Over the weekend, I had the privilege of attending the LDStorymakers writers’ conference for the third time. And for the second time, I pretty much panicked whenever I thought about the results of the first chapter contest.

In fact, I even told people (like, I don’t know, my own husband) that I hadn’t entered at all. (I told him to view this as evidence of only my own insecurities and the fragile state of my ego, not any reflection on him. Plus, I’d told him I entered months ago and he just forgot.)

But, as you may have guessed from the title of the post, I had the honor of receiving an award in their first chapter contest:

Mystery/Suspense Category: First Place for Façade!

And you can read that chapter here!

Thank you to everyone who helped me get my first chapter in shape—and thank you for all the feedback I’ve received on the chapter since then.

(And yes, if you’ve been here a while, I actually won the same award last year.)

Okay, so, obviously, that news isn’t “good” for you so much—but this next one is. Today I’m guest blogging at Romance University. It’s the fourth installment on a series on author websites:

• 7 Things an Aspiring Author’s Website Must Have—a guest post at Nathan Bransford’s blog (and yes, it was almost two years ago)
• Four things an author’s website must do (on my blog here)
• Five more things an author’s website must do (ditto)
• And new today: Seven things an author’s website must be!

And if that’s not good news for you, maybe this will be—three lucky commenters on Romance University will have their websites critiqued (critiques to be posted on Thursday)!! So head on over!

Writing is a very lonely thing—we exist in our own world most of the time. It’s very different when we decide to put that world out there. We need a connection and a response.

Different writing communities serve different purposes.

Before you’re published you can ask others for feedback & technique training.

Once you’re published, you realize “Oh, that’s not the end.” It’s the beginning of a very different journey. You’re on a whole new plane now—now you have to be a public figure. In marketing—networking has been amazing—comparing notes, etc. And then you have your next project.

So, where do we start?

1. At home! Often the hardest place to get the support that we want in our writing.
   • It’s a risk—reaching out to people for support. But it’s a vital support.
   • Make sure you’re giving the same support that you want to receive—you give as good as you get.
   • Don’t expect more than is reasonable—have other people to help support you.
2. Books—the Salt Lake public library was my friend! When I first started writing, I had so much to learn, and some amazing books on writing really helped me.
3. Others—again, a risk—not always a good fit. Can be frustrating and discouraging.
   • Physical groups—crit groups, classes, conferences. (If you’re outside of Utah and you want LDS authors, go to the Stake. If you can’t find any, try any other (ie non LDS) group.)
   • Online: email, blogs, social networks, etc. Rules:
     1. Play nice in the sand box! This is a small sandbox; it’s not as big as we think. We meet these people face-to-face later on and remember what we’ve said to them online. Remember people (potential writer friends, readers, etc.) can find all these comments. Even if they don’t remember, even if you make up, you will remember this when you meet them.
     2. Reciprocate! You go to a community to get something, yes, but if everyone’s there just to get, no one’s there to give.

“People ask you for criticism, but they only want praise.” —Somerset Maugham. When someone argues with a critique (or when you disagree with a comment): weigh it out. Give it a chance. Don’t follow the initial impulse to argue. We have to realize people want to help us!

Example: Shelley, Keats, Lord Byron, Coleridge were in a writing group together. Maybe it’s NOT a coincidence…

Questions
How do you stay positive with criticism and with critiques?

• Point out the positive—good dialogue, good chapter length, good use of dialogue tags, good setting, etc.
• Refer them to specific books or resources that will also help explain.

What are your favorite writing books?
Jack Bickham: The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes, Scene & Structure
James N. Frey: How to Write a Damn Good Novel
Orson Scott Card: Characters & Viewpoint

What size writing group is best?
I prefer them small because when we meet, we can get through everyone’s stuff in 2-3 hours.

How do you learn to critique?
By doing. [side note: I'm thinking about doing a series on this—any ideas/questions?]

Overview of an appropriate session:
We get together, 20-30 minutes chatting, then do one chapter a piece (10-15 pages). The author reads through those pages aloud. And then we go around the circle and give feedback aloud. We’ve also exchanged manuscripts—then we can blurb each other.

You can also try having each other read it (because they don’t do the inflection, you can see where people trip up on your writing).

You can also time responses if people tend to go on too long.

About the conference: LDStorymakers is a writing contest geared to LDS writers. The conference covers both the niche, regional publishers that cater to the LDS market as well as national publishers.

