How I Went from a Co-op Disaster to a Legit Indie Publishing House to Achieve My Dream of Being a Published Novelist

 

Becoming a published author was a dream I had ever since I started writing my novel in high school. I was sixteen at the time, and it took a couple of years for me to finish writing that novel. I got the idea for my novel from a real-life experience – a series of dreams I kept having – and my dreams inspired me to turn it into a story.

 

Next came the task of giving my story a good title. Since the story contained a central theme, I decided to use this as a way of coming up with the title. In the story, the first child born in November fell victim to an ancient family curse, so I called the story November’s Child. (My mother was born in November, so of course she became the biggest member of my cheering squad.) Thinking my manuscript was ready to send out, I nabbed a copy of Writer’s Market and started querying publishers.

 

The rejections started trickling in, so I was ecstatic by the time I got an acceptance from a publishing company in Utah. This particular publisher had what they referred to as a “co-op” plan, where authors paid for a percentage of the cost to get books published. Not only this, but authors were also required to buy 100 copies of the published book.

 

I was young and naïve at the time. New to the world of authors and publishing. My dad got involved and reviewed the contract, but he was not very savvy about the publishing world either. At the time, I had no connections or networks with other authors, so I couldn’t ask about this publisher or this contract. I honestly thought this was a legit deal, so of course I signed their contract and sent them the money.

 

Months passed. I patiently waited, figuring that publishing a book would take time. I was contacted about a cover design, but I never saw any galleys to approve for the book. Finally, I received news that the book was now published, so I happily ordered my one hundred copies and got busy with book promotion. I was ecstatic that, finally, at the age of nineteen, I was a real novelist!  I even had a launch party for the book, inviting my journalism professor.

 

I was thrilled that my dream of becoming a published novelist had finally come true, but it soon turned into a nightmare.

 

While I was busy celebrating becoming an author and promoting the book, I noticed one thing: I wasn’t getting any royalty reports. Ever since I became an author, I made it my business to start learning everything I could about the business of being an author. I had learned that authors are supposed to receive royalty reports, but I never got any. I called the company constantly, but every time I called, I was given some excuse why nobody could speak to me.

 

Then the news came that this company was being investigated for fraud. I was shocked, now realizing that perhaps I had made a mistake in trusting them with my book (and with our money, part of which my dad chipped in). I kept tabs on developments in the story. Soon the truth came out: The two men who owned this company had swindled authors of their money. All of the money sent to these two men, who us writers had trusted, was kept for themselves, which they used to gamble away in another state. Fortunately, the fraud was discovered, and the men were ultimately imprisoned.

 

As for the company’s authors who lost royalties, an attorney attached to the case stepped in to help out. Eventually, it was arranged that the authors could purchase copies of the books, or all of their remainder copies of books would be destroyed. There wasn’t much talk about restitution for royalties. However, I decided to accept my losses and get the remainder copies of the books. (At least this time, I knew the money I sent to pay for these books would go towards helping out in repairing the damage those two men had caused with other companies.)

 

But where to go from there? That was the big question. I wasn’t prepared to give up: I still wanted to be a published author! But what could I do now?

 

This confusion spurred me into action. I got online and started communicating with a lot of people familiar with the case: Authors, attorneys and experts on the business of publishing. I spent months going back and forth with a variety of folks who offered a variety of suggestions.

 

Finally, I decided to try getting a literary agent. Fortunately, I had the luck of finding one locally, and she agreed to sign me on. She suggested I rewrite the book and she would get busy sending it to publishers. I rewrote the novel and sent it her way. Then I was no longer hearing from her as often as before. Months went by and I never heard anything about who she was pitching my book to, if anyone had shown interest in it, or even if she had received any requested changes.

 

Nothing. My emails even went unanswered.

 

Finally, out of frustration, I sent a final email saying I was withdrawing the manuscript from her consideration. I was done with this so-called “literary agent” who was ghosting me!

 

Still, at least I had a new draft of the novel. This time, though, I once again checked with my contacts about submitting it to publishers. They suggested that I should submit it, except that this time, give the novel a new title.

