Authors In Our Midst

Amazon offers cover creator software for free, but my Art Director found them aesthetically offensive. They also all tend to look alike. I find myself avoiding such covers as signs of an amateur approach I’ve found reflected in the writing. In such cases, readers do judge a book by its cover! If you have no such art skills, fellow Jackal jacy is an excellent choice, with reasonable rates. I hired her for a quick, tricky, thing when the Art Director’s chronic illness flared up. She’s so responsive and easy to work with. I also love her covers.

Another hill to climb is the decision to get an ISBN or let Amazon handle it. Be aware that the free one from Amazon is only good within Amazon. We went to Bowker for the official US ISBN for my book, and then paid again to turn it into a bar code. Then paid for another bar code when I screwed up the math and we had to change the price of the book. Amazon does supply the printing costs, and I suggest using a spreadsheet to get the math right. :)

Another issue with printed copies is that someone will need to go through it, in Word or Pages, to create a table of contents. Both of these programs will let you highlight a chapter title, choose the format type “Chapter Title”, and then it will show up in an automatically updating Table of Contents.

Amazon lets you download a template for the inside, too, and I highly recommend it. There’s so many details that pasting chapters into the template will save time, because the margins, page numbers, and various formatting types have been set up for you. My Art Director said people shouldn’t mess with the basics too much.

In other words, don’t get jiggy with those fonts, people. You want the reader to enjoy your words, and not let the formatting get in the way.

Once everything is loaded into the Bookshelf, there’s the option to download a PDF version of the entire book. TAKE IT. It is set up in double page style, looking exactly as it is supposed to print, and I borrowed a different computer to read it like it was the first time, and I found stuff to fix.

You will find stuff to fix. Use PDF markup to track errors to fix in the word processing document. I found that seeing it this way “reset my head” and I was able to fix all kinds of things which had gotten by myself and two other people in previous run-throughs.

At the very end, before releasing it into the wild, there’s the option of ordering a proof copy or two. TAKE IT. We discovered that our photos (black and white and optimized) lost some definition on the cream paper we had chosen. We changed our settings to white paper, with a glossy cover, and it looks great. We’ve gotten compliments!

It’s a mental gear change that doesn’t come up with ebooks, where what we can do is limited by ebooks’ ability to change font, size, and flow on the device, and there’s software that does a lot of things, like Table of Contents, for you. But with readers wanting “something to hold in my hand”, all that extra effort adds up to extra readers.

That’s what we all want.

Some important links: Bowker    and    Alchemy Book Covers

Thanks, WereBear!

Time to chat.

I’m about ready to add my Havana trip adventures to the second book in my trilogy.  I’ve been having a rough time focusing on writing these days. Not exactly writer’s block, more like ennui. I love writing, but right now, I’d rather be outside walking the dogs, or doing almost anything else. I have a desire to slap myself and say “Snap out of it!” à  la Cher in Moonlighting and just get back to it. I suspect that might not be the best approach.

How do you handle dissatisfaction and/or a block in your writing? Where is everyone at on their projects? Any questions for WereBear?

Have at it! Be kind.

When an ex-cult member speaks out about his former cult leader, somebody from his old life seems determined to silence him by any means necessary. Can he stay one step ahead, or will the truth get buried…and him with it?

Ray Watts is an out-of-work artist living above his struggling gallery on the funky-chic side of Hudson, New York, and he’s just hit rock bottom. His muse has abandoned him, his girlfriend’s dumped him—and unless he pays his half of the mortgage on their house, he’s about to be homeless too.

