Writers in the Storm

Heather Webb

How many posts can we read on writing advice? I’ve read hundreds, yet I always come back for more. Why is that? Besides being passionate about improving my craft, for me, it’s about inspiration. I’m always hoping to find a little nugget to light a fire under my feet or change my view of something I’ve been wrestling with in my WIP. So without much ado, I’m going to share a few of my own tips.

1. 1. Work your ass off. No really, WORK YOUR ASS OFF. Writing is hard, but don’t make excuses. People who make excuses don’t run the world. They don’t even accomplish minor tasks. If you want to write, then make like Nike and JUST DO IT, and do it well.

2. Be humble. If you think you’re a special snowflake then your writing life will be an arduous one—both on the page because of internal expectations, and with others in publishing. No one likes to be around an ego-maniac or a drama queen. They aren’t fun to play with.
3. Surround yourself with people who inspire you. Life is hard enough as it is. Dump the dead weight, the nags, the negative nellies, and the poor-mes. They add nothing to your life, weigh you down, and they sure as hell don’t help you feel good about yourself in a difficult business.
4. Read every single day. Don’t tell me you don’t have time. Everyone can read for ten minutes before bed. Lose sleep. Reading matters. There are dozens of studies that show its direct correlation to writing skills. Not only that, but it’s a terrific way to study the craft while enjoying yourself. I’ve learned more from reading fiction than all other methods combined.
5. Consistency matters more than quantity. Some days you write 500 words, some days, three sentences, others, 3,000. Don’t judge your quantity; judge your routine, your dedication, and your consistency. The turtle wins the race.
6. Don’t compare your journey to others. For one thing, it doesn’t help you write any better or sell more books. For another it only makes you feel like a loser. It’s easy to be eaten up with envy in a creative business. Transform that envy to fuel, to once again, WORK YOUR ASS OFF. And always be proud of what you’ve accomplished.
7. Give yourself time to “refill the well”. If you’re writing well or “correctly”, it takes a monumental amount of intellectual and emotional, never mind creative input. Though exhilarating, it’s also exhausting. Strike out on adventures, dabble in other hobbies or creative pursuits you love. Fill your well with richness and replenish yourself so you have more to bring to the table on that next writing day.
8. Be flexible about your vision. Each book we write changes us. The direction you thought you wanted may not be the place where you end up. Be open to change. It could very well send you to the moon.
9. Don’t forget to live in the present, not just in your fictional worlds. It’s easy for us to get lost in other worlds. That’s one of the biggest draws to writing. But if we don’t have life experiences and interests and knowledge and skills, we would have no creative well to dip into. Be present. Absorb. Engage. It can only make your books stronger.

Conversely, for all the great advice out there, there’s a bunch of BAD ADVICE as well. A few of my favorites are:

1. Start your own blog, especially to talk about writing. If this is something you enjoy, go for it. But the fact of the matter is, there are hundreds of writing blogs. When you blog about writing, you’re growing your publishing community (definitely a good thing), but it’s NOT a way to reach readers. How many novels have you bought of authors who run their own writing blog?
2. Write what you know. If we did this, there would be A LOT of books about writers in yoga pants with huge piles of laundry to wade through. Snoozzzze fest. Obviously I flout this rule completely as a historical writer. You should, too. Part of what is so exciting about this passion of ours is branching out and learning, stretching and growing. So wade into uncharted waters and see what happens.
3. Rock social media like it’s going out of style. I enjoy social media as an extrovert. Connecting with people is fun for me, since I’m typically alone all day in my fictional world. That being said, the longer I’m in this business, the more I realize how much social media detracts from a writer’s psyche. Also? If you haven’t figured out a way to reach readers online, once again, you aren’t selling books. Choose which platforms you develop wisely. Doing them ALL isn’t effective or practical.
4. Write every day. This industry is too full of “shoulds” and doesn’t have enough “coulds”. Sometimes you just need a break, (which takes us back to refilling our creative wells). As I said before, WRITING IS HARD. If you don’t rest once in awhile, you may find yourself in burn-out mode.