 

After some consideration and having a powwow with my siblings, a new title for my novel was finally chosen: Shadow of Samhain.

 

I started querying publishing companies again. At around this time, it was many years later. I was older and wiser – and more cautious about publishers willing to publish any book for a fee. Unfortunately, I got a number of rejections.

 

Meanwhile, I was still determined to get other books published: A poetry book and a children’s book. An author friend referred me to a new independent publisher called Gypsy Shadow Publishing, and I submitted my poetry book to them. They not only accepted my poetry book, Love is Like a Rainbow: Poems of Love and Devotion, for publication, but they also accepted my children’s book, The Yellow Rose. The two women running Gypsy Shadow were supportive, helpful, knowledgeable about the publishing business, and very prompt in replying to my emails. I was very happy to be signed with this publisher, and everything went well.

 

However, even though I was now a published author, I was still no longer a published novelist. This was a big deal for me! It was, after all, my dream to become a published novelist. Even though my first experience with this did not go well, I was willing to try again.

 

I wondered if my new publisher was willing to take on a book that was previously published. I checked in with them about this and they responded with suggestions concerning the manuscript’s availability to be republished. I followed their advice then I sent the manuscript.

 

Soon came a response from this publisher: They wanted the book. I was ecstatic to read the email subject line: “Offer of Contract.” The search for a new publisher for this book was over and Gypsy Shadow Publishing published Shadowof Samhain in October 2013. Sales of the book were mediocre, but I was thrilled to have my story back in print.

 

And, in a way, this offered closure from the disaster I lived through in my first attempt to get my novel published.

 

I have published many more books with Gypsy Shadow Publishing since then. The year 2023 was my ten-year anniversary as a novelist. I have written two other novels since the release of my first one and, in November of this year, my fourth novel will be published by Twisted Dreams Press. I plan to write and submit more novels in 2025!

 

It was a long, rough road in finally becoming a published novelist, but I’m so glad I never gave up on making my dream come true!

Are You on the Agent Hunt? Don’t Stop With One Rejection!

I recently came across an article online written by a self-published author. As I continued to read the article, I realized there was something wrong with his story.

 

The author shared his story about his search for a literary agent for his novel. Right after one rejection from the one and only agent he queried, he leapt to the decision to self-publish his novel.

 

I could only sit in my chair and stare at those words, stunned. Really? He only queried ONE agent? And gave up his search after ONE rejection? I was like, Seriously? After just one rejection? I have tons of rejections from agents!

 

Sadly, this is a common action many new authors take. After just one rejection, they opt to self-publish instead. And while there’s nothing wrong with self-publishing your book (I know MANY self-published authors who have met success with their self-published titles), I can’t stop thinking about how this author gave up on the agent hunt so easily.

 

As for me, I really can’t afford to just query one agent and be done. First of all, there are agents who take forever to respond, while others will respond quickly. Plus, there’s a chance that the one agent I queried might not be a good fit, but another agent just might.

 

I’m too passionate about my novel to do the bare minimum in finding an agent for it! I believe in my novel and I KNOW it will sell. I KNOW it’s a good story and I KNOW it will be a timely book. So, I give it my all in either trying to find an agent for this book – or a publisher who loves it too and wants to publish it.

 

Maybe I am just too stubborn to take an alternative route for getting my novel published. Or maybe it’s my “never say die!” attitude as a freelance writer that gets me to keep querying those agents.

 

Whatever it is, I am still on the agent hunt, lo these many months after getting my first rejection. I’m not ready to “give up” just yet. I KNOW there is an agent and a publisher out there who will love my novel just as much as I do.

 

But I understand that rejection can be tough for a lot of new authors. This is especially true for first-time authors. Rejection is hard, and some writers tend to take rejection personally.

 

The thing these writers need to understand is that rejection is a part of the writing life. It’s not the end of a writing life, it’s not a crisis, it’s not a personal opinion about the quality of your work. It is simply a part of this crazy life we live as writers. It’s just as much a part of the writing life as getting an acceptance or trying to find just the right market to submit your work to.

