Well, it's done.
After nine weeks of hard-graft, slaving over a hot laptop and grinding endless plot complications through my weary brain, Luigi's recommendations and my own improvements have resulted in a manuscript that is now 115,000 words, down 35,000 from the original, and with an entirely new and very exciting plot device for the story.
What excites me the most is that Luigi's marketing plan for me, which involves developing my work as a particular 'brand', has resulted in me coming up with two sparkling new ideas for subsequent novels, both of which are represented by recently completed synopsis. I've had some feedback from Luigi on one, and am awaiting an opinion on the other, but I've got a gut feeling that both stories really are quite unique, just like the first, and could cement me a place on the shelves of bookstores that really is my "own".
Getting published is the main priority right now, but once happily published it's standing out from the crowd that really matters. Whilst I can't say what will happen in the future, I feel very optimistic that I'll be producing material that really will be unlike anybody else's work. Can't wait to see what Luigi thinks of the finished re-draft: if it gets his thumbs-up then things can start moving, and we'll have an entire series of potential books to back it up!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Finding your niche.
I didn’t start out writing thriller fiction.
My first written novel was entitled “Man o’ War” and was set in the 18th Century, following the crew of a Royal Navy sloop sent to hunt pirates in the Caribbean, who themselves turn pirate and are hunted down. My second was entitled “Frontier”, and followed a street urchin ‘pressed’ into service aboard an East Indiaman bound for Calcutta in 1838, and from there into the First Afghan War of 1842.
Both were good stories and could have done well. Why didn’t they? Partly because I was still learning my craft ( though agents commented encouragingly on my opening chapters for both novels ) but mainly because I didn’t understand that the publishing industry ebbs and flows in niche revenue much like movies and music: things come in and out of popularity. At the time, historical fiction just wasn’t moving, and so neither did I.
Had I known this I would have researched it further, and perhaps succeeded earlier than I did. Exhausted after such research-heavy endeavours, I spent the next five years writing screenplays for TV / movies. These are even harder to market than debut novels, but I learned a great deal about story-telling whilst doing them.
It was only a few years ago that I began studying the publishing industry, whilst at the same time taking a look at my own bookshelves to see what I was reading, and thus what excited me. Thrillers dominated by far, especially the work of Michael Crichton, along with Lee Childs, a bit of Wilbur Smith and some Jeffrey Deaver. Clearly I needed to write thrillers and my market research revealed that, by and large, thrillers always sell regardless of more general shifts in public interest.
Writing in differing genres can deliver a great deal of perspective on how to produce great work, but if you’re aiming to see your name on the shelves you must be passionate about your subject material and genre, otherwise your lack of enthusiasm will show through no matter how hard you try to conceal it. Find your true focus, let all of your talent rush into it, and spectacular results can occur. It may sound simple, but it took me years to find what I REALLY wanted to write about.
Write what you enjoy, and keep a weather eye on the publishing world. Eventually, work, luck and timing can help you produce the perfect novel at just the moment when publishers are looking for your kind of work. And when they’re looking for something in particular, they’ll approach literary agents, who’ll search their slush piles for just that kind of book…..
My first written novel was entitled “Man o’ War” and was set in the 18th Century, following the crew of a Royal Navy sloop sent to hunt pirates in the Caribbean, who themselves turn pirate and are hunted down. My second was entitled “Frontier”, and followed a street urchin ‘pressed’ into service aboard an East Indiaman bound for Calcutta in 1838, and from there into the First Afghan War of 1842.
Both were good stories and could have done well. Why didn’t they? Partly because I was still learning my craft ( though agents commented encouragingly on my opening chapters for both novels ) but mainly because I didn’t understand that the publishing industry ebbs and flows in niche revenue much like movies and music: things come in and out of popularity. At the time, historical fiction just wasn’t moving, and so neither did I.
Had I known this I would have researched it further, and perhaps succeeded earlier than I did. Exhausted after such research-heavy endeavours, I spent the next five years writing screenplays for TV / movies. These are even harder to market than debut novels, but I learned a great deal about story-telling whilst doing them.
It was only a few years ago that I began studying the publishing industry, whilst at the same time taking a look at my own bookshelves to see what I was reading, and thus what excited me. Thrillers dominated by far, especially the work of Michael Crichton, along with Lee Childs, a bit of Wilbur Smith and some Jeffrey Deaver. Clearly I needed to write thrillers and my market research revealed that, by and large, thrillers always sell regardless of more general shifts in public interest.
Writing in differing genres can deliver a great deal of perspective on how to produce great work, but if you’re aiming to see your name on the shelves you must be passionate about your subject material and genre, otherwise your lack of enthusiasm will show through no matter how hard you try to conceal it. Find your true focus, let all of your talent rush into it, and spectacular results can occur. It may sound simple, but it took me years to find what I REALLY wanted to write about.
