a Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN).
Even if your business is a sole proprietorship and you never have employees, get a separate EIN, the equivalent to a Social Security Number for your business. Be sure you go directly to the IRS website. Sham sites that look like the IRS site are popping up every day. They ask for your Social Security Number, mother’s maiden name, birthday—all the tools for stealing your identity. Don’t use them!
Apply for a resale certificate.
Unless you live in a state that does not charge sales tax, obtain a resale certificate, sometimes called a seller’s permit. Put the certificate in the name of your company and use your new EIN.
Find out if you need a local business license.
Many cities and counties require some businesses to obtain a business license. Search for “business license” and the city and county where your business is located. The Small Business Administration website has helpful links.
Invest time and effort into making a profit.
Attend conferences, and even better, speak at them. Join and host readings. Arrange school visits. Keep working on new books. Pitch new projects.
Follow tax rules.
• If in any calendar year you pay an independent contractor (other than a corporation) $600 or more for services or $10 or more in royalties, ask the freelancer for a W-9 and report the payments on a 1099-MISC and the equivalent state form. This does not apply to payments to a corporation such as BookBaby, CreateSpace, or Lightning Source.
• Report your business income and expenses on a Schedule C. If you have kept separate financial records, this is easy.
• If your net income (gross revenues less deductions) from writing and self-publishing is $400 or more in any year, you may be required to pay self-employment tax on that income. If taxes on that income exceed $1,000 per year, you may be required to pay quarterly estimated taxes. Once you have reached this level of success, it’s time to consult a tax professional.
Separate personal finances from business finances.
Set up separate bank accounts and credit cards to cover business income and expenses.
Don’t jump the gun.
Wait until you have reasonable writing income before “launching” the business for tax purposes. Limit your deductions to those related to your self-published book or freelancing efforts. If you try to deduct ten years of writing conferences, you are inviting IRS scrutiny.
Maintain good business records.
In tax audits, more people are nailed for losing receipts than for cheating. If you don’t have a file cabinet (real or virtual) dedicated to your writing and self-publishing business, then get one. Invest in a simple business accounting software program.
Keep all records for seven years. Some people say three, but I suggest seven years to support your position that writing is your business.
What records to keep:
• receipts
• royalty statements
• sales slips for direct sales (the ones you make at conferences and readings)
• appointment books
• brochures, business cards and handouts from conferences
• manuscript critiques
• thank-you notes from libraries or schools after readings
• fan email
• contest entries and notifications
• correspondence with freelancers, whether or not you hire them
• letters from agents and publishers, including rejections
• bank and credit card records
• printouts of PayPal summaries
• W-9s and 1099s
• sales tax returns
Final note
This tactic won’t work forever. If you have too many years of losses, the IRS is likely to question you or audit your returns. So don’t go overboard.
This nitty-gritty is the unromantic side of writing. But take the time to do it right, and you could save enough taxes to enjoy several lovely, romantic dinners, if not a wonderfully passionate vacation.
Disclaimer: Helen Sedwick is an attorney licensed to practice in California only. This information is general in nature and should not be used as a substitute for the advice of an attorney authorized to practice in your jurisdiction.
Note from Jane: I highly recommend the Self-Publisher’s Legal Handbook. I received an advance copy and found the information useful and essential for just about any author.
March 6, 2016
Why Writers Should be on Social Media
I found this on Jane Friedman's Weekly Blog Digest and wanted to share. Social media is time consuming, but necessary;
I think it’s fair to say that most of us are not looking to add more social media activity to our lives. In fact, we prefer to trim online activity or drop entire networks if possible.
So the advice I’m about to offer may feel objectionable and time-wasting at first, but if you stay with me until the end, you may find wisdom in what I’m advocating.
I recommend that as soon as you find out about a new social media service, join it.
It’s not necessary to conduct much research on the service or even learn how to use it—not at first. (And let’s assume you’ve heard about the social network from a reputable source or someone you trust.)
Here’s what you should do; it’s about a 10- or 15-minute commitment.
1. Create a username, account name, or profile URL using the name you publish under—or intend to publish under. Hopefully you’ve been consistent about what usernames you have on social media. For instance, no matter where you find me online, my handle is always the same, “janefriedman” or a display name of “Jane Friedman.”
2.Add a link to your website in your profile. (Almost every social network allows you to add a link to your website, so do it.)
3.Complete the profile information to whatever level you feel comfortable. You can copy and paste in your standard bio from another social media site if appropriate.
4.Quickly see if there’s anyone else you know using the platform; consider following/friending.
5.Add a brief post of some kind; experiment for roughly 5 minutes with using the network.
Then you’re done. You never have to go back, until you feel curious or motivated to do so.
Here are the benefits to completing this process:
◾You’re laying claim to the best (or a better) username or handle for yourself.
◾By being an early adopter, you gain the benefit of being “found” by the hundreds or thousands who join the network after you, looking for people they already know on the network. (See #4 above.) On some networks, new users may automatically friend/follow people they’re friends with elsewhere. That means if/when you return to the network at a future date, you have a built-in following you didn’t have to work for.
◾You’re linking to your website and creating a profile that may surface when people search for your name. If the social network becomes big and important, or influential in terms of SEO (search engine optimization), you’ve just created a useful social signal that helps search engines (and others) better identify who you are and understand what work you produce.
◾You don’t have to be active on the social network in order to reap the above benefits.
What are the drawbacks to this process? You’ve got an account out there that may be largely inactive. Some people advocate against this for security reasons, but based on my experience, there’s little to no repercussion. Use a strong and unique password, sign up for weekly email alerts to inform you of any account activity, and generally you’ll be fine.
When I signed up for Facebook (in 2006) and Twitter (in 2008), I didn’t find much to do (or much activity overall). Not enough people were there, neither were yet seen as professional marketing channels, and you couldn’t even advertise. But I still signed up, created a page, and every once in a while returned. Eventually, I started using both networks when they became interesting to me, and my friends and colleagues were there.
Right now, I have accounts at many social media networks, including Pinterest, Tumblr, Snapchat, Peach, and the List App. But I’m not very active on any of them. Maybe one day I will be, and if so, my account is ready and waiting, with a baseline of followers and friends I can build from.
I think it’s fair to say that most of us are not looking to add more social media activity to our lives. In fact, we prefer to trim online activity or drop entire networks if possible.So the advice I’m about to offer may feel objectionable and time-wasting at first, but if you stay with me until the end, you may find wisdom in what I’m advocating.
I recommend that as soon as you find out about a new social media service, join it.
It’s not necessary to conduct much research on the service or even learn how to use it—not at first. (And let’s assume you’ve heard about the social network from a reputable source or someone you trust.)
Here’s what you should do; it’s about a 10- or 15-minute commitment.
1. Create a username, account name, or profile URL using the name you publish under—or intend to publish under. Hopefully you’ve been consistent about what usernames you have on social media. For instance, no matter where you find me online, my handle is always the same, “janefriedman” or a display name of “Jane Friedman.”
2.Add a link to your website in your profile. (Almost every social network allows you to add a link to your website, so do it.)
3.Complete the profile information to whatever level you feel comfortable. You can copy and paste in your standard bio from another social media site if appropriate.
4.Quickly see if there’s anyone else you know using the platform; consider following/friending.
5.Add a brief post of some kind; experiment for roughly 5 minutes with using the network.
Then you’re done. You never have to go back, until you feel curious or motivated to do so.
Here are the benefits to completing this process:
◾You’re laying claim to the best (or a better) username or handle for yourself.
◾By being an early adopter, you gain the benefit of being “found” by the hundreds or thousands who join the network after you, looking for people they already know on the network. (See #4 above.) On some networks, new users may automatically friend/follow people they’re friends with elsewhere. That means if/when you return to the network at a future date, you have a built-in following you didn’t have to work for.
◾You’re linking to your website and creating a profile that may surface when people search for your name. If the social network becomes big and important, or influential in terms of SEO (search engine optimization), you’ve just created a useful social signal that helps search engines (and others) better identify who you are and understand what work you produce.
◾You don’t have to be active on the social network in order to reap the above benefits.
What are the drawbacks to this process? You’ve got an account out there that may be largely inactive. Some people advocate against this for security reasons, but based on my experience, there’s little to no repercussion. Use a strong and unique password, sign up for weekly email alerts to inform you of any account activity, and generally you’ll be fine.
When I signed up for Facebook (in 2006) and Twitter (in 2008), I didn’t find much to do (or much activity overall). Not enough people were there, neither were yet seen as professional marketing channels, and you couldn’t even advertise. But I still signed up, created a page, and every once in a while returned. Eventually, I started using both networks when they became interesting to me, and my friends and colleagues were there.
Right now, I have accounts at many social media networks, including Pinterest, Tumblr, Snapchat, Peach, and the List App. But I’m not very active on any of them. Maybe one day I will be, and if so, my account is ready and waiting, with a baseline of followers and friends I can build from.
March 5, 2016
15 Places to Find Your Next Beta Reader
Beta Readers are invaluable as is this post from author and writing coach, K.M. Weiland
Where can I find a beta reader or critique partner? Without doubt, that’s the second most frequent question I receive from writers (right after where do I find a good editor?).
This can be a tough question to answer for the simple reason that a beta reader or critique partner isn’t someone you simply vet and hire, like you would a freelance editor. Rather, this is (ideally) a relationship you build, just as you would build any important friendship.
7 Things to Look for in a Beta Reader
There are several keys to finding the right beta reader (and it is important to find the right one). You want someone who:
1. Enjoys your genre.
2. Understands your intentions for your stories.
3. Likes your stories, in general.
4. Isn’t afraid to tell you what isn’t working.
5. Is an experienced reader and/or writer (both bring important insights to the table).
6. Is reliable and trustworthy.
7. You like–and who likes you in return.
In short, when you’re looking for beta readers, what you’re really looking for is “your kind of people.”
How to Find a Great Beta Reader
Where do you look for these peeps? Local writing groups sometimes offer possibilities. But the Internet is by far your greatest beta reader resource.
Honestly, my best advice is to simply go where writers go (Twitter, Facebook, writing blogs, writing forums) and start making connections. When you find someone who you feel will be a good fit, offer to trade critiques. Eventually, the right person or people will rise to the top (and when they do, make sure you treat them right).
