Writers in the Storm

Last week, I saw an infographic in GalleyCat titled, J.R.R. Tolkien’s 10 Tips for Writers, and was so inspired. What if he'd never written his books? What if there had been no Hobbits and no Gandalf, no Legolas or Frodo? The world of story would be an entirely different place.

Our stories matter. They really do.

10 Tips from the “Master of Middle Earth”:

1. Vanity is useless.
Truly, Tokien wrote his books to please himself and answer the writer inside him. He expected them to go “into the waste-paper basket” after they left his desk, not live on in popular culture. I'm not saying we don't need to learn good story craft however, if you entertain yourself, at least you know one person that enjoyed the hell out of your book.

2. Keep writing, even through adversity.
It took the man SEVEN years to write The Hobbit. He balanced a demanding day job, illness, and worry for his son who was away in the Royal Navy. I'm reminded of Laura Drake, her brick wall, and her 400+ rejections.

3. Listen to critics you trust.
When his editor said, “Make it better,” he didn't throw the advice away. He read and re-read, and he tried his best.

He credits listening to knowledgeable feedback, and working to make it better, for what he considered the best scene in the Lord of the Rings: “the confrontation between Gandalf and his rival wizard, Saruman, in the ravaged city of Isengard.” Oh, and the editor he listened to? C.S. Lewis, the creator of the Chronicles of Narnia.

4. Let your interests drive your writing.
Tolkien's original interest was in languages. He took that and created new languages, and then an entire culture, around it. Our own contributor, Kathryn Craft, was a dancer, choreographer, and dance critic. She tapped all that experience to write The Art of Falling, exploring themes of love, dance, friendship, and distorted body image. that passion and truth will resonate with readers.

5. Poetry can lead to great prose.
When he could not express his thoughts in the prose he wished for, he wrote much of it in verse. Authors as diverse as Charlotte Brontë and Langston Hughes started in poetry before moving to longer mediums. Next time you get stuck, you might try Tolkien's trick of writing your scene as a poem first.

6. Happy accidents.
No matter how much you plan, happy accidents occur on the pages of every book. Jennifer Crusie calls it “the girls in the basement,” saying they hand her up treasures as she writes. Others might call it “the muse.”

One more kick in the pants from our own Laura Drake:  If you don’t put your butt in the chair and do the work, you won’t have any “happy accidents.”

7. Dreams give us inspiration.
All of us have dreams so strong, they push us to the page. But what about literal dreams? Angela Ackerman at Writers Helping Writers did a great post called How to Mine Your Dreams for Story Gold.

When Tolkien dreamed of drowning, he channeled the experience into motifs and prose for his stories. His "letters" describe how that drowning dream morphed into the drowning feeling of Mordor’s invasion of Middle Earth and the drowning of Isengard.

8. Real people make great characters.
Tolkien drew on real people to populate Middle Earth. You can draw on people you know for your stories as well. Real people do amazing things, both big and small, and rarely do they recognize themselves on the page. It’s a win-win for authors.

9. You may be the next bestselling author.
Tolkien did not expect the acclaim he received from his first book, The Hobbit. He felt like it was a happy accident. Here are fourteen bestselling books that were repeatedly rejected by publishers. You won't know until you send it out. Perhaps your cross-dressing unicorn superheroes will be the next phenomenon. (Yes, I made that up.)

10. Books you write may seem trite.
We can’t see our own work. A scene we find melodramatic, the reader might find moving. Tolkien believed that if you learn some craft and pour your heart and imagination onto the page that the work will resonate. I believe that too.

What tip would you love to pass on to other writers? It can be one you received from someone else, or a philosophy of your own. Let's inspire each other down in the comments!

 

Note: Here's a link to Tolkien's work in its entirety. The aforementioned infographic summarized material from a wonderful post by Roger Colby at Writing Is Hard Work, outlining his research on writing advice shared by the Lord of the Rings author in the book, “The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien.”

About Jenny

By day, Jenny provides training and social media marketing for an accounting firm. By night she writes humor, memoir, women’s fiction and short stories. After 15 years as a corporate software trainer, she’s delighted to sit down while she works.

When she’s not at her personal blog, More Cowbell, Jenny can be found on Twitter at JennyHansenCA or at Writers In The Storm. Jenny also writes the Risky Baby Business posts at More Cowbell, a series that focuses on babies, new parents and high-risk pregnancy.

photo credit: kugel via photopin cc

Susan Spann

As summer fades, an increasing number of authors will find themselves on submission and, hopefully, in the enviable position of evaluating publishing contract offers. In light of that, I’m kicking off my autumn contract guest posts a little early.

