Words from a Book Editor (Part 2 of 2)

(This post comes from Vicki Crumpton.)

Traditional publishing is highly schedule driven. We live by catalog cycles and when a book is contracted, we slot it in a catalog season for release.

Manuscript deadlines are based on the release date, and everything we do for a book from then on, whether editorial, marketing, sales, or publicity, is driven by the need to hit that release date.

I'm writing this in the summer of 2012, and we're titling books that will release the following summer. Once titles are set, the cover design starts. I’m editing books that will release a year from now.

Each October, our sales conference prepares our reps to sell the upcoming Summer list, and our key account reps start selling right after the sales conference. Why? The large accounts make their buying decisions that far in advance.

Air traffic control is a good analogy for the publishing process. Planes get slotted by air traffic control long before they reach their destination, so that when planes get close to O’Hare, all of them can land in an orderly fashion.

I'd love to have the opportunity to listen to the cockpit radio conversation. I've never heard a pilot say, "I have to fly over Dallas on my way to Chicago, so I'm going to be about five hours late. That won't mess up anybody, will it?"

Life does happen. The important thing is for authors to communicate with their editors as soon as they know there will be a problem with a deadline.

Vicki Crumpton, Executive Editor for Revell (a division of Baker Publishing Group), acquired a number of award finalists and winners, as well as several New York Times' bestsellers, including 90 Minutes in Heaven. She holds an M. Div. and Ph.D. from Southwestern.

Writing Articles (Part 2 of 21)

Here are more reasons for starting with articles.

Too many writers want to start with a book without proving themselves as writers first. This is a proven strategy for rejection. Writing isn't something we perfect overnight. It takes hard work and dedication.

Geoff Colvin's research for Talent Is Overrated urges "deliberate practice—a life-long period of deliberate effort to improve performance in a specific domain."[1]

His research refers to the ten-year rule which states that talented performers don't become great "without at least ten years of very hard preparation, and goes on to add, ". . . authors produce their greatest work only after twenty or more years of devoted effort . . . ."[2]

Think of them as your apprenticeship. You write and sell articles to learn the craft and to understand the business.

More than 100 of my articles hit print before I started a book. I look back at those experiences as my invaluable apprenticeship. I had to find writing time in the middle of my busy work world and I proved I could do it and meet deadlines. In my diligence to publish, I convinced myself that writing was what I truly wanted to do.

Too many writers don't want to put in the grunt work of learning the rules and applying them. Once I started writing books, however, I knew what I was doing. No matter how well we think we can write, none of us comes into publishing fully developed. We need to master techniques and skills.

Another reason for articles first is that you work for shorter periods of tile and get feedback faster. It's easier to handle a rejected article on which you spent three weeks than on a book that took you two years to write and it never sold.

If I first write shorter pieces, 

my first book will be superior to what I could have done earlier. 

____________________

[1] Talented Is Overrated by Geoff Colvin (NY: New York, Penguin Group, 2008) p. 63

[2] Op.cit. p. 62.

Writing Articles (Part 1 of 21)

Is it necessary to write articles first?

I won't say you can't get a book published without going the article route; I would say that writing articles makes it easier when you're ready to sell your book.

Here are the advantages:

* You prove that you can start and complete a writing project.

* You prove that you have publishing experience.

* Articles help you gain credibility in the marketplace.

* You can show that you have the skills for a magazine piece.

* You show you can write a specific length to fit the magazines.

* You can handle editing by a professional and rewrite if requested.

* You gain writing credentials.

* Your publishing credits show that you have begun to establish name recognition.

If your book is nonfiction, you could write the chapters and sell them as articles. (Sell only first or one-time rights.) You'll reshape them some for a book later, but the bulk of the research and writing will be done.

I don't have to write articles first, 

but it's an excellent way to break into publishing.