Still, that’s not the kind of answer most writers want. It is, after all, kinda vague–and there’s a lot of time and a little bit of luck involved. So I decided to take this whole game up a notch. I conducted an informal poll (via my daily Writing Question of the Day–#WQOTD–on Facebook and Twitter)
Following is the list of responses I received, in alphabetical order.
Top Recommended Beta Reader and Critique Groups for Writers
10 Minute Novelists (Facebook Group)
Absolute Write
Agent Query Connect
Beta Readers and Critiques (Facebook Group)
Christian Woman Critique Partners and Beta Readers (Facebook Group)
Christian Writers
Critique Circle
Critters Workshop (for Speculative Authors)
Indie Author Group (Facebook Group)
KidLit 411
Lit Reactor
My Writers Circle
Writer’s Carnival
The Writer’s Workshop
Writing.com
Now What Do You Do?
The only one of these sites with which I have any personal experience is Christian Writers, and that was many years ago. You’ll need to do some research (aka, poking around) to discover which site is the right fit for you. Some of the Facebook groups are invitation-only, so if they interest you, you’ll need to submit your application for approval.
Remember, finding a good beta reader is often as much about being a good beta reader yourself as it is anything else. Be prepared to give generously, use wisdom in selecting appropriate groups and partners, and take advantage of this resource to help you polish your writing to the next level.
Wordplayers, tell me your opinion! Do you have a beta reader? If so, where did you find him? Tell me in the comments!
Where can I find a beta reader or critique partner? Without doubt, that’s the second most frequent question I receive from writers (right after where do I find a good editor?).This can be a tough question to answer for the simple reason that a beta reader or critique partner isn’t someone you simply vet and hire, like you would a freelance editor. Rather, this is (ideally) a relationship you build, just as you would build any important friendship.
7 Things to Look for in a Beta Reader
There are several keys to finding the right beta reader (and it is important to find the right one). You want someone who:
1. Enjoys your genre.
2. Understands your intentions for your stories.
3. Likes your stories, in general.
4. Isn’t afraid to tell you what isn’t working.
5. Is an experienced reader and/or writer (both bring important insights to the table).
6. Is reliable and trustworthy.
7. You like–and who likes you in return.
In short, when you’re looking for beta readers, what you’re really looking for is “your kind of people.”
How to Find a Great Beta Reader
Where do you look for these peeps? Local writing groups sometimes offer possibilities. But the Internet is by far your greatest beta reader resource.
Honestly, my best advice is to simply go where writers go (Twitter, Facebook, writing blogs, writing forums) and start making connections. When you find someone who you feel will be a good fit, offer to trade critiques. Eventually, the right person or people will rise to the top (and when they do, make sure you treat them right).
Still, that’s not the kind of answer most writers want. It is, after all, kinda vague–and there’s a lot of time and a little bit of luck involved. So I decided to take this whole game up a notch. I conducted an informal poll (via my daily Writing Question of the Day–#WQOTD–on Facebook and Twitter)
Following is the list of responses I received, in alphabetical order.
Top Recommended Beta Reader and Critique Groups for Writers
10 Minute Novelists (Facebook Group)
Absolute Write
Agent Query Connect
Beta Readers and Critiques (Facebook Group)
Christian Woman Critique Partners and Beta Readers (Facebook Group)
Christian Writers
Critique Circle
Critters Workshop (for Speculative Authors)
Indie Author Group (Facebook Group)
KidLit 411
Lit Reactor
My Writers Circle
Writer’s Carnival
The Writer’s Workshop
Writing.com
Now What Do You Do?
The only one of these sites with which I have any personal experience is Christian Writers, and that was many years ago. You’ll need to do some research (aka, poking around) to discover which site is the right fit for you. Some of the Facebook groups are invitation-only, so if they interest you, you’ll need to submit your application for approval.
Remember, finding a good beta reader is often as much about being a good beta reader yourself as it is anything else. Be prepared to give generously, use wisdom in selecting appropriate groups and partners, and take advantage of this resource to help you polish your writing to the next level.
Wordplayers, tell me your opinion! Do you have a beta reader? If so, where did you find him? Tell me in the comments!
Enigmas, Puzzles, and Riddles from DailyWritingTips
On the day of the Iowa Caucus, pollster Ann Selzer made the following comment about Donald Trump:
He’s just this riddle inside a puzzle.
I immediately thought of Winston Churchill’s oft-repeated comment about Russia at the beginning of World War II:
a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.
I couldn’t help wondering if Ms. Selzer chose the word puzzle because she felt that the general American public in 2016 were less likely to understand the word enigma than a general British public in 1939.
But, I’m probably being uncharitable. Puzzle is a valid synonym for enigma, although not nearly as classy.
Enigma is from Latin aenigma, “a riddle or a mystery.” The Latin noun is from a Greek verb meaning, “to speak allusively or obscurely.”
Riddle is a word inherited from German. In Old English, riddle was the usual English translation of Latin aenigma and referred to what modern speakers, especially children, mean by riddle: “a question or statement intentionally phrased to require ingenuity in ascertaining its answer or meaning. For example, “How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb?”
Puzzle is of unknown origin. Its earliest English use was as a verb meaning, “to cause a person to be at a loss what to do; to create difficulties for someone.”
The verb came to have several meanings, including these: to cause someone to feel confused because they cannot understand something.
to perplex or bewilder the brain.
to be at a loss how to act or decide
to search in a bewildered or perplexed way
The noun puzzle is derived from the verb and means “a perplexing question or a difficult problem.” It can also signify “a person who is difficult to understand.”
Note: Selzer’s remark referred not so much to the man, but to his apparently inexplicable popularity with “moderate and mainstream” Republicans as well as with extremists.
English has numerous words to convey something that is baffling or mentally challenging. Here are some others:
mystery
conundrum
paradox
quandary
brainteaser
Most are near synonyms. All imply something baffling or challenging, but they carry different connotations.
A mystery invites speculation. A conundrum, like a riddle, is often phrased as a question. The answer usually involves a play on words or a twist in thinking. For example:
What is greater than God,
more evil than the devil,
the poor have it,
the rich need it,
and if you eat it, you’ll die?
(Answer: Nothing)
A paradox seems absurd, but in reality expresses a certain truth. For example, “Youth is wasted on the young.”
A quandary is a state of extreme perplexity. A person or a group is said to be “in a quandary,” as in this headline from The Gaffney Ledger: “Council still in a quandary over healthcare insurance.”
Of the three words in the title of this post, puzzle is most frequent in a Google search (296,000,000), riddle next (140,200,000), and enigma last (64,400,000). The figure for enigma is no doubt inflated because of the popularity of the word in the entertainment industry. References to the German “enigma machine” probably also account for some of the results.
He’s just this riddle inside a puzzle.
I immediately thought of Winston Churchill’s oft-repeated comment about Russia at the beginning of World War II:
a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.
I couldn’t help wondering if Ms. Selzer chose the word puzzle because she felt that the general American public in 2016 were less likely to understand the word enigma than a general British public in 1939.
But, I’m probably being uncharitable. Puzzle is a valid synonym for enigma, although not nearly as classy.
Enigma is from Latin aenigma, “a riddle or a mystery.” The Latin noun is from a Greek verb meaning, “to speak allusively or obscurely.”
Riddle is a word inherited from German. In Old English, riddle was the usual English translation of Latin aenigma and referred to what modern speakers, especially children, mean by riddle: “a question or statement intentionally phrased to require ingenuity in ascertaining its answer or meaning. For example, “How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb?”
Puzzle is of unknown origin. Its earliest English use was as a verb meaning, “to cause a person to be at a loss what to do; to create difficulties for someone.”
The verb came to have several meanings, including these: to cause someone to feel confused because they cannot understand something.
to perplex or bewilder the brain.
to be at a loss how to act or decide
to search in a bewildered or perplexed way
The noun puzzle is derived from the verb and means “a perplexing question or a difficult problem.” It can also signify “a person who is difficult to understand.”
Note: Selzer’s remark referred not so much to the man, but to his apparently inexplicable popularity with “moderate and mainstream” Republicans as well as with extremists.
English has numerous words to convey something that is baffling or mentally challenging. Here are some others:
mystery
conundrum
paradox
quandary
brainteaser
Most are near synonyms. All imply something baffling or challenging, but they carry different connotations.
A mystery invites speculation. A conundrum, like a riddle, is often phrased as a question. The answer usually involves a play on words or a twist in thinking. For example:
What is greater than God,
more evil than the devil,
the poor have it,
the rich need it,
and if you eat it, you’ll die?
(Answer: Nothing)
A paradox seems absurd, but in reality expresses a certain truth. For example, “Youth is wasted on the young.”
A quandary is a state of extreme perplexity. A person or a group is said to be “in a quandary,” as in this headline from The Gaffney Ledger: “Council still in a quandary over healthcare insurance.”
Of the three words in the title of this post, puzzle is most frequent in a Google search (296,000,000), riddle next (140,200,000), and enigma last (64,400,000). The figure for enigma is no doubt inflated because of the popularity of the word in the entertainment industry. References to the German “enigma machine” probably also account for some of the results.
Mixing tenses in your writing
I always write in the past tense; however, I noticed that many writers mix tenses. A recent post on the Daily Writing Tips site addresses that issue and clarifies some points;
Three questions from readers about mixing tenses, and my responses to their questions, follow.
1. When I read the following quote recently, I wondered whether it’s wrong for all the verbs to be in the past tense: “Smith said he believed that the company was trying to intimidate employees into not participating in the panel’s efforts.” What do you think?
Reporting is generally presented in the past tense, but to continue to form verbs in the past tense may misrepresent the facts. At the time that Smith spoke, he held a belief that he presumably will hold into perpetuity, so the present tense of believe is appropriate here.
However, whether the verb after company should be in present tense or past tense depends on whether the alleged intimidation is ongoing. That was not the case in this particular instance, but if that is not clear in the context of the complete article, the reporter should explicitly state whether the intimidation ended. The sentence should read, “Smith said he believes that the company was trying to intimidate employees into not participating in the panel’s efforts.”
2. Is the following sentence properly constructed?:
“Launching nationwide on September 25, BankWorks is a new service offered by Banking Services, the same company that brought you BankTrack and BankData.” Somehow the variation in verb tenses (launching, is, brought) does not sit quite right with me, but I cannot say if it is wrong.
