Tag: Publishing

Writing a Query Letter

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on July 13, 2023

A Look at Writing a Query Letter

Now that you want to get your work published, it’s time to write a query letter!

It’s understandable to be a bit anxious about this. Practice will help a lot, and not just with writing better queries, but also with your nervousness.

Understand that many famous authors received several rejections before a publisher took a chance on them. So keep on plugging and try not to get discouraged.

Query Letter Basics

First things first: always do what the publisher says you should do. Seriously.

Queries are cover letters accompanying your submissions to a publisher or agent. They can vary in length, but Job One is always to do what the recipient wants. That is, if the recipient wants it as an attachment, send an attachment.

If they want it in the body of the email or sent via snail mail or faxed, then do that. Double-spaced? Do it. Times New Roman font? Why, that’s suddenly your favorite font, too!

The last thing you want to do is annoy the recipient of your letter. So follow directions to the letter. Unsure of an instruction? How about asking on Twitter? Do not let your manuscript get a rejection under a technicality.

Rather than giving you an example, it’s probably best to link to a successful modern query letter. Now imagine your work, with a showcase like that. Change the genre if necessary, the character names, etc., and you’ve got the bare bones of a query letter.

Suggestion: check several successful query letters, particularly those which are fairly recent and are in your genre. If they are the queries which your actual target admires, then so much the better.

Some Advice and a Little Hope for the Future

Keep plugging. Queries are a rite of passage for every author. At least, for every writer who wants to be published. They will get easier as you keep on doing them.

Rejection is also a rite of passage. They are not fun, and no one should ever pretend that they are. There is no reason to put on a brave face and claim they’re wonderful. They aren’t.

Sticking close to requirements and staying in the correct genre lane (i.e. if you write romance, query a romance publisher or agent, not one that specializes in horror) will help.

Keep on trucking. And if you need to take a break from it, then do so. No one is holding a gun to your head (at least, I sure as hell hope they aren’t). Publishers, agents, and querying will be there tomorrow, I swear.

You can do it!

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Writing a Blurb

Publishing, Published, Positive Reviews, Middling Reviews, Bad Reviews, Teasing, Blurb, Query letter, Elevator pitch, teasers, pitmad, rejection, Easter eggs, Starting, Digital Publishing Game, pocket conflicts, Manuscript Wish List, Reading, Submission Guidelines, Set Dressing, Hairstyles and Costumes, Aroma vs Odor or Stench, Mixing a Score in Words and Music, Disgusting vs Delicious, Hot or Cold, Publishing Stats,

Writing a Blurb

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on April 18, 2023

Are You in the Thinking About Writing a Blurb?

Have you ever written a blurb for a book? Here’s how.

You Have GOT to Grab the Reader’s Attention

The most effective blurbs are:

• short
† specific as to genre (never be coy; if it’s horror, then say so!)
• open about who the protagonist is
† spoiler-free
• not a rehash of the first chapter or the entire plot
† neutral about the quality of your work (don’t say: this is an incredible book. Your saying that does not make it so. Sorry.)

So keep in mind – these are not the same as the summary you write for a query.

Blurb Samples

In this fantasy tale, Dorothy is whisked away by a twister to an unknown magical land. But first she has to deal with the quite literal fallout of her house landing on, and killing, a wicked witch.

Blurbs give us an idea about the story, and they make us want to read more. Also, a blurb for The Wizard of Oz would likely be longer than the above. The idea would be to better reflect the work’s complexity and length. It would likely cover more than just the opening scenes.

While a long book does not need to have a long blurb, it at least could conceivably support one. However, a short novel probably would not.

Unless, of course, you’ve written The Great Gatsby or To Kill a Mockingbird.

Spoiler alert: you probably have not.

Yet.

Some More Blurb Samples

Reclusive millionaire Jay Gatsby leads the good life in 1920s New York. As his friend Nick Carraway watches, Gatsby’s life takes a turn with the arrival of the all-too appealing yet all-too married Daisy Buchanan.

Or –

Scout and Jem Finch live in Alabama with their widowed father, Atticus, the town’s leading lawyer. It’s the 1930s, and Maycomb seems far from sophistication or enlightenment.

And so the trouble starts when a black man is accused of raping a white woman – and Scout’s father agrees to defend the accused.

Get in Some Practice

We all have to start somewhere, and we have all got to practice.

Yes, even you.

This is a skill like any other. Or, rather, it is unlike any other. And a lot of us can become paralyzed with fear and self-doubt when we try. That is totally understandable.

After all, a lot is riding on just a simple blurb.

