You want to build your author platform so one day you can catch an agent's eye and get your novel published and make millions of dollars....this is for sure a goal.
We've talked about author platforms in the past: your options often extend to literary journals publishing your short stories, contest wins, and knowing big-name authors.
But, Alyssa, you say, I don't have time to write hundreds of short stories, spend time revising and editing, and then send those stories off to literary journals to wait the seven to fourteen months lag time before I get a rejection, or, an acceptance that carries no prize money. I barely have time to write my novel as it is, and if I'm not getting paid for my writing time, I'm going to work on my true passion.
And I agree with you. While literary magazines can give you awesome credits (and contests can too, if you pay the submission fees), they take up a lot of time that could have been spent on your main writing project.
So, how do you build your author platform into at least a measly little soapbox that pushes your query above the rest?
My answer: alternative (paying) markets. Check out freelance writing - even if it's not your full time or even part time occupation. Write articles on things you know. Work in a hospital - write medical. Have a psychology degree - write about the brain and human actions. Like to live eco friendly - write eco articles for small but lucrative eco magazines.
And if you're really looking for an adventurous writing experience, try writing copy or reword a local company's crappy website or brochure. Write greeting cards, inspirational weekly email messages, blogs for paying markets.
A quick online search will show you tons of smaller markets looking for fantastic writing (who are willing to pay - a little or a lot - for your time and talents).
But Alyssa, you're saying now, that's not fiction. How will an agent know I can write fiction?
Well, I say don't worry. Having this type of alternative platform may not make you a literary darling, but it will show agents you possess one very needed aspect of being a successful writer - you can sell your work for profit.
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Why Yes, Novels Do Have Souls
You've read those books. The writing is, well, fine. The characters are fine, sure. And the plot is, you guessed it, fine.
Then why don't you feel anything for it? Why don't you have one of those novel hang-overs (the ones where you're so enthralled with the world you just read, you can't possibly move on to any other book/movie/family gathering because it doesn't fit into that world)?
It's because the book you just read had no soul.
This is the term I've come up with to define those books that grab you. The ones you can't possible stop reading. The ones that you want everyone else in the world to read, but also want to keep for just you.
Lack of soul is why many popular, bestselling, novels just sometimes don't do it for you (or me).
So how do you make sure your novel has soul? I've thought long and hard about this. I used to think it was voice, but that didn't quite pin it. No, it's concrete details.
Details in and of themselves are everywhere in writing. She wore a red hat. He ate a cheeseburger. The dog was spunky.
But when you make a detail concrete, it cements the reader (<see what I did there?) into your story. It makes us feel. It gives the story soul. This is even scientifically proven. You've felt it. Details evoke a response from the upper part of the brain (if you want real medical terms, you might want to consult WebMD. I work with medical terms all day and looking them up at home too might kill me.). Whereas, when a concrete detail is presented, it activates the bottom part of the brain - the part that makes your heart race, your nose remember the smell of tomatoes, your soul ache. The part of you that we often call "the heart". It's where you feel the first time you fall in love, where grief makes your lungs squeeze.
So, when you want your story not only to sell, but to hold people in novel hang-over, remember to include concrete details. Make them laugh, make them obsess so much they will forget how long their lunch break is. Make it soulful.
Then why don't you feel anything for it? Why don't you have one of those novel hang-overs (the ones where you're so enthralled with the world you just read, you can't possibly move on to any other book/movie/family gathering because it doesn't fit into that world)?
It's because the book you just read had no soul.
This is the term I've come up with to define those books that grab you. The ones you can't possible stop reading. The ones that you want everyone else in the world to read, but also want to keep for just you.
Lack of soul is why many popular, bestselling, novels just sometimes don't do it for you (or me).
So how do you make sure your novel has soul? I've thought long and hard about this. I used to think it was voice, but that didn't quite pin it. No, it's concrete details.
Details in and of themselves are everywhere in writing. She wore a red hat. He ate a cheeseburger. The dog was spunky.
But when you make a detail concrete, it cements the reader (<see what I did there?) into your story. It makes us feel. It gives the story soul. This is even scientifically proven. You've felt it. Details evoke a response from the upper part of the brain (if you want real medical terms, you might want to consult WebMD. I work with medical terms all day and looking them up at home too might kill me.). Whereas, when a concrete detail is presented, it activates the bottom part of the brain - the part that makes your heart race, your nose remember the smell of tomatoes, your soul ache. The part of you that we often call "the heart". It's where you feel the first time you fall in love, where grief makes your lungs squeeze.
So, when you want your story not only to sell, but to hold people in novel hang-over, remember to include concrete details. Make them laugh, make them obsess so much they will forget how long their lunch break is. Make it soulful.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Defining Conflict
Conflict. Conflict. Conflict. It's one of the first terms you learn in a creative writing class.
