How to Get Published

by John Bowers

If you’re anything like me, nothing is more fun than writing a novel. Just the idea of starting a new one fills you with giddy anticipation, and you can hardly wait to get started. But once you begin, sometimes you run into problems you didn’t anticipate - how should my character react to this or that situation? Should he run or fight? Is he smart or dumb, assertive or indecisive? Does he know first aid? Can he handle a gun? Would he call the cops or take the law into his own hands? Is he smooth with the ladies or painfully shy? Can he dance? Can he swim? What color are his eyes?

These and many other details are important to your story, and if you haven’t answered those questions before you start writing, you can screech to a halt in a hurry. The problem may be that you haven’t defined your characters before you started writing, and without some ground rules you, the author, simply don’t know how they should react to given situations.

What you need, before you start writing, is backstory. (more…)

by D. Keith Howington

It’s your responsibility to feed dialog into your readers’ minds without causing them to do a double-take and have to go back and read a bit again. When that happens, you’ve lost the mood, and lost the reader. Too much of that can lose them permanently.

We all know the basics: that “said” is essentially invisible, that using adverbs like “angrily” to convey feeling is risky, and that using speech tags such as “he smiled” are physical impossibilities and jarring to the reader. (more…)

by Jim Gamble

Out of the blue a few weeks ago, the president of a service club I attend asked who had written a book. Hesitantly, five of the hundred business people present raised their hands as if they had done something wrong. He then, in subsequent weeks, asked for book reports. Here’s mine, mainly using a series of quotations:

Edward Gibbon summed up my background saying,

“Un-provided with original learning, uninformed in the habits of thinking, and unskilled in the arts of composition, I resolved to write a book.”

Gene Fowler 1890 -1960, then explained in detail how it’s done,

“Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.”

Having never written a line of fiction (except in loan applications), I needed help. Others in our SFN writers group assisted when I told them what Fred Allen said, “You write so well you make me feel like putting my quill back in my goose.”

All writers should understand there are pitfalls that should be avoided. Samuel Johnson wrote, “Your manuscript is both good and original, but the part that is good is not original and the part that is original is not good.” (more…)

by Diane O’Connell

If you’re like many writers, getting that first draft down can give you a rush of excitement. The words flow freely, the ideas come at lightning speed, the book seems to be coming together just as you had in your head.  But then you read it back and — oh, boy, does it need fixing! The thought of cleaning up the “mess” you created is about as appealing as cleaning out a garage stuffed with a quarter century of accumulated stuff — and just as overwhelming.

Many first-time authors begin the revising process by going through their manuscript line by line and painstakingly “editing”: correcting syntax, adding some things, taking out other things, cleaning up punctuation and spelling. Often, this process can seem like torture. And there’s a good reason why. (more…)

by Al Kalar

A new writer needs a first chapter hook to sell the book.

Well established writers can slog through the chronological background and then on to the “good stuff” only because they have developed a following that trusts them to deliver a good yarn — eventually. Disaster movies get away with slow starts because the studio spends millions on advertising trailers showing the explosions that come later in the film. (more…)

by Kelly Simmons

And now, the answer to the question that stymies me whenever I speak to a group of high-school-age writers: “What should I major in if I want to write novels?”

Major in statistics. You’ll learn the odds of getting published are roughly three zillion to one.

Major in economics. You’ll understand why the publishing companies will never put you on a book tour or run an ad for your book in The New Yorker.

Major in law. You can fight Google and everyone else who wants to offer your book as a free download.

Major in journalism. Your future will appear so tenuous your parents will beg you to be a novelist instead.

Major in history. You’ll unearth enough material that you won’t need to invest in research and travel, which you’ll never make back on your advance.

Major in drama. Being rejected during auditions will make being rejected on paper seem like child’s play.

Major in forensics. When you inevitably end up writing for a hack TV crime show, you won’t have to work too hard.

Major in English. That’s what all the English majors would tell you to do.

Major in computer science. You can invent something with a better name than “vook.”

Major in Spanish. It will help your parents understand your Hemingway-esque desire to run with the bulls.

Major in psychology. Trust me; it’s easier to work through daddy issues on the couch than on the page.

Major in Phys Ed. Most first-time authors are attractive and fit. (Oh, don’t tell me you don’t look at those author photos!)

Major in music. Since you’re going to be singing the blues your entire life, you may as well be in tune.

Kelly is a member/contributor of the Philly Liars Club.

by Victory Crayne

If you have difficulty selling your novel, I suggest you ask someone in your critique group, your editor, or someone who can analyze your writing if your manuscript is shy on any of these three key ingredients.

Study what the bestselling novelists are doing. You will find that all bestselling novels are different from each other, but they have three things in common that are often missing in other novels.

1.  Well developed characters

Well developed means showing or telling aspects of their personal lives or personalities. Yes, this is a place where telling can be useful. Does your tale reveal your protagonist as a “real” person with a “real” life, going beyond the “bare bones” needed to move the story along? This takes extra time in designing the main characters. Most beginning writers are reluctant to spend that time. Instead they want to rush into the fun part–writing scenes.

For those authors who have characters recurring in different novels, this is critical. When you see a new book out by a favorite author and the protagonist is one you’ve read about before, are (more…)

by Al Kalar

No matter what your political outlook, this is good material.

An author mentioned last Friday (10/2) that she uses current events as ideas for stories (she writes Fantasy). She was particularly hyped about the morning’s goings on.  Here’s my reply (slightly edited):

~~~~~

The Chicago Olympic fiasco is heating up as the media turns themselves inside out to spin it.

• It’s Daily’s fault.
• It’s Chicago’s fault.
• It’s a “good thing” for Obama because he’ll be distanced from all the corruption that will go on in Chicago (CNN).
• I’m waiting for them to blame Bush and Rush Limbaugh.

(more…)

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.
- Douglas Adams

by Alina Padilla

Basic computer skills for authors are important when presenting a manuscript to publishers. Basic computer skills go beyond typing skills. Some writers were writing back when typewriters were THE advanced technology. There’s nothing wrong with this. Old school typists exude disciplined typing ability. While this is a good asset to have, computer skills separate professional writers from amateurs. Basic computer skills reduce the need for intensive production work during layout.

The following strategies assist in the layout of a manuscript and follow standard conventions for submitting to publishers. (more…)

by Al Philipson

Authors who sell their first book usually do it because they have:

1. Spent a long time learning to write compelling prose
2. Learned their craft through practice and feedback (workshops)
3. Finally produced a work that was both compelling and obeyed the “rules” (fast start, attention to point of view, minimum or no “info dumps”, story lines that are interesting, characterization, etc.)

After a couple of successful novels, authors begin to think they “have it made” and start to get sloppy. (more…)