|
mary rosenblum
|
Hello all!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Welcome to our Tuesday Forum.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I hope you all had a great
weekend and spring has sprung. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
We haven't talked about
marketing for some time and I thought it was time to revisit this topic. A
lot of LR students still have trouble...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
with this when they reach the
part of the course where they're required to choose markets.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And those market indexes CAN
be confusing.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It can be even more confusing
if you're trying to decide where to market your book manuscript.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about market research today. If you're new here, remember that you
need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the
red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon
in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can
also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach
me.
|
|
sol
|
Yeah . . . especially when you
haven't found your own voice yet.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Well, you know, Sol, it can
take you quite some time to realize you have a voice. :-) And you'll
probably have sold long before that.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Often you're the last to know.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The reviewers will tell you
about your voice before you know you have one.
|
|
sol
|
Oh . . .
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Voice is just the way you
approach what you're doing, your choice of words, the vocabulary you use,
the worldview you reveal...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
it's all about who YOU are,
and it's like a fingerprint. It's yours and it's there.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
What you may not have 'found'
yet, is what you are most successful at in terms of type of writing..
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and that's just a matter of
trying lots of different things.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You'll find that you're more
successful at some types of writing than others.
|
|
t green
|
so, when you're looking for a
market, are you looking for someone who publishes a similar 'voice'?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Well, I think you're probably
using a different definition for voice than I am...but what you are looking
for...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
is a publisher who publishes a
type of story that you often write.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
For example Calyx, a very
strong literary mainstream magazine published here in Oregon...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
tends to like stories that are
fairly literary in style and focus on gender and ethnic issues.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That is, they're not really
looking for stories with a strong plot line, but rather stories that tend
to be more introspective, less formally plotted, with...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
as I said, a strong theme of
ethnic or gender issues.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So a more traditional romance
or fantasy probably wouldn't get a second look from the editor...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
while a 'slice of life' piece
about an Indian immigrant's housewarming party and her realizations about
the gap between...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
herself and her guests might
well sell to them.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about market research today. If you're new here, remember that you
need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the
red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon
in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can
also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach
me.
|
|
sol
|
So . . . if we are still
struggling in this area, do we pick a market and write for it to help us
"find our voice"?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's actually a very good
exercise, sol. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The more different types of
writing you try, the more you'll 'stretch' as a writer, and the more things
you'll find...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
that you are good at.
|
|
oddangel
|
That helps a lot.
"Literary" always seems so vague.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Glad it helped, odd. 'Literary'
is rather a vague term, but it does tend to mean that the...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
story does not follow the
classical plot structure of 'genre' fiction.
|
|
janecj333
|
Maybe aliens from Mars visit the
party, arriving in six-inch party-favor-shaped spacecraft
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Cute. I think you'd have a
hard time selling that to Calyx's staff, thought. LOL
|
|
sol
|
At present, I'm studying markets
to decide what to write for future submissions this year.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I suggest to all novice
writers that you write as many different types of things as you
can..whether you're doing fiction or non...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
try something new as often as
you can.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And read as eclectically as
you can.
|
|
sol
|
Literary is, to me, quite
strange.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's a form that tends to be
based on literary style rather than entertainment value, Sol.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's more style driven and
literary technique is valued more highly.
|
|
coral
|
What do you mean "literary
style"?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
THe language and how you apply
it matter. It's more like poetry in that way...the form matters as much as
the content.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Whereas in genre ficiton and
much mainstream, it's the content that matters most.
|
|
gail
|
Is it accurate to define the
"Literary" story as one with "internal" plot; whereas
"Genre" stories focus more on "external" plot lines?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's a bit over simplistic,
gail. External plot can exist in both literary and genre fiction as can
internal plots...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
often in literary there is no
formal 'plot structure' as you have in other types of fiction...no clear
conflict and resolution for example.
|
|
sol
|
Yeah . . . like extended poetry.
Sometimes it's like "What?" What's the message? Is there one?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yes, it can be pretty subtle.
And often the form is experimental...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
using odd formatting, lack of
punctuation, that sort of thing.
|
|
lapart
|
is literary and genre the same
thing?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
'Genre' is just the general
term for a type of fiction, lapart. It has to do with where it fits on the
bookstore shelf...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
mystery, SF, mainstream,
fantasy...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
that sort of thing. It's a
marketing term.
|
|
geoff_m
|
Writing and reading as much as
you can, and as widely as possible sounds like good advice. Do you have any
advice on a more focused approach to maximise opportunities with minimum or
appropriate investment in time?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I'd find good sources of
reviews, geoff. I listen to author interviews whenever possible, I watch
for reviews from reviewers whose...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
opinions I share, I get
recommendations from people I know whose tastes I respect.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
There are too many books out
there to randomly grab stuff off the shelf...too much of it isn't very good
alas.
|
|
cherley
|
I'm going back through all my
assignments and rewriting them. I've learned a lot since the first lesson.
