Writing Apprenticeship

Something a commenter wrote on the blog got me to thinking. In a discussion about learning the business of publishing, one reader made the comment, “In many industries, there are apprenticeships where you get paid to learn. That doesn't happen with writing. You write it - it might take years - and then you try and sell it. Not the other way around.”

And that got me thinking. Why not? Why can’t publishing and writing be an industry of apprenticeships. After all, I have interns who I teach how to write reader’s reports, evaluate manuscripts, and review contracts, and of course they help me by doing things like filing and keeping up on proposal reading. Why couldn’t writers hire interns or apprentices for the very same purposes?

As we’ve all discussed on this blog, there’s a lot more to being published than just writing a book, and I think an apprentice could be very useful in this process for writers. An apprentice could help file, research information for the book, research information for publicity and marketing, handle things like mailings, etc., and yes, an apprentice could also help act as a second reader for the writer and by doing so learn why certain things work or don’t work in a book. Yes, absolutely, you are not going to learn how to write a book by following someone else around, just as you aren’t going to learn how to be an agent by simply watching another agent work. But you will learn a whole heck of a lot about what it takes to be a published author, and isn’t that what an apprenticeship is about?

Jessica

But don't I get enough exercise by juggling this many irons?

I've been blessed/cursed all my life with being skinny. When I was six years old, I weighed 36 pounds and was 36 inches high. In high school, I hovered around the 68 pound mark. When I donned my wedding gown, I weighed 72-freakin'-pounds, and no, I did NOT wear the flower girl dress. But I could have.

Fast forward. Yep, that's right. Past the gall bladder surgery, where they took out the offensive gall bladder and put in an appetite. Past the adoption of The Kiddo. Past the giving up of the newspaper job where I walked everywhere, and past the jobs where I, ahem, basically warm a chair all day long. (I'm productive. I am. I just get a lot done from command central.) Past the time where my free-time was spent working to meet editor deadlines and revisions and, oh, that new book proposal. Past my big 4-0 b-day.

I am now a whopping 98 pounds.

Yeah. I heard that snort. It was, "She thinks she has a weight problem?"

It's not so much of a weight problem. It's a jiggle problem. And a belly problem (I've been told that good southern ladies like me shouldn't refer to our body parts in the same way one would refer to livestock body parts, but, hey. You can't call my tummy anything BUT a belly.)

So I should exercise. Twenty minutes a day, right?

WRONG. Now to completely overload my guilty-exercising-avoiding-conscience comes a new study which says we women should exercise 60 minutes a day to avoid packing on the pounds.

The study comes via two very interesting blogs: Steph in the City and Fitness: A Journey, Not A Destination.

Now, Karen Evans, who writes about the study in detail, does quibble with it. She makes very valid points. And Steph is right when she says it's just depressing.

What I want to know is where on EARTH I will find 60 minutes a day to exercise. That's not even touching the motivational issues or the how-bad-the-belly-looks-in-yoga-pants problem. Because, lemme tell you, I'm sacrificing sleep to The Kiddo and to The Writing, and I got no more sleep to sacrifice.

I guess, though, I should forgive myself. If I can do 20 minutes a day, it's better than zip a day. Heck, if I can do 20 minutes a week, it's better than zip, too. I'm coming to the conclusion that exercising (and general fitness) is a lot like writing. A little every day will add up over the long haul, and the cumulative effect is to make it easier.

Besides, when I'm an old woman, I'll wear purple yoga pants and have LOTS of time to exercise. :-)

Query Specifics

Writers often bemoan the fact that agents don’t give enough specifics on their web sites when it comes to what they’re looking for. In other words, while we might say we’d like romance, you want more specifics on what kind of romance. Does the agent have a passion for Scottish historicals and shy away from anything involving werewolves, or does the agent have a particular love for any book with dogs, but despises cats?

I understand the frustration. The author worries she’s wasting the agent’s time, but more important, she worries she’s wasting her own. Even more important, she’d like it to be as easy as possible. If you know already that an agent is tired of anything with vampires, doesn’t it make it easier if you know that already and can just strike her from your list? Yes, I suppose it does. But the truth is that it’s never that simple.

The goal of the writer isn’t just to find the agent who likes what she writes. The goal is to wow an agent into discovering something she’s going to love. The reason I won’t post specifics on our web site is because that can change from day to day. If I say I’m tired of vampires I might miss out on that one query that is so brilliant it convinces me I am willing to take a leap with one more vampire book.

Jessica

And Be A Villain

Last week, I was the Wicked Witch of the West.

No, I didn't recently join my friendly neighborhood coven (is there one??) and I'm not involved in Little Theatre. I'm a mom, and The Kiddo wanted to take her 300-buck DS on a field trip, despite the fact that the school handbook says no electronics on school property. Last time I checked, a school bus was school property.

From 5 p.m. (when The Husband called and put The Kiddo on the phone to ask if he could run her out to Wally-World and buy her an iPod to take with her the next day) until 9:30 p.m., there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Basically it sounded something like, "Whhhhhhyyyyyy? All my friends are going to have electronics! You have an iPod! Whhhhhhyyyyyy? I just wanna diiiiiiieeee."

It started back up at 6:30 the next morning.

My standard response was: "Hey, it sucks, and it's not fair. But my no means no."

It got me thinking. Villains get the short end of the stick so many times. We just paint them bad and unfeeling and cold-hearted (that's certainly how The Kiddo saw me). But they have their reasons. Yes, I know. Some of their reasons are so twisted they rival pretzels, but still, they have their reasons.

And if we can remember that, and include some of those complexities, then we'll wind up with villains who possess a bit more depth.

Plus, there's always the chance that someone will tell me that The Kiddo only thinks I'm the Wicked Witch of The West, while in reality, I'm being the wonderfully consistent, wonderfully firm parent that she needs. Because let's face it. The Kiddo won't be saying anything like that until she's probably 100.

Query Formatting

When you receive an e-mail query where the formatting has been stripped or altered, does that play a part in your rejection? Or are agents as a whole more forgiving of these errors and look only to the writing in e-mail queries?

While agents certainly understand that these things can happen through no fault of the author’s, it does play a part in how we perceive the query, although not necessarily the rejection.

Think of how you read. Before picking up a letter, magazine, newspaper, book, or any printed material, the very first thing you see is the formatting. How that appears has an immediate impact on how you read the material. If the work is written in a childish font you’ll think it’s a piece for children, or take it less seriously than you would if the book were written in a more serious font like Times New Roman. The same goes for formatting. If a letter is formatted without any paragraph breaks or written in an incredibly small font you’re going to assume that everything this writer writes is written in that way.

While I think agents are very forgiving of formatting errors, etc.—in fact, I think agents are far more forgiving than authors often give them credit for—it’s hard to ignore what that first glance says to someone. If formatting is a mess then the letter has to wow that much more to grab the agent’s attention. If she’s on the fence about asking for more, the formatting can be the one thing, whether she’s conscious of it or not, that makes her decide not to ask for more.

