I wrote a novel that won a prestigious national prize, the James Jones First Novel Scholarship in 2001 for a novel that would honor “the spirit of unblinking honesty, determination and insight into modern culture exemplified by James Jones.” It was about a Vietnam vet who came home from the war with a purple heart and a struggle to once again enter civilian life. Several agents contacted me to represent the book. I chose one, he submitted it to a number of publishers, and the answer that came back was almost word-for-word the same, “We liked the book but we can’t sell it in today’s market.” So my question is:

What should a prospective novel writer’s motive be? When I considered a second novel I had to ask myself, “Should I set out to write a novel that can sell? How about a murder mystery? How about a police procedural? Can I invent a plot about a vampire in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania?”

Well, as anybody who has ever attempted to write a novel knows, it’s a helluva lot of work. I just couldn’t bring myself to spend a year inventing criminals, or vampires. I’ve written two novels since then, and I don’t see any point in sending them out. Probably couldn’t find an agent anyhow.

So what’s the point?

Dear Ray,

Perhaps you can write a police procedural about vampires killing publishing professionals.

Seriously, we understand your frustration. It’s tough to get published, even if you are an award-winning writer. There is no simple answer to your question, because there is no guarantee for anyone, even writers of vampire novels. (Believe us, there are plenty of writers trying to capitalize on the latest fads and having no success.)

In the end, the only reason to write is because you love it and you have something to say. If you are serious about giving the publishing industry one more try, you should probably start fresh with new work and a new approach. You might consider attending a reputable writers conference.

Another option would be to focus on getting shorter works published in journals and literary magazines. Perhaps you should start your own literary magazine; it sounds to us like you have the passion and the skills.

Good luck, and whatever you do, remember that you already have a achievement of which you can be proud.

Kathi Kamen Goldmark and Sam Barry
The Author Enablers
Authors of Write That Book Already: The Tough Love You Need to Get Published Now
Visit us at www.kathiandsam.net
Find us on Facebook and Twitter

Is this a good plan? It depends. It’s hard to argue with success, so if you get a lot of traffic to the site, that is good. But what happens when you write your next book, For Whom the Bell Doesn’t Toll? Do you need to start another website, www.forwhomthebelldoesnttoll.com? Do you have to manage both websites at once? Are your readers supposed to go to both websites? That’s expecting a lot of loyalty. When you message people, do you post on both at once? Is it the same post? Or do you tell your fans to abandon site #1 and head to #2?

Most authors won’t only write one book and will have other projects going besides books, such as speaking, blogging, and the occasional massive movie deal. Given this reality (and hope), it is probably best if you create one website that is dedicated to you and all your work where you can do all of your promoting. That way fans of one book will learn about others, and will also be able to learn where you are and what you are doing, all at one handy site. Facebook pages are useful for this purpose, as well.

In short, you are a brand, and you want to brand yourself (in the marketing, not the cowboy sense).

One excellent source of information is Publishers Lunch, a newsletter and blog that “gathers together stories from all over the web and print of interest to the professional trade book community, along with original reporting.” Publishers Lunch emphasizes deals and industry trends.

Publishers Weekly is another excellent resource. PW is a trade news magazine targeting publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents. PW covers industry stories and trends, with an emphasis on book reviews and bestseller lists.

Publishers Weekly is more of a traditional magazine, though it is available online. Publishers Lunch is more of a blog/email newsletter. Both are important resources for authors who want to be in the know about the rapidly changing world of publishing.

Kathi Kamen Goldmark and Sam Barry
The Author Enablers
Authors of Write That Book Already: The Tough Love You Need to Get Published Now
Visit us at www.kathiandsam.net
Find us on Facebook and Twitter

Steve Luxenberg, an associate editor at The Washington Post and author of the award-winning Annie’s Ghosts: A Journey Into a Family Secret, wrote this excellent and entertaining analysis of his experience using Facebook ads to promote a book.

