As every writer knows, writing is rewriting – except for those who insist writing is editing. Either way you slice it, you can’t get away with writing “the end” and saying “I’m done!”
One piece of advice I got early in my journey to publication was to write a “vomit draft” – just get everything down on the page, as quickly as possible, while silencing your internal editor. Don’t look back; just keep going and going until you hit “the end.” The danger in “editing as you go,” this direction warned, was that you’d stifle your creativity and spend so much time just trying to get certain words right that you end up never finishing the book at all. I’ve always followed this advice, mainly because I’ve been terrified about not finishing projects. While every writer has a computer or trash can filled with unfinished stories, no one makes their dreams come true if none of those stories has an ending.
The Writers in Paradise conference I just attended (and when I named this blog I had no idea there was such a conference) had two separate speakers talk on the art of revision. Neither of them recommended that a writer complete a first draft before starting the revision process.
Author Ann Hood (An Italian Wife, The Red Thread, The Knitting Circle, etc.) believes every writer needs to develop his or her own editing system. Hood personally starts her writing day by reading the previous day’s pages out loud. Other systems she mentioned:
The writer prints out and reads to revise in 50 page increments.
Saving every Friday for “editing day.
Editing at the end of every writing day.
Beginning each writing day by reading and revising everything that’s been written so far. (I imagine days would get pretty long near the end of the novel!)
Personally, I like the “save Friday for editing day” edict, as my Fridays tend to be too busy for writing but there are pockets of time where I can make notes. For me, editing can be done in spurts no matter where I am, while writing requires a long stretch of time and a quiet place. I also plan to work on the book outline at the same time – I continually strive to be more of a planner than I actually am.
Although these steps seem glib, the revision process is anything but easy. It’s one thing to realize your protagonist comes across as shallow; it’s another to take the steps in the writing that show her in all her layers. Writing is hard. Rewriting is harder. But for most of us, it’s not a choice.
What’s your editing system? Let me know in the comments …
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Monday, January 12, 2015
Welcome 2015!
This is the third January that I’ve been writing this blog, and I was certain that I must have written a post on New Year’s resolutions for writers, and I had planned to crib off that one. But no dice. So without further ado, here’s a list of a few things writers should resolve to do this year:
WRITE. I know this sounds obvious – writers write; non-writers don’t write – but it’s surprising how many people call themselves writers and then fail to write anything. Professional writers write every day. Professional writers usually have three projects going on – one in the planning stage, one in the writing stage, and one in the editing stage – and that doesn’t even count the ones that have been published and are in the marketing stage. Write something. If you can’t write every day, write once a week. But for goodness’ sake, write!
READ. Again with the obvious. But let’s face it, there’s a lot of good TV and movies out there. But writers need to read books. A lot of books. Mostly in their genre. They need to keep track of what’s hot and what isn’t. And just for chuckles, they also need to read books outside their genre. I generally read two-three books a week, although most of these are either manuscripts for the agency I read for, or books I’m reviewing for Chick Lit Central. I read on the treadmill, so I knock out exercise and reading at the same time. GO ME.
HELP ANOTHER WRITER. This isn’t just to be noble and helpful, although those are good things too. Reading other people’s raw manuscripts will help you become a better writer. It’s easier to see mistakes in others’ writing than in your own, and once you do, you’ll keep an eye out for them in your own projects.
GO SOMEWHERE. Go to a writer’s conference, join a writer’s group, go on a writer’s retreat, just GO. These events force you to take yourself seriously as a writer. (Unless your writers’ group is filled with people who don’t take themselves seriously, in which case find another group.) They stress deadlines, editing, networking, education. GO YOU.
SET SMALL GOALS. This may seem counterintuitive, especially for a New Year’s resolution post, but the main reason people fail at achieving the goals they set is they set them too big, don’t accomplish them, and then feel like failures and quit the project entirely. Don’t do that! If your goal is to write 10 pages a day, that’s huge. Write one page a day. Or write one page every other day. Just set something small, achieve it, and then set a bigger goal. It’s like weightlifting. You don’t bench press 500 pounds your first day at the gym. You bench press the bar and it’s hard! But eventually, if you go to the gym three times a week, you’ll get to that goal.
I’m going to be scarce for the next two weeks as I’ll be attending Eckert College’s writer’s conference, Writers In Paradise. I’m very excited and will report on what I learn!
