Articles archived for January 2011

Dear Author,

Thank you for your recent submission to GiveUsYourCash Publishing. We enjoyed reading your submission and would like to include you as one of our published authors. Congratulations on becoming a part of the GiveUsYourCash family! We are thrilled to offer you a contract and upon signing, a royalty advance.

However, before we can continue with this endeavor there are a few minor problems that need to be addressed. Your submission has an engaging plot and in-depth character development. We did find errors that a professional editing service can help you eliminate. Some spelling and grammar issues are common with first time authors. We understand this and offer a comprehensive program for our authors. The program entitles our authors access to some of the best professional editors in the business!

Professional editing services can drain the finances of an aspiring author. Freelance editors can charge outrageous hourly rates. Honestly, how can you be sure that the editor is truly devoting the hours they have claimed to your work? With our professional editing service program, you will always receive top quality. Affordable top quality. Just pay a one time fee and gain total access to our professional editors for the life of your book’s contract.

When you receive your contract please sign and return within 7 business days. Your contract is important. Additional paperwork will be included in your New Author Packet. The forms included in your packet are a copyright registration form, an ISBN order form, and contract for the life of your first born. Please sign the last in blood, preferably drawn from the index finger of your left hand.

You may wonder why you need to register your copyright. This is a very important step in protecting your work from those who would steal your manuscript and try to pass it off as their own. Without a registered copyright you are at risk of losing everything you have poured into your novel. Don’t let this happen! Fill out your copyright registration form and include the registration fee when you return your contract.

The next form is to purchase the ISBN for your novel. An ISBN is an International Standard Book Number. Without this number we will be unable to sell your novel. Every novel in the world must have an ISBN. This number will ensure that your novel will be placed on bookstore shelves beside the works of other authors that are profiting from their books, as you should be!

The final form is just a formality. Please follow the directions and return it with your other paperwork in the New Author Packet.

To expedite the publishing and printing of your book, fill in all forms with accurate information. Do not forget to include the fees required by each department. Omission of one or several will significantly increase the time it will take for your novel to reach our partner media centers around the world.

Again, thank you for submitting your work to GiveUsYourCash Publishing and congratulations on the acceptance of your novel!

Sincerely,

Wanda Yankyur Chaine

Executive Editor, GUYC Publishing

Recently I wrote this letter to a new author from a (fictional) vanity publisher, GiveUsYourCash Publishing. Some of you may be scratching your heads. I thought I would take a moment to be serious and explain.

Vanity publishers have been around for a long time. These publishers do not print and distribute books the way a ‘traditional’ publisher does. Their agenda is to print, bind, and return the books to the author. The author is then responsible for marketing their book to local bookstores or other media outlets.

While this practice is not evil, there are some vanity publishers that give this venue a very bad name. This post focuses on unethical vanity publishers. These shady companies actively advertise for authors. A new author with their first book may feel amazed when they receive their acceptance letter or email praising their work after submitting to such a publisher. Regardless of the actual quality of writing – anyone submitting will receive the same general acceptance notification.

Remember: the shady vanity publisher’s agenda is get you to pay for copies of your book. NOT to pay you or even to sell your book.

After your manuscript is accepted, you receive a contract that often asks for full rights to the work. What this means is that if the author ever tries to free themselves from the vanity publisher’s contract, they will need to buy back their copyright.

Marketing is left to the author. Even though the contract and other paperwork may infer the publisher will market the work, it is rarely true. Marketing costs money and unethical vanity publishers are not interested in spending money. Again, the goal is to generate income from their authors, not for their authors. The publisher may send a few copies of the book to bookstores or reviewers. This does not guarantee that the work will be reviewed or even placed on shelves. Most reputable reviewers will not touch a book offered by one of these vanity publishers.

So after paying for printing, binding, cover art, and packaging – the author must now pay for marketing. There are ways to market without draining a purse, but even free marketing takes time and effort.

The number of books printed is often chosen by the author. A discount on printing costs is usually applied when a large number of books are created. What the author does not know is that if these books are not sold, by signing over all rights, they have lost the right to request the surplus books be sent to them. To acquire those unsold books the author must pay yet another fee!

Authors under contract with one of the shady vanity presses sometimes find out just how badly they have been taken in. These enlightened vanity published authors will then try to find a way out of their contracts. In almost all of these situations the author will receive an offer to buy out of the contract. Buying out of such a contract can range from as little as $150. Some authors have reported much higher amounts at which time they decided to let the book die a quiet death to pursue other projects.

In a nutshell? Avoid vanity publishers at all costs. Any publisher that advertises for authors and charges a fee for editing, printing, cover art, and distribution will sink even a modern masterpiece like a lead balloon.

Most literary types agree that a definitive, personalized ritual performed before, during or after a writing session forms one of the absolutely essential components of creating innovative, effective works.

