C h a z z W r i t e s . c o m

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11/22/2010 • 11:35 AM 2

Introductions: Sending your manuscript the right way. Meeting editors and agents.

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Do you have a manuscript you want to submit? Here’s your check list. Do not try to stand out by breaking these industry conventions.

Now suppose you’ve sent off your manuscripts but you haven’t had any luck yet (and yes, luck is part of the process.)

You decide to head off to a writers’ conference and actually meet agents and editors personally. If you can meet them in person, you reason, you can turn them on to your work. Slow down on that plan. The Kill Zone gives you tips so you’re ready to meet those industry professional as equals.

The power differential in the agent/editor/author relationship drives writers crazy. There’s much more drama around meeting editors and agents than there needs to be.

You are an equal. You’re a human being, neither above nor below. Don’t go hat in hand.

It’s a friendly business meeting. Think of it that way.

An Open Letter to Editors (and a P.S. to Agents) (write4kids.com)
Five Writers Explain How They Got, Kept and Fired Agents (theawl.com)
Go, Go #NaNoWriMo (bostonbibliophile.com)
Demonstrate Your Writing Insecurities (tjantunen.com)
Killer Openings (pubrants.blogspot.com)
Suggestions for Being a More Productive Writer (joannaslan.blogspot.com)
4 Insights for Novelists (and One So-So Tip) (psychologytoday.com)
What happens after you deliver a book? (davidhewson.com)
How can I get started editing this manuscript? (ask.metafilter.com)

Filed under: agents, Editing, manuscript evaluation, publishing, queries, Writing Conferences, writing tips, Author, editing, Manuscript, meeting agents, publishing, Writers Resources, writing, Writing Conferences

11/19/2010 • 10:44 AM 1

Can an artist produce too much?

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When comedy screenwriter superstar Ken Levine wrote An Open Letter to Woody Allen‏, he got a lot of feedback, positive and negative, on his blog. I encourage you to read his post, but basically he told Woody Allen to slow down and take a break in the hope Allen will make fewer movies, but better movies.

Here we have one artist telling another, I used to love your stuff, but your recent work disappoints me, so stop. I’m a bit sympathetic to that sentiment in that I’ve expressed some frustration here over the work of Jeff Lindsay, creator of the Dexter character.

The first Dexter book was great. Then the series went downhill (though I have yet to read the very latest so I’m hoping for the author’s redemption.) My objection in a long ago post was that in book three of the series, the lovable serial killer was doing very dumb, unbelievable things. The protagonist was sucked into a supernatural story and taking his elementary school-age kids to gory crime scenes as little serial killer apprentices.

I suspected that, since the Showtime series Dexter is such a hit (and well-deserved), maybe Lindsay’s agent and publisher were pushing him to make hay while the sun shone and pump out those books to the ravenous masses! (The reviews on Amazon backed me up on this. I wasn’t the only one who felt the author lost his way.)

So, while I understand Mr. Levine’s plea, ultimately, writers write for themselves first. If Woody Allen is happy with his script (and is still making money, employing people, finding financiers etc.,…) then he can do what he wants. I heard a rare interview with Woody Allen recently. He was shooting in London and having a great time doing it. He writes and directs to suit himself first and, if you want to play, follow along, too. Otherwise, go enjoy something else. No one’s forcing you to go to a Woody Allen movie. A lot of people don’t go now who used to, but I’ve read that most of Allen’s movies make the majority of their box office outside the United States. (There is a hint of Americanocentrism in Mr. Levine’s post, so perhaps that’s what informs his stance.)

When I saw one artist tell another to produce less, I realized that I was guilty of the same thing with Jeff Lindsay. I love the Dexter character. I mistook that emotional investment for ownership of the character and its author. As long as the books are still making money and Mr. Lindsay is enjoying himself, it’s not up to me or anyone else to tell him to stop or slow down. It’s up to me to say, “Well, sadly, that’s not for me anymore. Too bad. Fortunately, there are millions of other books to read so I’ll go check those out…and console myself with the excellent TV show Jeff Lindsay’s work spawned, Sunday nights on Showtime at 10 p.m. EST.”

Woody Allen: A ‘Stranger’ Always, And Mortal Too (npr.org)
Marshall Fine: In praise of Woody Allen (huffingtonpost.com)
Ask HN: Inspirational movies (news.ycombinator.com)
Dexter is delusional (theglobeandmail.com)
Review: Dearly Devoted Dexter (Audio) (bookingmama.blogspot.com)

Filed under: book reviews, Books, getting it done, Media, movies, Dexter by Design, Jeff Lindsay, Ken Levine, Showtime, Woody Allen

11/18/2010 • 1:27 PM 0

The High Concept Book Becomes the High Concept Movie

The zombie rage rages on and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies caught the vampire-backlash-zombie-wave at just the right time.

It’s interesting to me how, when first introduced, a terrible idea and a brilliant one are often indistinguishable. Finding just the right editor or agent to recognize an opportunity wrapped in an unsolicited manuscript at just the right time? It can be an amazingly long and difficult process.

As I think back on many of the publishers I’ve worked for, I can guarantee that many of them would have looked at the manuscript for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and cringed. I can hear them say, “You’re not going to believe this! Look at the kind of tripe we get in the slush pile!”

Of course, it’s a subjective business, but it is a business. Someone spotted opportunity in this book and now they’re making a boatload of money off of it. If you’ve a bit snooty, you may still look askance at books like this, but reading is a wide spectrum. There’s lots to read and fortunately, you get to choose.