Moderator: James Dashner
Stacy Whitman, editor—Most recently at Mirrorstone of Wizards of the Coast. She’s worked in lots of different places, and has a Master’s in Children’s lit—Children’s and YA especially fanstasy. Now she’s a freelance consulting editor with Tor.
Amy Jameson, agent with A + B Works—she represents Shannon Hale and Jessica Day George. She worked at Janklow & Nesbit Associates, then moved to Salt Lake and started an agency with her husband. She represents authors on the national market.

At the LTUE conference, the pendulum seemed to be swinging from fantasy back to scifi—have you seen this?

• Stacy—I am looking for scifi. There are some really great books out there that are YA. How can we extrapolate the world we live in to the future?
• Amy—We talked about this this very afternoon actually. Despite the recession: romance and scifi are selling well: escapism.
• Stacy—It’s hard to say adult-wise, but with YA, that’s where it is. J. Westerfield, The Hunger Games, etc.
• James—In middle grades, fantasy is still more popular.

For Amy—how do you coordinate with NY while living here?

• Amy—The Internet. 10 years ago, this wouldn’t be possible. It used to be all about face time, long lunches with editors. But it’s a new day because we’re connected by email. I do get out to NY once a year. Also Publishers’ Marketplace.
• Stacy—a lot of agents aren’t getting as much face time because publishing lunches are being cut back. Face time doesn’t matter as much these days.
• James—Anyone who’s familiar with Jessica Day George can see that you can succeed outside of NY.

Does being an international author affect your chances with American publishing house?

• Amy—depends on location and genre. [Questioner's location: Canada] Oh, Canada’s not that far away. A very different market, but there’s a lot of interest in Canadian writers, and it’s a tight community. There are some nice awards for Canadian authors. A lot of crossover with US publishers anyway.
• Stacy—There are sometimes troubles with “Well, if they’re in South Africa, how will they promote the book?” Special circumstance: Canadian and American co-authors. It can be tough, but it’s easier if you’re establishing your name.
• James—Aren’t most books here sold North American rights? [Yes]
• Amy—Canadian issues are often financial issues because of exchange rates. Technical stuff.

In the YA market, we’ve seen romance strong in the paranormal genre recently. Do you anticipate publishers looking for romance in other genres?

• Amy—YA almost always has romance.
• Stacy—Teenagers are all about love. They’re all about hormones. Lust, maybe, not love. Puppy love.
• Amy—It doesn’t have to be that romance is the center of it (that’s not really appropriate in scifi anyway), but there has to be some element there.

Does the market now want more diversity (ethnicities) now?

• Stacy—There should be. Our literature should reflect the reality of most of our cities. Not just racial—religious, cultural. So why not? Don’t make it forced, but make sure it’s appropriate. Personally, I’m looking for multicultural stories. Fantasy—largely western mythology with white characters. A lot of kids (black kids especially—they’ve told her they only get a month and it’s always about MLK). Be true to your characters and give them interesting lives—that’s what matters.
• Amy—Especially in YA, there’s a real hunger for ethnically diverse characters. Look at the Newberries—traditionally a lot. Huge desire for Hispanic characters, too. It’s hard if you’re not from that background, there’s a learning curve and wondering if it’s genuine.
• Stacy—There was a huge “Racefail” in Jan/Feb in adult fantasy in blogosphere. A lot of people of color who are authors or readers—I think it started because an author had a character end up in a racial slavery situation. It started conversation about how people of color are portrayed in adult fantasy.
• James—I’m seeing that debated all over the place. Some people are saying, “Don’t just have a token black character,” but the other half says, “Why not? Why default to all white?”

How can we help promote our books and should we mention a willingness to do so in a query?

• Amy—Being willing to promote your book should be the default! There are some helpful resources on blogs. Promoting it is absolutely your job.
• Stacy—Your own promotion efforts within the first week, month of your book are huge. Start early. Have a blog (if you’re a blogger). Don’t if you don’t know how to communicate with people on the web. Become web savvy. Get to know who else is blogging out there. Become a part of the community.
• Amy—Virtual school visits through Skype
• Stacy—Hard to say whether signings are successful. Invite your friends so you can create buzz. Usually the bookstore’s not going to be doing a lot of promotion for a first-time author.
• Amy—One of her authors set up his own tour. In the places where he knew people, that was successful. In the places where he didn’t, it was disheartening—maybe 2 people come through. Make your time pay off.
• Stacy—Utah has a strong writers’ community. It welcomes books. So many kids here read. Look for how can you be involved in your community. Look at Shadow Mountain—start local buzz, wildfire spreads. Good example to take for your own books.

