The Importance of Respecting Your Own Writing

Recently I received a query in which the author seemed embarrassed about the genre she was writing in. Sadly, I see this a lot and not just from querying authors, but from published authors as well. It's discouraging and disheartening.

See, I love the books I represent and I love the authors I represent. I'm proud of each one and excited to introduce them to new readers. Most importantly, I respect every author of every genre, even those I don't represent.

Sitting down to write a book in any genre, of any length is no easy task. I couldn't do it and I know many in publishing who feel the same way. It's why we aren't writers. So don't let someone else tell you that what you're writing isn't a "real book" or isn't important. It is. And if you can't be proud of your book how are you going to convince other people it's something they want to buy and read? Learn to love what you're writing now and it will show later when you're trying to build your brand.

--jhf

Why You Don't Need to Worry About Protecting Your Idea

Last week I posted this Tweet:

BookEndsJessica #MSWL a book based on this crazy story: http://www.nj.com/union/index.ssf/2015/06/lawsuit_bring_me_young_blood_stalker_told_westfiel.html#incart_2box_nj-homepage-featured 6/19/15, 12:16 PM

If you haven't read the article you absolutely must. It's the creepiest thing I've heard in a long time. Since reading it I've thought and thought about what kind of book I'd like to see and then I thought about all of the different types of books that someone could create from this crazy story.

Which is why I think writers sometimes worry a little too much about protecting an idea. The idea in this case is a book based on this particular true story, but what any one writer does with that idea will likely be completely different from what another writer will create.

A YA author might create a story about a young girl who moves with her family into the house and is either possessed by a demon or lives in terror of what is in the walls. Maybe she has supernatural powers, maybe she doesn't.

A suspense or mystery author might create the story of a killer who used live in the house and buried bodies in the walls, or a killer who killed as a child and is now trying to get back in the house because he needs to be there to start killing again.

A romance writer might write the story of a woman who inherits the house and moves in only to be terrorized by these letters, stalked even, when the hero comes to investigate and saves the day, and they fall in love.

A SFF writer could write the story of an alien abduction that happened in or around the house...

Or, even if all of the writers who take my idea and run with it write in the same genre, the possibilities are endless. What's really going to be important isn't the idea (although that's a terrific first step), but the execution. How the idea or the story plays out, who the characters are and the author's voice.

--jhf

#CCWC and Other Terrific Writers Conferences

I read something recently in which the author said that agents should not give advice on how to find an agent because they don't know what they are talking about. While I disagree with that, I suppose the same could be said about agents giving advice on conferences. That being said, I'm going to throw out my opinion on writers conferences anyway.

Earlier this month I attended and spoke at the California Crime Writers Conference in not-as-sunny-as-I-would-like-it California. Now, before you dismiss my post because you're not a crime writer I think you need to know that I was so impressed by this conference that I think anyone who wants to become (or is) a professional writer should read this.

#CCWC was one of the best run conferences I've attended in a long time. It was organized beautifully with an impressive staff of volunteers and speakers. Some of the best of the best.

So what is it about #CCWC that made me love it so much? First and foremost was that there were very limited appointments (I had three). I've always thought there was too much emphasis on appointments at writers conferences and never understood why a conference would spend the money to pay the expenses of agents and editors only to lock them in a room for a day or two for appointments. I hear often that this is what writers want, but I can tell you right now it's not what writers need. Ten minutes one-on-one with an agent will not give the writer the same sort of experience as 60 minutes listening to a panel of agents debate the state of the industry, how to write a strong query or what makes a manuscript really tick for them. Think about it, 60 minutes asking questions of four different editors and agents versus 10 minutes of you talking at one editor about your book. The same agent or editor you could simply query because you shook her hand during breakfast or shared a drink during the conference cocktail hour.

#CCWC also broke the conference into different tracks. You had the option (and could switch depending on your mood) to attend marketing, career, or writing panels. They covered topics like the fear of writing, how to write a strong query letter, forensic investigations and marketing strategies. There was definitely something for everyone.

Most importantly though, #CCWC was well-run, extremely well organized, had great speakers, panelists and events that made it fun (move night anyone?). The people were open and friendly and I think everyone who attended felt it was well worth the money they spent.

Check this one out. It only comes around every two years so there's time to save your money.

--jhf

Butt Out of Your Chair

They say to be successful you only need to do one thing, "butt in chair and write." While that's good advice in theory, I don't think it's always the best advice.

I've been reading obsessively about how bad sitting is for us and I've been researching standing desks for exactly that reason. I've also been paying more attention to how often I get out of my chair during the day. I haven't started tracking it yet, but from what I can tell it's a lot. Close to, or even more than, once an hour. It's easy for me to take those breaks because I'm a huge water drinker so I'm constantly up and down to refill my glass or take a bathroom break. 

