Writers Unleashed: What Do Publishers Want?

Yesterday I had the pleasure of speaking at the Writer’s Unleashed (aka Sutherland Shire Writers) Festival about Rural Fiction. Although the audience was small it was great to be able to chat about writing and to share what I’ve learnt with others.

Also of interest was the session on What Publishers Want, where a panel of three publishers shared what they are looking for. So today i thought I’d share some of those tips with you …

First up was Emma Rafferty from Pan Macmillan. Emma gave a very detailed talk and here are some of the points she made:

• The bottom line is that publishers want good stories that are well told
• An author who can be turned into a brand
• Someone who has written, or has the potential to write, multiple books
• A wide potential market – a book readers are willing to pay for and feel like they got their money’s worth
• An author who has the ability to market and promote their book
• Publishers are starting to approach successful indie digital authors to publish their works in print (a la 50 Shades)
• New Adult is an increasingly popular genre
• Her advice to authors submitting to the slush pile is to – follow the submission guidelines, give your cover letter a commercial flavour, a strong synopsis, a well-edited three chapters with a strong voice and evidence of a strong plot, a full bio

Beverley Cousins from Random House followed up with this:

• Putting “what a publisher wants” into words is like asking “how long is a piece of strain?” It changes throughout the year depending on what she already has on her list.
• Clever plots with an identifiable hook
• although crime fiction is a popular genre in Australia, books by australian crime writers don’t sell well
• Beverley is currently looking for historicals
• Writers need to realise publishing is  business and treat it as one – don’t say “I write as a hobby”.
• She advises writers to make sure they are clear about the genre and type of book in their submission – be clear where our book fits in

Roberta Ivers from Simon and Schuster, finished up with this advice:

• Do some research and approach a publisher who publishes the books you like or books that are similar to yours
• Write a great story
• S and S specialises in popular women’s fiction and narrative non-fiction but are not currently taking unsolicited submissions
• New Adult is the next big thing
• She likes to publish debut authors

Overall it was a very interesting panel. The main point that came through is that publishers are looking for well written, tightly edited stories from authors who understand how the business works. It all comes down to writing what you love in an authentic voice, doing your homework on who to submit to and how to do it and  of course having the determination to keep at it.

And maybe a little bit of luck!

Happy writing 🙂

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Supporting Your Writing Through Writing Buddies, Groups and Networking

I hope you’re managing to meet your goals (at least some of them) for the January Challenge. I’ve had to adjust mine over the last few days. As I’m currently holidaying in a pretty idyllic location there’s no end of visitors – which is great as it gives me a chance to catch up with friends and relax but it also means there’s not much time to write. I’m doing the morning pages and making sure that at night before bed I do an hour or so of note making or writing. Last night I did a few prompts from a writing book, which I’ll discuss further in later posts.

Over the next few days I’ll be posting about ways to support your writing. The most crucial thing I’ve done to support my writing over a number of years now has been to participate in writing groups. I’ve been a member of The Writers’ Dozen for 6 years. We meet fortnightly at The NSW Writers Centre and stay in close contact via email. I’ve also formed strong writing connections with writers I have taught through my classes and tutorials at Justwrite Publishing (www.justwrite.net.au). And lately I’ve been “meeting” amazing writers through Facebook and Twitter. I’ve written about this before so here is a re-post of my thoughts on the importance of connecting with other writers.

