So, if you haven’t heard the news, I’ve been asked to be the keynote speaker at the 2013 Christy Awards. Yes — me. Chip MacGregor, literary agent. I’m fairly certain this was a clerical error, but it’s exactly this sort of thing that causes people to shake their heads at the decline of Solid American Values in publishing. Next thing you know, they’ll be having an agent serve as the Master of Ceremonies…

Oh, wait. It turns out they also asked my good buddy Steve Laube to serve as the emcee. He is also a longtime literary agent. Um… Well this just goes to show that anyone can make a mistake. I mean, first they forgot to give Jerry Jenkins a Christy Award, now they hire a couple of agents to man the microphone. I’m telling you, we need a blue-ribbon panel to check into this. (Heads will roll.)

If you’re not familiar, the Christy Awards are really the premier award for those who write inspirational fiction. They’ve been around about 15 years, and are named after Catherine Marshall’s seminal novel, Christy. Originally created by a dozen CBA publishers, the awards intended to honor Ms Marshall’s contribution to the field of faith-infused fiction, as well as providing opportunities to recognize the best novels and novelists in the genre. I’ve long been a fan of the Christy Awards, and have represented dozens of finalists and several Christy winners (including last year’s winners Mindy Starns Clark, Leslie Gould, and Ann Tatlock). We have several finalists again this year in the different categories — which you can find by going to www.christyawards.com .

So I’m completely surprised and flattered that they’d invite me to speak, even if the person on the other end of the line MEANT to call Chip Kelly, the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles and, like me, a former Oregon Duck. (Don’t worry — I get that a lot.) But it’s too late now. They asked, I said yes, and they’re stuck with me. The event takes place Monday, June 24, at the Renaissance Grand Hotel in St Louis. It’s always a fun time. And yes, I’ll be wearing my kilt.

I mentioned the other day that I’m going to be speaking at the Dallas Writers’ University on Saturday, May 4 — and someone wrote to ask, “Why are you doing a writers’ conference?”

The fact is, I rarely do many conferences these days. I’m busy with the authors I currently represent, and aside from RWA and ACFW, I don’t do many — certainly not many smaller conferences (I may go to Bouchercon later this year, but after that my dance card is filled up). But when the folks at the Writers’ University asked me about this, I liked the idea right away. It’s a one-day writing conference, focused on some one-to-one face time with authors, so it feels more personal. I’ll be talking about “Creating Your Publishing Strategy” and “Developing Book Proposals that Sell.” Other speakers include Jeane Wynn of Wynn-Wynn Media (a fabulous freelance marketing specialist who I’ve worked on numerous books with) and Michelle Borquez (who runs Bella Publishing and will be talking about “Building Your Author Platform”). There’s also going to be an attorney there, Gary Ashmore, talking about publishing contracts. It’s a great group, and I love the fact that they invited me to participate.

So last week I mentioned the big news: anyone who registers for the conference and mentions my blog gets a big discount. The normal price is $199 for the full day (that includes all the sessions, your lunch, a face-to-face meeting with me, and access to the other speakers). But if you want to come and you mention you saw this on Chip’s blog, you  can attend for $159. If you’re in the area, I hope you’ll consider coming. They tell me space is limited (I believe they have about ten spots left), and I’m doing this one because there are always a bunch of good writers in the Dallas area.

AND if you decide to register and let me know in advance, I’ll offer a full review of your book proposal. Fiction or nonfiction, I’ll give it a review and we’ll talk through it face to face. So if you live in the Dallas area, or can get there easily enough next Saturday, please come join us. The event is held at the Ashmore Law Firm in downtown Dallas. You can find out all the details by going to www.dallaswritersuniversity.eventbrite.com

Again, I’m not doing many conferences these days, so for those who have wanted to know how you can meet an agent face to face, this is your chance. I hope some readers of this blog can participate. I look forward to meeting you.

As always, feel free to ask me questions about the conference if you have them. I would love to meet you in Dallas!