Putting your butt in your chair to write is the first step, but keeping it there for hours at a time might actually be detrimental to your goals. Every time I am forced to get up from my desk to refill my water, open a window or dig my dog's head out of Beth's garbage I find myself a tad more refreshed when I get back in. I also find that sometimes taking those trips and drifting around the office for a few extra seconds or minutes helps me think. Sometimes it is that little trip that helps me find the answers to the questions I was struggling with or the perfect fix for a manuscript I'm editing. 

So get your butt in that chair, but don't forget to take it out, at least once an hour. It will be good for your health and your creativity.

--jhf

The Time to Edit

We talk a lot about the writing process and how each writer has her way of doing things.Believe it or not, editing isn't much different. Each editor has a different editing process and, like writing, it tends to be as creative as it is technical.

Most of the editing an agent does, or at least most of the editing I do, is for content. I'm not a copyeditor and therefore that's not my primary concern. My concern is helping the author create the strongest story possible to either sell it to the publisher or, in some cases, sell it to the reader.

A common misconception is that editing shouldn't take much longer than reading. I think you'd be surprised how often I'll get a book on a Monday with a request to have it edited and returned by Friday. That can only be done if I shut down everything else I have scheduled for the week and edit.

On the quick end an edit is more or less reading the book and taking notes as you go. This can be done about twice as long as it takes you to read a book. If however the book needs more work it can take a whole lot longer. Recently I edited a book and timed myself. It took me two-three hours to get 50 pages done. That means with a 400 page book I spent roughly 8-12 hours editing. And editing, like writing, cannot typically be done all in one sitting. I get sloppy, I get tired and I can't focus. So in this case I was breaking it up into 1-2 hour time slots. I still had other work to do after all.

It still took me most of the week go get finished.

My suggestion to authors looking to get an edit from their agent before sending to an editor is to give it to your agent at least 4-6 weeks prior to your due date. Your agent needs time to edit, but you also need the time to revise or incorporate those edits. I would also suggest planning this time well-ahead with your agent. Make sure you get on her schedule and she's aware it's coming. The worst thing that can happen is that you spring it on her, expect it in a week, and she's facing one of the busiest weeks of her year. That's probably not going to make anyone happy.

--jhf

Let the Main Character Drive the Bus

A special thank you to author Rebecca Petruck. I read her article in the March/April edition of the SCBWI magazine (originally published on the blog Nerdy Chicks Write) and was inspired. My original plan was to write my own version, but after reading hers about three times I realized there was no way I could do it better. This breakdown of Hunger Games is absolutely brilliant. So instead I went to the source and she was kind enough to allow me to reprint her original version. I think its valuable advice for writers of all fiction, especially those of suspense of any kind.

Let the Main Character Drive the Bus, by Rebecca Petruck

You know how “Show Don’t Tell” is both true and kind of meaningless these days? I think the same about “Start with Action.” That advice drives me crazy because it’s incomplete: “Start with an Action that Reveals the MC’s Character.”

Imagine if The Hunger Games opened with Katniss volunteering. It would be dramatic, and we’d think her brave for taking her sister’s place. But would we be invested in the decision? A lot of people are surprised when I lay out the actual opening of The Hunger Games:

·       Katniss wakes up alone—Prim isn’t there (motivating fear);
·       Katniss sneaks across the perimeter to hunt (not afraid to break what she considers senseless rules; demonstrates a skill);
·       talks with Gale (establishes rules of world; her focus on survival blinds her to his feelings);
·       stops by the market and to see the mayor’s daughter to trade (confidence in navigating her world);
·       prepares for the reaping (Katniss’ soft side revealed in her care for Prim);
·       at the reaping (Katniss’ view of the world).

Laid out like that, the scenes don’t sound very exciting do they? And, they take up twenty pages of space. Yet, the opening of The Hunger Games is deeply compelling because of the sense of dread hanging over every moment and because we are getting to know a fascinating and contrary character. On the surface, Suzanne Collins didn’t start with action that seems particularly interesting, but she started with the right action to reveal her MC’s character.

Which is why when I work with critique partners, the thing I often get most passionate about is plot. Plot is the action the MC takes to reach her external goal, and that action ultimately must reveal not only her true, internal goal but also her soul, the “Why” of everything she does. That’s a lot to ask of an action which is why a well-conceived plot is essential. I don’t care what happens next; I care how what happens next affects the MC.

In Wired for Story,* Lisa Cron discusses the action-reaction-decision triad of effective scene-making, which I interpret as plot-character-character. Plot is the speeding bus your MC can’t get off. How she reacts to her situation and the things she decides to do because of it is what your story is about. In itself, plot is fairly passive—it’s a bus. The driver is the reason we care.**

Once you know your MC well, certain decisions become inevitable, which means key elements of plot become inevitable, too. That doesn’t mean your plot becomes predictable. It’s that the logic that guides your MC’s decisions means certain actions must follow. Plot unveils that logic and reveals a compelling and unpredictable character. Often, because your MC’s worldview is skewed by some conditioning event, not only can’t the reader predict how the MC will react and what she will decide, but also the MC is frequently surprised, too. This cycle reveals the MC not only to the reader but to herself, and forces her to react and make more decisions that lead to the internal change she may not be aware she needs and actively resists.

