Chip MacGregor .com

What are some good resources for writers?

Dan wrote and said, "I hear you've taught a couple classes for colleges, and I know you do the occasional conference. For those of us who can't get to another state to hear you, what would be some resources you'd recommend for writers?"

One of the best things you can do for yourself as a writer is to attend a good writing conference. They have conferences all over the country, usually featuring experienced writers and publishing professionals. It's a great way to meet people, ask questions, and connect with others who are also trying to make it as writers. There's undoubtedly a GREAT conference happening somewhere close to you in the month, as the conference season kicks off (for example, I'm attending the Left Coast Crime conference in Sacramento in two weeks). You'll rarely regret investing in a good conference.

Another thing to consider is a critique group -- a chance to sit down with a small group of fellow writers and compare notes, critique each others' work, and talk books. It offers you perspective from others, and it gets you talking writing with people -- something many writers have discovered is hard to find. You can often connect to them online, and many local bookstores will help authors in the area come together in order to network and critique one another. A third resource is one of the online writing groups -- one helpful such gatherings is the Yahoo group "The Writers View," but there are numerous others. Most of these groups discuss writing and publishing, and many have a panel of experts to bring some wisdom to the discussion.

If you're already involved in some of those things, let me suggest a writing course at your local college. It can be a lot of fun to take a literature course or participate in a creative writing class, and the instructors can often give new insight into your work that can help move your craft to the next level. When I was in college, I got to take a class from Ursula Le Guin, one of America's foremost fantasy writers. It was a wonderful experience, and one you can't get just anywhere. Check to see who teaches college courses near you. Another idea is to take a look at the world of writing by subscribing to Writer's Digest Magazine or The Writer, and carefully checking out what's new in the "writing" section of BAM or Barnes & Noble. There are more new resources being created every few months, so if it's been a year since you looked at books about the craft, by all means check out the latest.

Two more thoughts for you... If you're a nonfiction author, the folks at www.bestsellingauthor.com have re-released their CD set, "Become a Bestselling Author: Lessons from an Anonymous Publishing Giant." This is like a master's level course in publishing -- a freelance writer interviews the president of a major publishing house, who gets into the mechanics of publishing, the psychology of editors, and the methods for creating a great proposal. They cover things like "landing a literary agent" and "generating free publicity" and "conducting great book interviews." It's a wonderful resource, but it's not cheap. I think the cost was about $300, but now that they've re-packaged it and are re-releasing it, they're selling for something like $149. Still spendy, but WELL worth the investment. (And no, I don't work for them.) Check it out.

If you're a novelist, by all means go to my friend Randy Ingermanson's site www.advancedfictionwriting.com. Randy gives away some great information (make sure to look at his free e-zine and his famous "snowflake" method), and also sells his Fiction 101 and Fiction 201 classes as downloads or on CD. All of his stuff is well done, and he's one of the few people out there who has something realistic to say about fiction writing and marketing. And Gina Holmes' "Novel Rocket" site has some of the best mix of interviews and insights into the writer's life. 

Of course, if you really want to move forward in your career, consider a writing career coach. I blogged about what Lisa Samson is doing last week -- her company, Luminary, offers manuscript guidance from one of America's great novelists... what more could you want? And, of course, by doing a bit of hunting online, you can discover a number of others who offer similar assistance. 

Hope this helps. What are the resources all you like to recommend?

 

All the news that's fit to print...

There's always a ton of publishing news going on, and I realize it's tough for most writers to stay on top of it all. The fact is, you DON'T NEED to stay on top of it all. But occasionally it's nice to know what's going on, so you can impress your friends or get girls to notice you at parties. So may I share a handful of things I think you should be aware of?