So, start small.

I honestly think practicing on classic novels is a good idea. It’s not fraught with meaning because you’re not trying to sell anything.

In fact, I bet it would make a pretty cool game. That is, write a blurb, don’t give away the title, and then ask the other player to Name That Book.

Takeaways

Practicing on works that are not your own can help you get started. It’s a lot easier because there is nothing riding on writing a blurb for a novel you did not write.

Get in some practice and give yourself some grace. It won’t be perfect immediately. But much like with an elevator pitch, you’ll find that the more you practice, the better you get at it.

Back to you.

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PitMad on Twitter

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on February 17, 2022

he Late, Lamented PitMad on Twitter

Oh PitMad, why hast thou forsaken us?

Sadly, I am here to report that PitMad is no more.

So had you ever seen the #PitMad hashtag on Twitter? But, why should you have cared about PitMad?

So, let’s take a look at what PitMad was.

What was #PitMad?

PitMad was a quarterly pitch session on Twitter. So essentially what you would be doing was tweeting about your work. But it was only on specific dates, and agents and publishers were watching.

In addition, it only happened in March, June, September, and December.

It was a great idea. Agents and publishers would essentially scour the Twittersphere, searching for anyone using the hashtag. And, preferably, also using a genre hashtag or two. If an agent liked your pitch, then that was an invitation to query, or at least pitch a bit more.

Your friends could rally around you and offer their support by retweeting your tweets—but liking them was considered to be a faux pas.

When it was still going on, I would dive deep into hashtag and search for people who had not been retweeted much, if at all. And I would retweet them, either with words of encouragement or a comment about how interesting their premise sounded.

And if it were to return, I would do the same. Other writers aren’t my competition. After all, how many books do you have in your home or on your phone or e-reader?

How many are in the library? Your book most likely won’t knock mine out of any of those places. And mine won’t do that to yours, either.

Getting Ready With PitMad Hashtags

So you could do yourself a favor, and create your tweets in advance. As in, today.

The idea was to know what to tweet. And you wanted to be able to fit both the #PitMad hashtag into your tweet, but also the hashtag specific to your genre. So, according to Sub It Club and Brenda Drake, the hashtags were as follows:

Main Hashtags for PitMad

† #AC – Action
• #AD – Adventure
† #BIZ – Bizarro Fiction
• #CON – Contemporary
† #CR – Contemporary Romance
• #E – Erotica
† #ER – Erotic Romance
• #ES – Erotica Suspense
† #F – Fantasy
• #FTA = Fairy Tale Retelling
† #GN = Graphic Novel
• #H – Horror
† #HA – Humor
• #HF – Historical Fiction
† #HR – Historical Romance
• #INSP – Inspirational
† #LF – Literary Fiction

• #M – Mystery
† #MA = Mainstream
• #Mem – Memoir
† #MR – Magical Realism
• #NF – Non-fiction
† #P – Paranormal
• #PR – Paranormal Romance
† #R – Romance
• #RS – Romantic Suspense
† #S – Suspense
• #SF – SciFi
† #SFF – Science Fiction & Fantasy
• #SH = Superhero
† #SHRT = Short Story Collection
• #SPF = Speculative Fiction
† #STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics
• #T – Thriller
† #TT = Time Travel
• #UF – Urban Fantasy
† #VF = Visionary Fiction
• #W – Westerns
† #WF – Women’s Fiction

Age Categories

So, per the Pitmad site, you had to use an age category. And here they were:

• #A – Adult
† #C – Children’s
• #CB – Chapter Book
† #MG – Middle Grade
• #NA – New Adult
† #PB – Picture Book (this is the youngest age category)
• #YA – Young Adult

Added Hashtags (Optional)

† #DIS = Disability subject matter
• #IMM = Immigrant
† #IRMC = Interracial/Multicultural subject matter
• #LGBT = LGBTQIA+ subject matter
† #MH = Mental Health subject matter
• #ND = Neurodiverse subject matter
† #OWN = Own Voices
• #POC = Author is a Person of Color

Older Hashtags

† #AA – African American (might not be used anymore?)
• #CF – Christian Fiction (might not be used anymore?)

So there did not seem to be particular hashtags for Zombies or Vampires or the like.

What Were The Rules?

Per Ms. Drake and PitchWars (run by the same people), the rules were:

† You could only pitch complete, polished manuscripts. This meant, no works in progress were allowed!
• So, you couldn’t pitch anything already published, no matter how many changes had been made to it.
† You had to keep the feed clear, so you were not supposed to favorite your friends’ pitches. But you could always retweet and even add commentary to the original post with the #PitMad hashtag.
• Also, you were not supposed to tweet agents or publishers unless they tweeted you first.
† Plus you had to be courteous and professional, of course.

