When I explained to a non-writer friend what my agent did, he said, “So he takes your book, shows it to the people who are actually going to publish it, and takes a cut of the money you make. Sounds parasitic.” When you’ve just started looking for an agent (and received many rejections), it can feel like they’re all against you, but literary agents do a lot more than just siphon that pound of flesh off your work. They actually perform a lot of work, and they take a big risk when working with an author with an unproven track record. As an author who used to work at a literary agency, I can say that the agent-author relationship is completely symbiotic. The Finances Most literary agents are not rolling in money. Some make a comfortable living, but, unless an agent has managed to grow a list of best-selling authors, they don’t make much. In fact, other than the partners, an agent needs to bring in double their salary (usually around $30,000-$42,000 a year) before they start to make any of the royalties their books make, before that, all royalties go back to the agency. Remember, most agents still live More
1000 Fans
/ 2021-09-10The Web abounds with writers who ponder how to develop that proverbial network that’s supposed to represent their 1,000 true fans…those fans who are supposed to make serious growth possible. Those fans who want anything we have to offer, and tell others about it. It’s a 2007 concept developed by a man named Kevin Kelly, co-founder of Wired magazine. Some say it no longer applies with so much more social media available. Others say it matters more than ever. I’m in the latter category. In case you are not familiar with the concept, read these articles. https://elitecontentmarketer.com/1000-true-fans/ https://enlightenedowl.com/1000-true-fans/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wlg3808gDic https://a16z.com/2020/02/06/100-true-fans/ https://selfpublishingadvice.org/true-fans-podcast/ But writers fail to build these fans. Either they are blind to the opportunities when they present themselves, or they profess they have no time. In either case, they set themselves up to fail. And when they need those fans the most, they fuss about not having them. I know you have limited time. Every other person on the planet has limited time. The successful manage their time more efficiently. So it’s on you, my friend. That is, assuming you seriously want to be a writer. So . . . to earn those true-blue 1,000 fans, you need to: More
Wayne’s Extra Rich Chocolate Cake
/ 2021-08-27Wayne’s Extra Rich Chocolate Cake 2 cups AP flour 2 cups sugar ¾ tsp baking soda ½ tsp salt ½ tsp cinnamon 1 cup water ½ cup vegetable oil ¼ cup butter 3 Tbsp cocoa 2 large eggs ½ cup buttermilk 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract ¼ cup strong brewed coffee Stir first 5 ingredients to make flour mixture. Bring 1 cup water and next 3 ingredients to a boil. Add to the flour mixture and beat at medium speed until smooth. Beat eggs and next 3 ingredients on medium speed just until blended. Stir in flour mixture. Pour into greased and floured 10×15 jellyroll pan (remember, this is a sheet cake). Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan, on rack, for 10 minutes. Spread chocolate frosting over warm cake. Cool completely on rack. (Pecans sprinkled on top is optional.) Chocolate Frosting (makes 3 cups) ½ cup butter 3 Tbsp cocoa 1 lb confectioners sugar 6 Tbsp milk 1 ½ tsp vanilla ¼ tsp salt Melt butter with cocoa over low heat. Remove. Stir in sugar and remaining ingredients until smooth. No need to cool to put on sheet cake.
Submitting Your Creative Nonfiction Writing
/ 2021-08-13Ten years ago, I would have told you to review Cliff Garstang’s ranking of literary magazines for nonfiction and begin by submitting to the best. I did that for many years, dutifully submitting my short memoirs and personal essays to a prioritized list of literary magazines, with limited success. Thankfully, I eventually realized there was a better way to get published: Determine the subject you are writing about and look for openings at publications covering that subject. For example I wrote several personal essays about the challenges of being a mother, none of which I had been able to publish. Then I stumbled upon a call for submissions from Kveller, the leading Jewish parenting site. They sought content for the local editions they were launching in various cities, among them my hometown of Chicago. I figured I should be able to package my own experience in a way that would meet their needs. My first article for them was “How My Kids and I Celebrate Tu BiShvat in Chicago.” I have since written several first-person essays for them, all with the angle of life as a Jewish parent. Target mainstream publications, such as local newspapers, national or local magazines. They More
Reading Others While You’re Writing Yours
/ 2021-08-13“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” — Stephen King A friend recently said she cannot read someone else’s book when she is writing. Jokingly, I asked her if she could walk and chew gum at the same time. . . two different sets of muscles. Reading and writing are two totally dissimilar tasks, and frankly, one should aid the other. You may think that your writing is just yours, on this lone little path, with no need for outside influence. As a matter of fact, you may feel outside influence will hurt your story, or make you stray from your thoughts. Who says your thoughts are all on target? Or, more, who says your story isn’t in need of improvement? Who says the book you are reading can’t more clearly define what you are trying to say in Chapter 13? Why can’t one character’s reaction spin your thoughts into a better direction for your own character? Author Christopher Booker wrote a well-known book titled The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories. Georges Polti authored The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations, to categorize every dramatic situation that might occur in More
How to Produce a Kick-ass Book Trailer for under $20