Write what you enjoy, and keep a weather eye on the publishing world. Eventually, work, luck and timing can help you produce the perfect novel at just the moment when publishers are looking for your kind of work. And when they’re looking for something in particular, they’ll approach literary agents, who’ll search their slush piles for just that kind of book…..
Monday, August 02, 2010
Pace versus Depth.
One of the hardest tasks for an author when writing a novel is learning to balance pace against depth of story. It may not sound like much, but it’s surprising how easily a chapter can become bogged down in excess narrative or exposition, boring the reader who wishes only for the story to keep moving along.
On the other hand, it’s also possible to sacrifice so much narrative and atmosphere for pace that the story becomes featureless and barren, devoid of crucial scene-setting that can be so important to placing the reader ‘in’ the story so that the scene at hand blossoms to life in their mind.
My writing, as a rule, is a little heavy on exposition and light on pace. I’ve learned over the years that what I’ve originally taken an entire paragraph to describe will quite often be shaved down to a single line during my editing and redrafting, and rightly so. However, many of the commercial fiction novels I read today seem somewhat vacuous, rocketing along at such pace that everything else, from plot to sub-plot, characterisation to dialogue, seems to go out of the window in favour of Hollywood-style sound-bytes and shoot-outs.
I suppose my point of view might sound pompous, but I’m trying to take a line somewhere between the two extremes. I think that it IS possible to combine good writing with pace – isn’t “good writing” what writing is supposed to be about? Taking the reader somewhere else, letting them escape their own life for a while? If an author can’t take readers into their fictional world in a convincing manner, then surely it’s no longer entertainment. Atmosphere, character development and narrative depth are too important to the art of story-telling to be entirely abandoned.
From my original 150,000 word manuscript, I’m down to a solid 122,000 words. The pace of the work is much swifter now and there’s more action, but I’m not willing to abandon the atmosphere I’ve created for the sake of losing a couple of thousand more words: atmosphere is so rare now in commercial thriller fiction that by keeping it, I may actually benefit.
I need to lose about another 7000 words to be content with the story length. It’s going to have to come off some other way….
On the other hand, it’s also possible to sacrifice so much narrative and atmosphere for pace that the story becomes featureless and barren, devoid of crucial scene-setting that can be so important to placing the reader ‘in’ the story so that the scene at hand blossoms to life in their mind.
My writing, as a rule, is a little heavy on exposition and light on pace. I’ve learned over the years that what I’ve originally taken an entire paragraph to describe will quite often be shaved down to a single line during my editing and redrafting, and rightly so. However, many of the commercial fiction novels I read today seem somewhat vacuous, rocketing along at such pace that everything else, from plot to sub-plot, characterisation to dialogue, seems to go out of the window in favour of Hollywood-style sound-bytes and shoot-outs.
I suppose my point of view might sound pompous, but I’m trying to take a line somewhere between the two extremes. I think that it IS possible to combine good writing with pace – isn’t “good writing” what writing is supposed to be about? Taking the reader somewhere else, letting them escape their own life for a while? If an author can’t take readers into their fictional world in a convincing manner, then surely it’s no longer entertainment. Atmosphere, character development and narrative depth are too important to the art of story-telling to be entirely abandoned.
From my original 150,000 word manuscript, I’m down to a solid 122,000 words. The pace of the work is much swifter now and there’s more action, but I’m not willing to abandon the atmosphere I’ve created for the sake of losing a couple of thousand more words: atmosphere is so rare now in commercial thriller fiction that by keeping it, I may actually benefit.
I need to lose about another 7000 words to be content with the story length. It’s going to have to come off some other way….
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
My approach letter to literary agents.
There's an awful lot of advice on the Internet about approach letters, synopsis packages and so on. Unfortunately, much of it is contradictary and leaves the hopeful writer confused and uncertain about how to construct their approach.
I decided that the most important thing was that agents are all very BUSY. They don't have much time to dedicate to searching through the 'slush-pile', and thus if something doesn't grab them within a few lines, they'll pass and move on. For this reason, my approach was as follows;
A) A one-page introductory letter.
B) A one-page synopsis, single line spaced.
C) The first three chapters ( in my case, 21 pages in total ).
Obviously I can't post my synopsis here, but below is my covering letter. This package was sent to ten of the top London agencies in total over a period of two months. Of those ten, only two asked for the full manuscript. Of those, LBA signed me as a client, and I turned down the other one shortly after ( an odd experience in itself after years of rejections! ).
My advice is: Be brief, exciting and professional. Not an easy combination - my letter took several days to perfect, but the effort was worth it in the end.