What an Acquisitions Editor Seeks

(By Nick Harrison, acquisitions editor at Harvest House)

I enjoy writing about writing—and talking about it. Perhaps that’s why I enjoy writer’s conferences. They’re a great way to fellowship with other writers.

One often overlooked aspect of a conference is the networking benefit. I’ll let you in on a trade secret. Once I know authors—usually those I’ve met at a conference—I feel more at home in evaluating their book proposals.

Sometimes I’ll meet aspiring authors at a conference, and despite their present lack of ability or focus, if I find myself meeting with a kindred spirit, I’m more likely to want to help them than if the aspiring writers are cold or unwelcoming. It’s just human nature.

Sometimes I’ll pursue the moodier writers if the writing is really good, and sometimes I’ll tell kindred-spirited authors that there’s no way I can help them, but not often.

The best author/editor combination is when editors “get” what authors are trying to accomplish with their writing and when the authors understand the importance of finding not just any editor, but the right editor.

In a recent issue of Publisher’s Weekly, they printed lengthy tributes to two deceased members of the publishing industry—one a well-respected editor and the other a noted agent. In both cases, I was struck by the tributes from those writers who worked with them.

They spoke endearingly of the deep friendship they shared, and, of course, gratitude for the help those friendships had in advancing their careers.

Almost all of the writers I edit, I also count as friends.

So in reality I’m not just out to acquire books, I’m also out to acquire writing friends. Friends who love to talk about writing and who hunger for the same kind of success I hunger for.

Really, such relationships are rare, but worth the search. I should know; one of those friendships for me has turned out to be Cec Murphey whom I met years ago at Mount Hermon.

All that to say that you really do need to attend at least one writer’s conference a year if you want to succeed. That’s the way you’ll eventually meet that rare editor who will light up with recognition when he or she meets you—a kindred spirit!

--Nick Harrison, Harvest House

Writer’s Block (Part 5 of 16)

One of the most serious causes of writer's block is fear. And it comes to us in a myriad of forms. I want to point out a few of those forms I've observed.

Perhaps the most obvious is the fear that the writing isn't any good. We may not tell anyone and may defend our writing, but deep, deep inside, we sense our writing isn't good. The worse we feel our writing level, the more difficult it is for us to create words on the screen.

"If I writing something and people read it," my friend Rog Barnes once
said, "everyone will realize how bad I am."

"Or they might discover how good you are," I said, "and you are."

That happened in the late 1980s. To my knowledge, Rog has never published. He has surrendered to an irrational fear.

Serious writers face their fears.
Even if they think they're not good, they continue to write.

How to Study Magazine Article Markets Online

(By Susan Titus Osborn)

As a magazine editor for eight years, I rejected articles for two main reasons.

1. They were not targeted to my publication.

2. They didn’t follow the guidelines.

Here are helpful ways to break into the online magazine market (or ezines).

http://www.christianbooks.com/ sells magazines as well as books. It lists 121 Christian magazines. I’m not suggesting that you purchase the magazines, but use the site as a starting point. Make a list of the magazines that would be appropriate to the article you are writing and then look at the individual websites.

Another excellent site is http://www.world-newspapers.com/christian.html/. This site also lists general-interest magazines and lumps many religions into the “religion magazine” category. It also divides the magazines according to denomination.

The Lookout (http://www.lookoutmag.com/write/) is a 16-page, weekly and online magazine with a circulation of 52,000. It uses 40 percent unsolicited, freelance material, and they assign the rest. It's nondenominational, conservative, and non-charismatic. Two-thirds of the readers are women, and 90 percent of the readership is over 50 years old. It publishes according to a theme list, which you may obtain by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE). The editor also wants manuscripts sent through the mail with an SASE.

Although they are print magazines, Sunday school take-home papers are often the easiest to sell because they publish 52 issues a year for adults and for children. Many are freelance written, so they always need material. They often use theme lists, as do many magazines, so study the website for each publication to which you desire to send an article or story.

