Proper Care & Feeding of Your Critique Partner

by Mindy McGinnis

I've talked quite a bit on the blog about my journey to publication, but I'll do a quick summation. I had been writing - and failing - for about a decade before landing Adriann Ranta as my literary agent. After that, I was on submission with NOT A DROP TO DRINK for a solid six months before getting picked up after a whirlwind auction. I was still rather stunned about my change of fortune - and honestly, still am.

Quite a few people have asked me why it took so long for me to get published. Even in this self-confidence-slaying business, ten years is a pretty long haul to seeing my name in print. And honestly, I don't mind it when people ask why my journey was such a long one because it gives me a chance to lay it all out for anybody else who might be making the same mistakes I did.

And my biggest one was that I didn't want to listen to anybody.

Obviously, I was a genius. Obviously, I deserved to be published. Obviously, my book was the best thing that ever happened. Obviously, anyone who didn't realize that was an idiot. Obviously, I had never had anyone else read my stuff because it needed to go straight to the biggest editor at the biggest publishing house, and then straight to press.

And obviously... I was an idiot.

I truly did write a book and not even edit it, or show it to anyone else for their advice. I just wrote an incredibly bad query and started sending it out. I was rejected - with good reason - left and right, and I bemoaned the state of the publishing industry and their inability to recognize my talent.

All of that could've been avoided if I'd found a good crit partner, listened to their advice, and begun to grow exponentially as a writer as a direct result. But because I was convinced I was a genius and terrified someone would steal my incredibly original idea (it wasn't), I never took that step. And that's the reason why I failed (miserably) for a good long while.

So the first piece of advice I give anyone who asks me for it, is to find a good crit partner, which is immediately followed up by, "How?"

I found both of my CP's (RC Lewis and MarcyKate Connolly) by using a writing community called AgentQuery Connect. I am very attached to AQC, as it is a positive and helpful (not to mention free) environment. But there are plenty of other great writing sites to meet CP's at, and I encourage everyone who has met their significant writing others online to share where in the comments.

Granted, it wasn't love at first sight. I met RC and MK fairly early on in the forums, but we didn't actually start exchanging manuscripts with each other regularly until we'd been on the boards with each other for a year or so, if I remember correctly. I have had other CP's that had come and gone - some more or less helpful than others - before I met these two and we became the wood glue in each other's fiber board.

I want to hit on the fact that it wasn't easy, and that I didn't find true love right off the bat. I know a lot of people get discouraged after a few bad (or just less than helpful) experiences, but you can't give up on finding a CP because of a few bad apples. Finding a great CP is just like dating - there are going to be some clunkers before you're all, "Marry me!"

And once you've found someone that is a good fit for you? Again, it's not that different from dating.

• Support your CP. They're entering a pitch contest and need you to look over something in the next few hours in order for them to hit the deadline? Do it. You'll be in the same situation one day.

• Reciprocate for your CP. They leave detailed comments in your ms, along with their reactions as a reader and thoughts as a writer. Don't reward their hard work on your behalf by responding to their ms with, "Speed up the middle, Make the mom more likable, and shave off half your dialogue tags."

• Listen to your CP. So they aren't relating to your MC? Well, damn them! Wait a second... you trust this person's judgement. And maybe one of the reasons you have an insta-flare of protective writer ego is because deep down, you know they're right.

• Realize your CP is human. Which means they're not always right. In the end it is your ms, and if they think something should be phrased differently or they don't like a particular piece of dialogue, definitely consider their opinion. But that doesn't mean you have to always agree. Trust me, my CP's and I read draft after draft of each other's work, and we do see when one hasn't taken the other's advice on the little stuff -- and it doesn't matter. 

• Respect your CP. Don't send them your 120k first draft and ask them to find all the problems for you. Always edit before you hand anything off to your CP. It's not their job to catch your mistakes - it's their job to catch the ones you missed in edits.

• Value your CP's time. Likewise, if you shaved a few dialogue tags and sliced an unnecessary word here or there, don't send your CP your entire ms and ask them to re-read and give you their thoughts. Only ask for an entire draft overview if you are re-shaping plot, changing character motivations, or making other big changes. Later on in the relationship you may make smaller changes and ask for an overall read - at their discretion - but don't throw this at their heads right away. It'd be like being married for two days and suddenly demanding five children, right now.

There are other Do's and Don'ts in the CP relationship world, but these are the biggest ones I can think of off the top of my head. Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments!

_________________________________________________________

Mindy McGinnis is a YA author and librarian. Her debut, NOT A DROP TO DRINK, is a post-apocalyptic survival tale set in a world where freshwater is almost non-existent, available from Katherine Tegen / Harper Collins September 24, 2013. She blogs at Writer, Writer Pants on Fire and contributes to the group blogs Book Pregnant, Friday the Thirteeners, From the Write Angle, The Class of 2k13, The Lucky 13s & The League of Extraordinary Writers. You can also find her on Twitter, Tumblr & Facebook.

