thrifty writers
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PREPARING FOR PUBLICATION
Steps in Planning Your Project
Summarize Your Project
Develop A Synopsis and a Table of Contents
Set Your Research Parameters
Check Out the Competition
Develop A Plan for Your Career
Literary Agents
The Dreaded Slush Pile
Where to Send Your Stuff

Books for Writers

GETTING YOUR FEET WET

EROTIC FICTION: A WRITER'S
PERSPECTIVE, by Ray Girvan

Links to Writers and Writing Sites On-Line

PREPARING FOR PUBLICATION

Note: This page only deals with the very basics of preparing to send your work out. At the end of the page is a list of books which will give you precise details on exactly how to physically prepare a manuscript, how to write cover letters, and everything else you need to know to market your work to publishers.

STEPS IN PLANNING THE PROJECT

The most critical steps in writing are ones that a lot of aspiring writers never take. This page will help you develop planning strategies to bring some order into the chaos.

STEP ONE: SUMMARIZE YOUR PROJECT

If I were to ask you right now if you could describe your book to me in twenty-five words or less, could you do it?

The pace in publishing these days is almost as fast as it is in Show Biz. People don't have a lot of time to spare, and if you can't come to them with a very clear idea of what your work is about, you may lose their attention before they've read the first page.

Try this: Imagine that you've just been introduced to a publishing hotshot at a party and you only have two minutes before another hopeful author grabs the hotshot's arm. This is your big chance. He really could make you if he liked you. What few sentences could you say to him that would really grab his attention and make him want to hear more about your book?

The point of this exercise is two-fold. First, it will help you narrow the focus of your work so that you know exactly what it is that you are writing (or have written) about. I am always a tad surprised when I realize how few writers ever take the time to actually THINK about what it is they are going to write in concrete terms. If you tell an editor, "I want to write a book about the Net," his or her first question is going to be, "WHAT about the Net?" At that point, you'd best be ready with a clearly defined description of the project.

The other reason you want to do this exercise is because when you begin sending out letters to editors, you will recycle this brief summary (or "pitch") to grab an editor's attention.

Yes, it's disgusting that publishing types nowadays demand the kind of over-simplified pitch we associate with Tinsel Town (if you don't know what I'm talking about, see Robert Altman's great satire, "The Player"). Yes, it's just incredible how low the standards have fallen and how our whole culture has turned into streams of sound-bytes. SIGH. Now let's pull the thorns from our wounded flesh, knowing that we have shared this tragic insight, and move on.

Some writers find that they need to get a few hundred or more words down on paper before they are sure what point they are trying to get across in their work. Some have to refine the description until they find the perfect phrases to pique an editor's interest. Others have to write the entire book, or significant portions of it.

However you work, don't worry about it. As long you have some kind of a soundbite memorized by the time you're ready to submit, you'll be fine.

STEP TWO: DEVELOP A SYNOPSIS AND TABLE OF CONTENTS

A synopsis of the book is the kind of description you really feel your book deserves. It should be roughly the length of a book review (500-750 words at a maximum). If your book is organized into chapters, each of which have themes (this is most likely to apply to non-fiction books, but many novelists work this way as well), create a table of contents, listing the title of each chapter. Then briefly summarize the key ingredients of each chapter in one or two paragraphs.

This is not easy to do, and there are writers who work without outlines (especially creative writers), but again, these exercises serve two purposes.

First, it will further help you focus your project. Down the road, you can refer back to your table of contents as a guide to what holes need to be filled in. It's a handy tool for keeping yourself on track and writing the book you intended to write.

Second, whatever you come up with can be recycled into the query you send to editors and agents. I've sold every one of my books this way: I wrote a cover letter which presented my basic idea in the sexiest possible terms and then included a synopsis, a detailed table of contents (or "chapter break-out"), and a writing sample (usually one chapter of the proposed book).

Don't worry about committing to the exact content of a book you haven't yet written. When editors look at proposals, they understand that they are only seeing the book's basic concept. Editors are very understanding if you end up straying from your proposed outline, change some characters, or rethink chapters (say, if some new research comes out in your field which invalidates what you were going to say). The important thing is that you can show them that you have a real project going, which you've given thought to. In other words, they'll perceive you as a professional and--generally--treat you better.

STEP THREE: SET YOUR RESEARCH PARAMETERS

Before you start writing, investigate how much research and time will be involved in completing your project. One of the biggest mistakes writers make is when they set their goals so high that they can't complete the project. They get bogged down by details, get overwhelmed by the workload they've created for themselves, and abandon the project in defeat. Don't get stuck in this self-destructive cycle. Plan out your project.