I'm making them stronger now.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Good for you, Cherley. I can
tell you from LOTS of experience, that the difference between that first
assignment and the last, for nearly all students, is VERY large.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Revision will show you just
how far you have progressed.
|
|
joynim
|
Where can I find author
interviews?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Watch radio listings, joynim.
National Public Radio features quite a few, and local radio stations often
invite authors to do a phone interview.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I don't watch TV much, but of
course, some of the big host-shows like Operah do author interviews.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And you'll find them in your
arts section in the paper. The NY Times doesn't review a lot of books...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
but their reviews tend to be
good ones.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about market research today. If you're new here, remember that you
need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the
red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon
in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can
also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach
me.
|
|
megger
|
Mary, is it easier to break into
the market with either non-fiction or fiction? Or does it matter?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Oh it's VASTLY easier to break
into nonfiction, megger.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Fiction is a very small market
and the criteria are much more subjective.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
One editor's 'great story'
gets rejected by another editor.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But nonfiction needs are much
more pragmatic and more easily attainable with decent prose skills.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Editors need lots of clear,
well written articles for those monthly issues...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and the nonfiction magazine
market is growing at a great rate...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
as magazines diversify to fill
niche markets. People are reading more magazines these days.
|
|
dudley
|
BookTV on C-Span2 on the
weekends have tons of nonfiction author interviews and sometimes they
review fiction.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
There you go.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And as you decide whether you
agree with this or that reviewer...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
you can take their advice or
stop listening. :-)
|
|
t green
|
speaking of grabbing stuff off
the shelf... what do you look for, specifically when you're looking for
markets?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
In fiction, I look for an
editor who is publishing stories that are similar in type to what I tend to
write.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Where I could imagine specific
stories fitting into issues.,
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
In nonfiction, I look for
magazines where I have some even trivial expertise connection to recommend
me to an editor who doesn't know me...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and then I think up an article
that seems to fit the mag and hasn't been done recently.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's my query.
|
|
janecj333
|
In the past, reading sample
issues of magazines to determine the likes and dislikes of editors required
a major financial investment. I've found that many magazines now have
website versions, with at least a few stories available to read without a
subscription.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yes, and that's a very good
point, jane.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The market list is really just
an address book.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
In terms of knowing whether
this magazine is right for you or not, it won't help you a lot.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It will tell you generally
what this editor wants in terms of fiction or non...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
but you won't have a clue as
to what that editor is really looking for.
|
|
geoff_m
|
Mary are these magazine stories.
If so do you identify the editor for that particular subject matter?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Right now, I'm talking about
magazine length work. We can talk about book length, too. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The best way to get a feel for
who wants what is to visit your big box bookstore with a large magazine
section and browse.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Bring a tape recorder or
notepad.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Decide what you want to write
about generally. Gardening. Humorous narratives about your kids or pets.
Dogs.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
What have you.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Off road driving, Pickups,
parrots...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Just start browsing. You will
be amazed at the niche markets you'll find. And more magazines lurk in
niche stores...pet magazines in pet stores...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
garden magazines in garden
stores, auto magazines in auto parts or tire stores...that sort of thing.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Take a look at what is in the
magazine and see whether you could write something that fit.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Say you like to offroad in
your 4x4 on weekends, you're a good home mechanic, and you give all your
friends advice...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
you might be able to write
something for one of those offroader mags...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
maybe a tip on how to fix
something out in the backcountry in a pinch...or a neat care trick...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
or a humorous narrative about
that awful afternoon when...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Many of those mags are in
libraries ...at least the large branches.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You can find some in doctors
offices and garage sales.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Or your friends subscribe and
might save you back issues.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
As Jane said, many magazines
have a website and offer a selection of articles as an example of what the
magazine offers.
|
|
ling630
|
For bigger publications they
don't seem to have writer's guidelines. How can I find them?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Some of the really large
magazines don't publicize their guidelines because they get a slew of
inappropriate queries and unsolicited ms from aspiring writers...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
who didn't do their homework. But
if you write to the editorial office (the address must be listed in the
front of the magazine)...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and enclose a SASE and a
polite request for their guidelines, they'll send 'em to you.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Try their website first. Usually
the guidelines are there somewhre.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about market research today. If you're new here, remember that you
need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the
red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon
in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can
also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach
me.
|
|
oddangel
|
browsing at the library helps,
too. they carry even more mags than bookstores.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It depends on the branch and
how well funded the library system is, odd, but many have a lot of mags.
