The Challenge of Titles - Redux

If you're looking for my blogfest entry to Brenda's Dark and Stormy contest, VISIT IT HERE.

Yet again, I am looking at the titles of my manuscript trilogy, Children of the Universe, and considering a small change. When I first blogged about titles, it was after I had a chat session with an agent, Diedre Knight of The Knight Agency. Find my original Challenge of Titles post here.

After that chat session, my previous, very lame and very generic title, The Awakening, became "Bond of Darkness." It resonated more with me and how I wanted to portray the true plot of the manuscript. The second manuscript became "The Shattered Darkness." The third title in my series was a placeholder. We all know about placeholders. They suck, but that's what they're for.

I didn't want the title of my final manuscript in the series to just be a plain-jane title like the first two. I wanted to make readers think. I didn't want it to be part of an event that is solely drawn by the title. I wanted something more abstract. I didn't want something that I wasn't totally happy with.

Going back and forth, I finally consulted a long-time writing friend, Claire Legrand, on the final title choice. I didn't need approval, but needed support that I was choosing something worth all my thinking. She knows a thing or two about great titles, as did Mrs. Knight.

So, the third title, previously "The Crossworld's Darkness," became: ...drumroll...

His True Darkness.

Do you have title woes? Vent and share.

Peace and Writing Love,

JWP

The Challenge of Swallowing Your Pride (GIVEAWAY CONTEST)

This is the last post in my "Challenge" series, and post-Blogfest of Death, so I'm looking for some new followers and subbers to stop on by and enter into this giveaway contest. It's as easy as leaving a comment, but I NEED A MINIMUM OF THREE COMMENTS to make this work, so spread the word! Any who comment on this post will be entered for the drawing, which will be determined by Random.org. You also have a choice of which prize you would like to receive. Please leave your email address in the comment so I can contact you for your physical address.

Prize bucket choices are:

The Lost Years of Merlin, by T.A. Barron (2007 re-print edition)
Creating Short Fiction, by Damon Knight
On Writing, by Stephen King
Writing the Breakout Novel, by Donald Maass
Revision and Self-Editing, by James Scott Bell

So, we all know at some point when our manuscripts are complete. Other writers may have more difficulty determining this and continue to revisit their writing to polish and tighten. This is all well and proper in the discipline, but at some point, you must also swallow your pride of trying to make the manuscript better. Continuously polishing creates un-needed tension. A writer does not need this. But, wait, we've all heard that a first manuscript must impress. How else are you supposed to breakout if your manuscript is littered with grammar issues, those dirty adverbs and the infamous overuse of semicolons and ellipses?

More than one agent has blogged in the past that having the perfect manuscript in this format isn't always necessary. Yes, they will begin to lose it if the writing is blatantly ignoring basic rules, but a stray misspelled word and misplaced modifier won't kill you. They care about the quality of writing and the story you can tell. In the end, that is all that matters when it comes to making a sale to a publisher.

Beta readers and critique groups are wonderful, but not even they can catch everything. You will ask yourself, "I hope they caught everything," when it is not their place to do it, and ultimately, it is not even yours. This may go against everything you were told in school or how-to-write slush books (which by the way are fantastic), but do not drown in the mess of always polishing. I will admit I have done this, but I am finding my way through those dark waters.

The question whose answer being judged for the contest is this: How do you best swallow your pride in your writing? How do you know you are done and what method do you use to say, "I will not go back. It is the best it can be."

Remember, there is no best answer. All comments are subject to the random generator.

Thanks and enjoy!

JWP

The Challenge of Self-Publishing

We have one more week until the end of the month, so 1 more post in the "Challenge" series, and I'll end with a giveaway. Hopefully this will draw more followers and comments.

So, yes, self-publishing has made its massive debut across the world a few years back and now it is an equal route for writers to have their novel in print. You have your free websites that provide self-publishing, such as LuLu and Wordclay, and then there is the god of all self-publishing providers who even in-house publishers trust, Lightning Source. I have good things about all three from a myriad of SP authors.

A recent writer/author who I had the pleasure of becoming friends with, David Douglas, used Lightning Source to its capacity and did his own typesetting, copyediting, proofing (via his wonderful mother who edited for free), and then finally to marketing. Dave and I met at the Online Writing Workshop for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror (OWW for short), and there I read most of his manuscript before he even began sending it to Lightning Source. From here, Dave recruited me to do his cover art for his self-published novel and since this time, almost 1 year ago, Dave has secured an agent (in Germany, his home country) who is trying to re-release his book onto the market from having it already been self-published.

You might ask yourself how Dave was so fortunate to have an agent care about a self-published work to fight to bring it into mass paperback circulation. The key is amazing storytelling.

Dave's novel, Demon's Bane, is a powerful breakthrough novel of high fantasy. His magic system -- unique, and his characters -- unforgettable and can be compared to the memorable creations of David Eddings. Yes, big words for a big story.

So, self-publishing is out there. Of course it is, you know this. Some writers and future-author-hopefuls have a bias against the SP route, and I truthfully can say that I am one of them. There is a certain golden feeling about being published in the traditional way, but for the some million writers in the world just looking to be heard, know that the SP market is VERY strong and greater opportunities can arise from this route if you are dedicated enough to your craft, writing and yourself. Dave is the true life story.

One final thing before we sign off is another SP company that I failed to mention. I had the pleasure of being in contact with a SP rep, Carol Bowersock, who works for a company called Bookmasters, Inc. This is another company, grounded and not online, who does everything any other SP site does. However, with Bookmasters who also have the advanced opportunities of distribution, marketing, design, storage and web assistance. Sounds like a pitch, doesn't it?

