Publishing Is About Taking Risks

There are no promises in publishing. There is no way we can make predictions on what great trends will happen in the coming year. Agents and editors are asked this at every panel I have ever seen or sat in on. "So, what do you see at the future for..."

When editors and agents sign on clients, they are doing so trusting a gut instinct. We THINK this might have potential. We THINK this new idea will fly. We THINK this author will have the stamina to pursue a career of the long haul. But these are all just guesses. We are taking a risk on you. And yes, that risk is going to cost the editors and agents.

• For agents, it is the time and energy, working for free, to get that that story ready and then to get it out to the editors.
• For publishers, it is the advance they sent to you, gambling that the book will sell, and the the time and energy that they put into the project.

I wanted you to think about that side of the equation before I dove into what risks, you as authors, need to be taking.

As you write those stories, you have to be willing to step outside of your comfort zone every now and then. Yes, writing what you always write is an easy route. You know what you are capable of doing and you can be comfortable writing it. But that pushing yourself to try to do different things with your stories is what will make you a stronger writer.

I don't know how many authors I have heard complain that their editors/publishers are "wanting them to write something that they are not comfortable with." The view this as an infringement on their craft and personal voice. In reality, what they should be seeing is the editors/publishers (and yes, even agents) trying to shape your career and give them something that might potentially prove to be great. 

It is a risk the author has to take. Writers cannot say that idea will not work. Remember, none of us can make that promise.

One of my clients was asked by her editor to spice some things up with her stories. Right now, her novels are pretty dang hot, but the editor wanted to "push the barrier a bit." I knew where the editor wanted to go, and I knew the writer could do it. But, as I read the partial, I could see she was holding back. This was a risk she was struggling with. So, we talked about it and worked through some potential directions she could go with the story.

But, to make it work, means she has to take that risk.

My son struggles with this. He s a swimmer and a dang fussy eater. We know something happened when he was young but now, food is scary to him. He sticks with the things he knows works and that is it. Does it get boring? Yep! Does he get frustrated? Yep! Is he willing to take that leap of faith. Right now the answer is no. We cannot push him to do it because it is up to him and his own personal motivation to take that leap. Only time will tell if he accepts that risk!

All authors have had to take that leap of faith. They had to take the risk to send out that first story for a critique. They had to send out that story to an editor or an agent as a submission. They had to take that risk and sign up for a pitch appointment. Would it work out? They didn't know at the time. Some did and some didn't. The point is, you don't know until you try it. 

So, what risk are you going to take this week. Let me know how that goes!

Submission Mistakes

I know we have talked about this before but in the last two weeks I have received submissions that fall into this category. Now maybe these people just like receiving rejection letters and are simply interested in cheap wall paper, but darn it, I am tired of writing rejections for things like this.

First of all, we all know that many of you use form letters for all of your agents and editors. O.K. I promise not to go off on the idea of how your letter needs to be personalized. I'll save that for later. The problem is to make sure that A) you change the address and letterhead; B) you still address the letter to the specific editor or agent and not simply "To Whom It May Concern"; and C) Don't just write one letter and cc it to us.

Now, I will give you one mistake if you typed the wrong name in. That happens, but when the whole package isn't addressed to me, uses the wrong address and the letter is addressed to someone else, that is a certainty for a rejection letter.

As for the cc'd message. That one I think was taken care of by another agent. When we all received this message, this person simply did a reply all and hinted that maybe they should try a bcc function. Yes, we get the hint that you are mass emailing it, but we don't end up finding out who we are also being considered with.

Now, here is the last problem. Same thing I have said before. DO YOUR RESEARCH! Greyhaus Literary Agency focuses only on romance and women's fiction. I don't do cookbooks, I don't do biographies and memoires (although Laura Bush, I know you are looking for an agent so swing on by!) and I don't do children's books. I also know other agents are also clear with what they look for.

Writing a response to you takes time! Save your self the postage. Save yourself the headache, and together, let's save a tree or two with all of the submission material. Be smart when submitting.

Scott

Submission Flaws

Editors and agents see this all of the time. Submissions that are pathetic. No. I'm not talking about the stories that were submitted. I am talking about the format of the submission. I have to honestly say, I have rejected people because the submisison was poor.

Here are the big ones:

CONTACT INFORMATION IS WRONG - Look people. The contact information is very clear and very accessible to everyone. Go to my CONTACT US page and you find the exact address, the name of the person and what to send. I still have people who submit to me as:
Mr. Greyhaus, Ms, Greyhaus, To Whom it May Concern and even my intern's name (Which I have not had for several years). Sure mistakes happen but this is one that is easily remedied.

SENDING THE WRONG MATERIAL This goes back to my earlier post. Before sending anything you should know what to send. Do your research. Don't send something we are not asking for.

TYPOS AND SPELLING ERRORS Hallmark says, "when you care enough to send the very best." I actually received an e-query this week that included no contact information, no title, no genre and apparently was sent via a text message because of the lack of capitalization and punctuation. Can you say REJECT?

NOT SENDING WHAT WE WANT If I ask for a full, send a full. If I ask for a 3-5 page synopsis, don't send me a 10 page synopsis. If I ask for the first three pages, send me JUST that. I don't want art work that you have designed. I don't want to see your pictures from family vacations. I don't want to see your self-published books. This is just getting you a reject even sooner.

And yes, a SASE is required! No exceptions!

LACK OF PROFESSIONALISM - This is a business. Beginning your letter with jokes, or "witty statements" is not professional. You are applying for a job and that means you treat this like any other cover letter. This letter should show me that you are ready to make a jump to the professional world of writing. Being cute just tells me you are immature.

Scott

Following up with editors and agents

So, I had a question that came up a couple of days ago about contacting editors and/or agents after receiving a rejection. What is the right thing to do?

For the most part, this is sort of a no no. In other words, the editor or agent has already taken time to read through your proposal, taken time to respond in a letter and that is it. Deal with the answer. This is mostly true for the editors out there. Remember they are reading these submissions on their own free time.

Now, agents have the right and will frequently follow up with further thoughts from the editor if a project is rejected. Sometimes this conversation will lead to a chance for resubmission after revisions. Writers simply do not have this chance.

If you get a rejection from an agent and the letter seemed pretty friendly, I think a quick note to "clarify" a comment would be fine. Please note I am saying to clarify the comments that the writer made. This is not a chance for you to attempt to get them to re-read the manuscript or to re-submit. This is also not the time to somehow get the point across to the agent that he or she misread your project or "missed the point."

So, how do you do this? A short note via email. Something that the person can respond to quickly. A letter will simply get thrown away because we don't want to take the additional time to type the letter, print it out and then get it to the mail. As for phone calls? NEVER!! This is a sure way of getting on their bad list.

I have to bring this last point up because I have had writers call. They, didn't call to clarify but to get me to justify my reason for rejecting their manuscript. Big time no no there. To add to the situation, when I attempted to expain to this person in better details why their story was rejected, the writer hung up on me.

I will say that one part of me wanted to call back (remember Caller ID?) and deal with the writer, but hey, that would have been mean. But you know something, I have said this before but we all keep databases. We all know who submitted, when they did and what they submitted. And more importantly, agents talk to other agents.

Hmmmm? You make the call on this one. Right or wrong approach?

Back to re-reading Outlander. Getting ready for the Sept. '09 release of the next installment of Jaime and Claire.

Scott