Luke Walker's Blog: https://lukewalkerwriter.wordpress.com, page 25
June 20, 2014
Deadlines
I've been thinking a lot lately about deadlines and why I impose them on myself. It might sound silly to say I do. After all, I don't have an agent telling me to get the latest draft back to them by a certain date. Sadly, I don't have publishers filling up my inbox with requests to see the new book by next week because there's a big demand for it. Neither of those things are happening but still, I have deadlines.
About two months ago, I came up with a rough schedule to take me through to the first few months of next year. It went along the lines of finish book A by the end of April, finish the second draft of book B by the start of June, start outlining and working on C by mid-June - and have it finished by the end of August - and then take care of a couple of other bits over the following four months. It's not gone exactly to plan. May Day is on hold while the book I planned on starting round about now is already at 25k after a couple of weeks' work. Which is nice.
The change of plan isn't too big a deal. As long as the books get written, I'm happy. And as long as I meet my deadlines, it's all good. But why have them? I could take all the time I want to write the next book and the one after. It wouldn't make any differences to the publishers who don't know about me or my books. That's not the issue, though. To put it simply (and to probably sound a bit up my own arse), I treat this as a job. I can't turn up at my 9-5 when I feel like it any more than I can tell my boss that bit of work he asked me to finish by Friday will be done sometime the folllowing week. In the same way, writing is a job I can't just do whenever I feel like. Sometimes, I do it when I really don't feel like it. On the days the words won't come and the story is a bag of crap and I want to smack all my characters in the face, writing is the last thing in the world I want. But I do it because nobody else is going to tell my stories and nobody else is going to get them told by the deadline.
About two months ago, I came up with a rough schedule to take me through to the first few months of next year. It went along the lines of finish book A by the end of April, finish the second draft of book B by the start of June, start outlining and working on C by mid-June - and have it finished by the end of August - and then take care of a couple of other bits over the following four months. It's not gone exactly to plan. May Day is on hold while the book I planned on starting round about now is already at 25k after a couple of weeks' work. Which is nice.
The change of plan isn't too big a deal. As long as the books get written, I'm happy. And as long as I meet my deadlines, it's all good. But why have them? I could take all the time I want to write the next book and the one after. It wouldn't make any differences to the publishers who don't know about me or my books. That's not the issue, though. To put it simply (and to probably sound a bit up my own arse), I treat this as a job. I can't turn up at my 9-5 when I feel like it any more than I can tell my boss that bit of work he asked me to finish by Friday will be done sometime the folllowing week. In the same way, writing is a job I can't just do whenever I feel like. Sometimes, I do it when I really don't feel like it. On the days the words won't come and the story is a bag of crap and I want to smack all my characters in the face, writing is the last thing in the world I want. But I do it because nobody else is going to tell my stories and nobody else is going to get them told by the deadline.
June 10, 2014
Update: having a cold and a new book
It’s all been a bit quiet round here lately. That’s partly down to me fighting a cold for over a week (one of those annoying colds that just hangs around without getting any worse or sodding off) which has left me knackered and not in the mood to blog. Real life of dayjob and life outside writing also need my attention occasionally and as I started a new book last weekend, time for blogging or much else has been short.
While I don’t have any big news when it comes to work being accepted by publishers, I’m happy to say the new book is going well. I passed 11k last night which is a decent speed for a first draft. I did plan on going back to the novella that turned into a novel (the one I finished several weeks ago) but to be honest, I read through it and decided it needed way too much work for me to want to get stuck in now. I will come back to that one – currently titled May Day – at some point although probably not for a couple of months. I don’t like having stuff just sitting in my folders that either isn’t finished or out on submission, but May Day needs approaching from a new angle before I can be happy with it. That issue is probably why the current book (no title yet) is going well. I’ve got a nicely streamlined tale, minimal locations and a fast pace. While May Day ended up being much longer than a novella, I’m 99% sure the new one will come in at around 50k which means the first draft should be complete in about a month. Fingers crossed a title turns up by then. I can’t call it Die Hard meets Jacob’s Ladder forever. Mind you, I’m happy to call
Maybe for my next book, I'll write Die Hard meets HP Lovecraft.
