Writers in the Storm

by Orly Konig-Lopez

After that headline a few of you are probably worried that my marble bag has a hole in it. You might not be wrong. But that's not the point of this post.

Rejections.

No one wants to get them, no one likes getting them. They sting. They make you triple guess your ability and quadruple guess your sanity. But rejections can actually be your friend (well, helpful acquaintances at least.)

I'm going to give you three reasons why rejections can actually be a good thing. Ready?

1) They serve as a badge of honor that you're putting yourself out there. Writing is hard work. But it's easy to sit at your computer, in your house, by yourself and write. Or plan to write. Or research agents. Or plan on researching agents. It's safe in the cave.

Actually hitting that send button on a query is excruciatingly hard. And then when your email starts pinging with rejections, yeah, that's worse than going to the dentist.

But if you don't send queries, no one will see your hard work. Sure, you won't develop a nasty case of queriers twitch and you won't rack up god knows how many rejections. But you also lose the opportunity for a request or better yet, an offer.

2) They are a gauge for the progress you're making. If the first batch of queries gets you mostly form rejects or no responses, chances are your query needs work. So you go back to the drawing board and rewrite your query. Now you're getting some requests and maybe a few personalized rejections. That's progress.

Perhaps you've moved on to another manuscript. You have a stronger query, a more enticing premise, those first pages are tighter than the previous manuscript. This time you're getting requests right out of the gate. And now you're also getting personalized responses, some with specific feedback on your manuscript. That's huge progress.

3) They are a valuable learning tool. Every rejection offers some little nugget of information. Form rejections could mean there's something wrong with your query letter or that the premise for your novel isn't unique enough. Your critique partners or trusted writing friends should be able to help you flush that out.

The moment you start getting personalized rejections, you've hit a gold mine. However (see the warning lights flashing?), don't get distracted by the fact that a real live agent sent feedback and dive into changes immediately. Even their suggestions are subjective. As with any critique, take time to absorb the feedback. If something resonates, bingo! If not, then you've gotten some valuable insight into what that particular agent is looking for (or not) for the next time you're ready to query.

If you're getting somewhat consistent comments, then you know that's an area to work on. And the next manuscript (or the revision) will be that much stronger and that much closer to a yes!

It's easy to get discouraged when the rejections are popping into your inbox but every no brings you one step closer to a yes. So take a deep breath and take another look at the rejections you've filed away. What can you learn from them? And what are you going to do about it?

About Orly

After years of pushing the creativity boundary in corporate communications, Orly decided it was time for a new challenge. Three women’s fiction manuscripts later (plus a handful of picture books), it’s safe to say she’s found her creative outlet.

When she’s not talking to her imaginary friends, she’s reading or at least trying to ignore everyone around her long enough to finish “just one more paragraph.” Orly has also joined forces with some amazing women’s fiction authors to launch the Women’s Fiction Writers Association.

You can find her on Twitter at @OrlyKonigLopez or on her website, www.orlykoniglopez.com.

by Steena Holmes

In my last post, I talked about Street Teams and using my newsletter to connect with my readers. It raised a few questions about newsletters to which I replied “but that’s another blog.” The ladies at WITS took me up on that. So today we’re going to talk about …

Newsletters.

Some authors groan at the thought while others smile. But when used correctly, a newsletter can be your new best best friend.

Why? Because it’s your number one method of communication with readers.

What can you use your newsletter for?

• Announce the release of your latest book
• Promote when you have a special deal on your book
• Get word out about a special contest
• Boast about a great review or that sparkly new award you won
• Tease your readers about your latest project

However – and this is a biggie – your newsletter isn’t just a way to promote you and your latest release. Your first task with a newsletter is to get people involved with you and your brand.

Getting them to sign up is the easy part. Keeping them signed up can be tricky unless you remember this one golden rule:

It’s not about you. It’s about them.

Every newsletter you send must be filled with things for your readers. Yes, you want to be sure to inform them about your latest sales, all of your exciting news – but that’s not all.

This is where the fun part comes in. Your newsletter should be branded similar to your website – so that you stay consistent with your brand (which is YOU not your book). The inside of your newsletter needs to stay within your brand as well.

I’ll use myself as an example to show you what I mean. I’ve branded myself as a chocoholic, writer, mother, chocoholic (yes, that is strategic placement on my part…as I am a chocoholic and I use that as part of my branding).