Many publications will want your manuscripts sent electronically. Study your markets carefully and follow their guidelines precisely. There are also a number of online magazines. Some pay, some don’t, but they are an excellent way to build your publishing credits.

Do your research, study your markets, and carefully polish your articles. These are the ingredients to becoming a successful freelance writer.

Susan Titus Osborn, author or co-author of 30 books, is the director of the Christian Communicator Manuscript Critique Service. Contact her at susanosb@aol.com or http://www.Christiancommunicator.com/.

What to Expect When You're Expecting an Offer

(By Deidre Knight, The Knight Agency)

An agent provides many services and benefits when an author is on the verge of receiving their first publishing offer, everything from the proverbial hand-holding, to sorting out offers from multiple houses to reviewing and finalizing the contract. Since there’s frequent debate these days about the necessity of having an agent versus self-publishing, I thought it would be helpful if we went “back to basics” and took a look at what a first-time author can expect from the submission and sale process.

First, the agent signs on the new client, and there’s much high-fiving over the shiny, pretty manuscript that both of you love. Then you buckle up and, most likely, get down to work—i.e. the agent outlines any edits she might want to suggest for making the manuscript stronger. In this tough economy, it’s more important than ever that a manuscript from a debut author be as outstanding as possible.

Once the manuscript is in final shape, the agent makes a submission list and
sends out the project (aka “shopping” in agentspeak). This is where the author can expect one thing: to feel a little crazy. It’s a strange feeling, realizing that perfect strangers, editors who work with authors you admire, are reading your work. But be forewarned: That feeling will likely wear off because the submission stage often takes a few months. Sometimes it’s faster—much faster.

At our agency we’ve sold books within twenty-four hours of submission on quite a few occasions. I’ve also sold a book two years after I submitted it, and placed another project six years after making the initial submission. So, the time frame from submission to receiving an offer can vary widely. To be on the safe side, prepare and expect to wait months, not days.

Naturally, if multiple houses step forward with interest, that heightens the stakes and your agent will need to manage an auction. But, for the sake of simplicity, let’s picture a scenario where just the one house decides to bid. The agent receives an email or call from the publisher saying they’d like to discuss the project, Most Marvelous First Novel Ever by Debbie Debut. Is it still available? Your agent will let the editor know that, yes, the project is still up for grabs and then the editor makes an opening offer.

You can expect a good deal of back-and-forth in negotiations for Most Marvelous, because a good agent knows that an editor won’t make the very best offer right out of the gate. Sometimes the agent can haggle a fair amount; however, if the publisher thinks the book still needs a lot of work, for instance, the offer may not improve as much as you and your agent would like.

Some of the offer’s aspects that are negotiated include: subsidiary rights (audio, foreign rights, e-books, book club, film), royalty rate, format (will it be hard cover, mass market, trade paper, or perhaps even digital first?), advance amount, payout of the advance (some publishers try to apportion money to publication, some don’t, but clearly the author wants to be paid sooner, not later), number of author copies, which rights the author will keep and which the publisher will get.

Especially in an auction situation, there are bonuses that might be added to sweeten the offer—some of these include bonuses for appearing on the New York Times, for selling X number of copies in the first year or for earning out the advance in a set time frame. There are a variety of potential bonuses that publishers may add in order to make the offer more attractive.

Once the offer is finalized and accepted, you can expect…to wait some more. Publishers routinely take up to sixty or even ninety days to send a contract. Occasionally it might even be longer than that.

But once your agent receives the contract, they will go over it carefully, asking for any changes that are required. They may ask for contract revisions for several reasons-- because the document doesn’t reflect the deal terms that were agreed to originally, or because the publisher has changed their standard contract boilerplate language. Or maybe because there are new points of debate (for instance, right now our agency is eager to ensure that publishers don’t hold reserves against digital royalties, which obviously can’t be returned.)