1. Barnes & Noble has decided not to carry any books published by Amazon. Books-a-Million made the same decision. That may not be a huge shocker (The Gap doesn't sell clothes from Abercrombie & Fitch), but fascinating none the less, as it sets up a battle between the nation's biggest retailers (and every writer's best supporters). The various sides are turning this into a blood feud. You can read about it here:

www.tinyurl.com/7blso7a

2. And that leads to an interesting discussion on the influence Amazon has in publishing these days. A fascinating story here, on "how Amazon is burning down publishing"...

http://tinyurl.com/889ot2s

3. And our friends at Digital Book World have explored how Barnes & Noble has certain advantages in the book wars:

http://tinyurl.com/7wslzzs

4. Meanwhile, over in the UK, there's interesting thinking on the ebook wars:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/18/ebook-price-wars

5. And back here in the Colonies, somebody noticed that HarperCollins is using the Expresso Machine to make their backlist available:

http://tinyurl.com/7tta9yn

6. I found this fascinating -- a look at how important covers and complete information are to those who e-publish:

http://tinyurl.com/7o2ek54.pdf

7. And this gives me hope and makes all the noise of the ebook wars fade away -- World Book Night is coming April 25th. If you don't know about it, read this:

http://tinyurl.com/8y4kth5

8. This also made me happy -- a story about an editor deciding to become an agent:

http://tinyurl.com/89w95uf

9. One of the most intelligent reviews of the current e-book situation was shared with me by crime-noir novelist Les Edgerton:

http://tinyurl.com/778ecza

 

10. And finally, I have good news for all those who want to know more about writing. The aforementioned Mr Edgerton is teaching an online course at the New York Writers Workshop: http://newyorkwritersworkshop.com/category/courses/onlinefiction, AND famed novelist Lisa Samson has started offering training to support up-and-coming writers: http://luminarycreative.blogspot.com/  That is good news for writers -- and I'll say more about it in a few days. 

Okay -- now you're up to date!

From Amanda: How to Format Your Manuscript for Submission and Kindle Upload

Amanda Luedeke is a literary agent with MacGregor Literary. You can follow her on Twitter @amandaluedeke or join her Facebook group to stay current with her wheelings and dealings as an agent.

First, I'd like to say I'm sorry for missing my post yesterday. I had some personal things come up and just didn't get around to it. So, we're going to take a slight detour this week, since I know there are a number of people who tune in specifically on Thursdays to hear about building author platform. And, well, we don't want them missing the next installment, now, do we?!

So for today, I'd like to share links to a batch of really helpful tutorial videos my author, the fabulous Jill Williamson, put together. They cover everything you need to know to format your manuscript for submission.

Formatting a Manuscript, Part 1: Page Set Up and Text-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boP5po6aMDk&feature=related

Formatting a Manuscript, Part 2: Page Breaks-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nU1iv2v95s&feature=related

Formatting a Manuscript, Part 3: Paragraphs-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwqvmdWDJto&feature=related

Formatting a Manuscript, Part 4: Cleaning things up-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNOj9ZR88E8&feature=related

Formatting a Manuscript, Part 5: Page Numbers-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOuihsC7SyY&feature=related

In addition to this, Jill put together a series of videos for formatting your manuscript for upload on Amazon as a Kindle ebook.

Formatting Your Manuscript for Amazon Kindle--PART 1-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU2kprKRrGY&feature=related

Using Mobipocket to Format Your Book For Kindle--PART 2-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4szEhEhHy4&feature=related

They're short and to the point...excellent references for anyone getting ready to do something with that polished, perfected manuscript.

Do you know of any tutorials to add to this list? Tell us about them!

And tune in next Thursday when we get back to our discussion on building platforms...the topic? Platform-building blogging. See you next week!

What's the latest news?

Random thoughts on proposals and writing as we end the week...

I am teaching a one-day workshop in Richmond, Virginia, on Saturday, November 6, at the Sierra Hotel near Short Pump. If you're in the area, I'd love to have you participate. All the details can be found here: http://www.regonline.com/the_perfect_proposal

My friend and fellow agent Noah Lukeman has some great advice to share on how to write a strong query letter, and he's giving it away as a FREE downloadable book. Check it out at:  www.writeagreatquery.com

And noted author Harlan Coben had some fascinating things to say about author branding in an interview he did with The Atlantic. Check out his thoughts at http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2007/07/paperback-writer/5988/

Several folks have written to ask if there is a book-marketing site I like. There is -- check out what Rob Eager does at http://www.startawildfire.com/

And there's fascinating advice on how to make the most of social media here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFZ0z5Fm-Ng&feature=related