But when Ray’s ex-wife dies in a fiery car crash, he’s suddenly reminded of the last time he hit rock bottom—of a time long ago when he and his wife were members of a cult. A cult ruled by a single, sinister commandment: NEVER SPEAK ABOUT WHAT WE DO.  Read more here

And John shares a bit of his publishing story here:

Four years ago, I’d completed two novels in a mystery/thriller series. There was a lot of media buzz about self-publishing, and I was on the fence as to whether to go that way or hold out for a traditional deal. Over the months that I hemmed and hawed over my dilemma I sensed that the golden moment for self-publishing might have already Everyone and his aunt seemed to be slapping a book up on Amazon. Book rankings on their site had swollen past 10 million. Self-publishing my novel and hoping to get any attention felt like casting a grain of sand into the Pacific and hoping anyone would notice the ripples.

So I held out for traditional publishing. And I’m pleased to announce that my first novel Never Speak will be released by TCK Publishing on January 29th, available in print and e-book format here.  How it got there can be read either as a tale of remarkable persistence or pathological obsession.

I was lucky to have an agent, except I’d inherited him from my father. I’d been with him ten years with nothing to show. He took my first novel around to publishers. The effect was akin to that grain of sand in the sea: the sole response, from one editor was “clever.” I liked this agent personally, but it was time to move on.

I pulled on a handful of agent connections with no luck. So I began work on the dread query letter—a single page designed to entice the interest of editors who receive thousands a year. One agent brags of signing 4 authors yearly out of 20,000 queries. Those are terrible odds. I’m not the only writer who’s found this one-page letter more difficult than writing a book.

I got up every morning for a month and wrote a letter. I waited until afternoon, read it then threw it in the trash. I googled “query letter editor” and found a woman who seemed nice and not too pricey. After seven drafts back-and-fourth I began to wonder if maybe the trouble was not with the letter, but with the book itself. I hired this woman to edit the whole book. Meanwhile I sent a copy to an old friend who’s the most successful writer I know to see what he thought.

I took many of my editor’s suggestions, mostly about “show don’t tell” and adding what she called “action beats”—physical scene material that keeps characters from being disembodied talking heads. A few days after I got the finished edit back my old writer friend sent me a ten-page email critique of the pre-edited manuscript along with an apology for its lateness (he was working on a movie.)

The critique hit me at just the right time in my process of learning to write. Like all useful criticism, his points resonated inside in a series of “aha” moments. But this wasn’t nit-picking stuff. It went to the heart of the story. I re-wrote the entire book.

Armed with a new and twice-improved manuscript I hit the query letter again and crashed into the same brick wall. I hired a new query letter editor. Nine months into the process I finally had a letter I could live with. My new editor also took a pass at the first fifty pages of the manuscript. The new draft hadn’t been edited, and if you get interest from a publisher they often want to see the first chapters. I took my editor’s suggestion of planting a hook at the end of the first chapter.

Using the free resource  QueryTracker, I queried 130 agents in the mystery/thriller genre. Rejections poured into my email every day. But over a few weeks I got over 15 “requests for the manuscript.” I was psyched. But then rejections of the full manuscript started rolling in. That was hard. But two months into the process I got my agent. And as they say, it only takes one.

Evan Marshall  has the knowledge and skills you get from 35 years agenting. He’d signed me on the basis of my second novel, but after reading the first we decided he should take it out to publishers who didn’t see it the first time. I’d done a complete re-write, tearing it down to the studs, and it was a much better book.

Now rejections from publishers came in my email once or twice a week. Most seemed like form letters.  After several months I was losing hope. Meanwhile I completed a third book in my series. Evan was thrilled by it. When he sent this book out we got personal responses. Most took the form of “While this is compelling I don’t like that.” There was no consistency to the complaints—they didn’t like the characters, or the story, the pacing, or the writing.

These responses were clearly an improvement over the past, but something about getting so close got me crazy. With each rejection I felt my confidence as a writer sink a little further.

And then came TCK. They’re a new breed—a digital publisher. I won’t see my books in Barnes and Noble (if that’s still even a thing.) But I have a three-book deal with TCK. They provide full editing services. They’re experts at marketing using the Amazon machine (and believe me, it’s one complicated beast.) I’m still going to have to do a lot of marketing myself, but these days that would be true if I were with a traditional publisher. And the TCK royalty split is better than with the traditional outfits.