And you can read or photocopy them at your leisure.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You can sometime search back
issues on microfiche or online at the library so you know what has and has
not been published in the last year.
|
|
joynim
|
Is there such a thing as raw
talent in writing?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Of course. Everyone has more
or less talent in the basic communication that is what writing facilitates.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Some people are better
storytellers than others. Some have a ability to make people laugh without
trying hard...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
but talent won't get you
anywhere without craft.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You have to be able to convey
that story or humor or clarity of vision in such a way that the reader can
share it with you.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Writing is a system of
telepathy using ink and paper instead of brain waves, if you think about
it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Some people will simply find
it easier to do what someone else has to work harder to achieve.
|
|
joynim
|
Would you consider
"craft" the training?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Craft is learning how to make
words do what you intend them to do, joy.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You dpn
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You don't realize, as a
novice, just how intentional those words on the page are as you are swept
up into a story...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
or enjoy a nonfiction piece
about a particular topic.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They didn't just get dumped
onto the page.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And without that
intention....much of what you mean to convey stays locked up in your
head...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
because it doesn't come across
to the reader.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Craft is show, don't tell,
strong use of langauge, characterization, engaging the reader...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
all that stuff.
|
|
sol
|
What's your take on sample
copies, Mary?
|
|
sol
|
I guess my idea behind the
sample copy is wondering how effective a sampling is?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Sample copies are worth it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They are very important for
nonfiction because you are writing for THIS magazine when you query...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
so you must know what type of
piece this editor publishes, who the audience is, and what style he/she
prefers.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And you need to know what has
been published recently.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They will save you a lot of
rejectionslip grief in fiction.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Nearly every editor I know has
said over and over again at conference panels that the number one...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
reason they reject stories is
that they are not right for the magazine and obviously...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
the submitting author had
never read the magazine.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Magazine for Fantasy and SF
publishes fantasy and that's what the guidelines will tell you.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But reading a couple of issues
will give you a much better sense of what Gordon considers to be 'good
fantasy'...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and save you the postage
needed to send that 10,000 word sword and sorcery fantasy his way, just to
get it rejected.
|
|
janecj333
|
Creativity and craft may be the
two essential qualities a writer can improve. However, an editor or
reviewer brings his own subjective analysis to each piece he reads, and a
topic (such as dragons) and the way it's handled can appeal to one but make
another slide it back into the envelope with a scowl of displeasure.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Exactly. What one editor loves
another shrugs at.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Fiction is a subjective craft.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
As you start out, the more
editors you send your work to the better.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You are casting about for the
editor who says 'I like his/her style'. You might get a brief comment...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
'send me more'.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That tells you that this
editor likes how you write.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And you're more likely to sell
something to him/her.
|
|
gail
|
Is it advisable to get specific
training for certain types of non-fic. writing (ie. food or travel
writing)? If so, what makes those markets so difficult to assess without
that training?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I have seen several of my
students break into the food/travel mags, gail.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They are HIGHLY competitive
and pay very well and they are very hard to break into.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But when you're in, you're
in....just as with any other type of nonfiction writing...and you'll get
assignments...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
fairly quickly. But here, you
really do need to be a frequent traveler in order to offer the type of..
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
articles these editors want.
They are looking ahead.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They need a lot of stringers
who can do that article on spring in Provence or olive oil in Tuscany...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
when they need an article. So
they like to have a lot of people who are traveling or living in places
they plan to write about.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's more a matter of having a
lot to offer them in the long term than anything else. Then of course, it's
a matter of sending them appropriate...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
queries until you happen to
give them something they can use.
|
|
lapart
|
What advice for assign 5 can you
give looking for a market?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I always advise students to
decide what they want to write about, pick the magazine next, and THEN propose
an article.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's how you do it as a
freelancer.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
As I said, it's a good idea to
have some personal connection to the topic you're writing about when you're
trying to break in.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Say you're a dog owner who had
'rescued' several dogs through your local rescue organization...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You might query various dog
magazines, offering an article on adopting rescue dogs...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and including an interview
with two people who head up local rescue organizations. You'd tell the
editor...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
in your query letter that you
have adopted a rescue Beagle and a Jack Russel terrier yourself.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Think about all the things you
do in your life both professionally and as hobbies.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Write an article that has to
do with one of those activities.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You don't have to be an
expert...you just need a bit of a personal connection.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That tells the editor that
even though you're new, you probably know what you're talking about and
might have good connections with those experts you're going to interview.
