A Pirate's Life For Me

Hello Everyone,

I found out today that I made it into the Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms anthology. I was very excited to hear from the editor that I made the cut. I loved writing my story, The Pirate Witch, and have thought about turning it into a full-length novel. A fellow writer friend, Elizabeth Vaughn, made a comment to me that "pirates are the new dragons." I guess they're quite marketable right now. Perhaps once I finish Medusa's Daughter, my fantasy love story set in ancient Greece, I'll write a novel about the pirate witch, using the short story as chapter one. Who knows?

Anyway, having a marketable idea is a key thing. Take Kelly McCullough who wrote WebMage. It’s an amazing idea and he sold the book to a major publisher, ACE. Visit him at http://www.kellymccullough.com/ to learn more. Kelly made the point in an earlier blog posting on my blog that you don’t have to know people to get published, but you do have to have good writing.

The point being, that if you have a great idea and are a good enough writer, you can get published, even if you don’t know people—though I would argue your chances go up if you know them.

Still, some great writers with ideas that are too overdone have trouble selling their books. Pick an idea that you’re passionate about and go for it, but hopefully that idea is marketable.

Write what you love, certainly, but I hope that what you love has a market. If there is no market, then getting it published is going to be tough. When I started out I didn’t understand much about markets, but the more I delve into the publishing industry the more I realize that the market is a major issue we writers need to be aware of. If you love writing westerns, just know that there is a tiny market out there. On the flip-side, romance has a huge market. Being aware of what sells and what doesn’t is important for a writer.

Still, write what you love, but just in case no one is buying UFO novels set in the wild west, you might want to write it as a short story—rather than dedicating so much time to a novel that probably won’t sell. Figuring out the market and writing a book with that in mind is tough, but having a broad knowledge of what editors are buying is a good idea.

Urban fantasy has taken off in the last few years. Holly Black’s Tithe: A Modern Fairy Tale is a good example. I think the key to any writing is being passionate about it. Throw yourself into the work keep making it better. Re-dream the dream if the novel you imagined is not working. Rewrite it. If it’s still not that great, maybe rewrite it again.

At some point you’ve got to move on, but if you truly believe in the work you won’t give up on it. You’ll finish it and then improve it. Getting outside feedback is key. Writers shouldn’t live alone. Share your drafts with other writers and get your work critiqued. I believe that we writers must strive to always improve our work and get better.

Good luck with your writing and keep at it.

Paul

The Pirate Witch story

Hello,

I just sent my short story, The Pirate Witch to Jean Rabe, editor of the Blue Kingdoms anthology. I think it came out great, though it's 8,371 words, and the ideal was four to six thousand. Oh, well. It's a swashbuckling adventure with a lot happening, so I hope she goes for it.

If not, I think I have the start of a fun novel. It wouldn't be half as good without the help of three of my friends, Brad Beaulieu, Patrick Tracy and Kelly Swails. They critiqued the story and provided invaluable help.

Brad's initial critique really helped me fix the story, then Kelly's ideas and Pat's additions polished it off really well. Kelly had some good suggestions and Pat added some really pirate-like language. The tale is more cohesive, makes more sense, and has a strong rudder.

The reader will understand the main character, Maeve a lot better and will care about her more. Most of the initial problems were related to me being worried about word count and going over. But screw it! Write the story and make the editor decide if it’s too long. Arrrr! Savvy?

To all of you writers out there who get critiques or give critiques: Llife will be even better for you if you start using the Track Changes tool on MS Word. It makes giving critiques a snap (adding comments, deleting lines etc.) and helps the poor writer see what terrible lines were there before the critiquer made them a LOT better. Without the Track Changes it makes finding changes quite difficult.

John Helfers, the editor who bought my first novel and hired me as a copy editor a while back, asked me to get MS Word and to use Track Changes when we first started working together. I was nervous at first, but once I started using it I realized that it was amazing. Critiquing with Track Changes and adding comments in the text makes you look like a pro.

Well, today I'm going to send a query to an amazing artist, Ciruelo Cabral, and hope he can do the cover for The Golden Cord. I have authorization from my editor to contact him. I just hope we can afford him.

Well, I best get busy. I’m working five 13 hour night shifts in a row this week—starting tonight (Sunday-Thursday). Yes, I will have a lot of loot at the end of the week, but I’ll be very tired.

My unit lost two charge nurses this week (one to the ER and one to the mechanical heart program), so I must step up and shoulder the load. Damn! I need a clone!

I wish you all a great week!

Paul the Pirate

Where do I send my novel?

Melissa emailed me this message:

Outstanding on getting your first book published! I just finished reading what you posted on your blog site about the journey you took into getting such a wonderful feat accomplished. My purpose for writing to you is that I am in the process of writing a novel and while I have read many online 'how too's about self-publishing vs. finding a publisher, I am at a loss at where to start to send my work. I read how connections and senimars worked for you, rather well might I add, but where do I start if connections aren't established? You must get so many emails from people asking you such questions but I appreciate your time and patience with one more person asking. I would love to know who to contact and where to start. Any help or suggestions you have would be absolutely wonderful.Thank you again for your time and patience,Melissa S.

I replied:

Dear Melissa,

Thank you so much for emailing and for reading my blog on how to get published. It’s my pleasure to respond and help you. First, what type of work are you writing? The genre and type of book is important for me to know. Non-fiction is quite different than fiction. Once I have that information I’ll be able to help more and give specific advice on where to send your work. Blind submissions are not a great idea though. Chances of getting published after an unsolicited submission are slim to none with fiction.

Also, where do you live, what city and state? Depending on where you are there might be some great conventions or writing seminars you can take that will help you make some connections. If not, I would suggest you go when you’re ready. Perhaps that is when you’ve finished the novel. Actually finishing a novel is probably a great goal for you at this point. Or writing a short story is a good goal. Short stories can be done comfortably in a couple of weeks. Something around 4000-6000 words is good. The time commitment is limited and that’s a good thing. Novels can take so long . . .

First off, though, keep working on your craft. Find a group of people who share your desire to publish and critique each other’s work. The chance that your work will be good enough to be published is greatly increased if you have skilled people helping you improve it. Becoming a good enough writer is a journey and none of us exist in a vacuum. The courage to show people who are not your family, your work is important. Writing groups can be good, but you have to find the right one.

The most important thing for you to do now is to keep writing your novel and study the craft of writing. Read books on the subject. I’ve posted some good books to read on my website in the resources section. Check them out. Your local library is a good place to find books on writing, though go with current books if you can.

Please send along the info on what type of book you’re writing and I’ll let you know some places you can send it, or other steps you can take. Thanks again for writing and best wishes.

Paul Genesse