LBA
91 Great Russell Street
London
WC1B 3PS
Dear Mr Bonomi,
What is the meaning of life? Where do we come from? What happens to us when we die?
I am writing to you as a novelist in search of representation for my commercial fiction thriller ‘Genesis’ (150,000 words). I understand that your client list includes the authors James Becker, David Gibbins and Matt Hilton, and believe that my work may be of interest to you. Genesis tells of a race-against-time search for the existence of xxxxxxxxx, set against the political turmoil of the Middle East. As science discovers an extinct species of xxxxxxxxx and destroys the notion of man as a special creation, powerful groups seek to destroy the evidence before humanity learns of its true origins.
I am thirty-seven years old and have been writing for ten years, with previous work considered as full manuscripts by literary agents in 2007 ( Lorella Belli and Sheil Land Associates ). Genesis is the first in a planned series of novels featuring the protagonist Eddie Warner, a man with a talent for finding lost souls and exposing conspiracies in the world’s most dangerous places.
I have enclosed the first three chapters of Genesis and a short synopsis as advised on your website. Many thanks in advance for any time spent considering my work.
Yours faithfully,
Mr Dean Crawford
I decided that the most important thing was that agents are all very BUSY. They don't have much time to dedicate to searching through the 'slush-pile', and thus if something doesn't grab them within a few lines, they'll pass and move on. For this reason, my approach was as follows;
A) A one-page introductory letter.
B) A one-page synopsis, single line spaced.
C) The first three chapters ( in my case, 21 pages in total ).
Obviously I can't post my synopsis here, but below is my covering letter. This package was sent to ten of the top London agencies in total over a period of two months. Of those ten, only two asked for the full manuscript. Of those, LBA signed me as a client, and I turned down the other one shortly after ( an odd experience in itself after years of rejections! ).
My advice is: Be brief, exciting and professional. Not an easy combination - my letter took several days to perfect, but the effort was worth it in the end.
LBA
91 Great Russell Street
London
WC1B 3PS
Dear Mr Bonomi,
What is the meaning of life? Where do we come from? What happens to us when we die?
I am writing to you as a novelist in search of representation for my commercial fiction thriller ‘Genesis’ (150,000 words). I understand that your client list includes the authors James Becker, David Gibbins and Matt Hilton, and believe that my work may be of interest to you. Genesis tells of a race-against-time search for the existence of xxxxxxxxx, set against the political turmoil of the Middle East. As science discovers an extinct species of xxxxxxxxx and destroys the notion of man as a special creation, powerful groups seek to destroy the evidence before humanity learns of its true origins.
I am thirty-seven years old and have been writing for ten years, with previous work considered as full manuscripts by literary agents in 2007 ( Lorella Belli and Sheil Land Associates ). Genesis is the first in a planned series of novels featuring the protagonist Eddie Warner, a man with a talent for finding lost souls and exposing conspiracies in the world’s most dangerous places.
I have enclosed the first three chapters of Genesis and a short synopsis as advised on your website. Many thanks in advance for any time spent considering my work.
Yours faithfully,
Mr Dean Crawford
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
The Re-draft.
I've been hard at work since my meeting with Luigi at LBA, trying to make sure that I have a completed manuscript ready by September 2010. Fortunately, despite the amount of work, I'm well on target.
Cutting a 150,000 word novel down to between 110 / 120,000 words is no mean feat in itself, but it's surprising how easy it becomes once you get stuck into it. In my particular case there is a change of story and plot-line to consider, which allows for judicious cutting and editing along the way, but none the less I'm already down to 130,000 words without having lost anything I need.
Harder to achieve is the tremendous amount of research that the story changes require. Years of studying certain aspects of scientific endeavour ( chiefly cosmology and Einstein's General Relativity ) have given way to rapidly gathering information on genetics, mtDNA, Biblical archaeology ( honest! ) and cellular biochemistry. It took me two years to understand relativity. I have two months to master my all of my new subject material, ensure that it's accurate, and incorporate it into the story.
But it's FUN! And that's in addition to Luigi's request for "more action". This has required me to subtly change my hero's motivation and character, giving him a more determined and driven edge to account for his willingness to go on the attack as well as use his wits to achieve his goals. I like my leading characters to be believable, not Uzi-weilding Terminators of the ( yawn ) ex-SAS type, so his actions must be justifiable in the eyes of the reader. To me it's always a disappointment to read about a hero with his back to the wall facing three adversaries, wondering how he's going to get out of the situation, only for him to drop them all using some bloody Vulcan death-grip or something and walk away unscathed, all square-jawed and invincible.
For once, editing and redrafting is a joy, and it's great to see the novel taking its new shape. The pace of the story is almost doubled by removing the things that Luigi felt were unnescessary, and I still have 6-8 weeks to complete the work and polish it before sending it back to Luigi. Onward and upward!
