Writers on the Rise

By Cindy Hudson

In her 11 years as a freelance writer, Jenna Glatzer has achieved the kind of success that most writers dream of. In addition to the seventeen books and hundreds of magazine articles she’s authored, Glatzer has also ghost written books, as well as penned greeting cards and slogans for bumper stickers and magnets. She founded and is former editor-in-chief of Absolute Write a popular, free online magazine for writers. Glatzer has written three books for writers: Outwitting Writer’s Block and Other Problems of the Pen (The Lyons Press, 2003), Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer (Nomad Press, 2004), and The Street-Smart Writer (Nomad Press, 2006).

Here Glatzer talks about some of the secrets of her success and shares ideas for writers of all types.

How did you get started freelance writing?

I became a freelance writer because I was agoraphobic, and I had to figure out something I could do from home. I was fresh out of college, so I decided to go with what I knew and I queried college-focused magazines, like College Bound and Link (which no longer publishes). For my first real credit I profiled some friends who had started up a web hosting company. From there I built up slowly and started writing for more and more magazines and websites.

How long was it before you made a living as a freelance writer?
For me it took two years but it varies a lot depending on how much work you put into it.

What’s a good way to get clips when you’re just starting out?
Getting those initial clips was more important than anything for me, and as long as it was a respectable publication I didn’t really care about the pay. You just never know where something is going to lead. I’d write this article for some low-paying magazine and some larger editor would find it and hire me to write something better down the line. I also recommend looking at local freebie magazines, like the ones you’ll find at delis and grocery stores. They are often looking for writers who can do local stories.

What other venues do you recommend?

I’ve written greeting cards and slogans for bumper stickers and magnets. And of course there are newspapers, websites, books and screenplays, and copywriting for businesses.

Is it easier to break into writing greeting cards and slogans?
It probably is easier, because there’s a lot of it and not a lot of people who know about those markets.

How do you find out about those markets?

I did a ton of research on my own. Some of the companies are listed in Writer’s Market every year. I wrote to every company I could find to ask if they use freelance material and I put together an ebook about it that has all the markets I could find. It’s a little bit out of date now, but it is available on absolutewrite.com. It’s called, Sell the Fun Stuff.

How important is it for writers to market themselves?

Very important, especially in the beginning. For the first couple of years I wrote more query letters than actual articles. I also wrote lots of articles for low-paying magazines. Once I broke into the national, grocery-store-type magazines, things began to snowball. Now editors come to me with assignments, so for the last six or seven years I’ve had to send out very few query letters. In the early years I also sent out general letters saying, “Hi, here’s who I am and I’m interested in assignments if you have anything available.” Sometimes I got calls years after I sent in samples and wound up with assignments.

Can you make much money selling reprints of articles?

Definitely. There’s one article that was rejected by Family Circle, which is where I wanted to place it. So I decided to try some of the local parenting magazines. Then I realized I didn’t have to stick to my own local parenting magazine, so I queried parenting magazines in other states. I wound up reselling it 18 times to different parenting magazines all across the country, making more in the end than I would have if I had just sold it to Family Circle in the first place. There’s also a market for re-slants. If you think about different angles for the same topic that you’ve already learned about, you can re-slant the article and you’re not starting from ground zero each time. You can use the same interviews and the same research you started with.

Tell me about your books for writers.

When I started absolutewrite.com in 1999, I would hear from writers all the time wanting to know how I became a freelance writer. To give them a step-by-step on what made me successful I had to write a book. Maybe the most important book I’ve ever written is The Street Smart Writer. I got scammed a couple of times at the beginning of my writing career by literary agents who weren’t real literary agents. They took my money and didn’t do anything with my work and didn’t have the ability to sell it. So I wrote this book because I don’t want to see other writers taken like that. It’s now free online at wowio.com. Search for it, and you can read it for free.

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Cindy Hudson writes for national trade magazines, regional magazines, online publications and daily newspapers. Her website and its companion blog, publishes reading lists, book reviews, author interviews and other book club resources. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Portland, Oregon, where she writes weekly for The Oregonian. Visit her online at www.cindyhudson.com.
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Interview by Lori Russell

After writing and publishing a book, an author’s attention turns to promotion. One key to creating a successful author event is matching a particular book to the right community, says Deborah Schneider, public programming coordinator for the King County Library System in Washington State. With 43 libraries and a circulation of over 19 million items per year, King County is the second busiest library system in the country. It hosts about 100 events annually for local and touring authors. Here, Schneider explains how authors can benefit by including library events in their list of promotional activities and shares her tips for creating a memorable program.

How is a reading at a library or other venue similar to or different from reading and signing books in a bookstore?

There is actually very little difference in my opinion. We work with booksellers and have an author’s book for sale at all of our events. Part of the attraction to an author program is the opportunity to have a book inscribed to you. We have great meeting rooms and can provide audio-visual equipment, such as LCD projectors for presentations.

What is the most engaging author performance you have seen and why?

