Going Pro

J.M. Snyder

• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781611525663
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Creative Writing
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

Going Pro: One Author's Advice on Getting Published with Small and Electronic Presses is a concise guide that offers advice on all aspects of writing for publication. From finding the time to write to finding beta readers, from navigating all the elements of a successful submissions packet to understanding a publishing contract to marketing your newly published book -- here I offer the best advice I can on getting your first story from a file on your computer to an e-book released by a small or electronic press.Topics covered include: polishing your manuscript, finding the right publisher, working with an editor, writing blurbs, and promoting your book. I give detailed explanations of submission guidelines, contracts, rights and copyrights, cover art, and marketing plans. I also offer advice on what to do when things don't go quite as you plan, whether it's a bad review or a pirate site, or your publisher folds.It can be intimidating when you're just starting out and trying to get published. I know, I've been there, too. So if you're interested in getting your stories published with a small press or e-book publisher, let me help you through the process!

Part 1: Your Manuscript

When you’ve decided to make the move from writer (someone who writes for fun, or for personal reasons, who won’t share what’s written beyond friends and family) to author (someone who writes for profit, who publishes in the hopes of reaching readers worldwide), stop looking at your writing as a hobby and instead consider it a business. It’s very easy to hide behind the relative anonymity of the internet and not take anything you do or say online seriously. But once you start trying to publish online, you want to be treated as a professional.

The chapters in this section will deal with writing in general—finding time to do it, finding readers to help you hone your craft, and preparing your manuscript for submission in the hopes of getting published. If you treat your writing as a business, then publishers will treat you with professional courtesy and respect, and you can make the move from writing only for yourself to going pro.

Chapter 1: Finding Time to Write

Whenever I mention I’m a writer, the most frequent response I get is something along the lines of, “I always wanted to write but…” What follows is usually an excuse. I’m too busy, or I have a full-time job, or some other reason why you can’t find the time to write.

I understand you’re busy. We all are. But you can’t be a writer if you never write. And the only way to find time to write is to make time.

Many of my friends who write say they wish they could take time off from their day jobs and just sit down and write. Funny thing, though—that never happens. You get a week off from work and you think great, now I’ll finally get a chance to work on my story. Only you never actually get anything written. When you sit down in front of the computer, the blank screen is intimidating, so you decide to surf the web instead. You’d rather watch TV or play video games instead of writing. Something always comes up. By the end of the week, you have nothing to show for your effort, and when you go back to the day job, you think, “If only I had more time.”

The sad fact of the matter is that you’ll never have more time. We all get twenty-four hours a day, and in those hours we eat, sleep, and work. We spend time with our loved ones, our family and friends. We go to the movies, go out to dinner, go to the gym. We make time for everything we want to do, everything we feel we have to do, and somehow writing never really seems to rank very high on those lists.

But if you want to be a writer, the only way to do it is to sit down and write. Force yourself to write, because if you wait for inspiration to strike, it never will. Set aside a time when you can concentrate on writing—maybe an hour in the morning before you go to work, or an hour at the end of the evening when everyone else is in bed and you’re unwinding from your day. Creating a specific time and sticking to it will give you a sense of a schedule, which will help you in finding the time to write.

At first, you may find yourself staring at a blank screen. That happens. But the more you think about the story, the more it will fall into place, until you can’t not write it. Giving yourself a period of time—be it fifteen minutes or an hour—every day during which you’re open to inspiration will flex your creative muscles and train you when to write. If you don’t set aside the time, then you’ll never get that story finished.

* * * *

Once you get into a routine, you’ll find that your story will start to flow more freely. However, don’t think too far ahead when you sit down to write. My advice is to never think farther than two or three scenes from the scene you’re currently writing. That way, you can allow the characters to take over the story when they start to find their voices, and you don’t think your way out of the story.

There are two schools of thought on planning out a story—plotters and pantsers. Plotters sit down ahead of time and write down everything that happens in their story from start to finish, outlining the plot. Then they take the outline and write from it, hitting each point as they do so.

Pantsers don’t plan out in advance. They get an idea and just let it flow wherever it goes. That’s the way I write. I’ve found that when I think a story through from start to finish, in my mind it’s then complete. There are no surprises, no reason for me to write it out now. I know where it’s going and it no longer interests me.

I think a lot of first-time writers get discouraged when they try plotting out a story. It grows bigger with each scene, each character, until it scares you out of working on it. How could you possibly tackle an epic novel when you’ve never finished a story before? So break it down and don’t look too far ahead. Think through the scene you want to write next, and let your mind drift to the scene after that, but don’t go farther than that. Let the story lead you, not the other way around.

There’s nothing more exciting than the moment when the story and its characters begin to take you to places you didn’t know they intended to go. Without an outline, you don’t have to try to force them to play nice; you can just hang on and go along for the ride.

