Blog Post on Project Middle Grade Mayhem
Published authors love to give advice to aspiring writers. Whether they have one book to their name or a store shelf filled with best-sellers, they share their wisdom on everything that led them to their success. Write from the soul. Be determined. Read, read, read! Write, write, write! More generalizations flow like write from the heart, have great execution, and never giving up. These bon mots are more like self-help mantras than secrets to getting your book published.
So, what are we going to tell you that you haven’t heard before? Well, authors rarely talk about the importance of the idea. The big idea. A hook that will grab a reader, agent, or editor right from the query letter. Here’s an exclusive, firsthand piece of advice we’ll pass on from an anonymous publishing industry insider: hundreds of manuscripts come across his/her desk each year, and only a handful have a sellable big book hook. Meaning, the major publishing houses are looking for books with big ideas that can be featured at giant retailers, get adapted into movies, and become best-sellers. Not just stand-alone books, but series.
In Hollywood, the major movie studios are looking for 4-quadrant, tentpole, franchisable ideas. Ideas that appeal to the broadest possible audience, that can justify the biggest possible budget and marketing plan, and can have sequel after sequel. The book industry is searching for the same thing. If this sounds crass, or makes you wince because of its commerce over art leaning, it shouldn’t.
A few of the biggest (and best) books from the last few years:
"Harry Potter" – an average boy is rescued from his ordinary, unlucky existence to fulfill his destiny at a school for wizards.
"The Hunger Games" – in a futuristic society, a young girl must survive a deadly game in which teens fight to the death in front of live TV audiences.
"Twilight" – a teenage girl risks everything when she falls in love with a vampire.
Now, I don’t want to dissuade anyone from writing about their coming of age, or their dysfunctional family, or their marriage or divorce. But, as our insider shared with us, it is stories like these that make him/her happy that self-publishing is so much easier today. Because the big publishing houses have a much harder time getting their marketing machine behind the smaller, hookless ideas. (*Big disclaimer here: of course there are exceptions! At the end of the day, a wonderfully written manuscript is still the MOST important factor in getting published.*)
New York Times YA and children’s author Laurie Halse Anderson says write the flap copy before you write the book. This exercise is a fantastic way to iron out your big book hook and make it impossible for that agent or editor you’re querying to pass. After that, see if you can pitch your idea to your husband or wife or co-worker in a sentence or two. Did they get it? Could they turn around and pitch it to someone else? Take it a step farther and imagine the book cover, too.
We’re not encouraging you to write something derivative and soulless. We’re just saying find the character or theme or story that you’re passionate about and find a big hook to sell it on. The Transformers, a billion dollar grossing popcorn extravanganza, was originally pitched by Steven Spielberg as a story about a boy and his first car.
So, before you begin the long journey of writing your manuscript (and rewriting it over and over again until it is ready to be submitted), take a long, hard look at the idea. Does it have a big book hook? Could you see the cover on a display at your local bookstore? How about a movie poster at the neighborhood megaplex? If you can answer yes confidently to those questions, then congratulations. Now you’re just 60,000+ words closer to getting published.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Butt Plus Chair
GUEST POST on Literaturely Speaking
Oliver Stone has three words of advice for any aspiring writer: butt plus chair. We take that a step further and add one extra word: butt plus comfy chair. What you sit on can't be understated. Sure, we absolutely agree that much of writing is just sitting down to do it. But if you're going to put in 9 to 5 days behind a desk it helps to sit on something plush and preferably ergonomic. Andrew prefers a swivel chair with a high back, arm rests for his elbows, and lots of cushion for his bony rear-end. Adam prefers the larger, lower to the ground leather chair, one he can squirm about in impatiently as Andrew types; cushy and perhaps even sleepable. When so much of your day is sitting -- or standing and pacing -- but mostly sitting, it's nice to know that what you're sitting upon feels good. So our sincere advice to all those writers out there is don't sit on a hard wood or lie in your bed with a laptop. Let's fight scoliosis and carpal tunnel syndrome with good spinal support and wrist cushions. And after you get comfy, make sure you have a clear outline of where your book will be ending, and what kind of journey your main character will be going on, so you're not simply wasting all that chair time. Spoil yourself. Go pick up that writing chair you've always wanted. Remember, it's tax deductible.
