Literary Agents: Are They Necessary?

           The answer to that question is yes and no.  It depends on how you want to publish your book.  If you are looking to publish with a large company, such as Simon and Schuster, then yes a literary agent is a must.  Some publishing companies will only accept your manuscript if a proposal is written up by a literary agent.  There are smaller publishing companies that will accept a manuscript directly from the writer.  In my opinion, it is best to start off at a small company before you make a move to a bigger well known company or even self-publish your books.

            A smaller publishing company can offer you all the same things a larger company can.  When you prove yourself with a smaller publishing company first, then a literary agent and a larger company may be more willing to accept your next manuscript.  Sales maybe slow going when you start out with a smaller company, but you need to promote, and promote as much as possible.  The more you promote your books, the better the sales will be.  When the sales increase, then you can take your next manuscript to a literary agent and have a proven track record.  With that, you can be signed onto a larger publishing company’s roster. 

            Self-publishing is another option for your first manuscript, just be sure to edit your manuscript.  If you have read over the manuscript to the point of not being able to see the mistakes, let another person read it before you self-publish it.  It can be another writer, or even an editor you hire.  After that person is done reading it, then let another person read it over to make sure nothing was missed.  Three sets of eyes on it will make sure there are no mistakes and it will be perfect for your readers.  There are plenty of sites that you can self-publish your books or pay to have them published.  Amazon even offers self publishing for the Kindle and on Createspace.  Selling books through Amazon will, most likely, be the best way to go.  

How to Write a Mystery Novel

Many people dream of writing a great mystery novel, a real who done it? There are many mystery novelists who have perfected the craft, James Patterson, Patricia Cornwell, Sue Graton, and many others. These particular novelists create series out of a few key characters. While they are masters at the craft of creating a mystery novel series, there were definite steps they took to creating their first mystery novel.

The first thing that is necessary is the preliminary steps of picking. You will have to pick a protagonist, the person who is going to solve the mystery. This person can be picked based on his or her job, or by his or her personality. For instance, if you are not using a police officer, then the person can be nosy, investigative, driven, avenging, funny, or sardonic. You will need to pick the type of mystery you want to write. It can be a very police oriented, or an academic type of novel, a cozy mystery, or a historical recount of events. Picking the field of work your main character does will be next on your agenda. He or she can be a part of any type of police force, or be an average person who gardens. If you visit your local bookstore or library, you will see that a person who solves a mystery can do anything. Next you have to pick the voice you are going to write the book in. It can be first person voice or third person voice, or you can make it a combination of both. You can pick the tone of the mystery novel. The novel can be funny, serious, or a combination of both. You must pick the additional characters that will help the story move along. These characters can be sidekicks, law enforcement helpers, bad guys, and good guys. This is the part of a series where you decide which characters will continue on to other books and which characters are for only this book. The last part of the preliminary picking steps is picking whether to outline or not. You can use a full outline or index cards or charts.

Your next step to writing a mystery novel is to begin the writing process. The first page of your novel should set the tone for the rest of the novel. You should get into the story. For example, think of something exciting happening to you and you are telling a friend about it. This is how you should approach the writing of the novel. You are your character. You should tell the story in steps. You can add characters along the way as you need them. You have to let the characters speak for you in whatever way needed. It can be bad language, a nasty personality, or a kind personality. You have to set up your story to have points of conflict and danger. There will need to be characters that stand in the way of the crime being solved and things need to happen to your character along the way. You will need to create a murder within the first 50 pages of the novel. This will give a reason for the protagonist to begin snooping around. When you are ending a chapter, create a cliffhanger. You will want your reader to read on. Set up some false leads through the book to keep your reader guessing. Lead the reader to the solution with little clues and hints, but not too much information. You never want them to guess the mystery until the end. If you are writing a novel where the culprit is known from the beginning, then it has to be structured to where the reader knows more than the hero. If you have done some research for the character of your novel, then you have to be sure to include the information in a way it does not slow down the progress of the story.  When you are writing the end, you have two ways to consider ending the novel. You can leaved your reader with the fulfillment that the mystery was solved, or you can leave them confounded by the out come, which will make them pick up the next in the series. You never want to end your novel with a thud.

         The final thing you want to do when you are writing a mystery novel is execute good work habits. Like any job, writing is working on a project daily. You have to set a schedule to write a certain amount of pages a day. Make sure to work through to the end as fast as you possibly can. Revise your draft at least five times before you read it aloud to someone or to yourself. Print out the draft and edit it on paper, not the computer screen. Be sure to check for spelling and grammar errors. During the editing process, you will have to be sure that the key points to the story make sense. You have to be sure that you are consistent throughout the novel. The facts, plot points, names, methods and murders all match up. Save the final version of the manuscript on a disk. Prepare a final outline of the entire book. You will want to send the out line with some sample chapters, generally the first 50 pages of the manuscript to a literary agent or publishing company

How to write a Short Story

           If you want to be a writer, but you are unsure if writing a novel is the best way to go, then begin by writing a short story or a series of short stories. There are many people who would rather read a short story than an entire novel. There have also been novels that are a series of short stories. These stories can be turned into movies, TV series, and may spawn longer novels. Some of the most famous short story writers include Ray Bradbury, Edgar Allan Poe, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Updike, Stephen King, and O. Henry. You could end up in the same categories as these writers. Taking steps to create a short story is essential, if you want to end up like the famous writers.