P.S. If you want to write good books every time, it never gets easier, so LOVE what you do or don’t do it.

What is the BEST or WORST piece of writing advice you’ve ever received? Bonus points for funnies.

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About Heather

Heather Webb writes historical novels for Penguin and HarperCollins,which have been translated to three languages and have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Cosmopolitan magazine, France magazine, and Reuters News Book Talk. BECOMING JOSEPHINE follows the life and times of Josephine Bonaparte set to the backdrop of the French Revolution, and RODIN’S LOVER released Jan 27th, chronicles the passionate and tragic story of Camille Claudel, sculptor, collaborator, and lover to the famed Auguste Rodin. A FALL OF POPPIES releases in 2016.

Heather is also a freelance editor and contributor to award-winning writing sites WriterUnboxed.com and RomanceUniversity.org. She is a member of the Historical Novel Society and the Women’s Fiction Writers Association.

Twitter: @msheatherwebb

Susan Spann

 In recent months, I’ve seen the resurgence of several terrible publishing “offers” that business-savvy authors should learn to recognize and avoid. Some people might call them “scams” – though these particular “deals” are legal if an author signs them. They remind me of my law school contracts professor’s warning that “you can make as good a deal, or AS BAD A DEAL, as you are able.”

And if you accept one of these contract offers, you’ll be making a very bad deal indeed.

BAD CONTRACT #1: “WE PUBLISH, YOU PAY”

This type of contract requires the author pay for some or all of the costs to produce the book. Often, the costs are not stated, outlined, or listed up front, leaving the author on the hook for undisclosed (and often enormous) sums. Even where costs are listed, they usually exceed the amount the author would have to pay to self-publish the work. In many cases, the author could hire a professional cover designer, copy editor, and developmental editor and still not pay as much these contracts require.

The publisher, not the author, should be responsible for all the publishing costs in a traditional publishing deal.

Beware: sometimes “pay to play” terms lurk farther down, in the royalty language. A contract which pays royalties on “net receipts” and defines “net” as “amounts received by the publisher less the costs of editing and publishing the Work or less the Publisher’s actual costs to publish and sell the Work” is requiring the author to pay for the publisher’s costs. This doesn’t require payment out of pocket, but it’s still inappropriate.

 Any time a publisher tries to shift the costs of publishing the Work to the author—either up front or in the royalty share—the publisher is altering the traditional model and asking the author to take on an unfair share of the risk.

One exception to this is an up-front, disclosed, “hybrid” publishing arrangement, where the author and publisher both understand and accept the cost-sharing terms. In a hybrid arrangement, the author shares in the publisher’s costs, but also receives a larger share of the benefits and (usually) an increased level of control over cover art and other parts of the publishing process. However, legitimate hybrid publishers are always up front about the nature of the arrangement and the fact that the author isn’t being offered a “traditional deal.” Anyone who tries to tell you that the “author pays” model is a “typical New York contract” or a “traditional publishing opportunity” is trying to take advantage of your ignorance.

BAD CONTRACT #2: “WE PUBLISH, YOU BUY”

 A publishing contract should never require the author to purchase copies of the finished book. Most traditional publishing contracts permit the author to purchase finished copies, usually at a significant discount. Some contracts restrict what the author can do with those discount copies (for example, many publishers don’t want authors re-selling discount copies for a profit, because it cuts out the publisher’s profits on the book). However, traditional publishing contracts don’t ever require the author to purchase books from the publisher at any price.

One publishing “offer” I’m seeing a lot requires the author to purchase several thousand copies of the finished work—at list price, or sometimes at a discount—and to pay the publisher for them in advance! Some of these contracts require the author to pay the publisher tens of thousands of dollars on signing, yet still give the publisher full control over cover art, editing, and the content of the finished work.

A point to consider: if you, the author, have to buy five thousand copies of the finished work from the publisher…how many copies does the publisher have to sell someone else to make a profit? The answer, of course, is NONE—and these publishers often make little or no effort to sell the books they publisher to anyone other than the authors themselves.

