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Category : Resources for Writing
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To Work or Not To Work With a Particular Agent
Thoughts on agents as the publishing industry continues to transform:
Someone wrote to say, “I’ve been offered a contract on my novel. Since I don’t have an agent, should I seek one at this point? And if the agent accepts, should he or she still receive 15% of the deal, even if they didn’t market my book or secure the deal for me? Would it be better to have the agent simply review the contract for a fee?”
There’s quite a debate about this issue. I suppose many agents would say, “Sure — call me!” They’d be happy to get 15% for a deal they’ve done no work on. But my advice would be to think long term. Is there an agent you like and trust — someone you want to work with in the long term? If so, call him or her. Talk about the situation. Explain that you’ve already got a deal. The agent may be willing to take less in order to work with you. They may review the contract for a fee. They may have some insight into your situation. But don’t sign with someone just because you think you need an agent and someone is willing to say yes. If, for example, you’ve got a $10,000 advance coming, make sure it’s worth the $1500 to have the agent assist with this contract. Sure, it may be worth it — if you’ve got a complex situation, or a novel that is going to be made into a movie, or a potential bestseller… those probably call for a good agent to get involved.
That said, it doesn’t really seem fair to me to take the full commission for a book I didn’t sell, though not everyone in the industry agrees with me. You can always talk with a contract-review specialist, who will review your contract for a flat fee (usually somewhere in the $500-to-$1000 range). You can
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Historical Fiction & The Facts – Chats with Chip
Someone wrote to ask, “What is the author’s responsibility to the facts when writing a historical novel?” She noted she was writing about historical events, but wanted to know if she could change them. In a related note, someone else asked, “What is the ethical line between historical fiction and history?”
As I’ve said on previous occasions, I don’t think there is a line connecting fiction and history. Really. A novelist who is creating a story and weaving in actual people and events probably owes some debt to the reader to try and get the basic historical facts correct, I suppose (though even that is a questionable supposition, and many authors have altered facts and dates in order to tell a better story), but a novel isn’t a textbook. It doesn’t have a restriction that “you must have all your facts correct” or “you must accept the commonly held notions about a character’s motivations.” The author is inventing a story to entertain, or to explore themes and motivations, not to teach history.
So, while I wouldn’t create a story in which the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor on July 11, I see nothing wrong with an author creating a story depicting an interesting twist — that Roosevelt knew about the attack ahead of time, or that the attack was a rogue group of Japanese military, or that it was all a mistake done by aliens who were looking for Hawaiian shirts and a great recipe for mai tai’s.
“It’s a novel.”
It’s a novel. You can choose to tie events closely to historical facts, or you can choose to recreate history as you see fit in order to entertain readers. Have a look at the Quentin Tarantino movie Inglourious Basterds — in which the patrol sent to kill Nazis take out Adolph Hitler and the entire leadership of the Nazi party in a fire they set in a movie theater. (Um,
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Here’s Where to Get Your Industry Fix — The Gatecrashers Podcast
For quite awhile on this blog I had a weekly column entitled Thursdays with Amanda. I’d talk primarily about marketing, since that was my background, and try to help authors navigate what can oftentimes seem like a mystery. It led to a book and countless conversations with authors who wanted to better understand how to be smart about book marketing.
Then, some years ago we decided to take a break from blogging. It was taking up a lot of time and Chip and I were both busy pursuing career growth.
But last fall, I got the itch to once again share what I know with authors.
And so The Gatecrashers Podcast was born.
This isn’t your typical podcast of author interviews or happy talk. This is an industry-focused weekly show in which we “storm the gates of publishing and dare to talk about the realities of the industry.”
Some of the topics we’ve covered include:
- How do publishers determine marketing budgets?
- What agents aren’t telling you …
- The biggest mistakes you’re likely to make …
- How will COVID-19 affect book publishing?
- And more.
My cohost, Charis Crowe, brings insight from the self-publishing world while I offer ten years of experience in the industry as a book agent and now V-P of MacGregor & Luedeke.
I hope you’ll give us a listen. And if you’re on Facebook, find me at Facebook.com/AgentAmandaLuedeke. There, I post my deals, share info, and interact with my followers.
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Chip does a video course!
Over the years I’ve spoken at more than 200 writing conferences, usually talking about the publishing industry, proposals, agents, and the general notion of working as a writer in this crazy business. Recently the folks at the Profitable Authors Institute came to me with an idea… Why not record some of my sessions and make it part of a video course that writers could download?
So I did, and I’m very happy with the results. The Institute offers a bunch of good online seminars on topics like “Structure Your Book for Success” and “Independent Publishing,” and they’ve got some great, experienced people involved (including Holly Lorincz doing sessions on “How to Work with a Freelance Editor” that is fabulous). You can find out more, and see some sample clips here.