Charlie Williams, aka The Noiseguy, had a book release party for his children’s book, Flush: An Ode to Toilets in one of our meeting rooms a few years ago. He and his wife decorated the room with toilet plungers, toilet paper, and even toilets with plants. They had refreshments, including a punch “bowl” ice sculpture that was a toilet. He performed two shows, and we had over 100 people. A television reporter for a local show came. They even TP’d a librarian! It was all hilarious fun. He was interviewed on the radio and that segment from Evening Magazine has been shown at least three times. It was great publicity for the book.

What are the most effective promotional strategies for inviting people to an author event?

While having a big name author with lots of holds on their books is a sure-fire way to have a successful event, not every author is on The New York Times best seller list. It takes more energy to promote an unknown author. One of the mistakes authors make is to look around a room and only count “noses” to measure the success of the event. Even the big name authors who travel the country know it’s about the publicity, not the number of books sold. Book tours are created to generate “buzz” - publicity and talk about the book and author.

There are several factors that can benefit an author in creating a successful event. Put the event on your website. Have a great publicity packet with good photos, a JPEG image of your book cover and basic publicity materials like the blurb. You can’t rely upon your publisher to do this. They can give you the cover art, and you need to make it available for promoting your program.

What should authors keep in mind if they want to engage their audience at an event?

Start by not calling it a “reading.” Most people get an image of an author standing and reading to an audience for an hour. How exciting does that sound? Instead you need to find a topic you’d like to talk about (that relates to your book), and create a program around it. If your novel is set in a specific time, you can use that as a topic of interest and draw readers because they love those kinds of books. If you take the time to develop a program, you have more to offer. You can read from your book, but find a way to set the scene and leave the audience craving more from you.

How can authors find out about events at libraries in their region and whom should they contact if they want to participate?

Libraries love having author events, but the publishers don’t often consider sending an author to a library when they are on tour. Many don’t understand that books can be sold at the event, and quite honestly, they don’t know how many millions of dollars libraries spend purchasing books every year. You can easily discover what kinds of author events your local library is offering by visiting its website. You will find our author events listed on the front page at www.kcls.org. A great resource for those who want to plan successful author events is The Author Event Primer: How to Plan, Execute and Enjoy Author Events by Chapple Langemack.

Deborah Schneider can be contacted at dschneid (at) kcls (dot) org

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Lori Russell is an award-winning writer who has had the pleasure to work with several great editors in her 17 years as a freelancer. She is a contributing editor to Columbia Gorge Magazine and has been a regular contributor to Ruralite for more than a decade. Her articles have appeared in newspapers and magazines throughout the country and her short fiction and poetry has been published in several journals and anthologies. Lori recently completed her first novel, Light on Windy River.

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Interview by Lori Russell

Writers Digest Books, an imprint of F+W Publications, publishes yearly market directories for writers as well as trade books that examine the craft and business of writing. Chuck Sambuchino is the editor of the 2008 Guide to Literary Agents, the founding editor of Screenwriter’s and Playwright’s Market (to be released in December 200 and the assistant editor of Writer’s Market. He is also a produced playwright, a freelance editor and an award-winning journalist. Here, he discusses what writers need to know about finding an agent in the current marketplace.

How is finding an agent different today than in the past?

Thanks to the Internet, plenty of agencies have websites where they detail what they’re looking for, how to submit, etc. The ability to submit queries through email has sped up the reply process. You also have plenty of agent-related blogs, where you can learn all about proposals, queries, genres, synopses and everything else.

The bad news is that scammers are online looking for prey. Legitimate literary agencies charge no upfront fees. Look for agents who are part of the AAR; look for sales; look for individuals who have a history in the publishing world. If you’re hesitant, Google the agent. Chances are, you’ll find message boards and forums discussing the agent.

Do fiction and nonfiction writers need an agent?

Books that are small in scope-with relatively low expected sales-can indeed get published without the help of an agent, but most fiction needs an agent. Agents play an important role in negotiating contracts, dealing with payments, working with foreign agents, and so on. Publishers don’t have time to sift through all the bad writing; they need agents to find the gems for them.

A lot of nonfiction is sold directly to publishers-especially smaller houses. If your ultimate goal is to sell a huge diet book, business book or celebrity biography to Random House, you’ll need an agent to negotiate that deal.

Why are agents interested in a writer’s platform?

Publishing houses are very busy and don’t have the time or money to actively market most books. They need you to sell it for them. Platform is absolutely crucial if you want to sell a nonfiction book. With fiction, platform is always appreciated but not mandatory. The book will gain momentum and sell if it’s good enough.

Is the quality of one’s writing still important?

With fiction, the quality of the writing will always be important. Agents and editors read countless submissions, and the cream really does rise to the top. If a writer constructs a brilliant mystery, then the book should be an easy sell.

If a writer composes a story that’s a mix between romance, paranormal and western, then publishers have difficulty identifying who will buy the book. They’re likely to pass on the project, no matter how good the writing is.