Authors have plenty to watch for when evaluating a publishing deal, but one of the most common dangers is also one the author might not see: an abbreviated contract that omits important clauses and protections.

Most authors look at the standard-length (12-30 page) publishing contract with a combination of excitement, fear, and confusion. For those not versed in legalese (and, more precisely, Publishing-ese) the contract terms can range from “difficult to read” to “penned in Sanskrit.”

When authors see a three-page form, they often think “hey, this is great!” and “finally, a contract that makes sense!”

But beware…that way be dragons.

Publishing contracts run long because they have to deal with many legal issues. “Copyright” in a manuscript is actually a bundle of rights, each of which should be addressed in a proper publishing contract. Failure to deal with each of the relevant issues results in ambiguities, many of which will cut in the publisher’s favor (or, at a minimum, need a court to resolve—usually at great cost).

Recently, I’ve seen a number of “short-form contracts” which claim to offer authors a “better deal” than those being offered by “traditional, complex forms.”

Again, I say: beware.

These shorter forms do often include a statement of royalties due on sales (usually on a percentage basis), a grant of rights to publish, and a statement of the timing (often quarterly) when the publisher will send the author’s royalty checks. However, these shorter contracts are often missing a number of critical provisions that many authors don’t realize they need to look for. When a problem arises, the author goes to the contract, only to find that the “friendly short form” doesn’t address that issue (or, when it does, the publisher prevails).

Here’s a list of important provisions many short-form contracts don’t include:

1.  Complete statements of rights/reservations of rights. The shorter the contract, the more likely it is to simply grant the publisher “all rights” in and to the work “in all forms, formats, and territories.” Publishers don’t need “all rights” to a work. In fact, most publishers take print, ebook, and sometimes serial rights. Everything else should be open for negotiation—and at a minimum, those other rights (often called “subsidiary rights”) should be separately listed and addressed in the contract language. One-size-fits-all rights language is never the best option for the author, and always something the author should be watching for with an eagle eye.
2.  Author termination rights. Although most publishing contracts last “for the life of copyright,” that’s actually only the contract term if the contract isn’t breached or terminated earlier. Good contracts give the author several ways to escape if things go badly, including the right to terminate (and revert all rights to the author) if the publisher fails to publish, goes out of business, breaches the contract, and/or fails to sell at least a specified minimum number of copies in a stated period of time. Short form contracts often fall woefully short on author termination rights (if they mention them at all).
3.  Sales Statements. It’s not enough for the publisher to send the author royalty checks. Each check should be accompanied by a sales statement detailing the number, price, and other relevant information about the books sold, returned, and exchanged during the period in question. Not surprisingly, however, short-form contracts often skip right over the issue of sales statements—and unwary authors often focus on the royalty numbers, and forget the need for sales documentation until the contract is signed and the first (unexplained) royalty check comes in.
4.  Audit rights. The author should have the right to audit the publisher’s books and records (as they relate to the author’s work) at least once in every calendar year. Good audit language goes beyond this single sentence, too (we’ll deal with the issue in more detail in another post this autumn).
5.  “Out of Print” status defined and tied to sales. Short-form contracts often either omit the author’s “out of print” termination rights altogether (whoops…) or tie “out of print” status to “availability” – meaning that as long as an ebook version of the work exists, the book is never out of print. Unless an author is watching for this, it’s easy to miss the omission of out of print language.

 Note: this list is not exhaustive. There are many other important provisions which short-form contracts often omit (or fail to mention). I’ve listed the ones above as an example, to demonstrate just how dangerous short-form contracts can be for unwary authors.

Sometimes, publishers say that these clauses “aren’t needed,” or that authors and publishers should be able to trust one another to “do the right thing.”

SHENANIGANS ON THAT.

It’s true that publishers and authors should be able to trust one another, and that good publishing relationships do function like a partnership between the author and the publishing house.

However, it’s also true that good fences make good neighbors, and good contracts make for good partnerships—in publishing and elsewhere.

Never rely on any promise or representation which isn’t contained in the body of the contract. Contract law says that a promise which isn’t contained in the contract generally does not exist as part of the deal. (There are exceptions, but you should never rely on falling within an exception to the rule.)

And never, ever sign a publishing contract—especially not a “short-form” deal—without obtaining a professional’s opinion to ensure the contract protects your legal rights.

In the months to come, we’ll look at some other important contract terms, and how to protect your rights when you enter into a publishing deal.

In the meantime: have you ever seen a “short-form contract” (less than five pages long)? Did you notice any important clauses missing from the deal?

