Writers often ask me about query letters—how to write them, what to put in them, what will hook me.
The problem is that I hate query letters. I much prefer a simple cover letter with the first three chapters (NOT three chapters randomly sampled from the book). This is why my submission guidelines explicitly say, “Please include a synopsis and first three chapters of the novel. Do not send the complete manuscript.” The cover letter just needs to let me know the basics about your manuscript: genre, plot synopsis/hook, intended audience (middle grade or YA), and perhaps your writing credentials. Usually I don’t even bother reading the cover letter until I’ve read a page or two of the partial—until I’m hooked on the actual writing, it just doesn’t matter to me.
Occasionally I’ll get an emailed query from someone who has obviously been to our website, where they could have easily found the submission guidelines (which are prominently linked), because they’re using our Contact Us email address to query. When I email back with the link to our submission guidelines and telling them they’re welcome to send the first three chapters and a synopsis per the guidelines, often what happens is that a few days later I’ll get a package in the mail with “REQUESTED MATERIAL” written on it.
So, as I’ve said before, asking you to follow the directions does not mean I have requested your manuscript. It just means that I’ve asked you to follow the directions so I can receive your material in a way that will allow me to give it all due consideration. Once I have read the partial, I may request to read the full manuscript. But until then, writing “requested material” on the envelope for something I know I haven’t requested just makes me believe you aren’t listening, and that makes me think that working with you might not be an enjoyable experience.
Most agents, however, prefer query letters. As do some editors. Their work preferences are different than mine. This is why it’s SO important to read submission guidelines.
What I’m watching: As you know, I’ve been on a Korean TV kick lately. You’re Beautiful, a HILARIOUS show about a nun candidate who takes her twin brother’s place in a boy band while he recovers from surgery. She has to hide the fact that she’s a girl from all the band members as well as the public, including some very nosy entertainment reporters and a nasty actress who everyone thinks is a beautiful, kind, fairy-like girl. IT IS HILARIOUS, y’all. You have to particularly see this clip, in which the lead singer of the band, Tae Kyung—who has teasingly called the main character both a piggy because she holds her nose when trying to keep her feelings in, and a bunny because he’s afraid of bunnies and and she tends to cause trouble (he was once bitten by a bunny)—does a little “surgery” to make a present for her and return a hair clip she lost.
The best part is that the humor is also really smart. Even when it’s goofy.
I love a guy who can wield a hot glue gun for a good cause.
I can’t help myself. I have to keep rewinding the part where he glances at the piggy after removing its nose, turns it over, and pats its butt.
And of course, the moment when Minam finds the piggy bunny has its own hilarity. Someone even made a gif. This will only make sense from having watched the show, I suppose, but I can’t help but share it.
So: Go watch it. If you like goofy romantic comedies, this one’s a smart one.
I have completed a server move. A little drama, but it was so worth it. I was finally able to update WordPress to a version that actually works, and the backend of my site actually works, and everything actually WORKS! It’s gorgeous. Now it makes me want to play with the theme and see if there’s anything that might look even better—this theme is a couple years old, after all.
More later, including the post that actually inspired this whole move—a post that 1 and 1’s servers kept giving me a 500 error in trying to post. By the way, if you ever are in the market for web hosting, I do NOT recommend 1 and 1. They don’t provide the basic infrastructure to run a current version of WordPress, among other infrastructure problems, and their customer service, though it was quite good when I first started with them years ago, is no longer any good. They’ll run you around in circles and never actually solve anything.
Bluehost, on the other hand, is a dream. They actually answer the phone, and when they do they’re able to quickly and accurately pinpoint the problem. It just took me over a day to figure it out because I had no idea what I was doing (copied over files that should self-propagate, put my WordPress installation files in the wrong folder on the server), but even so they got me sorted out fairly easily each of the three times I called. (I called this morning and we figured out I had the files in the wrong place, so I thought it was solved and hung up, only to realized there was another problem on top of that. Not their fault—I just thought I was okay and didn’t want to stay on the phone any longer than necessary.)
So. This is much better. I think I’ll actually be able to use my site from now on! Imagine that.
Just a few thoughts that combine from reading a couple recently published postapocalyptic trade books and some of the submissions I’ve been going through recently. This isn’t by any means a comprehensive list of things to think about—just a few things that struck me as a pattern in (some) recent reads (and something I notice when it’s done well).
I guess everything I want to say actually falls under the old (and very useful) “show, don’t tell.” And really, one doesn’t even have to apply to postapocalyptic writing, but it’s in a postapocalyptic book that I saw this problem, so here you go.