Literary fiction writing competition has become very tough. Some very good books get published. A lot of good ones don’t.

With nonfiction, a book will sell depending on the idea/concept, its place in the market, and the writer’s platform. The quality of the writing is also important, but less so than fiction.

Why should writers purchase the 2008 Guide to Literary Agents? What will they find there?

The first 85 pages of the book contain articles that help writers learn the business of submitting a book proposal or a query letter. Everything is indexed, so if you’re looking for an agent that represents both young adult fiction and narrative nonfiction, you can find several easily enough. Every listing is verified each year by the agents themselves or a Writers Digest Books editor. We carefully screen for agents who charge fees and don’t list them. Also, the book has a huge directory of writers’ conferences. Most have agents in attendance who take pitches.

One of the most challenging things about the book is that it’s published only once a year. Thanks to the online directory at WritersMarket.com and the GLA blog, we can relay all changes and information as soon as we know them.

To sign up for Chuck Sambuchino’s new free newsletter or to read his blog, visit www.guidetoliteraryagents.com.
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Lori Russell is an award-winning writer who has had the pleasure to work with several great editors in her 17 years as a freelancer. She is a contributing editor to Columbia Gorge Magazine and has been a regular contributor to Ruralite for more than a decade. Her articles have appeared in newspapers and magazines throughout the country and her short fiction and poetry has been published in several journals and anthologies. Lori recently completed her first novel, Light on Windy River.

Interview By Cindy HudsonLiterary agent Andrea Hurst has been around all sides of the publishing industry. She’s a published author, has worked as a freelance consultant for writers, and has spent some time in acquisitions and development for a publishing company before deciding to open an agency of her own six years ago. Located in Sacramento near the thriving publishing community of the San Francisco Bay Area, Andrea Hurst Literary Management represents authors in both fiction and nonfiction on a variety of subjects. Here’s her advice for writers seeking agent representation.

What do you look for in a writer when you’re deciding which projects you’d like to represent?

When I sign an author, I want a wonderful writer, a great manuscript, and if they’re writing nonfiction, a really good platform. But I also want someone I can work with, because we become a team. I love working with people who are motivated, open, flexible and who meet deadlines. I love giving authors ideas for changes to their proposals and having them come back with more. I love the brainstorming, the creativity and working with someone who will respect my opinion because agents are the bridge, and through experience we know what publishers are looking for.

What do you find the most challenging about working with authors?

Lack of professionalism. It’s so frustrating to get query letters and know that the writer didn’t even take the time to learn how to write a query letter. And it’s so easy to pick up The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Getting Published, which is the best book I recommend for anyone getting started. It’s a crash course that can bring writers up to speed and put them above the slush pile immediately.

What challenges do you face once you sign a writer?

I would say 99 percent of the authors I’ve signed and worked with are wonderful. One of the biggest challenges comes when they realize I was telling the truth when I said publishers don’t market the book. Authors realize just how much they have to be involved and how hard it is.

You mentioned platform earlier. How important do you think platform is to helping you decide whether or not to represent an author?

For nonfiction, on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the most important, it’s 11. That’s mostly because I can sell a book to an editor, but the editor has to sell it to the marketing and sales people. That’s where platform comes in.

You also act as an agent for the Complete Idiot’s Guides is that correct?

I act as a packager agent for the Complete Idiot’s Guides and Everything Guides, which means I package a writer with an expert and then act as the agent. It’s a great way for writers to break in, and I’m always looking for both experts who can write and writers who don’t mind working with an expert.

How does a writer know if her idea might be good for a Complete Idiot’s Guide?

One of the first things is to go to the website, alphabooks.com, and make sure the subject or anything close to it hasn’t been done. The other thing is to think about whether it’s a large enough market for Idiot’s Guides to be interested. You also have to be able to follow a template very well. I have some writers who do one after the other after the other of these because they take to it.

What else should writers know about these guides?

They don’t give you a lot of lead-time; a writer usually has anywhere from three to six months to write the guide. The Idiot’s Guides pay a royalty as well as an advance. The Everything Guides just pay an advance. Again, it’s a great way for writers to break in, and it can be a good way to build a platform or a business.

Are there any specific topics in nonfiction you’re looking for now?

As long as someone has a good platform and a unique idea, I am interested in just about any area of nonfiction. One of the areas publishing seems to like right now is science meeting spirituality. I haven’t found anything I love in that yet, but I’d like to. Someone who has expertise in parenting along with a platform and a different slant would be great. Advice, relationships and health are very strong. I would love to find the next killer diet book.

Any other advice?

Go to conferences, meet agents and editors, learn your craft, go to the agents’ and publishers’ websites and study them. Christina Katz’s book Writer Mama talks about the importance of marketing and I can’t emphasize enough how important that is. That’s what sells books. I have a tips section on writing a proposal on my agency website (andreahurst.com). I already mentioned The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Getting Published, which is invaluable for finding agents. Serious writers should also join publishersmarketplace.com. Finally, don’t give up. Agents can’t work unless we sign good books.
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Cindy Hudson writes for national trade magazines, regional magazines, online publications and daily newspapers. Her website and its companion blog, publishes reading lists, book reviews, author interviews and other book club resources. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Portland, Oregon, where she writes weekly for The Oregonian. Visit her online at www.cindyhudson.com.

