An author e-mailed me this week to say someone else had turned down their ms. saying it didn't have a theme. She said themes were what she wrote in grade school, so what did the editor mean by that??? How could a novel be a theme?
In writing, the term "theme" means what the piece is about. Simple and most of us know it, but I didn't know it when I started, and some may not know it yet.
Every novel, yes, every piece of writng has a theme and The Theme of any work is usually a grain of universal truth that can be said in one line.
The action in a story is then used to illustrate the theme. Right now one of the hottest shows on TV is TRUE BLOOD, based on the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris. The theme of those books (yes, all of them!) is that it's okay to be different.
Sookie is different, because she's a telepath. Bill and Eric are different, because they're vampires. But basically they are okay, the good guys, and doing their personal best to fight evil as they see it, regardless of what others may think of them.
Nobody can tell your personal truth but you. You will find as you write more and more that the same themes, often related to your deepest beliefs, will surface again and again in your work.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
What Editors Want -- Writing Tip
Those of us who trained as writers, whether we were taught by other writers or college professors, were taught to seek Artistry with Words.
Sometimes we try too hard for artistry and the editor says "it's purple." But our conscious desire is to tell the story as an artist with words.
I've grumbled about editors "asking the impossible" many times, myself. Now that I've become one, I know their first priority is to be DONE with your piece so they can go on to the next one on their list. Anything you do that slows the editors down will annoy them. And working with an annoyed editor is next-to-impossible. I know, because I've done it.
Speaking as a sometime editor, here’s MY "What an Editor needs" list in order of importance:
1. Good clean mistake-free copy that arrives well before deadline.
2. Coherent and organized prose that is never confusing to the reader.
3. Authors who will listen to what the editor is saying about the assignment and will produce the desired results the editor has asked for without going off on a tangent of their own.
4. Authors who will pay attention to length requirements. Three thousand words means “three thousand Words, or LESS”. It doesn’t mean 3001 words. Editors can always stretch copy, but they can't stuff 12 inches of prose into a six inch hole.
5. Stories or information that readers will enjoy, or that will benefit them in some way.
6. Authors who don’t take unnecessary time. Who ask just enough questions to know what’s wanted then go away and produce it without talking about their grandchildren, dogs or in-growing toenails. Authors who don't pass on spam, or e-mail jokes, or pictures of their cats.
7. Authors who don’t interrupt their work flow by telephone or send twenty e-mails a day wanting to know when their book, or story, or article, will be published.
8. Authors who listen to suggestions and produce results without whining.
9. Clear, concise, informative prose without repetition or padding.
10. Artistry with words.
Sometimes we try too hard for artistry and the editor says "it's purple." But our conscious desire is to tell the story as an artist with words.
I've grumbled about editors "asking the impossible" many times, myself. Now that I've become one, I know their first priority is to be DONE with your piece so they can go on to the next one on their list. Anything you do that slows the editors down will annoy them. And working with an annoyed editor is next-to-impossible. I know, because I've done it.
Speaking as a sometime editor, here’s MY "What an Editor needs" list in order of importance:
1. Good clean mistake-free copy that arrives well before deadline.
2. Coherent and organized prose that is never confusing to the reader.
3. Authors who will listen to what the editor is saying about the assignment and will produce the desired results the editor has asked for without going off on a tangent of their own.
4. Authors who will pay attention to length requirements. Three thousand words means “three thousand Words, or LESS”. It doesn’t mean 3001 words. Editors can always stretch copy, but they can't stuff 12 inches of prose into a six inch hole.
5. Stories or information that readers will enjoy, or that will benefit them in some way.
6. Authors who don’t take unnecessary time. Who ask just enough questions to know what’s wanted then go away and produce it without talking about their grandchildren, dogs or in-growing toenails. Authors who don't pass on spam, or e-mail jokes, or pictures of their cats.
7. Authors who don’t interrupt their work flow by telephone or send twenty e-mails a day wanting to know when their book, or story, or article, will be published.
8. Authors who listen to suggestions and produce results without whining.
9. Clear, concise, informative prose without repetition or padding.
10. Artistry with words.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Paper Books -- Cost More and bring in Less.
Everyone likes a book you can hold in your hand, and many consider e-books non-starters. BUT authors make MORE MONEY on e-book sales sold from our web site.
It's true the industry is moving slower than was anticipated, because of the lack of a universal format and the prices of reading devices. But with the advent of the new B&N device and of Kindle, that is rapidly changing.
At least three new "Will take over the market and be the Universal format we've all been looking for" new formats have been released since I started in this business in 2001 and still the format that can be read by most different devices is the "universal" format that was available in 2001, PDF.
One thing most authors don't realize is that, because of printing and delivery costs, we can only offer 15% royalties on paper books sold (the same as mass market publishers do), while authors receive 40% of the list price for e-books sold from our web site. In most cases, that's $2.60 for an e-book and $ 2.54 for a paper copy.