• In addition, if you couldn’t be there, you could use HootSuite or TweetDeck to schedule your pitches.
† You could only pitch three times during a dedicated #PitMad day. And the tweets had to differ somehow, even if it was just a difference of a period.
• But if you had more than one MS to pitch, you would get three tweets per MS.
† Finally, if you were invited to submit a manuscript, you had to be sure to put PitMad Request: TITLE in the subject line of your email when sending your request. Plus, of course, you had to follow all other submission guidelines for the requestor.

What was the Schedule?

It was March, June, September, and December. Also, the times were 8 AM – 8 PM, Eastern Time.

For 2021, the dates were:

• March 4
† June 3
• September 2 (hey, that’s my birthday!)
† December 2

Note: all of these were Thursdays.

Pitmad: Takeaways

So, I am keeping the hashtags in this post because they are still useful on Twitter. Publishers and agents are still there—they’re just not running under the auspices of PitMad anymore.

All in all, there are still many agents and publishers out there. Consequently, you need to get their attention!

So you’d better get crackin’!

And Now a Word About Twitter, in 2023

So, it’s probably just as well that Pitmad has gone to that great tweet in the sky, for Twitter itself is currently on the brink. Of course, that could change tomorrow. But right now, things look a little grim.

However, while there have been some alternatives (I’m looking at you, Post and Mastodon), they are a bit lacking for one reason or another. Mastodon has a ton of individual servers (a bit like Discord). But these seem to be silos.

How do you find all your friends? Post seems just to be so new and not very big yet.

Bluesky, though, is looking quite promising indeed!

So, even if PitMad were to be resurrected, those platforms aren’t necessarily the best new home for it. Perhaps they will be in time. But right now, despite its clear current problems, Twitter still has its place.

But don’t count out Bluesky.

Want More About Twitter AKA X?

If my experiences with X resonate with you, then check out my other articles about Twitter/X. While it’s now got a new name, and has changed considerably, a lot of these tips will still work—and often with other social media platforms as well.

Almost Everything But the Tweet

• Starting a Twitter Stream
† Demystifying Twitter
• Twitter, Social Media and Professionalism
† Conquering Twitter (verbal elements)
• Conquering Twitter (visual elements)
† Optimizing Twitter
• Conquering Twitter (metrics and timing)
† Conquering Twitter (offsite connections)
• Getting More Twitter Followers

And, if you’re a fellow writer, you may want to check out:
† PitMad on Twitter

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Libraries—How to Get Your Book into Them

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on November 18, 2021

Shh, this is about libraries!

Getting into Libraries

Libraries are the unsung heroes of the American (and other countries’) educational system. They are where people look for jobs, listen to lectures, or teach themselves all sorts of things.

They are also a marvelous home for your newly-published book.

Connections

First of all, you probably can’t just write to or visit every library in creation. While writing is something of a numbers game, it won’t do you much good to just launch your book at all the libraries out there. You need to have a plan.

The best and easiest plan is to go with a library where you have some sort of a connection. Did you grow up in Cleveland, go to college in Dallas, and are now settled in St. Louis? Then try your local library from when you were growing up. Don’t try every single Ohio or even Cleveland library. The same is true of Dallas, plus you may want to try your alma mater. For St. Louis, do yourself a favor and get a library card before you even start. They want to know you, at least a little bit. So go and let them at least know that much about you.

The Approach

I’m going to give you three approaches.

With the Book

Take your book with you, in a purse or tote bag or backpack. Ask to speak to whoever is in charge of acquisitions. Go to them, book in hand, and explain how you are related to the library. E. g. “I grew up down the street, on Parkland Road.” or “I just got a card three months ago.”

Now explain what you’re doing. “I’m a first-time author. This is my book. It’s about ____.”

At minimum, tell them the genre. I find it’s helpful to tell them either where it’s shelved elsewhere (is it science fiction or fantasy, for example). Also tell them whether the work has any triggers or heavy sex or violence scenes. Mention if it is LGBT-friendly. This isn’t just a courtesy to help keep small children from taking out works with explicit sex scenes. It also helps the library decide how they are going to display the work and what they are going to say if anyone asks them about it.

Then give them the book. Yes, just hand it over. Make sure it’s a perfect new copy. Do not give them a signed copy. Why not? Because those can potentially be stolen. In addition, the library has to think ahead. Your book will probably end up in their book sale, and maybe even in less than a year. A pristine copy is easier for them to sell.