Interview By Lori Russell

Changes in the publishing industry over the past several years have led many commercial houses to focus on book proposals and manuscripts that offer wide reader appeal and a potentially large financial payoff. Where does that leave authors with more regional or specialized projects? An increasing number are finding publication success with a university press.

Once home almost exclusively to academic monographs and scholarly texts, many university presses are expanding their lists of books for general audiences as well. Oregon State University Press, established in 1961, publishes about 15 works of nonfiction each year. As acquisitions editor, Mary Elizabeth Braun is responsible for evaluating both solicited and unsolicited proposals and manuscripts for possible publication. She also maintains a network of qualified outside manuscript reviewers who participate in the peer review process for each project.

Here, Ms. Braun explains the role of the university press, how it differs from a commercial publisher and what writers need to know before submitting a book proposal.

What is the role of the university press in the larger world of publishing?

University presses play a larger role than ever in the publishing world, as their lists expand to include titles of a more popular nature, in addition to the academic monographs that have always been their staples. University presses often take risks on books that a large commercial press would reject. We publish books written by new or little-known authors, or books that might sell “only” several thousand copies––low sales for a large commercial press, but not a university press. Do check out the following summary from the Association of American University Presses about the value of university presses.

How does it function differently than a commercial New York publisher or a small independent press?

Perhaps the largest single difference in how we function is that each manuscript we consider seriously for publication must go through peer review and be approved by the Press Editorial Board before it is published. Also, we copyedit each and every book we publish.

What types of projects are the best fit for a university press?

Years ago, academic monographs were the most appropriate projects for publication by a university press. Nowadays, most any intelligent, well-written project is suitable for publication by a university press. The key factor is identifying a university press that has a strong established list in the subject matter of your manuscript, e.g., regional nonfiction, history, poetry, art history, memoir, etc. This ensures that your publisher will have an established marketing network to best place, promote and sell your book. To identify a potential university press as your publisher, consult the annual directory of the Association of American University Presses.

Does a writer need to have an advanced academic degree or teach at the college- level to write for a university press?

An author need not have an advanced academic degree, or a position teaching at the college level, to be a university press author. In fact, many of our authors are freelance writers or journalists. Nor does an author have to be affiliated with the parent institution of the university press to which they submit a manuscript.

Does a writer need to contact you through an agent or can he/she send a query directly?

I prefer receiving queries directly from the author.

What is the peer review process?

If I review a manuscript or proposal and think it has solid potential as an OSU Press book, I will send it to two outside readers for review. These are usually individuals who are published authors themselves, who are knowledgeable about the subject matter of the manuscript and experienced in evaluating a project’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as its sales potential. This helps Press staff ensure the integrity of each title we publish.

What specific types of projects are you looking for now?

I am interested in intelligent, well-written, compelling books written for an educated general reader that address topics of Pacific Northwest history, natural history, culture, art and literature, as well as books of environmental history and natural resource management. First-person narratives and creative nonfiction are welcome. Do visit the OSU Press website to see firsthand what sort of books we publish and to access the submission guidelines for authors.

Feel free to contact me at 541-737-3873, or mary.braun@oregonstate.edu with any comments or questions. I look forward to hearing from you all.

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Lori Russell is an award-winning writer who has had the pleasure to work with several great editors in her 17 years as a freelancer. She is a contributing editor to Columbia Gorge Magazine and has been a regular contributor to Ruralite for more than a decade. Her articles have appeared in newspapers and magazines throughout the country and her short fiction and poetry has been published in several journals and anthologies. Lori recently completed her first novel, Light on Windy River.

By Cindy Hudson

Barnes & Noble is a national bookseller willing to work with local authors to help them get their books on the shelves. Community Relations Managers (CRMs) serve as the “go-to people” for writers who want to participate in that process. Page Jordan is one of these CRMs. Working from a flagship store in Clackamas, Oregon, Jordan loves the time she spends meeting with writers and organizing community events such as author presentations.

Here Jordan gives advice to authors about how to approach Barnes & Noble about stocking a book as well as other ways to help promote their work.

Do you have a section in the store to showcase local authors and local subjects?
Oh yes. Barnes & Noble encourages us to bring a local flavor into the store. Each location carries somewhere between 100,000 and 150,000 titles. About 40,000 of those are common to every store in the nation. The rest are specific to an individual store and its local community. While it may seem to you that every Barnes & Noble looks the same and has the same displays and the same books, there is actually a lot of room for each store to enhance the local area and carry what the local community wants to read.