What kind of facts will you need to support your ideas? Draw up a list of the basic sources you will need. Will you be interviewing people? If so, whom? Will you be drawing on existing scholarship? You may need to go to the library to start building a bibliography.

Novelists aren't exempt: if you're writing a murder mystery, you may need to read up on poisons, guns, knives, and other ways to kill off characters. If you're writing a historical novel--whether it's about the ice age or the 1970's--you will need to research the period to make sure you don't have any howlers that will make you look idiotic to potential editors.

I once met a woman who told me she wrote "medieval romance novels," involving elaborate descriptions of sword-fights and battles and costumes and so on. Intrigued, I asked her what kind of research she was doing to make the period come to life. "Oh, I don't look anything up!" she exclaimed. "Do you know anything about sword fights in reality?" I asked. "I don't have to," she said disdainfully, "I just use my creativity!"

My point here is that ignorance is forgivable, but WILLFUL ignorance is not. Even poets do research for poems and even geniuses rely on other sources to bolster their arguments.

Next, make sure that you don't set yourself up for failure by setting your goals too high. It may be a great idea, for example, to conduct a survey of one thousand people; but the complexities and amount of work involved in something so ambitious put it out of the reach of everyone except scholars with big grants.

Even if your research goals are modest, investigate how much time, effort and money it will take for you to achieve them. A hint: do NOT rely on having others assist you or share their research with you. You should feel reasonably confident that you can find all the stuff you need on your own, through public resources (like libraries or the Net). Another hint: figuring out a basic budget is wise, because you may not be able to get an advance big enough to cover your upfront costs. If you can't afford to write your first book until you land a big advance, your project may simply not be practical.

STEP FOUR: CHECK OUT THE COMPETITION

Let's say you are writing about the Net. Go to your local bookshop and walk into the section on computing. Do you see how many books are there? Browse through the gezillion titles until you find the few hundred that are about the Net. Then wearily comb through them until you find the several dozen books that were already done on topics either exactly like yours or ones that are too damn close for comfort.

Don't be depressed. Whether you're writing science fiction or romance, a political thriller or a guide to cybersex, you should expect to find titles already available on your subject. The fact is that, as Shakespeare noted, there is nothing new under the sun. Chances of you coming up with a totally original idea are marginal. Besides, big publishers aren't LOOKING for original stuff. Original stuff is risky. Stuff that's a lot like other stuff that sold well, but which presents the information in a new, or more knowledgeable way, actually has a far better chance of selling than an utterly original work.

Your challenge is to come up with some new twist that makes the subject seem sexy all over again. Going back to Shakespeare: thousands of writers wrote about love before him. But he made love seem so new that 20th century geniuses can't compete with his freshness.

Make sure to bring a pen and something to write on when you go. As you browse the books, select the ones you think look best or are closest to your subject. Copy down the names and any contact information (address, phone number) of the publishers.

Targeting the correct publisher for your work will save you time, money, and agita. I periodically get letters from struggling writers who complain because places like Cosmo or Allure rejected their papers on genetic engineering. I am far too nice to say, "Read the magazines, you dork!"

If you send heavy-weight work to a light-weight magazine, you will not get published. If you send fluff to a scholarly press, you will not get published. Is this so hard to grasp? If you want to submit an article or a story to a magazine, go out and look through all the magazines at the newstand until you find a few which are already interested in the topic you're writing about. If you want to write for a particular magazine, study it until you understand the type of pieces they publish and the editorial tone of their pages.

For example, look at three famous but very different magazines. I'll pick Good Housekeeping, Cosmo, and Playboy. Now, can you imagine Cosmo's trademark gurgling girltalk and naughty quizzes showing up on Playboy's pages (other than in the centerfold's "bio," I mean)? Will Good Housekeeping's heart-healthy recipes for busy mothers appear in Playboy soon? Is a naked girl with a staple in her airbrushed navel likely to adorn Good Housekeeping's centerfold?

Stranger things have happened, I guess, but generally speaking...nyet.

It's more or less the same with book publishers. Most specialize in particular topics. For example, some do non-fiction, but not fiction; others regularly publish cook-books and sewing guides, but wouldn't know what to make of your useful tome on fly-fishing. Never submit blind to a publisher. It's as effective as playing the lottery.