And then, finally, once the agent has gone over the contract carefully, asked for changes and received the final copy you can expect to…sign on the dotted line. And maybe pop a bottle of bubbly with your significant other that night, to celebrate your new venture as a published author.

Deidre Knight established The Knight Agency (TKA) in 1996 after working in the entertainment industry. As president of TKA, she has built a dynamic, bestselling client list, placing titles in a broad range of categories, including romance, women's fiction, general fiction, young adult, business, popular culture, self-help, religion, health, and parenting. Deidre’s most well-known clients include New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter and 90 MINUTES IN HEAVEN co-authors Don Piper and Cecil Murphey. Last year, The Knight Agency had 15 NYT bestsellers and was one of the foremost agencies in the field of romance publishing.

Studying the Magazine Market

(Several people have asked questions about how to study the markets, so I asked Sally Stuart to write a blog post. We'll follow up later with another guest blogger.)

How do you study the markets before submitting to magazines?

When you reach the point of asking this question, I assume you have identified the topics you can or want to write about.

You can then use the Christian Writers’ Market Guide and look up your selected topic(s) in the “Topical Listings for Periodicals” section. After reading the provided listing for each of those periodicals, plus checking out their Website, you may delete some immediately because of a difference in slant or theology.

For those that remain, download their guidelines from their Website (or send an SASE to request them if not available online). You’ll also want to send for sample copies if they don't provide enough samples of their articles online.

Read the guidelines carefully, highlighting any statements that fit your article’s topic or slant in one color, and those that are in opposition to it in another color. After that, rereading both the positive and the negative statements should help you decide if this might be a good fit for what you have to offer. Read the articles they provide on line, or the sample copies, to get a better feel for the magazine.

It’s also important to clearly identify the target audience for each publication.

That should be defined in the guidelines and obvious in the sample articles, but you can also get additional insight into who the readers are by reading letters to the editor. Are the readers conservative or more liberal? What topics get a reaction from them?

Study any advertisements in the sample copies. Whom do those ads target? Your articles need to target their reading audience. Targeting that audience means your topic, as well as your anecdotes and illustrations, must be of interest to those readers.

Complete the above steps for each topic you want to address, and start making a list of potential markets for each topic.

The real secret to success as a magazine writer is in building a reputation as someone who writes well on a particular topic (marriage, family, women’s issues, or prayer)—or who does a particular type of writing (feature articles, how-to, or Bible studies).

Get published regularly, and when you become an “expert” in your topic/type, editors will seek you out with assignments.

Sally E Stuart has been putting out the Christan Writers' Market Guide for the last 26 years, and has been writing for more than 40 years. She is a marketing columnist in several writers' publications and teaches regularly at writers' conferences. Visit www.stuartmarket.com or www.stuartmarket.blogspot.com for more information.

Secrets from Professional Writers (Part 8b of 10)

8b. We study the markets.

If you don't study the markets, you lower your chances of selling anything because you don't know what publishers want. If you send in something that's outdated or no longer of interest, you frustrate editors. Do it often enough and you create a negative reputation among editors (and they do talk with each other).

As you study what's out there, you can ask yourself, "To what does that lead?" You can learn to anticipate what the public will read next. For example, I've been suggesting for five years that books for retiring baby boomers will be a big thing. So far I haven't seen many books on the topic, but they're definitely on the way.

Studying the markets is more than selling; it's staying abreast about what goes on in the world. We figure out the felt-needs of people, sometimes before they're aware.

We study the markets because we're professionals.
Professionals are always on the learning curve.

Secrets from Professional Writers (Part 8a of 10)

8a. We study the markets.

One way to define success is that we sell what we write. Professionals don't rely solely on agents, but they know what's going on in the world around them. They're aware of writing trends. The best professionals spot trends before they become trends.

In 1989, I wrote a book for caregivers of loved ones who suffered from Alzheimer's. I wrote two other books for caregivers. They didn't do well because I was too far ahead of the loop. In 2004 I did another series of caregiving books with only slightly better results. The trend had begun and I lectured often on caregiving.