Writing is a lonely journey – not that this is a bad thing. Most writers love the isolation, the space writing gives you to be yourself and to get lost in your own – and your character’s – worlds. Without that space our creativity would be stifled, our minds always busy with whatever is going on around us. As writers we need to be able to closet ourselves away, hang that do not disturb sign on the door and ignore everything and everyone else – at least for a while. But we also need like-minded people to talk to about our writing, to brainstorm ideas with and to get the valuable feedback we need to improve our craft. If you’re lucky you might have someone in your family who can provide all this but otherwise you need to make connections with other writers either face-to-face in a group, one on one with a fellow writer or even online. Other writers know the joys and woes of getting the words on the page. They know the thrill of finding exactly the right simile, the fear of exposing themselves through their writing and the frustration of rejection. They understand better than anyone else what it is like to sit at the computer, spilling your heart onto the screen only to read it and find your finger hovering over the delete button. Sharing all this with others who can relate helps keep you on track with your writing, helps keep you motivated and inspired. Last week I emailed a short story I’ve been working on to my writing group, The Writers’ Dozen. The story had started off at over 4000 words and I had whittled it down to just over 1,500, the target I was trying to reach to enter a competition (that editing process is a whole story in itself which I will tell another time). Not only did my “support” group reassure me that the cuts I had made didn’t spoil the original idea they helped me to hone the words so that the finished product was a much tighter piece in which every word added something to the story. As I listened to their suggestions, took some on board and discounted a few, what I was trying to do in the writing became a lot clearer to me. Talking it through allowed me to crystallise my vision and to look at the story more from the reader’s perspective. A writing group like this is invaluable and I don’t think I would have kept at it (this whole writing caper, I mean) if it hadn’t been for their support. If you don’t have access to a group or don’t have the time to meet outside the house finding a writing buddy you can connect with either in your home, a local coffee shop, by phone or online is another great way to keep you motivated. A writing buddy should be (ideally) another writer, one who “gets” where you’re coming from and what you’re trying to achieve with your writing. You don’t want a buddy (or a group) who will tell you everything you write is wonderful just as it is. The whole point of this process is to improve your writing, so you want someone who is willing to tell you what they think works – and what doesn’t work. You need someone who is going to be empathetic but honest, a buddy who wants to see you succeed as much as you want to see them succeed. And since this is a two-way process, you need to be able to take on board their suggestions (ie. nicely worded criticisms)without falling to pieces and you need to be confident enough in your writing to make the changes you think work and ignore the ones that don’t. So, where do you find these gems? Writing courses and workshops are great places to meet other writers. Swap contact details, keep in touch, arrange to meet up for coffee and take it from there. If there are enough people ( 4 is a good minimum number) you could start up a group and arrange to meet on a regular basis. If there are only a couple of you, do the same and set up regular “writing dates” online and in person. Writers’ Centres run regular courses (try The NSW Writers’ Centre – see Useful Websites on this blog for the link) as do Community Colleges, WEA and a number of private writing colleges (just google). It might take some time and some trial and error but having writing buddies makes a huge difference to your life as a writer. So, get out there and connect.

How do you connect with other writers? How does it help support your writing?

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One of the Many Gifts of Writing: Connecting and Friendship

It’s been a while between posts, being the silly season and all. This morning I had a few minutes to draw breath and ponder on the ups and downs of my writing year and the thing that jumps out at me is how grateful I am to have been part of two wonderful writing groups.

The first is The Writers’ Dozen. I’ve written about this amazing bunch of writers before http://wp.me/pVnoP-33. We started out six years ago as a group of thirteen wanna be writers with no idea about what it takes to write a book from beginning to end. Sharing the buzz of creating a story out of words on a page has kept us meeting fortnightly at the NSW Writers Centre. In that time we’ve seen each other through the joys of publication and the despair of rejection, learning all the while about the writing process and the publishing industry. We’ve self-published an anthology and raised enough money to build a library in Nepal. While our numbers may have dwindled and our busy lives have sometimes prevented us from meeting as often as we would have liked over the last twelve months, I know that I probably wouldn’t be writing today if it wasn’t for their support and encouragement. We’re all very different individuals writing in a range of styles and genres but the one thing we have in common is our love of writing. We have become more than writing buddies – we have become friends and that connection is one that will last a life time and one that I feel very blessed to have made.

The other group I feel grateful to have been a part of this year is the class I facilitated for the Write Your Book in 2011 course. Once again writing brought a very diverse group of people together all with a common aim – to complete a book by the end of this year. While life got in the way for some, six very determined ladies stuck it out until the end and managed to complete their first drafts – a couple of them even finished two books! Through discussion, workshopping and studying the craft these women realised a dream and now have a complete manuscript to revise and polish in 2012. The improvement in their work and the development in their confidence in critiquing each other’s work and their own was a pleasure to witness. I hope many more people get the opportunity to read their work in the years to come. Once again strong friendships were forged.

