Writing Conference

I've managed to avoid being seduced into attending writing conferences but I finally dished out the dough for a late September weekend in St. Louis. It's only a day of classes but since they are covering the publishing industry I felt like it would be a good time. There's a possibility I may be moving futher south and east in the next few months which means it's time to stop sending mail out. Hopefully I can get some refreshment and ideas from this conference and start sending out more queries the beginning of the year. Finally got a response back from an agent off my list but it was a return-to-sender. I guess that's better than the slush pile. Right? Started on book two of my trilogy. The full glass angle on this is that when I do land an agent for #1 I'll have the whole series finished. HA!

When you get too caught up with yourself, whether as a writer or just as a person, take a long look at this video. I can't post the article that gives the background but you'll get the idea. How much would you do to help someone you love experience life?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjPrL3n63yg


I share with pride another rejection I received from a publishing editor, not an agent, this past week. I sent my manuscript to a sub-genre editor of a leading paperback company for women...my rejection said, "You have a knack for historical fiction," along with other things I've heard "strong project" but this editor didn't mince words with the why--she flat told me in not so many words, that my work was to realistic, too clean, just not enough "bodice ripping." Yes, even though I probably didn't use the word "bodice" in the entire story, this journey of a man trying to put a criminal past behind him so that he can make something of himself would not appeal to women because I didn't provide graphic episodes of intimacy. Actually, although such instances were understood, I didn't write any in. This brings to mind the discussion at Writers Digest this month about companies looking for "attractive authors." Gee. Good thing I got braces. What's next? Plastic surgery before Publishers Weekly?

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Service with a Smile?

My hunt for an agent has driven me pagan. Sunday School is an undercover act for my idol worship, the beginnings of a trail worn into the lawn by my fanatical obsession between the mailbox and my laptop. It's silly, I've been through this before and I know better, so I'm not going to leave another post full of complaints. And yet...

I heard once about some of the publishers online who will take queries from writers and how they a) send an auto-generated rejection, b) never answer at all, but how about c) they send an auto-generated rejection in under four minutes? Yes "C" is now an opportunity you're going to want to experience. After sending an invited e-query this past week, I received a reply in four minutes, not enough time mind you to finish my e-mails or shut'er down. Wow. They must have some really FAST readers or my work must suck so bad all they need to see is the subject line. "Query" How could I be so stupid? I should have known better than to send something so cliche, something they requested in their guidelines.

Waiting to hear back from a couple short fiction rags, have a couple new pieces to send out I feel good about. Got a callback from a magazine editor wanting some short poetry for their photo essays. They decided to go with another piece after selecting mine in July but hey, they asked for more. What's a writer to do? I live for disappointment. It's the only thing we can count on in life.

Did you see this week's Quote on Yahoo?
"IN THE MIDST OF WINTER I FOUND THERE WAS WITHIN ME AN INVINCIBLE SUMMER."

(A. CAMUS)

I still have two months to hear back from Glimmertrain. That would be icing on the cake to put something out with them. A real boost. Meanwhile, starting to think about the next novel which will base itself on my current project, though I'm switching forward from historical into the present for a contemporary go. With fingers crossed, I plunge into another week.

Another Day, Another Query

I am now one and fifteen in the agent game. Of course the one agent who asked to see my work turned down the manuscript because it wasn't what they were looking for.....although they asked to see it after the query/synopsis. Anyhoo, another small round out today and I have finally listened to my nag in the instincts that said to ditch the first chapter. Why does literature today have to be action action action? One thing I'm learning is that being a natural born poet does not make novel writing easy. Even when I think something is tight I go back for the second and third round edit and have to pound more out. It feels so cut and dry and this makes me sad. If you look at authors like C. Frazier or even Patrick O'Brian you realize the art of great literature is being lost to our hyperspeed mind sets. Not to sound bitter but I picked up a series book at Costco this summer in the vampire genre (listed as a bestseller)-bought a HARDBACK mind you, and could not believe the poor writing. It was like reading something a very talented high school kid had written. Whether it was poor editing or what I don't know, the story was great, but I can't believe so many of us are out here starving. Now for the clincher: I registered to receive the e-zine from Rejection Collection.com so I could read sad and funny rejection letters to make myself feel better--my confirmation subscription e-mail said my request had been rejected. Please tell me it's a joke.

Get Paid for Writing Crap

I know I've seen that tagline somewhere before but I had to borrow it because it's so true. What's really bothering me is I got the link from Writer's Digest who I'm sure gets a percentage of every ezine reader who visits this paying site. There were sites like this years ago but you never got paid. Maybe it was a good jumping off point for beginning writers but now there's billions of how-to articles all over the internet very badly written and seldom read. The site if you haven't heard about this is called Associated Content. I've heard about it but not enough to pay attention until I saw it being advertised with Writer's Digest. I am a WD devotee. There really isn't any good way to break into any market without keeping up with these folks. Personally, I love them. Is it because they awarded me an Honorable Mention in last year's Writing Competition? It helps. My point is that they got me interested and I went to the site and found out I could get $30 to $40 for articles. Then I read some of them. Ouch. Then I got excited when I saw a Prose link. Double ouch. Really. Now I remember why I quit slaving away trying to freelance to earn money. I was trying to validate myself. It took a three year break and determination but I am focused on fiction because that is the only way to get to where I want to be: on the bestseller's list. If anyone had submitted and published with this site (AC) and made oodles of cash I'd like to hear from them.