Critical Editorial Decisions

 

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

As an acquisitions editor at a New York publisher, I’ve read many submissions from potential authors. It’s one of my main tasks to read these submissions and speak with the author to see if they are the right fit for the publishing house. Often these authors have received little feedback about their submission. 

From my decades of experience in this business and writing for many different publishers, I know firsthand how submissions are handled. The editor or literary agent is reading the submission for their own needs. If it looks like something they could use in their bsuiness, then they will reach out to the author. If not, they will not respond and instead press on to the next submission. The author is left with little to zero feedback about what can be done to improve the submission so it could fit the needs of the publishing house.

Understanding these foundational details is a critical part of the publishing process. It’s like the concrete in the image above in this article. The concrete mixture has to be correct or the foundation of the building will not be a strong one. It's the same process in publishing. Every writer must have the right mixture in their submission to hit the right target. From my experience, I will see something different from another person. There is definitely a process and the author needs to enter this submission process.

As an editor, I’ve watched writers make critical editorial choices which affect the results of their work. Because they are new to the business, often they will not understand these critical junctures until months or even years after the fact. In this article I want to give some detailed examples in hopes it will help you become more aware and sensitive to the importance of these decisions.

The book writing process begins with a well-designed foundation. Bestselling novelist James Scott Bell talking about this element in this article, The Art of the Outline. It’s worth studying the patterns and habits of other writers to see how you can improve your own creation process. Notice the creativity that is poured into this storytelling and how it is the foundation of their manuscript. Just look at the detailed planning that J.K. Rowling poured into her Harry Potter books.

Some of the basics why your submission is getting rejected or no response:

--Your word count is too large. For a nonfiction book, the ideal length is 50,000 to 60,000 words. For a fiction submission, it is around 60,000 to 80,000. If your novel is 100,000 words (a common length), you are going to get rejected with no idea why. The published book will be too large and require a high retail price (affecting sales). The word count details are important.

--Is the submission poorly written or not appropriate for the publishing house? If so, you are asking for silence or rejection.

--The editor or literary agent doesn’t understand the title or the overview or the pitch. This situation happens and can why you are getting rejected.

Recently a novelist sent a submission to Morgan James Publishing. He had worked on this novel for years. It was a good length and had an interesting pitch and storyline. The story was something we would possibly publish. I put the submission through our system. The internal feedback was a pass (for now). This author needed a developmental editor to improve his manuscript and change the pass to a contract offer. We recommended an excellent developmental editor who this author hired to help him. He got the feedback from the editor and the path to get his revised work was steep and required a lot of changes and revision. He set everything aside and self-published. 

I understood what this author did but his choice greatly limited the reach of his novel. He has some other writing possibilities so we are still exploring them. My key point is achieving excellence and good storytelling is hard and sometimes as authors we have to choose the hard path. I’ve watched this process happen with many authors through the years.

If you are in this situation, here’s some actions to take:

--join a critique group with some honest feedback

--use some honest beta readers and get their feedback

--hire an experienced developmental editor and follow their suggestions and feedback. There are many different editors and potential costs for this process. I encourage you to ask around and choose carefully. A novelist told me that he had hired some well-known editor and was paying $500 a chapter for editing (excessive in my view). Each author should make careful editing choices.

The publishing process is filled with critical decisions. During each stage, you need to make wise choices to have a solid foundation and find the right publisher. What critical editorial decisions did I miss? Let me know in the comments below.

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Writing Mind Games

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Is there a best time for your writing? Are you a morning person or a night owl and how does that affect your writing? Do you need some perfect environment to be able to write? Do you play music in the background or have to be out at a coffee shop or in complete silence? 

Many writers are playing mind games when it comes to the answers to such questions. In this article, I want to dispel some of these misconceptions of the mind and encourage you to take a different mindset and action strategy.

Some people feel like they can’t write on their current project until they get in the perfect place and environment. Their pencils have to be sharp and the surrounding atmosphere has to be right. Maybe you like writing on your home computer in silence or you prefer being at a busy coffee shop tucked into a back corner with your laptop and a cup of your favorite drink. 

Many writers set a specific word count goal for their work in progress to make sure they hit their deadlines and produce what their editor is asking from them. I like the word count strategy and have used it a number of times when I’m in production on a book project. The issue is what happens when something is off from your expectations. Do you still manage to write or does it throw you off track? 