Think of your interview suit. You can be the most impressive candidate a company sees, but if you’re wearing ripped jeans and a T-shirt, everything on your resume can easily be ignored.

Jessica

I got my MFA at the cineplex

What can this guy (the fellow with the supercilious smirk and the cool specs) teach a writer about writing?

Okay, okay. So my title has already ticked off all the MFA survivors out there, and the Dude in Black is probably a male model who knows beans about directing. Bear with me.

I love movies. I love television. Yeah, I'm a writer, and I admit that. I love both movies and television because I love, love, love a story. I am addicted to stories, and I'm not picky about format, though I am picky about quality and authors.

The greatest thing since sliced bread, when it comes to movies today, is the bonus parts of a DVD. The director's commentary -- oooh. So helpful, but time-consuming. I seldom have time to watch a movie once, much less twice. And then there are the deleted scenes.

Deleted scenes are the bestest things (yes, I know, no such word as bestest). I save them for last, when I've watched the movie and have decided whether it's a thumbs-up or thumbs-down. If it's a thumbs-down, I weep momentarily for the wasted time that I shall never get back.

Thumbs-up? I jump on those deleted scenes like a puppy on a pair of Manolo Blahnik stilettos. It is amazing to see what the director thought he (or she) needed while in the throes of creativity, and then decided, eh, newp.

And usually the decision is pulverizingly, obviously right. The scene was just so much fluff and didn't propel the story on.

Writers (uh, I'm talking to me, now) can learn a thing or two from that.

First, I shouldn't mind the effort of creating a scene that may well later be axed. Maybe I needed to write that sucker in order for me to better understand the character. Or the setting. Or the backstory. After all, at least it didn't cost me film and the salaries of a movie crew and movie stars.

Second, sometimes you don't know what you don't need until you've processed everything. That's why they chop scenes at the editing stage.

Third, like any good lab rat, I can learn from my mistakes (well, theoretically, anyway.) Maybe I can realize, as I'm writing (or better yet, as I'm planning!), that I don't need to bog the reader down in a scene that is only important to me and to my understanding of the world I'm creating.

Probably this will happen when I also find oil under the petunias and subsequently spend my days on a beach with a cute waiter bringing cool drinks and delicious munchies. But a girl can dream, no?

Slush Pile Queen

It's Friday and since I gave myself permission to cut back on posting a lot of my Fridays have become free to do whatever I want so I apologize to those of you who checked in at 8 and were disappointed to see nothing new. However, after some prodding from one of the readers, I did come up with something. Something I had been thinking about writing anyway.

This week I was catching up on my Publisher's Weekly reading and read this terrific article about the slush pile.

Slush Pile Queen: "In 1985, when I was still a fledgling agent, I signed a writer fr..."

And it made me wonder how anyone builds a client list without a slush pile? I think, that when looking at my bookshelves, 99% of BookEnds clients were unsolicited material. At one point or another every single one of our authors would have been considered slush. They submitted a query or proposal (back in the day), they'd never met us, didn't have a referral, and were probably submitting blindly according to guidelines on our Web site. And we offered representation. And we sold their books to publishers.

In fact, just this month I took on a new client and, yes, she came through the "slush pile."

Don't let the phrase "slush pile" scare you off. It's were most of the greats started out.

Friday Awwwww Moment

Found this on the web (it seems to be popping up in several places, so I'm not sure just who to give credit to.

But a kitty is an all-time best-ever writing buddy, no? (Unless you have an attack Flame-Point Siamese who demands, "Pay attention to me, or I'll chew your laptop's AC adapter cord in two." But that's another story!)

Follow-Up to Submitting a Partial

There were a lot of questions/comments on my post about Submitting a Partial, and rather than have my answers get lost in the comments section I thought I’d address them in a follow-up post.

what about partial submissions ie., to publishers? am curious how that works

Partial submissions to publishers should be made in the same way as you submit partials to agents. Assuming the material has been requested, you should first read the publisher’s submission guidelines and follow those. If there are no guidelines, you can send the material in the way I described in the first post.


if sending via email should the document itself be Word compatible or PDF? And if it is Word compatible, should it be "read only" or otherwise locked?

I tend to recommend Word compatible, but I think a PDF would work as well. I know that Kindles accept both; I’m not sure about other ereaders and that might make a difference. I don’t think it makes a difference if the file is “read only.” Your concern was that the agent might accidentally open the doc and wreak “unintentional havoc with a few accidental keystrokes.” I just don’t see that happening. Honestly, I’ve never checked, but read-only might limit Amazon’s ability to translate the files into Kindle, so I think sending it Word compatible without locking it might be your best bet.


when you say "attach", do you mean quite literally an attachment? Or pasted into the body of the email?

I mean literally attach as an attachment. That way I can forward the doc to my Kindle. If you send it in the body of the email I would have to read it as an email.


if we put our cover letter as the first page of the requested material (for Kindles and e-readers), then the actual front page of the manuscript will have headers and page numbers on it, which it shouldn't have. The front page becomes the second page of the document with the headers and page numbers. Doesn't that look unprofessional? When snail-mailing this is no problem, but I always put my new cover letter and copied query in the email, and then the attachment.

It doesn’t look unprofessional because it’s what the agent asked for. Here’s the thinking: I open the email and I want a quick reminder not just that I’ve requested your material, but of what your material is and therefore why I’ve requested it. That entices me to open the attachment. I then send the attachment to my Kindle. Unfortunately it will take me a day or two to get to it and all it shows on my Kindle is the file name. So when I open the file on my Kindle I want to see your letter again, which, again, gives me a quick reminder that I’ve requested your material and why (your blurb again). Years ago headers on the letter might have looked unprofessional, but with most agents reading on ereaders that’s no longer the case.


I recently rec'd a Email partial request which asked me to put everything in a Word doc attachment and snail mail it. I assume it was a typo... When I checked the website guidelines, it sounded like they preferred partials snailed, so that's what I did. I didn't want to reply and ask, but in cases like this, would it be appropriate to email and ask? Or did I do right by just picking one way?

My advice would be to do exactly as you did, just send it. Don’t get too caught up in second-guessing yourself. You got a request, which is fabulous, and you got it into the agent’s hands, which is the point. I think you did the right thing by checking the guidelines and doing exactly what she asked for. She said snail mail. That’s what she meant.


All of this is an ATTACHMENT, correct? We get permission to send as an attachment at this point, I'm guessing. I would hate to get it flushed.

Yes, this is how you would send material as a requested attachment. Do not send it as an attachment unless the agent, or the agent’s guidelines, specifically say to attach. If you are sending snail mail the only difference is that one query letter would suffice. You don’t need to send two.

Hope that helps.

Jessica

Oh, I SO love good news!

