You Need To Be Connected...

... to make it in the publishing business...

In a manner of speaking.

Couple of weeks ago, I was invited to a local school to speak to a group of tenth and eleventh graders about the journey of the writer (or any creative endeavor for that manner). We discussed many topics and then one student asked, "Do you need to be connected to make it?"

I live in L.A. Anyone worth their salt knows to make it in Hollywood you need to know people.

So I didn't hesitate. "Absolutely," I said. Silence from the young faces. "But not the type of connected you may think."

Writing is a solitary art. At first. As Stephen King says, write your first draft with the doors closed. Revise and edit with the doors open.

When you're writing, it's you, your characters, your muse, and maybe even your demons. When you're done you need your community.

I can't imagine submitting a manuscript (to an agent, to a publisher, or if self-publishing, pushing "submit" on Amazon) that hasn't been vetted by my team.

Who is in my team? It starts with my first reader, my wife. Them it goes to my beta readers, each picked over time because they bring something I don't have. Even after that, I have to have my freelance-editor go through it with a fine tooth comb. And after that, I get a select two to look at it once again before I even consider moving forward. If the timing is right, I make sure I attend read-and-critique workshops to further develop the opening chapters. Then, and only then, am I ready to send it to my agent.

These people--my tribe--are my connections. How did I get them?

Twitter, Facebook, writers conferences (Santa Barbara Writers Conference and Southern California Writers' Conference), professional writers organizations (Romance Writers of America and the local LA chapter).

In all cases, I helped and they helped back. I contributed and they contributed back.

You may start on an island but you will need your tribe to cross the finish line.

This coming week I return to my third consecutive Santa Barbara Writers Conference, running from June 7th until the 12th. These are all-day events, starting at 8 AM and ending at 1 AM or so (depending on your stamina and access to coffee).

Pirate workshop at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference ~ June 12, 2013 @ 11:58 PM

It's all read and critiques. Yes, you get to read your chapters and accomplished writers and workshop leaders help you refine your work. But the part that gives me the most value is when I listen to all these intelligent people speak and give feedback. Not only about my work, but all the feedback (particularly the other feedback). And as you develop as a writer, you also realize who is your type of writer. That's when you make your connections.

Find your comfort zone and jump into the wild beyond. Whether it's Twitter, Facebook, or a conference, you'll need to start somewhere. And if you're lucky you may build friendships that are built on a common love -- story telling.

Find your tribe. Make your connections.

Fight the good fight!

How I Got My Agent

I Have a Literary Agent!

Let's just pause there for a moment and savor how sweet that sounds and feels.

I am elated to announce that the wonderful Stacey Donaghy of Donaghy Literary Group is now my agent.

My wife once said, "You need to find the agent who will love your work as much as we do." I have found that person. Her energy is infectious and her vision is clear. I look forward to our partnership.

How I found her was strategic and tactical. With the help of my network, the power of Facebook and Twitter, and some old fashioned luck, I am able to announce this news today.

Like all things, there is a story.

It started on September 20th with an announcement from Marisa Corvisiero of Corvisierio Literary, a friend of the Southern California Writers' Conference (SCWC).

Stacey Donaghy had been with the Corvisiero Literary Agency until recently. A new agency meant opportunity.

But I had missed that announcement. Thankfully, my mentor and freelance editor extraordinaire, Jean Jenkins (JJ), had seen the post and emailed me. Connections: JJ is one of the original founders and a workshop leader at the SCWC. Therefore Ms. Corvisiero was on her radar.

"New Agency to try," Jean wrote.

I hopped to the Donaghy Literary Group site. Scoured the submission guidelines, what she was looking for, etc. Everything seemed like a perfect match but then...

Oh NO! Per the submission guidelines, the agency said they like the romance to be "steamy." I don't do fifty shades type of stuff. So I wrote JJ. "I don't think I can do steamy."

Undeterred, JJ said, "Query anyway. Sometimes your idea of 'steamy' isn't the other guy's."

With her words of encouragement, I went back to the site, but...

Oh No! The site said not accepting queries until December 2nd.

The bad news was that on December 2nd there would be an avalanche of queries. I could get lost in the slush pile. I took the hiatus to learn as much as I could about Ms. Donaghy. Interviews, Publisher's Marketplace, Tweets. RESEARCH. I also bought a book from one of her clients.