 

Once you understand and accept that rejection happens for every writer and that it’s not a reflection of you and your work, it becomes easier to tolerate rejection. A rejection is just one person saying “not right for us” – and you should really trust their judgment! They know their business and their audience a lot better than writers not associated with their business or unaware of their audience. They don’t feel that “pull” that your work should attract, and they feel that they can’t do your book the same kind of justice another publisher or agent who LOVES your book would be able to do.

 

Just don’t take rejection personally. And don’t give up after the first rejection.

 

Part of the process of finding a literary agent is receiving rejections. That’s just the way it is. If you are on the agent hunt, you WILL collect rejections along the way. Count on it.

 

All of those rejections are the stepping stones you need to take in order to find that ONE agent who will say “yes.” And then you can look back at all those rejections from other agents and take pride in the fact that you never gave up. You finally reached the end of your journey despite all of those stumbling blocks that tried to knock you down.

 

So don’t see one rejection from an agent as a signal to give up on your search. Rather, see it as proof that you need to keep going.

The wrong way to find an agent

While browsing through job ads on a popular ad site (which I won’t name here but you can guess what it is by this clue: It’s one word that starts with a “C”), I came across an ad from someone who was searching for a literary agent. This being the first time I have ever seen someone post an ad for a lit agent on this site, I was intrigued. I wanted to know what the ad said. So I clicked on it and started reading.

We all know that this kind of thing is really a shot in the dark. Literary agents just don’t have the time to hunt for writers/authors posting ads for them on non-agent-related sites. Sure, they may check out QueryTracker or AgentQuery, but they really don’t have the time to seek out more clients. They are busy enough with the clients they already have. Also, they’re attending meetings, negotiating deals and reading, reading, reading.

Also, an agent usually does not seek clients; the writers contact them. They use a query letter or proposal to make contact with literary agents. Another way a writer gets in touch with agents is by meeting them at conventions, workshops and retreats. They don’t contact you; you contact them. Very rarely it happens that an agent will hear good things about an aspiring author’s work or see astronimical sales numbers on a self-published book, then go through the motions of seeking out that author. However, this is not common. It’s better to go with a query letter.

All that said, there were certain items in the ad which I must comment on here:

Experienced/reputable agent required….

Just a note that a reputable and/or experienced literary agent usually doesn’t scour popular ad sites looking for clients. It’s usually the scammers who do.

Also, "required"?

“…to take a potential best seller….”

Potential? Aw, nuts. Why not an actual best seller? Seriously, though. Who is the judge of whether or not your book is going to be a best seller? It’s not a good idea to say to an agent, “My book is going to be a best seller!” Because, really, says who?

“…self-published book…”

It’s already published? Then what do you need the agent for? If you think your self-published book is going to be picked up by an agent to land a contract with a traditional publisher willing to pay big bucks for it thanks to an ad, it’s time to come back down to earth. Yes, self-published books landing big contracts with reputable publishers has happened, but only after the book has sold hundreds or even thousands (or hundreds of thousands) of copies. And after it has gained media recognition. Everybody’s talking about it! Everybody’s reading it! That’s when the magic happens. And only then, it’s the agent who contacts the author, not the other way around.

The ad goes on to request that only “reputable” agents need apply – er, get in line – er, respond to the ad, and not self-publishing companies.

Well, good luck with that. Posting something like this on a site that is not about literary agents and, therefore, not even scanned by literary agents hungry for new clients (let alone reputable agents) only sets the author up for being contacted by the less-reputable ilk.

As a side note, I would strongly recommend the ad writer learn how to put together a query letter or proposal for their book. That is what gets an agent's attention. It is also what tells us what kind of book it is (fiction? Nonfiction?) and what it's about. These things were lacking in the ad, and if the writer is serious about signing with an agent, it's a good idea to include those things -- in a query letter.

Dear Distracted Author: Stop being so distracted!

In case you're wondering, I'm still here. Just been very busy. This time, however, it is not so much being distracted by all the networking via the Web, but mostly because of the Revisions book. On that note, I have news.

After sharing with my publisher just how ginormous the manuscript was becoming, she said we'll probably have to turn this one book into a series of three books. Up until then, she had this idea, but it didn't really take center stage just yet. We played it by ear. Then the decision was made to, yes, go ahead and serialize it. So now this one Revisions book will be a series of 3 books. The first one will cover editing, revising novels, and revising nonfiction books. The second one, which I have been working on this week, will focus on revising articles, poetry, song lyrics, and scripts. Now it turns out that it will cover something else, as well.

Earlier this year, my publisher suggested that a section on revising short fiction should be in the manuscript. I, in my naivete (or was it distractedness??), thought that short fiction writers could benefit from the section on revising novels, so I thought it wasn't needed. However, after putting together a rough draft of the second book, and analyzing what it covered, I went back to her saying, "You know, Liz, I think we should include short fiction." She probably saw that note and thought, THAT'S WHAT I SAID! LOL (Sorry, Liz.) So I put together a list of chapters to include for a section on revising short fiction, focusing specifically on the mechanics of short fiction and the elements which separate short fiction from book-length fiction. I have articles written up on short fiction and I'll be going through the unpublished ones to see which ones can be revised so that they can be chapters for this book.

That said, the hunt resumes for interviewees. This time, I will need to find writers of short fiction to interview and obtain quotes for this book. I will go through my database of writers to see who writes short fiction, but I welcome inquiries from writers not included in the original manuscript. That door will remain open -- even for scriptwriters, freelance writers and songwriters.

We are also going to get in touch with literary agents for a special "agent section," which will go into all 3 books.

And I'm adding new chapters to the "Getting Out of Revision Hell Alive" section (Book 3).

Unfortunately, however, all of this busyness has kept me pretty distracted from other things -- namely, book reviews I have on the table, checking up on the haunted houses book (though miraculously I remembered to e-mail my co-author about this last night), taking care of business with the newly-accepted children's book (MUST! GET! TO! POST! OFFICE! Or the mailbox before the mail comes), and checking out other opportunities.

Those opportunities include an invitation from one of the musicians included in the book to contact someone she knows about getting a song I wrote set to music (oh, joy!) and getting short stories ready to submit to anthologies. I have one I'm currently working on for stories for children, and I just came across another call for stories for an anthology looking for dark tales.

Now all I need to find is an anthology accepting science-fiction short stories, and I'll be all set!

In other news, I recently had a short story published in a brand new anthology called Inner Fears. My story is called "A Phone Call Away." Check it out!

Inner Fears

Finally, I'm holding a "launch special" for my poetry book, to celebrate its print release. Stay tuned!

Agented!

When I first started working on the haunted houses book, I had no idea what I'd be in for. As the project grew, I knew I needed to find someone who could be a part of this project. I found that someone with Martha Jette, who agreed to be a co-author for the book. Pretty soon, we got the book into final shape. Not long afterwards, we found a publisher for this book -- or so we thought. As can happen in publishing, things did not work out well with the publisher, so we had to cancel our contract with them and look elsewhere. Our search consisted mostly of publishing companies, yet Martha surprised me one day with the idea of approaching a literary agent for our book. I agreed to proceed, and we waited to hear back from the agency.

When a contract from the agency appeared in my inbox one day, I couldn't believe my eyes. I even asked Martha, "Is this for real?" Sure enough, the contract was the real deal. There were certain clauses in the contract we wanted to negotiate first, and I held my breath, waiting to see what happened. I wasn't ready to celebrate yet; I first wanted to see how the negotiations went.

I am pleased to announce that all went well and now Martha and I have a literary agent for our book, Totally Scared: The Complete Book on Haunted Houses. Hooray! We now have an agent!

Our agent's name is R. Travis Shortt and he is a member of the team behind Black River Media, LLC. The company has worked mostly as a PR firm in the past, and the decision to take on the job of also working as a literary agency came after many of Mr. Shortt's clients expressed a desire for him to be their literary agent. He agreed and has since been working in this capacity for Black River Media, as well as his position as Vice President. Here is their link: http://www.blackrivermediallc.com/ Because this is still new for them, there is not a whole lot on the site about their work as a literary agency. Yet I am confident that this will change very soon.

Also, I have spoken with Mr. Shortt through E-mail, and he has opened the door for me to pitch my other book projects to him when that time comes. So not only do I "share" an agent with Martha for our haunted houses book, I have the opportunity to submit my future book projects to my agent without going through the trials of finding the right publisher for my books. Additionally, having an agent means we and I will receive a better contract from a reputable publishing company.

So that is the latest development for the haunted houses book. I'm very excited about this and feel relieved that, in addition to Martha finding an agent for our book, we both have an agent for our other book projects, as well. What a wonderful accomplishment! We have an agent and I have an agent! Now I hope the next thing to report on is that we'll have a publisher for our haunted houses book -- a publisher that will actually end up publishing our book. Fingers crossed!

Could you pitch your book in 3 sentences?

The Knight Agency is holding a contest! The "Book in a Nutshell Competition" challenges writers to pitch their book in only three sentences.

Yep, you read that right. Anyone who's game has just THREE SENTENCES (150 words max.) to pitch their manuscript to an agent.

From the blog: "Twenty of the best submissions will be chosen and requested by various agents who will then give feedback on your work...and it may even lead to possible representation."

Details:

Enter TKA's Book In a Nutshell Competition!

I have received a rejection from TKA for one of my novels in the past. Reading the comments, I gather I'm go for pitching a different manuscript. I have no idea how I could sum up my story in 3 sentences. But this is a fun diversion and of course I'm gonna give it a shot.

Advice for the aspiring author

Many years ago, when I was just starting to get serious about having a career as a writer and becoming a novelist, I foolishly signed with a co-op that would publish my book if I footed half the bill. Young and naive at the time, and not so aware of the various types of publishers out there and ones to avoid, I went through with it. I didn't revise my manuscript. I didn't get any crits or feedback on it. I didn't do any research on the publisher or even know much about what kind of publishers there were. Those were my mistakes and even though my book got into print, I was left with a manuscript that is in poor shape and one which is very hard to buy a copy of. (As it is, I have remainder copies of this novel, but I have not been very zealous in promoting it for the very reason that it is poorly written.)

Just starting out, I apparently got taken in by a shady business with even greater shady dealings. What happened to me today stands only as a reminder to never again be so lax about understanding the various types of publishers out there, being aware of scammers and checking people out.

I recently came across information about a literary agency that was sending writers a referral, first to use their editing service then providing the suggestion that the writer self-publish their book instead. To say the least, I was outraged. This suggestion came only from a query letter (under normal circumstances), and a writer querying a literary agent is obviously not interested in self-publishing their novel. (Self-published novels are a hard sell.) The response this agency was handing out was not only confusing but very unprofessional.

A literary agent or acquisitions editor will give you one of two responses to your query letter: "Yes, send me more" or "No, sorry, not for us." Those are the only two kinds of responses you, the aspiring author, can expect to receive.

If an agent or publisher says something like "we'll get you published if you use our editing service to whip your manuscript into shape!" or "here's a contract, give me money" or "your writing is so brilliant that I want to post your sample chapters on my site for a small fee and we'll hope a publisher somehow or another finds your marvelous work then offers an advance" then run away. RUN. AWAY. Do not sign with these agents -- and especially a publisher who promises you the world for all rights to your work, ownership for 7 years and/or an up-front fee. (Somehow, these people will convince the writer who doesn't know better that publishers and acquisitions editors spend hours surfing the Internet looking for new talent. Sorry to say, they don't.)

Besides being wary of responses to your query such as the above, another good habit for any aspiring author is to never jump the gun. If you're offered a contract, don't blindly sign on the dotted line. Read the contract first. Study its terms and ask a fellow writer about anything which might leave you a little confused. (Don't ask the agent or editor; if there's a chance they are shady, they'll only confuse you even further with their twisted lingo or tell you not to worry about that, it's just standard). Make sure you agree with the terms in the contract. If you're not comfortable about something, try to negotiate with them. (You can negotiate the terms of your contract!) Go with your gut on this. If something doesn't sound right, chances are it's not.

Also, don't believe lies a shady agent or publisher will tell you. It is NOT standard to pay to get your book published. It is NOT standard to sign away all of the rights to your book.

A final word of advice: Do your homework. Check out agents, editors and publishing companies. Look into the kinds of books they've done, if they're available in major bookstores, if they are in professional condition (good covers, little to no typos and pages that are professionally set). Try to netwok with some of their authors. Visit the agent or publisher's blog or look them up on social networks such as Facebook or MySpace. Take the time to see what they are all about. Google them. Read what other people are saying about them. In this process, time is your friend. Give an agent, editor or publisher a little time and see what they're doing, who they're doing business with and how things move along with them.

You can check out agents, editors and publishers on sites such as Absolute Write (check out "Bewares and Background Check"), Preditors & Editors and Writer Beware. Newsletters for writers such as WritersWeekly will often have a "warnings" section that will let writers know if someone is better left avoided.

Bottom line: Go the extra mile to make sure the agent and publishing company you sign with is legit. Check out their background, check out their work and take the time to examine just exactly what a contract is asking for. Your career as an author will be much better for it.

Found a story flaw

So today's plan was this: Work on the novel manuscript edits. I'm editing my novel manuscript for hopefully the last time before I send it out to agents. I have not sent these pages out; just the queries. But I'm going to start aiming for agents I haven't yet queried only because they won't accept e-queries, and one particular agent requests sample pages with the query. (I know I have said before that there's nothing wrong with sending an e-query. Really, there isn't! A lot of my published work got accepted with e-queries. But I'm running out of agents to query who accept the e-queries and that means it's time to focus on agents who want snail mail. I'll go bankrupt sending ALL of them snail mail queries and samples, so I have to pick just a few select agents, and only the ones worth their stuff, at a time.)

I started working on the edits, one eye on whether anything came up with any of my current book projects. Finding nothing and not having many leads to follow, I decided to just go for it. Get some work done on those edits!

Now this is a manuscript I have been editing and revising for a looong time. Longer than I would like to admit. So you can imagine the numerous times I have gone over certain scenes and dialogue.

Which is why I couldn't believe it when I caught a glaring mistake in the very first chapter. I won't give out the details, but I'll just say that a character I have in this scene doing something should NOT have been there, because he was only a baby at that time. Not a grown man.

He was still in his cloth diapers at that point in time!

Oops.

I couldn't believe it. Wow, what a mistake to make! GAH! I was stunned I even caught it, because I should have caught it long ago. I should have latched on to that months ago. Several drafts ago.

Well, maybe someone would have caught it if they'd read the whole manuscript. As it is, my beta readers only read the first few chapters or first half of it, never the whole thing. Same goes with agents I've sent partials to.

Still, I did send the whole darn thing to a publishing company, and the editor didn't even catch that mistake!

So maybe it's just not one of those mistakes many people look out for. Really, you wouldn't notice it just by reading that one chapter. But you WOULD notice it later on, after you get this character's history later on in the story. It'd be like, 'Hey, wait a second. Wasn't he supposed to be just born right when that happened??'

Grr. I'm only glad I caught it now. Now, when I'm sending these sample pages out. It wouldn't hurt anything, because it's only the first chapter and not the whole manuscript. But it's still a mistake that needs to be fixed.

And I am relieved it's a mistake that I did finally catch. Took me long enough to catch it, though.

After I caught this mistake, I decided that I really should create a timeline, just to be sure who is at what age, or alive or dead, at certain points in a story. Timelines are a good thing to have to keep track of everyone and everything! And I'm making a note that perhaps I really should use a timeline for future novels I write -- just to be on the safe side.

Should I be paranoid?

Wow. Yesterday, sometime after I posted the last blog entry, I got a rejection in my email from a literary agent. The rejection said that the agency is looking for submissions of what is selling, and they don't think my novel qualifies as something that would sell.