While I don’t have any big news when it comes to work being accepted by publishers, I’m happy to say the new book is going well. I passed 11k last night which is a decent speed for a first draft. I did plan on going back to the novella that turned into a novel (the one I finished several weeks ago) but to be honest, I read through it and decided it needed way too much work for me to want to get stuck in now. I will come back to that one – currently titled May Day – at some point although probably not for a couple of months. I don’t like having stuff just sitting in my folders that either isn’t finished or out on submission, but May Day needs approaching from a new angle before I can be happy with it. That issue is probably why the current book (no title yet) is going well. I’ve got a nicely streamlined tale, minimal locations and a fast pace. While May Day ended up being much longer than a novella, I’m 99% sure the new one will come in at around 50k which means the first draft should be complete in about a month. Fingers crossed a title turns up by then. I can’t call it Die Hard meets Jacob’s Ladder forever. Mind you, I’m happy to call
Maybe for my next book, I'll write Die Hard meets HP Lovecraft.
May 25, 2014
Twitter, rape 'jokes' and being a dickhead
Sorry, everybody, but it's time for another serious blog post. Two in a row. I know, I know. Don't worry. My next one will be back to the usual crap.
Anyway. A couple of days ago, a female agent I follow on Twitter retweeted a reply she received after she mentioned a particular author known for their, frankly, foul views on a few subjects including homosexuality and rape. Simply because I don't want to send traffic to the poster, I'm not linking to the actual tweet. Its content is more than enough.
Now, rape isn't that bad. Without it, you wouldn't even be here.
For the sake of argument, let's say the poster's intention was an off-colour joke. And here's the thing - some people find the blackest of comedy to be funny. Some people find stuff that 99% of others consider offensive to be the height of hilarity, but even a person with a dark sense of humour knows there is a line between their comedy and abuse. Personally, I don't believe this poster meant it as a joke. Nothing in subsequent tweets suggests it was a gag which leaves one alternative. Abuse. And behind the abuse, we have the intent of intimidation, the intent of saying to the woman 'you're wrong so shut up with your worthless opinion.'
Whether that intent comes from anger or fear, I don't know. Don't really give a shit, to be honest. Guys like this will always come out with their ugly statements and, if pushed, will react with it was just a joke or more abuse. When you're sitting behind the wall of Twitter or Facebook or anywhere online, being foul is easy as hell especially when the site does next to nothing about it or when others don't do their absolute best to hammer it into your head that this stuff is not acceptable. For what it's worth, I don't believe men who abuse women online will ever change. They won't stop at a certain point and realise that jokes about rape or threatening rape and violence are wrong. But. Having no faith in an arsehole's ability to change does not mean I think we should stop calling them out on it because if we do, we're almost as bad as they are, and another potential arsehole might see people standing up against abuse and think twice. Maybe.
On a final note, it's not enough for men to point out that not all of us are total dickheads. Of course we're not. Women know that. Saying so isn't the issue. Telling other men to not be that dickhead is. Standing up against abuse, verbal or physical, is the issue.
So, if you're thinking of cracking a rape joke online or threatening someone with it, then do yourself a favour. Do humanity a favour.
Shut the fuck up.
Anyway. A couple of days ago, a female agent I follow on Twitter retweeted a reply she received after she mentioned a particular author known for their, frankly, foul views on a few subjects including homosexuality and rape. Simply because I don't want to send traffic to the poster, I'm not linking to the actual tweet. Its content is more than enough.
Now, rape isn't that bad. Without it, you wouldn't even be here.
For the sake of argument, let's say the poster's intention was an off-colour joke. And here's the thing - some people find the blackest of comedy to be funny. Some people find stuff that 99% of others consider offensive to be the height of hilarity, but even a person with a dark sense of humour knows there is a line between their comedy and abuse. Personally, I don't believe this poster meant it as a joke. Nothing in subsequent tweets suggests it was a gag which leaves one alternative. Abuse. And behind the abuse, we have the intent of intimidation, the intent of saying to the woman 'you're wrong so shut up with your worthless opinion.'
Whether that intent comes from anger or fear, I don't know. Don't really give a shit, to be honest. Guys like this will always come out with their ugly statements and, if pushed, will react with it was just a joke or more abuse. When you're sitting behind the wall of Twitter or Facebook or anywhere online, being foul is easy as hell especially when the site does next to nothing about it or when others don't do their absolute best to hammer it into your head that this stuff is not acceptable. For what it's worth, I don't believe men who abuse women online will ever change. They won't stop at a certain point and realise that jokes about rape or threatening rape and violence are wrong. But. Having no faith in an arsehole's ability to change does not mean I think we should stop calling them out on it because if we do, we're almost as bad as they are, and another potential arsehole might see people standing up against abuse and think twice. Maybe.