There’s a ton of info online about how to get published, and lots of best-selling books about how to write a bestseller. There’s good advice and bad, and much that falls into the category of “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.”

But when it comes to pursuing writing and publishing, there’s a single word of advice that alone will take you most of the way to wherever you want to go.

Persist.

John and his blog are at http://johnkmanchester.com

So how is every doing on their writing these days?

I’m two-thirds of the way through the second book in my trilogy and about a quarter through the first book of another series. Going from just writing casually to being committed to these projects and setting serious writing time has been a big shift for me.  Still plenty of crippling self-doubt.

Chat away!

November 13: A Scandal in Scarlet: A Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery
“Holmes, himself, would be quite proud!” Suspense Magazine
Pre-order here

Sherlockians will delight at the latest charming installment of national bestselling author Vicki Delany’s fourth Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery.

Gemma and Jayne donate their time to raise money for the rebuilding of a burned out museum―but a killer wants a piece of the auction.

Walking her dog Violet late one night, Gemma Doyle, owner of the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop, acts quickly when she smells smoke outside the West London Museum. Fortunately no one is inside, but it’s too late to save the museum’s priceless collection of furniture, and damage to the historic house is extensive. Baker Street’s shop owners come together to hold an afternoon auction tea to raise funds to rebuild, and Great Uncle Arthur Doyle offers a signed first edition of The Valley of Fear. 

Cape Cod’s cognoscenti files into Mrs. Hudson’s Tea Room, owned by Gemma’s best friend, Jayne Wilson. Excitement fills the air (along with the aromas of Jayne’s delightful scones, of course). But the auction never happens. Before the gavel can fall, museum board chair Kathy Lamb is found dead in the back room. Wrapped tightly around her neck is a long rope of decorative knotted tea cups―a gift item that Jayne sells at Mrs. Hudson’s.

Now available:The Spook in the Stacks, A Lighthouse Library mystery
by Eva Gates, One Woman Crime Wave
www.vickidelany.com
www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor

Vicki was also kind enough to write a little bit for us about what makes a Cozy Mystery to get our writers chatting something to start chatting about:

I have written (so far) thirty-two books.  I’ve written historical fiction (The Klondike Gold Rush books) modern Gothic thrillers (More than Sorrow) psychological suspense (Burden of Memory), police procedurals (the constable Molly Smith series) books for adult literacy (White Sand Blues) and cozies (The Year Round Christmas series, and the Lighthouse Library series by Eva Gates). I like to shake things up a bit and switch sub-genres, styles and moods.

These days I’m pretty much just writing cozies and I’m enjoying them very much.

My newest book is the fourth in the Sherlock Holmes bookshop series, A Scandal in Scarlet from Crooked Lane Books.

These books are firmly in the cozy camp and are about a woman who owns The Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium in the Cape Cod town of West London, located at 222 Baker Street. The business next door is Mrs. Hudson’s Tea Room, at 220 Baker Street.

The main character, Gemma Doyle, is a modern young woman who bears an intellectual resemblance to the Great Detective himself. Her side-kick Jayne Wilson is ever-confused but always loyal.

Sounds a bit silly? Sure it does. And it’s supposed to be. It’s nothing but fun, and what’s wrong with that?

I’ve come to realize that cozy mysteries are about real people living real lives (except for that pesky murder bit), although writ large. Everything is exaggerated. The nosy neighbour is nosier, the ditzy friend is ditzier, the mean girl is meaner. And the handsome man is, well, handsomer.  Even better if there are two of them.

After putting in my time writing police procedurals and psychological thrillers, I’m having a lot of fun writing cozies.  Keep it light, keep it funny, and have a good time with it.

Cozy mysteries are not trying to make an important statement about the human condition, or hoping to change the world. A cozy mystery tells a story that attempts to be entertaining, that’s about people much like us (or like us if we were prettier, or smarter, or younger!) and our friends and family.