WRITE. I know this sounds obvious – writers write; non-writers don’t write – but it’s surprising how many people call themselves writers and then fail to write anything. Professional writers write every day. Professional writers usually have three projects going on – one in the planning stage, one in the writing stage, and one in the editing stage – and that doesn’t even count the ones that have been published and are in the marketing stage. Write something. If you can’t write every day, write once a week. But for goodness’ sake, write!
READ. Again with the obvious. But let’s face it, there’s a lot of good TV and movies out there. But writers need to read books. A lot of books. Mostly in their genre. They need to keep track of what’s hot and what isn’t. And just for chuckles, they also need to read books outside their genre. I generally read two-three books a week, although most of these are either manuscripts for the agency I read for, or books I’m reviewing for Chick Lit Central. I read on the treadmill, so I knock out exercise and reading at the same time. GO ME.
HELP ANOTHER WRITER. This isn’t just to be noble and helpful, although those are good things too. Reading other people’s raw manuscripts will help you become a better writer. It’s easier to see mistakes in others’ writing than in your own, and once you do, you’ll keep an eye out for them in your own projects.
GO SOMEWHERE. Go to a writer’s conference, join a writer’s group, go on a writer’s retreat, just GO. These events force you to take yourself seriously as a writer. (Unless your writers’ group is filled with people who don’t take themselves seriously, in which case find another group.) They stress deadlines, editing, networking, education. GO YOU.
SET SMALL GOALS. This may seem counterintuitive, especially for a New Year’s resolution post, but the main reason people fail at achieving the goals they set is they set them too big, don’t accomplish them, and then feel like failures and quit the project entirely. Don’t do that! If your goal is to write 10 pages a day, that’s huge. Write one page a day. Or write one page every other day. Just set something small, achieve it, and then set a bigger goal. It’s like weightlifting. You don’t bench press 500 pounds your first day at the gym. You bench press the bar and it’s hard! But eventually, if you go to the gym three times a week, you’ll get to that goal.
I’m going to be scarce for the next two weeks as I’ll be attending Eckert College’s writer’s conference, Writers In Paradise. I’m very excited and will report on what I learn!
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Get Piqued! Congratulations, Tracie Banister, on Your New Release!
This week, a spotlight on a new chick lit release: Tracie Banister's Twin Piques!
How she can read the hearts and minds of animals has always been a mystery to Willa, and her rotten luck with men is equally baffling. Although she’s been looking for “The One” for what feels like forever (A teenage marriage to a French mime and dating a guy named Spider seemed like good ideas at the time!), optimistic Willa refuses to give up on love. When she meets Brody, the handsome rose expert hired to save her grandmother’s garden, she’s instantly smitten, but why does he keep sending her mixed signals? Does he return her feelings, or is their attraction all in her fanciful head?
Unlike her twin, Sloane has zero interest in romance. Her passion is her job, where she uses her gift for numbers to take down slimy embezzlers and asset-hiding spouses. When she’s assigned two high profile cases, Sloane feels confident the promotion she’s been angling for is within her grasp. But will her plan to climb the corporate ladder be thwarted by difficult clients, her co-worker-with-benefits, or – most surprisingly of all – her own sister? And how’s she supposed to stay focused on the drama at work when her childhood friend, Gav, moves in next door and the spark between them becomes impossible to ignore?
To get what they both want, can Willa and Sloane band together and rely on each other’s strengths? Or will their differences drive them apart once and for all?
Author Bio
Tracie’s dreams of authorial success were put on the backburner when she reached adulthood and discovered that she needed a "real" job in order to pay her bills. Her career as personal assistant to a local entrepreneur lasted for 12 years. When it ended, she decided to follow her bliss and dedicate herself to writing full-time. Twin Piques is her third Chick Lit release. The pet psychic character in this novel was inspired by Tracie’s rascally rescue dogs. She’d love to know what goes on in their heads!
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Monday, December 29, 2014
Best Books of the Year! (not)
It’s that time of year again …. The time where every newspaper and magazine that covers pop culture comes out with their best books of the year. I’ve seen lists in magazines like Salon, Atlantic, Entertainment Weekly … and even in these diverse periodicals, the books are pretty much the same. And I’ve read half of one of them.
