Lessons Learned...The Rejection Way - #7

Watch those subject lines
There are so many agents and publishers taking electronic submissions these days. All you gotta do is fix up a nice quick "cover letter" email, and hit the check spelling button, then send that baby off, right?? Boy, do I wish.

I usually go a step further than this and write my letter on Word, hoping to catch misuses, repeats, grammar, and so on. Then I proofread, put it away for a few days, then proofread again. Finally, I copy and paste it into my email body....then I finally hit send.

I try--really--to be so careful.

But I always forget to proofread that darn SUBJECT LINE. And I'm really beginning to wish you could spell check the subject line because once I wrote Submission as SBUMISSION and another time I wrote it as SUMISSION...all to the same publisher. Oops.

As soon as I hit send, I saw the misspelling and wished I could undo, undo, undo. The Subject line is what editors see before they even look at your cover letter or your synopsis or even your story. Misspells on the Subject Line cannot be cool.

Now I didn't receive a rejection letter that actually said, "I cannot believe you can't even spell SUBMISSION. We are so not looking at your proposal just because of that." (okay, fine, I confess I actually sold that story), but it was still way embarrassing. Not only did it make me feel unprofessional, but it had to start that editor off with a bad first impression.

So, hey everyone, don't forget to proofread the subject line too before you hit SEND!!!

(PS: I actually re-read the subject line for this post and found out I'd spelled Lessons as LEASONS. Yay, I actually followed my own advice for once!)

Lessons Learned...the Acceptance Way #2

I hate to brag, but...I so know how to pick 'em.

Back in May, I wrote my first "Lessons Learned the Acceptance Way" post, raving on and on about the book One Scream Away by Kate Brady and how reading an except on Brady's website told me exactly why she sold her first book.

Well, it turns out, I actually knew what I was talking about (I know, for once, huh!). One Scream Away went on to win RWA's Rita for Best First Book in July. So, I figure I might actually have a knack for this picking out the winners.

And that knack's done bit me again. I've been following Beth Revis's blog, Writing it Out, on and off for probably over a year now. I remember reading her post announcing she sold her first book and commenting my congratulations.

But last month I finally got to read the first chapter of her story, Across the Universe, which according to Amazon is coming out January 11, 2011 from Razorbill. (You can check out CHAPTER ONE HERE!)

And, wow. I mean, seriously. W...O...W. I think we have the next Lois Lowery on our hands, people. She's amazing. If you like young adult futuristic sci fi with possibly some social and political injustice issues and what-looks-like maybe at least a little romance (hope so, anyway!), then preporder your copy today. In fact, you don't even have to like those things. Just go ahead of buy a copy anyway. Like, right now. She's that good.

And why is she THAT good? What made her an "acceptance" story? Like I said in my last "lessons learned the acceptance way" post, I think it was a mixture of things.

First of all: She pulled the reader's emotions into the story. She described Amy's panic as she was going through that first chapter so clearly I began to feel it too. I think I actually rubbed at my throat in that anxious breathe-Linda-breathe way because I could just FEEL the freezing stuff clogging up over her and trapping her in. Ugg, I'm doing it again. (Breathe, Linda, breathe, Just...calm...down).

Whew, vivid imagery.

Second of all: She showed each character perfectly. They all had their own agenda, and we didn't even have to leave Amy's point of view to tell what her mom or dad or even the the two techie's were thinking and what goals they already had.

Third of all: That chapter ending hook. I mean, come on. How could the excerpt end there? MORE, I need more. This is going to be tough waiting all the way until January for this book to come out.

And finally (actually, there's so much more I could gush about, but I'm trying--really--to keep this blog as short as I can): Her words. The flow of the sentences, the way she describes every little detail, about how it all feels. It was perfect, absolutely perfect.

So, there's some more clues about how to become an acceptance story:
-Emotional connection with readers,
-individual characters with their own agenda while still managing to tie into the single story line,
-nice attention-grabbing hooks,
-and detailed descriptions written in a smooth, flowing way.