Front and Center

On August 1, I began a new approach to writing. For the first time since I started writing seriously, way back in 1989, I found myself in the position to put my writing front and center. I guess it’s taken me 25 years to figure out how to do that. However, if I tell the truth, my situation has more to do with the fickle finger of fate than with any decision-making power I might have on my own.

In my early years, I tried to squeeze writing into what corners I could while teaching high school and raising three sons.  The result of that effort was quite unsatisfactory--I discovered I was not the kind of person who could get up at 4 am, write for two hours, then get kids ready for school, go to work, put in a full, hard day, coming home for the 'second shift' of cooking and laundry.  My writing would have to wait.

Finally, in 1989, I decided to quit teaching (!) and pursue my life's dream of writing.  However, though I did pursue it doggedly, I still worked part-time jobs to earn money and I still had one child at  home.  But, things were better.  I began to publish articles and short stories.  It was a start. 

A dozen years later, I earned an M.F.A. in Creative Writing and began teaching part-time.  I still had time to write and, eventually found a publisher for my first book, a memoir, AT HOME IN THE LAND OF OZ.  That was six years ago.
 

The last six years have sent me in a tailspin personally; professionally, they have been stellar.  Some days, it’s hard to live with both realities. On the personal front, I have lost a beloved daughter-in-law, just months after she’d given birth to my grandson. My husband and I then invited my son and the grandchildren to live with us while they tried to cope with their devastating loss. My granddaughter was 5 and my grandson was 5 months when their mother died.  My attachment to them both is enormous.

I have watched as my son remarried and started a new life, watched as they all drove to this new life 15 hours away from me. Not soon after, my husband was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis and went on disability. The very next year, two weeks after my debut novel, AT THE MERCY OF THE QUEEN was released, I was diagnosed with stage 3 uterine cancer. I spent last year recovering from surgery and receiving chemo and radiation. Thankfully, I am currently cancer-free and have great hopes of continuing to be so.

Professionally, things have been great! I’m with one of the Big Six, St. Martin’s Press, something I never dreamed would happen. I have an agent who has her thumb on the pulse of the publishing world and I was able to complete book 2, QUEEN ELIZABETH’S DAUGHTER, while dealing with the cancer—writing was the only thing I could do that made a difficult situation tolerable. The new book will be released in March.

I’m hard at work on book 3, which will take me in a completely different direction. Set in West Virginia in the 1960’s, this book is more literary than the previous books, whatever that means.

So, how did these events propel my writing front-and-center?

Though we need money to help compensate for my husband’s no longer working, I have not been lucky in finding a teaching job. I suspect my age may have something to do with that! But my inability to find a salaried position could be the universe telling me NOW is the time to write! NOW! 

If I am to be the main breadwinner, perhaps it is my writing I should turn to for support. As most of you who write know, there isn’t a great deal of money in this business unless you really hit it big. I do not anticipate such success—though, believe me, I remain open to it! What that means is, I must write more books. Lots of books—three or four a year.

That’s my motivation—my writing is front-and-center because I need the money and, thus far, writing promises to be my best avenue for getting it. I wish I could say I had the courage and determination to dedicate myself to writing—you know, the artist slaving away in spite of poverty and hunger…but that’s just not me. If I slave away, I want to be rewarded.

I’m giving myself one year to see how this new approach goes. Well, maybe 2 or 3 years. After all, I’ve waited a lifetime to focus solely on writing—the time is NOW!

 

 

Let's go Clubbing! (Is there a cover?)

by Sam Thomas

In recent weeks I’ve been discussing the question of book club appearances with my wife/manager, and she wondered why authors don’t charge (or don’t often charge) for book clubs.

This question seems especially relevant in light of recent posts here on Book Pregnant and elsewhere, in which authors wrestle with the competing demands on their time: Between revising, various edits, book clubs, book fairs, social media in all its iterations, blogging, etc., authors can do a lot of work without doing any writing. So why book club?

The first answer, and the one I knew even before I started clubbing (so to speak), was that in a world of vanishingly small marketing budgets, it’s the author’s job to get out there, pound the pavement, sell books, and build a loyal audience.

What I did not realize was how many different kinds of book clubs there were, and how much fun they could be. In the six months since The Midwife’s Tale dropped, I’ve met with twenty or so book clubs, both in person and by video-chat. Thus far they have run the gamut from sedate (coffee in the afternoon) to raucous (beer, wine, and cocktails running late into the night).  Topics have ranged from the history behind my book, to the writing process, to who I would cast in the movie.