If you include newspaper clippings/stories as metatext to support the main narrative, make sure that it actually sounds like a news clipping. Use inverted pyramid structure, starting with the most important details and filling in backstory and history only once important details have been included.
One of my first publishing-related jobs in college was as a newspaper reporter, and the end of my stories—even my feature stories—often got chopped off for space. This is a particular form of writing that means your lede has to be an actual lede, not an introductory sentence, and you don’t include common-knowledge information (stuff all the characters would know because they live in that world) as an infodump in the second paragraph.
Less is more in post-apocalyptic worldbuilding.
We usually don’t need to know every detail of the apocalypse in the first chapter, or even by the end of the book. In fact, it usually just slows down the reading and even occasionally turns off a reader to be reminded in every sentence just how bad the world is because of global warming’s effect a hundred years ago or because we ran out of fossil fuels or because a great plague hit the world three hundred years ago. These things are common knowledge to the characters—or perhaps they’re lost knowledge for the character, depending on how long ago the apocalypse happened and how much technology/media had broken down in the years since.
But generally letting the reader know exactly what happened within the first chapter or two turns into an infodump or an as-you-know-Bob. Actually, what you want to do is revealed in that last link—I didn’t know there was a name for it! Incluing, at least according to Wikipedia (which is of course so reliable, but let’s go with it for now unless someone knows of a more technical term), is what you really want to do:
Reel out worldbuilding details little by little, cluing the reader in to worldbuilding details as they need the information (or slightly before, so as not to be jarring).
The best incluing example, the one I always go back to, is the first page or so of The Golden Compass, in which Lyra is talking to her daemon as they spy on a conversation in another room. We have no idea what a daemon is, even the basic concept of what one looks like, within the first page—that’s something Philip Pullman spools out to us little by little, creating a mystery, through small, specific details, that hooks us enough to make us want to know more.
These ideas are pretty basic, but so important in a good postapocalyptic tale, in my opinion. The only exceptions I can think of to not letting the reader know the cause of the apocalypse: zombie post-apocalypses, such as Carrie Ryan’s The Forest of Hands and Teeth (we know the cause of the apocalypse was zombies, because they’re everywhere; though we might not know the cause of zombies, we know the cause of the breakdown of society) and stories in which the apocalypse is currently happening, such as The Carbon Diaries (we see the breakdown of society through the main character’s eyes)—though in either case infodumps still won’t be appreciated.
But in general for most post-apocalyptic tales, I argue that less is more when it comes to revealing the cause of society’s death and allowing it to be a mystery that the reader discovers along the journey. Sometimes that journey will be figuring out why their current society is a dystopia, and hence figuring out the cause of the apocalypse that triggered this new society, but post-apocalyptic and dystopia aren’t synonymous, so sometimes it’ll simply be common knowledge that Earth that Was died in some way so we had to set out for the stars, or that in the characters’ great-grandparents’ generation a great plague swept the earth, or that global warming caused the world to become so flooded that people live on boats, fight over what little earth there is available on those boats, and evolve to grow gills and webbed feet.
Okay, Waterworld isn’t exactly the best example, but you could do worse for a short sweet example of how to worldbuild an apocalyptic backstory . . .
For those of you who submitted PARTIAL manuscripts, I am nearly up to date on everything that has come in up through June 1. I’ll post when I am, so that you’ll know that if you haven’t heard from me, the answer is no. But I’m still working my way through a few.
For those of you from whom I asked for FULL manuscripts, I’m working my way through that reading, getting back to people with editorial letters, feedback, or (sadly, yes) declines as necessary. I respond to full manuscripts; it just takes me a while. If it’s been more than four months since I got your manuscript, a reply to you might have slipped through the cracks. Feel free to follow up to see where your manuscript is in such a case. If it’s been less than four months, I should be getting back to you sometime this month.
Also, if you are a member of a writing community, listserv, message board, or other group for which this might be interesting—to which I haven’t already posted a call for submissions—you are welcome to share this around:
Call for submissions
TU BOOKS, an imprint of LEE & LOW BOOKS, publishes speculative fiction for children and young adults featuring diverse characters and settings. Our focus is on well-told, exciting, adventurous fantasy, science fiction, and mystery novels featuring people of color set in worlds inspired by non-Western folklore or culture. We welcome Western settings if the main character is a person of color.
We are looking specifically for stories for both middle grade (ages 8-12) and young adult (ages 12-18) readers. (We are not looking for picture books, chapter books, or short stories. Please do not send submissions in these formats.)
For more information on how to submit, please see our submission guidelines at http://www.leeandlow.com/p/tu_submissions.mhtml. We are not accepting unagented email submissions at this time.
