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Over the weekend, as I was holding down my usual bar stool at the Lost Dog cafe (pint of Magic Hat #9, chargrilled chicken sandwich, sweet potato fries), I was approached by an aspiring writer.
"You're the one that's in here every Saturday," she observed. "Kyle (the barista) tells me you're a writer?"
"Most Saturdays, and yes."
"Books?"
"I've written twelve novels." I fished a postcard for THE FINAL SACRIFICE out of my purse and handed it to her. "That's my new book, it just came out in July."
"Cool!" she replied, and introduced herself as C.
C was clearly thrilled to meet a local writer, proving that you didn't have to live in New York city to become published. She asked the usual questions--how did you sell your first book? Are you a full-time writer? And then she asked the question that I often hear "Don't you have to know someone to get started?"
I hear variations on that theme all the time. Most often from writers who have tried the query route without success, and are convinced that it's lack of a personal connection that's keeping them from advancing. And while it's true that an introduction to the right agent or editor can sometimes be helpful, most of the authors I know got their start the same way I did, persisting through the cycle of writing, sending out query letters, receiving rejections and trying again.
You have to write a great book. Then you have to write an equally great query letter. Then you have to send that query letter out to a carefully researched list of agents and/or publishers. Sometimes it takes years and having written multiple books before you hit on the one that sells.
From what she described, it sounded like C had done her homework--researched agents, sent out queries, and gotten so far as to have first sample chapters and then the full manuscript requested by an agent. Now she's decided that she wants to branch out into sending directly to publishers. As well working on other projects while she waits to see what happens to this one.
I assured her that she was doing all the right things and wished her the best of luck, and then went back to devouring my fries before they got cold. I'm sure I'll run into her again at the Dog, and will be interested to hear how she makes out.
"You're the one that's in here every Saturday," she observed. "Kyle (the barista) tells me you're a writer?"
"Most Saturdays, and yes."
"Books?"
"I've written twelve novels." I fished a postcard for THE FINAL SACRIFICE out of my purse and handed it to her. "That's my new book, it just came out in July."
"Cool!" she replied, and introduced herself as C.
C was clearly thrilled to meet a local writer, proving that you didn't have to live in New York city to become published. She asked the usual questions--how did you sell your first book? Are you a full-time writer? And then she asked the question that I often hear "Don't you have to know someone to get started?"
I hear variations on that theme all the time. Most often from writers who have tried the query route without success, and are convinced that it's lack of a personal connection that's keeping them from advancing. And while it's true that an introduction to the right agent or editor can sometimes be helpful, most of the authors I know got their start the same way I did, persisting through the cycle of writing, sending out query letters, receiving rejections and trying again.
You have to write a great book. Then you have to write an equally great query letter. Then you have to send that query letter out to a carefully researched list of agents and/or publishers. Sometimes it takes years and having written multiple books before you hit on the one that sells.
From what she described, it sounded like C had done her homework--researched agents, sent out queries, and gotten so far as to have first sample chapters and then the full manuscript requested by an agent. Now she's decided that she wants to branch out into sending directly to publishers. As well working on other projects while she waits to see what happens to this one.
I assured her that she was doing all the right things and wished her the best of luck, and then went back to devouring my fries before they got cold. I'm sure I'll run into her again at the Dog, and will be interested to hear how she makes out.