Harriet Hellbent is an unpublished writer. She has written her first novel and, having completed it, is trying to figure out how to market it. She has joined all the loops, read all the books, visited all the blogs, paid her dues in all the professional writers’ organizations. She has edited this book to within an inch of its life. She’s taken “perseverance” as her own personal motto. When you look at all the work Harriet has done on this book, you can’t help but be impressed. In her search for an agent, she was relentless, undaunted, hard-working. She exhaustively researched the agents, was not depressed at all when the rejections stacked up, kept going and going and going until 50 or 60 or 112 agent queries later, she finally signed with a well-respected agency. Her new agent starts sending out this first book of Harriet’s, and, being a good agent, she gets quick responses. Of course, they are all passes. They like Harriet’s voice, but the plot doesn’t work for them, or Harriet is writing in a tough genre, or they don’t know if this book would be competitive against similar books currently out. Harriet is frustrated, sure, but remains optimistic. She found an agent, didn’t she? The right publisher is out there for this book of hers. Eventually. It’s been more than two years since you met Harriet, and not once in all this time have you heard her mention another manuscript, or even the idea for another manuscript.
Abigail Aydeedee is an unpublished writer with a heap of industry savvy. She’s been swimming neck deep in this business for most of the last decade. She knows every editor, every agent, all of their tastes. She’s smart, quick on the uptake, and has a natural knack for capturing the vibe of whatever’s “in” at the moment. She can wield a high-concept hook like no other, her gripping query letters invariably lead to breathless requests from even the most hard-to-please agents, and most unpublished writers would kill for her to share the secret of her pitching strategies. Abigail has never written more than fifty pages of a book in her life.
Winifred Waffling is an agented, unpublished writer. She was thrilled to get her agent interested in an early manuscript, but, unfortunately, despite the manuscript’s merits and the agent’s dedicated shopping efforts, it wasn’t picked up. Now, Winifred has a new manuscript that she’s very excited about. The curious thing is that the agent doesn’t seem to share her opinion. It was like pulling teeth to get her agent to look at the work, and when he did, he responded that he didn’t think it was the right choice for her or for the current market. Attempts to get him to elucidate were less than successful. She’s gone on to other projects that he deemed more acceptable, but can’t help casting longing glances at her beloved manuscript.
Olivia Overcommitted is a published writer whom Harriet, Abigail, and Winifred ask for advice. What do you think Olivia should say to each of them?
March 30th, 2007 at 8:34 am
Oooh, I really like this Diana. Let’s see… I think Olivia should tell Harriet that she needs to let go of her first book and then allow herself to put all of her energy into a new idea. It seems she’s too stuck on her first book. It’s obviously not working and as painful as it is to let go, I think she needs to move on to something else.
Olivia should tell Abigail to stop focusing so much energy on trends and to stop writing what she *thinks* the market needs. Instead, she needs to become invested in an idea that means something to her and then she should be able to get past the first 50 pages.
I think that Olivia should tell Winifred to change agents. If she really feels passionately about a project, perhaps her agent is no longer the right match for her.
Wow, these are tough questions, but they really got me thinking. I think that was your intention, huh?
March 30th, 2007 at 9:04 am
Okay, I accidentially deleted my first post. (sigh) Not enough coffee yet. So here goes again.
Abigail - “Write the damn book.”
Olivia - “Write a NEW damn book.”
Winifred - “Fire your agent and write the damn book you want to.”
You should never sell something you didn’t love writing - then you’re stuck with it for a long, long time.
Loved this topic!!!! Especially ADD Abigail.
March 30th, 2007 at 9:37 am
1. Keep writing. Let the agent handle the rest.
2. Keep writing until you finish a book. Then query that one while you write another one.
3. Keep writing. Write the kind of books you love to write. Find an agent who is happy to represent the sort of books you write.
My advice to Olivia: Don’t sweat it. The answers these people are looking for are the sort that come from within - not from anyone outside of themselves. No matter what she tells them, it won’t be what they want to hear. She might as well say, “Forty-two.”
