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Diligence

July 14, 2016

As writers, most of us want to share our stories with a greater audience. Yes, we write for ourselves. But once the story is completed, we want others to read it and enjoy it.

But what are we doing to make that a reality?

The process we follow to try get our story out there is similar for everybody:

Write
Revise!
Revise!
Revise!
Submit / Self-publish

There’s also complementary action you can take, e.g. you might join a workshop group or retain an editor to help with the revision process, or go back to school or participate in a course to improve your writing, or try secure an agent to help you get published. But, in the end, we’re left with writing our manuscript, revising our manuscript, and submitting our manuscript or self-publishing.

Let’s look at the steps.

Write
This should go without saying. You need a manuscript before you can submit it. Don’t be a writer who only ever talks about writing, and never actually writes. Sit down and write. Write daily – even in small chunks, if that’s all you can afford. But do it.

Revise! Revise! Revise
Don’t believe for a second that your first draft is flawless. It’s not. Revise. And revise. And revise. Get it the best it can be. A raw manuscript can take you only so far. It’s not going to convince your reader to overlook issues in your writing that might’ve been addressed through some diligent revision.

Submit / Self-publish
Let’s break this down further …

Self-publishing

They won’t.

Self-publishing is a valid alternative, but if it’s something you’re going to do, please, please, please, do it right. Examine the way books look – especially any books similar to yours. Make sure your prose is crisp and clean. Think about any criticisms that might come up later – queries about formatting, paper stock, structure, and copy – and address them now. Eliminate them now. You want the reader to lose themselves in your story, not in queries about the book’s production.

Submit
So you submit and a traditional publisher wants to pick you up.

Awesome!

However, make sure the deal is right. This doesn’t mean becoming a diva and making unrealistic demands, or even trying to squeeze everything you can out of them. Most publishers will be fair – or at least as fair as their own budgets allow. But contracts can have idiosyncrasies.

The Australian Society of Authors offers a contract assessment that’ll highlight any queries they have with the contract, and which you can bring back to the publisher.

Obviously, you want to get published. But don’t let acceptance blind you. Make sure the deal is fair for you.

Regardless of the course, in the end it’s about diligence.

Don’t be half-arsed in taking your journey.

Trailers

July 7, 2016

You’re sitting in the cinema, waiting to see a movie. The commercials finish. A studio’s logo comes up. Music pipes in. And then you get it .

The trailer.

It might be for a movie you’ve been hanging out for – the new Star Wars or Harry Potter or something. You’re going to watch this movie regardless. But now you’re seeing actual footage from it. Images flash across the screen. Effects blare from the speakers. The film’s score reverberates through the cinema.

Or perhaps the trailer’s for a movie you know very little about, if anything. But now the trailer introduces you to an intriguing premise. And, oh, that actor you like is in this. And the turn of events are interesting. Maybe this movie wouldn’t be a bad one to see. It’s certainly one you’ll look out for now.

Surely you’ve been in either of these situations. You might even be somebody who simply enjoys watching trailers. I know I do. A good trailer is an art form itself – an insight into a film that introduces us to the following:

that this story exists
the characters involved
the story that takes place
what’s at stake
who’s responsible for the story (e.g. director).

The trailer is a story in its own right. It teases us into wanting to know more, and then hooks us, without divulging any spoilers that can ruin the actual experience of watching the movie.

Well, that’s what the trailer should do. Unfortunately, due to Hollywood’s schism into franchising, a lot of movies are now exercises in CGI and follow a simple formula, lacking any substantive storytelling. With that being the case, often trailers become advertisements for the movie’s existence, and don’t tell you very much about what’s going on, or try to build any real story or intrigue.

If you trawl through YouTube you can see the way the trailer has evolved over the decades, and the different forms they’ve taken. Of today’s studios, Pixar and Marvel usually perform a brilliant job in generating buzz from their trailer. The trailer for Marvel’s Iron Man 3 was amazing in creating a misdirect, so that the audience went into the film with preconceptions the story could then eschew. Compare that to the early Batman vs Superman trailers, which gave away too much – Batman fights Superman, a big monster shows up, and they band together against the common enemy. Way to undermine the Batman versus Superman conflict. It’s important that the right balance is found.

