Choice Overload – Work through the fear to make good choices

Avoid choice overload by focusing on your unique needs.

By Janet Lane

I subscribe to Ted Talks and viewed an interesting presentation by Sheena Iyengar, a professor at Columbia Business School and author of The Art of Choosing.  Her talk was about choice overload.

Writers can benefit from her insight. She cited an experiment in which grocery store shoppers were given a choice of 6 different kinds of jams.  On the same day shoppers were given a choice of 24 different kinds of jam. Their findings: more people stopped at the 24-jam table, but only 1 in 24 actually bought a jar, while at the 6-choice table, 30% bought a jar. Bottom line: people were 6 times more likely to buy if they encountered 6 instead of 24 varieties of jam.

What does jam have to do with you?  When faced with a bewildering array of choices, we are more likely to avoid choices, more likely to make a bad decision, and more likely to derive less satisfaction from the choice.

Writers are faced with a massive number of choices that can paralyze us, make us likely to make any decision, in a time when a good decision may help you in our  careers.  Here are just some of them.

Publishing options.  Traditional New York Publishers. Small publishers.  Vanity publishers.  Kindle Publishing. B&N Nook Publishing. Smashwords Publishing. Innovative on-line publishers.

Author support services.  Web site design. Book cover design. Editing services.  Advertising opportunities – Google and other pop-up banners.

Buying paid advertising in return for a book review. Bookmarks, pens, calendars, etc.  A mind-boggling number of blogs and Yahoo groups that offer help with any aspect of writing you could ever imagine.

Educational services.  Dreamy retreats in gorgeous locations, with hands-on instruction on plotting, revising, polishing.  A multitude of on-line writer’s courses for craft and marketing.  Software instructional tapes so you can create your own website, book covers, etc.

 “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can doIs the right thing.

The worst thing you can do is nothing.”  –Theodore Roosevelt

 Here are some succinct ways to reduce your choice overload problem.

1.  Cut.  Reduce your options.  Why agonize over how to design a book cover if you still haven’t decided you’ll e-pub?  Don’t ponder over selecting a $750/book editor if you don’t have the funds for it. Selecting the big choices first will help you eliminate more than half of the choices.  Write in your consumer journal:  “I need to decide X first.  Then Y.  The rest can wait for another time.  I will focus on this first.”

2. Concretization.  Make it real. Gather as much information as you can, so you can really “see” what that choice is. Ask the journalistic 5 W’s: who, what, when, where, why. Ask successful authors what worked best for them. Learn the costs, royalties, expenses and demands involved in each option.  If you don’t qualify for X and Y, eliminate them as options.  Simplify.

3. Categorization. If you’re swimming in genres, pick one and focus on that for this time in your life. You can always do a separate study later on something else, but give A, B or C genre your full focus for now, not all three.

4. Start easy.  Make choices in the areas that have the least number of choices – like Iyengar’s jam tasting table, go to the table with 6 selections first.  Find a way to minimize choices, perhaps by ease of entry, affordability, or some factor that will give you more simplicity and ease of choice.

“A real decision is measured by the fact that

you’ve taken a new action. If there’s no action,

you haven’t truly decided.” — Tony Robbins 

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 Wishing you many opportunities … and good choices!  –Janet

Agent panel at Colorado Gold – agent tips and secrets

by Janet Lane

RMFW (Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers) annual conference offers a wealth of educational workshops and editor/agent panels to help aspiring writers get published. Go to rmfw.org and click on 'conference' to learn more about next September's conference.

Agents at the RMFW conference this year gave us insight and tips that may change the way you target agents, and when and how you query.

Agents on the panel:

Rachelle Gardner, Wordserve Literary Group

Sara Megibow of the Nelson Literary Agency

Rebecca Strauss of the McIntosh & Otis, Inc. Literary Agency

Sandra Bond of the Sandra Bond Literary Agency

Here’s a peek into the Q&A session.

 Don’t get caught doing this!

When asked what not to do when sending a query, Rachelle Gardner advised that you don’t start with a rhetorical question, or try to be cute. Follow the submission guidelines for that particular agent.

