Why Write?

Feeling particularly uninspired about blogging, I reached out to my online communities last week to see what folks wanted me to talk about. Thanks to those of you who responded! Your questions mostly looked like this:

• Should I be writing in 1st or 3rd person? Which will sell better?
• Should I be writing picture books or young adult novels? Which will sell better?
• Why are there so many  online courses and webinars? Will taking one help me to get an agent?
• What do you look for in a client? Does having an online presence help or hinder?
• How important is it for me to have other people critique my work before sending it out to agents?
• I’m out of ideas. Do you have strategies or tips for inspiration?

Before I answer these questions, though, I have a question for you! Why are you writing? I mean, I understand that writers want to get published and all, but why are you writing? For fame? For fortune? If those are your motivations, I strongly urge you to do something else. There’s a very good chance that you won’t get fame and fortune from your writing. Some people write because they have a gajillion stories running around in their overactive imaginations and they need the stories to see the light of day. Some people write because they have something important they feel they want to convey. Some people write because they find it fun. Some people write because they are just talented in that way, and they like to entertain people. There are so many other reasons people write, too. And you should know that of all the people who write, a very small percentage of them will land an agent. And of the ones who get an agent not all will get a book contract. I’m not telling you this to discourage you on your quest to get published though. I’m just saying, don’t write to get an agent. Don’t write to get a book contract. Write because you want to. Because you have to. Because you need to. Because you have something to say, or something you’re trying to work out. Write because it’s fun or a challenge or you’re called to do it. Write because you’re a writer. And then, do what you need to do to improve your craft. For some people, that will look like taking classes, or getting an MFA, or going to conferences, or being in a critique group, or doing webinars…There are a myriad of ways to improve one’s craft. Just keep writing. The answer to most of your questions is do things to improve your writing. How to do that will look different for everyone, because we’re not all alike. Only you know what will work for you. And now, some short answers to those questions.

• Should I be writing in 1st or 3rd person? Which will sell better? What will work best for your story? What will sell better is a well written story.
• Should I be writing picture books or young adult novels? Which will sell better? What are the stories you’re drawn to tell? Are they ones that would benefit from illustration? Are they for little kids? Are they for teenagers? What will sell better is a well written story.
• Why are there so many  online courses and webinars? Will taking one help me to get an agent? I don’t know why there are so many online courses. It’s insane. Take one if you think you’ll get something out of it. What will help you get an agent is having a great manuscript. If taking a course can help you with that, then take one.
• What do you look for in a client? Does having an online presence help or hinder? The thing I look for, first and foremost, is great writing and a great story. If the writer has an online presence that’s nice. If they don’t, I don’t care. What’s most important is the story. I will explore the second part of this question more fully, in another post.
• How important is it for me to have other people critique my work before sending it out to agents? It’s probably a good idea. I mean, why wouldn’t you? Why would you want an agent, who gets a trillion email inquiries a day, who will find even the smallest reason to reject your query because of that overload, be the first person to look at your work? Why would you do that?
• I’m out of ideas. Do you have strategies or tips for inspiration? Read, read, read, read, read! And I’ll blog some tips next week, too.

Any other questions? Give me your suggestions for blog posts you’d like to see, in the comments section below.

Revise & Resubmit: What’s Up With That?

So you finally get a response for one of the gazillion queries you’ve sent to all those perfect-for-you agents that’s not a “thanks but it’s not for me” and they want you to revise and resubmit. “What?! What does that even mean?” you might ask. Or, you might huffily think, “Why would I do a revision if they’re not even offering me representation?!” Or, perhaps you’re thinking, “I’ll do anything! I’ll change the whole thing if only they’ll represent me!” Or maybe your response is more like, “WTF is that crazy person thinking? They totally didn’t get what I was going for in this manuscript.” Or something else. What I’d like to do here is explain why an agent might ask you to revise and resubmit (or at least why I do).

I get so many queries every single day that my inbox is basically always overflowing. I have my intern (Hi Kimberly!) go through the queries to kindly decline the things that she knows I don’t want (like adult fiction, memoirs, romance, etc…). When we find something that I would be interested in, she’ll read the first 20 pages of a manuscript to gauge whether the writing is up to the standards of what I’m looking for. Then I will. If I’m still interested, we’ll request the full manuscript. Then I have her read it and write a reader report. Then I decide whether I’m going to take my time to read the full manuscript, too. When I do read a full manuscript, I always go in with my fingers crossed that it’s fabulous, with my eyes and ears open for things that aren’t working. And then one of three things happens…

I decline. “Thank you for your submission. It’s really just not for me” because on further reading I realize it’s really just not for me. Or “Thank you for your submission. I’m afraid the writing isn’t where I’d need it to be to make an offer of representation,” because it’s not, and for whatever reason (and there are many) I don’t feel like I’m right for the project.

I gather more information. Because sometimes I’m interested in the manuscript but I just want more information about you as an author before making a decision about offering representation. I usually want to know things like if you have other manuscripts already written (especially with picture books);  if you’ve been agented before; if you’ve submitted your manuscripts to publishers yourself; if you’ve ever self published anything. Things like that. After gathering more information, I might then ask for a phone call if I’m still interested.

I ask for a revise/resubmit. This might happen because…

• I love your story but I think it still needs more work.
• I want to see if you know how to revise before committing to representing you.
• There are some major plot problems but your writing is so terrific that I don’t want to just pass.

Now, when I request a revise/resubmit I’ll usually explain what I think needs work. If it’s just a general “the writing isn’t good enough yet” that means that I really dig your plot but you need to up the ante on the writing. Easier said than done, I know.

So what should you do? Well… it kind of depends upon what your situation is. Of course first you should thank the agent and let them know that if you decide to revise you’d be happy to resubmit to them.

• If your manuscript is out on submission to other places you might not be inclined to do a big revision until you’ve heard back from the other places. I mean, what if one of the other agents makes you an offer?
• That being said, if what the revise/resubmit is asking for isn’t a big revision, then what do you have to lose?
• What if the agent didn’t get what you were going for and is asking you to revise it to make it something you’re not interested in writing? I say don’t do it. (But that’s just my opinion.) I personally don’t think writers should write to get published. I think writers should write what they want and if it gets published? Bonus! I don’t think gutting something just so you can sell it is a good career move.
• But if you’re kind of hearing the same thing from all the places you’ve submitted? I say do it! Why not? Even if it’s a major revision, if you can get what the agent is suggesting and you think it makes sense and will make your manuscript stronger, I say go for it.

Let me tell you a story… When I worked for another agent, reading queries, we received a query from a middle grade author who I’d chatted with on Twitter. She was smart and was very funny and I could see the glimmer of something really special  in her writing. I gave her a lot of feedback on her manuscript but passed for the agent I was reading for. Two years later, when I just started being a baby agent myself, she queried me with the same manuscript. She’d totally re-written it, based on the feedback I’d given her. Although I felt it still needed work, I took her on as a client. You see, what I had found out about her from the revise/resubmit was that a. she really was a great writer, b. she could revise the shit out of her work, c. she was easy to work with and took direction well.

Hope this is helpful. Feel free to post questions about revising and resubmitting in the comments below.

Planning the 2015 Writing Yoga Retreat

This winter’s been kind of brutal. Although not as bad as last winter, I’m still very much looking forward to the changing of the seasons and the coming of some warmer weather. And warmer weather, to me, means planning the Writing Yoga® Retreat! My colleague Stefanie Lipsey and I were in a meeting at The Glen Cove Mansion last week, working on some of the planning for this coming summer’s retreat, and as we walked around I couldn’t help but think about how far she and I have come in just a few short years. Stefanie and I had talked for years about running a retreat for writers, and incorporating yoga. Stefanie had already created the Writing Yoga website and had started leading Writing Yoga workshops.

Then in 2013 we planned and ran our first Writing Yoga Retreat. It ended up being quite small, just 6 people, but it. was. fabulous! Last year we offered the retreat again, and we reached our goal of having 10 people register. We smoothed out some of the bumps from our first year, added a couple of things, and the result? Another fabulous weekend. This year we’ve capped our registration at 15 participants. Stefanie and I like leading to a small group, the intimacy of it, having the opportunity to interact with our participants one on one.

But instead of me blabbing on and on about how terrific I think the Writing Yoga Retreat is, let me share what two of last year’s participants had to say…

This is from Pete Magsig, a writer from Illinois:

I was listening to Lily Allen’s Sheezus the other day, which happened to be the album I bought before the workshop, and the total-bubblegum-pop song “Air Balloon” flashed me back to last year. I suddenly remembered that I had this crazy burst of creativity following the workshop. It was huge, and on all fronts: music, writing, programming, and making things. That’s worth it right there. But the weekend also affords me the opportunity to brush shoulders with the business of writing. The editors dinner makes the whole “getting published” thing real, and my sit-down with you, Linda, was invaluable. These are things I do not have access to in my own writer’s circles. Other memories: I really loved the “readings” dinner. The “get inside your character’s skin” exercise was memorable. Sitting around and just talking. And there was one moment on the last day when we were doing yoga inside that really unleashed some mind-body catharsis for me. You know, the more I think about it, the whole weekend pretty much rocked.

And this from children’s book author Lisa Rose:

A lot of times I feel like conferences and retreats are one big race to see how many people I can meet and impress to further my career. The Writing Yoga Retreat is the opposite. You make connections with people not because they have a title, a best-selling book, or an award, but because you share a common love of writing and also move through life as a yogi. Yoga means “to come together” and that’s what we do as writing yogis. It doesn’t matter what genre we are or how many poses we can or cannot do. We come together to support each other on the mat and on the page. We just know that we are better together.

I’m very proud of what Stefanie and I have created and I can’t wait for the weekend of July 9th! I’m looking forward to being with the returning participants as well as meeting new people. Will you be one of those people? For more information about the Writing Yoga Retreat, please go to our website writingandyogaretreat.com or you can email us with questions at writingyogaretrat@gmail.com.

The Glen Cove Mansion
Writing Yoga Retreat 2015