Writers Must Learn About Publishers

I appreciate the insights that industry folk like Susan Hawk (http://susanhawk.blogspot.com/) share with writers. (See Trends in the Market – What Matters?) It’s helpful to us authors who toil on our word processors out in the hinterland. We typically write stories that taste and smell of our part of the world, that have people who talk like the people we know, and that deal with the concerns, horrors, and comedy within the lives of people we see. Yes, we also blend our local flavor with scenes we imagine from worlds we’ve never seen, but somehow we retain a smidgen of our local voice no matter how high we reach. That’s okay, I think. Where we have to watch ourselves is as Susan mentioned—we must strive to write stories with the kind of spice, conflict, and mystery that keeps our readers begging for more. If there were a formula for that, everyone would follow it. No, I think, and hope that the successful writer should not try to write only toward the current market trends. Instead, our stories must be enticing enough to grab an audience no matter what the topic. They must be a good, sound, engaging story—a story that would be appealing no matter if Vampires or Angels are the current “in thing” and whether they are about the macabre or the divine. In a recent course I took with Donald Maass, he emphasized how we should look at each scene and ask ourselves, “What if the opposite happened?” What if he shot and missed instead of shooting the intruder through the heart. What it she said no to the proposal instead of yes? This is the type of element, when used with skill, that gives the reader a surprise, the story more texture, and the author more options. Thanks again Susan for your insight – I hope to see more in the future–and to my fellow writers—latch onto the tweets and blogs of those people inside the business. Learn what makes publishing tick, and you and your writing will benefit.

For information on my latest story please go to www.alanelliott.com/takeover. This short story, Takeover: A Writer’s Nightmare, is a romp through the messed-up brain of a creative writer that takes you on a bumpy joy ride with a twisted ending.

My eBook Adventure

My eBook Adventure

It was bound to happen. I’ve dipped my little toe into the big ocean of eBooks. After I attended a talk by writers Jan Peck and David Davis (who have stuck all four of their feet into the eWaters) I decided to give it a try. Here's what’s happened so far.

First, the bottom line. What better eStory to start out with than a tip-of-the-hat to all creative writers. The short story is called Takeover: A Writer’s Nightmare. It is my offering to all writers who spend time in the ether of creativity struggling to create exciting characters that come alive for a story that starts out quick, builds interest and tension, moves toward a climax, and ends with a satisfying conclusion.

After looking a several options, I settled on using Smashwords to put my eBook into shape and get it out to as many eReaders as possible. The site http://www.smashwords.com/ has a number of helpful guides to walk you along the eBook path. Here are my experiences.

It’s a little tough to get your manuscript formatted correctly so that it can be converted to eBook format. This is because of all the gunk that Microsoft Word puts into the background of each document. Basically, you have to get rid of all of the Word formatting to make the thing work. I made a valient effort to remove all of the offensive formatting, but I gave up. Instead, I used the “nuclear option” which means copying the entire document to a plain text editor (such as notepad) to remove all formatting – then copying it back into Word, and putting in only the recommended indents and centering. (You can also hire something to do the formatting task.)

For Smashwords, once you get the document cleaned up, you submit it and they put it through their handy-dandy meat grinder that spits out the story in Kindle and other eReader formats. It's then sent to the formatting police who check to see if it passes the grade. If it's okay, it is accepted and “published.” But wait, there’s more. Once it is "published", Smashwords submits it to various sellers such as Amazon, which may take several weeks. All in all, plan for it to take a month before you can look it up on Amazon. So much for instant gratification.

There are other details that I’ve left out, such as getting an ISBN number for your book and creating a cover, but that’s covered in the Smashwords guides.

Now the plot turns to the subject of ePromotion. (Don’t you love all of the eWords?) Of course this isn’t a new thing. For every book I’ve written, I’ve had to beat the bushes to get it noticed (and bought). Please consider that this blog has now shaken your bush in the hopes that you will click here, and spend less than a buck to be entertained and amused -- maybe even inspired. A brief description…

Takeover: A Writer’s Nightmare by A.C. Elliott -- Is she insane, or trapped in her own story? Darla is thrown into a writer's nightmare where she struggles to keep characters from taking over her story. In a quirky romp through an action-packed adventure with a surprise at every turn of the page, Darla finds herself up against the pen of an unseen literary adversary in a battle to the finish -- and only one writer can win. It's creative writing gone berserk. Click for more information.