What is the normal distribution channel for books carried by Barnes & Noble?
The majority of books we carry go through a buying process determined by our home office in New York, but stores on a local level can help facilitate that process. While we don’t make the ultimate decision to carry the book at the local store level, we can steer authors to our home office so they can get the information they need to be considered.

Do you buy books directly from authors?
No. We carry books available through wholesalers, and we can help folks figure out which wholesaler to go with. I give out the Barnes & Noble Acceptance Criteria Sheet to anyone who asks about it. This sheet has great information and it puts the author directly in touch with our small press department in New York.

What does a book need to be carried by Barnes &Noble?
It has to have an ISBN, it has to have a bar code and it has to have a certain kind of binding. The book also must be available through a wholesaler for us to carry it on the shelves. All that information is on our Acceptance Criteria Sheet. We also look to see if it is priced competitively with other titles of similar quality. Basically what an author needs to do if a book isn’t already in distribution is submit a finished copy of the book, not a manuscript, but a finished copy to our small press department along with a marketing and promotion plan, trade reviews, and a little something on what makes that book unique. All these factors will play a role in whether we will carry it or not.

Do you carry books by people who are self-published?
We generally don’t carry those on the shelves. What we have available for the print-on-demand or the self-published author is an event called New Writers Night. We typically schedule this with four to six authors who are all self-published. We invite them to come to our store on a particular night or afternoon. They bring their own books with them, make a presentation and perhaps have a question-and-answer session with the audience. We sell the books on consignment at the store during the event, and audience members can have them signed at the time. When the reading is over, authors take the books that didn’t sell back with them, and our home office pays them for the books they sold.

Every store has the opportunity to do one or two of these New Writers Nights a year, but the store locations with CRMs do a whole lot more in the way of events than stores without CRMs. You can call any Barnes & Noble store to ask if they have a CRM on staff.

Can people come to you for general advice about publishing?
I try really hard to give time to every author who comes into our store with questions. I’ll sit down with them and we’ll have a brainstorming session that will help them think about ways of getting their book out there while they’re going through the process of trying to get it into Barnes & Noble. Maybe they can connect with local clubs, local civic organizations or local churches. It’s like I’m helping them look through their personal address book to see whom they can connect with. I encounter so many authors who have no idea what to do and they are desperate to know, and I try to help them with that. I do know how precious those creations are. No matter what the topic or what the book is about there’s somebody out there who wants to see it, who wants to read it.

What else can an author do?
I strongly encourage authors to get out there and pound the pavement, make themselves known, make their books known. I’ve run into folks who were self-published, who started with a grass roots effort who have gone on to make it really, really big. Not every book is going to have that kind of success, but when authors work hard at promoting their work it can make a huge difference in the book’s ultimate success.
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Cindy Hudson writes for national trade magazines, regional magazines, online publications and daily newspapers. Her website and its companion blog, publishes reading lists, book reviews, author interviews and other book club resources. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Portland, Oregon, where she writes weekly for The Oregonian. Visit her online at www.cindyhudson.com.

In the Spotlight: Agent & Editor Insights for Getting Published
By Cindy Hudson

Since starting at Family Fun magazine eight years ago, Adrienne Stolarz has had what she calls the “classic, romantic story” of rising from intern to freelancer to full-time staff member. But a lot of hard work certainly helped her progress to the position of senior associate editor that she holds now. Here Stolarz talks about Family Fun and how freelance writers can make themselves valuable to editors who are looking for content to publish.

What department do you work on at Family Fun?
It’s a very popular department called Everyday Fun. It’s kind of a mini-magazine in and of itself, and so the experience of putting it together is kind of like the experience of putting together an entire magazine. I love working on it.

Do you work with new writers?
Yes. And we work with all kinds of freelancers who are not necessarily in the mainstream freelance world. We’re very idea-driven, so a lot of our contributors are niche contributors, people who have their own craft blogs or who may be food writers, or who have some other specialty.

What catches your attention in a query letter?
The art of the pitch is really in the first paragraph. Think of what interests you as a reader, because every writer is a reader. It doesn’t have to be a shocking idea, but it should be something that hooks you in and makes you want to read. It could also be an unusual angle on a very familiar story. I’ll usually know whether it will work for us after reading the first two lines.

Do you make assignments to freelance writers with whom you have no prior experience?
I do. We like to look for reliable pens who know our voice, and who can take an in-house generated concept and grow it into an actual piece that we want to print. We especially look to our contributing writers for longer pieces.

Do you prefer to receive mailed letters or e-mail queries?
I personally prefer e-mail queries, but I request that writers give me four to six weeks to respond. We are inundated with queries. A lot of them are very pertinent, but we only do ten issues a year.

What happens if you read an idea you like, but you can’t use it at the moment?
If it’s an idea that we know is going to fit we’ll often buy it immediately. If it’s an idea we think may fit for a feature or for a department in the future, we’ll sometimes tell the freelancer, “Listen, we love this idea and we’re going to hold it for consideration. We only ask that if you pitch it elsewhere and it’s accepted that you let us know so we can pull it from our consideration pile.”

