A Few Words from a Literary Agent...

Recently, I was privileged to listen in on a teleseminar as Randy Peyser, local author of "From Crappy to Happy", interviewed literary agent Linda Langton.

I was pleased to hear that Linda is one agent who will always give feedback to an author. She prefers to receive "snail mail" queries. By the way, a proper query letter will be well-crafted, short and to the point. It should contain one paragraph on the author, and one to two paragraphs about the book.


A novel should never be queried to an agent before complete. A sample book proposal should include a chapter by chapter outline, as well as three chapters to showcase the author's writing style. It is also common and acceptable to query more than one agent at a time. Just let them know.

Linda also had an opinion on self-publishing. She opined that you're more likely to be signed by a publishing house if your self-published book has won an award, and sold a decent amount of copies.

I have my own opinions on self-publishing fiction, but more on that later.

Linda is interested in receiving queries on what is selling right now, and that includes Young Adult (YA): vampires/fantasy/magical realism (think Twilight). In non-fiction "how to" and inspirational books (like Randy's) are quite popular.

Crappy to Happy: Small Steps to Big Happiness NOW!

Chapters...when and how?

A few weeks ago, one of my favorite blogs discussed chapter length.
Is there an industry standard on chapter length? Do you stop at a particular point in the story and leave your reader hanging?

I remember once reading an article about a well-known author who actually did say that she knew her publisher expected 1,000 word chapters and that this was a formula she followed. A quick perusal of some of my favorite novels reveals that there is uniformity in regard to chapter length. Yet, most of the authors (mostly unpublished...hmmmm) did seem of the opinion that there was no hard and fast rule on chapter length.

Still, if a novel is to have a good pace, it makes sense that chapters would be a unifying basis for the pacing of the story.

Hey, makes sense to me.

The Trailer...or the bait and hook

No, I'm not talking about fishing. You've probably noticed how the back of a book has a brief synopsis of the novel you've just picked up to peruse. If the author has done their job, you will feel compelled to shuffle up to the cash register and hand over your hard earned cash. Or, at the very least go to the library and hand over your card.

I've been working on number one, and in fact my word count is now at 15,993! My Friday morning writer's group has helped to keep me on track. Just the idea that these first readers of mine want to know "what's next?" keeps me moving forward, and not going back and editing like I am compelled to do.

The other thing I have done is completed an outline of the plot points of the story - nothing too contricting, but something to keep me moving forward. Much of it was already in my head, but yes it does help to put it down on paper for those times when I find myself staring out the window and thinking, "Where was I going with this?" In completing that outline, the back of the book trailer just came to me like a gift. Here it is:

How many ways can a man be haunted? Adam Yates is a man haunted in more ways than one. Haunted in his dreams by a beautiful woman he can never have, haunted by the memory of a costly mistake, haunted by a ghost who seems bent on revenge.

Carey Hopkins has lived her life with the strange gift of seeing the dead – but when she finally meets a man who seems to know her inside out, will she finally find love or will she be forced to compete with a ghost?

The novel is Adam's Fall (working title) coming soon to a bookstore near you...

Premise? What Premise?

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I've read this book before, but going through it again for advice and pointers. What I find most interesting is that the author James Frey suggests that every good novel must have a premise. In fact, he goes so far as to suggest that you DO not have a good novel WITHOUT a premise. A premise has also been called theme.

An example he mentions is the premise “love leads to loneliness”. The plot of the story is of a man who lives happily alone in a lighthouse for many years. He's rather content in his solitude, until on a trip to the mainland he falls madly in love. He returns to the lighthouse with his new bride, who at first falls in love with the charm of the lighthouse. After a few months, though, and a difficult winter, the bride wants to move to a warmer climate. Because he loves his bride, he agrees to move to Arizona. Eventually he cannot cope with the heat, and begs his wife to return with him to the lighthouse. Reluctantly she agrees to move back. However, this time his wife leaves him with a note, "Do not try to find me." The man knows that he won't - he's alone again, but this time it's a crushing loneliness. Thus, love leads to loneliness. I don't know what genre this story would fit, but certainly not romance!

I’m glad that Mr. Frey does mention that there is disagreement in the writing community on the issue of the importance of premise. Many writers operate on instinct, and that instinct works well for them. I would love to hear from other writers on the issue of premise. Do you always start out with a premise?

Thinking this over, though, I do believe that the premise of every satisfying romance novel is: Eventually, true love conquers all. Is there anything better?

A Thousand Words a Day

On Writing

Some of you know that I have two novels in various states of completion. Both of them are contemporary romance novels. The challenge has been to sit down and write, not go back and edit. I must get through at least the first draft! This is a challenge as there is an editor in me that is tough to suppress. The goal is to write 1,000 words a day. The average length of a novel is 75,000 to 100,000 words.

As long as I don't focus too much on word count (there!how many is that now? can I go to bed now? can I read? I'm dying to finish that novel...) this should work.

One of my favorite books on writing is Stephen King's own "On Writing". I would pick it up if you're an aspiring writer. Whether you like King's writing or not (and I do) no one can deny the man is a prolific author.

Pink Shoelaces - Young Adult (2,000 words)

The summer that Lana Flowers turned fifteen her mother decided to take her on a camping trip, just the two of them. Never mind that they hadn’t spoken more than a few words in a month; she arbitrarily picked the time and place. See more ...