/ 2021-08-07A whopping 72 percent of people prefer video over text when learning about a product or service. Video captures a higher degree of attention and more engagement than other forms of content, so it’s no surprise that book trailers are the hot new marketing tool for authors. Here are the top reasons publishers are investing in book trailers: 1. To create intrigue and initial buzz, 2. To provide a tool for fans to post on social media or even embed in their own blogs, 3. To generate ancillary content and promotion on eRetailer sites, 4. To introduce prospective readers to the book in a non-traditional way. As a debut indie author, I could barely keep up with social media posts, guest blog posts, Amazon ad campaigns, press releases, and podcast interviews, not to mention squeezing time in for future projects. A quick search confirmed my suspicions that hiring a professional to make a book trailer was prohibitively expensive. So, I shelved the idea of creating a book trailer for my historical fiction L’Origine: The Secret Life of the World’s Most Erotic Masterpiece. Besides, books are all about the written word, right? Wrong. I began to notice that more and more book More
Discounting the Word NO
/ 2021-08-07What really matters is what you do with what you have. ~ H. G. Wells As a writer, you will hear the word no. Or at least some of its cousins, like, “not interested,” “cannot use this at this time,” or “this is not for us.” That’s expected. Here is where writers have a crossroad decision to make. My advice is this: Do NOT let a single, solitary excuse fall out of your mouth. NO is part of this game, people. And the more NOs you receive, the more defined a direction you can make. NOs are just as good as YESses. FundsforWriters receives articles queries daily. Most are rejected. Most are rejected for the following reasons: 1) Word count is wrong. 2) Topic isn’t anywhere on the FFW radar. 3) No bio, no website, no link to the writer. 4) Plagiarism. (Yes, it’s common. Yes, I check.) 5) No takeaway value for the reader (it’s more about the writer and their feelings). But one rejection that most submitters don’t see coming is when they emphasize the negative of writing. “How to cope with rejection.” “How to get past the negativity of nasty agents and editors.” “How to cope with writer’s block.” More
Can I Write About Parenting When I Don’t Have Kids?
/ 2021-08-07A friend recently emailed a link to an essay that he had published in Motherwell, an online parenting magazine. The essay was about an old dish and how it got passed down through the family and repurposed over the years. I could write something like that, I thought, but shoot, Motherwell is for parents, and I am not a parent. But wait a minute. The guidelines state, “Motherwell is a publication that tells all sides of the parenting story.” They list a number of topics for which they’re currently seeking articles or essays. Even though I don’t have kids, I found many of them intriguing. And doesn’t “all sides of the parenting story” imply that I can come at it from a non-mother point of view? Hundreds of publications aimed at parents offer a big paying market for writers. National, regional, Christian, special needs kids, special interests. Are we barred from writing for them if we’re not parents? We are not. Writers can write about anything as long as they can gather the necessary material by interviewing the right people and asking the right questions. Maybe we don’t have our own children to write about, but we can certainly weave someone else’s experiences More
We Are All Busy
/ 2021-08-07Why is it we worry about whether we think other people think we are busy? If someone asks what we’ve been doing, we have to make sure it sounds terribly busy. Too-much-to-do-in-a-day-type busy. We feel we have to sound like we’ve been too busy to write, or that we’ve been hard at it, just not published yet. A nonwriter usually thinks of writing as synonymous with publishing, and we feel inclined to make it sound like we sweat feverishly over a keyboard 20 hours a day with publishing right around the corner. Everyone who wants to be busy is busy. But are they productive? Busy is doing, one minute to the next. Productive, however, is strategic. And productive means you reached a goal, producing something of value. Do not confuse being busy with being productive. In many cases, the former interferes with the latter. “A writer writes. Always.” – Billy Crystal in Throw Momma from the Train That is the first mantra. Once you develop that habit, then you decide what’s considered productive. Polishing a Harper-Lee-type, once-in-a-lifetime novel is perfectly fine, as long as that is your goal. Some work on the same novel because they are afraid of doing anything More
Success as a Disability Writer
/ 2021-07-17Successful authors seem born to write. Masked by the ability to put words on paper, (or on screen) it seems these authors have never struggled at all. But in fact, many writers have a disability. Sometimes it’s even the reason they write. According to online blog Mental Up, people like George Bernard Shaw and Jules Verne, are said to have had ADHD. I have been formally diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. I struggle with concentration, readability of text and sticking to one theme. Others have written about disability equipment that aids the writing process. Similarly, I use various avenues for my own more neuro-oriented disabilities. Places and mediums for writing When I started to write, I even had to grapple with the concept of where to write. Writers are often told that certain environments are conducive to creativity. Forget that. “22 Places to Write When You’re Tired of Working at Home” outlines how to diversify workspaces, especially where they become stale. For those with disabilities, unusual environments are even necessary to creativity. As I need stimulating, dynamic environments to maintain my attention, I work productively amidst the bustling cacophony of cafes or outside amidst the trees. The throb of life seems to resonate with me. I More