First, you have to study the language. Studying the art of writing is the best way to begin. Read short stories and novels. Read current short stories and classics. The classics will teach you more about writing than the current stories. Keep a journal; write letters, not just emails to friends and families. You can even take writing courses. All of these things will help you hone your skills as a writer and teach you the art of writing.

Secondly, you have to have an idea of the story you wish to write. A skilled writer can come up with an idea in a flash. Inspiration can come from anywhere. For instance, in Stephen King’s new novel, Full Dark, No Stars, he got his inspiration for one story watching a truck driver change a tire. Another story’s inspiration came from walking along the road and seeing a road side stand. A new writer needs to figure out how to take those moments of inspiration and build upon them. For instance, say there was an important time in your life that you want to write about, perhaps, a vacation. What is it about that vacation that you want to write about? How can you expand on it to make it capture the reader? You have to take you initial concept and expand on it. 

For instance, say you want to write about your trip to Rocky Mountains. You could begin by saying “The summer we spent in the Rocky Mountains.” Then you can expand on this. Say you met someone who seemed a bit shady. “The mountaineer the summer we spent in the Rocky Mountains” becomes your concept. Then you have to figure out what made him shady, perhaps, you could see him committing murders. “The mountaineer who murdered over a dozen people the summer we spent in the Rocky Mountains” becomes the idea for your story.  You can start with this concept and move into your angle.

Thirdly, you have to figure out what direction your story is going to go. Will you cover all of the murders? Will you speak of how he came after you and you escaped, only to find out later how many people he did murder? Will you talk about how he was captured and then you found that he was plotting your murder next? There are dozens of ways you can take the story. If you cannot take the idea and expand on it, then you should rethink your idea all together.

Fourthly, you have to map out your scenes. Having the idea and direction is a great start, but you have to outline your scenes, so you can keep on task. For a short story, there should be about ten pages worth of writing, so three good scenes will be necessary. Let’s use the murdering mountaineer concept as an example.

You could go with: (1) Meeting the mountaineer at the Ranger’s Station; (2) seeing someone outside your bedroom window; (2) encountering the mountaineer on a walk through the woods.

Or another way to go is (1) Meeting the mountaineer at the Ranger’s station where he questions you and warns of the murders happening; (2) reading about the murders in the newspaper; (3) police showing up at your home to tell you about the murder plot to end your life.

The outline you create for the story can be loose and just general ideas of where you want to take the story or it can be very tight and concise.

Fifthly, character development needs to happen. There should be no more than four main characters. You can have as many minor players as you want, but they should not stand in the way of story development. You now have all the basic needs to write your story.

Sixthly, it is time to write. Be enthusiastic about the project. Writing should be as fun for you as when you first learned to ride a bike or danced. Putting life into the story should be your main goal. You will be able to see something from a new perspective for the first time. This should give you the life and enthusiasm you need.

The last thing you will need to do is edit. Editing does not only fix the mistakes that happen your first time out of the gate, but it is meant to make the story shine. No story is written perfectly the first time. Every story needs to be set aside and edited a couple of times before submitted to a publisher. There are writers who will put their stories through 30 to 50 editing cycles before they are satisfied with it. You will learn to know when you have done all the editing you possibly can. The story will not improve with another edit.

The best thing you can do to enhance your writing skills is practice. Write, write, and write more.  If you think this is what you really want to do with your life, then keep doing it. It is the only way you may become good at it and receive recognition.

Social Media, Your Career, Your Reputation

Social Media

The impact social media sites have on your reputation or business can be great. These sites have to be used with care. Being careful of what you say and how you say it is very important when you are utilizing one of these sites for personal and professional purposes. When a person uses one of these sites for business, it is important that the person use his or her words wisely. Taking the time to really think about what you are going to say to promote your business, product, or service, can capture the attention of the reader. If you are able to grab his or her attention, then you can possibly sell your service or product and bring attention to your business. When you are using the sites for personal use, being careful of what you say is especially important. Employers will search for you online. If you have posted something about someone or something that they disapprove of, then you will most likely not get the job. Your digital foot print is very important when it comes to all aspects of your life.

Keeping your posts to the allotted 140 characters or fewer will help to get a message across that is meaningful and engaging to your readers.  For instance, when I am promoting a book I have written, I make sure to make my post relevant to the month, season, or reason you should buy it and include a link to it. Here is an example of my promotion for my cook book:

“With the holidays fast approaching, learn how to spend more time with your family and less time in your kitchen.” http://www.publishamerica.net/product25673.html

This approach appeals to people with families who lack the time to spend with them throughout the holiday season.  This book was written to appeal to families and those that simply are too busy to cook a meal everyday. Keeping within the theme of the book allows me to promote it to its fullest extent and for its intended purposes.

This is one of the ways you can use social media to your advantage. There are many more ways to use it. It is just a matter of thinking before you type out those words.