Mixing tenses in sentences is fine, as long as each verb form is consistent with the tense for that piece of information. The service will launch in the future, but it is offered in the present, and the services BankTrack and BankData were established in the past, so the sentence is correct.
3. What are your thoughts are regarding tense usage for reported speech?
Consider the following sentences:
“John told me that he was married.”
“John told me that he is married.”
Which one should I use if I want to say that John was married at the time he said he was married and he is still married at the time of the reported speech?
Write, “John told me that he is married” if he had a spouse at the time that he spoke to you.
Write, “John told me that he was married” if John is now single. (Mixing of tenses is correct if the context warrants it, but it goes against the grain. We're so used to seeing it wrong, especially in nonprofessional writing, that it may seem incorrect.)
Three questions from readers about mixing tenses, and my responses to their questions, follow.
1. When I read the following quote recently, I wondered whether it’s wrong for all the verbs to be in the past tense: “Smith said he believed that the company was trying to intimidate employees into not participating in the panel’s efforts.” What do you think?
Reporting is generally presented in the past tense, but to continue to form verbs in the past tense may misrepresent the facts. At the time that Smith spoke, he held a belief that he presumably will hold into perpetuity, so the present tense of believe is appropriate here.
However, whether the verb after company should be in present tense or past tense depends on whether the alleged intimidation is ongoing. That was not the case in this particular instance, but if that is not clear in the context of the complete article, the reporter should explicitly state whether the intimidation ended. The sentence should read, “Smith said he believes that the company was trying to intimidate employees into not participating in the panel’s efforts.”
2. Is the following sentence properly constructed?:
“Launching nationwide on September 25, BankWorks is a new service offered by Banking Services, the same company that brought you BankTrack and BankData.” Somehow the variation in verb tenses (launching, is, brought) does not sit quite right with me, but I cannot say if it is wrong.
Mixing tenses in sentences is fine, as long as each verb form is consistent with the tense for that piece of information. The service will launch in the future, but it is offered in the present, and the services BankTrack and BankData were established in the past, so the sentence is correct.
3. What are your thoughts are regarding tense usage for reported speech?
Consider the following sentences:
“John told me that he was married.”
“John told me that he is married.”
Which one should I use if I want to say that John was married at the time he said he was married and he is still married at the time of the reported speech?
Write, “John told me that he is married” if he had a spouse at the time that he spoke to you.
Write, “John told me that he was married” if John is now single. (Mixing of tenses is correct if the context warrants it, but it goes against the grain. We're so used to seeing it wrong, especially in nonprofessional writing, that it may seem incorrect.)
March 4, 2016
Invaluable Book Publicity Tips
These tips on book promotion are from industry publicity veteran, Scott Manning. Manning discusses the basics of book publicity, what you should include in a press kit, and when to start a book publicity campaign. He is thefounder of Scott Manning & Associates, and has been in publishing, specifically in publicity, for more than 35 years. He began at Harper & Row (which became HarperCollins in 1990), and was Vice President, Director of Publicity at William Morrow & Company.
What are the basics of book publicity? What do you do on a day-to-day basis?
Generally, I tell my clients I prefer to start working on a book five months before publication. There are many media outlets that not only require working that far ahead – mainly magazines and venues that have authors as speakers – but sometimes it just takes a long time to work with some media outlets and convince them that this is a book and an author that they should pay attention to. So, really from start to finish we’re looking at five months.
No two projects are the same, and that’s one of the things I love about book publicity. You have to approach each book essentially as a new product. There are certain things that any publicist will do for every book: sending out bound galleys, following up with review copies, and knowing the right media outlets to send the books to. But, every book offers new opportunities, and what is right for some media outlets is not right for others. The worst thing I can do is pitch people and send books to media contacts who would not be interested in this topic.
I spend a lot of time not only working on my individual projects but also understanding what is going on in the media, who is doing what, what are the new outlets, what is going on in social media, what are people talking about. That takes up almost as much of my time as working on the individual books.
What are the options when strategizing how to run a successful publicity campaign?
You want to first consider outlets that work on a long-lead basis, such as magazines. Is your book something of interest to men’s magazines, women’s magazines, or general interest magazines like Vanity Fair or The Atlantic? Would it make sense to send this author out to make appearances? Those are really the first things.
Generally: Is this a topic that is going to be of interest to the media? Is it going to make sense for television, radio? Is it a good talk radio topic?
It is also important to work with the author as far as their social media presence is concerned. One of the big mistakes authors make these days is to think, “I have a new book coming out, so that means I need to get active in social media.” You have to be active and establish those platforms long before the book comes out because, as anyone who is on those platforms knows, if you just immediately start promoting yourself, you are going to drive people away. You need to spend a lot of time establishing yourself as a member of the right communities so that when your book comes out, you almost have permission to start talking about the things that are going on around your book.
I heard one author make a comment at a seminar. On the one hand, it was such a simple idea, but it really has stuck with me for years; she said “I found social media to be as helpful to me when I was writing my book as I did when I was ready to promote it.”
What she was saying was that social media was a tremendous tool for her to get information (for her subject), and by doing that, she was establishing herself within a community of people who were interested in the topic she was writing about, and she was part of this whole give-and-take of information. You know – “Look what I found; this might be helpful to you” and asking questions and having people respond, so that by the time her book came out, she could say “I am appearing at such and such a book store and I hope you will come out and see me” because she had spent all of this time building a reputation for herself that wasn’t built solely on promoting herself.
Do you think fiction is harder to publicize than nonfiction?
I wouldn’t say harder, because I have handled a good amount of fiction and really enjoyed it. It is just very different from handling nonfiction and, as it turns out, I have established a clientele that is mainly nonfiction. But, there are plenty of good publicists out there who thrive on handling fiction, and there are a lot of really good in-house publicists who are great with fiction, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that they’ve got a lot to offer. If you’re a publicist at one of the houses that has a very strong fiction list, then alongside a lot of your up-and-coming authors, you have a lot of brand-name literary fiction writers to offer as well. That will cause media contacts on the other side to listen. They know that it is coming from a particular house that has a reputation for publishing quality books in that area, ergo they are going to want to talk to you.
What should be included in a traditional press kit?
When it comes to nonfiction books, it is especially important to ask “Why do I care about this book?” You have to put yourself in the mindset of the people to whom you are pitching, because if they get the idea that you are wasting their time, they’re going to move on to their next email or their next book or whatever else is vying for their attention. The main thing is to answer that question very quickly and very succinctly right up front. This material belongs in a pitch letter, which is a to-the-point, one page document. If you’re trying to get an interview, include the kind of topics that could be addressed.
In the next important document, the press release, it is always good to provide a full walk through the book. What are the high points of the book if they do decide to interview the author? We have to face the reality that a lot of these people don’t necessarily have time to fully read the books.
Beyond the pitch letter and press release, you might include a list of your coming appearances with dates, times, and addresses. If there is substantial advance praise for the book, blurbs or excerpts from reviews could be listed on a separate sheet or on the press release. If the author has been featured in re-printable articles that relate to the book, these might be included, as well. Here, though, it’s important to edit and not go overboard.
When is the optimal time to push for publicity?
For most books, you’re looking at a publicity window right around the publication month and maybe a month or two after. That is when you’re going to have peak interest from media. After that point, there are so many other books coming out – and movies and music and videos – that are also vying for the same reporters’ attention. The focus in most cases really has to be right around the publication month so you can create a groundswell of interest in the book and essentially launch it. Then, if there are still opportunities for coverage, of course you keep on working on those, but generally for most books you’re going to see it right around the publication.
During the whole five months before publication, though, I am getting materials out to people and following up with them and then continuing the follow up right through the publication month and then maybe a month or two after.
Are there a certain number of book copies that should be set aside purely for publicity purposes?
I would say you want to set aside at least 150 to 200, but that can vary greatly. If you’re talking about a book that has a particular niche or regional appeal as opposed to national appeal, then you want to do your homework and make sure that there is a reason you’re sending each copy of your book out, not just “I’m going to send this to all the book review editors in the country.” It doesn’t make sense. The important thing is to be sure there is a reason you are sending out each copy.
How important do you think book reviews are within publicity?
Reviews for certain books are very important, but they are difficult to get just because of the sheer number of books that are published and the downward trend in outlets that are running book reviews, and even the ones that do have decreased the number of reviews they’re running. Reviews are still very important for literary fiction, serious nonfiction and academic titles.
Have you ever worked with a self-published author?
I have! As a matter of fact, one of my biggest successes was with a self-published book, and this was early on before self-publishing really took off. It was a brother-sister combination: She was a cancer survivor and he was a health care advocate working for agencies for people with AIDS, making the point that everyone needs an advocate and how do you wade through this crazy healthcare system of ours? I just thought, “I don’t care who is publishing this, this is a great story. It is a woman who has actually experienced this herself and a guy who is a professional at telling you how to deal with the health care system.”
I not only got them on the Today Show, but I got them a five-part series on the Today Show, and that all had to do with the trust that I mentioned earlier. The producer at the time trusted when I said “Look, this brother and sister are really good and this is a great topic;” they decided they wanted to do a five-part series on how to get the best health care, so five mornings in a row they had my authors on the show.
Do you think self-published authors suffer an inherent disadvantage in the realm of publicity or is it a platform of equal opportunity?
You need to be smart about it and you need to have something that is going to be helpful to a journalist.
Getting to the large media outlets, you do need help getting through the noise there. That’s not to say that it is impossible, that you couldn’t get yourself on the Today Show without a publicist. It does happen, but you’re at much more of an advantage when you have someone who knows the people and has built a reputation. That is what we spend our careers doing: building a reputation so that our emails will get answered and our packages will get opened, so that we know that even if they don’t have time to get back to us, they are still paying attention because they saw our name on it. That’s what a publicist brings to the table. But what it all comes down to in the end is, what do you have? Do you have a good story and are you promoting that story to the right places?
I’ve worked with a number of self-published authors, and what I want to see is how is: Does it look like a book that could stand next to a book from a publishing house on a shelf? Self-publishing is getting much more sophisticated. How is it edited? Before I take on a project, I don’t care who it is, I read as much of the book as I can. If it’s poorly edited or poorly written, I am not interested. Authors who come to me these days, they are not at a disadvantage when their book is self-published. I apply the same rigorous standards to what I will represent and what I won’t to a self-published book as I do to any book from a publishing house.