In that sense, don’t look at plot as “What Happens Next.” Look at plot as the cattle prod that forces the MC to make decisions that reveal her strengths, weaknesses, professed goals, and secret goals, often unacknowledged even to herself. Plot is what lays bare your MC, peeling back layer after layer of flesh until we finally glimpse the beating heart. I like the way Cron decribes this, “…the heart of the story doesn’t lie in what happens; it beats in what those events mean to the protagonist.”

What does this mean in the practical sense of putting words on the page? Try out your MC in a variety of scenarios, looking for actions that she will resist the most, that will draw the strongest reactions, and force the most difficult decisions. Dig past your first two, three, four ideas and see what happens when you get down to the fifth or sixth. Once you’ve collected a number of actions your MC will particularly detest, check out Save the Cat by Blake Snyder. It’s an effective tool for organizing those actions into a plot. (You may download a Beat Sheet here: http://www.savethecat.com/category/beat-sheet.)

In short, seeking the answer to a question your characters want answered should lead them to the question they actually need answered. Seeking requires movement. Plot creates that movement and in doing so reveals your characters’ true selves.

*I <3 i="" style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wired for Story

. Seriously, it took extreme willpower to not quote half the book and call this post done.

**Did I torture that metaphor? I really wanted to use Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, so I had to shoehorn in the driving metaphor somewhere. Also, Speed, because that movie should not be so damned watchable.

Rebecca Petruck is a Minnesota girl, though she also has lived in Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, England, Connecticut and, currently, North Carolina. A former member of 4-H, she was also a Girl Scout, a cheerleader, and competed in MathCounts. She reads National Geographic cover to cover. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing, Fiction, from UNC Wilmington, and is represented by Kate Testerman of kt literary.

Her debut STEERING TOWARD NORMAL is a Blue Ribbon winner as a Best Book of 2014 by the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (BCCB), an American Booksellers Association Indies Introduce New Voices selection, as well as a Kids Indie Next List title. Vanity Fair's Hollywood dubbed it a "book we'd like to see made into a film," the L.A. Times included STEERING TOWARD NORMAL in its Summer Books Preview, Christian Science Monitor named it one of 25 Best New Middle Grade Novels, it is part of the International Reading Association's list "Books Can Be a Tool of Peace," in the 2014 ABC Best Books for Children catalog, and an American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture Recommended Publication. The BCCB gave it a starred review.

STEERING TOWARD NORMAL was released by Abrams/Amulet May 2014. You may visit her online at www.rebeccapetruck.com.

Managing Creativity When It's Your Job

I've always talked about the job of getting published. That writing the book is great fun, but once you determine that it's time to seek out an agent, a publisher or even self-publish you've entered a new realm. Your writing is no longer a hobby, but a job, and you need to treat it as such. That means strict deadlines, focus, planning, management and all of those other things that drive business owners crazy.

I was reading a great article in Fast Company about The Secrets to Being Creative on A Deadline. In the article, Roman Mars, host and creator of the 99% Invisible podcast had this to say,

"Just sit yourself down and make yourself do it. That's the difference between being a professional and an amateur. Deadlines focus your attention and make sure you get stuff done rather than worrying about inspiration. The key is to sit and suffer through it. It comes to you when it has that pressure. I became a much better in the years after I had kids, because I didn't have the luxury of time."

For some authors the hardest change to being published is accepting that the writing has become a job. You now have set deadlines (even if you're self-publishing) and you have to meet those deadlines. Sometimes it means just keeping that butt in the chair and writing no matter what else is pulling at you. It means quitting your job as class mom, skipping your book club, turning off the game on Sunday or whatever it is you need to do, or say no to, to get that book done.

Often I hear authors complain that the creative process doesn't work that way, etc, etc, but to think accountants, lawyers. literary agents, chefs or mechanics don't need to be creative is short-sighted. Every job takes some amount of creativity and every worker needs to find a way to tap that at times when she least feels able to.

Taking breaks is an important part of any job. You wouldn't believe how much of BookEnds was founded in the shower or emails written on the drive to the gym. Getting out of the office and thinking helps build our business and is important, it also keeps us all on deadline.

--jhf

Errors are What Create Perfection

None of us is perfect. We hear this all the time and of course it's true. I make mistakes on a regular basis. Some of them are small, like adding orange juice instead of milk to my coffee. Some of them very public, like writing a blog post that was rightly misinterpreted. Some of them are simple to fix like turning my shirt right side out, some of them not so simple like applying the wrong paint to my walls.

