Being the Voice Among Many

One Voice among many

Gibbon, Nebraska

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Yesterday we talked about being unique; today I want to talk to you about being a Voice. You say you’re popular among your writing friends. They swoon at your feet and are a welcome relief in the struggle to get to the top of your writing journey. That’s all well and good, but what does your voice sound like to strangers who’ve never met you.

Say a publisher is reading your work. They don’t know you from Adam so they are not in the popular crowd that you’re so used to having lifting you up and stroking your ego. They are strangers and theirs are the eyes that will read/publish your cherished work.

Like I had said, being popular is all well and good in your little clique of writers, but it isn’t going to help you among total strangers who are going to take a chance on you. Without a voice, you will get nowhere.

1) Query – Your query letter is going to be your voice to someone outside the familiar territory of your group of friends. Read the guidelines and follow them. They don’t want to know how to throw pies at someone, or hear your favorite joke, they want to hear about your story, and that is it!

2) Presentation – The way you present yourself is going to be the step you stand on. This isn’t the time to put on your funny hat and think that a magazine publisher/editor is your bud. Be professional. I tried to teach this to students and they pointed out quickly that the classroom is for fun and silly. I just wanted them to be prepared for the seriousness of writing and submitting. By practicing being a professional, maybe you’ll carry that with you when you need it the most. Point taken: classroom = fun and silly learning, Professionalism for the real world.

3) Reasons for wanting your work – You’ll give them the reason they are going to want to publish your work. Save your life story for the novel. This is not the place to think you are rubbing elbows. If you haven’t found your voice by now, this is not the place to begin looking for it. Give them a heartfelt, down to earth, PROFESSIONAL reason. What? You didn’t learn how to be professional? Should have listened to me the first time.

4) Waiting – This is the hardest part, even harder than the submitting of your work. The waiting is where you’ll more than likely cast self-doubt and second-guess, look at your work again and find fault, see errors and a ton of other negative things. Don’t do it. As hard as it may seem, don’t fret over your submission and being accepted. It may take months before you hear from someone, so take this time to write new material.

5)  Rejection – Oh dear, I mentioned the most horrendous word to a writer, the dreaded rejection letter. Hey, it happens more times than not, but that is not any reason to give up. This is the very reason you send out simultaneous submissions (sim subs); when all ten come back with rejection letters, refine your search and send them to ten more prospective mags/pubs/editors.

Now your voice is being read AND heard, so what are you waiting for?

Bookworm Thursday

Well here I am starting yet another named day for my blog.

This one is going to be called Bookworm Thursday!

What IS bookworm Thursday?

This is where I will list books for the craft of writing. Instead of just highlighting them in an individual blog. I thought I'd try this. They will all relate to ONE of my blog posts.

Here goes:

Books on Query writing is up first.

How To Write Attention Grabbing Query and Cover Leters by John Wood

How To Write Irresisible Query Letters by Lisa Collier Cool

The Sell Your Novel Tool kit (Paperback) by Elizabeth Lyon

Your Novel Proposal: From Creation to Contract : The Complete Guide to Writing Query Letters, Synopses and Proposals for Agents and Editors (Hardcover) by Blythe Camethson and Marshall J. Cook

Query

The query letter is what is going to get your foot in the door. Are you getting rejection upon rejection? Maybe it is the query letter and not your novel at all.

In the query letter to the publisher you will become your best marketing tool. You need to sell yourself to the publisher and not giving them a good enough nibble of your story may cost you the possibility of getting your wonderful masterpiece accepted.

You’ve finished your novel (or article), you’ve revised it, reworked it, taken the advice of your peers and changed what needed changing and now it is ready.

But wait…you’ll need to query the editor first and see if this is something that they would be interested in. An agent working on commission is only going to accept what will make him money. You need to tell them (the agent, publisher or editor) that this piece of art is going to sell, sell, sell!

Now think of cutting your entire manuscript down to one page. That’s right, you’re going to sell yourself in one page and give them the gold mine that they’ve been searching for.
Don’t go on and on about yourself, there will be plenty of time for that AFTER he accepts your work.

Just like starting your novel/article you’ll want a hook (and please make it dangle with a tasty worm so you can reel him in.) Tell him a little of what your story is about by asking a ‘what if’ question and leave him dangling for the answer. Don’t spill it all in a paragraph.

Try not to bloat the imagery. Bloating will give you an adverb filled telling query when you want to SHOW them what makes your book special. Try not to tell him it is a Stephen King like novel or this will send a red flag to them that you’re not a pro in this challenging field.

Whatever you do, don’t give him (editor/agent) all of the chilling details of your ending. Allow him to savor what you’ve written thus far and leave him begging for more. Your end to the query letter will also be the place to put in the ‘you’ part. Your experience and credits you have to your name. Give him the manuscript length and ask if he’d be willing to give it a read, thanking him for his time. He may want sample chapters and this is when you will send him three for a taste of your art. SASE and send it off!

You should hear back from them in three to four weeks, if not, a brief cordial note asking if he is considering your request.

If a rejection comes in, it was your query that didn’t sell him. This is why the query is of vital importance. Make it SHINE brighter than the morning sun!