See that beeeee-yooou-ti-ful book cover there beside this entry? Well, that just happens to be the debut YA book of a friend of mine, the best plot-hole-puncher in the known universe, Nelsa Roberto. She got her real, honest-to-goodness author copies this week. Squee!

I feel rather attached to Illegally Blonde. I saw it in its raw and unshaped form (which looked pretty darn-tootin' good to me even then.) I saw it before she got her agent, before she got her publishing deal. I knew it was a great book then, and I can ASSURE you that it is a wonderful book now.

Illegally Blonde is available for pre-order at Barnes & Noble (and pick up a cool 5% discount, just like yours truly), and all your usual on-line book outlets. It's officially on sale and available March 30.

It's also available via that dying breed, your independent book seller. (I say "your" because I do not have an independent book seller available to me.") I so wish these guys weren't going the way of the Dodo (but that is another blog post entirely.)

Go. Pre-order. Now.

Well? What are you waiting for?!

Coming of Age

Kim and I were recently having a discussion about the phrase "coming of age," a phrase we’ve always seen a lot of in query letters. I said I thought the phrase was off-putting, making me think of books like Bright Lights, Big City, while Kim liked the phrase, comparing it to books like Bad Haircut by Tom Perrotta and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape by Peter Hedges.

After hearing Kim’s thoughts on the books she thought of as coming of age, I started to think maybe I could like that phrase more. Interesting, isn’t it, how trying to explain your book can turn someone off only because their definition is different than yours?

Jessica

Why I Write

I skimmed a very interesting interview about The INTERN (interview here, INTERN's blog here), and one comment in it made me think:

"In the case of her fiction and poetry: realistically, INTERN probably writes because writing has always yielded more positive strokes for her than any other pursuit—much as a rat will keep pressing the button that gives it the most candy."

The quote brings to mind the first time that I decided being a writer would be cool. I was about nine or ten, bored out of my head during summer vacation, and I'd run out of books to read and games to play with my cousin. I came up with an elaborate pretend "game" where we were the staff writers for a magazine. I dimly recall that I wrote a piece on Mozart, and my cousin wrote a piece on the game of marbles. (It was an eclectic magazine, you see.)

The grown-ups oohed and ahhed (mainly because we weren't making a mess, probably), but at that time, something just clicked. I was good at something!

Amazing. The kid who couldn't hit a beach ball with a tennis racket, the kid who had no rhythm, the kid who was so clutzy that she'd trip over her shoe laces even if they were tied, that kid was finally good at something.

I wonder just how many of our best-selling authors today wound up where they are because they were like me: can't dance, can't sing, can write a little.

Across the Bay 12K

Have I mentioned that I'm hurt again? I haven't run for 4 weeks, and I'm supposed to be training for my 1st full marathon... Alas! I already had my bib for last Sunday's Across the Bay 12k, so I decided to at least go walk it. There's nothing wrong with walking right?

We rode a lovely yellow school bus from Aquatic Park to some random area between Sausalito and Fort Baker on the other side of the bridge. During the 45 minutes plus we had to wait in the cold for our wave, we saw some lovely views of Angel Island:



And here's me, looking awfully tired! Also sporting my running skirt for the very first time. You all can make fun of running skirts all you want, but I loved it. (Thanks mom!) In case you are afraid, know that running skirts do have little shorts underneath them. It was the comfiest things I have worn in a long time.



And here's me with one of my running buddies from TNT!



It was a beautiful, 2 hour walk. Hopefully I'll be back to running soon!

Award for Most Interesting Pitch

A recent query was sent via YouTube video—well, a link to a YouTube video. Interesting. Well, the idea was interesting. I didn’t have time to click on the link or watch the video.

Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer a good old-fashioned query.

Jessica

Why meeeee?

Doesn't the little guy I've used here look cute? He completely sums up my feelings today, so cue the violins!

Today, I have jury duty. The Husband never has jury duty, whereas I have served on at least two juries and been called for countless others during my married life.

The problem with jury duty is that you have to show up, even if, at the end of the day, you're not called because the defendants in question decide that, hey, all the potential jurors look like a hanging jury and they'll take their chances requesting mercy from Hizzoner.

Still, I never fail to come away from jury duty without at least one good book idea (but that's nothing. I find it hard to shut the Idea Engine off, much to the chagrin of my friends and family).

So maybe I will come up with THE hook that will develop into THE book that will ... shoot, I can't come up with anything that rhymes with hook and book. I'm a writer, not a poet!

Wish me luck!

To Answer Your Question

No, I will not consider representing you for an up-front payment in lieu of or in addition to a commission.

BookEnds abides by the AAR Canon of Ethics. We abide by the Canon not because we feel like we need to be a part of AAR, but because we feel it’s the right way to do business. Agents should be paid on commission. There are too many writers desperate to be published, writers who will do almost anything, and pay almost anything, to see their books in print to have agents work any other way. And frankly, many of these writers have books that are unpublishable. Agents need to be paid on commission to protect the writer.

There are enough scam agents out there. Let’s not make it easier for them by offering ourselves up.

. . . and yes, this post is based on actual questions/requests I’ve received in queries.

Jessica

Life gets in the way. Superstition to the rescue?

(Yeah, I know it's not Thanksgiving, but hey, this was too cute an illustration of supersition to pass up! Thanks to Paula Becker for the hilarious picture!)

I intended to write this weekend. I had a hot date with my hero, who was finally talking to me (because, most likely, I was talking to him). Life, however, had different plans.

My daughter's first-ever, oldest gold fish died.

I am not kidding. This is not a riff off the-dog-ate-my-homework excuse. My daughter was prostrate with grief, and every time I thought that things were going to be okay and that she was beginning to give herself permission to move on, bam! More fat tears rolled down The Kiddo's face.

So I had to give myself permission: permission that this weekend, family came first and hot dates with heroes would have to wait.

I feel guilty when I don't write, not to mention terrified, because a nagging doubt still dogs me: what if the words stop coming?

Ha! I've been creating stories out of whole cloth since way before junior high.

Still, we writers are as superstitious as any major league baseball player.

When I was writing the first draft of the novel that eventually became my first published novel, I wore the same shirt every night to ward off the cold (my cold intolerance is legendary). It was my sister's shirt, a fuzzy flannel one that she'd left by accident at my house during a vist.

I'd pull that sucker on atop the other many layers I wore, hunch down and let the words fly from my fingertips. No matter what subtle hints my sister sent my way, I wasn't relinquishing custody of that shirt.

Finally, when the subtle hints stopped being, well, so subtle, I had to confess. I laughed it off, knowing in my logical, rational brain that superstition is all bunk.

"But, hey, why rock the boat, huh? And it, uh, it keeps me warm!" I told her.

My sister cocked one eyebrow. "Yeah, and if I had it, it would keep ME warm."

I've heard other writers confess their funny little rituals. What's some of yours?