On a final note, it's not enough for men to point out that not all of us are total dickheads. Of course we're not. Women know that. Saying so isn't the issue. Telling other men to not be that dickhead is. Standing up against abuse, verbal or physical, is the issue.
So, if you're thinking of cracking a rape joke online or threatening someone with it, then do yourself a favour. Do humanity a favour.
Shut the fuck up.
May 19, 2014
On UKIP
As far as I can remember, I haven’t blogged about politics in a big way here and that’s for the same reason I wouldn’t blog about religion. I’ve always been a fan of the don’t stick it in my face and I won’t do the same to you school of thought. Problem is, something’s happening in British politics at the moment and it’s ugly. Yes, I’m talking about UKIP.
This isn’t a big post taking the piss out of UKIP or their leader or simply to say they're a bunch of nutcases people shouldn't take seriously. It’s a post to simply ask people to think about what they’re doing and if they really want to be part of an organisation (and by voting for them, being a part of them is exactly what you’re doing) that appears to bring out everything that’s low about Britain instead of any our decent qualities of a sense of fair play, a sense of humour, the ability to keep going when things are at various levels of shittiness and what I think is a genuine desire to be the good guy. Instead, we’ve got the smug superiority, the inbuilt class system we still can’t shake even though it’s no longer the nineteenth century, the falling for the bullshit our papers give us, the socially acceptable racism and the small-mindedness that has a problem with immigrants coming to the UK and not fitting in or speaking English but doesn’t consider it a problem for ‘ex-pats’ to set up home in Europe and treat it as nothing more than hot version of Britain. If you align yourself with UKIP, you’re aligning yourself with a party whose members have come out with the following:
Lenny Henry should leave Britain to live in a black country. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ukip/10790504/Ukip-in-new-racism-row-after-Lenny-Henry-insult.html
People who don’t vote for them should be hanged. http://www.politics.co.uk/news/2014/05/19/vote-for-me-or-risk-execution-warns-ukip-candidate
What would happen to ninety-nine ‘poofters’ if we shot one? http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/nigel-farage-defends-ukip-politician-who-wants-shoot-poofters160514
Gay marriage causes freak weather. http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/01/18/ukip-homophobic-gay-_n_4622332.html
Muslims should sign a charter rejecting violence. http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/feb/04/ukip-mep-gerard-batten-muslims-sign-charter-rejecting-violence
Ban Islam. http://www.islamophobiawatch.co.uk/ban-islam-and-knock-down-all-the-mosques-urges-ukip-candidate-who-accuses-muslims-of-ethnic-cleansing/
Of course, none of these statements or ideas are UKIP policy (for their official policies, head this way http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22396690) and it’s fair to say that all parties have members or potential members who come out with stuff that’s either at odds with the organisation or is just complete crap, but you’d have to be in denial to not see a pattern here.
Like I said, this isn’t a post to tell people how to vote and that’s for two reasons. One, who you vote for is between you and nobody else. Two, I’d be blown away if any kind of intended influence on someone’s politics actually had any influence on a lot of people. I’m simply asking people to stop and think about what they’re doing if they side with UKIP. To really think about it and not just believe in the image of Farage as a likeable, easy-going bloke you can talk to down the pub, the bloke who represents the common man and will sort out those posh bastards ruining the country. For what it’s worth, I don’t believe the three mainstream parties have given a monkey's about most of Britain for a long time or offer much of anything to anyone who isn’t rich and influential, but that does not mean I believe UKIP deserve a chance for any position of real power or responsibility. On Thursday, I hope plenty of people feel the same way.
May 11, 2014
The Devil's Business - film review
A few weeks back, I watched a low budget horror film called The Devil's Business. I cannot recommend this film enough for fans of quality, atmospheric horror. It's also got me thinking a lot about the importance of characters in fiction, but that's a post for another day.
Anyway, the film. In short, two hitmen are stuck in a house somewhere in the back end of beyond while they wait for their target to come home. He's not due for a couple of hours, so they've got bugger all to do but talk. So they do. It's a risky move to take given that a lot of people appear to want something happening every couple of minutes in a film. However, it succeeds here given the interplay between the two men, their performances and the tension-inducing contrast between the lengthy dialogue pieces and the silence - silence that means you're focused on every tiny noise outside the house or every potential noise. Because, after all, there's nothing scarier than our imaginations.