When I walk out of the book clubs, it is as if I’ve stuck my finger into a light socket. Talking to smart, engaged and curious readers energizes me like nothing else in the world. They – and the impending contract deadline – are what gets me through the copy editing process.

All of which brings me to a rather delicate question: Should an author (or when should an author) charge for book club appearances?

Obviously the answer is going to depend on another question: Can an author charge for book club appearances? For most debut authors, the answer is “no” simply because nobody is willing to pay. But as we move through our careers, the answer might change, so I’ve been thinking about when and what I might someday charge.

I don’t have an answer to the question, but I am extremely interested in hearing your thoughts on this.

The Cure for Overwhelmed?

Hello. I’m a published author and I've suffered from Author Overwhelmed Syndrome (AOS).

I don’t think I’m alone in this.

When my debut novel, Night Swim, came out in January 2012, I said yes to every invitation, blog request, book event that came my way. It was a thrilling, stimulating time. --My dream realized. But, then, I couldn't stop. I went into overdrive aka "whip-myself-everyday-for-not-not doing-enough" overdrive. Eventually, my inner gears wore down, the ones that run the machine of who I am. I began to malfunction.

Anxiety. Depression. Lack of sleep. Chronic fatigue? Those were the signs. I was speeding downhill, nothing to stop me except a big fat tree at the bottom of the road.

Every profession has its demands.  Every dream has its responsibilities.  Maybe this overwhelmed-ness is an American syndrome.  But I also know that different professions and industries have developed stopgaps, protection measures (or, I like to think so, anyway) for its workers.  We have minimum wage for instance. We have overtime pay for hourly wage employees, we have health benefits—you get the idea—all meant to keep people out of danger zones. What about my industry?

As the publishing world continues to erupt and transform, authors are doing a lot of heavier lifting--maybe more than ever--simultaneously promoting books, hosting and posting on blogs, writing their next books, working second jobs (because most authors do not get advances large enough to cover yearly living expenses), and keeping up on industry changes that impact book sales.

So, I wonder? When is it okay for an author to say:  Enough.

How can authors--how can I--elude the sticky Venus fly trap of AOS?  At what point do these efforts to self-promote produce diminishing mental health and/or insignificant book sales?  What are the signs?

The answer to that is unique to each author. But, here's a few suggestions to consider. 

First, begin by assessing the five big-picture areas of your life: family, health, finances, recreation, creative work.  Do you have time and energy to tend to the needs of your family? (kids? aging parents? spouse or partner?) Are you taking care of your health? What is your current financial picture? Do you need to take on additional work to support your monthly living expenses? Do you have time for play?(Yeh, play. It's important.) Are you getting enough Sleep?  Rest?  Do you have time and, equally important, energy to write?

From there I came up with a few energy re-alignment strategies that have helped me so far.  Maybe they will help you, too.

·         Engage in a non-verbal activity for one hour every day, seven days a week.  I like to take pictures with my smart phone. It works on a different side of my brain and refreshes me.  There’s no pressure to perform or get it right. Gaze out the window. Meditate. Play your guitar. Pray. Do anything that doesn't require pen and paper or computers.

·         Exercise every day - Walk, run, bike, yoga, sex; whatever gets your physical body in gear and is fun. Dance around your living room.

·         Commit to unplugging at least 1 hour before bed every night. Do this for 10 nights straight and it will become a habit you won’t want to give up.  What will you do? Read, of course. Your brain will thank you.

·         Schedule one afternoon or night every week at least (no exceptions) to play.  See friends. Watch movies. Read! Go to the beach. You are not wasting your time. You’re watering your spirit, your creative self. The payback is inspiration and renewed excitement around creative projects.

·         Say no to things. This is most difficult for me.  I want to please.  I don’t want to miss that next opportunity. But saying no has become necessary for my physical, mental and creative health.  

    The essential, ongoing question around all of this is: Are you taking care of  yourself? Nothing more, nothing less. That's the bottom line. 

Jessica Keener’s new collection of stories, Women In Bed, is forthcoming October 1, 2013. A new edition of her debut novel, Night Swim, will be out on September 10. She is recovering from AOS.

Publicizing One Book While Writing Another And Living My Life—It's Not A Joke. It's My New Normal!

by Amy Sue Nathan

It has taken me until the middle of summer settle to meld doing publicity for my debut novel, The Glass Wives, with my writing schedule for my new novel.

Better late than never, right? Let's hope so.

In writing and in life, I'm a big proponent of do what works for you.

But what if you don't know what that is?

Yeah, that.

I stopped working on my new novel around the time The Glass Wives launched in May. I was promoting the book, thinking about promoting the book, traveling to promote the book, and worrying about promoting the book. So, I didn't get a lot of writing done. I didn't get a lot of anything done outside book promotion, except the mandatory life stuff. Like lunch.