These obviously vary from author to author, and even similar methods come with their own unique variances. Regardless of whether or not one hopes to pen a future Pulitzer winner or simply finish his or her homework, forging a comfortable writing routine serves as an excellent means of bolstering creativity, relaxing, clearing the mind and — most importantly — encouraging productivity. While some of the following strategies may not exactly work for everyone, they still provide a keen insight into some of the literary sphere’s most notable, impressive minds.

1. Victor Hugo let it all hang out.: According to The New Yorker, the celebrated author of Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame forced himself to write and stave off procrastination by stripping down. His valet was instructed to find the sneakiest hiding place possible and place his clothing inside. Hugo hoped this ritual would prevent him from leaving home and encourage tighter focus on the task at hand.
2. C.S. Lewis kept a tight schedule.: When it came to writing his beloved novels, essays and novel-length philosophical works, C.S. Lewis kept an incredibly obsessive schedule. He allowed himself short, periodic breaks, but otherwise planned every minute of every day in order to maximize productivity. A rigid series of rules dictated everything from appropriate times to take a beer to when visitors were allowed to stop over.
3. Benjamin Franklin got wet.: Though not fully verified, many believe the famous American statesman was the first to import a bathtub into the United States. A consummate inventor, Benjamin Franklin appreciated and studied it as a marvel of engineering and innovation, but the lovely bit of porcelain provided him with more than just a piqued scientific curiosity. When it came time to read and write, much of the Renaissance man’s time was spent soaking in a leisurely bath.
4. Haruki Murakami stays healthy.: Much like C.S. Lewis, the celebrated Wind-Up Bird Chronicles and Norwegian Wood scribe keeps himself creative by staying on a stringent schedule. Haruki Murakami’s afternoons are devoted to keeping his body as healthy, active and fit as his mind. Exercise involves a 10-kilometer run, a 1500-meter swim or some combination of both. Such a ritual, he claims, grants him the mental clarity and physical stamina to hammer out thick novels.
5. William Wordsworth consulted man’s best friend.: Great English Romantic poet William Wordsworth composed several odes to his faithful canine companion. Though anecdotal, some think the Poet Laureate would write while taking regular constitutions with the dog in tow. He would recite ideas out loud, and any met with barking or agitation was taken as a sign that revision was necessary.
6. W.B. Yeats went on autopilot.: Along with his wife George, the renowned Irish poet and playwright found inspiration in the mystic arts, infusing them into more than just his works’ content. Though the process of automatic writing understandably dredges up its fair share of skepticism and scrutiny, W.B. Yeats employed it in earnest. The controversial procedure involves giving in to the subconscious (or, for the more mystic-minded, the spiritual realm) and immediately writing down whatever comes to mind. No revisions, no pausing to think. Just the simple act of putting pen to paper and letting creativity flow.
7. Vladimir Nabokov just couldn’t sit down.: While writing the classic Lolita (and other works, of course), author Vladimir Nabokov launched into the day’s work standing up. His study boasted a “lovely old-fashioned lectern” of which he was very proud, and he greatly preferred starting from there than his armchair or desk. However, Nabokov did admit that his legs did grow tired in such a position, but only then would he retire to one of the comparatively more leisurely options. He also preferred index cards to notebooks and legal pads, as their structure allowed him to easily move scenes around as he saw fit.
8. Toni Morrison can’t see the light.: As the mother of three children, this Nobel and Pulitzer-winning author didn’t always have the time to sit down and write. Toni Morrison eventually disciplined herself to wake up before dawn, brew up a strong, delicious pot of coffee and get productive. Even after her kids grew up and moved out, she continued on in the exact same pattern. Watching the sun rise is an added perk that stimulates her imagination.
9. Philip Roth stays on his feet.: Standing burns many more calories than sitting, and decorated author Philip Roth — much like Vladimir Nabokov — prefers this physical calibration when writing. In addition to this healthy habit, he also pushes himself to walk half a mile for every page he completes. Despite age starting to plague his body, Roth continues this ritual to benefit both body and mind. As with Haruki Murakami, he believes that clarity and creativity come when all facets of a person operate in peak condition.
10. Gertrude Stein indulged in Godiva.: Allegedly, the modernist maven and pivotal figure in the “lost generation” of creative American expats after World War I frequently took to her car when inspiration struck. She would park her Ford, famously nicknamed “Godiva,” somewhere and begin firing off poetry while staying put in the driver’s seat. Something about the vehicle inspired Gertrude Stein and provided a space conducive to her legendary creativity and literary innovation.
