Life Gets in the Way

If you hadn't noticed, I disappeared for a while. The reason being that we were having some issues at my day job and so basically I've done no work on my novel since March which is depressing to say the least. The good news, however is that things are finally getting back to normal. (Or, at least as normal as they get around here) and so I'm just starting to get back into the swing of things. Look for more blogs and exciting progress soon!

Let's Talk About Rejection

I was going to start this post off by saying "It's not a pretty business," But it's not really that ugly either. Not once you get used to it. Although it's still not the most pleasant subject I suppose. No one likes rejection.

Yet rejection is as much a part of the writing process as actually writing the book. 

Why?

Well because once you finish the whole process of writing and editing and re-writing and re-editing your book/story/poem/word craft of choice. What are you going to do with it? Why try to get it published of course! There's a lot that can be written about the process of publishing. Many ways to go about it and so on. But that's not our focus today.

So you have what you consider a nice piece of work, say a 40,000 word manuscript. You novel. Your baby. With all the joy and love of a parent sending her child out into the world for the first time, you send your little guy off in a query letter to an agent. Then you wait with baited breath.

One little suggestion here though. Don't hold your breath too long. Everything in the writing process takes a while and we wouldn't want you to die. Instead, it's always a good idea to keep working on your next project(s)

Six to nine to twelve weeks later, you open up your email. Lo and Behold there is a reply to your query from the agent! Your heart skips a beat, your stomach jumps with excitement because you know, just know that you have written the next Great American Novel. You are the next Austen, Dickens, Rowling. You are sure that this book is worthy of being published and you are sure that as soon as everyone else reads it  they will instantly feel the same way.

You open up the letter, your heart lifting. Only to have it come crashing down a few moments later. 

Dear Author,

Thank you for querying [Literary Agency]. Unfortunately this project is not right for us. Best of luck in all your future endeavors.

Sincerely,

[Agent Name]

What? That's it? Well, obviously they don't know what they're talking about. You do some research, find a better match and send another query to another agent. Six, nine, twelve weeks later you get another email. Another moment where your heart leaps until you open it up.

Dear [Author's Name]

We appreciate you sharing your work with us. Though we receive over 100 queries a day, we go over each one personally. Unfortunately your project is not a good match for us at this time. We wish you the best as you continue your writing journey.

Sincerely,

[Agent Name]

Wash, Rinse, Repeat.

And that's just for agents. You could skip the agent process and try to go directly to the publishing house itself, but then your manuscript sits in the slush pile for months until you finally get a letter of similar form. So you get discouraged, and you feel like you must be a horrible writer and soon you stop trying because, what's the point anyway? You lock your manuscript away where it spends years and years just gathering dust and breaking down. Right? WRONG!

If you're a beginning writer, do yourself a favor now. Learn to take criticism. If you can take criticism, you will be able to see your story through different eyes. You will be able to realize the flaws in what you are writing and be able to fix them and make them better.

Which brings me to my next point. The most valuable rejection letters you will ever receive are the personal ones. The ones where the agent/editor/whoever has actually taken the time to read your piece and has made comments on it. Things they liked, things they didn't like. These are the hardest letters to get sometimes, but they give you an idea of what works and what doesn't.

This happened to me recently. I had a piece of flash fiction I'd written and I was quite proud of it. I took it to my writer's group and they for the most part liked it and seemed to get it. Feeling encouraged, I sent it to a place that publishes such little stories online. After waiting three months, I finally heard back from them. It was a personal rejection. At first, I was mortified and upset. Obviously, they hadn't gotten what I was trying to do. As I thought about it though, I realized this was a good thing. Well, it wasn't a good thing that they didn't get it, but it was a good thing to know. I read the letter again and made note of what the editors thought the issues were. They asked questions. It occurred to me that if my point wasn't clear in the way I'd written, then it wasn't an effective piece of writing. Now I know and can go back and adjust what needs to be adjusted.

So, bottom line: Rejection is part of being an author. Get used to it. Even if you're self-published and think you have no reason to fear, get used to it. Not everyone is always going to give you a five star rating. Pay attention to the constructive criticism and use what you can. It's hard to deal with sometimes in our "everyone can do everything and be good at it" society, but it's definitely a valuable resource.

