Writing Goals for 2011: Part 3- Your Personalized Query Plan

Each Monday in January, we're focusing on different goals for writing. If you've missed the previous installments, here are some links:

Part 1: Making Time to Write

Part 2: Making Your Writing a Business

Today's focus is on queries. You may not feel ready to query yet, but to keep on top of all the details, it's a good idea to begin preparations a year ahead, if possible. A little work now will make the process far less stressful down the road.

I've broken the steps down into a timeline.Don't worry if you've got less time--querying can be done faster if you're ready.

One year out. At this point you're still writing your manuscript, but you feel confident you'll be done within about six months. 

1. Take some time each day to begin researching agents. Read their blogs (if they have them) and note which ones represent your genre or niche. Sites like AgentQuery and QueryTracker can help you narrow them down.

2. Seek out an online or in-person critique group, and get your manuscript critiqued.You'll learn so much that the rest of your novel will be stronger.

3. Keep working on your craft: always have a book on writing that you're working through (some great suggestions here), and try to attend any workshops or conferences you can, whether in person or online.

4. Don't stop writing until your manuscript is finished. You won't be able to query at all until it's done.

Six months out. Your manuscript is finished, but not necessarily polished. You have a list of potential agents. Where do you go from here? Is it time to query now? 

1. Using a spreadsheet or paper, make a chart of the agents you're interested in, listing their agency, email, preferred method of query (either email or snail mail), and what they request as part of a query. Double-check that your preferred agents are still with their agency--this is a constantly shifting business, and it's up to you to keep track of where people work.

2. Have your manuscript critiqued again, perhaps by a different critique group, or hire a professional editor, if finances allow.

3. Begin drafting your query letter, and bring it to your critique group for feedback.Here's a link to formatting an email query.

4. Format a synopsis, since some agents will ask for this.Have your critique group check this, also.

Three months out. You're feeling ready, probably itching to hit the send button. There are a few more things to do.

1. Consider setting up a website or blog if you don't already have a web presence. Many agents like to "check out" potential authors they're interested in. 


2. See if you can find some beta readers to give you overall feedback on your novel. It really helps if these are people you don't have a relationship with. Your friends and family will be impressed that you wrote a book, and won't be able to be as objective as strangers. Take their comments and make any necessary changes.


3. Take a little time to study query do's and don'ts. Here are a few links to get you started.
Five questions to ask yourself before querying. 
Tips from twenty agents to make your query shine.
A list of don'ts from SlushPileHell.

Time to release your query. If you're prepared, this should be the easy part--except for your nervousness!


1. Make a plan for sending your query. This article gives a plan for getting a 75% response rate to your query. Find out about the best and worst times to query.


2.  Check again that your target agents are still at the agency you have listed. Send your query in batches, a handful at a time, spaced a few weeks apart. Keep track (on your spreadsheet) of what you sent to each agent, the date, and their response. Note that agents who pass on your work may not respond at all. Don't take it personally, they're just too busy to reply to each query. When an agent does respond, send what they ask promptly.


3. If you're thinking of revising your query and resending to your target agents, read this first.

Where are you in the query process?

Agent Friday: Folio Literary Management

Folio Literary Management is a powerhouse. They not only boast a dozen agents,  they also have a separate division, Folio Jr., to handle children's books. The agency hosts a blog, and posts additional resources on their website. Let's dig in.


You probably want an agent. You definitely want to have a good relationship with that agent. But like a healthy marriage, it takes work. Get prepared by reading Top Ten Pieces of Advice for a Good Agent-Author Relationship.


If characterization is a struggle for you, it helps to read as much as you can on making your character believable. One of Folio's agents shares Characters That Get Me Every Time--and Why.


Planning on attending a writer's conference this year? Me, too. But don't just pick up and go. Do some preparation ahead of time. Trust me, you'll head into the conference with far more confidence. Agent Scott Hoffman lists five ways to Get the Most Out of Your Writer's Conference Experience. In addition, you'll find more information in Jeff Kleinman's Guide to Conference Etiquette.


Right now you may be editing your novel. After that, you'll likely show it to your critique group, eliciting all kinds of advice on revising your manuscript. Once you secure an agent, the first order of business will probably be--more revisions. How will you react? Agent Laney Katz Becker gives her perspective on why revisions are important in Divas Need Not Apply.


Though it may sound far away to you now, it's not a bad idea to begin establishing a relationship with local bookstores. Find some great advice straight from a bookseller sharing do's and don'ts for authors hoping to market their books.


