by Barry, Sam
Get some fresh air and exercise: Perhaps the most tried-and-true method for restoring the creative spirit is something you learned to do before you ever started reading or writing. Take a walk. See a little patch of the outside world. Walk to the store, to a café, to the library, to a museum. You’ll feel those endorphins kick in; they’re good for writing and good for your waistline, too, especially after consuming seven or eight matzo balls. Don’t forget to bring a notebook and pencil with you, just in case.
Whatever your strategies may be, it’s crucial to give yourself a break now and then. You’ll end up doing better work in the long run, we promise.
BOTTOM LINE
Your writing is more important to you than it is to anyone else. Honor the process, treat yourself and your work with respect, and take care of yourself, your sweatpants, and your creative process by making time and space to work. But—please, for Pete’s sake—don’t start acting self-important or copping an attitude. It’s obnoxious and it won’t get you any closer to your goals. The only thing that will help you get that book finished is one very simple thing: apply butt to chair, and write.
CHAPTER FOUR
YOUR
MANUSCRIPT:
THE BASIC
RULES OF
ATTRACTION
This chapter contains some simple rules that will make your manuscript more appealing and readable. You’ll also be encouraged by a list of authors who had trouble getting their books published at first, then went on to dramatic success.
An agent or an acquiring editor must read and evaluate manuscript after manuscript, looking for the gems that they believe they can sell. Because they are pros, they recognize their views as subjective—that what they like is not the only measure of what is good or worthy, and that their personal likes and dislikes are not shared by everyone. In other words, no individual is going to appreciate every book, however good or bad the writing.
On the other hand, a successful agent must have a pretty sharp eye—that’s why they are in the business—and agents will be more enthusiastic and do a better job selling and supporting quality work that suits each agency’s particular skills and contacts. Literary agents have specialties. If you’ve written a good manuscript that doesn’t play to a particular agent’s taste, there are agents out there whose talents will be more appropriate. An agent who turns you down may even offer the name of another agent who specializes in representing your kind of book.
PUT YOURSELF IN THE AGENT’S SHOES
Let’s say you are a successful literary agent and have just returned from the Maui Writers Conference where you were “working hard” sitting on panels (the beach) and making connections (drinking mai tais). You sit down to catch up on a backlog of work, which includes looking at several manuscripts on your desk. One is from a successful writer you already represent. Another is from a published writer you met at the conference who is between agents. You expressed interest in seeing the proposal for her next book. A couple of others are from people who sent you query letters per the guidelines on your website. You were interested enough to request the manuscripts, and here they are. And another pile consists of manuscripts that were sent to you unsolicited.
You check your voice mail, where you encounter a number of important and less important messages, ranging from editors at publishing houses getting back to you to your elderly mother calling to see if you will be visiting soon. Your e-mail inbox is full and there is a pile of snail mail on your desk.
Feeling overwhelmed, you settle into your favorite reading chair, pen and notepad in hand, and prepare to read the manuscripts. First you look at the submission from the author who is already in your stable. This person is a talented journalist who has one New York Times bestseller under his belt. However, his last two books have had disappointing sales. This new book is about the growing influence of Latino culture in America’s public education system. The book summary is too general and the chapter outlines are a little perfunctory, but that can all be worked out. You already represent this author, so your perspective is that of partner. You look at the sample chapter and are quickly drawn into the narrative, which is no surprise, because this guy can write.
But you are worried. Why is this material best presented as a book, rather than a piece on public radio, or a magazine article? Why will a publisher plunk down a big chunk of cash up front for this proposal, when the public can get the same information elsewhere and the author has a declining sales track (meaning each successive title has sold less than the bestseller that got him all this attention)? You make a note to call him—an e-mail won’t do.