If you get a query that you believe is more appropriate for someone else in house, do you pass it along?
Always. It happens a lot because our content is not homogenous. We do crafts in departments, we do crafts in features…so there can be a lot of overlap.

Is there one main thing you think is important for freelance writers to know?
My biggest piece of advice is to make sure you know the magazine. And I don’t mean be a subscriber for 10 years before you pitch. Look at the last six months’ worth of issues if you can. Get an idea of what we cover, specifically what we’ve already covered, because we do get a lot of duplicate queries. Also know who our audience is. Always refer to the writer’s guidelines, because they usually give pretty detailed descriptions of what each department looks for.

We’re short staffed, which means we have to use every moment. We can’t really waste time with someone who doesn’t know our content or who is not pitching us the right kind of content. It’s really like “know your audience,” where your audience is your editor. You can also find a lot of useful information in the media guide.

What is the media guide?
The media guide is a great resource for freelancers. Basically, it’s a profile of our demographic that we give to advertisers. But it also is a really good resource for freelancers, because it lets them know who the magazine’s readership is. It can help a freelancer decide how to hone the idea and the pitch to the audience we’re targeting. You can call the main reception line of most magazines and ask how to get a media kit, or you may be able to find it online. It’s a great resource on top of the writer’s guidelines.

Cindy Hudson writes for national trade magazines, regional magazines, online publications and daily newspapers. Her Web site, www.motherdaughterbookclub.com, and its companion blog, www.motherdaughterbookclub.wordpress.com, publishes reading lists, book reviews, author interviews and other book club resources. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Portland, Oregon, where she writes weekly for The Oregonian. Visit her online at www.cindyhudson.com.

In the Spotlight: Agent & Editor Insights for Getting Published
By Lori Russell

Planning and promotion are essential to the development of a writer’s career. This month, Paige Wheeler, founding partner of Folio Literary Management in New York, shares how creating a career plan prior to seeking representation can benefit both the author and the agent. Ms. Wheeler founded Creative Media Agency (CMA) in 1997 and served as its president until merging it into Folio in 2006. The agency has seven agents and represents both fiction and non-fiction authors.

Folio’s Web site mentions looking for potential clients who have a solid five-year plan for their writing careers. What should a first-time author consider when developing such a plan?

An author needs to be realistic about his/her writing goals. Not every author can be a New York Times bestseller right out of the gate—maybe not ever. If your goal is to make a bestseller list, how can you grow your career to make that list? Maybe your goal is to write and get published steadily and consistently. Perhaps you need a book to promote your speaking business or to gain exposure in your chosen field; maybe you’re in academia and you have a publish-or-perish mentality. In each situation, you have to think about how you want your career to progress. Do you have eight books in you? Maybe you could write 30 books or more. Or write different types of books (fiction/non-fiction) or different genres. You should share this information with your agent so that the two of you can plan appropriately.

When setting goals for one’s writing career, what resources would you recommend?

You should read the industry trade periodicals: Publishers Weekly, Publishers Lunch, Writer’s Digest and genre-specific publications. To become part of a larger network of writers, look into different organizations such as the ASJA (American Society of Journalists and Authors), WNBA (Women’s National Book Association), MWA (Mystery Writers of America), RWA (Romance Writers of America) and SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators).

These organizations often have their own publications and helpful advice for both aspiring and advanced authors. Also, attending writers’ conferences is an excellent way to network and learn more about the business.

What suggestions do you have to help writers find the right agent for them?

Do your research. First, choose an agent who handles and has sold the type of material that you write. If the agent is new, see if the agent is part of a larger organization where she is able to get advice from her colleagues. There are a number of resources such as Jeff Herman’s Writer’s Guide to Book Publishers, Editors & and Literary Agents and Guide to Literary Agents (Writers Digest Books). You can read Publisher’s Lunch for recent book sales. You can also network with other authors in critique groups, conferences and other organizations. Make sure that you get along with your agent and that you are clear on the terms of your arrangement. Is this a handshake deal or is there an agency agreement? Are the terms of the agreement acceptable to you?

What types of projects are you currently looking to represent?

For fiction, I like women’s fiction and romance, upscale commercial fiction (think book club books), as well as mysteries, suspense and thrillers. I’m looking for anywhere from Philippa Gregory (The Other Boleyn Girl) to Lori Lansens (The Girls) to Mary Guterson (We Are All Fine Here) to Allison Pearson (I Don’t Know How She Does It). Also, Jennifer Weiner, Lolly Winston, Karen Brichoux, Janet Evanovich and Karen Hawkins. For mysteries, I like both light and dark, even noir. It can be romantic suspense, a gritty thriller, or psychological suspense. I’m looking for writing with an almost lyrical quality to it for the thrillers and the suspense (and the book club books). For non-fiction, the authors should be an expert in their field and have had many articles published or media exposure. If I were a TV producer, would my Rolodex have their name as the name to go to for this field? Am I looking for new authors? You bet!

