Notes From the Battle Lines

Lesson: Always check and double-check submission guidelines before you hit send.

Lesson: AgentQuery, while awesome, isn't always the most complete source of information.

Too bad I forgot those lessons this morning.

Sure, I only did it with one query letter, but it was enough. AQ had a particular agent listed as accepting only query letters via email. As the agent in question point out in her rejection letter, her agency asks for 10 pgs and a 2-pg synopsis. D'oh!

Now, this is a big huge forehead smacking moment. Almost as bad as when I misspelled an important reference in my initial query letter for this book. (If you're an agent and reading this post, I'm not usually scatterbrained, my brain just scatters every once in a while - usually at the most inopportune times.) But that wasn't the worst of it.

You see, the agent in question somehow must've completely misunderstood** the intent of my book. This person either didn't bother to read past the subject line, or she skimmed the contents, and without the additional information, mistook what the book was about. I know agents don't have a great deal of time to read each query letter, so I don't blame anyone for skimming. The solution to that would've been in the materials, if I had been smart enough to include them. With a misconception like this person must've been laboring under, I would've sent a rejection, too.

What this person said was: "I've read too many novels that are similar and just come across as preachy."

First off, since I researched Amazon looking for similar books, and came up empty on any with this angle, I was stymied about the response. (If you know of any pro-choice speculative fiction set in America after abortion has been made a capital crime, let me know.)

Second, it's hard to be preachy when there's nothing to preach. The other side of the debate usually gets sole use of preachy. I'm just telling a story about one woman trying to make her own choices in a world that wants either her pregnant or dead, the man who falls in love with her, and their fight to make everything right again. Sure, there are ideas woven into the story, but the story is the main thing. There's action, there's romance, there's suspense, and like all my stories, a happy ending* (or if not exuberantly happy, at least positive).

*sigh*

Maybe I'll just resubmit with the appropriate materials and try to remedy the misconceptions. The worst that can happen is she rejects me again.

Your turn to chime in. Do you think any books with deeper ideas are preachy? Can books be both an entertaining read and thought provoking?

*As I've said before, books with a negative, depressing, unresolved or just plain unhappy ending irritate me to no end, so I don't write them.

**Of course, it's entirely possible that she didn't misunderstand, but instead wasn't in-line with the pro-choice philosophy. In which case, it's just as well.

Derailed

That's right. My train of thought has derailed. I can't seem to muster the urge to write, to edit, or to work on my query materials. I got some reading done... but that doesn't count.

Here's hoping tomorrow will be better.

Tell me something good. Maybe your good news will get me back on track.

Books Books Books

Sorry for the late post, but I was out of town for most of the day, and spent most of the evening recovering from the long drive. Of course, there was shopping involved, which is tiring in itself - even when it is satisfying. You see, I took the big trip into Loveland/Greeley and bought books.

It's quite a haul for me to reach a big bookstore, but it is so worth it. Of course, that long a drive means I don't go there often which also means I load up when I get there. Recession be damned!

Let's see... I got:

Rise of the Evening Star (Fablehaven Book II) by Brandon Mull
Then You Hide by Roxanne St. Claire
Master of Surrender by Karin Tabke
Twilight Fall by Lynn Viehl
Rites of Spring (Break) by Diana Peterfreund
The Darkest Pleasure by Gena Showalter

My daughter picked up four for herself, too. Including Ink Enchange as an early birthday present.

(Okay, so the recession wasn't so damned. There were several books I had to leave behind because my budget couldn't stretch to fit them.)

I'm halfway through the Brandon Mull. I really needed a good middle grade fantasy to escape into. (If you haven't read the Fablehaven books, you really should - even if you think you're too old for them. They transcend age.)

Just an FYI: If you're thinking about buying Twilight Fall, you better check with your local store before you go. The Borders was sold out, and I bought the last copy at this Barnes & Noble. Like hotcakes, I tell ya... Hotcakes.

So, what's on your to-buy book list?

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The Cart / The Horse

Just now, I was thinking about what I would say on my Acknowledgements page. (Hence the subject of today's post... you know, about putting the cart before the horse.)

Every once in a while, I allow myself to wonder about things that can only happen after I get a contract. Like Acknowledgements... and seeing myself on BookTV... and signings... *sigh* Some day.

I also sometimes worry about negative reviews, and snerty people sending me nasty-grams because they didn't like what I had to say. (But not all that much.) I wonder whether I'll make the NY Times Bestseller List. I dream about what my cover photo will look like. (I'm thinking of wearing a hat and sunglasses, with my face in profile like I'm staring off into the distance.) And then I laugh at myself. First I need an agent, and then a publishing contract, and then... Yada yada yada. There's a boatload of steps to go through before any of those musings come to be.

Mind you, I don't spend too much time thinking of those future events. I just let them filter in on occasion. I revel in the dream of seeing a big display of my novels when I go to Barnes & Noble, or even just seeing them of the shelves where I will, of course, turn them cover out as I pass by. Spine space is fine, but the covers are so much prettier.

Maybe someday soon the horse will be in front of the cart where it belongs. Until then, I can dream. Can't I?

Tell me you do this, too, so I won't feel like such a rube.

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The Declaration of Independence

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

For a full transcript go to: The National Archives Experience

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Why Write What People Might Not Want to Read

Skipping down my blogroll this morning, I came across a bizarre thought. According to my blog buddy, JenWriter, someone somewhere made a strange statement about only querying ideas - not written manuscripts - because it's irrational to spend all that time writing a book people might not want to read. I guess the theory is to only write a book interest in it is guaranteed.