Eventually I did return the shirt, after, of course, the draft was complete. I did it in an amazingly short time. Hmmmh. Now, I'm wondering if maybe I should go pilfer through my sister's closet ...

The Wife's Tale - Lori Lansens

OK - after a week or so of re-reading, I polished off the new book by Lori Lansens in 4 days flat. Admittedly, two of those days were weekend days, but they were busy weekend days! I loved her first novel, Rush Home Road, and quite liked her second novel The Girls (though it didn't stay with me the way that Rush Home Road did). I'm not quite sure yet of my verdict on The Wife's Tale.

At first, I was completely drawn into the story, as well as the characters, but as time went on, some shades of disillusionment crept in. The plot ticked along just a bit too neatly. And then I was not happy with the ending. It was almost as though the publisher told the author, "Thou shalt not exceed 375 pages," and so the book just ended with no resolution of any of the plot lines or characters. What the...?!

Backing up a little, the book is the story of Mary Gooch, a morbidly obese woman whose husband leaves her the day before their 25th wedding anniversary. But it is really the story of Mary's life - her childhood, teen years, and married years are all woven seamlessly into the story of her trip down to California from rural southern Ontario in search of her missing husband.

Mary is such a well-drawn and believable character that I am sure that she will stay with me over time, I'm just not sure what I think of the story. I would be first in line to buy a sequel though, in order to find out what happens next! Does Mary maintain a healthy relationship with food into the future? What ever did happen to Gooch? What about those headaches that kept popping up at times? What about Ronni and the triplets? And did Eden hook up with Jack's friend?

Has anyone else read this book? What did you think of the ending? Am I missing something?

This Easter...

This Easter...

"Reach your community for Jesus this Easter

This Easter, people need hope. This Easter, people need to know where true security lies. This Easter, people need to know they are loved and valued."

I received this unoffensive and people pleasing lingo in my e-mail box last year. It’s part of a Christian publicists Easter drive. It pretty much summed up were allot of the professing church where last year. Unfortunately not much has changed for this Easter.

I have an alternative....

"This Easter, people need to be saved. This Easter, people need to know they have broken Gods law, sinned against God and his wrath abides on them. This Easter people need to know without repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ they are doomed to destruction in a place called hell."

This is the message I shall be preaching this Easter and every Easter whilst God gives me breath. But that’s not loving you say! But is it loving to hide from someone the truth of their prediciment before a just and righteous God and to withold the only means by which they might be saved? The Writer of Proverbs agrees, “A true witness delivers souls” Proverbs 14:25. This Easter lets work with Jesus and get into the business of saving souls!

Letho - what??

Writers, like your car mechanic and your plumber and your handy-dandy carpenter, have tools. We don't carry them in big tool chests, but they're all tucked away just the same.

Our tools are words. Sounds simple enough. You sit down at the computer. You play on FB for a little while. You update your blog. Then, with a twirl of your fingers that a concert pianist would envy, you set yourself to the task of assembling words into sentences, and sentences into paragraphs, and paragraphs into -- okay, okay. You just want the short version, don't you?

Non-writers in my family think I never have any trouble with my words (except when I'm regaling them with a story of my catastrophe du jour. Then they quibble over the length.) After all, I must know a lot of words. I was the nerdy little kid who entertained herself by reading the dictionary on rainy days.

What they don't know is that I FORGET a lot of words. Have you ever been writing along, really crusing into the scene, and then, bam! You need a word. Not just any word, but THAT word, that pulverizingly precise word, the one that is itching and twitching at the tip of your tongue -- er, fingers.

You can remember all sorts of synonyms, but they are like all so many discarded wannabe wedding dresses. They're just not the ONE.

Whenever I get like this, all writing comes to a screeching halt. I'll pick up dictionaries and dust off my Roget's Thesaurus. I'll remember a book that I read that used (maybe, anyway) that word, and I'll pick it up and flip through it. I'll remember how the word can be used in a lot of contexts and then I'll find OTHER books that MAYBE have the one, beautiful, shiny word in it.

I'll know it when I see it, but I can't for the life of me remember it.

At this point, I'll get panicky. Am I losing it? Is this a sign of the old brain slipping? Am I suffering from the early stages of dementia? Then if I'm really desperate (and let's face it, a writer who can't write can be pretty desperate), I'll start asking friends and family.

They hate this. After all, if I can name a dozen synonyms, why, they wonder, can't I just use one of THOSE words?

Because, because, because.

I never knew that there was an actual name for this disorder. But recently I learned that the word "lethologica" describes the state of not being able to remember the word you want.

Ah-ha. Now, it seems, I have another word that I can sort of remember the meaning of, but I can't, dagnabbit, remember the actual WORD.

Crash-and-burn-a-vision

Sorry that the blog went dark yesterday. The morning started out all wrong, the day proceded unwaveringly in that direction, and it ended with me being eternally grateful that when I lay down last night, the bed did not fall under me.

Part of yesterday's doom and gloom was the news that I was to be interviewed on TV for part of my day-job.

(Brief pause while I tend to the hives I broke out in upon hearing such news.)

I do not like cameras, at least not being on the lens side of a camera. Not film cameras. Not Polaroid cameras. Not digital cameras. Not cell phone cameras. And most definitely NOT video cameras.

Some people, it can be said, perform flawlessly in such situations. They sound intelligent, as though they have a brain. They sound like the guy on the six-o'clock news.

I am not some people.

On the TV performance scale, where you have an Emmy-award-winning star on one end while on the other, a hick witness to a tornado, I fall most definitely toward the hick witness end of the spectrum. Oh, yeah, put a microphone and a camera in front of me after a tornado touches down, and my first instinct is to prattle, "It went off like a bomb, it did. Just outta nowhere, and there goes Aunt Mabel's washing machine and her nighties, too, off in the clear, blue sky."

Which is not to say that I have not worked hard to overcome such propensities. Unfortunately, every single blasted one of my day jobs have, at one time or another, forced me in front of a camera. I have learned to talk more like the six-o'clock news guy and less like the hick witness he's interviewing.

The camera guy always says, "Just act natural, and you'll do fine."

Trust me. The LAST thing he wants is me "acting natural."

Spring Fever

Seventy degrees and sunny in March. I have Spring fever and a pile of reading. Sounds like the perfect day to me.

Have a great weekend!

--Jessica

Thought of the Day

There’s absolutely nothing I can do with a 500,000-word novel. If you feel you can divide it into five different novels, then do that and submit or query one at a time. There’s just no way I’m going to find a publisher for a 2,000-page book.

And don’t start arguing that some novelists can get away with it. Maybe they can, but I’m not the agent interested in representing them.

Jessica

Battling with printers

Yes, I know, I know, my blog post is late, but I have been in a to-the-death grudge match with a printer.

I was planning to blog about something else entirely. I'm so steamed from paper jams and error messages and printers taking so long with "initializing" that I didn't get lunch until 2 p.m.

