With details of the above and more in the latest newsletters:
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We hope you're looking forward to all-new Build Your Book Month just as much as we are. October will be packed full of events helping you build your book from the ground up - expect in-depth, practical workshops and some stellar guests. No need to do anything but register, as all these events are available to you as one of our members.
SEE ALL UPCOMING EVENTS
Member events coming up in October:
Plotting and Planning to Build Suspense with Jack Jordan
Friday 1 October, 19:00 BST / 14:00 EDT
Tonight! How do you keep a reader gripped from your opening page? How do you build tension and keep the stakes high? Join bestselling thriller writer, Jack Jordan, to find out how he plans, plots, researches, and crafts his books.
Developing a Character Through a Series | In Conversation with Elly Griffiths and William Shaw
Monday 4 October, 19.00 BST/ 14.00 EDT
We no longer write the Miss Marples or Maigrets whose characters remain the same from book to book. Today’s protagonists fall in and out of love, are hurt or injured and age. Elly Griffiths and William Shaw discuss how to create a character arc, not just for a novel, but for a long series.
Like Talking, But Better with Kevin Barry
Wednesday 6 October, 19.00 BST/ 14.00 EDT
Kevin Barry is one of the most distinctive prose stylists working today, due to his puckish flair for storytelling and his delightfully loquacious characters. He joins Jericho’s Drew Broussard for a look at how to make your characters’ dialogue sing (or crash, or amble).
Ask Us Anything – Member ZOOM Beta test
Thursday 7 October, 16.00 BST/ 11.00 EDT
Join Membership Manager Sarah Juckes for an open event where you can ask questions about your membership, your writing or anything else that is blocking you right now. Please note that this meeting has a limit of 100 participants (first come, first served) and you will be muted upon entry. This is a BETA test event and we expect it to involve a lot of trial and error! That being said, if you’re ready to embrace the chaos, we would love to see you!
Passcode: JWbeta
Plotting for People Who Hate Plotting with Holly Dawson
Friday 8 October, 19.00 BST/ 14.00 EDT
Are you stressing over structure, trembling about timelines, forgetting the point of point of view, and letting that narrative twist get you in a twist? Then this hands-on, action-packed workshop is for you. Take off your writer head and unleash your inner plotter. Expect spreadsheets, timelines, graphs, post-it notes and a surprising amount of fun. You’ll leave with a ‘flatplan’ for your project – and a new love of plotting! Suitable for all writers with any kind of WIP.
Tiling Your Writing Like a Mosaic with with S. Qiouyi Lu
Sunday 10 October, 19.00 BST/ 14.00 EDT
S. Qiouyi Lu’s debut novella, In the Watchful City, is an ambitious entry into the annals of mosaic novels: books that use different forms of storytelling to create a cohesive whole. S. joins Jericho’s Drew Broussard to discuss making a book out of variable structures, how writing in different modes can reveal new facets of story, divining your plot with help from the Tarot, and more.
The Science of Writing Characters with Kira-Anne Pelican
Friday 15 October, 19.00 BST/ 14.00 EDT
In this hour long workshop you will learn how to create complex, believable and memorable characters by using the Big Five personality dimensions and 30 facets of personality. Bring along your ideas about the character you are currently developing and be prepared to put them through their paces.
Developing Characters when Writing Multiple POVs with Yasmin Rahman
Monday 18 October, 19.00 BST/ 14.00 EDT
This workshop will focus on developing characters and voices when writing in multiple points of view. Learn how to make sure your characters are distinct enough to leap off the page, and how to manage juggling writing multiple voices.
Go Big, Build A World with Benjamin Percy
Tuesday 19 October, 19.00 BST/ 14.00 EDT
World-building isn’t just for epic fantasy or star-crossed science-fiction: it can matter right here on Earth, too. Benjamin Percy joins Jericho’s Drew Broussard to discuss his new cycle of three novels (The Comet Cycle, beginning with The Ninth Metal), how he layers hints and foreshadowing for future works, and what it takes to describe a world that’s almost (but not quite) our own.
Look Who’s Talking with Debi Alper
Thursday 21 October, 19.00 BST/ 14.00 EDT
Dialogue is an essential tool in the novelist’s kit – but it’s only one of them. In this session, we’ll be looking at how to make dialogue work for you, how to make characters’ voices sound distinctive and how to balance the dialogue with prose.
Scripting Dialogue with Jen Silverman
Friday 22 October, 19.00 BST/ 14.00 EDT
Jen Silverman knows a thing or two about the power of good dialogue: she’s a playwright and screenwriter in addition to being an author, and she joins Jericho’s Drew Broussard for an exploration of how scripted dialogue can help elevate prose dialogue and how screenwriting can change your prose for the better.