Day Three - I have Plot Issues

Alright, I admit it, I think my story in its current state might perhaps have a weak plot. So while I wait for a book I ordered called 20 Plots and How to Build Them (yes, there is such a book!) I'd like to share some of the comments I received from the first incarnation of this particular novel, which at the time I titled Carry Me Home.

First, I should explain that writing a romance novel is a little like learning a new language. I had no idea how many categories existed in the romance genre (called sub-genres, I believe). Historical romance, paranormal, inspirational, mystery, and many more. It's nice to have such diversification, but good luck when you're trying to define which category to enter. You will feel as though you should have stopped to think about this before you started your novel. Which is a good point.

I decided to enter Carry Me Home into the inspirational romance category and later felt that I had forced the novel into the category. Here is the beginning, and one judge's comments.

Chapter One

Ivey Lancaster knew that her God was a God of second chances, and of new beginnings.

“KNEW” IS A TELLING WORD AND WEAKENS THE SENTENCE. THE OPENING WILL HAVE MORE PUNCH IF YOU ELIMINATE THE HIGHLIGHTED PHRASE

True, she had never lived in a town quite as small as the little town of Starlight Hill, population 7,000. It had been easy to fall in love with its small town charm, and she knew this was the place where she could get a second chance. She had visions of getting to know everyone in town, chatting with the postman like an old friend, visiting the coffee shop or hair salon and greeting everyone by their first name.

LOTS OF KNEWS AND KNOWS. ONLY THE LAST ONE WORKS. NOT A PARTICULARLY RIVETING FIRST PARAGRAPH. YOU’RE STARTING WITH BACKSTORY. PLUNGE RIGHT INTO THE ACTION, AND THEN WORK IN THE BACKSTORY.

When Elizabeth Anderson had first approached her about taking over her midwifery practice in Starlight Hill, Ivey had at first been uncertain. She had spent the past ten years building her own thriving practice. She had prayed for guidance, for certainty, but her prayers were not answered immediately.

About the time that Ivey desperately needed change, Elizabeth had called once more as a last resort, and invited her for a weekend visit to the town she had called home for the last twenty-five years. It seemed that everyone in town knew Elizabeth on a first name basis, and Ivey found that she felt a peace about being there, a peace she had not felt for a long time. She never went back after the weekend, and asked her ex-husband Joe to send her things.

WE WILL NEED SOME INDICATION OF AGE AND PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, BUT NOT IN AN INFO-DUMP. WORK IT IN NATURALLY WITH ACTION AND DIALOGUE.

Looking back, I think my judge was rather kind. Granted, this was my first contest but looking back I'm pretty embarrassed by this attempt. Here is the completely revised beginning, since I decided to start some place in the middle and with some action. What has more action in it that a birth scene? The following includes one judge's comments.

Chapter One

“Just one more push – you’re almost there!” Elizabeth said.

“I AM pushing,” Michelle grunted.

BIRTHING SCENE IS GOOD AS AN ATTENTION GETTER.

“One more push should do it.”

“I can’t!” Michelle shouted. Her face was red, and drenched with sweat.

Michelle reached for Elizabeth’s shirt, took as much of it as she could into her also sweaty fist and hissed. “Just get a gun and shoot me! Please! Ohhhh!”

Elizabeth held Michelle’s sweat drenched face between her two hands. “You can do this.”

Michelle Murphy was about to give birth to her fourth child. Her husband Dave stood by her side holding her hand, his face turning an interesting shade of green. It seemed clear to Ivey that he would rather be having a root canal than be in this room, as he made every effort to avoid looking at what was going on “down there”.

I DIDN’T REALIZE WHOSE POINT OF VIEW WE WERE IN UNTIL THIS PARAGRAPH.

“I can’t!” Michelle shouted with such certainty that she had Ivey convinced, even if Elizabeth did not appear to fall for it.

Elizabeth Anderson, Starlight Hill’s nurse midwife of twenty years was about to catch a baby, and Ivey Lancaster assisted. Michelle’s mother and three sons waited in their living room in anticipation. As with her three other children, Michelle had chosen to be surprised by the baby’s gender. Unlike her other pregnancies, she had skipped the hospital this time, and instead decided to have an old-fashioned home birth. With one last Herculean effort, Michelle pushed her large baby into the world.

Ivey watched as an arching stream of liquid accompanied the newborn’s arrival, uniquely announcing his gender.

Here are some of the other judge's comments about this one scene:

THIS READ “TOO CLEVER” AND ALSO COULD BE SEEN AS AUTHORIAL INTRUSION OR A POV PROBLEM. I DON’T BELIEVE IVEY THOUGHT “OH, HOW UNIQUE!” IN TERMS OF DISCOVERING GENDER THROUGH THE BABY’S URINATION. AND IF THIS IS NOT IVEY’S POV, THEN IT IS AUTHORIAL INTRUSION (A COMMENT BY THE AUTHOR VS. BEING INSIDE A CHARACTER’S HEAD.)

I'm a little confused about who's in the room, and who they all are. If Elizabeth is the nurse or doctor, who's Ivey? And it's not quite clear whose POV this is.

As a reader, what do you think?