11. George Sand got down to business.: Amantine Aurore Lucile Dupin, who wrote under the pen name of George Sand, participated in a nearly two-year affair with fellow literati member Alfred de Musset. Apparently, their sexual escapades charged her up to the point she’d move straight from bed to desk after finishing a session. de Musset himself found this boundless energy highly impressive.
12. Truman Capote got horizontal.: Regardless of whether or not he used a typewriter or decided to go longhand, the author of such notable works as In Cold Blood and Breakfast at Tiffany’s opted to write from either his comfortable bed or cozy couch. He proudly referred to himself as “a horizontal writer,” and often took tea, coffee or drinks while in repose as well. Capote’s first two drafts were usually written out by hand, then switched to a typewriter for the third.
13. T.S. Eliot let it all go to his head.: T.S. Eliot didn’t go so far as to purposely infect himself with colds, but he was probably one of the only people on the planet to ever welcome them. He found that writing while so afflicted greatly helped him concoct unique, gruff voices either for different characters or in the creation of harsher scenes.
14. Alexandre Dumas kept the doctor away.: Like Toni Morrison, Alexandre Dumas of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo fame enjoyed rising early and greeting the day with a personalized ritual. Rather than enjoying a piping hot cup of coffee, however, he preferred taking an apple to the Arc de Triomphe. At 7 AM every morning, Dumas noshed his nourishing breakfast and watched the people of Paris tend to their own unique routines.
15. Honore de Balzac gave himself the jitters.: Any discussions regarding the renowned writer’s legendary coffee consumption posit his daily intake anywhere from 50 to 300 cups a day. No doubt he certainly consumed more than most people — Honore de Balzac infamously died of health problems related to caffeine poisoning — but many of the estimates are more than a little arbitrary. Turkish and Parisian blends particularly piqued his fancy, providing him with enough fuel to keep him writing throughout the evening and on into the night.
16. Henrik Ibsen made war, not love.: Playwright Henrick Ibsen, famous for his progressive values in works such as A Doll’s House, really knew how to keep his enemies closer. An oil paint portrait of his polar opposite and fellow writer August Strindberg hung on his wall as a constant, intimidating reminder to always push himself. Any slacking would give his rival even more fodder for accusations, snide remarks and critical and commercial success. Ibsen even referred to the painting as “Madness Incipient.”
17. Demosthenes goes in halfsies.: Considered one of the greatest statesmen and orators in ancient Greece, Demosthenes took a very unique approach to self-motivation. When it came time to study, write and work on overcoming his speech impediment, he would shave the hair off one side of his head. As much as he yearned to travel and explore his homeland, Demosthenes knew the importance of educating and perfecting himself. Forcing himself to look silly kept him indoors and concentrating on what he needed versus what he wanted.
18. Warren Ellis works sideways.: Not every writer necessarily works chronologically. Some, like the aforementioned Vladimir Nabokov, prefer penning bits and pieces before merging them together. Author of the grotesquely hilarious Crooked Little Vein (and plenty of comic book series) Warren Ellis begins his stories somewhere in the midpoint. From there, he works a little bit towards the start and a little bit towards the ending until his manuscript is complete. This strategy seems to work pretty well — he claims he rarely has to write more than one draft.
19. Maya Angelou keeps it classy.: Following the success of her autobiographical I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, America’s former Poet Laureate established for herself a luxurious, elaborate writing ritual. After waking up at 5 AM, she heads to a nearby hotel with legal pads, a bottle of sherry, a deck of playing cards, a Bible and Roget’s Thesaurus. Per her instructions, hotel staff members have removed all the art and photos from the room’s walls. Before leaving in the afternoon, Angelou usually completes between 10 and 12 pages during her stay, which she edits later that evening.
20. Jonathan Safran Foer likes to watch.: A blank sheet of paper once belonging to Isaac Bashevis Singer greatly inspires the acclaimed author of Everything is Illuminated. It sits framed in his living room, and he stares at it constantly whenever the need for inspiration strikes. The unorthodox exercise challenges his imagination, pushing Foer to discover words and concepts that could’ve one day spread across the paper. Not content with only Singer’s possessions, he began asking many of his favorite writers for blank sheets of their typing paper in order to expand the possibilities and further stimulate the mind.