Things could be worse. I could be purple with ditto machine ink, or black and blue from carbons, or sliced with papercuts from separating yards and yards of dot matrix paper. I love, love, love being able to change one word on a page and not having to correct all the pages thereafter. And yes, I AM old enough to remember a ditto machine. So I should really be grateful for printers.

Printers and I, however, have never gotten along very well. Maybe it's because I so seldom print anything out. Most of my pages stay as neat little kilobytes on a computer file (backed up, naturally). So the time comes for me to do a massive printing job, and I find myself cursing and kicking and whining -- with a background of soulful violins accompanying my sob story.

Maybe it's because I don't use them that often and I'm completely unfamiliar with them. I like to think more dramatically, though. When I am in the throes of agony, I am CERTAIN that inside that innocuous gray and black box resides a forked-tail little red devil, tee-heeing every time he sticks his prongs into the mechanism and creates yet another paper jam. He dines on printer ink and sips on my tears of frustration.

Boy, after all my frustration, does he need to take some Maalox today!

Status Updates

Since I’ve been posting regular updates on my status with query letters and submissions, I’ve been getting a lot of requests for status updates. So before doing another status post, let me give some tips on what you can do when requesting a status update to make an agent’s life easier.

On query letters do not simply ask if the query was received. If you know an agent responds to all queries and you know she is caught up well past the date your query was sent, then simply resend the query. To avoid confusion, simply start by saying something like, “I originally submitted this on such-and-such date and have yet to receive a response. Since I know you are caught up I thought it would be best to resend . . .”

On requested submissions, include the following information:

• that the material was requested
• your title
• the blurb from your query
• the date the material was sent
• how the material was sent (email or hard copy)

If you’re following up based on posted response times, give the agent 1 to 2 weeks past the posted time (if she says she responds in 12 weeks, follow up after 14). The reason I say this is that you would be shocked how often I get requests for updates the day after I read something. This just ensures the agent has had time to read and the letter has had time to be written.

Jessica

The Character Of God

Some say they find it difficult to reconcile the God of the Old Testament with the God of the New Testament, as if he were different. However Gods character is cleary revealed in both and is the same in both. God loves and God hates. God listens and God sometimes closes his ears. He can show forth both mercy and judgment with the same hand. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is to be greatly feared among the nations.

Photos with Your Proposal

When a publisher asks you for a book proposal with instructions to send copies of photo's, how should I send those photo's? They want hard copy sent through U.S. Postal service!

I’m not sure if I’m understanding your question correctly since the answer seems so easy to me. If your proposal is requested via hard copy and there are photos involved, then your photos should be sent via hard copy.

If the photos are an integral part of your book (it’s a photography book, for example) I would suggest sending actual prints rather than prints on standard paper so the publisher can get a better feel for the quality of the photo.

Jessica

Talking to Oneself

You remember that classic scene out of ROMANCING THE STONE, don't you? The opening scene where it's a race between Joan Wilder's wrap up of her manuscript and her supply of tissues?

To refresh your memory:

Grogan: What's it gonna be, Angelina?
Joan Wilder: [voiceover] It was Grogan: the filthiest, dirtiest, dumbest excuse for a man west of the Missouri River.
Grogan: You can die two ways: quick like the tongue of a snake, or slower than the molasses in January.
Joan Wilder: [voiceover] But it was October.
Grogan: I'll kill you, bleep, if it's the Fourth of July! Where is it? Uhh. Get over there!
Joan Wilder: [voiceover] I told him to get out, now that he had what he came for.
Grogan: Not quite.
[spits]
Grogan: Take 'em off. Do it! Come on!
[Angelina kills Grogan by throwing a concealed knife]
Joan Wilder: [voiceover] That was the end of Grogan... the man who killed my father, raped and murdered my sister, burned my ranch, shot my dog, and stole my Bible!

I admit it, there are worse fates than to be yanked into a Columbian treasure hunt with Michael Douglas ... as long as it ends Happily Ever After.

But the only things I have in common with the fictional Joan Wilder are that I am a writer, and that, er, I talk to myself as I'm writing.

It is a sort of new realization. One recent Saturday, The Kiddo was putting on some sort of Barbie Fashion Show in her room while I was working on my current MS in my room.

I was all snugged up with my laptop, and finally the story was beginning to flow. The explanation for this sudden "click" didn't dawn on me. I didn't care WHY my characters were finally talking again; I was just glad of it!

And then The Kiddo popped her head around the door jam. "Mommy?"

"Hmh?" Still engrossed, hadn't really looked up, DETERMINED to finish the thought before it escaped.

"Were you talking on the phone?"

"Nu-uh," I muttered. A few more keystrokes, and I'd finish this elusive paragraph.

"Well, who were you talking to, then?"

Paragraph screeched to a halt. I looked up. "I wasn't talking."

She raised her eyebrow and gave me a squint-eye she could have only learned from her mother. "Yes, you WERE."

And then it hit me. The reason my characters were talking was that, ahem, I was talking for them.

Sunday Streets San Francisco

On Sunday I dug my bike out of its dust cloud for the first time since moving into the City from Marin. Doesn't it look pretty out by the Embarcadero?



I love Sunday Streets. Every city should implement this great program, in which roads are closed to cars and opened to bikers, skaters, runners, walkers, and just about anything else you can think of. There are free activities all over the place; this one included some retro roller skating:



I still can't figure out why these pictures look like there was hardly anyone there. They only closed off one half of the Embarcadero and it was nuts! I actually felt much safer riding home next to traffic than I did trying to avoid swerving children and all sorts of nonsense.



Matt complained a lot, but I just love that so many people went out to enjoy the beautiful day at the great City event. And there were great views of AT&T ballpark from the side to which I never venture:



Come on out and enjoy the next one!

Saturday in Marin: Walking, Hiking, and Beer

Matt and I spent a lovely Saturday in Marin. We started out near Blackie's Pasture for the morning TNT run:



Not a great picture, but I'm still obsessed with my 12x zoom that makes the other side of the bay look oh so close:



Then on to a trail near Fairfax that wound through some beautiful trees and up to rather stunning views:





And then on to the Fairfax Brewfest for some tasty local brews. It was in a super cute old gymnasium called the Pavilion:



You'd think that at only 30 minutes away we would explore the natural beauty of Marin more often. But alas, that bridge is mentally distancing.

Day Trip to Pescadero Area

When it's sunny sometimes I decide I want to drive out of town. However, we then invariably find that our lively microclimates mean that it's actually not quite so sunny wherever else we go.

Check out the sunny day!



And once again no tidepools, but spectacular waves and spray:





Onward to Pescadero Creek State Park. We had the place to ourselves and enjoyed lovely redwoods:





Banana slugs (on a vertical wall - this is a macro but we counted more than 20):



A waterfall:



The fact that our new camera takes much better macros than the old:



And walking in the creek (it was cold, but the trail was under water!):



And grassy meadows:



Absolutely gorgeous, and less than 45 minutes from our house! How lucky we are!