Of course, being a horror film, not all goes to plan for the two characters especially when a third makes an appearance (and that third isn''t who you might expect). The whole thing works very well, and special mention has to go to the two leads whose relationship (jaded but focused older guy and a younger, nervous rookie) holds the film together, and who make you care about what happens to them. No easy job given their jobs and history.
If you're bored by obvious, unsubtle horror that leaves nothing to the imagination and you want to actually have to think about what you're watching, The Devil's Business is for you.
Anyway, the film. In short, two hitmen are stuck in a house somewhere in the back end of beyond while they wait for their target to come home. He's not due for a couple of hours, so they've got bugger all to do but talk. So they do. It's a risky move to take given that a lot of people appear to want something happening every couple of minutes in a film. However, it succeeds here given the interplay between the two men, their performances and the tension-inducing contrast between the lengthy dialogue pieces and the silence - silence that means you're focused on every tiny noise outside the house or every potential noise. Because, after all, there's nothing scarier than our imaginations.
Of course, being a horror film, not all goes to plan for the two characters especially when a third makes an appearance (and that third isn''t who you might expect). The whole thing works very well, and special mention has to go to the two leads whose relationship (jaded but focused older guy and a younger, nervous rookie) holds the film together, and who make you care about what happens to them. No easy job given their jobs and history.
If you're bored by obvious, unsubtle horror that leaves nothing to the imagination and you want to actually have to think about what you're watching, The Devil's Business is for you.
April 27, 2014
A bit of this, a bit of that and definitely a bit of the other
I thought it might be a good time to do a general update on a few things. So...
For the last week, I've been working on Pandemonium with the goal of trimming about 10k from it to get it down to an even 100k. It's nearly done and I don't think I'll quite get to the 100k mark. At the moment, it's 104k which I'm comfortable with. Over the next week, I'll have a final read through to see if there's anything else I can lose, look for cock ups and give it a last polish before it's ready for submitting. I'm happier than I expected to be with the final draft especially as the first couple were not impressive.
After that, I'm going back to an older book. The plan is to lose 10k out of that which might take a bit of work. I don't think it's overly long by any means, but as I plan on sending it to a particular publisher and their limit is 80k, well, then needs must. As there's obviously no guarantee they'll take it, I'll keep the deleted scenes so I can always add them back in if it finds a home somewhere else.
Work on those two books will probably take me to early June. My choice at that point is reading through and coming up with a third draft of the book I finished last weekend (currently titled May Day) which I'm not looking forward to, or writing a novella. While I know I should take care of May Day first, the novella idea is looking pretty sweet. Of course, I thought that about the first draft of May Day and that rapidly turned into a pain in the arse. Whichever I work on first, it should be done by late August. And for the last few months of the year, I've got a secret plan - secret because it may come to nothing, but if it does, it'll be quite cool.
Reading wise, I've just finished Joseph D'Lacey's Black Feathers which was incredible. D'Lacey is a great writer; this book is by far his best work. The second volume is in my TBR pile along with a collection of short stories by Gary McMahon, one of Tim Lebbon's older books and one or two Sarah Pinborough titles. I'm currently reading Urban Gothic by Brian Keene, and Succulent Prey by Wrath James White. Neither for the easily grossed out. And just to prove it's not all pain and misery in my book pile, I re-read John Connolly's excellent The Gates recently, as well as the second Skulduggery Pleasant title by Derek Landy.
Film wise, I watched The Devil's Business last week which I highly recommend. Ditto with Tower Block which I re-watched last night - and realised for the first time that I had Sheridan Smith in mind for the lead in Pandemonium all the way through writing it.
That's about everything. Publishing and acceptance wise, it's all quiet, sadly. A few short stories are out in the world as is a book I thought would have find somewhere by now. The joys of subbing your work with high hopes. And then spending too long clicking refresh on your email. Anyway, fingers crossed I've got good news to report soon.
For the last week, I've been working on Pandemonium with the goal of trimming about 10k from it to get it down to an even 100k. It's nearly done and I don't think I'll quite get to the 100k mark. At the moment, it's 104k which I'm comfortable with. Over the next week, I'll have a final read through to see if there's anything else I can lose, look for cock ups and give it a last polish before it's ready for submitting. I'm happier than I expected to be with the final draft especially as the first couple were not impressive.
