Pub Rants

Category: Writing As A Career

After 200 Webinar Pitch Critiques…

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: ! I think that exclamation point says it all.

What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? ISN’T IT ROMANTIC by Rod Stewart

I can unequivocally give my blog readers the #1 culprit of why pitch paragraphs in adult or children’s SF&F query letters miss.

Drumroll please….

Convoluted plot that can’t be followed in the pitch paragraph.

Interestingly enough, in the presentation itself, I gave the missing plot catalyst as the# 1 reason for why we pass. Convoluted description of the plot was #3. I might have to revise that!

Post webinar, most participants got the concept of “inciting incident” or main plot catalyst pretty clearly; it was building the rest of the pitch paragraph that proved tough. I think everyone who submitted a pitch to be critiqued got a sense of just how hard it is to create a good one.

A bit of advice? Your pitch is not something you want to go it alone on. You need feedback and from a variety of sources. If you learn nothing else from that session, take that tidbit away with you.

And because I’m a nice person, I’m going to share my Top 10 list for blog reading edification.

KRISTIN’S TOP 10 LIST OF WHY ADULT AND CHILDREN’S SF&F QUERY LETTERS GET A REJECTION

Reason 10: Generic descriptors of the story

Reason 9: Overkill on World Building details and not enough about the story itself.

Reason 8: Explaining that unlike already published SF&F novels, your work has character development

Reason 7: Popular trends (such as Vampires, Werewolves, or Zombies) with no unique take clearly spelled out in pitch

Reason 6: No mention of or insight into the characters who will be driving the story

Reason 5: The manuscript is 250,000 words (or more!) and this is unpublished, debut author

Reason 4: The work is called SF&F but it sounds more like a mystery or thriller or something else.

Reason 3: Convoluted Plot that I can’t follow in the pitch paragraph

Reason 2: SF&F stereotypical archetypes as the “hook”
–the mysterious object
–the unexpected birthright
–the quest
–the villain that has risen again
–exiled to another planet
–mayhem on spaceship to new planet
–Androids with heart of gold
–The main character as the key to saving the world or species
–the just discovered talisman

Reason 1: No hook—or mention of a plot catalyst that is new or original in this genre

Track Changes Coming Back To Bite You?

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Snowing in the high country. You know what that means. Ski season is upon us!

What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? PENCIL THIN MUSTACHE by Jimmy Buffet

Given the dominance of PCs in the world, most writers are probably using Microsoft Word as their main word processing program.

Lately we’ve received a slew of sample page submissions that have all the writer’s revisions clearly outlined in track changes.

Oops.

Although interesting, we really don’t want to see your writing process.

Just a friendly reminder to make sure you submit a “clean” version. The way to do that is to go to Review, then accept (or reject as the case may be) all the changes in your manuscript. When all are cleared, a little window will pop up to say that there are no more changes or comments in the manuscript. Then it’s clean.

Then there is no way for someone to open up “final with mark up.”

Happy Writing!

If You Think A Publisher Will Be Filing…

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: First day of fall. Makes me kind of sad. I want summer to stay awhile longer.

What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? WONDER by Natalie Merchant

…for bankruptcy, what is the best thing an author can do?

My answer? Get your rights reverted before the filing so the books aren’t tied up indefinitely by the court as non-reverted titles will be deemed assets of the company.

By the way, this is true even if you have a bankruptcy clause in your contract specifying that rights automatically revert. Bankruptcy courts don’t perceive it that way and they trump contract clause.

I also suggest you get a full accounting, if you can, of what is owed to you. You want this for several reasons: 1) if you have to file a claim as a creditor in the bankruptcy, you’ll know for how much. 2) you might be able to take the amount loss as a tax deduction (but ask a tax expert first).

White Noise

by Kristin Nelson

(Just a note, this post is from our archives. Some references and links may be from past years.)

STATUS: Last week was just tough. Battling being sick so just didn’t know when I’d be in the office or not. So not pleasant….

What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE by Mat Kearney

When I was at the Rocky Mountain Writers Conference, I gave a couple of workshops. In my classes, I always give the daunting statistics on how many queries we get, how many sample pages we read, and how many authors we actually take on from what we read.

Yep, the icky stuff.

Then I tell them to cover their ears and say, “la, la, la I’m not listening” because what it boils down to is that these stats should be white noise to you aspiring writers. You can hear it, but it’s in the background. Know the stats so you have a keen understanding of the reality behind the business of publishing but then don’t let it stop you. .

If you love writing, if you are passionate about it as your dream, then you are going to write no matter what. Publication is one possible end result but whether that happens are not should not be the only determiner of why you write. You write because you have to. It’s like breathing. Absolutely necessary.

Besides, you never know when toughness and persistence will finally pay off so don’t lose sight of that!

Photo by KoolShooters from Pexels

Killer Openings

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Off to Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Conference at noon today.

What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? LAID by James

And I actually don’t mean it in the sense that it’s so good, I couldn’t put the manuscript down. I mean the openings that are guaranteed to kill your manuscript within the first 10 pages for an agent reading it.

And trust me, we won’t keep reading to get to the “good part.” The opening is everything when you are trying to get an agent’s attention.

A terrible and disheartening statistic is that for 90% of the submissions we receive, we won’t read beyond 2 pages. (I know. Ouch.) We know that quickly whether a) a manuscript is ready for an agent’s attention or b) if it’s right for us. Anything well-written, we’ll read all 30 pages of the submission before deciding to request a full or not.

But back to Killer Openings:

1. Opening pages that are nothing but backstory and explaining.

2. Opening pages with scenes that only do one thing (like have action but no character development or any other components that are essential to strong writing).

