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Kathryn Mattingly

~ edgy words unleashed

Kathryn Mattingly

Tag Archives: agents

The Addicted Writer’s 12-Step Plan (part 3)

22 Wednesday Apr 2015

Posted by Kathryn Mattingly in Blog Post

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

agents, author platform, publishers, writing conferences

images

In parts 1 & 2 of this series we discussed writing that synopsis or book proposal once your work has been perfected and is ready for a publisher. We then looked at all the publishing options out there to choose from.

In terms of traditional publishing, we discussed how getting an agent would be your first step toward securing a traditional publisher such as one of the 5 major New York conglomerates. Who are these major publishing houses with their endless trickle down divisions?

The top 5 include Hachette, Macmillan, Penguin, Random House and Simon & Schuster. Each of those have many ‘specialized’ offshoots such as, for example, St. Martin’s Press – a division of Macmillan – and so on.

There are countless independent presses popping up across the country and generally, they are each specializing in certain genres or printing styles to distinguish themselves and to stay focused on a particular product in order to do it better than anyone else. REALLY specialized independents are also called ‘boutique’ publishers.

How do you get an agent in order to reach any of these old school or new school traditional publishers? You can write a query letter and mail it to as many agents as you can find via the Internet. However, I am not going to cover ‘how to write a query letter’ here, because it is the least likely way that you will find an agent.

Trust me on this.

The best and easiest way by far to get an agent is through writing conferences.

If you have taken the time and money to attend a writing conference, it shows the agents at that conference how you are serious about your writing and have probably done your homework toward understanding and utilizing all the information out there toward writing a publishable (could sell and make a profit) book.

You need to behave as a professional would at any career-oriented conference when attending these writing gigs. Be careful what you say and do, how you look and how you project yourself as a possible published author who would then be representing the publishing house that you are (want to be) under contract to.

ALWAYS remember that if you are going to sell books, you will need to be personable, friendly, outgoing, and put together in a pleasing way for your fans to approach and connect with. These are the things an agent is looking for in you- besides a great read.

Think of it as part 3 of your writing career. Part 1 was realizing that you did not write the great American novel the first time you went crazy with pen and paper.

Part 2 is writing what might be the great American novel after soliciting lots of oral (critique groups, etc.) and written ( ‘how to’ books and social media articles, etc.) help to improve your skills since the first time around. Part 3 is finding someone (trained to recognize this) who agrees with you.

Part 4 is how to transition into being a published author and part 5, well part 5 is maintaining authorship so that you don’t slip back down into part 3 because your books aren’t selling and your publisher has dropped you.

How do you avoid that not-selling-books part you ask? Another great question, which leads to your new buzz phrase once you have decided you wish to play this game and play it well. These are 2 words you should wake up to every morning. I strongly suggest that you tape them to your refrigerator.

Author. Platform.

Unless your name is JK Rowling, or a small handful of other best selling authors where your author platform magically appears simply by being the best at what you do and selling so many books it’s impossible to FAIL at ‘author platform’ you will need to focus on it as much as you do your writing.

Let’s just say it helps to be good at multitasking.

And don’t think you can ignore this buzzword until that beautiful first book shows up on bookshelves. Having a blog following and strong social media presence is required upfront, meaning that one of the first questions an agent will ask you after deciding that you can actually write is… tell me about your fan base as a writer.

If you don’t have a fan base already started, it could be a deal breaker.

Crazy, right?

Whatever happened to the craft standing on its own merit? The answer to that is another blog series. So, let’s focus on this blog series for now…. and on what YOU need to do in order to create that all-important readership…. UPFRONT.

Stay tuned for part 4…

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Kathryn’s next novel, Journey, will be released September, 2015 by Winter Goose Publishing

Author Badge 2015 2

 

 

Personal blog and website: http://kathrynmattingly.com Edgy Words Unleashed

Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00EILN6YE

FB page: https://www.facebook.com/kathrynmattinglyauthor

WGP page: http://wintergoosepublishing.com/authors/kathryn-mattingly/

 

 

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The Addicted Writer’s 12-Step Plan (part 2)

16 Thursday Apr 2015

Posted by Kathryn Mattingly in Blog Post

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

agents, book proposals, publishers, publishing, synopses

imagesIn the first post of this series we discussed writing a synopsis (fiction) or a book proposal (memoir). This is the first thing a literary contest, agent, or publisher will see. That makes it more important than you might think, which is unfortunate, because writers suck at writing this important road map.