HP & Twilight as trendsetters—fairly clean. Why isn’t that in adult books?

• Stacy—librarians like to put together “clean reads” lists, so there is a movement for that. As an editor, I focus on what is in the book, not what isn’t.
• Amy—bear in mind who these people that are acquiring these books. Most of them are single women, 20s-30s in NYC area. Narrow vision of life—even in children’s books. They want to be cutting edge, different, extreme. Whereas clean-cut, beautiful stories about nice kids who are choosing the right doesn’t get media attention.

I’m writing a book in ancient southern Africa—having mostly black characters. Is that a problem if I’m not of that culture? I’ve included a lot of the myths and legends, but I’ve made up a lot of stuff, too—is that okay?

• Amy—most people don’t know anything about it, and as long as you have your reasearch and are honest about what you’ve made up. It’s harder to do a contemporary story in a culture you’re not a part of.

• Stacy—Naturally, there may be some cultural appropriation issues there. Also, I know for a fact that yours is fantasy, and in fantasy there’s more leeway with culture. It can be inspired by that culture without it necessarily “being” that culture. Ex: Shannon Hale’s Book of a Thousand Days was inspired by Ancient Mongolia.

Besides terrible writing, what’s the easiest way I can botch my chances with you?

• Amy—Not standing out enough is the thing for me. They all start looking the same to me, so anything that stands out from the crowd. But you don’t want to be crazy, gimmicky.
• Stacy—No pink paper—follow submission guidelines. Until the last year I was at Mirrorstone, we didn’t do picture books. It was in the guidelines 3x. 90% of the slush was picture books. One was a pretty good writer, so I personalized the rejection and invited her to submit if she does fantasy. She emailed back and said “I’m sorry, I don’t do fantasy.”
• James—If an editor asks you to write about elephant poo, do it.

Could we get some more information on Stacy’s editing services?

• Stacy—I do individual critiques for authors as well. I look at your first three chapters. But this is separate from Tor consulting. StacyLWhitman.com > Critiques. Submission packet for flat fee or full crits, but start with first three chapters to see if she can fit it into her schedule and if she’s the right editor to you. Caveat: there are so many free resources, especially for children’s books. Before you decide on getting a freelance editor, check out other resources (on her website and blog).

One piece of advice to aspiring editors?

• Stacy—read a lot.
• Amy—as you’re reading, especially new books, look at how the narrative is constructed. Start thinking like an editor: “If I were editing, how would I advise the author on character and plot?” Look for what’s working for you and not. There’s a good editing program at BYU.
• Stacy—You have to be willing to follow the job, and probably live in NY.
• Amy—There are great internships at major publishers. That’s how Kirk Shaw got his start. That’s a great thing on a résumé.
• Stacy—Be willing to work for free or very little. Nobody goes into this for the money and there really isn’t any for many years.

Editors say they don’t want to be queried by email. But you’ve said it’s okay; is it?

• Stacy—For me, it’s easier by email.
• Amy—Depends. Younger people tend to be into email.
• Stacy—I’m getting a Sony Reader soon—it makes it so much easier! Problem, though—you can get buried in the inbox. You have to figure out an organizational system so things don’t get forgotten.
• Amy—For queries, it’s easy to keep track of them via email, but for manuscripts, it’s harder to ignore a big stack of paper.

What is Tor looking for in its new YA line?

• Stacy—Their YA line has been around for 20 years. Starscape has been around for as long as Mirrorgate has. Kathleen Dougherty has been doing this for 20 years, but she sells into educational market first. Not as widely known from bookstore browsing. Right now: scifi, fantasy always a good thing, chapter books and young MG fun books—David Lubar My Rotten Life (Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie). Looking for something good, something that will break out. Little Brother by Cory Doctrow—Dystopic scifi YA. Personally, I don’t like dystopias unless they’re hopeful—kids making world better

Should we keep an eye on the market—what’s coming out in 6 months?

• Amy—absolutely. What if someone else has sold what you’re writing? Subscribe to Publisher’s Lunch.
• Stacy—Publisher’s Weekly has good email newsletters you can sign up for. You can get the news for what’s going on in that genre weekly, daily, etc. At Publishersmarketplace.com and publishersweekly.com. Find your niche of the blogosphere and follow blogs even if you don’t blog yourself.

