New Writers Event in Orlando 7/11/09

I'll be in Orlando, Florida on June 11 at the Barnes and Noble Colonial for a New Writers Event featuring Florida authors Judy Lindquist, Lola Wert, Melinda Driscoll, Ginger Bryant, Doris Bloodsworth, Antone Christopher, Reg Ivory, and myself. The event is Saturday afternoon between 1-3pm, so if you're in the Orlando area please stop by and say hi. I'll be signing copies of A Taste For Red and wearing my good shoes and a brand new shirt. Maybe new pants, too. My partner and I are still arguing about the pants.

Book Advances

I was happy with my book advance, and would have been happy with less. Or more. The great thing about selling a first book is that IT SOLD. Everything that comes after is cream, although that's sometimes easy to forget. But cream will turn if not properly stored. And it turns anyway, eventually. It has a shelf life, after all.
For insight into advances and other less romantic features of the writing life, here are two thoughtful posts from writers John Green and Jessica Burkhart. The comments under the Green post are lengthy and worth a peek.
My own opinions about book advances, book promotion, and the book business in general are hazy at best--and may remain so. Serious consideration of all things practical eludes me; it's one of my gifts. But, if you're dabbling in writing and hoping for publication, the business end of the stick can't be avoided.
Whack.

Advice For Newbie Writers

A fellow writer asked me for advice today. Unfortunately, and surprisingly, I seem to have offered up a straight answer (for the most part). Straight answers really kill the entertainment potential, but do make for a nice break.

I've written most of my life, but only sought publication about three years ago. Up until that time, I'd written journals, poetry, and short stories. I'd always wanted to write and sell a novel, and fancied I could if I put my mind to it. I love crime thrillers, so I tapped out a Jim Thompson-type noir. It took me about six months to polish the novel into something that I believed was good enough to send out. I researched the book biz and realized publication would be a tough nut to crack, still...I was pretty confident. I'd written a great story after all.

I decided that the best way to get my story published was through an agent. I'm talking mainstream publishing. You can self-publish and create a quality book, but I wanted to be a writer, not a publisher. The best tool I found for locating an agent was agentquery.com and the best tool I found for writing a decent query was Evil Editor.

I sent out queries and no one was interested. And it was a great story! Thrills, chills, spills, and all that...
But a great story is not enough. Luck and timing are involved. And sometimes the story needs more work. And sometimes it needs to go into a drawer for a few weeks or months or years. Everyone says it, and it's true: Keep writing, keep re-writing, keep polishing, and keep submitting. When you get feedback, listen to it. You don't have to agree, but listen to it.

So I sent out queries and collected rejections. Mostly form rejections and the occasional form rejection with a personalized scribble at the bottom. I decided that while I was submitting the crime thriller to agents that repped crime thrillers, I could write another novel to send to agents that repped other novels. Like what? I'd read somewhere that the thing to sell was a romance novel. So I tried my hand at romance...and didn't have much luck. It wasn't fun. I'm not a romance reader and I didn't enjoy writing it. And you have to write something you enjoy. I have three chapters of a romance titled TRAIL TO LOVE that I hope no one will ever see.

As a kid I was a big reader, so I took a stab at a story for young readers. I cooked up a middle grade adventure and loved it. I loved writing it. I sent it out and collected more rejections. I wrote a second middle grade work and began sending that one out. I collected rejections, refined my queries, filled the occasional request for sample chapters and manuscripts, and refined my queries even more.

Next I thought I'd give horror fiction a try. I was in the middle of writing a novel about underwater vampires when the notion of an eleven year old girl who only "thinks" she's a vampire entered my head. That idea eventually became the story that is currently sitting on shelves in libraries and bookstores around the country.

A TASTE FOR RED. (Does happy dance)

So my advice to newbies is simply a regurgitation of my own experience: Write things you LOVE to write, read all the time, listen to informed feedback when you're lucky enough to get it, set reasonable goals, and don't be discouraged.

It's hardly original, but there you have it. One nugget I'll offer that veers slightly from the run-of-the-mill is this: If you have a day job, quit. Even if you don't want to be a writer, quit your day job.

Work is silly.

Facebook, vids, colored pencils...

I've taken the plunge into the Facebook fray. I'm floundering a wee bit, but the sea legs will come...or they usually do...
If you're on Facebook then lets...do that friend thing...c'mon...
Today is comprised of writing and a little promo and even some scribbling with colored pencils. I've been having a great time producing youtube videos. I've got three up at the moment and more to follow. I'm trying to incorporate my book into some of the videos, but I'm also going to dust off and exploit a few of my tried and true poems and song-stylings.
And yes...that IS a threat.
And you should definitely be very, very afraid.

I'll have my latest video posted this week (or that's the plan.)

A Good Query

I just checked out http://evileditor.blogspot.com/ , almost a daily exercise for me. I've been addicted to EE's blog for several years now. It's a great source for writers looking to whittle their queries down to fighting weight. Writing an effective query is essential if one hopes to catch the eye of an agent or editor. Of course, you've got to follow up by having the goods in your manuscript. That's a wildly subjective proposition at best, so the more folks you have asking for your work the better (I know--super duh).

So how do you begin to write an effective query? The same way you write a story! You read, read, read...

I recommend beginning at the beginning of Evil Editor's blog and sifting through the 200+ Face-lifts that EE has performed on a host of sagging queries, each offered for your instruction and entertainment. Do it! Even if your brain has all the qualities of a fine colander, you'll at least laugh your fanny off.

Writing Ideas

Where do writing ideas come from? Who knows...
The important thing is that when you do have an idea --write it down! I keep a folder with all the ideas that pop into my head that I think I might want to later perhaps take a look at, maybe. Often, the seed of an idea grows into a stinkweed. Every idea is not a winner. It definitely helps to set an idea aside and let it percolate and gestate and...just ate.

Two ideas came to me this weekend that I think have potential for future writing projects. One is a picture book idea. I have tons of picture book ideas --most of them lousy. Not lousy at first, but lousier and lousier as I think about them. I'd love to get a picture book off the ground. The first time I attempted a picture book script, I thought it'd be easy. And it was! Of course, I ended up with a lousy picture book. That was about a year ago. I've since decided that picture book writing is NOT easy, and I'm still working at it.

The project I'm currently working on is from a "situational" idea. I envision a situation and start writing. For example: A kid dressed as a skunk grabs an orange from a market stall and hightails it with the stallkeeper in hot pursuit.

Is that really a writing idea? Why not?

You simply follow the scenario and see where it leads. Why is the kid dressed as a skunk? Why is he stealing an orange? Will he get caught? There are many questions right off the bat that demand answers. For me, the fun of writing is finding out the answers.

As I tap away at the keyboard, I get a general feel for what is going to happen in a story, but I never know for sure! The key (and the pleasure) is to keep tapping away.

And then re-write.

:-)