Musings Of A New Southern Man

I started off this blog several months ago with questions about how to write the proper query letter. Things haven't changed. I am still facing the same question: Is my query letter the proper way to pitch my first book? My latest crisis of faith came from an agent's reply. I have avoided agents who take only snail-mail queries, but I decided to try one: John Ware in New York City. I knew of his reputation, but an interview with him I found persuaded me that he would be a good agent to present my work to. So I bundled up my snail-mail request and sent it off to Central Park West, relying on Ware's pledge that he tended to reply to queries within two weeks (which is like light speed for most agents). Well, Mr. Ware replied within two weeks ... with a rejection. But he simply took my query letter, circled three words in it and said, "Alas, not for me. But thanks and good luck." Those three little words taught me a lesson about my query approach. Now I will look

My session on the dreadmill helped a lot. I feel like the obese fellow in the Old Spice commercial, the one in which chunks of his body suddenly start falling off to reveal a hunk of a guy underneath. I'm not to hunk stage yet, but a couple of pieces of that exhaustion have fallen by the wayside. Oh happy day!!

I have learned the value of AIC ... ass in chair ... as a guideline for authors. I try to follow it as closely as possible. I take time from almost every day I have to work my "day job" and spend some time on my latest novel. Sometimes that pledge gets kicked in the teeth. The past week has been one of those times. Part of the problem is the weight of that day job. I am a copy editor in sports at The Denver Post, and fall is our busiest time. It used to be that one day of my work week was a "light day" in comparison to the others. Not anymore. The weight of copy stays the same, but the number of people to do it has dwindled. We have had people leave the department for other opportunities or take a buyout (The Post just had 19 people with more than 400 years' experience walk out the newsroom door that way), but there have been no replacements. That same amount of work is now being carried by fewer workers. There have been a few nights lately when we will push

There is nothing more pressing for all aspiring authors than figuring out what agents are really thinking. We toss all our hopes in the form of a query letter into the river of possibilities. We wait for replies. We hope for success, which means I have to encounter some type of Vulcan mind meld with someone who holds the keys to the world of traditional publishing. But just where do we find out agents' thought processes? Here is a great source. Put your fingertips to a Google search and ask for "interview Kleinman Barer Zuckerbrot" and you will be directed to a roundtable interview published in 2009. Those taking part are Jeff Kleinman, one of the founders of Folio Lit; Julie Barer and Renee Zuckerbrot, who have agencies bearing their names; and Daniel Lazar of Writers House. Those are familiar names to any of us who have tossed our hopes into that river. (I have filed with three of them, and the results are ... without matching names to results ... 1) no reply at all,

I was channel surfing a couple of weeks ago and tripped across the movie version of "Sometimes a Great Notion" ... and it hurt to watch it as much as the first time I saw it. Paul Newman, in his second shot at directing a movie, was hopelessly overmatched. He turned out a nice, little movie with so many holes you could pour water through it, instead of genuflecting to one of the great pieces of American fiction. Casting wasn't a problem. Newman played Hank, and Henry Fonda was old Henry. Lee Remick as Viv could be believable, and even Michael Sarrazin as Leland is adequate. There also were some gripping scenes, especially the big scene with Hank and Joe Ben near the film's end. (I will not insert any information that requires SPOILER ALERT in here, just in case some readers are unaware of the book or movie. But here's a tip: Read the book first, then see the movie. I think you will weep when you see Kesey's work gutted on film.) The rest of the movie was s

Platform is a big word tossed around in the publishing world these days. It means identifying the target audience you want to reach as an author, then making good use of various social media to foster your cause. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube are all seen as avenues for getting you into the public eye. Some agents put a sharp accent on platform, and I feel they reject some authors because they don't have the proper number of YouTube hits, or haven't reached a certain number of Facebook friends. I can see value in that view, but only from a business standpoint. Some authors keep their social media presence only to the business of who they are, an author seeking publication or one who already has projects to pitch. I am not like that. I understand the business side, but I don't want to be solely a business entity. I have a heart and soul, somewhat of a sense of humor, a deep commitment to those I embrace within family and friends, and other parts of my life I give priority.

