Monday, October 18, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Writing 101 -- The New School
Still in the holding pattern, still waiting to hear back from Harlequin. However, this is a much better (and truth be told, easier) route than was followed when I first started this gambit. Much better.
I've been reading a lot of blogs kept by literary agents these days, and one thing they all seem to agree upon is that the amount of authors who are out there hawking their wares has absolutely exploded. Getting upwards of two hundred submissions/queries/whatever each week is not unheard of. Everybody has a story to tell, seemingly, and everybody wants to make a sale.
You can cite as many factors as you like as to why things have taken off like a rocket as of late; you can say it's because certain markets have opened up that did not exist before, that the World Wide Web has given everybody a virtual testing ground for their writings to see if they can actually hack it or not, that the spread of the computer has made word processing dozens of times easier than it was in the olden days...
...and as a side note, I have to throw in at least some of my marbles with this lot. Trust me, if you've never tried to edit a four hundred page typewritten manuscript, you've missed out on one of the grand solitary torments of the writing world. It's enough to make you want to quit the project--in fact, I believe that's exactly what I did, a couple of times.
Anyway, onward.
The new model for submitting to either agent or publisher works like this. You Google up whoever it is that you're wanting to submit to, get the skinny on their requirements and hit your local post office. Hell, a lot of them these days will even accept an e-submission. Strangely, even as the volume of submissions has increased, the turnaround time for them has also gone down as well. What used to require up to three months for a response has now dipped to usually about a month or so, which is manna from heaven for a writer waiting to see if a new chapter of their life is about to begin.
So how did it used to be?
In a word, crappy.
The old model, the one I cut my combat teeth on in the 1990's, went like this. When the new edition of Writer's Market came out, a hoary old thick tome the likes of which you would definitely not want to drop on your foot, you'd sit down with it in the aisle of the local bookstore and write down anywhere from three to six "likely candidates" in either the agenting or publishing fields. You would not actually buy the book; you've already got what you needed, and there's no need to check it out again until next year.
And from there, the game of hurry up and wait begins. Nowadays publishing houses and agents are a lot more free when it comes to simultaneous submissions, but back then, this was most certainly not the case. Rare was the place that said that sending stuff off to another house while attempting to court them was jake; it was more likely to result in a complete shutdown. This is not to say that the waiting game has gone by the wayside, as any semi-regular reader to this corner of Internet space knows. However, more torpedoes in the water equals more chances to sink ships, and since you only have a limited time on the planet, it behooves you to send out as many as possible.
Raise your glasses to the new model, folks. You'd better. After all, it's the only one we have to work with.
I've been reading a lot of blogs kept by literary agents these days, and one thing they all seem to agree upon is that the amount of authors who are out there hawking their wares has absolutely exploded. Getting upwards of two hundred submissions/queries/whatever each week is not unheard of. Everybody has a story to tell, seemingly, and everybody wants to make a sale.
You can cite as many factors as you like as to why things have taken off like a rocket as of late; you can say it's because certain markets have opened up that did not exist before, that the World Wide Web has given everybody a virtual testing ground for their writings to see if they can actually hack it or not, that the spread of the computer has made word processing dozens of times easier than it was in the olden days...
...and as a side note, I have to throw in at least some of my marbles with this lot. Trust me, if you've never tried to edit a four hundred page typewritten manuscript, you've missed out on one of the grand solitary torments of the writing world. It's enough to make you want to quit the project--in fact, I believe that's exactly what I did, a couple of times.
Anyway, onward.
The new model for submitting to either agent or publisher works like this. You Google up whoever it is that you're wanting to submit to, get the skinny on their requirements and hit your local post office. Hell, a lot of them these days will even accept an e-submission. Strangely, even as the volume of submissions has increased, the turnaround time for them has also gone down as well. What used to require up to three months for a response has now dipped to usually about a month or so, which is manna from heaven for a writer waiting to see if a new chapter of their life is about to begin.
So how did it used to be?
In a word, crappy.
The old model, the one I cut my combat teeth on in the 1990's, went like this. When the new edition of Writer's Market came out, a hoary old thick tome the likes of which you would definitely not want to drop on your foot, you'd sit down with it in the aisle of the local bookstore and write down anywhere from three to six "likely candidates" in either the agenting or publishing fields. You would not actually buy the book; you've already got what you needed, and there's no need to check it out again until next year.
And from there, the game of hurry up and wait begins. Nowadays publishing houses and agents are a lot more free when it comes to simultaneous submissions, but back then, this was most certainly not the case. Rare was the place that said that sending stuff off to another house while attempting to court them was jake; it was more likely to result in a complete shutdown. This is not to say that the waiting game has gone by the wayside, as any semi-regular reader to this corner of Internet space knows. However, more torpedoes in the water equals more chances to sink ships, and since you only have a limited time on the planet, it behooves you to send out as many as possible.
Raise your glasses to the new model, folks. You'd better. After all, it's the only one we have to work with.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Whew!
The editing on Lottery Odds is finished. Final word count:
91,710 words.
Let the wild rumpus begin!
91,710 words.
Let the wild rumpus begin!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Writer's Digest - State Of The Nation
I have finished inserting the extra material into Lottery Odds, and will be well over the 90,000 word baseline established by Harlequin HQN. By the time I get done smoothing out the transitions and editing the existing material, we will probably be around 94-95K. Since the submission request was for the first three chapters and a plot summary (faithfully updated to represent the new material), it looks like all my ducks are in a row. I've got my overall word count, I've got my first three chapters, I've got the plot summary and I have a newly-minted cover letter. All systems are go, and it should be in the mail tomorrow.
It feels good to know that acceptance or rejection aside, I was able to rise to the occasion on this project. I was given what was a pretty tall order; add an extra 33% to an already-completed novel, and not have it stand out like a sore thumb. I've managed to pull that off, so even if HQN decides to pass on Lottery Odds (which I rationally give about a 90% chance of happening), I will have another novel of submittable length that I can add to the rotation.
So what happens next? Well, I would dearly like to get some extra material for The Phoenix Initiative so that this novel could be added to the queue, and there's always the lurking specter of the best urban fantasy novel that has yet to hit the bookstores near you, Salvation. Once this project is done, that would give me three full-length books to hit the markets with. Since The Phoenix Initiative currently clocks in at 58,718 words, it needs to have some more material added. My wife gets the job of reviewing the manuscript and suggesting additional scenes, which is good because I am completely befuddled.
The Final Nine stands at 58,298 words, but the field of literary fiction is a little more forgiving than the normal markets are, so who knows, I might be able to sling that curve ball by them after all without any serious expansions. Or maybe not. Who knows?
I don't have any new novels I am currently working on; there is still the last four or five chapters of Dead of Winter to be finished in order to polish off that project, but aside from the half-completed Descent (Ring of Fire #5), nothing in the hopper is currently clamoring for my attention.
So yeah, that's where I'm at writing-wise these days. Firmly parked under the editor's hat.
Wish me luck on Lottery Odds, people. I'd love to host that publication party at my house with the pool at you'd all be invited to.
It feels good to know that acceptance or rejection aside, I was able to rise to the occasion on this project. I was given what was a pretty tall order; add an extra 33% to an already-completed novel, and not have it stand out like a sore thumb. I've managed to pull that off, so even if HQN decides to pass on Lottery Odds (which I rationally give about a 90% chance of happening), I will have another novel of submittable length that I can add to the rotation.
So what happens next? Well, I would dearly like to get some extra material for The Phoenix Initiative so that this novel could be added to the queue, and there's always the lurking specter of the best urban fantasy novel that has yet to hit the bookstores near you, Salvation. Once this project is done, that would give me three full-length books to hit the markets with. Since The Phoenix Initiative currently clocks in at 58,718 words, it needs to have some more material added. My wife gets the job of reviewing the manuscript and suggesting additional scenes, which is good because I am completely befuddled.
The Final Nine stands at 58,298 words, but the field of literary fiction is a little more forgiving than the normal markets are, so who knows, I might be able to sling that curve ball by them after all without any serious expansions. Or maybe not. Who knows?
I don't have any new novels I am currently working on; there is still the last four or five chapters of Dead of Winter to be finished in order to polish off that project, but aside from the half-completed Descent (Ring of Fire #5), nothing in the hopper is currently clamoring for my attention.
So yeah, that's where I'm at writing-wise these days. Firmly parked under the editor's hat.
Wish me luck on Lottery Odds, people. I'd love to host that publication party at my house with the pool at you'd all be invited to.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Nobody Pity Me!
Haven't posted here in a while, but I have been working away steadily on Lottery Odds, and I'm pleased to say that I am damn near being done with the insert material.
Now, the hard part...
...I have to try to figure out how to seamlessly integrate more than 22,000 words worth of material, spread out across eight scenes, into a novel that is already done.
I'm telling you, this business ain't easy.
Now, the hard part...
...I have to try to figure out how to seamlessly integrate more than 22,000 words worth of material, spread out across eight scenes, into a novel that is already done.
I'm telling you, this business ain't easy.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
We're Working On It
As some of you may remember, I submitted a query for Lottery Odds a while back to Harlequin's HQN publishing line as a contemporary romance. I've gotten a response. The editor liked the premise of the story, but the sticking point right now is that it is a little short... see, the normal HQN romance usually runs at anywhere from 90,000 to 110,000 words. Lottery Odds clocks in at a grand total of:
67,814 words.
So all I have to do is come up with, oh, about 22,000 words and they'd be more than happy to take a look at the manuscript itself.
(pulls on hair, sticks toes in mouth)
Well, nobody ever said this racket was easy, right? Still, PROGRESS! I now have a definite goal to work toward, so once I figure out how to get another seven chapters into the manuscript, I will totally be in business. There is also the option of submitting it to another imprint line of Harlequin that doesn't require such a high word count, so I will check that out as well.
Not a bad notification to get while on vacation, eh?
67,814 words.
So all I have to do is come up with, oh, about 22,000 words and they'd be more than happy to take a look at the manuscript itself.
(pulls on hair, sticks toes in mouth)
Well, nobody ever said this racket was easy, right? Still, PROGRESS! I now have a definite goal to work toward, so once I figure out how to get another seven chapters into the manuscript, I will totally be in business. There is also the option of submitting it to another imprint line of Harlequin that doesn't require such a high word count, so I will check that out as well.
Not a bad notification to get while on vacation, eh?
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Frame Of Mind
Since I don't really have any impetus to work on new material at the moment, I have gone back into Editorial Mode. Right now I am doing the edits for Lottery Odds, because it's the only other torpedo I currently have in the water besides Salvation and at some point, it'll most likely need to be sent out again. As it clocks in at just under 68,000 words, that means the dread demon named ADDITIONAL MATERIAL NEEDED is once again rearing its ugly head.
The technical side of the business is so much less fun that the creative one is.
The technical side of the business is so much less fun that the creative one is.
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