Writer In Residence
  • Inside the Writer’s Head with Emma Carlson Berne

Monthly Archives: November 2018

Inside the Writers Head: November 26

Posted on November 29, 2018 by admin Posted in Uncategorized .

When do you call it quits on being a paid writer?

What is your favorite exercise for overcoming rejection?

What do you do with “nibbles” but nonetheless rejected?

I sent my query letter to 60+ literary agents (following all their requirements as specified on their websites). No one asked me to send them the manuscript for consideration. Apparently no one liked my concept/plot. What do you suggest next?

Besides drinking hemlock? Just kidding, of course.

The above are questions written by participants in my September workshop and boy, do they touch the core of my heart. Rejection—every writer’s favorite topic. And one we can never escape. It’s part of the job! our friends remind us bracingly. Never stop sending your novel out! Never give up! Stephen King got 80 rejections! J.K. Rowling got 24,837! Tolkien got 3,626,304,726!

It’s a little hard to take, sometimes. I myself have a novel out on submissions at this very moment and I’ve received not one, not two, not three but four rejections so far, all from major editors, all carefully crafted and all identifying different areas of my work that really are just not quite right. One thinks the tone is spot-on, but she’s not had success with horse books recently. One just bought a horse book and can’t buy another. One thinks the tone is off. One thinks the protagonist is treacly. One thinks the protagonist is too angry.

“What it’s like,” I explained to my future sister-in-law recently, “is receiving a bad performance review at your job—but every two weeks. All year. Every single year. Each of these bad performance reviews will be different, mind. Each will identify a different area in which you need to improve. And you will read one, and digest it, and pep talk your way through it and resolve to stay strong. And then, just when you’re climbing out of your hellhole—bam! Another one will pop up in your in-box. And you’ll start all over. Did I mention that’s forever?”

Writerly rejection is, of course, part of the game. It goes with the territory. There’s no magic bullet. Just fill in your own cliché here. The best I can offer is that it’s here, it sucks, and it’s universal. Take some cold comfort in that. And know that your writer friends will commiserate endlessly—because they’re going through it too.

Inside the Writers Head: November 14

Posted on November 14, 2018 by Sandy Bolek Posted in Emma Carlson Berne .

Y’all come!

This Saturday, November 17th, is our last 2018 Writer-in-Residence workshop! On January 1, I’ll hand over the reins to the new, extremely awesome WIR and while I’ll be pretty damn sad to leave you all, I’ll also feel better knowing you’re going to be learning so much from the new WIR.

But meanwhile- y’all come on Saturday, from 1-3 pm at the Main Library!

We’ll be tackling your burning questions  and the session will be entirely Q & A and workshopping. Everyone attending should bring either a burning question to ask (and you can have more than one) or a short section of their own writing to read aloud and have critiqued. This piece of writing could be the first bit of a story, non-fiction opener, query letter – anything you’d like comments on. Bring a page or so and we’ll see how much we have time to read based on how many people are there. Everyone attending will get to ask his or her question or have his or her writing read aloud.

I can’t wait to see you all there!

Tags: critique, how to's, workshopping .

Inside the Writer’s Head: November 8

Posted on November 8, 2018 by Sandy Bolek Posted in Uncategorized .

As promised, everyone, here is the third and last chunk of our Big Hairy World of Book Publication workshop.

If you’re confused or you want clarification, you can email me anytime: ecbernay@gmail.com. Let’s talk. And meanwhile – read on!

WHAT IS A QUERY LETTER AND HOW DO I WRITE ONE?

Please bear in mind that entire book are written on the above question. You can take a whole online write course on the above question. So please, please understand that this answer is extremely abbreviated.

A query letter is an introduction and it is a sales pitch. It’s like you and your book distilled down in miniature. A query letter is your cover letter whether you’re writing an agent to request representation or to a press. A query letter tells the story of your book – very quickly – and it shows an agent or an editor that you are serious, professional and that you can write. You’d be surprised at how many people send query letters who are not/cannot do any of those things.

Query letters are for fiction and they are for non-fiction, children’s and adult. And they are extremely formulaic. Please go look up “query letters” in your Writer’s Market and you will see that you are writing what is basically a form letter. For your reading enjoyment, I’ve attached two really excellent REAL query letters below, one fiction and one non-fiction.

 

First Name Last Name

Street Address, City, State, Zip Code

Phone number/email address

 

EDITOR

Editor in Chief

PUBLISHING HOUSE NAME

95 Madison Avenue

New York, NY 10016                                            DATE

 

Dear Ms. EDITOR

Recently you requested the manuscript of TITLE, a biography aimed at middle grade readers.  I am pleased to have an opportunity for you to consider it; it’s now titled A DIFFERENT TITLE.

 

ONE PARAGRAPH DESCRIBING THIS PARTICULAR BIOGRAPH Y SUBJECT-BASICALLY A VERY MINI-BIOGRAPHY. HIT THE KEY MOMENTS OF HIS LIFE.

 

NOW ONE PARAGRAPH ABOUT WHY THIS GUY IS AT ALL RELEVANT NOW. DOES HE APPEAR ON SCHOOL CURRICULA? WHY, YES HE DOES. THERE WAS A NOVA DOCUMENTARY ABOUT HIM. HE WAS ON A STAMP. YOU GET THEIDEA.

Enclosed are the manuscript, lists of sources and possible images, and a copy of my original query.  Please note that this is a simultaneous submission.

I hope that you will find THIS BIOGRAPHY SUBJECT’S story as fascinating as I have.

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME HERE

enc.

 

Dear Agent/Editor,

SWING RIGHT INTO ONE PARAGRAPH DESCRIBING YOUR BOOK. IMMEDIATELY. THIS READS LIKE A BACK OF THE BOOK BLURB – SHARP, ENGAGING WITH LOTS OF REAL DETAIL ABOUT THE BOOK. I CAN’T EMPHASIZE THAT ENOUGH: GET SPECIFIC, WRITERS. DO NOT SAY ANYTHING THAT IS A GENERALITY. YOU WILL SOUND COMPLETELY FORGETTABLE.

PARAGRAPH TWO CONTINUES WHAT YOU STARTED ABOVE

PARAGRAPH THREE—THIS IS YOUR LAST ONE, SAME AS ABOVE. MAKE IT COUNT

TITLE OF THIS BOOK could be described as a cross between POPULAR EXISTING BOOK SERIES and POPULAR MOVIE FRANCHISE. It is complete at 63,000 words and has series potential. Also, please note that I have been querying this novel to other agencies.

I am a freelance writer and editor with over 15 years’ experience in the publishing industry, including a 2008 middle grade novel, TITLE. In addition, I teaching adult-continuing education classes in novel-writing, and I have an MFA in creative writing.

The first three pages of my novel are pasted below this letter. Please let me know if you would like to see the full manuscript.

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME

Tags: how to's, publishing, query letter, writing .

Pages

  • About Emma Carlson Berne
  • About the Writer-in-Residence

Archives

  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015

Categories

  • Emma Carlson Berne
  • Horror
  • Imagination
  • Jeffrey Hillard
  • Kids
  • Kurt Dinan
  • Podcast
  • Poetry
  • Reading
  • Uncategorized
  • Writing
  • Young Adult fiction

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.org

CyberChimps WordPress Themes

© Writer-In-Residence