When things settled down a bit, I tried different ways of getting back to the work-in-progress: word counts, hours in front of the monitor, outlines, bullet-points, brainstorming sessions.  What I needed was a plan for forging ahead with the new book while I was still promoting the first book with verve. Can't stop doing one to do the other. Usually, I'm a great a multi-tasker, but I couldn't figure out how to immerse myself in writing one book while I was talking and writing about the other. How was I going to be involved with two sets of characters? How was The Glass Wives not going to bleed into the new book (as of yet untitled, argh).

Every time I wrote a bit of the WIP, I worried I was losing time and energy to promote The Glass Wives. Every time I got inside the head of my new main character, Izzy Lane, I worried she was too much like the one already on the bookshelves. And, every time I was talking or thinking about The Glass Wives, ideas struck me for the WIP and I scampered for a pen and paper (which I can never find). The stories and characters are different, I had to keep them separate, but couldn't.  These books were equally important even though they were, and are, at different stages.

But I couldn't stop promoting The Glass Wives to write more of Izzy's tale. Must write new, promote old. Heck, I hope one day to be writing, editing, and promoting simultaneously, so I figured I better get a handle on it before I have to get a handle on being an empty nester, which is in four weeks. Not that I'm counting.  And you might be thinking: HEY! She'll have all the time she needs. Remember, we are all more than writers. And when life shifts, so do our mindsets, priorities and emotions.  When my daughter went to kindergarten (my son was in second grade) I walked around the house for three weeks wondering what to do with a whole day to myself.  So you see, I'm going to have to also reconcile the writer, promoter, editor, and blogger with the empty-nester.

Luckily, what I realized just a week or two ago, is that I needed to really compartmentalize. Completely. I am still fortunate to be working from home and be the master of my own schedule so I decided that because I am the kind of writer who needs to be all-in, that different days would be dedicated to different parts of my life. So far, so good (except when I forget something). While this is a snapshot of the bulk of my energy, every single day I'm making lists about things that need to get done on other days. I'm alway on Twitter. I answer emails the same day I receive them. But having a focus has allowed me to consciously let go of big things in small bites, because I know where they fit back into my week. The fact was, I knew I was always going to promote The Glass Wives. What I didn't know how to do was everything else.

So, now on Mondays I'm looking for jobs outside the home, paying bills, taking care of anything related to my house, because there's always something. These things exhaust me emotionally. There is no writing energy. But what I have found is that on Mondays I do have energy for reading. For someone who usually just reads on weekends, that was a bonus.

On Tuesdays I write the new novel all day. All day!! I make notes if something about job-hunting or promotion hits me, but it's a day I have given over to Izzy Lane. She loves me for it. I'm hoping readers will too!

It's on Wednesdays that I divide time between the new novel and blogging (eh hem). I run Women's Fiction Writers (WFW), and write for several group blogs. Mid-week is a great time to make sure things are lined up, scheduled, on-track. It's also the day I'll grocery shop. (Yes, seems I have to schedule it.)

Thursdays I'm back to Izzy Lane. Writing, revising, polishing. Sometimes outlining and planning. Whatever I'm doing (taking out the trash, showering, playing with the dogs, college shopping) I'm also in the new novel mindset without feeling guilty or like I'm neglecting The Glass Wives.

On Fridays I plan the weekend and finish up things undone. Because schedules are great but life gets in the way. Sometimes a friend is need. Sometimes I need a nap (it's true). If I need to do a major push with promotion, have an interview to complete or a guest post to answer or a speech to write, it gets done on Friday.

On Saturday and Sunday mornings I read. And I'm talking for hours. Or, I read again. I didn't read at all for those first months after my book came out. I couldn't concentrate. Once Saturday comes, I do whatever I want. Usually what I want has something to do with writing. (Am I the only writer who dreams of a vacation and that means more writing?) I often write essays and that's a great day for it. Even though my weeks bleed into my weekends, Saturdays have their own vibe. Sometimes that vibe dictates I just watch TV. I love TV. On Sundays after I read, I write interviews for WFW and make sure I'm on track for the week with everything. There is much list-writing involved.

And on Mondays, I get that businessy stuff out of the way again so the rest of the week I can concentrate on the work that makes me happy! (that would be writing)

The truth is, I dip in and out of promoting The Glass Wives all the time, writing or not. I can't imagine I'll ever stop. Not until there's a new book to promote and then I'll probably say, "Hey, did you know? I wrote this other book too!" And hopefully I'll also say...and I'm also working on book number three!

AMY SUE NATHAN lives and writes near Chicago where she hosts the popular blog, Women's Fiction Writers. She has published articles in Huffington Post, Chicago Tribune and New York Times Online among many others.  Amy is the proud mom of a son and a daughter in college, and a willing servant to two rambunctious rescued dogs.