What are those rigorous standards? What things do you consider when deciding which books you will or will not represent?
The most important standard is the quality of the content and the way it is delivered. I want to be sure an author is going to get their money’s worth out of me. There are never any guarantees in publicity. There are all kinds of things that can get in the way of getting the kind of coverage you think you’re going to get, but I have been doing it long enough to be able to look at a book and say, “I really think that this is something the media is going to go for.” In the end, the author is going to walk away feeling like working with me was money well spent.
Any last tips for self-published authors?
Don’t think that writing the book and getting it printed is the finish line. You’ve got to put almost as much time into getting the word out about the book as you did writing it. Even if you have a publicist, you need to work with them and be willing to devote a lot of time. Be smart about it. Don’t waste time on options that don’t make sense for your book.
This is an excerpted version of an interview originally posted on BlueInk Review’s blog, by Rachel L’Heureux, a graduate of the University of Denver and the Publishing Institute at the University of Denver.
What are the basics of book publicity? What do you do on a day-to-day basis?
Generally, I tell my clients I prefer to start working on a book five months before publication. There are many media outlets that not only require working that far ahead – mainly magazines and venues that have authors as speakers – but sometimes it just takes a long time to work with some media outlets and convince them that this is a book and an author that they should pay attention to. So, really from start to finish we’re looking at five months.
No two projects are the same, and that’s one of the things I love about book publicity. You have to approach each book essentially as a new product. There are certain things that any publicist will do for every book: sending out bound galleys, following up with review copies, and knowing the right media outlets to send the books to. But, every book offers new opportunities, and what is right for some media outlets is not right for others. The worst thing I can do is pitch people and send books to media contacts who would not be interested in this topic.
I spend a lot of time not only working on my individual projects but also understanding what is going on in the media, who is doing what, what are the new outlets, what is going on in social media, what are people talking about. That takes up almost as much of my time as working on the individual books.
What are the options when strategizing how to run a successful publicity campaign?
You want to first consider outlets that work on a long-lead basis, such as magazines. Is your book something of interest to men’s magazines, women’s magazines, or general interest magazines like Vanity Fair or The Atlantic? Would it make sense to send this author out to make appearances? Those are really the first things.
Generally: Is this a topic that is going to be of interest to the media? Is it going to make sense for television, radio? Is it a good talk radio topic?
It is also important to work with the author as far as their social media presence is concerned. One of the big mistakes authors make these days is to think, “I have a new book coming out, so that means I need to get active in social media.” You have to be active and establish those platforms long before the book comes out because, as anyone who is on those platforms knows, if you just immediately start promoting yourself, you are going to drive people away. You need to spend a lot of time establishing yourself as a member of the right communities so that when your book comes out, you almost have permission to start talking about the things that are going on around your book.
I heard one author make a comment at a seminar. On the one hand, it was such a simple idea, but it really has stuck with me for years; she said “I found social media to be as helpful to me when I was writing my book as I did when I was ready to promote it.”
What she was saying was that social media was a tremendous tool for her to get information (for her subject), and by doing that, she was establishing herself within a community of people who were interested in the topic she was writing about, and she was part of this whole give-and-take of information. You know – “Look what I found; this might be helpful to you” and asking questions and having people respond, so that by the time her book came out, she could say “I am appearing at such and such a book store and I hope you will come out and see me” because she had spent all of this time building a reputation for herself that wasn’t built solely on promoting herself.
Do you think fiction is harder to publicize than nonfiction?
I wouldn’t say harder, because I have handled a good amount of fiction and really enjoyed it. It is just very different from handling nonfiction and, as it turns out, I have established a clientele that is mainly nonfiction. But, there are plenty of good publicists out there who thrive on handling fiction, and there are a lot of really good in-house publicists who are great with fiction, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that they’ve got a lot to offer. If you’re a publicist at one of the houses that has a very strong fiction list, then alongside a lot of your up-and-coming authors, you have a lot of brand-name literary fiction writers to offer as well. That will cause media contacts on the other side to listen. They know that it is coming from a particular house that has a reputation for publishing quality books in that area, ergo they are going to want to talk to you.
What should be included in a traditional press kit?
When it comes to nonfiction books, it is especially important to ask “Why do I care about this book?” You have to put yourself in the mindset of the people to whom you are pitching, because if they get the idea that you are wasting their time, they’re going to move on to their next email or their next book or whatever else is vying for their attention. The main thing is to answer that question very quickly and very succinctly right up front. This material belongs in a pitch letter, which is a to-the-point, one page document. If you’re trying to get an interview, include the kind of topics that could be addressed.
In the next important document, the press release, it is always good to provide a full walk through the book. What are the high points of the book if they do decide to interview the author? We have to face the reality that a lot of these people don’t necessarily have time to fully read the books.
Beyond the pitch letter and press release, you might include a list of your coming appearances with dates, times, and addresses. If there is substantial advance praise for the book, blurbs or excerpts from reviews could be listed on a separate sheet or on the press release. If the author has been featured in re-printable articles that relate to the book, these might be included, as well. Here, though, it’s important to edit and not go overboard.
When is the optimal time to push for publicity?
For most books, you’re looking at a publicity window right around the publication month and maybe a month or two after. That is when you’re going to have peak interest from media. After that point, there are so many other books coming out – and movies and music and videos – that are also vying for the same reporters’ attention. The focus in most cases really has to be right around the publication month so you can create a groundswell of interest in the book and essentially launch it. Then, if there are still opportunities for coverage, of course you keep on working on those, but generally for most books you’re going to see it right around the publication.
During the whole five months before publication, though, I am getting materials out to people and following up with them and then continuing the follow up right through the publication month and then maybe a month or two after.
Are there a certain number of book copies that should be set aside purely for publicity purposes?
I would say you want to set aside at least 150 to 200, but that can vary greatly. If you’re talking about a book that has a particular niche or regional appeal as opposed to national appeal, then you want to do your homework and make sure that there is a reason you’re sending each copy of your book out, not just “I’m going to send this to all the book review editors in the country.” It doesn’t make sense. The important thing is to be sure there is a reason you are sending out each copy.
How important do you think book reviews are within publicity?
Reviews for certain books are very important, but they are difficult to get just because of the sheer number of books that are published and the downward trend in outlets that are running book reviews, and even the ones that do have decreased the number of reviews they’re running. Reviews are still very important for literary fiction, serious nonfiction and academic titles.
Have you ever worked with a self-published author?
I have! As a matter of fact, one of my biggest successes was with a self-published book, and this was early on before self-publishing really took off. It was a brother-sister combination: She was a cancer survivor and he was a health care advocate working for agencies for people with AIDS, making the point that everyone needs an advocate and how do you wade through this crazy healthcare system of ours? I just thought, “I don’t care who is publishing this, this is a great story. It is a woman who has actually experienced this herself and a guy who is a professional at telling you how to deal with the health care system.”
I not only got them on the Today Show, but I got them a five-part series on the Today Show, and that all had to do with the trust that I mentioned earlier. The producer at the time trusted when I said “Look, this brother and sister are really good and this is a great topic;” they decided they wanted to do a five-part series on how to get the best health care, so five mornings in a row they had my authors on the show.
Do you think self-published authors suffer an inherent disadvantage in the realm of publicity or is it a platform of equal opportunity?
You need to be smart about it and you need to have something that is going to be helpful to a journalist.
Getting to the large media outlets, you do need help getting through the noise there. That’s not to say that it is impossible, that you couldn’t get yourself on the Today Show without a publicist. It does happen, but you’re at much more of an advantage when you have someone who knows the people and has built a reputation. That is what we spend our careers doing: building a reputation so that our emails will get answered and our packages will get opened, so that we know that even if they don’t have time to get back to us, they are still paying attention because they saw our name on it. That’s what a publicist brings to the table. But what it all comes down to in the end is, what do you have? Do you have a good story and are you promoting that story to the right places?
I’ve worked with a number of self-published authors, and what I want to see is how is: Does it look like a book that could stand next to a book from a publishing house on a shelf? Self-publishing is getting much more sophisticated. How is it edited? Before I take on a project, I don’t care who it is, I read as much of the book as I can. If it’s poorly edited or poorly written, I am not interested. Authors who come to me these days, they are not at a disadvantage when their book is self-published. I apply the same rigorous standards to what I will represent and what I won’t to a self-published book as I do to any book from a publishing house.
What are those rigorous standards? What things do you consider when deciding which books you will or will not represent?
The most important standard is the quality of the content and the way it is delivered. I want to be sure an author is going to get their money’s worth out of me. There are never any guarantees in publicity. There are all kinds of things that can get in the way of getting the kind of coverage you think you’re going to get, but I have been doing it long enough to be able to look at a book and say, “I really think that this is something the media is going to go for.” In the end, the author is going to walk away feeling like working with me was money well spent.
Any last tips for self-published authors?
Don’t think that writing the book and getting it printed is the finish line. You’ve got to put almost as much time into getting the word out about the book as you did writing it. Even if you have a publicist, you need to work with them and be willing to devote a lot of time. Be smart about it. Don’t waste time on options that don’t make sense for your book.
This is an excerpted version of an interview originally posted on BlueInk Review’s blog, by Rachel L’Heureux, a graduate of the University of Denver and the Publishing Institute at the University of Denver.
March 3, 2016
3 People Every Writer Needs in Their Creative Collective
By Todd Henry, author of Louder Than Words, The Accidental Creative, and Die Empty.When you imagine a person creating a work of art, what comes to mind?Many of us think of a writer tucked away in the corner of a quiet room, a painter isolated in a smoldering attic loft, or a designer’s eyes fixed with precision on a laptop screen for hours on end, and we unwittingly internalize the myth that making art is a solo sport.
Yes, you must often do the work alone, but an artist
is never truly alone. The artist’s sense of self, vision, and craft are often forged in the fires of community. Many of the most resonant, and ultimately impactful creative voices are honed through their interactions with others they respect and trust.
As Virginia Woolf put it:Masterpieces are not single and solitary births; they are the outcome of many years of thinking in common, of thinking by the body of people, so that the experience of the mass is behind the single voice.
To make art means to make bold, unique decisions in the face of uncertainty. Without a strong community around you, it’s easy to lose sight of who you are and what you care about, and over time your body of work becomes compromised via a series of seemingly inconsequential decisions.
