Samhain Publishing Ltd. Weblog

How NOT To Get Automatically Rejected 101

This blog gives a little peek into one facet of an editor’s job. It applies not only to Samhain, but to probably almost every other publisher/editor out there. The Rejection Letter.

Let This be the Start of a Beautiful Relationship

New authors often wonder what editors expect from them, and what they can do to ensure a productive editor/author relationship. It’s quite simple, really. It’s all about communication and professionalism.

When you receive your first round of edits, be prepared for your precious words to be criticized and dissected nine ways to Sunday. After all, an editor is supposed to point out things that could be improved. We’re looking for inconsistencies, faulty logic, impossible timelines, ambiguities, outdated content, point-of-view slips, weak transitions, misplaced modifiers, repeated information, insufficiently developed characterizations, unbelievable motivation, jarring speeches, noticeable patterns, junk words, punctuation errors and opportunities to deepen the reader’s level of emotional engagement. So, yeah, chances are we’ll find a few things that we’ll ask to be changed.

All about self-editing

When I got my reminder last week that it was my turn again to post a blog, I couldn’t think of anything other than things that have already been done. Query letters, professionalism, submissions….and I think I was even the one who wrote two of them. Nice, huh? So I got to thinking about it and I decided that I needed to do one on self-editing. And no, doing a Spell Check doesn’t even begin to cover what you need to do to prep your manuscript for submission. Keep in mind that when you submit something, the cleaner and more polished it is, the more it is going to be looked at by the editor in a positive light. Don’t even ask me what we think when we see something full of grammar mistakes, word misusage, punctuation errors… The list goes on. The easiest way to do this is to number them, so, well, that’s what I’m going to do. =-)

Queries

While they might make an author’s life more difficult, a good query letter can make an editor’s life much easier. But notice I said “a good query letter”. So, what makes a query letter good?

Well, after reading hundreds of submissions over the past 2 years I’d like to go into a few things I often find missing from a query letter and a few things that I’d rather do without.

Serious about Series?

We all have our pet peeves. Many readers detest books written in first person, others hate secret baby plots. I won’t watch a movie or even a TV episode unless I can see it from the beginning. (And DH is a channel surfer…yeah, we won’t go there.)

So when I’m reading submissions, one thing that gets me is feeling like I’ve missed the beginning of the story. Sometimes I suspect I’m reading a sequel only to discover that the author has simply provided too much backstory upfront. When authors devote long passages to the characters’ pasts at the expense of present action, it irritates grumpy editors like me (hmm, not the best way to impress an acquiring editor). Other times of course I’m reading the nth episode in a series.

Submitting a sequel to an editor who hasn’t worked on book one presents a challenge. There are good reasons why an author may choose to do this—the original publisher may have gone out of business, the author may have issues with her publisher, or her editor may have left the house. So when an author submits a ms to an editor who is unfamiliar with the series, she has to meet the additional burden of hooking the editor’s interest in midstream. And the acquiring editor might be as anal and grumpy as I am.

Rejections: It's Not You, It's Me

When you get right down to it, the submissions process isn’t that much different from the dating scene. We’re all putting ourselves out there, going on blind dates in the form of queries, testing the waters of the relationship through partials and fulls (will you still respect me if I admit I read fulls on the first date?) and hoping to find that special someone with whom we can share a lasting relationship. Of course, in the case of publishing we’re not exactly talking till death do us part (but check your contract for such clauses!). Most of us wouldn’t turn down a hot fling with the right author—and we’re clearly not talking about a monogamous relationship (heck, some of us are even into three or four at once—you know, for anthologies)—but overall I’d say editors are looking for long-term commitment. We want authors who are interested in building a career with us and who aren’t going to bail as soon as things get tough—or throw us over for a newer, hotter publisher.

So, like a romantic relationship, a strong author-editor relationship has to be built on a strong foundation—one of compatibility, shared values, mutual respect, and even passion. “It’s not you, it’s me” may be the biggest of all dating clichés, but that makes it apt for the submissions process as well, which is every bit as subjective and in which, truly, rejection is often as much about the editor as it is about the manuscript. The actual reasons we reject books are often diverse and varied, but here are some thoughts on rejections as illustrated by common dating clichés.

Creativity Adapts

I usually don’t think about creativity. I’m a disgustingly practical person—my writing is like a 9-5 job. I get up in the morning, exercise a half hour and start in. I don’t expect—and most often don’t get—writer’s block. When I get stuck, I take a day off and a new path opens up for me.

But these past three days I was on a camping retreat—away from cell phones and the Internet. It gave me time to think about creativity and I learned just where creativity kicks in in my writing.

When editing!

Already built is the structure as an outline, the story question and conflict points, and a roughing out of the dialogue interlaced with setting. The novel by this point has form, but it doesn’t have life.

Editing to me is like creating sculpture. The beauty is found as the excess parts are chipped away.

Life enters the novel during the multiple times I go over the words on each page. It’s where I find that exact combination of words which look good to the eye and ring true to the ear. Editing seeks the hidden, buried life in the draft, exposes it to the light and makes the novel a breathing, pulsating story.

The first novel I breathed life into was MATILDA’S SONG. It took me four years of polishing and re-polishing until I learned enough craft to build a gripping story out of the tribulations of the characters.

I’ve been blessed with finding a creative endeavor that brings me joy. Now, I can produce a novel a year. It’s work that I want to keep doing for the rest of my life.

I found my life purpose. My question to you is: How and when does creativity express itself in your life?

JoAnn Smith Ainsworth
www.joannsmithainsworth.com\reviews.shtml

Reviews - Love um, Hate um, Is There Really Such a Thing As A Bad Review?

Book reviews—love them or hate them, they are part of a writing career. Stephanie Giancola tells you how you can tip the odds in favor of getting your book reviewed, but, she cautions, no one can guarantee a great review.
If you are a published author,then chances are you have gotten a review at one time or another. And if you’ve been around for any time at all, the odds are you’ve gotten a less than favorable review from someone.
As much as it pains me to say, I’ve received my fair share of them. I don’t think it matters how seasoned you are or how much you prepare for them, they still sting.
Although this was not a scientific poll, it is a quick snap-shot of what some readers are thinking. I got 100 responses from readers to the following questions. Here’s my summary of the results: Do you read book reviews? • 48% said yes What do you look for in a book review? • 47% said the story description. • 22% said the rating analysis. • 12% said snappy writing. • 2% said the rating. How influential are book reviews on your purchase of a book? • 44% said somewhat • 12% said hardly • 8% said not at all • 5% said very If a book had the lowest rating possible, how likely would you be to buy it? • 28% said hardly likely • 25% said no effect • 12% said somewhat likely • 12% said not at all likely • 4% said very likely.
So, I’d like to hear your thoughts on the subject. Do book reviews matter to you as a reader?
Al the best…

Worth Staying For – Coming July 14th to Linden Bay Romance
http://www.lindenbayromance.com
Mary Eason
www.maryeason.com

Getting picked for an anthology

We very frequently have calls for a themed anthology, be it the current call for a space opera story or the recent call for the bondage-themed anthology (Binding Ties! Coming this September! grin) or any of our many other anthologies.

Personally, I love anthologies. My reader self loves them for the theme, and the variety of voices, and the bite-sized reads are perfect for a quick fix. My editor self loves the chance to work with Samhain authors I don’t usually get to work with and the opportunity to discover brand-spanking new authors – each of the anthologies I’ve done have included at least one previously unpublished author.

So, I’d like to offer a few tips to help you find yourself included in an upcoming anthology.

'As's and 'But's...

No, I didn’t pick this topic for the title alone! The day we were asked to blog, I was busy picking out repeated words and phrases in a book I had bought the previous evening. By the time I had hit Chapter Three, I had begun to realize the characters always had the same way of picking something up and the dialogue was filled with tags that told me how something was said rather than letting the characters speak for themselves. Then came the “as”s and “but”s… I feel like I need to add “Oh My” to that for some reason. The number of repeated words in this book (which shall remain nameless and I’m happy to say is not one of SP’s), is astonishing. I’m not sure if I picked it up because I’m an editor or because there are so many of them. The number of “that”s is off the chart.

What I am talking about are not called filter or filler words, this is about plain old repetition. I have heard these words referred to as slipper words—because you feel comfortable using them. And everyone does it. I re-read what I write at least 3 or 4 times because one scan is specifically for repeated words and phrases. I tend to love “about”. I’m not sure why it has crept into my writing. In speech lately, I’ve noticed I say “yeah” a lot.