Ouch. Seriously, after moaning about having to write what DOES sell and getting that type of rejection, I have to wonder if this agent saw the blog post and immediately decided I just wasn't an investment worth their time (or money).

Now I'm starting to wonder if EVERY single agent I query is reading this blog, or the other blogs. Or looking at my MySpace to see if I'm doing the promotional work I SHOULD be doing as a published writer. (Some editors DO do that. In fact, some expect to see us doing the promotional work.)

Granted, I realize that, on a public platform like a (public) blog, there should be some discretion as far as the content is concerned. I mean, I look at blogs and profiles, too, and try to decide whether this person is someone "safe" for me to network and associate with. (If they have stuff on there saying "I hate America!" or "Satan rocks my world," I'd be a little cautious if I ever end up communicating with them or allowing them to know of the things that I do.) But I just never thought it would make or break a writer's chances of signing with an agent.

Still, I know that this may not be the case. Maybe it was just a coincidence. Have to wonder if this very thing has happened to other writers trying to find an agent, though.

This whole thing makes me think of one publishing company I am aware of who terminated contracts with their authors after they started committing slander against the company's CEO on their blogs. And, people have gotten fired because of things they said on their blogs. Bad-mouthing their bosses and revealing company secrets.

So, maybe a little bit of caution as far as what you blog about is a good thing, aye?

But this doesn't mean I don't want to write what sells. Or that I am not willing to send out stuff that is a "hot" item. I AM willing to do that! Just not with nonfiction. With fiction, I am all for it. If I can write it, I'll send it! They're just stories! I'm just no longer comfortable with my niche, as far as NONFICTION is concerned. Fiction is a whole 'nother animal. I can jump between genres just fine!

So, to any agents out there reading this, please know that I AM willing to run with the crowd. Be a part of the team! Join the club! As a writer of fiction, I am DEFINITELY willing to send out there what is "hot" and what is "selling." No need to worry about me being a bad investment. I am actually hoping that, with the work I do, I end up being a good investment. I'm sure going to try.

In defense of e-queries

I am still trying to find a literary agent. I sent off a query package last week. Yes, you read that right: It was a PACKAGE. It was my query, synopsis, first three chapters and an SASE. All by snail mail. Costing almost $3. And I had to grumble over that, asking myself, "Do I really want to pay $3 just to be told 'I'm not the right agent for this'?" (That's actually a common response I have been getting. Sigh! I wonder if that's a new polite way of saying NO??)

I really had to think over that one, though. With the economy being in the kind of shape that it is, I have to be careful on what I'm spending money on. I mean, nowadays, people just can't throw money into the wind. Every penny we can save counts! So for this reason, I'm going to start just sticking with sending e-queries instead. The query I sent by post on Monday was my last snail-mailed query.

Of course, not everybody is so accepting of getting queried by email. I've seen quite a few agency sites that will NOT accept e-queries. Period. Too bad, I have to pass on those and try the agencies who do. (I have to wonder why it's so terrible to receive an e-query? I mean, if it's kept to one page, as it should be, then how is that any different than receiving a regular email? On that note, though, I saw one agency where the agent said sending an e-query was "unprofessional." I had to roll my eyes over that one. I also grumbled, "Sending e-queries isn't 'unprofessional.' You wanna talk unprofessional, pal? Fix your typos.")

I realize this means my query is going to HAVE to pull some muscle in trying to sell my story. It REALLY needs to be in the best shape possible. This is where a writer's skill with words must shine: The query must dazzle the agent! It has to be the best query you have EVER written and must contain EVERYTHING the agent wants to see in the query. (Some agents do specify what they want to see in a query.)

Just got to make sure the query doesn't end up reading like a "buzzword dictionary" or lose the agent in understanding just WHAT the story is about. Or make sure it's not cluttered with adjectives or stereotypical catchphrases. As long as the query is professionally written, edited and interesting, my gut tells me that should be enough to justify sending it by email instead of by post.