Cozy mysteries are very much ‘puzzle mysteries’: a game of wits between the author and the reader as to whether or not the astute reader can solve the crime before the amateur detective does (i.e. before the author reveals it). Clues must be laid down in such a way that the reader has a chance of reaching the conclusion on their own.

Cozies don’t have a sense of tragedy. People do not live tragic lives and they don’t fear tragic happenings. Someone is murdered, and that’s never funny, but they are generally not much liked by the community or strangers to it. Their death needs to be solved so that the perfect, orderly community can go back to the way it was – perfect and orderly.  The characters live in an essentially good world that needs to be put back to rights. No human trafficking rings, child prostitutes, mob hit men, Alt-right thugs, or Russian assassins here.

So pull up a pull up a comfortable arm chair or get out your deck chair. Light a fire in the fireplace, or slap on that sunscreen, pour yourself a mug of hot tea or something icy and simply enjoy the adventures of Gemma and Jayne as they try to put things right in West London, Massachusetts.

I have read a couple of her books and they are a fun read. I especially love her Christmas mysteries. What are you writing these days?

First, make sure your manuscript is actually ready for editing.

When is a manuscript “ready for editing”? When you’ve made it as good as you can, of course! Again, this seems like common sense. Yet I’ve learned that many authors have a voice in their head that says, “It just needs to be ‘good enough’—the publishing process will take care of the rest.” (It’s the literary equivalent of saying “we’ll fix it in post.”)

That “good enough” voice usually kicks in when you are almost finished with your manuscript. Writing a book is exhausting at best (soul sucking at worst), and you may be tempted to move on when fatigue sets in. But while there is always a point of diminishing returns, there are usually ways to strengthen your work even when you are in that grueling almost-there phase.

Maybe you try doing focused reads, for example (e.g., concentrating on just the scenes featuring a single character . . . or just the scenes occurring in real time . . . or just the turning-point scenes). Maybe you try reading your manuscript out loud. Maybe you compile a list of your technical weaknesses and do a find/replace to deal with them (in my own manuscript, I am currently trying to tamp down on an overuse of the word “gasp”). Whatever it is, take some extra time to look for the things you’re still blind to. This can require a level of honesty about your own writing that is downright painful. But although you won’t catch every issue, you can usually come a lot closer than you think.

Then, once you have hit the point of diminishing returns, share the manuscript with a beta-reader or two. I can’t tell you how many times I have edited a book only to realize I was its first outside reader! (Or at least its first objective outside reader.) It always shows. Hopefully you have been soliciting feedback all along, workshopping pieces of your manuscript in a critique group or partnership. But beta-readers are your test audience for the entire work, and they can be invaluable.

What makes a good beta-reader? Look for someone who is more than a well-read friend, a college English professor, or a supportive family member. Beta-readers can be those things—but they should also “get” the genre you’re working in. And it helps to know how they read. If your beta-reader favors labyrinthine, dense fantasy, she might not be able to give you useful feedback on your sparely written detective novel—even if she enjoys it. (On the other hand, she may be able to bring unusually fresh eyes to your manuscript.) Basically, you want to know where a beta-reader is coming from when she offers her evaluation, so you have the tools to determine what is relevant for you.

Yes, these suggestions for making your manuscript “ready for editing” may seem obsessive. But in the long run, the benefit will be enormous. Editors are not wizards—we have finite attention, time, and energy. Ideally, you want that spent on making a good manuscript excellent—not on making a weak manuscript good.

Read the other two steps here.

Now let’s start the chat. Where are you at in your process?  Who is stuck and/or procrastinating and what advice does everyone have for them? Mnemosyne requested some advice on the craft of writing book suggestions. I’m on the mailing list from Jane Friedman (here) and finding it very informative. And I have a question – recommendations for cover artists and any advice on choosing.

Ok, there you go. Remember be kind and supportive…

Find the best editor you can.