6 Habits of Successful Writers

Although I'm sure these aren't the only six things that make a writers successful -- they will definitely push you toward your goal of getting published.

1. Brainstorm without limits. I recommend that your take time every day to write (I prefer by hand) three pages of random notes about whatever you're thinking about at the time. Some people call these morning pages. Write anything that comes to your mind. Don't limit yourself. No one will ever read what you've written (I tear my notes up and throw them away) so don't limit yourself. During these brainstorming sessions, I guarantee that you will produce ideas that will be useful to your life, your work, and your relationships. If you can't think of anything to write, write gibberish, write your name, write your dog's name -- anything. It clears your mind and opens you up to thinking more creatively than you can imagine. Try it for a month -- then continue it forever.

2. Decide what you want to accomplish, and move toward it every day. Alice asked the Cheshire cat for directions and he asked her where she wanted to go. When she said she didn't know, then he rightfully answered that it didn't matter which way she went. You have to have an idea what you want to accomplish before you can get there. Set a goal -- to finish your novel, to get a magazine article published in a paying magazine, to get a contract for a novel, to get on the NYT bestsellers list. Whatever your goal, be as specific as possible. Once you've set your goal, be obsessive about reaching for it. Do something EVERY DAY that moves you closer to your goal. Take a class, make a friend, learn a technique, read a book -- whatever moves you closer to your goal. I like the picture in Isaiah 50:7 that says "For the Lord GOD will help me . . . I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed." It illustrates how you must be to accomplish a goal -- set your face like flint -- in other words -- like a hard stone that will not be moved -- until you accomplish your objective. Also, make your goal something that is possible, but is not easy -- a goal should be used to accomplish something beyond your normal capabilities. DECIDE, then DO.

3. Visit bookstores -- know your market. Most writers do not pay enough attention to the market. You must know not only what is selling, but who is publishing. Go to a large bookstore once a month (at least) and browse around the area that contains books or publications similar to what you write. You MUST know where your book would be placed in the bookstore. Once you know that, you can see who is publishing similar books (look for recent copyrights). You might also be able to determine what editor or agent worked on a particular book. All of this information is VALUABLE to you to get your book into the hands of the publisher that is most likely to want your work. If you are writing for the web -- visit websites that use the type of material you want to write.

4. Desire. Without desire you will rarely accomplish greatness. Suppose you have a goal, but do little to make it happen. Then it is unlikely that you'll find success. You must DESIRE with a STRONG DESIRE to accomplish your goal. You must sacrifice other things. Your writing goal must take priority over other less important goals. Observe how someone diagnosed with a cruel disease does everything in their power to find a cure. Observe how a person who falls in love does everything in their power to woo their lover. Observe how a person facing a calamity (such as a flood) will cast aside all other worries and do what it takes to save their life, their family, and prized possessions. These people have DESIRE. Do you have that level of desire to accomplish your goal?

5. Write. Write. Write. A writer must write. A writer must write often. You hone your craft by writing (and rewriting.) Like a person learning to play a musical instrument, you must study and practice. Don't write in a vacuum. Join a critique group. Study good books about writing. Study excellent books in your genre. Pick them apart. Understand them. And write like that, adding your own flair. Everyone writes crap initially -- but if you keep learning and practicing, you will be able to construct a manuscript that sings your story.

6. Finish your work. There are many, many writers who write, and write well, and never get published. You must finish your work and submit it before you will get published. Learn about the submission process for your genre (books, website guidelines, etc) and SUBMIT. Set aside one day a week or at least one day a month (say Friday or first Friday) as submit day. Submit something. If you aspire to be a novelist, perhaps you can submit a short story. If you want to write a non-fiction book, how about a magazine article on the same subject. Get out there -- learn the ropes -- finish projects -- submit. The other part of the process is to learn from rejection. See them as stepping stones to acceptance. Don't let them discourage you, keep submitting (and improving your submissions) until you make progress toward your goal. If you never plant a dream seed, your dream tree will never grow.

Is Creativity Out the Window for Novels?

I’ve just finished preparing a proposal for a novel. Using the guidelines provided by an agent I created a ten page document (along with 3 chapters) to “sell” the book. Things have come a long way since I first submitted a novel fifteen years ago. Back then agents and editors wanted a cover letter and the first few chapters. What’s changed?

The publishing industry is evolving. A decade ago you could still occasionally query a publisher directly with a submission for fiction. Now it’s almost impossible. Publishers only want to look at submissions from agents. So, the monkey is on their back. To keep their relationship and reputation right with publishers, agents want to make sure the books they suggest are targeted, well written and from a writer who means business.