What I’m particularly interested in seeing lately: Asian steampunk, any African culture, Latino/a stories, First Nations/Native American/Aboriginal fantasy or science fiction written by tribal members, original postapocalyptic worlds, historical fantasy or mystery set in a non-Western setting.
Just a little reminder of my personal editorial policy and Lee & Low’s company guidelines when it comes to submissions:
I am a bit slow in processing submissions. Sorry, I just have a lot on my plate that I’m juggling. I’m working on catching up on a LOT of submissions, and will be getting back to several authors soon with editorial letters to further the process, and to others with requests for more.
However, Lee & Low’s policy is to not respond to submissions for which the answer is no.
It’s a tough market out there and I can understand the frustration with policies like this from the point of view of a writer, but it is what it is. There’s only so much time in the day and we’re already kind of swamped.
So combine those two things, and I can understand why a writer might get a little testy if they haven’t heard from me after submitting their book to Tu. This is why my personal (not company) editorial policy is that for initial submissions, I don’t require exclusive submissions. I understand how long the process can be and if each writer has to wait months for each editor or agent to respond, it might take years to get through the process.
Well… it does take years anyway for some writers, and that’s just how it is, but to ease the pain, you are welcome to submit your work to other publishers or agents at the same time (who also are open to simultaneous submissions—you’ll want to watch out for those who require exclusives so as not to send it to an exclusive and a simultaneous at once; these days most writers just note in their cover letters that their submission is a simultaneous submission). But nowadays most people understand that you simply can’t wait months and months to hear back from an editor.
So that should resolve the need for anyone to tell me in their cover letter that they’re “giving” me an exclusive. It’s okay. You don’t have to. Really. It won’t hurry me up any—when I have copyedits to go over or printer proofs in to approve or whatever that is happening with books that are already in the pipeline, I’m afraid those books will usually if not always take precedence over submissions.
Here’s the reason for the need for this policy: other than an intern to be the first pair of eyes on submissions, I am the only person reading submissions for Tu Books at this time. That means I’m the only one editing all the books, the only one working with the designers and production on books about to go to press, the only one going through copyedits when we get them back from the copyeditor, the only one negotiating contracts, and pretty much anything to do with Tu Books on the editorial side of things other than people who come in for short parts of the process like acquisition committee members, copyeditors, and proofreaders (we of course have marketing and sales staff working on those things). So once the intern screens the obviously-not-right-for-us submissions (picture books, realistic books, adult books, main characters who aren’t POC, etc.), she gives me a reader’s report on the books she liked. But I still have to go through that pile of not-completely-wrong-for-us submissions and decide which to pursue, while also doing all the things an editor does in a day. And when I do have the time, I’ll usually spend that time working to further develop manuscripts that already looked promising from my last foray into the submission pile, reading full manuscripts and getting feedback to the authors and/or their agents, getting the manuscripts that are ready out to the acquisitions committee—and I’m backed up on that right now as well (catching up now!).
So I just wanted to gently remind writers that they are welcome to continue to submit widely at the initial stage, which for me is the “partial” stage because I hate queries (some editors who are open to unagented submissions ask for queries; my personal feeling is that I’d rather just see the writing and a synopsis).
I’m up to my gleezers, as Galaxy Games alien M’Frozza would say, in printer proofs for Fall books. I’ve been working on a post to expand the Examining Privilege section of the Beyond Orcs and Elves talk/posts, but haven’t quite found as succinct an approach as Scalzi’s Things I Don’t Have to Think about Today post. But I’ll have a few things to think about for writers as soon as I find some breathing room.
In the meantime, you should check out Diversity in YA if you haven’t yet. Especially libraries! They’re running a summer reading challenge, and the prize is free books for the winning library! There are two parts of the challenge, actually—one for libraries to diversify their collections/programs, and one for readers and book bloggers to diversify their reading. For more details, check it out over at their site.
I really love my job. A lot. I’ve been really busy at it for the last month or so, working toward getting Fall books out the door and working on acquiring/editing the books I’ve acquired for the next couple seasons. But what about outside of work? I’ve been thinking lately that part of my life isn’t so interesting.
Today I was hanging out with a friend and he asked me—my memory is fuzzy, but I believe in the context of me talking about yet another TV show I’ve watched—just what do I do after work. Maybe it’s because I was feeling like I don’t have much of a life—I’m still looking for my niche here in this city in many ways—I was a little embarrassed to admit that if I don’t have somewhere to be, I just go home and veg, watching a lot of TV. The answer would have involved WoW if I remembered to play anymore. I’ve gotten out of the habit these last few months.
But I’ve been thinking about it and I don’t know that I have much to be embarrassed about. Here’s my day: Out the door to work at 8:30, or even earlier if I have trash to carry down with me on my way out.