I've had at least a dozen people write to ask what's going on with the various lawsuits among the guys who created the novel The Shack. Frankly, it's a mess. One guy is suing his partners for not sharing the money equitably. They are in turn suing him and claiming they helped write the book. And the publisher is even being sued (though it sounds like all they did was stick the earned royalties into a suspense account until the various other lawsuits could be resolved). It's ugly... and it's coming from people who bragged about how they didn't need an agent because they were all such good friends. Ugh. You can read about it here: http://www.christianretailing.com/index.php/newsletter/latest-etailing/21824-legal-showdown-over-the-shack

There's something new coming up on the market -- "Kindle Singles," a new idea from the folks at Amazon to create and sell e-books under 30,000 words (a size that is almost impossible to sell to a regular royalty-paying publisher). With the advent of e-readers and book-reader phone aps, there's a renewed interest in shorter reading projects. I don't know if this is going to be a trend or not, but it's certainly an interesting idea. Give a look at: 

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1481538&highlight

By the way, Publishers Weekly reported that e-book sales were up 172% in the month of August. Wow. Now that's what I call a trend. 

And Barnes & Noble is getting into the world of self-publishing -- making e-books available for authors who want to sell through the B&N.com website to all those Nook users (and I think the Nook is fabulous -- I like it better than the Kindle, in fact). There are mixed feelings about this sort of thing -- it means the retailer is now in direct competition with their suppliers (the publishers), but it also seems like a good deal and something a bit different from the self-publishing program at Amazon. If you're interested, the details are here:

http://pubit.barnesandnoble.com/pubit_app/bn?t=pi_reg_home

Finally, I'm sure you've been waiting to see a new shot of the cutest new baby on the planet -- here she is, dressed as Tinkerbelle and flying into my arms:

More on the industry

Mark sent me this: “It seems that slowly the CBA is selling out. Is this true? Is it the ABA getting greedy? What does this signal for the future?”

It signals that the general market has recognized the value of Christian books, Christian writers, and Christian readers. And, yes, it probably means that more CBA houses will be sold (or come under the influence of) large ABA houses. As to the question "are they greedy?" -- good grief, they're running a for-profit enterprise. If "greedy" means "are they focused on making a profit," of course they're greedy. But I'd argue that CBA houses, for all the carefully-couched terms about having "ministry" and "doing the Lord's work," are also focused on profit. So maybe we should view this as a greater partnership, rather than a sell-out. Sure, there are some questions to face down the road – who will do commentaries and reference tools that aren't necessarily commercial but still have value to believers? What happens when a company faces a decision to publish a book at odds with believers? How will Christians respond when a company publishes some heretical tome? But, for those not in the know, those very questions are faced by some of us every day. Time Warner Book Group was a marvelous company that did many wonderful books when I was there (as well as before I came and after I left). We probably also published some books Christians would find offensive. But you know what? I was not responsible for every decision in the company. I was responsible to do good books with solid Christian content that will sell in the marketplace. I was comfortable with that role, and I believed in the company. So no, I don't find the blending of Christian and general markets a "sell out."

Suzy asked, “How do you handle it when you have a change of editors (and editor styles) in mid-contract?”

This business is all about relationships. Editors move around quite a bit in the publishing world -- even more than in most industries (the reasons can be discussed in another post). So authors can expect this to happen to them occasionally. How to respond? Be polite, be positive, try to establish a new relationship with the new editor. Say hello. Send Starbucks. Show him or her that you're easy-going. Keep a positive attitude. Don't give the editor any reason to lose enthusiasm for your book, because every new person in a role is looking for projects that will succeed and make them look good.

Tim wrote and said, “What can we do as writers to stay current on industry news?”

For CBA, read Christian Retailing, Outreach magazine, World, CT, maybe the CBA retailer's magazine if you can locate it. For ABA, read Publisher's Weekly, subscribe to Publisher's Lunch, keep tabs on book news. There are a bunch of blogs that stay current with things -- Rachelle Gardner's CBA Ramblings are Michael Hyatt's excellent blog are two I find important and helpful. Also check out the Writers Digest list of 101 Best Blogs for Writers -- a great overview of where to find good information. Have conversations with other authors and editors. Rarely do things come as a surprise to the industry. Generally, any big changes are talked about for months. By keeping up with some of these sources, you’ll be more prepared for the industry shifts.

