When the Publishing Business Just Isn't Into You

A few years back, a hugely successful book spoke the blunt truth that sometimes the object of your affection just isn't that into you and there's nothing you can do about it. It's a simple, yet profound notion that neither of you has a fatal flaw and the universe hasn't conspired to keep you apart. As the saying goes, it's not personal.  Every writer meets that moment when the question must be asked: Is it time to move on?

Before you decide to shelve your manuscript though, ask yourself some tough questions.

Did I query the manuscript too soon? Every manuscript deserves a break before a final edit and polish. That nay be a month, or a week, but if you haven't let your book simmer for awhile, you'll regret it later when you see a dozen ways those first five pages could have packed a better punch. This is easier to fix if you query in small batches. Yes, you've blown the opportunity with those agents that already rejected you, but there are plenty of agents out there.

And speaking of agents, did you research the agents before you queried them? Did you look at their favorite books, their current clients and their stated areas of interest? Was your query concise, professional and did it plainly lay out the protagonist and the stakes in your story? Did you do something gimmicky like writing the query in the character's voice or leading off with a hypothetical question? (If so, please proceed to "Query Help" on QT the forum right now)

Is your manuscript in a genre that's currently saturated? It really stinks if no one will touch your dystopian YA right now, but market trends have ebb and flow and you can't control it. Write something else. There will always be a place in bookstores for vampires and romance and sci-fi and a year from now, maybe you'll get a warmer reception.

Are you a tad bit whiny/needy/bitter on social media?  Being a part of a supportive community doesn't necessarily mean you have to share every indignity you've suffered while dealing with rejection. Many agents do check you out on line before making an offer of representation or a request.Make your on line presence an asset.

This is the hardest one: Is your writing just not up to par? Have you tried to objectively compare your writing to other published works in the same genre? Try reading passages out loud, which is a huge help in identifying awkward sentences.  Has your manuscript undergone scrutiny by beta readers (not blood relatives) critique partners, or published authors? Have you done a full content edit, looking for clichés, crutch words, tropes and pacing issues? It's never easy to admit that something you've created may not see the light of day in traditional publishing, and yes, great books do get rejected, but sometimes the common denominator is simply that this manuscript isn't the right one.

Every writer gets rejected. Every. Single One. Good queries and bad queries likely get the same form rejection. Before you give up your dream, try as best as you can to objectively assess the reason for your failures. Most of the time, you can fix what is wrong. Writing improves with practice. Queries can be polished. About the only thing you can't control is market trends and the wildly subjective tastes of people in the industry. Press on and never let the fear of failure stop you from pursuing your dream.

Kim English - A native Floridian, Kim is the author of Coriander Jones Saves the World and the upcoming Coriander Jones On Assignment at Sabal Palm Academy. She lives in southwest Florida with her family and an ever increasing number of rescue pets. You can learn more about Kim and her books at CorianderJones.com

Best Writing Advice: Do One Scary Thing Every Day

I was frozen. I'd done my research. I'd spoken to my agent. I'd checked my contracts. I'd even gone as far as getting a business license, but now I was stuck. I needed to buy ISBNs.

(This isn't just an indie-publishing post. Bear with me.)

For two days, I'd looked at my list and found other things to do, but really, I needed to buy my ISBNs. I had a business bank account. I had money in it. What I needed was to go over to Bowker and give them money in exchange for the numbers.

"I can't," I said to my Patient Husband. "Every time I get almost to that point, I freeze. Because buying the ISBNs is the point of no return."

Once I did that, I figured I couldn't double back anymore. I'd be committed.

My Patient Husband said, "You need to do one scary thing every day."

Of course I was scared. I'd prepared extensively because I was taking my writing career seriously, but that meant doing the things I'd prepared to do. I needed to be willing to fail in a very big, very public way.

The next day, I said, "Okay, buying ISBNs is scary. So I'm going to do it, and then I don't have to do it again."

I did it. And after I'd done it, it wasn't scary anymore. But I took the rest of the day off anyway.

The next day, I made myself an IngramSpark account. Again, it was scary to enter in sixteen-digit numbers (or longer ones) but after I did it, I was done. The day after that, I made myself a KDP account, but that was less scary than it had been the day before, so I went on to do something else scary instead.

When you're writing for publication, you're going to find yourself right at the edge of your comfort zone more often than you ever thought, sometimes on the wrong side of the fence. In the story itself you're going to find yourself writing deep and touching emotions you never wanted out in the daylight. Then comes editing. And getting beta-readers. And reading your beta-readers' responses. And making those changes. And asking for help with your query letter. And then sending your query to agents.

