Susan Spann's Blog, page 78

Rejections and Partials and Fulls … Oh, My!

Today’s #PubLaw continues our ongoing Publishing 101 series with a look at what happens “after the query.” (For a look at writing the query letter itself, click here or check the archives for #PubLaw’s Publishing 101.)

Most writers agree that the query process isn’t the most fun you’ll have on the way to publication. Essentially, the query is a new car design … and the author, the crash-test dummy. If you’re like most of us who query, you’re going to hit a few walls before you reach THE CALL that leads to representation.

However, the querying process is neither a license to gloat nor cause for despair, and there are several things you can do to ease the experience.

1. The first rule of querying is DO NOT TALK ABOUT QUERYING. Not in public and not in detail, anyway. General comments like “I’m querying!” are ok (though I generally advise silence even here – you never know who’s watching) but do not EVER give details. Badmouthing an agent in public can blackball you with all the others – and even if it doesn’t, it makes you look petty. Agents and publishers often Google authors before making offers – don’t let your blog, Twitter, and Facebook depth-charge your career.

2. Query multiple agents simultaneously, but not the entire phone book at one time. Make a list of the agents you want to query, pick a reasonable number, tailor the queries and send them out. Pick a reasonable number that works for you – somewhere between 3 and 5 gives you a few options. Don’t query every agent at once – multiple rejections often indicate a problem with the query letter, and you may want to change the query as you go.

A note about exclusivity: Some agents request exclusivity when it comes to requests for full manuscript reads, but exclusivity should be granted carefully, if at all. If you do grant an exclusive read (& that’s a business decision), make sure there’s a definite time limit and end date.

3. Keep a detailed list of who you queried, and when, and what response (if any) you received. Agents who request a partial may like your style, even if they ultimately pass on a given project. Records will tell you who to approach the next time.

4. Be Classy. Be Professional. No Exceptions. Maintain a polite, professional demeanor no matter what response your queries receive. Do not respond to rejections with venomous or sarcastic responses telling an agent (s)he will regret the decision to reject you.  Do not vilify agents, publishers, or the industry generally, on your blog or in any public forum. You’re not a comic book villain, and the rejection wasn’t personal. This is business for the agents – and if you want to be published, it’s your business too. Remember that, and be professional ALWAYS.

Let’s repeat that for emphasis: Querying is emotional, but do not let the “tweet” button go down on your anger.

4. Rejection Means it’s Time to Get Back on the Horse. You will receive rejections. It’s part of the process. A rejection isn’t a statement about your value as a human being, or even the value of your work. A rejection simply means this agent isn’t a match for the project at this time. Remember that list of agents? When you receive a rejection, send a new query out at once. Within 24 hours, if you can. The easiest way to recover from the sting of rejection is forward movement – and in this case, that’s sending another query.

5. Focus on Writing, Blogging, Social Media, or Other Platform-Building Activities. A writer’s life – and job – doesn’t end when the queries go out. Writers write – and you need to continue writing while you query. Writing will keep you from focusing on the query “what ifs” and also helps you advance your career while you wait.

Generally, I don’t recommend writing subsequent books in an unsold series – an agent who rejects book 1 probably won’t want to read book 2. Find another project to work on, either exclusively or (if you MUST write sequels) while you continue work on the series. The query process is also a good time to work on blogging, social media, public speaking, and other platform-building activities.

6. Above all: do not become discouraged. Veterans of the query wars agree that rejection never stops hurting. Thick skin helps, but won’t completely take away the sting. It took me almost nine years and five manuscripts to get from “no” to “yes” – and I had many query rejections along the way. Patience and fortitude are the keys to surviving the query process. Remember, you only need one “Yes.”

Join me next week, when #PubLaw Wednesday will take a look at what happens when that YES finally comes – THE CALL.

Have you got additional secrets to help survive the query process? What worked – or is working for you? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Celebrating a Shiny New BLADE

This morning, I received the cover art for the second Shinobi Mystery: BLADE OF THE SAMURAI.

This afternoon, my cover art was stolen by ninjas. (They did it last year, too, and I suspect this might be a pattern forming.) If you want to see it, I’ll need your help to get it back.

I’ve called in some friends to help me track down the shards the ninjas left behind, along with bits of the jacket copy describing the new Shinobi Mystery, which will release from Minotaur Books in July of 2014.

The first clue might leave you a little blue, but it’s all I managed to snatch before the ninjas stole the rest of it away:

Yep, I saved my name. Go figure.