Carl said, “Why is it important to be aware of this news?”

To impress girls at author signings and cocktail parties, of course. And, I suppose, to make wise decisions in your writing career (should you find that important).

Random Notes on a Monday

So many things to share, so little time...

First, if you haven't seen this wonderful youtube ditty about booksignings, you should take a peek...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZoJ5OKmEJY&feature=email

Second, I want to suggest two websites to check out --

Publishing Perspectives offers a really interesting take on the industry [ www.publishingperspectives.com  ]

and the folks at www.absolutewrite.com/forums   solicit a lot of fascinating people to talk about the industry.

Third, take a look at what one excellent writer, novelist Mark Bertrand, has to say about the future of publishing at www.cardus.ca/comment/article/2010/

Fourth, if you haven't yet read Jon Acuff's Stuff Christians Life, you are missing not only a hilariously funny look at contemporary Christianity, but some really insightful stuff on how we live out our faith. Jon was just profiled on CNN.com this past weekend, so he's getting huge press. 

Fifth, you might want to check out what Barnes & Noble is doing with PubIt -- B&N's own version of self-publishing, which lets you leverage the world's #1 bookstore by making your book available on the Nook. Lots of details online: www.fastcompany.com

Sixth, people have been asking me when I'm teaching a seminar next...  Bestselling novelist Susan May Warren and I are teaching "How to Create Bestselling Fiction" in Denver June 18 & 19. It's easy to get to, is on a Friday/Saturday, and we'd love to have you join us. Susan is simply the best writing instructor I know. You can find out all the details at www.themasterseminars.com

Seventh, you probably already know the names Lisa Samson and Susan Meissner. They are bestselling, award-winning novelists who are respected by everybody in the industry. The two of them have been teaming up to do a weekend retreat entitled "How to Add Depth to Your Fiction," and people are raving about it. They were going to do it in Detroit in July, but instead they have moved the workshop to Lexington, Kentucky, so that Lisa can host it at her new tea shop! A more relaxed, intimate setting, with lots of small group face-time with Lisa and Susan. Frankly, I don't know where else you'd get this type of access to someone like that. Anyway, it's coming up July 23-24 in Lexington. For more details write to Tiffany Colter at tiffcolter (at) gmail.com. 

Eighth, Anna Miller has put together something interesting -- 50 Literary Tours All Over the World. If you're into literary vacations, do yourself a favor and take a quick peek at her site:  http://www.onlinedegree.net/50-fascinating-literary-tours-all-over-the-world/ 

Ninth, remember that Book Expo America (BEA) starts in New York tomorrow. And the CBA version (ICRS) will take place in St Louis at the end of June.

Tenth, and perhaps most importantly, is the announcement of the birth of Maelie MacGregor, my very first grandchild. She was born on May 22nd, weighing 7lbs 8 oz. Maelie and mom are doing fine. Here they are:

 

Guest Blogger: Thinking about Writing Communities

Often my writing receives attention because of the writing communities in which I am involved. Because of my submissions, blog posts, comments on writing networking sites, and the personal connections I have established, my name is becoming known enough for editors to read my work within the short story genre, whether or not they accept it.

I’ve read and enjoyed your pieces in other journals so did give your story a quick read anyway.

While the above mentioned story was not accepted, it was, at least, considered.

My goal is to write or edit the best stories possible. However, often there are discrepancies between what I think is “best” and what others find appealing. Thankfully, I have found an amazing set of friends/mentors who encourage me within my writing and editing process, even the “not best” productions. I have made it a point to intentionally reach out and be involved within each of these communities.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. I would be remiss not to give a shout out to the best literary community in the world, but I am more than slightly biased as this is the university from which I received not one, but two, graduate degrees. I still keep in touch with several friends/writers from UWM through facebook and email. While attending the university, I had the privilege of reading and thinking about my colleague’s writing, and they encouraged me in mine. If I start naming people, I am sure that I will forget someone, but I do have to say that Liam Callanan (All Saints, The Cloud Atlas) is a fantastic mentor and writer. If the opportunity affords, attending a school with an MA, MFA, or PhD program is rewarding and benefits one’s literary career. A scholastic literary community allows one to directly connect with other writers; although, it is not the only way through which to grow in one’s writing.