THE POWER OF A PERSONAL MEETING

I haven’t traveled much in the last six months, but I’ve just returned from a three-day conference. Though I fully registered for it, I only attended two conference events, but my time there was incredibly valuable and enriching regardless.

Aside from the three-hour-thaw-by-the-pool-mini-sabbatical I scheduled for myself on Friday afternoon before boarding the plane home, I spent every waking hour while there in pre-arranged meetings with editors and authors. In the end, when responding to questions about how my trip went, I heard myself say “I really enjoyed connecting with everyone!” And I today, I added several items to my task list newly motivated by an urge to help each of these people succeed in their roles.

Sure, when I requested time together, I had a project in mind. But as usual, I found that holding “my” agenda a bit loosely, and taking the position of investigator vs. sales person always returned a rewarding and gratifying encounter that will begin, or enrich, a long-term relationship.

There’s so much more to personal meetings than just “putting a face to a name.” When I meet an editor or other prospective associate in person, the encounter requires real listening. I’ve learned that more often than not, my “canned” speech goes out the window in favor of personal dialogue once an editor or prospective author and I start talking about whether what’s working well for them and how/if what they’re hoping to publish next aligns with the project(s) I’m interested in.

A side perk of meeting in person is that, unlike with email, I must also practice the art of keeping the conversation going in both directions. I’ll admit, I’m still working on controlling my tendency to be so terribly interruptive – an inexcusable habit that I still give into when I’m especially enthused about something.

As anonymous, and bottom-line, and impersonal as this business can sometimes feel, in the end it’s still about relationships. Part of our culture as an agency is that we tend to do business with people we like and trust. And we want to always like and trust the people with whom we do business.

Cultivating that culture requires time. And there’s no substitution for personal meetings.

There is no arguing that the chance to build rapport with someone while face to face just can’t be matched to a Facetime or Skype session, email exchange, or even a phone call. In my view, those are tools best used to further a relationship, not establish one.

As conference season approaches, take every opportunity you can to spend some personal time with editors, agents, other authors. You’ll find lots of information about how to craft the perfect pitch, how to nail your hook, or deliver the premise of your book in 30 seconds, but I’d like to encourage you to think beyond what people have to offer you. Challenge yourself to avoid coming to the encounter thrusting your well-rehearsed pitch into first position on the agenda. Instead, as you can, take some time to find out who these people are, what they like, what motivates them, how they cultivate their taste, and if your particular project might help them succeed.

I think you’ll find that approach far more gratifying in the end. I always do.

Sandra Bishop

If you could only ask one question of an editor (not related to your project) what would it be?

I mentioned the other day that I’m going to be speaking at the Dallas Writers’ University on Saturday, May 4 — a one-day writing conference where I’ll talk about “Creating Your Publishing Strategy” and “Developing Book Proposals that Sell.” Other speakers include Jeane Wynn of Wynn-Wynn Media (a fabulous freelance marketing specialist who I’ve worked on numerous books with) and Michelle Borquez (who runs Bella Publishing and will be talking about “Building Your Author Platform”). There’s also going to be an attorney there, Gary Ashmore, talking about publishing contracts. It’s a great group, and I love the fact that they invited me to participate.

Now the big news: they told me last week that anyone who registers for the conference and mentions my blog gets a big discount. The normal price is $199 for the full day (that includes all the sessions, your lunch, a face-to-face meeting with me, and access to the other speakers). But if you want to come and you mention you saw this on Chip’s blog, you  can attend for $149. So I hope you’ll consider coming. Space is limited to 30 people, and I’m not sure how many are signed up, but I love doing these intensive one-day gatherings, and not just the mega-conference with three thousand people.

AND if you decide to register and let me know in advance,I’ll offer a full review of your book proposal. Fiction or nonfiction, I’ll give it a review and we’ll talk through it face to face. So if you live in the Dallas area, or can get there easily enough the first weekend in May, please come join us. The event is held at the Ashmore Law Firm in downtown Dallas. You can find out all the details by going to www.dallaswritersuniversity.eventbrite.com

Again, I’m not doing many conferences these days (I’ll be at RWA and ACFW, but that’s about it), so for those who have wanted to know how you can meet an agent face to face, this is your chance. Hope some readers of this blog can participate. I look forward to meeting you.

