Becoming a Lifelong Learner of the Craft of Writing

By author, editor, educator Shōn Bacon aka ChickLitGurrl™

Building the Author’s Ethos – Part Two: Developing a Marketing Plan

In last month’s article, I talked about developing a writer’s philosophy. Once you have a grasp in who you think you are as a writer and what you bring to the literary table, it is important to think about MARKETING. It is important to think about this even before you go about looking for agents and editors because there are some agents who want to know how you plan to promote your work.

As we all know, these days, writers must be marketers and publicists for their works.  Gone are the days where a writer could sell a lot of books solely based on the strength of the writing within the book.  Because of this, it is a good idea to create a marketing plan.  A marketing plan shows an agent or editor that the writer is serious about his or her work and that not only has the author seriously thought about his or her work, but he or she has also shown their vested interest and ultimate participation in the implementation of the marketing and publicity for his or her work.

What I want to offer you this month are components that are important to think about and develop so that you have a clear idea of how you can market your work and more importantly, agents and editors will have an idea, too. These components are not written in any order.

ABOUT YOU

Yes, it is important to know who you are and what you do, so with that in mind…

• Bio. It’s a good idea to have a short and a longer bio written in third-person. This should not be an ALL ABOUT ME bio that tells your whole life story. We want to know what makes you unique, interesting. Depending on the genre you write, this bio might serious, comical, saucy, etc. For example, if you write erotica, your bio might be saucy; whereas, a literary author might write a more serious bio. If you have published other works or have done anything that relates to your current project, you will want to address it in the bio.

PRODUCT

• Short book description – think of back copy. Also make sure you state the genre
• Themes of the book – these will be relevant in marketing book
• Competition – what books on the market fall in the same group as yours? How does your book stand out from the pack?

AUDIENCE

• Who is the audience for your book? Sure, we all want to say EVERYONE, MY BOOK’S UNIVERSAL, but that won’t cut it. Envision your ideal reader, sitting with your book, voraciously reading and flipping pages. What does this reader look like? What does he or she do? This is a good place to think about your genre and to think about the themes that arise in your book. These themes might introduce niche audiences you can market your work to.

BOOK MARKETING

These thoughts/ideas are in no order, but they are aspects of the marketing fun that every writer should consider when pushing their wares.

• Who do you know? Generate a contact list of all the people you know who might be beneficial to the marketing of your book – these include possible book reviewers, bloggers, people who can write blurbs, book clubs, general readers/audience, etc. You want to start developing a strong e-mail contact list that you can use when sending material about your book and who can be your electronic “street” team, helping you to push your wares.
• Website/Blogs – These days, everyone has a website and a blog, and many times, both are one and the same. You want your site/blog to be well-constructed, with consistent pages, relevant information, navigable links, etc. You want your site to have the basics – about, info on books, links to purchase, events/news. Many authors use their blogs as a way to put a face to the writing. They talk about their writing process, they talk about the every day, mundane moments of their existence, they share news about future projects and contests, etc. The website, the blog is your HOME away from home. Make sure the viewer can get the information he or she needs when he or she needs it. And the viewer can’t get the information, there’s contact information so that the viewer can contact you or your web designer.
• Letting your voice be heard…and face be seen. Podcasting and video logging (vlogging) are great ways to add further dimension to your presence. You can share excerpts of your works, conduct interviews with yourself and others, share snapshots of your everyday life, bring the reader closer to you so that the reader is that much closer to buying your book.
• We can’t get away from social networking—Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Blog Talk Radio, virtual worlds and communities. All of these places offer opportunities to promote your work. Your goal is not to join and participate in each and every form of social networking. The goal is to select those places where you feel you can effectively communicate and market your work. Once you have selected those places, you have to also figure out HOW you will use the sites and WHEN. You don’t want these sites to zap you of time for other endeavors. You want the sites to work for you—not the other way around.
• Blog Tours/Interviews – I’m a fan of the blog tour. And if you have great content and can connect with popular, well-visited blogs, you can make a voice for yourself…and for your work. Earlier, I stated the importance of knowing the genre and themes that are found in your book. Your first step will be to research blogs and online communities where audiences of your genre and themes are located. Then, you’ll want to contact the blog owners, and when you do, you want to have some type of agenda in mine. For example, I often get people who want to be featured on my blog, ChickLitGurrl (http://chicklitgurrl.blogspot.com), and when they contact me, they pitch a few things: they request a review and interview by me; they tell me they have written an article about a theme developed in their book so they want to submit it to the blog along with book cover, description, and purchase link; they pitch an interview with their main character, etc. The point is there is more than one way to present you and your book on these blogs. Be creative and have fun. Also, when contacting bloggers about your blog tour, be sure to organize yourself so that you’re not over committing yourself.
• Tried and True – can’t get away from book signings, book clubs, and book reviews. Just with all the suggestions, it takes leg work in order to book signings, to have clubs read your book, and to have reader review your book. First, you want to think LISTS. Make a list of places you might want to do book signings. And don’t just think bookstores. Consider your genre, the themes in your book. What businesses, organizations, etc. might be interested in hooking up with you to sign your book? Make a list of book clubs you want to read your book. If you can travel, let them know that. If you can’t, let them know you’d be up for a Skype chat during the club’s discussion of your book. Make a list of reviewers of review teams, like APOOO (http://apooo.org), where you submit your book to the organization and one of the team’s reviewers will read and review your work.

The cool thing about a lot of this material is once you’ve done the legwork in collecting information, you will forever have it, and it will be just a matter of updating the material.

Thanks for checking me out @ The Write Life for You; if you have questions or have more ways in which writers can promote their works, leave a comment here. Or, if you would like, you can e-mail me at sdb6812@hotmail.com.