Eventually you have to open the responses you get from agents. Sometimes reading those is scary, especially when you really like an agent and hope she likes you back. How about phone calls with agents? Those will scare you too at first. Signing your first agency contract? Terrifying. And then going on submission. Going through the publication process. Reading reviews. Writing your next novel.

If you had to do all those scary things at once, you'd think your life was a horror movie. So instead: one scary thing every day. When you're terrified, motivate yourself with, "Good. This is my scary thing." The next time you face the same task, you'll find it's not so scary any longer.

(Except for reading reviews. Those are still scary. I get a friend to read them first.)

And then give yourself a little breather afterward. "I've done my scary thing. I don't have to be scared again for a little while."

No Such Thing as "Right Now" (Things I've Learned Along the Way)

I work full-time as a retail pharmacist. Over the years, I have developed a sort of mantra that I use to remind customers and coworkers that sometimes waiting is necessary. When there are more customers than staff, odds are someone will have to stand in a line. Sometimes, the lines are grumbly and complainy but I value safety over speed--and I'll find myself gently resetting their expectations.

Usually, I turn to the phrase "You can get it right or you can get it now. But you can't get both."

Rushing through a task increased the risk of producing faulty work. In my career, that could be dangerous. That's why I work at one speed—the RIGHT speed.

I owe it to the health and safety of my patients.

Eventually, I realized that this philosophy also pertained to my writing career. When it came to writing and producing stories, I needed to combine the correct combination of craft and time to ensure that the story is the best it could possibly be before releasing it.

After all, I owe it to the satisfaction of my readers.

You can get it RIGHT

By exercising your writer's brain, you improve your craft. By improving your craft, you write better stories. Those are the stories you want to give your readers: the stories that are crafted so well that it leaves a reader gasping. Stories that leave you gasping, knowing you could not have done it any better.

But stories like that do not spring forth fully-armored from the foreheads of most mortal writers. We deliver our book babies the regular way—slowly, over time. The idea gestates and builds mass and definition. We nurture the characters and allow them to grow and develop and mature. We ponder their stories and we use all our craft to create a miniature, perfect world.

And a story is not done until it's done, rightly so.

You can get it NOW

We all know there are extremely prolific authors out there who seem to churn out titles. Their names seem always to be in the spotlight, along with the words "new release".  It's ingrained into our writer's mentality that the first rule of success is: write a book, release it, write another. Making it big with a breakout debut is less likely than getting struck by lightning while winning the lottery. One of my favorite author mentors once said, in part, that you need 4 to 6 books before you can begin to reach critical mass.

A quick look at Amazon reveals that not every book is a 100k word magnum opus. Short works and serials are tempting outlets for authors looking to build their lists quickly. Readers are happiest when the stories they love keep coming.

And it's no hard thing to get your 4 to 6 books these days. If you have the time to type and the vision to get your stories straight, you can bang those books out.

But you can't get it RIGHT NOW

Most writers can't sit down and crank out perfection in a single draft--not even shorter stories. Plain and simple: good things take time.

Those prolific authors that turn out title after amazing title are professionals. Yes, many of us are tempted to try and keep up with them. Sure, it's possible for less-experienced writers to rapidly turn out titles—but often it's done for the sake of expediency or impatience. And those are terrible reasons for a writer to publish anything.

Many times, the proofing process is skipped—the editing stages, the critique stages, the sit-and-think stages. If an author plots and outlines a story and possesses a knack for clean, tight first drafts, this might not be a problem—but those people are the exceptional few.

The danger is today's ease in publishing: anyone can hit the PUBLISH button at any moment, and living in a world of demand and impatience and instant gratification, there's a misleading belief that there's no time like the present.

Did you ever stop to consider that the prolific authors may have spent a ton of time getting their stories perfected, waiting until they had a sizable product list before releasing them in more-or-less rapid succession?

And even that bit of advice from my mentor author—you need 4 to 6 books before you reach critical mass—wasn't entirely complete. She said it takes 4 to 6 books...and then 4 to 6 months before you can start to see a shift toward critical mass. It takes time.

An impatient author can easily skip that last part. Don't you do that.

Do the RIGHT thing. You owe it to your readers.

Understanding Your Contract

Dear Querytracker Blog,

I recently accepted an offer from my dream agent, but I’m curious about something in my contract. What does “and any subsequent work in a series or derivation therefrom” mean?