Are either of you interested in children’s chapter books like Junie B. Jones or Amber Brown?

• Stacy—Personally, no, I’m into fantasy.
• Amy—Personally, I’m not, but there’s a real need for good chapter books.
• Stacy—They are hard.
• Amy—You’re limited vocabulary-wise, and it’s hard to write characters that speak to kids.
• Stacy—Even if you’re good, you have to have shelf presence. Teachers love books they can give to transitional readers. It’s hard to get a foothold for a series, and there’s such a small margin, it’s hard to make financial sense unless it’s a series. But once you get a foothold, you have continual demand.

Would you recommend novelists spend time querying editors directly?

• Stacy—some editors are okay with it. Meet the editor or read their blog so you know they’re a good match. Either way works if it works for you as an author. Agents can really help to pitch books.
• Amy—it does happen. Jessica Day George met editor at conference, and that editor wanted to buy book when Jessica contacted me. It’s a great way to get an agent—eliminates so much work for agent, so you can concentrate on the book and the deal.

A lot of us here feel like we’re targeting two markets. LDS market—books go out of print fast. How do national agents feel about picking up a book that’s been published niche?

• Amy—Even on the national market, they just can’t keep everything in print. It doesn’t make financial sense to physically store books. Books have about a year to make or break, and that book may be gone after then. [What size of book runs nationally?] Depends on category.
• Stacy—I’ve heard people say most books don’t sell more than 5000 copies and then you have your break outs. Sometimes people are including self-published books in there, and that really skews the numbers. Transitioning from LDS to national also depends on content, wide appeal.
• Amy—It’s hard to take a book because of prejudices and misunderstanding that’s out of print and take it national. If the LDS market has been tapped, it seems too late.

With respect to the national market and adult fiction, is there a benchmark on the “squeeze factor” that needs to be in novels?

• Stacy—Editors won’t come to you and say, “This needs more sex.”
• Amy—They might if it’s romance and Harlequin. Most editors won’t say “This isn’t trashy enough for our market.” In romance there’s a certain level of sex expected. [Depending on the publisher and the line—there are plenty of highly successful "sweet" romance authors like Debbie Macomber.]

About the conference: LDStorymakers is a writing contest geared to LDS writers. The conference covers both the niche, regional publishers that cater to the LDS market as well as national publishers.

Presented by Janette Rallison (blog)

There are six basic types of problems that will get you rejected: point-of-view problems, tag-line problems, motivation problems, story question problems, goal and conflict problems and sentence structure problems.

POV problems—avoid head hopping or authorial insertions. [The trend these days is deep POV in 3rd person—we're seeing the character's inmost thoughts, but using 3rd person pronouns. So use your character's thoughts and vocabulary for . . . well, everything! Never put in something that character can't know and add a scene break if you're changing POV characters. Janette probably said all of this, but I missed the beginning of her presentation because I had to run home to feed my baby!]

Tag lines—”90% of the time, tag line should be ‘said.’” Also acceptable, when situation calls for: ask, answer/reply. [But the trend these days is to not use dialogue tags most of the time, instead using action beats to identify speakers.]

Rarely use others—if the dialogue itself can’t show how the words are said, maybe it needs to be revised. Janette gave an example of when one of her characters said something that wasn’t true, but the reader wouldn’t know that, so the line went: “I can dance ballet,” I lied. [Personally, I think it's acceptable when you have to call attention to the manner in which it was said—specifically whispering, since there really isn't a way to choose your words to make it read like a whisper.]

Instead of using adverbs or specialized dialogue tags, let the dialogue speak for itself and translate it into actions [those action beats I was telling you about earlier!]. These show so much more powerfully! Janette’s example:

DON’T: “I never want to see your cheating face again,” he yelled angrily.

DO: He ripped the alimony check out of the checkbook with numb hands. He’d written checks a thousand times—for piano lessons, Girl Scout cookies, every elementary school fundraiser that came along. This time it felt as though the ink had come from his own veins. “I never want to see your cheating face again.”

Again, the exception is to use adverbs when the dialogue contradicts tone/facts (like when someone says something cutting in a sweet tone or vice versa).

Motivation problems—Put as little backstory in first chapter as you can. In chapter one, the main character should have a problem and there should be action.