After that, I'm going back to an older book. The plan is to lose 10k out of that which might take a bit of work. I don't think it's overly long by any means, but as I plan on sending it to a particular publisher and their limit is 80k, well, then needs must. As there's obviously no guarantee they'll take it, I'll keep the deleted scenes so I can always add them back in if it finds a home somewhere else.
Work on those two books will probably take me to early June. My choice at that point is reading through and coming up with a third draft of the book I finished last weekend (currently titled May Day) which I'm not looking forward to, or writing a novella. While I know I should take care of May Day first, the novella idea is looking pretty sweet. Of course, I thought that about the first draft of May Day and that rapidly turned into a pain in the arse. Whichever I work on first, it should be done by late August. And for the last few months of the year, I've got a secret plan - secret because it may come to nothing, but if it does, it'll be quite cool.
Reading wise, I've just finished Joseph D'Lacey's Black Feathers which was incredible. D'Lacey is a great writer; this book is by far his best work. The second volume is in my TBR pile along with a collection of short stories by Gary McMahon, one of Tim Lebbon's older books and one or two Sarah Pinborough titles. I'm currently reading Urban Gothic by Brian Keene, and Succulent Prey by Wrath James White. Neither for the easily grossed out. And just to prove it's not all pain and misery in my book pile, I re-read John Connolly's excellent The Gates recently, as well as the second Skulduggery Pleasant title by Derek Landy.
Film wise, I watched The Devil's Business last week which I highly recommend. Ditto with Tower Block which I re-watched last night - and realised for the first time that I had Sheridan Smith in mind for the lead in Pandemonium all the way through writing it.
That's about everything. Publishing and acceptance wise, it's all quiet, sadly. A few short stories are out in the world as is a book I thought would have find somewhere by now. The joys of subbing your work with high hopes. And then spending too long clicking refresh on your email. Anyway, fingers crossed I've got good news to report soon.
April 20, 2014
Latest book finished
Well, current draft of the latest book finished. It's an 80k mess that will take a lot of work (as always) to turn it into something less crap. Before that, though, I have two other books to edit. For this one, think John Carpenter's The Fog meets Stand By Me.
And for the final draft, you can probably think something completely different because it will change a hell of a lot between now and then.
And for the final draft, you can probably think something completely different because it will change a hell of a lot between now and then.
April 13, 2014
Rocking, rolling and feeling like Lady Godiva
A friend and I went to a gig in London last week. Something strange happened in the few hours leading up to it. Something that wouldn't have happened in quite the same way five years ago.
I finished work at lunch, came home and had a bit of time to clean the house, do some odds and sods and get ready to meet my friend Al at the train station by just after 5. At about 330, I realised I had no idea what to wear. I don't mean what could I wear that would bring out my eyes or what the cool kids wear at gigs. I mean weather-wise and layer-wise. The sun was shining; the temperature had gone up easily five or six degrees since the morning, but that didn't really help me. Getting into London about an hour before sunset and not getting back home until pushing one in the morning meant clothing was an issue. Did I wear too much to start with so I'd be comfortable on the way home, or keep cool for the couple of hours of sun left in the day? If we'd been off to the gig two months back or two months from now, there'd be no issue. Either a big coat and dig out a woolly hat or put on a t-shirt and a long sleeve shirt. Job done. But in the middle of an April that's not quite sure if it wants to be nice or not, it was a tough one.
In the end, I went for a t-shirt, long sleeve shirt and a fleece. Not ideal for one in the morning, but probably the best plan. Finally ready to leave the house, I realised what had been niggling me for an hour. Five years ago, I would have thought about the clothing deal for a couple of minutes, then put on a couple of t-shirts. Ten years ago, I would have thought about it for even less time. A few years before that, what to wear wouldn't have crossed my mind at all. It would have been clean pair of jeans, boots, t-shirt and maybe something over it, but probably not. So there it was. The difference between going to a gig at the age of eighteen, twenty-six and thirty-six can be summed up by spending an hour looking in the wardrobe, saying no...no...no...no...
Anyway, I met Al at the station and the first thing he said to me was:
"I had no idea what to wear tonight."