We appreciate that you want to get her on the path, but maybe she should be in charge of putting her own foot in the door.

It’s true you need to know someone to get published, but most published authors start out not knowing anyone. That’s where getting published in journals, attending writers workshops and conferences, networking, and finding an agent come in. We still think establishing a relationship with an agent is an author’s best bet, especially for those who write books for children.

We think you could help your friend find an agent. One trick is to look at the acknowledgements in recent books in the same genre; many authors thank their agents there. The best source for US agents is the Literary Market Place. Generally LMP listings include a brief description of the kind of work the agents represent.

Thanks for Writing,

Kathi Kamen Goldmark and Sam Barry
The Author Enablers
Authors of Write That Book Already: The Tough Love You Need to Get Published Now
Visit us at www.kathiandsam.net
Find us on Facebook and Twitter

What is it about Veronica Thunderpants that causes you to gravitate immediately to her work? How did you hear about Ms. Thunderpants in the first place? We’re willing to bet that, although Ms. Thunderpants is an award-winning, compelling writer, there’s more at play than just writing. For one thing, Thunderpants is a great name, and we are enjoying typing it over and over. But there’s more to it than the writing and the great name. This author, probably along with her publishing team, has worked hard to cultivate a persona that would appeal to a certain audience—for instance, women of a certain age in Middle America.

What’s the formula for this kind of success? There are many roads, but being a successful author today often involves:

• Working hard at finding a unique voice
• An awareness of who her audience is and what they like to read
• An appealing public personality, presented through media, online, at speaking engagements, etc.
• Authenticity and authority—people need to trust the author. This doesn’t have to be 100 per cent genuine. Remember the saying attributed to George Burns: “Sincerity—if you can fake that, you’ve got it made.”

There’s more to author success than this, and every story is a little different. We’d love to hear your thoughts on what attracted you to a certain beloved author.

With regard to your “Author Enablers” column in the January 2011 issue of Book Page, your next project, of apparently writing a textbook on “quantum physics” cracked me up. And then it made me really think. Your point about writing “about something new and different” is well taken.

I am not an author, per se. I am a retired nuclear physicist, with my doctorate from Ohio State (GO BUCKS!!). Over the years I published stuff on nuclear physics, higher education, college teaching, etc. But, my greatest pleasure in writing, over the years, has been when I could sit down and write something for publication, or not, which had no connection at all to what I did for a living. (By the way, the old joke about quantum physics is that only three people in the world really understand understood it: Schroedinger, Heisenberg, and every other physicist who thinks he/she is that third person.)

Anyway, over the years I have published: a mystery story in Woman’s World magazine, a romance confession story in a romance magazine, an off-beat essay (well, the editor wrote saying that his staff laughed for days) about the irrationality of “job search committees” in the American Association for Higher Education magazine. And, along the way have been numerous unpublished short stories, none of which ever had anything to do with physics.

So, I am impressed that your writers’ challenge is intended for real writers with a challenge of writing “something different.” And, from my own experiences of writing physics stuff and then the aforementioned stuff, I submit that you have a great idea here. I repeat that my greatest joy in writing has been to tackle something that I knew little about.

Dr. Keane is a living example of an Ohio State football fan who can write. Also, his story reminds us that we don’t need to limit our writing to only one subject or genre. Have at it!

Florence and Lois, we recommend attending a writers’ conference. Make sure you choose a conference that features face-to-face meetings with literary agents; http://writersconf.org/ is a good place to explore your options.

A good source of agent listings is a publication called Literary Marketplace, which you can find in your local library or online: http://www.literarymarketplace.com/lmp/us/index_us.asp. LMP lists agents, including their web sites, submission guidelines, and specialties.

Thanks for Writing,

Kathi Kamen Goldmark and Sam Barry
The Author Enablers
Authors of Write That Book Already: The Tough Love You Need to Get Published Now
Visit us at www.kathiandsam.net
Find us on Facebook and Twitter

And one of the titles is our own Write That Book Already! Happy writing!