By Sherry Morris

(From the September 2005 issue of the Update)

I’ve tried hard to resist the urge to write words of wisdom because it sounds preposterous for me of all people to try to tell anyone how to sell.  But I feel compelled to let you know what I’ve learned, as if you were my children, trying to guide you around the bumps. If anything makes sense, I hope it speeds your journey.

Breaking into the Romance Writers of America Published Author Network is a complicated compound prescription mixed by that invisible mystical pharmacist watching over us.  Everyone will have different ingredients, i.e.: eyebrow of buffalo + toenail polish of agent + reading glasses of contest judge + ancient Egyptian blessing.

Portable Word Processors
Alphasmart, Dana, etc.  New, used, borrowed.  Obtain one.  Carry it with you when you’re writing a first draft.  Five minutes here, thirty there.  Knock that infernal internal editor off your shoulder and write an uninhibited first draft.  Forget the “rules”.  Give yourself permission to write crap.  Just type the darned story.  Crap can be fixed during revisions. A blank page can’t.  Don’t go back and reread what you just wrote.  Don’t edit it until you upload the week’s work into your document.  You’ll be surprised to learn some of what you thought was pure crap is actually genius.  I wrote the first draft of a 100K MS in three weeks (my second PAN sale, Immaculate Deception).

Start at the Top
Submit to your dream editors or agents first.  Only move on down the line if they all reject you.  I have never submitted to anyone I would not immediately accept a reasonable contract from.  It’s wasting their time to boost your ego.  This is a tiny industry. Editors and agents talk and move to new positions.  They’ll remember if you play games with them.  An offer you declined six months ago will probably not be waiting when you finally do get rejected by your dream editor.

Rejection
Every writer gets rejected.  Some are more proficient in collecting R’s than others.  Get mad, cry, wallow, vent to your friends.  Then get over it and move along.  Some rejections are devastating.  Others are barely worth the notation.  I think it has a lot to do with our biorhythms and where we are in our cycle of Writer’s PMS.  Consider all criticism you receive.  If it makes sense, change your MS.  If a little voice says, “No, that would wreck my story; this person doesn’t understand where I’m going,” then ignore it.

Weigh heavily on editor criticism.  Do try to see what she means.  But if she just doesn’t get your story, don’t change what you don’t agree with.  Move on.

Never badmouth an editor in a public forum.  Never send her a retort.  Again, this is a small industry.  My first personal R was very blunt, and I was devastated.  It took nearly six months for my ego to let me understand what she meant, and that she was right.  I made the changes and sold it elsewhere.  This rough R came from the editor that just bought my two PAN sales.

Voice
Everyone has a distinct “voice” for storytelling.  The way you form sentences and their length.  Your word choices - be they proper, alternative or completely made up.  New writers often struggle to “find my voice”.  Shh...it’s right there in your first draft.  Don’t polish your MSs with line edits from other writers or readers, thus changing your words into theirs.  Do consider advice about everything else, but don’t allow others to speak for you. You’ll end up with a grammatically correct, generic read.  And probably a slew of contest finals, but no publishing contract.  One harder learned tip:  If a sentence reads roughly to you, and after a few days, you still can’t make it work; delete it.  The paragraph will flow better without it. The meaning is still conveyed even though it’s invisible.  Trust me.

Simultaneous Submission
My interpretation of ‘No simultaneous submission’ for those publishers who post that warning: It only applies to requested full manuscripts. Send out queries and partials to everyone on your wish list.

If you send an exclusive query, wait for the partial request, send that, wait for the full request, send that, wait for the revision request, send that.... wait for the offer.... then heaven forbid you ultimately receive a rejection, and have to start the query process with another house or line, you may as well be dead before you ever see your work in print.  If on the other hand, you’ve been sending queries and partials out, then you’ll already have another request for a full and can then mail it right off.

Agents
Harder to hook than editors.  Signing with a top agent does not guarantee your book will ever sell.  The wrong agent is worse than no agent at all.  But do try to land one.  She could procure you an excellent first sale contract!  Make sure they are members (or their firm is) of AAR and ask around on the loops before signing.  Literary agents are not like real estate agents.  They will only take on projects which they feel are easy sales.  I have 205 agent R’s across three MSs.  I don’t write what they want to represent.

Contests & Conferences
Check the score sheet before choosing a contest to enter.  Make sure your MS has a fair chance and isn’t doomed because your H isn’t introduced in the first chapter or any other gradable area doesn’t exist.

If you are entering for anonymous feedback, don’t enter more than two contests with the same MS.  Find critique partners, they are free.  If you are entering in the hopes of getting your work in front of a particular editor, don’t.  Even if you do final, there is no guarantee she’ll request your MS.  Save your money and attend a conference instead.  So long as you grossly write what she acquires at a conference appointment with an editor or agent, she WILL request a partial or a full manuscript from you.

I’ve spent over $1,000 on contests.  I finaled once and did not receive an editor request.  I didn’t agree with her feedback either.  I didn’t change my MS.  It sold elsewhere.  For the money I’ve spent in entry fees, printing and postage, I could have attended two chapter conferences, enjoyed the company of other writers, learned new skills, and come away with at least two editor requests.  Do enter the Golden Heart.  Somebody has to final, and this is the prestigious contest where it means so much.

Remember
You are a capable writer with amazing stories only you can spin.  Write for the joy you get taking dictation from the characters in your head.  If NY soundly rejects your MS, consider ePubbing it.  No, you won’t get rich or make the bestseller list.  But your story will be told, readers will enjoy it, and you’ll have the satisfaction of validation, the experience of working with a professional editor and cover artist.  Write another MS and send it to NY.

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Sherry Morris writes WWII romantic suspense, mysteries and chick lit as Olivia Andrews. Visit her website at http://www.oliviaandrews.com .