What they said: Writing Direct Speech in Children’s Books with with Zoe Antoniades
Saturday 23 October, 19.00 BST/ 14.00 EDT
It’s ok to write ‘said’ – it’s what they actually say that’s important. Explore how to bring children’s book characters and scenes to life with authentic, engaging and entertaining dialogue with author Zoe Antoniades. In advance of the workshop, participants are invited to submit a sample of work (some of which might be shared during the session). See registration link for how to submit your writing to be workshopped!
Getting Ready for NaNoWriMo with Sarah Ann Juckes, Elizabeth Haynes and Rachael Herron
Monday 25 October, 19.00 BST/ 14.00 EDT
Get ready for the most productive month in a writer’s calendar – National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Join top authors and previous NaNo winners as they reveal the hints, tips and cheats you need to turbo charge your November and write an entire novel in just thirty days.
Ten Steps to Creating Compelling Characters with Cesca Major
Wednesday 27 October, 19.00 BST/ 14.00 EDT
Character is key to commercial fiction. This practical hour-long workshop with author of The Thin Place, Cesca Major, is guaranteed to help you create and develop your own characters and even kick-start a whole new novel idea too!
REGISTER FOR THESE EVENTS
We can't wait to see you at the events this month! Follow us on social media (links below) for event reminders closer to the time and share your thoughts with your fellow writers using #JWBuildYourBook!
Don’t worry if you miss a session as you can watch back on replay at any time. As always, we're available to contact at info@jerichowriters.com. See you soon!
The Jericho Writers Team
Copyright © 2020 Jericho Writers, All rights reserved.
Jericho Writers
4 Acer Walk
Oxford OX2 6EX
United Kingdom
UK: +44 (0) 345 459 9560 US: +1 (646)-974-9060
How to build a bestselling book
Build your book month starts this Friday!
I’m not sure how we’re into October already, but thankfully this spells an amazing time for members! In this newsletter, we look at the good things coming your way this week and learn how to build a brilliant bestselling book.
Having trouble with links? View this newsletter in your browser: https://community.jerichowriters.com/page/view-post?id=390
MEMBER EVENTS: Build Your Book Month starts 1 October (Member exclusive)
We have fourteen (14!) events coming your way this month, all curated to give you the specific tools you need to build your book in any genre. Join Jack Jordan on 1 October for Plotting and Planning to Build Suspense and Elly Griffiths and William Shaw on 4 October for Developing a Character Through a Series, to kick things off.
REGISTER NOW
This week on Jericho Writers:
SFOW: Summer Festival of Writing replays are moving
Please note that replays of Summer Festival of Writing events will be removed at the end of this month. BUT – good news for members – as they will instantaneously be added to your membership masterclasses to be enjoyed at your leisure. That’s 38 new masterclasses – woohoo!
CATCH UP ON REPLAY
MEMBER EVENT: Ask Us Anything – Member ZOOM Beta Test (Member exclusive)
You asked – we delivered. Join us for a Beta test Zoom event on 7 October, where you’ll be able to ask questions and enjoy the chaos of having 100 members in a virtual room! If it works, we’ll be making these a regular feature of your membership. If it doesn’t - well – it'll be lovely to see you anyway.
REGISTER NOW
BLOG: Membership walkthrough week 3: Online Member Events
What are online member events and how do you make the most of them? This timely walkthrough blog was written by our own Head of Events; Anna Burtt.
READ NOW
SPOTLIGHT ON: Hannah Todd
We’re delighted that ex-Jericho Writers employee and all-round fabulous human Hannah Todd has now joined Madeleine Milburn as a literary agent. This week, we asked her what she’s looking for and how you can submit your work to her.
READ NOW
SUCCESS STORY: Charlotte Owen
This week we’re feeling proud of Charlotte Owen, who has secured representation with The Bent Agency and is currently working on her debut novel. She said the MS Assessment she received through Jericho Writers was ‘instrumental’ in her offer of representation. Congratulations Charlotte – we can’t wait to see your debut on the shelves!
MANUSCRIPT ASSESSMENT SERVICE
The skills you need to build a brilliant book
Anyone can write a book, but it takes skill, dedication and tenacity to write a book that readers outside your immediate family circle will think is brilliant.
So, how do you take a wisp of an idea and turn it into something deserving of a place on a shelf in strangers' homes?
1. Hone your idea into a killer pitch. What about your story is different enough to stand out, but similar enough to other books to be recognisable? Skills needed: market knowledge; elevator pitch; research.
2. Plot to build suspense. This is the part I always find the hardest! Keep readers turning pages by studying the key elements of storytelling. Skills needed: Plot structure; character arcs; tension-building; avoiding a soggy-middle; beginnings and endings.