Next you turn your attention to the author you met in Maui. She is a talented writer whose work straddles genres, landing somewhere between literary fiction and thriller. This can be a problem for publishers, who want their customers to know where to locate a book in bookstores. Her last book garnered critical acclaim and sold well, and you think she is a star on the rise. But then you aren’t the only one who thinks this, which makes you wonder why she is shopping for a new agent. You worry that there may be some problem and make a note to do some quiet checking around, but in the meantime you are excited to look at her manuscript.
The beginning is superb, telling the tale of a woman driving up the coast in Northern California pursued by mysterious men in a van, and an hour goes by without your even noticing. But then the story begins to bog down in a second subplot about an eight-year-old runaway with a lame puppy. This second part of the book involves a lot of beautiful but aimless atmospheric writing and doesn’t appear to have anything to do with the woman pursued by mysterious men. You wish you had a closer relationship with the author—you would tell her to make this subplot tie in more clearly with the primary story or cut it altogether. You wonder, also, if this is part of the unknown problem—that the author is not happy in the thriller genre, where sales tend to be larger, and is writing in a way that lends itself more to the literary work.
Tough Love from the Author Enablers
When sending query letters or manuscripts to agents or publishers, follow the submission guidelines or we’ll come over and kick your butt (metaphorically speaking)! ‹«
Next you turn to the two manuscripts from unpublished authors who are seeking representation. The first manuscript is a nonfiction work about space exploration and its effect on our belief in the afterlife. The idea and author sounded intriguing in the query letter, but it is immediately apparent that you will not be interested in representing this author. There is no short synopsis of the book, no author bio, no table of contents, no chapter summaries. You are immediately thrown into reading a manuscript that screams “academic.” The first sentence is so long you can’t remember where it began when you get to the end. But you could, maybe, overlook this if you were fascinated by what you are reading. The real issue for you is that the manuscript doesn’t deliver on the promise of the initial query letter. It is not a tightly constructed argument from someone you immediately trust, nor is it a brilliant if tangential look inside a great mind. Rather it is just the boring thoughts of one more person, albeit a college professor, who has a lot to say on a subject with which he is clearly obsessed. But why should you care? Why should the world care? Why should a publisher risk a lot of money and many hours of employees’ work on this professor’s ideas? And ultimately the author should be thinking about the potential reader—someone who will be expected to shell out twenty dollars or more in a bookstore. There is nothing in the manuscript to convince you to go for it, and plenty to convince you otherwise. You make a note to decline.
The other solicited manuscript is by a mother of three who is just starting out on her career as a writer—not the likeliest scenario for bestsellerdom. But something about her query letter charmed you and you want to give it a shot. You are feeling grumpy because of your disappointment over the academic—you had really believed that that one might work—but you try to shake it off and settle into this new work.
You begin
to relax as you read her cover letter, her brief, admittedly thin, yet charmingly honest bio. The one-paragraph synopsis is well constructed and to the point, as is the longer plot outline. She has even provided you with some comparison titles, and apparently has the ear of at least one well-known author who will provide a blurb.
But it is the writing that gets you. The first of the fifty pages your guidelines ask for draws you in instantly. Your office disappears as you go deep into this author’s world. You want to represent her. You will send the e-mail immediately, along with a few suggestions. You are already thinking of the right editor at the right house.
Lastly, you look through the manuscripts that were sent to you unsolicited. If they have a return envelope with postage, you make a note to your assistant to send them back with the usual form letter that directs the author to read and follow your submission guidelines. Those that have no return envelope you place unceremoniously in the recycling bin. Why should you have to spend your hard-earned money returning them?
DON’T TAKE REJECTION PERSONALLY
Prospective bestselling writer, are you getting the idea? What to you is a cherished work of art or impassioned cause is part of someone else’s workday. This imagined scenario is not intended to discourage you, but rather to get you out of yourself and into the shoes of those whom you must successfully engage—and who, in turn, must sell your work to others.
