Berta Treitl of Grosvenor Literary is seeking nonfiction: science and technology; current events, law and politics, biography, business and marketing; and art, design, cooking, health, and lifestyle.
In fiction, she’s interested in historical and high-quality mysteries. Focuses on projects with unusual communities, travel and foreign locales, and female main characters.
Michael Krüger, publisher at Carl Hanser Verlag in Munich, recently bemoaned the number of bad books out there. He explained that they are present in such numbers because they sell…and he can’t figure out why.
Let’s put aside judging whole categories as bad and focus on the real issues.
First, it’s about story. The MFA programs have been hammered because they churn out writers who focus on the florid beauty of their words at the expense of their characters. Thus no story. Without story, a book is just a jumble of words.
Second, it’s about story. Readers are willing to buy even poorly written books because the story tells them something they can’t find elsewhere. Look at 50 Shades…panned everywhere for awful prose yet sold oodles of copies because the storyline contained something women wanted to read about.
Third, it’s about storytelling. Bad books might be poorly written or have worn-out plotlines yet they clip along at a fast pace (nearly always, anyway). So storytelling, getting to the heart of the matter through action and forward movement, is present in a way that might not be as obvious in a pretty MFA grad’s work.
What’s YOUR story?
A written analysis is one of the most popular services authors request. This examines the structural and storytelling elements of fiction and memoirs such as opening chapters, the
ending, primary events, character development/history, point of view, use of narrative and dialog, and other critical components. When the work is nonfiction, the structural and writing elements of that category are considered.
The write-up for a manuscript of average length is usually between 10 and 15 single-spaced pages. This is all narrative text; no tables, charts or graphs are used as filler. The commentary points out major and minor issues that should be addressed. It also makes recommendations for how to correct the issues along with discussions of how specific changes might resonate with other areas of the manuscript.
The usual turnaround time is 3 to 4 weeks.
The rate for a manuscript of standard length is $6.50 per double-spaced page. Short story or article/essay collections have a slightly higher fee if each piece is short.
There is a minimum fee for shorter books; if the project is longer than average, a flat rate is applied because the per-page rate would become prohibitive.
If you decide that you do not have the time to implement the recommendations or would like the work done for you for other reasons, this can be accomplished as the second step. A price quote will be created at that time based on the amount of work to be done. If the work progresses within 30 days of delivering the write-up, 60% of the write-up fee will be credited to that price quote.
Another way to approach this issue is to work with only the first 100 pages, including a synopsis. This allows me to see how you are handling the primary structural elements on the page. Since so often the primary issues appear in those first 100 pages, the mini-analysis can help you take a big step forward in a more affordable fashion. The write-up you receive averages 4 to 6 single-spaced pages. Once you see how certain issues impact those opening pages, you can extend the lessons learned to the rest of what you’ve already written.
Turnaround for a mini-analysis averages 2.5 to 3 weeks. The rate is a flat fee of $985.
Emma Patterson of Brandt and Hochman is looking for literary and commercial fiction, upmarket women’s fiction, historical fiction, narrative nonfiction, pop culture, memoir, food writing, and YA and MG fiction and nonfiction.
William Boggess of Barer Literary is looking for fiction with strong voices and a fresh perspective. He loves Southern fiction and story collections.
In nonfiction, he’s interested in literary memoir, popular science, narrative history, and smart sportswriting.
Here are quotes from famous authors on writing.
Dan Cullen of the ABA says, “Customers are making decisions to patronize locally owned retail stores because they recognize that where they spend their money makes a difference. They’ve seen the closure of important local stores or institutions and kind of woke up to what’s important from that regard.”
Combined with readers making choices based on supporting local businesses, the failure of Borders means many regional markets are suddenly open to smaller shops again. Bookstores are being opened now by individuals who realize a bookstore is a community gathering place. New models are combining books with other things like workshops, meeting spaces and much more than the usual coffee and cookie.
That means better hand-selling for authors of all kinds.
When self-published author Ezekel Alan was asked to name the single best thing he’d ever done to help him achieve success, he said, “I wrote the novel the way I wanted.”
While you’re in the creative mode, don’t allow the judge (the logical side) to interfere. The judge will be worried about things like market trends, publisher picks and what agents are taking on right now. Those things can short-circuit the creative flow. Just be with the work until the draft is finished.
Then, once you’ve made the work the best it can be, you can think about those other issues. Logical considerations are important, of course, but write what you want. Adapt your pitch to present the work in the best possible way after it has been written.
The Hyperion adult trade publishing list is being sold to Hachette Book Group. Disney, which is the entity selling the Hyperion list, will now publish children’s and YA books as welll as books based on franchises from its Disney/ABC TV operations.
Keep track of these changes so you know which publisher to approach when you’re ready to send out your work.
Agent Amy Rennert was quoted in Poets & Writers as saying:
“I predict that people will continue to write [books]. I do feel that there is a persistent and insatiable desire for long-form prose–that there is something about the experience of disappearing into a long piece of writing that has enormous appeal to enough people in the world to maintain the publishing industry through the foreseeable future.”
Crimson is a subscription publisher…they offer readers unlimited downloads of e-books for a monthly fee.
Different publishers have been experimenting with this process, and for some, it works out well.
Authors at Crimson Romance are complaining about payment terms and how the publisher rates them against their entire stable of authors. Read more here at Writer Beware.
Some great photos of readers doing what they love here.
Well, it’s happened again.
Two of the top publishers have merged forces. The new Penguin Random House is now the dominant publisher in America…and since American publishing is the top of all nations, that makes it the biggest in the world.
The combined companies control over 25% of the book business. One of their top priorities is to “crack the code of discoverability,” to figure out how to put more books in front of more buyers in a market that has seen fewer brick-and-mortar stores every year.
One consultant said that they could use their large list to create digital subscriptions, like an e-book of the month club.
Harlan Coben noted that every author is worried that fewer houses mean fewer opportunities to get books published. He also said that the business is changing so rapidly that any predictions made now will likely fall flat.
Considering how much change has come to publishing in the past few years, determining whether a manuscript is publishable is important. Authors want to know what their chances are before they invest a lot of time, effort or money in creating new drafts, revising and rewriting current drafts, editing to the final stage, or creating book proposals and query letters.
The two most important things to consider when asking whether a manuscript is publishable are:
1. Quality
2. Marketability
Quality issues for fiction encompass the writing level (voice, use of structural elements, etc.) and storytelling skill. For nonfiction, quality includes the writing level and how the content is presented.
Marketability is an issue that can trend across timelines ranging from a few months to a decade or more. It includes areas outside publishing as much as what is being published now and what is scheduled for publication over the next two years. And since those same issues affect self-publishers (although in different ways), authors who are committed to that path often have the same question about whether their manuscript is publishable.
Authors can access twenty years of experience across a broad range of categories and genres by having their work read by Writer’s Resource. The service that determines if a manuscript is publishable…and if not, to guide the author along the steps to be taken to make it publishable…is a baseline review. The review usually takes 2 to 2.5 weeks to complete and costs $425. The nominal investment can safeguard authors from spending much more on editing or other services that will not pay off in the long run.
Eric Simonoff of William Morris Endeavor, says of publishing:
“What I see is an industry in which we want nothing more than to discover an amazing voice. Who wouldn’t? If you actually have a great book, it matters who sends it out, because you want someone who understand the business, who has the best possible relationships, and who can negotiate the right deal for you as a client. But your book will get discovered regardless. It might just be a question of when.”
Writer's Resource/Sunspot Lit 