As always, feel free to ask me questions about the conference if you have them. I would love to meet you in Dallas!

I mentioned the other day that I’m going to be speaking at the Dallas Writers’ University on Saturday, May 4 — a one-day writing conference where I’ll talk about “Creating Your Publishing Strategy” and “Developing Book Proposals that Sell.” Other speakers include Jeane Wynn of Wynn-Wynn Media (a fabulous freelance marketing specialist who I’ve worked on numerous books with) and Michelle Borquez (who runs Bella Publishing and will be talking about “Building Your Author Platform”). There’s also going to be an attorney there, Gary Ashmore, talking about publishing contracts. It’s a great group, and I love the fact that they invited me to participate.

Now the big news: they told me this morning that anyone who registers for the conference and mentions my blog gets a big discount. The normal price is $199 for the full day (that includes all the sessions, your lunch, a face-to-face meeting with me, and access to the other speakers). But if you want to come and you mention you saw this on Chip’s blog, you  can attend for $149. So I hope you’ll consider coming. Space is limited to 30 people, and I’m not sure how many are signed up, but I love doing these intensive one-day gatherings, and not just the mega-conference with three thousand people.

AND if you decide to register and let me know in advance, I’ll offer a full review of your book proposal. Fiction or nonfiction, I’ll give it a review and we’ll talk through it face to face. So if you live in the Dallas area, or can get there easily enough the first weekend in May, please come join us. The event is held at the Ashmore Law Firm in downtown Dallas. You can find out all the details by going to www.dallaswritersuniversity.eventbrite.com

Again, I’m not doing many conferences these days (I’ll be at RWA and ACFW, but that’s about it), so for those who have wanted to know how you can meet an agent face to face, this is your chance. Hope some readers of this blog can participate. I look forward to meeting you.

As always, feel free to ask me questions about the conference if you have them. See you in Dallas!

Thinking about that first all-day writing workshop I was paid to speak at still makes me cringe. I don’t know how the organizer found out about me, but she invited me to speak, and made me sound really good in the glossy colored brochures she printed.  This workshop was going to draw a crowd.  We might have to add more chairs to the hotel’s conference room.

What a disappointment when the day before the event, she was begging people to come, even letting them in for free.  These people had no idea who I was and the big bucks the organizer was charging was too much for those she had targeted. I know that in the end, the only big thing about the workshop was that she lost big money.

But that experience taught me. Ten years later as I set out to conduct my own all-day writing workshops, I had that first workshop experience in mind.  I focused on what the organizer had done right and especially on what she had done wrong. They say bad experience is a good teacher— or something like that. Some thoughts on creating a good workshop…

Plan in advance – Don’t think of an idea and then have a workshop the next Saturday.  Plan at least three to four months ahead. A Saturday far from any holiday is good. Avoid the Christmas or New Year season. Ask potential attendees to choose between two or three dates that suit them best. Spend hours working on all aspects of the workshop. Will you serve lunch? Snacks? Coffee?

Book a choice location – This should be easily accessible. Where I live, I like the Hampton Inn and Suites in Raleigh, North Carolina, for a variety of reasons from the inviting lounge to the cushioned chairs in the conference room to the mints they place in bowls at each table to the outdoor garden where attendees can write during one of the silent sessions. Don’t select a location without first checking it out and asking yourself if the participants will appreciate it.

Advertise – This doesn’t have to cost a lot. Craigslist, Facebook, your own website, and blogs are obvious places to promote your upcoming event. You can guest post on other’s sites by providing an informative article on whatever your workshop is about. Target groups that can benefit most from your workshop. My workshops are for those experiencing heartache in their lives, so I post at parental bereavement groups and within my own circle of friends who have lost a child as I have.