In the end though, imperfections are what make the world perfect. If we were all perfect life would be boring and we would be boring and, frankly, I don't think anyone expects us to be perfect, anyone but us of course.

The same goes for your book and your submission. Every submission I've ever read and every book I've ever read has errors. There are typos, printers errors, grammar mistakes or even the occasional page that was put in upside down. It happens. Shit happens. Let it go.

When you're submitting your work, or once your work has gone through all the various editing rounds at a publisher, it's time to let it go. You've gone through it with a fine-tooth comb. Your beta readers, critique group, editors and agents have all gone through it. And you know what? There are still going to be mistakes. It's only the rare reader who will call those mistakes out. You know, the one who thinks she's perfect. Don't worry about her.

Embrace your faults and move on to write a better book. Because, shit happens.

--jhf

Write What You Fear

Twitter followers are great. Sometimes they come up with the best ideas and at other times they suggest things like this...

jessbarretttn @BookEndsJessica what's the one thing you're dying to write about but it scares the crap out of you? Write that. 2/11/15, 9:47 AM

At first I thought I should write what scares the crap out of me and I thought, "haven't I caused enough trouble on this blog?"

And then I thought she wanted me to write a post about how authors should write about what scares them.

And then I was back to me.

I'm not sure about you, but what scares the crap out of me most is writing something that brings too much negative attention. And I bet I'm not alone. It's funny, we write and we want to be read. In fact, we ideally want a lot of people to read us, to buy our books and to, essentially, pay us. But so often we restrict ourselves, and our writing, out of fear and it's that fear that holds us back.

I have always said that those books and authors that are the most successful are the ones who push the limits. They are the ones who stop being afraid of what the reviewers, editors, agents and readers might say or think and they write the book they think needs to be written. Even if doing so scares the crap out of them. 

What usually scares us when it comes to our writing isn't what we're writing about, but the response that writing will evoke. I get that. Boy do I get that. But I also think putting aside those fears can sometimes result in some of the best work you've done. Even if no one ever sees it.

--jhf

How to Slay a Gremlin

There’s a monster hiding under my desk.  He lurks there, waiting for the right moment to attack. He’s an ugly little bastard, too.  I have a lot of names for him, but for the sake of not overusing profanity in this blog, I’ll call him by his real name, Self-Doubt.  

Most of you might think that after two decades in the business, after hitting list that I only dreamed about hitting, I’d have managed to kill the gremlin.  But you’d be wrong.  That sneaky little devil won’t die.  He keeps popping back up. 

I think self doubt is something most writers face throughout their careers.  And by careers, I don’t mean from the point that you become a published author, I mean, from the point you start writing.  I think the inability to fight the gremlin is one of the biggest things that prevent a writer from becoming published.  And it’s probably one of the reasons published writers stop writing.  That’s right, this monster doesn’t care what you’ve accomplished.  All he wants is a big bite out of your confidence.

He’ll tell you that whatever you’ve got on that computer screen is crap.  That you just need to delete it. 

He’ll convince you that no matter how good of an idea you may have, it’s probably already been done.

He’ll whisper in your ear that you’re wasting your time, that cleaning out your grout in your kitchen tile with a toothbrush is much more important.  Sometimes he possesses your family and friends and they’ll say things like, “How long are you going to put yourself though all this pain before you find something else to do with your time?”  He’ll stare you right in the eyes and tell you that your dreams are silly and you’ll never reach them.  He’ll make you believe that the one negative review out of twenty good ones is the one you should listen to.  If you let him, he not only can slow you down, he’ll rob you of the joy and passion you feel for writing. 

Now, that gremlin is always close by, nipping at your toes, giving you moments of doubt.  I think that’s somewhat normal.  But let that creature scramble up your leg, hang out in your lap, or even worse, let him climb up on your shoulder, where you can listen to him all day long, and you’ll soon be playing Russian Roulette with your passion for writing.  Because writing with a self-doubt gremlin sitting on your shoulder is about as easy as brushing your teeth with a brownie in your mouth. 

So how do we slay the gremlin or at least keep him at bay?  Below are five tips for overcoming and preventing self-doubt from chewing on your sanity.

1. Be Aware or Peer Pressure.  

We preach this to our kids but so often we forget that the bad habits of the people we hang out with are as contagious as a stomach virus.  If you’re hanging out with negative people, people who have lost their ability to chase their dreams, you’re at risk of becoming just like them.  Find positive people who validate your dreams and work ethics to share your life and support your journey.

2. Ward off the message that you don’t know what you’re doing by continually growing at a writer.  Read how-to books, take classes, attend those writer meetings and listen to what other writers offer as advice.

3. Mentor someone else.  Nothing can inspire you more than helping and encouraging another person.  Telling others that they have to believe in themselves is a sure fire way or rekindling your own self-confidence.  It also creates karma.