Sara Megibow suggested that you don’t sub in a genre she doesn’t represent.  Write a blurb that will make her want to read the book.  “I want your query letter to sound like the back cover of the novel,” Sara said.

When trying to suggest an audience for your work, Rebecca Strauss suggested you avoid saying, “I’m the next Faulker.”  Instead, try some content comparison with a known author.  Example:  “My work is along the lines of  X Author.” She said it helps to research what the agents represent. Her example:  “I enjoyed Tempest Rising, and my book is similar to that.”  That, Rebecca said, will make her love you.  “Our books are like our children.  If you compliment them you compliment us.”

Does location matter?

Located in New York, Rebecca is in contact by email and phone, but enjoys the convenience of meeting with editors.  “It’s fun to get drinks with them.”  With personal meetings, she feels they open up more about their editorial needs.  She meets with editors once or twice a week.

Sara’s son loves the New York taxicabs. She travels there for business but “I don’t wine and dine editors in New York.  You can live in the North Pole, but what you want to ask, if you are offered representation, is, ‘Will you represent my book and get it sold?’ Not, ‘Do you buy editors beer?’”

Rachelle loves being able to live here and do her job. She sells mainstream fiction to general markets and to Christian publishers. There are four major Christian  publishers in Denver and in Nashville.  She attends conferences and meets editors there. “When I pitch a book, the main thing is will it get read?” she said. “I don’t have any editors ignoring me.  It won’t be based on where I live.  If I were having trouble getting an editor to pay attention to me that would be a problem, but it’s not.”

Sandra noted that agents live all over the place, and editors know that. “Your job is to target the appropriate agent who is right for your book and our job is to target the right editor for your book,” she said.  “It doesn’t matter where we live.  We do also attend many conferences and meet editors, and go to New York and meet with the editors when we need to.  I have specific editors with whom I want to meet.  But I’m also very good at phone relationships.  Authors, too, are all over the place.  I have authors I haven’t met before.”

 E-publishing – panacea, or the death of publishing?

E-publishing is, they agreed, another format of a book, like an audio book.

We may have fewer printed books, but they’ll never ever go away. Yes, there’ll be lots of e-books, but it’s still a book.

Rachelle noted that everyone in the industry is trying to discover how all who are involved in publishing are going to continue to make money from the written word. We can try to re-invent the wheel every day but we still don’t know the answer to that question.  How much readers will pay for the written word is the new question.

Sara agreed.  “The question is: an author may have 25 rejections and ask, ‘Shall I self-publish?’”  Avoid making an emotionally based decision (To heck with you, I can publish and make my millions without you). Don’t e-publish because you don’t like New York, or don’t like not having control of your career.  “Be careful.”

Rebecca observed that we’re all trying to figure it out every day, trying to guess how we’re going to stay in business, all working hard to get negotiating language in contracts which limits time, where standing royalty rates are in effect and re-evaluate in two years.

Coming next:  bidding wars, age discrimination and surprising insights

Editor panel reveals how submissions rise out of the slush pile and how to query

(Part two of editor panel news from Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer’s Conference)

by Janet Lane

The editor panel this year featured–

Moshe Feder, Consulting Editor for Tor Books

Latoya Smith, Assistant Editor for Grand Central Publishing

Angela James, Executive Editor of Carina Press (Harlequin digital)

Brian Farrey, Acquiring Editor for Flux, Llewellyn’s Young Adult (YA)

Lindsey Faber, Managing Editor for Samhain Publishing.

How submissions rise out of the slush pile

At Samhain, there’s an agent pile and a slush pile.  “One person logs and sends the sub to an initial reader,” Lindsey said.  “The acquiring editor can make decision independently and doesn’t need a committee. “

At Flux, submissions used to be open to unagented mat’l but it became too overwhelming.  Since March they accept no unagented submissions.  “I prioritize my in-box by what’s I’m looking for, not chronologically,” Brian said. He was a book publicist before he became an editor, and this publishing background helps him. “I can put on my publicist hat and present a full package.  I’d love it to always be about the brilliant writing, but this is why I think it will succeed.  I ask myself, ‘How can I sell it if I can’t compare it to anything?’ I have the answers because I know publicity.”