Every newsletter contains the following:

• Information about my books – whether a new release, a sale or new series.
• A special recipe that is not found on my website – preferably with chocolate in it.
• My TBR List where I share what I’m reading and a contest for that month.
• Information about my street team.

See what I mean? My newsletter is consistent with my brand.

There are quite a few options for developing and delivering your newsletter. I chose Mailchimp so that’s what I’ll use as my example.

Newsletter options you can choose:

• Set it the newsletter template to use one of Mailchimp's templates but with the colors of your website.
• Or you can create a newsletter to look very similar to your site by having a designer develop a template for you.

Either way, you should include a banner or graphics and colors that are consistent with your website and/or Facebook page.

There are a few things to be careful of when sending out your newsletter:

• Do not spam your readers.
• Don’t send out multiple copies of your newsletter because you saw an error. Proofread before you send or if you do have errors, use those errors as a contest on your website.
• Do not send a newsletter for every little update. That’s a surefire way of ensuring your unsubscribe rate climbs high.

When do you send out a newsletter?

Myself, I like to send out quarterly newsletters. I’ve signed up for a lot of author newsletters and I find that when I receive one every few weeks or even every month, I tend to unsubscribe unless it’s a favorite author and I don’t want to miss out on any of their news.

There’s no set standard though – send out a newsletter when you need to.

If you’re thinking to yourself – How do I get a newsletter started? – just remember: Everyone started with zero followers. Whether you have one book or multiple books out, there’s no better time than now to get a newsletter started.

What you can do to start:

• Sign up with Mailchimp (or another newsletter provider).
• Use the code they give you to place on your website.
• Be sure to have your newsletter sign up at the top of your website where everyone can see.
• Place the link in the back of your books.
• Have it on your author page on Facebook (you can set it up as a tab).

How do you get people to sign up?

If you’re anything like me, when you first start you’ll question your sanity. That’s okay – just eat some chocolate and you’ll be fine. There are several different ways you can get people to sign up:

• Hold a contest and have joining your newsletter part of the requirements.
• Ask people (but don’t spam with repeated pleas).
• Offer something special to all those who sign up: a special discount, a free book, a sneak peak preview of your next book…the options are endless.

The sky’s the limits when you begin your newsletter. Have fun with it, be smart with it, and watch it grow one subscriber at a time!

Have fun and good luck!

Do you have any newsletter tips to share? Any questions for Steena?

About Steena

Chocoholic. Reader. Wife. Chocoholic. Mother. Author. Chocoholic. Living a life full of passion is the only way to live – especially if you have coffee on hand. Author of Bestselling Finding Emma, Steena snagged a 3-book deal with Amazon Publishing after thousands of readers fell in love with a little girl and grandfather from her story. Emma’s Secret was released on June 25th!

Visit www.steenaholmes.com to find out more.

by Darynda Jones

Have you ever sat and listened to a panel of editors and agents go over their wish lists, the manuscripts they’d most like to see at that moment? And have you ever thought to yourself, “Hmmm, a space opera about a zombie captain who is commissioned to take an elemental princess across the universe to a peace conference where only she can stop a war that is destined to destroy an entire race of people while fighting evil star demons bent on killing said princess? I can do that.”

Yeah, me too.

I used to listen with bated breath to those editors and agents, my mind spinning a mile a minute on what I could write next. What would most appeal to an agent and editor? What would get their attention? And guess what. There’s nothing wrong with doing that.

I’m not saying follow trends. That endeavor is almost hopeless from the get-go. More often than not, by the time you finish your manuscript, the trend will have passed and the market will already be flooded with the latest and greatest concept since sliced bread.

What I’m talking about is writing to sell. And sell big.

Put yourself in an editor or agent’s shoes and look at writing from their perspective. Just like you, they want to make a living at what they do. They want to make money from the projects they take on. If they think they can’t turn a profit from your project, they will reject you. As hard as that is to swallow, it’s ridiculously understandable. Writing is a business. Sometimes we forget that. And just like all businesses, it needs to turn a profit or someone—possibly many someones—is out of a job.

When we think of writing in those terms, it is easier to step back and look at what we are writing from a marketing perspective. Every once in a while, I get flack for this. I hear everything from, “Writing is an art,” to “If you try to write for the market, you are selling out.”

