Words are hard.

All this talk about the death of books. Quit griping and find a new path...

2009-03-30T18:22:00.005-05:00

Publishers Weekly is covering a growing trend in online tie-ins to books, especially involving YA material like 39 Clues and, forthcoming from HarperCollins and Fourth Story Books, The Amanda Project. Click here for the full story.

We've heard much regarding the impending death of books lately. Old-schoolers fear their smudged pages will become bland electronic interfaces. Sales of "literature" is plummeting but celebs snag millions for memoirs of their rhinoplasties. What's an author to do when the writing apocalypse seems to have arrived?

Branch out.

My official prediction: in the next 10 years, we'll see those 300 pages wrapped in a cheap cover morph into a complementary element of a writer's platform. In fact, virtual creative entities like The Amanda Project will, in my opinion, become the norm. No longer will readers be limited to a 10-point font that creeps way too far into the binding for comfortable reading; instead, it seems that authorship is extending in a very logical and human direction.

Let me explain that.

We're not all good readers. I, in fact, am a very visual learner, which probably explains my crazy need to create a mental image of everything I'm reading, even if that's a story in the Economist about King Bhumipol of Thailand. When I finally sat down to absorb David McCullough's 1776, I was this close to asking my intern to read ahead and highlight the British and Patriot names with red and blue ink, respectively, so I had some other contextual clues besides McCullough's inadequate prose (sorry if you're a fan, but for all its hype I was really disappointed).

My point is that authorship can now breach a visual barrier that books alone cannot. Much of this has to do with production cost -- you can't publish a book with sporadically placed colored ink and expect the same profit margins. And sure, S&S created an elaborately illustrated version of 1776, but they could have just as easily created an elaborate interactive website that brought the reader deeper into the many simultaneous layers of America's history McCullough was trying to depict. For me, admittedly not a huge reader of histories, additional visual representations could have held me. More importantly, the book would have been more effective.

Whether fiction or nonfiction, writers should now consider the possibilities their work might have as a joint venture between the good ole book and the bright shiny Interwebs. Aside from these examples, take my client David Wong; his urban fantasy novel John Dies at the End was read by nearly 70,000 fans online before rights were acquired by Thomas Dunne Books.

Here's hoping more publishers are stirring up good things regarding web packages. Let the writing leave the page. The book will never disappear, but if we're going to get those Internet babies to pay attention to story, we have to reach them effectively. Web 2.0, meet the novel.

Going pro: are you ready?

2009-03-26T15:52:00.002-05:00

(This article will also appear in the forthcoming April issue of Backspace's newsletter.)

It’s a big scary day for many writers when agents and editors grab hold of their work and begin analyzing it with intimidating jargon like market viability or niche potential. Suddenly a writer’s blood and sweat are wrung out and hung to dry, or so it seems. These abstractions are necessary, however, as a publisher needs to sell your book the best way it can, and our market is rife with labels. Your book is going to be labeled and relabeled and scrutinized, possibly to your discomfort. The good news: the better prepared you are for this professional step, the better you’ll be able to usher that process along.

Let’s back up a step, though. How does this process even begin? How can you better prepare yourself to think of your work as a product in the market? My answer: start from the beginning. Where does your writing fit in the world right now? The only three possible answers (in my simple paradigm, anyway) are as follows…

Answer number one: it’s private, between me and my journal and my fountain pen; sometimes I share bits and pieces with my cat.

Answer number two: it’s public, in classes or in writing groups; I’m willing to share it but need more time to explore my voice and style.

Answer number three: it’s professional, in submission, offered upon, chasing the dream, etc.; I really think I’m ready to make something of this here writing career.

Be warned. This third level must be consciously and actively broached. When I present this paradigm at writing conferences, I emphasize that there is value in all levels of writing. Writing is an art, through-and-through, but it’s simple reality that a writer must take many additional factors into consideration when deciding to push her writing to the professional level.

And that’s just what it is – a push, from the comfortable, lofty confines of the college writing class or the afternoon spent scribbling thoughts on the back porch, to a living, breathing industry that is set out to do one thing in the end: make money, if at all possible. Publishing professionals sometimes lose sight of the value in non-professional writing, but likewise writers must approach the publishing industry aware of its realities. Don’t expect your work to be coddled, and do all you can now to prepare yourself for these conversations.

This can begin as simply as labeling the genre in which your book would fit if a publisher could only place it on one shelf at the bookstore. Visit your local shop. Spend twenty minutes in front of that one shelf. Read the jacket copy of various books. Notice the publishers and the specific imprints. If this section doesn’t feel right to you, maybe you’re mislabeling your work from the beginning. Browse more. Find the shelf that would be the perfect home for your book, and absorb that which the publishers have done for existing books.