An hour commute; at work by 9:30. Work all day, yadda yadda. I officially get off at 5:30, but I generally don’t leave right away unless I have somewhere to go in the early evening. I usually end up working till at least 6, if not 7, because I’ve just got so much to do. A week ago Friday, I was at work till 10 pm because I had a project I was trying to finish (and ended up having to finish it Monday because I made myself go home at 10 with just 2 or 3 things left to finish).
But on a normal night I might get home, after errands/taking a walk/ etc., at 9 or 10 pm most weeknights! And it really IS okay to watch a little TV at ten o’clock at night. Or eight or nine.
That’s only one kind of weekday evening. Other nights I might leave early from work to attend a book event of some sort—a signing or reading or something. I’ll still get home just as late, but at least I’ve been out real-life socializing in the meantime. Or hang out with friends feeling guilty about how much TV I watch (not what the friend said—just my own thoughts in relation to the conversation).
Weekends are more varied. Some weekends I might stay in and marathon Doctor Who. Some I might be out on a bike ride in the afternoon and watching a movie with friends or playing WoW in the evening (that’s the plan for this weekend, only the video games will be on one of my friend’s consoles, not a MMORPG). Some I might be gathering for Korean barbecue or a movie. I’d like to start getting out with my camera in the late afternoons to practice my photography (I’m getting rusty) but haven’t really done it enough yet. Then there are the weekends that are consumed with mundanities like errands at Target and laundry.
So perhaps my life isn’t so boring as I think it is (except for the errands at Target and laundry). It’s just that I am busy enough in the weekdays that I have to remember to allow myself leeway in the evenings. So if you see me tweeting about yet another TV show, now you know why I do it.
The announcement came out in Publisher’s Marketplace today, so I can share it here, too!
Kimberly Pauley’s CAT GIRL’S DAY OFF, when a girl’s celebrity-addicted friends make her watch a viral Internet video, her secret “talent” to understand the language of cats catapults them into a celebrity kidnapping mystery with ties to Hollywood and Ferris Bueller’s Chicago, to Stacy Whitman at Tu Books, in a nice deal, for publication in Spring 2012, by Larry Kirshbaum at LJK Literary Management (World).
You might know Kim for her hilarious first novel SUCKS TO BE ME or her hilarious second novel STILL SUCKS TO BE ME. This one’s even funnier, and throws in a nice homage to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, as well. We’re well into the revision process, and this one is slated come come out spring 2012. The listing doesn’t say here, but it’s a YA.
I’ll have some pictures from BEA, hopefully, if my phone hasn’t corrupted them all, but until I figure all that out, here’s a fun one for you. I’ve posted before about how I’m currently in a Korean drama phase. Here’s one that will have enough action/sword fights/political intrigue for any fan of epic fantasy (though this is realistic) and enough romance for those who like their epics with love triangles. Set in the Joseun period of Korea’s history. I hadn’t realized before seeing this that Korea had a history of slavery, so that adds an extra layer to all the other things I’m learning (of course, taking everything with a grain of salt, given that any historical fiction will take artistic leeway and not necessarily be a true reflection of what really happened in real life).
The fight scenes are particularly cool to watch—integrating this fast-beating metal sound that’s completely anachronistic, but doing it so much better than, say, A Knight’s Tale, which I know a lot of friends loved.
Don’t believe the Hulu description, though—it conflates the brother of the heroine and the former-army-general-turned-slave. Here’s the DramaWiki description, which is a lot more useful.
Chuno follows the story of Lee Dae Gil, a man of high birth whose family was ruined when Won Ki Yoon, a slave, burnt down his house and escaped with his sister, Un Nyun, who was in love with Dae Gil. Driven by his desire for revenge, he survived his harsh years on the street and made his name as a slave hunter, dedicated in his pursuit to find Un Nyun, his first and only love. Song Tae Ha is a General of the Army who became a slave after being falsely accused of a crime he did not commit, and finds himself on the run from Dae Gil’s relentless pursuit. Both men become entangled in a love triangle with Un Nyun, who is no longer a runaway slave, but Kim Hye Won, a nobleman’s daughter.
Wikipedia’s description is a lot more detailed, if you are a little lost at the beginning. At first it was hard to keep certain characters straight, because it is definitely EPIC—but I’d suggest referring to Wikipedia only if you don’t mind a few spoilers, because some of what’s revealed in the Wikipedia description is only revealed in episodes 5, 6, or 7.
So, if you need another TV show to watch (as if any of us do, I suppose), check this out.
This won’t work on LJ or FB, so if you’re reading it there, click to my main site to see the first episode embedded right here: