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Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Early Fall Is Here!
Saturday, January 18, 2014
The Myth of Self-Publishing
More often now, I am approached by people who have just written a novel and immediately self-published it. Starting with their poorly presented request, continuing through their poorly presented material on their website or Amazon--and immediately upon reading the first page or two (sometimes the first paragraph,) the work reeks of amateur writing. I am all for trying to write, but it takes a lot more to reach the publishable stage.
While some books get the full professional treatment by the authors
who have honed their craft and eventually hire editors to make their manuscripts as perfect as can be, I've heard
would-be authors that "never want to bother" with the many rounds of revising
and editing--"too much work and it's boring"--not to mention the cost of a
professional editor who can shepherd a writer. (Beware of phonies, though, as the field is peppered with them.)
This lazy attitude is reflected in the first few page(s) of many
self-published books I've been asked to read and to give my endorsement or write
reviews--after publication. Unfortunately, the stigma is justified. It is simply
too hard to find the gems among these many half-assed efforts in the
self-publishing arena. The rare success stories give false hope to many would-be
writers the same way that inner-city African-American boys dream of becoming the
next Michael Jordan.... These boys stand no more chance to emulate his
successful career as any writer can "pull $50,000 a month" as described in some
articles or promised by self-publishing outfits. Those print-on-demand outfits
make their $$s not from selling books they print, but from the hefty fees paid by
authors for "marketing"--another scam since they do little more than make the
books available on Amazon.
No star dust of success will be sprinkled from above unless you are willing
to do the work.
Rare is the concert pianist who sits at the piano at age four, and then proceeds to
compose and give performances at Carnegie Hall with little training. Most
professional musicians spend a lifetime of daily practicing. Writing--especially
fiction--requires mastering the craft, revising and editing numerous
times--often for years. (I go over each of my manuscripts 80 times and have
half-a-dozen astute readers with red pens give me their feedbacks.) It's not for
nothing that many authors report 4-10 years of working on a single novel.
The exception to this doom-to-fail efforts are those who write personal biographies for their own family recorded history and do not expect to sell (or give
away) more than 60 copies. The other exception are consultants who wish to put
their wisdom into books they can use as promotions to obtain assignments,
establish credibility to get on radio and TV shows, or give or sell copies at
their workshops. But their books better be good! It is simply embarrassing to give out a book filled with errors.
I am all for the write-your-novel-in-one-month projects as they jump start
many would-be authors. But that first month is only the first baby step. If you are writing
your first novel, just make sure you love the long and lonely process, so that
the journey will be the most exciting you've ever taken.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
The Novelist's Hopes
Today I received a request from Chicken Soup for Writers to submit an inspirational, motivational story. Examining some of my old essays about my hopes and aspirations earlier on in my writing career, I came across the piece below. I wrote it in 1999 upon completing PUPPET CHILD and typing the magic words, "THE END." To my consternation, I realized that my life as an author was just beginning:
THE NOVELIST'S HOPES
Copyright 1999 © Talia Carner
You've cut your wrists and bled all over the keyboard--for five years.
You’ve revised/overhauled the story thirty times. Edited eighty times.
You've sent hundreds of queries to agents.
Clumps of hair are missing from your scalp as rejections pour in.
The noose of a rope is dangling from the ceiling just in case.
An agent working out of his jail cell (see ACLU v. Justice Department) agrees to represent you.
Your agent locates a Christian publisher inPittsburgh
The Christian publisher will reconsider your book if you make the protagonist go to church on Sunday and restore her virginity.
You do all that and then some.
You spend $42 at Kinko for each copy and $26 for mailing, round trip (they insist you include a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope.)
Two years go by. Your agent retired on royalties she’d made from other authors.
After sending fifty queries, you manage to get a new agent. You opt for a young, hungry one.
Twenty publishers later ($68 x 20=$1,360 in printing and mailing), your book is sold.
You frame the $1,000 check. (You can afford not to cash it; soon, you'll be a millionaire many times over.)
You accost that famous author at her locker room in the health club (you threaten to yank that towel away) and get a blurb for the back cover of your book.
You throw a party, and buy a gold pair of shoes to go with the champagne.
You purchase 300 copies (the publisher gives you a discount) to mail to reviewers and policy-makers.
You open a web site for all your future fans.
Your local book store buys two copies. Ditto the book store in your mother's town.
Your book is on the shelf! Hurray!
Then you discover it has the expiration date of YOGURT!
Whatever made me think books were forever?
P.S. The heart-wrenching suspense PUPPET CHILD was published in 2002. In the ten years that have passed, I learned that a well-written book that tells a story never told before can make it a decade past the three-week bookstore shelf-life. In fact, PUPPET CHILD was selected in "The Top Ten Best First Novels 2002" (BookBrowse.com) and then launched a law that became the platform for two State Senatorial candidates. While I’ve published two novels since, PUPPET CHILD is still selling every week—mostly in digital format—and readers have a great reading experience!