From the agency's resource page:


A Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Published
Frequently Asked Questions for Agents
Knowing Your Genre
Jeff Kleinman's Rules of Rejection
How to Formulate Your Query Submission Plan
The Top 5 Ways Not to Get an Agent


Wow. Lots of resources to look through today. What are the areas you feel pulled to first?

Free Resources from Author Jeffrey A. Carver

I've found another generous writer. A busy author with more than a dozen books to his credit, Jeffrey A. Carver maintains multiple websites and a blog, giving away fantastic writing information to you.

Carver writes science fiction  (including a Battlestar Galactica series), but most of his resources will be helpful to writers of all genres. He even gives away some of his fiction.

Carver's website contains links to all kinds of information that can help you as a writer. 

Advice. Carver lists a number of practical tips on his advice page. He also dedicates a page to getting published, answering questions on agents, queries, and self-publishing.

Blog. Carver keeps up a blog called Pushing a Snake Up a Hill. You may want to add his blog to your reader, or check out this handy page of relevant blog posts like Dealing With Writer's Block or Will They Steal Your Work?

Course. Even with all the other resources he provides, Carver has developed an online course in writing science fiction and fantasy that he offers for free. You can't beat that.He's also posted a podcast of a workshop on story structure.

Links. If you do write science fiction or fantasy, you won't want to miss Carver's page of links, some quirky, some strange.

Know any more writers like this?

Book Review: The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success

Most of us here are fiction writers, but novels and short stories take a long time to pay the bills. Enter freelance writing. Magazine articles take relatively little time to research and write, compared to a full-length novel. But articles are a different animal.


The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success helps writers navigate the "rules" of the freelance writing world, and even gives advice on when to break those rules. Ten chapters and twelve appendices give you the confidence you need to approach magazine editors with your ideas.


The authors, Formichelli and Burrell, also run a popular blog for freelancers. Posts like 5 Tips to Finding Story Ideas That Sell, and 11 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Writer's Market give writers an edge.


Also available on the site is a free packet of successful query letters to give writers an idea of what magazine editors expect. The authors also offer a free teleclass each month. The current class is titled, Using Fear As Fuel When Writing or Querying.


Conventional freelance advice says writers should start by penning articles for small, regional magazines and work themselves up to the "big" jobs at national magazines. Formichelli and Burrell offer "unconventional" tips to help writers climb the freelance ladder more quickly.


Some novelists can't imagine what topics they would write about, since their minds are immersed in their fiction. Consider the hobbies of your characters, the location where your story is set, or the time period that fascinates you. Chances are good that there are magazines serving readers with the same interests. And down the road, these same readers may be buying your novels.


Have you considered writing for magazines?

What Makes You Want to Write?

Yesterday I finished reading a novel. I love reading authors' debut novels and seeing the writing that made an agent and editor say, "Yes!" What I liked best about this one was the interaction between the male and female lead. Though it wasn't a romance, the subtle tug between their hearts was beautiful to read.


Have you ever read a book that stayed with you after you closed the cover? It's books like these that make me want to sit down and start typing. They give me the desire to give the same experience to my readers. The first time someone told me that my story made them cry was the moment I felt like a real writer. Never mind that I was not published and didn't have an agent. It touched someone. That was enough for me.


So I'm thinking today about what makes me grab a pen and start writing. 


Reading books.When I read a well-written book, even if it's not perfect, it energizes me to write. I want to be able to create a mood, or make a reader fall in love with a character. Occasionally, I get discouraged, thinking, "I'll never be able to write like that." But even the best authors started somewhere. And reading great writing is probably one of the things that helped them grow.


Watching movies.Good plotting is a hallmark of good movies. Watching masterful film making and screenplay writing helps me discover areas of my story that can be cut. I like to watch the deleted scenes, especially when the director explains why a perfectly good scene (sometimes his favorite scene) didn't make it into the final movie. Usually it's because it didn't move the story forward. I know I've got scenes like that in my manuscript.


Observing people. I took my daughter to the airport yesterday. While I waited for her flight to take off, I had a chance to watch the travelers going by. It amazes me how watching people makes me long to describe my characters better. It's not just the different hairstyles and facial characteristics. It's the questions that pop up in my mind. Why is the mousy older woman carrying such a flamboyant purse? What does the unusually shaped package contain? Why does the young man make eye contact with every person he passes? Questions like these had me looking for my notebook.


Listening to music.The long, icy drive to the airport was accompanied by a variety of music that I don't always listen to, courtesy of my daughters and niece in the car. But it's good for me to listen to songs outside of the genres I gravitate to. I end up really listening to the words, the mood, the textural combination of instruments, and I often start thinking through a scene in my story, coming up with alternate ways for it to go.


Beautiful scenery.Back to the airport trip. My travels took me along the front range of the Rocky Mountains, first in a snowstorm, and then in the blue-skied, bright aftermath. The sun burning off the fog that covered the mountains, the pine needles frozen in place with the numbing cold--each turn of the road brought a fresh vision that could be translated into a story.


So that's my list--so far. What's on yours?

Writing Goals for 2011: Part 2- Making Your Writing a Business

 Whether or not you make much money from your writing, 2011 might be the year to begin keeping track of expenses and income. And the beginning of the year is the perfect time to set up the record-keeping that can save you money on next year's taxes. 


Not sure what you need to keep up with? Here are some links to help you sort out the possibilities.

First of all, take the Writing as a Business quiz on Seekerville. It may help you narrow down some areas you can focus on. 


Writer's Digest has a comprehensive article that explains the taxes you'd pay as a self-employed writer, and how to balance that tax with deductions. You'll find out whether your writing is an occupation or a hobby, and possible deductions you can take.


The Guide to Literary Agents adds a few more details with tips on deductions like health insurance and cell phones.

Agent Rachelle Gardner has two great posts. The Tax Man Cometh details how to treat your writing as a business. Keeping Track of Things adds a list of files you'll want to set up for royalty statements and book sales.


If you'd like some free forms to help you stay organized, check out The Organized Writer for everything you need.


Are you keeping records yet? Do you have a system that works for you?

Agent Friday: Joshua Blimes

When I first looked into Joshua Blimes, I wondered if he was a legitimate literary agent. After all, his agency, called JABberwocky, uses the URL "AwfulAgents.com". But I did my research, and discovered that this three-partner agency is indeed well-respected. 

Joshua Blimes has been in the business for a quarter of a century, opening his own agency in 1994. He is known for representing science fiction and fantasy, but the agency is also interested in a variety of other projects. The agents page will give you all the details. There, you'll see some of the names Blimes has worked with over the years, including Carl Sagan and Elizabeth Moon.

Blimes writes regularly on his blog, Brillig. Here are a few posts of interest:

Some professionals say writers need to establish themselves in short stories before trying to get a novel published. Blimes disagrees, and gives his reasons in this post, then expands on them in another post.

Even though you may not have even finished your first book, it's a good time to begin learning the different aspects of the business. Blimes explains the details of book contracts--an important topic for writers to understand.

And while he's not as thrilled with ebooks as some, Blimes understands their place in publishing. He spends time thinking about how ebooks will change the industry.

If you'd like to hear more from Joshua Blimes, here's a great interview from the Guide to Literary Agents.

Organize Your Goals With a Free Tool: Workflowy

On Mondays, we've been talking about goals for the year. Tuesday's post was a practical way to get yourself to write, even on busy days. Today, I'll share a free online tool you can use to keep track of the goals you make. It's called Workflowy.

Workflowy is basically an online list, set up like an outline. The user has the ability to collapse or expand the list, so no matter how many notes are made, the list is still manageable. There is a general video on the first page of the website, but if you go ahead and sign up for the free service, you can view a more detailed video that explains how to use it.

Users don't need any special skills for Workflowy--except the ability to type. I'm using Workflowy to list my monthly writing goals. The service allows me to break down my goals into smaller, more manageable pieces, and as I accomplish them, I can "cross them off" the list.

I plan to make more Workflowy lists: one for each writing project, and lists for other responsibilities I have. Let's face it: the non-writing activities in our lives can dominate our time and overwhelm our creativity. Keeping track of important non-writing tasks actually gives us the freedom to write when we know we've managed our time well.

How do you manage the tasks in your life?

Book Review: By Cunning and Craft, by Peter Selgin

With the vast array of writing books available, writers need to know which ones are the comprehensive, go-to books to open when they need to brush up on the basics. By Cunning and Craft is such a book. While there are many books that focus on a particular topic, like your story's hook, or whether to start with plot or character, this book will be an often thumbed-through reference.

The book is beautifully organized, and sprinkled with a generous amount of writing quotes that pertain to each chapter. The topics have examples of successful authors applying the different aspects of fiction writing.

Ten chapters include advice on characterization, point of view, structure and plot, dialogue, and description. Selgin also covers the important topic of scene, summary, and flashback--an important technique for fiction writers to grasp. The author spends time explaining voice and style, theme, revision, and finishes up with a discussion on pursuing publication. There is an appendix at the end listing more books on craft the reader may want to read for further information.

By Cunning and Craft is a Writer's Digest book, and I was pleased to see it offered on the Writer's Digest site for only $5.49. Make sure that at least one of the books on your shelf is like this one.

What is your main fiction-writing reference?