3. Create characters readers will love. Creating believable characters readers will want to spend time with is a difficult feat. Skills needed: Empathy; character questionnaires (or other tools to help you know your characters inside-out); Protagonists; Antagonists; Realistic secondary characters; voice; point-of-view and psychic distance.
4. Nail your voice. Perhaps related to character-building – pick a narrative style for your book that will set it apart from the rest. Skills needed: point-of-view; multiple perspectives; first/second/third person; psychic distance.
5. Create a memorable setting. Think about the space (indoor/outdoor/location) as well as the time (day/night/season/historical/contemporary/futuristic) your book is set in. Skills needed: description; lyrical vs sparse prose; historical accuracy; pathetic fallacy.
6. Hone your prose. What kind of words are you going to employ to tell your story? Skills needed: show don’t tell; literary prose; sentence structure; poetry; tension; clarity; line-editing; grammar and punctuation.
7. Edit, edit, edit. Books really are made in the editing. Learn how to finesse all of the above after you’ve got the initial words down. Skills needed: Structural editing; line-editing; proofreading.
There are plenty more skills to be learned to write a book. Share the ones you think most important to your work in the Townhouse, here.
Have something else you wish we knew? You can chat to our real-life-human team anytime by email or phone on +44 (0) 345 459 9560* or info@jerichowriters.com for any writing-related advice.
Sarah J
Author | Jericho Writers
*or if you're in the US, give us a call on +1 (646)-974-9060
Plus, don’t miss:
One-to-ones - new sessions available soon
Keep your eyes peeled if you have a manuscript ready, as we’ll be releasing brand new sessions with new agents to give feedback directly on your work.
Manuscript Assessment Service (10% discount available)
A more in-depth way to give your manuscript that extra sparkle is to have it professionally assessed by an editor. They’ll give you a full report – a detailed roadmap to success. Prices vary based on word count.
Mentoring (10% discount available)
Get expert one-to-one help as you write and edit your manuscript with your choice of award-winning mentors. Available in flexible chunks of 10, 20 and 30 hours.
Jericho Writers
4 Acer Walk
Oxford OX2 6EX
United Kingdom
UK: +44 (0) 345 459 9560 US: +1 (646)-974-9060
Reward, effortlessness and balance
Folks, a couple of weeks ago we celebrated International Pennebaker Day, which has nothing to do with baked pasta, and which, for some reason, still lacks proper international recognition.
Today, and in that same uplifting spirit, we celebrate International Csikszentmihalyi Day. That word in between “International” and “Day” may look like a really terrible attempt at an anagram, or simply what you get when you put a couple of alphabets into an ordinary domestic liquidiser and hit the Blitz button.
In fact, of course, the name is a nice, straightforward Hungarian name, and one belonging to the US-Hungarian psychologist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (roughly, “Cheeks Sent Me High”).
Csikszentmihalyi is best known for his work on flow, a mental/emotional state that’s characterised by total immersion in the activity concerned. He says the state takes place when you are:
“Completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you're using your skills to the utmost.”
Writers achieve this state. So do painters and musicians. But sportspeople do as well. I’ve known it, myself, when rock-climbing, but I imagine that the followers of other, lesser, sports feel it too.
When Emma Raducanu says of her US Open win, ‘At one point mid-game, I just let my racket go because I just didn’t believe I made that shot,’ you sense the presence of flow in action. That shot wasn’t exactly the consequence of a consciously willed action, but nor was it involuntary or unconscious.
Csikszentmihalyi elaborates the state thus:
1. Complete concentration on the task;
2. Clarity of goals and reward in mind and immediate feedback;
3. Transformation of time (speeding up/slowing down);
4. The experience is intrinsically rewarding;
5. Effortlessness and ease;
6. There is a balance between challenge and skills;
7. Actions and awareness are merged, losing self-conscious rumination;
8. There is a feeling of control over the task.
I’ve known all of that when writing. Most often when writing fiction, but I’ve certainly known it with non-fiction too. I get it (a bit) when I write these Friday emails.
The merging of actions and awareness is certainly a leading feature for me. So too is the intrinsic reward. So is the complete concentration. So is the loss of time.
When I write, time just vanishes. I can easily miss an appointment by an hour and feel amazed, because I thought I still had ages to go. More weirdly, when I’ve been at peak fitness, I’ve felt it rock-climbing. I’ve had the sense of jumping for a hold and – instead of my normal desperate, failing lunge – I’ve found that I’ve had more time to locate and grasp the hold than I expected. When I see really good climbers in action, the thing that always strikes me isn’t how much stronger they are, but how much more time they have.
