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Writer's Access Frequently Asked Questions
By Margaret Chittenden
Margaret (Meg) Chittenden is the author of How To Write Your Novel, and 29
novels including Dying to Sing, Dead Men Don't
Dance, Dead Beat and Deadly, and Don't Forget to Die, the first four novels
in her Charlie Plato mystery series.
Previous FAQ File Drawer Sections
Ref 470. hi im a 25 year old women who is trying to find out how to write a novel.my dream is to be a writer and become successful but need the guidence of a pro
Ref 471. Meg, how DO I find the "right" or "good" market? I can't figure out how the Literary Market Place works and use the Writer's Market. I can plainly see the ones that DO NOT publish my book by sujbect area. However, the other blurbs in this Market say stuff that could include my work. Plus I've been to the library to see who publishes my work. At this point do I just go from A to Z in the hopes someone will publish me? I don't ever understand what "study the market" means. I can't seem to study anything but the blurbs and most of them (blurbs) say they publish my type of work but when I send it to them I get rejected. I have a very unique book and I have asked a couple of publishers point blank what they think and they tell me that they don't know where to put it in a bookstore. sigh. I've just been sending out querys and a sampling. DO I need to send out another sheet of paper suggesting WHERE I think the book should be placed/Who the audience and market is? Hope you are having a great day. Thanks
Ref 472. I am stick with a few ideas and characters,but every time I try to make it longer I get stick in the mud, please give a few tips? writing a book is hard!!! Thank you
Ref 473. Response to Ref 470 & 472 I'm putting these two queries together as the answer will be about the same to both. In the limited space here, I can't really tell you all there is to know about writing a novel. I can answer specific questions on specific aspects of writing and that's about it. But I'll do my best to give you some guidance here. 1. If you scroll to the top of this page, you'll see some "drawers" that contain previous questions and my answers to them. The questions you ask have been asked before and you'll find my answers there and maybe pick up some other tips as you read the material in each drawer. 2. A quicker way would be to go to my website at http://www.techline.com/~megc and click on the button on the right hand side that says writing tips. You'll find a whole bunch of advice in there on how to write a novel. (And yes, writing a book is very very hard and it doesn't get any easier!) 3. Quickest of all would be to order my book "How to Write YOUR Novel," which you can either order from The Writer Inc 617-423-3157 or from Amazon.com. Now, I don't want you thinking I'm here just to sell my book--I've given you other choices, but it took me around eight months to write that book on How to Write YOUR Novel, and you can see that I can't give you that much advice here. Also there's 25 years of my writing experience in that book, so it's not such a bad deal. If you don't like any of these ideas, then you might like to go to your library and check out some books on how to write, subscribe to The Writer Magazine and Writer's Digest, check to see if there's a writers conference in your area, or a writers group in your town that meets and critiques. Decide first what kind of book you want to writer--romance? mystery? science fiction? Then try to find out if there's a group of such writers locally. Or check your local community college for classes in creative writing. One or all of these ought to get you off to a good start. Good luck, Meg
Ref 474. Response to Ref 471: Well, I'm not sure I can be much help here. Unfortunately for us writers, most publishers nowadays are in the business for profit. That's why they want to know where to put the books in a bookstore. If you write a mystery, or a romance, or a science fiction, or true crime or whatever else has a certain character to it, then everyone is happy. If you write something that cannot be categorized, it's going to be more difficult. All you can do, and all I can tell you is to try all the markets that seem at all possible. If you think you know who your target audience is you could include that in your cover letter or query letter, but the publisher won't necessarily agree with you. Unfortunately, again, publishers receive a great many submissions. They do not usually have time to tell each submission why it's being rejected, they often don't know, they just feel it isn't right for them. We've all gone through hundreds of rejections--or most of us have anyway, even the most famous of us. It's a rite of passage for most writers. I can't make that part of it easier in any way. If you can't exactly define your book, then maybe you should just start with A and keep going to Z. Sorry I can't be more help. Cheers
Meg
Ref 475. Hello Meg,
I am working on my first fictional novel and I was wondering what the standard number of typewritten pages is for an average size novel.
Ref 476. Response to Ref 475 Well, that's a difficult question, as it depends on the novel. There's an old joke in the publishing business about the writer who sent a telegram--okay, let's update it--sent an email to a publisher asking 'How much will you pay for $75,000 words," and the publisher emailed back "Which words." The serious note underlying that joke is that it's the quality of the words that matters, not so much the number. Having said that, if you are writing, say, a category mystery novel, then your novel would be around 60,000-75,000 words. A thriller might be 100,000 words, or it might not. Best you look in Wrters Market, available at most libraries and see what individual publishers say, then adjust accordingly. So the short answer is, there's no standard number of pages. It depends on the type of novel and the individual publisher. You need to be at least 60,000 words, I would think. 75,000 is a good number. That's what I usually write and it takes up 300 manuscript pages. But there's not really a hard and fast rule. Sorry I can't be more precise. Meg
Ref 477. Some time back, I came across a few loose pages from a book in the attic.