Make no mistake, writing is my job. It is how I make money. It is how I pay my bills. So, yes, I look at it as a business, and luckily for me, it paid off. Romance writers are some of the savviest businesspeople I’ve ever met. They write for the love of writing, for the love of telling that great story that is burning within them, but they do it while being very conscious of the market, of what is out there, of what will sell and what probably won’t. That is good business. That is getting paid (emphasis on the word PAID) for what we love to do.

So, with all of that in mind, the trick to selling, to getting an editor or agent’s attention, involves the old standbys: Fresh, crisp writing; a solid concept; a tight story; etcetera, etcetera. But what you might not hear as often is ‘a fresh twist.’

Let’s face it. There are no new stories, but there are always, always, always fresh twists to old ones. It’s that fresh twist that will get you noticed, that will catapult your story out of the slush pile and into an editor’s eager hands.

This can also be thought of as high concept story writing.

Sadly, high concept has gotten a bad rep in recent years, and that’s too bad. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. In fact, if your story is not high concept, the odds of it selling are astronomically lower in comparison. In the simplest terms, high concept is merely an old story, one that is universally understood, but with a fresh, unexpected twist that evokes an instant emotional response. It is not, as many people believe, comparing two stories to create one. For example, it is not merely stating, “My story is Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Glee.” Though that is a rather intriguing concept.

Nathan Bransford says if high concept were a person it would be a teenager, because it's often totally misunderstood. If high concept were a tool it would be a sledgehammer.

And that about sums it up. High concept is often misunderstood and misused, but knowing exactly what it is and how it can help propel your manuscript out of the slush pile is crucial to success in the world of publishing.

Look at these examples and tell me what you think.

EXAMPLE #1

Option A: Terrorist gang takes hostages in an office high-rise after dark, seeking millions from the company’s vault.

Not bad, but what if we add a fresh (at the time) twist?

Option B: Terrorist gang takes hostages in an office high-rise after dark, seeking millions from the company’s vault. What the criminals don’t know is that one resourceful cop (whose estranged wife is one of the hostages) is in the building, aiming to stop them (and save his wife.)

Better, yes?

EXAMPLE #2

Option A: An orphan boy is raised by his resentful aunt and uncle.

Okay.

Option B: An orphan boy is raised by his resentful aunt and uncle only to find out he has magical powers and is the target of the evil wizard who killed his parents.

Much better!

Writing to Sell has three ultimate requirements:

1. Your premise should be original and unique.
2. Your story must have mass audience appeal.
3. Your story must evoke an instant emotional response.

Look at Buffy the Vampire Slayer: High school girl destined to fight vampires while trying to pass algebra. How much fun is that?

And that is exactly what I’m talking about. Write your vampire story, but give it a twist that other vampire stories don’t have. Same goes for your murder mystery or your small-town contemporary romance. Give an agent or editor something to sink her teeth into, something that will set her afire and give her the ammunition she needs to fight for you in a sales meeting.

So, this is what I was thinking when I came up with the idea for the Charley Davidson series. Basically, I wanted a snarky girl living in an urban area, just trying to get by on mocha lattes and sarcasm. Nothing new there. But what if I gave her world a paranormal underbelly? And what if she was supernatural herself? Still, I wanted something different. Something that hadn’t been done often, something fresh and untapped on a mass scale, so I made her the grim reaper.

Here is the first line of the pitch that garnered 8 offers of representations from some of the top agents in the biz in one week: (It was a stressful week.)

Female private investigator Charley Davidson was born with three things: a smoking hot ass, a healthy respect for the male anatomy, and the rather odd job title of grim reaper.

What is different about your story? What sets it apart? If you can answer that, you are halfway there. I hope this helps you on your way to career bliss!

Thank you for coming!

About Darynda

NYTimes and USA Today Bestselling Author Darynda Jones has won numerous awards for her work, including a prestigious Golden Heart®, a Rebecca, two Holt Medallions, a RITA ®, and a Daphne du Maurier, and she has received stellar reviews from dozens of publications including starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist, and the Library Journal.

As a born storyteller, Darynda grew up spinning tales of dashing damsels and heroes in distress for any unfortunate soul who happened by, annoying man and beast alike, and she is ever so grateful for the opportunity to carry on that tradition. She currently has two series with St. Martin’s Press: The Charley Davidson Series and the Darklight Trilogy. She lives in the Land of Enchantment, also known as New Mexico, with her husband of almost 30 years and two beautiful sons, the Mighty, Mighty Jones Boys. She can be found at www.daryndajones.com.