Ummm, yeah.

I'm not going to rant about it here. I think Jen did an awesome job addressing the fine points of that, and I already added my own ranterly comment to support her. But I did want to talk about the mindset here.

Why do we write books we aren't certain someone will want to read?

I guess I could go with the old standby for any endeavor that seems outlandish to those who don't do it. Like the answer to the age-old question of why anyone would climb Mt. Everest - because it's there. I could say the same thing for writing, but it doesn't nearly cover the drive. (As I suspect the 'because it's there' answer doesn't really cover the drive behind climbing Mt. Everest.)

I could fall back on the answer that I write because I have to. This is, in part, true. If I don't write for a long period of time, I tend to get a little batty. The stories pile up in my head. The characters whine and scream and babble enough to drive me to distraction. I talk to myself. (Okay, I talk to myself MORE.) I'm sure it's really quite a sight to watch me wander through the world going through writing DTs. I mean, sure, I could hold it all in and let the stories play themselves out internally, but we really don't want to be fitted for an I-love-me jacket.

So, why really do I write books before I have an offer in hand?

Because I'm not writing books just to see them in print. Yes, I want all my books to be published. Yes, I want other people to read and enjoy them as much as I do. But that's not the primary goal. If all I wanted was to publish, I would write anything. I'd be cranking out whatever I thought the market wanted, as quickly as I could get them out, to get as much moolah as my books could net me. I wouldn't care if any part of me was in the books; I wouldn't care if my own beliefs were pushed aside if that's what the market called for. I'd sell myself to the highest bidder and be done with it. (And in my darkest times, believe me, I've thought about it.)

But I'd sooner cut off my left hand and call myself Stumpy.

Right now, I have four books ready for the market. If none of them sell, so be it. I just look at it as 'they were ready for the market, but the market wasn't ready for them'. And then I write the next one. And the next one... Ad infinitum. Maybe five years and five more books from now, the market will be ready for the first four. Maybe those books will only be published after I'm long dead. It doesn't matter. I wrote them. I'm proud I wrote them. They're MINE, and they always will be.

Now, aside from that, each book was also experience in writing. The more you write, the more experience you have, and the better each subsequent book will be. (Unless you're a moron, and you don't learn from experience.) I wouldn't trade a minute of the untold hours spent writing any of my books, short stories, poems, essays, unfinished novels, etc. Those hours are only wasted if you let them be. Could I have used those hours to do something else? Sure. I could've read every book in the house, caught up on all the television shows I missed over the past few years, gotten a degree, learned how to paint, designed my dream home... There's always something else I could be doing, but for me, those things would be wasted time - because... :drumroll:

They aren't writing time.

And no matter what else I find myself doing, I'm thinking about writing anyway, so what's the point? There's writing, and everything else. And everything else is either distracting me from writing or it's experience I can use to make my writing better.

What do you think about the whole thing? Why do you write? What would you say to this misguided pseudo-writer if you could?

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Stormy Night

Since the storms should be rolling in any minute now, I won't be working tonight. Thank goodness I got a couple chapters edited this afternoon. Must've been thinking ahead for a change.

Oooo. That was a close lightning strike.

I'm gone. Talk amongst yourselves.

Breaking Free of the Comfort Zone

As you may or may not know, I play poker online. It helps me relax and it uses a different part of my brain than writing (leaving the writing part to work out plot niggles or to just rest, as need be). Anyway, I play the low stakes tournaments. I'm comfortable there. If I lose, I don't lose much, so there're no worries about going broke and having to reload. On the other hand, if I win, I don't win much. A piffle. My bankroll never really goes down, but it never really goes up either.

Now, looking at the play money bankrolls I have at various places around the online poker world, I know I'm good at this. One site has me at over two million in play money. Another site was closer to three million before I stopped playing there. But I still don't play bigger tournaments. (And yes, it took me a long time to reach those stacks playing for beans.)

The problem is fear, of course. I'm a chicken. A big chicken, as a matter of fact. I can't seem to bring myself to take the risk. Which also means I can't reap the rewards. I was thinking about this yesterday and came to the realization that this big-chicken-ness drifts into other parts of my life--namely writing--and it has the same consequences.

I'm working on polishing (re-re-re polishing) Spectacle to make it presentable for a publisher. But I'm not working very hard. I'm dragging my feet. I'm inventing excuses to not work on the book. In short, I'm being a big HUGE chicken. You see, the idea of submitting to a publisher is outside my comfort zone. Sure, I've done it before. Twice before. Four years and four ready-for-publication manuscripts and I've only submitted to publishers twice.

Big chicken.

I believe in my writing ability, like I believe in my poker skills, but making that jump to the bigger risk is freaking me out. And if you've ever played poker, you know that fear is the quickest way to lose. If you're afraid your pocket Jacks will get beat, you'll never push all-in with them, and you'll end up getting beat by some moron with 8-7 offsuit who gets lucky flopping a straight. If you're afraid your manuscript will get rejected, and don't send it in, someone else's book will get published while yours gathers dust in a corner. In either case, someone else wins.

And you lose.

So, last night I decided... To hell with my comfort zones. No more excuses. I will finish polishing Spectacle and get it out to the publisher before their submission window closes and I'm left standing in the snow like The Little Matchgirl (read at your own risk - it's not one of Hans Christian Anderson's happier tales).

And who knows, I might just play for higher stakes today. I might lose some big money, but I could win bigger money, too.

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