If you’re willing to help me find the rest, I’ll make it worth your while – well, for one of you anyway. Over the next three days, we’ll have clues posted at these great blogs:

Tuesday: Swimming North (the blog of author Kerry Schafer)

Wednesday: Writing the Renaissance (the blog of author Julianne Douglas)

Thursday: Between the Sheets (the blog of author Heather Webb)

Meet me back here on Friday for the full cover reveal.

And here’s the best part: prizes!

If you leave a comment on ANY of the five reveal tour posts this week (meaning this post, the reveal tour posts on Kerry, Julianne, or Heather’s blogs, or my Friday cover reveal) you’ll be entered into a drawing to win one of three fun prizes – and yes, multiple comments means multiple entries, though there’s a limit of one comment per person per blog post and a limit of one prize per person. 

THE PRIZES (limit one prize per person, and I’ll do separate drawings for each prize):

1.  A $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble.

2. A ninja mug!

You know you want one.

3. A set of ninjabread men cookie cutters.

Because all cookies secretly want to be ninjas.

And now, the legalese (because, you know, I’m a lawyer): All comments must be left on participating blogs on or before midnight Pacific Time on Sunday, October 27, 2013. Limit one prize per person. Limit one eligible comment per blog post, for a total maximum of five entries per person. Additional comments will be disregarded. Prizes will be awarded based on random drawings from a pool of all eligible entries. Winners must provide a valid name and mailing address (or email address, in the case of the gift card) within 3 days after notification of winning. No purchase necessary to win. Odds of winning will vary based on number of entries received.

Winners don’t have to live in the United States for this one, but you do have to live in a place where I can ship the prize, and where participating in online contests is not illegal. (Yep, you knew the lawyer would get involved, right?)

Want a chance to win? Comments are open NOW!

Some Thoughts on the Value of Time

Last month, my son started college.

Last Monday, I had emergency oral surgery.

Three hours ago, I talked on the phone with my brother.

These things may seem unrelated, but (like many things) the connection behind the scenes goes deeper than the surface facts suggest.

I’ve spent this week doing little-to-nothing, recovering from the surgery. “Little-to-nothing” leaves lots of room for thought. Among those thoughts: the value of time.

Most of us don’t know how much time we have, but spend a lot of it worrying and complaining about the fact we don’t have enough. We multitask. We procrastinate.

And, more often than not, we shortchange the people and things that deserve our time the most.

Over the summer, I often put off work on the next Shinobi Mystery to go for walks and spend family time with my husband and my son. Despite the looming deadline, I decided it was important to build some memories before my son left home for his college years. I didn’t want to look back on those months and wish I’d spent more time with him – and, in hindsight, I made the right decision.

This morning, my brother mentioned how much time he’s spending helping his kids with their homework and reading with them in the evening hours. We talked about our parents (our mom still around and an awesome part of our lives, our dad now gone) and memories of the time we spent with them in our younger years.

The phone call made me think about my son, and all the time I’ve spent deliberately building his memories over the years. Family dinners. Weekend barbecues. Midnight doughnut runs and cookie baking.

Weaving through those thoughts, the advice my agent gave me when my debut novel sold in a three-book deal: “Enjoy the process.”

It’s as true of life, and time, as it is of books.

I don’t regret a minute of the extra time I spend with my son, my friends, and my family. I don’t regret the hours spent writing books. I don’t regret the decision to blog, or the time it takes to put these words on the screen – and the reason for that lack of regret is simple.

I’m taking the time to realize the value of time itself. I’m trying hard to keep it in perspective. When I find myself tempted to put off something truly important because “I don’t have time,” I’m trying hard to remember to re-evaluate that statement in terms of the larger picture.

I still might not “have” time, but, increasingly, I’m willing to make the important things happen anyway.

The time, and the memories, are too valuable not to.

Have you taken the time to show someone how much you care about them today? Have you taken the time to care about yourself?

The Key to the Competent Query

Today we continue our Publishing 101 series with a look at writing a Competent Query – by which I mean the one that hooks an agent enough to spark a request for pages.

Many authors feel great angst about queries. There’s so much talk of perfection, and many authors fear the process because they worry that “the perfect query” lies beyond their grasp. Don’t fear – you do not have to be perfect. You simply have to write a query that does (and does not do) a few specific things – I call it a COMPETENT query.

Let’s look at what a competent query does and does not do.

A Competent Query Letter DOES:

1. Give the reader a compelling desire to read the manuscript. This is the query’s primary goal. If your query doesn’t make a reader want to read your book, it fails. End of story. Keep this goal in mind and don’t lose sight of it. At the end of the day, a competent query is — first and foremost — interesting to read.

