Topic of the Week
I’m a little late coming to the party on this, but here are my answers to the questions submitted-very good questions, by the way.
1) Once you had a manuscript that you were comfortable with, how long did it take you to find representation? How many rejections did you have to go through?
My path to publishing took a slightly different tack. The Becoming was published first by a small Colorado publisher, ImaJinn Books. I used the book to query agents, checking the website www.agentquery.com for possibilities. My reasoning was, if an agent liked my writing, he might be interested in looking at the straight mysteries I’d written (and had rejected many, many times). As it turned out, one of the first agents I queried, Scott Miller at Trident Media, resold The Becoming and two others to Ace. Now it was a surprise to me because I’d always been told New York will not touch anything already published somewhere else. Not ture, obviously. But there are drawbacks to a deal like this. ImaJinn had the rights to my first three books. I now split any advances and royalties on Becoming and Blood Drive with ImaJinn’s editor and had to buy back my option on the third book. That said, if I hadn’t gotten that chance from ImaJinn, I may never have gotten a top notch agent like Scott Miller or been picked up by Ace.
2) How long does it take you to write a novel, on average?
I always laugh about this because my writer friends and I have all had the same experience. Let’s face it, you have YEARS to write that first book. If you’re lucky enough to sell a second, maybe a year to do that one. After that, deadlines come fast and furious. Ace wanted to release my first books six months apart. Blood Drive was completed, but Watcher was not. I had about six months to write it. For the next two, factoring in marketing, travel and all the extraneous stuff that goes into the business side of writing, I figure I’ve had about three months to complete the books. Most publishers seem to want their authors to do more than one series now, too. If anyone thinks writing full time is a cushy job, they’re not doing it.
3) Do you have another job?
I write novels full time, but I do also edit a newsletter for Distinguished Brands International, a beer importer. All the beer biz that fits to print (or drink).
4) Once you had a manuscript you were comfortable with, how long did it take to find an agent? How many rejections did you go through?
I touched on this one above. It didn’t take very long at all. I was lucky. I’d say about four weeks from the time I queried Scott until we had a deal. Now before that, I’d been writing straight mysteries for a long time and collected quite a few rejections along the way. Writer pal Jeff Shelby says you have to get at least 80 before you can call yourself a writer!
5) How do you deal with writer's block?
I actually experienced writer’s block on this fifth book. Could not get past chapter one. Hell, I couldn’t even get past the first page on chapter one. For the first time, I couldn’t use my seat-of-the-pantser method-know the starting point, know the ending point, know the characters. So I did what I’d always said I would never do-I wrote a detailed synopsis (32 pages). It worked. I had the story. Now, it’s already taken some unexpected turns from my original concept. But I’m 200 pages in and I know longer feel the panic that comes from wondering if I’m going to make a deadline.
6) What’s a typical word count?
For an adult UF, I’d say 70-90,000 words. I tend to write short chapters and my books span a very short time frame-three days to a week. I know there are writers out there who are much more prolific. I like short, fast paced stories.
1) Once you had a manuscript that you were comfortable with, how long did it take you to find representation? How many rejections did you have to go through?
My path to publishing took a slightly different tack. The Becoming was published first by a small Colorado publisher, ImaJinn Books. I used the book to query agents, checking the website www.agentquery.com for possibilities. My reasoning was, if an agent liked my writing, he might be interested in looking at the straight mysteries I’d written (and had rejected many, many times). As it turned out, one of the first agents I queried, Scott Miller at Trident Media, resold The Becoming and two others to Ace. Now it was a surprise to me because I’d always been told New York will not touch anything already published somewhere else. Not ture, obviously. But there are drawbacks to a deal like this. ImaJinn had the rights to my first three books. I now split any advances and royalties on Becoming and Blood Drive with ImaJinn’s editor and had to buy back my option on the third book. That said, if I hadn’t gotten that chance from ImaJinn, I may never have gotten a top notch agent like Scott Miller or been picked up by Ace.
2) How long does it take you to write a novel, on average?
I always laugh about this because my writer friends and I have all had the same experience. Let’s face it, you have YEARS to write that first book. If you’re lucky enough to sell a second, maybe a year to do that one. After that, deadlines come fast and furious. Ace wanted to release my first books six months apart. Blood Drive was completed, but Watcher was not. I had about six months to write it. For the next two, factoring in marketing, travel and all the extraneous stuff that goes into the business side of writing, I figure I’ve had about three months to complete the books. Most publishers seem to want their authors to do more than one series now, too. If anyone thinks writing full time is a cushy job, they’re not doing it.
3) Do you have another job?
I write novels full time, but I do also edit a newsletter for Distinguished Brands International, a beer importer. All the beer biz that fits to print (or drink).
4) Once you had a manuscript you were comfortable with, how long did it take to find an agent? How many rejections did you go through?
I touched on this one above. It didn’t take very long at all. I was lucky. I’d say about four weeks from the time I queried Scott until we had a deal. Now before that, I’d been writing straight mysteries for a long time and collected quite a few rejections along the way. Writer pal Jeff Shelby says you have to get at least 80 before you can call yourself a writer!
5) How do you deal with writer's block?
I actually experienced writer’s block on this fifth book. Could not get past chapter one. Hell, I couldn’t even get past the first page on chapter one. For the first time, I couldn’t use my seat-of-the-pantser method-know the starting point, know the ending point, know the characters. So I did what I’d always said I would never do-I wrote a detailed synopsis (32 pages). It worked. I had the story. Now, it’s already taken some unexpected turns from my original concept. But I’m 200 pages in and I know longer feel the panic that comes from wondering if I’m going to make a deadline.
6) What’s a typical word count?
For an adult UF, I’d say 70-90,000 words. I tend to write short chapters and my books span a very short time frame-three days to a week. I know there are writers out there who are much more prolific. I like short, fast paced stories.