What does it take for a book to be named one of the best of the year, or to get a glowing review from a major publication? From my admittedly jaded viewpoint, these books are either poetic-sounding historical literary fiction with titles like “Breath Forms Clouds of Sunlight,” or a non-fiction tome that could double as a dictionary, usually a biography about some nineteenth century general or cabinet member.
These books may be heavy and important, but they’re usually not fun. And I like fun. I read for fun.
It makes me wonder whether these lists are helpful in getting more people to read, or if the majority react the way I do – that reading these books is a task, something you have to do, like exercise or flossing or getting a colonoscopy.
I fell in love with reading at a very early age. Some of my earliest memories are of my favorite picture books, like “Harold and the Purple Crayon.” In early elementary school, I was addicted to the “Little House” books. A year or so later, my mother introduced me to some of Beverly Cleary’s books about teenagers. Even when I went away to sleep away camp in the mountains, I could usually be found in the library.
In middle school and high school, though, reading became a chore. It’s almost as if reading and English teachers deliberately assign the most obtuse, plodding work available. Rather than getting lost in intriguing stories and characters I could identify with, I was totally lost looking for symbolism and foreshadowing and trying to decipher strange vocabulary.
This is also the period where I got hooked on certain serial TV shows. Coincidence? I think not. It wasn’t until I’d graduated college, got my first fulltime job and needed something to do during those metro commutes that I discovered reading for pleasure again.
My son underwent a similar journey. I read to him from the time he could understand words, and together we went from Curious George to Harry Potter, with Animorphs and private investigators in between. And then the public school system struck. When he brought “Sarah Plain and Tall” home from the first grade, I knew it was all over. And while as a college student he’s become a voracious reader, unfortunately it’s all non-fiction. (although with some of those political books he likes, calling them non-fiction could be a stretch.)
I love women’s fiction. Early Stephen King-style horror. Mysteries with female protagonists, especially if they’re PIs. In other words, nothing you’d see reviewed on the front page of the New York Times book section.
Jennifer Weiner is well-known for speaking out about how female authors who write in her genre aren’t reviewed the way male authors are. Recently Jodi Picoult gave an interview with a similar complaint. Sadly, Jennifer is viewed as “Jennifer Whiner,” as some – including other authors – see her complaints as personally motivated. I don’t doubt her personal situation figures into her feelings somewhat, but the issue is bigger than that, and bigger than one or two authors. When Liane Moriarty can take over the New York Times bestseller list but be ignored for reviews in that same newspaper, it isn’t just about her, or Jennifer, or Jodi. It’s about you and me and every reader (and all these authors have owned the Times’ lists) who enjoys books in this genre. (And don’t get me started on the romance genre. I’m not a reader, but it’s the most popular genre in publishing.) These publications are saying our tastes don’t matter. We don’t matter. If we’re not reading “Blue Butterfly, Black Clouds” then we don’t deserve to have books in our genre evaluated. If it’s good, bad, whatever … we’re on our own.
And it’s also frustrating to me as a writer, because even though the conventional advice is “write what you know/write what you want to read,” when I do that, I hear back that that’s not what publishers think they can sell. Is this related to the review dilemma? I don’t know. I do know that while a positive New York Times review pretty much guarantees bestseller status, there are plenty of bestsellers that don’t get reviewed by any well-known magazines. I’ve even seen a few self-published books on that list. So I think I’m writing what people (at least women like me) want to read, but unfortunately that opinion is not shared by those in charge.
I’m currently about halfway into one of the books that’s been on many of the end-of-year lists. It’s good, but for the life of me I can’t figure out what makes it so special. If this had come to me as one of the manuscripts in the slush pile for the literary agent I work for, I might have told her to pass on it.
But what do I know, anyway? I’m just another average Weiner/Picoult/Moriarty fan, someone who loves Emily Giffin and Sophie Kinsella and her job reviewing books for Chick Lit Central.
Oh, and I’m someone who bought 83 books for her Kindle last year. Eighty three. And 2014 isn’t over yet.
And not one of them was called “The Peculiar Insurrections.”
What does it take for a book to be named one of the best of the year, or to get a glowing review from a major publication? From my admittedly jaded viewpoint, these books are either poetic-sounding historical literary fiction with titles like “Breath Forms Clouds of Sunlight,” or a non-fiction tome that could double as a dictionary, usually a biography about some nineteenth century general or cabinet member.