Folio Literary Management provides author support services. Please explain these services and why they are important in the current marketplace.

With hundreds of thousands of books published every year, the task of marketing and promoting many titles is increasingly falling onto authors’ shoulders. In many cases, however, writers don’t know how to market their work, and they often don’t know where to turn for help. At Folio, we determine the likely readership for your book and then work aggressively to find creative and innovative ways to reach that audience.

We now have a publicist, Ami Grecko, who works with our authors to reach their target audience. Folio also has the capacity both in-house and through strategic alliances to set up radio and/or TV satellite tours as well as find, arrange and book speaking engagements. In the very near future, we will also have the capacity to find and negotiate all sorts of licensing deals based on our clients’ books. In other words, Folio Literary Management lives up to its name. We do more than sell your book and fade into the background; we work beyond the page to manage every aspect of your literary career.

Writers can query Paige Wheeler by e-mail at pwheeler at foliolit.com. Check the Folio Literary Management Web site for more details at: www.foliolit.com.

Lori Russell is an award-winning writer who has had the pleasure to work with several great editors in her 17 years as a freelancer. She is a contributing editor to Columbia Gorge Magazine and has been a regular contributor to Ruralite for more than a decade. Her articles have appeared in newspapers and magazines throughout the country and her short fiction and poetry has been published in several journals and anthologies. Lori recently completed her first novel, Light on Windy River.

In the Spotlight: Agent & Editor Insights for Getting Published

By Cindy Hudson

Julie Bennett has been acquiring titles for Ten Speed Press out of Berkeley, California for eight years. One of the largest independent publishers in the U.S., Ten Speed Press publishes about 150 titles a year through all its imprints, which include Celestial Arts and Crossing Press, as well as Tricyle Press, its children’s imprint.

Bennett’s advice to authors hoping to successfully pitch a book proposal to a publishing house can be summed up in one sentence: Put in plenty of preparation time. Here she elaborates about what she looks for when reading a proposal and what writers can do to increase their chances of catching the eye of an acquisitions editor.

What can writers do before sending in a book proposal that will increase their chances of having it read?

One of the more important things is to research a publishing house and its imprints and send in what they want to see. If you look at one of our catalogs or browse our Web site you start to get a sense for the kinds of books we publish. If your book fits, great! Send it in! If it feels far off it’s probably going to get rejected quickly and there’s probably a different house that would be more appropriate. Try to familiarize yourself with the publishing house and submit accordingly.

How does reading a proposal help you decide to take on a project?

Writing a book and promoting it takes a lot of work. You may have a good idea, but you have to be willing to talk about that idea, think about that idea, write about it and come up with ways to promote it for a couple of years. It’s a huge part of your life, and I want to see that people have dedicated time and effort and resources to that idea before they decide to write a book about it.

What do you like to see in a proposal?

I want to have an overview that tells me, “This is my idea, this is how it fits into the marketplace and here’s my outline for the book.” But I also need to see that outline annotated with chapter summaries and at least one sample chapter. The other part of the proposal includes the marketing platform and the competition. What other books like this are out there and how is yours different? Who are you, what do you have to offer, what are your ideas for sales and marketing, how can you help promote the book?

What catches your interest?

I get excited when I read the basic concept for a book and think, “That’s a great idea. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before.” As I continue reading it’s a combination of how it’s executed, if the writing makes sense, if it’s well supported and if the author has a platform.

What role does platform play when you’re looking at projects?

It’s hugely important, especially for non-fiction. We’re looking for authors who are well known in their field, and who are going to help us reach their audience. But Ten Speed is a smaller house so we’re not necessarily looking for a national platform. It depends on the book. The author could have a really strong regional platform or a strong academic background or something else that will be interesting enough based on the topic of the book for the media to be excited about.

What questions do you ask yourself as you consider a project?

I think about sales and how we could position the project. Would I buy it? Are there people I know who would buy this book? Is there a fit for it on our list? Are there other books on our list that are similar that we’ve been successful marketing and selling so we have good contacts into whatever those markets are? Is the proposal clear? Are we really going to be learning something? Does the author have a good platform?

Is there anything specific you’re looking for now?

Because we’re a particular kind of publisher, we publish lifestyle non-fiction, so we’re always looking for the same thing. For Ten Speed it’s very practical, kind of quirky, how-to books. Most of the books we take on teach people how to do something, make a recipe or find a new spiritual path, get into college or find a new job. Because I’m also working with Celestial Arts and Crossing Press, I’m looking for inspirational, spirituality, health, nutrition, and parenting books as well. Celestial Arts publishes books on things like alternative medicine, natural pregnancy or organic approaches to feeding your kids. Crossing Press is really edgy, and that’s where you’d find things like energy healing, charkas or vibrational healing; things that are a little bit less mainstream.

We’re also dipping our toe in the craft-publishing world, and that’s been really fun. We’re looking for somebody who is doing something different with traditional craft.