Sounds simple, huh? Snort. Maybe for Beth, but I'm still working on all that.

Anyway, congrats again to Beth Revis. She is going to go far in her writing career. I just know it; I have a knack, remember!

Lesson Learned...Big Time

Why I’m a writer and not a banker:

From the memoirs of Clueless Linda.

Okay, so I received my first royalty payment a couple months back, right. Yay! Excited me, I went into Paypal where my money had been sent, and from there I electronically transferred the cash into my bank account. Then I checked my account to see if the deposit had been made.

It hadn’t.

So, I waited.

Checked a few days later.

Still no royalty money.

From this point, my wonderful husband who isn’t a spineless, meek coward like his dear wife and isn’t afraid to get a little stern and demand answers, spent an hour and a half on the phone with Paypal and the bank before everyone figured out Clueless Linda (yes, that’s me) put in a 3 instead of a 2 somewhere in her checking account number (or maybe it was the other way around—I can’t recall…I’m clueless here, remember!). So, my first royalty payment EVER was deposited into someone else’s account.

Paypal changed the account number and fixed things on their end, but the money they’d already deposited never did show up in my account. That awesome man I married made a couple more calls, until finally the bank told him they couldn’t take the money out of someone else’s account until that account owner came to them and told them the deposit isn’t theirs.
It wasn’t like this was millions of dollars or anything. Not even thousands. Okay, geesh, not even hundreds.

But HELLO…I’ve never worked so hard for a couple measly bucks in my entire life.

I started my book in 2002, pouring blood and sweat into the rough draft for months. Then rewrote, revised, and edited my heart out. Next, I chewed off all my fingernails as I waited for beta readers to go through it. Then, after bawling over their comments (actually, they weren’t that bad of comments, but I have a somewhat fragile ego), I busted my butt to fix all the mistakes.

After I don’t know how many edits, I started the submission process. Rejections, tears, rejections, tears, rejections…you get the point. Throw in more editing, and that’s how the next five years progressed. Until holy smokes, I sold my story.

Yes, euphoria.

But after selling, there was rewriting.

Next came icky promoting (picture me forcing myself to step out of my nice, shy comfort zone to become an irritating author that pushed her new book in everyone’s faces).

Then the story was released…only for reviews to start. Most reviews were better than I ever expected them to be. But, yeah, not everyone liked my tale, so more stress and tears followed.
From 2002 to 2010, eight long years of toiling, I received my first royalty check at last! Only to lose it because I typed in one wrong number.

Is that crazy or what?

I don’t care if it was only ONE FREAKING DOLLAR, I earned that check more than I’ve ever earned ANY check in my entire life.

So, all I’ve got to say is the person who got my precious money better enjoy every cent.

Seriously though, I have to shake my head and laugh about this. Otherwise, I’d break down and cry (again).

And there is my Lesson Learned for this month. Make sure ALL your numbers are right.

Lessons Learned...The Rejection Way - #6

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear.
Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair.
Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't fuzzy,
Was he?

This poem reminded of one of my rejection letters, probably because I repeat the silly saying a million times a day to my baby (Hey, they say it's good for an infant's brain development to hear lots of rhyming verses. I have to say it's not so good for Mom's sanity however. But anyway...)

One editor told me I needed to develop my showing-and-not-telling abilities a little better. She went on to explain that she'd highlighted text in my story where I was telling instead of showing. I was stunned she'd went to so much work for my little ol' story and I was really excited about revising her highlighted spots.

Except...when I opened the document, only the words WAS, WERE, HAVE, and HAD were highlighted.

Interesting teaching technique, huh? I thought so. It certainly opened my eyes to how much I actually do tell instead of show.

Though ninety percent of WAS/WERE in a story could most certainly be crumpled and thrown in a trash can, I think there are still a few instances where WAS is the best word choice.