Thus, the proposal for a novel is now similar to that of a non-fiction book. (For many years, the standard for submitting a non-fiction book has been the proposal document consisting of lots of marketing information. )

I went through the hoops and prepared the 10 page sales document for the agent. But I’m troubled. I know that most publishers are now part of big conglomerates – and they watch the bottom line like a hawk. Because of that, they want to be extra careful where they put their resources. But we know from Hollywood that the creation of clone products (which corporations’ find safe) is not a great stimulus for creativity.

There is a great story about Walt Disney. When his short film about the Three Little Pigs became popular, people clamored “Give us more pigs.” He refused to make a “follow up” film. When Snow White was a hit he didn’t do a sequel – he did Pinocchio instead. When other animators reused film in scenes (such as a chase scene) Walt insisted that no portion of his films be repeated. This kind of insistence on newness and creativity could only have been demanded by a person with Walt’s power. (Notice that Disney now does sequels of even mediocre successes.)

What does this mean to the writer? Is creativity out the window? Perhaps not. First of all, you can still find avenues of creativity in the safe projects corporations want to do – if you are creative about it. Secondly, there are other ways to “publish” now – although typically not very lucrative. Some blogs ago I wrote about the cell phone novel in Japan – millions of novels written (mostly by teens) on cell phones and uploaded to the Internet. Some were good enough to make it into print – and became best sellers.

Perhaps that’s where creativity will come from in the next generation of fiction – eBooks. Some will rise to the top and be successful enough that the big corporations will publish them – and if they are a new genre or introduce some innovative way to tell a story – then it will open up the mainstream for something new. Who knows…

The Writer's Journey, 10 books every writer should read

The Writer's Journey: This is book 2 of 10 books every writer should read. In this book by Christopher Vogler, subtitled “Mythic Structure for Writers,” the author describes historic techniques of storytelling.

Whether you are writing fiction or non-fiction, this is a valuable read. Okay, so maybe it’s a little more valuable for fiction writers. But, even nonfiction writers tell stories, and this book helps clarify the typical structure of a story.

I know what some are thinking: writing is an art form, don’t lock me in to some formula. You are exactly right. But this book is not a formula book. It is a concept book.

Some years ago I took a class from the prolific TV icon Bob Banner once (producer of the Carol Burnett Show, Garry Moore Show, Live at the Apollo and many others – winner of a number of Emmys.) In that class he described how even in a three minute sketch it was important to have the critical elements of a story present. His staff writers included the likes of Woody Allen, Neil Simon and a number of other greats.

Take the ingredients explained in this book and cook up any kind of story – but like a cake with the sugar or flour or baking powder left out – you’re going to have a hard time making your story palatable if you leave out critical elements of story telling. Its not impossible, just harder.

Where does this book get its information? The basic information is from the work of researcher Joseph Campbell. Vogel took Campbell’s academic work and adapted the concepts into a book for the modern writer. He takes common elements of storytelling from global cultures of the past and condenses similarities down to a few components. The theory is that we humans have developed in such a way that we understand stories that contain certain elements in them. This could be hard-wired into the human brain or developed over thousands of years of civilization – I don’t know the answer to that. Nevertheless, it is valuable information for any writer to know and understand.

Without going into the details of the book (you need to read it yourself) the premise is that a story is like a quest. There is a beginning – something that causes the quest to begin. There is a hero that is called on to do the quest. (Don’t get taken back by somewhat archaic labels – the “hero” is typically the primary character such as Dorothy in Wizard of Oz or Rick in Casablanca.) The quest is a problem to be solved – maybe personal, maybe earth shattering, maybe humorous, maybe horrific.

Once our hero sets out (or is forced) on the quest, he or she meets up with a variety people that either make the quest harder or easier. They are people such as mentors, rivals, opponents, people who aren’t who they seem, etc. Each of these people contributes to the movement of the story and perhaps to the development of the hero’s character. In the end, the hero finds some resolution to the story’s initial problem.

This is a crude and brief outline of the contents of the book. Inherently, you already know the structure of a story – you tell stories everyday of the guy who almost ran you off the road, of the person who broke in line at the Starbucks, of the friend whose boyfriend ran off with another girl (or guy). Even though you know the basics of telling a story, if you want to rise to a new level, to understand the components of storytelling then read The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler.