Attention please... what happens when the writing is done

This is a first for me. Querying. This is what authors do when they want to submit their work to an agent or a publisher. Sound simple? It's not.

First one must draft a query letter. This should include a concise overview of your work (if your work is fiction, for non-fiction a proposal is accepted) that is short and sweet. Much like a movie trailer. Your novel may be 65,000 words but what it really says needs to be condensed in a paragraph, two at most, that will hook the interest and attention of the recipient. Wow.

About the recipient. If you've done your research he/she or it (publishing house, not creature from another planet) belongs to AAR, Association of Author Representatives. If they do they have been vetted, they are legitimate, they are not shysters who ask you to pay them money, steal your work, then make a mint signing a big fat book contract for your hard work! This research can be done online by going to the official AAR website, or by the old fashioned way -- through books such as Writer's Marketplace. You'll want to research several of those hes, shes or its since unless you've written the next Pulitzer Prize winner, your work is going to be sent off to more than one. Here's where technology comes in handy. Less and less folks require hard copy, so you won't be paying a fortune in postage sending out packets of printed material. In most cases, but not all (another area in which to pay strict attention) email will do.

Back to the query letter. Pay attention to what the recipient is looking for. Don't pitch your children's book to a publishing house that looks for poetry and poetry only. Don't pitch your non-fiction piece to an agent who only handles Young Adult fiction. If you've written a straight romance don't pitch to erotica. And for goodness sakes if you've written erotica don't pitch to Christian Lit. Please. You're wasting your time and theirs. Simply put, know what genre, or sub-genre your work fits in, lay a good foundation by investigating who or where your work will ultimately land, then add those bits of personal information to the query. Definitely include your body of work, any awards you've received, past publication, if any, and writers groups, associations, etc. you belong to. Be honest. Then polish it, polish it, polish it and send it off with a measure of cautious optimism.

What next? We wait.

I've known some authors who've received requests for a full manuscript within a couple weeks. Others who receive a polite "no thank you" with personal notes. And then there is the dreaded standard rejection which gives you no clue as to why your work is not wanted, leaving you to draw your own conclusion. One that may not be pretty. Or necessarily true.

I have the utmost respect for writers who have submitted work, received a rejection, and keep plugging away until they find someone who wants their book. It may take years. Did you know that Stephanie Meyer, who penned the Twilight series that spun off into merchandise and movies, was rejected 11 times before she found a publisher willing to take her on? Perseverance pays.

While I await responses, if any, to my queries I've got several ideas floating in my head, on paper and on my computer and flash drive (back up is important). Waiting.

Hopefully I've paid close enough attention and my research will pay off. Wish me luck, huh?

The reader is the thing

By Karen Dums

At a recent meeting Guild member Linda brought her friend Cathy as a guest and possible new member, though Cathy avows she is not a writer. (We'll have to take her word until she decides to share with us otherwise). An avid reader, Cathy listened with interest as Guild member Allie shared some of her novel-in-progress. Not only did she listen, she shared her insights.

In after-meeting conversation Cathy claimed she'd brought nothing to the table. Seriously?

As writers we often get caught up in our own heads. The story is so familiar to us; we tell it as we want it to be told. That can be wonderful of course, but one thing we might forget as writer's is who we're writing for. (And here's a clue: it's not the person holding the pen or with his/her fingers poised above the keyboard). It's the reader of course. We are taking them on a voyage of discovery. A voyage that we should be sharing with them. If we take them to the mountain top too quickly they're liable to become oxygen starved and give up the climb. If we take them to the ocean depths too soon they're liable to get the "bends" and that's never good. A boring book is less deadly than a pulmonary embolism, but do you understand my point? We may have our story, total and complete, however rough and as yet unedited, in our heads. But we must remember to "make" those discoveries along with our audience -- not too much so that our work is utterly predictable; not so little that it cannot hold anyone's interest unless they have the attention span of a gnat.

This is a fine and sometimes difficult balance keep. As writers we must, at all times, keep our audience first and foremost in mind.

All authors are writing for someone. That is why in writer's groups readers are such a valuable asset. With diverse backgrounds, tastes, gifts, interests we can give a relatively well-rounded critique of any written work. Are any of us experts? Not really. But we know what we like. Are all that sea of as yet faceless readers out there in book buying land experts? No as well. But they too know what they like.

I once read an article concerning a writer who created her own "reader". She gave her ideal reader a name, an occupation, a family, a hometown, a house, likes and dislikes. Our group used this as a writing exercise. We created our own ideal reader. It might sound like a no-brainer. If my target audience is high school age boys I'm probably not going to hook them with the marital problems of a middle-aged couple. But if my target is a 52 year old woman named Edna, who lives in a small farming community in rural Indiana, has children now grown and gone and a workaholic husband named Clyde, that book about the marital problems of a middle-aged couple might just be it. Keep an eye on that target. Remember who you're writing for. Imagine Edna or Joe or Brittany or Jordan intently turning the pages of your book, smiling all the while.

And if someone is reading your work prior to submission give them a big thank you. Bottom line. The reader IS the thing.