Oliver Stone has three words of advice for any aspiring writer: butt plus chair. We take that a step further and add one extra word: butt plus comfy chair. What you sit on can't be understated. Sure, we absolutely agree that much of writing is just sitting down to do it. But if you're going to put in 9 to 5 days behind a desk it helps to sit on something plush and preferably ergonomic. Andrew prefers a swivel chair with a high back, arm rests for his elbows, and lots of cushion for his bony rear-end. Adam prefers the larger, lower to the ground leather chair, one he can squirm about in impatiently as Andrew types; cushy and perhaps even sleepable. When so much of your day is sitting -- or standing and pacing -- but mostly sitting, it's nice to know that what you're sitting upon feels good. So our sincere advice to all those writers out there is don't sit on a hard wood or lie in your bed with a laptop. Let's fight scoliosis and carpal tunnel syndrome with good spinal support and wrist cushions. And after you get comfy, make sure you have a clear outline of where your book will be ending, and what kind of journey your main character will be going on, so you're not simply wasting all that chair time. Spoil yourself. Go pick up that writing chair you've always wanted. Remember, it's tax deductible.
Telephone
GUEST POST on Market My Words
There was an old game we would play on the bus back in my summer camp days called “Telephone.” I’m sure you’re familiar with it. You would start by whispering a sentence into someone’s ear, and then they would whisper it to the person sitting behind them, and so on throughout the bus. When the message reached the person in the last seat, they would repeat what they heard out loud. So, if you started by whispering, “I took my girlfriend to the zoo today and saw pigs wrestling in the mud,” the last person might announce something akin to “My girlfriend is such a pig that she should wrestle in a zoo.” And everyone busts into a fit of giggles.
Now imagine you’re a literary agent or an assistant editor or an editor. A writer pitches you their manuscript idea over the phone or in a query letter. In order to get that idea sold, you will have to relay it up the ladder to your boss, and then to their boss, all the way to the person at the top of the company who can say, “Yes.” It’s no different than the game of telephone you played on the bus when you were 8, except now there’s nothing funny about your idea getting mangled and people passing on your ideas.
I’ve read a lot of query letters from aspiring writers pitching the ideas for their book manuscripts or screenplays. And most of them would be darn near impossible to pitch up the ladder. Before anyone ever reads the first page of your manuscript, I can guarantee that you will already put yourself head and shoulders above your competition if you can summarize your idea concisely so that it can navigate its way through the telephone game.
How? With a winning log-line. This is a Hollywood term. I don’t know if people in the book world use it as often – maybe here it’s referred to as a synopsis – either way, the principle is the same. Log-lines are where good, sellable ideas begin. They are the short blurb in TV guides that tell you what a program is about and help you decide if you’re going to watch it. On a cold call or in a query letter, the log-line is what’s going to determine if the person on the other side is going to read your manuscript or not.
Yes, ultimately it will be all about good writing and execution. Of course. That goes without saying. But I think people underestimate how hard it is to even get that gatekeeper to read your material in the first place. So why not stack the odds in your favor, and have that killer one-liner to hook a reader?
There was an old game we would play on the bus back in my summer camp days called “Telephone.” I’m sure you’re familiar with it. You would start by whispering a sentence into someone’s ear, and then they would whisper it to the person sitting behind them, and so on throughout the bus. When the message reached the person in the last seat, they would repeat what they heard out loud. So, if you started by whispering, “I took my girlfriend to the zoo today and saw pigs wrestling in the mud,” the last person might announce something akin to “My girlfriend is such a pig that she should wrestle in a zoo.” And everyone busts into a fit of giggles.
Now imagine you’re a literary agent or an assistant editor or an editor. A writer pitches you their manuscript idea over the phone or in a query letter. In order to get that idea sold, you will have to relay it up the ladder to your boss, and then to their boss, all the way to the person at the top of the company who can say, “Yes.” It’s no different than the game of telephone you played on the bus when you were 8, except now there’s nothing funny about your idea getting mangled and people passing on your ideas.
I’ve read a lot of query letters from aspiring writers pitching the ideas for their book manuscripts or screenplays. And most of them would be darn near impossible to pitch up the ladder. Before anyone ever reads the first page of your manuscript, I can guarantee that you will already put yourself head and shoulders above your competition if you can summarize your idea concisely so that it can navigate its way through the telephone game.
How? With a winning log-line. This is a Hollywood term. I don’t know if people in the book world use it as often – maybe here it’s referred to as a synopsis – either way, the principle is the same. Log-lines are where good, sellable ideas begin. They are the short blurb in TV guides that tell you what a program is about and help you decide if you’re going to watch it. On a cold call or in a query letter, the log-line is what’s going to determine if the person on the other side is going to read your manuscript or not.