Come back next month – I’ll be talking about finding agents and editors and keeping track of who you send material to…

ChickLitGurrl ~ signing out

Shōn

Building the Author’s Ethos – Part Two: Developing a Marketing Plan is a post from: APOOO

Related Posts

• Building the Author’s Ethos – Part One: Writing Philosophy by Shonell Bacon
• Writing Your Query Letter by Shonell Bacon
• Writing Your Synopsis by Shonell Bacon
• Formatting by Shonell Bacon
• Modifiers by Shonell Bacon

Becoming a Lifelong Learner of the Craft of Writing

By author, editor, educator Shōn Bacon aka ChickLitGurrl™

Building the Author’s Ethos – Part One: Writing Philosophy

The next two articles are about developing the ethos of the author. Yes, it is important to write a great book. It is important to study the craft of writing in order to edit, revise, and rewrite that great book. But the work of a writer doesn’t stop with crafting a great book. The writer must think about his or her career as an author – in regards to what he or she writes and, just as important (if not more), what his or her audience wants.

Ethos, in general, is a distinguishing character of a person—what he or she stands for. In rhetoric, ethos is something a speaker must develop in his or her repertoire in order to affect his or her audience. In addition to the distinguishing character, the person needs to also establish expertise and knowledge.

What does this mean for a writer looking to develop his or her ethos?

For one thing, it means a writer needs to know what his or her writing philosophy is. Why do you write (aside from the love of it)? What do you hope to illustrate in your writing? What themes, narratives do you find yourself drawn to in your writing? Do these themes, narratives connect with you outside of your role as writer? Who is your audience? What do you want your audience to receive from your work? Where do you see your work going? How?

It is important to know what your “distinguishing character” as a writer is. Knowing this will help you develop the next part of your ethos: the marketing plan. Once you know who are you as a writer, what you bring to the table, and how what you bring is important to your audience, you have to develop a plan to market your wares—your expertise, knowledge…your BOOKS—to your audience.

First, the writing philosophy.

When I first started teaching, I was asked, “What is your teaching philosophy?” I didn’t have an answer initially. I wasn’t sure what a teaching philosophy was. I just knew I loved teaching.

And many writers just know they love writing.

A writing philosophy is much like a teaching philosophy. In a teaching philosophy, you are answering questions, such as:

1-      What are your objectives as a teacher? What do you, ultimately want to accomplish?

2-      What will you do accomplish these objectives?

3-      How will measure your effectiveness?

4-      What is so great about teaching? Why is it important? How will you make the institution of teaching better?

Essentially, in that teaching philosophy, we want to know the basic beliefs, concepts, and attitudes—the philosophy—of the teacher.

We want the same things for the author.

Remember the italicized questions above I wrote about a writing philosophy? Each should be thought about and answered in order to develop an effective writing philosophy.

1-      Why do you write (aside from the love of it)? What do you hope to illustrate in your writing?

2-      What themes, narratives do you find yourself drawn to in your writing? Do these themes, narratives connect with you outside of your role as writer?

3-      Where do you see your work going?

4-      What will you do to accomplish these goals? How will you determine success, effectiveness?

5-      Who is your audience? What do you want your audience to receive from your work?

Now, don’t worry if you can’t write this quickly. There is no set word count to it either. It takes time—and as many words as you need—to write your philosophy. One book written does not a writing philosophy make. Your writing philosophy will no doubt change as you move through your newness as a writer and develop yourself.

The point is to know who you are and what you bring to the literary table so that you can effective articulate these things with anyone who asks…especially your audience.

Once your know what you bring to the literary table, it’s important to start thinking about the measures in which you will publicize your expertise, your knowledge, your literary wares. This is where your marketing plan comes in.

I’ll talk about that in the next article.

Thanks for checking me out @ The Write Life for You. Come back next month!

ChickLitGurrl ~ signing out

Shōn

Building the Author’s Ethos – Part One: Writing Philosophy by Shonell Bacon is a post from: APOOO

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• Building the Author’s Ethos – Part Two: Developing a Marketing Plan
• Writing Your Query Letter by Shonell Bacon
• Writing Your Synopsis by Shonell Bacon
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• Modifiers by Shonell Bacon

Becoming a Lifelong Learner of the Craft of Writing

By author, editor, educator Shōn Bacon aka ChickLitGurrl™

Writing Your Query Letter

If getting your manuscript in the hands of an agent or editor is your goal for 2010, you will need a strong, titillating, one-paged query letter.  Many agents and editors ask either for a query only first or for the query, synopsis and possible sample chapters, so no matter how you slice it, you will inevitably have to create a query letter.

Agents and editors can receive hundreds of queries in a week, sometimes in a day, so the look of and content within your query letter are extremely important.  You don’t want to give him/her an unnecessary reason to reject you.

THE LOOK

You know the saying, Image is everything.  Well, it’s true.  The look of your query letter is important.  For one thing, the letter should be addressed to a specific agent or editor.  This means you need to do your homework.  Buy Writer’s Market or Guide to Literary Agents.

Research editors and agents who publish or represent the type of work you are trying to get published.  “Dear Editor/Agent” will not suffice and will show that you’re lazy and not up for the task of seriously seeking representation or publication.  Also, place your contact information on the letter, too.  Consider the business letter format in which your mailing/contact info is top and center, followed by the date, the agent/editor’s contact info, and Dear So and So are on the left hand side of the letter.

You want to also make sure you have good margins (1” all the around is typical) and good font size. Do not narrow your margins or decrease the size of your font just to give you more space. These things make you look amateurish.  Two additional “look” factors are spelling and grammar.  You want clear, concise, and vivid writing.  Consider your query one of many at a cattle call.  There are hundreds of query letters and any little thing can cause your letter to get booted during auditions.  This is the easier of the two important components (look and content) to do; don’t let it be the reason your audition ends abruptly.

THE CONTENT

Three important things should occur in the content of your query letter – intro/hook, book synopsis, and short bio, and each of these should be developed in a paragraph.

Intro~Hook

The first paragraph of your query letter is crucial and needs to do a few things. It needs to give the agent/editor critical information about your book and supply him or her with the hook.