“Our subs hit slush piles for 13 editors,” Angela James said. “We match it to genre and an editor reads it. We do have an acquisition board that includes digital marketing and sales.”   There are eight on the acquisition team.  “We discuss as a team if it’s a book we can get passionately behind.”  She said to think of the process as an  “America Idol” approach of approval.  It’s a go “if two or more people can get behind it, someone on the team who can market and say yes, we can market this book.”

If what Latoya Smith reads is not quite right for her, she passes it along to another reader. If she likes it, she brings it to the editorial board, to either the hard-cover or paperback editor or chief, or to a specific imprint project.  “If I can get them behind me, I can acquire.” Grand Central takes both agented and unagented material.  Every Thursday projects are presented.  And Latoya can’t just love the writing.  “I have to present at least two comparison authors before we can market it.”

Moshe Feder accepts unsolicited subs for Tor, which are read by editorial assistants. The majority of the submissions come from unagented authors.  He often meets writers at sci fi meetings and pitch sessions.  “I’m open to working with new authors.  “It’s not just a question of getting through the acquisition proess, but how I am going to most effectively market this book.  I publish from passion.”

 Nuts and Bolts – How to Query Them

If you wish to submit to Brian Farrey of Flux, you’ll need to have agent representation.  All of the remaining editors accept unagented submissions.  Before submitting, always check the publisher’s website because requirements do vary from publisher to publisher.

Attend conferences, like RMFW’s Colorado Gold, where these gems of information were discovered.  Read articles like these, from RMFW’s Writer newsletter, offered as one of the many benefits of membership in RMFW.

Another tool I find extremely useful is querytracker.net, where you can quickly check an editor’s website and other useful publishing websites and even, if you’re lucky, find interviews that reveal the editor’s current interests and needs.

Now armed with all this information, go forth and create! Write! Polish! And may all of us be blessed with a wealth of opportunity in our quests for publication.

During RMFW’s conference Janet Lane received requests for partials of Traitor’s Moon, her romantic adventure set in 15^th century England. Did you receive requests during the conference?  Share your conference success story!

 

 

Colo Gold Conference: Editor panel reveals submissions process

by Janet Lane

RMFW’s conference burst at the seams this year with informative workshops and panels.

For those of you who couldn’t attend, here’s an update.  Enjoy and employ these tips!  –Janet

The editor panel this year featured–

Moshe Feder, Consulting Editor for Tor Books

Latoya Smith, Assistant Editor for Grand Central Publishing

Angela James, Executive Editor of Carina Press (Harlequin digital)

Brian Farrey, Acquiring Editor for Flux, Llewellyn’s Young Adult (YA)

Lindsey Faber, Managing Editor for Samhain Publishing.

Where does your genre fit?

If you write Young Adult (YA), your work will be welcome with Brian Farrey.  He’s looking for YA stories that feature urban fantasy, straight up fantasy, teen romance, and sci fi, but no space opera or high fantasy. He would like to see more realistic books with no fantasy, just teens trying to relate to each other & themselves.

If you write mystery, Carina Press does digital imprints of all genres of adult fiction, so consider querying Angela James when your book is ready to market.  They’re big on mystery among other genres.  Latoya Smith is interested in all adult, commercial fiction.

If your pen produces romance or women’s fiction, your work may find a home with Latoya Smith at Grand Central Publishing.  She’s acquiring romance (mainly paranormal and romantic suspense), women’s fiction, and erotica and African romance, across the board.  Angela James’ Carina Press is also big on romance, as is Lindsey Faber of Samhain.

If Sci Fi’s your genre, do not pass ‘go’ and run directly to the post office (or computer) and send your ready-to-market query to Tom Dougherty of Tor in hard-copy or Angela James at Carina Press, where you can launch your career in digital format.

At the panel, Moshe pointed out that Tor publishes more Sci Fi per year–150 new titles per year—than anyone else.  Their stories run the gamut: epic, high, sociological SF, space opera, military adventure, paranormal romance.  Each of Forge’s three seasons includes 50 sci fi titles and 20 of all other titles.

Have a thriller to market?  Try Carina Press or Grand Central Publishing.