I finished work at lunch, came home and had a bit of time to clean the house, do some odds and sods and get ready to meet my friend Al at the train station by just after 5. At about 330, I realised I had no idea what to wear. I don't mean what could I wear that would bring out my eyes or what the cool kids wear at gigs. I mean weather-wise and layer-wise. The sun was shining; the temperature had gone up easily five or six degrees since the morning, but that didn't really help me. Getting into London about an hour before sunset and not getting back home until pushing one in the morning meant clothing was an issue. Did I wear too much to start with so I'd be comfortable on the way home, or keep cool for the couple of hours of sun left in the day? If we'd been off to the gig two months back or two months from now, there'd be no issue. Either a big coat and dig out a woolly hat or put on a t-shirt and a long sleeve shirt. Job done. But in the middle of an April that's not quite sure if it wants to be nice or not, it was a tough one.
In the end, I went for a t-shirt, long sleeve shirt and a fleece. Not ideal for one in the morning, but probably the best plan. Finally ready to leave the house, I realised what had been niggling me for an hour. Five years ago, I would have thought about the clothing deal for a couple of minutes, then put on a couple of t-shirts. Ten years ago, I would have thought about it for even less time. A few years before that, what to wear wouldn't have crossed my mind at all. It would have been clean pair of jeans, boots, t-shirt and maybe something over it, but probably not. So there it was. The difference between going to a gig at the age of eighteen, twenty-six and thirty-six can be summed up by spending an hour looking in the wardrobe, saying no...no...no...no...
Anyway, I met Al at the station and the first thing he said to me was:
"I had no idea what to wear tonight."
April 8, 2014
Writing advice part 5: Social media
So, social media. Whether we’re a fan of being online or not, just about everybody is familiar with Twitter and Facebook, right? Well, no, not everyone is. Might sound a bit odd seeing as they’re part of modern life, but some people really aren’t fussed. I use my blog, Facebook and Twitter to have a bit of a laugh, link to published work and if I have any new stuff upcoming, I mention it there. When it comes to Twitter and Facebook, I think there are two really important things to remember. First off it’s social media. I’ve lost track of how many writers I see on Twitter who use it as nothing but an advertising medium. Their tweets are about nothing, literally nothing, but their books. And it’s usually the same half a dozen tweets posted throughout the day. They usually follow thousands of people in the hope most if not all will follow them back. I hate this. Other writers I’ve spoken to, professional writers, hate it. Agents hate it. And most importantly, readers hate it. Twitter isn’t a writer’s free advertising space. Posting non-stop about our books and not showing any interest in anyone else is rude and unprofessional. It’s the same as those spam emails we all get and delete without opening or when someone phones you at half past eight on a Monday night to talk about your windows. So then the question becomes how do we let people know about our stuff without bombarding them with tweet after tweet? If we don’t have a big publishing and marketing department behind us, we’re the only people who are going to tell readers about our books, right? Wrong. The best people to tell readers about our books are readers. I know it’s a bit of a circular thing, but it’s true. Word of mouth from readers will do more to help you publicity-wise than anything else. And that word of mouth, these days, comes from social media. Of course, you need readers to know your book is out there to start with before they’re talking about it. That’s where interaction comes from. If you don’t already have any of them, I’d advise you to get on Twitter or Facebook and blog about your writing. You can get a free site from blogger or wordpress, and if you want to, you can buy a site name for literally a few pounds a year. That means your site will still be one from blogger, for example, like mine is, but I bought the name lukewalkerwriter.com. I can post about writing, put photos of the book covers on there, have people comment on what I say, and the whole site is free. It’s just the name that cost me about ten quid for a year. Now say you sell a short story. You blog about it. You link to that blog post on twitter so all your followers see it and there’s a chance someone you follow will retweet your tweet, meaning everyone who follows them sees it. And so on. I know it’ll sound a bit naff and obvious, but connecting with people online is just the same as connecting with people in the flesh. Be interesting. Be nice. Talk to people. You don’t have to be hilarious or a genius. It’s just a case of being approachable and getting involved. Say there was something on TV last night that a lot of people are talking about. If you’ve got something to say about it, get involved. Or something happening in the news and you’ve got a view on it. You share that view. Someone agrees with you, or disagrees. You get into a discussion on it. You’re talking to people you haven’t met but who share your interests. They can check out your profile and maybe like the sound of your books or stories. They might not, of course, but it’s all about interaction and being social, not hammering people over the head with your book.Just a brief thing. Social media isn’t only Facebook or Twitter. If you know people who write in the same genre, see if you can do an interview with them and have it posted on their blog. You’ll be reaching new people and that means new readers.The second point I wanted to bring up was the time involved with having an online presence. It’s really easy to find after you’ve updated your blog and checked Facebook and then waded through a few hours worth of tweets that you don’t have any time left to write. Remember I said about turning off the net while you write? That’s definitely a good move. Writing time is writing time. With all the related stuff, writing is the most important issue. If you’re able to have dedicated days and hours to writing, you might want to narrow down a particular time to being online, to updating your blog. It’s up to you when you do that or how often. There’s no right time. It’s what’s right for you as long as you’re writing, getting your work done. Some people find taking ten minutes after finishing writing to go on Facebook or tweet is a good way of winding down. Others save it up for an hour or so at the end of the week. It’s up to you, but definitely don’t have the sites open in the background while you write. You’ll get nothing done. Always remember writing is the most important issue here.That’s about it for my writing advice. Hopefully newbie writers found something useful in here. To sum it all up, if you want to write, then you write. Don’t just talk about it. Tell your stories.