New Camera

I got a new little Point and Shoot camera with 12x zoom. I love it! Here is a picture of the Cliff House taken from really far down Ocean Beach:



Matt still wants a DSLR, but I am far to lazy for that. Intelligent Auto mode works for me!

Trip to Mendocino for President's Day Weekend

Mendocino Area

Thoughts on Thank You

In doing Query Recaps, you’ve noticed that I get a fair number of thank-yous in response to rejections. Not a ton, but about 3 to 5 for every 100 queries I answer. There’s been a lot of discussion on agent blogs about not doing thank-yous because it simply adds more to our in-box, and I agree. There’s a big part of me that thinks it would be easier if writers stopped sending thank-yous for every rejection. That being said, there’s a side of me that always feels a little more motivated to give some sort of feedback after receiving a thank-you. It’s nice to know you’ve helped.

So, if you want to write a thank-you, go ahead and do so. Let’s put it this way: no one is going to blacklist you for a thank-you. Unless of course you do the backhanded thank-you. Always a favorite of mine. Something that goes like this, “Thank you so much for providing feedback. It’s really too bad you can’t see the value in this. I thought after reading your blog you might be different, might have some guts. I see now I was wrong. I’ll keep plugging away and won’t quit until I find that agent who is willing to take a chance on a bestseller.”

Jessica

What's Good About Being Insulted?

Okay, so the title is for dramatic effect. Hey, I'm a writer. Sue me. :-)

We writers are often portayed as thin-skinned "artistic types" who can't handle anyone messing around with our "art." Honestly, though, most of the serious writers I know understand that we need to have skin rivaling a rhino's.

True, nobody likes to be told that her hero is rude or that her heroine is inhospitable (uh, both criticisms yours truly got this weekend via beta readers and critiques partners, in the interest of FULL and messy disclosure). I admit that my first reaction is, "Mmmph! Didn't they READ what I wrote?"

However, that's just the first few seconds' reaction. What it really amounts to is projected anger: I'm disgruntled more with MYSELF that they couldn't see the image or the character as I saw it in my head. In other words, what we have here is a failure to communicate.

If you can reframe your thinking, realizing that your frustration is that the reader didn't get the message you were sending, then it's easier to go back and tinker with your work. You realize, "Ah-ha! This is what made my CP or beta reader think my hero was rude!"

Usually, as in real life when someone takes offense, it's one teensy, tiny little thing. Change it, and bam, your character's been totally rehabilitated.

This "what needs fixing" approach lends itself to any sort of criticism, unless the criticism is meant in a less-than-constructive way. No, I'm not perfect at receiving criticism (just ask The Husband. On second thought, DON'T!). But I like to think that, after all these years of understanding how valuable critique partners are, I've learned something in writing that applies itself to Real Life.

And God bless those CPs and Beta Readers! I couldn't get anything done without having them reading over my shoulder!

BookEnds Status

Happy Friday! I can't believe it's March 12 only and already. I've been reporting about how far behind I've been on queries, but haven't really given you a full idea as to why. It's because I've been busy, busy, busy doing those things an agent is supposed to be doing.

In the first week of March alone (that's through March 5) BookEnds (collectively) sold 15 books. Some were multiple book deals of course, but that doesn't diminish our excitement. This week we added five more to that list. Not bad. Not bad at all.

In addition to selling books I've read and edited one full manuscript for a client, two proposals for another, one piece of fiction for yet another client and one nonfiction proposal for another. On top of all that I have actually read through one full submission and at least 5-6 proposals.

I've had lengthy conversations with three clients about career goals and I have fewer then 400 queries left to answer (that's down 100 from last week).

Certainly every week isn't this productive, but I'm going to take each day at a time and revel in my accomplishments for the last two weeks.

--Jessica

Awwww!

Okay, it's Friday, and we all need an awwww moment! This pix is stolen from . Now, go home and kiss your baby giraffe!

Pet Peeves

We agent bloggers often teach, or try to teach, writers how to write a stronger query. Sometimes, though, in those lessons, we also discuss our pet peeves, those things we wish writers wouldn’t do, but things that probably don’t matter all that much in the grand scheme of how an agent considers your book.

So today’s post is going to be a list of pet peeves. Things I see all the time in queries that for whatever reason bug me, but that don’t make a lick of difference in how I consider a query. I’m sure you all have those silly things in your everyday life that drive you crazy, but that you really can’t control.

Impersonal Email Addresses—for some reason it bugs me when people don’t have a more professional-sounding email address. I hate when the email comes through and says something like Mom’s PC, Doggiedoo, PetFamily, or Brainfart. I’d prefer people set up an email address that, no matter what the actual address is, the email comes through with a name. In other words, even if your email is Brainfart@brainfart.com, I’d like it to read in my in-box as Jenny Jones.

Changing Fonts—sometimes emails come written in an array of different fonts. I always assume the changes were made after the writer hit “send,” but it still drives me crazy.

Emails in Letter Format—emails should not have your address, etc., at the top of the page. That format is reserved for hard-copy letters. Email format is to place your address and other contact information in a signature line at the bottom.

Queries addressed to Jenny or Jennifer (unless of course you really did mean to send it to Jenny or Jennifer, but there is no one with that name at BookEnds.

Quoting this line from our web site: “unique fiction with a strong hook”—yes, this is what I’m looking for and certainly it shows that you’ve done your research, but I’d rather you show me how your fiction is unique with a strong hook, then quote it back at me.

And keep in mind, this list was written with a slight smile because yes, I know none of these really matter in the grand scheme of things.

Jessica

The real secret to writing

Forget talent. Forget the ability to string together lovely words. Forget life experiences out the wazzoo. Forget all the tips you hear about eavesdropping at Wal-Mart.

The real secret to writing? Space, baby. Lots and lots of space.

Notice I did not say "time." We writers are forevermore saying, "Oh, give me time to write!"

But what we really need is the mental space to focus inward, on our characters, on those lovely words, on that delightful insight we overheard at Wal-Mart.

Physical space is also critical. That means the fam being able to actually function without interrupting you 90 gajillion times to ask the whereabouts of something that if they'd put up themselves to begin with, they'd know where it was.

But just like a ringing phone is the universal signal for babies to cry and dogs to bark and cats to scratch at the door, reaching for that laptop is the signal that a race for Mom's space is about to start.

I have to admit, most times, if I just ask, my little household is good about giving me space.

So maybe I should ask for it more often, hmh?

(The cute pix above was taken by a friend of mine, Bill Ricks. I couldn't help but add the caption. I'm sure he would have chosen something less humorous, but hey, finders, keepers, right?)

