Archive for the ‘Writing (General)’ Category
A Writer’s Secret Weapon: Honest Feedback
When I wrote a short story for a contest a few months ago I gave it to my wife and to a friend for feedback. They both love to read, but I hadn’t anticipated the results.
My wife felt comfortable telling me that it was terrible. My friend just said it was alright.
I thought they would both say something similar, but my wife ended up giving me the feedback I needed in order to rework my story. She was right. The original one didn’t work.
Paying $15 to enter a lousy story into a contest is not my goal.
Just about every article that passes the “wife test” is accepted by an editor or at least receives praise. One story, that passed the wife test, even received an honorable mention in a Glimmer Train contest.
I’m lucky to have such a talented reader in my home that I can trust implicitly to provide honest feedback. She is my secret weapon who has saved me a lot of disappointment and frustration in the long run.
I have read similar stories from writers who rely heavily upon one trusted reader who is sometimes a spouse and other times a member of a critique group. Keep in mind that a spouse is not always the best choice for feedback.
What to look for in a reader:
- Interest in the same subject matter.
- Attention to the details in your genre (eg. what makes for a good plot in a novel).
- Trust and comfort to tell you the truth.
No writer can catch all of his/her mistakes. If there’s a hole in an argument, a weak point in the plot, or an explanation that falls flat, oftentimes an attentive and critical reader is one of the safest bets in finding them. If you’re waiting for an editor to catch your mistakes, chances are you’ll just receive a form letter saying, “Your work does not meet our current needs.”
That could be a clue that you really need better feedback before you submit your work.
Praise in the Midwest Book Review
Last week I received a note that A Path to Publishing had been reviewed in the Midwest Book Review. The editor Jim Cox shared the following conclusion:
“Of special note are the chapters focused on Preparing Your Proposal; Publishing Options; Working with an Editor; and Marketing Your Work. Thoroughly ‘user friendly’ and superbly presented, ‘A Path to Publishing: What I Learned by Publishing a Nonfiction Book’ is a very strongly recommended read for any and all aspiring writers seeking to turn their manuscripts into profitably published books.”
You can read the rest of his review under his introductory note at the latest edition of the Midwest Book Review online.
How to Know if Your Book Idea Works: Is It Better Than Good?
I have had a lot of book ideas. Only one has been published by a relatively large commercial publisher.
The rest hang out on my hard drive. The most promising are listed on a white board next to my desk waiting for something to click. A few made it to the desks of editors as book proposals, and some of them were even greeted as good book ideas with excellent writing.
Alas, no contract, no book.
It’s quite hard to evaluate the merit of a book idea, but one thing that helps me weed them out before I bug my agent or an editor is the “better than good” standard. In other words, my book idea needs to be really exceptional if I’m going to invest the time and energy required for a book. I usually ask myself questions like these:
Am I passionate about it?
Does thinking about it keep me up at night?
Can I NOT write this book?
Those are tough questions that have killed about ten projects that were all the rage with me for a few months. When they fizzled and failed to re-fizzle themselves, I knew that I made the right call.
At this point I’m testing about two or three ideas for future books, seeking feedback from trusted friends, and experimenting with them. Once I have a better idea of what their main concepts will be, I’ll start asking the hard questions.
If I can’t answer with an unequivocal, “Yes!” then I know I won’t be able to invest the time and energy required to form the proposal, pitch the book, write it, edit it, and then market it until I drop.
This incredible expenditure of energy in publishing makes it all the more critical that authors are passionate about their book ideas. If not, then they have a long year ahead of them!
The next post in this series: In my next post I’ll talk about the ways I make sure my book ideas are unique. However, you’ll unfortunately need to wait until July 19th for that one! We’ll be away on vacation for a week, so hang in there. I promise to keep sharing the goods when I return.
When Can You Call Yourself a “Writer”?
In speaking with many publishing hopefuls, bloggers, and other folks who dabble in writing, I often hear them question whether they can truly call themselves “a writer.”
They all write words on a page or on a computer.
Some have quite a few readers on their web sites.
And yet, they hesitate in calling themselves “writers.”
Why?
Because they haven’t published in magazines or they haven’t published books. They just think of themselves as word tinkers.
I used to think the same of myself before I published a book. At the time my only writing credit was an online magazine and a defunct humor magazine. Then someone said in an E-mail, “You’re a writer. Now you just need someone to pay you for it and some fame.”
It was a jarring comment. I’d built my identity as a writer around external sources of validation, namely money and popularity.
Here’s the thing, having published in several magazines, several books, and online over the past five years, I can just about guarantee you’ll never think you have enough money or popularity to call yourself a writer because there will always be someone with more money and more readers.
While there are good writers and writers who have a long way to go before they’re good, perhaps the matter of calling yourself a “writer” rests more with the individual. Do you personally believe you can call yourself a writer based on the work you do?
Forget money.
Forget fame.
Do you write seriously? Do you care about the words you put on the page? Is your writing an important part of who you are?
If you can answer yes to questions such as these, then you probably are a writer. Very few writers go on to make a lot of money or to become household names, so just focus on loving what you do, put your best into it, and savor every time a reader shares positive feedback about your work no matter how you publish it.
Writing is about crafting words for readers. Set goals for yourself, but never confuse legitimate writing with the side benefits of money and popularity.
Win a Free E-book Version of A Path to Publishing
Marketing expert and blogger Paul Steinbrueck is giving away three copies of A Path to Publishing. Check out his review and his special offer to readers. He has opened up the comments to reader questions about publishing and will include them when he interviews me this week.
If you drop by his blog, be sure to stick around and to have a look at some of the great posts he has been sharing on marketing, writing, and blogging.
What You Need to Know About Self-Publishing: Know Your Material
In celebration of my latest book, A Path to Publishing: What I Learned by Publishing a Nonfiction Book, I will be posting a series on what you need to know about self-publishing. I chose to self-publish A Path to Publishing and in the process discovered an enormous amount of material online, but some of it was dated. Over the coming weeks I will provide an updated guide to self-publishing today based on my latest experiences.
When self-publishing it’s up to you to develop your ideas, to organize them, and to make them clear and complete for readers. This is far more difficult to do than you may think.
For my first book, Coffeehouse Theology, I developed my ideas over a series of several years and still needed significant input from my literary agent and development editor at my publisher before the book was ready for publication. In the case of A Path to Publishing I created a detailed outline of the material several years earlier, which was relatively easy since publishing follows a series of steps that must remain in their order.
Even so, I gave several presentations on my material over the course of several years and returned to my outline to refine it, to move details around, and to fill in gaps where those in attendance had questions. In a sense, my workshops acted as my editorial development time. Without those trial runs I would have left several gaping holes in my book or left several disorganized points.
If you’re self-publishing, make sure you’re very familiar with your material and able to sort through the details and the proper order. This process will take longer than you’d expect, and unless you hire an editor to help you with the organization and development, which is something far more involved than proof-reading for clarity, your book may not connect with readers.
Looking for a bit more about publishing right now? Check out A Path to Publishing. It’s available for $10 as an ebook and for $15 as a paperback.
Interview with Lisa Delay on A Path to Publishing
Spirituality expert, comedian, and writer extraordinaire Lisa Delay kicks off the blog tour for A Path to Publishing today with her interview of me. She asks some great questions that should give publishing hopefuls some helpful ideas and a good idea of what they’ll find in the book.
Do you have your own publishing question? Drop by Lisa’s blog and post it in the comments. Between the two of us we’ll try to answer it.
Over the following week other bloggers will be posting on the book, conducting interviews, and possibly even hosting a giveaway or two.
My thanks to Lisa for her help in spreading the word. Make sure you check out her various endeavors:
http://lisadelay.com
http://lisadelay.blogspot.com
http://LifeAsPrayer.wordpress.com
How to Handle Rejection as a Writer: Reasons for Rejection
When rejection letters come, and they will, you’ll need to figure out why your piece was rejected. Sometimes an editor will tell you point blank. Other times you’ll wait for months and never receive a reply.