I’ve done several sessions with them, talking about traditional publishing — how to get an agent, how to write a proposal, how publishing houses work, etc. I did this introduction to my series, then recorded four talks and inserted a bunch of graphics. It’s just released, and for the grand opening they’re offering a 30% discount on the whole schlamozzle. So if you’re an author looking for an introduction to traditional publishing, you’re interested in learning about how to find an agent or how to work and make money in the publishing industry, check it out. They’ve got a really well produced series with good teachers offering sound advice. Thanks!
-Chip
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The One Thing You Need… (a guest blog from bestselling author Sheila Gregoire!)
If you want to build your organization and impact people, while also providing at least a little bit of income, you need two things:
- A newsletter list
- Something to sell (your book, your online course, even your speaking engagements!)
Okay, technically you need 3 things. You also need people ON your newsletter list.
Seriously, though. That’s it.
Sure, it’s nice to have a blog, and social media can go a long way in helping you build your newsletter list, but the two things that you really need are just a list and a product.
Email still has the greatest return on investment, because emails don’t get lost in the noise the way that social media messages and blog posts do. You deliver your message right to people, and if you’ve targeted those people wisely–then you’ve made a connection that will pay off for everyone!
But let’s face it: Most of us are far more comfortable crafting a talk or writing a book than we are at actually building that email list.
And then there are others who have that email list, but we don’t send people actual emails because we don’t know what to say! And we know we should be creating some products, but we don’t have a clue what to create.
I understand. I’ve been there.
But I’m not there anymore. Today I have an email list with 31,000 people on it. I have five royalty published books and four self-published ones (and one of the self-published ones is my #1 income generator!). I speak dozens of times a year. And I do it all because I learned the principles of how to get my message out online.
This week, I want to share with you a tool that can help you do exactly what I did.
I spent about eight years “in the wilderness”, so to speak. Eight years where I was speaking, but not really building
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What does a writer need to know about marketing?
In today’s publishing market, there are a handful of things I think every author needs to know about marketing. These are all things you can think through, and though none of this is going to be earth-shattering or terribly “new” to you (my guess is you’ve heard much of this before), sometimes we can think about choosing certain marketing strategies or ideas, then lose track of the bigger picture. Or we assume the publisher is going to take care of things, when in fact they’re busy worrying about the new 50 Shades novel they’ve just released, and they’re waiting for YOU to market your own book. So let me offer a big-picture look at marketing your book in today’s environment…First, you have to know yourself. What are your strengths at marketing? What do you do best? What is your message? How do you define your brand? What are the elements of marketing you love to do? The fact is, if you know your core competencies, know what you do well and what you’re comfortable with, you’re ahead of most authors who are just trying ideas they’ve heard from others. So think back through your history, and make a list of the areas where you were good and comfortable and successful with your marketing. What are the resources you have available to you? Next, make a list of the opportunities you know you’ll have — the people, places, organizations, media, and venues you know you’ll be able to count on.Second, you have to know your weaknesses. What are the typical problems you have with marketing? What are your struggles? What do you NOT enjoy? What are the roadblocks you face? (Hint: often these include lack of money, lack of time, and lack of expertise.) As you think through the problem areas, you’re trying to clarify both the strengths and the weaknesses, the resources and the roadblocks that are -
A Natural Born Writer (a guest blog)
Last spring, I was sitting in a class offered by a nationally renowned writing coach at a local writers conference. The coach was leading us as we brainstormed a story. The set-up—an English teacher who hated his job. “Why does he hate his job?” she asked the room.
I quipped, “None of his students know where the commas go.”
I was joking, and my friends laughed, because they know how I am about grammar. The word “Nazi” has been floated more than once.
The writing coach laughed, too. And then she said something I can still hear ringing in my ears. “Knowing where the commas go isn’t really that important.”
I didn’t argue the point at the time. Not out loud, anyway. From her perspective, grammar wasn’t important. She was there to teach us plotting and story crafting—and I was taking copious notes. But the idea that a bestselling author would say that grammar doesn’t matter gave me nightmares.
The fact is, knowing where the commas go is incredibly important. So is knowing how to spell. Knowing how to write fresh dialogue is vital to being a novelist, and so is the ability to punctuate it. Of course, no great novel exists without believable yet larger-than-life characters. And even with all that, if the plot is broken, the book will flop.
The truth is, there are thousands of things writers have to understand. And lest we feel sorry for ourselves, there are thousands of things agents have to know—and editors and airline pilots and real estate brokers. Being a professional at anything involves knowing a bunch of stuff.