The Wrong Way

All agents post a lot on our blogs about the things writers do wrong in their queries. Certainly we’ve posted the “rules” for writing a query, but since we’re constantly bombarded with new and creative ways to screw up a query, those are the things that you see most frequently. After one such post of what not to do one commenter wrote, "The fact that you (and every other literary agent) have to deal with this makes me angry, because it just makes it that much harder for those of us who follow guidelines and present ourselves professionally. Agents are burned out by those that don't by the time they get to those of us that do!"

And I wanted to make a correction to this writer’s statement. In fact, these errors do not make it harder for you. They make it easier for us to reject queries and clear out our in-box. They make us want to see something great and those really awful queries mean that when something great crosses our desk we get that much more excited. There’s no doubt that agents get fatigued by the vast numbers of queries we receive. They are part of our job, yes, and we want to receive queries because queries mean possibilities, but in any job there are things that can easily become overwhelming, things that will seemingly never go away (my filing is another example). It doesn’t make them bad, it just is what it is. Queries are the last things on our priority list and yet they are the one thing that builds up the quickest.

Anyway, back to my point. Don’t get discouraged by the writers who don’t seem to want to learn how to go about getting published. Instead, look at what an advantage you have by making an effort that many don’t want to bother making.

Jessica

I miss purple Garfields

Yesterday, as I sat in my dentist's chair, watching The Kiddo color the Garfield coloring sheet they gave her to keep her occupied, I realized that I missed purple Garfields.

I watched The Kiddo as she carefully colored within the lines, choosing the orange Crayola to properly color in the famous fat cat. Two or three years ago, The Kiddo would have dispensed with conventional wisdom and gone with purple or pink or some other wild color. And she would have not bothered to color within the lines.

But thanks to public school and dozens of grown-ups (not me, never me) telling her that the sky should be blue and the sun should always be a yellow circle, this time Garfield was his traditional orange.

I thought about that move toward safety in conventionality, thought about how it might apply to writers.

When we first start out, most of us don't know the rules. We don't know the jargon. We just throw words on the page with the abandon of a pre-schooler scribbling Garfield purple. The rush that gives us is indescribable.

But then we learn. We learn about plot points and hooks and blurbs and character development and how celebrity and athlete heroes never sell.

So we opt for the safe road.

Sure, our writing improves on some levels. Now we are paying attention to format and our highpowered sales exec hero isn't bashful and shy because we know that he wouldn't have gone into sales if he hadn't been a people person to begin with.

But we worry. As that cursor flashes, we find ourselves worrying if we've picked the RIGHT shade of orange for our Garfields. We obsess about format and plot and motivation as carefully as any third grader worries about neatly coloring in the lines.

Yes, we have to conform. Publishing is a business, after all. But let's not forget that wild feeling of power we had when we decided that Garfield SHOULD be purple.

Possible Romance Idea

You don't know me, but I'm a big fan of romance novels and would like to try to write one. I have a really good idea, which is to write a romance novel about [information deleted by Jessica in order to protect the author’s identity and idea]. My plot idea is that [information deleted by Jessica in order to protect the author’s identity and idea].

What do you think? Does it makes sense? Would the publishing industry "subsidize" me for such a romance novel, or would they think it "senseless"?

Please let me know, as soon as you can, so I can begin writing.


Before anyone starts jumping around and screaming that this can’t possibly be a real question, let me assure you that it most certainly is. Not only that, let me assure you that I get questions like this to both the blog and my email address at least a few times a month.

What I think you need to do is write the book. Yes, a great idea can make a huge difference in whether or not a book will sell, but the execution is so much more important. Not only that, but once you write the book you might find that your idea changes and takes a different direction. Write the book, join a critique group, and learn how to strengthen your idea and your writing. A publisher does not “subsidize” an author. A publisher reads an entire manuscript and decides whether or not it’s a book they would like to publish. They then pay the author an advance against royalties to publish that book. Before you even worry about whether the idea is “senseless” or whether you’ll be paid you need to finish writing that book and then you need to revise, edit, and polish it to perfection.

Begin writing. I can’t tell you whether or not a book will be published, but I don’t think any fiction writer starts on this venture simply to get published. I think they start writing and hope they get published.

Jessica

The oldest argument on earth

Ok, well, the second oldest, anyway, and the Permed-Dachshund and the Serious Attack Kat keep it alive. Here, the war is over the beloved arm of the sofa, and it looks like the Serious Attack Kat has maintained a firm grip on the high ground.

(And, yes, thank you, my migraine IS better! Yay! One more day, and I'll feel like writing again!)

Finding Agents and Publishers

I have written a book about [insert either fiction or nonfiction subject here] and would like to know where I can find publishers or agents who handle these types of books.

I get questions like this all the time emailed to the blog, in lieu of a query, or even via phone, so while it might seem basic, let’s discuss it anyway.

There are a number of terrific books and Web sites available to get you started on the road to publication. I’m going to ask my readers to comment on some of their favorites as well, so don’t forget to read through the comments section. However, the first place I suggest writers start is The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Getting Published, and they do have a variety of different titles targeted to specific genres. This book will give you a basic understanding of publishing and what it takes to get published. From there you can begin your search for agents and publishers.

I also recommend Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Publishers, Editors, and Literary Agents or Literary Marketplace as a place to begin researching which agents might be right for you. Keep in mind I say "begin" because books are written nearly a year before publication, so you can’t guarantee the information you find there is the most up-to-date. Therefore, I would use these books to write your preliminary list and then work to further perfect your list by using the various Web sites and blogs that tend to have more updated information. Sites I recommend are Preditors & Editors, Absolute Write, Backspace, or Agent Query.

I also strongly recommend that you become involved in a local or online writers group; there are many around the world, including local chapters of Romance Writers of America, Mystery Writers of America and Science Fiction Writers of America. Whether you write in genre fiction or not these organizations all provide an amazing resource for authors.

And of course, before submitting to any agent be sure to read the submission guidelines and review the information on that agent’s Web site. This will ensure that you follow proper submission procedure and that your material fits the genres the agent represents.

Jessica

Today I Won't Even Try

I am a migraineur ... one of the 28 million or so Americans who suffer from migraines. Lucky for me, I (a) don't have them very often, and (b) have warning "auras" before the sledgehammer pain and acute light sensitivity kick in.

Unlucky for me, today is a migraine day. Actually, it's Day 2, and you know how sequels stink.

So I give you, from http://rulingcatsanddogs.com (WHY WON'T MY LINK THINGIE WORK TODAY OF ALL DAYS???!!!???), my best writing/life advice EVAH:

The Day the Falls Stood Still - Cathy Marie Buchanan

I have to admit that I was disappointed with this book. After reading Sailor Girl last week, a book that I would pick up in the evening to read a few pages before bed and then find myself an hour later, struggling to find a place to put it down; I found it very hard to get into this book.