NEVER sign a contract which requires you to purchase copies of the finished work. Legitimate publishers just don’t work that way. In fact, most legitimate publishers will give the author a few free copies of the finished work as a courtesy.

BAD CONTRACT #3: MANDATORY MARKETING SERVICES

A few savvy “publishers” have discovered that they can offer unsuspecting authors a “traditional publishing deal” – where the publisher pays the publishing costs and pays industry-standard royalties on sales – paired with a “mandatory marketing agreement” under which the author pays the publisher (or an affiliated marketing agency) thousands of dollars to market and advertise the finished book on the author’s behalf.

This is not a traditional publishing deal, and it’s not a good deal, either.

Once again, the author must pay thousands of dollars (some of these have marketing fees of $10,000 or more) up front, in return for usually-unspecified “marketing services.” Where services are specified, they usually include only things the publisher (or its “marketing arm”) can do in-house, such as writing press releases, making a trailer for the publisher’s YouTube channel, writing Facebook posts to promote the work, or other things the author could easily do for him-or-herself. The services may include “advertising design” but I’ve never seen one that actually included the cost of running the ads in any magazine, or even in online forums. The cost of hosting or running the ads is borne separately by the author.

As with the “We Publish, You Buy” scenario, this type of publisher doesn’t need to make the bulk of its money from selling books. When the publisher receives thousands of dollars from the author, up front, the publisher doesn’t need to sell any books to make a profit.

 The short answer, and best advice, is this:

Never sign any contract which requires you to pay money to the publisher out of pocket.

 Beware any contract that lets the publisher recoup publishing costs before your royalties are paid.

 If you suspect your publishing deal isn’t quite as fair as the publisher claims—or even if it seems like a good one—always get advice from a lawyer or agent before you sign.

The career you save…will be your own.

 Have you seen, or been offered, contracts with "pay to play" clauses like the ones outlined above? 

Susan Spann writes the Shinobi Mysteries, featuring ninja detective Hiro Hattori and his Portuguese Jesuit sidekick, Father Mateo. Her debut novel, CLAWS OF THE CAT (Minotaur Books, 2013), was a Library Journal Mystery Debut of the Month and a finalist for the Silver Falchion Award for Best First Novel. The second Shinobi Mystery, BLADE OF THE SAMURAI, released on July 15, 2014, and her third novel, FLASK OF THE DRUNKEN MASTER, releases in July 2015. Susan is also a transactional attorney whose practice focuses on publishing law and business. When not writing or practicing law, she raises seahorses and rare corals in her marine aquarium. You can find her online at her website, http://www.SusanSpann.com, and on Twitter (@SusanSpann).

 

James Preston

When I was growing up I read a lot.

I had a pattern, a way that I approached books that just evolved sort of on its own. I'd read for a while, get to a really good part and then go off and do something else, something mindless. Often I'd dig a hole. No kidding, I just loved excavation and while I was busy my head would be working, thinking about what might happen next in the story, hearing the characters' dialog, thinking about how they felt -- Frank Hardy when Joe got kidnapped in What Happened at Midnight, Tom Corbett stranded on Mars. You get the idea.

As an adult I still read a lot, not as much as I would like, but as much as I can. And I realized that while I'm turning those pages, I'm thinking as a writer. I bet you do, too.

I hope the ideas I share with you today do not detract from your pleasure when you settle in with a good book; my guess is these suggestions won't because you probably do some of them already.

Reading as a writer for me means that you stop and think about what's happening. You may stop for particularly good (or bad) dialog, or a great opening paragraph that pulls you right into the story. You appreciate your favorite writers even more when you see their craft, things like that perfect foreshadowing that makes you say, "Of course" at the end.

And there's the rub. If you only read people you love, writers who are so good they make you want to quit writing and just spend your life  reading, you have narrowed your focus. I read many different writers and I learn from all of them. Before I provide suggestions, a word about my choices. For the most part, since I'm a mystery writer, they are not romance writers, but I sample them on occasion and I am almost always glad that I did.

It's important to branch out and learn.

Some time ago I had a book review column called Books People Are Talking About. The idea was that I reviewed best sellers, book that would be topics of discussion around the water cooler, but that many people might not read. What an experience!