Yes, ultimately it will be all about good writing and execution. Of course. That goes without saying. But I think people underestimate how hard it is to even get that gatekeeper to read your material in the first place. So why not stack the odds in your favor, and have that killer one-liner to hook a reader?
The Books That Got Us Started
GUEST POST on There's A Book
Adam
“The Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual” by Gary Gygax
Before I ever started reading novels, in third grade this was my introduction to fantasy. A friend’s older brother turned me onto it and after I purchased it and brought it home, I read it cover to cover. There’s no story, just a list of magical monsters in alphabetical order, but each one was like a story to me. And an excellent primer on mythology, both Greek, Norse, and Babylonian.
“Spell for Chameleon” by Piers Anthony
In fifth grade, my dad gave this book to me. Up until that point, I wasn’t really interested in novels at all. I’d rather read my dragon magazines and make up stories of my own. But on his recommendation, I started it, and couldn’t put it down. It was funny and the world of Xanth was like nothing I had ever seen. Plus with surprise twists and turns it got me hooked on the art of storytelling.
“The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien
The first Tolkien I ever read, and yes, still my favorite even over “The Lord of the Rings.” The classic hero’s journey tale and the book which all other fantasies are indebted, including mine!
Andrew
“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl
Notable not because it was the first book I ever remember reading, but because my 2nd grade teacher allowed us to keep a candy bar in our desk and take a bite each day during reading time.
“The Whipping Boy” by Sid Fleischman
A clever, twisty yarn that I returned to over and over again as a kid.
“Encyclopedia Brown” and “Two-Minute Mysteries” by Donald J. Sobol
I had a shelf full of “Encyclopedia Brown” books, and “Two-Minute Mysteries” take me back to family road trips and hours spent with my older brother trying to determine what happened to a man hanging from the ceiling over a puddle of water. (He stood atop a block of ice!)
Adam
“The Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual” by Gary Gygax
Before I ever started reading novels, in third grade this was my introduction to fantasy. A friend’s older brother turned me onto it and after I purchased it and brought it home, I read it cover to cover. There’s no story, just a list of magical monsters in alphabetical order, but each one was like a story to me. And an excellent primer on mythology, both Greek, Norse, and Babylonian.
“Spell for Chameleon” by Piers Anthony
In fifth grade, my dad gave this book to me. Up until that point, I wasn’t really interested in novels at all. I’d rather read my dragon magazines and make up stories of my own. But on his recommendation, I started it, and couldn’t put it down. It was funny and the world of Xanth was like nothing I had ever seen. Plus with surprise twists and turns it got me hooked on the art of storytelling.
“The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien
The first Tolkien I ever read, and yes, still my favorite even over “The Lord of the Rings.” The classic hero’s journey tale and the book which all other fantasies are indebted, including mine!
Andrew
“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl
Notable not because it was the first book I ever remember reading, but because my 2nd grade teacher allowed us to keep a candy bar in our desk and take a bite each day during reading time.
“The Whipping Boy” by Sid Fleischman
A clever, twisty yarn that I returned to over and over again as a kid.
“Encyclopedia Brown” and “Two-Minute Mysteries” by Donald J. Sobol
I had a shelf full of “Encyclopedia Brown” books, and “Two-Minute Mysteries” take me back to family road trips and hours spent with my older brother trying to determine what happened to a man hanging from the ceiling over a puddle of water. (He stood atop a block of ice!)
Monday, August 30, 2010
Why We Know Who Egged Rick Riordan's Car in High School
GUEST POST on Kidlit Frenzy
Distractions. Every writer knows that their biggest enemy to putting words on the page each day is their own mind wandering. It's so easy to find yourself staring down at your iPhone or Googling that it's a miracle you get anything written at all. Take a sample morning for the two of us. First, we discuss if either of us saw any good movies this past weekend. Oh, you saw Inception? Who was that guy playing Eames? I'm not sure, let me IMDB it. Tom Hardy. Ooo, he's going to be Mad Max in the Mad Max remake. And he has a dog named Max! Let's wiki him and learn everything about his entire life.
Fifteen minutes later. Back to the book writing. But before getting through even a paragraph, the topic wanders to whether either of us has purchased Rick Riordan's The Red Pyramid yet. No, but it's at the top of Andrew's to-read list. I wonder how many copies he's selling of this book. Twenty minutes pass, as we don't find the answer to that, but instead are led to browse Publisher's Weekly's list of 100 top selling books from 2009. How is PC Cast selling so many books? Who is PC Cast and why have we never read any of her books? Back to Riordan. Somehow we find ourselves on his official home page, learning everything there is to know about him. Did you know that in high school, he wrote an underground newspaper that criticized his school and especially its losing football team? But the football team got their revenge by egging his car.