In 2009, I started a series of gift books for caregivers and they've done quite well. I'll continue to write in that field, but it's no longer my focus because there are already so many people out speaking and teaching.

That's what I mean by studying the markets. I co-wrote Don Piper's 90 Minutes in Heaven and it's now in its fifth year on the New York Times' best-seller list. Since then, other books have come out about heaven. In the fall of 2010, two books, both about a child who went to heaven, appeared.

In the summer of 2010, I released my book When a Man You Love Was Abused. So far as I know, it was the first book on the topic aimed at the Christian market by a royalty-paying publisher. The book has done well and I know of two other books on the topic that have gotten a thumbs up because of my book's success.

By contrast, memoirs and autobiographies aren't doing well, unless the subject is a celebrity, and some of them haven't shown strong results, such as Kitty Kelley's bio of Oprah.

Awareness of the market doesn't guarantee sales,
but it does increase your chances of selling.

How Editing Groups Work (Part 5 of 4)

Peter Lundell sent this email:

I’m lost in semantics. The online group I’m in does basically, in an online format, what you’ve described in these “How Editing Groups Work” posts. But we call it a critique group. I’m having a hard time distinguishing what you’re calling editing and what we’re calling critiquing.

Here’s my response.

Writers’ critique groups formed in the days when it was expensive to make copies of manuscripts. They were set up so they could read their manuscripts aloud. It’s an old-fashioned method that seems to have survived. Across the country people still sit around a table and read their manuscripts while the others listen without interruption. They make comments at the end of the reading.

In 1971, I decided what I wanted and formed such a group. I formed a group where I didn’t have to listen to anyone read aloud (or bore them with my reading aloud). As far as I’m aware, no one else called them editing groups in 1971. I did that intentionally to distinguish us.

I started the face-to-face group and called us the Scribe Tribe. A week before each meeting, we mailed copies of our manuscripts to every member—and we kept the membership to no more than nine people. Sometimes that meant typing (as in tsing a typewriter and making carbon copies) the manuscript twice or three times.

I wanted members to write on the manuscript so I could take the various responses home with me and ponder what they wrote.

In the days since the Scribe Tribe and the proliferation of the Internet, the words have tended to become interchangeable, but I still use editing when it means people edit manuscripts sentence by sentence. As long as read-aloud groups remain, I’ll insist on the word editing.

Editing groups edit manuscripts.
That’s why I call them editing groups.

Being Edited (Part 6 of 6)

Here are additional reasons for joining (or starting an editing group).

1. Being part of a group enables us to dig deeper into ourselves. As we pull from within, we more readily accept ourselves, others, and our world. It doesn't matter whether we write theological texts, murder mysteries, or personal-experience articles. The more we write, the more we look inward and examine ourselves.

2. We offer support and affirmation and become a true mutual-help group. About the second year of the Scribe Tribe—the editing group I organized and led for nine years—I realized that we not only helped each other, but we also cared about one another. As members shared their writing, regardless of the topic, they shared themselves. I learned to appreciate and to care about them. They reciprocated: They cared about me.

Through the years, I've watched writers discover healing from childhood trauma, rape, incest, divorce, addiction, and countless other problems by writing about them. Many who didn't specifically address their issues found acceptance among other writers and that gave them the courage to resolve their problems.

You want to become a good writer?
Start with a willingness to be edited.

Being Edited (Part 5 of 6)

No matter how long we’ve written or how good our prose, others can see things we miss. When I first began to write, I invited several other eager-to-publish writers to join me. We didn't know much, but we shared what we knew. Every person who remained in the Scribe Tribe at least five years became a much-published writer. One of the "graduates" is Marion Bond West, Guideposts' most-published writer. Suzanne Stewart's first book sold more than 200,000 copies. Two alumni have been full-time editors for two decades.

I want to give a few reasons why I strongly advocate every writer becoming part of an editing group.