Emerging Writer’s Network. While at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, I had the opportunity to meet many wonderful literary folk. Dan Wickett from Emerging Writer’s Network is one of those people. I have been following his blog since 2008 with the hope that he would one day feature my book. However, Dan also became useful when Notes and Grace Notes started marketing Allan’s book, The Butcher and the Breather. Dan allowed me to write a book review and feature some of Allan’s writing on his website: http://emergingwriters.typepad.com/emerging_writers_network/2009/12/holiday-shopping-guide-sarah-joy-freese.html. Online literary communities are (generally) free and require a low amount of commitment. It may take a while to establish connections, but it is worth the wait because once those friendships are made, amazing opportunities are afforded. Still, face-to-face connections are often the most memorable.

Writing Conferences. It has been said that the Festival of Faith and Writing (FFW) is the best writing conference. But there are several others and many more ways in which one can connect with other writers/readers. This year, I am excited about attending both FFW and AWP—a writing conference that will be held in Denver, Colorado. If you are a short story or literary writer, this is the conference to be at! The featured writer is Michael Chabon, so even if you aren’t a short story or literary writer, this is still a conference you need to attend. The journal with which I am currently an associate editor has been established across state lines; I have never met the other editors face-to-face. At AWP, however, I am excited to meet both Harmoni and Allan, editors of Notes and Grace Notes.

Notes and Grace Notes. Harmoni and Allan are the best team for which one could wish. Both inspire me to discover amazing writing and think not just about what Notes and Grace Notes is as a current literary entity, but what it can become. And thanks to them, it is becoming! Because of my experience editing and reading through Notes and Grace Notes, I am growing in my ideas as a writer and a lover of words. I am also able to meet and encourage up and coming writers. Did I mention that Harmoni and Allan are awesome? Still, there are several other literary journals through which one can become involved.

Literary Journals. Again, there are too many to name! Because of the relationships that I have established with writers and editors, mostly through the submission of my own work or reading the work of other writers within the journals to which I submit, I have grown as a writer and a person. Pick a few literary journals to which your writing really connects. If you have any aspirations to be a short story writer, get to know the writers who are published within them. Email the editors and ask for copies of past journals (sometimes you can receive these for free!). Remember that establishing connections takes effort on your part, something that I have consciously determined to do with all of my literary connections, which brings me to my final point.

Email. C.S. Lewis responded to every single letter that he received. While, I am not much of a letter writer, I do believe in the importance of a thank you. Every time I read a book or a short story, if the author is still alive, I write them a thank you email explaining why I liked their book, my favorite character(s), and what their book meant to me at that point in my life. This has allowed me to establish several literary connections throughout the years. It is important to let writers know that you care about their work.

Establishing literary connections has been a fun part of my growth as a writer and an editor, but it’s been a process. I am excited to see where the journey continues to take me, and I am even more excited about establishing new relationships as I continue to learn and develop. Maybe, I can even meet some of you along the way!  

Our guest blogger today is Sarah Freese, a young writer and editor who I thought had something interesting to say. Sarah, like me, is a short story lover and an editor. She is going to do a short series of blogs, touching on some topics I think will be of interest.

Resources for Writers

I've got a bunch of notes and questions regarding writer resources, so let me try to get to several of them today...

On MONEY: Patricia wrote to say, "Thanks for your recent blog post about earning money. So if a book doesn't 'earn out' its advance, is the balance applied against the next book?"

It is if your contract is cross-collateralized -- that is, if all your various book advances are "basketed" into one deal. If not -- if each book is on a separate contract -- then no, your advance cannot be applied to your next book. 

On REMAINDERS: DeeAnn wrote me to ask, "What does it mean to 'remainder' a book?"

That's when the publisher sells the remaining copies of your book to a book wholesaler for less than the cost of printing. It commonly happens when your book is going out of print, or when they're down to the last 1000 copies or so, and the publisher wants to be rid of them. The books might have cost $2 to print, but they'll sell them for $1 apiece to somebody who will buy the entire remaining stock, just to get them out of the warehouse.   