Slush Pile Short Story

I once knew a publisher who, on our first meeting, wanted to impress upon me that his publishing house only printed “important” books. And he did. There were some literary gems on the list.

But the publisher had a narrow spectrum of books he was interested in. I asked several times if it would kill him to publish a popular cookbook and make some real money. I learned instead that he wanted to publish one kind of book. It had to be Canadian literature (and all that reputation entails) so he would have a list that wouldn’t make him blush at his next cocktail party in Rosedale.

High standards are laudable, but decreeing what the market should read while remaining deaf to what people do read is a formula for failure.

The moral of the story is this:

That hockey book that bores you, the vapid Sarah Palin book you loathe and that gardening book that’s a staple for three generations? Those sell. Slush pile submissions that publisher sneered at would have financed all those “important” books he’s not publishing anymore. He’s long since out of the business and many important books have gone unpublished for that sad loss.

I love important books. But, like most people, I like varied tastes to entertain my palate.

Mike White To Officially Direct ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’ (slashfilm.com)
The Wait (rejecter.blogspot.com)
Publishers, Authors, Agents, Retailers – One in the Same? (issues-in-publishing.blogspot.com)
Internet, Terrorists, Lawyers Kill Slush Pile [Rip] (gawker.com)
Indie publisher Quirk Books finds zombie success (ctv.ca)
Rumor: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Totally Dead (escapistmagazine.com)
‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’: Who should direct? (popwatch.ew.com)
Mashing up children’s books with monsters (guardian.co.uk)
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES Film is Falling Apart (geektyrant.com)

Filed under: Books, publishing, Useful writing links, book, Business, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, publishing, Publishing and Printing, Sarah Palin, Slush pile

11/17/2010 • 8:18 PM 6

Are you closer to publishing your own books yet?

A section of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, wh...

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Ex-agent Nathan Bransford wrote a nice piece on his blog entitled Why I’m Still Optimistic about the Future of Books. That headline caught my attention because, viscerally, my reaction was, “Still?!” His post goes deeper than that, but what I noticed first was my own urge to chuckle.

No, I’m not predicting the death of books. My view is more nuanced than that. I think paper books will be published 100 years from now (assuming we aren’t all killed by nukes, bioweapons, supergerms, climate catastrophe or armies of the undead) but in small numbers and as a premium item.

Early this summer I attended a writers’ conference in which I saw the e-book future laid out. Many of the publishers and writers I met at the Canadian Authors Association conference in Victoria were already on board the train to the future. I met my first person there who doesn’t buy paper books anymore, for instance. Her bookshelves grow no heavier because her reading is now exclusively electronic.

When I came back, I shared that worldview with everyone I knew. I encountered resistance, incredulity and resignation. Personally, I’m excited about the DIY opportunities ahead of us. We still need writers and those writers still need editors. Publishers and agents are becoming optional. For some authors—especially if they already have an audience—publishers are in their rearview mirrors.

Where are you on this issue now? Has your opinion changed in the last year? Do you see e-books as another expression of rage and frustration by the talentless hacks rightly trapped in the slush pile? Or are e-books a way for independent authors to steer their own course to larger percentages and greater control of their books?

If you’re an independent writer, here’s a link to a comparison of self-publishing services you definitely need to consider:

Self-Publishing Company Comparison: Amazon CreateSpace, Lulu or Lightning Source? : Blogthority‏

If you’re a traditional publisher or are monogamous about the Gutenberg press, here’s an article about how e-books might be integrated tree book marketing:

E-books need print books, IPG hears | theBookseller.com‏

Please let me know your thoughts.

I’m staring at my comment box,

quivering in anticipation.

Christian Self Publishing Association Launched to Serve Authors and Raise the Quality of Self-Published Books (prweb.com)
An E-Book Bonanza: 12 Saramago Novels (artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com)
Bloomsbury USA Selects RoyaltyShare for eBook Sales Management (prweb.com)
Digital publishing about economics, Forrester analyst James McQuivey says (teleread.com)
Discoverability: “Metadata Really Matters for eBooks” (lib.uiowa.edu)
Lulu.com Adds Big Options for Creators this Holiday (prnewswire.com)
The Felicities of New Publishing (or Why Traditional Publishers May Someday Die) (seedlingsinstone.blogspot.com)
All About eBooks Symposium: Friday, November 12th in San Francisco (prnewswire.com)
Lightning Source expands POD to Australia (teleread.com)
Self-Publishing Expo: Panel, “Flying Solo” (teleread.com)

Filed under: Books, publishing, self-publishing, Useful writing links, web reviews, book, E-book, Independent Publishers Group, Lulu, Nathan Bransford, publishing, Publishing and Printing, self-publishing

11/17/2010 • 4:40 PM 0

Gender bias against female writers

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Author Tawni O’Dell has written a great piece about the bias against female writers. She writes convincingly that women aren’t taken seriously in an industry that is still (still!) very patriarchal. This is an example of WGL, or Worldview Generational Lag. The publishing industry is filled with women. Women read more books than men. Women write tons and edit tons of books every year. And yet. And yet.

I’m enlightened, so ladies, when the revolution comes, don’t forget who was on your side. That’s right. I’m a sex traitor.

…Hm, that doesn’t sound right.

Okay, I’m a traitor to my sex…except that…come to think of it…all my favorite writers…OH-MY-GOD! They’re all men!

Sorry. I was one of them and I didn’t even know it! Are you one of them or us?

Wait. Now I’m confused.