Typical “critical” information we find at the onset of a query letter includes title, word count, and genre. Agents and editors want to quickly ground themselves in the letter they read, and this information is a good way of doing this. Why? Because, for example, knowing your genre helps them to determine if your work is something they might be interested in. Of course, you have done your homework, so you are submitting works to editors and agents who actively seek the genre you write. However, I know of many writers who blindly submit query letters to agents and editors and lose out because their genre does not mesh with those they submit to.

What can raise the eyebrow of an intrigued editor or agent is the hook. If you read my article from last month on synopsis writing, then you know of the logline; the hook is very similar to it. A hook is a concise, one-sentence tagline for your book. Three questions that are typically asked within the hook include who is the main character, who/what is standing in the way of the main character, and what makes this story unique.

QueryTracker.net Blog talks about the high concept hook here: http://querytracker.blogspot.com/2009/02/writing-high-concept-hook.html.

Book Description ~ Mini-Synopsis

Once your hook snags an interested agent or editor, the second paragraph of your query letter should tell the agent/editor what the book is about.  This is not your full synopsis.  This is not the place to write how much your mother loves your book.  This is not the place to state that this is the best book you’ve ever written.  You have a paragraph, perhaps a bit more in which to entice the agent/editor with what your book is about.  Introduce main characters.  Introduce main conflict.  Consider reading back copy of books that are in the same genre your book falls in.  Oftentimes, the back copy is what sells a book to a reader who happens to spot the book in a store.

This section takes a lot of work.  If you had a minute to tell someone about your book, one minute to make someone want to run out and buy your book, what would you say?  Write that, fine tune it, tweak it, make sure your main characters and your book’s conflict rings in the paragraph.

Bio

The third paragraph of the query letter is all about you – your writing experience and credentials, professional memberships, and any significant information relating to the book and your writing of it.  If you have published books, articles, and other works by reputable houses or in reputable magazines, you will want to showcase them.  If you’ve written a book that’s set in a cable newsroom, and you are a producer/writer for a cable newsroom, it is definitely relevant to tell an agent/editor this; it shows that you have first-hand experience with the setting to which you write about.  You do not want to write your autobiography here; you want to showcase any information about you that is relevant to the task at hand:  trying to get your book read, represented, and published!

You want to make sure you end the letter with a few sentences that thank the editor/agent for taking the time to read your material and offer to send additional material per request.

At the end, your query letter should be a shining example of your book and you as the author.  It’ll take some practice to get the letter where you want it because after all, your book is thousands of words long, and now you’re being asked to sum it up within a page; however, if you want representation and publication of your masterpiece, an exciting, tightly written query letter will be your key.

Agent Kristin Nelson has wonderful examples of query letters on her blog, complete with commentary. And it’s good to note that the writers of these letters received representation, too! Here’s the link: http://www.nelsonagency.com/faq.html#7.

Thanks for checking me out @ The Write Life for You; if you have questions about query letters, leave a comment here, and I’ll respond. Or, if you would like, you can e-mail me at sdb6812 at hotmail dot com.  Also, feel free to contact me if you write non-fiction works and want to know more about writing query letters and proposals for them.

Come back next month – I’ll be giving tips on writing marketing plans.

ChickLitGurrl ~ signing out

Shōn

Writing Your Query Letter by Shonell Bacon is a post from: APOOO

Related Posts

• Building the Author’s Ethos – Part Two: Developing a Marketing Plan
• Building the Author’s Ethos – Part One: Writing Philosophy by Shonell Bacon
• Writing Your Synopsis by Shonell Bacon
• Formatting by Shonell Bacon
• Modifiers by Shonell Bacon

Becoming a Lifelong Learner of the Craft of Writing

By author, editor, educator Shōn Bacon aka ChickLitGurrl™

Writing Your Synopsis

One of the biggest things writers moan about, at least to me they do, is the synopsis.

They absolutely hate to write it. How am I supposed to take my 90,000-word manuscript and condense it to a few mere pages?

With a lot of rewriting and revising, that’s how.

First, let’s define. What is a synopsis? Two things are important to know here:

1. Synopsis is a summary (not an outline) of your story’s plot
2. Synopsis is used to SELL your story

In a synopsis, we tend to be asking the question, What is this story about?

In an outline, we tend to be asking the question, What’s in this story?

You might say the questions ask the same thing, but not really.

That “in” within the outline question allows you to write everything in an outline. Most of us, when we write outlines, throw everything into them. We pinpoint every scene, every move of every character, we even explain why characters do what they do and state what our characters look like. We are giving ourselves a detailed road map to making the story cohesive, coherent, and well-developed.

The “is” within the synopsis question puts focus on “this story.” It is making you focus on the central storyline of your book.

And in your response to the synopsis question, we are not looking for everything and the kitchen sink; we are looking to see who the main character is, what the overall conflict is, and what the major plot points are that get us from the point of conflict to the resolution. Giving us a physical description of character is unnecessary unless it is pivotal to the overall story. Minor sub-plots and characters are unnecessary unless they, again, are pivotal to the overall story or main character.

Now that I’ve handled #1, here’s a comment about #2 above. The synopsis is not a tool for you; it’s a tool for an agent or an editor, for someone you hope will like your story idea enough to want to read the whole manuscript and will want to BUY it. As such, the synopsis shouldn’t be a dry recount of your story. It should have some verve; it should be made with some of the same flavor as the story it comes from. For example, if you’re story is about a woman recovering from the loss of her family, your synopsis would not sound HAPPY. Whatever the tone, mood, style of your book is you will want to try to replicate that within your synopsis.

What I’d like to do in the rest of this article is present some ways in which you can begin to think about your book in smaller doses that lead to small to large-sized synopses.

Some writers will cringe, but I tend to write my synopsis before I write the story. I write up a loose idea for a story before I get into writing my detailed outline, then the book itself.

You don’t have to write your synopsis first; however, I think it’s important to think about how to develop your process for writing it.