These books may be heavy and important, but they’re usually not fun. And I like fun. I read for fun.
It makes me wonder whether these lists are helpful in getting more people to read, or if the majority react the way I do – that reading these books is a task, something you have to do, like exercise or flossing or getting a colonoscopy.
I fell in love with reading at a very early age. Some of my earliest memories are of my favorite picture books, like “Harold and the Purple Crayon.” In early elementary school, I was addicted to the “Little House” books. A year or so later, my mother introduced me to some of Beverly Cleary’s books about teenagers. Even when I went away to sleep away camp in the mountains, I could usually be found in the library.
In middle school and high school, though, reading became a chore. It’s almost as if reading and English teachers deliberately assign the most obtuse, plodding work available. Rather than getting lost in intriguing stories and characters I could identify with, I was totally lost looking for symbolism and foreshadowing and trying to decipher strange vocabulary.
This is also the period where I got hooked on certain serial TV shows. Coincidence? I think not. It wasn’t until I’d graduated college, got my first fulltime job and needed something to do during those metro commutes that I discovered reading for pleasure again.
My son underwent a similar journey. I read to him from the time he could understand words, and together we went from Curious George to Harry Potter, with Animorphs and private investigators in between. And then the public school system struck. When he brought “Sarah Plain and Tall” home from the first grade, I knew it was all over. And while as a college student he’s become a voracious reader, unfortunately it’s all non-fiction. (although with some of those political books he likes, calling them non-fiction could be a stretch.)
I love women’s fiction. Early Stephen King-style horror. Mysteries with female protagonists, especially if they’re PIs. In other words, nothing you’d see reviewed on the front page of the New York Times book section.
Jennifer Weiner is well-known for speaking out about how female authors who write in her genre aren’t reviewed the way male authors are. Recently Jodi Picoult gave an interview with a similar complaint. Sadly, Jennifer is viewed as “Jennifer Whiner,” as some – including other authors – see her complaints as personally motivated. I don’t doubt her personal situation figures into her feelings somewhat, but the issue is bigger than that, and bigger than one or two authors. When Liane Moriarty can take over the New York Times bestseller list but be ignored for reviews in that same newspaper, it isn’t just about her, or Jennifer, or Jodi. It’s about you and me and every reader (and all these authors have owned the Times’ lists) who enjoys books in this genre. (And don’t get me started on the romance genre. I’m not a reader, but it’s the most popular genre in publishing.) These publications are saying our tastes don’t matter. We don’t matter. If we’re not reading “Blue Butterfly, Black Clouds” then we don’t deserve to have books in our genre evaluated. If it’s good, bad, whatever … we’re on our own.
And it’s also frustrating to me as a writer, because even though the conventional advice is “write what you know/write what you want to read,” when I do that, I hear back that that’s not what publishers think they can sell. Is this related to the review dilemma? I don’t know. I do know that while a positive New York Times review pretty much guarantees bestseller status, there are plenty of bestsellers that don’t get reviewed by any well-known magazines. I’ve even seen a few self-published books on that list. So I think I’m writing what people (at least women like me) want to read, but unfortunately that opinion is not shared by those in charge.
I’m currently about halfway into one of the books that’s been on many of the end-of-year lists. It’s good, but for the life of me I can’t figure out what makes it so special. If this had come to me as one of the manuscripts in the slush pile for the literary agent I work for, I might have told her to pass on it.
But what do I know, anyway? I’m just another average Weiner/Picoult/Moriarty fan, someone who loves Emily Giffin and Sophie Kinsella and her job reviewing books for Chick Lit Central.
Oh, and I’m someone who bought 83 books for her Kindle last year. Eighty three. And 2014 isn’t over yet.
And not one of them was called “The Peculiar Insurrections.”
Monday, December 22, 2014
The Most Interesting Man in the World
You all know who I’m talking about. Sharks have a week about him. Cuba imports cigars from him. When sailing around the world, he found a shortcut.
And he’s the star of your book.
Okay, the Dos Equis spokesman is not literally the protagonist of your novel. But the point is … your protagonist needs to be the most interesting man in the world. Or at least the most interesting person in your book.