At the same time, literary agent Jessica Sinsheimer and I had been chatting up a storm on Twitter--mostly about coffee and food. She then told me she was about to launch another round of the popular "Manuscript Wish List" on Twitter. This is the event where agents and editors tweet about what they wish they had #MSWL in their inbox.

And when #MSWL started, I followed the feeds. Then I saw this.

Stacey Donaghy is looking for Romance -- check!

Stacey Donaghy will look at queries in advance if I mention #MSWL in the query -- check!

I didn't waste time. I queried her -- following the guidelines EXACTLY! Please don't make your own guidelines. There's a reason agencies have guidelines.

I waited. A few weeks later she wrote me. She liked the opening chapter. She wanted the rest.

A few weeks later she sent me THE email. She LOVED the manuscript. She wanted us to talk.

We had a call (THE CALL) and it was perfect and powerful and empowering.

On November 30th, this happened

And you know what, the whole steamy thing...well, JJ was right (again). Ms. Donaghy loved the manuscript as is.

Lessons learned:

• Be involved in the writing community. Go to conferences if you can. Make friends and listen to experts. Learn all the time.
• Twitter and Facebook are your friend. Follow those in the business. Listen, learn, interact, be interesting and appropriate.
• Be opportunistic. Be ready to take advantage of lucky situations.
• Don't assume too much. When an agent says first ten pages, they don't mean first fifteen. But there are some things that are less clear. If you are unsure what an agent may mean (ex. steamy) go with your gut and take a chance. A good story will always get the eyeballs.

Thank you all for your support. 

If you want to keep up with my journey, please take ten seconds and follow this blog and/or subscribe.

Fight the good fight!

So, You Wanna NaNo?

Are you NaNoWriMo-ing Tomorrow?

What's NaNoWriMo you ask? Check out my post from a year ago then come back here.

Now that we're on the same page, and since this is my second year at this (and therefore an expert, thank you very much), there are a few thoughts that I'd like to share with you.

First: DON'T FREAK OUT!

Please, this is about using an excuse to focus on writing for one month. Friends want to go to the Justin Beiber concert? First, get new friends. Second, tell them, "I'm on a deadline. I made a commitment!"

Second: Get into your story world

I won't bother to tell you that you need to nail your concept, know your characters, plot it out or pants it in -- you are NaNoWriMo-ing, you understand this stuff.

But what you need to do in preparation of your daily writing session is get into the world/universe you've created for this story. Feel it, see it, hear them. Make it vivid and the stakes will become vivid.

I have a writing journal where I write out, what happened, what will happen next, and why do they matter.

Three headings, bullets underneath each. Remember that what happens next must have a reason for happening. As Jim Scott Bell says, happy people in happy land does not make for a compelling story.

Spend 15 minutes on this and your writing will get an octane boost.

Third: Don't stop until you're done

That means don't go back and reread what you wrote. Don't revise now. Stop that. All you're doing is stalling the creative process.

I know the pain, I've been there. You're well into the second act then you realize, "Holy Bat Juice, Batman, if I made Bobby a woman, then I can add this very cool plot twist." But it's more than changing the name, it's changing some of the interactions, the dialogue, it's, it's.... STOP I tell you.

Get a post it, on it write "Bobby = Barbie" then stick it on your table, your monitor, your forehead (scratch that). When you are DONE with the first draft, you will have to revise -- none of us are good enough to write perfect first drafts -- at least no one that reads this blog.

The desire to go back and revise is your inner child saying you're not good enough. The universe will conspire against you. Don't get hooked by it. You are a writer. Do what you do -- tell the story before your characters decide to leave you.

Fourth: Write

It's that simple. Just Write.

It doesn't matter if it's crap. You can't fix what hasn't been written. I am a better reviser than a first drafter. But I know that when I put the story on paper, the world becomes real and my characters become three dimensional -- they become vested in the outcome of their story. They can't do that if I am navel-gazing wondering if the first responder would be the Highway Patrol or the Sheriff. Who cares?

Write it now, fix it later.

You are a story teller. Your medium is writing. Now go and do it and let me know how you're doing.

Fight the good fight!

The Power of Brevity - "Hot In Here"

Less is more

The concept of brevity goes beyond not repeating things, or avoiding the sin of over explaining something, or going on and on, hoping your reader will finally understand what the heck you're talking about. Brevity asks you to focus on word choice and the imagery those choices create.