THE NOVELIST'S HOPES
Copyright 1999 © Talia Carner
You've cut your wrists and bled all over the keyboard--for five years.
You’ve revised/overhauled the story thirty times. Edited eighty times.
You've sent hundreds of queries to agents.
Clumps of hair are missing from your scalp as rejections pour in.
The noose of a rope is dangling from the ceiling just in case.
An agent working out of his jail cell (see ACLU v. Justice Department) agrees to represent you.
Your agent locates a Christian publisher in
The Christian publisher will reconsider your book if you make the protagonist go to church on Sunday and restore her virginity.
You do all that and then some.
You spend $42 at Kinko for each copy and $26 for mailing, round trip (they insist you include a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope.)
Two years go by. Your agent retired on royalties she’d made from other authors.
After sending fifty queries, you manage to get a new agent. You opt for a young, hungry one.
Twenty publishers later ($68 x 20=$1,360 in printing and mailing), your book is sold.
You frame the $1,000 check. (You can afford not to cash it; soon, you'll be a millionaire many times over.)
You accost that famous author at her locker room in the health club (you threaten to yank that towel away) and get a blurb for the back cover of your book.
You throw a party, and buy a gold pair of shoes to go with the champagne.
You purchase 300 copies (the publisher gives you a discount) to mail to reviewers and policy-makers.
You open a web site for all your future fans.
Your local book store buys two copies. Ditto the book store in your mother's town.
Your book is on the shelf! Hurray!
Then you discover it has the expiration date of YOGURT!
Whatever made me think books were forever?
P.S. The heart-wrenching suspense PUPPET CHILD was published in 2002. In the ten years that have passed, I learned that a well-written book that tells a story never told before can make it a decade past the three-week bookstore shelf-life. In fact, PUPPET CHILD was selected in "The Top Ten Best First Novels 2002" (BookBrowse.com) and then launched a law that became the platform for two State Senatorial candidates. While I’ve published two novels since, PUPPET CHILD is still selling every week—mostly in digital format—and readers have a great reading experience!
# # #
Author Talia Carner’s latest novel,JERUSALEM
Author Talia Carner’s latest novel,
Thursday, December 22, 2011
The Short Story vs. A Novel
I was not “cleaning a refrigerator” when, on Nov. 3, 1993 at 2:48 PM, I started typing away. My fingers did not take a rest for 9 months until I had a 640-page draft.
Penning that first novel was not the result of long years of contemplation, collecting material and clearing space in the attic for a desk on which to pour out my authorly ambitions--nor of having the seed of a short story. I had never even kept a journal in which I aired my grievances against neighbors or my pet peeves against humanity…. There was no short story that needed harvesting.
Instead, that first novel--painted on a large canvas of world stage, populated with a host of characters and pretzeled with subplots--burst out of me with all its multi-layered literary nuances, psychological exploration, and social message. Only after that maiden draft was completed did I begin to hone my fiction-writing skills through writing workshops, how-to books, feedback from new writing buddies, and being mentored by successful authors.
Throughout that process I met professional writers--journalists and poets--who had been dreaming for years to “one day write a book-length work.” The more I heard those comments the more I grasped the enormity of the task I had accomplished. But I also realized that my mind was simply wired to think in terms of 120,000 word stories. If anything, my most monumental task for each novel has been to rein the story from becoming too long. With each novel I must tame the material down to a publishable size. (In the many revisions of my recent novel, JERUSALEM MAIDEN, at one time I cut 90 pages and 25 more another time—not in large chunks, but rather through brutal trimming of subplots, scenes or events.)
It was only at writing workshops, by way of exercises, that I was introduced to the short-story form and to the personal essay structure. The 800- to 3,000-words pieces I write in between novels are delightful fillers, like sorbet that clears the palette between heavy dishes. However, none so far has had the seed to grow into a full-length novel.
On the other hand, trying to find short stories hidden inside my book-length tales is equally difficult. The two forms are of different species. No matter how much you feed a Chihuahua, it will never grow into a Great Dane.
You may enjoy reading samples of my short pieces at http://www.taliacarner.com/writingsamples.html
# # #
Novelist Talia Carner’s most recent novel, JERUSALEM MAIDEN, won the Forward National Literature Award in the “historical fiction” category.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Secrets Revealed by a Writers’ Conference Junkie.
November is “National Novel Writing Month” (NaNoWriMo or NaNoMo). Many would-be writers make their first attempt. Congratulations. Yet, what’s the next step?