3. Problems with sentence structure, misuse or overuse of description, and basic grammar snafus.

4. Prologues (or chapter one) that sets up a faux conflict to “hook” the reader but then has very little connection to the following chapter—in tone, in the characters that are then introduced, in plot that unfolds immediately in the next chapter.

I see number 4 over and over again and it’s always a neon sign beginning writer mistake. Even the tone and writing styles of these openings differ greatly from how the rest of the manuscript is written.

I’m sure there are other killer openings and when I stumble on them, I’m happy to blog about it.

More James music on iLike

Sometimes It Pays to Pay…

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Life in the fast lane…not. Sheesh. Where has this day gone? I’ve got three more things I absolutely must do before leaving tonight.

What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? AMERICAN PIE by Don McLean

For professional advice. Having been an agent for 8+ years, I’ve certainly dealt with interesting events in publishing. Bankruptcy is just one of them.

A couple of years ago, an independent sports publisher filed for bankruptcy to re-organize. One of the first books I sold in my agency’s infancy was impacted.

What I learned? Most publishing contracts have bankruptcy clauses and ALL of them are useless. If a company files for bankruptcy, even if your contract stipulates that rights revert automatically, the bankruptcy court sees it differently and the rights can be tied up—sometimes for years.

Luckily for my author, I was able to negotiate the rights back with the help of my IP attorney and another attorney specializing in bankruptcy.

Sometimes it pays to pay for a professional assistance when it comes to specialized events like the one I describe above. If you’re an author facing similar and going it alone (sans agent), don’t ask friends or google the web. Get the facts. And in a lot of cases, it’s information only an expert can provide so you might want to consider it.

An Interesting Reason For A Pseudonym

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: This week is actually rather quiet. I’m checking off lots on my To Do list. Next week, after the holiday, will be zany I’m sure.

What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? LOVE SOMEBODY by Schuyler Fisk

One of my new to-be-published authors recently decided that she might publish her debut novel under a pseudonym and she had an interesting reason why.

She had gone to lunch with a few of her author friends and one of them was in the job market but having trouble landing a job—even after a good interview. Prospective employers were Googling her, discovering her writing stuff, and then questioning her commitment to their job or wondering why she needed a job in the first place. These employers were erroneously assuming that all writers with a couple of books published were making a living from it.

Okay, I could hear the guffaws from here about that assumption. I imagine most authors would love to make their living solely from the writing bit and yes, it does happen but it’s not the norm for the majority of writers.

And I have to say that this reason for a pseudonym had not occurred to me but I don’t doubt this story. For my author, she’ll be in the job market again right around the time her novel publishes so this is a concern.

I imagine some of you could end up in a similar position so I thought it worthwhile to mention.

Guaranteed To Give You A No

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: It’s Thursday already?

What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? ARTHUR’S THEME by Christopher Cross

About three weeks ago, the agency started receiving a series of calls from a local gentleman writer. Anita, being the lovely and generous person that she is, answered, gave information and lots of resources to help out the caller.

Evidently that wasn’t enough because this person proceeded to call us several times a week insisting that he had to talk to me. The first couple of calls Anita answered and calmly explained why she doesn’t forward inquiry calls to me and offered help in general terms. When he became belligerent with her, she stopped answering the phone when caller ID clearly showed who it was.

Then we received lots of voicemail messages. It definitely got my attention but not in any way that’s going to help this person’s writing career.

Then he decided to visit the agency in person.

Folks, let me just say that if you come to the office and try and browbeat my assistant, you will be dealing directly with me and you won’t like it. Even though I posit myself as a nice Midwesterner, you will see the Big B—up close and personal. No one treats my assistant that way.

And I’m sure this goes without saying but at that moment, there was no way this person could have pitched his book that would have induced me to look at it.

When It’s Not Really An Answer

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I’m obviously not blogging in the morning…

What’s playing on the iPod right now? BREAKEVEN by The Script

This is strange enough to blog about because it’s happen three times in the last 10 days.

Toughest part is that I know that most writers are going to say that this is not really an answer. And I’m going to have to agree.

So what am I talking about? I’ve read three sample pages recently that were well-written, had good story concepts, and the authors definitely understood craft. But (and isn’t there always a but?) I didn’t ask for a full because I honestly didn’t like the characters in the story enough to spend a whole novel with them.

And yes, I completely get that there is a world of literature out there with unsympathetic characters. In fact, that could be considered a literary tradition.

Yet, it’s too simple to say I’m passing on asking for a full SOLELY for that reason. I have read fiction where the main narrators weren’t wholly sympathetic and yet I found myself totally intrigued by the nuance of those characters and the stories to read the entire novel. My book club’s pick for last month, Lev Grossman’s THE MAGICIANS, comes to mind. I really enjoyed that one.

So there is a balance—that fine line between tough characters and a story that remains gripping despite that.

For a couple of these sample pages, that wasn’t the case—at least for me.

And I know that’s not really an answer but it was the only one I could honestly give.

Dorchester Goes Digital (Part II)

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I think my head might be spinning with all the stuff that cropped up today.

What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? THE GUYS THAT SAYS GOODBYE TO YOU IS OUT OF HIS MIND by Griffin House

Today there is more on Dorchester’s move to all-digital in the Wall Street Journal.

Is this revolutionary and far-thinking? A move that many a small independent publisher will follow?

Well, it would be nice to think so.

Except I have one rather large problem with it. Via our evaluation of recent Dorchester royalty statements, this publisher has been having difficulty reporting monies owed to the author for electronic book sales—even when a quick search of the major eBook retail sites show that the books are clearly available in eFormat and have been available for several accounting periods.

When pushed regarding this issue, I’ve been given a couple of different responses—none of which have actually resolved the problem.

Yet. (Let’s hope.)

So if Dorchester plans to go all-digital, I’m worried for very practical reasons.