By Kate Rothwell from MastersDegree.net and reprinted with permission.

“The synopsis is your sales pitch. Think of it as the jacket blurb of your novel (the synopsis is often used in writing this, and by the publisher’s art and advertising departments, if the novel is purchased), and write it as though you’re trying to entice a casual bookstore browser to buy the novel and read it,” says Marg Gilks

The synopsis of a book is a tool for pitching and selling the book. It is a narrative summary of your book written in the same style and voice that makes your novel interesting and gripping. In a way, it’s like a miniature version of your book because it should include all the important aspects of the story in sequence and maintains the urgency and emotion of the story.

You want to give the person reading your synopsis (an editor or agent perhaps) a sense of the setting, tone, and pace of your novel as well as a clear sense of the book’s genre and theme. When someone has read your book synopsis they should understand what the story is about, who the main characters are and why we care about them, what those characters want and why they want it, what is at stake if they don’t get what they want, what or who is in the way of those desires, and how it all turns out.

When you write the synopsis of a book remember that it should tell the entire story, even how the story ends. It does not include cliffhangers or teasers. Instead, it reveals the significant events and motivations that drive the story forward.

You should write the synopsis in present tense and third person. The first time you introduce your main characters, type the name in capital letters. Do this only the first time and thereafter refer to the character in the same way by the same name to avoid confusion. Define the conflicts these face and develop a sense of sympathy for your characters that allows the reader to relate to your characters and invokes compassion. Follow the course of the story through logical transitions and connected paragraphs. Be aware of any themes or symbolism you’ve focused on in your book and pinpoint the important plot points, the significant events, and the way these affect your characters.

There are two ways to write a book synopsis. Some writers begin with the synopsis, detailing their plot points and writing out their projection in the planning stages of their novel. This gives you a firm foundation and outline for your book that can help guide your progress. When the book is finished the original synopsis can then be adjusted to accommodate any changes that may have occurred through the writing process.

The other involves reading through the finished manuscript and making notes to fill out a synopsis as one of the final stages before submitting your manuscript to agents and editors.

Finally, before you send your synopsis to an agent or editor be aware of any specific instructions or guidelines they may have. Some editors prefer short, single-spaced synopses while others prefer longer synopses that are double-spaced. The length of a book synopsis can range from one to twenty pages with many agents preferring approximately five pages. Marg Gilks says, “I personally consider two pages ideal, and have distilled synopses down to a single tight page.”

Take the time to edit your synopsis for grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Your synopsis should be as carefully edited as your manuscript and contain as few errors as possible. Do not rush the process. Your book’s synopsis will stand in for your manuscript and represents you as a writer to the editor.

The synopsis of your book will become a great tool for you after your book is finished. Especially if you are writing a sequel or series of books that will focus on the same characters or similar situations.

The real test of your synopsis is how it hooks the reader. Just as you carefully craft the first sentence, paragraph, page, and chapter of your novel you need to bring the same passion and conviction when you write your book’s synopsis.

Writing a synopsis can feel harder than writing the book. But if you remember the tips and techniques we’ve talked about and put it into practice writing synopses of your own books, stories, or even the books other authors have written, you’ll gain experience and confidence in condensing a novel-length manuscript into a few pages.

Do you have any other synopsis writing tips? Share your own techniques in the comments below and if you’d like to learn more check out Jane Friedman’s Webinar at Writer’s Digest and these two great books:

For the past while, you wrote, and wrote, then wrote some more. Now as you FINALLY wrote “The End” to that story of yours you sit back, give yourself a pat on the back then stare at the first draft of your finished manuscript. The thought arises in your tired mind “Oh crap! What do I do now?”.

If you have the same type of mindset as I do then you obviously know that the first step is screaming “TIME TO PARTY!”, because come on, you just completed that one piece into which you poured your heart and soul. That alone is a big accomplishment and you deserve to celebrate over it.

Now after you celebrate and get over that annoying hang over you must have received, it’s time for you to take that next important step (after editing of course): Searching for a Publisher.

I am currently working on this step and I am fortunate enough to have people in my life to hold my hand along the way as this step can be scary. It’s not easy for a writer to send off their baby to strangers to be gawked, poked and prodded upon by “experts”. However it is a step that all writers (who want to be published) need to take.

So let’s take this step together. Seriously I am going to keep you all updated with how things are going on my end and I would love to have you join me and keep me updated on your end.

The first step I’m taking next is: Finding a Publisher. Some writers, particularly novelists might consider finding an agent rather than submitting directly to publishers. Some publishers do not accept manuscripts that are not represented by an agent but many do and some writers prefer to begin the search here.

There are plenty of tools out there to help you all with finding a great publisher. However these days the most important and safest tool to use would be the Writer’s Market book and/or website. If you have not heard about the Writer’s Market it is a list of all the publishers with information about what they are looking for with your submission along with contact information. This is a book and/or website that benefits every writer.

Go through the long list and choose about five that interest you AND will represent your type of writing. The best way to see if a publisher will represent your story (besides looking at the submission guidelines which is VERY important to do) is by looking and/or reading the books they have published.

Now that you have your list, post it somewhere you will see everyday and pat yourself on the back. You have now just completed the next step toward being published.

What’s next? You’ll just have to stay tuned for more of my articles to find out.

Note: I told you all that I would do this all with you, so here is my list.

Three small ebook companies:
1. Muse It Up Publishing
2. Damnation Books
3. Etopia Press