The right price – You need to make some money. Even if you love facilitating writing workshops, there is nothing wrong with earning money. In fact, if you are going to look at facilitating workshops on a regular basis, you need to take something home and not just break even. Look around to see what others are charging for what you are offering and price accordingly.

Agenda – The titles of your sessions need to speak to the needs of the people attending. Often the thing that convinces someone to attend is the specific titles you’ll be offering in your workshop. As well as making the day full of value for each attendee, be sure to allow time for potty breaks and snacks. (I like to have plenty of dishes of chocolate because I feel chocolate always bring out creativity.)

Be open – Flexibility, I tell myself. Which is more important: To get through every detail of my outline or to allow for conversation during my presentation?  I often tailor the last segment of my workshop to make sure I meet the needs of the attendees. Some are interested in getting their work published, while others only want to write for healing and hope for themselves. My last Journey through Life’s Losses workshop went overtime due to the many questions the attendees had for me about how to get published. That’s when I went home and created another all-day workshop, solely for writers desiring to sell.

Prayer – You may not agree with this, but in my area of expertise I’ve found that spending time praying over those registered for a workshop is vital.  Each day before the event, I pray that their goals for attending the workshop will be met.  Of course, if you are going to serve a catered lunch, you might want to pray that the food arrives on time!

I love the gift of writing and how it can be used to unleash the gravity of anguish and sorrow.  I would be thrilled to hold a writing workshop at least once a month. Every day I remind myself that I think I’ve got a great idea, and I want to share it with others.  I feel I was born to conduct workshops, and perhaps one day those doors will open.  Right now, I am grateful for the four or five events I conduct a year.

Alice J. Wisler is the award-winning author of five inspirational novels, two cookbooks and one devotional.  She’s represented by the MacGregor Literary Agency.  Read more about her Journey through Life’s Losses and Write to Create (brand new for aspiring writers) workshops at her website:  http://www.alicewisler.com. Her next workshops are in Raleigh on June 15 and July 27. 

A brand new writing conference is coming, and you’re invited. On Saturday, May 4, I’m going to speak at the Dallas Writers’ University. It’s a one-day event, with a rather intensive agenda:

A writer got in touch and asked, “Since it seems like anyone can get a book published today through self-publishers, how do I make sure my book gets the needed exposure?”

As I’ve noted several times on this blog, the key principle for anybody doing marketing of their own book is simple: Figure out where your potential readers are going, then go stand in front of them. If you’re doing a book on lowering cholesterol, research to find out what websites people with high cholesterol are visiting, what blogs they’re reading, what magazines and e-zines they’re checking out, what the most popular sites for information sharing are. That’s the first step. The second is to get yourself involved with those venues. That will get you started on marketing. (And be sure to read Amanda’s Thursday blog posts, which are filled with good, practical ideas to help you move forward in your marketing abilities.) 

Now you have the tools you need to create a plan. You’ve got a list of the places people who are interested in your topic are going online, and you’ve got a list of ways you can try and get involved in those sites (by writing articles, doing reviews, creating an interview, offering a chapter of your book, etc). The next step is to start the hard work of getting your words out there.

On a related note, someone wrote these words: “You have frequently told authors to find out where the potential readers are, then go get in front of them. How can an author find the target audience for his book?”

Research, my friend. It will take time, but start checking out key words and topics. Find other books and sites that cover similar material and check them out. Start doing reviews on Amazon and GoodReads. Get involved with Pinterest and Flickr. Create online bookmarks. Join Facebook and Twitter. Begin researching your topic and you’ll soon discover interesting sites, as well as finding yourself steered toward other places people go. This takes time — there’s no hurry-up formula for getting this information. But the key is to have multiple venues for finding new friends, and see the whole process as “participation,” not just “promotion.” 