Is your main character an idiot? [We have an acronym for this: TSTL—it means does your character do things that, say, if you saw them in a movie, you would be screaming at the television, "No! Don't go into that dark attic!"? (Exception: law enforcement officers, who willingly run into danger for us every day. But even they don't go looking for it if they don't have to!)]

Story question problems
Your story should have:

1. Character
2. Problem—start story on the day your character’s life changed.
3. Goal—the character has to be proactive, to have direction in life, instead of merely reacting
4. Obstacles—don’t use coincidence to get people past their obstacles—use it to get people into trouble, but not out!
5. Antagonist—someone or something that opposes main character’s goals: man v. man, man v. nature, man v. self. The stronger the antagonist, the more intense and exciting the story will be.
6. Consequences of failure—there has to be a reason why they can’t just give up (this can be the antagonist)

“Fiction is a very dangerous neighborhood to live in.”

You can put these all together into a story question from Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight Swain:

When [MC] finds herself in [situation], she [goal]. But will [antagonist and obstacle] make her [consequences of failure]?

This story question should be answered at the climax.

Goal and conflict problems—Don’t let your characters wander through your books without goals. Somebody has to have a goal in every scene. [Even better—all major characters have goals in a scene and they conflict!]

No goals or conflict in a scene? Throw in obstacles, highlight the consequences of failure, hearken back to the antagonist [or give other characters in the scene conflicting goals].

Sentence structure problems—Watch for repeated backward sentences—too many get awkward. [Always vary your sentence structures. Reading aloud is the best way to find repetition like this!]

About the conference: LDStorymakers is a writing contest geared to LDS writers. The conference covers both the niche, regional publishers that cater to the LDS market as well as national publishers.

Presented by Heather B. Moore (blog)

Study the market
Look at what publishers are buying today, not just what’s on the shelves now—Publishers Marketplace announces deals, see what your friends are selling.

On the other hand, don’t write to a trend unless it’s your natural interest. [Plus you have to take into account the timeline here—by the time you finish a book, the market may well have moved on!]

Write, write, write
Hooks & Story Arc—there are four types of hooks:

1. 1st sentence/paragraph/page—why you start the book
2. Chapter hook—why you read the next chapter
3. Story arc—why you are reading to the end of the book
   • Can also lead into series hook!
4. Pitch—in query letter, why the agent will start reading your sample chapters

Keeping a writer’s schedule
As a writer, you’re always writing or revising something. Heather posted her publication timelines, past, present and future, on Writing on the Wall. Her first book was 27 months from “Chapter One” to holding it in her hands.

You have to keep working on your next project! Establish a writing schedule with daily goals: time, word count, etc. When making your goals, look at when you want to submit the book, the time it takes you to generate ideas and write, etc.

Once you’re done with the book
Do your homework when researching agents and publishers. See PublishersMarketplace (look at recent deals), AgentQuery, Preditors & Editors and Writer Beware.

With her first offer, she was about to sign the contract, but took time to email a few other authors to see how they liked them—the next day, she received 3 negative emails!

Check out authors/client list (if they don’t have one on their site and they’ve asked you for a full, ask for a client list). Follow submission guidelines!!

Steer clear of reading fees.

Platform, platform, platform
Christina Katz, Writer’s Digest May/June 2009 article

The well-known writer has influence. In order for you to build influence, you need to create and launch a platform that communicates your expertise, credibility and integrity to others quickly and concisely.

Ideas:

• Give public speaking on your research, offer to bring treats, approach book groups, libraries, etc.
• What are you the expert in?
• How are you different?
• Establish a relationship with your readers
• Join professional groups
• Volunteer
• Speak for free
• Platform: You are a writer
• Learn to teach (ex: Scott Savage teaching creative writing class through community)
• Be sociable
• Create a one-sentence pitch
• Maybe a 3 sent pitch for people who are more interested

Marketing timeline
6 months before the book comes out: get endorsements—blurbs on book and your website (even before book comes out)

3 months before: line up reviewers—newspapers and blogs (for the national market: 4-6 months out)

1-2 months before: schedule events and book signings
Have marketing materials prepared in advance: bookmarks, fliers, etc.

The big day: Book release: get books to remaining reviewers (some don’t want ARCs), book launch at bookstore, create a press release/news item—can be included in writer friends’ newsletters, book signings—talk to store owners.

About the conference: LDStorymakers is a writing contest geared to LDS writers. The conference covers both the niche, regional publishers that cater to the LDS market as well as national publishers.