They teach you it's the only way to propel a story. To create tension, if you will.
But what exactly does conflict mean?
My dictionary defines it as: "to come into collision or disagreement; to clash". But does this mean that your entire novel should be made of action scene after action scene? No.
If you need to be convinced, watch a Bond movie. Yes, there's a lot of conflict between Bond and the bad guy, but we would stop watching out of sheer fatigue (or, dare I say, boredom?) if there were no bar scenes - shaken not stirred - and no time for Bond to pick up the hot Bond girl.
Why is this, you wonder? Because if there was nothing but conflict, everything would have the same value. The car chase would be equal to the shoot out, which would be equal to the poisoning of the henchmen... and so on. In short, if everything's in conflict, nothing is new and exciting. Nothing keeps your attention.
Now, when we add in the bar scenes and Bond's infatuation with the new Bond girl, there's a break. Do you ever lose interest? No. Because there's still tension.
So, here's what you need to know: conflict (though it can be great) is only applicable when there's a balance with humorous, romantic, or "resting" scenes. It gives variety and keeps readers reading. The bottom line in your scenes should not be conflict, but tension. Whether macro or micro, tension needs to be everywhere throughout your novel.
Will Bond beat the bad guy?
Will Bond get the girl?
Will Bond be able to move with six gunshot wounds in his chest?
The thrill of the question is what truly matters.
They teach you it's the only way to propel a story. To create tension, if you will.
But what exactly does conflict mean?
My dictionary defines it as: "to come into collision or disagreement; to clash". But does this mean that your entire novel should be made of action scene after action scene? No.
If you need to be convinced, watch a Bond movie. Yes, there's a lot of conflict between Bond and the bad guy, but we would stop watching out of sheer fatigue (or, dare I say, boredom?) if there were no bar scenes - shaken not stirred - and no time for Bond to pick up the hot Bond girl.
Why is this, you wonder? Because if there was nothing but conflict, everything would have the same value. The car chase would be equal to the shoot out, which would be equal to the poisoning of the henchmen... and so on. In short, if everything's in conflict, nothing is new and exciting. Nothing keeps your attention.
Now, when we add in the bar scenes and Bond's infatuation with the new Bond girl, there's a break. Do you ever lose interest? No. Because there's still tension.
So, here's what you need to know: conflict (though it can be great) is only applicable when there's a balance with humorous, romantic, or "resting" scenes. It gives variety and keeps readers reading. The bottom line in your scenes should not be conflict, but tension. Whether macro or micro, tension needs to be everywhere throughout your novel.
Will Bond beat the bad guy?
Will Bond get the girl?
Will Bond be able to move with six gunshot wounds in his chest?
The thrill of the question is what truly matters.
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Homes in the Slush Pile
Author platform. You've heard the term, no doubt. But what the heck is an author platform?
It is not, unfortunately, a soapbox on which you stand to deliver your next reading and subsequent author speech. No, it is a way agents, editors, and publishers finally notice your work.
Let's think of this through a Texas state of mind. House number 100 in Texas is a giant castle with a moat and drawbridge. House 101 is a still large 3,000 square foot abode with a pool. House 102 is a little shack with a crumbling rooftop. And finally, house 103 is not a house at all, but an empty, overgrown plot.
If you had no budget from which to work with, and every house was up for grabs, which house would you take? Really. No restrictions. You can take any of them - they want you to buy them.
Easy, right? House 100. The giant castle. It's the biggest and the best. You might go for house 101, too, just to buy yourself a buffer zone, but they're the only two that draw your attention.
If you're an agent, this is what author platforms look like. House 100 is the big ticket author who has either published a bestseller or has enough online attention to do so soon. Even house 101 has done their marketing, sprucing the place up and making it the best house it can be on its own. Can it be bigger? Yes. It could be a castle. But only after major overhaul - which, in our case, is publication.
What about the other houses, you ask? Well house 102, our shack, is trying. It has maybe one poetry credit, a twitter feed, and maybe a short story about to be published in a friend's lit mag. It has something, but it needs a crap ton of work before anyone with an unlimited budget notices. And house 103, the empty plot, has nothing but a manuscript to its name. Nothing previously published, and no Facebook author page or blog.
Now, I'm not saying that no agent or publisher had ever chosen a really awesome empty plot based upon the manuscript alone, but isn't it better to have an eye-catching author platform so every agent that passes your query wants you as a client? Quite right.