For my writing life, my mindset in these situations is critical.  I began writing for publication in high school, then trained as a journalist in college. For the college newspaper, we wrote our stories in a busy room with about 30 manual typewriters and shoulder to shoulder with someone else writing their story. I spent one summer working as an intern in the city room of a local newspaper. Reporters were talking on the phone and sometimes shouting at each other. In the middle of it, we were charged to write our stories and meet deadlines. From this experience, I learned a valuable lesson: I can write anywhere. It’s a trick of the mind to tell you that you can’t write in a less than perfect situation. 

Because I learned to type on a manual typewriter, I’ve always been hard on my keyboards where I spend a lot of time every day. In fact, the several frequently used letters on the keyboard wear off because of my extensive use of them. About once a year, I’ve been replacing the keyboard on my desktop computer. 

I often write in my office on my desktop computer and without any background music. I admit it is a simple environment. I’ve written in coffee shops, in airports, in airplanes, in hotel rooms and many other locations inside and outside. Whether I crank out a number of pages or just a few paragraphs or phrases of things which I will write, there is one consistent fact: I put my fingers on the keyboard and move them cranking out words. In this process, I set aside any mind questions about whether I can do it or not or whether it will be productive or the right words. Instead of answering these questions of the mind, I simply tell my stories and write.  This process has served me well through the years because I’ve written for numerous publications and many books. 

In past entries, I’ve mentioned using my Alpha Smart 2000 which I bought on Ebay for about $20. When Jerry B. Jenkins interviewed me, I mentioned using this tool and he had not heard of it. Follow this link to hear my 35-minute interview. The Alpha Smart is a full-size keyboard and holds about 150 pages of words. Some of my novelist friends will use it on their back porch or in their local library or any number of other places. It’s old technology and works on three AA batteries. You never lose anything and can simply write. When you get to your laptop or desktop, you hook up the Alpha Smart to your computer, open a Word file and push the send button. Yes, it is that simple. 

How do you stop your mind games about where and when you should write? Let me know in the comments. 

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Why Your Word Count Matters

      

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Good writing and storytelling is foundational in every submission.  I’ve been in publishing for many years and in a few minutes, I can read part of your writing and see if the writing and storytelling is there.

Throughout my writing life, I’ve been encouraging writers to gain this writing and storytelling skill not in the book area but in the magazine area of the market. It is easier and faster to work with the shorter form and you will likely reach more people than with a book.

If you have passed the hurdle of good writing, what other factors are important in your book submission? The one I want to emphasize today is your word count.

Recently got a novel submission from a New York agent who has not worked in the editorial area. I liked the writing and storytelling from these authors. It was unusual for this agent to submit something to me. I knew that it was likely she could not sell it anywhere else and that I was a last resort submission. Because I’ve worked in the editorial area of publishing for years, I could instantly spot the challenge of this submission: the word count. This novel was 213,000 words. 

To be fair to this agent, she didn’t come from an editorial background. She probably has never focused on the importance of the word count and how that detail translates into the production costs of the book.

I knew instantly the word count would be a concern to my colleagues. I reached out to one of them for clarification. This colleague confirmed my suspicion about the projected size of this book. A 213,000 word novel will be 700 pages in a 6 x 9 format and have a retail price of $49.95 (Yes, $50). The sales for this book in this length are going to be dismal and it explains why another publisher had not decided to publish this book. 

I explained the details of my discovery to this agent and I recommended the authors find a couple of places in the story to halt the action and end the book. I suggested the single story be split into three 70,000 word books. Then the retail price could be normal and the page count would be much more attractive to the readership--which sells books. 

There are some additional reasons for making such a shift. In recent years, the price of paper has increased and this increase drives the increases in the retail price for books. Also in terms of a trend, people are reading smaller and shorter books. These factors play into your pitch to a literary agent or an editor and your word count may be one of the deciding factors.

During a recent marathon pitch session with multiple authors, I spoke with several authors who had novels with a 200,000 word count. I encouraged them to divide their story into a smaller novel. To a person, they instantly responded the story had no division point and was one piece. It is a common experience that I’ve had with authors. They either are open to guidance, follow it and increase their possibility of success. Or they are doomed to search for some publisher or agent to take it and when that does not happen, they self-publish (with likely dismal sales). As an author, you either listen to experienced advice or reject it. 