From there, browse the web for writers who would be marketed just like you. Check out their blogs and take notice of what they’re doing online to find their readers. Google has a great blog search tool: blogsearch.google.com. Spend some time on Amazon, too, which smartly links each book to similar titles that readers have also purchased. Pay close attention to best sellers or books that have garnered great reviews and blurbs from other well-known authors. Don’t do this in hopes of mimicking that which is hot on the market. Rather, it’s a self-study you should complete to gain fluency in the market, your genre, and your writing’s place in the world.

Take these initial steps if you haven’t already. This knowledge will eventually show itself in everything from your query letter to your synopsis to your actual prose. More importantly, you’ll have an easier time convincing agents and editors that you’ve done your research and are, in fact, ready for the world of professional writing.

Obama receives a pittance while stars continue to rake in millions

2009-03-19T11:51:00.004-05:00

Huffington Post brings us news today that Obama signed a new two-book deal with Crown just before his inauguration. The grand total? $500,000 for a rewrite of his memoir for a younger audience AND a new work of nonfiction after his presidency.

Maybe this is a sign of publishers FINALLY holding back their inflated advances, but how in the world did Kathy Griffin and Diane Lane snag multi-million-dollar deals weeks after Obama signed up for his pittance?

For the record, I'm frustrated by the current system of advance payments doled out by publishers. I certainly understand the hype a hefty advance creates. It generates early publicity and creates momentum in-house so that everyone, from assistant editor to publicist, is excited about the upcoming project. It also creates competition, though we know the biggest bidder isn't always the best publisher to handle a given title.

I frown every time a ginormous advance is announced, thinking if they cut Griffin's advance in half, to around $1 million (she reportedly got $2M, right?), they could snap up 20 additional debut novelists for a very healthy $50,000 each. Or 40 additional books at $25,000 each. As agents are saying nowadays, 25 is the new 50 and 50 is the new 100, and I don't know a single author who would scoff at $25,000 in this market.

Maybe Crown is ahead of the times. Even back in January. They also offered him hefty royalties -- 15% for hardcover and 10% for paperback. Still, that's only a few points above the common royalties for Crown's authors. Of course, Obama was likely under option with Crown because of his previous deals, but why not head somewhere like HarperStudio, where he would have received 50% of every penny earned? I hope the 10% adds up nicely for his account of such a historic presidency*, but I'm certain Crown underpaid this time.

Or maybe this whole hype-and-awe system is really for the birds.

Thoughts?

*I'm not a fan of "an" historic and will never use it. I pronounce the "h", which is a consonant.

50 Reasons No One Wants to Publish Your Book

2009-03-19T00:16:00.001-05:00

From Allan Moot at Bookgasm, a few good reasons your book might not be getting the attention you think it deserves.

Backspace: Jeffrey Moores is an expert

2009-03-18T16:50:00.010-05:00

It's official. I'm an expert. Or at least according to the best writing consortium on the web, BACKSPACE.

With nearly 1,000 members (and growing daily), Backspace has been offering online forums and critique groups since 2004. They also host a formal writing conference each spring in New York City. Writers Digest has annually named Backspace one of the 101 Best Websites for Writers since Karen Dionne and Christopher Graham launched the community in 2004.

Way back in December, when we were still counting down W's days in office and wondering which bank would fail next, I participated in a query workshop for Backspace. This week it was an online forum welcoming any sort of publishing questions writers could muster.

Now, Backspace wants me to stick around and give advice on a regular basis as a resident expert, joining the ranks of fine folk like agents Laney Katz Becker and Jeff Kleinman. Visit BKSP.org, sign up (for a mere $30/year!), and tune in as I try on my expert pants.

Aside from opinions from me and a whole host of literary agents, editors, and published authors, you can join online critique sessions and discussion forums. Check 'em out.

Book panel at SXSW in Austin causes a stir.

2009-03-18T16:04:00.004-05:00

A recent panel at SXSW gave way to a slightly bitter tussle between panel and audience members. Probably the most tension I've scene in a group of people coming together to talk about books. Usually it's shy voices from the back and the tinkling of water glasses. Not this time around. Take a look.

You're not alone, Frustrated Guy In The Blue Shirt. Caren Johnson today points out that, yes, there's a lot of negativity in the book world these days. In my opinion, the panelists were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Of course it's their job to defend their companies, but plenty within the publishing world are beginning to see the ultimate question that the brave audience member posed: What role, exactly, does the modern publisher play? With consumer confidence waning, how long will it be for the editorial reins of the Big Few are taken over by the grassroots nature of self-publishing?

It's a brain-buster. Too early for a clear answer, perhaps.

In my opinion, the changing nature of an agent's role is a sign of the changing times. Take my transition, for example. As a full-time agent I was stuck. I had to make money, had to keep the commissions rolling in. That meant capitulating to publishers' demands, since they are an agent's only buyers. Alternately, this means an agent is hounding himself daily to identify the next micro trend, or to keep up with industry gossip well enough to know that his client's novel about a family of four homeless people should be sent to that young editor who's been volunteering at a homeless shelter on the Lower East Side for the past three months. Or so-and-so just bought a house on the Cape, so be sure to send your political thriller about a Kennedy-like family his way.

