You Gotta Have A Gimmick…

These days, it's not enough to be published. You got to have a platform, an audience, something that separates you from the rest of the pack. Or, as Lynn Scanlon puts it at The Publishing Contrarian: A Hook! If your story has a child with Down&apo…

(Not that we’d have necessarily gotten further if we could approach the couple of additional prospects I unearthed.)

Because I’m realistic and optimistic, with a sprinkle of fatalism thrown in for good measure, I’m taking my rejection as an opportunity to make the novel better (and used what I learned to help craft the new one). Several editors said they would read anything I write next, which means I at least opened some doors!

By the way, thanks for your efforts with this site. Good advice and industry info is invaluable to every writer who’s looking to have a writing career, not just a book in print.

Update November 16, 2006 From the Wicked Witch of Publishing ™: Therese’s novel, Souvenir, has been picked up. Go to her blog for details!

This is a “hook” topic for your site–got me here for the first time (via Pod-dy Mouth, which I found via Miss Snark…)!

For what it’s worth, I am an agented novelist with an MFA, whose first novel almost-but-didn’t-quite sell. It has a strong hook, which made it easy for my agent to shop it to many big houses–so why didn’t it sell?

That’s one of the mysteries of the biz. Rejection letters complimented the work consistently, but were inconsistent on the reasons for “no.” One was that the book felt “too quiet” for that house; one was that the ed. had recently acquired a book a little too similar…

Primarily, though, I think I need to improve the representation of certain characters, alter relationships a little–give the reader a better emotional “hook” in addition to the topical ones. So I shall rewrite.

Meantime I’ve written a new novel that takes full advantage of the “hook” strategy once again. If there is a formula for an unknown novelist to craft a novel with the potential to ignite, IMO it’s this:

Quality storytelling
Empathetic characters
A hook, or hooks
A satisfying ending

-in that order. But ALWAYS including all four ingredients.

Note that I don’t say this guarantees success. Only that it ups the odds.

My agent is reading my new work, and I am beginning to recraft the first novel to better fit the “formula.” There’s no “One Right Way,” so the best we authors can do is stack the odds in our favor while crafting stories we care about. Writing professionals (as opposed to what I’ll call “literary artists”) understand that books are products for readers and write accordingly.

Some authors consider this “selling out,” but I beg to differ. Book publishing is a BUSINESS, and THAT is the bottom line. If you don’t want to be business oriented, self-publish and be content.

As for me, I am determined to write high quality, reader-friendly novels that I hope will mean something to the people who read them.

Incidentally, I agree completely that what qualifies as a phenomenal read for one person may be a poor fit for another–this applies not only to genre but to quality of writing. Variety, as they say, is the spice of life!

Best for authors to quit whining and just focus on their particular target readers. Maybe I’m naive, but I think there are enough readers to go around.

Note from the Wicked Witch of Publishing ™: Therese, thanks so much for your wise comments. I wouldn’t rewrite my book just yet. If I were you, I would do a little independent research. I’d find books of a similar genre in my local bookstore and then track down those editors. Ask your literary agent if he/she knows the editors. If he/she doesn’t know the editors or have contacts in their publishing companies, then the job is not done.

Update November 16, 2006 From the Wicked Witch of Publishing ™: Therese’s novel, Souvenir, has been picked up. Go to her blog for details!

Almost all of the wannabees at this conference were non-fiction writers, who proclaimed to be experts on something. I claim to be an expert on fun, and its by-product, trouble. According to the folks at the National Publicity Summit, it’s not enough to get me in a magazine or on national television. So, they helped me customize my pitch, and the hook for specific media. And while one producer loved “Is there too much drama in your life? I have five ways to lose the drama and lighten up your life.” It would fall flat with another.

Yes, their is an air of prostitution around this whole messy publishing business. But, having spent 25 years selling empty boxes, I find myself bending over just a bit more trying to sell some filled with MY book. As long as we can look ourselves in the mirror–hopefully in the green room, I say go for it. Of course, speaking from experience, you might want to steer clear of Jerry Springer.

Lynne, although I am still awaiting the “big” break, I did get booked on quite a few radio shows, developed a beach book hook (which is not contrived, as the beach is a passion, and a lot of my stories take place at beaches), and made some very valuable contacts at the Summit. However, the better pay-off came from networking at the Erma Bombeck Workshop for a total of $350–at which, it wasn’t about the hook or the money. It was all about the funny.

Note from the Wicked Witch of Publishing ™: $6000! Yikes. I’m upping my rates! For a manuscript that has been repeatedly rejected, what choice do you have but to rethink your query letter and synopsis? It’s nuts to keep sending the same package out. Back-end hooking entails rethinking your pitch along the lines I recommended and then reworking your query letter if not your book. Those hooks may well be in the book already, just not emphasized correctly. Thanks for dropping by again. 

Thanks
Cx

Instead, it supposedly took place between the editor of a general interest magazine, like Reader’s Digest, and one of his regular writers.

Editor: You know what the most popular subjects for magazine articles are?

Writer: No, what?

Editor: Lincoln, mothers, doctors, and dogs.

Writer: How about an article about Lincoln’s mother’s doctor’s dog?

I heard in a seminar recently about a woman who self-published a book on being a pilot. She then got a consultant to tell her how to find a hook in it. The hook came finally from the things that people ask her most when they hear about her job. The one she chose was what does the pilot mean when he says, “we’re running into some turbulence.” She got on major national TV to talk about that topic, and sold a lot of copies of her book.

Note from the Wicked Witch of Publishing ™: Another hook is that she is a woman AND a pilot. How many moms or dads or aunts or uncles would give that book to a teenage girl? I would.