4. Be leery of ruts.  If you’re not feeling the passion for your writing, try spicing things up by doing something different.  Try writing something in a new genre, or try writing something in a different point of view.  Nothing can get you out of a rut quicker than feeling challenged.

5. Accept that sometimes you are going to fail. That you’re going to make mistakes.  That you’re going to get rejections—that it might take you years to accomplish what you want to accomplish. Understand that you aren’t the first person to get fifty rejections, or a hundred, or even a thousand. The truth is, the number of rejections you receive doesn’t matter.  You are not defeated until you let yourself be defeated.

Writing isn’t for wimps.  Chances are, you’ll face those gremlins, not once but many times, so just be armed with good friends, knowledge, Karma, a sense of adventure, and perseverance.  And never, ever lose your sense of humor.  And now that I’ve shared with you my tips for slaying gremlins, I’d like to hear some of yours.  How do you tackle self doubt?

--Christie Craig, AKA, C.C. Hunter

Christie Craig, AKA, C.C. Hunter, author of the New York Times Bestselling Series, Shadow Falls, has had to slay a lot of gremlins on her climb up on the publishing ladder.  After selling her first book in 1993, she didn’t publish book two until 2006.  For thirteen years she listened to the monster tell her she wasn’t good enough—to give up.  She’s since published thirty books, and hit the New York Times and USA Today list with both her names.  
http://www.christie-craig.com
http://www.cchunterbooks.com

  

It's All About Pacing

A lifetime ago I ran the NYC marathon. I wasn't a runner, in fact I ran my first three miles just nine months before the race, but somewhere along the line I got it my head that I was going to conquer 26.2 miles. And I did. With no coaching beyond a book and only my dog for a trainer I went for it.

The one thing I struggled with throughout my training, and throughout the race, was my pacing. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't seem to find my sweet spot. I always started off too fast and petered out quickly. At times I could do nothing but walk and then I would launch into a sprint just before reaching a crowd of people (it was important to impress). At the end I was barely functioning and while most runners can finish that last 2-3 miles strong I was limping along, completely worn out and chanting, "slow and steady wins the race." The problem is that I could never master steady. Slow I was a champ at.

Pacing for a marathon is not that much different from pacing your book. Starting off too fast with too much action sends the reader shooting out of the gate, but keeping up that pace is almost impossible. At some point you need to slow things down, introduce characters and build a plot. At that point the reader is tired and confused. 

With too slow of a start you feel like you're constantly trying to catch up. You aren't making the times you wanted, but if you speed up to make up for lost time you're going to lose your pace and lose even more time in the end. The same with a book. If your pacing is too slow you lose the reader, you might try to catch up, but the reader at that point has already closed the book.

Pacing needs to be steady, sometimes you'll hit a hill and you'll have to push a little harder to get up or might speed up a little on the down, but overall you're building, slowly (but not too slowly) and steadily to that big crescendo at the end.

--jhf

How You Can Find Inspiration for New Book Ideas

I've always been an idea person. Even as a young editor I loved going to Barnes & Noble to pour over books and magazines and come up with my own ideas. I developed a cigar book, a beer book and a couple of different romance and mystery series ideas.

As an agent I continue to do the same. I'm always at the ready for an author who is having trouble thinking about what might be next or wants to take a germ of an idea and make it bigger. I've got a list of ideas and, in fact, just yesterday Jessica and I added three new romance ideas to that list. The trick is always finding the right author. The one with the perfect voice to match our vision.

Naturally, I'm often asked where I get my ideas and my answer is everywhere. I get them from magazine articles I read, blog posts, something I see on the train or even reviews of other books. In fact, sometimes the best ideas come from other books. No, I don't rip off another idea, but something really great can get me thinking about other things. For example, reading Wonder by RJ Palacio got me thinking about all sorts of other ideas. Ideas that I don't think I'm ready to share with the world until my author has run with them.

I'm not sure if it's just easy for me because I'm naturally an idea person, but if you feel stuck for what to do next sitting in front of your computer staring at the screen is not going to give you the idea. Get out there and explore. Read other books, read blogs, read nonfiction magazine articles. Go to a movie and, more importantly, read another genre or sub-genre. Some of the world's best ideas come from copying something else and making it your own. For example, could Gone Girl become a historical romance?

--jhf

Co-Authoring Agreements

In a recent email a writer asked for advice on finding a publishing lawyer. She and a friend have been in the process of writing a project that's under contract with a small publisher. Her concern is that the project is, in her words, "far from a normal co-authorship" and they've never had a formal contract between them.

First let me clarify that there is no such thing as a normal co-authorship. In fact, I'm always willing to tell you that there are few things in publishing, or life for that matter, that are "normal". How an arrangement is made between co-authors is many and varied. I've seen all sorts of things, and I've seen no actual real arrangement. It's the latter that scares me.

If you ever make the decision to enter into a co-authorship with anyone (friend, critique partner, lover, spouse, child...) my first bit of advice, before anything else is written, is that you write up some sort of contract. If you have an agent it's something your agent can help you with. If you don't, feel free to get a lawyer, or write up something yourself, but something you can both agree to. The agreement should include, among other things, how to handle due dates, the split of ownership of the property as well as money, what happens if one person wants to quit writing and what happens if one of the partners dies.

Writing a book together is a business arrangement from the start. When Jacky Sach and I first made the decision to start BookEnds we immediately met with business advisors and other agents for their advice. And we made a business plan and a partnership agreement. We wanted to know, should anything horrible happen, that we could not only protect ourselves, but protect our friendship. I think it worked. Fifteen years later and a dissolved partnership and we're still friends. Having things in writing from the beginning made it easier to know how things would end, without hurt feelings.

The tricky piece of this writer's email is that they probably have some of these terms defined. If they have a contract with the publisher the contract is in either one name or in both which would mean either one author owns the material and the rights (as defined by that publishing contract) or everything is split 50/50.

I hope this duo is able to firm up an agreement quickly. I hope that anyone else starting such an arrangement does the same immediately.

--jhf

Setting Boundaries

I was talking to an author recently who was complaining that she could never get anything done at home (in regards to her writing). She was telling me how if she goes to the library she can get a ton done in a very short time, but if she tries to write at home she's constantly pestered and bothered by someone needing something. Unfortunately, she can't necessarily commit to going to the library daily.

So being the kind and sympathetic person I am I told her that was her own fault.

Somewhere along the way she never set boundaries with those around her and with herself. She never made them see her writing as a job and a priority. In truth, she never treated it as a job and priority herself.

If you really want to get serious about your writing, to make it your job, then you need to treat every aspect of it that way. If you are lucky enough to find a place in your home that can serve as an office then make it that way. It means when you are in your office, the door is closed and you are at work. Unless there's blood and a 911 call involved no one can bother you. Not should bother you, they are not allowed to bother you.

When you first establish this rule it's going to be tough. It's likely your kids will bother you because they can't get the top off the milk or your husband will need help remembering his Facebook password or the dog will need to go out. Again. If you help them, they'll keep coming. If you adamantly state that you're working and they will have to wait until you're done they will eventually get the picture. Better yet, don't respond. You are in your office, you can't hear them. You've stated the guidelines so ignoring is probably the best response. It will take some adjusting for everyone, but once those boundaries are set you will be able to get writing done.

One of the things I also mentioned to this author is for this to really work she also needs to respect the boundaries of her family and others around her. In other words, if she has established "office hours" than she needs to respect the time that are "unoffice hours". In other words, that means if you're ignoring everyone while you're in the office, then you need to pay attention to them when you're not. It means you can't decide that today you're going to work at the dining room table, with everyone running around, and get annoyed when they are asking for a glass of water or the wireless login information. You need to need to take that time to be present. It will make it a heck of a lot easier when you ask them to leave you alone.

--jhf

Cozy Mysteries v. Traditional Mysteries v. Amateur Sleuths

Recently the Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime asked me to participate in an interview for their newsletter. The question they asked me, and a few other agents was: 

Is there, in your opinion and the publishing world in general, a substantive difference between cozy, traditional, and amateur sleuth mysteries? If so, what are the defining features of each of these categories?

Since my answer ran a bit long I thought I would share it with my blog readers in full.

Just as your readers have not found this to be an easy question to answer neither do I. One of the reasons, for me, is that I tend not to try to lump all cozies together in a neat little box. I do think there can easily be a simplicity and formula to a cozy, but I find that the most successful cozy authors, as with the most successful authors in any genre, tend to push those boundaries a little bit.
I think cozy mysteries can best be defined by the word used to describe them. They are cozy and everything that word conjures in your mind. Think of warm tea, comfy chairs, cuddly pets, a soft newly knitted blanket and warm, freshly baked pastries. That’s a cozy. When you read one you feel like you’re being embraced by a world you want to be in. You’ve found new friends and maybe a protagonist who inspires you or who could easily be your best friend. A cozy is almost always (there’s always an exception to any rule) an amateur sleuth, but an amateur sleuth isn’t always cozy.For example, Jane Steward, the protagonist in Ellery Adam’s Book Retreat Mystery Murder in the Mystery Suite is just one perfect example of a cozy sleuth. She’s the manager of a storybook resort where readers can spend days in the comfort of books (see how cozy this is). Jane is not typically the kind of person to get into trouble, but she does love a good mystery and when one shows up at her door she’s just nosy enough to need to investigate. The book itself doesn’t move too fast, there tends not to be a lot of blood, usually no more than one body, and no matter how much trouble the sleuth gets in to, the reader never has reason to really be afraid or even feel the need to sit on the edge of her seat.Julia Kalas, the unconventional heroine of Minerva Koenig’s NINE DAYS, is an amateur sleuth, but as she’s described by Booklist as a “five-foot Sherman tank of criminal intentions,” we can see she’s definitely not cozy. She’s a rough and tough construction worker/career criminal who is short, fat, pushing forty, and stoically dealing with being forced into the witness protection program after her husband’s murder by gang members.  Her new life in a small Texas town bores her (while it would probably comfort a cozy sleuth) but when someone she’s come to care about is accused of a murder, Julia decides to find the real killer (the hallmark of any good amateur sleuth). Traditional mysteries probably have the broadest definition. They can be amateur sleuths or official investigators, they can be a little darker or light and funny. What they aren’t is suspense or cozy. They tend to fall somewhere in between. Typically an amateur sleuth who is not cozy will fall into the area of traditional mystery. Most publishers would just identify this type of book as just mystery. The Minerva Koenig example I gave would fall into that area. So would DE Johnson’s The Detroit Electric Scheme, a book (series really) that features an amateur sleuth, but has more action and twists and turns than your cozy and, of course, the subject matter itself is not at all cozy. In a traditional mystery you’ll also see a faster pace and maybe a little more blood and guts, but nothing that would compare to what a suspense might offer.