April 2, 2014
Writing advice part 4: Working with agents
I touched on agents in my last post; for this one, I'll go into more detail about how it works.
The start of it is potentially pretty simple. The writer finds one who might be a good fit for their book; they check if the agent is open to submissions and they check the agent’s guidelines because some like to receive the submission in different ways to others. Say they want you to send the first fifty pages, double spaced in the body of an email rather than an attachment, then that’s what you do. Hopefully they get back to you before too long and they ask to see the rest of the book so you send that. If they like it and think it can sell, they’ll offer to represent you which means your chances of being published by one of the larger companies have just risen hugely. It doesn’t guarantee you’ll be published, but it’s a good start. Your agent will also go through contracts for you, make sure you get paid, smooth out any problems between the publisher, the editors and the writer, advise if you’re unsure of anything and do everything that’s best for you and your book. If the book sells, the agent gets 15% of the money you get. That might sound high, but think of it this way. On the very small chance you get a book in with a big publisher and you don’t have an agent, they might offer you literally a couple of thousand pounds as an advance. That means you don’t get another penny until your book earns that advance. You don’t have to give it back if your book doesn’t sell, but you’ll find getting the publisher to look at a second book to be next to impossible. With an agent, they’ll get your book to the right people at the right time and they can negotiate you a better deal. So it’ll cost you 15% but it’ll definitely be better for you.
There’s a lot of work ahead of you if you want an agent, though. There’s no point in sending out the whole book to a hundred agents at a time in the hope one of them will like it. You need to make sure you’re targeting the right agent. For example, I write horror so there’s no point in me emailing an agent who doesn’t deal with horror. It’s a waste of time. Mine and theirs. If you’re looking for one and you read in the genre you write, I’d suggest you find out who represents your favourite authors and see if they’re open to new submissions. If they’re not, don’t email them and say ‘I know you’re closed but…’ Again, it’s a waste of time. If you really think they’re a good fit for you, keep hold of their details and check in a few months to see if they’re open.
Also bear in a mind a couple of important issues. Firstly, there a lot of people in our position. A lot of people hoping to get an agent and make a few quid. While there are some big agencies employing dozens and maybe hundred of people, there aren’t enough agents to deal with every single person sending them stuff. Secondly, most of an agent’s time will be spent working with the clients they already have. It has to be this way so they read the stuff we send them in their lunch breaks or on the train or at weekends. An agent I follow on Twitter gets at least seventy-five submissions a week. At least. So even if half of those aren’t right for her, that’s still almost forty book samples she has to read every week. Fifty pages per sample and it adds up.
