by Erin Brown
As we enter this festive season which unites family and friends—whether you will be celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, or simply EataLottaFoodus—I am reminded of one of the cardinal rules of writing: get another opinion on your novel besides that of a family member or friend. Don’t even get me started on handing a red pencil to thine sworn enemy: “I smiteth thee with scarlet ink!”
Read Moreby Erin Brown
You’ve written an epic novel (The Sound and the Fury, Part Two: The Really Loud and the Really Mad), or the next great self-help book (You: A Renter’s Manual) and you figure, “That’s it. Now this puppy will sell itself. Agents and editors will realize the gold mine they have on their desk and the rest is history!” Right? Wrong. You might well have the next best thing since sliced bread and your writing talent could be genuinely brilliant, but if you don’t present yourself well to an agent (and an editor!), then you could very well shoot yourself in the foot.
Read Moreby Erin Brown
You’ve slaved for months, years, decades even, to finish your manuscript. You’ve tackled all-nighters, tear-your-hair-out rewrites, grueling, self-imposed deadlines; you’ve grappled with creative juices that either flowed until you were drunk with brilliant narrative or dried up to leave you parched, devoid of inspiration, sobbing onto your keyboard. You get my drift. You’ve poured your heart and soul into this baby of yours and then, finally, you get it into the hands of an editor—whether it be a freelancer (like moi—the best kind, of course) or an editor at a publishing house (wow, also fabulous and just like me—at least in my past Manhattan life). You couldn’t be happier!
Read Moreby Erin Brown
“Picking an agent?” you ask. “Don’t I just pick the agent that picks me? Sheesh, if someone wants to represent me, sign me up, no questions asked, right?” Well, slow down there, partner. Sure, it’s fantastic to have someone interested in your work, but you want to be certain that your agent is a good fit for you and your book. Of course if you only have one bite—one agent interested—then you pretty much have one of two choices.
Read Moreby Erin Brown
I’ve been receiving a rash of emails lately lamenting the abject horror of the whole submission—a.k.a. rejection—process. Bottom line: it sucks. Royally.
It’s similar to going on a first date after months (hell, years!!) of preparation: you’re dressed to the nines, sparkly and brilliant for the occasion, putting your best foot forward, excited, ready for the world to be yours and…your jerk of a date takes one brief look at you and says with a smirk, “Nah, you’re no good. Not my type.
Read Moreby Erin Brown
As this year’s PNWA conference rolls around, and as other wonderful writers conferences continue throughout the year, I think this is the perfect time to offer a refresher course on pitching to agents and editors. Over the years, as an editor, I’ve heard hundreds of pitches. Excellent ones, good ones, bad ones, and “please, please stop speaking” ones. Now, you don’t want to find yourself in that last category, so listen up, pitchers, and learn to be an ace so you can nail down a victory and avoid the standard bush league plays (yes, I’m on a baseball bender, so sue me).
Read Moreby Erin Brown
I want to spend this month celebrating the printed book. You remember them, right? They sell them at places called bookstores. Of course, when I drove to my local Borders last week to grab a book I’d had my eye on, the lights were off and a hand printed sign on the door read, “FOR LEASE.” Through the windows (and through my tears) I saw a few empty bookcases still waiting to be broken up for kindling, and I felt a sadness descend upon me.
Read Moreby Erin Brown
I’ve written several columns about how best to approach the often scary first step of preparing to send your fragile, innocent manuscript out into the big, bad world of publishing. Fly, little novel, fly! Once you’ve shoved (or gently escorted) your query letter out of the nest to lead the way into the dark world of evil agents and slush piles, you then must sit and wait. Steeling yourself for rejection after rejection, the tears in your beers that will follow.
Read Moreby Erin Brown
As I’ve discussed before, authors must play a very large role in publicizing their own book. Well, unless you’ve sold a gazillion copies already (I’m sure Janet Evanovich can afford to buy homes in every state). And no, the books that publishers choose to sink tons of money into aren’t necessarily the best books out there; however, those authors do bring in cold, hard cash. And publishing is a business, after all. These bestsellers are the authors whose sales allow the publisher to buy smaller, sometimes better books.
Read Moreby Erin Brown
My twenty-month-old son is obsessed—and I mean, reallyobsessed with his ABCs. The little man falls asleep, singing in his soft, sweet voice, “A, B, C, D, E, F, G! Giant Rock! H, I, J….” You get the idea. In fact, the haunting melody of Cookie Monster’s “C is for Cookie” has been on auto-repeat in my brain for the past week. So after the gazillionth rendition of Ernie and Bert’s “L is for Linoleum,” a lightbulb (also starting with L) clicked on in my head.
Read Moreby Erin Brown
Ever wonder how a little ol’ manuscript by a little ol’ debut author goes from a pile of paper that keeps getting jammed in the damn printer to a beautifully bound book on the shelves of your local bookstore? Well, even if you haven’t, I’m going to tell you anyway. I think it’s a fascinating (if exhausting) process that I love sharing with others. Most people I encounter honestly have no idea what’s involved from acquisition to press. So to start the new year off right, I’m going to let you peek behind the curtain of the much-revered and reviled publishing houses.
Read Moreby Erin Brown
Show, Don't Tell! This maxim makes writers want to tear their hair out more than any other (well, other than, "Our agency isn't interested, but best of luck"). I've touched upon this topic a few times in the past, but inevitably, almost every first-time author I work with must overcome the tendency to "tell" instead of "show."
Many writers become frustrated thinking that the essential writing advice of "Show versus tell" means that every plot point must be shown (Egads, does that mean that I need to include everyone's point of view???? What about when my character goes to the bathroom—do I have to show that?).
Read Moreby Erin Brown
Oh, Ralphie, you were such an old sap. Just like Emerson, this time of year always makes me nostalgic (and full of thanks and giving, duh). I often wax poetic on the good old days when the settlers and Indians gathered to break bread (and deer hindquarters), a nice pause before the centuries of raids and decimation by horrible illnesses. But let’s focus on the uplifting Thanksgiving of today, with its football obsession, non-smallpox-spreading blankets to warm us in front of the fire, and the ability to gather with friends without being concerned that we’ll have to resort to eating each other to make it through the harsh winter.
Read Moreby Erin Brown
As I made my way back from my role as a “book doctor” at yet another successful PNWA Writers Conference a few weeks ago, I reminisced about how meaningful and inspiring it is to interact with new and old writers (not old as in sagging knee skin, but as in previously published writers). Conferences always give me a special shot of enthusiasm and love for the art of writing itself, versus the business of publishing—mighty strange considering almost every author there is trying to get published.
Read Moreby Erin Brown
“I must write it all out, at any cost. Writing is thinking. It is more than living, for it is being conscious of living.” —Anne Morrow Lindbergh (American writer and aviation pioneer).
As writers, we all know that writing is art, it is life, it is passion! It is beyond cost, beyond measurement, worth any price! Not.
Read Moreby Erin Brown
One of the most important talents you can hone is your gift for self-editing. Now, I shouldn’t be giving away any secrets because this is how I make my living, but I am willing to sacrifice for the cause—the greater good of the worldwide writing community.
Of course, the following suggestions are just the tip of the iceberg, but these tips will at least give you a head start. The first tip I have for you is to avoid and delete repetition. If there’s any tip that I want to emphasize, that tip is that you want to avoid repeating the same word or phrase in close proximity.
Read Moreby Erin Brown
Editors and agents aren’t looking for great writing anymore...it’s all about the almighty dollar
Okay, there’s a bit of truth to this, in that publishing is a business, and businesses strive to make a profit. However, many, many authors who can’t find an agent end up telling themselves that this is the reason. As if their writing is simply too good to be published. This is not true (sorry to that guy who will remain nameless who sent me a ten page email about how brilliantly talented he is and that’s why he’s never found an agent).
Read Moreby Erin Brown
For those of you who read my articles every month (oh, how I love you so. The rest of you can suck it), you probably know that I have a certain, tried and true “voice” that comes through in my writing. Some might call it sarcastic, or witty, some might even say it’s annoying (bite me), but it is consistent. This is my “voice.”
Read Moreby Erin Brown
Timing is everything when it comes to publishing and writing. I was pondering the other day that time is one of those things that you can both control and is completely and totally out of your hands. So I wanted to discuss the importance of timing in our world of writing—what we can control and what we must leave to the fates. It’s essential to embrace and manage what you can as a writer and throw up your hands at the rest.
Read Moreby Erin Brown
One of the main questions I am often asked by first time authors is, “How do I define my genre?” I always think it’s incredibly obvious until I realize that perhaps I take genre definitions for granted because I spent so long in the publishing business. So I’m going to include an easy guide for picking your genre. Sure, it’s a bit tongue and cheek, but it’s definitely true as well.
Read More