1.

THE MARKET IS FULL OF BOOKS ON HOW TO WRITE. WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU HAVE A DIFFERENT MESSAGE?

2.

HOW DID YOU GET YOUR START AS AN EDITOR?

3.

YOU WRITE, SO WHY DON'T YOU CALL YOURSELF A WRITER?

4.

SO YOU’RE SAYING YOU KNOW HOW WRITERS CAN GET PUBLISHED?

5.

WHERE DO YOU GET THE STATISTICS YOU USE, SUCH AS 4.2 MILLION REJECTIONS?

6.

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR AUTHORS SEEKING PUBLICATION?

Q. THE MARKET IS FULL OF BOOKS ON HOW TO WRITE. WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU HAVE A DIFFERENT MESSAGE?

A. I tell writers what the industry doesn't want them to know:
    • how their submissions are actually handled by an agent's or editor's first reader (aka "reader") — whom I call the screener-outer;
    • why manuscripts are judged on craft before content, and
    • why 90 percent of submissions are not read beyond their first few pages — which means that for adult fiction, at least 4 million manuscripts a year are rejected.
    As soon as the first reader for an agent or editor spots one or two clues to average writing, whether by page 5, or 2, or paragraph 2, that screener-outer stops reading.
    Manuscripts are tossed onto the "no" pile rapidly, long before anyone reads far enough to evaluate plot and character.

    Second, I explain the clues that trigger quick rejection by first readers and show how to find and fix these dead giveaways to average writing. This gives a writer's manuscript a better chance of actually being read and judged on its merits.

    Third, in DON'T SABOTAGE YOUR SUBMISSION (which is a later version of DON'T MURDER YOUR MYSTERY but for all writers), I review examples from 212 authors who write romance, short story, young adult, paranormal, mystery, and so on, and I show how those writers solved the same problems of craft and technique that every fiction writer deals with. When new (or rejected) writers see the examples I analyze that demonstrate an intriguing opening hook, or believable body language or convincing dialogue, they become aware of a variety of effective ways of handling techniques that they hadn't realized their writing lacked.

    Jon Breen, auther and book reviewer, wrote in Mystery Scene that DON'T MURDER YOUR MYSTERY contains "a wealth of good advice, supported by excellent examples." DON'T SABOTAGE YOUR SUBMISSION has nearly double the number of examples.

Q. HOW DID YOU GET YOUR START AS AN EDITOR?

A. I thought I wanted to be a commercial artist. I made it into one of New York City's competitive-entry high schools, Music & Art (now LaGuardia), graduated at 16, and landed a day job in corporate publishing and PR, where I'd been told I could watch real artists at work.

   What a shock! I realized immediately that I could never produce as fast as they did. They got a design right the first time. I'm a tinkerer, a fine-tuner.

   Those days were the dark ages in offices — no monitors glowing with docs or email. So part of my job as an entry-level clerk was to hand-carry each writer's paper drafts from their outboxes to others' in-boxes, after a detour to my desk to sort everything. A voracious reader since age 4, I chose to read the drafts I'd be delivering. Naturally, I couldn't help but tinker and fine-tune. (Well, no one had said I couldn't.) Without realizing that I had a photographic memory for details, I picked up every error in spelling, grammar, punctuation, and usage. Did my tinkering get me in trouble? No, my supervisor actually valued it and promoted me.

   The ability to read and write I'd always taken for granted. Surely everyone had the same skills? Apparently not. I went from copy editor — a job I hadn't even known existed — to (pre-computer) copy fitter, production editor, acquiring editor, and so on, eventually becoming managing editor for a rapidly growing niche publisher. I enjoyed learning the business of niche publishing from more experienced editors, marketers, and other specialists, and I like to think I'm still learning even after 46 years in the industry.

Q. YOU WRITE, SO WHY DON'T YOU CALL YOURSELF A WRITER?

A. Writing is hard. I have enormous respect for anyone who even tries to write a book. I write only when I have to — such as when clients pay me enough to ghost their books, or when something I strongly believe in compels me to get the information I have to those who can make the most use of it. I felt compelled to write my two most recent books because I kept seeing writers murdering their manuscripts. And, as I sometimes admit, because I grew tired of correcting the identical mistakes and having those get in the way of deeper-level editing.

