After “Romantasy,” What Are the Next Buzzy Bookish Portmanteaus?
bookriot.com – Monday January 29, 2024
Even if we don’t realize it, buzzwords permeate our professional lives. Who hasn’t heard of phrases like “return on investment” or “customer journey”? They sound very corporate, yes, but they make long-winded ideas easy to recall and make complex information easier to digest.
It’s no wonder, then, that buzzwords are well-loved in the literary realm. There have been many buzzwords in the publishing world over the years, such as “high concept,” which usually refers to the quality of a plot, or “comps,” which are the comparative titles a manuscript has when authors pitch to literary agents.
Perhaps the biggest buzzword in 2023 and possibly this year is “romantasy,” or the fusion of the romance and fantasy genres. This is evident in the continued rise of romantasy novels on TikTok and on bestseller lists, such as Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros and A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas.
The Harried Mystery Hero(ine) Or, How to Write a Mystery (Easy)
By G. Miki Hayden
Instructor at Writer's Digest University online and private writing coach
firstwriter.com – Monday January 29, 2024
Nothing is so essential to the successful creation of the mystery—from the grittiest work of fiction to the most comedic—as presenting the protagonist’s unrelenting pursuit of the McGuffin* against all possible odds and impossible barriers.
The secret to generating the story’s drama—and, again, even a funny mystery needs plenty of drama—is to never allow your main character a moment’s rest. Even when the hero is relaxing by the pool drinking an expensive wine accompanied by caviar on toast points, he must at the very least, be worrying himself to a veritable frazzle. If he sleeps, he sleeps badly—maybe a sleep interrupted by the ringing of the phone and appalling news (another murder? the suspect has escaped?). If he meets a woman he could love, she’s either a plant working to undermine his investigation, in grave danger herself, or sometimes even the killer (yup).
Though I seem to be making light of your protagonist’s troubles, this is the way the story has to proceed, no matter the subgenre or the tone. Your job is to attach us to the character and then do your best to drive him or her over the edge, literally or figuratively, or both. That, then, is drama.
The sure-fire way to getting your book published, according to one of UK’s top literary agents
bigissue.com – Sunday January 28, 2024
The saying goes ‘everyone has a book in them’, and these days it really is possible to get published as there are multiple routes to seeing your book in the shops.
The traditional way to get your book published is via a literary agent like myself, who’ll endeavour to find you a publisher. Then there’s the self-publishing route, which is becoming increasingly popular and gives you ultimate control of your publishing journey. If you self-publish on Amazon, eBook sales can also be far greater than sales of a physical book and financially very lucrative.
Reading is such a subjective business and the digital marketplace means that the traditional gatekeepers are no longer blocking the way to publication. There’s a wealth of information online and in publications such as The Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook, an excellent source of literary agents you can approach and what genres they represent, updated each year.
If you’re reading this, you may be in the process of writing a book or you have written a book and are trying to get published. Agents prefer writers to have completed a manuscript before they consider representation, but initially we’re only assessing the first three chapters and a pitch, so these need to give us a good sense of your story. If you’ve written a first draft and have read it out loud without wanting to skim any passages(!) then this is the time to start sending it out to agents, but research them carefully.
The key to finding a good match is by submitting to agents who represent authors writing in a similar space to you, or who are actively building their lists and are on the lookout for new talent. Are you able to list two or three established authors writing in a similar space? Successful writers tend to be avid readers with a greater sense of who they are writing for. Some have drawers full of unpublished short stories and manuscripts that never found a publisher, but no word is wasted… they were honing their craft.
How To Become A Published Writer
forbes.com – Sunday January 21, 2024
Becoming a published writer is difficult, but it’s definitely possible. From newspapers to magazines, there are plenty of places to pitch. And pitching is super competitive. Some journalists have decades of experience and are more likely to have pitches accepted than writers who haven’t been published.
Before you decide to email an editor, make sure you do your research to craft solid pitches. For people who’ve never pitched it can be severely disappointing. Out of my first one hundred pitches I got one response— and it was a yes. If I had given up after my initial ninety nine rejections I wouldn’t be writing for this publication today.
So, before you throw in the towel, think about all of the possibility. The possibility of getting published. The possibility of writing such powerful words that you move the masses. The possibility of writing for prominent publications for the rest of your life. If I can give any advice on pitching it’s this— don’t stop pitching. Are you interested in becoming a published writer? Here are a few tips.
Literary speed dating: swipe left or right?
artshub.com.au – Friday January 19, 2024
It’s the start of the year, so maybe one of your resolutions is to make more meaningful connections – not so much in a romantic fashion, but in a career sense. Do you have a manuscript set aside, little time and no idea how to proffer it to the right hands, so that it may eventually become published? Literary speed dating may be the answer. But, beware, it requires preparation and may not be the right avenue for those too shy and nervous to pitch in person.
Like the regular dating format, the literary version follows a similar principle of setting up participants with a limited time to engage with one another – tête-à-tête or online. With this quick-talking, power chat formula, you can try and gain interest in your book with a number of industry professionals. Perhaps a better name for it would be literary speed pitching.
How to Write a Query Letter
electricliterature.com – Wednesday January 17, 2024
A practical guide to getting literary agents interested in your book
When submitting to an agent or editor, you will need a query letter. The purpose of a query letter is to briefly introduce yourself and your work to the editor or agent, with the hope they’ll be intrigued enough to want to read more.