Maybe we should get some writing done. No can do, it's time for a snack. Many delays will arise during out 9 to 5 workday. And many delays will arise for you as well. Let's be honest, you're reading this blog post right now! You should be writing. But we know how it is. We're probably doing something other than writing, too. Reading a tweet or watching a Youtube video. The key is just to stay focused. We have to cut through the swath of information we're constantly being bombarded with. For a couple hours a day, unplug the Internet. Turn off the wifi and put your iPhone on airplane mode. Adam's asking me right now how to get on Dooce.com some hot new blogger and tastemaker. I just want to finish this guest post and get back to writing.
Distractions. Every writer knows that their biggest enemy to putting words on the page each day is their own mind wandering. It's so easy to find yourself staring down at your iPhone or Googling that it's a miracle you get anything written at all. Take a sample morning for the two of us. First, we discuss if either of us saw any good movies this past weekend. Oh, you saw Inception? Who was that guy playing Eames? I'm not sure, let me IMDB it. Tom Hardy. Ooo, he's going to be Mad Max in the Mad Max remake. And he has a dog named Max! Let's wiki him and learn everything about his entire life.
Fifteen minutes later. Back to the book writing. But before getting through even a paragraph, the topic wanders to whether either of us has purchased Rick Riordan's The Red Pyramid yet. No, but it's at the top of Andrew's to-read list. I wonder how many copies he's selling of this book. Twenty minutes pass, as we don't find the answer to that, but instead are led to browse Publisher's Weekly's list of 100 top selling books from 2009. How is PC Cast selling so many books? Who is PC Cast and why have we never read any of her books? Back to Riordan. Somehow we find ourselves on his official home page, learning everything there is to know about him. Did you know that in high school, he wrote an underground newspaper that criticized his school and especially its losing football team? But the football team got their revenge by egging his car.
Maybe we should get some writing done. No can do, it's time for a snack. Many delays will arise during out 9 to 5 workday. And many delays will arise for you as well. Let's be honest, you're reading this blog post right now! You should be writing. But we know how it is. We're probably doing something other than writing, too. Reading a tweet or watching a Youtube video. The key is just to stay focused. We have to cut through the swath of information we're constantly being bombarded with. For a couple hours a day, unplug the Internet. Turn off the wifi and put your iPhone on airplane mode. Adam's asking me right now how to get on Dooce.com some hot new blogger and tastemaker. I just want to finish this guest post and get back to writing.
Interview on A Fanatic's Book Blog
Link to the interview here!
1) What inspired you to choose animals as your characters instead of people?
The whole idea of writing about the familiars was born out of the fact that we were interested in telling a traditional fantasy story from a perspective that we had never seen before. Familiars in popular lore had always been sidelined to being assistants and helpers (ie Hedwig in "Harry Potter" or Shadowfax in "Lord of the Rings"). We wanted to see what would happen if they were forced to be the heroes!
2) Do you feel that it was easier or harder to write animal characters?
We think there are a few extra challenges to writing animal characters, in that they lack opposable thumbs. But beyond the physical limitations, we knew they had to be as rich emotionally as any human being.
3) What was one item (food or otherwise) that really helped you through the writing process?
We're not sure if this is an item per se, but a writing partner. Having another person to bounce ideas off of is better than staring at the blank screen alone everyday.
4) Do you have a favorite character?
Everyday, Adam has a different favorite character, he loves them all so much. Today, it's Grimslade, the bounty hunter who is a merciless and wonderful foil for Aldwyn. I'm always curious what new black magic he's going to pull out of his bag of tricks.
Andrew would go with Gilbert, who always makes him laugh.
5) Where is your favorite place to write?
Adam would go with Hawaii, but he'll settle with one of our two home offices. He's happy just as long as they're not writing at Peet's Coffee Shop, which makes his clothes reek so strongly of Brazilian Roast that he has to strip down when he gets home so not to make his 3 year old daughter cry.
Andrew also finds writing with the sound of any ocean nearby to be heaven, but he, too, can live with working at home.
6) What book(s) have influenced you most?
Adam: I have to say the dictionary. I love looking up new words. They fuel my love of writing.