Recently, at a social event, a woman told me that she had “finished writing a novel” and was looking for an agent. When I probed about her book, I discovered that her “novel” was merely 30,000 words long (most novels run around 90,000-115,00 words.) I suggested that she study the business of writing and publishing—she could even start by reading articles on the Internet. “I don’t have time for that,” she replied.
Last week, after one of my speaking events, a woman cornered me in the ladies room and asked me to give her “a name of a publisher that will publish my memoir.” I suggested that she check organizations or university departments that focus on the main topic of her memoir. She stormed away as if I was holding back information. In reality, I could no more name such a specific acquisition editor, which is what she really meant, than I could give her the lottery's winning number.
There are no shortcuts in writing and publishing a book as there is no shortcut in any road to success. It is a long, arduous and lonely journey with a great reward that is more about expressing one's art than the star-dust of notoriety.
This post is for writers who are serious about learning to play the piano before asking to book a concert hall:
Earlier in my writing career I was a "writers’ conference junkie," attending as many workshops and programs as I could cram. It was my self-designed MFA in which I mastered writing skills, studied the tools of the craft, learned how to structure, revise and edit, and absorbed inside information about the publishing industry. I also met other writers and formed lasting connections with writing buddies who forever help with their constructive comments and support. I met agents who encouraged me and ultimately offered me representation.
There are over 600 writers' conferences each year across the country. Many—not all—are affiliated with English departments of universities, yet do not require that you be a student there. In fact, they draw a mature crowd that is quite different from their student body. If you've never attended a writers' conference, it's always easiest to start with one near you to get a feel, although they vary by programs and offerings as the people that organize and populate them, so you should plan to attend at least two or three... (See http://writing.shawguides.com/ for a complete listing.)
To focus on the craft of writing and to venture into new fields of writing, my favorite is IWWG's summer “Remember The Magic” (for women only) that offers the most classes and workshops simultaneously than any writing conference I've been to. The warm and supportive environment nurtures writing free of judgment.
The most prestigious conferences ones are Sewanee Writers Conference, (TN) and Breadloaf Writers Conference (Middlebury, VT) where you must submit your work to be accepted, and the competition is fierce. They focus on the writing craft, not marketing, but Breadloaf also offers democratic access to visiting agents who scout the conference for yet-undiscovered talent. Iowa Writing Workshop also offers numerous week-long writing programs that can be stitched together into a summer-long studying. Their instructors, though, may vary in strength and teaching abilities.
APW conference (this February in Chicago) is intense and is tightly related to MFA programs in contents and in atmosphere. If you are not affiliated with an MFA program, you may find yourself floating unanchored in a horde of thousands of strangers…. But there is a huge amount of lectures and panel discussions, though not hands-on instruction.
But if you are past the stage of learning and it is time for you to focus on meeting agents, Writer's Digest Conference in New York City this coming January does that. Also IWWG has "Meet the Agent" program in NYC in April and October, (open to men, too!) It is an excellent opportunity to pitch directly to agents who are looking for new authors. In addition, many conferences across the country are attended by agents who travel far to present there; some make particular conferences their "home" as they return every year. It is especially true for genre-specific conferences that focus on sci-fi, romance, fantasy, etc.
If your manuscript is ready and you want to pitch directly to publishers, the NYC Pitch Conference is the place for you. You need to apply and show that your manuscript is in a good shape to pitch to the visiting editors from main publishing houses. While only 5% of all pitched books have ended up with a publishing contract, this event is an excellent place to evaluate where you stand in the publishing journey and what you must still do to get there. I found that honing my pitch through the methodical, thoughtful process was extremely valuable in eventually landing an agent and a publishing contract.
There are many other good writers' conferences and workshop. I admit to not having traveled to either the West Coast or overseas. As you start searching for the right event, here are some suggested steps:
1) Your budget: Registration, travel and housing—as well as number of days and time of year— are obvious considerations.
2) Check how long an event has been around. The poorly organized ones do not last, as attendees do not return. If it is a new conference, check who are the organizers and what is their track record. But don’t overlook those. A small, new conference with excellent instructors may offer the intimate, comfortable environment you need.
3) Start with a local writers’ conference, knowing that you will attend more.
4) Take your time to evaluate the stage of your manuscript or your idea (for non-fiction) and set your goal for the conference accordingly.
5) Google writers or industry professionals you particularly like and check which conferences they attend.
6) Be prepared to be friendly and make contact with fellow writers. They are an equally important benefit of your conference experience.
If you have attended good writing workshops and events, I invite you to respond to this post with your own suggestions.
Talia Carner
Talia Carner’s latest novel, JERUSALEM MAIDEN, (HarperCollins, June 2011) details the struggles of a young woman between passion and faith. Please check www.TaliaCarner.com
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