 What they can offer you

As authors, we’re concerned about being lost in the cracks, especially with a debut novel.  Are the publishers too small to afford any promotion?  Will we have to do it all ourselves?  If the publisher is large, are all their promotion dollars used on established authors?  The editors addressed these concerns during the panel.

Latoya Smith mentioned promotional themes and making good use of the online department at Grand Central. “Who are your contacts? How can we combine efforts to make a strong promo effort?”  The author will pay for some of it. “We usually focus efforts on bookmarks, postcards. Most all books get galleys and ARCs (Advanced Reading Copies printed at no cost to the author) to send for blurbs. Some authors go on tour. We offer all of our authors  an on-line blog tour and Twitter parties.” Grand Central also hosts a Forever Fan Page where authors can speak to readers during hour-long book club sessions.

Moshe Feder mentioned Tor’s large PR department.  “Every book has someone in PR who’s associated with it, arranging reviews, interviews, book stores placement.  Tor encourages our authors to participate in the website activities.  They do tour their authors extensively.”  Tor is large, but small, Moshe said.  “We are a family run company who happens to be part of a large corporation.  We work on an informal, friendly basis; no editorial board that has to be run through.  We have strong personal relationships with our authors.”

Lindsey Faber noted they use print, advertising, media, blogs, horror magazines and conference sponsorships to promote their authors.  They do banners and giveaways at Comic Con,  “And we’ve had lots of success with giveaways.” She explained how Samhain offered the first book of a series free for a week which was “hugely successful with many downloads.  Book giveaways are very successful. In a post giveaway week we sold over 2,000 copies.  The second book in the series hit the USA Today best seller list.”

There are advantages to being small.  Flux’s Brian Farrey said they work closely wth authors, doing lots of social media on-line—video streams, Facebook and Twitter.  “We’re a company of 110 years. We target the library market.  We’re all doing the same thing, just with different resources.  Flux prints targeted ARC copy runs of 2,000—more modest runs but more targeted.”  Further, Brian said Flux helps authors understand what they can do so they can have their own voice.  “We educate our authors on proper on-line etiquette.”

“We’re a small press within a larger company,” Angela James said. “We have tools to help you learn how to (promote) yourself because no one’s more passionate about your book than you are. We teach you how to do social media, how to build a web site, and you can take that wherever you may go in your career.  We utilize Net Galley – online digital ARC reviewers, librarians, bookstores – over 30,000 users for review copies.”  Through these resources they are able to reach many people. “Every release gets a release tour.”

Next:  How submissions rise out of the slush pile and how to query.

WRITER’S CONFERENCE – Top Ten Ways to Prepare for Success!

by Janet Lane

RMFW's 2011 conference starts Friday! Click the balloons to learn about the excellent workshops and attending editors and agents.

Time for conference – exciting!  You may have just begun writing fiction, dancing in the joy that comes with it, or you may be a conference veteran like me with over a decade of attendance under your belt.  Or you may be somewhere in between.

You may have an appointment with an editor or agent.  Along with published authors, they will be mingling with writers at several events – workshops, pitch sessions, panel discussions, and even at our tables during meals.

You may be a contest finalist, heart thumping, wondering if you not only accomplished the significant achievement of reaching the finals, but also won in your genre category.  You may be published, with contests far behind you, wondering how all the drastic changes in the industry will affect your career.

Whatever your circumstances, conference is an opportunity to share and learn.

As we prepare for it, consider ways to take full advantage of the opportunities.  Here are some common conference pitfalls to avoid:

1.  Tame the green-eyed monster. Expressing jealousy, trash-talking or minimizing the accomplishments of that writer who is a finalist in the contest this year, or that writer who just got published, or made a certain best-seller list, because you know your writing is better than his or hers.

2.  Come out of your shell. Fight off the Shyness Dragon and Negativity Dragon!  Don’t let them keep you from mingling, making new friends, sharing and networking about industry news and opportunities that might benefit you.

3.  Squelch your Inner Critic. Face your mirror, give yourself a genuine smile and say, “I can do this!”  If you need more, here are some to speak, loudly and confidently, to silence that ne’er-do-well critic:

▪   I am in control of my own thinking.”

▪   “I think only thoughts that create and fulfill the best in me.”

▪   “My mind is constantly in tune with the positive.”