E-books sell for less and earn the author more. Imagine that.
It's true the industry is moving slower than was anticipated, because of the lack of a universal format and the prices of reading devices. But with the advent of the new B&N device and of Kindle, that is rapidly changing.
At least three new "Will take over the market and be the Universal format we've all been looking for" new formats have been released since I started in this business in 2001 and still the format that can be read by most different devices is the "universal" format that was available in 2001, PDF.
One thing most authors don't realize is that, because of printing and delivery costs, we can only offer 15% royalties on paper books sold (the same as mass market publishers do), while authors receive 40% of the list price for e-books sold from our web site. In most cases, that's $2.60 for an e-book and $ 2.54 for a paper copy.
E-books sell for less and earn the author more. Imagine that.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
New Blog
Author Carolyn LeComte has a new blog at
rose-coloredglassesandhappyendings.blogspot.com
This blog concentrates on just what is most important to all of us--an encouraging word. Beaucoup thanks to Carolyn, author of DARK PARADISE, a moving new romanctic thriller set in Hawaii.
Check it out if you want to find something that could make you feel the way I felt when my novella THE DROWNED LAND won a major contest, after gathering 64 rejection slips in it's file.
This blog concentrates on just what is most important to all of us--an encouraging word. Beaucoup thanks to Carolyn, author of DARK PARADISE, a moving new romanctic thriller set in Hawaii.
Check it out if you want to find something that could make you feel the way I felt when my novella THE DROWNED LAND won a major contest, after gathering 64 rejection slips in it's file.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Updates
TOBY MARTIN: SCHOOL SLEUTH by Barbara Grengs is corrected and reuploaded.
WHITE GOLD by Spencer Dane is corrected and reuploaded.
Both will be back on sale at Amazon within a few days. They remain on sale at the www.WriteWordsInc.com sales site, but will be back ordered until the new files become available.
Paper editions are in the mail for Tonya Ramagos's FIGHTING FOR A DREAM.
Editorial work is progressing on Paper editions of :
HUNTED by Jamieson Wolf
NO BONES FOR THE DRAGON, by Marjorie Doughty
CHESAPEAKE VISIONS by Terry L. White
OZARK WOMAN by Terry Piper
Will get the next gallies out to those authors asap.
WHITE GOLD by Spencer Dane is corrected and reuploaded.
Both will be back on sale at Amazon within a few days. They remain on sale at the www.WriteWordsInc.com sales site, but will be back ordered until the new files become available.
Paper editions are in the mail for Tonya Ramagos's FIGHTING FOR A DREAM.
Editorial work is progressing on Paper editions of :
HUNTED by Jamieson Wolf
NO BONES FOR THE DRAGON, by Marjorie Doughty
CHESAPEAKE VISIONS by Terry L. White
OZARK WOMAN by Terry Piper
Will get the next gallies out to those authors asap.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Still Writing Checks
And that is good news. Sales were up this quarter.
Some of you sold one book, some none, and a lucky (or hard-working) few had long lists of sales from many venues.
But whether you sold one book, or hundreds, we are grateful for your efforts each and every one and proud to be your publishers.
Arline, Sandy, and Shelley
Some of you sold one book, some none, and a lucky (or hard-working) few had long lists of sales from many venues.
But whether you sold one book, or hundreds, we are grateful for your efforts each and every one and proud to be your publishers.
Arline, Sandy, and Shelley
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Under the whether -- update and Homonym Writing Tip
Been a bit under the weather for the past few days, but am back to work on the payroll today. The checks will go out as soon as I finish getting them written.
And for those who collect homonyms, it's under the Weather, not Whether. Homonyms are those dreadful words that sound just alike but are spelled differently -- the ones that spellcheck never finds, since both of them are dictionary words.
Weather: noun, the condition outside your window: sunny and warm; cold and snowy; etc. or in the phrase, "under the weather" a euphemism for ill.
Whether: pronoun, if, or whichever...
So, though feeling ill and wondering whether we will survive, we are still "under the weather," tossed in the storm, and suffering from a cold blow, but definitely on the mend.
Homonyms can sure trip you up sometimes.
And for those who collect homonyms, it's under the Weather, not Whether. Homonyms are those dreadful words that sound just alike but are spelled differently -- the ones that spellcheck never finds, since both of them are dictionary words.
Weather: noun, the condition outside your window: sunny and warm; cold and snowy; etc. or in the phrase, "under the weather" a euphemism for ill.
Whether: pronoun, if, or whichever...
So, though feeling ill and wondering whether we will survive, we are still "under the weather," tossed in the storm, and suffering from a cold blow, but definitely on the mend.
Homonyms can sure trip you up sometimes.
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