It really isn't that hard to zero in on the right publishers for your work, as long as you're willing to do the legwork to find them. Many of the how-to books for writers provide comprehensive information on publishers, including the names of editors, how to contact them, and the type of work they tend to publish.

STEP FIVE: DEVELOP A PLAN FOR YOUR CAREER

The final step is to be honest with yourself. Do you have the time to write this book, and the energy to do this seriously? Are you committed to seeing the project through to the end? Being a writer isn't just about sitting down and writing; you will be fighting for your creative project's life every step of the way, with no guarantee of success. Are you up to it?

If so, then be prepared to make your own way--slowly and possibly painfully. As you go, continually plan your career. Do you have any idea where you'd like to be 5 or 10 years from now? This doesn't mean you should begin writing outlines for your next ten articles or books; it does mean that you should look at your career as a writer as a life-long process. I've never met a writer who retired from writing. Most of us just dodder off into old age, scribbling frantically as the internal clock counts down. Then, when we're too senile to write a coherent sentence, we drop dead.

At least I hope that's how it happens.

Anyway, set short-term, interim, and long-term goals. If your long-term goal is writing for big glossy magazines, and since it's unlikely you'll be able to sell your very first piece to a big place, your short-term goal should be to get published in small, but respectable magazines, so you can develop a file of "clips" and credentials to prove to future editors that you're competent.

Interim goals include perfecting your craft. For freelancers, this means learning to write in different styles and about different subjects, so you can sell work to a variety of magazines by writing in the editorial voice they prefer.

Another important interim goal is to start developing a network of professional contacts. This doesn't mean stalking down every person you can think of who might be able to advance your career. It does mean socializing with other writers and people in the biz who enjoy talking shop, so can share your frustrations and exult over your triumphs with people who know what you're going through. Literary friendships don't just ease the difficulties of this life but can and often do result in opportunities.

So attend workshops, go to readings, take classes, join writers' organizations, and throw yourself into the world you want to inhabit.

Poets and fiction writers may wish to subscribe to such publications as Poets And Writers and American Poetry Review (APR), journals which publish news of contests, manuscript calls, workshops and seminars around the country, and interviews and articles on all the hot issues facing writers.

LITERARY AGENTS

Although more and more authors are successfully self-publishing their books these days, getting published by a commercial press is still a writer's ideal. Perhaps the single greatest benefit to having an agent is that, if they are good at what they do, they have access to powerful editors at the big publishing houses.

An agent's cover letter is a kind of imprimatur, announcing that a professional agency believes your work is good enough to receive the editor's attention. The bigger and more reputable the agency, the more weight that letter carries. If the agent has a personal relationship with an editor, or a close business one, or if your agent has already discussed your book on the phone and received an editor's permission to send it in, then you will, at least, be guaranteed a close read by the editor. I'll discuss why this is so important below, in The Dreaded Slush Pile.

So, while agents can't guarantee publication, they can get your ms. off an assistant's desk and onto an editor's desk. This, my friend, is the most important ten feet that your manuscript may ever travel.

But here is the rub: it is almost as hard to get an agent nowadays as it is to find a publisher. Whereas most people would assume that agents are sitting around, waiting eagerly to hear from new writers, in fact, agents are deluged with queries continuously, and can often pick and choose who they wish to rep. More often than not, an agent will prefer a candidate who has had some kind of a track record. This seems like a Catch-22: you need an agent to push your work, but a lot of agents won't take you on unless your work's already been recognized.

As annoying as it is, the reality is that agents do what they do for one reason only: to make money. Selling books is very difficult, and it requires an investment on the part of the agency--they invest their time. Usually, they invest more (like expenses for making copies of your ms., mailing them out, phonebills for calling editors, and other assorted overhead costs). Eventually, they will bill you for some of their submission costs, but phone bills and time spent working for you are impossible to recuperate if they can't sell your work.

It all comes down to dollars. In the current market, the average first literary novel sells for between $3k and $5k--if you're lucky enough to sell a novel in today's marketplace. An agent gets a 15% cut of that. So let's say a book sold for $4k. That's a $600 commission. How many hours will the agent spend to receive that commission, before it stops seeming a profitable use of her or his time?

Obviously some of this depends on the agent. The basic rule of thumb is that the bigger and better the agency, the harder it is to break in. There are, however, tons of independent agents out there who do take chances on virtual unknowns. But, be careful. Try to find out how many books they've sold and ask how many submissions they will make for you. Just having an agent is meaningless unless that agent is really going to work for you. Even if the agent is new to the business and hasn't established powerful contacts yet, if he or she is willing to really go to bat for you, this is an agent worth considering.

There is no "best way" to find an agent, but typical methods include locating them through books (such as THE LITERARY MARKETPLACE, available at most public libraries), which list them with details on what they rep and how to get in touch with them. If you socialize with enough writers you will also run into people who have agents--ask if they would be willing to put in a good word for you with their agent. (But please remember: don't ask total strangers to do you this favor.)

THE DREADED SLUSH PILE

For the uninitiated, a "slush pile" is industry slang for that mammoth stack of manuscripts overflowing on editorial desks.

The slush pile usually comprises those heartbreakingly lonely artifacts known as "Unsolicited Manuscripts." These are works--whether a story, article, or book--which were submitted by authors who have no relationship with the editor nor agents to front their books. Editors may receive hundreds, if not thousands or even tens of thousands, of unsolicited mss. each year. The more successful the press, the worse it gets. Alice Quinn, poetry editor at The New Yorker once reported that she sifts through hundreds of submissions every day. And Playboy once announced that it sees 75 thousand stories each year. Needless to say, the inhuman demands placed on editors force them to give short shrift to unknown quantities.

Every once in a while, the cream really will rise to the top, as it should, and someone will recognize that your work is worth careful consideration. But, honestly, we all know that cream isn't the only thing that floats, so don't despair if your solid work is rejected and some pointless crap gets published.

Frankly, I've grown so cynical about how books get chosen for publication that I think that sometimes the decision about whether or not one's ms. will be accepted depends on whether the editor's having a good day. A migraine, a lover's quarrel, a flat tire--any one of them could make an editor surly.

What if you just submitted a book celebrating the joys of motherhood to an editor who just lost his heart-breaking custody battle to his ex? Let's not even go there. Suffice to say that editors are human beings and personal problems can and do impair their judgment.

Also, for better and worse (better for editors, worse for writers), it's common industry practice for editors to have assistants go through the slush piles for them, and then give them only the mss. they liked. It's a bit shocking for novice writers to learn that the mumbling mailboy who answered the editor's phone is actually an editorial assistant who holds a life or death power over their books, but there it is. It happens all the time, so better get over your shock now.

Most editors rely on freelancers and editorial assistants to sort through their slushpiles. In other words, the editor to whom you submitted a book or article may never even see your work. It's frustrating for writers to realize that the reader isn't the person with the power to buy your book, but instead a subordinate who will decide whether the person with power ever sees your book.

Breaking out of the slush pile is no mean feat, but if you're good you will eventually do it. This is where that killer "pitch," pithy synopsis and sexy chapter breakout you've prepared come in handy. To sell my first book, DifLove, Will and I sent out 21 copies of our proposal (a cover letter, synopsis, detailed table of contents, authors' bios, and sample chapter, 46 pages in all) to 21 publishers. To my surprise, we managed to get onto the desks of about half a dozen, who wrote personal notes of rejection. Yes, getting rejected sucks, but getting a personal note becomes something of a coup for writers long accustomed to those tacky pre-printed forms we usually see.

Better still, the 21st place bought the book.

So it CAN be done.

If you're trying to sell an article, you will absolutely have to come up with a killer cover letter (or query letter). You can get complete information about writing cover letters in the next section...

WHERE TO SEND YOUR STUFF

Authors OnLine (UK) bills itself as "The Internet Site for Unpublished Manuscripts." The best way to describe what they're about is to say that they lease space (at low rates) to writers who have yet to find print publishers, without compromising your copyright or chances of finding a print publisher. Meanwhile, they charge readers to read your work on-line and pay you royalties for these on-line sales. An interesting, potentially profitable concept if you have a coterie of fans and friends who are likely to download your work from their site.

Erotica Readers Association (ERA) is a cool group devoted to fine sexy fiction. Writers may submit stories to their mailing list for commentary.

Mary Anne Mohanraj's Porn/Erotica Resource List is a great resource for kinky writers in search of publishing venues.

BOOKS FOR YOUR REFERENCE SHELF

I surfed Amazon Books and selected what I consider to be the best books for writers trying to get published. Some of them are books I own or authors I know, and some just sounded good from their descriptions and readers' reviews or are books that others have recommended to me over the years.

For the most part, I've picked books which give you the hard facts on how to place work. But I listed a few "how to" guides too for those of you seeking to work on your writing skills or simply to learn more about the requirements of other forms.

