Hello, writers.
Never, ever sign anything with any agent or publisher whom you haven't checked out at Writer Beware or Preditors and Editors.
Since banner ads for writing-related "services" are appearing at the top of the page, I want to take a minute to discuss
What Writers Should and Shouldn't Pay For
Some self-publishing companies tell you that because you're new, you should expect to "share the risk" (ie, pay to have your book published). @#$% that. You are already sharing the risk by spending a year or more writing and revising your book knowing it may never see print. That's plenty of risk, thanks. Legitimate publishers do not ask first time writers to "share the risk".
Self-publishing companies will also charge you for editing services, cover design, publicity-- a host of things that legitimate publishers will not charge you for.
A new twist in the self-publishing racket is to charge nothing upfront but provide a contract with a clause saying that you will pay a kajillion dollars if your book fails to sell 500 copies. And often your only way out of that is to buy the 500 copies yourself, or most of 'em.
/rant
(There are, as I've said before, three good reasons to self-publish. If you have one of those reasons, go for it. But you should consider lulu.com, which is far cheaper than any of the other companies.)
Other things you probably shouldn't pay for: an editing service. Your manuscript is your school for teaching yourself everything you need to know about writing, and that includes self-editing. Read books about self-editing. Join a critique group. Take a class. Better you should learn all you want to know about this stuff than pay someone else who may not even be qualified.
You should not pay a manuscript submission service, especially as some blogging editors and agents say they auto-reject anything that comes from a manuscript submission service.
You should pay for writing workshops and classes that you think might improve your writing. You should pay for books about writing, but first you should try to get them from the library so you can make sure they're not crap, which a lot of 'em are.
Membership in writers' clubs and professional organizations that provide something useful are worth paying for. You might also want to pay for writing conferences, if the sessions look interesting and the presenters are people you want to hear.
I am not sure if you should pay for additional publicity services beyond what your publisher is providing. There is much debate on the internets over this one. But if you do, then make sure you get some decent refs for the publicist you hire. Don't just pick someone off teh Google.
Revisions and NaNoWriMo
Okay, everybody here already knows that what you have at the end of NaNoWriMo is a draft, not a novel, right? I mean I assume y'all know that at least nine-tenths of writing a novel is in the revision. You need to draft so you'll have something to revise.
For those in the revision stage, the Intern (who seems wise beyond what I can only assume are her years) has instituted NaNoRevisMo. So far, she's discussed fact-checking, including what she calls emotional fact-checking (would my character really do this?) and the importance of havingconflict throughout your book.
Donald Maass calls the latter "conflict on every page". It's what keeps the reader turning pages. Btw his Writing The Breakthrough Novel Workbook is a good book to read while revising. But not a great book. You should get it out of the library rather than run out and buy it.
This past week I've read John Grisham's The Appeal (moral: Republicans are evil and Yankees ditto) and Gennifer Choldenko's Al Capone Does My Shirts. In both books things get worse for the main characters with every succeeding chapter. And worse. And worse. This is what you want when you're revising... crank it up. Drive your poor little protagonist to the wall.
(But bear in mind that having cranked it up, you've got to have an ending that lives up to all the cranking. No cop-outs. Sigh. I'm afraid the aforementioned authors copped out a little.)
Last week a number of people said they were planning to do NaNoWriMo (with or without signing up), and Mnemosyne went through the comments and found 'em all. People who are shooting for 50k words by 11/30: Mnemosyne, cfk, James Rhetor, ems97007, alpolitics, Deejay Lyn, txdemfem, terrypinder and me.
If I missed anyone, give a holler. And if you want to give us your word count I'd love to post it up here in a little grey textbox, not for the sake of competition but just following each other's progress.
Write On! will be a regular Thursday feature (8 pm ET) until it isn't. Be sure to check out other great lit'ry diaries like:
sarahnity's books by kossacks on Tuesdays
plf515's What Are You Reading? on Wednesday mornings.
cfk's bookflurries on Wednesday nights.
Your happy writing links for the week:
The New York Times calls Glenn Beck Oprah for thriller writers.
Here's a rejection for writers to send to their loved ones. Sheesh, are writers really that maladjusted? I mean, I know I am, but I assumed you weren't.
On seeking a publisher when your first few novels didn't exactly set the world on fire.
A large Christian publisher has opened a self-publishing division, something that other publishers are probably watching with interest. (The unusual thing about that article is the reporter's skepticism about self-publishing.)
How to cut out thousands of words from your manuscript.
The guru sent this Travel Story Writing Contest. It appears to be legit. No fee, 11/30 deadline, $1000 first prize. Writer Beware has no objection to BookRix, beyond the usual caveat that posting your work online is publishing it.