▪   “I am full of great thoughts and positive ideas.”

▪   “My thoughts are bright, cheerful and enthusiastic.”

▪   “I consciously choose what I think.”

▪   “I always choose thoughts that are most positive and beneficial to me.”

▪   “All of my thoughts create healthiness within me.”

▪   “I remember to think positively all day, every day.”

4.  Know when to speak and when not to.  Conference may inspire dozens of new ideas, but be sure your timing’s right when you wish to share them.  Avoid interrupting a workshop presenter or discussion group because you have very helpful and interesting anecdotes, jokes, research, statistics and/or opinions to share, and you’re so eager to do so that your timing is less than ideal.

5.  Open your mind to new possibilities. Does this sound line you, poking your head in from the hallway and listening to 2 minutes of a workshop and thinking you know all that stuff already, no need to waste your time at that workshop?  Be open to new ideas.  Don’t find yourself sitting in an overstuffed chair in the empty lobby while everyone else is in the workshop rooms visiting, getting to know new writers, authors, industry professionals, and exchanging ideas and knowledge.  Get out!  Meet!  Learn!

6.  Make a list now, before conference begins.  Get your money and editor/agent requests in early, allowing for plenty of time so you can book your most desired professional for a pitch session or workshop. Mark with bold felt-tip ink the workshops you want to attend.  Follow up on your best intentions.  If you think it would be helpful to have business cards when you network with other writers and meet editors and agents, design and print them now so you’ll be ready.  Practice your self-introduction so you’ll be prepared to meet new friends and describe your writing and interests. Familiarize yourself with the conference information packet so you don’t find yourself joining the wrong workshop, or arriving late at a workshop in progress because you don’t know your way around the hotel. If during the year you’ve borrowed books and/or materials from fellow writers, the conference is a convenient place to return them without burning extra time or gas or, worse, keeping your friend’s materials when s/he might need them.

Next up:  the final four tips, including one of the most important tips for conference preparation.

Self-pub or traditional? Hit a home run either way!

Batter up! Catch up with the quickly changing traditional and e-pub market so you can hit a home run with your novel!

Making sense of it all

By Janet Lane

As the Rockies prepare to send out their first pitch of the season, I, too, prepare for my time at bat in the literary field.  I peer from the bull pen, alarmed at the massive market changes.  After a decade of plying my writing wares, I thought I had it down pat:  continue marketing my novels through my publisher, Five Star/Thomson Gale.  Perfect my craft. Gather fans and work my way up to the New York publishers.  But now the game rules have changed.

Strike one: Five Star Publishing discontinued their Expressions line under which my historical romance novels were published.

Strike two: E-books make significant inroads in the publishing industry much faster than predicted, creating a threat to traditional publishers.

Strike three: Tried and true publishers announce bankruptcy and/or continue to trim releases, shrinking to survive. Agents tighten their acquisition process even more.

Am I three strikes and out?  Are you?  Are all of us?  Like a splintered bat, marketing strategies hang useless in our hands and we wonder how best to react as we face the competition’s star pitcher.

While on a project this winter in North Dakota (in a town with a population of 16,000), I was shocked to learn that their mall – indeed, the entire town — had no new-book bookstore.  This revelation left me close to speechless. Then I found myself strolling through the dying remains of a Borders store, shopping with throngs of other guilt-ridden bargain-hunters as Borders closes over 200 stores.

And e-book sales are growing faster than our cell phone bills.  From March 17  Publisher’s Weekly come this stat:  e-book sales rose 115% in January beating out both paperback and hardcover sales in the same month.

Personal stories abound on the exponential sales of e-books.  Authors can cash in on this bonanza, many say.  For example, author Barry Eisler (Best Thriller of the Year award from Gumshoe) recently made the switch from traditional publishing to self-publishing e-books.  His short story is on track to make $30,000 this year and unlike print books, it will stay on the virtual “shelf” (earning royalties) forever.  And for pre-pubs, it’s also good news:  now pre-pub writers can snub the editors and agents and market their novels to instant success.

