5 questions for aspiring authors to ask (themselves)
X-posted on Street Magic.
1. Am I able to handle rejection?
Be honest. Rejection hurts, because writing is an intensely personal endeavor. If you take rejection as a personal affront rather than a critique of some element of your writing, you may need to practice with baby steps (short story, magazines, writing group critiques) before sending your MS to agents and editors. Personal feedback from an industry pro is something to be treasured, unless you're really, really sure they were stoned out of their gourds when they read your book. If you can't seperate the feedback from the rejection yet, you're already shooting yourself in the foot.
2. Can I work with my eventual agent/editor on a professional level?
Unpublished writers have the greatest luxury of all--they can work on an MS at their own pace, any way they please. They can experiement with style, voice and genre until they get it just right. Writers on the road to publication must be able to make deadlines, apply feedback from their editor and their agent, and complete contracted projects no matter what. If you're contracted for a 3-book SF deal, you better believe you won't be delving into that historial romance you want to write until your editor has signed off on your SF novels. Rachel talks more extensively about writing in multiple genres.
3. Have I done every last possible thing to polish my work, to the best of my ability?
I know I harp on this one, but it is SO important to polish your work. Polish it until you're sick of it. Send it out to a writing group or Critters or your best writer friend and then edit it some more. Repeat with your query letter, synopsis, ect. This is what is going to elevate you above the slush pile, and it is hard. Frigging. Work. Ask yourself seriously if you will give up nights, weekends, significant others, gaming, shopping, whatever your preferred pastimes are, in favor of making your work publishable.
4. If a potential agent/editor Googles my name, will anything embarrassing come up?
Yeah, you may not think about this, and I didn't until I realized that potential agents were Googling me, but they sure were. Fortunately, I don't post my spring break pictures on MySpace...but the Internet is forever, so that Sailor Moon fanfiction you posted way back when? Agents are gonna see it. Your blog railing against how mean agents are? They're gonna see it. Do your career a favor and self-Google before you start submitting.
5. Have I researched my genre and determined my book's market to the best of my ability?
This one is tricky, because genre can flip-flop at almost any point in the publishing process (at least until your cover comes out!) But knowing what genre most closely matches your novel, which agents rep that genre, who the major players are, which well-known authors to compare your book to, and how your writing stacks up against published work gives you a huge leg up. This one is easy--go to the bookstore or the library, find the stacks for your appropriate genre and start reading. Amazon is also your friend.
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I know I haven't been a diligent blogger lately, but there is seriously nothing to report on the book front. I may have to post about (gasp) real!live!life!
1. Am I able to handle rejection?
Be honest. Rejection hurts, because writing is an intensely personal endeavor. If you take rejection as a personal affront rather than a critique of some element of your writing, you may need to practice with baby steps (short story, magazines, writing group critiques) before sending your MS to agents and editors. Personal feedback from an industry pro is something to be treasured, unless you're really, really sure they were stoned out of their gourds when they read your book. If you can't seperate the feedback from the rejection yet, you're already shooting yourself in the foot.
2. Can I work with my eventual agent/editor on a professional level?
Unpublished writers have the greatest luxury of all--they can work on an MS at their own pace, any way they please. They can experiement with style, voice and genre until they get it just right. Writers on the road to publication must be able to make deadlines, apply feedback from their editor and their agent, and complete contracted projects no matter what. If you're contracted for a 3-book SF deal, you better believe you won't be delving into that historial romance you want to write until your editor has signed off on your SF novels. Rachel talks more extensively about writing in multiple genres.
3. Have I done every last possible thing to polish my work, to the best of my ability?
I know I harp on this one, but it is SO important to polish your work. Polish it until you're sick of it. Send it out to a writing group or Critters or your best writer friend and then edit it some more. Repeat with your query letter, synopsis, ect. This is what is going to elevate you above the slush pile, and it is hard. Frigging. Work. Ask yourself seriously if you will give up nights, weekends, significant others, gaming, shopping, whatever your preferred pastimes are, in favor of making your work publishable.
4. If a potential agent/editor Googles my name, will anything embarrassing come up?
Yeah, you may not think about this, and I didn't until I realized that potential agents were Googling me, but they sure were. Fortunately, I don't post my spring break pictures on MySpace...but the Internet is forever, so that Sailor Moon fanfiction you posted way back when? Agents are gonna see it. Your blog railing against how mean agents are? They're gonna see it. Do your career a favor and self-Google before you start submitting.
5. Have I researched my genre and determined my book's market to the best of my ability?
This one is tricky, because genre can flip-flop at almost any point in the publishing process (at least until your cover comes out!) But knowing what genre most closely matches your novel, which agents rep that genre, who the major players are, which well-known authors to compare your book to, and how your writing stacks up against published work gives you a huge leg up. This one is easy--go to the bookstore or the library, find the stacks for your appropriate genre and start reading. Amazon is also your friend.
---
I know I haven't been a diligent blogger lately, but there is seriously nothing to report on the book front. I may have to post about (gasp) real!live!life!