Now, I don’t think you really need me to tell you about flow, because I’m pretty sure you already feel it and understand it from within. So here are some further thoughts or questions that occur to me:
Do you have to have flow to write?
Once you’ve experienced flow, it may seem that it’s the only way to generate quality words on the page. That if you’re not in flow, you should just walk the dogs or fix a shelf or perform some other displacement activity until you feel ready to try again.
I don’t think that’s right, or at least it’s only about half right.
I strongly suspect that a book written entirely by force of will and without the aid of flow won’t ever be entirely satisfying. It may have craft, but won’t have magic, and without the magic, honestly, what’s the point? That’s why I always have a mental reservation about the 2,000-words-a-day brigade, those folks who point out that you should be able to write a 100K thriller in two months, even allowing a bit of time off along the way.
But at the same time, the single best way to jump-start your writing is simply: write.
If you feel locked out of writing, then just forcing yourself to do it – going through the motions, if you like – is still the best way to unlock that inner blockage. That approach has worked often enough for me in the past. If you feel any blockage at the moment, the same basic approach will work for you. Your biggest challenge: mere resistance.
(Except that if days and weeks go by and you’re still not feeling right, you need to question things more broadly. Is all well in your life? Maybe there’s some deeper issue that needs addressing. Or is all well with the book? Maybe your inability to get into it is because there is some fundamental issue with the project that you need to acknowledge and tackle directly. Writing, like caustic soda, solves most things, but ...)
Can a reader tell the difference between flow-words and non-flow words?
I tend to know, even years afterwards, which pages of a book came awkwardly for me and which came smoothly. It’s as though I still feel the ghost of that early awkwardness haunting the text.
At the same time, I can honestly say that no agent, editor or reader has ever called attention to those patches and suggested that they’re lesser than the rest. I think a book needs, as far as possible, to be written in a flow state, because that’s what lets the magic in, but once the magic is there, it disperses through the text. There may be better scenes or worse scenes, but magic is a quality that adheres (or not) to a book as a whole.
In short: if some scenes just come awkwardly and brutishly onto the page, you don’t need to worry about it. No one else will ever know. Just edit them hard.
Editing can be a flow state too.
For me, this is critical.
Actual writing probably brings me the greatest joy. (My very greatest joys have been placing my character in extended peril. Oh, how I loved almost freezing Fiona to death in the Black Mountains. I adored bricking her up at the side of a church in the Brecon Beacons. And I had a rare and deep joy when I sank a trawler, with her on board, in the midst of an Atlantic gale.)
That said, editing has always been a deep, absorbing pleasure for me. I think writers should train themselves to expect flow in editing as well as writing. The rewards of editing are a little different and, OK, perhaps a little shallower too, but they are real for all that.
I love editing so much, it’s always a little grief to hand over a book. I’d like to spend more time with it. If you don’t find editing utterly absorbing, it’s almost certain that you’re cutting corners you don’t really want to cut.
***
That’s it from me. I’m on holiday next week – as in, really, truly, on a beach somewhere warm – so you won’t get a real email from me. You’re going to get a short “best of selection” that you can sneer at, then tear to shreds.
Normal service will resume the week after that.
Oh yes, and if you want to see me in rock-climbing action on a piece of Welsh slate, then just zip over to the community page (linked below) for a look-see.
Till soon.
Harry
PS: If you want to chat about this email – and admire the crux groove of The Quarryman – then just tootle over here: https://community.jerichowriters.com/page/view-post?id=386
If you wish to reply to this email, compose a short, coded message that can be played using blasts on an ordinary hunting horn and send me the audio. Tally-ho!
PPS: Did I remember to mention that it’s Build Your Book month next month? I did not.
** Hangs head **
** Waits while marketing colleagues pelt him with odiferous fruit **
It’s Build Your Book month in October. Details here. Everything is free and exclusive to Jericho members. Anyone signing up as an annual member now, will get: Build Your Book month, Getting Published month, Self-Publishing month, the entire Summer Festival, hundreds of masterclasses, some terrific video courses, and the power of AgentMatch all for free.
We’ve got some further goodies in the pipeline as well, all free to members, but I can’t tell you about those because I’ve had enough being pelted with fruit for one day.
PPPS: “A beach somewhere warm” = North coast of Devon. So: warm by the standards of Northern Norway.
Jericho Writers
4 Acer Walk
Oxford OX2 6EX
United Kingdom
UK: +44 (0) 345 459 9560 US: +1 (646)-974-9060
What are you writing?
What you told us about your writing this month
As we gear up for ‘Build Your Book’ month, this newsletter looks forward to events to come, reminds you about the ones happening this week, and runs down the other exciting opportunities we have going right now. We also take a look at the results of the recent member survey to see what it is you are writing, and what you told us is the biggest obstacle you face right now.