Another writer sent in this interesting note: “Is teaching at a writers’ conference a good way to help market my book? I was just asked by a big conference to show up, teach two workshops, critique manuscripts, meet with a bunch of authors in one-on-ones, and help out as needed. It sounded like fun — BUT the invitation noted that I had to pay my own way, pay the conference fee to attend, and pay for my room and board. They’re offering me a stipend that will cover a portion of that expense, but I’d still owe them more than $400, plus my travel. Is that fair?”

I actually wrote to the person privately, to make sure she wasn’t pulling my leg. Sure enough, a writers’ conference sent her a note, inviting her to be on faculty but explaining that she’d actually have to pay hundreds of dollars to participate. Um… you have GOT to be kidding me. I think a writing conference is a great place to network and let everybody know about your new book. But if it costs you $500 and they’re going to wear you out as a faculty member, you might find a more useful venue for your five bills. Yeesh. 

Finally, someone asked me, “Should I seek endorsements before I send my manuscript to a publisher?”

If you can get some great endorsements for your manuscript, by all means do so. The fact that a bestselling author or a recognizable celebrity is saying nice things about your book can’t hurt. But remember that an endorsement has to be by someone recognizable — a celebrity, speaker, author, recognized expert, etc. It can’t be from some friend of yours nobody had heard of, or from your pastor, or your mom. Those types of endorsements scream “AMATEUR,” and make editors roll their eyes. 

[And an editorial note: After posting this, a longtime writing friend wrote me to say, "Please re-think your answer. I'm a bestselling author, and I get inundated with requests to spend time reading and responding to a project that may never get published. And it's possible the editor who is reading the proposal has never heard of me -- an embarrassing situation for the prospective author." My response: Fair enough. I'd say if you are not already relatively good friends with the bestselling author, then asking them to read and endorse your book may be unfair, even unwise. Perhaps you could say something such as, "If contracted, I could reasonably get endorsements from..." But if it's a mentor of yours, or someone you've been involved with for a long time, I'd still say it's worthwhile asking. They can always say no.]

We’re in the midst of catching up on a backlog of questions I thought I could respond to with short answers — so if you’ve got a question you’ve always wanted to ask an agent, sent it along and I”ll try to get to it.

I’ve been going through a long list of questions people have sent in, trying to offer short answers (as compared to my usual loquacious responses). One person wrote this: “I’m interested in getting an agent. How do you know which agent will work hard for you? For that matter, how can an author know which agents the publishers view as legit?”

If you want to know about an agent, you can always start by asking around. Ask publishers and editors in confidence what they think. Go onto the agency website and check the agent out. Check with “Predators & Editors” and “Writer Beware” to see which agents are not considered legit. Look into “Agent Query” and the other agency-ranking organizations. Pick up a copy of Chuck Sambuccino’s Guide to Literary Agents so you can do some research into the agent. In my opinion, you should look for an agent that’s a member of the Association of Author Representatives (AAR), the professional organization for literary agents. To see if the agent will work hard for you, all you have to do is to see which authors are happy and which agents are doing deals — you can find information on the number of deals done by an agent in the “Dealmakers” section of Publishers Marketplace. A lot of people will just tell you to “talk with other authors,” but I find that less than helpful. First, most people don’t want to say bad things about an agent, or worry that saying something honest will lead to a lawsuit. Second, many authors don’t often know a good agent from a bad one — if their agent got them a deal, they’re happy. I know some authors who have a lousy literary agent, but they’re completely satisfied because they don’t have anything to judge it against.

First, make sure your novel is well done. Have some other writer friends read it, get feedback from some experienced writers, and if possible talk with an editor about your work. The #1 reason projects get rejected is because the book isn’t really done — it might be a good idea, but it’s basically 60% completed, and if you send that in you are sure to get rejected. Second, do some research on literary agents. Don’t do a mass sending to a bunch of agents — find out who represents the type of book you write, who among that list is taking new clients, then try to get some sort of introduction. Publishing, like all businesses in this country, is a relationship business. If you can meet and talk to an agent (perhaps at a conference, or simply through an introduction from a mutual friend) you’ll be much further down the path in the submission process. Third, research what makes a good query letter. I sometimes laugh when I see an author has spent two years writing a book, and two minutes banging out a query letter.

