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Robert answers fiction craft questions on marketing novels, writing flashbacks and selling to the American market
Fiction Craft: Selling Novels, Writing Flashbacks and Choosing Nationality of Characters
By
Robert Ferrier
(Robertlferrier.aol.com)
Question: G. L. Rockey (G.L.Rockey.excite.com) asks:
After you've written a novel, how do you sell it?
Answer: Authors write books on this subject. For brevity I'll cover three steps: 1) polish the product, 2) research the publishers, 3) submit work professionally.
Polish the Product
After you've finished a manuscript, including revisions, complete these steps:
1) Read every word aloud.
Most amateurs overwrite. After you've pared the fat, read every word aloud, no matter the length of the book. If your voice trips over a word or phrase, delete or revise. Circle every "is," "was," "were," "are" and "will be" as "killer bees," marks of the amateur. Count the circles in one chapter and brace for the shock. Replace the culprits with active, colorful verbs. Delete "ly" adverbs and most adjectives. The final result will read like silk.
For help, read Rebecca McClanahan's Word Painting, Writers Digest Books, 1999.
2) Seek a critique.
We're too close to our work to maintain objectivity. Ask a published friend or pay a professional to line edit a chapter and assess the book's strengths and weaknesses. Better yet, start a three-person monthly critique group. (Check your ego at the door.)
3) Correct weaknesses revealed in the above steps.
Research the Publishers.
Publishers reject many manuscripts because writers failed their homework. For example, why query on a children's book to a house that doesn't handle children's fiction? Research potential submissions as follows:
1) List potential publishers.
Identify your book's genre (mainstream, young adult, children's, suspense/adventure, mystery, romance, sci/fi, horror, etc.) Read reference books for lists of publishers and their needs. Make a list with names, titles and addresses of acquisition editors. NEVER SEND A MANUSCRIPT WITHOUT ADDRESSING THE NAME AND TITLE OF AN EDITOR.. You'll land in the slush pile--writer's hell.
2) Read books by those publishers.
Each publisher's books will convey a tone, reflecting their tastes and marketing preferences. Meet their editors at writers' conferences and discuss your work. Let them know you as a professional with a salable product.
3) Choose your submission list.
Pick 3-5 publishers whose books best match your work.
Submit Work Professionally
Pay attention to submission instructions. If you don't have an agent, and the publisher only reads work submitted through an agent, look elsewhere. Does the house accept simultaneous submissions? If so, and you plan to submit simultaneously, so state in your query letter.
Most publishers ask for a query letter, followed by the first two or three chapters of the manuscript and a synopsis of the remainder. Work hard on the query; this "calling card" establishes you as amateur or professional. Whether querying by snail mail or e-mail, include the following components: 1) a "grabby" line to hook attention, 2) a line with the title, word count and genre of the book, 3) a paragraph on the main characters and the story, 4) your professional credentials, 5) a request to send sample chapters and synopsis, and 6) a sentence thanking them for their time and that you look forward to their reply. DON'T EXCEED ONE PAGE. Don't brag, whine or apologize. Read reference books for samples.
Write a header with your name, telephone number, e-mail address and book title on EVERY page of the manuscript, beside the page number. Publishers sometimes lose query letters. Include a self-addressed, stamped envelope if you want your work returned. Otherwise, ask the editor to recycle the manuscript. Include a self-addressed postcard for confirmation of receipt by the publisher.
A final tip: to avoid obsessing about submitted work, start another writing project. Don't ask traditional (non-Internet) editors about the status of your manuscript for three months.
Question: Lyn Gardner (cagardner.boo.net) writes:
My novel involves a considerable trip back into the past of the main character, several chapters of what might otherwise be called a flashback. I'm having difficulty integrating this material into the present action. Because of the nature of the story, I can't start with the past material. Any suggestions?
Answer: Follow these steps: 1) Engage readers in the protagonist's current problem, opening the novel with a specific, immediate threat, 2) Establish the protagonist's story goal, 3) Establish a threat to that goal, 4) Through conflict, viewpoint and characterization, establish a bond between reader and protagonist, 5) Use a story premise which compels readers to know what happened in the past.
Only then can you write a flashback, which must use scene, sequel, viewpoint and characterization techniques. Readers must feel they're living any scene--present or past--in real time. When you've completed the flashback, resume the story where you left it, WITH NO SIGNIFICANT STORY DEVELOPMENTS HAVING TAKEN PLACE DURING THE FLASHBACK.
Question: E. Beardsley (Beardslee2.cs.com) asks:
In writing a contemporary mainstream novel set in a foreign country steeped in political conflict, is it necessary to have an American character? How would you "draw in" an American audience; why would they care?
Answer: Effective characterization transcends nationality. Real people and story people experience the same desires, goals, wounds, and threats. Thus, we can identify with a mother trying to save her starving child while trapped in a war zone half a world away. Or a hobbit battling a dragon in Middle Earth. Or a German trying to save other Jews by using them as factory workers during World War II.
Build your characters from the inside out--with heart, soul, strengths and faults. Make us care by infusing them with your fantasies and frailties. In doing so, you'll breathe life into them. As human beings, we care not about a character's nationality; we care about their humanity.
Copyright 2001 by Robert Ferrier
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