Before You Send Your Query Letter

I'm waving at you from beneath the huge pile of virtual papers we refer to as the slush pile. It's massive. It's overwhelming. And yet, I know that it's also a pile of the hopes and dreams of writers like me and you.

When I approach the slush pile, it's with the hope of finding a gem that my company can bring to publication. I strive to give everyone a fair chance. However, time is not only valuable, but it's scarce. I can't devote a half hour to every submission. The pile would grow faster than I could pare it down. Writers only get a couple of minutes to grab my attention. While this can be disconcerting, I believe knowledge is power.

Put yourself the acquisition editor's or literary agent's shoes. What would you want to know about the story? What's most important about your manuscript and you as the author? Get them that important information as quickly as possible.

Here are a few things I want to know right away:

• Genre
• Target audience
• Word count
• Title

Surprisingly, these items are missing from many submissions I receive. To make matters worse, many writers don't read our submission guidelines to know we don't publish adult fiction, picture books, or non-Canadian writers. These folks are wasting my time and theirs by submitting. The Golden Rule applies. If you were the person feverishly going through hundreds of submissions, what types of submissions would you want to receive?

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When Melinda Marshall Friesen isn't writing, she works as marketing director and acquisitions editor at Rebelight Publishing.

E is for Eye-catching Covers: 9 Tips on Finding a Great Book Designer #AtoZChallenge

The #AtoZChallenge 2017 Theme at Operation Awesome is the Publishing Journey.

If you’re searching for a book designer, the options seem endless. My Twitter feed is full of freelance designers. So, how do you choose the right designer for your book? You probably have an idea of how you’d like it to look, but also would like an expert to add in her ideas.

At Rebelight Publishing, I’ve had the privilege of working with a fantastic designer. Over and over, Melanie Matheson has produced stand-out book covers that have thrilled our authors and readers alike. She has over twenty-years experience in book design, so she knows her stuff. Recently I had a conversation with Melanie about how authors can spot a good designer and what elements they should be looking for in cover design. Here’s the advice she gave.

1. Take some time to look around a bookstore and see what stands out. The ones that stand out are fresh and new and interesting. That’s what you want for your book. You don’t want it to blend in with all the rest.
2. Take off your writer hat and put on your reader hat. What type of cover would make you want to pick up and read your book? What writers want on covers and what readers want are often two very different things.
3. If you see a book cover you like, find out who designed it.
4. Look for someone who is honest and a good communicator.
5. Make sure you feel comfortable with whoever you choose otherwise it will be difficult to convey what you want and to ask for changes.
6. Ask to see the designer’s portfolio. You are hiring the designer for a job, so treat early conversations like an interview. Ask questions.
7. Hiring an inexperienced book designer my save you money initially, but you’ll end up paying more at the printer when costly changes have to be made to fix mistakes.
8. Book covers are their own design specialty. Someone who specializes in corporate logos, may not be the best choice for a book designer. Find someone who has experience producing book covers and interiors and who loves books.
9. As much as you may think you know exactly what you want for your book cover, keep an open mind and allow the designer to do their creative work. Trust their expertise.

 Thank you to Melanie for lending her expertise to us today!

Teen Writers' Workshop

In mid-March, I’ll be teaching a writers’ workshop for teens ages 14-19. Everywhere I’ve taken my books, I’ve encountered young people who love to write. When I was that age, the writing bug had already bitten me too, though in a different form than what infects me now. I loved writing for my school yearbook and newspaper and hoped, one day, to be a journalist. Fast forward a couple of decades, and I found my true love—writing young adult fiction.

With a strong desire to share what I’ve learned with young writers, I composed a six-part workshop that will cover everything from plot to setting to sentence structure to editing to publishing. Because I believe it’s so important to writers’ careers that they learn to network, I’ve also invited other authors to make guest appearances. In addition, students will have the opportunity to learn how to give constructive critique and receive critique on their work in progress. My publisher, Rebelight Publishing, was excited to work together to bring this course to the teens in my community. 

 I hope that by giving the next generation of writers information and inspiration, they’ll have a good foundation for their writing careers and avoid some common pitfalls.

If you live in Winnipeg or surrounding areas, spread the word. I’m really looking forward to meeting, teaching, and encouraging Manitoba's young writers. Register online: Teen Writers' Workshop

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Melinda Marshall Friesen writes sci-fi/dystopian novels for teens and adults. Her most recent release, The High-Maintenance Ladies of the Zombie Apocalypse is equal parts suspence, gore, and humor.  Check out her books here: Books by Melinda Marshall Friesen

Four Reasons Why Your MS May Have Been Rejected That Have Nothing to do with Your Writing.