Having trouble with links? View this newsletter in your browser: https://community.jerichowriters.com/page/view-post?id=387
TUTORED COURSES: Creative Non-Fiction starts 7 October (Discounts for members)
Only ONE PLACE left! Nurture your non-fiction project on this short, flexible course. Sam Jordison has been an editor, a co-director at award-winning indie publisher Galley Beggar Press, and a writer at The Guardian – so he really knows his stuff.
SECURE YOUR PLACE
This week on Jericho Writers:
MEMBER EVENT: Facebook for Authors with Debbie Young
A succinct and accessible introduction to the many ways Facebook can enhance your success as an author. We’ll examine Pages, Groups, Events and Advertising, for both networking and marketing, and how to integrate your Facebook presence with your website and other social media.
REGISTER NOW
BLOG: Membership Walkthrough Week 2 - Writing and Publishing Resources
In part two of this guide to your Membership, we look at the 400+ video masterclasses and how to make the most out of them. This is a must-read for members!
READ NOW
MEMBER OPPORTUNITY: Submit your book directly to Simon & Schuster with #JerichoWritersOneDay
We’re thrilled to be working with our friends over at Simon & Schuster UK to bring our under-represented members the opportunity to submit directly to their Digital Original list (no agent required!)
FIND OUT MORE
SUCCESS STORY: Christine Jordan
Congratulations to Jericho Writers member Christine Jordan who recently secured a deal with Bloodhound Books. Her thriller, 'MisPer', will be published 25 July 2022. A chunk of Christine's work was edited live in Harry's Self-Editing webinar, so it's particularly lovely to see her flourishing now!
VISIT CHRISTINE'S WEBSITE
What you told us in the Summer Member Survey 2021
Thank you to everyone who took the time to send us your feedback about the Jericho membership last week! We loved reading through your comments and are taking all your thoughts on board as we plan new content and changes.
There were a couple of interesting findings from the survey about what you’re writing and the barriers you’re facing, and I wanted to share these here – not only for those who (like me) love a stat, but also so you know that you’re not alone.
We have members writing in almost every genre!
The top genres you told us were closest to yours were Fantasy and Sci-Fi (32%); Women’s Fiction (29%) and Commerical Fiction (26%). It was really interesting to see poetry and short stories climb in popularity though, so we’re looking into adding to our content on these.
The biggest obstacle facing members right now is lack of access to the publishing industry.
42% of you chose this as your answer, although many of you said that you can also get stuck with lack of time, and lack of feedback on your writing. We’re hoping that schemes such as the S&S #JerichoWritersOneDay open submission scheme will help a little with this, but it’s clear there is more the industry can be doing to be more open and inclusive to new writers.
Live member events are the most useful part of your membership.
Excellent news, as we’ve just announced an extra-special month of them in October, and that the Summer Festival of Writing will officially be 100% included in your membership in 2022. You also told us that the Video Courses and AgentMatch were important, which we’re making regular updates to.
92% of you agree that your membership has helped you reach your writing goals.
This number and all the funny, friendly and helpful responses to this survey really put a smile on our faces. Thank you!
Have something else you wish we knew? You can chat to our real-life-human team anytime by email or phone on +44 (0) 345 459 9560* or info@jerichowriters.com for any writing-related advice.
Sarah J
Author | Jericho Writers
*or if you're in the US, give us a call on +1 (646)-974-9060
Plus, don’t miss:
AgentMatch - new US agencies added
We've added a tonne of US-based agencies to the database recently, including Janklow & Nesbit Associates, The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency, Howard Morhaim Literary Agency Inc and Root Literary. Plus, there's a new interview dropping next week with Hannah Todd who recently began at Madeleine Milburn - and used to work right here with us at Jericho Writers!
One-to-ones - last minute sessions available
We still have sessions in the next week available with agents from Jane Rotrosen Agency; Peters, Fraser and Dunlop; Inkwell Management; Liverpool Literary and many more. Book now and your work could just be the next big discovery for one of these top agents.
Mentoring (10% discount available)
Get expert one-to-one help as you write and edit your manuscript with your choice of award-winning mentors. Available in flexible chunks of 10, 20 and 30 hours.
Jericho Writers
4 Acer Walk
Oxford OX2 6EX
United Kingdom
UK: +44 (0) 345 459 9560 US: +1 (646)-974-9060
The mysterious world of Planet Agent
We usually look at the world through the eyes of authors – and quite right, too – but I recently saw an interesting article by literary agent Kristin Nelson, which evaluated the changes she’s seen over twenty odd years on Planet Agent.