Obviously, some genres lend themselves to an outline, such as mystery or thriller stories—you need to know where you’re going if you want to be able to leave clues along the way. But if outlining a story makes it fizzle out for you, just get down everything you can, and then go back and add in anything you need to in earlier parts of the story during editing.

* * * *

Another hazard that befalls a lot of new writers is getting distracted instead of writing. When a story seems too difficult to move forward, you might decide to research some aspect of it instead. So you waste hours online Googling 19th Century costumes, or Japanese ghost stories, or the mating habits of lobsters. Anything that might be more interesting than working on your story.

Unfortunately ninety percent of research is background information that will never make it into your story. While researching a topic or specific detail will add depth and believability to your story, too much will overwhelm your reader. The same happens when you add too much description to your writing, turning your prose purple. At least you’re writing something, right?

But going into great detail about a character’s wardrobe or the feng shui of a room’s layout doesn’t advance the story. Some detail is necessary, of course, but does your reader really need a three paragraph description of what your character looks like? A few highlights will suffice—eye and hair color, maybe a descriptive phrase about a particular aspect of your character’s anatomy that stands out. A bow-shaped mouth, or a ski-slope nose, or a Neanderthal brow. Don’t force the reader to picture your character exactly the same way you picture him or her. Don’t describe what he or she wears all the time; we don’t really care. Unless it’s pertinent to the story, it’s only filler.

Chapter 2: Feedback

Sometimes it feels as if you’re writing in a vacuum, and it can be hard to stay focused or motivated if no one is reading what you write. Getting feedback on your writing is essential to helping you become a better writer, whether the comments come from fans or editors. But many writers who are just starting out don’t know how to find other writers to connect with.

If you want to interact with writers face to face, then you’ll want to find local venues where you can meet other writers. One option is to look for community writing classes, which are usually offered through arts centers or parks and recreation departments at a low cost. Taking a class usually involves committing yourself to writing a story (or, in some cases, a couple stories) that you’ll share and “workshop” with others over a period of time.

If you’ve never workshopped a story before, then suit up. Workshops are an excellent way to get constructive criticism about your work, but they only work if you take the comments to heart. Many first-time writers don’t want constructive feedback on how to make a story better; instead, they want to be told how brilliant it is. If that’s what you consider good feedback, then let your mother read your stuff, because she’s going to love it (and you) no matter what. But if you’re interested in hearing what other writers have to say about what works, what doesn’t, and what needs to be fixed, then seek out a workshop environment to help you polish your prose.

There are numerous workshopping opportunities online, as well. Try a web search for writing groups; there are many, some genre-specific, and new ones spring up every day. When looking for a good writing group, you want a place where everyone contributes—you want an active group whose members will read and comment on your stories as well as provide copies of their own works for you to review. You don’t want anything that posts the stories online for anyone to see, but rather a mailing list or a members’ only page that will keep your story off the internet and out of search engine results.

There are probably writers’ groups in your community, as well. I used to attend a writers’ group that met every week in the café at Borders Books. My brother saw an ad by a fellow parishioner in his church newsletter looking to create a group, though it wasn’t religious or church-related. My current writers’ group was formed when several of us who took a writing class at a local arts center decided to continue meeting after the class ended.

You might look online at places such as Meetup or NaNoWriMo to see if there are any writers’ groups in your area. Also look at the community calendars in free and local newspapers, or on message boards for community centers in your city. Independent bookstores might also be a good place to inquire about writers’ groups in your area.

It might take some time to find a writers’ group that works for you, whether you’re looking around town or online. Some may be more focused on sharing publishing news and not workshopping stories. Some may not be open to the types of stuff you write. Some may seem to be dominated by one or two strong personalities with whom you clash; others may contain so many lackadaisical and laid-back writers that nothing ever gets written.

Don’t let one bad experience with a writers’ group turn you off to them in the future. Sharing your stories with like-minded writers who can help you hone your craft until the story reads less like a first draft and more like a published book will benefit your writing and help your manuscript stand out when you begin submitting it to publishers.

* * * *

Constructive criticism is meant to be helpful to you. It should point out areas of your story that still need work, spots where your original intention doesn’t come across, or where a reader’s attention drifts, or where a little polishing can help your story flow better. It shouldn’t belittle or demean the writer or the story. If it’s hurtful, then it isn’t helpful.

One of the most important things to realize as a new writer is that, simply put, not everyone is going to like your writing. This is true of any writer, published or not. Some people love James Patterson and Anne Rice; I’d rather have a root canal than be forced to read anything by either of them. My favorite author is Stephen King, but some people can’t stand him.

That’s okay, and really, that’s the way things should be. If we all liked the same thing, then there would be no need for anyone to ever write anything other than the same story over and over again. Because everyone has different tastes as readers, it’s only natural that not everyone you show your story to is going to like it.

Unfortunately, being told someone doesn’t like your writing can be pretty devastating, particularly for a new writer unused to criticism of any type. Writers meeting around a table in real life may try to soften the blow their harsh words have, but online is a different story. It’s easy to hide behind anonymity when posting on the web and forget there’s someone on the other side who is reading and reacting to your words.