Once a novel has been written, it can be produced into an e-book in as quickly as one day and sold at any price you wish, right down to 99 cents.  But alas, whole novels can also be copied and pirated in hours.  As RMFW’s Kenn Amdahl points out, print pirates can change the title and/or author name spelling, making it difficult for the authors to monitor piracy through such tools as Google search.

What’s a striving pre-pub writer or a modestly selling pubbed author to do?

Sometimes historical perspective helps.  An enlightening glimpse-back was offered in a Slate news article, What Are Independent Book Stores Really Good For? By Tyler Cowen, the story reminds us that the bookstore “field” is constantly evolving.  In the 1920s and 30s, we bought our mass market books at drugstores.  Then came the Book-of-the-Month Club and, in the 70’s chain bookstores took to the plate, making home runs at area shopping malls.  Every inning brought a more commercialized alternative to bookselling.  And in spite of all the changes, literacy continued to rise.

Now we see books in grocery chains and super discounters like Sam’s and Wal-mart, and 99-cent books on the Internet.

So all this “change” is really just “more of the same” and one fact is constant: we can’t win the game if we don’t play.

Get to spring practice. To thrive in these new outlets, let’s learn how the game has changed. Sort through the hysteria to find facts. Learn what we can do to compete in the new climate.

Watch other batters. We need to visit sites like the creativepenn.com by Joanna Penn, author and business consultant. In a recent article, she writes about creative destruction and how to survive the e-book apocalypse.  In this article, she discusses the strategy of writing e-books at the same time you’re writing for the New York houses.  To learn more, go to:
http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2010/10/22/creative-destruction-or-how-to-survive-the-ebook-apocalypse/
And definitely read about Amanda hocking, the 26-year-old phenom who self-published with such fabulous success, at
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tonya-plank/meet-mega-bestselling-ind_b_804685.html

Here’s an excellent March 30, 2011 overview of the indie vs. traditional publishing options available to both pre-pub and pubbed authors.  In it, Kris Rusch succinctly explains how an author can and should make different decisions about this based on the changing status of his or her career.  
http://kriswrites.com/2011/03/30/the-business-rusch-smackdown/

And Google for similar sites. We need to learn so our decisions will be informed.

Go out there swinging. After careful consideration, we need to approach home base with confidence, ready to build our fan base. This will help us through the challenges of a changing market.

Batter, batter, batter! Let’s not allow naysayers to distract us from our course.  Our spring mantra is, “Learn, focus and pick up the bat.”  We can hit a home run!

What are your strategies to get published? Please share them with us!

Resources for marketing your books

Social Media Marketing - are you making full use of this new communications network?

Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers recently presented a timely panel about marketing in the age of social media.  The panel members, published authors and good writer friends, included mystery authors Beth Groundwater, Patricia Stoltey and fantasy writer/Internet guru Ron Heimbecher.

Drop by Patricia Stoltey’s blog to see a list of excellent resources for social media marketing.  I’ll add another reference book here:

Secrets of Social Media Marketing, How to Ue Online Conversations and Customer Communities to Turbo-charge your business by Paul Gillin, Quill Driver Books.

What is the single most effective promotional activity you’ve done to promote your novels?

Editor/Agent search and sales: be like the puncturevine

In my continued search for representation I’m researching the swiftly changing market and agents who represent my genres.  Part of that work is battling the dreaded rejection dragon.  It’s difficult to take a chance, knowing that the work of my heart may be rejected. 

 Watering my daisies this morning, I noticed more stubborn puncturevine weeds had grown beside the large pots.  Known for their punishing thorns, strong enough to puncture tires, dog’s paws and tender toes, they’re amazingly prolific.  This plant produced over fifty of those wicked thorns.

 The puncturevine is never welcome, but it has two redeeming traits that even in the face of my intense dislike of them, I must admire.

 They have a delicate yellow flower, a visual payback, albeit small, for the menacing claim they stake in flower gardens.  As I pulled this giant specimen this morning, though, it made me think of the submission process.  Here’s what the WEED does, and does very well.

It grows outward from the center to form a large star-like structure, its tentacles reaching out as far as a foot in all directions.  (Note its tenacity:  it reaches out in several directions, not just one.)

