Great novel openings: the shortlist

***drum roll***… And the six shortlisted writers are:

C Hepworth-Wain

Leigh Chambers

Ann Goodridge

Sue Tingey

Alexander Velkey

Vicky Delderfield

Congratulations all of you.

Now I have the unenviable task of selecting just one winner. The field has been very strong. Thank you again to everyone who has entered. Some observations from reading the entries and the winner announcement coming soon.

Current wish list

Liz Harris asked what genres I’m looking for at the moment. Short answer: I’m not looking for genres, I’m looking for great writing. Longer answer: …great writing, a brilliant book premise, marketing potential and a writer behind it I want to work with for 20 years.

Footnote. Actually there are a few things that, were I writing to Santa now (I know it’s April) I’d be asking to appear in my inbox:

1. A cosy mystery. What’s a cosy mystery? Think Midsomer Murders but different. Big genre over in the US. Small here but I love ‘em and think they are a growing genre. Does not have to be rural either. In fact bend the genre if you like…be creative… as long as it’s cosy.

2. Really intelligent women’s fiction. With characters so real that it does not feel like fiction but written with confidence and panache. A relationships story that works on several levels.

3. Adventure fiction with a superb leading character. This genre’s been around since the 19th century but don’t copy the classics. I want to see something written with the voice of a writer of today (even if it’s historical set).

4. Crime fiction with a superb leading character who is *not* a world-weary, divorced, whisky-swilling detective. And the darker, the better.

5. Fun, feisty and funny chick-lit but populated by likeable characters with real problems, not silly girls-about-town with nothing more to worry about in life than which handbag to buy.*

6. A novel so brilliant I can’t even conceive what it might be but I’ll know it when I see it. Yes, not helpful I know…

* Leave the handbag buying to the professionals.

What if “computer says no”?

Rejection is bad enough, but what about if you’ve sent your work out to numerous agents/editors with no joy?

This was the question asked by a writer listening to my radio interview last week (see previous post).

The most frustrating is, I think, when the rejections are merely form rejections, offering no feedback or clues as to why the work isn’t of interest. The most likely answer is “wrong place, wrong time” but then again, it could be something in the writing craft that is letting you down. Here’s a short checklist of questions to ask yourself:

• Have you actually “learned to write”? If you’ve never read a book about creative writing, never taken a course or joined a writer’s circle to share feedback, and just dashed your novel off on the computer as it came into your head it is most likely structurally unsound! Novel writing is a craft – you wouldn’t employ a builder who didn’t know how to lay a brick, would you?
• Is your story unique enough? Don’t try and be a poor copy of another author. Your work has to be driven by the strong, compelling voice of you, the writer.
• Have you self-edited? Once finished, put your manuscript away for a while so you’ve had the space and time to be able to look at it critically again.
• Do you know your market? Plenty of people tell you never to write for the market. They have good intentions, they don’t want your story to lose its uniqueness (see above). But write with an eye on the market. If you’re writing in the style of something that was big news 20 years ago, forget it. Look at the trends in the last 6-7 years only.

Want an auto-rejection?

Something that surprises me is when, on receiving news that I have passed on a query, some writers immediately, by return of email, query me with opening chapters from another manuscript of theirs.

Why is this the wrong thimg to do?

Well, firstly I expect you to send me your best (and most likely your most recent) work in the first place. And secondly, if I liked your original submission and wanted to find out what else you had written, I would ask. So when I receive a second submission immediately I am already primed to reject it. Of course, I will look at it, just in case, but I don’t believe I’ve ever requested further material from a situation like this.

So what if you do want to send me something else?

Leave it six months or more, by which time I am highly likely to have forgotten your previous submission and will be looking at your work with fresh eyes.

What is a synopsis?

I can forgive a lot of faults with submissions: query letters that ramble on, query letters that don’t introduce the work or the writer properly, the odd typo… However, one of the most frustrating things with a submission is when the synopsis is simply not.

So, what is a synopsis?

For a start, it is not a blurb.

• A blurb is that teaser piece of writing that appears on the back of books to entice readers to want to read them. This is a piece of marketing writing aimed at readers.
• A synopsis is also a piece of marketing writing, but it is one aimed at introducing your novel to agents and editors. We don’t want to be “teased”. We want the facts.

A synopsis must:

• be no longer than a page, about 500 words (my preference – some agents and editors prefer longer synopses)
• include the main plot turning points
• introduce the main character(s), their goals and their “problem” (which the story will “solve”)
• include how the story is resolved i.e. how it ends

A great synopsis will:

• read like a story in its own right
• give a flavour of the style and pace of the story
• show the main character(s) growth arc / emotional development
• leave out the names of the secondary characters
• leave out the secondary plots (unless they are essential to mention to explain the main plot)

Meeting prospective clients

I had an email today from a writer looking for an agent who wanted to potentially meet me at the London Book Fair. While on the one hand this might seem enterprising and a good idea from the writer’s point of view, from mine, it’s not. I’m not going to meet someone on the basis of a two line email. The writer enclosed no samples or information about her work, and without this I have nothing to judge whether we might wish to potentially work together or not.

Additionally I really don’t have time at the London Book Fair to meet with prospective clients, unless circumstances are exceptional. For a literary agent, the Fair is about the business of selling rights and the priority is meeting publishers and overseas agents.

I would encourage writers to visit the Book Fair and to take a look around and learn more about the business of publishing, but its not a forum to find a literary agent. If you do want to meet literary agents face to face then attend a writers conference where agents will be present. I shall be both at Winchester and the RNA Annual Conference in July and at either I would be more than happy to speak informally with writers seeking representation. At Winchester there is an official one-to-one appointments system, or otherwise just corner me in the bar.

I just have to say this now

Don’t send me something from your back catalogue that’s been out of print ten years. Don’t send me your oldest shoved-under-the-bed manuscript that’s reeking of mothballs and doesn’t represent either what you write now or want to write in the future.

Send me sample chapters of the best thing you’ve ever written, that you’ve written recently, and best reflects you the writer today.

Does that make sense? Hope so.

It has gone a bit mad

I have had 8 queries so far this week. Many, I think, are a result of being on the front page of this month’s Writers News.

If you’ve queried me in the last couple of weeks, it is going to take a little longer than I would like for me to get back to you. I’m now actively working with four authors whom I’ve taken on as clients, plus I have full manuscripts that I have asked to look at to read (3 on The Pile at the moment). This leaves less time available to look at queries, but I do want to consider every submission carefully so I hope you will bear with me. Thanks for your patience.

Should I use a pen name?

When querying an agent, no. When you send in your sample chapters and synopsis, I am looking only at the writing, not the writer. It does not matter:
- whether you are male or female
- how old you are
- what you do for a living (if anything)
- whether you have three heads or a penchant for musical keyrings, etc.

Thus, there is no need to disguise yourself with a faux name. I’d prefer to be sure that the person querying me is a real person, and therefore name, address and telephone number please.

Query letters: less is more

My ideal query letter contains around about four sentences:

Sentence 1 – Tell me what you are sending me.

I enclose the first three chapters and synopsis of my 75,000 word period crime novel Two Feet in the Grave for your consideration.

Sentence 2 – Tell me about your writing experience.

I have completed three novels and am an active member of Anytown Writers Circle.

Sentence 3 – Tell me about your writing ambitions.

I should like to write full-time and have a series of novels planned around the central character of Two Feet in the Grave.

Sentence 4 – Tell me where this script has been and where it is now.

I have queried this script with three agents, one of which I am still waiting to hear from, and Anytown Publishers who said that they liked the premise but that it was not right for their list.

Top and tail politely and there – done. Simple.

If you have anything else relevant to add under your writing experience, then of course add in another sentence. If you have book publication credits, then please supply details. If you’re a journalist by profession you may wish to mention this but I don’t need a list of publications you’ve written for unless it is relevant to the subject matter of your novel. I’m looking for novel writers and am judging your submission on the sample chapters you provide, not on what your day job is.

Additionally, you may want to include personal information if it is relevant to the script you are querying. e.g. If your script is set in Zanzibar and you’ve lived there.