Typically, I go through four stages of synopsis writing, each stage creating an important marketing tool for me and for the book: a one-liner, a one-pager, a three-pager, and a longer synopsis. I do this for two reasons: one, ME. I like having different versions so that I can see my story in snap shot form and in a modified panoramic form. Two, you never know what an agent or an editor will ask for. These days, neither has the time to read pages upon pages of your synopsis to decide if he/she likes the story. It’s smart to develop as many of these styles as you can so that you can be prepared for whatever an editor or agent might request. And what you’ll notice, the key to this is layering. Each larger style simply builds upon the style before it.

The One-Liner

Movie people would call this a “logline,” a one-sentence summary of your script. Yeah, I know, condensing a 90k novel into 25 words. Hard. But doable. Don’t believe me? Here’s one or two from movies:

Independence Day – Aliens try to invade earth on Independence Day.

Liar, Liar – An attorney, because of a birthday wish, can’t tell any lies for 24 hours.

Dead Calm – A married couple, trying to recover from the death of their only child, are terrorized at sea by a handsome maniac.

In writing your one-liner, you want to ask yourself three questions:

1. Who is the main character and what does he or she want?
2. Who or what is standing in the way of the main character?
3. What makes this story unique?

If you look at the above loglines, particularly the one for Dead Calm, you see all three of these questions answered:

1. Who is the main character: married couple. What does he or she want: to recover from the death of their only child.
2. Who or what is standing in the way of the main character: a handsome maniac that terrorizes them.
3. What makes this story unique: they are AT SEA.

The “unique” aspect is important here. We all know that every premise that can be written about HAS been written about…it’s the unique twist we add to that story that makes it our own.

The One-Pager

This, for me, is the back copy, something I talked about in one of the very-first TWL4U articles in September 2008.

Picture going to Borders – you’re rifling through books, reading back covers.  Pretend your book is on the shelf.  Pick it up.  Flip it over.  What does the back copy read?

Back copy runs between 100 to 225 words. It contains the same information you’ll place in your query when it’s time to submit the work to agents and publishers:  your main character, his or her want, the major conflict that prevents the main character from achieving the want, and a “twist” that arises and seems to forever keep the main character away from the want.

In the move from the one-liner to the one-pager, we are allowed to flesh the components of the one-liner out a bit more and then develop the “twist” further.

Here’s a sample of the one-pager (which is really a paragraph, sometimes less); it’s from Kami Garcia’s book Beautiful Creatures [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0316042676/?tag=apooo-20]

There were no surprises in Gatlin County.

We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.

At least, that’s what I thought.

Turns out, I couldn’t have been more wrong.

There was a curse.

There was a girl.

And in the end, there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she’s struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever. Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town’s oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

The Three-Pager

In the three-pager, we move from the succinct development of character->conflict->twist to actually developing information regarding plot points. Here, it is important to think of the HIGH POINTS of your story, those major plot points that keep your story from sagging and that move the overall story arc from point of conflict to point of resolution. Many talk about (and this will be even more important in the longer synopsis) the idea of ACTION->REACTION->DECISION when developing scenes for your synopsis. And this doesn’t need to be told in several paragraphs. In fact, in your synopsis, you want your paragraphs to be lean, tight, and fluid. You could easily write these three points in three great sentences. Remember, synopses should be lean and concise.

Longer Synopsis

These days, it’s hard for me to see anyone that asks for a synopsis over five pages. Having said that, some publishing industry insiders make note of the following formula (and ones pretty similar to it):

1 page of synopsis = 10,000 words of manuscript

Which simply means that for every 10,000 words you have of your story, develop one page of your synopsis around those words. So, if you have 90,000-word manuscript, then, conceivably, you could have a longer synopsis of nine pages.

A longer synopsis simply provides you with more room to develop scenes, to highlight your main character(s), to rev up the plot points, etc.

In closing, here are two things important things, for you to make note of:

1. In the three-page synopsis and longer synopsis, it is DEFINITELY ok – and necessary – to show your main character’s reactions to the things that are going on around him or her. The agent/editor wants to know about your character’s story, so knowing how that character reacts to the plot twists is integral. This doesn’t mean we want paragraphs of the character’s thoughts; we want his or her reaction, which I talked about above.
2. Synopses are written in present tense.

Here’s a link to some great synopsis samples – books were actually sold to major publishing houses: [http://www.charlottedillon.com/SynopsisSamples.html].

Thanks for checking me out @ The Write Life for You; if you have questions about synopses, leave a comment here, and I’ll respond. Or, if you would like, you can e-mail me at sdb6812@hotmail.com.

Come back next month – I’ll be giving tips on writing query letters.

ChickLitGurrl ~ signing out

Shōn

Writing Your Synopsis by Shonell Bacon is a post from: APOOO

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Becoming a Lifelong Learner of the Craft of Writing

By author, editor, educator Shōn Bacon aka ChickLitGurrl™

Finding an Editor for Your Literary Baby by Shonell Bacon

Books completed. You’ve read through and revised as much as you can as creator, and you have formatted your manuscript according to traditional specifications.

What’s next?

Well, before you get all gung-ho and start submitting your book to publishers and agents, you should first send it to an editor.

Why?

Because as creator of the project, you are very close to the characters, the storyline, and all other components that makes your book – in your mind – sing.

It often takes a second set of eyes – and sometimes a third set – in order to see spelling and grammatical errors, holes in plot, weak characters, etc.

First thing to ask yourself is “How publication-ready is my manuscript?”

The answer to this will help you discern if your book needs proofreading, copy editing, and substantive editing. Below, I talk a little about each.

Proofreading focuses on two types of problems: 1) details that have been missed in the editing stages, such as spelling, punctuation, and serious grammatical errors and 2) glitches that have been introduced during layout, such as errors in headers/footers, page numbers, widows/orphans, and bad hyphen breaks at line ends. If you have had your book edited at least once by someone else for the “big” issues involving story development, then having your book proofread might be the way to go.