Who hasn’t been discouraged by rejection letters at some point?

Today, I’ve removed my author hat and donned my publisher hat to give you four reasons why your MS may have been rejected that have nothing to do with how well you write. First the disclaimer. My views may be different than other publishers. I can only speak to the processes of Rebelight Publishing.

Upon receiving a rejection from a publisher or agent, authors often blame themselves, rationalizing that the problem must be their writing skills. While that could be, often it isn’t the case.

When I dive the slush pile, I first go after manuscripts that fit our publishing needs. As a company, we look at our book list and identify the holes. A few months ago, we determined a need for middle grade manuscripts under 30,000 words. I went to the pile, read those submissions, and dealt with those queries first. We requested fulls, read, and signed a couple authors. If you submitted a YA manuscript to us at that point, you’d be hearing crickets in your inbox. We had a need, and it was my job to fill it. That means those MG manuscripts had to take priority.

We are a small publishing house, and we don’t want to compete with ourselves, which is why we’ve

chosen to publish multiple genres. During each cycle, we try to publish a variety of books—some MG, some YA, some historical, some speculative, some contemporary. If you send us a YA high fantasy, and we’ve just signed a YA high fantasy, you’ll likely receive a rejection for the sole reason that we’ve already filled that spot. This has nothing to do with the quality of writing, the story, or your value as the author.

Another reason you might receive a rejection is that writing style isn’t what we’re looking for. We have a certain type of book we publish at Rebelight. That does not mean other styles are wrong or lesser. This is simply our preferences, and what we’ve found does well in the marketplace. While your style may not suit us, it may suit another publisher just fine. This is why you should query widely. You never know when what you’ve written is just what a certain publisher or agent is looking for.

Ooh, I said that word—marketplace. While writing is an art, publishing is a business. We want to sell book—lots of books. We have to make a judgement call about each book we publish. We make a huge investment of time, money and resources into each book. We have to determine if this is a book we can fully get behind and market. If we feel we can’t, no matter how great the writing, the manuscript is going to get a rejection.

However, sometimes it is the writing. If you are receiving a lot of rejections, enlist additional beta readers to see if there’s something you’ve missed. It never hurts to have an extra set of eyes on a manuscript. I’m just hoping that as you read this you realized there are a lot of different scenarios in play. The best thing to do is not take it personally.

It’s human to get discouraged, but don’t give up!

5 Steps to Fresh-eyed Editing

I'm pleased to introduce today's guest blogger, Deborah Froese. In addition to being the editorial director at Rebelight Publishing, she's also the author of two award-winning books for young people. 

Welcome, Deborah!

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Five Steps to Fresh-eyed Editing

As a writer, editing your own work is one of the toughest things you’ll ever have to do. For optimum results, don’t be yourself.

That may sound like a ridiculous challenge, but it’s simply a reframed view of an old adage: read with fresh eyes. Because you are intimately familiar with your own words, you can’t possibly interpret them as readers will. Experience with backstory and development taint your perspective. They trick your brain into seeing things that aren’t there and overlooking things that are—like typos, punctuation errors, and any excess you’ve spilled onto the page.

You could simply put your manuscript away for six months or a year before reading it again, but who wants to do that? Here’s a five-step approach to tackling an edit without leaving yourself—or your manuscript—behind.

1. Invite passionate, discerning readers (preferably other writers) to critique your work. Bribe them with chocolate if necessary. Accept their comments graciously, but also ask questions. What did they like? What didn’t they like? Was there anything they didn’t understand or found missing? Did attention wander? Where did it wander? Let feedback simmer and then incorporate the ideas that resonate with you.
2. Root out passive language by annihilating expressionless “to be” verbs wherever possible (be,
   
   am, is, are, was, have, do, can, could, should, would—you get the idea). That approach forces you to rethink your text and shift from “He was holding his hand over the control switch and trying to decide whether or not he should press the launch button,” to “His hand hovered over the launch button. Go or no?”
3. Uproot personal pronouns (PPs) and PP statements to yank readers into the story for a more dramatic experience. “She felt the raindrops pummeling her face,” for example, becomes “Rain pummeled her face.”
4. Read your words aloud. Let me repeat: READ YOUR WORDS ALOUD. Ears detect what eyes miss—from poor flow to lack of clarity and excessive text. Your neighbours might think you’re crazy—but they might just pull up a chair and listen.  
5. After taking the previous four steps, apply a splash of magic and trick your brain into thinking it sees something new: change the style and size of your font. Yes. Really. When words assume a slightly different shape and line breaks shift, your brain reboots the script.

Editing is an essential part of writing, but learning to do it well takes time. Finding ways to analyze your words logically and through different lenses makes the job easier.

Do you have any editing tips to share?

Learn more about Deborah Froese by visiting her blog: Story Matter

SHIFTING PUBLISHING POWER STRUCTURES: Guest Post by Melinda Friesen

Writers have to make huge decisions about the future of their creations and without a solid analysis of their options they may end up with regrets.

This blog post is meant as a conversation starter. I hope to get writers asking themselves and the publishing industry some tough questions so they can better understand the industry and their place within it.

Technology is dramatically changing power structures in traditional publishing that have existed for centuries. This upheaval has resulted in a lot of uneasiness for publishers and authors.

As power structures shifts those in power seek to stay in power. This is not meant to vilify the publishing industry. No one enjoys losing their power. If you have a toddler or teenager you’re familiar with power struggles in your own home. Child seeks to gain power, while parent seeks to maintain theirs. This same struggle goes on in politics and in business. Let us never forget that while writing is an art, publishing is a business.

Michael Foucalt, prominent sociologist and author of The Archaeology of Knowledge, urges his readers to ask, how do we know what we know and where does the knowledge come from? To frame this for writers: how has our knowledge of the publishing industry been constructed and by whom? Do the people who disseminate the information stand to benefit from that information and in what ways?

After I completed my third manuscript, I set out on this publishing quest. I read countless blogs, websites, and books on the subject. This research led me to believe that the most profitable, legitimate, respectable way for me to be published would be to acquire a literary agent who would then land me a publishing contract with a big six publisher. From my reading, I also concluded that if I wrote a quality manuscript and presented it in a professional manner that I would have a strong chance of accomplishing my publishing goals.

Over years of research, sending out queries, and talking to other writers, I realized a couple problems with this approach. First, the people sharing the information, largely agents and editors, stand to benefit from thousands of writers sending their materials. Second, the information I received led me to believe that there’s a sort of literary Darwinism—that the best will simply rise to the top. This might be valid if there were equal access to the publishing industry for all writers, however, that is not the case. We know that advantages exist for previously published authors and for those who know advantageous industry insiders.

As a new writer, statistically, my chances of landing a literary agent are low. The following stat is highly anecdotal, gleaned from following agents on various social media sites. My research has shown that new writers have a 1 in 10,000 chance of being signed by a literary agent. And being signed by an agent does not guarantee a publishing contract.

Last fall at a conference I attended, I sat in a session with a well-known Canadian literary agent. She spoke of how subjective her process is and how there is no rubric for choosing best-sellers. She said that what intrigues her today, she may hate tomorrow. If someone messes up her latte that morning, her foul mood may result in rejections for everyone who queries her that day. I appreciated her candor.

My most recent personalized rejection came from an agent, who had requested a full; she wrote, “I am currently taking on new clients quite selectively, focusing exclusively on work that really stirs my passions.” She went on to say she didn't have the requisite enthusiasm for my work in this “tough market.”

This all moves the publishing venture beyond quality of story and quality of writing and into the realm of luck.

But, here’s the thing. Many authors still stand by the get-an-agent, get-an-editor method of publishing. And I’m not saying that’s not the way to go, but in an era where writers have so many choices, we’d do well to ask the necessary questions. Are we just towing a line and helping those in power to maintain that power? Is that power structure benefiting me as a content creator?

My writer friends pushed me to tackle a tough question. Why was I continually submitting to literary agents? You see, in Canada, very few writers have agents. It’s just not the way things are done by mid-list authors here and they do just fine without them. That’s when I started asking more questions.

• What exactly can an agent do for me?
• What can a big six publisher do for me?
• Are they going to funnel marketing time and dollars to me?
• Will they be driven to make my book the best it can be?
• Will an agent with bigger money clients be willing to spend their time and resources on me?

That’s when I started looking at small publishers.

In October 2014, my first novel will be published by Rebelight Publishing Inc., a small Canadian publisher, and so far I’ve had a fantastic experience. Sure I can’t brag about getting chosen by amazing agent X or having my manuscript picked up by big six editor Y, but I have a fantastic editor who cares about my work, a dedicated marketing team, and a designer that asked me, “What’s your vision for the book cover.”

Publishing is changing and as authors we are in an excellent position to benefit from these changing publishing power structures—if we keep an open mind and ask the right questions.

Have you had to re-examine your approach to publishing? Have you questioned the system? What tough questions have you asked yourself or the industry?

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Melinda Friesen writes short stories and novels for MG, YA, and NA. She lives in Winnipeg, MB Canada with her husband and four children. She blogs at www.vastimaginations.com and at www.melindafriesen.com. Her first YA novel, The Enslavement of Rielle James, is due for release October 2014 from Rebelight Publishing Inc. www.rebelight.com