On SELF-PUBLISHING: Gene wants to note, "The latest issue of Writers Digest is filled with ads for self-publishing. I'm on my second agent, still trying to get  published, but it takes SOOOO long. How can you convince me not to go to lulu.com and have my book for sale on Amazon tomorrow morning? When will the traditionalists speed up the process?"

You're right -- there are a ton of self-publishing companies. Some are good, some are not. Be careful. The problem with self-publishing is not the speed, it's the sales. If you write a book, you have to make sure the book is good (and if publishers are all turning you down, there could be a message there, Gene). You also want to ensure the cover is good, the editing is good, the title is good, and that you know how to sell it. The biggest problem with self-pubbing is that usually the author doesn't know how to market and sell his own book. Listing it on Amazon isn't really a marketing strategy -- there are two million books on Amazon. If you can't market and sell your self-pubbed book, don't go that route -- you'll lose a lot of money. As for the speed of traditional publishing, it's not the production side that is slow -- it's the retail side. It's March as I write this, and right now book sales people are walking into bookstores to show everyone the coming Christmas titles. The catalogs they're using were put together a couple months ago, so they could be used as sales tools, so that stores could order the books and get them in time for Christmas, AND the marketing people can begin their push before the book actually arrive. All that takes time. Publishing is a slow business.

On PROPOSALS: Martha wrote, "I've been told it's customary for a nonfiction proposal to include two sample chapters. So why has a publisher asked me to send all the material I have finished? I've sent 9 of the 12 chapters and have still not heard a decision."

It's true that a standard nonfiction proposal generally included a thorough description of the project, table of contents, author bio, and two sample chapters. But standards can change. In these competitive times, we're often seeing publishers ask for more of the writing. They want to see if you have enough to say, if your message can carry a manuscript, and if you're close to being done. The fact that a publisher has asked to see more of your work is a good sign, Martha. There's certainly a risk that you could complete the work and the publisher still says no -- but that's true with any book. In fact, if you're so close to being done, I'd probably encourage you to finish the book so that you have the added selling point of being able to tell publishers, "The manuscript is complete."

On CONFERENCES: Lee Ann wrote and asked, "What are the best Christian writers' conferences?"

Christian writers these days have a plethora of great conferences they can attend, and I'm a big fan of them. I think conferences are a great place to network with other writers, hear from experts, and get face-to-face with editors and agents. My favorite conference is probably the one put on by the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW). It floats, but this September will be in Minneapolis. The Write-to-Publish conference at Wheaton College is a good choice -- it takes place the first week of June (and though the ads say I'll be there, I had to cancel due to my daughter's college graduation). Other good options include the Blue Ridge Writers' Conference in Asheville, NC, and the Colorado Christian Writers Conference up in scenic Estes Park -- both of these take place in May, and both offer excellent speakers in beautiful settings. There are a bunch of other big ones with good opportunities to learn and network -- Florida, Philadelphia, Oregon, Glorieta (NM). Jerry Jenkins' Christian Writers Guild puts on a conference that I'm told is very strong (though pricey), but I've never attended. The Mount Hermon conference in California is coming up in a week, and, though expensive, is one of the good ones. Reg Forder's American Christian Writers organization puts on smaller one-day conferences in cities around the nation, and many colleges will have excellent writing conferences in the summer (I'm speaking at the Harriette Austin Writer's Conference at the University of Georgia this summer, for example).  There are also many excellent general conferences not focused on CBA, and a couple of speciality conferences to consider. Next month Calvin College will be hosting their bi-annual Festival of Faith and Writing, and ACT ONE out in Hollywood offers a special conference for Christian screenwriters. Finally, there are retreats and smaller gatherings going on all the time. There's really no reason for a writer to not find a conference where he or she can learn, network, and get inspired.

On NON-CONFERENCE RESOURCES: Bev wrote to ask, "Aside from a writing conference, what sort of other resources can you recommend to those of us who want to learn more about writing and marketing?'