Sincerely,

Totally Clueless

Dear Clueless,

First, congratulations on this new step in your writing career. I wish you all the best.

Not every agent includes this clause (or a similar clause) in their agency contract. What it means is that if a publisher offers you a contract for two books (for example) in a series, and you later write one or more additional books for the series, your agent also represents those books. Now, this might sound like a given if you and your agent live happily-ever-after, together, but what happens if you and your agent “divorce”? If your contract has this clause in it, it doesn’t matter if you’re still together or not, it doesn’t matter if he had nothing to do with the sale (because you and your editor agreed to the book after you separated from your agent), he is involved in the series and therefore will get the agreed upon royalty (usually 15%).

Unfortunately, when we sign with an agent, we’re so excited to finally get to this point, we don’t realize the ramifications of what we’re signing. We assume we’re going to be together forever and ever. Or, we don’t necessarily understand the legal jargon. This is the same issue that often arises with publisher contracts. Before you sign a contract, make sure you know what you’re signing and the ramifications it might have on your career. You don’t want to find out too late that the small press (for example) you signed with now has rights to all your books (or at least first right to refusal). There are often ways around these clauses, but it’s tricky, especially if you don’t know what you’re doing.

If you don’t understand something, contact a lawyer (an entertainment or literacy lawyer) or asked one of your author friends who does understand what it means. It will save you grief down the road. And when in doubt, don’t sign the contract. Remember, this is YOUR career we’re talking about.

Stina Lindenblatt @StinaLL writes New Adult novels. In her spare time, she’s a photographer and can be found at her blog/website.  She is represented by Marisa Corvisiero, and finds it weird talking about herself in third person. Her debut New Adult contemporary romance TELL ME WHEN (Carina Press, HQN) is now available. LET ME KNOW (Carina Press) will be available Sept 1st, 2014.

Advice from Carolyn Kaufman, Part 4: Get Started on Another Book

I've been posting a short series based advice for aspiring authors from my friend, fellow founding QT blogger, and critique partner, Carolyn Kaufman. Previous posts can be found here: Part 1: Professionalism,  Part 2: Accepting Criticism and Part 3: Controlling your Online Image.

Carolyn passed away well before her time, but she left a rich legacy of advice for writers in her book and on her blogs, including Psychology Today and this one.

This is the third part of an interview she did for me back when her book, The Writer's Guide to Psychology, was about to come out.

What I’ve Learned: Advice for Writers Who Aspire to Publish  

Dr. Carolyn Kaufman 1973-2013 

4. Get started on another book. 

If your first idea doesn’t sell, move on to another one. The Writer’s Guide to Psychology wasn’t the first book idea I had – it was just the first one strong enough to grow into a true book. I’m extremely methodical about preparing a proposal – I spend months researching and writing, and I want to know exactly what’s going into each and every chapter – so I’m pretty committed to finding the book a home once I reach that stage. Other writers find it fairly easy to write up their ideas and send them out without doing that kind of preliminary work. When you’re working so hard on one book – writing it, editing it, promoting it – it feels like your entire world. The truth is, though, that if you want to be more than a one-hit wonder, you will eventually need to write another book. Try to get that next proposal ready before everyone forgets who you are!

Carolyn was so right. At this point in my career, the thought of only working on one thing at a time is laughable. I have two publishers and four books under contract. Three books will release int 2014 and probably four in 2015.

The good thing about being this busy is I don't really have time to fret over one single book. At one point this year, I was drafting a proposal, writing two novels (different genres) and editing another, while yet another had just been published and I was dealing with interviews and pimping the new baby to readers and reviewers.

*hands in the air while screaming on the way down the roller coaster drop*

I've been lucky in that I've always had another project in the works while I was querying, on submission, or waiting for publication. Otherwise, I'd probably be friendless and my family would hate me, too. It's hard not to fret and get paralyzed by the odds or the changing world of publishing. I've found I work best under pressure with lots of balls in the air. No time to brood.

Carolyn was an amazing time manager. She blogged all over the place, taught college classes, was a fabulous photographer, and still, she found time for friends and reached out to aspiring writers who sought guidance. She was a fabulous resource with regard to psychological issues addressed in books and for professional advice. Sadly, her website no longer exists, but you can check out some of her articles the links found at the bottom of Part 1 in this series.

***

Mary Lindsey is one of the founding members of the QT Blog. 

She writes young adult novels for Penguin USA and is the author of Shattered Souls, Fragile Spirits, and Ashes on the Waves. She also writes adult romance for Entangled Publishing as Marissa Clarke. Love Me To Death is scheduled for publication October, 2014. 