Whether you are aware of it or not, the word count is used to calculate the finished book size and this detail figures prominently into the decision. I wrote a different author last week with a 107,000 word book to see if he can divide his book into two (or hire an editor to help him). Our upper limit for fiction used to be 100,000 words but now it is closer to 80,000 because of the increased retail price. This author was open to my suggestion and even pointed out a natural place in the story for the division. I liked this author’s “coachable” attitude and passed this positive information along to my colleagues who are still in the throws of deciding whether to offer a contract or not to this author. 

As editors and agents get increased submissions, even the smallest details like word count can be a reason to reject the author. It takes time to coach or explain to them the reasons for a smaller book. Rather than spend that time with the author (and maybe not succeed), it is easier to pass on it and press on to the next submission. 

As you write your books, are you aware of the importance of the word count? Let me know in the comments below.

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Little By Little Gets It Done

How do you write a book? How do you get published in magazines? How are you invited to speak at an event or conferences? How did you get so many Goodreads friends or twitter followers? How did you write so many entries in this blog? I get these questions often from others. In this article, I'm going to give you the answers (which admittedly you may not like but they are a dose of reality).

1. Take consistent action. Writing does not happen when you “think about it.” Words are written for a book or a magazine article or a blog or anything else, when you sit in your chair, put your fingers on the keyboard and write. One of the authors I'm working with has a busy day job and is struggling to complete her work. I'm encouraging her to set a number of words that she wants to write every day (even 250 or 500 words would be OK). Then carve out the time in her day to write these words. From interviewing numerous bestselling authors, hitting a daily word count is one of the ways to accomplish the work.

2. Regularly reach out to others and knock on doors. If you want more people to review your books, you ask more people. If you want to sell more books, you have to be telling more people about your book (either in print or through social media or any number of other methods). If you aren't asking people (figuratively knocking on doors), then the chances of anything happening are slim. I have so many friends on Goodreads because I actively use it and I've used the Goodreads tools to ask others to be my friends. I have so many followers on twitter because I regularly follow other people.

3. Pitch editors. If you want editors to publish your book, you have to be talking with them about it through pitching your book proposal. If you want to write for magazines, then you have to be crafting a query letter or writing the full article and sending it to the editor. Look for publications with theme lists and then write queries and articles for those themes. It is one of the best ways to catch their attention—because you are giving the editor what they are requesting.

4. Reach out to coordinators, conference directors, and other leaders. Often writers will ask me how to get speaking engagements and more meetings. Just like the editors who are making decisions about books and magazine articles, coordinators, conference directors and other leaders are making decisions about who will be speaking at their events. As you raise your profile in a niche or industry, these leaders “may” approach you about speaking. From my experience, more often I pitch myself and my possible workshop or keynote talk to the leader. Make a list of events then pitch one or two leaders every day. Your little by little action will pay off.

5. Seize opportunity. When you get the request or the offer from an editor or coordinator, take it. One of my friends books authors on radio programs. He tells me about authors who often have some conflict or excuse when he calls with an opportunity. I've taken the opposite approach when he calls and I always say “yes”—whether it is early or late in the day—even if I have a conflict. I will move that conflict to have the opportunity. It is what I recommend you do as well.

How do you divide your tasks into small chunks to get it done? Let me know in the comments below.  

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Daily Word Count: A Key to Consistent Writing

It’s not profound but true: writers write. A common bit of writing advice is to write every day.

Some people fill this daily need with a journal practice. They consistently write every day about their activities. I understand such a practice but I’ve never created or written such a journal.

I’ve interviewed over 150 bestselling authors about how they practice their craft of writing. It is rare but I found one writer who used a timer in his writing process. He set a timer and sat at his computer until the timer sounded. To me, this process did not make sense. Anyone can spend time staring a screen but that does not mean you are creating words or telling stories during that time. You could be simply staring off into space.

A much more productive and common practice among writers is to have a daily word count. The amount of this word count will be different for each writer. Some writers are on deadline and to meet their deadline, they have to produce a certain amount of words each day. Other writers have created a personal goal and the word count keeps them on track. If the writing comes quickly, then they achieve the goal in  short amount of time. If the words do not come, then they spent much more time and energy at their keyboard or computer.