The best rule of thumb I’ve ever found for dealing with negative feedback is to take a step back and look at it critically. Are the comments directed at my story or at me personally? If the commenter is taking potshots at me or is tearing apart my writing without basing any of his words on the story at hand, then I disregard the comments. I didn’t ask for feedback on my writing in general but on a particular story. If your comments don’t pertain to that, then they’re useless to me.

Next, take a look at the comments themselves. Something as generic as, “I didn’t like this,” is worthless. Shoot back with questions targeted to ferret out what the reader didn’t like and why. Some people can’t put into words why something doesn’t work for them, and while that’s understandable, that doesn’t help you improve your writing. Disregard any comments that are unhelpful or too broad. If the comments from your writers’ group don’t help improve your story, maybe you should start looking for another group of writers to workshop with, instead.

* * * *

You may have heard other writers mention “beta readers.” The term is common among fan fiction writers, who have friends or fans who read their stories before anyone else and help fix errors. They’re similar to editors, but because fan fiction is posted online and not sold, the beta readers aren’t paid, unless you consider a free story before anyone else can read it as payment (and many beta readers do).

Just as products are beta tested prior to being widely released, stories can be beta read before being published (or submitted to a publisher). Beta readers provide similar feedback as you’d find in a writers’ group or workshop, but they usually only read for one or two writers, so they can concentrate on just your story. A good beta reader will not only help you fix grammatical errors but will give you feedback on your characters, plot, and story as a whole.

The big question is, how do you find a good beta reader?

When I wrote fan fiction, I found beta readers among my fans. The ones who wrote to me most frequently were then asked if they would like to review my stories before I published them online. When I began writing original fiction, some of the same beta readers I had developed a rapport with through fan fiction continued to read my stories before I submitted them to publishers.

One way to find a beta reader is to look for someone in your writers’ group or workshop whose feedback has proved invaluable to you. Ask if they would be willing to look over your story once it’s finished but before you submit it anywhere for consideration. You want a beta reader to read your story and give you feedback on it as soon as possible. After you’ve submitted a story to a publisher, you can’t resubmit a new version. You want the submission to be as polished as possible, and beta readers can help you do that.

Chapter 3: Sharing Your Work

Many new writers log online and are more than a little tempted to post their stories and poems on the web in the hopes of getting noticed. Readers are more likely to respond to and comment on free stories, for some reason. Fan fiction authors learn the hard way that, once they start selling their original writing, they receive less feedback from fans. Some readers consider the payment they made to be feedback enough, though writers know that isn’t always true. You want to hear that people like your stories, even if they sell well.

However, in this age of digital publishing, you have to be careful about sharing your work online. Many e-book publishers want exclusive electronic rights, which means that your story cannot appear anywhere ...

Table of contents

• Title page
• Preface
• Introduction
• Part 1: Your Manuscript
• Chapter 1: Finding Time to Write
• Chapter 2: Feedback
• Chapter 3: Sharing Your Work
• Chapter 4: Back Up Your Work!
• Chapter 5: Using a Pseudonym
• Part 2: Getting Published
• Chapter 6: Publishing with a Small Press
• Chapter 7: Do You Need an Agent?
• Chapter 8: Finding the Right Market
• Chapter 9: Submission Guidelines
• Chapter 10: Cover Letter
• Chapter 11: Query Letter
• Chapter 12: Blurb
• Chapter 13: Excerpt
• Chapter 14: Synopsis
• Chapter 15: Full Manuscript
• Chapter 16: Marketing Plan
• Chapter 17: Understanding Publishing Terms
• Chapter 18: E-Mailing Your Submission
• Chapter 19: Follow-up
• Chapter 20: Rejection Letters
• Chapter 21: Acceptance Letters
• Part 3: Contracts
• Chapter 22: Assigning Your Rights
• Chapter 23: Exclusive Vs. Nonexclusive Rights
• Chapter 24: Copyright
• Chapter 25: Things to Look For in a Contract
• Chapter 26: Before You Sign
• Part 4: Before Your Book Is Published
• Chapter 27: Tax Documentation
• Chapter 28: Author Bio
• Chapter 29: The Dreaded Blurb Form
• Chapter 30: Cover Art
• Chapter 31: Working with an Editor
• Part 5: Promotion
• Chapter 32: What Your Publisher Does
• Chapter 33: WWW Dot You
• Chapter 34: Social Networking
• Chapter 35: Blogging
• Chapter 36: Ads
• Chapter 37: Reviews
• Chapter 38: Conventions
• Part 6: When Things Sour
• Chapter 38: Bad Reviews
• Chapter 39: Piracy
• Chapter 40: You Aren’t Getting Paid
• Chapter 41: Your Publisher Folds
• Part 7: Keep Writing
• Chapter 42: Keep Your Name Out There
• Chapter 43: The Pros and Cons of Branching Out
• Afterword