How do I know this you ask?

Because I have seen over 300 synopses before reading, critiquing, and judging those manuscripts for the very large literary contest I have been volunteering my services to for over a decade now.

Luckily for the writers of these terrible synopses, I don’t let their lack of skills with laying out their plan affect my opinion of how well they actually write those first 30 pages of the manuscript.

Speaking of how publishers will read your road map before experiencing firsthand the journey that would be your book, they are the next step to consider in that 12-Step plan. It is not news to anyone that publishing has become quite a diversified field. Here is how it breaks down:

3-Publishing: Do your homework on your publishing options. This, obviously, is not one of the criteria on the sheet we follow to judge manuscripts, but I have inserted it as an important step in my fiction-memoir writing class for those would-be authors who need to know what to do once they have written their Great American Novel.

There is a sea of publishing options out there including large traditional publishers (mainly based in New York), and small independent and boutique publishers (still traditional).

There are also hybrids, which offer something between an independent press and self-publishing (non traditional because you pay them for their services), self-publishing – which provides all the services you could ever need or want (you pick what services by what price you’re willing to pay) and purely independent self-publishing.

In that last category (purely independent) you man your own ship from start to finish, with no one to hold your hand, support your efforts, or share much of your profit. Of course, you need to be a savvy computer program whiz to pull this last option off without needing psychiatric sessions.

Large publishers give you little to no control over anything from editing to your front cover. They do, however, write you a check up front to ease the pain of turning your baby over to them after the excruciating process of birthing and raising it to be world-ready.

Independent and boutique (which specializes in certain genres or a certain image) publishers do not write you a check up front, but they don’t charge you anything either and you share in the royalties at a better cut. You also have tons of control over your editing, front cover art, and all other factors such as in-house marketing strategies.

Hybrid and full service self-publishing companies offer you quality services for a price. The difference is that the hybrid companies might turn you away if your work is not of a standard they deem worthy, whereas straight-up self-publishing companies are not concerned with the quality of your work if your money is green and plentiful.

Pure independent self-publishing (usually through internet sites such as Amazon) only require your ability to maneuver through it, and generally do not charge you for using their self-publishing program; however they do want a portion of your profit. For clarification, ALL forms of publishing will take a portion of your profit. 

4-Agents: Speaking of publishers, traditional publishing will not (as a rule) take un-agented manuscripts, which means if you have chosen this route, you will need an agent. You do not pay agents up front, but if they sell a publisher on your manuscript they will expect a percentage of the profit from your book sales. What do you get in return for going traditional by paying an agent AND a publisher part of your profit?

That’s a good question. Truthfully, it narrows down to credibility, and knowing that you have made the grade. Your work has stood out above all the other work out there, and like fine art, is generally valued by the caliber of gallery that will accept it. This is because experts in the field (professional agents and editors) have the well-honed skills necessary for skimming the cream off the top.

If nothing else, it will certainly help establish you as a serious author sooner, and it will bring greater attention to your book when released. Traditional magazines and the top tier of social media marketers will review your book, because someone other than you and a self-publishing service have deemed it as worthy-mention.

Having said all that, obviously, there are a lot of very good quality novels out there that chose to take a more independent path because it is much less of a hassle and the more independent your publishing route, the more of your profit you keep. It is also true that anyone can pay independent book reviewers such as Kirkus for a review. Regardless of your publishing credits or lack there of, the cream will always float to the top. And that’s the beauty of it. In the end, the reader decides.

As it should be.

It is also important that your novel get noticed. No one can read or appreciate something they don’t know about, no matter how good it is. If you have decided to go the route of traditional publishing, that means the first person who needs to know about and appreciate your work is an agent.

How do you get an agent you ask? This is another good question. Stay tuned for the answer and more to come in the 12-step series…..