The Write Your Book in 2011 Graduates

For many of us publication is the holy grail we seek, myself included, but it’s important to stop along the way and recognise the other gifts that writing bestows on us: connection with ourselves and connection with others. By sharing our ideas and stories, our hopes and dreams, our fears and frustrations with our fellow writers we help each other learn and grow. That’s one of the most valuable things we can do in life. I’d like to say thank you to all my writing buddies, past and present and I look forward to nurturing new writing friendships in the years to come.

I’d love to hear about your writing friendships and how you nurture them.

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Tip# 7: Find Some Writing Buddies

Writing is a lonely journey – not that this is a bad thing. Most writers love the isolation, the space writing gives you to be yourself and to get lost in your own – and your character’s – worlds. Without that space our creativity would be stifled, our minds always busy with whatever is going on around us. As writers we need to be able to closet ourselves away, hang that do not disturb sign on the door and ignore everything and everyone else – at least for a while.

But we also need like-minded people to talk to about our writing, to brainstorm ideas with and to get the valuable feedback we need to improve our craft. If you’re lucky you might have someone in your family who can provide all this but otherwise you need to make connections with other writers either face-to-face in a group, one on one with a fellow writer or even online. Other writers know the joys and woes of getting the words on the page. They know the thrill of finding exactly the right simile, the fear of exposing themselves through their writing and the frustration of rejection. They understand better than anyone else what it is like to sit at the computer, spilling your heart onto the screen only to read it and find your finger hovering over the delete button. Sharing all this with others who can relate helps keep you on track with your writing, helps keep you motivated and inspired.

Last week I emailed a short story I’ve been working on to my writing group, The Writers’ Dozen. The story had started off at over 4000 words and I had whittled it down to just over 1,500, the target I was trying to reach to enter a competition (that editing process is a whole story in itself which I will tell another time). Not only did my “support” group reassure me that the cuts I had made didn’t spoil the original idea they helped me to hone the words so that the finished product was a much tighter piece in which every word added something to the story. As I listened to their suggestions, took some on board and discounted a few, what I was trying to do in the writing became a lot clearer to me. Talking it through allowed me to crystallise my vision and to look at the story more from the reader’s perspective. A writing group like this is invaluable and I don’t think I would have kept at it (this whole writing caper, I mean) if it hadn’t been for their support.

If you don’t have access to a group or don’t have the time to meet outside the house finding a writing buddy you can connect with either in your home, a local coffee shop, by phone or online is another great way to keep you motivated. A writing buddy should be (ideally) another writer, one who “gets” where you’re coming from and what you’re trying to achieve with your writing. You don’t want a buddy (or a group) who will tell you everything you write is wonderful just as it is. The whole point of this process is to improve your writing, so you want someone who is willing to tell you what they think works – and what doesn’t work. You need someone who is going to be empathetic but honest, a buddy who wants to see you succeed as much as you want to see them succeed. And since this is a two-way process, you need to be able to take on board their suggestions (ie. nicely worded criticisms)without falling to pieces and you need to be confident enough in your writing to make the changes you think work and ignore the ones that don’t.

So, where do you find these gems? Writing courses and workshops are great places to meet other writers. Swap contact details, keep in touch, arrange to meet up for coffee and take it from there. If there are enough people ( 4 is a good minimum number) you could start up a group and arrange to meet on a regular basis. If there are only a couple of you, do the same and set up regular “writing dates” online and in person. Writers’ Centres run regular courses (try The NSW Writers’ Centre – see Useful Websites on this blog for the link) as do Community Colleges, WEA and a number of private writing colleges (just google).

It might take some time and some trial and error but having writing buddies makes a huge difference to your life as a writer. So, get out there and connect.

What have your experiences been with writing groups and buddies?

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