There are so many variables

I find it interesting that when ever an agent or editor posts something on a blog, there is a sudden influx of emails and posts by authors that “have the exception to the rule” or the reason why “this is just not true.” In many of these cases, the writer throws out one other author who proves their point and somehow, that makes the agent or editor wrong. I think it is important to remember what we say all of the time when it comes to publishing. There are just so many variables out there and, on top of all of that, the business is just plain subjective.

 

I guess the big point I want to make to all the writers out there is that each of these posts are simply the point of view of one person. We put together these posts to provide one aspect to the business in the hopes that this will educate those writers out there wishing to really make this a career.

 

Agents see all of the time the subjectivity of the business. When we send out proposals, there are many times that we receive two rejections that say the polar opposite of each other. One will say the plot doesn’t work but the writing is great, the next loves the plot and hates the writing. Along the same lines, we might find one book not selling in January, but by December we can re-pitch the story and it sells. Why? The answer is once again the variables in the business.

 

Oh, and I guess I should also say that jumping on one blog to tell the editor or agent they are wrong because another blog said it just doesn’t work either.

 

Have a great weekend. I’ll be off this next week, but will try to blog when I get a chance.

 

Scott C. Eagan

 

 

No excuses - The 4 Magic Questions

When I tell people that my family loves to travel and we really love Europe, I always hear the same thing. “Gosh, I wish I could do something like that, but…” I’ve heard this all of the time. I heard this when I was younger and in Scouts and decided to go the National Jamboree in Virginia. I heard this when I wanted to go hiking in New Mexico. I heard this when I decided to go to a private college for my undergraduate degree and then for both of my Masters Degrees. I was always stumped by this reaction because I was always able to do things. Why couldn’t anyone else. Look, my family wasn’t rolling in it. I was in debt after college. But still I did it.

 

The same goes for writing and publishing. I am sure a lot of you suddenly find you are around a lot of people who are “writing a novel” as soon as you tell them you are a writer. I bet you hear the same thing “You know, I’d love to write a book, but…” I even hear this from people who do claim to be a writer. Many who participate in conferences to the National level. Writers who take classes and then, when you ask them about where they plan on selling their book to, they suddenly back peddle and end up with that same comment, “Gosh, I’d love to but…”

 

Right after my wife and I got married we had a students stay with us because her family couldn’t afford the room and board at the private college she was attending. We knew her through speech and debate (my wife and I were both high school and college coaches), so this seemed like a great fit. Since that time, she has gone on to earn her graduate and undergraduate degrees, started working in the juvenile court system and eventually moved to a position in the upper ranks of Homeland Security as a director. She has also gone on to have a great family with two wonderful kids. Her success stemmed from that same attitude of not seeing the limits to what she can do.

 

Along the way though, she also learned of these 4 magic questions. When she learned about them, she was working in the juvenile lock up, but since that time she (and we have to) found that the 4 magic questions worked for anyone who was struggling with making the right decision, or simply using the whole “Gosh, I wish I could” argument.

 

1.       What do you want?

2.       What are you doing to get it?

3.       How is that helping?

4.       What should you be doing?

 

Let’s look at each of the questions in a bit more detail.

 

1. What do you want? This one solidifies what the person really wants out of life. For some unpublished writers, they simply have no idea. Sometimes they find that they don’t even want to write. Hmmm? What you do you think they should do? For the published author, they too have to identify what they really want out of their publishing life.
2. What are you doing to get it? This one really hurts because now the writer is faced with seeing that the problem doesn’t lie with other people, but lies within their own actions. If a published author, with a career that goes flat looks at the first two idea, they see just what is in front of them. Let’s assume they say they want to go on to bigger and more advanced books, but what they are doing right now is simply writing the same style they have been doing all along because “this is what they know.” Suddenly, they see the problem.
3. How is that helping? Hmmm? If I don’t change my writing. If I don’t attend conferences. If I don’t find a critique partner. If I don’t write daily? The answer will always be “It isn’t helping”
4. What should you be doing? This is the goal setting step. This is where you make a plan. Look, if you want to be a professional writer, make that plan to write daily.

 

The key to all of this stems from how active or passive you are in your own life. When I first started the agency, people looked at me and questioned if I could do it? I look back now at those people and can clearly say yes. Now, do I have bigger goals down the line? You better believe it. Will I get there? I am betting yes. My question to you is: Will you make it?

 

 

 

Scott C. Eagan

 

 

Styles have changed, have you?

Since I opened Greyhaus, I have seen a huge number of changes in the publishing industry. We had the rise and fall of chick lit, we had the steam of erotica and then the hot and spicy stories with an edge. We are seeing a mix of genres that provide a new twist to the old stand by. A lot has been going on. Now, here is the question, have you made changes?

I am not talking today about following the trends in the market. You know, the "romantic suspense is hot so I should write that." I'm talking about your voice as an author. Because of the every changing and ever global growing population, the voice and style of the writing we see out there does change to adapt to the reading population. What you will find is that the successful writers out there, the ones with the longevity, have found a way to keep their own voices we have come to know and love, and to adapt and tweak their stories to meet the needs of the changing reader.

I am frequently getting submissions from writers out there that were published once before, but due to any number of reasons, haven't published in a long time. When I read their writing, I feel as if I'm stuck in a time warp. The writing simply hasn't matured over time. The same goes for the writers out there that suddenly find their writing just not as exciting to their editors as it was in the beginning. In the end, the next option book just doesn't happen. Why? Because the writing hasn't matured and grown along the way. The writing is still the exact same we read in the first book. Although readers like consistency, readers do not want to read the same thing over and over again. Simply changing the names and the places isn't going to work.

Your job, as a writer, whether you are published or not, is to continually find a way to grow and adapt. We aren't talking about selling out and following trends remember, but following the voice. There is a fine line here, but I think, no I believe, if a writer does this, the publishing world will continually beg for your books.