Last week, in talking about back story, I noted that the current action of your novel needs to be about the most important events in your protagonist’s life – which is why some manuscripts that have the most important event occurring in the back story are so problematic. This is a similar rule – your protagonist needs to be the most interesting person in the story.
Many children and YA authors get this instinctively. It’s not “Ron Weasley and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” YA novels are littered with narrators who discover that they are the “chosen ones” for some universe. This can get tiresome if YA is your forte – how many damned chosen ones can there be, anyway – but really, who wants to read about the chosen one’s best friend? “I stared at my phone, willing her to text me back, while I imagined her in the sky, flying around on eagles and trying to kill the last dragon.” Um, no.
And, yes, this is why I don’t write YA.
I’ve read a surprising number of unpublished and self-published manuscripts where the protagonist was not the most interesting person in the room. They stood off to the side, describing their lives in the corner as their sister, or best friend, or ex-lover became a witch, or a movie star, or queen.
The only writer I know who got away with this was F. Scott Fitzgerald, and my English teacher took pains to distinguish Nick Carraway as the narrator but Jay Gatsby was definitely the protagonist. You, dear friend, are not F. Scott Fitzgerald, and you are not writing “The Great Gatsby.” And neither am I. Besides, look how Fitzgerald’s life turned out. Do you want to be him? No.
Movies get this right. Movies always get this right. No one puts Baby in a corner. Luke Skywalker might have been whiny, but he was the chosen one. (Forget what Lucas said about Vader being the protagonist of the series. Lucas lost all credibility with “The Phantom Menace.”) Indiana Jones. Probably the only exception to this rule is the possessed demon child in a horror movie or the serial killer in a slasher flick – they may be the most interesting person in the story, but we are not rooting for them to succeed. Usually. And let’s face it, would “Silence of the Lambs” be as gripping if Clarice hadn’t had those screams in her back story?
If you’re writing a story like this now, please take a deep breath and stop. In some genres – detective fiction, maybe women’s fiction – there are other characters (and sometimes they are real sickos) who will be more complicated and compelling than your protagonist. If you’re working in such a genre, add dramatic back story and character quirks to make your protagonist as complicated as the villain she tracks. But if your protagonist is named Lisa and she’s flirting with a waiter while her sister learns to dance from the camp hunk, think again about who your protagonist should be.
Monday, December 15, 2014
It’s All About the Back Story … Except When it Isn't
One of the first pieces of advice writers are given when they embark on a new story is about the importance of back story. We’re told to write elaborate character bios that spell out the events that shape their current personality and choices. We’re advised to create timelines so we can better picture what happened and when. Detail is important. Things that happened in the past matter.
Or not.
I’ve read several manuscripts and self-published novels lately that went overboard on the back story. With advice such as the above, this is easy to do. But writers need to remember that the novel is about the most important thing that happened in the protagonist’s life. If the most important thing happened in the back story, you’re telling the wrong story.
Back story is usually dealt with in one of three major ways:
Referred to in dialogue or narrative;
Through flashbacks
With non-linear storytelling that features chapters and sections with scene work occurring in the past.
Which option is right for your story?
Many writers make the mistake in thinking that their back story is more important than it actually is. They create elaborate flashbacks that show exactly how a long-married couple first met and the issues they had building their house. It’s become important to the writer because they spent so much time writing those character bios and timelines. But it’s probably not important to the present storyline. Unless the husband has died and left the wife a cryptic clue about something buried in the walls of that first house, it’s perfectly fine to deal with this back story in conversation.
Most writers dealing in women’s fiction, romantic comedy, and other stories with straightforward narratives don’t really need much backstory beyond what can easily be explained. I recently reviewed Ann Lewis Hamilton’s novel Expecting for Chick Lit Central. The novel has a subplot about a man reconnecting with a college girlfriend on Facebook. In the hands of a less experienced writer, readers might have been forced to wade through long, elaborate flashbacks of their romance, or, God forbid, whole chapters devoted to their past relationship. Luckily Hamilton recognized that the details of the relationship were unimportant and gave the reader only what she needed to know.
Of course there are stories that call for a more detailed treatment of back story. Writers such as Jojo Meyers and Sarah Jio are well known for weaving together past and present almost seamlessly. Their stories tend to have mysteries at their core, and giving the reader that up close look at what actually happened plays an important role in the enjoyment of the story, and allowing the reader to try to solve the mystery along with the protagonist.