Cindy Hudson writes for national trade magazines, regional magazines, online publications and daily newspapers. Her Web site, www.motherdaughterbookclub.com, and its companion blog, www.motherdaughterbookclub.wordpress.com, publishes reading lists, book reviews, author interviews and other book club resources. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Portland, Oregon, where she writes weekly for The Oregonian. Visit her online at www.cindyhudson.com.

Agent & Editor Insights for Getting Published
By Lori Russell

A little research can take a writer a long way. This month I talked with agent Rita Rosenkranz about what authors need to know before they send a query letter to an agent.

A former editor at major New York publishing houses, Ms. Rosenkranz founded Rita Rosenkranz Literary Agency in 1990. She represents adult non-fiction about health, history, parenting, music, how-to, popular science, business, biography, popular reference, cooking, spirituality and general interest titles.

What groundwork should a writer do before contacting an agent to pitch a book idea?

I’d suggest that authors investigate thoroughly the competition for their book, which includes the titles that are now considered classics and that all readers interested in this subject will buy, as well as the titles that are fresh on the market and are drawing attention. I handle non-fiction and most of the time I sell a project on the basis of a proposal and not a complete manuscript. When an author pitches me, either at a conference or through a query letter, I expect the author to understand the book’s place in the category, with the competition in mind. I prefer that the proposal is ready (or at least close to ready) to submit if I’m interested.

Finding the right agent can mean different things to different people. What suggestions do you have for writers who want to gain a deeper knowledge of the agents they are pitching?

I think many authors don’t consider the nuances of the agent/author relationship beforehand. More than to simply know they want an agent, authors should identify what matters most to them. Do they want an agent who will simply get them the most money or one who will help them become better writers and who will be available for matters large and small? More than ever, writers can learn about agents thanks to the Web. On many sites authors exchange experiences––offering recommendations, sob stories and everything in-between––undiluted and uncensored. Writer’s Digest, as well as other print and online venues, regularly profiles agents, offering writers a deeper sense of the agent’s personality, taste and approach to the author/agent relationship.

You advertise that you are interested in “familiar subjects presented freshly and less-known subjects presented commercially.” Can you give some examples?

I was instantly moved by Betty DeRamus’ Forbidden Fruit: Love Stories from the Underground Railroad. While the Underground Railroad had been mined extensively, no one had written about it from the lens of love, a mainstream and commercial perspective.

Harrison Monarth and Larina Kase are co-founders of TheConfidentSpeaker.com, a public speaking and communication coaching Web site. Monarth is the founder of GuruMaker, a professional speaking consultancy. Kase is a peak performance and anxiety management expert. Though there are many public speaking books on the market, in The Confident Speaker: Tap into Your Hidden Power to Communicate at Your Best, together these authors offer a uniquely informed perspective and can reach a wide readership.

Jim Kane’s Western Movie Wit and Wisdom gathers more than 2,000 quotations from more than 1,100 western movies. Iconic characters of the American West offer advice, words of wisdom, humor and an occasional historical fact. Although they were uttered in a western setting, they were about life. Jim’s approach makes the material popular and fun, helping to broaden the audience for this work.

Once a writer signs with an agent, what type and what frequency of contact can she or he expect?

It’s impossible for me to generalize, since writers have different needs and agents handle business differently. I personally want my authors to be in the loop in a real-time way, whether it involves rejections or other matters that can play a part in their well-being. At the same time, I’m sensitive to authors’ individual personalities and preferences. While maintaining my basic approach to the relationship, I’ll adapt wherever I can. This might mean not sharing rejections but only letting the author know when there is an offer.

You have worked in the publishing business for more than 20 years, first as an editor and then as an agent. How has the business changed over time? How has it stayed the same?

The business has changed tremendously thanks to the Web, where an author can cultivate and connect regularly with readers. The marketing potential is phenomenal. Many thousands of books are published every year and it’s harder to gain a foothold for a book that isn’t launched with any fanfare. Independent bookstores used to be able to build a book based on hand selling. Now there are significantly fewer independents to make that happen. Despite the extreme changes in the world over the last two decades, publishing remains a business built on relationships, a people business.

What is the most important thing for writers to know about agents?

There is great variety among us, in the kinds of writers we’re attracted to, our approach to the author/agent relationship, our editorial sense, our publishing connections, and our stick-with-it-ness, even when a project doesn’t win a publisher’s interest right away. This should give authors hope that within the large and diverse community of agents, there will be a perfect match.

Writers may query Ms. Rosenkranz via e-mail at rrosenkranz@mindspring.com.

Lori Russell is an award-winning writer who has had the pleasure to work with several great editors in her 17 years as a freelancer. She is a contributing editor to Columbia Gorge Magazine and has been a regular contributor to Ruralite for more than a decade. Her articles have appeared in newspapers and magazines throughout the country and her short fiction and poetry has been published in several journals and anthologies. Lori recently completed her first novel, Light on Windy River.