|
|
gail
|
I'm leaning more towards the
food writing. :-) Will the editors require the same "mobility"
that you describe for their travel writers?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Read your food magazines,
gail.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Look at the type of articles
they publish.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Many offer features with experts...the
pastry chef at Chez Panisse for example...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
while others offer features on
the food of a region.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You're going to need contacts
with big credentials in the food world...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
to offer an editor an
interview piece as an unknown.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
One good way to break in, by
the way, is by aiming for those 'tips' columns that many...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
food mags offer. Those are
usually filled by readers, and a particularly well written one will...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
get noticed and give you some
recognition by the editor when you pitch an actual article.
|
|
janecj333
|
Mary, you mentioned that a story
of yours to Mag of F & SF was recently rejected. Can you describe what
elements of your story fit the needs of that magazine and led you to send
it there?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Oh goodness, Jane, it was a SF
story and similar to another g
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Gordon bought. :-) Nobody ever
knows why Gordon buys what he buys and rejects what he rejects! LOL
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's always a dice roll.
|
|
sol
|
So, a year's history is
sufficient to examine before submitting a query?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you can look at a year's
worth of mags, I would, sol.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Even one issue will help you,
but if you get an 'unusual' issue or something similar ran just a month
ago...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
you'll get rejected.
|
|
geezer
|
I've been sitting on a
contemporary romance/ adventure for months without any luck in finding a
suitable market. Any suggestions?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Book or short story, geeze?
|
|
lapart
|
what about taking care of a home
health care? Stroke patient
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's a topic of growing
interest as the 'boomer generation' ages, lapart.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I'd pick the magzine and then
decide how to do the article...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
either personal narrative,
personal expertise with a pro interview to back it up...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
or whatever that magazine
seemed to offer regularly.
|
|
janecj333
|
A dice roll sounds like luck.
And luck has nothing to do with studying markets. (Do you mean the story
was similar to another story of yours that he bought in the past?)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I'ts a dice roll only because
you don't know exactly what that editor will think Jane and you never do.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I have sent stories off that I
thought were long shots, only to have the editor LOVE them...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and I have sent stories off
that I thought were sure sales only to have them rejected. Gordon just
didn't like this one all that much.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's his magazine. He's
entitled to not publish it, LOL.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yes, he's published other
stories of mine similar to this... and stories very different than this,
too.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
There are no certainties.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you must have certainty in
your life, choose another profession.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Some VERY big names get books
rejected. VERY big names. It happens. :-)
|
|
oddangel
|
I like to think more of
poker--there's a strategy, but you never really know what the other
player's cards are. LOL
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
THat's really it, odd.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You do the best to weight the
odds in your favor and that's the best you can do.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Sometimes you sell, sometimes
the editor just bought something like it yesterday and brilliant idea tho
it was...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
you get a rejections.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Happens.
|
|
janecj333
|
It sounds like he enclosed a
note and gave you specifics. Is that typical of editors at this point in
your career?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Of course, Jane. I always get
a personal letter from the editor. I've earned it, dear.
|
|
sol
|
There just ain't no other one
for me, Mary :-) Profession that is.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's really the attitude you
have to have.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
An easy way to get rich while
working in your PJs when you feel like it...this business is NOT. LOL
|
|
lavinia
|
What/where is there are market
for non-romance romantic stories?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Romance sells in any genre,
lavinia.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's mostly a matter of
deciding what else the story is. Mainstream? Mystery? Fantasy?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Try it with that market.
|
|
geezer
|
SS
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Your contemporary story,
geeze?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The fiction market for
mainstream is pretty limited...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
you have Glimmer Train, of
course, and the short short (flash fiction) markets if it's very short...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Most of the fiction mags
listed are small literary magazines and they may or may not publish
something like your story.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You'd really have to buy
sample issues to know.
|
|
gail
|
Easy? No. Rich? Not yet. PJs?