Without the Book

No book? No problem! Come over with a business card instead. Again, ask to speak with whoever is in charge of acquisitions. Explain who you are and what your book is about. Hand over your business card. And if you’ve got the ISBN handy, then write it on the back. But also get their address of where you can send the work. Don’t make them ask for it. You have to do all the legwork here.

On the Phone

This one is similar to when you go in but don’t have a copy of the book with you. Again, ask to speak to whoever is in charge of acquisitions, and explain about your work. Make it clear the book is free to them. Then ask for their shipping address, and whose name should it be addressed to. And the best part about this approach (or if you need to mail the book for any reason) is, you can just have Amazon ship it to them and send it as a gift.

What do You Want in Return From Libraries?

Pictures. Yes, really! Tell them you will do this if they take pictures of your book on their shelves and send the images to you. Explain you are going to use them in your marketing campaign. And then do so, making sure to thank them profusely and link back to any libraries which help you out.

Libraries: Takeaways

You just sold another book! Never mind that it was to yourself. You still sold one, and that counts for Amazon’s rankings system. Plus your book now is in a position to be seen by others. And the librarian knows your title. Finally, I have personally found talking to librarians to be easy. Because you’re not really selling. Instead, you’re giving them a donation. Libraries want authors to succeed.

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Blurbs, Queries, Teasers, and Elevator Pitches

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on August 17, 2021

Blurbs, Queries, Teasers, and Elevator pitches — oh my?

Among blurbs, queries, teasers, and elevator pitches – which is which?

Blurbs

Blurbs are short promotional pieces. They used to just stay on the backs of books, but now a blurb can serve as the copy you read on an Amazon author or book page. They can even be the snippet pulled by search engines for a page.

The best blurbs are:

• short
† specific as to genre (don’t be coy; if it’s erotica, then say so!)
• open about who the protagonist is
† spoiler-free
• not a rehash of the first chapter or the entire plot
† neutral about the quality of your work (don’t say: this is an amazing book. ‘Cause then it probably isn’t. Sorry.)

In this fantasy tale, Alice is intrigued by a strange white rabbit. Even stranger, he’s wearing a waistcoat, checking a pocket watch, and complaining that he’s going to be late!

Queries

Furthermore, queries are cover letters accompanying your submissions to a publisher or agent. They vary in length, but Job One is always to do what the recipient wants. That is, if the recipient wants it as an attachment, send an attachment. Double-spaced? Do it. Times New Roman font? Why, that’s suddenly your favorite font, too!

Rather than giving you an example, it’s probably best to link to a successful modern query letter. Now imagine your work, showcased like that. Change the genre if necessary, the character names, etc., and you’ve got the bare bones of a query letter.

Suggestion: check several successful query letters, particularly those which are fairly recent and are in your genre. If they are the queries beloved by your actual target, then so much the better.

Teasers

In addition, teasers usually go a bit longer. You use them to generate excitement. Teasers often end with a question, but they don’t have to.

Alice is bored and sleepy on a lazy, sunny afternoon spent with her sister. But then she spots a white rabbit wearing a waistcoat and checking a pocket watch. The rabbit says he’s going to be late! Should Alice follow him? What’s down that rabbit hole, anyway?

Elevator pitches

Finally, elevator pitches are, just like when you are looking for a job, the kinds of quick sales pitches done on the fly when someone turns to you and says, “You’re a writer. So, what’s your book about?”

Don’t just stand there! You’ve got to be ready.

Imagine if animals started talking, and they told you what to do in a topsy-turvy world.

My book is about Alice; she’s a young girl, a little bored on a sunny afternoon, when she spots a white rabbit. The odd thing about this rabbit is, he’s wearing clothes and talking. She follows him down a rabbit hole, but then she can’t get out.

That’s less than 70 words, and the person asking has the basic plot, the name of the heroine, and a reason to want to know more.

Back to you.

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Tag: Publishing

Writing a Query Letter

A Look at Writing a Query Letter

Query Letter Basics

Some Advice and a Little Hope for the Future

Like this:

Writing a Blurb

Are You in the Thinking About Writing a Blurb?

You Have GOT to Grab the Reader’s Attention

Blurb Samples

Some More Blurb Samples

Get in Some Practice

Takeaways

Like this:

Blurbs, Queries, Teasers, and Elevator Pitches

Blurbs, Queries, Teasers, and Elevator pitches — oh my?

Blurbs

Queries

Teasers

Elevator pitches

Like this: