Why Quick Pitch Sessions ALWAYS Fail

We've always seen these show up. Here is your chance to do a one line pitch or a one paragraph pitch to an editor or agent online. Maybe it is a blurb at a conference. The coordinators of this wonderful session have proclaimed this as a chance to get your work in front of someone and maybe get your work published. This sounds like the most wonderful thing out there, doesn't it? You don't have to write that horrible query letter. You don't have to write that synopsis. You just have to write one paragraph, submit it and someone else will post it online and they will do ALL OF THE WORK FOR YOU! Wow! What more can you ask for???

Well, let me put it this way....

You just wasted your time.

Sure, we see an idea that "might" sound interesting, but in the end, we can make anything sound interesting. We can probably make those 1950's Jello molds stuffed with God knows what sound like the best thing ever and should be served in a 5 Star Michelin Restaurant. 

I am only saying this because, once again, I had a post for another writing chapter posting an opportunity to be seen. The problem was, out of the people looking at the pitches, there was only one, yes one, agent. The other two were independent writers who, BTW, have careers, that are not that stellar (I took the time to dig and see what their numbers were...).

Again, let me stress what I say over and over again. There are no short cuts. Yes, you have to write query letter. You will have to write a synopsis. You will have to do the hard work. 

This is a tough business. 

Always Keep Checking Your Genre When Writing

Write what you know. This is something we have heard a lot as writers, but sometimes, I do think we forget about it. I do think a lot of published writers forget this a lot. Once they sign that contract, see their name on the cover of a book, they seem to believe they are good to go. Unfortunately, we can never stop learning. We always have to keep our eyes out and pay attention to anything that may be changing. 

You have likely seen an earlier post or two where I have talked about musicians who have stood the test of time. Madonna, Aerosmith, and The Rolling Stones are great examples. All of which have found ways to adapt to the times. None of these groups just said, "this is what I do so stick it in your ear." They found ways to keep their own voice, but still work with the time. 

Recently, I was talking with an author and she was noting that while she was working on her latest book, she decided to stop during the early phases of her writing and just make sure she was still working with the latest flow of things but still with her own voice. She picked up a few books at her local book store (support those bookstores and authors) bought a few online and read.

She was good to go. 

What she was looking for was pacing, voice, and structure. No, she wasn't looking for character type or tropes. It was just the way the stories were structured.

Now I know what a lot of authors have told me. They don't want to read in their own genres because they believe they will steal other author's words. Honestly, if you have that much lack of self control, you might have some other problems. Seriously, it is a good thing. It is well worth it.

Think Out Your Topic Before You Write

Don't rush things.

I know, you want to get writing. You came up with this fantastic story idea in the middle of the canned food aisle and after rushing home, throwing the groceries away, you are ready to write. But no, don't start immediately.

But why?

At this point, your emotions are controlling your thoughts. You have not really thought through if the idea will even work. There is a chance that this story could end up being a royal pain in the donkey. Let's consider the following things you might want to spend some time thinking about BEFORE you start writing "It was a dark and stormy night..."

MARKETABLITY - While you might think this is a great story, remember that you are still selling a product. This means that you need to do a little bit of market research. If the current market is not looking for your type of storyline, this will be a complete waste of time. OK, maybe not a waste of time. You can certainly do this to exercise your brain, or you can do this in the hopes that the market will change, however, if you can save this time, it would certainly be a better use of time. 

Get online and look around. Are you seeing other stories that are similar? Are you seeing if there are things happening around the world that might show you that this story is something that your story will work out? Have you seen editors and agents posting with the hashtag #MSWL? If so, then you are good to go...

SO FAR... Keep going.

CHARACTERS - So what do you know about your character? Since they are going to be the center of your story, do you really have enough to work with? Think about it this way. If this is a romance, then these characters have to be two people that have to like each other. We really don't want two characters that you are going to throw together that would totally hate each other. We want two characters that are going to be madly in love and end up in that happily ever after, right?

PLOT - Now we're going to talk about the darn story. Since you plan to write a novel and not a small short story, you have to know that there will be a storyline that will carry you through 50,000 words through 110,00 words. If you are now looking at a story that is going to be less than that, or you are thinking it is going to take you years to write, this might not be the right approach. Got it?

CONFLICT - Every story, and I mean every story, has to have something that needs to be "solved." In other words, there needs to be a purpose to the story. It might be that they have to figure something out in their life. It might be a major crisis between the hero and heroine or between two sisters or two brothers. It can't just be about the fact that Jack overheard Chrissy say something about a person being pregnant (yes, I just dated myself there, ugh... and by the way, that is a complication). If you don't have this, you don't have a story. 

These are just few things you have to figure out. In other words, yes, you have to do a little bit of plotting. Sorry...

 

Trends May Not Be What You Think

I heard these comments at a recent conference.

Some authors were assuming if there was a ton of one type of book out there on the shelves now, that must be the new hot trend. Some other authors were taking a different approach and believing, if there are no books like theirs, they would be the one's starting the trend. While both comments are "sort of true" authors have to remember there are a lot of other variables that might be coming into play.

Let's start with the overabundance of your style of writing. 

IF and this is a big IF, you have this many books showing up AND it is early the trend, you may have some chances to get your book out there. The one word of warning to remind you of, is that these books you are seeing on the shelve were purchased easily 1 year ago. And that leads to the second potential problem. Let me explain...

There was a recent push for sports romances, and more specifically, hockey romances. It seemed like every publisher was buying a ton of these books. But here came the problem... They had bought so many of the books, that they overwhelmed the readers. When the readers shifted to a new concept, publishers were stuck with books they just could not get rid of. So they started dumping the books. This is part of the reason you started seeing so many of the books at great rates. It wasn't that they were trying to get new business. They were simply trying to unload stock.

Not really a place to be as someone selling products

Now, let's go to that other side of the equation. What if there are no books out there on your topic. Yes, this could mean there is a vacuum and you could set a new trend. HOWEVER, the odds are that is not going to happen. The reality is, if there are no books on the shelves, it meant the book buyers were not seeing a need, and that would trickle back to the publishers who were not looking for those books in the first place.

The reality is, if you want to look for trends, you have to just look around you and do some critical thinking. Pendulums swing. If everyone is into happy rom-cons they will likely say, we're tired of these and we want something else. If they are tired of fantasy, they will want reality. 

Hope that helps for a Tuesday!