Copy editing tackles the manuscript line by line, paying attention to the small details: grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, passive voice, word choice, consistency of detail, spelling, consistency of style, clarity, etc. This process is a step above proofreading, and definitely suggested, even if your book has been edited once.

Substantive Editing seeks to achieve clarity of subject, logic, and consistency. Confusing and awkward writing may be reworked. Sentences are analyzed for structure/syntax. Long sentences may be enumerated or separated. Although some of the issues that are present in the proofreading and copy editing stages are handled in a substantive edit, it’s important to note the distinction amongst these three forms of editing. In seeking to achieve clarity of subject, logic, and consistency, an editor will be looking for holes in plot, weak characters, development of beginning and ending, strength in dialogue—essentially those components that make your book a book.

Although there are some editors, like myself, who blur these types (I’m always FIRST AND FOREMOST looking to develop the story, but I can’t help but to look at the minute details, too); it is important to know that you will probably need more than one edit.

Editing is an important process in getting your manuscript to shine; as a result, you should make sure you have your work edited more than once. In the initial stages, having a strong story is important; hence, you would look at substantive editing. As the “story” is perfected, you would look toward getting your manuscript copy edited, and in the final stage, once the manuscript is in layout form, you would seek someone to proofread your manuscript.

When you find an editor you’re thinking about using, be sure to talk with him or her before agreeing to have the person edit your work.

What kind of questions could you ask?

1-      What books have you edited that have been published?

2-      Do you have any clients/references that I can contact about your services?

3-      What is your editing philosophy?

4-      What is the process in which you edit and communicate with a client?

5-      Do you have a free sample edit so that I might see your work before making a decision?

This last thought has more to do with YOU than with the editor.

I have had people in the past come to me for editing, thinking I would have their book done within two weeks and they would be ready to send it out to be printed as soon as the book is in their hot little hands.

NEVER is that the case.

Here’s a drop of wisdom – you may have finished your book, but it’s not perfect…or as perfect as it can reasonably be.

When you send a book to an editor, prepare to have it returned with revisions (sometimes major) to be done. Editors don’t write your books to make it better; that’s a ghostwriter, and he/she gets paid a lot more money to write your book than we do to edit it.

Editors, and I’m speaking from my own experience, clean up errors and make a lot of suggestions. If I see a hole in the plot, I state where I see it and make suggestions on how to fix it. If I see weak dialogue, I explain why it’s weak and offer suggestions on how to fix it. If I see an underdeveloped main character, I point this out, explain why I think the character is underdeveloped, and offer suggestions (or ask questions) that can help the writer develop the character further.

The editor’s job is to fine tune, but most importantly (and specifically) the job is to help YOU make your book the best book it can be. We offer you the advice, suggestions, and tweaks that YOU – as creator of the work – can go back and develop to make your literary work shine.

Be prepared to put in the work needed in revising and don’t be in such a rush to have a book in between covers.

You’ll thank me later.

Thanks for checking me out @ The Write Life for You; if you have questions about editors or would like me to suggest one to you, leave a comment here, and I’ll respond.

Come back next month – I’ll be giving tips on synopsis writing.

ChickLitGurrl ~ signing out

Shōn

Finding an Editor for Your Literary Baby by Shonell Bacon is a post from: APOOO

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Becoming a Lifelong Learner of the Craft of Writing

By author, editor, educator Shōn Bacon aka ChickLitGurrl™

Formatting

Yes, do a little dance. Celebrate. You have finished your book. And of course, you know this means a new phase begins. A phase of editing and research and submitting your book to editors and agents.

But before even that, you need to format your manuscript. Of course, as you are researching editors and agents to submit your literary baby to, you want to pay attention to their specific format rules and adjust your manuscript accordingly; however, what I provide for you in this article is a checklist of the most standard rules of manuscript formatting.

Many of the formatting rules will no doubt make you go, “Duh, thanks, Shōn,” but you’d be surprised at how many people forget one thing or decide not to do something a specific way because they like the way they do it better.  This isn’t about what you like; it’s about getting your foot in the door of PublishDom that is currently closed.

GENERICS

• Use letter-sized white paper – 20 lb.
• 1″ margins all around.
• These days, most use Times New Roman, 12-point font, but there is nothing wrong with using Courier. Avoid sans serif fonts; those are fonts without feet, such as Arial.

COVER PAGE

• In the upper left hand corner, you’ll put the following information: full name, address, phone number, and e-mail address, and word count.
• Space down to nearly 1/3 to 1/2 of the page and center the title of your book, then the word “by,” and then your name. Here’s a PDF example of a cover page -http://shonbacon.com/sample-cover.pdf
• If you have an agent, his/her contact information will go in the bottom right hand corner of the cover page.

THE STORY

• Double space throughout.
• Use a ragged right margin – in order words, do not full justify your manuscript.
• In the header, on the left hand side, you will place your last name and book title (or partial book title) and on the right hand side, the page number.
• Though you will be tempted to do this, do not place copyright information on your novel; do not let fear of theft make you do it!
• Place chapter headings about 3 double-spaces down the page, centered and place two to three double-spaces between the chapter heading and the start of the chapter.
• Indent every paragraph – and this seems nonsensical, but I’ve read manuscripts that have not been indented, I’ve read manuscripts where writers literally hit the space bar five times, and I’ve read manuscripts where the author uses the TAB button, which usually moves the cursor a half-inch in. Personally, I hit the TAB. It’s easier for me, and I don’t have to remember to go 1,2,3,4,5 every time I make a paragraph. Besides, this is the age of computers; why manually do anything when you can configure the word processing program to do it for you?