The gist of the article was that agenting has become a tougher business than it was. I’m going to look at her fourteen reasons why … but first:
Oh ye people.
Last week, I told you that the Summer Festival of Writing is, from now on, going to be free to Jericho members. This week, I tell you that we’ve also tossed in an extra event, for free. October sees the launch of our Build Your Book month (see link below in PSes). We’ve got twelve events aiming to help you turn your book into a masterpiece. In effect, it’s the self-editing complement to our super-successful Getting Published and Self-Publishing months, which take place in spring.
All this stuff is, and will remain, completely free to Jericho members. If you’re not a member yet, we’d absolutely love to have you. You also get full access to all our 1000+ literary agent profiles on AgentMatch. Plus, access to our 400+ films and masterclasses. Plus, our amazing (and expanding) range of video courses. Plus, free weekly events throughout the year. We’ve also got further yumminess coming up, but I can’t tell you about that now, because I’m bound by the terrifying code of Jerich-o-merta …
More in the PSes below if you want to investigate.
Okiedoke. Back to Planet Agent. Here are Nelson’s fourteen reasons why agenting has got tougher.
More agents
Nelson reckons there are more literary agents around now than there used to be. I can’t quantify the degree to which that’s true, but certainly there don’t seem to be fewer agents, even though most publishers have cut the size of their frontlists.
Verdict: she’s got a (smallish) point here.
Agents as editors
Back in the day, agents used to be able to hawk a manuscript that had clear potential – and clear editorial needs. These days, with the competition as it is, it would be a barmy agent and a barmy author who took that approach. Instead, agents have tended to get involved in editorial work prior to submissions.
(And if you think that because your agent has given you editorial feedback, you won’t need an extensive editorial process with the publisher – well, think again. Everyone gets to give their thoughts; you get to do the work. The good news: books usually get better as a result.)
Verdict: She’s right.
Less agent visibility
Nelson comments that, years back, it was quite easy for an agent to be noticed via your blog or Twitter feed, just because so few agents did anything like that. Well, that may be the case, but you don’t find many agents complaining about a shortage of submissions – and I know plenty of successful agents who don’t spend any real time on social media.
Verdict: Hmm.
Agent as publicist
Nelson writes, ‘In today’s publishing landscape, agents have to do so much more marketing/publicity management to optimize client success.’
Really? Aren’t publishers doing that? And how many agents are actually pro publicists? And if they are, why are they selling manuscripts for a living? I think most agents do take on real editorial work. I think the good ones do a lot to manage a career and guide the author/publisher relationship. But honestly, most agents don’t do a ton of marketing work and they probably shouldn’t. It’s not their skillset.
Verdict: Hmm.
Email mountains
Nelson comments that ‘three hundred emails is a light day’. Jeepers. There’s no question that email volumes have vastly increased – and it can’t actually be healthy or make for efficient business that any one person has 300 emails to deal with in a day. (Before they’ve actually read a word of their clients’ work, or anything from the new submissions pile.)
Verdict: I’m very sympathetic.
Indie Publishing
When I started writing, traditional publishing was the only meaningful route to making money and finding a relationship. That’s no longer true and that also means agents are aware that their clients can scarper sideways into a game that’s fertile for the writer and arid for the agent.
Nelson writes, intelligently, ‘I’m hugely supportive of authors and indie publishing, but the loss of talent to the indie sphere does impact an agency’s bottom line.’
Verdict: She’s right, of course.
Publisher payments
Back in the day, advances were split into two or three chunks – typically, on signature, on hardback publication, and on paperback publication. These days, some publishers insist on four or five instalments, and have pushed some payments back to well after publication. (So they’re not advances any more – perhaps ‘late payments’ would be a better term.)
Nelson notes that this practice makes life harder for agents, which is true. I also note that it’s effectively a way for billion-dollar companies to boost their cash flow at the expense of authors, which doesn’t seem very graceful to me.
Verdict: She’s right again.
The Great Contract Swamp
Publishers have always been slow in negotiating contracts, which is pitiful when you consider that the vast majority of contracts deal mostly in boilerplate. But they’ve got slower.
I’ve known authors with roots in more businesslike professions write to me concerned when they haven’t seen a contract within two or three weeks. What’s going on, they ask, is there a problem?
And the answer is no, there isn’t a problem, except that publishers understaff their contracts department and deliver too little authority to editors to sort out issues. I once wrote an entire book in between agreeing the deal (verbally and by email) and the publisher actually delivering the contract. And which do you think ought to take longer: writing a 100,000 word book, every word of it original, or writing a contract of about a dozen pages, with almost every word of it boilerplate?
Verdict: I’m with Team Nelson here. And I think the publishing industry should do a lot, lot better.