Mary is represented by Kevan Lyon of the Marsal Lyon Literary Agency and can be found the following places: Twitter, Facebook, MaryLindsey.com and MarissaClarke.com. 

What FROZEN Teaches Us About Storytelling & Publishing

Last November, Disney released what proved to be one of its biggest Princess movies to date. As I watched it for the fourth time with my kids, I noticed the many lessons it teaches us about storytelling and the publishing industry. There are quite a few plot spoilers in this post, so if you’re planning to watch the movie, do so first.

1. Do what you do best. Disney produces a variety of movies, but the ones that are the most memorable are the animated movies, and especially the musicals.

3. Go beyond what has been overdone. Disney decided to explore the lesser known Hans Christian Anderson story, The Snow Queen, this time. In the past, they’ve stuck to the better known stories like Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Rapzunzel.

4. Explore new settings. Instead of writing your story in locations frequently used in books (e.g. New York City), pick a setting that is unusual. FROZEN’s Scandinavian-like setting proved to be popular with young girls. It was unique, as were the snowman and reindeer as sidekicks. 

5. Let It Go! This popular, award winning song teaches many things when it comes to the publishing industry. For example, don’t dwell on rejections and negative reviews. Let them go and move on. Of course, if you are getting a lot of them with the same underlying theme, you will want to check into that and see if it’s something you need to work on craft-wise.

6. Listen to the critics. Mothers were getting tired of their daughters being told that you just have to marry a guy you barely know and you’ll live happily ever after. Disney listened and the outcome is a movie that has delighted parents (and meant more money for Disney) and taught girls a valuable lesson. The great guy that Anna thought she had fallen in love with (thanks to the concept of love at first sight), turned out to be one of the villains. Had she married him like they had planned, it would have been the downfall of the sisters (Anna and Elsa) and the kingdom. There would have been no happily-ever-after for them.

7. We can’t always know what the other character is thinking based on body language and facial expression. For example in FROZEN, as Princess Anna walks away, after meeting Prince Hans for the first time and after experiencing insta-attraction, Prince Hans has a happy, love-at-first-sight expression on his face. The audience buys this. What the audience doesn’t realize is that he is happy because with Anna he now has a chance of gaining the throne. In his own kingdom, he’s thirteenth in line for the throne. This is a great example of how everything isn’t what it seems when it comes to body language and facial expression.

8. No one is perfect. When we first meet Prince Hans, he’s perfect. Too perfect. I didn’t like him and my kids didn’t like him. He said and did everything right. Now, if he really had been perfect throughout the movie, it would have spoiled it. We later learn that it is all an act. He’s far from perfect.

9. Give your characters flaws. As the singing trolls so eloquently put it, everyone is a fixer upper. It was Kristoff’s flawed character that made him adorable, especially in contrast to the so-called perfect Prince Hans. His flaws made him multi-dimensional.

10. Juxtapositions help emphasis your point. Juxtaposition is two opposites put together. An example is flawed Kristoff verses prefect Prince Hans. Everything about them is different, including their goals and what they love.

11. Subtext. Olaf is a quirky, talking snowman. At one point he sings about how he can’t wait for summer. However, Olaf is naïve to the danger heat poses to him (foreshadowing). He sings, “Winter’s a good time to stay in and cuddle. But put me in summer and I’ll be a…” He looks down at a puddle on the ground. The subtext is clear to all the kids watching the movie. Even the young ones now know Olaf will turn into a puddle in the summer. But he doesn’t realize this and continues the song with “…happy snowman.” For the kids, this is one of the most memorable scenes in the movie because of the subtext and the humor.

12. The power of emotion. Elsa’s powers grow worse when she gets emotional (e.g. scared or angry). There are consequences when this happens, just like there are consequences when emotions become too big for your characters. The consequences are dependent on who your characters are and how they respond to these emotions. In Elsa’s case, her powers could accidentally injure or kill someone she loves.

13. Prologues do sometimes work. Often prologues don’t work because writers use them for info dumps and it distracts from the story. A clever writer will weave the backstory throughout the book and build the suspense that way. However, the prologue in FROZEN (when Anna and Elsa were little girls) works because it goes beyond showing the dangers of Elsa’s powers. It foreshadowed something that happens later in the movie. When Elsa accidentally hits Anna’s heart with ice, we already know how dangerous this is for Anna because it was cleverly revealed in the prologue.