Cutting a 150,000 word novel down to between 110 / 120,000 words is no mean feat in itself, but it's surprising how easy it becomes once you get stuck into it. In my particular case there is a change of story and plot-line to consider, which allows for judicious cutting and editing along the way, but none the less I'm already down to 130,000 words without having lost anything I need.
Harder to achieve is the tremendous amount of research that the story changes require. Years of studying certain aspects of scientific endeavour ( chiefly cosmology and Einstein's General Relativity ) have given way to rapidly gathering information on genetics, mtDNA, Biblical archaeology ( honest! ) and cellular biochemistry. It took me two years to understand relativity. I have two months to master my all of my new subject material, ensure that it's accurate, and incorporate it into the story.
But it's FUN! And that's in addition to Luigi's request for "more action". This has required me to subtly change my hero's motivation and character, giving him a more determined and driven edge to account for his willingness to go on the attack as well as use his wits to achieve his goals. I like my leading characters to be believable, not Uzi-weilding Terminators of the ( yawn ) ex-SAS type, so his actions must be justifiable in the eyes of the reader. To me it's always a disappointment to read about a hero with his back to the wall facing three adversaries, wondering how he's going to get out of the situation, only for him to drop them all using some bloody Vulcan death-grip or something and walk away unscathed, all square-jawed and invincible.
For once, editing and redrafting is a joy, and it's great to see the novel taking its new shape. The pace of the story is almost doubled by removing the things that Luigi felt were unnescessary, and I still have 6-8 weeks to complete the work and polish it before sending it back to Luigi. Onward and upward!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
The first meeting with a literary agent.
Now that I’ve calmed down a little, I thought that aspiring authors might appreciate a more detailed breakdown of what happened during my meeting with Luigi Bonomi at LBA. It’s extremely rare for unpublished authors to find themselves in the office of a well established agent, and there was little on the Internet describing such meetings before I had my own. So, here it is.
Luigi was interested initially on how long I had been writing, what about, and what my day job was ( I’d also been asked to send a brief C.V. in advance of the meeting ). The reasoning behind this was to give Luigi a feel for where I was in my life at the time, and also to see if there was anything about me that might help to sell my novels to potential publishers and the public. Many authors write about subjects similar to their occupations, and such expert knowledge helps to encourage readers that they are going to learn something from an authority figure as well as be entertained. ( I am not in that position, but it obviously doesn’t hinder an author if they’ve done what an agent considers to be a good job of their novel ).
Then we got down to business. Considering the sheer volume of material Luigi handles, he recalled a great deal of detail about ‘Genesis’, and was able to sketch out where he felt things were letting the story down. Chief among these was pace, along with his feeling that, having started with what he called “a terrific premise”, I had failed to capitalise upon it during the rest of the novel.
What followed was an hour talking over how to re-write about half of the novel in order to take full advantage of my premise, whilst trimming the novel down from its existing 150,000 words to around 110 – 120,000 words ( not a small task in itself ). This was to promote swifter pace within the story, and also no doubt to keep potential publisher’s costs down, making the title a more appealing accquisition.
Luigi made a point here of remarking that one of his reasons for being willing to work with me was my own willingness to make changes based on his experience and inside knowledge of the publishing industry. We had exchanged e-mails before the meeting, where he had highlighted the novel’s strengths and weaknesses, and my positive responses were what prompted his invite to the LBA offices in London. He then went on to detail how he felt that male thriller-fiction was beginning to move into new directions, and that I should consider following, something that I will definitely be bearing in mind as I get down to re-writing my novel to make it as commercial as possible. I should point out that at no time did Luigi dictate what he felt I should do with the novel – he made suggestions and then we talked them over, bouncing ideas off of each other until we found a compromise that really fitted the work. It was the first time that I’ve been able to do that alongside a publishing professional, and it left me bursting with new ideas.
After a hugely productive hour, Luigi told me that he would send me a standard agency agreement by e-mail that day. I was overjoyed, as you can imagine. He then cautioned me that getting publishers to buy novels, especially in these economic hard-times, was immensely difficult even for established agents, and that nothing might come of this. I accepted that, but between you and me, Luigi doesn’t sign an author unless he has high hopes for them, and he also said that if this novel doesn’t work we’ll have to find something else that does, suggesting to me that we’re in a business partnership that he hopes will last.
So do I!
Luigi was interested initially on how long I had been writing, what about, and what my day job was ( I’d also been asked to send a brief C.V. in advance of the meeting ). The reasoning behind this was to give Luigi a feel for where I was in my life at the time, and also to see if there was anything about me that might help to sell my novels to potential publishers and the public. Many authors write about subjects similar to their occupations, and such expert knowledge helps to encourage readers that they are going to learn something from an authority figure as well as be entertained. ( I am not in that position, but it obviously doesn’t hinder an author if they’ve done what an agent considers to be a good job of their novel ).