Based on my experience of sending work to agents, there’s not really an average waiting time before you can expect a reply. My quickest was less than twenty-four hours. My longest was about two and a half years. If you really pushed me for an average, I’d base it on agent guidelines and say a couple of months. That’s a couple of months on your opening query and sample. Then you have the wait while they read the whole thing. So it’s a slow process. You can’t be impatient and you can’t email them a week after you sent your book. Some agents have a policy of no reply after six to eight weeks means they’re not interested, which I’m not a fan of. Even for busy people, it doesn’t take much to send an automated rejection, but that’s how they work. When sending your stuff out, it used to be the done thing to only send to one agent at a time, and some still do ask for an exclusive submission. It’s up to you if you send them anything, but for other agents who are ok with it , I’d suggest sending to five or six at a time. And while it might sound like I’m stating the obvious, don’t send to all of them in one email. I’ve seen emails sent to dozens of agents with all the names in the address bar. Big mistake. Choose, say, five. Make sure they’re open and right for your genre and try them. If they all say no, check your cover letter and sample, see if you can improve either and try another few. Be patient. Start another book while you wait. Like I said, it’s a long, boring process but it could definitely be worth your time. Just make sure you follow their guidelines, be to the point, friendly and professional and don’t take any rejections personally.
The start of it is potentially pretty simple. The writer finds one who might be a good fit for their book; they check if the agent is open to submissions and they check the agent’s guidelines because some like to receive the submission in different ways to others. Say they want you to send the first fifty pages, double spaced in the body of an email rather than an attachment, then that’s what you do. Hopefully they get back to you before too long and they ask to see the rest of the book so you send that. If they like it and think it can sell, they’ll offer to represent you which means your chances of being published by one of the larger companies have just risen hugely. It doesn’t guarantee you’ll be published, but it’s a good start. Your agent will also go through contracts for you, make sure you get paid, smooth out any problems between the publisher, the editors and the writer, advise if you’re unsure of anything and do everything that’s best for you and your book. If the book sells, the agent gets 15% of the money you get. That might sound high, but think of it this way. On the very small chance you get a book in with a big publisher and you don’t have an agent, they might offer you literally a couple of thousand pounds as an advance. That means you don’t get another penny until your book earns that advance. You don’t have to give it back if your book doesn’t sell, but you’ll find getting the publisher to look at a second book to be next to impossible. With an agent, they’ll get your book to the right people at the right time and they can negotiate you a better deal. So it’ll cost you 15% but it’ll definitely be better for you.
There’s a lot of work ahead of you if you want an agent, though. There’s no point in sending out the whole book to a hundred agents at a time in the hope one of them will like it. You need to make sure you’re targeting the right agent. For example, I write horror so there’s no point in me emailing an agent who doesn’t deal with horror. It’s a waste of time. Mine and theirs. If you’re looking for one and you read in the genre you write, I’d suggest you find out who represents your favourite authors and see if they’re open to new submissions. If they’re not, don’t email them and say ‘I know you’re closed but…’ Again, it’s a waste of time. If you really think they’re a good fit for you, keep hold of their details and check in a few months to see if they’re open.
Also bear in a mind a couple of important issues. Firstly, there a lot of people in our position. A lot of people hoping to get an agent and make a few quid. While there are some big agencies employing dozens and maybe hundred of people, there aren’t enough agents to deal with every single person sending them stuff. Secondly, most of an agent’s time will be spent working with the clients they already have. It has to be this way so they read the stuff we send them in their lunch breaks or on the train or at weekends. An agent I follow on Twitter gets at least seventy-five submissions a week. At least. So even if half of those aren’t right for her, that’s still almost forty book samples she has to read every week. Fifty pages per sample and it adds up.
Based on my experience of sending work to agents, there’s not really an average waiting time before you can expect a reply. My quickest was less than twenty-four hours. My longest was about two and a half years. If you really pushed me for an average, I’d base it on agent guidelines and say a couple of months. That’s a couple of months on your opening query and sample. Then you have the wait while they read the whole thing. So it’s a slow process. You can’t be impatient and you can’t email them a week after you sent your book. Some agents have a policy of no reply after six to eight weeks means they’re not interested, which I’m not a fan of. Even for busy people, it doesn’t take much to send an automated rejection, but that’s how they work. When sending your stuff out, it used to be the done thing to only send to one agent at a time, and some still do ask for an exclusive submission. It’s up to you if you send them anything, but for other agents who are ok with it , I’d suggest sending to five or six at a time. And while it might sound like I’m stating the obvious, don’t send to all of them in one email. I’ve seen emails sent to dozens of agents with all the names in the address bar. Big mistake. Choose, say, five. Make sure they’re open and right for your genre and try them. If they all say no, check your cover letter and sample, see if you can improve either and try another few. Be patient. Start another book while you wait. Like I said, it’s a long, boring process but it could definitely be worth your time. Just make sure you follow their guidelines, be to the point, friendly and professional and don’t take any rejections personally.