A simple example to set the stage -- in "A Wanted Man" by Lee Child, Jack Reacher is given a bottle of water. Child then explains:

"...He split the seal on the bottle..."

Child could have said, "...He opened the bottle..." (yawn!) but by choosing the verb "split" and the noun "seal," he produces an image that's impossible to miss. In fact, he accomplished a few things. He shows the action and puts the reader tight into the narrator's POV by allowing the reader to actually hear the action.

My freelance editor, JJ, put me to task. Over the last few months I've been knee-deep in revisions and have taken this simple lesson to heart. The right verbs go beyond showing, they let the reader hear and experience it by pulling them in closer to the story.

It was with this in mind that the opening lyrics of a Rascal Flatts song caught my attention.

"Hot In Here" by Rascal Flatts
She jumped in my truck in her bare feet
Slid on over to the middle seat
Baby crack a window,
Crank that AC high as it can go

Let's dig in...

She jumped in my truck in her bare feet

The opening sentence should make the reader/listener ask questions and extrapolate answers. Who is she? Why is she in her bare feet? She can't be a high society woman. Poor? Or is she a young woman? He drives a truck. Small town in rural America? Maybe Let's hear more.

Slid on over to the middle seat

Beautiful use of an audible verb. Slid creates the picture we need. She must be younger -- youthful attitude to be in bare feet and slide on over. As close as she can be to him.

Baby crack a window,

She calls him "baby." Not just acquaintances. Young love? Can you hear the crack of the window? Are you in the driver's seat yet? I remember my first car and how the day's temperature expanded the windows such that the first time I rolled her down, a cracking sound would echo in my poorly insulated car.


Crank that AC high as it can go

Crank. Old truck, no touch-screens on this puppy. It must be hot outside. And it seems that when these two are together, things get hot inside. Now the image of a barefooted young woman is taking on a new meaning.

What the songwriter(s) have done is set up the world and situation. The judicious use of powerful verbs create images, produce sounds, and deliver the audience an experiential story. We can see ourselves there, we've probably lived a version of this story in one form or another.

Brevity is power. As writers, we must question if our readers can experience the sentence we've written.

Are there passages or song lyrics that with the brief use of words have created a complete scene for you? Scenes where you didn't need to be there, but you could see it all unfold in front of you?

Fight the good fight!

The Burn

You're almost done...

By Jersey Tourism
[CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons

You set out your workout goal -- twenty miles on the bike. You've never done twenty. But las time you got to seventeen. What's three more?

You pass your previous mark of seventeen and something happens. Your legs gain forty pounds in a matter of seconds. You begin to slow. Each breath you take hurts a bit more. You begin to doubt and the wind suddenly picks up--slamming you in the face.

You look at your distance watch... 17.2 Miles. It's impossible. You'll never make it. And then, the fire starts. The burn. That sensation that is universally understood but also misunderstood.

The breakthrough is on the other side of that burn. That burn is your body telling you to stop. That you've done enough. You're fine. Just stop.

But if you continue, if you press on, if you push through the tears, your body transforms. And so do you.

Anyone can exercise, just like anyone can write. But only those who stick through the hard times, the doubts, the BURN, will they come out better.

Only the author knows if they took a shortcut. If they stopped before the magic happened. Next time your inner voice tells you to stop, that the sentence is good enough, that the motivation is good, that the scene is memorable enough, stop for a moment. Do you feel that burn? Do you see the fear that stops you?

If something feels wrong, or weak, or incomplete, I can guarantee that you are right. Push through that burn. What comes out on the other side will be worth the pain. Feel the burn. It means something magical is about to happen.

Have you ever fought through and discovered something new about your story? About yourself?

Fight the good fight!

Dream Agents: The showdown

Searching for an agent?

As a loyal, devoted, rabid fan of mine, you will recall that some months back, I blogged about my dream agent. Cut to the chase, I said my dream agent is Martin Short in the cult classic movie the Big Picture, with Kevin Bacon.


Go read it, then come back.


Good. So with that in mind, I had to share with you my new dream agent. I saw this posted on The Southern California Writer's Conference Facebook page, so I just had to share it.


I need you (my friends) to understand why it takes so long to finish a novel--even after you think you're done.