When Book Descriptions Reveal Too Much

I'm noticing a trend on Amazon. I think it's related at least in part to self published authors, but I'm not entirely sure. Note, that if you are a self published author I'm not dissing you, this is just something I've noticed and it's starting to bother me.

You see, not only am I a writer, I am a reader. I read. A lot. I read because I write and I write because I read, and I like to buy new books and browse new books and often my book selections are not based on recommendations, but on the description whether it be on Amazon, the back of the book or Goodreads.

Authors, as a reader let me tell you something: It is entirely possible to make a book description too descriptive. I don't know how many times I've been reading about a book and thought "Wow, this seems like it'd be really good!" only to have the author completely destroy it for me in the next sentence.

For example, the author JA Konrath who writes some horror under the name "Jack Kilborn." I first heard about the Jack Kilborn books when they were on sale at Pixel of Ink. Since I have joined Goodreads, my new favorite thing to do is check out some reviews over there, or at least what readers are saying to see if it's worth it to buy the books or not.

So I was interested in this book, Endurance, and this was the beginning of the description:

The bed and breakfast was hidden in the hills of West Virginia. Wary guests wondered how it could stay in business at such a creepy, remote location, especially with its bizarre, presidential decor and eccentric proprietor.With the event hotel for the national Iron Woman triathlon accidentally overbooked, competitor Maria was forced to stay at the Rushmore. But after checking into her room, she quickly realized she wasn't alone. 

Needless to say I was like "ooh, this sounds interesting." But then the description kept going:

First her suitcase wasn't where she put it. Then her cell phone was moved. Finally, she heard an odd creaking under the bed. Confusion quickly turned to fear, and fear to hysteria when she discovered the front door was barred and the windows were bricked over. There was no way out.One year later, four new female athletes have become guests of the Inn. Will they escape the horrors within its walls? Or will they join the many others who have died there, in ways too terrible to imagine?

The last half of the description completely turned me off. It was like this disconnect in my head. I felt like this was some kind of ghost story, then suddenly the description starts talking about it being one year later. It ended with me going "meh" and not buying the book.

Here's another example of a description with too much information this is from the description for The Breeders:

Sixteen-year-old Riley Meemick is one of the world's last free girls. When Riley was born, her mother escaped the Breeders, the group of doctors using cruel experiments to bolster the dwindling human race. Her parents do everything possible to keep her from their clutches-- moving from one desolate farm after another to escape the Breeders' long reach. The Breeders control everything- the local war lords, the remaining factories, the fuel. They have unchecked power in this lawless society. And they're hunting Riley.

When the local Sheriff abducts the adult members of her family and hands her mother over to the Breeders, Riley and her eight-year-old brother, Ethan, hiding in a shelter, are left to starve. Then Clay arrives, the handsome gunslinger who seems determined to help to make up for past sins. The problem is Clay thinks Riley is a bender-- a genderless mutation, neither male nor female. As Riley's affection for Clay grows she wonders can she trust Clay with her secret and risk her freedom?

The three embark on a journey across the scarred remains of New Mexico-- escaping the Riders who use human sacrifice to appease their Good Mother, various men scrambling for luck, and a deranged lone survivor of a plague. When Riley is shot and forced into the Breeder's hospital, she learns the horrible fate of her mother—a fate she'll share unless she can find a way out.

See what happened here? The first paragraph is really good. It gives you an idea of what kind of book this is, and what the basic premise is. A sixteen year old girl is trying to escape the clutches of a group that controls life so she doesn't get experimented on. Sounds pretty cool. This is where the author should've stopped.

The second paragraph gives us a little more information about what the conflict in the story is, which honestly, I'm not a huge fan of. But here, it works. At least at first. Okay so the issue is that the main character's mother is abducted and she and her brother are left to fend for themselves. Enter Hero who is going to rescue them. Honestly, I think the author could've left off the whole bit about love and genderless mutations, because the love story should develop on its own as one reads the book.

Finally you have the third paragraph which is the icing on the cake for this description. This paragraph basically tells me what's going to happening during their little journey, the fact that the main character gets, shot and then has to escape a horrible fate. It basically spoils a huge chunk of the book and leaves little to the imagination.

Now, to be fair, I haven't read the book. There could be a lot more secrets and intrigue that I am unaware of. This could be a summary of the first chapter for all I know, but one thing I do know is that it sure sounds like almost the entire plot of a novel. As I stated before, the author should have stopped after the first paragraph.