2. Using approximately 100 words, tell the reader what your story is about. The 100 word-limit is flexible, but not by much. Like an elevator pitch or logline pitch, the description of your novel in the query must be short.  The query summary must explain the story itself – not the backstory, not the setup, & not just a character list. However, unlike a synopsis, the query summary does NOT give away the ending.

If you’re struggling with understanding the 100-word summary, go to a bookstore and read the jacket copy of several books in your genre. That may help.

3. Explain, in 1-2 personalized sentences, why you and your story are a good fit for the agent’s client list. Remember the agent research we talked about last week? You use it not only to build your list but also to write your queries. Yes, it takes longer to write an individual, personalized query for every agent. And yes, you still need to do it. Agents know when you’ve written a personalized query letter and when you’ve simply cut and pasted a form, and it makes a difference.

You can re-use the story summary, but the “why I believe we’re a good fit” portion of the query needs to be tailored.

4.  Match the agent’s submission guidelines EXACTLY. Agents post guidelines for a reason, and this is not the place to get yourself noticed by standing out. Yes, this requires work on your part, because you have to tailor your query (and submission pages) to comply with the agent’s rules. But consider this: your query is asking an agent to do work too–to read (hopefully) your entire novel, without pay. (Even if the agent offers representation, (s)he has no guarantees that you will sign.) If you expect someone else to invest a personal effort in your work, be willing to invest in them personally too.

Now let’s talk about what the Competent Query DOES NOT DO:

1. Ramble, either in summary or in length. A competent query runs approximately 200-300 words and gives an intriguing, succinct description of the story. Competent queries do not devolve into detailed subplot analysis or “character name soup.”

2. Forget to include the book’s title, word count, and genre. Every query must contain the title (or working title), word count, and genre of the manuscript in question. The agent needs this information — as well as the summary — to determine whether or not to ask for pages.

3. Insult the agent, the publishing industry, the manuscript or the author. This should be obvious, but I’ve heard enough horror stories to know that courtesy isn’t as common as you might think. For the record, arrogance in a query is insulting, too. The query should be professional in tone. Remember: you’re not an unworthy peon begging for the agent’s time, but neither are you a god granting a favor.

Write a query letter you would want to receive, if you were in the agent’s shoes – a letter to a prospective business partner.

When it comes to actually writing your query letter, the Internet offers many great resources. The best, in my opinion is Query Shark, written by literary agent (and query guru) Janet Reid. If you read the entire blog (including the archives) and follow Janet’s advice, you should end up with a competent query that follows the rules I’ve set out here.

Research agents, make your list, and write a personalized query that follows each agent’s submission guidelines. With practice, and a good story behind you, a competent query will lead to requests for pages, requests for fulls, and–hopefully–also THE CALL.

Next week’s #PubLaw will look at what happens after the Query – handling requests for partials, fulls, and also the inevitable rejections – and the week after that, we’ll look at handling The Call.

Do you have other good resources for learning to write a query letter? I’d love to hear them – or about your experiences querying – in the comments!

25 Things You Need to Know About Writing Mystery Novels

This morning, I’m sharing a little mystery writing advice (and a lot of free-ranging snarks) over at Chuck Wendig’s TERRIBLEMINDS blog:

25 Things You Need to Know About Writing A Mystery Novel.

Click the link. You know you want to.

A Challenge to the Explorer in All of Us

In the U.S.A., October 14 is Columbus Day – a day we used to celebrate, which now fades into the obscurity reserved for vaguely embarrassing things we’d rather forget we lauded (mostly due to their culturally insensitive properties).

*Public Domain image: First landing of Columbus on the shores of the New World, at San Salvador, W.I., Oct. 12th 1492. Painted 1862 by Dióscoro Teófilo Puebla Tolín, originally published by Currier & Ives.

In October, 1976, I learned about Christopher Columbus – the shining, kindergarten-colored version many Americans learned in school. The brave explorer, Christopher C, who set off to sail the ocean blue with three fine ships and a complement of equally charming crewmen. I wondered what it felt like, sailing off into the sunset on adventures–traveling far from home, with only the stars and my bravery to guide me.

Decades later, I see Columbus through less rosily-tinted lenses, but adventure? That still sings its siren song.

Writing lets me travel anywhere and any time. The only limits, my imagination. Books and stories stretch the boundaries even farther, taking me to places other writers had in mind–worlds they built, which I can now inhabit for a time.