It's a daunting, seemingly endless task. But this transition to capitulation versus trend-setting is nothing new in the publishing business. Editors went through the same throughout the 70s and 80s as corporations swallowed independents left and right. Suddenly Bertelsmann or Viacom wants its publishing arms to act as profitably as its film production or paper manufacturing divisions. Double-digit gains each year, too. Of course, as an artistic endeavor, publishing never historically relied on grand returns, instead hoping for just enough to keep the doors open and the literature flowing.

Should we be surprised that the public is finally catching on and calling out mainstream publishers for treating their readers the same as Kellogg's might treat the consumers of cereal?

Also, consider the rising status of self-publishing. Even two years ago agents and editors turned up their noses, quickly deleting or tossing away self-published manuscripts that arrived on their desks. The easy excuse: it's already published; why would I want to consider it?

Meanwhile, little by little while mainstream publishers kept at it, books like David Wong's JOHN DIES AT THE END garnered steady online audiences -- in his case, 70,000 readers absorbed his sprawling manuscript electronically. No surprise that Thomas Dunne Books called me up shortly after I'd offered Wong representation. They'll now publish JOHN DIES AT THE END with an initial print run of 50,000 (October 2010). Wong is the epitome of what might become a new trend -- editors looking outward and snapping up rights to work that authors have already made popular on their own.

In the meantime, I expect more tense conversation like these at writing conferences and literary events across the country. These panelists seem defensive but forthright -- they're not a writer's enemy in any way, but Blue Shirt's skepticism matches that of much I'm hearing in writing circles and within the big scary world of New York.

I'm LIVE, RIGHT NOW, on the Interwebs. With BACKSPACE!

2009-03-17T14:59:00.003-05:00

The fine people at Backspace are allowing me to spout off for three days straight in a live web forum.

Visit Backspace to learn more about their online workshops and forums. They regularly host guest experts from all areas of the publishing universe. And no crazy Skype skills are required -- they use a simple thread exchange that's simply Web 1.0 at its best.

Some useful and well-said advice

2009-03-16T22:33:00.007-05:00

Tommy Donbavand. Hollering some great advice about literary agents. His advice comes all the way from the UK, but it's useful on both sides of the pond.

Click here to read Tommy's Top Tips - Number 1: Literary Agents.

His ten commandments include "Don't send your manuscript to anyone" and "Don't try to be clever". It's worth a read.

A telling sign for creativity in the next few years?

2009-03-15T23:44:00.002-05:00

Gawker brings us the depressing reality that the most creative iteration of the super hero flick just can't pass muster.

Are you on Twitter? Linkedin? Facebook? Leave your advice in the comments.

2009-03-14T14:38:00.004-05:00

I caved to Twitter. It was a moment of weakness. But, as is necessary with all those social media apps, I feel I approached with a purpose: I want to find writers. But is Twitter best used as a mini-blog? What's the best way to self-promote without sounding like a douchebag spammer?

Have you had success on Twitter of Facebook or any of the other umpteen thousand social network crackhouses? I want to hear your smashing success stories. Leave tips, secrets, and suggestions to me and others new to the tweet.

Mad Cow. She decided to self-publish but didn't have a platform.

2009-03-14T14:21:00.002-05:00

Announcement: Brave souls needed for open-forum query critiques

2009-03-14T12:34:00.009-05:00

Do you need your query beaten down like a Guantanamo prisoner? Say no more. I'm looking for a few brave writers willing to have their original queries posted here at my blog along with my comments and a revised draft at the end of the process. The critiques will be available for the whole Interwebs to see.

I'm looking for at least one mainstream fiction writer, one genre writer (mystery, romance, etc.), one narrative nonfiction writer, and whatever else comes along. Email me at jeff@jeffreymoores.com with the subject line "FREE QUERY CRITIQUE" and we'll get started.

Thanks!
Jeff

Shouts about Jeff!

2009-03-14T12:22:00.004-05:00

Leslee Goodman, a member of Lynn Vannucci's Beat the Book writing group:

He was VERY helpful. And so positive, articulate, insightful, knowledgeable...I think you're right: maybe he IS a genius!

And from writer Susan Neufeldt:

I wanted you to know that you gave me the best advice from any person other than Lynn.

Ahhhh, shucks. Thanks, ladies!

Words are hard. But I can help.

2009-03-14T12:18:00.003-05:00

Welcome! *blaring trumpets*

I'm Jeff. I was recently a literary agent with Dunow, Carlson & Lerner in New York City. Now I help writers prepare for that brutal and frightening search for representation and publication.

The bad news: it's a scary world out there in the publishing industry.

The good news: individual writers have more power and flexibility than the big old dinosaurs in New York who've been making decisions for decades.

The better news: I can help.

In the coming days, I'll be offering free query critiques and pitch critiques via my blog. This will give you a better sense of the exact advice I can offer you and your fellow writers. Please check out my website for more information: http://www.jeffreymoores.com.

Thanks!
-Jeff