14. Misleads build suspense. After Elsa’s blast of ice hits Anna in the heart, Kristoff takes her to visit his troll family. When he was a kid, he witnessed the troll king heal Anna’s head after Elsa accidently hit it with a blast of ice (in the prologue). He knows the troll king can help Anna. The troll tells them that only an act of true love will heal her heart and save her. So naturally the first suggestion thrown out is love’s first kiss (because this is a Disney movie after all). And who will kiss her? Prince Hans. Anna and Kristoff race back to her kingdom so her “love” can kiss her. They return, Kristoff leaves, and we learn the truth about Prince Hans. And now there is no love’s first kiss. The audience eagerly waits to see if Kristoff, who obviously loves Anna, will come charging back to save her. And he does. But that’s not the act of true love that will heal Anna’s heart….

15. Mirroring subplots strengthen the story. One of the themes in FROZEN is sacrifice. Olaf (the snowman) is willing to sacrifice himself when Anna is locked in a freezing room after her sister hits her heart with ice. Olaf finds her and realizes he needs to warm her up. He starts a fire and stays with her, even though he’s at risk of melting. Kristoff risks his own life when he races back to save Anna. Anna manages to get outside (with Olaf’s help) and tries to find her sister in the storm. She hears Kristoff call her name. At this point she knows she loves him and he loves with her. The audience sighs with relief. Kristoff will save her. But then Anna see Prince Hans is about to kill Elsa. Anna has to make a choice: rush to Kristoff so he can save her, or throw herself in front of Prince Hans’s blade and save her sister.

Anna saves her sister, but because Kristoff couldn’t kiss Anna in time, she is dead. Or is she? Anna’s sacrifice for her sister was an act of true love. The one we weren’t expecting because the trolls “accidently” misled us into believing love’s true kiss would save Anna. Both the misled and the mirroring subplots created a powerful climax.

16. Theme guides the story. In addition to sacrifice, one of the themes of FROZEN is love. Anna is looking for love after being alone for so long. She loves her sister even though she doesn’t understand why Elsa has locked (literally) Anna out of her life. Prince Hans loves money and power. The greedy merchant loves money. Elsa loves Anna and would do anything to protect her. Kristoff loves Anna. Even the trolls sing about love. As Kristoff explains at one point, they are the love experts. Everyone’s actions are guided by the theme. Their emotions and reactions are guided by the theme.

I could keep going on with this list, but this is post is already long. I do recommend that you watch the movie, or another movie that has gained well-deserved recognition, and spend time analyzing it. The time and effort spent will benefit your stories.

Is there anything you would add? Have you ever analyzed a favorite movie?

Stina Lindenblatt @StinaLL writes New Adult novels. In her spare time, she’s a photographer and can be found at her blog/website.  She is represented by Marisa Corvisiero, and finds it weird talking about herself in third person. Her debut New Adult contemporary romance TELL ME WHEN (Carina Press, HQN) is now available. LET ME KNOW (Carina Press) will be available Sept 1st, 2014.

Publishing Pulse: Friday, March 22, 2013

This Week at Query Tracker
The profiles of several agents were updated this week. Please make sure you double-check every agent's website or Publisher's Marketplace page before querying.

You can see the publisher updates list here. 

Ready to write your own success story?

If you're a QueryTracker member (membership is free) you can view the database of more than 1200 agent and publisher profiles. Premium Members can be notified whenever an agent or publisher is added or updates their profile, in addition to receiving access to several other enviable features.

The Twitter Feeds

Victoria Marini ‏@LitAgentMarini  anyone interested in writing YA must read this: http://www.yahighway.com/p/publishing-road-map.html …

Porter Anderson ‏@Porter_Anderson MT @mickrooney7777: Five publishing industry trends writers should be aware of from @JaneFriedman http://fb.me/I3uJBP3N  @WriterUnboxed

GalleyCat ‏@GalleyCat  Dust off your resume. Publishing jobs at @AAknopf, @globepequot, @hallmarkcards + more: http://mbist.ro/WUbiHv

Jane Friedman ‏@JaneFriedman Excellent overview of today's book publishing landscape & power shift to authors: http://ow.ly/jfo0u  by @evanhughes @wired

EBook News

Sorry, ebooks. It's not all good news this week.

First off, the research is in. Pixels have not yet made paper obsolete: bookshop browsing is still vital for publishing.

Additionally, Digital Book World has reported on the apparent slowing of ebook growth.

But, don't fret, ebooks. There's hope for you, yet.