Some writers of literary fiction prefer non-linear narratives, oftentimes creating the feeling that past and present are closely linked. In these types of stories, character motivation is paramount, and chapters that detail the past let readers get to know the characters in ways that a few flashbacks or lines of narrative cannot deliver. Literary fiction tends to be more character-driven than plot-driven, so readers tend to fully immerse themselves in the reading experience without asking how certain scenes relate to the plot.
Every story is different, and back story will always play some role. In a blog post, it’s difficult to advise beyond generalities. But generally speaking, it’s usually not as important as most newbie writers think it is. Most histories can be dealt with in narrative description or in a conversation between characters. It’s something writers should ask their beta readers about: How much is too much? Back story is one area that is rife with babies to kill.
Monday, November 24, 2014
Hope Over Experience: Getting on the Querying Merry-Go-Round One More Time
A marriage after divorce is said to be a triumph of hope over experience. So is querying agents with a new novel after previous works have been rejected. Here I go!
I sent out my first query letter in 1992. That was before the internet, so everything was snail mail and enclosed SASEs for a response. This was a murder mystery in which a college student was the main suspect. I got a few requests for the first ten pages and some nice feedback after entering a contest. I heard a lot of, “No one reads about college students so there’s no market for this.” It was twenty years before the New Adult category was formed. I think I still have that manuscript somewhere … I should pull it out and take a look … (luckily I printed the whole thing out because I’m pretty sure it ended up being saved to a floppy disk somewhere. Remember floppy disks? Remember disks?)
A few years later, I started writing screenplays, so those queries went more to production companies and managers. Got a lot of really nice rejections. I wrote scripts for about ten years; long enough to meet some other terrific writers and watch as they planned to make their own movies. At the same time, self-publishing began to get hot. I thought if I wrote a novel and couldn’t get an agent, self-publishing would be much easier than making my own movie. Perhaps this was a self-fulfilling prophecy, for after sending out about 70 queries to agents, I did end up self-publishing KEEPING SCORE. And the publishing part was easy. It’s the marketing that makes me want to tear my hair out ….
I may end up self-publishing my vampire novel THE TIES THAT BLEED. This novel was based on a screenplay I wrote back in 2002, and won a few awards with. I got a few requests for fulls, and again these rejections were really nice – the book was good, but since it was in a cold genre, it had to be amazing, and it wasn’t quite there. I’ve got it out to a few small publishers, but in the back of my mind I’m picturing cover art and wondering how to market this one.
And now THE SEESAW EFFECT. I’ve posted a few excerpts from this one -- it’s about a Democrat married to a Republican who becomes the next Rush Limbaugh. Since tone-wise, it’s similar to KEEPING SCORE, I contacted all the agents who’d requested to read KEEPING SCORE. And I got a few requests … one of which already warned me, “This is going to be a tough sell.”
And I know that. It’s got politics, and apparently no one wants touch politics. But I wrote the story I wanted to write, and if I end up self-publishing this one too, so be it. But I’d really like to get an agent out of this. I’ve been dreaming about being published since I was a child, and despite the explosion in self-publishing, it isn’t the same as being traditionally published.
I’ve learned a lot since I sent out that first query in 1992 – mainly because I’ve been working for a literary agent for the past year and a half, so I read several queries sent to her a week. (But only the ones that result in manuscript requests.) One detail I try to keep in mind is that a well-written query can feature a good story and still get rejected because it’s not something the agent is interested in, or it’s a genre that doesn’t sell, or it’s a genre that’s completely flooded. Rejections at this stage in the game are the easiest for me to handle, because I know they aren’t based on my project. The ones that come after the request for a full …. Those are tough.
Hope springs eternal, but I’m bracing myself for rejection. If I don’t get an agent for this project, I’ll look for small independent publishers before taking the self-published route again. And I’ve started my next book – a murder mystery that I’m hoping is more marketable than a book about politics. So please wish me luck!
In case you’re interested, my query letter is below:
Dear Ms. XXXX,
A lot of Democrats lost their jobs this Election Day … but not many are married to the next Rush Limbaugh! That’s the dilemma facing Erin Murphy, heroine of my light women’s fiction novel, THE SEESAW EFFECT.