When you do get that manuscript returned in your self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) with a form-letter rejection from either an agent or a publisher, you get to indulge in exactly twenty-four hours of feeling sorry for yourself, and then you have to get over it. Think about ways you can improve your manuscript or proposal, and do them. It’s no fun to get rejected, but it happens to everyone and you can’t let it keep you from working on your writing career.
AN EXAMPLE OF AN EFFECTIVE QUERY LETTER
Here’s an especially good query letter, written (and generously shared with us) by our friend, author and writing coach Leslie Levine:
Dear ______________ :
Do you save the wishbone? Do you pause before you blow out the candles? Does wishing make it so?
In Wish It, Dream It, Do It: Turning What You Want into What Is Yours, I will clearly, creatively, and gently show readers how to combine their dreams and wishes with practical strategies intended to help them achieve what they really want from life.
The person who follows her bliss doesn’t simply gaze at the stars or daydream about becoming a millionaire. This dream catcher does something about what’s missing in her life. And although she holds on to her dream like a hat on a cold and blustery day, she also engages in and embraces the hard, hard work that wishes and dreams require but rarely disclose. In other words, she will wish it, dream it, and, finally, do it.
In all 52 chapters—one for each week in the year—I will prescribe a three-part strategy that will help readers combine their inner resources with external sources of support, such as mentors, workshops, books, and friends and family. Each chapter will instruct readers to (1) ask, (2) experiment, and (3) affirm. For example, in the chapter “Listen to Your Quiet,” I will provide questions such as “What have I not been hearing?” and “Am I giving my dreams a voice that’s loud enough to hear?” Also, I will encourage readers to experiment with the what ifs, so that they can get a sense of what might happen if, indeed, they try on their dreams. In other words, I will show readers how to test themselves without worrying about failing or being judged. Each chapter will close with an affirmation—a show of support and a few words intended to coax readers toward taking the next step. Ultimately, readers will learn how to create and then live by their own affirmations.
I have thought about Wish It, Dream It, Do It ever since I began writing the manuscript for my second book, Ice Cream for Breakfast: If You Follow All the Rules, You Miss Half the Fun (Contemporary Books). Soon after I signed the contract I picked up the Wish It, Dream It, Do It affirmation in a gift shop. To this day it serves as a constant and rich source of inspiration. My dreams don’t always come true, but I am a firm believer in the power of the tenacious human spirit. And I am convinced that people can pursue and often achieve their dreams if they can access the tools and strategies that very often move them from “wishing” to “doing.”
My articles on topics ranging from home remodeling to parenting have appeared in Woman’s Day Remodeling Ideas, Better Home and Gardens Remodeling Ideas, and The New York Times. My first book, Will This Place Ever Feel Like Home? Simple Advice for Settling In After Your Move, was published by Dearborn. I am frequently quoted on relocation issues and have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Parenting magazine, and other publications. Also, I have been a featured guest on the Today Show, CBS This Morning, Fox News, and WMAR-TV, the ABC affiliate in Baltimore. I have also been a radio guest on several stations across the country. Subsequent to the publication of Will This Place Ever Feel Like Home? I served as the national spokesperson for ERA Real Estate. In addition, I speak on a variety of topics including change, relocation, pursuing dreams, and breaking the rules.
Contemporary Books recently bought the rights to Will This Place Ever Feel Like Home? The initial print run for Ice Cream for Breakfast was 20,000. Contemporary Books also has right of first refusal for Wish It, Dream It, Do It.
While I am sending this query to a few other agents, Danielle Egan-Miller, my editor at Contemporary, specifically recommended that I contact you. In addition to providing a proposal, I would be happy to send you a copy of Will This Place Ever Feel Like Home? and/or a set of galleys for Ice Cream for Breakfast.
Thank you for your time and consideration. I can be reached at ___________________________or via e-mail at ___________________________. I look forward to your response.