Like in the first few lines of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone :

"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much."

Other times, it can be fairly easy to fix a was/were and have/had problem like in the sentences:

He was a dog once. Now he was human.

Which can easily turn to...

Once a dog, Rover now roamed with the human crowd.

And...that's all I have to say about that. Be on a lookout for those sneaky telling words.

Lessons Learned...The Acceptance Way

So, I've been writing this series of blogs called Lessons Learned...The Rejection Way, hoping to help other writers learn their lesson by reading about my rejections. I've been rejected for things like info dumping, reactive characters, easy endings, unlikable characters, and over telling.

But it gets a little depressing to always focus on the negative.

Thus, today I'm going to talk about what a writer actually does RIGHT to get themselves published. And here's a happy little secret before I start: All those reasons up there I've received rejections...I've done them--yes, ALL of them--and still sold my story.

I'm guessing right about now, you're wondering, "Then what in the world do I need to do to get my book noticed by a freaking publisher or agent?" Answer: Who really knows, but I think it takes a collaborative effort of tying the plot, characters, setting, tone, and author's voice into a fascinating story to catch a reader's attention.

Here's an example.

I was scanning Amazon for a new romantic suspense author. When I saw One Scream Away by Kate Brady in the "readers also bought these" section under some of my favorite romantic suspense authors, I googled her and checked out her website. After reading the first few lines of the excerpt she provided for this story, I immediately bought the book.

Here's one TOTALLY AMAZING paragraph from that excerpt:

Chevy Bankes looked down at the woman. Lila Beckenridge, her driver’s license said, the photo showing razor-sharp cheekbones and hair scraped into a bun. A dancer, he’d decided while roping her ankles—callused feet and spaghetti-thin body, the faint odor of perspiration layered beneath her perfume.

We have plot (Chevy is going to murder Lila--duh), character (he's a psycho murderer that kills complete strangers; she's a dancer and it's obvious she puts her all into that endeavor), setting (it's vividly understandable we're at the murder scene that's about to take place), tone (romantic suspense, no doubt--or at least it's clearly suspenseful at this point), and voice (just look at all those colorful descriptions and lively verbs Brady uses--razor-sharp cheekbones, hair scraped into a bun, callused feet, spaghetti-thin body, perspiration layered...--outstanding!).
It's no wonder this author sold her book. There's all that story already packed into one little paragraph. She makes each word count toward the collective goal.
I suppose that's my lesson for the day: Make each word count. If a word, line, paragraph, or chapter doesn't add to the plot, character, setting, tone, or voice do you really need to keep it?
Yeah. Just think about it! And good luck with your manuscript.

Lessons Learned...The Rejection Way #5

Recurring Repetitiveness

Some bloggers out there are amazing about giving writing advice, it makes me jealous. I’ve always wanted to be able to use my fourteen years of writing experience to somehow help others, but I still don’t feel as if I have any useful knowledge to share. The only thing I'm good at is making mistakes…so, I started my “Lessons Learned” series, and decided to share my mistakes to help others.

Here is the fifth reason I’ve received a rejection for a submitted manuscript.

I usually receive rejections for problems with the actual storyline itself. Plot complications. But on one (okay, maybe two) rejections, I was lectured for my actual writing style. I tend to repeat myself, or at least add extra stuff I really don’t need to add.

Here’s an example. I like to say stuff like, “He kicked her with his foot,” or “He felt himself smile.” Or “He really shouldn’t get so much satisfaction from hurting his sister, he thought.” In each of those phrases, I can tighten and cut out a lot of repetitive, unnecessary stuff.

On the first sentence, I should’ve cut out “with his foot” because, honestly, what else would he kick her with? His ear?

Next, always try to erase the word feel, felt, or feeling if you can help it (or so I’ve learned). The second sentence would’ve been much tidier if I’d simply said, “He smiled.”