 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. The second Shinobi Mystery, BLADE OF THE SAMURAI, released on July 15, 2014. 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, and on Twitter (@SusanSpann).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I don't "do" poetry.

In my first writing class–a seminar style graduate-level class for English majors (what was I thinking?)–this math major freaked when I was handed a long poem and told I'd be leading a discussion about it.

The professor gave me advice that I still use for finding the significant takeaways from articles and conference sessions. In my notes, I highlight the phrases or sentences that I connect with, then I compile those golden lines into a shorter piece that means something to me.

Here are my golden lines from  the RWA 2014 conference, from craft to marketing to building a social media platform. I've noted who gave the sage advice. I hope you get something from my take-away.

1. For the first read through of your completed manuscript, print out a hard copy. Don't stop to fix problems. Use a check-mark to note where the prose drags. Put parentheses around horrid sentences. Circle sections needing more detail or emotion. Use a question mark for "What did I do here?"  (James Scott Bell)
2. At every juncture, look at the situation from each character's POV and have each make the best move they can from his or her own POV. (James Scott Bell)
3. A complex character has two emotions at war at the same time. This increases reader interest. (James Scott Bell)
4. What would make your character throw a chair through a window? Find those moments and deepen the POV and emotional impact. (James Scott Bell)
5. Backstory rule of thumb: You're allowed a total of 3 sentences in the first three chapters. In the next three chapters you're allowed a total of three paragraphs--not all together! (James Scott Bell)
6. Give your agent a list of what you do really well when you go out for a contract. (Eloisa James)
7. The Six Goals of Online Book Promotions: sales, new readers, exposure, name/brand/book recognition, build relationships with readers, networking with authors, bloggers and reviewers (Laura Kaye)
8. A writer's power is in her ability to evoke an emotional response in the reader. (Robin Perini)
9. Details can take your story from melodrama to powerful. SPICED: Specificity, Powerful verbs, Image-making picture-forming words, Compelling dialogue, End hooks, Deep POV (Robin Perini and Claire Cavanaugh)
10. The Care and Feeding of the Social Media Beast: Consistency is key. Blog two to three times a month on your website, Facebook one to two times a day, Twitter five to eight times a day, Pinterest one to five times a day, Instagram one to three times a week. Do not link all your social media! Each has a different job and a different audience.(Tyra Burton and Jana Oliver)
11. Insurmountable odds make a book breathless. Your goal as a writer is to make the reader think, "How is the writer going to pull this off?" (Sarah MacLean, winner of the 2014 RITA™ for Best Historical)
12. How to keep your creative brain waves functioning at optimal levels: Write at the same time every day. (Kathleen Baldwin)
13. Tips for Upping the conflict: (Sarah MacLean, except where noted)

• Torture your character. Think the worst thing that can happen and do that. (Carrie Ryan)
• Use your characters' fears against them. Scare them into action.
• Any time your characters are close to getting together, throw them an obstacle.
• Don't write from a place of fear that you can't figure out the dilemma.
• Don't pull your punches. Put in all the emotion and action.

 Bonus URL from Penny Sansavieri, a marketing expert who specializes in internet marketing: If you are selling your books on Amazon, this gets you to a "back page" with a drop down menu of all the categories. You're allowed two categories, but pick three to five and change them monthly. Find the narrowest categories you can. The algorithm kicks it when you're number one in a category. It doesn't matter if there are only five other books in the category. Your best chance to get Amazon to promote your book with its algorithm is to be number one in any category.

http://www.amazon.com/-/b/?node=1000

I would be remiss if I didn't give a shout out to Lisa Wells who mentioned Writers in the Storm at her Blog Bites session.

And finally, the best advice of all:

 You did really well. I was unhappy because last year I got asked for two fulls, and this year I only am sending two partials and a query. Bless you,
Laura Drake, for giving me a kind attitude adjustment. Sometimes I can be my worst enemy. You did really well, too. Congrats on that beautiful golden lady. (And thanks for letting me carry it!)

Want to share some of your golden lines from RWA14? Do you have advice to pass along? I don't know about you, but I freely admit that I need all the help I can get!

 Fae Rowen discovered the romance genre after years as a science fiction freak.  Writing futuristics and medieval paranormals, she jokes that she can live anywhere but the present.

Punished, oh-no, that’s published as a co-author of a math textbook, she yearns to hear personal stories about finding love from those who read her books, rather than horrors of algebra lessons gone wrong.  She is grateful for good friends who remind her to do the practical things in life like grocery shop, show up at the airport for a flight and pay bills.

A “hard” scientist who avoided undergraduate writing classes like the plague, she now enjoys sharing her brain with characters who demand that their stories be told.