March 30th, 2007 at 9:40 am
Ha!
Was worried for a brief moment that H.H. was directed toward moi.
(Kinda like the first time I read Hit Reply and discovered Heather the Harlot. I was paranoid until Rocky assured me that I was absolutely NOT the inspiration for that name. Whew.)
HH…Don’t quit writing until you sell your first book. Start the next one ASAP.
AA…Finish a book. Then finish another book.
WW…Write for yourself. But keep writing. Just find a new agent.
March 30th, 2007 at 9:49 am
oh, heather!!! No. I made a real effort too to try to use names that don’t correspond to anyone in my acquaintance. Like originally it was Holly Hellbent and then I thought about Hollys that I know…
March 30th, 2007 at 9:51 am
I’m not as nice as Jessica, so this is what I would say to Olivia…to advise your three authors.
Harriet: It’s time to move on, babe. You can always sell that first manuscript at a later date, when you have some clout and possibly the distance to see why it wasn’t marketable. But the talent that produced the first book hasn’t gone away. Write another. And another. Keep striking while the fire is hot.
Abigail: You’re not fooling anyone. You’re not really a writer until you’ve finished a project and submitted it. You’re stuck in the wrong part of the cycle and you won’t get to the published part unless you write something all the way through.
Winifred: Dump the bastard. He obviously thought your first book would be an easy sell because it rocked, but like what I said to Harriet, you need to allow the talent that got you that agent to propel you forward. You gave him a shot, he dropped the ball. Move on.
This is fun! But then, I love giving advice.
March 30th, 2007 at 10:12 am
This is a great topic!
1. Give up writing. People won’t understand your brilliance. Try writing a dumb book for dumb people instead. Your baby isn’t ugly, it’s TOO pretty.
2. Become an agent. Or write a book. Don’t talk to me again until you have a completed manuscript. Are you a pantzer or outliner? Try the other. What ever you are doing it isn’t working for you. So, do something else.
3. Your agent is right. You are dumb. Write a book that your agent likes that you hate. Or drop the agent. Your choice. Why are you bothering me?
March 30th, 2007 at 10:43 am
I would also say none of this matters because I am now a proud owner of a plotmonkey pin.
Neener Neener.
March 30th, 2007 at 11:19 am
Harriet needs to write more books and PR less. Ditto Abigail. I’ve been Winifred LOL. She needs to keep writing other stuff and maybe one day the market and/or her agent will fall in love with that ms or she’ll fall out of love with it.
Great post, Diana!
March 30th, 2007 at 11:34 am
You’ve described a whole lot of people I know. The first two aren’t writers, they’re wannabes. They don’t want to write; they want to be published authors. There’s a huge difference.
(And you forgot to mention that the second one is probably also a contest slut.)
These are the people who enjoy the on-line friendships, going to conferences to hang out, and pretending to themselves that one day they’ll be a part of what they see as a fabulous clique.
No sage words from a published author are going to turn these two into true writers. Sorry.
Writer number three, as others have pointed out, should ditch her agent and write what she loves…she’s the real writer in the trio.
Ooh…did that all sound pretty nasty? Chalk it up to the bad day I’m having at work! (And, thanks for the diversion, Diana *g*)
March 30th, 2007 at 11:45 am
First two are easy.
A. Write something new!
B. Finish something. Anything.
C. is the most complicated, but: if time goes on and the ideas Winifred gets most excited about continue to be things the agent doesn’t have interest in, and her agent continues to not sell anything she writes, it would be time to admit that she and her agent do not share the same vision for her career, part ways, and fnd a new one who’s excited about the projects she wants to write. But I wouldn’t conclude that from one book. (Sometimes it really isn’t the right time for a project and a good agent will say so.)
March 30th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
I’m thinking my post doesn’t come across with the humor intended, since you would have to know me well enough to realize that I am not that harsh, though I will give sarcastic advice.