You want opinions, so that you have a comfort level with the "goodness" of it, or said differently, you hope it doesn't suck. You want it to shine. Hence, you enlist the helpf of others. 


Most professional readers (agents, editors, etc) are very good, and when they give feedback, they are coherent, amazingly sharp and perceptive. In other words, they make your story better and your writing better. The only real way I found you can get this type of help is at conferences that accept submissions for agents and editors. 


Some so-called professionals, however, are all over the place, leaving you to wonder, did he/she read my work? Or is he/she asking me to be the ghost writer of the story he/she hopes I will write? This can also be true with writing groups. You need to pick well, otherwise you will be writing their story, not yours.


Yes, this video is a comedy sketch... but I will say this: I recently had a very similar conversation with an agent. Let's leave it at that :)


Enjoy!

And just to be fair, here's Martin Short, once again:

I must admit, I don't know which one is my favorite... Which is yours?

Fight the good fight!

Sticks and Stones?

-- Sticks and stones may break my bones (but words will never hurt me) --

It's a cute saying. False, but cute nonetheless.

Photo credit: Photoshop Player 2009 on Flickr

The fact of the matter is that the impact of words last far longer than a bruise or a broken bone. Words can shatter. Words can alter. Words are powerful.

Think of the words that continue to haunt you since high school. Think of the word that your significant other said, only once, but you never forgot. 


(Before you lecture me, yes, I get it -- the rhyme's goal is to encourage the reader to not allow words to hurt them, because after all, they are only words... audible expressions of air... tell me how that works out for you)

As writers, we have a fundamental issue to reconcile. We aspire to get our work in front of as many readers as possible. But do we really? Are we ready to take what comes with the territory?

I've met some writers, and know of many more, who have yet to put themselves out there. They don't like to share their work with others, afraid of the feedback. They don't want to be critiqued publicly. Not yet, they tell me.

Then there are those who do have their work our there, and the first negative comment on Amazon, or critical book review by a blogger causes a meltdown. Their reaction is either a public embarrassment or a psychological breakdown that throws them off track.

It seems to me that a successful writer is the resilient writer. 

FADE IN: Definition by dictionary.com

re·sil·ient

adjective /riˈzilyənt/  (of a substance or object) Able to recoil or spring back into shape after bending, stretching, or being compressed (of a person or animal) Able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions

FADE OUT

I used to say that athletes were the most resilient type of people out there. Have you seen how a football or rugby player gets squashed by another giant? The very next moment, they're up on their feet, spitting out a tooth, then smiling. 

But I've come to realize that if a writer wants to last and produce material for a few decades, then they have to become the poster boy/girl for resiliency. 

My friend Webster says a resilient person can 'recover quickly from a difficult condition.' Check. Writers are bombarded by the most damaging type of 'difficult conditions.' We are judged and punished by words for our words, for our art, for our babies. 


They're judging us! Us! Who do they think they are?

Reality check, the best are judged and critizized. King, Rowling, and everyone before them and after them have been told and will be told they suck. This is the nature of art. More than ever, everyone is a stinkin' critic. And you can't stop the democratization of opinion. 


How will you handle it? Will you implode, or will you sit in front of your computer and produce more? 


Butt in the seat, or your face in the sink? Choose.


Only one will produce art and make you better. Only one will stop you from pursing your dreams.

Words by others will hurt. And that's okay. We need to absorb that, acknowledge them then move forward--always move forward. If we're going to let words hurt us to the point that they stop us, then maybe we should consider an easier vocation. Maybe rugby?

Fight the good fight!

Occam's Razor and Advice by Stephen King

Sometimes we overthink things.

Okay, maybe you don't. I know I do. Sometimes.

And sometimes, there are advice out there that go right to the heart of the matter.

You may have heard of Occam's razor (or Ockham's razor, depending which part of the planet you're from). This principle says that when there are various competing hypotheses, the one that makes the fewest assumptions is usually the correct one. Basically, the simplest explanation is the most plausible one.

Stephen King was asked what advice he would give newbie writers. In this short one-minute clip, you will learn all you need to know about being a writer.

Is is simplistic? Maybe. 

Is it accurate? Does it go right to the heart of the matter? Can you in any way-shape-or-form dispute it?

Sometimes we overthink things. And instead of being stuck with thoughts that paralyze us, maybe we should be engaged in the act of doing. 

Write a lot and Read a lot.

Fight the good fight!