I must use that

Every so often I hear an aphorism used in daily speech that just sticks in my mind -- and it isn't long before it winds up coming out of the mouth of a character. The other day I interviewed a woman for an article on textbook rentals. She had a pleasant southern lilt which instantly caught my ear. I asked her if there was a measurable return on investment for the program she was running. She said, "Well, we haven't been able to nail that Jell-o to the wall yet." Now, I've read the phrase -- or something quite similar -- once or twice in my life, but I've never heard anyone actually say it.
When she said it I had no problem hearing one of my characters drop it into normal conversation. It's one of those things that enriches the character and makes him or her more realistic.
So there you have it. If you read that phrase anywhere in my writing, you'll know where it originated.

Off topic question

Does anyone know of an RSS reader app for the iPhone that shows full text (without going to a browser)? I'm thinking it may be a feature of a "pro" version app but I want to find out first.

What I'm Reading: The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries

I like to read obituaries.
One of may favorite books of the not too distant past was The Last Word: The New York Times Book of Obituaries and Farewells : A Celebration of Unusual Lives, edited by Marvin Siegel. It was a collection of fascinating little glimpses into the lives of the dead who have graced the New York Times. (The one about Orville Redenbacher comes to mind, as well as the one about Superman creator Jerry Siegel.)
And apparently I'm not the only one who gets a kick out of these mini-masterpieces that seem to catch the essence of a person, or at least his or her character.
The book I'm reading now is called The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries. (What is it with all these long titles?) Marilyn Johnson's look at the weird and wonderful world of obituaries and the people who write them is a dead-on pers-- no that's not right... it's a soul-lifting... no that's not it either... look, you'll like this book.

Wrapping up edits

I finally feel like I'm seeing daylight on the novel. The line edits and revisions have been enlightening. Sometimes I'll read a passage and not remember writing it, but fortunately I like how it turned out. It's a very rewarding feeling.

Good article on self-publishing

Here's a clip from a good article on self-publishing that ran earlier this week on PBS's MediaShift site.

Self-Publishing, Author Services Open Floodgates for Writers

(snip)
The distinctions between traditional publishing, vanity press and self-publishing is becoming ever more blurred, and that's causing some anger and confusion. Publishers Weekly's Lynn Andriani caused a stir by admitting that the subsidy and vanity presses misuse the word "self-publishing," yet made no move to correct the error. And what would be the motivation, when the new expanded definition of self-publishing is experiencing triple-digit growth for the second year in a row while traditional publishers struggle to stay afloat?

Today's definition of self-publishing includes subsidy and vanity presses, print-on-demand companies, and book packagers, which many would like to clarify as being publishing or author services companies.

"Author Solutions' brands -- AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Trafford, Wordclay, and Xlibris -- have published more than 120,000 books by 85,000 authors," Andriani reported in the same article.
(more)

Finding an agent (Part 2)

Let's continue seeing what turns up in our Google search. There are a few more blogs listed here that are worth checking out.

One in particular is Wylie-Merrick Literary Agency. The blogger is Robert Brown, who I have followed for some time on Twitter (@agentrobert). He offers practical advice and solid information. It's well worth checking out. However, for my purposes, I know from an @agentrobert post that he's not reading new manuscripts right now. Still, I recommend reading him.

Another interesting blog is Waxman Literary Agency, which, I believe, is authored by three agents.
Lots of good stuff here, including this excerpt from a discussion that touched on publishing vs. self publishing:

2. How do you see “self-publishing” among the range of publishing options? Can it be a legitimate commercial choice?

Self-publishing, as we knew it a few years ago, was frowned upon; it was vanity publishing. It was expensive. It was for writers who couldn’t get their book published and had no alternative but to go at it alone. Companies provided editorial service, created a cover and did limited print runs – all of this costing up to $10,000. As digital publishing emerged, places like IUniverse surfaced who were able to do the same service for a lot less by using the print-on-demand technology, but it was still considered less than prestigious. Today, self-publishing is very different. We are all self-publishing via online reviews, blogs, Facebook, Twitter. This is fundamentally what the internet offers, the opportunity to easily and cheaply be a content creator and reach thousands of readers. As time goes on, there will be little distinction between publishing and self-publishing. You will just publish.

3. Can an agent be helpful to an author self-publishing? If so, how should the agent charge for that service?

I see the agent role in this scenario as a partnership or manager. We are looking at a project now with another company where we are co-publishing. We will help introduce opportunities, navigate the new technology and be involved from the idea through the publication. We will be more intricately involved. The new form of a book has not yet been created, and I feel we as agents, by being closest to the authors, will have a very central role helping figure out what that’s going to look like.

4. Do you recruit writers by looking at blogs and self-published books? Can you elaborate on how you look and what you look for?

My agency has been very active with pursuing bloggers who have book potential. One of the agents working at the agency, Byrd Leavell represents Tucker Max who wrote I HOPE THEY SERVE BEER IN HELL. Tucker has sold more than one million books because he started with a huge, built-in audience. That’s what the blogger gives you, a potential audience. This past year, Byrd signed a book off Twitter by Justin Halpern who posted off-color pearls of wisdom and sold the book quickly and well. You have to have a nose for what will translate to book form because most won’t. Not unlike traditional journalists, bloggers are usually better in short form.

As you can see, there are dozens of blogs by agents and agencies. Reading them will surely help you identify the ones that may be best suited to what you have to offer. In my case, Waxman seems to work with a variety of authors in different genres. I might have a shot here. (Note to self: Prepare pitch for Waxman.)

The last one I want to call attention to right now grabs you right from the start with a question. It's called "Rants & Ramblings On Life as a Literary Agent," and it's written by Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent. In today's post, she wants to know: Who are You as a Writer?
That's a good question that every writer should be able to answer. Gardner wants readers to answer two quick poll questions: "What do you write?" and "Where are you in your writing career?" When I visited her site today, the poll results broke down like you see here on the left.
I've been published in magazines and newspapers every month for nearly 20 years now, but when it comes to book publishing I'm right in there with the masses who are "Unpublished in book form." But that's all going to change isn't it? (I hear supportive murmurings from faithful readers... wait a minute, that's just the furnace kicking on. Ah well, I'll take what I can get.)
Then Gardner asks her readers to say something about themselves and their writing in the comments section. I'm in there as well. It's an interesting read... despite the fact that I'm in there as well.

Finding an agent (Part 1)

Today I'm going to begin documenting the process of trying to find a literary agent. If anyone else is reading this and interested in finding one, you can learn from my mistakes. Alternately, if anyone out there has a suggestion, feel free to pass it on to the multitude of readers I have on this blog. /s

We start with The Google
Just typing "literary agents" in Google has several results. First, Google's sometimes helpful suggestion feature (Thanks Google!) offers up a bunch of options even before I finish typing, as you can see here:


Right away we can eliminate some of these options. For example, I don't want an agent for a children's book, nor do I want an agent who focuses only on nonfiction. But there are some intriguing leads here. First the generic "literary agents" and "literary agencies," of course, but take a look at "literary agent blog." That sounds interesting. What might I learn from following a few agent blogs? Well, for one thing, I might get a better feel for whether this particular person might be receptive to working with me. Or I might discover that he or she is a jerk. But it is worth checking out some more. So here is what comes up on the first few pages (minus the blogs devoted to kids books again):

Nathan Bransford, Literary Agent
At the top of his page is this entry from yesterday:

You Tell Me: What's Your Least Favorite Malaprop/Mispronunciation/Homonym Error?
In the course of reading the 400+ queries that came in while I was away (answered!), I saw my share of homonym problems, which I usually just chalk up to typos. There's one, however, that gets me every time: peak/peek/pique. As I Tweeted yesterday, my interest is never "peaked" or "peeked." It's only piqued. (Although certainly my interest peaks when I see someone misuse pique.)

Ahh... I like this. As a magazine editor, I have my own grammar peeves. I'll keep an eye on this guy.

Next is BookEnds, LLC—A Literary Agency.
More good stuff to be found here. A partial listing of previous posts includes these Must Read Posts:

• Publishing Dictionary Expanded
• Submissions 101
• Word Count
• I Stop Reading When
• Resubmissions and ReQueries
• The Way I Read
• Questions to Ask Before Signing With An Agent
• Why I Reject

Okay, I've got some reading ahead of me.

Then there's Janet Reid, Literary Agent (Reading queries for fun and fodder...and best selling books!)
This one is a lot of fun to read, because Janet Reid is an engaging writer herself (and if she happens to see this post, yeah, I'm going for extra points.) Here's her post about being contacted

My phone rang this morning and it was a Los Angeles area code, although the number was unfamiliar. I picked up because I am headed out to LA for Left Coast Crime next week and thought it might be someone calling about that.
It wasn't of course.
She rattled on for a good sixty seconds about how a friend suggested she call a literary agent for information. By the time she paused for breath, and I could say "I'm sorry, I can't help you over the phone" my other line was ringing, and it was someone I needed to talk to. I said, "I'm sorry" again and hung up.
Of course, I got an email telling me how rude I was.
I'm ok with being called rude. Usually the people who do are the ones who don't understand how publishing works. They remind me of tourists who are offended people in Paris don't speak very good English.
And honestly, if this poor soul had just emailed me, and said "I'm totally at sea here, I don't know what to do, and I found your name on the internet" chances are I would have actually given her a suggestion or two.
And even if I hadn't, the place to get information is called a library not a literary agency. If you don't know the difference, consult a librarian.

Reading this makes you appreciate the agents' side of things. Reid also includes a link to yet another blog called Query Shark (How To Write Query Letters...or really, how to revise query letters so they actually work)
This is an area I need to study. I have a query letter crafted, but I'm sure I will revise it several times after reading these suggestions.

(To be continued)