And finally…if you’re writing from one person’s point of view, you really don’t need to add “he thought” since we’re pretty much reading everything he’s thinking already.

Ergo, the three lines should go a little something more like: Jack kicked her and smiled. He really shouldn’t get so much satisfaction from hurting his sister.

But that’s just receptiveness on the sentence level. I’ve also been accused of doing it on the paragraph level. I’ll describe something in one sentence, and then in the next line, I’ll say basically the same thing another way. So, stay on the lookout for that too; try to cut out as much as you can.

Good luck with your WIP.

Lessons Learned...The Rejection Way #4

Easy Endings

This is number four of my "Lessons Learned" series. I started this sequence of posts, hoping to help others avoid rejection by telling them a couple of reasons why I myself have received rejections on book submissions. And today, the topic of rejection is the "Easy Ending."

How many books have you read or written that base their entire conflict on misunderstanding? The hero thinks one thing about the heroine and the heroine thinks something else about the hero, and this misunderstanding is the sole reason they are not together. If the two would merely have one honest, open conversation, then everything would be resolved and the story would be over...In fact, that is how the story usually ends...with the two main characters finally discovering the truth and everything being right in the world again. The end.

Well, this is a cope-out ending. I've been guilty of doing it, but that still makes it too easy of an ending.

In college, I learned that the end of a story has to show change in your main character or has to teach them something new about the world or themselves. And simply realizing they were misunderstood about a minor fact doesn't really help develop their character. It's not a very sustainable ending. They need to show some kind of growth or development by the time "the end" rolls around.

So, the next time you're working on a story, try come up with something more creative than, "Oh, so you've really loved me all along? Why didn't you just say so on page ten, so this could've been a short story instead of the long, drawn-out disaster it was?" Otherwise, you may be joining ranks with me in the rejections pile. But, hey, at least I would've be all alone in there then!

Good luck on your manuscript and your submissions.

Lessons Learned...The Rejection Way - #3

The Perfect Main Character

In January, I decided to start a series of posts called “Lessons Learned the Rejection Way,” hoping I might be able to help other writers by tossing out a few of the reason I’ve received rejections in the past...and, okay, maybe in the not-so-past as well.

Today, I’m focusing on characters, the main character to be precise.

You have to a find a happy medium for your character when you create them. They have to be perfect…but not too perfect, strong…but not too strong, soft…but not too soft. In other words, they have to be likable enough a reader will cheer for them to succeed.

One heroine I created was a woman who’d been stuck raising her four younger sisters when she was nineteen. I was so careful to make her dominant and willful, someone who took care of business. Well, I guess I overdid it a little, because the rejection that came back said something like, “The heroine isn’t very likable. She’s bossy and treats her sisters like children, though they are grown women now.”

The next heroine I turned in to that same publisher was struggling between still wanting to be a good daughter to the father she adored, yet falling for a man she knew her dad despised. But that rejection went more like, “The heroine isn’t very likable. She’s too weak and lacks interior motive.”

Ironic, huh? I wrote overboard on one woman and, uh, under board (for lack of a better term) on another. Sigh. I’m not sure when I passed that happy medium. But, both responses definitely opened my eyes. Readers—and publishers too—want a likable protagonist, someone strong that can stand up to the forces raging against them, but someone likable that the reader will cheer for, but also someone fallible they can actually relate to.

So, how is your main character coming along? Does he/she have plenty of struggles to face, and is she/he facing them in a way that a majority of readers will approve of? Would you like this character if you knew them personally, or would you think her/him too shallow, too stupid to live, too mean, too silly, too perfect?

Yet one more thing to consider when submitting your manuscript to an editor or agent. Good Luck!

Lessons Learned...The Rejection Way - #2

Proactive vs. Reactive Characters

Here's a topic I had never even considered...until I received a rejection for it. Oops.

So, tell me, other writing friends out there, what drives YOUR characters? Their own wants and goals or an overwhelmingly strong plot? Apparently, the correct answer is their own wants and goals. I received a rejection once because my characters were less proactive and more reactive.