And most of that stuff has to be learned. As a novelist, perhaps you started with some skills. Maybe you had an inherent understanding of point of view. Maybe you came to the game with a unique voice. Some folks are great at creating quirky characters. Personally, I came to this quest
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How do I create a great book proposal?
Your novel is ready to go. Your nonfiction book is fleshed out. NOW WHAT?
We’ve got a brand new book releasing to help all writers who are trying to create the best book proposal possible. Step by Step Pitches and Proposals: A Workbook for Writers is the new book from longtime editor Holly Lorincz and me.
This book uses clear, detailed explanations, work-sheets, and annotated examples to walk you step-by-step through: industry terminology, querying, pitching, creating a proposal, and formatting the whole thing. You’ll find helpful information regarding what to say, who and when to query, and how to find contacts. Suggestions on how to create a pitch are offered, along with sample pitches, as well as advice from a speaking professional on how to deal with a face-to-face pitch.
Inside, there are detailed instructions for building professional, industry-standard proposals, both fiction and nonfiction, using plenty of examples and multiple samples of successful, real proposals. In fact, that’s one of the things that sets this apart from other books on proposals — I went back to authors whose books I had sold, and asked their permission to use the proposals we created. So the text offers real-world examples of proposals from books that actually sold in the market, including a couple bestselling books. There are also worksheets available in each section which readers have found extremely useful, walking the writer through their own material. There is even a section on how to format a manuscript before attaching it to a proposal. Here’s what some people in the industry have said:
“Chip MacGregor was my first literary agent and helped me get my very first book deal. I don’t know if there’s a better possible way for me to answer the question ‘Does Chip MacGregor know what he’s talking about?’ than that!” – Jon Acuff, New York Times Bestselling author of Do Over: Rescue Monday, Reinvent Your Work and Never Get -
Nurturing the Writer's Spirit (a guest blog from novelist Danica Favorite)
One of the things we talk a lot about at conferences and workshops is how to improve the craft of writing. But I believe we’re missing an important layer of what it means to be a writer. As writers, we have to dig deep into our inner being so that we can convey stories that reach our readers. Technique is easily learned, but the essence that goes into what we write, that’s something that can only come from deep within, the core of who we are as people.
Which is why we also need to focus on nurturing our writer’s spirit.
Writing is an incredibly deep and emotional process. Writing is one of the few endeavors where a person lays their soul bare, gets heaping criticism flung at it, then comes back for more. Yes, there is positive feedback, but many writers will agree that there’s far more negative than positive. How do you nurture a soul that faces regular criticism in the face of all the other doubts and fears that come with the job?
Writers, your work has value. The problem is, we’re so busy learning about techniques, markets, trends, social media, and whatever new toy the writing world has come up with, that we forget the absolute core of what we do and why we do it. All of us have different reasons for writing, different stories to tell, and a different impact we will have on the world. Yet sometimes, we lose sight of that because we’re so focused on the business of writing that we forget the soul of our writing.
That’s not to say there’s no place in our writing careers for the business of writing. The last time I checked, writers needed to eat, too. But if we do not take the time to go back and nurture our writing spirits, if we do not care for ourselves at our very core, then
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Craft for a Conference: Part 1, Where to Look for Your Hook
Welcome back to Erin’s Tuesday blog on craft! After a few weeks off to accommodate back-to-back conferences on my part and an extremely important Bad Poetry Contest, I’m back to blogging and, inspired by my experiences at the aforementioned conferences, am starting a new series on the aspects of your craft you especially need to hone before taking your work to a conference. To kick things off, we’re talking today about finding the “hook” in your project so as to be better prepared to get an agent or an editor interested in seeing more.
You’ll hear a lot of different advice about what pieces and parts you should take to a writer’s conference– one-sheets, proposals, writing samples, your “elevator pitch,” etc.– and there’s really not one right answer as to what’s appropriate. Some agents want to see your one-sheet, others are only interested in the writing; some editors want to see the full proposal, while still others only want to talk about your platform. Whatever you decide to take to a conference, either on paper or as a prepared spoken pitch, the purpose of it should be 1) to gain the interest/curiosity of an agent or editor as quickly as possible and 2) stand out (in a positive way) from the crowd as much as possible. The “hook” of your project isn’t some elusive, magical tagline that you have to get exactly right or else you’re doomed– don’t get distracted by the jargon. When someone says they’re “hooked” on a book or tv show, they mean that they feel compelled to find out more/keep watching that story, so the trick with conference pitches or materials is to highlight all the most compelling/memorable elements of your project in order to gain an editor or agent’s interest to this extent. Hooks are going to be pretty short, sometimes one or two sentences, sometimes a short paragraph, but focus on keeping it tight