Write the Book You Love By Ebony McKenna
Considering the megabytes of information available for writers, you’d think writing a book and getting it published would be a simple matter of following the rules, writing enough words per day and landing the big contract. Before you know it, the money will start pouring in.
If only!
I shouldn't let this article go on much further before explaining that I don't have all the answers. Sorry about that. I only have some advice to give, based on personal experience and the mistakes I’ve made.
I made plenty of mistakes. I’ll make lots of new ones in the years to come too. I learn from making mistakes. The big mistake I made was writing books that weren't really me. I tried to shoehorn my style to fit a publisher's existing line. They wanted serious, deep, character-driven emotion. I wanted to slip some comedy in there. It wasn't a good fit. The publisher rejected my manuscripts accordingly.
While I tried to write novels to fit existing publisher lines, a strange tale about a teenage girl and a talking ferret sprouted in my mind. I had no idea what the market would be for romances with talking ferrets. But the story wouldn't go away, so I gave in to temptation and wrote it. The ferret book took close to a year to write. Being madly in love with my characters didn't make it any easier to write, but it made it easier to open the file each day and 'play' with these imaginary friends and have fun with them. Somehow, the internal editor switched off. Or maybe the other voices drowned her out. I started to feel there was something different about this book. That’s when it hit me – I was writing the book I truly loved.
As a writer, you must absolutely love your book and your characters, because you'll be with these fictional people day in, day out, for YEARS to come.
So here's my advice: Write the book you love. Write a book you'd love to read. (You are reading a stack of books at the moment, aren't you?) And give yourself permission to have fun with it and make mistakes. Assume nobody else will ever read it and let your imagination off the leash.
You may love regency romances and werewolves, so why not combine the two? In the end, you’ll have an original take on a favourite, so you might be on to a winner. There might not be a market for it, but you never know.
On the other hand, if werewolves and corsets become the next big thing, I would not advise you to abandon your current manuscript to jump on the bandwagon. By the time you write that book (which will take about a year), and publish it (another year at least, you should be so lucky!) the market for Mr Darcy howling at the full moon will have moved on.
So after you write the book of your heart, where to next? Seek advice from your local writing group. Get feedback on what works and whether your characters are believable and sympathetic. You’re not in a writers group? Then join one. What’s that, you’re worried someone might steal your ideas? Get over yourself. Ideas are nothing. It’s what you do with them that counts.
More advice – getting an agent. In my experience, landing an agent is a mixture of good targeting and very good luck. The 'market' for my book lay in Europe, so I targeted the biggest agency in the UK – PFD. I had to start somewhere, so why not at the top? I followed their submission guidelines and sent off my package.
Time for some more important advice. Follow the literary agency's submission guidelines to the letter. Every agency has its own guidelines. It could be query letter and synopsis and first three chapters. It could be email query letter, typed directly (ie, no attachments). If they want double spaced, single sided, twelve point in Times Roman, then you will do it. Don’t come up with excuses like ‘it’s their job to read my submission, no matter what form it’s in’, it won’t work.
Agents are swamped with submissions. If an agency gets two hundred queries per day (and many do!) and yours turns up in pink, twenty point comic sans font 'to get their attention' they're not going to think you're clever. They're going to think you don't care. Or worse. They're going to think you're unprofessional. Or maybe a bit … strange.
Instant rejection. Ouch.
Time for more advice – target new agents, or established agents who are setting up on their own.
Many established agencies get hundreds of queries per day. Even if your writing is brilliant, the agent may already have a client with the same sort of books or writing style on her list. She may see submissions she loves, but she just doesn't have the time or resources to take on anyone new. An established agent with a big client list needs to spend a large part of her day doing publishing deals for her existing clients.
A new agent, with fewer clients, will still be very fussy and will need to be absolutely in love with a manuscript to take it on. However, they are less likely to already have someone who writes like you on their list. That’s something in your favour.
My last piece of advice – there are no shortcuts. Good luck.
If only!
I shouldn't let this article go on much further before explaining that I don't have all the answers. Sorry about that. I only have some advice to give, based on personal experience and the mistakes I’ve made.
I made plenty of mistakes. I’ll make lots of new ones in the years to come too. I learn from making mistakes. The big mistake I made was writing books that weren't really me. I tried to shoehorn my style to fit a publisher's existing line. They wanted serious, deep, character-driven emotion. I wanted to slip some comedy in there. It wasn't a good fit. The publisher rejected my manuscripts accordingly.
While I tried to write novels to fit existing publisher lines, a strange tale about a teenage girl and a talking ferret sprouted in my mind. I had no idea what the market would be for romances with talking ferrets. But the story wouldn't go away, so I gave in to temptation and wrote it. The ferret book took close to a year to write. Being madly in love with my characters didn't make it any easier to write, but it made it easier to open the file each day and 'play' with these imaginary friends and have fun with them. Somehow, the internal editor switched off. Or maybe the other voices drowned her out. I started to feel there was something different about this book. That’s when it hit me – I was writing the book I truly loved.
As a writer, you must absolutely love your book and your characters, because you'll be with these fictional people day in, day out, for YEARS to come.
So here's my advice: Write the book you love. Write a book you'd love to read. (You are reading a stack of books at the moment, aren't you?) And give yourself permission to have fun with it and make mistakes. Assume nobody else will ever read it and let your imagination off the leash.
You may love regency romances and werewolves, so why not combine the two? In the end, you’ll have an original take on a favourite, so you might be on to a winner. There might not be a market for it, but you never know.
On the other hand, if werewolves and corsets become the next big thing, I would not advise you to abandon your current manuscript to jump on the bandwagon. By the time you write that book (which will take about a year), and publish it (another year at least, you should be so lucky!) the market for Mr Darcy howling at the full moon will have moved on.
So after you write the book of your heart, where to next? Seek advice from your local writing group. Get feedback on what works and whether your characters are believable and sympathetic. You’re not in a writers group? Then join one. What’s that, you’re worried someone might steal your ideas? Get over yourself. Ideas are nothing. It’s what you do with them that counts.
More advice – getting an agent. In my experience, landing an agent is a mixture of good targeting and very good luck. The 'market' for my book lay in Europe, so I targeted the biggest agency in the UK – PFD. I had to start somewhere, so why not at the top? I followed their submission guidelines and sent off my package.
Time for some more important advice. Follow the literary agency's submission guidelines to the letter. Every agency has its own guidelines. It could be query letter and synopsis and first three chapters. It could be email query letter, typed directly (ie, no attachments). If they want double spaced, single sided, twelve point in Times Roman, then you will do it. Don’t come up with excuses like ‘it’s their job to read my submission, no matter what form it’s in’, it won’t work.
Agents are swamped with submissions. If an agency gets two hundred queries per day (and many do!) and yours turns up in pink, twenty point comic sans font 'to get their attention' they're not going to think you're clever. They're going to think you don't care. Or worse. They're going to think you're unprofessional. Or maybe a bit … strange.
Instant rejection. Ouch.
Time for more advice – target new agents, or established agents who are setting up on their own.
Many established agencies get hundreds of queries per day. Even if your writing is brilliant, the agent may already have a client with the same sort of books or writing style on her list. She may see submissions she loves, but she just doesn't have the time or resources to take on anyone new. An established agent with a big client list needs to spend a large part of her day doing publishing deals for her existing clients.
A new agent, with fewer clients, will still be very fussy and will need to be absolutely in love with a manuscript to take it on. However, they are less likely to already have someone who writes like you on their list. That’s something in your favour.
My last piece of advice – there are no shortcuts. Good luck.