So how do you make yourself into a giant agent snatching house? You have to work for it. How do you do that? You must commit to a few types of platforms. Create a Facebook author page, a Twitter feed, Instagram, blog, or website. Post from the POV of your protagonist, make sure everyone knows you're an expert on your novel's subject, and share your writing advice.
Then, you'll be the house 100 in the query slush pile and no one can stop you from publishing the next NYT bestseller.
It is not, unfortunately, a soapbox on which you stand to deliver your next reading and subsequent author speech. No, it is a way agents, editors, and publishers finally notice your work.
Let's think of this through a Texas state of mind. House number 100 in Texas is a giant castle with a moat and drawbridge. House 101 is a still large 3,000 square foot abode with a pool. House 102 is a little shack with a crumbling rooftop. And finally, house 103 is not a house at all, but an empty, overgrown plot.
If you had no budget from which to work with, and every house was up for grabs, which house would you take? Really. No restrictions. You can take any of them - they want you to buy them.
Easy, right? House 100. The giant castle. It's the biggest and the best. You might go for house 101, too, just to buy yourself a buffer zone, but they're the only two that draw your attention.
If you're an agent, this is what author platforms look like. House 100 is the big ticket author who has either published a bestseller or has enough online attention to do so soon. Even house 101 has done their marketing, sprucing the place up and making it the best house it can be on its own. Can it be bigger? Yes. It could be a castle. But only after major overhaul - which, in our case, is publication.
What about the other houses, you ask? Well house 102, our shack, is trying. It has maybe one poetry credit, a twitter feed, and maybe a short story about to be published in a friend's lit mag. It has something, but it needs a crap ton of work before anyone with an unlimited budget notices. And house 103, the empty plot, has nothing but a manuscript to its name. Nothing previously published, and no Facebook author page or blog.
Now, I'm not saying that no agent or publisher had ever chosen a really awesome empty plot based upon the manuscript alone, but isn't it better to have an eye-catching author platform so every agent that passes your query wants you as a client? Quite right.
So how do you make yourself into a giant agent snatching house? You have to work for it. How do you do that? You must commit to a few types of platforms. Create a Facebook author page, a Twitter feed, Instagram, blog, or website. Post from the POV of your protagonist, make sure everyone knows you're an expert on your novel's subject, and share your writing advice.
Then, you'll be the house 100 in the query slush pile and no one can stop you from publishing the next NYT bestseller.
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Can you Query me now?
Let's talk about selecting which agents to submit queries to.
Querying may seem daunting and full of rejection (we've talked about this before), but when you think about it, so is applying and interviewing for jobs. So why should we treat it much differently? Only, this is your dream job and it's filled with words and not the expired coffee beans of your last barista job.
Now, think about what's most important in an agent:
1. Someone you connect with, who believes in your work and your career.
2. Someone who's willing to fight to get you the best possible publisher for your book at the best possible price.
3. Someone who can help explain this confusing, inter-galactic process of the publishing world (ie e-Books, novellas, literary, commercial, traditional print...).
It's not all that different from accepting an offer for a traditional 9-5 job. For that you look for:
1. Doing something you like.
2. Having a pay that makes the revocation of your free time worth the job itself.
3. Working with people you like, who understand you, and accept you for your strengths and weaknesses (and, of course, understand you have a life outside of their walls).
So, next time you're scouring that agent search site, try not to panic and send a mass query to everyone who represents sci-fi novels. Research your agents. Make sure they sound like the type of person you'd want to work professionally with. Is the agency in line with what you want for your book and your career? Is this a place you'd like to "work"? If so, submit. If not, you could be entering in to a professional relationship that isn't right for you.
Querying may seem daunting and full of rejection (we've talked about this before), but when you think about it, so is applying and interviewing for jobs. So why should we treat it much differently? Only, this is your dream job and it's filled with words and not the expired coffee beans of your last barista job.
Now, think about what's most important in an agent:
1. Someone you connect with, who believes in your work and your career.
2. Someone who's willing to fight to get you the best possible publisher for your book at the best possible price.
3. Someone who can help explain this confusing, inter-galactic process of the publishing world (ie e-Books, novellas, literary, commercial, traditional print...).
It's not all that different from accepting an offer for a traditional 9-5 job. For that you look for:
1. Doing something you like.
2. Having a pay that makes the revocation of your free time worth the job itself.
3. Working with people you like, who understand you, and accept you for your strengths and weaknesses (and, of course, understand you have a life outside of their walls).
So, next time you're scouring that agent search site, try not to panic and send a mass query to everyone who represents sci-fi novels. Research your agents. Make sure they sound like the type of person you'd want to work professionally with. Is the agency in line with what you want for your book and your career? Is this a place you'd like to "work"? If so, submit. If not, you could be entering in to a professional relationship that isn't right for you.
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