The courage to persist, and to ultimately build a body of work that reflects your unique passions and perspective, comes most readily from the people around you. Yes, you must be brave to do brilliant work, but you shouldn’t walk alone.
In Louder Than Words, I wrote about the importance of forming your “collective”, or a group of people who will help you stay inspired and hone your voice until it resonates deeply. There are a few kinds of people you should seek out as a part of your collective:The Mirror
Who speaks unvarnished truth to you? You need someone in your life who will help you stay aligned and focused, who will help you invest your finite creative resources in places that will reap the best return. A mirror reflects back the truth to you.
Who tells you things you don’t like now so that you can achieve results that you love later? In isolation, you can start to want to be seen a certain way more than you want to actually be a certain way. This is a problem, because it means you are not operating from a place of authenticity, and your work will suffer.
The mirror calls you on your nonsense, and helps you stay true to your compass, even when you are less than certain about the right path. Do you have someone who tells you the truth? If not, find them, because your voice isn’t just what you say, it’s how you are heard by others.
The Muse
Who fills your well? You need others in your life to inspire you and charge your creative batteries. Who plays this role? (And, on the other side of the equation, who do you play this role for?)
Who introduces you to new ideas, shares inspiring resources with you, or pushes you to go into uncomfortable places with your art? You gain so much by seeing through the eyes of people you trust and respect.
A shallow response would be “I don’t need a muse. I have Facebook/Twitter/etc.!” Yes, these tools increase your awareness, but awareness is not the same as knowledge, and knowledge is not equivalent to wisdom.
Conversations with your community will help you turn your insights into impact by creating accountability for you to take action. It’s action that defines reality, not knowledge. Inspiration has a shelf-life unless you act upon it.
The Mentor
Who is lighting your path? Not all the way down, but just for the next few steps? When doing creative work, it’s not important that you see the finish line, only the horizon. A mentor can shine the light a little ahead of you and help you see what’s coming next.
Mentors don’t have to be a hundred steps down the path, only enough to give you perspective. There have been many mentors in my life who have identified obvious problems, put books into my hands at just the right time, or helped me navigate a tricky decision. There wasn’t a formal “mentorship” agreement, we were just in community together and leaning on one another.
What difficult problem are you facing right now that you need to seek help with? Don’t let today pass without taking action. Isolation due to pride or self-reliance can be the most damaging kind of all.
If you want to develop a resonant creative voice, you must lean into the power of community.
Don’t allow the myth of the “lone wolf” creative to cause you to struggle in isolation. Form your collective, draw upon the wisdom and insight mirrors, muses, and mentors, and you’ll soon find that you’re doing the best work of your life.
February 27, 2016
New Trends in Romance Novels
Predicting the next romance trend is fascinating for those of us who write in the genre - Romance writer Nicole Hurley-Moore shared this post from Lily on Twitter.
I think that being clairvoyant would be pretty neat, don't you? So when Angela James, the editorial director of Harlequin's digital imprint Carina, offered to fill us in on her predictions for this year's romance novel trends, I was pumped. Here are her attempts at gazing into the crystal ball of love.
One of my favorite and least favorite things about the current publishing world is that you never know what you’re going to get next week in terms of what’s hot, let alone next year. It does make even guessing at trends a lot like playing the lottery, but it also means publishing is always fun and exciting. So here are some of my best guesses for 2016 . . .
•Paranormal romance is going to be back on the upswing. I’ve actually been predicting this one since last year, and we’ve seen moves toward this, but I think the market is absolutely glutted with contemporary romance, and readers will be happy to take a turn back to paranormal, with a side of fantasy and alien-based romances thrown in, in order to experience relief from the over-publishing of small town/New Adult/sports/billionaire romances.
•Length will matter. I see readers talking about how it feels like much of what’s being published is on the shorter side, and I believe the authors who can write compelling 90,000+ word stories will appeal to an audience who are desperately looking to spend more time with characters they love.
•Angst is out. OK, not really, but I think many readers are burnt out on the super drama, high-high conflict, everyone-is-emotionally-scarred plots that we’ve seen the past two years. Readers will embrace romances that take them on a feel-good journey from start to finish and leave them on a high note, rather than feeling as if they’ve gone through an emotional wringer.
•Last, but I think most important: diversity is not a buzzword and no one should treat it as the next big thing to be “trendy." But working toward diversity in publishing is a crucial step forward. Readers are asking for more books that represent the world we live in, not just small portions of it—whether it’s race, culture, religion, sexuality or physical differences. So while I don’t want to name this as a “trend,” I would like to call it out as an important evolution in romance novels and one that we should push to see as a natural part of romance publishing moving forward.
I think that being clairvoyant would be pretty neat, don't you? So when Angela James, the editorial director of Harlequin's digital imprint Carina, offered to fill us in on her predictions for this year's romance novel trends, I was pumped. Here are her attempts at gazing into the crystal ball of love.
One of my favorite and least favorite things about the current publishing world is that you never know what you’re going to get next week in terms of what’s hot, let alone next year. It does make even guessing at trends a lot like playing the lottery, but it also means publishing is always fun and exciting. So here are some of my best guesses for 2016 . . .
•Paranormal romance is going to be back on the upswing. I’ve actually been predicting this one since last year, and we’ve seen moves toward this, but I think the market is absolutely glutted with contemporary romance, and readers will be happy to take a turn back to paranormal, with a side of fantasy and alien-based romances thrown in, in order to experience relief from the over-publishing of small town/New Adult/sports/billionaire romances.
•Length will matter. I see readers talking about how it feels like much of what’s being published is on the shorter side, and I believe the authors who can write compelling 90,000+ word stories will appeal to an audience who are desperately looking to spend more time with characters they love.
•Angst is out. OK, not really, but I think many readers are burnt out on the super drama, high-high conflict, everyone-is-emotionally-scarred plots that we’ve seen the past two years. Readers will embrace romances that take them on a feel-good journey from start to finish and leave them on a high note, rather than feeling as if they’ve gone through an emotional wringer.
•Last, but I think most important: diversity is not a buzzword and no one should treat it as the next big thing to be “trendy." But working toward diversity in publishing is a crucial step forward. Readers are asking for more books that represent the world we live in, not just small portions of it—whether it’s race, culture, religion, sexuality or physical differences. So while I don’t want to name this as a “trend,” I would like to call it out as an important evolution in romance novels and one that we should push to see as a natural part of romance publishing moving forward.
February 24, 2016
A Publisher Bought Your Book - Then What?
A Manuscript’s Acceptability Should Not Be a Matter of Whim
A valuable article from The Authors Guild
A publishing agreement is a contract to publish a book and pay the author in consideration for the author’s delivery of the manuscript as agreed. Many standard acceptance clauses in publishing contracts allow the publisher to reject a manuscript based on nothing more than a whim, which undermines the very essence of the contract—that it is an agreement to publish a work, provided the work is written and delivered as agreed. Worse, many standard acceptance clauses refuse to let the author publish elsewhere until all the money advanced has been refunded. These one-sided acceptance clauses are another example of how standard publishing contracts can put authors on unequal footing from day one.
Acceptance clauses are an essential part of any publishing agreement entered into based on a proposal or partial manuscript. The publisher needs assurance that it will get the book it is contracting for. But, in recent years, the acceptance provisions of many such publishing agreements have become increasingly subjective and one-sided. Every publisher will tell you that they have been burned by one or more author who has handed in a manuscript that doesn’t live up to the promise of the proposal it was based on. We understand that publishers need to protect themselves against the bad apples. But they should not use those rare examples to force unfair acceptance terms on everyone else—the vast majority of whom write the books they agreed to write.
These types of unfair acceptance clauses give the publisher too much subjective discretion in deciding whether to accept the manuscript. By allowing a publisher to determine whether a manuscript is acceptable “in the publisher’s sole judgment,” they allow the publisher to reject the manuscript for any reason—or no reason at all. And, once rejected, the publisher can invoke related clauses to demand that the author pay back any part of the advance that she has already received, generally before publishing elsewhere.
The cumulative effect of these provisions is that the publisher can use them to turn the agreement to publish into an unpaid-for option.[1] Here is how an option works: the author is paid to not sell the work to anyone else for a certain period of time. Options are standard in certain other industries, such as to purchase scripts or book rights for films, where the actual production of the film is dependent on a number of pieces coming together. The option payment is consideration only for obtaining the exclusive right to buy the script for the agreed period of time, not for the right to actually use the work, and the option payment is not refundable. This is fair; the option payment recognizes that there are lost opportunity costs if the movie is not produced.
In practice, a publishing agreement that allows a publisher to reject a manuscript in its “sole judgment” even though the manuscript was delivered on time and conforms to the proposal and other requirements in the contract (e.g., number of pages or words) makes it possible for management to reject the book for really any reason—a change in market conditions, another house’s publication of a competing title, an executive second-guessing an editor’s taste. And then the publisher can force the author to pay back the portion of the advance that has been paid out (most standard contracts provide for full repayment before publishing elsewhere, although some contracts allow authors a window of time to repay any sums advanced with the “first proceeds” of money earned if and when the book is published elsewhere). This means that the publisher has, in essence, taken an option, but without paying for the lost opportunities to the author.
We understand that publishers need to protect themselves against the rare instances of authors not holding up their end of the bargain, but there are other ways to accomplish that than forcing subjective, open-ended acceptance provisions on all authors. For example, an objective standard of acceptability would help, such as making acceptance subject to the manuscript meeting agreed-upon standards. Even a provision that makes acceptance subject to the publisher’s “reasonable judgment” “in accordance with industry standards,” is preferable to allowing the publisher’s “sole” judgment to determine acceptance.
More importantly, an author should have the opportunity to revise the manuscript before it’s rejected outright. These kinds of provisions, indeed, are often found in agented contracts. If the publisher is not satisfied with the manuscript, the agreement stipulates that the publisher must provide a written list of editorial (as opposed to commercial) reasons for not accepting the manuscript as is. The author is then given a reasonable amount of time to edit the book to address those comments. All authors should be given a fair opportunity to edit the manuscript to address the publisher’s concerns. It’s consistent with the common objectives of authors and publishers alike: bringing readers the best books possible.