1. Good editing groups offer a diversity of capabilities, backgrounds, interests, and knowledge. I'm not naturally analytical, and I focused more on word choices and sentence flow. Other members taught me to recognize logical progression and development of ideas. And I became a better writer.

2. Being part of a group allows us to receive and to give. We learn from the others, but we also teach them. We see areas of their writing where we can help them. It's as simple as the Sunday school teachers who say, "I never understood the Bible until I taught a class."

3. Being part of an editing group offers new writers a sense of identity. We belong; we're not alone. We don't have to hide our writing. We meet with others who understand and struggle with the same problems. They encourage us to open ourselves on the page.

The major reason I believe in editing groups is simple:
They work.

Being Edited (Part 2 of 6)

Even though editors improve our manuscripts, they want to start with well-written articles and books. Everything we can do to make our work outstanding not only sells the material, but it makes editors' work easier.

Too many beginning writers seem to think that if they write their material, edit it twice, and send the manuscript through Spellchecker, it's ready to publish.

That's a good start, but not enough.

Perhaps that's obvious, but my wife, Shirley, edited a magazine and curriculum for 20 years. Occasionally, she received submissions with notes that said, "God gave this to me, so you won't have to edit it, you can publish it just as it is."

Not once was the quality of the writing good enough and was usually extremely bad. I didn't know any of the writers, and I never saw their manuscripts, but they were probably individuals who couldn't stand anyone to change their writing. Too bad. None of them got published.

Get editorial help before you submit a manuscript.
Accept help from the editor after you submit your manuscript.

Being Edited (Part 1 of 6)

After I had been writing for three years and had published more than fifty articles, the late Charlie Shedd met with the Scribe Tribe, our editing group of eight writers who met every third Tuesday evening and edited each others' material. Charlie read the first chapter of my first attempt at a book and spent twenty minutes dissecting my manuscript.

It hurt to have him slash sentences I had written and rewritten ten times. But he caught things I hadn't seen. Intellectually, I knew he critiqued my material; emotionally, I felt he critiqued me.

Although I've now published more than 100 books, I still don't like it when an editor rips apart my prose. No matter how hard I try, editors find ways to tweak sentences or delete words. Unless you self-publish, someone will always edit behind you.

Being edited is part of the getting-published process.
If you can't accept editorial changes,
don't write for publication.

“How Do You Make a Living at Writing?” (Part 6 of 6)

(By Chip MacGregor, President, MacGregor Literary, Inc.)

Many novelists take eight months to write a book. But at that rate, even a healthy $16,000 advance (which is pretty good for any novelist these days) means you're getting by on $2,000 a month. If you take that part-time job to make ends meet, you now find you have less time to work on your novel, so it takes you a year to complete. You don't want to hurry it, because you won't write as good of a story, and writing a lousy book is sure to kill your career.

This is why I always remind authors how tough it is to make a living at writing. You need to have books that are already out there earning you money, so that you know you have income from projects you are no longer working on.

You also need to have signed contracts that will earn you more money. And that money is easy to track, because you know when and how much you'll be paid. And you need a plan for how you'll move forward.

Let's be honest: The first rule of writing is "Don't quit your day job." Stop acting as if writing full time is some sort of God-given right. If you had chosen painting or sculpture or singing or dancing or any other art, you'd probably be facing even longer odds at making a living at your craft. The fact is, most artists struggle financially. That's why most writers have other sources of income. Either they work full or part time, or they have a job related to the industry (editor, reporter, or book salesperson), or they're married to somebody who has a real job that pays the bills. Don't lose sight of the fact that it takes most people years to get to the place where they are writing full time—if they ever get there.

It's easy to hang out at a writing conference and assume that "Everybody else in writing is making a living at this except me." But it’s not true. Many of these folks are doing something to pay the bills. I'm not trying to dissuade you, but trying to help you gain a realistic picture of what it takes to make a living in this business.