Then we got down to business. Considering the sheer volume of material Luigi handles, he recalled a great deal of detail about ‘Genesis’, and was able to sketch out where he felt things were letting the story down. Chief among these was pace, along with his feeling that, having started with what he called “a terrific premise”, I had failed to capitalise upon it during the rest of the novel.
What followed was an hour talking over how to re-write about half of the novel in order to take full advantage of my premise, whilst trimming the novel down from its existing 150,000 words to around 110 – 120,000 words ( not a small task in itself ). This was to promote swifter pace within the story, and also no doubt to keep potential publisher’s costs down, making the title a more appealing accquisition.
Luigi made a point here of remarking that one of his reasons for being willing to work with me was my own willingness to make changes based on his experience and inside knowledge of the publishing industry. We had exchanged e-mails before the meeting, where he had highlighted the novel’s strengths and weaknesses, and my positive responses were what prompted his invite to the LBA offices in London. He then went on to detail how he felt that male thriller-fiction was beginning to move into new directions, and that I should consider following, something that I will definitely be bearing in mind as I get down to re-writing my novel to make it as commercial as possible. I should point out that at no time did Luigi dictate what he felt I should do with the novel – he made suggestions and then we talked them over, bouncing ideas off of each other until we found a compromise that really fitted the work. It was the first time that I’ve been able to do that alongside a publishing professional, and it left me bursting with new ideas.
After a hugely productive hour, Luigi told me that he would send me a standard agency agreement by e-mail that day. I was overjoyed, as you can imagine. He then cautioned me that getting publishers to buy novels, especially in these economic hard-times, was immensely difficult even for established agents, and that nothing might come of this. I accepted that, but between you and me, Luigi doesn’t sign an author unless he has high hopes for them, and he also said that if this novel doesn’t work we’ll have to find something else that does, suggesting to me that we’re in a business partnership that he hopes will last.
So do I!
Friday, June 18, 2010
I have an agent!
I'm absolutely overjoyed to be able to write here that as of Thursday 17th June 2010, I am officially signed as a client to Luigi Bonomi Associates. After an excellent meeting at their London offices on Thursday, during which Luigi ( Literary Agent of the Year 2010 ) made me feel very comfortable ( helpful for a first-novelist meeting a real-life agent for the first time after ten years of effort ) and detailed a number of changes required before the manuscript can be sent out to publishers, Luigi offered me representation.
I can't describe how important this moment was - LBA receives around 6000 submissions per annum, and Luigi will take on only two or three new authors each year. That's odds of 2000-1, and somehow I've passed through the eye of a needle and arrived.
Whilst a re-draft must come first, which we've decided should be completed by around September, I've every confidence in Luigi to give my work the best possible chance at publication. He's an agent with a fantastic track record, a really nice chap with a real passion for finding and nurturing new talent, and if anybody can do it, he can.
I don't believe I could have found myself in a better position. Time to get my head down and complete the re-draft!!
I can't describe how important this moment was - LBA receives around 6000 submissions per annum, and Luigi will take on only two or three new authors each year. That's odds of 2000-1, and somehow I've passed through the eye of a needle and arrived.
Whilst a re-draft must come first, which we've decided should be completed by around September, I've every confidence in Luigi to give my work the best possible chance at publication. He's an agent with a fantastic track record, a really nice chap with a real passion for finding and nurturing new talent, and if anybody can do it, he can.
I don't believe I could have found myself in a better position. Time to get my head down and complete the re-draft!!
Friday, June 11, 2010
Finally, they're taking me seriously!
Well, after so many years it seems odd to be writing this now, but it would appear that I've encountered my shot at the BIG TIME.
I received a letter from Luigi Bonomi at LBA regarding the full manuscript of my novel Genesis, suggesting that it had promise but would require a radical re-write in order to bring it up to publishable standard. He asked for my thoughts on this, and in reply I said I'd be happy to do whatever was required in order to improve and polish the work, including some possible changes of my own.
To my surprise, this resulted in Mr Bonomi replying with a great deal of praise for my professionalism, and with a request that I should pop in to their offices in order to talk over the work some more. Since then, Luigi has really gone the distance for me, providing editorial suggestions and notes prior to our meeting next Thursday and generally telling me as much about what he does like about the novel as what he feels needs changing. I haven't been offered representation yet, and no doubt it will be a while before I am, but it's a hell of a good start!
