Recommended Resource: MIKE R. UNDERWOOD: 25 SECRETS OF PUBLISHING, REVEALED!

Wow! When is the last time I did one of these?

::Checks old posts::
::winces::

Seeing as they’re often what brings in new readers, that’s not very smart of me, is it?

Anyway, I woke up to find this GREAT article over at Chuck Wendig’s blog by Michael R. Underwood. Michael has experience on both side of the publishing industry (he’s written the very funny Geekomancy series, and works in marketing for Angry Robot), and here he shares lots of information people SHOULD know, but don’t know about the publishing industry. I think what impressed me the most about this article is how he manages to go a step beyond what most “tips for aspiring writer” posts do, and manages to do it in a way in which is both entertaining, and informative. This entry not only taught me a lot of important information, but it also hits on certain of misconceptions I see being thrown around by less informed, but very vocal, aspiring writers or self pubbers (case in point, #2- No One at the Publishers Hate You). If you’re thinking about getting serious about publishing, you should really check this article out.

Recommended Resource: Characterization, Opinions, and Surprises According to Writing Excuses

I’ve talked about the podcast Writing Excuses a few times before, but I wanted to highlight a few recent episodes that I felt were particularly interesting.

The first one is on Three Pronged Character Development, which is a useful little tool that it likely to get helpful if you get stuck on a tricky character.

The second contains all around good advice for preparing to become a writer (or really, any type of public figure), as it covers expressing potentially controversial opinions online, and the consequences that can result in that.

The third (just from today), is a worthwhile podcast about some of the surprises found in life as a professional writer, whether that be lack of time for leisure writing, or the unexpected physical demands.

To me, Writing Excuses is always worth checking out, but I found these episodes in particular to be must listens.

Recommended Resource: 21 Reasons You Think You Don’t Have Time To Write

So far, all of my recommended resources have been web based (mostly web sites, with one podcast), but I found myself enjoying this ebook so much that I figured it was time to branch out a bit. 21 Reasons You Think You Don’t have Time to Write by Mette Ivie Harrison is a free ebook I got off of amazon (unfortunately,  it’s not free anymore! Maybe keep an eye on it?). I first discovered the existence of this book when the author appeared on the Writing Excuses podcast. On the podcast, she talked about how one of the most common questions she got from people was how to find more time to write. She soon realized that these questions were less about time management, and more about eliminating obstacles that make you think you have no time to write. Some of these are external (“friends” who don’t see writing as a worthwhile use of your time), but all of them are things you have control over.

I’m really happy that I read the ebook (which is pretty short at just over 63-pages long). Ivie Harrison gives fantastic advice, and delivers it in a clear and concise manner. She’s also someone that’s clearly been there before, and uses many examples from her own writing career. I almost wish I had discovered it a little over a year ago when I first determined that I was going to take my writing seriously, as it would have helped me learn some lessons that I had to stumble through on my own. The one drawback of the book is while the message is good, it has a lot of formatting issues. How much you’re going to  enjoy the ebook is based on your tolerance for that sort of thing.

The author has written various other books, both fiction and on the subject of writing. I haven’t read any of them yet, but my enjoyment of 21 Reasons has convinced me to give them a try in the future.

Recommended Resources: Successful Queries

As anyone who’s ever witnessed me put together a piece of furniture knows, I don’t do well with directions. In fact, I consider it a sign of the strength of our love that Tanner still wants to be with me after our joint attempts at assembling a computer desk and, many years later, an exercise bike. I thrive on proven examples, which is why Writer’s Digest’s collection of Successful Query Letters was so helpful for me. Basically, it’s a collection of queries that have already sold books in a wide variety of genres. Each post has the query letter, and, even more useful, a explanation from the agent on what worked. I looked through the posts to find ones that closest resembled my book (either in the fantasy or YA categories) and was able to get a lot of ideas. It also made me realize that all queries don’t have to follow the exact same format, which was somewhat freeing for me. Make sure you don’t go completely off the rails of course. There are certain elements, that are pretty standard (such as a brief summary that doesn’t spoil the end). I’d recommend checking this site out.

Also, I feel like I’ve really bombarded people with these recommended resource posts this month. Not to mention other useful links I’ve posted in other posts about my Month of Queries. I think I’ll have kind of a sum up post next week about it. No real commentary, just a list of the links and a brief description of each. As much as having people paw through several posts for a vital links may be great for my stats here at Picking up the Pen, it’s probably a lot easier for people if I just put them in one place.

Previous Reccomend Resources
Recommended Resource: Living Off of Your Writing
Recommended Resource: How to Find a (Real) Literary Agent
Recommended Resource: On Survivorship Bias

Recommended Resource: Living off of your Writing

So this is less a recommended resource then just really interesting, but this reddit discussion thread popped up last week that I know will be quite an eye opener for some. It draws attention to a lot of the opinions we wanna-bes have about writing fantasy books as a profession. I don’t think we’re as starry eyed naive about it as the general public. Most of us realize that the George RR Martins and the JK Rowlings are the exceptions, and writing isn’t really the place to make big money. That’s only for a lucky few. But most people eventually hope to see it as a viable profession, meaning you can eventually build a back list and quit your day job.

And well, the discussion indicates that even that is something left to the lucky few. It’s interesting to read the diverse opinions you get from people. There are quite a few who have made the jump to writing full time, but they are unmarried, child-free folks with no major expenses. There are many more who work full time and write, either for the income or just the health insurance the comes along with the job. There was one poor self published writer who’s not making anything, and a traditional writer who had a pretty idyllic start completely derailed by the crap economy.

