I am very pleased to announce that my SF Western novella - "Brass Stars" - has been accepted for publication by Eggplant Literary Productions.
I cannot tell you how pleased I am about this. This dark SF Western has been a pet project of mine for several years and I'm thrilled that it's found a wonderful home.
Currently it's scheduled for release in November; exact date to follow when we get closer to the... actual day.
Monday, September 16, 2013
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Tools for Selling Your Novel: The Query Letter
Query letters are like the Gorgon of the writing world. Unpublished and experienced authors alike get all wobbly at the knees when they hear the words "query letter".
I understand the stress. The query is the thing that will (hopefully) entice an agent to look at your pages. The query is the bait around the sharp hook of your manuscript; that tasty morsel that makes the agent (or editor) say "I want more." It seems like an impossible task to write a one page anything that will accomplish that. Especially when you start thinking about all the other query letters the agent sees every day. Yours has to stand out, not just among a few letters but a few dozen or hundred!
First, take a deep breath. Writing a query letter is not an easy thing, but it's not as hard as most of us have been led to believe.
Second, one of the best ways to get an idea of how to put a query together is to look at some existing ones. Query Shark is a great place to see various queries - some that work and many that don't - dissected by a Real Life Agent in order to illustrate What Works and What Doesn't. If you want to take the time to join the Absolute Write Water Cooler they have a forum called "Query Letter Hell" that is for the revision and refinement of queries. (There are also a couple of threads about How to Write a Query Letter and Successful Query Letters, if you're still in the research phase of your query mission.)
I have a caveat here: I have not found the advice given on my early query attempts though QLH to be especially useful. But many people have found the feedback and insight there to be invaluable. So, it obviously works for some, but don't be distressed if it doesn't seem to be working for you.
I DID find it useful to look through the successful queries to see what sorts of things they said, how they structured their letters. (And really the answer there is: all sorts of things and many different ways.)
I also found it very useful to start with a logline and then expand that to produce the bulk of my query.
Here was my three sentence logline: Magic-handler Keira Fennel's search for her father intersects with shape-shifter Lowen McCrae's hunt for a murderer in the alleys of 1888 London. When they uncover a plot to construct a mechanical heart from stolen flesh, Keira's skill with gears and magic makes her the target of the otherworldly villain. She's forced to participate in the experiment or lose both Lowen and her father.
(And let me just stop to say that I've a short version of the query letter that uses just these three sentences + the genre/length of the book and my personal info/credits. Although there are agents who apparently dislike loglines, this shorter letter has produced the same percentage of initially positive results as the longer letter.)
I understand the stress. The query is the thing that will (hopefully) entice an agent to look at your pages. The query is the bait around the sharp hook of your manuscript; that tasty morsel that makes the agent (or editor) say "I want more." It seems like an impossible task to write a one page anything that will accomplish that. Especially when you start thinking about all the other query letters the agent sees every day. Yours has to stand out, not just among a few letters but a few dozen or hundred!
First, take a deep breath. Writing a query letter is not an easy thing, but it's not as hard as most of us have been led to believe.
Second, one of the best ways to get an idea of how to put a query together is to look at some existing ones. Query Shark is a great place to see various queries - some that work and many that don't - dissected by a Real Life Agent in order to illustrate What Works and What Doesn't. If you want to take the time to join the Absolute Write Water Cooler they have a forum called "Query Letter Hell" that is for the revision and refinement of queries. (There are also a couple of threads about How to Write a Query Letter and Successful Query Letters, if you're still in the research phase of your query mission.)
I have a caveat here: I have not found the advice given on my early query attempts though QLH to be especially useful. But many people have found the feedback and insight there to be invaluable. So, it obviously works for some, but don't be distressed if it doesn't seem to be working for you.
I DID find it useful to look through the successful queries to see what sorts of things they said, how they structured their letters. (And really the answer there is: all sorts of things and many different ways.)
I also found it very useful to start with a logline and then expand that to produce the bulk of my query.
Here was my three sentence logline: Magic-handler Keira Fennel's search for her father intersects with shape-shifter Lowen McCrae's hunt for a murderer in the alleys of 1888 London. When they uncover a plot to construct a mechanical heart from stolen flesh, Keira's skill with gears and magic makes her the target of the otherworldly villain. She's forced to participate in the experiment or lose both Lowen and her father.
(And let me just stop to say that I've a short version of the query letter that uses just these three sentences + the genre/length of the book and my personal info/credits. Although there are agents who apparently dislike loglines, this shorter letter has produced the same percentage of initially positive results as the longer letter.)
I expanded it to this: Nineteen-year-old magic-handler KEIRA
FENNEL is painfully aware she has outgrown the magic school at
Ballaghaddereen Abbey, but her father – absent in every way but his
continued fear for her safety – is not ready to let her loose in
Fey-shy Britain. When Keira learns Da is lost and injured, she seizes
the opportunity to prove she no longer needs to be protected.
Her quest to find and rescue her father intersects with shape-shifter LOWEN MCCRAE's hunt for a serial murderer stalking the alleys of 1888 London. At first they are allies out of necessity, but a friendship soon forms and Lowen's search for the man who murdered his ex-wife becomes a mission to protect Keira. The bond is deepened when Keira reveals her Immortal second-nature in order to save Lowen and he accepts her strangeness without judgment.
As they uncover a conspiracy to construct a mechanical heart, the parts distilled from stolen flesh, Keira's skill with gears and magic makes her the target of the otherworldly MONSIEUR DEVEREAUX and his cohorts. Keira must choose between cooperating with Devereaux or losing both Lowen and her father.
Her quest to find and rescue her father intersects with shape-shifter LOWEN MCCRAE's hunt for a serial murderer stalking the alleys of 1888 London. At first they are allies out of necessity, but a friendship soon forms and Lowen's search for the man who murdered his ex-wife becomes a mission to protect Keira. The bond is deepened when Keira reveals her Immortal second-nature in order to save Lowen and he accepts her strangeness without judgment.
As they uncover a conspiracy to construct a mechanical heart, the parts distilled from stolen flesh, Keira's skill with gears and magic makes her the target of the otherworldly MONSIEUR DEVEREAUX and his cohorts. Keira must choose between cooperating with Devereaux or losing both Lowen and her father.
Of course, the big question is always "But did it work?". I've had a 1 in 10 request rate off my queries. Which is at the low end of the spectrum but perfectly acceptable. (I know, I'd be giddy if I'd gotten a higher request rate on this, but I've had some really wonderful people ask to look at this so I'm satisfied.)
The longer version is great for querying folks who want only a query to start off with. If they ask for a synopsis as part of the query package, I've been using the short query letter. Because I'm a writer who likes to be succinct whenever possible.
But whether I'm using the long version or the short version, both letters have the following: a summary of the book (with the intent of showing the uniquenesses of the plot), the basic info on the book (genre, word count, with series potential, complete), a paragraph about my writing credits, and a brief paragraph stating that I am querying multiple agents, I look forward to hearing back, and whether or not I've included sample pages, etc.
Why am I telling you all this in detail?
Because writing a query letter is not easy, but it's not rocket science. In fact, that longer query letter was written in one thirty minute stint last fall. (After I'd spent a month working on the logline, of course.) It has remained virtually unchanged since then.
So stop stressing.
Write a logline (or nine) and find the heart of your story.
Then write a query expanding the logline.
Finally, go forth and query.
Your agent is waiting.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
#PitMad - September 12, 2013
So. The Twitter party for PitchMadness (#PitMad) is coming on September 12th. Which is two days away! If you haven't considered participating, there's still plenty of time to get a pitch or two ready and jump into the fray.
There are a few things to remember if you want to participate.
1. You must be pitching a COMPLETED and POLISHED manuscript. Not that any of us will be able to tell, but if you get requests and send in something rough and awkward or have to say "Just wait another month and I'll be through with the rough draft/revisions/etc" you're only making yourself look like an amateur.
2. Pitches must be 140 characters or less and need to contain the hashtag #PitMad. It's even better if you can fit a genre/category hashtag in there (#YA #SpecFic #UF #whatever) as it saves the agents/editors time when they're browsing the feed. (Some pitches will obviously be Adult or Young Adult, but some are more ambiguous. If you don't want agents frustrated trying to guess whether your fairytale retelling is meant for adults or kids, use a category hashtag.)