Here’s an example of a formatted story pages taking from an unedited manuscript of mine: http://shonbacon.com/sample-story.pdf

• When breaking up scenes, you want to make sure there is white space between paragraphs to denote the break; it might be a good idea to also center a “#” so that the reader knows for sure a break is occurring. If you’re not breaking into new scenes, do not place additional spaces between paragraphs.
• This one is iffy, depending on who you talk to. Some say do not italicize or bold any text; use underline to denote emphasis. There are others who say that this practice is a throwback from the typewriter. If you can find out from an agent or an editor which they would prefer, that’s your best bet. Better yet, ask authors online – they might be more readily available to you. Personally, I hardly ever use bold because I want my words to be strong enough to carry themselves. And when I write characters’ direct thoughts, which are typically italicized, I underline instead because a wise author who read my stuff once suggested it.
• When your story is done, do not type THE END; hopefully, the story is good enough that the reader knows it’s the end.
• Do not punch holes, staple, or bind your manuscript; you can, if you like, use a clip or a rubber band. You can also loosely place your manuscript in a box, followed by any other material an editor or agent requests, such as cover/query letter, synopsis, or marketing plan.

Remember, first impressions are everything. Editors and agents receive a plethora of manuscripts every day, and it’s important for your book to not only be well-written and engaging, but also well put together.

If there are other rules not on the list…or if you have questions, definitely post them, and I’ll respond as soon as I can.

Thanks for checking me out @ The Write Life for You; come back next month – I’ll be talking about finding editors/proofreaders/copy editors.

ChickLitGurrl ~ signing out

Shōn

Formatting by Shonell Bacon is a post from: APOOO

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• Modifiers by Shonell Bacon

Becoming a Lifelong Learner of the Craft of Writing

By author, editor, educator Shōn Bacon aka ChickLitGurrl™

Modifiers

According to Noah Lukeman in his must-read book The First Five Pages: A Writer’s Guide to Staying out of the Rejection Pile.  After its presentation, the quickest and easiest way to reject a manuscript is to look for the overuse, or misuse, of adjectives and adverbs.  Most people who come to writing for the first time think they bring their nouns and verbs to life by piling on adjectives and adverbs, that by describing a day as being ‘hot, dry, bright and dusty’ they make it more vivid. Almost always the opposite is true” (31-32).

Amongst writers, the use of adjectives and adverbs is a debate that will probably never end.

Adjectives and adverbs are modifiers.

Adjectives modify (add information) to nouns. In “the pretty girl,” pretty is an adjective that modifies girl.

Adverbs modify (add information) to verbs. In “She walked quickly,” quickly is an adverb that modifies walked.

Some writers argue for the use of adverbs and adjectives, stating that their use is what add color to a story and make things vivid for the reader.

Other writers believe adverbs and adjectives should be used judiciously as to not over embellish a work.

I tend to fall within the latter camp of writers. Why? Because using too many adverbs and adjectives can make a story so thick in detail that readers can’t see anything for themselves.  I definitely believe in a writer-story-reader interaction when reading.  As a reader, I don’t want to be told everything; I want the writer to tell a story in a way that I can fill in the holes he/she masterfully leaves for me to fill. I want to experience the story and connect with it, not be spoon-fed everything.  Also, I’m on the “less is more” side because I think writers run the chance of producing flowery writing if they overuse modifiers. Must a reader know every color of a chair or a sofa? Must a reader know the exact color, style of a carpet? Must a reader know a character “walked slowly” when the writer could use a stronger verb like “trudged”? Must a reader know exactly how a character does everything?

One thing I’ve talked about a lot throughout this series is PURPOSE.  What’s your story’s purpose and how do your characters, their dialogue, their actions connect with that purpose.

We can use this idea of “purpose” to talk about adjectives and adverbs, too.

You want to use adverbs and adjectives when they are there to convey something important – about characters, setting, themes, etc.  For example, if the goal is to show just how opulent a life a character has, then detailing specific items in that character’s life would be appropriate.  Illustrating your character’s life to reveal his/her opulence is the purpose.  How you describe that life determines how you will use the modifiers.

Use modifiers that are strong. “Pretty” is not a strong adjective. It doesn’t convey much, and if your purpose is to add detail and visuals to your story, you have done yourself a disservice in using it.  Same goes for words like “little,” “very,” and even “good” and “bad”; they are too general and do nothing to add to your story.  Try to find a strong verb to replace a weak verb-adverb combination. My example above, using “trudged” instead of “walked slowly.” We see things in stories like “Martha walked fast to the front door.” Isn’t there another way to state “walked fast”? Perhaps “sprinted,” “raced,” and “trotted”?

Look for redundancy. You wouldn’t write “the large elephant,” would you? Hopefully not. Be mindful of nouns that inherently suggest adjectives as to not be redundant.  Also, in regards to redundancy, be mindful of overusing a particular adverb or adjective throughout your story. You can do Google searches for lists of adjectives and adverbs and in the editing and revising stages of your writing process look up the modifiers you use most often and edit to make sure you don’t overuse them.

Be figurative. You’re a writer, show us that in your use of analogies, metaphors, similes, imagery because they will resonate in us more than adjectives and adverbs will.

At the end of the day, every word you write is important, and all of them should connect to tell the most well-developed, powerful story you can write. Don’t let a few of those words set the stage for someone deeming your work amateurish and overwritten.

Again, as I’ve stated before, in the writing stage – especially if you’re someone who has a habit of stopping and trying to edit your work as you write – don’t worry so much about this issue. Just get the words on the PAGE.

When it’s time to polish and revise and edit and rewrite, definitely make a pass in your work for modifiers.

Thanks for checking me out @ The Write Life for You; come back next month – I’ll be giving tips on manuscript formatting.

ChickLitGurrl ~ signing out

Shōn

Modifiers by Shonell Bacon is a post from: APOOO

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Becoming a Lifelong Learner of the Craft of Writing 

By author, editor, educator Shōn Bacon aka ChickLitGurrl™

 Punctuation

We all know that words and how we manipulate them are the backbone to writing a good story, but what helps the reader to understand everything we write is the punctuation we use with those words.

I could write a book just on punctuation, and in the future, this article will probably become a chapter in a book, but for now I want to share with you the essentials.

Let’s start with some short and sweet tips.

PERIOD (.)

A period indicates the end of a sentence or phrase.  That alone is enough said, but here’s an important thing to remember:  periods are placed inside quotation marks.