I get to blend a literary theme with my love for Paul Simon again. My son Stephen told me about this song a few months ago. I loved it, and I hope you will, too. Parts of it are so honest. I often arrived home after work and headed straight to my computer because some idea started rolling around my brain on the drive home. I have bolted awake in the middle of the night with another brilliant idea, and I have tiptoed downstairs and hammered away at my keyboard to bring it to life. A 2 a.m. writing session stretches into a 4:30 a.m. writing session ... but that's part of the deal. And I have taken my title and tossed it in the trash. Of course, there are parts of the song at which I rebel. I hope my compatriots regard my brain cell count as higher than Simon's character, and I don't it just for the cash ... although financial reward would be greatly appreciated. Anyway, enjoy.

Rejection ... it is as much a part of a novelist's life as plot lines and character development. You put out good queries to various agents, and you WILL get rejection notices. OK, what next? Agent Rachelle Gardner dealt with that on her blog within the past week. Her post couldn't have been more well-timed with my own circumstances. I received notice from one agent ... I won't identify the agent ... who wanted a partial manuscript of my first novel. She requested the first 50 pages, but I sent the first 54 in order to include a full chapter rather than breaking it in the middle. The result was something I have encountered before ... request for partial, followed by a rejection letter. How do I read the context of the rejection letter? Here is what I received ... "I enjoyed reading it. While your pages are interesting and well-written, after careful consideration, I feel that your project is not right for my list at the current time." That is as much depth as

I attended the Paul Simon concert in Broomfield last night. It was a blast ... dancing in the aisles, people singing along and adding backup on a song like "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" and there's just the joy of spending time with a man of massive talent. I am biased here. I think he does a better job of blending music and lyrics than any other performer of my time. But for all the amazing moments, one brought tears to my ears ... but it brings tears to my ears every time I hear the song. It is "The Obvious Child," and if you know me or have been reading this blog, you will understand. It is at once joyous and challenging, somber and celebrational. Paul brings it to life as only one of the best writers of our time could. I think it fits nicely in a literary blog because it is a novella in slightly more than 4 minutes. Simon simply is able to get to the essence of the story. What a master. Enjoy.

Before launching into my thoughts, I need to make an important distinction. There is a difference between being a Christian writer and a Christian who writes. A Christian writer is someone who writes for the Christian publishing market (referred to usually as CBA) and creates to exacting standards on issues such as using profanity or not being detailed in matters of sexual activity, to name just two areas of concern. A Christian who writes is a believer who is not bound by those rules. I fall into that second category, by design. Part of it because of intended market, the readership group I want to reach. I think there is a market of Christians out there who want real characters because they are real characters themselves ... complete with flaws, sins, weaknesses. There also is a general class of readers who know enough about Christianity to understand the moral boundaries, and they will be able to relate to my characters. When I use characters in my novels, I want them to be REAL ..

I have been pretty quiet on Facebook, Twitter and this blog over the past couple of weeks. Reason? I have started my second novel. Well, actually, it is the third start on my second novel, which makes sense if you have ever sat down to write a novel. Here's my explanation: I started a second novel about five months ago that is a sequel to the first. I put that on the back burner for one reason. Sequels are bad ideas unless you are already published. Publishing houses don't buy that idea, which means that agents don't accept it, which means that first-time writers should put those novels on the back burner. I started my second second novel, and it glided onto the page. I loved the character, and I loved the setup of the story line. But I put it on hold because the subject matter is SO different from my first novel, and what I intend to write in the future. Again, an experienced author can get away with that. James Patterson can almost simultaneously release one of his

I never intended to become such an iconoclast as a novelist. I never intended to make things so rough on myself as far as becoming published. I just sat down and wrote my first novel because I liked the story lines, not to satisfy some marketing guidelines. Let me backtrack here. I know most of you are unaware of what that first novel is about, just because I have been so tight-lipped about the content and you weren't given a manuscript to read. I have done that because all the feedback from agents has been that my idea is original, hence my hesitance to divulge my secrets. I will try to give a general idea of my novel's structure without giving away too much info. So here goes: One part of the novel is based on the fantastic, a story about a man thrown into an uncomfortable world where he must face his greatest fears again and again. That repetition of facing fears and the reality that he is powerless to stop it put him on the knife's edge of sanity. If you read my lit

