Inside the Editor/Agent
Relationship

by Erin Brown

All authors need agents. Period. There, I said it. I won’t take it back, and you can’t make me. I’m sure there are a few of you reading this who think they’ll do just fine without one of those 15% grabbers, so I’ve put together a short quiz. If you answer “yes” to even one of these questions, you’re absolutely right: you do not need an agent. So stop reading because your book is certainly already published. 

A)   You attend book signings and parties at least once a week, during which you mingle with high-powered editors over canapés and champagne (and yes, the editors have to be willing to speak to you for more than two minutes).

B)   You fly to New York at least four times a month to treat editors to $200 meals in order to learn their likes and dislikes (oh, and for some reason, these editors actually take your call and agree to lunch).

C)   You are well-versed regarding the ins and outs of foreign rights, audio rights, serial rights, advances, royalties, auctions, preempts, subsidiary rights, and how to interpret mind-boggling legalese. You’re also adept at negotiating for days, possibly weeks, until you get the best deal for your novel (a first time author would never just take what’s offered to them in the overwhelming excitement of finally getting published, right? Right???) more...

Using Backstory Effectively

by Jason Black

In my last article I talked about how the careless inclusion of backstory information can ruin the presentation of otherwise compelling characters.  This month is about strategies through which you can convey a character’s background without those problems.  Best of all, while poor application of backstory undermines your story, careful presentation of backstory can actually enhance your story.  Here are four ways to use backstory effectively:

Use it to raise questions.

A major issue with backstory is that it often answers too many questions about your characters, too soon. A much better strategy is to use unexplained backstory to raise questions instead.  more...

The Writer's Bible

by Cherie Tucker

People always ask me for the name of a good reference book.  The very best one for information on the basics and ease of use is The Gregg Reference Manual by the late William A. Sabin.  Lots of people say they have Strunk & White’s Elements of Style or the Chicago Manual of Style, and those are both excellent.  However, they are style manuals, and that word presumes that the reader has some knowledge of the basics.  If grammar and usage are your things, then those kinds of books will serve you well.  However, if you are not a grammar nerd, you need something that will let you find what you’re looking for even if you don’t know what it’s called, and that’s the Gregg.  Its Index is extremely user-friendly.

For example, years ago the Pacific Science Center called me and needed to know the plural of Ms. They had a letter from two women and wanted to write back with a single salutation line.  I had never thought about the plural of Ms., but went to the Index of the Gregg and looked under “salutations” and then “courtesy titles.”  I found it in both places.  Had I gone to the Index with exactly what I was looking for, however, and looked under “Plurals personal titles” I would have found it instantly.  By the way, the plural is Mses. or Mss., but the latter is also the plural of manuscripts, so I never use that one.  more...

Trapped: Trying to Solve an Impossible Equation

by Jennifer Paros

The other day I found myself thinking about the Chinese finger trap.   For those of you out of the know – it’s that woven, hollow tube into which we insert our pointer fingers at either end, pull to get out, and find ourselves stuck.  If we keep pulling, we stay trapped, but if we relax and stop trying to escape, the thing loses its grip.

I like this toy because it reflects how both real feeling trapped can be, and that being trapped is always a product of struggling against.  So any time we hold thoughts in opposition to something, - a person, an event, or a condition – our stance creates the tension that produces this trapped “reality” – not actually the external situation.  One must engage the finger contraption in a particular way in order to be trapped by it, and so it is with life situations and writing.  

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A writing ritual is something we feel we must experience in order to write. For example, some writers MUST smoke cigarettes while they’re writing, or they won’t pen a word. Or some must play music while writing.  

All of us have writing rituals such as these, and all of us believe that they're set in stone. We think we must go through our sacred ritual steps in order to produce something brilliant, or at least, something half-way decent. But little do most writers know, writing rituals can be changed.

First, let's take a look at some of the common writing rituals. Probably the most common ritual has to do with the time a writer feels she needs to write. I like to write in the daytime from 1:00-3:00 or from 8:00-10:00. These times correspond to the times that my child is away at pre-school or is asleep. A writer friend of mine is a middle-of-the-night writer. You, on the other hand, might like to write at the crack of dawn.  more...