Marcus shook his head and said, “I never meant to hurt you.”

Periods are placed after taglines that end a sentence, too.

“I never meant to hurt you,” Marcus said, shaking his head.

COLON, SEMICOLON ( : / ; )

Although there are editors who don’t have this as a hard-and-fast rule, it is best to avoid the use of colons and semicolons within dialogue.

Recently, I’ve seen in manuscripts the overuse of semicolons, especially in dialogue.  I know for a fact the writers know that a semicolon can be used to separate two independent clauses (complete sentences), like the period.  In exposition, that’s fine.  In dialogue, we care more about the words and what they convey than we do the “fancy” punctuation.  A simple period will always suffice.

APOSTROPHE (‘)

Apostrophes typically indicate two things:  possession and the omission of parts of words or numbers.

1-  Always use the apostrophe to show possession by placing the apostrophe before the s to show singular possession:  Suzy’s car – Darren’s motor home – Carla’s novel

If you want to talk about plural possession and words that end in s, leave a comment or ask a question, and I’ll be sure to reply.

2-  Always place the apostrophe where the letter(s) has been removed from a word.

We all know this, but it’s important to remember to use the apostrophe with contractions, such as can’t, don’t, and won’t because the apostrophe is substituting for the missing letters.

Also, with numbers, remember that apostrophes are used, just like with words, to replace missing numbers.  So, for example, we would write the ‘80s, not the ‘80’s, or the 80’s.

Extra nugget:  You do not use apostrophes to form the plurals for capital letters and numbers used as nouns.

Sarah talked with several M.D.s before accepting the diagnosis.

We know that children learn their ABCs, and in math, they can also learn their times tables for 3s and 10s, among other numbers.

Extra nugget:  It’s/Its – It’s is a contraction of it is or it has; therefore, it needs the apostrophe.  Its is a possessive pronoun that doesn’t need the apostrophe.

QUOTATION MARKS (“ “)

Quotation marks are used to illustrate dialogue.  Seems like a sarcastic statement, but you’d be surprised to know how many newbie writers don’t use them.

I have seen material like the following:

Stella looked over at Mark and with disgust said, If you didn’t love me, then you shouldn’t have brought your sorry behind home.

Obviously, If you didn’t love me, then you shouldn’t have brought your sorry behind home is dialogue; therefore, we need quotation marks around it.

But that’s not all; quotation marks are also used for titles of short or minor works, such as short stories; essays; short poems; titles of sections from longer works; songs; chapters in books; TV or radio episodes; articles in newspapers, magazines, or journals; and one-act plays.

Extra nugget:  underlining or italics are used for things like album or book titles, magazine names, TV show names, and a collection of short stories.

Extra nugget:  Whenever a new character speaks, that dialogue is placed in a new paragraph.

Extra nugget:  If one character’s dialogue goes on for more than one paragraph, quotation marks should be used to open the dialogue at the start of each new paragraph; however, the closing quotation mark is not used until the end of the final paragraph of dialogue.

EXCLAMATION MARK (!)

Exclamation marks are used to illustrate strong emotions and/or high volume.  Be honest with yourself and think about the current draft of a story you have.

How many exclamation marks do you have in that draft?  How many do you have on ONE page?  How many do you have at the end of ONE sentence?

My fiction mentor once told me that every author should only have about five exclamation marks to use…in his or her lifetime.  He was being a bit facetious, but I knew what he meant.

You need to be judicious in your use of the exclamation mark.  If there are words that can convey the emotion, the loudness of the moment, use them instead of the mark.  Your words are always your greatest tool.  Do not use exclamation marks as a crutch to avoid showing an emotion or to avoid explaining through exposition what occurred to bring about that emotion.

Oh, and please, please, pretty please, never use more than one exclamation mark at a time.  Even going from a pauper to a multi-millionaire lottery winner overnight is only cause for one exclamation mark!

COMMA (,)

The comma is used, for the most part, to separate things.  Before we get into that, here’s an important thing to remember:  commas are placed inside quotation marks.  For example…

“All you ever do is complain,” Mark said.  “Is it any wonder I’m ready to leave you?”

Another quickie – say NO to the “pause” rule.  We all know it.  When we talk, there are natural pauses, breaths that we take.  Many of us have been taught to place commas in these places; however, this “rule” does not always apply because a pause may not fall into a comma rule.

Having said that, here are a few comma rules that are important to know right off the bat.

1-  Use a comma to separate the elements in a series of three or more things.  Cara drove to the mall, bought a new suit and pair of Manolos, and raced home to change for her interview.  In journalistic writing, the final comma is often dropped, and you might opt to leave the comma out, too; however, make sure losing the comma will not cause confusion for your reader.

2-  Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) to connect two independent clauses (complete sentences).  Dexter was too angry to speak to her, so he turned and walked away before his hand landed across her face.  Sometimes, if the sentences are short, a writer may opt to leave the comma out.  He was pissed so he left.  Once again, check to make sure dropping the comma won’t cause confusion for your reader.

Extra nugget:  Do not place a comma after the conjunction, like in Frank spent the day thinking about what Jazz did and, try as he might, the hate he felt for her could not rise to the levels of his love for her.  There’s no need for the comma after and.  It would be before it, however, because the and separates two independent clauses.

3-  Use commas after introductory clauses, phrases, or words that come before the main clause.  After leaving work, Shayla drove to the local watering hole to drink away her day.

4-  Use a comma in dialogue when a character is speaking to someone.  For example, “Charlie, I don’t know what to tell you, but the calculations are wrong,” Steve said.  Or, “I hope you have a good day, sir,” Jackson said, opening the door.

5-  Use commas to separate two or more coordinate adjectives that describe the same noun.  All the ladies’ eyes fell on the tall, athletic, super fine frame of a man that waltzed into the bar.  When adding your commas, make sure not to add one between the final adjective and the noun itself.

6-  Make sure you watch comma placement when adding action or information to a dialogue tag.