When I speak at writers’ conferences, I hear from people at all stages on the writing journey. Some have many books behind them; others, working on the first. Just last month, in Colorado, I spent time with multi-published authors and with novices, and every single one of them expressed the same desire: to go wherever dreams might lead, to lands where no one else has gone before.

The love of adventure binds writers … and readers … and stories … and books. The love of “the new” crosses every border of land, and time, and race, and age.

And so, on a day that once reminded us of whitewashed conquerors, I’m issuing a challenge to all of you:

Find something to explore today.

Put down your life, if only for an hour or two. Examine something new. Smell a flower. Read a book. Eat in a restaurant that serves a cuisine you never thought you’d try.

Let’s re-purpose Columbus Day — return, if we can, to a time when three little ships and an ocean blue were a metaphor for bravery and an encouragement to follow our dreams, no matter how impossible they seemed.

You don’t have to sail an ocean, or even leave home if your schedule doesn’t permit it. But take the time to find an adventure. Learn something new today.

And then, come back here and tell me about it – I’ll tell you about mine too.

 

Finding the Perfect Agent, #PubLaw Style

Today we continue our Publishing 101 #PubLaw series with a look at finding the perfect agent.

“Finding the perfect literary agent” starts – like everything else in publishing – with understanding the author-agent relationship.

The author-agent relationship includes much more than merely selling books and negotiating contracts. In fact, a functional author-agent pair looks a lot like a business partnership, with each person fulfilling important related tasks.

In addition to identifying the proper publishers (and editors within the house) and making the publishing deal, the agent often functions as the author’s sounding board and advisor. Agents provide their author clients with guidance and advice on everything from the best next novel to how to structure a writing career. In addition, agents act as the “buffer zone” between the author and the publisher, making the case for cover art input (or changes) and anything else that might disrupt the author’s relationship with the editor.

Some agents offer editorial input on clients’ manuscripts. Other agents prefer to work with clients who find that input elsewhere (via critique partners or independent editors).

Some agents work best by telephone, while others prefer to communicate by email.

The key to finding “the perfect agent” is realizing that agents are people, and people aren’t perfect–but somewhere out there is an agent whose style will work perfectly for you.

The agent who works well for another author–even for one of your author friends–might or might not be  the perfect agent for you. Recommendations and an agent’s reputation offer critical starting points, but your goal in finding an agent isn’t just “finding the one who might, someday, possibly, say yes.” You’re looking for the proper match on several business levels — and love for your writing is only one. The others include communication, editing style, professional experience and personality. All of these need to match for the author-agent relationship to function at optimal levels.

“But how do I find that agent?” you ask.

Lots and lots of research.

Many authors mistakenly think that “finding an agent” means getting a list of every literary agent who represents the author’s genre and firing a shotgun-style blast of identical queries into the heart of the pack. This method can find you an agent (just as shooting blindly into a swamp might–once in a while–hit a duck) but it’s far from the best of methods.

In fact, “obtaining a list of the agents in my genre” is actually just step 1.

Once you have that list together, step 2 is to research each agent individually and find the answers to the following questions:

1. Does the agent charge any up-front fees or reading fees? This is a deal breaker. Legitimate agents work on a commission-only basis and do not charge fees until they sell your work.

2. Would your book be appropriate for this agent? Does the agent represent similar works and express a preference for books like yours? An agent who represents cozy mysteries might not be the best choice for your horror-noir. On the other hand, an agent who loves strong character-driven mysteries could be the perfect choice for your ninja detective.

3. How does the agent express himself or herself in public? Read interviews, check Facebook and Twitter – see if this agent’s personality seems a match for your own. Also, interviews often offer insight into the agent’s preferences and professional style.

4. Sometimes, an agent’s clients will answer questions about the agent’s working relationship and style. Don’t be intrusive – a published author may have deadlines and other obligations – but many authors are glad to answer simple questions about their agents’ working style. I’ll repeat for the record, however, don’t be pushy. Remember that you’re asking about a personal relationship as well as a business partnership, and some information is probably confidential.

Do not ask the agent for referrals to existing clients before you have an offer of representation. However, if you know an agent’s client (for example, through Twitter or Facebook) there’s nothing wrong with asking whether the author would answer some questions, either before or after you query. Again, however, respect the relationship and don’t be pushy.