--jhf

A Tip on Revisions

I do a lot of revisions with my authors. Not necessarily a lot with every author, but before sending out a proposal or submission of any kind I want to make sure it's the strongest it can be and that will often mean revisions.

A quick tip to any author doing revisions. Keep track changes on. This is especially helpful in remembering what I wanted the author to do, but if we're getting to the end and doing more line editing than revisions it can make my response time faster. Sometimes, if we've gone a couple of rounds, I don't need to read the entire book again, but can skim for just those pieces that need to be strengthened.

In my mind it isn't until we submit that we need to turn those off.

--jhf

The Synopsis: The Final Word (at least for this week)

Unintentionally we had a week devoted to the synopsis, two of the posts came organically from your comments. I love that.

I had no plan to do a Friday post on the synopsis until I saw this comment from yesterday:

This actually exemplifies for me *exactly* why synopsis-writing is frustrating. Not only is there a very wide range of quantity requested ("three to five paragraphs" or "one page" or "three pages" and so on), but there are a number of agents I've queried who in fact specify that all characters *must* be mentioned. I know this is a sure way to clunk-ifying a synopsis. And mine is clunked, because I've seen more guidelines instructing the inclusion of characters than not. Like a lot of neurotic pre-published authors - I obey like a spanked puppy.

Then there is the reworking of the clunker for almost every single query, because of all those varying particulars in submission guidelines. It's a bit like the Biblical genealogies; "who really reads The Begats?" But The Begats are canon.
Unless they're not! 

I think this comment illustrates the feeling most writers have about submitting in general. There are too many rules, too many different requests and when a writer tries to please everyone she comes up with a clunky mess.

My one suggestion to this is write the synopsis that works, that shines and that tells your story in your voice. Forget everyone's peccadilloes and do what works for your book. I'm pretty sure Melissa Cutler never rewrote that synopsis to please a different agent or a different editor. She wrote one synopsis, submitted her project and published her book. Done.

One paragraph or three to five paragraphs is not a synopsis. That's your summary for your query. If someone asks for that you should have it when you wrote the query. So that's easy. As for other preferred page lengths, no one is going to reject your book because your synopsis is longer than a page or longer than two pages. No one. Write a solid three-page synopsis, give or take a page, and you have all you'll need for every submission.

--jhf

Synopsis Tips from an Expert

The majority of my clients view writing a synopsis as a necessary evil.  They don’t like writing them, but they know they have to.  There are one or two who might give away their firstborn children if it meant getting out of writing a synopsis, but there actually is a handful that seem to like writing them.  Then there’s Melissa Cutler. She does workshops on how to write a synopsis and openly declares her love of writing them.  And, I gotta tell you, her love shines through in the synopses she writes.  They’re vibrant and entertaining and they not only maintain the reader’s interest, they make the reader want more.

Melissa was kind enough to share with us her top tips for synopsis writing as well as the synopsis for her most recent release, The Mistletoe Effect, so you can see how a great synopsis is done.  If you’re as inspired to read more as Melissa’s St. Martin’s editor and I were, I’m including some handy-dandy buy links at the end of the post.  I hope you enjoy!

-Jessica Alvarez

Melissa's Top Tips for Synopsis Writing1. Don't include any secondary characters' names if you can help it.2. Don't include backstory in the first few paragraphs.3. Write the synopsis in the same hook-heavy language and tone as a back cover blurb--in your written voice--because that's what your proposal is actually selling: a hook, the tone, and your voice.4. Contrary to what editors and agents say they want, don't "just tell me what the book is about". Only use plot points and backstory as supporting details to explain characters' emotional arcs. This means you're not utilizing very much plot. 