You would use a comma when writing something like the following:  “I always say one can never have too much of a good thing,” Tawana said, running her hand down her waist and over ample hip.

However, you wouldn’t need the comma here – “I always say one can never have too much of a good thing,” Tawana said as she ran her hand down her waist and over ample hip.

Like I mentioned at the beginning, there is so much more I could add, so if you have questions, please ask them.  If you have suggestions, please share them.

Thanks for checking me out @ The Write Life for You; come back next month – I’ll be talking about using modifiers effectively.

ChickLitGurrl ~ signing out

Shōn

Punctuation by Shonell Bacon is a post from: APOOO

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By author, editor, educator Shōn Bacon aka ChickLitGurrl™ 

Capitalization

Yep. 

Not only must you have a great story, but you also need to know capitalization rules. 

And a whole mess of other things – some already discussed and some to come. 

But alas…now, CAPITALIZATION. 

What I want to provide you with are a few capitalization rules that are important to remember. 

Some of these will sound SO obvious, but having been an editor for the last seven years, I can tell you…writers (including myself) often miss the most obvious of mistakes while rereading and revising their work. 

So, without further ado, we should capitalize…  

1.  The first word of every sentence.

 2.  The first-person singular pronoun, I. 

3.  The first, last, and important words in a title. Important words are typically not articles, short prepositions, the “to” of an infinitive, and conjunctions.  The title “Death At The Double Inkwell” – correctly capitalized?  Nope.  “At” is a preposition and “the” is an article; “Death at the Double Inkwell” would be correct. 

4.  Proper nouns.

Proper nouns represent unique entities (such as Paris, Mars or Calvin); whereas, common nouns describe a class of entities (such as city, planet or person).

 I went to see my Doctor today.

Did you join the Military?

I used to date him in High School.

I need to talk to my Mother.

She was a Nurse at the Hospital where I gave birth.

 See anything wrong with the above bold words?  They are capitalized when they don’t have to be. 

I see these types of errors a lot in manuscripts I edit.  Why should these words be lowercased?  Because they are not specific, because they are not unique entities; they are not proper nouns.

 Doctor is generic, common; however, Doctor Bacon is not.

The Military is generic, common; however, the U.S. Army is not.

High School is generic, common; however, Catonsville High School is not.

Mother is generic, common, when you are merely referring to her (or an aunt, uncle, grandfather, grandmother, etc.) especially in a possessive way – like my mother or his grandfather; however, if you are calling your mother, naming your mother…Mother, then it’s not generic; it’s a name.  For example:  When Mother calls me, I pick up, never fail.

Nurse and Hospital are generic, common; however, seeing Nurse Jane at Memorial Hospital is not. 

5.  Brand names:  Pepsi, Coca Cola, Ford.

 6.  The names of God, specific deities, religious figures, and holy books

God the Father

the Virgin Mary

the Bible

Moses

Shiva

Buddha

Zeus

Exception: Do not capitalize the non-specific use of the word “god.” 

7.  Titles preceding names, but not titles that follow names

Example:  Mayor Darius Connor came to visit our college today.

Example:  Darius Connor, mayor of Sunnytown, came to visit our college today.

 8.  Direction words (north, south, east, and west) should only be capitalized when they refer to a region or section of a country. 

Examples: 

The West offers great opportunities for careers in entertainment.

To get to Hammonds Diner, go east four blocks and make a left; it’s on the corner. 

 Do you have capitalization rules that will benefit other writers?  Share them in the comments! 

 Thanks for checking me out @ The Write Life for You; come back next month – I’ll be talking about Punctuation. 

ChickLitGurrl ~ signing out 

Shōn

Capitalization by Shonell Bacon is a post from: APOOO

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Becoming a Lifelong Learner of the Craft of Writing

By author, editor, educator Shōn Bacon aka ChickLitGurrl^TM

Voice: Active and Passive

Back in October, I talked about verbs and the importance of ACTION in a story.

Let me pause to explain that by “action” I don’t mean high-speed chases and gunfights.  In thinking about “action,” we’re looking at what characters do, how they perform, how they act.

Readers want immediacy in a story; they want to see characters that act, not characters that are acted upon.

This idea of “action” brings us to active voice and passive voice.

When a subject (character) acts or performs the main verb, we have active voice.

Examples:

Susan left Dan’s house, telling herself she was done with the relationship.

• Susan (subject) is doing the leaving (verb).

Brett tagged his brother in the face, breaking his nose.

• Brett (subject) is doing the tagging (verb).

When a subject (character) is acted upon, we have passive voice.

Examples:

Stella was killed by the angry mob.

• Stella (subject) is not doing anything in this sentence; she is being acted upon (was killed)…by something (the mob).

The letter was mailed by the man.

• The letter (subject) is not doing anything in this sentence; it is being acted upon (was mailed)…by something (the man).

Overall, active voice is preferred over passive voice because active voice shows immediacy, action.  However, this isn’t to say you should never use passive voice.

If a writer needs to emphasize action instead of emphasizing the doer of the action, the writer might choose to use passive voice.

For example, a suspect being questioned (action) might be more important than the doer of the action (the police); therefore, you might write:

The suspect was questioned for nearly ten hours by the police.

It is always important to have sentence variety in a story to aid in a story’s rhythm and flow; because of this, a writer might use passive voice simply to create variety in a piece.

Also, if the doer of the action is unknown, unwanted, or unneeded, the writer may opt to use the passive voice.

In the sentence, The votes have been tallied, there isn’t a needed to know who tallied the votes, so we can leave the doer out of the sentence.

In the end, it’s important for you – especially during your revision/rewriting process – to read your work for passive and active voice.  Having a solid story is important, but just as important is having a story that has rhythm, flow, and characters that act.

Thanks for checking me out @ The Write Life for You; come back next month – I’ll be talking about CAPITALIZATION.

ChickLitGurrl ~ signing out

Shōn

Voice: Active and Passive by Shonell Bacon is a post from: APOOO

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