 For Authors: December 06, 2011 Issue [#4755] |
  For Authors
This week: Standard Manuscript For-What-ting?? Edited by: Jay's debut novel is out now!  
More Newsletters By This Editor 
1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions
Paraphrased and doctored from Dictionary.Com:
au·thor [aw-ther]
noun
1. a person who writes a novel, poem, essay, etc.; the composer of a literary work, as distinguished from a compiler, translator, editor, or copyist; the maker of anything; creator; originator.
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Hello again, ~jay here for another edition of the For Authors Newsletter.
I've found myself doing a lot of research lately on the finer points of query and cover letters, seeing that, like many others this time of year, I have full intentions of getting onto that "submitting my writing" horse again come the first of the year. I haven't been the kind of person who makes resolutions for a while, but with a backlog of work that I've actually completed, and plenty of work I want to complete, I feel like it would be good for me to confront my fears of submitting my writing and conquer them for good. I am a procrastinator, a perfectionist, and a pedant, so I expect that the act of sucking in my proverbial gut and jutting out that stiff upper lip will prove to be a challenge. This time out I want it to be a challenge I'm prepared to tackle.
I figure I must not be the only one out there gearing up for a fresh new year of submissions, hopeful pacing around and waiting for the inbox to fill up with rejections, then revising and submitting again to a whole new editor.
I know how to write a cover letter- or at least, I think I do. I've written them for job applications and other situations. Query letters follow a similar pattern, but require a little more attention and dynamic writing. Most of the time, you'll only need a query letter for a magazine article, novel, novella or other book concept; a cover letter usually suffices for most short stories and poetry.
(A reminder from your editor to always thoroughly research any market to which you plan to submit! Find out what is expected of you and meet or exceed that expectation.)
A cover letter is, essentially, that-- the cover letter that accompanies your short story or poem on its journey to publication. The format of this letter should be relatively simple, and direct. Even if you are e-submitting, it's important to include the publisher's information in your cover letter, so the editor (or intern...) who gets your submission will know you're submitting to the right place-- in short, that you did your homework and looked up the details.
The body of the letter should be straightforward, with a brief explanation of the story. Make sure to include the title, the approximate word count, and any recent, relevant publishing credits that you may have. Use standard business lettering format for best results, whether you make your submission via print or email. Wherever possible, you should take care to find the name and title of the editor to whom you plan to direct your submission. For either type of letter: date, address, and return address information belongs in the header like with any other letter.
The core of a query letter is writing a hook-- or short catch line to draw attention and interest for the following paragraph, which should be a short synopsis of your novel or novella, ideally less than three paragraphs (most professionals seem to favor one) and close with the hard data of the book-- title, word count, and your biographical information including relevant publications if any.
The important part is that your hook-- your "short pitch," or "elevator pitch," as it were, needs to give the reader of your letter an immediate picture of the scope of your novel-- and engage them in reading more. The synopsis needs to confirm the reader's interest and hold their attention. These days, agents have more queries than ever to sift through and less time than ever to get it done.
I've included some samples and more information posted by other Writing.Com-ers in my links below, as well as some other relevant links for those of us who are planning to write up a storm in 2012. 
I'll see you in the trenches!
Be careful out there. 
Until next month,
Take care and Write on!
~j
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This Month's Picks:
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A group for those dedicated to writing and reviewing speculative fiction.
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Feedback from last month's editorial: "Effective Characterization"
A LOT of feedback on the question of the month, and some of it was specifically to pick apart a specific phrase I used in my response to that question.
J. A. Buxton writes:
(( I might be gentler with someone I know is a teenager))
Why? If the sloppy habit of not using a spell checker isn't stopped at this young age, they might continue and not realize they were turning off potential readers. No matter what the age of the WDC member, I politely stress their piece could improve with the simple use of a spell checker.
Now if only they would remember that the pronoun I is ALWAYS capitalized. Every time I see a request for a review or a story containing a lower case i, I cringe and move on to the next person.
Why, J.A? Because I remember what I was like when I was a teenager... and I was one when I joined this site. I'm not going to try to defend it with some kind of statement about perfection-- I just know that my self-expression at 17 involved using all lower-case letters and trying to be different and unique. As you can see, it's possible to grow out of it.  Sternly-worded reviews didn't do much for it, for the record, but rather some gentle prodding from some well-intentioned folks who were able to show me how to differentiate style and expression by writing instead of surface gimmicks. Hence, I might be gentler with someone I know to be younger-- I guess because I remember what it was like for me.
That said-- spell check is far more ubiquitous than it was in my teens-- every major web browser has it, and it's a built-in utility here on WdC. While it should not be the only line of defense, it is most certainly a start.
atwhatcost writes:
If Steven is a dinosaur, I'm Sasquatch. ("I offer feedback to newbies I find myself almost begging that the writer check spelling before submitting.") I won't offer feedback, if the writer doesn't even bother with basic spell check. And let them off easy, simply because they're teens? Nope. S.E. Hinton was a teen with her first book "The Outsider." Teens are supposed to have a basic understanding of spelling. If not, they have it all over us older folks with knowing how to use a computer. Am I a beast? Maybe, but I write this knowing I have severe grammar issues. I don't expect perfection, but I expect to be able to figure out the writer meant "there," instead of "their." I can't figure out what "billbisko" means, unless it's supposed to be a made-up word and is defined immediately. I don't read when I really wanted to do a word search puzzle. I don't review word search puzzles, particularly when there are no real words to search.
Wait a minute-- you're Sasquatch? THE Sasquatch? 
I could have sworn he lived in my house. haha!
In all seriousness, I get your message, but I feel like you're latching onto the wrong thing here-- I said I would be "gentler" with someone I know is younger-- that doesn't mean I'm necessarily all that "gentle" to begin with.
bertiebrite hoping for peace  writes:
On the point of spell-check - I agree that this tool should be used often by any writer. When a teenager is in class, the teacher will demand spell-check and grammar-check, so why should a teen not use it here? I think it extremely lazy not to re-read your work before posting, I even re-read notes I send. It is an imperative for any writer. Sometimes a misspelled word can change the whole meaning of a paragraph leading to confusion and frustration on the readers part. If you are a teen or an adult, there is really no excuse for not spelling correctly and for not paying attention to good grammar.
I don't disagree with your point, but at the same time it's not my job to be a teacher-- I'm a volunteer on a website. The best I can do is send kind but honest feedback and move on. (I'm wondering if maybe I wasn't clear enough by using the word "gentle." My average given star rating is below 3.5. Even allowing for my one-star poetry shenanigans, I give out a lot of 3s and 3.5s to work that is average or slightly above.)
edie4u writes:
I loved reading these things about creating characters. I wouldn't have minded a few specific examples.
It was hard to come up with specific examples that are not really biased toward my personal projects, so I was trying to avoid it for the characterization overviews. I may get to it yet, but for the moment I am still avoiding it. I am always really reluctant to include my own personal writing in a newsletter. Weird, I know.
chameleon666 writes:
You know, I think a great example of characterization can be taken from the show "Two and a Half Men". The plots are completely character driven and the situations could actually be real. It's my favorite show!
Well, I don't know that it's possible for me, personally, to agree with this less, but I thought I would agree that it is possible for any character and any situation to be an inspiration to us as writers!
Joyous writes:
For the case of misspellings: I am on both sides of the fence. I know I have at least a few simple typos in almost all if not all of my works, and I do, actually appreciate people telling me when I have them. However, I do find it distracting when I come across them in other pieces. I have recently taken to writing everything in a word document and then copy/pasting them. At least the typos become inconsistencies then, and I can work from there.
On creating realistic characters: call me crazy, but I tend to act out my scenes. I have the conversations with myself, and imagine the things happening as I am speaking. In so doing, I notice the details that I would notice in a real life encounter, and thereby keeping the details relevant. This doesn't help in planning which details are important for the ending of the book, but I have found them to be realistic if nothing else. A dark room helps me visualize a bit better as reality doesn't get in the way. XD
I act things out too! Sometimes even when I am writing out in public, I get what my boyfriend calls "serious-face," which is me mimicking the facial expressions of my characters while I am typing away frantically.  He thinks it is funny to make serious-face back at me. Le sigh! 
This Month's Question:
Without embarking on a mini-"Dear Me" adventure, do you have publishing plans for yourself in 2012? What are they?
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