Best,
Leslie Levine
True Stories of Repeated Rejection Followed by Great Success:
STEPHEN KING
“When I was sixteen, I pounded a spike into my bedroom wall and started spiking rejection slips (I’d write the name of the rejected story on each pink slip). The spike tore out of the wall four years later. I was home on semester break from college when it went. I counted, and there were over 150 rejection slips on it (which didn’t count the slips that came to my college dorm). After that I just piled them up. I sold my first story about eight months later.” Stephen, the authors would like to note, went on to rock-and-roll stardom as the rhythm guitarist for the Rock Bottom Remainders and has had some success as an author, too.
MEG WAITE CLAYTON:
“My first novel, The Language of Light, was rejected by pretty much every publisher in the country, sat in a drawer for years, then was revived by the praise of a very kind Bharati Mukherjee when I pulled it out of the drawer and brought it to Squaw Valley Community of Writers. I submitted it to the Bellwether Prize, for which it was chosen as a finalist (but did not win). My agent asked if she could submit it and sold it to the first editor she sent it to. Similarly, The Wednesday Sisters was rejected by ten publishers when it was represented by one agent, only to receive multiple offers after I stripped the book back to what it had been when I signed with the first agent, found a new agent, and revised in a way that made sense to me.”
CATHERINE BRADY
Author of The Mechanics of Falling and Other Stories and (by the way) winner of the Flannery O’Connor Award for short fiction: “For my first book of stories, I had a manuscript that I kept dithering with and retooling, but couldn’t sell. It was even a runner-up in a few contests, but no dice. I am a slow learner, and one day it dawned on me that the book needed to be a REAL collection—to contain stories that really worked together. (Prior to this, I’d just been tossing in whatever I had available.) I threw out several stories and wrote some new ones so that the book would have a strong focus on Irish American immigrant women, and many of the stories in this version were related. Writers often talk about getting rejected in o
ne place and sending a book elsewhere, but at least in my case and to my huge surprise, a publisher that had rejected a novel I’d sent the year before decided to accept this book for publication. It was probably foolhardy for me even to have sent it to the same publisher, but it worked. You just can’t second guess or try to finesse this trying, unpredictable process.”
JOE QUIRK
“I am the Rejection King! I own 375 rejection letters. When I sent the first chapter of my first novel The Ultimate Rush to a publisher who will remain unnamed, I received my 371st form rejection, and scribbled across the bottom were the words, ‘Give it a rest, pal.’ A few months later, Molly Friedrich sold the book to William Morrow on the strength of that first chapter. It made the Boston Globe bestseller list, St. Martin’s bought the paperback rights for a quarter million, and Warner Brothers bought and then renewed the film option. Author Steve Kelly, writing for the Richmond Review, called it ‘One of the best opening sequences of any novel I have read.’”
ANDREW SEAN GREER
Author of The Confessions of Max Tivoli and Story of a Marriage: “My own story is that I read somewhere, back in my early twenties, that you had to amass two hundred rejection letters before you ever published anything. It was the kind of information that you hold on to tightly as an aspiring author, but which has really no helpful meaning to it. Of course my thought was: ‘Well let’s make that go as quickly as possible!’ So I wrote stories quickly, sent them out many at a time to dozens of magazines, and started a binder of rejection notes. I remember the Atlantic being particularly wonderful, from C. Michael Curtis. I even recall one from Esquire that was hand-written—it started to become important if they were hand-written, or completely standard. I think the meanest ones were bitter boilerplate: ‘Most of the stories we reject have either A. a mother in bright red lipstick; B. a miscarriage; C. a dream sequence; or D. all of the above’ and they would circle which one mine had (lipstick). And then one day I came home to my tiny apartment in Missoula, Montana to hear a voice on my answering machine: ‘Andrew, this is Richard Ford and I’m editing Ploughshares and loved your story, wondered if you would let us use it for the next edition. . . .’ How many rejection letters had I amassed over those two years? Almost exactly two hundred. No kidding. What scientific law can we take from this experience? Absolutely nothing. There’s only one rule: persevere. One rejection or two hundred, a good story will always be published.”