The Mistletoe Effect: Synopsis

Melissa Cutler

Anyone who thinks shotgun weddings disappeared along with the rest of San Antonio’s Wild West history has never stood in Carina Briscoe’s boots. But there she is with a bouquet in hand, in front of a crowd of hundreds, standing next to the bad boy she’s crushed on since her awkward teenage, and all because her overbearing family insists the show must go on after Carina’s sister and her fiancé call it quits and flee the altar.

After years of fighting for their hotel’s success in the competitive market of destination weddings, the Briscoe family is banking on the publicity surrounding their month-long fiftieth anniversary celebration of the hotel’s Mistletoe Effect—a perfect record of divorce-free marriages during the month of December—to secure a coveted spot in Wedding World magazine’s annual “Best of the Best” issue. But when Carina’s superstitious and not-quite-all-there granny decries that if a wedding doesn’t happen, then the Mistletoe Effect will be jinxed, the rest of the family springs into action. They’re determined that nothing, not even a bride and groom’s imploding relationship, will interfere with their company’s future.

Carina has never been good about standing up to her family, and with them making her feel like the fate of the business rests in her hands, she doesn’t see any choice but to agree to the charade. She comforts herself with the fact that it’s only an act, not a real wedding on paper. And besides, maybe playing along will help smooth things out if and when she finally gets the courage to tell her family about her dream to quit her job at the resort and strike out on her own.

Stable manager James Decker doesn’t know much about weddings, but he does know that Best Man duties definitely do not include standing in for the groom—even if said Best Man harbors a secret soft spot for the Maid of Honor, who also happens to be his boss’s daughter. But one look at the panicked expression in Carina’s big brown eyes as her family tries to fake-marry her off to any willing male with a pulse, and he’s powerless to refuse.

Playing bride and groom with Decker at the lavish reception that follows is way more fun than Carina expected. How could she not enjoy a night of dancing and laughing with the sexy cowboy-in-residence whom she’d never wound up the courage to flirt with, much less get her hands on? But when their harmless evening of jinx prevention ends with a scorching, sleepless night in the honeymoon suite, Carina knows she’s in way over her head.

For years, she’s dreamt of putting some breathing room between herself and her family by quitting the family business and leaving the resort to live on her own in the city, but as holiday festivities celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the Mistletoe Effect go into full swing, she and Decker find themselves swept into even more jinx prevention duties…and sheet-sizzling, sleepless nights.

Haunted by a bad boy past that won’t let him go, Decker has poured years of blood and sweat into building a career-launching resume. Briscoe Ranch Resort was supposed to be a stepping stone to bigger and brighter plans, but embarking on a torrid affair with the daughter of his hotel baron boss just might ruin everything. The trouble is, he can’t keep his hands or his heart away from Carina no matter how much he fights it.

Carina had no idea that falling hard for a cowboy would be just the ticket to bring her out of her shell. She’s never felt so free or strong as when she’s in Decker’s arms or stealing secret kisses from him in the stable, despite daily dealings with her pushy father, her superstitious granny, and the Texas-sized list of duties she has at the resort as Christmas marches closer. Decker brings out the best in her, and before long, she has enough courage to stand up to her pushy family and pursue her own neglected dreams.

Decker started out in his fake marriage with the goal of helping Carina gain the courage to pursue her dream career, just as he was pursuing his, but he never could have imagined that he’d fall in love with her in the process—or that the pursuit of her dreams would be the one thing that would end their relationship after she receives a life-changing career opportunity thousands of miles away from the dream job Decker is all set to start after the holidays. He refuses to be one more person in her life holding her back, and so he doesn’t see any choice but to let her go.

He quits his job at the resort and she quits hers, both determined to support the other’s dreams by letting them go so they can spread their wings and fly. The problem is, as soon as Decker quits, he realizes that his dream has changed. A life with the woman he loves is more important than a career, so he decides to follow Carina to California and turns down his new job. Little does he know that Carina has reached the same conclusion, and has turned down her new job in order to follow Decker. After all, what good is a dream career if you can’t share it with the person you love?

Decker and Carina’s final jinx prevention duty is at the resort’s annual Christmas Eve vow renewal ceremony being held for fifty-years’-worth of couples who’d had December weddings at the resort. Decker comes armed with an engagement ring and a plan for the woman he has fallen head-over-boot heels in love with. But he’s not the only one with a plan up his sleeve to keep the couple together. With a little bit of Christmas magic and a surprise proposal from Carina’s family to bankroll both of Carina and Decker’s dream careers at the resort, this cowboy and his lady love prove that there might just be some truth to the Mistletoe Effect after all…

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1sjmBZ4

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/T4FYVx

iTunes: http://bit.ly/T4GQtn

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1vCbMzk

Google Play: http://bit.ly/1sHStH7