Once you are ready for editing, how do you find the best editor you can? If you are self-publishing, this may be easier said than done. One of the benefits of traditional publishing is that larger publishing houses often have not just one, but several different kinds of editors in-house to look at your work—a traditionally published manuscript might be seen by a developmental editor, a copy editor, and a proofreader, for instance. Smaller publishers may have just one editor on staff. Self-publishers often don’t have any editors at all—in which case you may need to turn to local or national editing organizations or a freelance site like Upwork to find someone qualified. If you are looking for an editor-for-hire, ask for a free “sample edit,” so you can get a sense of how they will approach your work.

Beyond a sample edit, how do you know if someone is qualified to edit your manuscript? In a way, this is one of the benefits of self-publishing—you get to shop around for someone who fits your needs, rather than having someone assigned to you. If you’re in this position, I recommend first finding an editor you like as a human being. In a way, the editor/author relationship is as personal as it is professional—since writing is a form of self-expression, your editor is getting a kind of window into your soul. You don’t have to be best friends with her, but you want her to be someone you can trust, or at least have a basic chemistry with. I recommend approaching a prospective editor as you would a prospective physician. Interview her, and take notes. Ask to see work she has done in the past. Ask to see testimonials.

More importantly, find someone who is experienced, and whose experience is relevant to your work. This is why a well-meaning friend is not usually a good person to edit your work. An editor is so much more than just another reader! In addition to constantly dealing with the technical minutiae of text, good editors have a nuts-and-bolts understanding of what distinguishes “amateur” and “professional” manuscripts, and how those are manifested in different genres. This is where a good editor will really add value to your manuscript; we all love self-publishing as a concept, but we want your manuscript to compete with traditionally published books.

If this talk of “professional” and “amateur” feels off-putting to your artistic vision, remember that writing is really about communication—trying to bridge the gap from one mind to another. Although language is dynamic (and sometimes even volatile), it also relies on certain norms. When editors (or designers or marketers) talk about “professionalizing” your manuscript, all we are trying to do is bring those norms to bear so that your manuscript can truly find its readers.

 

Get the most out of the editor/author relationship.

When you’ve made your manuscript as good as can be, and found a simpatico editor, how do you get the most out of the editor/author relationship?

Writing is in many ways a kind of collaboration. Stereotypically, we have a sense of the author as a lonely individual, feverishly typing the great American novel in a dark garret somewhere. But all the great American novels (and the great novels from elsewhere as well) are products of interaction between an author, editor, designer, marketer, publisher, and so on. Writing is, counterintuitively, a social enterprise.

If you’re just starting out as a writer, that idea can take some getting used to. When it comes to editing, my recommendation is to find the balance that works for you: always be open to suggestions made in good faith, while cultivating a deeper understanding of your own identity as a writer. In other words, don’t sabotage your manuscript by refusing to listen to professional advice—but don’t be afraid to push back. Good editors will understand that different authors have different voices, and will always want to do what is best for the book.

As in any relationship, communication is key. This is an amazing time to be writing, given the technology! By using the track changes and comments features in Word, an editor and author can really drill down to problem areas in a manuscript, without ever having to meet in person, or try to decipher each other’s handwriting. Take advantage of these tools. And follow up on your editor’s questions or comments in a thorough and timely way.

* * * * *

So that’s it, in a nutshell: “Things I have learned as a professional editor.” Editing, of course, is not all there is to publishing—design and marketing are also crucial. Marketing is hard, but if you’re self-publishing, you can do it if you have the time and energy and a basic comfort level with digital communication. Design (in my opinion) should be left to the professionals. But the larger point is that even the best design and marketing can’t (usually) save a poorly written book. Within the publishing sequence, editing is really the foundation upon which the rest of your success as an author will be built.

So take the time to do it right!

Thanks, and happy writing to all.

Thanks Andrew! Let’s keep the conversation going, how is your writing going? How did National Writing Month work out for those who participated?