This came in from a writer a few weeks ago: “What word count should I shoot for with a light romance? I heard one agent say if a novel gets over 115,000 words, she gets nervous. Are some of the long bestselling novels exceptions? I’ve seen several very long bestsellers lately.”

The genre romance houses are basically asking for 55,000 words for contemporary novels, and 75,000 words for historical novels. If you move away from a genre house and begin talking to more of a general lines publisher, you’ll find this publishing economy demands more from writers — so novels are often in the 90,000 to 100,000 word range. But yes, I am VERY reluctant to take on someone who has written more than 120,000 words. The investment by the publisher is huge, it takes extra work, the production costs are higher, and the final price point will be higher… so publishers find it easier to reject a book like that. They have to fall in love with a longer novel to contract it. (Pointing to mega-bestsellers that are extra-long is an exercise in futility. Better to look at the norms, not the exceptions.)

I got this question in from an author I met at a conference: “I recently won a writing contest, then saw how many ‘winners’ there were… It felt like I had ‘bought’ the win with my entry fee. How do agents and publishers feel about writing contest winners?”

I realize the people managing contests want to have happy customers, so they name a lot of “winners.” But in my experience, agents and publishers still like to see authors who can tell them they won a national writing contest. There’s still a prestige associated with that.

Here’s a question I get frequently: “I have published a novel, but now want to do a nonfiction book. What advice would you have for me?”

A nonfiction book is a completely different animal than a novel. A novel basically offers entertainment — a nonfiction book offers a solution to a problem or an answer to a question. It requires a different writing style. Most nonfiction writers think in terms of “telling,” and most novelists in terms of “showing.” For a nonfiction book, you’ll need to think about scope and sequence, strong principles with clear solutions, and good, illustrative stories. Don’t expect your fiction readers will cross the aisle and read your nonfiction book — they won’t. If you’re just trying your hand at NF, my best advice would be to study the basics of writing again. It’s not easy to slide from fiction to nonfiction.

One young person said, “I have a work that has promise, but needs a good, literary editor. Are there any grants or programs available to help inspirational authors fine-tune a work?”

I am not aware of any grants, however joining an online writing group or a critique group might prove helpful. It gets your writing in front of other eyes, so that you gain from the perspectives of others. You could also consider taking some formal writing classes, to glean advice from good writing instructors, or trying to team up with one of the many successful writers who run a mentoring program.

Another writer sent this: “It seems like the information about ‘platforms’ is always geared to nonfiction authors. What steps would you suggest for a fiction writer to start building a platform?”

That will depend on your novel, of course. The core of marketing is to figure out where the readers who would be interested in your story are gathering, then go stand in front of them. So if you’re writing Amish fiction, it would be good to figure out where people who love Amish gather — what sites do they visit, what ‘zines to they read, what programs do they follow. Where do they go and take part in a community of other like-minded readers? You want to figure out how to get in front of those folks. I’ve said this before, but think of “platform” as a number — the number of people you can say read your words and have some sort of investment in you, so they’re strong possibilities to buy your book. If you have a blog, do articles in your local newspaper, write things in your church or denominational newsletter, contribute to an online e’zine, speak to groups, teach classes, and appear in the media, all of those activities have a number of potential readers associated with them. You build your platform by participating in those activities, getting your words in front of people, and making sure they know the words are from you. You do your best to capture that audience, so you can approach them with your novel when it releases.

Again, if you have a question you want to post to an agent, ask away — I’m trying to blow through a bunch of topics quickly, and I’m happy to respond.  

I just discovered there are ten spots left in the writing seminar we’re doing in Nashville on Saturday, Feb 23. You can find out all the details about it here: http://nashvilleuniversity.eventbrite.com

The cost is normally $199, but if you write to me today or tomorrow, the people in charge told me they’ll discount the price to $149. If you’ve been on the fence, I hope that encourages you to join us. Would love to fill the seats. Thanks!

-Chip