We’ve accepted the existence of the trailer as a means of promoting movies, but now it’s also becoming an increasingly valid method of promoting books. But whereas a film offers a catalogue of visuals and sounds to draw on to build the body of its storytelling, a book can only rely on its story. That means everything else has to be built around it – music chosen (if any), and images created from scratch.

But the same logic applies, because what we’re trying to do is exactly what we’d do for a film – and that is to introduce the audience to the following:

that this story exists
the characters involved
the story that takes place
what’s at stake
who’s responsible for the story (e.g. director).

If you have a book that’s about to come out, or have one that’s out, think about how you could use a trailer to help create buzz around it.

It’s certainly something we’re also trying here at Busybird.

Your Publishing Journey

June 30, 2016

Years ago, self-published books looked self-published. Content was questionable, paper stock was this thick white stuff, and the finished product looked like it had been slapped together with a glue-gun in somebody’s garage.

Technology has advanced now so that you can release a book that’s indistinguishable from books commercial publishers are releasing. You have access to the same printers they use, as well as the same distributors. There’s PR, but a publisher – even a big publisher – will (and can) only do so much, so ultimately this is your responsibility. That just leaves you the duty of finding a good editor to help you develop your manuscript, a designer to lay it out and design the cover, and somebody to proofread it.

Some will frown. If you’re self-publishing, then it’s only because you aren’t good enough to land a publishing deal. In some cases, that might be right. But there’s plenty of examples where publishers have invested big in an author only to see their books flop, and rejected authors who’ve been picked up elsewhere and gone onto great success. Publishers aren’t infallible, so if they’ve passed over a book, it’s not always necessarily because the book’s not good enough. The prize example is Harry Potter, which was rejected umpteen times. Look at the phenomenon that’s become.

Arguably, self-publishing still generates stigma due to partnership publishers. Partnership publishers flatter authors regardless of the quality of their work, encourage them to publish (replete with exorbitant print runs), and charge extravagantly through the process. The ‘partnership’ suggests that the publisher and the author share the costs (and thus the risks), but it’s doubtful the publisher invests a cent of their own money. Worst of all, some partnership publishers masquerade that their model is the traditional route. Inexperienced authors don’t know any better, and their judgement is compromised by the excitement that their work has been ‘accepted’ for publication. Thus they happily fork out their money.

We all want the validation of being accepted and published by a commercial publisher. In a way, it becomes about branding, about being told by an industry staple that your work is good enough to be out there. But if you have a little faith in your manuscript, and the willingness to invest in the right people to make it the best it can be, self-publishing is becoming a practical alternative – and one that will grow as Print on Demand becomes more and more accessible.

Andy Weir’s The Martian and Lisa Genova’s Still Alice are two examples of books that were self-published, and which have experienced huge success – Still Alice was adapted to the stage, and then became a mainstream Hollywood movie starring Julianne Moore and Alec Baldwin. The Martian was adapted for the screen by none other than Hollywood legend Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Bladerunner, Alien, just to name a few of his credits), and starred Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain.

So who’s to query the quality behind a book that’s been self-published?

Or its commercial viability?

Or, simply, it’s worth to the publishing industry?

Time to Assess

June 23, 2016

My book is going to be a bestseller!

We hear that more than anything.

Why’s it going to be a bestseller? Because it’s such a brilliant idea? Because it’s so beautifully written? Because you’re going to will it to be so?

You know what? You’re not the only one to think these things.

And if it were as easy as all this, publishers – with all their resources – would release nothing but bestseller after bestseller.

They don’t, because the reality is lots of brilliant stories and beautifully-written books disappear into obscurity. Others never see publication. There’s no certified predictor as to what makes a bestseller. And it’s folly to think that the potential behind your concept is going to win over an audience. The best you can do – and the formula that publishers follow – is to give your book the very best chance of succeeding by making it the best that it can be.

One of the means to achieve this – and a much more inexpensive alternative to a structural edit – is a manuscript assessment.

The simplest way to think of a manuscript assessment is that it’s a comprehensive book report of your manuscript.

