Publishing Pulse for December 16, 2011

Query Tracker Contest

Get your pitches ready… Agent Natalie Fischer Lakosil from the Bradford Literary Agency will be judging our next contest, which opens January 30, 2012. She'll look at the first hundred words and a one-sentence logline for children's lit, romance, and upmarket women's fiction manuscripts. Find details about specific genres as well as the contest guidelines here and get to work on your perfecting your pitch.

Unsure how to write that killer logline? We can help.

Around the Internet

Agent Natalie also offers advice on how to survive waiting. (Turns out agents play the waiting game, too!) Perhaps you'll find something there to inspire you through the end-of-year publishing "slowdown".

Discouraged that the overall querying process (or the submission process or the editorial process) is taking forever? Kameron Hurley of The Night Bazaar discusses 10 things she learned about the publishing biz the year her first novel was published. It offers a little perspective on the long, long road to publication.

Chuck Sambuchino stopped by Rachelle Gardner's blog to talk about the truth about book publicity--and it involves a lot of hit-and-miss.

Even if you didn't participate in this year's NaNoWriMo event, you'll find some valuable tips about revising your new manuscript on their site.

Have a great weekend, everyone!




Ash Krafton is a speculative fiction writer who resides in the heart of the Pennsylvania coal region, where she keeps the book jacket for "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" in a frame over her desk. Visit the Spec Fic Chick website at www.ashkrafton.com for updates on the release of her debut novel, Bleeding Hearts: Book One of the Demimonde, forthcoming in March 2012 through Pink Narcissus Press.

Writing Killer Loglines

                                                                           source

Whether you write short stories, novellas, novels, or screenplays, loglines are an important part of the process. If someone asks you what your story is about, you aren’t reduced to the incoherent word ‘um’. Or better yet, you won’t ramble on, leaving the poor listener wishing he hadn’t asked.

If you attend a conference and have the chance to say ‘hi’ to an agent or editor (or if you’ve signed up for a pitch session), you have a quick way to let them know about your book. If the individual is interested, she might ask to see your manuscript (or portion of it). Many blog contests require a logline (psst, look at the side bar for an upcoming contest). 

When you write a logline, you want to keep the following questions in mind:

1.      What genre is the book? If your logline is for a children’s book, the protagonist’s age will indicate this. It isn’t necessary though, as you will see in the following example.

2.      Who is the main character?

3.      What makes her unique?

4.      What is the inciting incident?

5.      What is your main character’s goal?

6.      What is the major conflict your character will face? Unlike in the query, you only have room for one conflict in the logline.

7.      What is the consequence if the main character fails?

This sounds like a lot to get into a single sentence, but it isn’t. At least it isn’t after you rework your logline. 

Example

The Hunger Games (The following is from the logline created for the upcoming movie.)

1.      What genre is the book? Young adult dystopian

2.      Who is the main character? Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen

3.      What makes her unique? She is willing to sacrifice her life to save her young sister, who is selected to participate in The Hunger Games. Katniss volunteers to take her sister’s place.

4.      What is the inciting incident? Katniss’s young sister is selected by the Capital to fight to the death on live television. (Even the contestants on Survivor had it easier than this.)

5.      What is your main character’s goal? To survive the fight to death on the reality TV show.

6.      What is the major conflict your character will face? Katniss isn’t the only contestant who wants to win. Only one contestant gets to live.

7.      What is the consequence if the main character fails? Katniss dies. It goes further than that, but this is enough for the logline.

Now rewrite the information into one sentence:

Set in a future where the Capitol selects a boy and girl from the twelve districts to fight to the death on live television, Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take her younger sister's place for the latest match.

Do you notice something else about the logline? It hints at the emotion of the story. This is live television, where the audience gets to watch their loved ones or friends die. And what if the boy and girl from the district are friends or are in love? That ups the stakes and the emotional conflict of the story. You don’t know which is true from reading the logline, though you might be compelled to read the book (or see the movie) to see what happens.

Additional Tips

• If you’re participating in a contest, check the rules. Some allow for longer loglines. This could be two or three sentences instead of just one. Make sure you follow the rules or else your entry will be disqualified.

• At a conference, you might have a ten-minute pitch session scheduled. If the pitch is brief, it gives the agent or editor a chance to ask YOU questions. An engaged agent or editor is more likely to request material. A bored agent or editor is more likely to pass.

• Try out the logline on people who have read the book and those who haven’t. This way you can make sure the important parts of the book are included and that it makes sense to everyone.

• Avoid writing long, convoluted sentences. Too often writers try to squeeze in as much information as possible while abusing punctuation. The sentence is confusing and doesn’t compel the agent or editor to want to read the book. Worse yet, the agent or editor might believe this is the typical sentence structure in your novel.

• If you struggle answering the above questions, it might not be the logline that is the issue. It might be your book.

Here are three more loglines from current or upcoming movies for you to analyze. The more you analyze, the easier it will be to create one for your story.

Hugo

Set in 1930s Paris, an orphan who lives in the walls of a train station is wrapped up in a mystery involving his late father and an automaton.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6's echelons.

The Descendants

A land baron tries to re-connect with his two daughters after his wife suffers a boating accident.

For more movie loglines, check out The Internet Movie Database.

Stina Lindenblatt 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.  

Forensics Q&A: Explosives Crime Scene Investigation

By Kristy Lahoda | @KristyLahoda

Disclaimer: The information provided in this post should not be used for malicious intent unless it is in the form of crime writing. The author is an explosives expert, not a crime scene expert. While every attempt was made to ensure the accuracy of this information, for security purposes, some details may have been withheld.

QUESTION: My antagonist is a juvenile delinquent who set off a pipe bomb with the intent to destroy property. What would the bomb scene investigation look like?


ANSWER: There should be three phases of the investigation: outside investigation, control and coordination, and inside investigation.

Outside Investigation

First responders have the initial responsibility. Above all else, safety and security must be ensured. After assessment, a call for backup may be warranted. If the scene is unsafe, the first responder must not only wait until the scene is made safe, but must also ensure that the scene is secure for the safety of others. The last casualty from the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City was a nurse who wanted to help the injured. She passed away because a computer monitor fell on her from one of the compromised floors above. Once the scene is safe, rescue of victims is performed.

The crime scene must be secured. This involves establishing an inner security perimeter by placing crime scene tape around the scene. Hazards should be identified and removed or mitigated. Sometimes it is not initially known if the explosion was the result of a bomb, so a call to the bomb squad might be necessary in order to check for secondary devices. A structural engineer may need to be called to check the structural integrity. Other potential hazards that must be taken into account may include fire, hazardous materials such as asbestos and carbon monoxide, utilities such as electrical, natural gas, and ruptured water pipes, debris such as metal and glass, and blood-borne pathogens. If there is fire at the bomb scene, firefighters should use only enough water to quench the fire because the evidence could be washed away. Also during this phase the first responders should ensure that evidence that might be removed from the scene is properly preserved. Witnesses should be located and interviewed and license plates checked—the perpetrator might be among the crowd. The outside investigation is not just a phase of the crime scene investigation, but remains ongoing until the case is solved.

Control and Coordination

Control and coordination takes place once the scene is secure. This phase involves compiling the information obtained from the outside investigation and making it available to the inside investigation. The people operating in this capacity direct investigative endeavors by acting as the filter for incoming and outgoing information by briefing and debriefing. They are responsible for resources acquisition and allocation. A command post is set up near the crime scene, but at a distance so as to not interfere.

Inside Investigation

The inside investigation may occur within a building or outside. The term “inside” is used to indicate that this phase of the investigation is generally confined to the crime scene itself. It is like piecing a puzzle together by collecting physical evidence. The inside phase may need to be moved to a secure area if, for example, the structure is unstable.

The crime scene investigator should meet with the first responders at the command post to learn what actions have been taken. Are there are any victims? Is there any relevant information from witnesses regarding the scene? Are there any known hazardous materials present? Is there any physical evidence already located? They should establish perimeters. The inner perimeter should encompass the blast area including where the evidence is present. The command post should be set up at this boundary and should be determined by multiplying 1.5 by the distance from the epicenter to the farthest piece of evidence located. The outer perimeter is the distance at which investigators want to keep people away not affiliated with the crime scene.

The investigator needs to conduct a walkthrough for observation purposes to identify the “nature of the explosion” and possible evidentiary items. The process of documenting the scene may commence during this stage.

After the walkthrough the team lead should come up with an investigative plan for the scene such as contamination prevention. Contamination of the scene with trace evidence is a real possibility. The investigators should wear Tyvek or laundered clothes and shoe coverings. Care should be taken to avoid stepping on potential evidence and destroying things like shoeprints, tire treads, etc.

The team lead should brief the team and assign specific tasks, ensure that team members are wearing proper protective clothing, and provide reminders not to forget the basics—to be on the lookout for fingerprints, shoeprints, tire treads, tool marks, and trace evidence such as DNA, blood, fibers, suspicious packaging and wrappers, etc. A member should be assigned to swab explosive residue.

A number of steps take place during the inside investigation including establishment of a team lead, evidence identification, documentation, collection, and preservation, and the performance of a final survey.

Establishing a Team Lead

A team lead should be chosen to serve as a liaison between the inside investigation unit and the command post, to formulate an action plan such as assigning investigators/scientists to certain tasks in order to cover all bases, arrange for the command post to obtain essential equipment, and help to maintain the morale of the unit. Two essential questions should be asked. What happened? How did it happen? This is the objective of the crime scene search.

Documentation, Identification, Collection, and Preservation

The scene is documented. This includes photographs, sketches, and notes. Photographs of the scene should be taken to include an overall perspective. Once evidence is identified, such as pieces of an explosives device: the possible container, fuzing mechanism, and filler, it may also be documented. Key evidentiary pieces should be photographed individually. The photographer should coordinate with the sketch artist. Photographs of every individual item are not required, but should be taken prior to moving the evidence if that piece is considered vital to the investigation. Evidence custodians collect, package, and label the package. Chain of custody is important during this step, thus an evidence log should be maintained.

Final Survey

A final walkthrough of the crime scene is performed to verify completion of crime scene evidence search, documentation, and processing. Recovery of all equipment used should also be completed at this time.

There are multiple investigations occurring during an explosives crime scene investigation. The outside investigation and inside investigation are linked together through the control and coordination unit. This connection is important to bring the puzzle pieces together for both phases. It is the responsibility of the inside investigative team lead to keep up the team morale due to the nature and tedium of the investigation. This is one of the most important jobs. When the crime scene investigative team grows weary or emotionally unstable, mistakes are made.

Source: Thurman, James T. Practical Bomb Scene Investigation. Boca Raton: CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, 2006. 

For more information on these topics, stay tuned for the installments in the upcoming months of Forensics Q&A!

Kristy Lahoda, Ph.D., is an explosives analyst contractor in a crime lab as well as a science content editor for a major educational publishing company.  She writes Christian forensic suspense and discusses forensics on her blog called Explosive Faith.  You can follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

If you have a forensics question for Dr. Lahoda that you'd like to see answered on the QueryTracker Blog, send your question via Carolyn Kaufman using the email link under Contact Us in the right-hand column of the main QTB page.

Publishing Pulse: 12/09/2011

QueryTracker Success Story

Congratulations to Stephanie Knipper!

Around the Internet


Author Rick Daley (hosted by Nathan Bransford) has a great article on what you need to know about SEO.

Editor Alan Rinzler discusses when you need an editor. He also does a great job of covering the three phases of writing in the post.

Cheryl Klein has a fun quote file on character/s that's worth taking a look at when you're crafting your own.

Author Deborah Niemann (hosted by Janet Friedman) has some excellent advice on how to confront the fear of public speaking.

And last, but not least, for a comprehensive overview on publishing matters this week, Porter Anderson's Writing on the Ether covers everything from FutureBook 2011: New Publisher Business Models to marketing vs discover in e-books.

Have a great weekend!

 Danyelle Leafty (@danyelleleafty) writes MG and YA fantasy. In her spare time, she collects dragons, talking frogs, and fairy godmothers. She can be found discussing the art of turning one's characters into various animals, painting with words, and the best ways to avoid getting eaten by dragons on her blog.

Fantasy World-Building: Magical Rules

Magic Circle by  J.W.W. Waterhouse

World-building is different for those of us who write speculative fiction than for people who write stories based in the "real" world. Rather than examining the past for factual details, we have to make up alternate worlds. One of the most important tasks, then, is to establish the world's "rules," or perhaps more accurately, the laws.

By laws, I mean the factual kind that recur in nature. You can jump upwards as many times as you want to, but as long as you’re dealing with a g of gravity, you will always come back down. You can do your darndest to stop the ocean tides, but as long as the earth keeps spinning and the moon keeps pulling, there will be tides.

The same thing has to happen with magic. There must be laws to any magical universe, and to create them, a writer must ask herself things like

* Who can use magic and who can’t? Only people who are trained? Only people who have certain genes? Only people of a certain gender or race or culture? Why only those people? Must the power be awakened, or is it there from birth?

* What is magic? Where does it come from? Is it a force of nature, neither good nor evil, or is it a spiritual or eschatological kind of power only angels or demons can grant?

* How is magic used? Must the user cast spells, or is magic more of a generalized energy? Must he rely on herbs, or blood, or eye of newt, or are spell components obsolete in your world? Are sigils, runes, or incantations used?

* What price must be paid? If you fight gravity by jumping, eventually you’re going to wear yourself out. That’s the price. So what happens when one uses magic? And are the consequences the same for any kind of magic, or do they vary with the kind of spell?

* What are the limits on magic? If your character can do anything and everything, there’s no tension in the story, so what can’t she do with magic?

* Are there different types of magicians with specialized powers -- like necromancers and alchemists and prophets -- or are they all the same?

Your answers can’t be random, either. They have to make sense, just like the laws of our universe do. And you can’t be whimsically changing them because your character suddenly needs to be able to do this or that kind of magic. You should write your rules down and pretend they're set in stone.

One more thought: It's challenging to come up with new rules if you write in multiple fantasy universes. When you have a logical, well-defined set of rules that you carefully abide by, it can be hard to think beyond them for another story. This is part of the reason many authors set different stories in the same universe. If you have trouble coming up with multiple sets of rules and keeping them straight, don't feel bad about setting things in the same universe!

Carolyn Kaufman, PsyD's book, THE WRITER'S GUIDE TO PSYCHOLOGY: How to Write Accurately About Psychological Disorders, Clinical Treatment, and Human Behavior helps writers avoid common misconceptions and inaccuracies and "get the psych right" in their stories. You can learn more about The Writer's Guide to Psychology, check out Dr. K's blog on Psychology Today, or follow her on Facebook or Google+! 

Begin as you mean to go on

I got an email recently from SoccerGirlie@emaildomain-dot-com*, which wouldn't have startled me except that it was from my son's religious education teacher.

I'm sure she's a lovely woman, but...?

You probably would not sign on to do business with a real estate agent whose email address was WillDanceForBeer@something-dot-com, right? But I've seen agents tweeting or blogging that people often query with email addresses that are less than professional. Addresses like HotChickie@whatever-dot-com don't exactly give off that professional vibe.

Get a separate email address for writing-related business. It's easy to get another one, so there's no excuse. Do it now. Even if you think your From line tells us something about you, it's better to tell the world that you're a professional. Your name should appear in the FROM line as your first name and your last name or however you intend it to appear on the cover of your book. That means no From line such as The Smith Family or Mrs. Jane Doe.  And no Soccer Girlie, even if you've won the World Cup.

Begin as you mean to go on. Introduce yourself with your bestselling-author-name.

(Unless you intend to use a pen name. But even then, use your legal name in the From line.)

That email account? Give it a signature. Give it a professional-looking signature. Not your favorite quote from Mystery Science Theater 3000 (which yes, I do sometimes use on my personal email account) but a signature with your name as it will appear on your book cover, your website address, and no ascii art.

No colors except black and white please. No utterly gorgeous curly fonts that are unreadable. No queries that play music or have artwork embedded in the background.

Begin as you mean to go on. If you intend to write professionally, start being professional. Start now.

The common advice in the business world is to dress for your next position. If you're in middle management and want to be in upper management, you dress one "click" higher than you have to in order to insinuate that you're capable of better things than you've got now.

Your email query is your suit and tie. Dress for your next position.



*I did change the instructor's email address significantly, but you get the point.

---

Jane Lebak is the author of The Guardian (Thomas Nelson, 1994), Seven Archangels: Annihilation (Double-Edged Publishing, 2008) and The Boys Upstairs (MuseItUp, 2010). At Seven Angels, Four Kids, One Family, she blogs about what happens when a distracted daydreamer and a gamer geek attempt to raise four children. She is represented by the riveting Roseanne Wells of the Marianne Strong Literary Agency.

Publishing Pulse: 12/2/2011

Success Stories

Congratulations to our newest QueryTracker.net success story, J.K. Wise!

Around the Internet

Ever wonder what turns an agent off to particular query letters? Kristen Nelson gives you some insight.

Before you decide that e-books aren't Real Books, Rachelle Gardner reminds you that e-books give readers another way to buy your book.

And after you're done digesting that, check out this interesting article on how DRM (digital rights management, which is essentially anti-copy protection on e-books and other media) is going to hurt the big six publishers...and boost Amazon even more.  Didn't know there was a controversy? SBTB has a little more info on what's been going on.

Learn to set SMART goals to achieve your writing dreams in 2012!

And to everyone who finished up with NaNoWriMo this week--congratulations!

Carolyn Kaufman, PsyD's book, THE WRITER'S GUIDE TO PSYCHOLOGY: How to Write Accurately About Psychological Disorders, Clinical Treatment, and Human Behavior helps writers avoid common misconceptions and inaccuracies and "get the psych right" in their stories. You can learn more about The Writer's Guide to Psychology, check out Dr. K's blog on Psychology Today, or follow her on Facebook or Google+!