Like prolific novelist Bodie Thoene told me, “No little elves come out of my closet to write 650 pages. Some mornings I don't feel like writing but I do it out of obedience to God.” Severely dyslexic, Bodie could not read her own name in the Third Grade yet she writes riveting 500 page historical novels. Her talent and importantly her discipline as a writer are an example to each of us.

A daily word count goal is a way for you as a writer to move your project forward. For example, I have a book manuscript under contract that I need to finalize and get off to my editor (yes every writer has an editor—even one as experienced as I am). Currently this manuscript has not been happening but I’m committed to working on it little by little and moving it forward. Without consistent effort, it will not happen.

You have to do the same sort of effort for your own writing. I have busy authors who struggle to complete their manuscripts. I encourage them to set even small daily word count goals and keep moving forward. Even if they commit to writing 500 words or two double-spaced pages, with consistent effort, a month will yield pages of results. Notice the word consistent and regular. That constant effort is what helps you complete the work. Thinking about it without action doesn’t do it.

Where are you stalled in your writing? Would a daily word count writing goal help you move forward? Let me know in the comment section.
  
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Three Ways to Get Your Writing Moving

Are you stalled with your writing? I understand how it can happen. One of my Morgan James authors wants to write her book but is crazy busy with her occupation. She asked me for some ideas and strategies to get the book written. Many writers have this challenge of a full-time occupation but dreams of other things in their life. Yet without action, those dreams stay just ideas and do not turn into anything concrete for their writing—like magazine articles or books or information products or ebooks or anything. Their writing is in stall and not moving ahead.

Whatever you want to create or write—including for my book author who can't seem to get her book finished—is to figure out what you can do. Then make an action plan to do that action over and over until the writing is completed. I know these words sounds simple but it is how any goal is accomplished. You do it in bite-sized pieces. No one sets out to write a 50,000 word nonfiction book or a 100,000 word novel. The thought can overwhelm you and throw you into a stall so you don’t get it done.

How do you accomplish your goals? The first step is to break the task into a smaller size. Can you write a page a day?  A manuscript page contains about 200 to 250 words. Or can you write two pages a day? That would be 500 words. Create a plan to write consistently.  If you are consistent, you will be shocked how much material you can accomplish in a week or a month or two months.

The next part of the goal setting is to figure out when you can consistently write and set a time in your schedule. Maybe your best writing is early in the morning or you have a few minutes at lunch time or maybe it is late in the day. Block this writing time into your schedule and do it over and over. Eventually one session turns into more words and you finish the book manuscript from the beginning to the end.

What is something you want to accomplish in the next few months? Here’s some of the steps:

1. Write down your goal and put it on a post-it or note card where you can refer to it. This concrete action will show your intention.
2. Plan your action steps and break your goal into bite-size pieces.
3. Take regular action and move forward to accomplish your goal.

No one likes or enjoys the discipline of working on your book. Yes, some of the storytelling and work is fun but most of it involves simple obedience and doing the work. For example, The Writing Life contains over 1300 entries and I’m moving toward 1400 entries.This volume of material did not happen in a single day or week or month. It was done bit by bit and consistently over days, months and years. I began writing these articles in 2009 so it has taken some consistent time and energy to accomplish. 

I have more details about goal setting and how to accomplish your dreams in Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. It contains several dozen ideas about how to accomplish your publishing goals.

Be encouraged and you can do it too. Take action and write your book and accomplish your dreams. If I can help you in this process, don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

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Propel Your Writing Forward This Fall

Monday is Labor Day and the official end to summer.  Do you want to move your writing to a new level of excellence and achievement? I want to give you five ways to propel your writing forward.

Attend A Writer's Conference

Thousands of submissions sit on the desk of editors and agents across the country. Which ones get moved forward and attention? Publishing is like any other business—and I've mentioned this before—it is connected to who you know as much as what you know. Yes, your writing has to be excellent and compelling but you can cut years off the process of getting published, if you know the right person. I did not exaggerate with that word years in the last sentence.

How do you find that right person to publish your material? It's almost impossible to do it just sitting at your computer. You need to get to a writers' conference and meet the right people. I understand your possible reluctance. Many writers are introvert and not eager to speak with people. You will need to step out of your comfort zone and make the effort to meet others. You can prepare by making some business cards with your photo, phone number, email and website. Then bring those cards to a conference.

Last week I booked my airline ticket and reserved my hotel room for Author 101 University next month in Los Angeles. This event is held twice a year and it is different from your typical writer's conference. The focus is entirely on different ways to market and sell your book. The faculty comes with diverse skills to help you in any area of writing. You will have many opportunties to talk with each of them—including me but you have to take action: register for the conference, reserve your hotel room and make plans to attend. To give you incentive, use this coupon code when you register and save $100: TERRY plus you can bring a friend for free. Now that is a bargain for every writer.

To learn more about Author 101 University, catch this free interview I did last month with Morgan James Publisher and founder of Author 101  Rick Frishman. The interview is now on replay and you will have instant access to the recording. Plus you can get the free Ebook, The Top Twenty Author Mistakes (and learn a great deal from reading this resource).

There are many great conferences. From my years in this business, I encourage you to make plans to attend  Author 101 University which is an excellent choice.

Join A Critique Group

If you have never been in a critique group or don't know how to find one, read this article. The necessity to write something for each meeting will move your writing forward and the feedback from others (outside of your family) will help you have more confidence in your writing and improve your writing skill. You can meet online or in person. I believe in person is much more profitable and better but I've heard of writers using either method effectively. The key is to take action and form a group or join a group already in progress.

Find An Accountability Partner

Who knows about your writing and cares about it that is in your immediate circle of friends or family? Can you speak with this person and ask them to hold you accountable for your writing and moving forward? It is a simple conversation but can be significant to gain someone else who knows about what you want to accomplish and move forward with your writing.

Set A Consistent Writing Goal

I've interviewed more than 150 bestselling authors. One habit which is consistent with these authors is a consistent writing goal. You can have a daily or weekly amount of words that you are going to produce. Keep that goal on a little post-it or in front of you so you regularly tackle it and hit it. Make sure you set something realistic that you can actually accomplish.  You will be shocked at how this consistent effort of writing will move your writing goals forward.

Form A New Habit

Finally I encourage you to take a hard look at your writing life and what you want to achieve. Is there a new habit you can add to your life which will help you achieve that goal? For example, if you write romance books, then you need to be regularly reading that genre. If you want to write magazine articles, then you need to be reading magazines. Fit this new habit into your life and it will move your writing forward.

These five ideas are nothing new and maybe you've heard them before. The key is to take consistent action and not let another month pass before you are moving forward with your writing life. Let me know how it is going and be encouraged.

Deadlines Help Writers

I've always found a deadline helps me get into my chair and get my fingers moving on the keyboard toward the completion of a writing project. In the newspaper business, the deadlines come fast and furious. I would write a story in the morning and it would appear in the afternoon newspaper. Print magazines work on a longer time frame yet also have deadlines to help the writer consistently work on meeting the needs of the publication. Books have a larger number of words and even longer deadlines. It's up to the writer to set the time frame and meet those deadlines.

Writers are notoriously late on meeting their deadlines. As an editor, I've heard almost every excuse from a writer about why they could not meet their book due date. What many authors do not understand is inside the publishing house, the staff is counting on the author to meet that deadline. Dozens of other functions are tied to the arrival of that manuscript.  I used to spend hours in schedule meetings where we talked about our various books and if the authors were on track to meet their deadlines. If an author was going to be late, then we needed to know how late and make adjustments in the other functions (such as the release date for the book, the publicity campaign for the book, the cover design and much more).

I have a number of writing deadlines. Each month for several writer related publications, I send articles. If I don't send my material then the publication does not have what they need.  It's something I plan into my schedule and meet the deadline. Yes I have the rare time when the editor prods me for my material but normally I send it like clockwork.

Do you have deadlines for your writing? If not, can you set one that will help you move forward with your writing project. Many writers set a goal of a daily word count to move forward on a project and complete it on time. Bestselling novelist James Scott Bell talks about the best writing advice that he's ever received—and it's to set a writing word count.

Watch this short video (less than a minute and a half) at:

If you don't use deadlines, then I encourage you to create one for your own writing. If you don't have enough deadlines, then I suggest you approach a magazine about a regular column or article from you. Maybe you write for a publication on an occasional basis and they would be interested in a regular column from you. Or possibly it is a new publication which is just getting started and they need a columnist or a regular contributor. You can use a Writer's Market Guide or the Christian Writer's Market Guide to learn about new publications.

We are surrounded with many opportunities for our writing.  The key is to take action and approach editors with your material or ask if the editor needs your regular contribution.  If you don't ask, you may never have the opportunity. But if you ask and the editor assigns you to write something on a regular basis, then you have a broader opportunity for your writing to get in front of new people.

Why Writers Need to Know their Word Count

As I work with different authors, one of the first questions I often ask is about the size of their manuscript.

I met with a book author yesterday and her response was, “about 350 pages.”

I wasn't looking for the number of pages in her manuscript because the type of font and size can vary from author to author. Here's what does not change: words. What is the word count for your manuscript? Many writers are unaware of the word count. 

Possibly they have written their chapters in different files and haven't added up the words. Maybe they are focused on completing their writing and haven't thought about the length or only the page count.

I meet a lot of authors who have never looked at the word count portion of Microsoft Word even though they use the program to create their book. If you are writing your manuscript in a single file, the word count is normally in the lower left hand portion of your screen and that information is always available—yet many writers have overlooked it and instead they want to tell me how many pages they've written—which doesn't give me much insight and information.

Why do I care about the word count? I've been in publishing many years and with this information, I can easily estimate the size of the printed book. I can learn if the writer is in touch with this detail as they have written the book. Our sales representative tell us that shorter nonfiction is better received in the bookstores. From my perspective, that means your book should be closer to 200 pages than 300 or 350 pages. For most nonfiction topics, 350 pages is too long and the writer has belabored the topic.

As the book grows longer, it also increases the production costs (more paper and ink) and potentially raises the retail price for the book. Yes all of these calculations or expectations are made on the front end of the book production process when you meet with an acquisitions editor. 

My goal for you is to get your book published and champion your book to my publication board so they will issue you a book contract. We receive about 5,000 submissions a year and only publish about 150 books. If I manage to get you a book contract, that's a big hurdle that you've jumped across and should feel great about accomplishing.

A typical nonfiction book is running about 40,000 to 50,000 words or about 200 pages. Some books are shorter and some books are longer but that's a general word count that you should be aiming for in your writing for nonfiction. If you are writing a novel, then that is a different story. Follow this link to see my post about word length for novels.

Whenever you pitch an editor or agent, you have to have a terrific book. Good writing is foundational to any type of book—yet you also need to clearly have the details about your book such as the word count in hand to be able to intelligently answer questions. 

Agents and editors are looking for smart savvy authors who are articulate and also good writers. If you have a book, keep growing in your craft and keep building relationships. Eventually you will have a winning combination and get published.

Understand The Gatekeepers

Writers never cease to amaze me about their lack of understanding concerning the details of publishing. Many people will invest hours in writing their manuscript or story, yet not take the time to learn the basic details about the book business and even the typical elements in producing a book. For example they will write a full nonfiction manuscript instead of writing a book proposal. Or more frequently in the fiction category, they will craft a full manuscript which is not even close to being within the expected word limits.

When someone writes me a pitch for a novel or a nonfiction book which is substantially over or under the expected normal lengths, I take the unusual step instead of sending a form letter (which I also send), I will often write back a short response and point out their challenge with the length and reference this post I wrote several years ago. My post actually points to bestselling novelist Lori Copeland and her advice about length for novels in different genres.

Novelists unlike their nonfiction counterparts have to complete the full story before they shop it to the agents or editors. This requirement is particularly true for the unpublished novelist. As a writer I understand that they have gotten wrapped up in their storytelling and completed their novel. Last week I was pitched a novel with these specifications:

Genre: Contemporary Mainstream Fiction written saga style and spanning the time period from 1940-2013.

Audience: Adults 18-54 Word Count: 190,000

In my response, I encouraged this author that she was substantially over the normal word count. Her response to my note that I was going to pass up this opportunity, "I will take my chances with the length as I'm know it's a good story as is. Besides, editors have to have something to cut from...and if they can figure out a part that isn't needed for the story line, I'll be happy to make the adjustments."