Once you’ve researched the agent as thoroughly as possible, make an honest decision about whether or not this agent is a possible match for you and your work. The key here is “honest decision.” It’s hard to decide not to query an agent who represents your genre, but a mismatch is worse than having no agent at all. More importantly, a query to an agent who doesn’t represent the kind of book you’ve written will only earn you rejection anyway.

Once you’ve put together a list of the agents in your genre who are possible matches for your book, your business style and your personality, it’s time for the real work to begin: the query – and that’s the topic of next week’s #PubLaw post!

Between now and next week, your homework — if you’re seeking an agent — is to put these steps to work and research 2-3 agents in your genre. Get ready – the query-writing starts next week!

Reef Retrospective, September 2013

I know it’s technically the second Tuesday in October (no clue how time flies like that) but here are a few of September’s best images from the reef:

Emperor Maximus Angryfish let Emo know that some territorial boundaries can’t be crossed without consequences:

Banzai the Halloween Hermit discovered the seahorses’ feeding dish (and now shows up there precisely at feeding time every night):

As always, the sight of seahorses eating dinner makes me smile:

Ceti still doesn’t know quite what to make of Tesla, the flame scallop:

 And, last but definitely not least, Red the cleaner shrimp gives Flappy a combination “bath” and massage:

Which one is your favorite? I can’t decide!

 

Era and Setting: Bringing Historical Forensics Alive

This post continues the Historical Forensics series I started last Monday..

Three cardinal facets of historical mystery are the era, a setting, and the detective, all of which have critical impact on the forensic information the author can utilize. Fortunately, story parameters generally require making these selections first.

Let’s take a closer look at the way the author’s choice of an era and setting impact the story’s forensics:

1. Era: the time in which the story happens.

The choice of historical era impacts every part of an author’s story, including forensics. Technology, a society’s reaction to murders, the murder methods available to a killer, and the knowledge and education of the detective will all be influenced by the era in which the novelist sets the tale.

For example: let’s look at DNA testing.

A set of 1983 murders in Narborough, England resulted in the first police use of DNA screening on a population in an attempt to solve the crime. In 1987 a man named Colin Pitchfork gave a DNA sample to police. When his sample matched DNA found at the crime scenes, Pitchfork confessed to committing the murders (and, in 1988, was sentenced to life in prison for his crimes).

An author writing a mystery novel set in the 1970s (or at any time before that) won’t have DNA testing available to his or her detective. The technology didn’t exist.

Conversely, authors who set books in the present day may not be able to rely on a killer confessing “just” because DNA was found at the crime scene. Why? Because the population’s familiarity with DNA evidence takes a bit of the “magic bullet” quality away from the technique. It’s still definitive proof, but if the DNA was found in the victim’s apartment (as opposed to blood or semen found in or on the corpse) the killer might try to argue the evidence proves connection, but not guilt.

2. Setting: the place where the story happens.

Like the choice of an era, the choice of a specific setting influences almost every facet of a mystery.

For example, novels set in medieval Kyoto (like my Shinobi series), will probably involve more violent murders (and necessitate a style other than cozy), whereas a cozy series set in and around a Victorian-era library is likely to feature fewer beheadings and more poisonings, strangulations, and other relatively “quiet” crimes.

The author must pick a setting which lends itself to the preferred murder methods (and related forensics) as well as the chosen detective’s ability to solve the crime.

You couldn’t drop a ninja detective  into Victorian England and expect him (or her) to solve a nobleman’s murder, but plant him in medieval Kyoto and there’s no better choice to solve a crime.

The choice of setting impacts forensics in more specific ways, too. The author needs a period-appropriate crime. The choice of poison, the murder weapon, and the physical act of killing the victim must fit not only the era, but the setting as well.

Era and Setting are powerful tools for selecting not only the story but the nature, type, and extent of the forensics available to the author and his or her detective. Choose wisely – the life you save may be your own.

Do you write novels set in historical eras and settings? If so, how did you make your choice? And if not, what settings and eras appeal most to you?

Shinobi News (October 5, 2013) – CLAWS on the Denver Post Bestseller List!

This week in Shinobi News:

I was delighted to learn that CLAWS OF THE CAT was #8 on the Denver Post’s Denver Bestseller List for the week of 9/29/2013!

In new Shinobi series news, the second Shinobi Mystery, BLADE OF THE SAMURAI, now has a release date: July 15, 2014. We hope to have cover art soon, and I’ve got some special plans for the reveal!

Thanks to Kristen Lamb and WANA International for inviting me to speak at this weekend’s WANACon. My talk on 10 Publishing Contract Pitfalls was great fun. I had a wonderful time – and the attendees asked some really great questions!