When it comes to the work/life seesaw, Erin is a balancing-act expert. True, she works for Democrats while her husband Jack is a spokesman for Republicans, but at home they’re in sync. Their jobs stay at the office. Their children -- 13-year-old animal-nut Jessica and 8-year-old Batman-obsessed Michael – come first. And her career is just as important as his.
But on Election Day, everything changes. Suddenly, Erin is out of a job … and Jack is the new star of The Right Choice TV network! As Erin searches frantically for her next position, Jack begins to practice what he preaches. Their house turns into a battlefield: What’s wrong with saying “Merry Christmas” to their Jewish neighbors? How can there be global warming when it’s cold outside? Jessica takes her mother’s side (her father is a “disgusting planet murderer”), while Michael just thinks it’s cool that Dad’s on TV and he’s making a million dollars.
And Michael’s not the only one impressed with the family’s new money: Who are all these new people floating around Jack, and what do they want? As Erin’s friends take sides about what she should do with Jack 2.0, the only person who understands is a fellow stay-at-home parent: Scott. Scott is easy to look at, and just as frustrated with his marriage as Erin is…
But the biggest battle is Erin’s alone: Should she keep pounding the pavement? Or become a perfect trophy wife and mother that Jack now wants her to be? Without a title and a salary, how can Erin figure out who she really is?
THE SEESAW EFFECT is complete at 87,000 words. It will appeal to readers of Jane Porter (ODD MOM OUT), Jennifer Weiner (ALL FALL DOWN), Helen Fielding (BRIDGET JONES: MAD ABOUT THE BOY), and anyone who enjoys stories about life, love and parenting in the upscale suburbs. While many “momlit” books focus on mothers with babies, THE SEESAW EFFECT stands out by featuring a protagonist with teen and pre-teen children who have strong, vocal opinions about their parents.
Last year, I self-published a women’s fiction novel with a similar tone, KEEPING SCORE. KEEPING SCORE appeared on e-book bestseller lists several times, and has a 5-star average rating with 55 reviews on Amazon. Last fall, it reached number six on Amazon’s women’s fiction humor list, and number three on Barnes & Noble’s chick lit list. Before I started writing novels, I wrote screenplays for ten years (winning awards for some of them), and worked in marketing and public relations in Washington, D.C.
Along with my own writing, I’m also an editorial consultant and reader for the XXXX Agency in New York City, and an associate reviewer for the popular book web site, Chick Lit Central (www.chicklitcentral.com). My own opinions are found at www.jamideise.blogspot.com and @JamiDeise.
Per the guidelines on your website, I’ve pasted below my sig line my synopsis and first two chapters.
All the best,
Jami Deise
I sent out my first query letter in 1992. That was before the internet, so everything was snail mail and enclosed SASEs for a response. This was a murder mystery in which a college student was the main suspect. I got a few requests for the first ten pages and some nice feedback after entering a contest. I heard a lot of, “No one reads about college students so there’s no market for this.” It was twenty years before the New Adult category was formed. I think I still have that manuscript somewhere … I should pull it out and take a look … (luckily I printed the whole thing out because I’m pretty sure it ended up being saved to a floppy disk somewhere. Remember floppy disks? Remember disks?)
A few years later, I started writing screenplays, so those queries went more to production companies and managers. Got a lot of really nice rejections. I wrote scripts for about ten years; long enough to meet some other terrific writers and watch as they planned to make their own movies. At the same time, self-publishing began to get hot. I thought if I wrote a novel and couldn’t get an agent, self-publishing would be much easier than making my own movie. Perhaps this was a self-fulfilling prophecy, for after sending out about 70 queries to agents, I did end up self-publishing KEEPING SCORE. And the publishing part was easy. It’s the marketing that makes me want to tear my hair out ….
I may end up self-publishing my vampire novel THE TIES THAT BLEED. This novel was based on a screenplay I wrote back in 2002, and won a few awards with. I got a few requests for fulls, and again these rejections were really nice – the book was good, but since it was in a cold genre, it had to be amazing, and it wasn’t quite there. I’ve got it out to a few small publishers, but in the back of my mind I’m picturing cover art and wondering how to market this one.
And now THE SEESAW EFFECT. I’ve posted a few excerpts from this one -- it’s about a Democrat married to a Republican who becomes the next Rush Limbaugh. Since tone-wise, it’s similar to KEEPING SCORE, I contacted all the agents who’d requested to read KEEPING SCORE. And I got a few requests … one of which already warned me, “This is going to be a tough sell.”
And I know that. It’s got politics, and apparently no one wants touch politics. But I wrote the story I wanted to write, and if I end up self-publishing this one too, so be it. But I’d really like to get an agent out of this. I’ve been dreaming about being published since I was a child, and despite the explosion in self-publishing, it isn’t the same as being traditionally published.
I’ve learned a lot since I sent out that first query in 1992 – mainly because I’ve been working for a literary agent for the past year and a half, so I read several queries sent to her a week. (But only the ones that result in manuscript requests.) One detail I try to keep in mind is that a well-written query can feature a good story and still get rejected because it’s not something the agent is interested in, or it’s a genre that doesn’t sell, or it’s a genre that’s completely flooded. Rejections at this stage in the game are the easiest for me to handle, because I know they aren’t based on my project. The ones that come after the request for a full …. Those are tough.
Hope springs eternal, but I’m bracing myself for rejection. If I don’t get an agent for this project, I’ll look for small independent publishers before taking the self-published route again. And I’ve started my next book – a murder mystery that I’m hoping is more marketable than a book about politics. So please wish me luck!
In case you’re interested, my query letter is below:
Dear Ms. XXXX,
A lot of Democrats lost their jobs this Election Day … but not many are married to the next Rush Limbaugh! That’s the dilemma facing Erin Murphy, heroine of my light women’s fiction novel, THE SEESAW EFFECT.
When it comes to the work/life seesaw, Erin is a balancing-act expert. True, she works for Democrats while her husband Jack is a spokesman for Republicans, but at home they’re in sync. Their jobs stay at the office. Their children -- 13-year-old animal-nut Jessica and 8-year-old Batman-obsessed Michael – come first. And her career is just as important as his.
But on Election Day, everything changes. Suddenly, Erin is out of a job … and Jack is the new star of The Right Choice TV network! As Erin searches frantically for her next position, Jack begins to practice what he preaches. Their house turns into a battlefield: What’s wrong with saying “Merry Christmas” to their Jewish neighbors? How can there be global warming when it’s cold outside? Jessica takes her mother’s side (her father is a “disgusting planet murderer”), while Michael just thinks it’s cool that Dad’s on TV and he’s making a million dollars.
And Michael’s not the only one impressed with the family’s new money: Who are all these new people floating around Jack, and what do they want? As Erin’s friends take sides about what she should do with Jack 2.0, the only person who understands is a fellow stay-at-home parent: Scott. Scott is easy to look at, and just as frustrated with his marriage as Erin is…
But the biggest battle is Erin’s alone: Should she keep pounding the pavement? Or become a perfect trophy wife and mother that Jack now wants her to be? Without a title and a salary, how can Erin figure out who she really is?
THE SEESAW EFFECT is complete at 87,000 words. It will appeal to readers of Jane Porter (ODD MOM OUT), Jennifer Weiner (ALL FALL DOWN), Helen Fielding (BRIDGET JONES: MAD ABOUT THE BOY), and anyone who enjoys stories about life, love and parenting in the upscale suburbs. While many “momlit” books focus on mothers with babies, THE SEESAW EFFECT stands out by featuring a protagonist with teen and pre-teen children who have strong, vocal opinions about their parents.
Last year, I self-published a women’s fiction novel with a similar tone, KEEPING SCORE. KEEPING SCORE appeared on e-book bestseller lists several times, and has a 5-star average rating with 55 reviews on Amazon. Last fall, it reached number six on Amazon’s women’s fiction humor list, and number three on Barnes & Noble’s chick lit list. Before I started writing novels, I wrote screenplays for ten years (winning awards for some of them), and worked in marketing and public relations in Washington, D.C.
Along with my own writing, I’m also an editorial consultant and reader for the XXXX Agency in New York City, and an associate reviewer for the popular book web site, Chick Lit Central (www.chicklitcentral.com). My own opinions are found at www.jamideise.blogspot.com and @JamiDeise.
Per the guidelines on your website, I’ve pasted below my sig line my synopsis and first two chapters.
All the best,
Jami Deise
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