That's all for now. Stick around for next week's post where I'll be setting up a giveway. I need at least five commenters/followers to help me along to get the giveaway off the ground. Help a new blogger out!

Bye for now!

JWP

The Challenge of Doing Nothing

This will be a shorter post in my "Challenge" series, but it goes a long way. The word of the street from agents and editors alike is: "When you feel you can polish and revise no more on that manuscript, you set it aside for a few months and come back to it. Even the most accomplished novelists will always say they wish they could change this part, but had to say 'I need to set this aside once and for all.'"

I have been on the revising end of my first manuscript, Bond of Darkness, for a hard 4 years now. Yes, I know this is a long time, and see my previous post about agent Kristen Nelson's rant on "The Curse of the Sophomore Novel" for more information on this. However, BoD has undergone huge overhauls (2 respectively) which have taken said time.

I do not have an issue with the "Curse," because I feel that after taking all of said time, I can write more fluidly and not make the same errors as I did to have the polish my first manuscript is currently undergoing.

My issue comes with setting it aside, doing nothing with it for months and then returning to it. Yes, I will come back with a fresh eye (yet again), but I don't want a fresh eye. I want to be one of those novelists that say "I wish I could change things here." I have confidence in not only myself, but in my my readers who have line edited and assisted me to death.

Do other writers feel they could do this to themselves? Could you wait around for months, continually writing during this time, and go back? Think of it from my situation and compare this to your own. Share with me.

Bye for now!

JWP

The Challenge of Titles

So, I'm certainly not the first to have blogged about proper titles, nor will I be the last. Agents, editors, authors and writing hopefuls alike all enjoy a good title. It hooks and draws a buyer's hand closer to your published work and away from your competitors'. So yes, the title makes all the difference. I recently underwent a title change for my WiP manuscript, now titled Bond of Darkness, from its previous [horrible and generic] title, The Awakening.

Yikes! What in the world was I thinking? Of course The Awakening has been used one million times [Yes, I'm counting]. I was no different, but I chose it because it had everything to do with my character, both literal and metaphorical. That is not the case now. My protagonist has changed much since the first draft, and with the help of a few friends, I came to Bond of Darkness. But...

Only to read a recent article on "googling titles." So, I my fingers typed with fear into the search bar, and sure enough, Bond of Darkness is a recently published vampire novel by [redacted author]. YAK! Hate vamp lit [crappy vamp lit, that is]. Having only been published in 2008, the blog post suggested that you consider a title that was not used in the last 40 years. HA! Bull-crapola! My title is mine now. Considering a paranormal fantasy about vamps is nothing that can be compared to adult high fantasy, I think I should be in the clear.

The last piece of advice is something I learned from the ever-wonderful Diedre Knight, agent and founder of the Knight Agency. While on an ask agent session that she often sponsors, I asked my question about my change in title and asked Knight how she comes up with the perfect title. Knight said she uses color, sound, imagery, or anything that will spark the interest to have that novel get picked up. Usually, she takes titles across a series and makes them uniform, which is what I have done with my WiP manuscripts. In Knight's most recent release, her title consistency is something as simple as the color "Red," but it carries the most important meaning throughout her novels.

This is truly something to consider to have the best title.

So, to my writing community, how did you choose your titles and what additional advice do you have?

Bye for now!

JWP

The Challenge of Agents

We have all queried, or most of us have. We have all readied the dreaded synopsis and sample pages. You've made sure to check your grammar, and more importantly, the correct spelling of the agent's name. Right? Of course you have, otherwise you'll be receiving a form or nothing at all. You've made sure to insert only plain text so there is no formatting jumble and have labeled your snail mail correctly or e-query subject line to the agent's specifications. You have taken the time to research the agent and his/her likes and open client list and what they are currently seeking to represent. You have subbed to the agent's blogs, followed their RSS posts and done everything possible to make yourself more open to an agent's eyes, whether virtual or in person.

A few of you have attended conferences or workshops and spoke with agents. You have carried samples and slapped yourself clean across the face when you don't have pages to hand out. You are the lucky one of a thousand plus hopefuls looking for representation that managed to catch an agent's eye with your personality or TKO query.

Now what? Do you refresh your inbox every few minutes? Do you check your feeds and see if they have ranted about your received query? Do you double-check query assisting websites to triple-check if you really did everything correctly.

No. You let the agent do his/her work. You write and write hard. You do not dwell on the strong possibility of a rejection or the wonderful feeling of a partial/full request. You do not even think of the circumstances of the call for representation. You write and continue on in your journey. The craft is an unforgiving one and the business of agents, who are writers themselves, do have a life besides their career. Granted, they chose to be an agent to make a commitment to budding writers, but they are people and need the chance to work at their pace.

We all know the feeling when someone tries to rush you along in a job that needs time. You want this thing to simmer. Do not let it control you. You also want to make sure you can put out simultaneous submissions. Normally the case when submitting short stories is that editors like the time to have the submission to themselves, but you can usually lie your way out of it. I am not condoning that you should, either. But with agents, the challenge is to really challenge them. When you have polished writing and that TKO query, pump out your batches. Give agents the challenge of fighting over you. That is what they really enjoy. If they want you as a client, they will make it happen, be it through advances or calling you personally. Give them the opportunity to do their work, but if another agent shows even the smallest amount of concern even with a partial, you must contact any other agents (usually their filing assistants) and do them the courtesy of saying you have an offer of a partial. This may often challenge them to put your material ahead of another writer.

So the business is all about patience and challenging yourself and who you want to read your material. Make it easy for the agent by doing everything correctly and at the same time, make them work for you by pumping out those batches.

So, the question to my community is: Do you agree with this? Is this a philosophy to follow? How do you work your query route? I am eager to learn and I'm sure others are eager to share.

Bye for now!

JWP