Then there was one
Publishers keep eating each other. First Penguin and Random House married. Now they’re going all menage a trois with Simon & Schuster. Meantime, Hachette is currently gobbling Workman, its sixth US acquisition in eight years. And so it goes.
The fewer big publishers there are, the less the competition for authors. And yes: there are some terrific micro-publishers and they do a great job. But if you want cash in your pocket, you need one of the big guys. And there aren’t as many as there used to be.
Verdict: Team Nelson all the way.
The Great Flood
Editors see a lot of submissions. They say no to a hell of a lot. And because they see a lot, and say no a lot, it takes longer for editors to get back to agents.
That makes it harder for an agent to mount an effective auction and means a lot more chasing to get anywhere at all. Nelson comments that that’s made life harder for agents and, since trad authors have their fortune yoked to Planet Agent, that means it’s worse for writers too.
Verdict: Yep, right again.
The death of the editor
Yea, verily, back in the time when the flood waters receded from the earth, editors were allowed to choose books because they liked them. These days, editors are second-guessed by acquisitions committees and marketing folk who sit on those committees, with the result that the whole process has become more tangled, more bureaucratic and (I bet) no more effective.
I’d like to say that Nelson is right about this, but remember marketing people and other execs were deeply involved in acquisitions even twenty years back. So if she is right, she has a longer memory than I do.
Verdict: Hmm.
Blockbuster or bust
Back in the day, there were authors like Ian Rankin whose first books didn’t sell especially well and weren’t perfectly formed. But they grew into their careers and became serial bestsellers.
These days, publishers lack the patience to grow an author in that way. If an author’s debut two-book deal doesn’t pretty much earn out, there’s every chance that author will simply be discarded. That’s nuts.
Verdict: I’m Nelsonian – one-eyed and one-armed.*
The Death of the Mass Market Format
Nelson writes, ‘Back in the day, so many agents got their start representing authors in romance, mystery, and urban fantasy—all genres traditionally launched in the mass-market format. Fantastic glory days were when I would sell in a debut romance author for six figures.’ These days, she says, mass market editions have subsided in favour of e-books, which haven’t given publishers anything like the same income.
That’s all true – but also a misdiagnosis.
The reason e-books haven’t given trad publishers a huge payday, compared with the mass market editions of the past, is that the areas concerned – romance, genre mystery, YA paranormal, SF, and much else – have been very largely colonised by indie authors, who have made a killing.
So, on this topic, the impact for authors has been highly positive – so long as they’ve gone indie.
Verdict: I know what she’s saying, but…
The Change that Wasn’t
Oh Jeepers. Nelson also says this: ‘Publishers, despite emphasis on social change in the last couple of years, have not expanded their readership outreach or marketing to reflect the current cultural landscape. This continues to mean fewer opportunities for agents and authors of Color. This should be the one area where it’s better for the agents of today, and it’s not.’
This is real head-in-hands stuff. If not now, then when? As it happens, I think a change that has been very long overdue really is beginning to happen – but it probably won’t finally bed in until the mid- to senior ranks of publishing start to resemble the cities that house them: the highly multicultural London and New York.
I’ve been publishing work for more than twenty years. I’ve had more editors, publicists, marketing people and others involved in my books than I can easily count. But, from memory, only one of them – ONE! – was a person of colour. Ye Gods. It really is changing though. It really is.
Verdict: She’s horribly right.
Don’t forget to check out the PSes. All good things are there.
Till soon.
Harry
PS: Family Saga week at Townhouse. The place is crawling with people – four or five generations of them, including a large number of top-hatted or extravagantly petticoated ghosts. Lots of chatter, which is good, but lordy me, some of them do go on… and on… and on.
Comment, at extreme length, here: https://community.jerichowriters.com/page/view-post?id=381
And don’t just reply to this email. Please send me 50,000 hand-written words telling me how your Great Aunt Madge came to be the mistress of Whifflewhip Hall.
PPS: Everything you need to know about Build your Book month here. All you need to know about members films and masterclasses here. The page telling you about our 2021 Summer Festival is here; remember that the 2022 edition will be free to Jericho members.
And if you just think, the heck with this, course I want to be a member, then I know what you’re going to do next.
*PPPS: Don’t know why Nelsonians have to be one-armed and one-eyed. Tush and pish. Inform yourself.
Jericho Writers
4 Acer Walk
Oxford OX2 6EX
United Kingdom
UK: +44 (0) 345 459 9560 US: +1 (646)-974-9060
Social media for authors
How to tweet, post and shout about your writing
It’s Platform-Building month at Jericho Writers, and this week we’re celebrating everything social media. We also have a reminder about our exciting #JerichoWritersOneDay opportunity for members and the first of a series of blogs walking you through your membership.