The Bloggity Blogs
If you aren't on a dial-up connection and you need a smile, see this post on the emotional rollercoaster of publishing. (Confession: an appearance from the Ninth Doctor cinched a spot for the post in this week's Pulse.)

Margaret Eckel offers a writer's perspective on publishing trends over at the Book Machine blog.

Variety is the spice of life...it's also a key element in making a living as a writer. See what Rachelle Gardner has to say about it.

 

Rejections Aren't Completely Useless
Grab that pile of rejection letters you can't seem to throw away and have a little fun: play rejection letter bingo, compliments of Writer's Digest.

 

Have a great weekend, everyone!

 

 

Ash Krafton is a speculative fiction writer who, despite having a Time Turner under her couch and three different sonic screwdrivers in her purse, still encounters difficulty with time management. Visit Ash's blog at www.ash-krafton.blogspot.com for news on her urban fantasy "Bleeding Hearts: Book One of the Demimonde" (Pink Narcissus Press 2012) and the follow-up "Blood Rush" due May 2013.

Everyone's A Critic

Courtesy of NoShoes

You've finished your book. Yay! And you've either found an agent and landed a publishing deal, were accepted by a small press, or decided to pursue self-publishing.

Congratulations! Now you're a published author.

Remember all that stomach churning anxiety as you first wrote your book? The doubts and fears that told you the plot was trite, the characters cardboard, and this whole enterprise stupid? Or receiving comments back from your beta readers that illuminated the book's flaws and sometimes contradicted each other?

It's about to get a lot harder.

Reviews can be both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, they allow your readers to discuss and share your work. On the other, they only highlight the fact that not everyone who meets your book is going to love--or even like--it.

I was reading a post by Seth Godin on What Are Professional Reviews For? and I agreed with a lot of what he said.

Once your book is out there in the wild, it's going to run into critics. The key is figuring out which critics to listen to and which to ignore. I've separated the types of critics into three separate categories as they pertain in relation to the author (you).

Professional Critics

These are the critics that appear in the newspapers, magazines, etc. Critics whose organizations have gained the authority to offer criticism--both positive and negative--for the books they read.

These can be helpful, especially if they bring up a strength or weakness you may not have considered before, but they can also be less than helpful sometimes. To the best of my knowledge, professional reviews that represent an organization like Kirkus, rather than a specific book reviewer who might have a column, are listed by the organization's name, leaving the person who actually read and reviewed the book anonymous. This can make it harder to determine the context the reviewer was reading in--which will have a lot of weight in how the reviewer perceives your story.

My opinion: when in doubt, don't give it space to worry you. Professional critics are not always perfectly matched with books that will resonate with them, and you have no control over this. Besides, there are plenty of other things that will be ulcer-inducing. Don't let this one be one of those.

Not Your Audience Critics

In a perfect world, readers would be perfectly matched to the books they loved. They would never come across books they didn't or genres they don't care for, so there would no longer be reviews of this sort. Authors and avid readers rejoice.

Unfortunately, the world is far from perfect.

The Not Your Audience Critics (hereafter to be known as NYACs), can fall into three camps:

1. People who came to your book with certain expectations. They could have formed these expectations from your cover, the title, the blurb, chatter about your book, or recommendations from friends. The thing is, for one reason or another, they came to your book expecting pumpkin pie and found chocolate mousse instead.
2. People who don't usually read your genre, but were enticed by all of the things in the first group, or maybe they got your book as a gift or for a good deal. Either way, they like apple pie, and can't stand strawberry, but decided to give yours a try anyway. Predictably, they really don't like strawberry pie.
3. People, who, well . . . demand tolls for bridge crossings and have some major beef with certain Billy Goats Gruff. I believe this is the smallest group, but it doesn't make their words hurt any less--especially if your confidence is already shaky.

In all of these cases, while the reviews have merits for other possible readers, you're not going to be able to take much from these reviews by way of constructive criticism, because if you're serving a strawberry chocolate mousse pie, you're serving a strawberry chocolate mousse pie. The key here is to find the readers who really love that flavor.

Your Audience Critics

These are your fans. People who love the type of pie you're serving. If ever you were to listen to a group of people, these would be the ones to listen to. They understand the tropes and themes common to your genre. They come to your book wanting to like it, and hoping to love it.

They want you to succeed.

Are you going to please everyone in this group? Happy dream that this is, probably not. Books can be broken down into so many smaller parts (genre, sub-genre, style, age level, etc.), that it would be virtually impossible to hit the sweet spot in each of them for everyone--especially as some will favor spare prose while others prefer their prose to be nice and lush. You would need to take individual taste into account, but for the most part, these are the ones who are more closely aligned with where you're coming from and where you hope to go.

(There is a fourth critic, your inner critic, but I'm focusing on external critics for this post. :D)

So what does this all mean?

Pretty much, once you release your book into the wilds of publishing, the ones who read, judge, and review your story is going to be out of your hands. I would suggest that making peace with this and coming up with coping strategies to deal with reviews will lighten the publishing load a little and make it not seem quite so heavy.

There is another way to handle reviews, and that not to read them at all. :D
That is also my favorite method of keeping myself sane and centered. The people for whom I take a closer, more critical look at my own work are those that read my story *before* publication. Beta readers, editors, proofreaders, and--in the end, my own gut.

After that, I try to make peace with the little doubts that creep onto my shoulders and into my ears by reminding myself that I honestly wrote the very best book I had the power to write, and that, for me, has to be enough.

Danyelle Leafty| @danyelleleafty writes YA and MG fantasy. She is the author of The Fairy Godmother Dilemma series (Catspell, Firespell, Applespell, and Frogspell),  Slippers of Pearl, andBitten: A Novel of Faerie, and can be found on her blog. She can also be found on Wattpad.

Learning to Let Go

Courtesy of littlekata

It begins with the words The End, and it's something that all writers have to learn.

Publishing--whether commercial or self--is a roller coaster ride with plenty of ups and downs--with the end goal of releasing your book out into the world.

Just as writers must learn how to craft words into sentences, and those sentences into characters and plots and stories, they must also learn the craft of letting go.

Letting go begins by finishing a piece and sending it to a new set of eyes. It means stepping back so that someone who has never walked in your world before can poke and prod, pointing out holes and tangles and things that don't work.

After you let your story go to beta readers and/or editors, and after you've fixed and mended and made the story shine, you're ready for the next step of letting go: querying--condensing your novel into a hundred or so words and sending it out to agents and editors. This is a hard step, because whether or not an agent steps forward to offer representation or an editor makes an offer--both of these things are 100% out of your control. The only thing you can control is telling the story the very best way you know how and making sure it gleams. The fate of your novel (if you pursue trade publishing) will depend on other people, and this will mean letting go a little more.

Then, once you've found an agent and have landed a publishing deal, you might have to let go a some more when it comes to edits and your cover. Small things, comparatively, but sometimes they can feel so big. Other times, they can feel just right.

And then comes the biggest step in letting go: when your book is in the hands of your readers.

So much of what can make or break an author (popularity, sales, etc.) is out of our hands. All we can really do is write a good story, edit hard, and let people know it exists. Sometimes it can be tempting to try to help things along, but in my opinion, it's vital that authors learn how to let go when their book is in the domain of readers.

What are some of the things we need to learn to let go of?

• The need to please everyone. No book is capable of pleasing everyone, everywhere, all the time. Your book is going to be for some people, but not for everyone. Many 1 or 2 star reviews come when your book falls into the hands of someone who is outside your target audience. And while this might be a hard thing if you read your reviews (I definitely do not!), it's a good thing in that your book is traveling to readers rather than languishing, invisible and unread.
• The need for 4 and 5 star reviews. This ties in closely with the previous point. Most authors seem to consider anything lower than a 4 star review a failure, but readers often see things differently. As a reader, I've found that 2 and 3 star reviews are the most helpful in determining whether or not I'll read something. The very thing that bothered another reader may be something I love, and vice versa.
• The need to help your book along. Sooner or later, your story is going to have to stand on its own feet. It can be tempting to call for backup when things aren't going exactly as you planned. Please resist the urge to rally your readers/friends/colleagues to down vote critical reviews and up vote positive reviews, ask them to post positive reviews, or any number of other tricks there are to inflate how your books ratings appear. None of those things are ethical, and while they may benefit you in the short term, chances are good they'll come back to bite you later. This has already been an eventful year for authors that are both trade and self-published. Learn from their mistakes. It's a lot less painful that way.