Darned tooting! :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
LOL there you go, Gail. That
about sums it up.
|
|
oddangel
|
do you have a routine for doing
market research and writing queries? I find it difficult to be disciplined
about this.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you want to make nonfiction
a career, treat it like a day job.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Spend an hour every morning
doing market research, create a file system, create a log so you know what
query is out where and when you sent it, when it came back...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and any comments.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Spend the next two hours
writing queries.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
WRiting for pay is a day job
whether you write nonfiction or fiction.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You don't do it, you don't get
paid. 2 = 2 = 4
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
oops...2+2=4
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
LOL
|
|
janecj333
|
The reason I ask is that I,
personally, am hungry for information from editors. That note is a great
education. The rest of us are blindly sending off work into the dark.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
WEll, I blindly sent MY work
off into the dark Jane....many many many stories...and got the same form
rejections everybody else does.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But I have earned my
credentials as a pro. I'm going to go sit in the bar and have a beer with
Gordon at a con and he's going to gripe...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
about the price of paper and
what have you. Of course he's going to write me a note and tell me...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
why he didn't buy my
story,even if it's just 'I didn't like it'. That's professional courtesy.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I worked very hard to earn
that and I worked under the same discouraging circumstance all of you do
now...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
which is why I do these
forums...to make the process less murky than it was for ME. :-)
|
|
karon
|
e-mail or snail mail submissions
when either is acceptable?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Well, Karon, email is
certainly faster. I don't really know that there's a preferential route.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If your editor spends most of
her time working on the computer, email is probably easier for her and
she'll probably read it more quickly...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I'd probably opt for email if
that route was offered.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about market research today. If you're new here, remember that you
need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the
red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon
in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can
also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach
me.
|
|
karon
|
What then?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
What then?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
An email submission is the
same as any other submission. You simply wait for a yes or now.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
no.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Usually, the guidelines will
tell you roughly how long the editor takes to respond to your
submission...b
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
but life gets in the way and
editors get behind.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Not only that...but if an
editor wants to publish an unpublished writer, that editor may hold that
work...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
as he/she waits for a
particularly strong issue where a 'newbie' won't diminish the sales.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So you may wait even longer to
get an acceptance at first.
|
|
karon
|
What if you don't hear?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Wait until longer than the
'usually replies by' length of time and then send a polite query.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If the editor HAS overlooked
the piece, a polite 'did you get my submission'...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
will do a nice little guilt
prod. :-)
|
|
speck
|
When marketing a novel, do you
recommend sending to editors/publishers or agents? Or does it really matter
who you send it to?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yes it matters a LOT!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you CAN send it directly to
the editor, do so.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yes it'll take longer to get
read, but you will have an easier time getting an established agent if it's
a traditionaly publishing house...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and you'll need an agent for
the contract.
|
|
tolkienlvr
|
Mary, a little off topic -- if a
story is set 3-4 years in the future it can still be classified as
mainstream, right? Or do editors think "future - it must be fantasy or
SF"?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That entirely depends on your
editor, tolkien.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Look at Handmaid's Tale. That
is hardly 'contemporary' in terms of chronology but it was marketed as
mainstream because the author...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
is a mainstream author.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Same with her current...VERY
sfnal novel.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If he editor wants to consider
it mainstream he/she will.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If not, not.
|
|
geezer
|
Does an editor suggest an agent
if you submit a Manuscript without one and they like it?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Uh...you don't WANT your
editor to suggest an agent, geeze. LOL.. They're on opposite sides of the
battle line, remember?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The editor works for the
publisher, not you. The agent works for you. You want the agent to get the
most money for you possible.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That is NOT the editor's goal.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you have a 'yes' on a ms...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
you just go to the AAR webpage
and start querying agents...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
telling them that you have a
contract and need an agent.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You'll get one.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And remember, you're only
going to need an agent if you sell to a large, traditional publisher...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
like Random House, Knopf,
Penguin Group, Tor, Daw...one of those.
|
|
andi
|
how do you know if it's the
right one for you?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You'll find a very informative
FAQ page on the AAR website. It will educate you about what to look for in
an agent, what questions to ask, and the like.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Before you even consider an
agent go there and read that.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
AAR Website
|
|
janecj333
|
When I have a beer with Gordon,
I'm not going to be interested in the price of paper...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Well, if you're hanging out
with editors and chatting, you're doing so as a friend, a fellow reader,
and the conversation goes all over the place. Including the price of paper.
:-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And you don't have to be
published to do that. That's one of the reasons to go to cons...to get to
know editors as people.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I knew Gordon to chat with and
hang out with long before I ever sold him anything. He was an editor for
St. Martins back then.
|
|
gail
|
Is there a Canadian counterpart
to the AAR, or, does it matter where a writer lives when it comes to
finding an appropriate agent?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I don't know about the
Canadian counterpart, gail. I know some Canadian writers who have NY
agents...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
because they sell to NY
publishers.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Well, this has been a fun
Oregon hour.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Remember that marketing is
only partly that market index.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
A lot of it is bookstore
shelves, websites, sample copies.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You'd be amazed at how much
inspiration you can find on the bookstore shelves or in the library.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I'll post the transcripts to
the usual place:
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Writing Craft: Forum
Transcripts.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
See you all tomorrow!
|