Why Can't Agents Just Say What They Mean?

If you've ever gotten back a form response to a query with politely worded "not for me" kinds of answers, you may have wondered this yourself. It's a common complaint - How is someone supposed to improve if no one tells them what is and isn't working?

Well, if this sounds like you, or if you're simply in the mood for some honest query feedback, then let me point you in the right direction.

My agent, Super-Suzie, is having a contest to celebrate settling in at Nancy Coffey.

Here are the details:

Can you handle the truth?

Many writers want to know what an agent is really thinking when they pass on a query, right? You want the truth...but can you handle the truth? Well next week I will respond to the queries I receive in complete honesty. You may see something as simple as "Not bad, but just not for me." or "I don't represent legal thrillers." OR you may see something like "I stopped reading when you mentioned that the mailman was a vampire space zombie who has come to deliver a message of PAIN. Because come on...seriously?"

So, if you want the truth, query me next Tuesday morning, between 9-10 am EST. Read on for the rules.

The rules and whatnot are on Suzie's Confessions blog, so if you want to participate, pop on over there and find out what you need to do.

This is only valid for one short hour on Tuesday, so make sure you've got everything ready to go when the window opens.

Good luck!

What Books Can Do

There's really no reason for this post, other than I wanted to share.

At the school where my mom works, they have themed doors throughout the year, meaning that each teacher/class decorates a door to go along with whatever the semester's focus happens to be. I wanted to share a picture of the door I helped her put together for the "reading" semester. (It won 1st place...)

Mom wanted something that illustrated how much of an impact books could have on a kid, so I immediately thought of this (you've likely seen it before):



It couldn't be used as-is because a - the graffiti isn't elementary school appropriate and b - doors are big and we don't have a printer big enough to make this thing door-sized. So, after doing a bit of brainstorming, this was the result:



It took the pile of books from the original and turned them into stepping stones the kids (the girl is a total copy of Mary Englebright's little painter, btw. The boy is the same thing, flipped, with a haircut and dye job ;-) ) I like the change, because it makes the kids proactive. Where the boy in the original is using books as an escape to dream (as many kids do), the painters are creating their own world from what they've read - and that's the true magic of reading. (I also love that, when assembled, it was the girl "painting" Star Wars instead of a princess fantasy.)

If you're interested, the books used are:

The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg
The Indian in the Cupboard, by Lynne Reid Banks
Transformers, (I think this is a "read with me" book).
The Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
Captain Underpants, by Dav Pilkey
The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkein
Hank, the Cowdog, by John R. Ericson
Faery Rebels, by R. J. Anderson
Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak
The Oxford English Dictionary
Peter Pan, by James M. Barrie (despite the Disney-fied cover)
Miss Nelson is Missing, by Harry Allard

The boy is standing on:

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by JK Rowling and Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson

The girl is standing on:

Wings, by Aprilynne Pike, and one of the Star Wars: Jedi Apprentice books.

New Adult

I'm starting this by saying I hate that title. I hate it as a post header and I hate it as a category descriptor. (Transitional or some such would be a lot less insulting to those in that age group. If they've already been "young" adults, then how are they suddenly "new" adults?)

I've read and commented on a couple of blog posts about this subject recently, so rather than continuing to repeat myself, I'm going to do my own post.

It's no secret that NA's a tough sell - just like it's no secret that those who write college age protags are stuck in a sort of limbo where they feel they have to either age their characters up or down to fit the market. However, there are some stories that ONLY fit a young person who is tasting the first freedom (and fear) that comes with college-life, or the disappointment that comes with missing out on it.

The main problem, from a marketing standpoint, seems to be that post-high school life is so diverse that there's no real common ground that stretches across all of it. (FYI, life is always diverse. If you think going to HS in Texas is like going to a school in NYC, maybe I should explain that there's a greater difference between states than simple geography. Never mind the changes that come when you leave the country and get into 6th form schools and the like.)

So for those of you who write in this age group (I've done it myself.) let me offer what I think is a bit of logical hope: Think digital.

This goes for publishers, too.

Your core audience for "new adult" are those in college. This year's incoming freshman mark the first generation of kids born completely after the rise of the Internet; they've never lived without it. They're more comfortable with the technology required for reading e-books than any others before them. Between smart phones and e-readers (and Kindle apps for their laptops) e-books provide them the kind of convenience and portability that's necessary for college life.

Many universities are already going to e-books for their courses, so downloading a few extra titles of interest isn't a stretch.

I truly believe that, while it's an age group and not a genre, "new adult" will be the first group of books where the successes are solidly e-book (commercially published or otherwise). Sure, there will be some print ones, but given the core audience and the hectic pace of life in university, it's more likely that they'll latch onto something meant to compliment what they're already carrying and not add another ounce to their bags. (iPhone for the win - a library in your back pocket!)