That chapter that haunted me last week ... it came back to haunt me again. I once again stepped back and looked at what I had written. This time I put on my reality glasses. The chapter had bothered me since the earliest stages, back when the novel was in its skeletal stage. I rewrote the chapter several times, and finally reached a point where the writing and subject matter were acceptable. But something kept nagging at me. It felt false ... like a literary work. I don't strive for that, opting for real characters and situations. But my "real" characters were in a situation that never quite fit. That led to my seeking of different entry points into the chapter, and the resulting mess I made. I went back to my original idea because it was the best of the five I crafted. The problem? It still missed the mark. I finally sat down and ripped apart about 15 pages of manuscript last week. I tossed preconceived notions out the window. Some of my original ideas survived. Othe

My writers block this week took a different form. I had no problem coming up with ideas. My problem was coming up with too many ideas. It centered on a single chapter. It isn't an important chapter, so it wasn't like I was working on a load-bearing wall in my house, but I kept coming up with flaws in the construction. I tweaked my first idea with a second idea. Later I considered a third idea ... and a fourth ... and a fifth. I stepped back and looked at the result. It read like a shattered mirror, with the broken pieces reflecting different angles. It was a mess. So I did what any self-respecting author would do ... I threw up my hands and screamed to the skies. I asked for wisdom. I posted a note on my Twitter account and asked other authors who follow me for ideas. I was greeted by silence. OK, someone is trying to tell me I have to solve this problem on my own. So then I did what any self-respecting author would do ... I stepped back, looked at the chapters leading up to

Here are a few random thoughts to toss out today: I have a new fave for a literary agent's blog, and I don't have to leave the Denver area for the source. Agent Rachelle Gardner rolls out a new entry almost every day, and almost every entry is designed to help the unpublished author sharpen his or her game. It is a marvelous resource. Gardner's blog is all good info all the time. It took me nine months to come up with the skeletal structure for my first novel. It also took that much time to get it completely polished, and then there probably will be more polishing when I find an agent. That's just part of the deal. If anyone thinks they have that great idea for a novel and can whip it out and have it published all within a few months, I will have to pop that balloon. One author wrote that writing is the second-toughest job in the world, topped only by alligator wrestling. I also laughed out loud when someone related Mark Twain's reply when someone asked him what

You don't have to spend much time going over my pantheon of favorite authors of fiction. There are two: John Hart and Ken Kesey. The reason is simple. Both write characters who are very real, very universal and exist in worlds I can touch every day. Kesey could take the Stampers and make them Maine lobstermen and not lose a thing. Hart could take Work Pickens or Johnny Merrimon and drop them into Idaho and it would feel right. Kesey wrote about his beloved Oregon, and Hart does that with his native North Carolina. But I believe Hart missed that basic point with his latest novel, "Iron House." Hey, it's a great novel, and I loved reading it. It is a marvelous work. My problem is that universal aspect of his characters got lost in this one. Let me explain. I have no problem with the main character, Michael, who, as Hart says, is "a cold-blooded killer." But there is a basic human foundation to Michael despite his line of work, and I can accept him. He love

I understand why the publishing industry is in trouble, and why there hasn't been a major work of fiction recently that will be talked about by later generations ... save for the Harry Potter series. Publishing is running scared, and it has retreated into a bunker mentality as far as fiction. Books are accepted that follow established norms. We have Harry Potter wannabes and Twilight clones. We have established spy stories and established detectives. Where is something the quality of "To Kill A Mockingbird"? Why does someone like Kathryn Stockett have to go begging for more than three years before her "The Help" is allowed to reach the public? The problem is systemic. I know this is gross generalization, and generalization invites error, but here is the way the system works. There are thousands of English majors or those with degrees in fiction writing who populate agent and editing jobs. They all have been taught a paint by the numbers approach to novels.