The idea of a book description is to tell just enough of the plot so as to leave the reader asking questions. If your reader wants these questions answered badly enough, he or she will pick up the book.

The other key to a good description is to be specific enough that the uniqueness of your plot and story shines through without giving away too many details.

So now that we've looked at some not so good descriptions, here are a few examples of good ones.

The first example, is from a book that is fairly popular right now, The Maze Runner:

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he's not alone. When the lift's doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade-a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don't know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they've closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.

Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up-the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers. 

Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind.

This description gives you a general idea what the book is about. It tells you the main character, Thomas, and it also gives you an idea of the world he's come into and it introduces the conflict. It is short an succinct and gives the reader information without revealing too much. It also leaves the reader with questions. Who is this girl? Why was she sent and what was the message? Why are they in the maze? Who was Thomas before? Who put them there? and so on. Basically, enough is left unsaid that I want to dive into this world and find out exactly what is going on.

A second example is from Kindred by Octavia Butler:

Dana, a modern black woman, is celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California and transported to the antebellum South. Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, is drowning, and Dana has been summoned to save him. Dana is drawn back repeatedly through time to the slave quarters, and each time the stay grows longer, more arduous, and more dangerous until it is uncertain whether or not Dana's life will end, long before it has a chance to begin.

This description basically makes me go "What in the world is going on here? I want to find out!" and immediately click the "buy" button (Yes that actually happened.) Again, we get an idea of who the main character is and what the conflict is. Dana is transported back in time and each time it's more intense. This description also leaves a ton of questions. How did she go back in time? Why was she summoned? Why does she have to save Rufus anyway? Is he important? How? What will a modern black woman do if she gets stuck as a slave? Is her going back in time going to change things and therefore cause the present to be different? As I said, the description made it an insta-buy for me.

In short, what I'm trying to say here is Authors, don't over describe your novel. While less isn't always more, when it comes to a book description/blurb 90% of the time it is. Leave some things to the imagination. Your reader will thank you for it by buying and reading your books.

The Tale of the Lost Publishing Credit

The boxes are stacked all around my room, those plastic totes that fit just about anything. You know, books, papers, newspaper clippings, various body parts, what have you. These boxes were put here by my father while I was overseas, and before. I'm going to be moving at the end of January and as a result I decided that I should probably start going through some of these boxes, try and figure out what I'm going to be taking with me and all that.

So the other day, I got a rag and wiped the dust off the first box conveniently labeled "Abigail College Stuff" and lifted the lid. It was like something out of one of those movies. You know the ones, where the kids lift the lid on the old trunk and there's some kind of ancient family treasure inside, or the answer to the mystery, or maybe just body parts. In any case, I was like "Wow, what is all this?" and quickly realized that a good portion of it wasn't actually "Abigail College Stuff," Rather it was a conglomeration of wedding invitations, unopened bank statements that didn't have my name on them, broken pens, old eyeglasses, headbands, crazy hats and pens (no body parts fortunately).

So I begin to sift through all the junk in the box and as I get close to the bottom, I find a little volume entitled "Authors of Tomorrow." My first thought is that it was some kind of tract I got from one of the religious booths at the fair one year. Maybe the Adventists? But no, I quickly realize that it's not. So I'm standing there, looking at it, thinking "Why do I have this?" Then the thought comes into my head "Am I in this?"

I flip open to the Table of Contents and begin to skim. For the record, the Table of Contents of this particular collection is a list of names. In no particular order. Nothing, nothing, and then on page four, there it is. Page 40, Abigail Faust. I flip over to page forty and see an essay entitled "Small Steps." 

"Oh I remember this..." What I remembered is that when I was an exchange student from 2007-2008 I applied to several scholarships and as a result had to write some essays. I remembered writing an essay for the Authors of Tomorrow Scholarship through EL Publishers in Canada and I remembered that I didn't win. I'd forgotten they were publishing all the essays in a little book. It was kind of cool, but weird at the same time. At first, I wasn't even sure I should count it as a publishing credit,  but then I figured I wrote the essay, I have it in a little book, so why not? It was kind of exciting. 

I haven't really read the essay yet. I skimmed it just now but it's a little scary, that whole 'going back to an old piece of writing' thing. When I do get around to reading it, I'm sure it'll be a nice blast from the past.