For an agent as powerful as Luigi Bonomi ( Agent of the Year 2010 no less ) to spend this amount of time and energy on my not-yet-ready to publish book bodes extremely well for the future. For those aspiring writers who may come across these posts in the future, I'll keep recording events as an insight into what happens when an amateur writer finds him or herself crossing the magical boundary between lonely scribe and recognised talent!
I received a letter from Luigi Bonomi at LBA regarding the full manuscript of my novel Genesis, suggesting that it had promise but would require a radical re-write in order to bring it up to publishable standard. He asked for my thoughts on this, and in reply I said I'd be happy to do whatever was required in order to improve and polish the work, including some possible changes of my own.
To my surprise, this resulted in Mr Bonomi replying with a great deal of praise for my professionalism, and with a request that I should pop in to their offices in order to talk over the work some more. Since then, Luigi has really gone the distance for me, providing editorial suggestions and notes prior to our meeting next Thursday and generally telling me as much about what he does like about the novel as what he feels needs changing. I haven't been offered representation yet, and no doubt it will be a while before I am, but it's a hell of a good start!
For an agent as powerful as Luigi Bonomi ( Agent of the Year 2010 no less ) to spend this amount of time and energy on my not-yet-ready to publish book bodes extremely well for the future. For those aspiring writers who may come across these posts in the future, I'll keep recording events as an insight into what happens when an amateur writer finds him or herself crossing the magical boundary between lonely scribe and recognised talent!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Luigi Bonomi on submitting to agents.
I found this interview with the winner of the London Book Award's 2010 Agent of the Year, Luigi Bonomi of LBA, and thought that it might be useful for anyone just starting out in their submission process.
http://www.saltpublishing.com/horizon/issues/01/text/bonomi_luigi.htm
http://www.saltpublishing.com/horizon/issues/01/text/bonomi_luigi.htm
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Why have one when you can have two?
Well, it's as if time is repeating itself almost. I have two major literary agencies asking to see the full manuscript of my novel 'Genesis'. One is already considering the work, whilst the second got in touch recently.
After last time, when two agencies had full manuscripts of mine and both turned them down, I'm a little less excited. Once bitten, twice shy and all that. None the less, it's very encouraging and at least I know that the story itself is strong enough to grab the attention of very capable ( and very busy ) agents. Once again, however, I'm wringing my hands over whether the rest of the novel lives up to the promise of the submission package.
I've been very fortunate in being in e-mail contact with a successful author represented by one of those agencies: Matt Hilton, author of the Joe Hunter series of thrillers and a top chap, who's been giving me a great deal of advice, inside-knowledge and encouragement on what may happen should things go my way. Having been writing alone for so long, it's great to hear from somebody who's already been through the mill, so to speak, and realise that once upon a time, they too were where I am now.
Two agents, one good novel.... Fingers, legs and eyes crossed that this time things go my way.
After last time, when two agencies had full manuscripts of mine and both turned them down, I'm a little less excited. Once bitten, twice shy and all that. None the less, it's very encouraging and at least I know that the story itself is strong enough to grab the attention of very capable ( and very busy ) agents. Once again, however, I'm wringing my hands over whether the rest of the novel lives up to the promise of the submission package.
I've been very fortunate in being in e-mail contact with a successful author represented by one of those agencies: Matt Hilton, author of the Joe Hunter series of thrillers and a top chap, who's been giving me a great deal of advice, inside-knowledge and encouragement on what may happen should things go my way. Having been writing alone for so long, it's great to hear from somebody who's already been through the mill, so to speak, and realise that once upon a time, they too were where I am now.
Two agents, one good novel.... Fingers, legs and eyes crossed that this time things go my way.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
It's been a looong time.....
But once again I am at the submission stage. After two full-manuscripts being read in 2007 by leading literary agents, both of which were ultimately turned down, I'm now once again chewing my nails and worrying about whether the tome that I've sent out is good enough.
A leading London literary agency is currently reading the full manuscript of my latest thriller, 'Genesis', and I'm alternating between feeling that my chances are good and feeling that I'm an imposter whose efforts can't possibly live up to said agent's existing clients.
It's been just over two months since my initial submission, and a week since the full manuscript went out. It's going to be a tricky wait as I agonise over each and every possible ( phantom ? )flaw with the story, characters, dialogue, pace and on and on and on.....
Fingers crossed I'll be smiling some time soon, but for now I'll just stew in my own desperate indecision. Either I'm on my way, or I'm on the way to disappointment!
A leading London literary agency is currently reading the full manuscript of my latest thriller, 'Genesis', and I'm alternating between feeling that my chances are good and feeling that I'm an imposter whose efforts can't possibly live up to said agent's existing clients.
It's been just over two months since my initial submission, and a week since the full manuscript went out. It's going to be a tricky wait as I agonise over each and every possible ( phantom ? )flaw with the story, characters, dialogue, pace and on and on and on.....
