Sunday, September 2, 2012
Panelists:
- John Berlyne, Agent
- Susan MacDonald, Writer
- Lee Harris, Editor for Angry Robot
- John Helfers, Literary manager, Editor
[Note — This panel was extremely entertaining. It’s been a year, and I can remember that it was a small, crowded room that wound up full of laughter constantly, mostly because of the banter of Lee Harris and John Berlyne. Looking ahead at my notes, I wound up translating what they were saying into things a writer should do. Their presentation, however, was examples of things a writer should NOT do, which was hilarious.]
The rules apply to you. Keep your ego in check.
- Work on your craft
- Know the rules of structure
- Investigate submission guidelines
- Have some humility
You’re either a writer or not. Finish your work before submitting
- Be ready to write your book, more than once.
- Don’t talk about your work: write it
- You have the time to write. You just have to make the time.
Talk to your peers, read about your craft
- Take yourself out of your comfort zone
- Join a writing group
- Make sure you are challenged
- Read outside your comfort zone
- Go to odyssey
- The agent wants your finished product, regardless of your comfort zone
- Learn to discriminate the advice you receive. It might not all apply to you.
When it’s finished enough, send it in. Aim for “good enough”
- You’re wasting your time if you don’t move on to new work
- Put your first draft away for a while, then revise
Get opinions of your work from people that aren’t trying to protect you
- The criticism you receive won’t always be right, but it’s always worth consideration
- You’re going to hear stuff you don’t want to hear [Note in the margin — I wrote “Ginny Good” here next to this point. I have no idea why, or what it means.]
Send to agents and publishers that are interested in your subject material
- Be polite and nice, even if you’re rejected
- All the info you need for successful submissions are online
- Don’t piss away your opportunity by not submitting properly
- The query letter is the first example of your writing
- Don’t lie in your query letter