Alternatively, if a publisher is actually looking for an option—if the editors aren’t sure whether they want to publish the book once it’s written—they should be honest and upfront about it. In that case, the agreement should be structured as a true option agreement. While we don’t recommend moving to the option arrangement for most books, in certain cases, the option structure would be preferable to one-sided and arbitrary acceptance clauses that allow the publisher to get out of the contract for whatever reason and then demand its money back.
A valuable article from The Authors Guild
A publishing agreement is a contract to publish a book and pay the author in consideration for the author’s delivery of the manuscript as agreed. Many standard acceptance clauses in publishing contracts allow the publisher to reject a manuscript based on nothing more than a whim, which undermines the very essence of the contract—that it is an agreement to publish a work, provided the work is written and delivered as agreed. Worse, many standard acceptance clauses refuse to let the author publish elsewhere until all the money advanced has been refunded. These one-sided acceptance clauses are another example of how standard publishing contracts can put authors on unequal footing from day one.
Acceptance clauses are an essential part of any publishing agreement entered into based on a proposal or partial manuscript. The publisher needs assurance that it will get the book it is contracting for. But, in recent years, the acceptance provisions of many such publishing agreements have become increasingly subjective and one-sided. Every publisher will tell you that they have been burned by one or more author who has handed in a manuscript that doesn’t live up to the promise of the proposal it was based on. We understand that publishers need to protect themselves against the bad apples. But they should not use those rare examples to force unfair acceptance terms on everyone else—the vast majority of whom write the books they agreed to write.
These types of unfair acceptance clauses give the publisher too much subjective discretion in deciding whether to accept the manuscript. By allowing a publisher to determine whether a manuscript is acceptable “in the publisher’s sole judgment,” they allow the publisher to reject the manuscript for any reason—or no reason at all. And, once rejected, the publisher can invoke related clauses to demand that the author pay back any part of the advance that she has already received, generally before publishing elsewhere.
The cumulative effect of these provisions is that the publisher can use them to turn the agreement to publish into an unpaid-for option.[1] Here is how an option works: the author is paid to not sell the work to anyone else for a certain period of time. Options are standard in certain other industries, such as to purchase scripts or book rights for films, where the actual production of the film is dependent on a number of pieces coming together. The option payment is consideration only for obtaining the exclusive right to buy the script for the agreed period of time, not for the right to actually use the work, and the option payment is not refundable. This is fair; the option payment recognizes that there are lost opportunity costs if the movie is not produced.
In practice, a publishing agreement that allows a publisher to reject a manuscript in its “sole judgment” even though the manuscript was delivered on time and conforms to the proposal and other requirements in the contract (e.g., number of pages or words) makes it possible for management to reject the book for really any reason—a change in market conditions, another house’s publication of a competing title, an executive second-guessing an editor’s taste. And then the publisher can force the author to pay back the portion of the advance that has been paid out (most standard contracts provide for full repayment before publishing elsewhere, although some contracts allow authors a window of time to repay any sums advanced with the “first proceeds” of money earned if and when the book is published elsewhere). This means that the publisher has, in essence, taken an option, but without paying for the lost opportunities to the author.
We understand that publishers need to protect themselves against the rare instances of authors not holding up their end of the bargain, but there are other ways to accomplish that than forcing subjective, open-ended acceptance provisions on all authors. For example, an objective standard of acceptability would help, such as making acceptance subject to the manuscript meeting agreed-upon standards. Even a provision that makes acceptance subject to the publisher’s “reasonable judgment” “in accordance with industry standards,” is preferable to allowing the publisher’s “sole” judgment to determine acceptance.
More importantly, an author should have the opportunity to revise the manuscript before it’s rejected outright. These kinds of provisions, indeed, are often found in agented contracts. If the publisher is not satisfied with the manuscript, the agreement stipulates that the publisher must provide a written list of editorial (as opposed to commercial) reasons for not accepting the manuscript as is. The author is then given a reasonable amount of time to edit the book to address those comments. All authors should be given a fair opportunity to edit the manuscript to address the publisher’s concerns. It’s consistent with the common objectives of authors and publishers alike: bringing readers the best books possible.
Alternatively, if a publisher is actually looking for an option—if the editors aren’t sure whether they want to publish the book once it’s written—they should be honest and upfront about it. In that case, the agreement should be structured as a true option agreement. While we don’t recommend moving to the option arrangement for most books, in certain cases, the option structure would be preferable to one-sided and arbitrary acceptance clauses that allow the publisher to get out of the contract for whatever reason and then demand its money back.
February 23, 2016
Conveying Character Emotion
A useful article from the Mythcreant website by Chris Winkle
You know your character inside out, but that isn’t coming across to your readers. They aren’t sure what your character is feeling, and they certainly aren’t feeling it themselves. The scenes you carefully crafted to maximize emotional impact fall flat instead.
If that sounds familiar, it’s time to work on conveying character emotion.
What Do You Need to Communicate?
First, let’s review what you’re trying to accomplish. Your job is done once your audience understands the following things.
What Your Character Wants
First, your readers have to know what your character is trying to accomplish in the scene. Without a stake in the scene, there’s no conflict. You might as well replace it with a conversation about the weather; it would be just as exciting.
Your character may not be consciously aware of her goal. If she is engaging in a public debate, she might think her goal is to show onlookers the truth, when really she wants to spare her own pride. The more deep and emotional the goal is, the more likely your character could be in denial about it or simply oblivious to it. But she should still act on her desires, even if she doesn’t understand what she’s doing or why.
Alternatively, the goal could be straightforward. Your character might want to convince the villain to give her a magic artifact, for instance. Or perhaps she wants the artifact, but she also wants to look good in front of the prince. Regardless of whether your character’s desires are obvious, subtle, or numerous, your readers should pick up on them.
How Your Character Feels About Immediate Events
Once your readers understand what your character wants in the scene, you’ll have a head start in communicating how your character feels as events unfold. If they witness your character failing to accomplish his goal, they can anticipate disappointment or frustration.
But don’t leave it there. Details that seem innocuous could have meaning for your character. Perhaps the villain tells your hero, “I haven’t seen you since your graduation.” Without context that seems innocent, but actually the graduation was a very private affair, and your hero had no idea the villain was present.
Readers should feel how upset he is at this revelation.
Your audience could expect your angry hero to storm out the door, only to watch him sit for tea instead. If you don’t communicate the seething aggression inside, his behavior might baffle them. They need to have blow-by-blow confirmation of the way your character feels.
Why It All Matters
Knowing what the character wants and how they feel isn’t enough. Readers must understand why. Even if it seems self-evident, it’s important to flesh out why story outcomes matter to your character. For instance, almost anyone would be unhappy about losing their job. But for some people, it only means a small loss of savings and the inconvenience of finding a new one. For others, losing a job could mean moving back in with abusive parents.
Your scene will only impact readers once they understand its consequences. If your readers tell you they do know what your characters are feeling in the moment, but they still don’t care about the outcome, this is probably what’s missing from your narrative.
Now here’s the tricky part: even though your readers have to know what your character wants, how they feel, and why it matters, you can’t just tell them. For them to feel what your character feels, you have to demonstrate it. Simply saying “Michael felt angry” is not as effective as “Michael clenched his fists.”
Telling these details should be a last resort when they’re too complex or confusing to show. For instance, if a character comments about a previous incident the readers weren’t around for, such as the hero’s graduation in an earlier example, you might have to give readers a lot of background in a small space. Briefly telling them about the event could be more practical than showing the same information.
Using Atmosphere to Prime Readers
You can convey a general emotion to readers by carefully crafting the atmosphere. This won’t tell readers how a specific character feels unless it’s tied to a character viewpoint, but it can prepare readers for an emotional scene regardless.
Don’t always use weather to set the mood. If it’s sunny whenever your characters are happy, and rainy whenever they’re sad, your readers might wonder if they have subconscious weather magic. When describing weather, use a light touch.
Instead focus on scenery that isn’t used as often: a muddy boardwalk, melting asphalt, a fairy ring. Then add details that reinforce the mood and invoke the imagination. A lost teddy bear rotting in the woods suggests a story of its own. If you have people in the background, their description and behavior can also add to the atmosphere. An innkeeper could be snoring at the front desk or frantically scrubbing the carpet.
Occasionally you may want to contrast the atmosphere with your character’s mood. Nothing says depression more than feeling miserable at a beach party full of sand castles, laughter, and water fights. While this effect will make your character’s emotions stand out, you’ll also have to work a little harder to show them to your audience.
Showing Emotion From the Outside
When you need to show the emotions of a character without using their viewpoint or an omniscient perspective, you’ll rely on these steps.
Refine Actions
Look through the actions you have in your scenes, and brainstorm how you can give them more flavor. Slamming a door, stroking hair, and fist pumping are all actions that strongly imply emotion. However, some scenes require something subtler. When throwing a piece of paper away, does your character crumple it and toss it into the garbage can, fold it neatly and put it in recycling, or tear it to shreds before sending the pieces out a tenth story window? Each conveys a different personality and a different emotional note.
Add Facial Expression and Body Language
Smaller expressions can convey a lot of emotional depth and nuance. They are also frequently unintentional, making them excellent ways to show feelings your characters may be hiding. Crossed arms, raised eyebrows, clenched fists, narrowed eyes, and sagging shoulders all have strong connotations and can slip out before your characters can stop them.
If you need more ideas in this area, I recommend the Emotional Thesaurus from Writers Helping Writers. It’s five bucks well spent.
Imbue Dialogue
I cannot overemphasize how much the phrasing of your dialogue impacts the emotion that’s conveyed. These statements all communicate the same idea, but the feeling is different:
“I could use some time to myself right now.”
“Can you give me a few minutes?”
“Leave me alone.”
If you need to give a strong line more impact, consider leaving it on its own line instead of adding italics or an exclamation point. Don’t water down emotionally powerful statements by surrounding them with weaker rambling.
Your goal when writing actions, body language, and dialogue is to create the experience of viewing a movie. Unfortunately, you can’t actually show pictures or play sounds; you have to invoke them with your words. When in doubt, watch your favorite TV show for inspiration, or imagine how your favorite actor would portray your character. Just don’t try to describe every visual or vocal detail. You want a few words that capture the experience.