Fingers crossed I'll be smiling some time soon, but for now I'll just stew in my own desperate indecision. Either I'm on my way, or I'm on the way to disappointment!
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
'Never tell me the odds.'
It's crossed my mind that most people wouldn't have a clue about how high the odds are against an unpublished author getting into print. I thought that, in order to put my trials into context, I'd describe just how tough it is...
Once an author has completed his or her novel ( in itself a major achievement ) the submission process begins. This initially involves sending to a literary agency a synopsis and three sample chapters of the work. If the agent likes the submission, then they will ask to see the whole novel.
There are perhaps eighty or so reputable agents listed in The Writer's Handbook. Each receives anywhere between one hundred and two hundred submissions a week from prospective new clients. So that's an average ( mean ) total of 7,500 submissions per year per agent. I have it on good authority from one of those London agents that they will request a full manuscript about once a week. So let's call that fifty full manuscripts per year, out of a total 7,500. Of those fifty, the agent may choose to represent perhaps one or two authors as new clients per year....
So, it isn't easy to stand out from the crowd enough to earn representation from a good agent. The fact that I've had the full manuscript of my novel read by two major agencies bodes well, but of course in the long-run it was also rejected by those agencies. I'm close, I'm sure, but only time will tell if the novel is good enough to reach publication - once an agent represents the work, they then have to sell it to a publishing house, and then the competition is in terms of quality rather than quantity...
Once an author has completed his or her novel ( in itself a major achievement ) the submission process begins. This initially involves sending to a literary agency a synopsis and three sample chapters of the work. If the agent likes the submission, then they will ask to see the whole novel.
There are perhaps eighty or so reputable agents listed in The Writer's Handbook. Each receives anywhere between one hundred and two hundred submissions a week from prospective new clients. So that's an average ( mean ) total of 7,500 submissions per year per agent. I have it on good authority from one of those London agents that they will request a full manuscript about once a week. So let's call that fifty full manuscripts per year, out of a total 7,500. Of those fifty, the agent may choose to represent perhaps one or two authors as new clients per year....
So, it isn't easy to stand out from the crowd enough to earn representation from a good agent. The fact that I've had the full manuscript of my novel read by two major agencies bodes well, but of course in the long-run it was also rejected by those agencies. I'm close, I'm sure, but only time will tell if the novel is good enough to reach publication - once an agent represents the work, they then have to sell it to a publishing house, and then the competition is in terms of quality rather than quantity...
Monday, April 16, 2007
Foiled again!
Well, once again the full manuscript of my novel was returned from a London Agency. This time, however, there were no helpful editorial notes - not even a brief line or two saying why the work was rejected.
At this stage, I'm not too concerned about being rejected. For those of you who don't know, an initial submission to an agent consists of a covering letter, short synopsis ( 4 pages in my case ) and the first three chapters of the novel. The letter should grab the agent's attention, the synopsis should interest them in the story, and the chapters show them whether or not the author can actually write ( somewhat essential in this game ).
So, I know that both of the agents who have requested a full mansuscript so far like the story and like my writing. Therefore, something in the full manuscript must be letting the story down. Having spent the last month and a half reviewing the work, I think I know what that might be, and have begun adjusting the novel to account for some changes that will hopefully rectify the problem. In addition, I have recruited two great-mates ( Pete Dev and Mattior ) to read the novel and let me know if there's anything within that spoils the show and makes an agent say 'no' instead of 'Yes!' They have to believe that they can sell the work to a publisher, and do so without trawling through months of editorial work....
In the mean-time, submissions are going out to eight agencies, in the hopes that one or two might be interested in reading further. It's a shame only in the sense that so much time is spent waiting ( three months per agent on average, from submission to final decision ). Still, I have the sense that I'm close - two hits from major agencies in a row isn't bad going me thinks....
At this stage, I'm not too concerned about being rejected. For those of you who don't know, an initial submission to an agent consists of a covering letter, short synopsis ( 4 pages in my case ) and the first three chapters of the novel. The letter should grab the agent's attention, the synopsis should interest them in the story, and the chapters show them whether or not the author can actually write ( somewhat essential in this game ).
So, I know that both of the agents who have requested a full mansuscript so far like the story and like my writing. Therefore, something in the full manuscript must be letting the story down. Having spent the last month and a half reviewing the work, I think I know what that might be, and have begun adjusting the novel to account for some changes that will hopefully rectify the problem. In addition, I have recruited two great-mates ( Pete Dev and Mattior ) to read the novel and let me know if there's anything within that spoils the show and makes an agent say 'no' instead of 'Yes!' They have to believe that they can sell the work to a publisher, and do so without trawling through months of editorial work....
In the mean-time, submissions are going out to eight agencies, in the hopes that one or two might be interested in reading further. It's a shame only in the sense that so much time is spent waiting ( three months per agent on average, from submission to final decision ). Still, I have the sense that I'm close - two hits from major agencies in a row isn't bad going me thinks....
Monday, February 05, 2007
Traumas and Triumphs.
Well, they said no. After a three month wait, the agency decided that the manuscript was 'not yet ready' for the market. This happened just before Christmas, so, Yo-Ho-Ho and thanks very much.
In all fairness, they did present me with a long editorial list of suggested changes that they felt would improve the manuscript and address the issues they felt would prevent its successful sale to a publishing house.
Soooo - I've made the changes. I sent out new submissions to four major London literary agencies, and lo-and-behold this Saturday a letter dropped onto my door-mat from one of them. I took one look at it, lying there, and thought;
"Ah, there's the rejection I've been waiting for..."
However, upon opening and reading the enclosed letter, joyous was I to discover that, once again, a major agency was interested in reviewing the full manuscript!!
So, here we go again....
In all fairness, they did present me with a long editorial list of suggested changes that they felt would improve the manuscript and address the issues they felt would prevent its successful sale to a publishing house.
Soooo - I've made the changes. I sent out new submissions to four major London literary agencies, and lo-and-behold this Saturday a letter dropped onto my door-mat from one of them. I took one look at it, lying there, and thought;
"Ah, there's the rejection I've been waiting for..."
However, upon opening and reading the enclosed letter, joyous was I to discover that, once again, a major agency was interested in reviewing the full manuscript!!
So, here we go again....
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Success!!
Well, having decided to record the long and difficult process of getting first an agent and then a publishing deal, I can report that on my first attempt I have garnered the interest of a major London literary agency.
Having sent them the first three chapters of my novel, along with a four page synopsis, I was told that there would be a two to three month wait for a response. At least they were efficient enough to let me know, thus avoiding any unnecessary anxiety. Then, after ten weeks, an e-mail asking for the full manuscript, and also enquiring as to whether the work had been sent direct to any other agent or publisher.
That happened at the end of August, so, having sent the material and received confirmation that it will be another two months at least before I learn whether or not this agency will represent me, the waiting will continue. On, and on, and on and.....
Having sent them the first three chapters of my novel, along with a four page synopsis, I was told that there would be a two to three month wait for a response. At least they were efficient enough to let me know, thus avoiding any unnecessary anxiety. Then, after ten weeks, an e-mail asking for the full manuscript, and also enquiring as to whether the work had been sent direct to any other agent or publisher.
That happened at the end of August, so, having sent the material and received confirmation that it will be another two months at least before I learn whether or not this agency will represent me, the waiting will continue. On, and on, and on and.....
Thursday, August 17, 2006
So I've got one too.
Blogs. They're like those Tamagochi things - everyone's heard of them, many people went out and got one, yet nobody knows why they bothered in the first place.
Now I've got one. A blog that is. There is every chance in the world that nobody anywhere on earth will actually ever visit this site and read these words, which makes me wonder why I'm typing them. Well, the reason is that this is going to be an on-line diary of one individuals' attempts to get a novel published. I thought it might be a good idea as the blog could quite happily exist for the next sixty five years and never actually come to an end, such is the difficulty in getting one's name into print.
Here's where it starts, and at some point in the future it will, I hope, provide hopeful new writers with a genuine and enjoyable record of one writer's efforts to get themselves out of the drudgery of nine-to-five and into the light as an author.
More posts, detailing my writing history so far and hopefully some tips and tricks of the industry learned along the way, will follow. Comments, useful links and general shared knowledge of the commercial publishing industry, with an emphasis on thrillers, are welcomed and encouraged from everyone (anyone?) who might pass by this way.
Welcome.
Now I've got one. A blog that is. There is every chance in the world that nobody anywhere on earth will actually ever visit this site and read these words, which makes me wonder why I'm typing them. Well, the reason is that this is going to be an on-line diary of one individuals' attempts to get a novel published. I thought it might be a good idea as the blog could quite happily exist for the next sixty five years and never actually come to an end, such is the difficulty in getting one's name into print.
Here's where it starts, and at some point in the future it will, I hope, provide hopeful new writers with a genuine and enjoyable record of one writer's efforts to get themselves out of the drudgery of nine-to-five and into the light as an author.
More posts, detailing my writing history so far and hopefully some tips and tricks of the industry learned along the way, will follow. Comments, useful links and general shared knowledge of the commercial publishing industry, with an emphasis on thrillers, are welcomed and encouraged from everyone (anyone?) who might pass by this way.
Welcome.
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