3. It never hurts to have multiple pitches ready to go. This gives you more chances to pitch (Twitter will not allow you to tweet the exact same thing more than once so be prepared to move hashtags and small words around) and gives agents different looks at your work. A good approach is to have a pitch that covers the general plot, and then one or two that bring up the secondary plot or focus more tightly on one of the characters.
4. Do your best to write a pitch that reflects your book accurately. I once got a request from an agent who then rejected the expanded query because she didn't like steampunk. Which is fair enough and I should have been more specific in my pitching to make that clear.
5. During #PitMad try and show some restraint. It's easy to keep tweeting every couple of minutes but that only clogs the feed and, well, makes you look a little desperate. My approach is to try and tweet every half hour or so. (I'm pitching two different projects so I can put up a different pitch every quarter hour to 30 minutes depending on whether there are agents actively looking.)
6. Have fun. Pitching can be stressful, there's no better way to start second-guessing yourself than to see other pitches and try and compare them to yours. But the best thing you can do is be prepared and have fun. (Those other authors are probably looking at your pitches with envy too. That's insecurity for you.)
There are a few things to remember if you want to participate.
1. You must be pitching a COMPLETED and POLISHED manuscript. Not that any of us will be able to tell, but if you get requests and send in something rough and awkward or have to say "Just wait another month and I'll be through with the rough draft/revisions/etc" you're only making yourself look like an amateur.
2. Pitches must be 140 characters or less and need to contain the hashtag #PitMad. It's even better if you can fit a genre/category hashtag in there (#YA #SpecFic #UF #whatever) as it saves the agents/editors time when they're browsing the feed. (Some pitches will obviously be Adult or Young Adult, but some are more ambiguous. If you don't want agents frustrated trying to guess whether your fairytale retelling is meant for adults or kids, use a category hashtag.)
3. It never hurts to have multiple pitches ready to go. This gives you more chances to pitch (Twitter will not allow you to tweet the exact same thing more than once so be prepared to move hashtags and small words around) and gives agents different looks at your work. A good approach is to have a pitch that covers the general plot, and then one or two that bring up the secondary plot or focus more tightly on one of the characters.
4. Do your best to write a pitch that reflects your book accurately. I once got a request from an agent who then rejected the expanded query because she didn't like steampunk. Which is fair enough and I should have been more specific in my pitching to make that clear.
5. During #PitMad try and show some restraint. It's easy to keep tweeting every couple of minutes but that only clogs the feed and, well, makes you look a little desperate. My approach is to try and tweet every half hour or so. (I'm pitching two different projects so I can put up a different pitch every quarter hour to 30 minutes depending on whether there are agents actively looking.)
6. Have fun. Pitching can be stressful, there's no better way to start second-guessing yourself than to see other pitches and try and compare them to yours. But the best thing you can do is be prepared and have fun. (Those other authors are probably looking at your pitches with envy too. That's insecurity for you.)
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Forthcoming - Southern Gothic, "The Collections Agent" and "The Spider-thief and The Sorcerer"
Southern Gothic - an anthology edited by Brian Centrone is scheduled for release on October 15th. It contains my flash story "Love Like Dysphoria" among other works of contemporary southern gothic short stories. I will post links to the various vendors when the book goes live. There are plans to publish via Amazon, Barnes and Noble, GooglePlay, iBooks and possibly Kobo.
After consulting with Bruce Bethke at Stupefying Stories it appears that "The Collections Agent" will be published soon. (Like, in the next month soon.) More details on that as soon as I have them.
Additionally, I received word last week from Crowded Magazine that "The Spider-thief and The Sorcerer" has been accepted for Issue 3. Publication is tentatively scheduled for early Spring 2014.
"The Spider-thief and The Sorcerer" was a story I'd been working on selling for over a year. It had been short-listed at six different markets in a row, before being passed over. I'm so happy that it's found a home with Crowded.
After consulting with Bruce Bethke at Stupefying Stories it appears that "The Collections Agent" will be published soon. (Like, in the next month soon.) More details on that as soon as I have them.
Additionally, I received word last week from Crowded Magazine that "The Spider-thief and The Sorcerer" has been accepted for Issue 3. Publication is tentatively scheduled for early Spring 2014.
"The Spider-thief and The Sorcerer" was a story I'd been working on selling for over a year. It had been short-listed at six different markets in a row, before being passed over. I'm so happy that it's found a home with Crowded.
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