We like to make heroes of those who press on against mounting odds, so Kathryn Stockett qualifies. For those who don't recognize the name, she is the author of "The Help," the hugely successful novel about African American domestics in Mississippi during the turbulent years of the Civil Rights movement. Do I praise her for diving into sensitive subject matter? Not now. If she had written the book in the 1960s or early 1970s, then yes. I regard Stockett as a hero because she stayed with her dream. She received 60 rejections from agents before one finally took "The Help" as a worthy project. Sixty!!!! She went for more than three years, sending out query after query. Rejection letter after rejection letter followed, some of them with nasty wording about her ability to write. But let's analyze this just a bit. There were 60 agents armed with extensive college background in fiction writing, 60 agents with experience in the publishing trade, 60 agents who had

Ken Kesey and I have been spending late nights together. That's one of the great things about literature ... the ability to spend time with an author even though he has been dead for almost 10 years. His work lives on. I have been struck by Kesey's opening to "Sometimes a Great Notion" when compared to some of the publishing do's and don'ts that many agents accent. One don't is, "Don't put backstory early in your novel." Another rule, judging by just about everything I've read lately, is to make chapters shorter ... don't let things drag on. So what is Kesey's opening to "Great Notion" all about? The first chapter is nearly 45 pages long. Almost all of it is backstory. I can imagine Kesey's reaction if some agent tried to tell him that opening would never work. Oh, my, what a ruckus!!!! Pity that poor agent. One of the early mentors in my journalistic career was a brilliant man named Lyman Jones. He had been a

My latest rewrites have been a fantastic experience. My first John Craft chapter is split into two. The introduction to Sean McNabb is completely different ... much more streamlined, much more to the point. I have added a bit of a preamble, in which one of my characters is up at night and thinking about one of the main points of the book ... which I will detail later. I also am learning to write. Not write in a journalistic sense ... I have done that for 37 years ... but as a novelist. My biggest flaw earlier was that I was still writing like a journalist. When we write a story for a newspaper, we have 10 to 30 inches (that latter number is generous on most newspapers) to tell about the event or person. We get in, establish facts, give supporting information, wrap it up. I was writing the opening of my novel the same way ... and it doesn't work. Or at least good novels don't work that way. The key for me? I am relaxing as a writer. My later chapters let events and character

None of you know Sean McNabb, because I have been keeping him a secret. I have trumpeted this great writing project I have done but told you very little about it. I don't want to give away plot, don't want to put sections of the novel online lest I start the publishing clock ticking. I am still sold on the idea, but I need to improve the writing. The silence from agents is telling me that. So that is what I'm about to do ... and Mr. McNabb is none too happy that he is going to get jerked around again. So, with no more hesitation, here is Sean, one of my two protagonists. Young man, not quite 30. Divorced, talented, committed to his job and his dreams, damaged goods by history, motive and happenstance, recovering self-absorbed fool and still addicted to hope. He is trying to smoothe the rough edges of himself and his life, and some others are happy to take part in the project. Sean: So, what's all this crap I'm hearing about you changing me? Haven't you done

I just completed a discussion with one of the protagonists from my first book, and he isn't a happy man. You see, I am considering changing him ... well, considering changing how he is presented. A novelist has that power, and that is why he is mad. He already has enough people interfering with his life. You will see what I mean once the work is published. I am trying to talk him down off the ledge. I have told him I will give him about a week to process the changes I have in the works. My advice to him: Prepare questions about my plans so he can unburden himself of all his worries. He says he will use that time constructively. His advice to me: I better have some pretty damned good answers. (He has a rough way of talking when he's backed into a corner.) I assured him I will.

When I started this blog, I presented myself as someone with great journalistic experience but little knowledge of publishing. I was a man with high hopes. I had an undying belief in my project. I figured it was just a matter of time before some agent felt the same way. I feel the same today. I'm just a little older and a little wiser about how all this works. There are two ways to get your foot in the door as an author. You have to hit the right agent the right way on the right day ... have the pixie dust fall, as one agent put it ... or you have to be so gifted as a writer that you can't be ignored. I don't think many writers today fall into that second category. I have read too many who have hit the right combination because they write the right stuff ... stories of spies, medical examiners, cops, wizards, sorcerers, vampires and the like. They all hit the right agent the right way on the right day, or else they had such a long list of established work that a publish

I have taken an anti-Query Shark stance. I believe Janet Reid's work is great in getting an overblown query down to size, but that 250-word limit is not a set standard. (Use it only when sending to the Shark herself or if an agent asks for the 250-word limit ... I've seen exactly one other who requires that.) My greatest advice on queries? Tailor them to the agent you are targeting. Check out the agent's web site, blog, etc. to discover what his or her main points are, then point out how your novel fits into his or her view. There are still pitfalls. I wrote to one agent who liked my work but rejected it on one point ... it wasn't the correct narrative voice being sought for that agent's representation. Who could have guessed? I am not sending out more queries now. I am waiting for replies from several I sent out recently, and those may take two to eight weeks. In the meantime, I am going to get back to writing ... and it's a different project that the one I

