Copyright © Carly Phillips. All rights reserved.
From Novice To Professional
Winning the First Sale War in 10 Strategic Steps
From the workshop by Karen Drogin aka Carly Phillips, Lori & Tony Karayianni aka Tori Carrington, and Harlequin Editor, Brenda Chin presented at the Romance Writers of America Conference, Chicago, 1999
- BASIC TRAINING… Fall in, aspiring writers! Oh, no, we’re not talking physically. We’re talking brain here, not brawn, a kind of boot camp for the mind—though we do recommend regular stretching of all muscles. As the paragraph title implies, this is where you need to brush up on the basics. Not sure if you remember the difference between a comma, a semi-colon or colon? Just what is an infinitive and why shouldn’t you split it? Do you think POV means privately-owned-vehicle? Is there a character in your head but you don’t know how to get him out? Does the word “synopsis” sound like little more than a fatal disease to you? (Okay, we can’t tell you learning how to write one will erase this gut reaction, but the effort will make hand-to-hand combat with one easier.) Must-read books that will help you answer these questions are: Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style; Dwight Swain’s Techniques of the Selling Writer; Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey; Debra Dixon’s GMC: Goal, Motivation and Conflict; and Elizabeth Sinclair’s The Dreaded Synopsis: A Writing and Plotting Guide. Read them.
- GEAR UP… This is where you prove you’re serious. To yourself. Any good soldier needs barracks and suitable supplies. No, we’re not talking a pickle suit or literal artillery here. You need a special place that’s yours and yours alone where you can nurture your artistic self. No matter if it’s a corner in your bedroom, attic, or even basement, or a cushy room with a view, set up a desk. Buy a secondhand or top-of-the-line computer and printer or typewriter (no dot matrix here, boys and girls). Invest in and learn that word processing program that will spit out format perfect material (1″ margins all the way around, with simple headers listing book title, author name and page number in the upper left hand corner, and easily readable print with approximately 25 lines per page). Invest in your own dictionary-of-choice, thesaurus, copies of the already mentioned books and put them where they’re within reach. Now comes the fun part. Go ahead, make your local office supply store your new best friend. Buy that multi-pack of yellow notepads you could never justify buying before. Choose those colorful paperclips. Invest in those cute post-it notes—you’ll need them. Stock your special place with all those supplies that will make concentrating strictly on writing easier. And just like any good soldier needs care packages, keep a stash of feel-good food (i.e. chocolate) where only you can find it.
- RECON (NAISSANCE)… Okay, you’re getting into fighting shape, but you’re not there yet. Now it’s time to scout out territory you’d like to conquer. Which publisher do you want to write for? Which series? Go out and buy books from that publisher/line. Revisit any “keepers” you have and analyze why they earned precious shelf space. Give due respect to established authors—in our own home line, Harlequin Temptation, nobody does it quite the same way as Vicki Lewis Thompson, Gina Wilkins and Kristine Rolofson—but we recommend paying special attention to the newer authors, namely Karen Drogin aka Carly Phillips and us as Tori Carrington, also Janelle Denison, Stephanie Bond, Julie Elizabeth Leto and Kimberly Raye, Leslie Kelly and Julie Kenner, because it’s from us and them you’ll see what the publisher is buying from new authors now. Note which themes are especially popular (right now books that have a combination of standard hooks are particularly tempting to publishers—in Temptation, forbidden themes, bride [runaway, kidnapped, amnesiac or otherwise] and baby books are in demand). Attend conferences, listen to and meet with editors to learn what they’re looking for.