Showing Emotion From the Inside
When writing in a character’s viewpoint, you’ll want to use all the basic techniques for conveying emotion from the outside. But in addition, you have powerful tools that movie makers rarely get their hands on. Nothing is better at getting an audience in tune with your character than showing what they feel from the inside out. Consider these techniques.
Use Internal Sensations
Body language and expressions should have a slightly different flavor when applied to the viewpoint character. Touch becomes of paramount importance. They can’t see themselves blushing, but they might feel their cheeks growing hot. Instead of watching the water drip from their wet clothes, they could feel a rivulet stream down from their sweater to soak their underpants.
Feelings from inside the body have a strong impact. Racing heart, tight chest, vertigo, nausea, aches, and shivers can all add emotion to the right moment. Just make sure it is the right moment, and don’t overdo less important scenes by packing them in.
Close Narrative Distances
There are reasons to keep a distant viewpoint, but zooming in can make character feelings come across much stronger. If you’re accustomed to writing in omniscient, experiment with limited third. If you’re used to limited third, try first person.
But your narrative distance will only matter if you take advantage of what a close viewpoint can do. For example, take this paragraph:
Example
The central cortex hummed as it processed the transfer requests of thousands of escape pods at once. My pod joined the queue, and we waited as the long line ahead of us was slowly pushed from the crumbling station. Then we reached the front, and within moments we were sliding into space.
For all the personality that has, you might as well keep a distant viewpoint. Now look at this:
Example
We weren’t the only ones to tuck in our tails and run. Out the window of our escape closet, thousands of other pods clogged the central cortex. We joined the queue, but its end shrank to a mere grain in the vast tunnel. In the distance the cortex buzzed, struggling to push each group out, inching closer beat by beat. I was sure that in the next moment, the broken hull would bite down on our tiny cage and crush us. Finally our pod surmounted the line, and we slid into the safety of open space.
That’s better because it doesn’t describe events as objectively. The cortex isn’t just processing; it’s struggling. Everyone using a pod is cowardly, and space is now a safe haven. Your viewpoint character has opinions, and your narrative should reflect that. Show how their ratty childhood doll is magical and their little sibling is a brat.
You should also avoid labeling the experiences of the viewpoint character. Instead of “I heard the cortex buzz ahead” use “the cortex buzzed ahead.” Instead of “I watched the other pods line up,” use “the other pods lined up.” These labels push the reader away from the character.
Add Character Thoughts
Once you have a tight narrative distance with subjective narration, thoughts should make their way in. The line between narration and thoughts will blur, giving your readers a seamless experience.
Example
As soon as Lily came in she went straight for my closet of last resort, what I called my escape pod. She groaned and pushed aside my hangers, as though she wouldn’t want a few extra outfits in an emergency. The pod lit up and beeped through its test sequence. Finally it declared all was in order. Lily leaned her head against the door and let out a breath.
Who knew how pod tests became her safety blanket; we’d never escaped in one. Well, there was that time in the Otairus System, but it hardly counted.
Because there are thoughts woven in, the narrative has a lot more flavor than it would otherwise. That flavor will send stronger emotional signals to your reader. We can tell in this example that the viewpoint character has a casual attitude toward her escape pod, thinking of it as extra closet space. Otherwise we wouldn’t know, because the narration is focused on what Lily is doing.
Thoughts are also a great way to show ideas that are otherwise too complex or concealed to express, such as:
• Anticipation about future possibilities
• Reminders of past experiences
• What your character really thinks about their boss
• How they come to a critical decision
While thoughts don’t need to focus on what’s happening at the moment, they should be triggered by it. The smell of lilacs might remind your character of the neighbor’s house they used to visit. An innocent question could start an internal struggle.
Thoughts are an essential tool in fiction, but it’s possible to go too far with them. Don’t restate what you’ve already demonstrated through actions or body language, or use them to tell when you should be showing. In addition, thoughts are notorious for sabotaging pacing, particularly during dialogue. Don’t weigh down conversations by inserting mental analysis of what everyone really means by what they are saying. Use dialogue and body language to tell readers what characters mean.
Creating Emotional Reactions
Your character must react to the powerful events in your story. If they don’t, they’ll either come across as cold-hearted or your readers will shrug your event off.
You should foster two kinds of reactions in your narrative: ones that happen instantly, and ones that emerge as the character thinks about it later.
Flesh Out Instant Reactions
Consider including these elements in an instant reaction:
1. The stimulus – what causes the reaction.
2. Reflexive response – whatever your character does involuntarily or instinctively. This could include jumping, gagging, shrieking, or shivering.
3. Emotional response – exclamations like “What the hell?” or “Crap.” These can be said out loud or in your character’s head.
4. Reflective response – the conscious thoughts your character has about the stimulus. It should be just enough for them to make conclusions about what happened and what they should do about it.
5. Intentional response – last, your character follows up on whatever they decided. They say or do something about the stimulus.
You don’t need all of these elements, but whatever you have should be presented in this order. Your character can’t react to something before it happens or consciously respond before they decide how.
Bad: I twisted away as she grabbed my forearm.
Good: She grabbed my forearm, and I twisted away.
Altogether, your instant reaction might look like this.
Example
The station shook. I fell against the railing and dropped my martini. Holy crap, what was that? Nothing good, that’s what. I had to find Lily. I grabbed my bag and raced back to the capsule, spurred by the howling alarms.
The tighter your wording is, the more urgent the reaction will feel. Don’t let your character philosophize during an emergency.
Break for Reaction Scenes
Once your character has escaped the crumbling station or been thrown in a dungeon, it’s time for a reaction scene. After a tense scene, a short resting period allows your character to reflect on what just happened. These don’t have to be full scenes; sometimes a paragraph will do. But this is your chance to show their worldview in more depth. You can even let them contemplate the meaning of life, provided it feels relevant to the problems they are facing.
Example
The lights dimmed, and Lily finally succumbed to sleep. Through the window above her, shards of the station tumbled past, reflecting the light from a nearby moon.
Had Lily known the station would be destroyed? I couldn’t fathom how she would; it was a random mishap, a freak accident. Then I remembered the relief on her face after she tested my pod. Something made her feel that way. Something she didn’t tell me about.
You should still have conflict during these interludes, but it will be internal conflict. They could struggle to interpret clues or agonize over what they should do next. Once this struggle is resolved, both your character and your readers will be ready for the next step in the action.
When to Include Backstory
Backstory is frequently overused by writers. However, on rare occasions the audience will need to know your character’s backstory in order to understand them. If you tried everything and your readers simply can’t comprehend where your character is coming from, it may be time for a flashback scene or exposition revealing their history.
A great example of backstory done well is in the 1997 movie Contact. It has a moving scene between the main character, Ellie, and her deceased father. Before this scene can impact the audience, they must understand the deep connection Ellie had with her father. Since he’s dead, that’s difficult in present time. So they have a flashback scene near the beginning to establish their relationship.
In cases like these, however, you should still
investigate your options. What if Ellie’s father was alive at the start of the movie? Then regular scenes could show how important he is to her. Or with written narrative deep enough in her perspective, she could continually reminisce about him. That could build their connection without a flashback scene.
If you decide to delve into backstory, you must get readers invested in your character before you do. Otherwise they’ll jump ship when you start rowing backward. Once they sympathize with your character and the problems your character is facing, it’s safe to take a detour.
Go through your work and check what expression of character emotion might be missing. Do you have emotional actions and body language? Is the tone of your dialogue strong? Do you have enough internal sensations, thoughts, and reflections? Think critically about how they might add personality, emotion, and nuance to your story.
You know your character inside out, but that isn’t coming across to your readers. They aren’t sure what your character is feeling, and they certainly aren’t feeling it themselves. The scenes you carefully crafted to maximize emotional impact fall flat instead.
If that sounds familiar, it’s time to work on conveying character emotion.
What Do You Need to Communicate?
First, let’s review what you’re trying to accomplish. Your job is done once your audience understands the following things.
What Your Character Wants
First, your readers have to know what your character is trying to accomplish in the scene. Without a stake in the scene, there’s no conflict. You might as well replace it with a conversation about the weather; it would be just as exciting.
Your character may not be consciously aware of her goal. If she is engaging in a public debate, she might think her goal is to show onlookers the truth, when really she wants to spare her own pride. The more deep and emotional the goal is, the more likely your character could be in denial about it or simply oblivious to it. But she should still act on her desires, even if she doesn’t understand what she’s doing or why.
Alternatively, the goal could be straightforward. Your character might want to convince the villain to give her a magic artifact, for instance. Or perhaps she wants the artifact, but she also wants to look good in front of the prince. Regardless of whether your character’s desires are obvious, subtle, or numerous, your readers should pick up on them.
How Your Character Feels About Immediate Events
Once your readers understand what your character wants in the scene, you’ll have a head start in communicating how your character feels as events unfold. If they witness your character failing to accomplish his goal, they can anticipate disappointment or frustration.
But don’t leave it there. Details that seem innocuous could have meaning for your character. Perhaps the villain tells your hero, “I haven’t seen you since your graduation.” Without context that seems innocent, but actually the graduation was a very private affair, and your hero had no idea the villain was present.
Readers should feel how upset he is at this revelation.
Your audience could expect your angry hero to storm out the door, only to watch him sit for tea instead. If you don’t communicate the seething aggression inside, his behavior might baffle them. They need to have blow-by-blow confirmation of the way your character feels.
Why It All Matters
Knowing what the character wants and how they feel isn’t enough. Readers must understand why. Even if it seems self-evident, it’s important to flesh out why story outcomes matter to your character. For instance, almost anyone would be unhappy about losing their job. But for some people, it only means a small loss of savings and the inconvenience of finding a new one. For others, losing a job could mean moving back in with abusive parents.
Your scene will only impact readers once they understand its consequences. If your readers tell you they do know what your characters are feeling in the moment, but they still don’t care about the outcome, this is probably what’s missing from your narrative.
Now here’s the tricky part: even though your readers have to know what your character wants, how they feel, and why it matters, you can’t just tell them. For them to feel what your character feels, you have to demonstrate it. Simply saying “Michael felt angry” is not as effective as “Michael clenched his fists.”
Telling these details should be a last resort when they’re too complex or confusing to show. For instance, if a character comments about a previous incident the readers weren’t around for, such as the hero’s graduation in an earlier example, you might have to give readers a lot of background in a small space. Briefly telling them about the event could be more practical than showing the same information.