You’ll get a breakdown that looks at the following things:

Structure: does your manuscript evolve logically? Even if it has some innovative structure – e.g. flipping between timelines, or rotating through an assortment of characters – is it cohesive? Are there areas it needs greater development? Or where information could be dealt with earlier/later? Structure looks at the way the story is delivered and whether it’s effective.
Plot/Content: a fiction assessment would examine plot, whilst a nonfiction assessment would explore the content. Are these sound? Within the manuscript, how do these unfold and function? Are they coherent? Are they convincing? Will the reader invest in them?
Characters: an examination of the characters and how well they work. Do they need to be more dimensional? Are they rounded enough? Are they believable? Are they motivated? Are there too many characters?
Your Writing: a look at things like your use of Point of View (POV), clarity of expression, grammar, your use of tense, etc. The assessment won’t list every specific instance where something is wrong or needs work, but will give you examples so you know what to look out for when you revise.
Your Punctuation: as with the above, you will be provided examples of things to look out for which you can address through revision.
Title: does your title fit your manuscript?

I don’t need any of this – my [PARTNER/PARENT/SON OR DAUGHTER/FRIEND/FRIEND WHO IS A TEACHER/NEIGHBOUR/DOG] read it, and they think it’s great!

Well, this might be the case, but how comprehensive was the feedback? Was it as extensive as, ‘It’s good’ or something like that? How constructive was it? Were these readers in any way biased (one way or another) due to their relationship with you? Relying on people with whom you have any sort of relationship is always fraught with risk.

A fresh perspective from somebody who

has no connection to you
is trained to look at writing analytically
does this for a living

is often the best way of identifying what does work and what doesn’t work in your manuscript.

However, before you do this, be prepared to hear anything. Lower your expectations. We all have them. We all want to believe that our manuscript is great! That it’s going to blow everybody over! That it is going to be the next bestseller! But even authors who’ve written umpteen drafts and delivered their manuscript to a publisher are going to get extensive structural feedback about what they need to address in revision. You cannot go into this thinking your manuscript is infallible, because you’re always going to be disappointed.

So if you’ve written a manuscript and are thinking about sending it out into the world, STOP. Do you really think that your manuscript is the best manuscript it could be? Or is it that you’re so immersed in it, you need fresh eyes to identify what you should be looking at next?

If that’s the case, a manuscript assessment could be the way to go.

Discourtesy

June 16, 2016

If a publisher asks you to submit three chapters, a synopsis, a cover letter, and to format it all in purple Wingdings, that’s what you do. The publisher sets the rules. You’re required to show your respect for them, as well as showcase your own professionalism, by doing exactly as they ask. Don’t believe your brilliance will floor them and convince them to overlook the fact you’ve decided to send them ten chapters formatted in Comic Sans.

If a journal accepts your story, then three days later changes their mind and rejects you (and this has happened), grin and bear it. You have every right to be frustrated. You have every right to be angry. You have every right to rant privately to your friends that this journal is full of imbeciles who are grossly incompetent. But in your interaction with the journal, remain polite and respectful.

There’s no need for discourtesy, irrespective of the circumstances. It’s not going to get you anywhere and will just foster resentment. Also, the Australian publishing industry is small. Piss off the wrong person, and you could develop a name for yourself. So learn to handle adversity with dignity and graciousness.

This is something you should apply regardless of the circumstances. Unfortunately, in our experience, it hasn’t always been the case. We’ve had authors who’ve been rude and aggressive, who’ve behaved with a sense of entitlement, and as if we exist only to serve their whims and respond to their tantrums. One author was outright vitriolic, even though all her issues were a result of her lack of communication with her own PA, rather than anything we’d done. How this woman could operate in a professional capacity is mind-boggling.

We have our own etiquette – whether you’re submitting to one of our anthologies, attending one of our workshops, or wanting to self-publish. We establish parameters, which we ask clients to work within, because it gives them the structure to compartmentalise their project, as well as helps put resources in our hands with a methodology that ensures we can serve our clients’ needs and produce the best outcome possible. That all sounds terribly wordy: simply, we ask you to do things our way because we know what we’re doing, and our way makes it easier for everybody in the long run. Other publishers and journals will be the same. Everybody has their own way of doing things.

You’re going to encounter problems, hiccups, and detours. That’s a reality of life, let alone the publishing industry. The people you’re dealing with might have seemingly strange guidelines, or they might make mistakes. Again, that’s something you’re going to encounter in life. But don’t think blowing up is going to change anything. It’s likelier to produce the opposite outcome.

Think about how you deal with adversity.

Think about how you deal with the everyday.

And ask yourself if you need to do anything differently.