It’s a fascinating, albeit sobering read that shows that you should write because you love it, not because you want to make money. It’s just not the greatest way to make a living. Aren’t I fortunate that I enjoy my day jobs!

Previous Recommended Resources:
Recommended Resource: How to Find a (Real) Literary Agent
Recommended Resource: On Survivorship Bias
Recommended Resource: On Proper Manuscript Format

Recommended Resource: How to Find A (Real!) Literary Agent

The purpose of this post is not only to highlight a great article, but to draw people’s attention over to the sfwa website in general. Yes, they’ve had their issues over the past year, but the organization still seems to be a great resource for writers. The article that’s helped me out over the past week or so is “How to Find a (Real!) Literary Agent” by AC Crispin, a fantastic crash course in the world of literary agents covering the topics of researching agents, writing a synopsis, and query letters among others. The writer also does a great job of pointing out where scams are likely to be hiding, which makes sense, given that AC Crispin was one of the founders of “Writers Beware.”

Ironically, while I was using this article to help me write my synopsis, it’s writer passed away due to cancer. From what I’ve read about her since, she seemed like the type of writer that gave a lot back to the writing community. This article, linked above, is clearly only a small part of that.

Previous Recommended Resources:
Recommended Resources: On Survivorship Bias
Recommended Resource: Proper Manuscript Format
Recommended Resource: How to Approach a Literary Agent

Recommended Resources: On Survivorship Bias

I know I’ve mentioned the Writing Excuses podcast here before, but I just had to highlight this weeks episode, which gives some very solid (if, somewhat disheartening) advice. Referencing an interesting article by Tobias Buckell, it points to the idea of Survivorship Bias. In our quest to find success, we often look to people who have already found success, and try to mimic their behavior, despite the fact that our attempts may yield very different results. Both the podcast and the article mention if you interview millionaires who have won the lottery, you’ll come out of the interviews feeling that all you need to do to be a millionaire in win the lottery, not recognizing the fact that their is as astronomical amount of luck in that claim (but hey, people must buy into it. Look at everyone that buys lottery tickets).

Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a magic button to press to find success in writing. You can put all of your effort into creating an online platform, or writing whatever the popular genre of the moment is, but that doesn’t guarantee that you’ll see the same results. This isn’t the happiest message, because it implies something pretty scary. You might fail. Your book may fail to get picked up by a traditional publisher. Your short story rejected by every short fiction magazine in existence. Your self published ebook fail to pick up any kind of traction beyond your already emotionally invested family and friends. And that’s pretty darn scary. But hey, it’s a possibility that needs to be recognized. If it still seems worth it after all that, then keep writing.

And on that happy note, off to the laundry mat I go!

Previous Recommended Resources
Recommended Resource: Proper Manuscript Format
Recommended Resource: How to Approach a Literary Agent
Recommended Resource: SurLaLune Fairy Tales

Recommended Resource: Proper Manuscript Format

While submitting my short fiction to various markets, I noticed that some markets required that all submissions be sent in proper manuscript format. And although there are plenty of places that are less picky, I feel that submitting your material in this format makes it look just a little more professional. Fortunately, there’s a great website out there put out by William Shunn that gives a great guide.

Here is the link for short stories.

Here is the link for novels.

Hope you find this useful! I’m currently translating my work in process (LD2) over to this format.

Previous Recommended Resources
Recommended Resource: How to Approach a Literary Agent
Recommended Resource: SurLaLune Fairy Tales
Recommended Resource: Short Story Markets

Recommended Resource: How to Approach a Literary Agent

Well… this is more just a recommended article/twitter feed than a resource, but I really think it’s worth your time. As someone who will be shifting her focus to finding an agent this fall, I found this article by Juliet Mushens to be incredibly helpful. It’s simple and straightforward, but still very helpful, especially when it comes to crafting that cover letter.

Juliet also has a twitter feed where she answers questions from prospective writers on Sunday night. I plan on sitting it on this week’s. Granted, it’s worth mentioning that she is an agent from the UK, so some of the specifics might be different to those trying to break into an American market.

Thanks to the always awesome tor.com for posting this great article.

Recommended Resource: SurLaLune Fairy Tales

This is a really interesting website as it’s actually a great place for both writers AND readers. SurLaLune is pretty much the best resource online for western fairy tales (and their ebook section dips into folklore from other areas of the world as well). As someone who grew up loving fairy tales, from picture books to Disney movies, I often find reading the original tales to be very inspiring as a writer. Also, if you’re going to be rewriting a fairy tale, going back and reading these older versions of the fairy tale is paramount, as the Disney versions have often been so ingrained in our brains, we often forget that they were once very different tales. The popular thing to say today if you’re a fairy tale fan is “they used to be so much darker!” but they can also deviate significantly in other ways (don’t believe me? Read Beauty and the Beast).

As a reader, I also like this website because it lists where you can find fairy tale retellings. Love Beauty and the Beast to pieces? Well here’s a list where you can find novels, comics, picture books,short stories, poems, music, movies, tv shows, and plays ALL based on this famous fairy tale.

The website also has a frequently updated blog focused on fairy tales which is worth subscribing too, and a fun merch shop. It’s really just a great resource all around.

Previous Recommended Resources

• Recommended Resource: Writing Excuses Podcast
• Recommended Resource: Short Story Markets