Such as “Harriet, what ever you do, don’t write another book. Think how much worse it would be if you had two or three books to shop. I mean, so what if many writers don’t sell until there 5-10 completed manuscript.”
March 30th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Um… I’d tell all of them to quit writing and work on a pen name
Great post, Diana!
March 30th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
I think I would go to Abigail, tell her to give me all of her fab ideas, and *I’ll* write the book instead. People who can never get past 50 pages without help will never ever finish a book.
March 30th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
I love Julie’s tough love approach - couldn’t have said it better myself.
March 30th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
Those are way too easy.
What would Olivia say to Nellie Nevergiveup?
She finished her first book. And her second, etc., up to her fourteenth. She doesn’t follow trends–she writes what she loves. But she stays well aware of what’s happening in the market, who’s buying what, and so on. She parted amicably with her agent when it was apparent they didn’t fit as well as they seemed to at first, and has been diligently writing new books and shopping for a new agent, which is becoming more and more necessary. In the meantime, she’s submitting books to editors, too (not the same books she’s subbing to agents). She’s had some minor success in the micro-press world, including excellent reviews and awards. But that’s not enough to make a career. She has four excellent critique partners and a well-developed gut for knowing what to take and what to leave in the advice. And yet…
March 30th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
Diana, I agree with everyone here (especially Patrick). This is a cool exercise. It’s easy to see what writers should do when you’re not the person in question. It’s always so much more fun to give other people advice, isn’t it?
March 30th, 2007 at 11:28 pm
1) Harriet needs to get to work on her next book. 2) Abigail needs to get off her butt and finish a book, or step aside so she stops wasting the time of agents who have better things to do. 3) If Winnifred’s agent is selling her other work, then she needs to let that one book go. If he’s not, then she needs to think about whether he’s the right agent for her.
Just my opinion.
March 31st, 2007 at 8:23 am
Natalie, I’d ask Nellie if she’s still enjoying herself. If she is, then I’d encourage her to keep going.
Took me nine years and countless manuscripts to sell my first book. It took friends of mine nearly 13 years. Now, each of us has published over 25 books and enjoy a comfortable career. In other words, it was worth the wait.
March 31st, 2007 at 8:59 pm
Thanks, Julie. That’s just what Nellie’s doing.
Except…isn’t that the definition of insanity? LOL
April 1st, 2007 at 8:13 am
Diana, what a great idea. I think everyone’s got it, obviously. So … What Julie Leto said would be my advice too.
I can’t believe how many people think they are failures if they don’t sell every book they write, so if they don’t sell book one, they polish the beauty out of it. Sometimes manuscripts are meant to stay under the bed forever. Took me 10 manuscripts and 7 years to get published including countless revisions per editors requests that were subsequently rejected anyway. Either you want to write and make it or you don’t. If you want to get published you have to work for it. And believe it or not there is fun in the process. (Along with the pain!)w
April 1st, 2007 at 8:15 am
Oh of course I meant to add, sometimes there just is no beauty in that first manuscript, LOL. And just because someone is an agent or a published writer and gives you advice, that doesn’t mean it’s always right. Hence dump that agent in your example.
April 1st, 2007 at 2:02 pm
LOL, Natalie…being insane is a prerequisite for being a successful writer. So she’s got that going for her.
Carly’s right, too…sometimes manuscripts are not meant to be sold. I got a lot of positive feedback from my first book, but trust me, they were being kind.
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Fun game:
Hariet: New book. Prove you’re not a one trick pony. You obviously have talent because you were picked up by an agent; it’s time to demonstrate you can tell more than one story. Chuck up the first book to learning process - no writing is ever wasted since you learn something new every time. Once you second book is written, reread the first book and note the number of times you cringe.
Abigail: Would you like to be my agent? I could use someone like you. You love the industry, why not be a true insider?
Winifred: Get a second opinion
April 4th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
This may be heresy, but I’d encourage Abigail to get a writing partner. There are probably plenty of writers with the opposite, complimentary problem.