A passage was highlighted that I found most interesting,"where does the final
harbor lie.........The secret of our paternity is in their graves and we must
dare to learn it." I don't rememeber the whole passage, but years later
I heard the same passage recited in the movie "Powder" written by Victor Salva
and released in 1995. I would be most greatful to know the title of the book
that contained this passage. If anyone knows, please email me at stafoya@promedix.com
Thank you
Ref 478. HI MY NAME IS RJ AND I AM THE BEST WRITER OF ALL TIME
BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW TO GET IN THE DOOR CAN YOU HELP ME
CALL 805 653-5040
Ref 479. Response to ref 478. Well, RJ, you certainly don't need me if you are the best writer of all time. You might check out Writer's Market from your library and see what markets are waiting for you. Cheers, Meg
Ref 480. Response to ref 477. I'm afraid you've mistaken this site for a chat room or bulletin board. This is a place where people ask questions about writing fiction and I try to give helpful answers. However, I did look in my few reference books but did not find the quote. You might try some of the search engines like Excite for sites that have quotes referenced. Good luck. Meg
Ref 481. hi if been writing a movie for the past four years and have enrolled in writing courses in a university to help me in screen writing. My question is how can i go about contacting some producer to consider my material.
Ref 482. Response to ref 481. Sorry I can't help you with screen writing questions. If you scroll to the top of the page you'll see a link to screen writing. I'm here to answer questions about novel and short story writing mainly. Good luck, Meg
Ref 483. Dear Meg, I have joined a Works In Progress group and have learned so much. WE all have mixed feelings as to whether or not to go through an agent or just try publishers on our own. I for one am going publsher route first. Anyway, I have discovered that I have written a book that appeals to women or that women can identify with. I didn't start out that way but can now see it. I am happy with the way it reads now (with much revisions--ongoing really) and do not want to change it to NOT be gender oriented toward women. I am writing a sequel and am not sure how to make it so ALL people want to read it. Is there a way to consciously do this? I will write it first and then try to degender it but think that the topic (educational issues self help) may lend itself to women appeal. Do I need to then look for female editors when I start resending my query and sample letters out. I have found the men are completely turned off and miss the whole point of my chapters (we let them read partial chapters). One of my co-WIPers says that you haven't even hit the beginnings of publishing blues until you get at least 50 rejects (I'm not far!). I have rewritten my query letter and I have not sent my work out for a good two years. Do you think I can retry sending to some of the same publishers that gave me "rave rejects"? Thanks again.
Ref 484. HI ! THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR EXPERIENCE.
MY QUESTION IS : IF I HAVE A SCRIPT, AND A LIST OF WGA AGENTS TO SEND IT TO, HOW CAN I BE SURE THEY DON'T TELL ME "NO THANKS", BUT SINCE I'VE ALREADY SENT IT TO THEM THEY USE ALL OR PART OF IT UNDER SOMEONE ELSE'S NAME, AND SNATCH THE IDEA, PLOT AND POSSIBLE DEAL FROM ME ?
IN OTHER WORDS, WHAT IS THE LEGAL PROCEDURE TO BE FOLLOWED SO MY WORK, WHICH I SEND IN GOOD FAITH TO AN AGENT HOPING HE OR SHE WILL READ IT, DOES NOT END UP IN SOMEONE ELSE'S HANDS AND CREDITS ?