   I'm an editor who happens to be able to write (sometimes), and I deplore the term "writer/slash/editor." To me, the dual slash title used by others says: "I really want to write, but while I'm waiting for my big break I'll take whatever editing work I can get and pick up some extra money." I keep my distance from practices that contribute to reducing my field’s professionalism.

  You've heard the jokes about doctors being approached at parties by people with physical complaints. At least no physician is told, "I could be a doctor, too, if I wanted to take the time and effort to go to med school, intern, etc. etc." And you've heard writers joke about being approached at parties to be told, "I could write, too, if I had the time." Here's what a party-goer once told me: "I could be an editor too because I love to find mistakes." Sorry to disappoint, but fixing commas and spelling is not what editing is all about. What I feel compelled to communicate to writers is how to apply suspense, use emotion, capture dialogue, add conflict, and much, much more, so they stop sabotaging their submissions.

Q. SO YOU’RE SAYING YOU KNOW HOW WRITERS CAN GET PUBLISHED?

A. I'm saying I can help writers get read instead of rejected on page 1 or 2 or 5. Good writing that lands on the right agent’s desk, then the right acquiring editor’s desk has the potential for publication. Reality is more complicated and often more arbitrary — a process I describe in Part I of my DON'T books (downloadable from www.writersinfo.info). If anyone ever says they can get you published and all you have to do is buy this, pay that — run the other way. For a manuscript to be read by a legitimate agent or publisher — actually read, that is, not glanced at or screened out before it can land on the right desk — writers need to identify their ineffective techniques and replace them with effective ones so their submissions won't be immediately labeled "amateur."

  That word isn't mine; "amateur" is well-established in the industry to separate the professionals from the unhappily unpublished.

    For example, most manuscripts suffer from what I call gesturitis: pointless, stereotyped body language following a line of dialogue. The character paused and took a deep breath, another ran a hand through his hair. A frown creased her brow. He nodded and smiled. She shrugged and shook her head. He smiled and looked around. She looked at him. I yawned.

   This is body language illiteracy. All that moving around contributes no insight into character, no meaning to the story. And simply putting quotation marks around a sentence doesn't make it dialogue.

   To the screener-outer, differences from one manuscript to another in plot and character become insignificant once the first clues to amateur writing are spotted. In fact, identical descriptions and phrasing make almost all submissions read as if one person wrote them all. Editors get a sense of déjà view—the feeling we've viewed the same writer’s work before.

Q. WHERE DO YOU GET THE STATISTICS YOU USE, SUCH AS 4.2 MILLION REJECTIONS?

A. Bowker is the publishing industry’s major source of data, and they report that 43,000 new adult fiction titles were published in 2009. (Bowker releases its figures annually for the year before the preceding year.)
   I've interviewed a large number of agents, and many of them estimate 1 of every 100 manuscripts becomes a book. Many others cite the figure of 1 in 200, but even the most optimistic estimate spells lots of rejections. I’m no statistician, but for the 43,000 adult fiction titles commercially published in 2009, I estimate that at least 4.2 million had to have been rejected.

Q. WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR AUTHORS SEEKING PUBLICATION?

A. You wouldn't expect to play a violin solo at Carnegie Hall without years of taking lessons, practicing, and analyzing the performances of virtuosos. Writing is the only profession I know in which the beginner expects to solo before an audience on the first try. Some writers actually brag about not reading books — when the best advice for becoming a writer is to read widely, to study the craft of writing, to learn to listen to what good writing “sounds” like, and to practice, practice, practice by writing, writing, writing.
   I suggest joining national associations, becoming active, then asking for feedback from other writers, who won't tell you what you hope to hear. If you can afford to hire your own editor, don't settle for a "writer/slash/editor." Get the best. Or hire the best to edit only the pages you can afford. Take the art of writing seriously if you expect to be taken seriously by publishing's screener-outers.