I think that it was mainly the characters. Other than Tom, the "romantic lead", I found the characters (including the first-person narrator) to be very wooden and 2-dimensional. There also seemed to be no point to the book - after Tom spends his life fighting against the hydroelectric companies who are stealing water from the river to generate electricity, we are told at the end that Niagara Falls now only has between 25 and 50 percent of the original water flowing over. I guess that Tom lived and died in vain.

Was there anything that I liked about this book? I guess that I can say the historical aspect of it. The book is set between 1915 and 1923, and even though I was obviously never alive in that time period, this book made me feel that I was really there. I have read more books set in WW1 than WW2, and so that time period is very vivid in my mind. This book, describing the advent of electricity, and life in an increasingly urban setting, and ladies fashion (Bess, the narrator, is a dressmaker), sharpens my image of the period.

So a mixed review this time. Am I glad that I read this book? Yes. Will I read it again? Probably not. Will I recommend it to a friend? Again, probably not. I'm going to take a break from new books now, and re-read some old favourites this week!

Mighty Dog

Christmas 2009, I made the VAST mistake of telling The Kiddo that we could adopt a stray dog that was hanging out at a local store. When said stray had, er, strayed, and as I was faced by a torrent of tears and "but you SAIDs," I made another rash promise: to find her a dog.

It's not like we didn't already have a dog, a big old chocolate Labrador impersonating a Rottweiler. The Kiddo, however, wanted a LITTLE dog. A dog that was JUST hers.

I can admit, now that I'm fab and forty and all grown up and have embraced the philosophy of embracing one's limitations, that I am more of a cat person than a dog person. Don't get me wrong -- I like dogs.

Cats, however, are self-contained and not so needy. They don't call that guilt-inducing look dogs give you "puppy eyes" for nothing.

I'd promised, though, so we got a dog. It's a dachshund/poodle mix -- think a weiner dog with a perm. She's a cute little gal, and wouldn't you know it? The dog has bonded more with me than anybody else. She curls up on my feet at night. She follows every step I make. She won't go out for anybody else, and if it's raining, forget it. Even I can't make her go out very easily. She pulls the old "puppy eyes" trick on me. "Hey, lady," she seems to be saying, "would YOU go potty in the rain?"

Rain is one thing, but snow is quite another. She loves snow (as does the Kiddo, but that's to be expected.) We had a rare "snow event" in February, and a friend of mine caught this pix of her ... shouldn't she be wearing a red cape with a big M for Mighty Dog?

Query Status

I spent a Sunday afternoon watching USA hockey and catching up on queries. Here are my latest statistics:

I am still too far behind on proposals to count, but have been slowly getting through one or two at a time. I can honestly say that I have gotten through all requested hard-copy submissions. If you submitted a proposal (by request) via hard copy in 2009 you should have received an answer by now.

Requested email proposals are another story. I have gotten through 4 or 5 this week, but that hardly makes a dent. I have roughly 6 still unanswered from 2009, 2 from September. I’m working on it.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, I have also requested a couple of full manuscripts in the past week or two. I’m excited to get to them, but of course this will further slow down my partial reading. Luckily I have two fabulous interns and a fabulous assistant helping me catch up on all of these things.

And lastly, the query status . . .

I’ve noticed that I’m getting a lot of queries that don’t fit what I represent. Queries for children’s books or spirituality, for example. The only good thing about that is that they make an easy rejection. My latest count is 600+ queries in my in-box. A far cry from the 700 I was reporting last week, but not far enough. I’ve also responded to everything through January 31 and am now working my way through February. So for anyone who submitted in 2009 or in January 2010, you should have an answer by now.

Jessica

Forget the experts, I'm in need of an intervention

Dang the invention of the DVR. Pre-DVR, I was such a techno-fumblefingers that there was no way I could program my VCR's clock, much less schedule recording shows and making sure I had a blank tape in there.

But oh, the ease that my DVR provides. With one click of a button, I can record a whole series of programs that I have no business watching because I should be writing in that 45-minute time span.

I can't resist, though. Criminal Minds whispers into my head things like, "Sheesh, what smart plot twist will they come up with next?"

I have to admit, I've long been a sucker for a serial killer novel. (I know, weird. I write romance and women's fiction, but when I grow up, I wanna be Tess Gerritsen.) I don't like horror, however I love to have the willies scared out of me by a good writer.

I'm also a sucker for an ensemble cast. I lie to myself and say that it shows me how you can reveal a lot about a character through showing (in tiny little tidbits) and not telling. Really, though, I watch it for the characters as much as the plot.

Criminal Minds is the best of both worlds, which is strange, because for ages I ignored the show. I thought it was about crimes told from the point of view of, I dunno, criminals. But then one day I was home, alone, and there was Season One on A&E, a marathon. Omigosh, but I was hooked. Thus began my relationship with my DVR.

I have been entirely too OCD about managing this addiction. I have a list of all the Criminal Minds episodes, and as I watch one, I strike it off. Currently, thank goodness, I have managed to watch all of Season One, all but one episode of Seasons 2 and 3, with a few from Season 4 and Season 5 still to bag. I admit, I'm looking forward to the time when all that I have waiting for me on my DVR is the one new episode a week.

Submitting a Partial

An agent has just requested a partial of my manuscript, and I'm struggling to find any information (or only finding contradictory info) about how to submit this, and a full ms if she requests one.

There's loads on various blogs about the nitty gritty details of querying, but that's where it seems to stop. Could you go through the details of submitting a partial, like:
What do I put in my cover email, since I'm sending the chapters within a few days of her requesting them?
What do I put on the coverpage of the partial?
What format should the info in the header take?

I'm guessing the answers would apply to submitting full manuscripts, too. I know the most important things are the story and the way it's written, but I want to present myself in the most professional way possible.

I believe I have done posts on this and I know there’s information on the FAQ page of our Web site, but I’ll run through it anyway since it wasn’t easy to find.

When sending along a requested partial the first thing you should do is see if the agent has included any guidelines in her request and then check her agency’s web site to make sure she doesn’t have guidelines there. Do NOT email back to ask how she wants it sent or what format she prefers. If she doesn’t have specific guidelines you can safely assume these will work.

Your cover letter should match your query. In other words, include the blurb you included with your query, the title, the word count, and your author bio. In fact, the only thing I would alter from your original query is to open with a statement that says something along the lines of, "As per your request."

Since most agents are reading on ereaders these days I find it helpful, and I do know other agents agree with me, to have a copy of the cover letter submitted with the attached partial. Therefore I would simply use the exact same letter you are using in the body of the email and make it the first page of your partial. That way when it’s opened on the ereader the agent can have a refresher when she gets to it.

The attached partial should include, in this order: the cover letter; a title page that includes your name, address, phone number, and email address; the requested sample chapters (always the first three chapters of your book); and then the requested synopsis. Remember, your goal is to get the agent to read your chapters, so give them to her first.

The header should simply include your title, your name (or at least last name), and email address or phone number (or both if you prefer).

Hope that helps.

Jessica