Funny comment on AWWC

I was on the site agentquery.com, looking for more lit agents to, um, query. I was checking out one lit agency and saw that someone posted a question about it over on the Bewares and Background Check at the Absolute Write Water Cooler. Now THIS is the place to go and check out agencies. So I was reading the posts and everything sounded fine until someone mentioned they got a contract from them BUT....had concerns when getting to the clause where the client would reimburse the agent for fees, postage, etc., etc. Normally, that's the thing to steer clear of, but I was shaking my head and mumbling, "Dude, negotiate." Because you CAN negotiate things in a contract! Besides, that clause gave an either/or option.

Here is the link:
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73790

I was reading posters comments on how that kinda thing is standard in contracts these days. Someone even quoted SFWA's comments about that clause.

One writer said his/her agent has that in the contract, and that he "keeps it in there just in case a client does something that really gets his goat."

That made me REALLY laugh! HAHA! I was laughing so hard, I had tears in my eyes. HILARIOUS!!! I could just see that now. The agent getting angry at a client and going, "You big turkey! Here's a bill for $100!"

In other news, I have exhausted agents found on agentquery.com to E-query. Now I'm hitting up the other sites and some books to look for more!

Agents, freelancing and books -- oh, my!

So what's gone on in my writing life this week??

Agents, freelancing and books!

For 2 weeks now (M-F), I've been querying agents. When I started last Monday, I was planning to send out batches of queries EVERY DAY. But my time limitations being what they are, I have managed to average 3 queries a day. And that's okay.

Wait a sec...did I say "batches"?? As in, simultaneous querying?

Yup.

For once, I am ACTUALLY sending my query out to EVERY agent I can find representing as much of the stuff I write as possible. It's been quite the learning experience.

I have learned quite a few things in my search for an agent. In fact, I had enough tips I picked up along the way to turn it into an article! You can read that free article here on my website: http://dmcwriter.tripod.com/id43.html

I have also experienced a couple of bumps along the way, too. When I started querying agents, I didn't exactly have EVERYTHING I thought I needed. One thing I was missing was a synopsis, and I couldn't believe I'd forgotten all about writing one! Oops. So, into the second week, I had to write up a chapter-by-chapter synopsis and a one-page synopsis to send on to agents who requested them. It's a good idea to do this before starting the querying process, because stopping to write them can hold things up. (Time limits meant it took me 2 days to write the longer synopsis.)

As for the agents who refuse to accept E-queries: I WILL still query them, but only after I query the ones who do accept E-queries. I just really work faster this way, and it helps me stay on track of who I have queried so far.

Also this week, I went back into freelancing. But I have to tell you...my heart's just not in freelancing anymore. Not as much as it used to be. I was HAPPY just writing books! But the book-writing thing wasn't bringing in any income, something that I needed to do. However, I was NOT HAPPY doing the freelance writing thing. I spent a couple of days grumbling over it. I really felt like I was between a rock and a hard place. Books are what I want to write, not articles or news stories. JUST BOOKS! Books are my thing, my passion. I'm a book-writer, darn it! *kicks rock* Yet I didn't know how to solve the extra-income problem.

Until now.

Now I have FINALLY remembered how I COULD bring in some income writing books....and books and books and books. (haha) I could do the write-for-hire thing. The ghostwriting thing. I have a friend who knows people at a company she did ghostwriting for, with teen books, and she emailed me some years back on how I can step into that. I wanted to do that as a way to practice writing MG/YA books, because of my series. But I'm already writing the series now! So why not go to the next level with that?? After all, I am also planning to do YA books, too. (I have....so many....books planned.) THAT is how I can bring in extra income and STILL write books! YEAH! So, I'm going to dig up her email and look into that.

After I stop kicking myself for forgetting all about it.

In other news, I finished editing the MG manuscript. I'm still editing the VERY LONG appendix for the haunted houses book. It's a listing of haunted houses throughout the U.S. It's coming along really well but I tell you one thing: The stuff I'm reading scares me so bad, I think I'm going to be sleeping with the lights on. For a VERY. LONG. TIME.