You can’t fake it

I expect stories to grab me at the start (see earlier post “Do you start with a bang?“) but occasionally writers take this to mean that they can solve all their story’s problems / secure representation just by cracking the technique of writing a successful opening. The rest of your novel has to live up to the standard of your opening. Why it’s important to pay attention to opening is not so you can fake it, but so that your opening doesn’t stop the reader reading your great story.

Imagine your were selling your house. You declutter and redecorate inside. Put in new carpets and clean every inch so it’s sparkling. But you forget that the paint’s peeling off your front door, the doorstep’s covered in slippery lichen, and path is full of weeds and bits of broken plant pots. What if a prospective buyer won’t give you any longer than their first impression of what they see when they draw up outside? You’ve lost them before you’ve even had a chance to show them the house.

Equally, putting a lick of paint on the front door and mowing the front lawn won’t count for anything if it’s a mess from the minute your prospective buyer does step inside.

Next week I’m going to launch a blog competition to find the best unpublished novel opening. The prize is a full critique of your opening chapters and a meeting with me for your choice of drinks / lunch / afternoon tea to discuss your writing. So take a critical look at the opening of your work-in-progress: is it the best it really can be? And check back here shortly for details of how to enter.

Note for UK authors – Irish PLR

UK authors should have an had email today from UK PLR alerting them to the fact that they can automatically transfer all their book details over to the new Irish PLR system, to which they may be entitled to payments for borrowings from public libraries in Ireland. The process is simple and involves logging into your online account and pressing the “I agree” button at the end of the message which automatically appears on logging in.

There is only two weeks to do this, after which you would have to register directly with the Irish PLR system. I googled a few libraries in Ireland and found a number had editions of my books so fingers crossed there should be a few pounds (or will it be euros) coming my way from across the Irish sea in the future.

Especially in tough times like these, any opportunity for authors to increase their earnings is welcome news and so do take the opportunity to register for Irish PLR while it’s a ten second process.

Dealing with rejection

When you’re an author, dealing with rejection can be really hard. This is because it is almost impossible not to take it personally. I think this is because writing is such a personal thing, and you can (and should) put your heart and soul into your work.

What I hadn’t anticipated was how personally awful and down I would feel when my clients’ work is rejected by publishers, especially when a publisher has had a full manuscript for a while and been seriously considering it. Yes, I can keep telling myself ‘this is business’ but my feelings don’t seem to want to listen and obey.

What are your any tips or strategies for dealing with rejection? Are some rejections harder to bear than others?

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)

Probably the worst time in the world…

… to be sending agents submissions. I seem to have received a good half dozen over the Easter weekend. However, the London Book Fair is next week, and with preparations, the Fair itself and then the aftermath. I have the least time in the world to consider submissions.

Please bear with me until normal service resumes sometime after the Book Fair.

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.

Why have an agent?

This week I have been asked – via email and in person – why have a literary agent?

I think it is a personal decision for a writer to choose whether or not to be represented by an agent. One of the most obvious advantages these days is that many publishers will only accept submissions from agents. But the role of an agent goes further than simply selling work. In my view agents are there to mentor the author in terms of career guidance and on editorial matters (if needed) and help nurture relationships on behalf of the author with publishers and others.

The downside is that an agent will take a percentage, typically 15%, of work sold. But that’s the only thing of all the things we do we get paid for.

Do you agree?

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.

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.

How long should writers wait?

When I’ve given talks, I’ve often been asked about how long writers should expect to wait to hear back on submissions and whether and when it is ok to chase. If you disagree, I’d love to hear from you but I think the answers are:

1. Agents are normally quicker to get back to you than publishers.
2. Agents usually respond to a query within a couple of weeks. If you’ve waited a month, then its in order to give a quick chase (by email rather than by telephone). In the US the system is a little different as you typically first query agents without including a sample of your writing. Here in the UK, its usual to include sample chapters with your first approach. I am certainly aiming to respond to queries within 1-2 weeks.
3. If you have been asked to send in a full manuscript to an agent, the wait is likely to be longer. I’m aiming to respond to fulls within a month, but am aware I’ve already broken my own rule!
4. Publishers may respond to you quickly, but you may equally well be waiting months. A wait of six months is not unusual, and in some cases it may be even longer. I waited ten months on my last sale of my own work. I would say that if you’ve not heard anything, it is perfectly in order for a polite chase after six months. Naturally, as an agent I am highly likely to chase publishers well before this time, but a writer without a agent unfortunately has less scope to bypass the slush pile system.