I encourage you to check out Randy Ingermanson's material at www.AdvancedFictionWriting.com. He has some great things to say about writing articles to promote your books, and offers a teleseminar on how to promote your writing through speaking. And a newer site to visit is www.wannabepublished.blogspot.com, created by my friend Mary DeMuth. Some good stuff for those looking to break into the business. If you're looking to network with other writers, novelists should connect with the afore-mentioned ACFW, and many writers would appreciate a yahoo group called "The Writers View." You'll probably want to be reading Publisher's Weekly to find out about the industry, and the web-based Publisher's Lunch and Publisher's Marketplace are two sources I cannot live without. If you really want to stay on top of the CBA market, you should be looking at Christian Retailing magazine and buying a copy of Sally Stuart's excellent book with Random House, Christian Writers Market Guide. Finally, consider Writer's Digest Magazine, and especially their annual Writers Market, which tells you everything you probably need to know about book publishers. Hope this helps.

An Editor Drops By

Becky Germany is a Senior Editor at Barbour Publishing, and a familiar face at writing conferences. I recently asked her a couple questions about the industry...

In many ways, Barbour has become a leader in Christian fiction -- doing novellas, establishing a book club, focusing on mass market. Where does all the creative thinking come from?

Becky: We're the leading CBA publisher of fiction categorized as romance. We rank fourth in the number of units produced in fiction in CBA. We started publishing fiction as romance flip books way back in 1983 with authors like Colleen Reece, Irene Brand, and Elaine Schultze. I wasn't at Barbour then, so I"m not sure how it was decided to settle upon romance, but it's been our strength ever since. The Heartsong Presents book club began in 1992, the year before I joined the company, and out of that has come a number of stars -- Tracie Peterson, Wanda Brunstetter, Lauraine Snelling, Colleen Coble, Cathy Marie Hake, and more (forgive me for not trying to name them all, Chip). Our fiction series have helped us remain open to working with unpublished authors and developing them into strong writers.

Another Barbour strength has been doing series and repackaging previously published material (including Grace Livingston Hill) to extend the breadth and life of the product. Our novella collections were born when we decided we could create new short stories specifically for collections under topics of our choice. So the creative thinking seems to extend from Barbour's roots, and builds on what we do best. Our team members are, for the most part, people who have been with Barbour many years and who know the company's success model. We've learned to work within our strengths and to keep our product subjects broad, in order to appeal to the widest audience.

What are some of the things that have worked (and not worked) in fiction for you?

When we decided to start doing full-length fiction for the trade, we looked at an area which, at the time, didn't seem to be well tapped -- suspense with broad appeal to include male readers. We left our core readership of women hooked on romance and tried to reach a niche market -- and failed. Even with strong authors like Alton Gansky, Nancy Moser, Hannah Alexander, etc., the market didn't respond to this fiction approach from Barbour. When we swung back to romance, the sales placements and numbers went up significantly. We learned our lesson: For Barbour, having the plot focus on romance is key. Wanda Brunstetter's Amish settings blended with romance have struck a chord with our readers and generated great sales. We also find that traditional American history settings appeal to our readers. Romance has many sub-categories, and we've found that things like chick-lit and suspense really aren't working for us.

What does the future hold? Are there some new things brewing at Barbour you can tell me about?

Well, we just launched our newest book club, containing cozy romantic mysteries. We sort of created a genre combining our romance strength with cozy mysteries. Light, humorous mysteries fit well with our readership, and the added romance is icing on the cake.

We've also increased our focus on building author names. In the early days of Barbour, the majority of our authors were either dead or writing for a set series where the author's name wasn't key to sales. Now Barbour recognizes the need to focus on author names when selling full-length fiction. We've recently signed six authors to multi-book, exclusive contracts, and we're putting a lot of effort into marketing them.

It sounds like there's a lot of interesting stuff happening with your company. So...now that you've got all these readers excited about working with you, what advice would you like to offer them? When they see you at a conference, what should they be thinking?

Just today I was reminded of my frustration involving acquisitions at conferences. I received a book proposal that claims I requested it at a writers' conference 6 months ago. It's been so long that I have no idea what sparked my interest in it to begin with. I would really encourage authors who attend conferences to have, at the very least, the full summary and three chapters polished and ready to hand over at the conference. If the editor requests your proposal, send that as soon as you get home. Then have your full manuscript ready for the editor's review no farther out than one month from the conference. Editors work with a heap of authors, and you have to do all in your power to keep yourself at the top of the review pile if you're going to get noticed.