A reactive character is someone who merely reacts to events happening to them in the story--outside influences drive the plot.

A proactive character makes events happen by pushing the plot forward themselves--THEY drive the plot.

Here's a lame example of reactive: A story starts with a woman receiving a hostage note from the antagonist, saying "I have your daughter. If you want her back, leave me a grand in the trash can on Fifth and Vine." Of course, when she gets there, another note has been left, telling her to go to another place...and thus she's pushed along a certain path, forced to REACT to all these events happening to her. This would be a reactive character.

A proactive character would be (and sorry, here's another lame example): A story about a woman who feels her husband might be cheating on her, so she visits this house where she suspects Miss Mistress lives, and gets herself into a whole tangle of problems by pushing her curiosity forward and breaking & entering the place, therefore having to hide in a closet when someone comes home, only to hear who the alleged marriage wrecker is REALLY spending her time with.

Can you see the difference? You can get a better feel of the proactive character's personality because her actions come from internal drive, whereas...how do we really know what the reactive character is like? The Kidnapper is controlling her, making her act how he wants her to, keeping us from seeing her true personality.

It's possible this is merely a subjective issue, and some editors might not feel so strongly about it, not really caring what drives the plot as long as the story is good and characters are distinctive. But I happened to find one editor that did care (go me!).

It's something to think about when submitting your story anyway; do the characters stand out or does the plot, and does the editor/agent you want to submit to prefer plot-driven or character-driven stories?

Lessons Learned...The Rejection Way - #1

When I would start a new job back in the beginning of my adulthood and then make a mistake bad enough the boss had to correct me, I feel I learned more vividly how to do that part of the job correct...and it was rare when I made that same mistake again, because I was extra careful not to repeat it.

I think that same thing must be true with manuscript rejections. When I receive a rejection that has personal comments attached, I'm extra aware of trying to avoid doing that same wrong thing in subsequent stories or revisions.

I call it lessons learned--not just the hard way--but the "rejection" way.

And I figured if I can learn to improve from my rejections, I don't see why others can't too. Thus, I decided to write a blog about all the different reasons I've received rejections to help other writers avoid receiving the same rejection letter I did...except that would make one super long post--because there's just so many rejections to chose from. So, I concluded that a series of "Lessons Learned" posts would work better!

Since this is my first lesson learned post, I'll start with the first thing a person can do wrong at the very beginning of their manuscript. I've had my hand slapped twice for this one, so I'm thinking I still need to work on it too.

Info Dumping

Back in the days of Charles Dickens and all those great classics, it was perfectly fine to wax eloquent at the beginning of your novel, describing the world at that time, the weather three months before, and all the harvest seasons before you ever started on the true story.

But times have a'changed.

In this age of immediate gratification--ATMS, eBay, Amazon.com--people don't want to wait around to begin their story. They want to start the beginning of their story at the beginning of the story (does that sound as funny to everyone else as it does to me? Well, it's true regardless.).

Try to avoid writing background information at the very beginning of your story. You're an artist, creating a work of fantasy; I'm confidant you can find a way to ingeniously filter in all the pertinent background information throughout the story and not just dump it all at the very beginning.

IF there is something your reader simply MUST know before they can begin the story, then make that the beginning, but don't tell it in past tense, rather show it in a scene as if it's happening now.

That's something I've done wrong, and received a rejection to prove it. I wanted to explain my character, by giving the reader all the juicy details of their life, before I actually showed them in action. But with the new millennium starting and everything, no editor/agent was interested in wading through the boring stuff to get to the true meat of my tale.

So...beware of dumping too much information at the beginning. And if that idea doesn't appeal, you can think of it this way. Just because you can't say everything you want to on page one, doesn't mean you can't say it later on in the book AFTER you've already got the reader hooked on the story, because that's when they'll really want all the juicy background on their favorite characters.