 Also, it doesn’t produce just one seed.  To beat nature’s odds and the gardener’s best efforts it produces many seeds.  These seeds are spiny and hard (note:  they’re hardy and enduring).  Their punishing spikes can penetrate skin and even those hardy rubber-covered work gloves, so unless you come specially equipped, you probably won’t pull them out.

So, despicable though they may be, they offered inspiration for me this morning. 

Be like the puncturevine with your submissions.  Send them out in many directions, and produce a thick, indestructible shell in the face of rejection letters.  Keep growing new networks, new possibilities, so if one avenue produces a rejection, you will have many other avenues open to you.

 There are many ways of visualizing success when sending proposals and submissions.  Some say if you throw enough mud on the side of the barn, eventually some of it will stick.  Jim Cole, one of my critique partners, says you have to collect many black marbles before you find the white one.  What visual do you use when making a pitch or sending submissions and proposals?

How to reach the “Writing Wheel of Fortune”

To get published, climb the pyramid and with luck you'll land on "The Wheel of Fortune." Level 1: I think I can. Level 2: Finish a manuscript. Level 3.: Learn craft. Level 4: Get published. Level 5: Reach "The Wheel" and get lucky. Do you agree with Bell's take on achieving best-seller success?

James Scott Bell’s take on the writing life              

By Janet Lane

Crested Butte’s breath-taking mountains and wildflowers tempted me to stay outside during last month’s writing conference, but the workshops and discussions lured me into Grand Lodge instead.

RMFW member Elizabeth Roadifer won first place in the Fantasy/Sci Fi category for her story, Fairy Tales.  HUZZAH!  RMFW Member and Mistwillow author Sally Clark won honorable mention for her story, The Color of Silence.  Congratulations, ladies!

The conference’s keynote speaker, James Scott Bell,  former actor and trial lawyer, is the author of The Whole Truth, No Legal Grounds, Presumed Guilty, and several more legal thrillers.  A former fiction columnist for Writer’s Digest magazine, Bell wrote two books in the Writer’s Digest series, Write Great Fiction: Plot and Structure and Revision and Self-Editing.

Like many of us, Bell struggled to get published in his early writing years.  His “light bulb” moment was made possible by Jack Bickham and his Scene and Sequel discussions about how they related to the story question. 

Bell uses a vivid image to dramatize the capricious nature of literary success.  He drew a pyramid on the grease board that represents  the types of writers who want to write a book.

At level one reside the people who believe they can write a book.  They may have written a first chapter.   At level two , writers have studied and perhaps written a full manuscript.  Level three writers persevere and continue to learn the craft of writing, and may have started their second manuscript.  The dedication of level four writers helped them finally get published.  Level five authors are multi-published. They continue to grow and learn from each book and keep getting better, more polished.

When the pyramid of writers had been identified, Bell drew a wheel at the top of the pyramid. This, Bell said, is the Wheel of Fortune.  There, for no predictable reason, certain books gain momentum over other, equally brilliant and well-written books, and they spin out into the sky.  Bell described this with dramatic flair as he drew the spokes of the wheel , slashing fast brush strokes with his Sharpie:  “And they just start shooting out.  Harry Potter.  Whirrrrr.  Whirrrr.  Twilight.  Whirrrr. Whirrrr.” If we can make it to the top level of the pyramid, we have a chance.  “Get it (your book) on the wheel, and maybe it will come up.”

Is this cynical, or serendipitous?  Is getting published really all about luck?  If not, what other factors play a significant role in holding your first published book in your hands?  How can we improve our odds?

“Free Range Characters” featured on Victoria Dixon’s blog

Victoria summarizes my "Free Range Characters" workshop on her blog today - Take the test - how "free" are your fictional characters?

Good morning.  I just had the pleasure of reading my characterization workshop, “Free Range Characters,” summarized on Victoria Dixon’s blog. 

I met Victoria at the Crested Butte Writer’s Conference.  Since then, we have been blogging about the excellent workshops and panels there.  She enjoyed my workshop and presented an excellent summary of it.  For those of you who have enjoyed my summaries, drop by Victoria’s and read about my workshops and others.  Makes for great summer reading, and maybe a little writing inspiration, as well.  Thanks, Victoria!

Click here or on the Ron Empress red logo to read the craft workshop summary.