It was a lot of work for not much money but I wouldn't trade it. I read some books that I never would have picked up if I hadn't had a column due. I'm talking books like Valley of the Dolls. I read many books that I did not care for and tried to say something about them. Here are some suggestions for authors you might want to check out. I tried to choose writers that you may not have encountered, and who are available electronically.

For stories that are so dialog-driven that they race off the page, look at any of the Fletch novels by Gregory MacDonald. (Side note: don't try to take a shortcut and watch the movies. They are most emphatically not the same.)

For extreme detail, writing that is way down in the weeds for how things work in the military or the police, try W. E. B. Griffin. Some reviewers knock him for too much detail, and that makes his work worth looking at in itself because you may agree. Same author -- police procedurals and war stories that are light on shooting and heavy on relationships.

Want to hear a truly tough guy, who still has ethics, tell his story? Track down Death of a Citizen by Donald Hamilton and meet Matt Helm. (Important warning! Avoid the Dean Martin movies of the same series, unless you really want to experience a singing spy.)

For a very funny tough guy, look at Richard Prather's Shell Scott stories, in particular the one called Everybody Had a Gun. Prather produced one novel after another from the fifties into the seventies and deserves more attention than he gets.

Plot? There are excellent writers everywhere, but for playing fair with the reader nobody's better than Earl Stanley Gardner and the Perry Mason novels.

Pacing is an important topic and one that has been discussed in detail on this blog. For an extreme sample of rocket-propelled speedball stories, look at anything by James Rollins, but particularly the Sigma Force books. Hard to put down? Oh, yes, because things are always happening.

For incredibly good openings, see Jayne Ann Krentz. Brilliant! The woman grabs you immediately.

What about watching movies and TV with a writer's mindset?

For me that comes down mostly to studying dialog, and in many cases I am critical. For example, I enjoyed CSI: Miami enormously and consider it the best of the CSIs -- but the characters are constantly telling each other things they already know. "I will run this sample through the new Wombat 3000 Spectroscope." "Good. That will give us the blood type." Both of them are familiar with the Wombat 3000.

In fairness, the CSI dialog is really aimed at the viewing audience that doesn't know about the Wombat 3000, and building in the science background is a challenge. That's why you so often see the writers bring in an outsider who needs an explanation. In Jaws Richard Dreyfuss teaches the sheriff about sharks, and the viewers learn right along with him.

Should you stop reading or watching to make notes about a piece of work that you admire (or loathe)? Oooh, that's a tough question. In an electronic world it has become easier to highlight and save quotes, but it can still break that magic that is a great story. I try to capture things I like, with mixed results. One mistake I made was in reading an excerpt from a romance novel that showed up in a blog. The sea captain closed the door to his cabin and leaned back against it, arms crossed, as he eyed the proud beauty standing defiantly in front of him. I cannot quote it, or find it, and this paraphrase most emphatically does not do it justice, but when I read it I was struck by its succinctness, and clarity. You were there in the cabin on a old sailing ship. I didn't highlight it and I'm sorry. I guess I would say, when in doubt, highlight, or scribble a note to "come back to page 29 for a great description."

I need to be clear that I am not in any way talking about copying. Soaking in good work improves yours, but if I set out to do a Jayne Anne Krentz opening, I'd fall on my face. You will find your own way, but seeing masters at work makes it easier.

The point of this essay is that as writers we are always learning and we are responsible for our own education and growth. I haven't read a lot of romance novels, but most of you will have some as examples, so c'mon, share!

Who do you read when you want a really creepy villain? Who does Regency manners best? Who do you study to get better? I'm interested and I bet the other readers are, too.

If I could just find that sea captain . . .

 

About James

 James R. Preston is the author of the award-winning Surf City Mysteries. His books have been selected for inclusion in the California Detective Fiction Collection at the Bancroft Library, one of the libraries at UC Berkeley. James’ novella, Crashpad, will be published next year by Stark Raving Group. See bookxy.com for more information.

The newest Surf City Mystery is Sailor Home From Sea.