7) What book(s) are you reading right now?
Andrew: Just finished The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. I have pre-ordered Mockingjay and can't wait!
8) Can we expect more amazing books from you in the future? (I hope so!)
Yes! The Familiars: Secrets of the Crown (book two of the trilogy) will be coming to bookstores in September of 2011.
1) What inspired you to choose animals as your characters instead of people?
The whole idea of writing about the familiars was born out of the fact that we were interested in telling a traditional fantasy story from a perspective that we had never seen before. Familiars in popular lore had always been sidelined to being assistants and helpers (ie Hedwig in "Harry Potter" or Shadowfax in "Lord of the Rings"). We wanted to see what would happen if they were forced to be the heroes!
2) Do you feel that it was easier or harder to write animal characters?
We think there are a few extra challenges to writing animal characters, in that they lack opposable thumbs. But beyond the physical limitations, we knew they had to be as rich emotionally as any human being.
3) What was one item (food or otherwise) that really helped you through the writing process?
We're not sure if this is an item per se, but a writing partner. Having another person to bounce ideas off of is better than staring at the blank screen alone everyday.
4) Do you have a favorite character?
Everyday, Adam has a different favorite character, he loves them all so much. Today, it's Grimslade, the bounty hunter who is a merciless and wonderful foil for Aldwyn. I'm always curious what new black magic he's going to pull out of his bag of tricks.
Andrew would go with Gilbert, who always makes him laugh.
5) Where is your favorite place to write?
Adam would go with Hawaii, but he'll settle with one of our two home offices. He's happy just as long as they're not writing at Peet's Coffee Shop, which makes his clothes reek so strongly of Brazilian Roast that he has to strip down when he gets home so not to make his 3 year old daughter cry.
Andrew also finds writing with the sound of any ocean nearby to be heaven, but he, too, can live with working at home.
6) What book(s) have influenced you most?
Adam: I have to say the dictionary. I love looking up new words. They fuel my love of writing.
7) What book(s) are you reading right now?
Andrew: Just finished The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. I have pre-ordered Mockingjay and can't wait!
8) Can we expect more amazing books from you in the future? (I hope so!)
Yes! The Familiars: Secrets of the Crown (book two of the trilogy) will be coming to bookstores in September of 2011.
Friday, August 27, 2010
A Bunch of Random Things We've Learned Since Getting Published
GUEST POST on The Fiction Enthusiast
It turns out “The Familiars” is not a YA book like we first thought.
It’s actually an MG book, or middle grade. We didn’t even know there was such a thing. But yes, tween and teen lit are sub-divided into picture books, MG, and YA.
We learned what those Amazon sales rankings actually mean.
And #479,505 is not good.
Naperville, Illinois has a pretty dope hotel.
While on our pre-pub tour we stayed at Naperville’s very own Hotel Arista, an ultra-modern, eco-friendly hotel. The rooms were gorgeous, there was a TV in the bathroom mirror, and there was an incredible restaurant downstairs. It would have been even better if the two of us didn’t have to share that bed (jk).
There is a difference between an MS, a galley, and an ARC.
What that is exactly we still don’t know.
They will let you speak on the airplane intercom if you ask nicely.
At least they will on Southwest Airlines. You can watch Adam doing just this here.
We learned what “stacked words,” “orphan words,” and “widow words” are in copy editing.
They all have to do with setting the type in the final book so that there isn’t an imbalance on the page. It’s kind of like feng shuing your novel.
It turns out “The Familiars” is not a YA book like we first thought.
It’s actually an MG book, or middle grade. We didn’t even know there was such a thing. But yes, tween and teen lit are sub-divided into picture books, MG, and YA.
We learned what those Amazon sales rankings actually mean.
And #479,505 is not good.
Naperville, Illinois has a pretty dope hotel.
While on our pre-pub tour we stayed at Naperville’s very own Hotel Arista, an ultra-modern, eco-friendly hotel. The rooms were gorgeous, there was a TV in the bathroom mirror, and there was an incredible restaurant downstairs. It would have been even better if the two of us didn’t have to share that bed (jk).
There is a difference between an MS, a galley, and an ARC.
What that is exactly we still don’t know.
They will let you speak on the airplane intercom if you ask nicely.
At least they will on Southwest Airlines. You can watch Adam doing just this here.
We learned what “stacked words,” “orphan words,” and “widow words” are in copy editing.
They all have to do with setting the type in the final book so that there isn’t an imbalance on the page. It’s kind of like feng shuing your novel.
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