Thanks for coming and joining us, Becky. I appreciate you taking the time. And now that you have your guard down... what's the dumbest thing you've ever seen at a conference?

My most embarrassing moment came at a writers' conference. I went to this small gathering up in Pennsylvania. I got there just as it was starting, and we were all gathered for dinner. I got sick. I guess I'd been under a lot of stress, and a migraine hit me hard. I left the table, but only got as far as the cafeteria waste can before losing my dinner. What a way to introduce myself to the group! (An agent, Joyce Hart, took care of me like a mom all weekend. I'll always be grateful to her for that.) I've never been back to that conference.

I'd like everyone to notice that it was an AGENT taking care of Becky. Another helpful, selfless literary agent, putting herself in harm's way, thinking only of the needs of others, as usual. What an inspiration.

Oh, brother.

A Visit with an Editor

A couple months ago, my buddy Andy Meisenheimer stopped in to talk about one of his pet peeves: the overuse of novelists turning all thoughts into italics in their manuscripts. Andy is an editor at Zondervan, and his post caused much debate and hand-wringing with some writers. Never being one to avoid a good controversy, I asked him if he'd come back.

Chip: So your last visit to my site created a stir, Andy. You ready to face this again?

Andy: Yeah, my last guest blog might have come across as Andy's Vindictive Rant About Certain Arbitrary Rules of Style. People assuring me they'd never, ever, use thought italics, and people offering condolences to the poor writers who have to obey my every whim (and Mike Snyder, constantly calling to let me know his progress in eliminating thought italics from his current manuscript). Instead of a discourse, it became an ultimatum. Instead of "okay" and "better," it became "wrong" and "right."

My intention for that post, and any time I speak up about words, is to encourage writers toward better writing. They aren't rants about my personal hot-button issues. They aren't indirect ways of editing my current authors (please, Mike -- stop calling). If your editors says to take out all semicolons, I encourage you to say, "Puh-leeze. You got somethin' to back that up? The market isn't buying books with semicolons?"

Chip: So would you say an editor's job is to continue the conventions? Or to help an author break them successfully?

Andy: An editor's job is to help the author discern what's working. A good editor must appeal only to conventions of the craft and the effect upon the intended reader to justify editorial comment. And convention and effect are fluid things, open to change and dialogue and debate. Not that they are subjective; there are conventions, and there are effects upon readers, and their equivocation does not make all opinions valid.

In other words, subjectivity is not always the culprit. Think of it like furniture. My wife and I can go shopping for a chair, and we'll look at one chair. I might like it; Mandy might hate it. That's fine. That's liking and disliking; it's subjective. (Though at the point at which it messes with current fashions -- basically, how people have been taught to respond to something -- we can call that "effect upon the intended reader," and subjectivity takes a back seat.)

But is it a good chair? Will it hold up? That depends on the skills of the craftsman, but it's not subjective. It's based on a lot of factors, most of which you could learn through a school or apprenticeship, but the proof will be in the pudding. Sit on it, rock back and forth, jump on it, have your dog bite it, and suddenly you'll see if the chair is good or not.

Chip: I guess that makes you a powerful person in the life of a writer!

Andy: Well, that's a weird way of putting it. Like saying my wife is a powerful person in the life of her husband. True, but weird.

Still, the most fun part of being an editor -- and, I like to think, about being edited -- is inspiring writers to achieve more. The pushing-forward part of editing, instead of the pulling-back part. Instead of, "You're doing this wrong," it's "You could do this even more right." It's the part that says, "This is a moment -- take advantage of it!" and "You should try writing your next novel in second person, future tense, in reverse chronology!"

Chip: Do you ever find yourself intruding on someone's manuscript?

Andy: Sure. I'm no saint. I've got hot buttons. And I probably justify some of them with highfalutin arguments. But I stop myself often and ask the question: Is this just me, or is this on behalf of the reader? To the best of my ability, I want my authors to feel freedom to do what needs to be done to get the story told, and the freedom to ask, "You got somethin' to back that up?"

Chip: Interesting stuff! So to sum up, you believe all authors should write their novels in second person, future tense, with reverse chronology. Got it. ("Hey," I'm thinking to myself, "this Andy guy is an interesting character...but since I'm thinking this to myself, I'll be sure to put it in italics...")