Here is a rather typical method I’ve used. Most query letters contain three or four paragraphs, and you’ll want to keep it to no more than a page, single spaced. [Please note: I’ve inserted additional comments in brackets.]
First Paragraph
There are one of two ways to approach the first paragraph. You can keep it simple by stating the name of your work, the genre, and why you are querying this particular agent or editor. For example, here is what I used for How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences.
R.L. Stine says writing from your heart is overrated
cbc.ca – Wednesday January 17, 2024
R.L. Stine has maintained the same routine for decades. Every day, the author of the phenomenally successful Goosebumps and Fear Street series writes at least 2,000 words, which explains how he's been able to pen more than 350 books over the course of his career.
"I used to be twice as fast," Stine tells Q's Tom Power in an interview. "I'm old now. I used to do 4,000 a day."
The 80-year-old master of fright has now released his first non-fiction book, There's Something Strange About My Brain: Writing Horror for Kids, in which he shares everything he knows about crafting a scary story that kids will love.
Author productivity is a publishing problem
thebookseller.com – Saturday January 13, 2024
Writers struggling to hit their deadlines are a sign of deeper issues in the industry.
George R R Martin was late delivering the sixth instalment of his A Song of Ice and Fire novel series. Over the years, frustrated fans speculated on his delay and procrastination, with one taking to the internet to ask advice of fellow writer Neil Gaiman. The fan, Gareth, complained: “It’s almost as though he is doing everything in his power to avoid working on it. Is it unrealistic to think that by not writing the next chapter Martin is letting me down?” Gaiman’s witty response was simple: “Writers and artists aren’t machines.”
I’ve worked in and around publishing for 20 years and over that time had many different roles. Thinking back, I’ve been guilty of treating authors like machines – sorry Neil.
Take one example where I had responsibility for a list of 200 titles. With forthcoming titles represented as a line on a spreadsheet an author was reduced to a unit of production. Publishing margins are increasingly tight, so the hard commercial reality was that each title, and by extension author, was assessed in terms of financial viability.
How I quit my job to be a full-time writer
thespinoff.co.nz – Thursday January 11, 2024
Just a few weeks ago, I updated my LinkedIn from “Principal Policy Advisor” to “Novelist”. For many, this is a dream, isn’t it? For years, I convinced myself that I didn’t genuinely aspire to be a full-time writer. Perhaps I was fearful of the idea. I was a university student for over a decade, and subsequently, I embarked on a career in policy — a pretty good choice for someone who enjoys writing.
I’ve been writing from the time I learned how to, which admittedly took me longer than most. I’ve been working on novels all my adult life. Early on, each book would take years, but more recently, I’ve learned how to write quickly which is a skillset I’ve found very useful.
My early novels were more on the literary side of “women’s fiction”. They were time-consuming because I had to get into the heads of all the characters, who changed with each book. However, my first love was fantasy. I grew up reading Goosebumps books and Tolkien, but certain influences (my brilliant grandmother was a huge influence on me, but couldn’t stand the supernatural, so I refrained) led me to less fantastical storytelling. It took me years to give myself permission to write more otherworldly books. In 2018, I got an idea for a lucid-dreaming fantasy book I needed to write, and from then on I’ve predominantly written speculative fiction.
Minding the ‘Brand,’ for Better or for Worse
observer.com – Tuesday January 9, 2024
Branding has forever changed the publishing industry and, in the process, what it takes for ambitious authors to break in.
Over the last year, three books of mine have been published. The first, from a large indie press, was a philosophical takedown of woke subjectivism. The second, from a U.K. press specializing in rock star memoirs, was a middle-grade novel about a traumatized kid who begins to hallucinate the ghost of John Lennon. The third, from a conservative-libertarian startup press, was a comic novel set at the dawn of the social media age, about a 30-something mom whose ne’er-do-well husband convinces her to post risqué photos on the internet.
You’d think three books in one year would be a cause for celebration. Yet I’m driving my loyal-to-a-fault literary agent crazy… because I don’t have a brand.
Brands are shorthand devices to convey clusters of information. Most large corporations have a brand. Pepsi has one. So does Burger King. So do Nike, Cadillac and Citibank. Each brand has an instantly recognizable logo, intended to differentiate the business from its competitors and remind you that you’re dealing with an established, credible entity. But a brand also limits the brand-holder’s relevance. If Pepsi, for example, announced it developed a kiwi-infused cola, I’d be intrigued. Pepsi does a fine job with colas, so its processes should work with kiwi flavor. On the other hand, if I’m shopping for auto parts and see Pepsi snow tires, I’m going to pass since that’s not what Pepsi is known for. The company may produce a hell of a tire, but why go that route when you can go with Goodyear—a brand specifically known for tires? It would be like buying Goodyear ginger ale. Or Cadillac cotton swabs.
So it makes sense for businesses to develop a brand. Yet there’s something counterintuitive and vaguely philistine about the notion that writers should develop one. What is a writer’s brand? Essentially, it’s a cross between a credential and an identity. It’s the way the writer is viewed by potential readers and the public face by which he’s already known or will be known; it provides a roadmap for publishers to market his book. Here is the reality of publishing in 2023: Absent a discernible brand, a writer’s chances of finding a commercial publisher are severely diminished. Brands are a particular concern of the marketing departments at publishing houses, as you’d expect. But they’re also on the mind of editors at every stage of the publishing process, figuring prominently not only in getting the book into readers’ hands but also in the decision to acquire a manuscript in the first place.
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