College kids talk. They share. They're web-savvy and they pass on the things they like. If what they like is a well written series that stars someone they could either know, or be, then so be it. I know I'd love to have them talking up something I wrote, paper or not. I'd sure love to have them Tweeting links to an Amazon purchase page with my name on it.

Wherein I am Annoyed by Rude People

I live in a tiny town. Tiny. Search for it on a map, and if it's not Google, you won't find it. (However if you do put it into Google images, one of the first that pops up is a sad, yet beautiful photo of my Aunt's late-father-in-law's home as an "abandoned" farmhouse.)

This town is so tiny we have no bookstore. We "technically" have a library, but it's in the public school. (Not near, IN. As in, you have to go in, let the principal scan your ID and then browse while kids are doing schoolwork "in". I've never done this, but as it's the "public" library for this town, I imagine others have. It honestly gives me the creeps.)

Thankfully, this year, a Half-Price Books was built in one of the closest cities to where I live, but for a "real" bookstore, with new books still wearing their shiny dustjackets, I have to go many, many miles. It just so happens that recently I was in a mall with a Barnes & Noble... YAY! There's a very particular book I've been wanting to buy for someone who wants it, but also can't get to a place with shiny dustjackets, so I skipped (not literally, stop looking at me funny) over to the YA section and was happy to see three copies.

I picked one up, but there were wrinkles in it, so I figured it had been thumbed through and put it back.

The second copy was also wrinkled. Wrinkled and creased - with dogeared pages.

All three "new" copies of this book were in the sort of condition you usually find at a rummage sale.

Someone, or many someones, had completely disrespected the store, the books, and the people who might have purchased them. (And I'm not naive enough to assume it was a child who did it. There are a lot of adults out there with less manners than their children.)

Please don't do things like this. Books are ideas taken out of the Aether and put on paper (or into electrons, for those of you with e-readers). They're not something to abuse or manhandle. They're precious things, and should be treated accordingly.

Making a Bookcover, Redux

Friends do not let friends use horrible cover art.

A while back, I did a post about basic cover making because someone had asked me how I made the mock covers I used to post. I thought I'd do another, with a bit more detail, for those of you who need to make your own for uploading e-books to Kindle, nook or the like.

Most self-published covers look something like this:



They're obviously amateurish, with blocks of color that don't really match, an irritating font (Papyrus should only be used by people with "Ankh-Amun" in their family name. Bonus points if you're a king named Tut.) There's nothing visually stimulating about this cover, nor is it memorable. There's no clue about the subject matter or age group.

Perhaps, if you write a decent blurb, this is a surmountable obstacle, but why risk it? Why put the same cover on your book that thousands of others have used? You don't want people to think your book is one of the tidal wave of self-published slush, do you? Then you're going to have to put as much effort into the execution of the cover as you do the contents of your novel.

First off, book covers tell as story every bit as much as the narrative itself does. It's a one frame deal, like those comic strips that only get one little box in paper, but with some planning, you can turn that one frame into something that will make someone stop browsing and read your blurb. Maybe even check the writing sample. By that point, you've got a shot at making a sale.

This is the cover I'm using as my example. I made it this morning.



Big difference, no? Same title, same (potential) blurb, but put up against the other cover, which one do you think would get more clicks?

This cover tells us something. It sets a dark tone with shadows and highlights. We can tell that it's likely YA, with a boy protagonist.The metallic/industrial font gives a hint to genre, and while we may not know what this "cube" is, we know from the tagline that it's going to be the setting and part of the struggle. That little frame in the top left corner confirms that our protagonist will be entering something. Our journey is to follow him as he tries to get out.

Now, how does a person get from blah to something more marketable?

Much like the process of plotting a novel, you must plot your cover. Think of this as your query letter to the reader. When querying an agent, you get a tiny amount of space to pique their interest in your characters and plot - the same applies to cover art.

What's the tone? Who's important? If your book was a movie, what would be the tagline on the poster. Think about these things, and then go find photos or artwork that conveys what you want to get across. You will either do this by taking your own photos or going to a site that allows you to license their stock photos. For this particular cover, I used Shutterstock, but there are others.

DO NOT STEAL ANYONE'S PROFESSIONAL WORK. (For that matter, don't steal their amateur work, either.) They are in the same boat as you, putting their craft out there in hopes of making money from it. Don't be the jerk who decides no one will notice if you use what you haven't paid for.

For the tone, I went for something dark, and painted a blank page black to use for my base. Easy Peesey.



Then I went searching for photos on Shutterstock.

Since this was a darkish story, I used "sad teen" for my search and was rewarded with page after page of angst. From that, I chose four images that fit what I wanted. (Actually, I chose five, but one got the boot.)

I had only gone in search of faces, settling on these:




But one of them was near this image:



which fit perfectly for the idea of entering this thing called The Cube.

Now that you have your pieces, you have to decide how best to assemble them. In this case, the boy is the main character, so he gets to go in front. The girls are supporting characters, so they're used to frame the center line of the cover, keeping a potential reader's attention where it should go.

I cut each teen's face from their original photograph and pasted it as a separate object on my black background, then played with the sizing tool until I got them into the right configuration. I used the "Fade Out" brush to make the edges transparent so all three images would blend. (I've also found that if you'll set the main image transparency to something like 5%, it will make the tone and layering look better as a whole.

After I'd removed the logos from the clothes, and adjusted the lighting on the main character's face so it wasn't so stark, I was left with this:



Next, it was time to place the boy in the door. I did a bit of clone-brushing to give him a haircut, and chose the left side of the cover because of the way the boy in the photo is walking. Flipping the image or putting it on the other side would have made him look like he was going with the grain instead of against it, and this needed to look like a decision being made. I tilted the frame with a distortion tool to make him look off-kilter. If your guy's going to be headed into another world, especially a dangerous one, then things are going to be a bit off center for him.

Now I had this:



Which left things perfectly placed for the title on the right side, top.

Most people don't think about fonts, but I can guarantee you, the eye notices them. You need to choose a shape that fits your genre and a color, alignment and size that meshes with the rest of the image. I chose something high impact, with all caps, and a rusted metal finish. By coincidence, the space between the "c" and "u" fit perfectly over the point of the guy's hoodie, so I went with it. Each little detail adds up to a more complete picture.

The tagline should be smaller than the title, but you can use the same font (make sure it shows up when placed). Try and locate a simple, punchy sentence that encapsulates your story or the struggle your characters will face in it. It doesn't need to be complicated. "Getting in is the easy part." is fairly straightforward, and that's what you want. Intrigue without confusion.



Ideally, your cover will generate good questions along the lines of "I wonder what happens." rather than "What was he/she thinking, and why should I care?"

So there you go. How to create a book cover in a few simple steps, and one really long blog post. There are, of course, dozens, if not hundreds, of options for every book's cover, and you may even think I've blown it with this one because the process is highly subjective. But, if you're set on going it alone, then you're going to have to find a way to pick the ones that work best for you.

So THAT's What an Editorial Letter looks like...

As my camera is dead, I can't make like Natalie Whipple and show you a photo of the editorial letter that just arrived by UPS. (The guy drove right past my house and had to come back. I knew he would!) Instead, you'll have to settle for a description.

First, if you're like me, you may have assumed that an editorial letter was a letter. (Crazy, right?) This letter, I assumed, would give suggestions on things to move, change, add, cut, etc. There actually is a 3 page letter like this in the envelope, so I wasn't completely off base, but the bulk (and I *mean* bulk) of this "letter" is something else entirely.

Do you remember sitting in high school English and getting back a four page term paper with red marks all over it showing you, in detail, everything you did wrong? Well, multiply that by 100 and you'll have an idea of what an editorial letter entails. It's the full manuscript, printed out, and marked up - by hand.

I'm beginning to understand why Natalie separated hers into folders so she could tackle a chunk at a time. Taken all at once, it's daunting and terrifying, and makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. But, it's also exciting. These are the trenches, where the book gets whipped into publishing shape so that it comes out all shiny and fit on the other side.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go find folders before I go crazy looking at this huge stack of paper.

Average is an Illusion

The average child can...

The average teen plays...

The average girl wears...

The average boy reads...

We get tons of information in tidbits like this. For those of us who write for people not in our own age group, we rely on it. But the secret is... it's not accurate. I'd never given much thought to this until McNish made a comment on another post, but he's right.

Averages of any kind are heavily reliant on variables that can change from person to person or hour to hour. Just because the sixteen-year-old boy down the street wears baggy jeans and likes to shock the little old lady next door with his four-letter vocabulary, that doesn't mean that the sixteen-year-old boy at the supermarket is the same. Just because your daughter likes perfume and pink doesn't mean someone else's loathes them.

Some kids squeal in delight over the idea of spiders; others run screaming (and have to beat their parents to their hiding spot).

Some kids embrace the giant, costumed cast members at Disney World, others freak out when the character that used to be two inches tall and stuck in their TV is now a foot-and-a-half taller than their dad.

Some teens like gore, others go nearly catatonic inside a G-rated haunted house.

The point is, personality and experience are things you can't plan for when you're trying to hit the right notes with a given pool of people. They might love you or loathe you, and that opinion might change over the course of the day.

Write your characters the way they need to be written, not because you "know" that's how a kid/teen/girl/boy would react, because when it comes to it, you don't know as much as you think you do.