Whether or not you buy any books now, I urge you to pull together a basic reference shelf with books both on the craft of writing as well as books on publishing markets. If writing will be your career, you'll want to have information on copyright issues, contract negotiations, fees, or names of editors right at your fingertips.

Click on the links to read more about these books and to buy them; or save this page to a file, print it out, and take it with you next time you go to the library.

Good luck! Meanwhle, I'll consider expanding this FAQ. Let me know if there are questions you'd like me to address in any future updates.

The American Directory of Writer's Guidelines :
What Editors Want, What Editors Buy

Written by poetry editor of Writer's Digest Magazine.
The Art and Craft of Poetry

Written by poet William Packard.
The Art of Poetry Writing

Beginner's Guide to Getting Published

Be Your Own Literary Agent :
The Ultimate Insider's Guide to Getting Published

A standard reference book on self-publishing,
and a must-have for anyone who's going it alone.
The Complete Guide to Self- Publishing:
Everything you need to know to write, publish,
promote and sell your own book

A handy reference source for those seeking opportunities
to study with established writers and to network with
colleagues at all levels of writing success.
The Complete Guide to Writer's Groups,
Conferences, and Workshops (Wiley Books for Writers Series)

I'm not too enthusiastic about books that tell you HOW
to write, but this also has a section on how to sell your stuff.
Elements of Arousal : How to Write and Sell Gay Men's Erotica

If you self-publish, publish on the Internet, publish with
small presses, or negotiate all your own deals, you should check
out this book or one just like it so you understand the laws.
Every Writer's Guide to Copyright
and Publishing Law

Helpful to poets who want to flex their creative muscles.
Written by poets William Stafford and Stephen Dunning.
Getting the Knack :
20 Poetry Writing Exercises 20

I'm not big on "how to" books but this one had an
interesting description.
How to Write Erotica

Another how-to I can't vouch for but the reviews are very positive.
The Joy of Writing Sex: A Guide for Fiction Writers

Okay, this how-to is definitely different because it's written
by one of the best SF writers out there, Orson Scott Card.
According to reviews on Amazon's site, Card really delivers here,
so if SF/fantasy is your thing, this is a must-have for your shelf.
How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy

My friend Jud Jerome--poet and long-time columnist for
Writer's Digest Magazine, wrote this many years ago.
It's a how-to for poets on the craft of writing metered verse.
The Poet's Handbook

In the Palm of Your Hand, A Poet's Portable
Workshop: A Lively and Illuminating Guide for the Practicing Poet

The Magazine Article : How to Think It, Plan It, Write It

A must-have reference book for fiction writers in all genres.
1998 Novel & Short Story Writer's Market :
2,200 Places to Sell Your Fiction (Serial)

By poet Mary Oliver.
A Poetry Handbook

A must-have reference book for poets.
1998 Poet's Market :
1,800 Places to Publish Your Poetry (Annual)

A brand new book by Bill Henderson, editor for the Pushcart
Prize (short story) series. The prestigious Pushcart is awarded
to short stories which have appeared in literary magazines.
The Publish It Yourself Handbook

The Portable Writers' Conference :
Your Guide to Getting and Staying Published

I just picked this one for its title.
Rejected : The Chronicles of a Failed Writer

30 Steps to Becoming a Writer And Getting Published :
The Complete Starter Kit for Aspiring Writers

An interesting little book for people who want to understand
more about the life of the artist by author Natalie Golberg.
Wild Mind : Living the Writer's Life

The Writer's Digest Books series offers solid information and
reliable, useful tips for writers. I haven't read either of the
following two titles, but trust the book series enough to suggest
you at least give them a glance sometime.

Writer's Digest Handbook of Magazine Article Writing

Writer's Digest Handbook of Making Money Freelance Writing

Very handy reference source to track down the industry people
most likely to be interested in the work you're doing.
Writer's Guide to Book Editors,
Publishers, and Literary Agents 1998-1999

Just as the title says: someone's searched the engines for you
and come up with an extensive list of sites for writers.
Writer's Guide to Internet Resources

Many writers consider this an indispensible resource. It's a
fine companion reference to the Writer's Market (listed beneath it).
The Writer's Handbook : 1998 (Annual)

This annual publication has up-to-date listings of magazines,
book publishers, contests; lots of articles, practical advice and
information on the nuts and bolts of the writing biz.
1998 Writer's Market: Where & How to Sell What You Write (Annual)

Author Natalie Goldberg's best-selling book
about the creative process.
Writing Down the Bones : Freeing the Writer Within

Writing Erotic Fiction

Writing to Sell