Using Atmosphere to Prime Readers
You can convey a general emotion to readers by carefully crafting the atmosphere. This won’t tell readers how a specific character feels unless it’s tied to a character viewpoint, but it can prepare readers for an emotional scene regardless.
Don’t always use weather to set the mood. If it’s sunny whenever your characters are happy, and rainy whenever they’re sad, your readers might wonder if they have subconscious weather magic. When describing weather, use a light touch.
Instead focus on scenery that isn’t used as often: a muddy boardwalk, melting asphalt, a fairy ring. Then add details that reinforce the mood and invoke the imagination. A lost teddy bear rotting in the woods suggests a story of its own. If you have people in the background, their description and behavior can also add to the atmosphere. An innkeeper could be snoring at the front desk or frantically scrubbing the carpet.
Occasionally you may want to contrast the atmosphere with your character’s mood. Nothing says depression more than feeling miserable at a beach party full of sand castles, laughter, and water fights. While this effect will make your character’s emotions stand out, you’ll also have to work a little harder to show them to your audience.
Showing Emotion From the Outside
When you need to show the emotions of a character without using their viewpoint or an omniscient perspective, you’ll rely on these steps.
Refine Actions
Look through the actions you have in your scenes, and brainstorm how you can give them more flavor. Slamming a door, stroking hair, and fist pumping are all actions that strongly imply emotion. However, some scenes require something subtler. When throwing a piece of paper away, does your character crumple it and toss it into the garbage can, fold it neatly and put it in recycling, or tear it to shreds before sending the pieces out a tenth story window? Each conveys a different personality and a different emotional note.
Add Facial Expression and Body Language
Smaller expressions can convey a lot of emotional depth and nuance. They are also frequently unintentional, making them excellent ways to show feelings your characters may be hiding. Crossed arms, raised eyebrows, clenched fists, narrowed eyes, and sagging shoulders all have strong connotations and can slip out before your characters can stop them.
If you need more ideas in this area, I recommend the Emotional Thesaurus from Writers Helping Writers. It’s five bucks well spent.
Imbue Dialogue
I cannot overemphasize how much the phrasing of your dialogue impacts the emotion that’s conveyed. These statements all communicate the same idea, but the feeling is different:
“I could use some time to myself right now.”
“Can you give me a few minutes?”
“Leave me alone.”
If you need to give a strong line more impact, consider leaving it on its own line instead of adding italics or an exclamation point. Don’t water down emotionally powerful statements by surrounding them with weaker rambling.
Your goal when writing actions, body language, and dialogue is to create the experience of viewing a movie. Unfortunately, you can’t actually show pictures or play sounds; you have to invoke them with your words. When in doubt, watch your favorite TV show for inspiration, or imagine how your favorite actor would portray your character. Just don’t try to describe every visual or vocal detail. You want a few words that capture the experience.
Showing Emotion From the Inside
When writing in a character’s viewpoint, you’ll want to use all the basic techniques for conveying emotion from the outside. But in addition, you have powerful tools that movie makers rarely get their hands on. Nothing is better at getting an audience in tune with your character than showing what they feel from the inside out. Consider these techniques.
Use Internal Sensations
Body language and expressions should have a slightly different flavor when applied to the viewpoint character. Touch becomes of paramount importance. They can’t see themselves blushing, but they might feel their cheeks growing hot. Instead of watching the water drip from their wet clothes, they could feel a rivulet stream down from their sweater to soak their underpants.
Feelings from inside the body have a strong impact. Racing heart, tight chest, vertigo, nausea, aches, and shivers can all add emotion to the right moment. Just make sure it is the right moment, and don’t overdo less important scenes by packing them in.
Close Narrative Distances
There are reasons to keep a distant viewpoint, but zooming in can make character feelings come across much stronger. If you’re accustomed to writing in omniscient, experiment with limited third. If you’re used to limited third, try first person.
But your narrative distance will only matter if you take advantage of what a close viewpoint can do. For example, take this paragraph:
Example
The central cortex hummed as it processed the transfer requests of thousands of escape pods at once. My pod joined the queue, and we waited as the long line ahead of us was slowly pushed from the crumbling station. Then we reached the front, and within moments we were sliding into space.
For all the personality that has, you might as well keep a distant viewpoint. Now look at this:
Example
We weren’t the only ones to tuck in our tails and run. Out the window of our escape closet, thousands of other pods clogged the central cortex. We joined the queue, but its end shrank to a mere grain in the vast tunnel. In the distance the cortex buzzed, struggling to push each group out, inching closer beat by beat. I was sure that in the next moment, the broken hull would bite down on our tiny cage and crush us. Finally our pod surmounted the line, and we slid into the safety of open space.
That’s better because it doesn’t describe events as objectively. The cortex isn’t just processing; it’s struggling. Everyone using a pod is cowardly, and space is now a safe haven. Your viewpoint character has opinions, and your narrative should reflect that. Show how their ratty childhood doll is magical and their little sibling is a brat.
You should also avoid labeling the experiences of the viewpoint character. Instead of “I heard the cortex buzz ahead” use “the cortex buzzed ahead.” Instead of “I watched the other pods line up,” use “the other pods lined up.” These labels push the reader away from the character.
Add Character Thoughts
Once you have a tight narrative distance with subjective narration, thoughts should make their way in. The line between narration and thoughts will blur, giving your readers a seamless experience.
Example
As soon as Lily came in she went straight for my closet of last resort, what I called my escape pod. She groaned and pushed aside my hangers, as though she wouldn’t want a few extra outfits in an emergency. The pod lit up and beeped through its test sequence. Finally it declared all was in order. Lily leaned her head against the door and let out a breath.
Who knew how pod tests became her safety blanket; we’d never escaped in one. Well, there was that time in the Otairus System, but it hardly counted.
Because there are thoughts woven in, the narrative has a lot more flavor than it would otherwise. That flavor will send stronger emotional signals to your reader. We can tell in this example that the viewpoint character has a casual attitude toward her escape pod, thinking of it as extra closet space. Otherwise we wouldn’t know, because the narration is focused on what Lily is doing.
Thoughts are also a great way to show ideas that are otherwise too complex or concealed to express, such as:
• Anticipation about future possibilities
• Reminders of past experiences
• What your character really thinks about their boss
• How they come to a critical decision
While thoughts don’t need to focus on what’s happening at the moment, they should be triggered by it. The smell of lilacs might remind your character of the neighbor’s house they used to visit. An innocent question could start an internal struggle.
Thoughts are an essential tool in fiction, but it’s possible to go too far with them. Don’t restate what you’ve already demonstrated through actions or body language, or use them to tell when you should be showing. In addition, thoughts are notorious for sabotaging pacing, particularly during dialogue. Don’t weigh down conversations by inserting mental analysis of what everyone really means by what they are saying. Use dialogue and body language to tell readers what characters mean.
Creating Emotional Reactions
Your character must react to the powerful events in your story. If they don’t, they’ll either come across as cold-hearted or your readers will shrug your event off.
You should foster two kinds of reactions in your narrative: ones that happen instantly, and ones that emerge as the character thinks about it later.
Flesh Out Instant Reactions
Consider including these elements in an instant reaction:
1. The stimulus – what causes the reaction.
2. Reflexive response – whatever your character does involuntarily or instinctively. This could include jumping, gagging, shrieking, or shivering.
3. Emotional response – exclamations like “What the hell?” or “Crap.” These can be said out loud or in your character’s head.
4. Reflective response – the conscious thoughts your character has about the stimulus. It should be just enough for them to make conclusions about what happened and what they should do about it.
5. Intentional response – last, your character follows up on whatever they decided. They say or do something about the stimulus.
You don’t need all of these elements, but whatever you have should be presented in this order. Your character can’t react to something before it happens or consciously respond before they decide how.
Bad: I twisted away as she grabbed my forearm.
Good: She grabbed my forearm, and I twisted away.
Altogether, your instant reaction might look like this.
Example
The station shook. I fell against the railing and dropped my martini. Holy crap, what was that? Nothing good, that’s what. I had to find Lily. I grabbed my bag and raced back to the capsule, spurred by the howling alarms.
The tighter your wording is, the more urgent the reaction will feel. Don’t let your character philosophize during an emergency.
Break for Reaction Scenes
Once your character has escaped the crumbling station or been thrown in a dungeon, it’s time for a reaction scene. After a tense scene, a short resting period allows your character to reflect on what just happened. These don’t have to be full scenes; sometimes a paragraph will do. But this is your chance to show their worldview in more depth. You can even let them contemplate the meaning of life, provided it feels relevant to the problems they are facing.
Example
The lights dimmed, and Lily finally succumbed to sleep. Through the window above her, shards of the station tumbled past, reflecting the light from a nearby moon.
Had Lily known the station would be destroyed? I couldn’t fathom how she would; it was a random mishap, a freak accident. Then I remembered the relief on her face after she tested my pod. Something made her feel that way. Something she didn’t tell me about.
You should still have conflict during these interludes, but it will be internal conflict. They could struggle to interpret clues or agonize over what they should do next. Once this struggle is resolved, both your character and your readers will be ready for the next step in the action.
When to Include Backstory
Backstory is frequently overused by writers. However, on rare occasions the audience will need to know your character’s backstory in order to understand them. If you tried everything and your readers simply can’t comprehend where your character is coming from, it may be time for a flashback scene or exposition revealing their history.
A great example of backstory done well is in the 1997 movie Contact. It has a moving scene between the main character, Ellie, and her deceased father. Before this scene can impact the audience, they must understand the deep connection Ellie had with her father. Since he’s dead, that’s difficult in present time. So they have a flashback scene near the beginning to establish their relationship.
In cases like these, however, you should still
investigate your options. What if Ellie’s father was alive at the start of the movie? Then regular scenes could show how important he is to her. Or with written narrative deep enough in her perspective, she could continually reminisce about him. That could build their connection without a flashback scene.
If you decide to delve into backstory, you must get readers invested in your character before you do. Otherwise they’ll jump ship when you start rowing backward. Once they sympathize with your character and the problems your character is facing, it’s safe to take a detour.
Go through your work and check what expression of character emotion might be missing. Do you have emotional actions and body language? Is the tone of your dialogue strong? Do you have enough internal sensations, thoughts, and reflections? Think critically about how they might add personality, emotion, and nuance to your story.