This type of naive response shows the writer has almost zero understanding of the needs of the editor who is the gatekeeper within the publishing house. Imagine for a minute the massive amount of possible material that is coming your direction from respected and known literary agents, writers that the editor has met at a conference or in some other venue and other sources. Often I compare the volume to someone trying to catch a drink of water from a fire hose. If you have such volume of submissions coming your direction, how do you sift through the piles? One of the easiest ways is with the word count criteria. You glance at the story line and writer, then see the number of words in their story and if it is way over the top (as in this case), then you reject it. The editor never reads the story or even a few pages of it. Why? Because it is a tremendous amount of work to cut 70,000 words from a submission and there are better and more effective ways to spend your time.

The other element that this author doesn't understand is the challenge to get any novel published in the traditional marketplace. Why? There are limited opportunities--in fact--much more limited opportunities than in the nonfiction area. While there is great marketing hoopla made about some fiction authors, nonfiction consistently out sells fiction. I can hear the protests out there saying things like:

*"But with fiction I don't need a platform or to be known like I do with nonfiction." True but you can build a nonfiction platform. Whether you write fiction or nonfiction you need to be building your own presence in the marketplace. I've given many ideas about these matters in these entries on The Writing Life.

*"But with fiction I can just make it up and don't need to do research." No, whether you are writing a contemporary or a historical or a romance, you need to do research and have your facts right. One of my friends is a reader for several Hollywood production companies. They pay him a reading fee to review published (or about to be published) novels for possible films. Recently he was telling me about a forthcoming historical from a well-known Christian publisher (part of a series of books from this novelist) with a historical error in the first chapter. He discovered the error in a matter of minutes using Google. Because this writer failed to be historically accurate in her storytelling, she unknowingly missed an opportunity to be considered for a film project. Admittedly it is rare for a novel to be made into a movie (just check the statistical possibilities in this post that I wrote in December 2005). The historical inaccuracy killed the opportunity for this novelist.

Instead of figuring "the editor has to have something to cut, they will fix it," make a commitment to crafting your idea as close to what the publisher needs as possible. Then the editor or literary agent can take your project to an even higher level of excellence.

It's All In The Pitch

The pitches for book ideas pour into my email box and mailbox. My decision is made in seconds. If you create a moving single page letter, then you've often created something which is much more challenging than it appears.

If you could sit on this side of the desk, you'd be surprised how many of these pitches contain simple flaws. They lack some element such as the word count--or they have an unrealistic word count. For example, the pitch that arrived this past week with a complete nonfiction proposal and manuscript which is about 130,000 words--way over the typical word-length. In some rare cases, I'm going to work with the person because they have a compelling idea or a compelling connection to the marketplace. These situations are the exceptions rather than the wave of submissions. The rest will receive a form rejection letter.

In the past, I've mentioned the Amazon Short program. I've got an Amazon Short called Straight Talk From The Editor, 18 Keys To A Rejection-Proof Submission. As you can see from the illustration with this post, some times this Amazon Short is in the list of their bestsellers (as on this past Sunday). While the bestselling listings change each hour, one title seems to be firmly in first place: How to Write a Great Query Letter by Noah Lukeman. I believe it's because Lukeman is giving it away for free--while the other Amazon Shorts are 49 cents. For a table of contents for this excellent 76-page document, check out this link. He recommends writers pour increased energy into crafting this query pitch. If you don't put forth the energy into it, you may never have the chance for an editor or literary agent to read your work--because you will be rejected repeatedly. Also Lukeman writes about how easily many writers give up then encourages the writer to create a solid and detailed plan of attack to get their idea into the marketplace. In today's crowded marketplace, such persistence is a necessity.

As I've mentioned recently my Amazon Short is available in an updated format without cost (free). Just follow this link and you can download it and learn from it. From looking at how Noah Lukeman set up his excellent Amazon Short, I can tell that he has little interest in selling his other books directly to the writing community. Why?

First, Amazon restricts the links inside of their Amazon Shorts. They are only "clickable" to other Amazon products and do not take you to other places online such as the author's website. When someone picks up the Amazon Short on the Amazon site, the author doesn't have any personal connection to the customer. Like most books in a bookstore, the author has little connection to their audience. With the volume of new books in the marketplace, I believe would-be authors are wise to develop electronic newsletters and other ways to connect to the audience.

Even with these slight drawbacks, I highly recommend you pick up a copy of How to Write a Great Query Letter by Noah Lukeman--and study it, then apply it to your own writing life. If you want to get a book published with a traditional publisher or get a literary agent, reading this Ebook might be your tipping point between success and rejection.