I started out a couple of months ago to let friends and fellow writers know what a query letter meant to a first-time novelist. That little diatribe was interrupted by reality ... the writers conference, a pitch session, a push by an agent that my work needed work, and then extensive rewriting. What has been the result? For me, it means I'm a little more grown up in this publishing world. I always knew rewriting would be a big part of the deal as my novel would advance through the process. I welcomed it. I'm a veteran copy editor, after all, so I know the need for editing in a "finished product" is usually necessary. But I am more realistic ... and just as committed to my notion that this is a novel worth publishing. I have to bare my soul here. I always have enjoyed newspaper story ideas that went "outside the box" and examined something other newspapers wouldn't do. I call that originality. I crave that in my own novels, and I have achieved that he

I am still in a waiting stage ... one agent has replied, another rejection ... but I am so much more comfortable with where my novel is now versus where it was. And I was confident in what I had done before. Now it's just a matter of finding a match with an agent. Time will tell. I haven't made it easy on myself. My work is fiction, and fiction is harder to sell. My work is mainstream fiction, and that is hard to sell. My novel doesn't dovetail nicely with any established work, so I can't hook onto the coattails of "True Blood" or "Harry Potter," and there aren't spies, detectives, goblins or ghouls running around my pages. I like it that way. I like being original, and from all my research, my novel is very original. I have Googled plot line aspects, and there are no direct hits. That's a good thing. One of the people who read my opening four chapters suggested I check out "Sarah's Key" to see how closely that matched what I

I have to thank my son Stephen for turning me on to Paul Simon's song "Rewrite," which has become a sort of personal anthem. It is perfect for what I have been doing!!!! Check it out on YouTube. LOL. And my rewrites are done. I have a finished product, and a much better product, thanks to Ms. Bond and Mr. Kleinman. I have much more confidence in opening chapters, story lines, story flow, etc. How confident? I sent a query to Donald Maass. He wrote the book about how to be a great published author, "Writing the Breakout Novel" ... a sort of writer's bible. I didn't have that kind of confidence before, but I do now. Will I separate myself from the hundreds of other queries he's received in the past couple of days? I don't know. Not my decision. But I didn't back away from submitting. And for those interested in such things, Maass is due to be at next year's Pikes Peak Writers Conference. Pencil me in for that session ... although I'

I have committed a grave sin. Or, actually I am in the process of committing a grave sin. One thing agents say is to have a completed manuscript when you send in a query. I believed I was at that stage when I first sent out queries. But my Sandra Bond moment forced me to change my start, and now I am filling in cracks throughout my manuscript. What I had before was the nice skeletal element of a novel with some sinew on it. Now I am adding more muscle and covering it all with skin. There will be a complete, deep novel in place in the next few days. I have been hammering away at changes for the past week, and I am dedicating the next two days off to continuing the process. So, excuse me, but I must get back to my sins.

I kept running back Sandra Bond's points in my mind and started brainstorming about possible new ways to enter the story line ... better ways to enter the story line. Inspiration hit at about 1:45 a.m. this morning, and I rolled out of bed with possible lines running through my head. I went to bed at 4:50 with a completely new first chapter completed. It is MILES away from my original in tone and approach. The original story line didn't change one bit, but fleshing out the main character and ramping up the tension did. So, thank you Sandra Bond for kicking me in the butt and making me dig deeper. Jeff Kleinman tried to do the same thing and I brushed off the advice. Bullheaded, you know. Sure MY way was the best way. It wasn't, and the new chapter shows that. It is THAT much better. Oh, about the plot line? I'm being very coy on purpose. The most positive point anyone has made is that my premise ... my story line ... is very good. I have Googled to see if there is a