MEMBER OPPORTUNITY: Submit your book direct to Simon & Schuster with #JerichoWritersOneDay
We’re thrilled to be working with our friends over at Simon & Schuster UK to bring our under-represented members the opportunity to submit directly to their Digital Original list (no agent required!) We have members of our own team on this list and are so pleased to be able to offer this as a member exclusive!
FIND OUT MORE
This week on Jericho Writers:
TUTORED COURSES: Creative Non-Fiction starts 7 October (Discounts for members)
Nurture your non-fiction project on this short, flexible course. Sam Jordison has been an editor, a co-director at award-winning indie publisher Galley Beggar Press, and a writer at The Guardian – so he really knows his stuff. Grab your place to create a fully-realised piece of work in just six weeks.
SECURE YOUR PLACE
MEMBER EVENT: Events happening this week
Tomorrow, we have Twitter for Authors with Julie Owen-Moylan, followed by an event on Instagram for Authors with Fiona Thomas on Saturday 18 September. Both of these tutors are brilliant at what they do and well worth tuning in for!
REGISTER NOW
BLOG: Membership walkthrough week 1: Video Courses
For the next five weeks, we’ll be spotlighting one element of your membership and talking through how to navigate them and tips on how to make the most out of them.
READ NOW
SPOTLIGHT ON: Quressa Robinson
“I don’t like it when people are disparaging other genres or tropes. Just because you’re doing something different with it, doesn’t mean you have to say such and such trope is bad, or get mad about love triangles or enemies to lovers or any of that because you never know, those might be my favourite tropes. There’s no need to be negative about anything."
READ THE FULL INTERVIEW
SUCCESS STORY: Natalie Chandler
Natalie Chandler attended the Summer Festival of Writing to build up her confidence before seeking agent representation. She’s now represented by Liza DeBlock at Mushens Entertainment, and recently signed a deal with Headline Accent.
READ THE INTERVIEW
Social media basics for absolute beginners
We’re living in a world unrecognisable from the one we lived in just a few short decades ago – especially in terms of technology.
For those at you who are new to the world of social media and feeling daunted by it, I thought I’d pause and cover some basics for you to start building upon if/when you feel you’d like to.
1: Hashtags
These have found their way into everyday speech now, but at its basic – a hashtag is a way to turn a word or phrase into a link, to discover other content about that word or phrase. For writers, this is particularly wonderful, as we can connect with other people interested in writing from all other the world, just by adding a hashtag at the beginning. Try #writing or #amwriting and see what the world is saying about it!
2: Different platforms
Social media platforms fall in and out of favour, but the main ones currently are Twitter and Instagram (with Facebook close behind still, for those with a more mature readership!)
Twitter is characterised as a way of sharing things succinctly, in a short character limit. It’s brilliant for connecting to the industry and to other writers, but can also be overwhelming.
Instagram is for sharing pictures and videos – brilliant for posting book reviews and connecting with the reading community.
There's also TikTok (for short videos); LinkedIn (for business connections) and thousands more. Pick one, put the time in and if you decide none are good for you – that's completely fine.
3: @ing / tagging / DMs
If you want to send a message to one person in particular, you can often do this by heading to their profile, finding their username and adding an ‘@’ in front of it. For example, if you want to say hello to our team, we’re @jerichowriters!
Do bear in mind though that on Twitter and other platforms, these messages are publicly available for the world to view. If you want to send a ‘Direct Message’ (DM) look for the mail symbol on their profile.
When used correctly, the world of social media can be a brilliant way to connect with people and feel part of something brilliant. Do you have any tips for beginners? Share them in the Community here.
As always, happy writing and remember, you can contact our customer service team on +44 (0) 345 459 9560* or info@jerichowriters.com for any writing-related advice.
Sarah J
Author | Jericho Writers
*or if you're in the US, give us a call on +1 (646)-974-9060
Plus, don’t miss:
Membership bursary
To celebrate our exciting partnership with Simon & Schuster, they’ve kindly sponsored a full Jericho Writers membership bursary for an underrepresented writer. We’re sponsoring a further eleven on top of that – so if you identify as being from an underrepresented community, we urge you to apply.
One-to-ones with literary agents still available
Get direct feedback from agents and book doctors. The summer has pretty much gone, and so have most of our sessions – so get booking!
Mentoring (10% discount available)
Get expert one-to-one help as you write and edit your manuscript with your choice of award-winning mentors. Available in flexible chunks of 10, 20 and 30 hours.
Jericho Writers
4 Acer Walk
Oxford OX2 6EX
United Kingdom
UK: +44 (0) 345 459 9560 US: +1 (646)-974-9060
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