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Kathryn’s next novel, Journey, will be released September, 2015 by Winter Goose Publishing

Author Badge 2015 2

 

 

 

Personal blog and website: http://kathrynmattingly.com Edgy Words Unleashed

Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00EILN6YE

FB page: https://www.facebook.com/kathrynmattinglyauthor

WGP page: http://wintergoosepublishing.com/authors/kathryn-mattingly/

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The Addicted Writer’s 12-Step Plan

12 Sunday Apr 2015

Posted by Kathryn Mattingly in Blog Post

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

12 step plan, agents, book proposal, good writing, literary contests, publishers, synopsis, writers

images

This past couple of weeks between speaking engagements and teaching my novel writing class at the college, I have been critiquing and judging manuscripts for an annual literary contest. I’ve been doing this for ten years now- reading these entries for this particular conference in Seattle. Every year the manuscripts get better.

Bottom line- there is some tough competition out there.

Between the continual barrage of informative articles posted on social media and the countless ‘how to’ writing books, the ambitious and inspired would-be author is obviously listening, and taking the information to task.

Good for them!

Funny, but all I heard for the last several years was how the new ease of self- publishing would suffocate and all but stamp out pen-worthy writing. Not so, apparently. The flooded market has simply made the more determined writers more deliberate in their approach, so they will stand out.

By paying attention to authors, their publishers, and book sales over the past decade I have concluded it isn’t great marketing alone that sells books, and great books will not necessarily sell well on their own. Ultimately, it takes a winning combination of good marketing for a good book to achieve great sales.

There is the occasional exception. Free enterprise is often about offering you products without any quality control whatsoever. But hey, when someone can make a million bucks writing socially acceptable porn it just shows that America will always be a land of opportunity.

Amen to that.

If you have decided to take the high road, by going in the opposite direction of pure sensationalism, then what I will be covering in my blog posts for the next several weeks are the 12-step plan you might want to invest in.

This series to success (which I teach at the college in my fiction-memoir writing class) includes the specific elements we are to use as our guide when critiquing and judging those literary contest entries, so if you want to have a winning book, I hope these sobering truths that I will share over the next few weeks will be your commandments to faithfully complete.

1-Synopsis: The first entry in this 12-step series is the dreaded synopsis, which is the first thing any agent, editor, publisher, or contest judge will see if you are writing fiction. It’s more important than you think because it sets the mood for this stop-gate reader. If they find it confusing, boring, or irrational thinking, well, then you might be done before they have begun to even read your well-penned words  

Whether being asked for a short 1 page synopsis or a more in-depth 2-3 pager, it should be a concise summary with no flattery or embellishments. Just a straight talking road map of your plot and character arcs, which means you will have a heroes journey for your main character clearly laid out, without holding back on what the resolution is.

The difference between that short synopsis and a longer one will be the inclusion of exactly what those plot twists and turns are, and a few words on any secondary scenarios percolating beneath the surface of your main plot.

Be sure to mention the growth your protagonist will experience by the time things are wrapping up. If your plot isn’t plausible and doesn’t stand out as being interesting and dynamic- don’t expect a callback from an agent.

2-Book Proposal: If you are writing nonfiction such as a memoir or a creative narrative, you will not be writing a synopsis, but a book proposal instead. Make sure that your premise and the purpose for it is clear. Unless you have endeared yourself to an agent or publisher for which you have made a substantial profit, also be sure the entire manuscript has already been written and perfectly polished before sending out that book proposal.

Why write a book proposal if you’ve already written the book? Well you wouldn’t, if you were an established author and proven money maker, but even if you’re a novice, you have to play the game according to the rules. Remember, book proposals are written for traditional publishers, including the agents and editors that represent them. Nothing defines traditional publishing better than their well-established rules and reputation for following them.

Your trump card is not having a time lapse between when interest is shown and the manuscript shows up. It will be harder to forget who you are that way, since you are virtually a nobody… for now, at least, until you play your cards right and that manuscript finally goes to press.

Speaking of going to press, next week I will blog about what press, exactly, your book might be going to when I discuss publishing options; a virtual Pandora’s Box of choices (some more accessible than others).

Stay tuned for part 2….

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Kathryn’s next novel, Journey, will be released  September, 2015

by Winter Goose Publishing Author Badge 2015 2

 

 

Personal blog and website: http://kathrynmattingly.com Edgy Words Unleashed

Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00EILN6YE

FB page: https://www.facebook.com/kathrynmattinglyauthor

WGP page: http://wintergoosepublishing.com/authors/kathryn-mattingly/

 

 

 

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