Either way, it’s important to evaluate the reasons for a rejected query. If an editor has filled you in on the reasons, then you’re well on your way. If not, you’ll need to review the magazine and its guidelines as you ask some of the following questions:
Do you have the experience necessary?
Perhaps you’re overreaching into a topic or a field in which you need more experience or research before you can submit an effective query.
Have you learned the craft of writing? Are you well-read?
Some writers will need to spend more time reading up on the basic techniques of nonfiction writing, style, and grammar. I took a workshop with the former editor of Vermont Life Magazine and he just about blew my mind with his various diagrams for structuring a magazine story. Books such as On Writing Well and The Elements of Style are bestsellers for a reason!
Do you know your competition?
Did you query an editor regarding an article or book on a topic that has already been addressed by many other writers? Have you failed to address a fresh angle or to offer a unique perspective?
Do you know your audience?
Even if you have a great idea, sufficient experience, and a unique perspective, you may still fall short of writing directly to the magazine or publisher’s audience. I have run into this on many occasions in the field of religion when I took angles that were a bit too liberal, charismatic, or conservative depending on the editor’s taste. In addition, some magazines are more academic or scholarly, while others aim for general readership.
Do you know your potential publishers or agents?
Many magazine editors, publishers, and literary agents who receive queries from writers state their preferences on their web sites, list previous publications, and sometimes even share a theme or genre list. Did you miss any of that crucial information before sending in your query?
Keep Trying
Even if you’ve been rejected or ignored, keep working on your queries, articles, and book ideas. It’s a tough business, but you never know when the right situation will fall into your lap. Unless you’re trying, that will never happen to you.
How to Handle Rejection as a Writer: Say Thank You
I know this sounds a bit pathetic or possibly even demeaning. Can I possibly mean that you should actually thank an editor for rejecting your piece?
Well, sort of. Don’t thank them for rejecting it. Thank the editor for reading your submission and for taking the time to e-mail you back even though he/she is probably overworked and underpaid.
If you received a reply within a few hours or days of sending your query, then treat the editor like a god.
Personal Rejections
If you didn’t get a form letter, that’s a good sign! Read what the editor tells you, take it to heart, and save that message so you can refer back to it every time you query that magazine or one like it.
Suck It Up
Writers need to develop thick skin and get used to rejection. You will never write for any sustained period of time if you don’t know how to take a textual punch. They come fast and often some days.
Saying thank you has a way of keeping yourself positive and showing the editor that you aren’t fazed by the rejection—which you shouldn’t. The next time you send a query to this editor you’ll start on much better terms than if you’d pouted or offered a rebuttal to his/her rejection.
Even if you think the editor is out to lunch, you need to move on. Whether or not you ever query this editor again, you can’t argue your way into convincing an editor to accept your work. I know, I was awesome at convincing my mom to buy me legos and ice cream, but really, it doesn’t work on editors.
Transition
You can be grateful that this rejection is not the end, but just the closing of one of many paths. There are other magazines where you can send your query or article, so get moving.
How to Handle Rejection as a Writer
I’ve spoken to rooms full of writers and have looked into the eyes of many who fear the very real possibility of receiving a rejection letter for their novels or nonfiction works. Writing is an emotional business in which people invest heavily in very personal and meaningful ideas and characters.
Rejection is just about the worst thing a writer can imagine besides publishing a book that is hated by readers and critics. Both possibilities sound pretty terrible, but rejection is the one thing that every writer who hopes to publish a book or article has to face from the start.
Even well-known authors with a history of successful books have to sometimes face rejection. Legendary Christian writer Frederick Buechner has published shelves worth of fiction and nonfiction, but even his latest book, The Yellow Leaves, was rejected by his life-long publisher. He had to take it elsewhere before landing a book deal.
Rejection is a real issue that every writer has to deal with in one way or another.
I had intended to write this series last week, but a few other projects and a persistent head cold pushed it back to this week. Tune in tomorrow, and I’ll discuss the nature of rejection in the business of writing.
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