In all of this letting go, it's important for an author to hang on to a few things:

• Be daring and willing to learn. This will involve making mistakes, some of them spectacular, but your mistakes can teach you a lot if you're listening. Publishing is changing and evolving as we speak. It's important to be willing to learn how to do new things, see the world in a different way, and be courageous enough to do things that might seem frightening. (Querying is definitely not for the faint at heart. :))
• Stand tall. Be proud of the work and effort you put into your stories--even if you're the only one. Writing and editing and polishing is hard work. Work that can consume you even as it feeds you. And it's not something everyone can stick with.
• Be strong. Know where you stand ethically and don't be afraid not to budge. It can be hard when you're first starting out, or even if you have a number of books under your belt. Few, if any, careers run smoothly. It's easy to do the right thing when things are going well, but it can be hard when you hit what seems like bump after bump. During those times, keep your integrity close and remind yourself that now is not forever.
• Choose to laugh. Sometimes, at the end of a long, hard day, you can either laugh or cry. Crying is okay, but when you learn how to unearth small delights along the difficult road that is publishing--especially if you have someone to share those delights with--you will find a joy in the journey that no bump or setback can completely erase.

One of the very best things about letting go--besides maintaining your sanity--is that letting go of your novel allows you to make room for another. And another. And another. :)

Danyelle Leafty| @danyelleleafty writes YA and MG fantasy. She is the author of The Fairy Godmother Dilemma series (Catspell, Firespell, Applespell, and Frogspell),  Slippers of Pearl, and Bitten: A Novel of Faerie, and can be found on her blog. She can also be found on Wattpad.

Beware What You Say!

by Stina Lindenblatt @StinaLL

 ©Stina Lindenblatt

The drive to publishing success can result in the good and the ugly, and everything in between. It motives writers to dissect novels and movies, so they understand what makes for an emotionally compelling story. They attend conferences and workshops. Network and join writing organizations. Develop friends with like-minded writers who understand what they go through, and who can support them during both the high and the lows. 

But with the good comes the ugly. Here are three syndromes that can occur with success. Hopefully none have impacted your life, in one way or another.

I-have-fault-with-your-success syndrome

On the dark side is jealousy. When people you know land agents and book deals, it whispers in your ear, “Why them? Why not you?” And that’s okay, if you use that voice to help make you a better writer. Let jealousy inspire you to sign up for a writing course on emotion or stronger characterizations (or whatever weakness you struggle with). What you want to avoid is finding fault with the person’s success, no matter how small, and verbalizing your opinion. If he wins a manuscript critique from his dream agent in an auction benefiting a charity he believes in, don’t tell him he paid too much. If a small press requests a manuscript from a pitch contest he entered, don’t tell him not to send it because you don’t think much of the publisher. He obviously did if he entered the contest. And if an agent wants to talk to him, congratulate your friend, even if you have issues with the agent. Let him enjoy his moment first. 

Remember, while you’re finding fault with his successes, you can guarantee his other friends aren’t. They’re happy for him and being supportive.

It’s-only-good-if-I-succeed-at-it syndrome

Lately, we’re seeing a lot of success stories in both traditional and self publishing. We’re also hearing a lot of negative talk about both forms of publishing. The best thing to do is be careful what you say. If you are only cheering for one and constantly pointing out the negatives of the other, you’ll lose all credibility if you do an abrupt turn and go the other route. 

If you claim you don’t trust agents and you aren’t interested in querying, how is it going to look to your querying friends when an agent out of the blue offers you representation, because your self-published novel is a bestseller, and you jump at the chance of being signed? Now you're a hypocrite. You didn't trust them before, because they rejected your manuscript when you were querying. Suddenly they are trustworthy because your book is now desirable due to the sales. Really? Don't you see the irony in that? Instead of saying anything negative about agents, especially if your friends are querying, you are better off saying nothing at all.

You never know when things will change and your words and actions will come back and pie you in the face. It's best to be supportive of all opinions available, no matter where they currently fit in your goals.

Broken-record syndrome

Publishing is tough. No one will argue that. Each tiny success should be celebrated. But you know how it is when a song you like is played on the radio ad nauseam. The song goes beyond annoying. That’s what it’s like when you use social media to mention your success. It’s great the first few times, because we want to celebrate with you. But when you go on and on about the same thing, like a CD stuck in repeat mode, people will tune out. It becomes promotional spam. And when something big does happen, few people are now listening. Or worse yet, few will even care. Share your successes, but know when to say ‘thanks’ and move on. Know the difference between being excited and being self-absorbed. One is great, the other isn’t.

The writing community is a supportive place. Let’s keep it that way. Make sure your drive to success is leading you in the positive direction. 

What’s your favorite way to deal with those moments of jealous we all get? Have you ever had to deal with someone whose jealousy became toxic? 

Stina Lindenblatt @StinaLL writes young adult novels. In her spare time, she’s a photographer and blogging addict, and can be found hanging out on her blog, Seeing Creative.