Ref 485. REsponse to ref 483 Your topic is a bit beyond me as I am here to answer questions about fiction writing and marketing. It's also fairly impossible to answer anyway. If you think your proposals will have a better impact on women editors then by all means send to women editors. But male editors do accept books targeted to women. I write cozy mysteries which have mostly female readers, but my editor is a male. I don't know enough about the non fiction market to direct you at all, I'm afraid. have you checked Writers Market to see which publishers might be most likely to publish your book? It's available at most good libraries. Be sure to read the latest year. I don't see how you can degender a book after writing it, though I love the word! If you are writing for women then your writing would be slanted in that direction, I would think. If you want it to appeal to all people, then write it that way. Were the men who read your sample chapters editors? Editors don't usually go by personal likes and dislikes, though I'm sure subliminally they may be affected by them if there's some doubt in their minds about the topic. They buy what they think will sell, and more women buy books than men. They know this. As for how many rejects you can expect, it's impossible to predict. We all go through rejection. Just don't take it personally, and send your proposal out again. You can, of course, send a query letter to several editors at once. But don't send a whole book out until you are invited to submit it because of your query letter. I would not send to the same editors again, they have long memories, unless the work is completely new. My first children's book was rejected by 25 publishers, then sold to the 26th and went into four printings. Other books sold the first time out. An agent is a very good thing, if you can get one to represent you and he or she is a good agent. Mostly they want you to have a track record. They live on 15% of your income, so they want to be sure you are capable of getting some income. You can also query agents of course, several at a time, and see what kind of response you get. I'm not being a whole lot of help, but that's the best I can do. If you visit my homepage meg@mchittenden.com and click on "writing tips" you might find something useful to you there. These is a section on marketing. Good luck, Meg
Ref 486. Response to ref 484: You might want to scroll to the top of this page and go to screen writing to see what someone there might have to say. I'm dealing mainly with novels here. But here's a quote for you from the Library of Congress copyright office. " copyright protects "original works of authorship" that are fixed in a tangible form of expression. The fixation need not be directly perceptible, so long as it may be communicated with the aid of a machine or device." (This includes literary works and dramatic works and musical works etc. Separate quote: "copyright is secured automatically upon creation. No publication or registration or other action in the Copyright Office is required to secure copyright. There are however certain definite advantages to registration."
So, back to me--If you want to register your work you'll have to do that with the library of congress. The copyright office is at the Library of congress, Washington DC 20559-6000. You can write there for advice, or check out the Library of Congress website, through a search engine. Best I can do for you. Screenwriting may be able to tell you more. Cheers Meg
Ref 487. Ddear Hollywood.net,I would like to write a great book. And get it published in the 21st century. If you can help me than please E-mail me at barbiedol15@hotmail.com I'd love to also screen write movie diologs. Or do some modeling in hollywood. I'm a dancer too.Well I'd appreciate your help. Thankyou!
Ref 488. Response to ref 487. Barbiedoll dear if you can do all those things, you don't need any help from me. M.
Ref 489. Meg, It's snowing!!!! I was wondering about the Proposal. I have written a short novella almost 50,000 words and have written (rewritten) a great query letter. My former query letters would bring me "rave rejections" as you call them. I have now become a little more "experienced" for lack of a word and have rewritten it. The Writer's Market says query first---so I do with sample chapters. I'm confused as to when to send out a book proposal. I see that the proposal includes outline of chapters, who the author is, but it also asks you to describe who your audience is and how the publisher can market it. Well, I don't think I can speak to how it can be marketed and who the competiton is (my book seems to be original--nothing in library or bookstores like it that I can tell). Can you speak a little about the Proposal. I didn't see it in your writing tips. Thanks
Ref 490. Response to ref 489. Sorry about your snow! Sun's shining here. 50degrees! i think one problem might be the length of your novella. Why not turn it into a novel. It's not at all easy to get a novel published, but publishing a novella of that length would be vastly more difficult, I would think. Unless it's a mystery. Even then, 60,000 words would be better. Perhaps you couldcome up with a sub plot--a story involving secondary characters that would help to flesh it out. I've written a couple of novellas, but they were 25,000 words and were part of an anthology with three other authors, done at the request of a publisher. You might think about this at least.
On to your question. There is some stuff on the proposal in my writing tips on my website, under marketing. http://www.mchittenden.com I see I gave my email address instead of the URL a couple of responses back, sorry about that. I'm with book and get befuddled! Okay, the proposal usually consists of a synopsis of the story, rather than a formal outline. Write the synopsis as if you are telling a friend what the book is about. Don't try to get everything in, just hit the high points of the plot and give some information about the characters. Along with the synopsis, it's usual to send at least 50 pages of the actual writing. The first two or three chapters of a novel. Depending upon the length of your chapters. Nowadays it's perhaps better to send out a query letter first, with a paragraph of description of your book, and no sample chapters. maybe a few pages if you want the editor to see what your writing is like. Then if the editor asks for a proposal you can send the sample chapters with the synopsis. A synopsis can be from five to twenty pages long, depending on how complex the story is. Many of my writer friends send five to eight pages. I usally send 20, double-spaced, but as you can see, I'm a wordy person! i wouldn't worry about target audience or competition unless you are writing non-fiction. If it's fiction and you are sending it to a fiction editor, then the editor will know who the publishers target audience is. I haven't looked at a Writers Market in a while--I live a long way from a major library--but I can't imagine an editor wanting that kind of information about fiction. If I were to write who the competition is for my mystery series, I'd have to give an awful lot of numbers! Hope this helps a bit. Meg
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