I attended the Pikes Peak Writers conference last weekend. What a great experience! There were great sessions on the craft of writing and the business of marketing, and I attended sessions on forensics and covert operations to glean details to use in future story lines. But several things made the conference very, very special. The first was the pitch session with Sandra Bond, an agent based in Denver. My research showed she was very nice and very professional. Both facts were true. I did most of the talking during the eight-minute session, and Ms. Bond interjected to ask a few questions for clarification. Then she ended with the words I wanted to hear: "Send me your first two chapters. It sounds intriguing." I sent in my material and waited for a reply. I got that reply. The result? I will tell it by using parts of the note I left for my wife this morning. "Sandra Bond said no to requesting more of my manuscript. She said she was excited about the premise ... th

I have been writing quite a bit in the past several days, hence another long break between posts. Or to be more precise, I have been writing and then rewriting chapters for my second book in the series. That much rewriting? What do you expect a veteran copy editor to do. But as I have gone over the matter of query letters, I have reached a conclusion. I have to tweak mine. It is obvious my current query isn't catching enough attention. The problem? I think it makes the book sound too dark, too foreboding. There are dark parts in the book, parts that made me feel uncomfortable while I was writing them. (I am not a violent man by any means, but I have one chapter devoted to a crime, and the violence gets very detailed at the end. But that chapter is so basic to why one of my protagonists reacts the way he does that it has to be included.) My book is more about decisions we make, why we make them and the impacts they have on our lives and the lives of those around us. Dark and foreb

Writing a novel with strong characters isn't hard for me. Putting twists and turns into a plot and creating a world of challenges for my protagonists is daunting but fun. Dialogue? I love doing it. But if you want to see my resolute confidence shaken, have me sit down and create a good query letter to submit to literary agents. Why such fear and trembling? Oh, I can write a good query, but there is the nagging question when I'm done ... Is it the right wording to sell my novel? Have I done the best job necessary to make some agent in New York City, or Denver, or Tiburon, Calif., sit up and take notice? I may feel fine about my current query letter, but am I separating my work from the 100-200 other queries a single agent will handle during a week? Is my query good enough to avoid being lumped into the dreaded slush pile? Judging by results, the answer is a resounding no. I still haven't persuaded an agent that I'm the author for them. I will press on and refine th

(I was sick, so pardon the long break between posts. But I'm feeling better. Now, where was I?) Jeff Kleinman isn't one of the true gentlemen in the literary agent business just because he asked for more of my manuscript to review ... but maybe it didn't hurt. He eventually decided not to take me on, but I was impressed by Jeff's commitment to searching out new authors who suddenly show up in his e-mail file. I sent to Jeff one day and got a reply the next. In the world of agents, that's megaspeed. Every agent should appreciate what it means to an author to get that kind of response time. I had done lots of research on Jeff before I filed with him, and he has built an impressive background. He's one of the agent/lawyer combinations, the head of Folio Literary Management. In one interview, he said his day often consists of checking his e-mail at home, going to the office and checking e-mail, getting home and checking e-mail, etc. That kind of commitment to auth

I wish I could talk about literary agents with some degree of certainty. I can't, simply because of limited contact. But that isn't going to stop me from commenting. Oh, there are some things I know. They are overburdened, getting an avalanche of contacts every week from aspiring writers like myself. They have their areas of interest regarding genres with which they will work. They are writers, editors and lawyers all rolled into one (or at least they know good lawyers) and guide their clients through the tricky world of publishing. Ah yes, there is the most important fact for someone such as myself: They are absolutely vital to my future, because they hold the first set of keys to getting published. But that is a mighty tough first step to take. Here is a quick statistic: I have contacted 23 agents since mid-December; I have heard back from six of them. All were rejections. I'm not shaken by that fact, for two reasons. First, I don't have a big ego, so rejection do

I have written enough during a 35-year career on newspapers to fill a small library. I have been part of several departments that have been ranked among the 10 best in America. I know how to be a manager. I know how to write for journalism. I know how to edit other writers. But nothing ... absolutely nothing ... in all that experience prepared me for the world of publishing ... the agent-and-publishing house side of creativity. I know I'm not alone. This blog is designed for all the first-timers to get together and commiserate. Good agents get hundreds of queries (the name of the short pitch an aspiring writer sends) a week. Very, very few of those aspiring writers are invited into the select circle of published authors. Hence, I know there is a crowded world of first-timers out there, so let's share some of our stories. I believe there is one thing that unites all of us: We believe intensely in our work. I spent a year of my life carving out time to write and edit my nov