More stuff about querying ...

It might just be me, but when I see quotes from other works at the beginning of the manuscript or each chapter, my head starts talking, "No! No-no-nooooo. Don't even consider that ms!"

I suppose that any sensible writer would remove the quotes if the prospective publisher indicated that the headache of getting license for each of those gems was a barrier to getting a publishing contract.

There are provisions for short quotes in the US Copyright laws, however my legal advisor says that those do not include uses for profit. News flash: books are published with the hope of making a profit. Besides, I have a personal moral about lifting other people's works without permission. I wouldn't want it done to my stuff, so why do it?

This includes cover art and fonts. We pay for the licence for our cover art and fonts that aren't free use.

Another thing about making a profit. Just because your mother, best friend, lover, teacher, or writers group loves your ms doesn't mean there is a market for it. And just because your mother, best friend, lover, teacher, or writers group edited the ms, it really isn't "book edited" IMO. So if either of those statements are true, don't put them in a query letter to Cactus Rain - or probably anyone else.

I'm not interested in writing awards unless it is the Nobel Prize in Literature, the Pulitzer, or maybe the Man Booker. Actually, there are two others that might get my attention, but definitely not awards from writing groups. Those can be as much a popularity contest as a writing contest. How am I to know?

Don't pull a James Frey in reverse. Cactus Rain only publishes fiction. Changing the names of the people involved in a real event is not fiction. While I get lots of comments that I'm Kathryn in Kathryn's Beach, it isn't true. That isn't my story. A couple of people wanted in KB, so I let them write themselves into the story, mostly by naming a character -- but it is fiction.

Don't send memoirs, though I will consider a faux memoir. But honestly, memoirs usually don't sell unless they are celebrity memoirs, and if that is the case they won't be coming to Cactus Rain anyway.

I'm being pesky this week, but on the other hand, the query letter is asking me to love the ms enough to put money behind it, so I'm laying some of my cards on the table. It is important to know who you're querying and what they like.

Please don't send letters to Cactus Rain that begin, "Dear Sir." I'm many things, but Sir is not one of them.

Totally off topic

I was visiting istockphoto.com and found this lovely photo. Someone needs to write a novel worthy of this on the cover.

The Next Step

Out of six recent submissions, two have made the next cut. I know you've heard this before, but let's look at some of the things that can be done to get through the next hurtle to get your york of fiction published.

The query, by some stroke of luck, got the reader to want to read the three chapter submission. Good job!

Here are some things that can get the chapter sample a favorable read. First off, submit exactly what is asked for in the guidelines. In the case of Cactus Rain, I like to see the first three chapters. Never send chapters that aren't the first and in sequential order - no skipping to the good part. The beginning has to be the good part.

Manuscript format counts more than you'd think. Double spacing the lines in an ms is not optional - ever. The people who did not set up their software before embarking on the adventure of writing, have work to do to fix that omission. Single spaced paragraphs with spaces between them is not correct. Manuscripts must be double spaced lines. Always.

One space between sentences is the mark of someone who's done their research. It is never okay to have two spaces between sentences in an ms.

At this point, if these two basic formatting errors are present, it is likely that the writer knows even less about writing. Before I became so busy, I would give a "pity read," but even I don't have the time for that now.

For writers who believe in the value of their story, but are not good with grammar - in the slightest, then it is worth paying for a professional line edit. Line edits are about grammar and punctuation, they are not the same as content editing. They are not ready for submission just because they were edited by your English teacher or grammar-geek friend.

It is not necessary to be able to recite the 48 prepositions, but the writer should have a basic knowledge of parts of speech (there are 8 in US English -- how hard is that to review?) and review the basic punctuation rules.

There are differences between UK English and American English punctuation rules. However, there are some things that I will never tolerate again. The number one offender is ellipsis marks. It is rare that ellipsis would fit correctly in a work of fiction; if you use them, don't send your ms to Cactus Rain Publishing.

In school we're taught there is a formula to paragraph writing where a certain number of sentences and types of sentences are required. That is not wholly true in fiction. The trick on fiction paragraphs [and dialogue] is easy.

This next bit isn't the technical way to explain this and if Nick Daws reads it, he is likely to comment - consider yourself warned.

Think of dialogue and scenes as a tennis game. Each time someone speaks, the ball is in their court and you look their direction - that equals a new paragraph. Every change in speaker in dialogue is the start of a new paragraph. Even if the speaker gets only one word said, they get their own line.

Basically the same is true for scenes. When you take the reader from one location or one "camera shot" to another in the same location, then make a new paragraph. For example, if the reader is facing the fountain as the setting behind the scene action, then the action comes from another direction, say from behind the reader, that is a new paragraph. Think of it as watching the ball in tennis and it has changed courts.

This post is getting furiously lengthy, so I'll take a break here. This would be a good time to save a master copy of your ms, then run searches for things like double spaces between sentences, and fix them in a new file doc.

How to Romance me...

(Keep in mind that I have not done a call for manuscript submissions -yet.)

There are two books in the cooker, so to speak, nearly done and ready to be published. And a third project very near and dear to my heart (yes, you Uncle John).

Recently, three extraordinary queries landed in the Cactus Rain submission box. I have no idea how these new three found Cactus Rain. We have not shelled out big bucks for SEO for the website and I've been unusually absent from my usual treks across the internet in my usual haunts. All I can figure is that Joyce, my wonderful-can't-live-without-her web designer, did her usual stellar job on creating http://www.cactusrainpublishing.com/ so that it would be found.

At any rate, of the three new queries, one is the best query letter I've ever seen. One had no query letter and launched head-long into an extended elevator pitch that had me smiling by the third paragraph. The third has an intriguing story, but said something that really got my attention in a recent email.

So this year for Cactus Rain, not yet two years old, is looking quite good. Trust me, ask anyone who knows me, I ain't that easy to impress...but these three certainly got my attention. They will each hear from me shortly.

Something I like

As strong as the desire is to fit in and be accepted, we usually try to give our children enough self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-worth that they are not owned by the latest fad, and yet have some sense of fashion and style.

The latest fad I'm hearing is, "It is what it is!" It is already annoying me and I can't believe the number of people who say it. First off, I think it sounds stupid. Might as well say something jibberish. I have a strong desire to reply, "And just what is it, exactly?" (So far, I haven't given in and asked.)

The point I'm leading up to here is that sometimes a writer will get in a rut with a cliche and over do it. Being cute or clever isn't the same as good writing and the reader will tire of it.

I'm probably one of the toughest audiences for writers, because I don't like to read fiction. I love reading mss because I accept that they aren't the finished product. But once a book is published, especially by a big publisher, I expect the story to represent fine writing. So when I can't put down a book and read it in one weekend, that is meaningful.

Ray Derby writes government conspiracy books that fling me into their world and hold me there until the end. If you're serious about reading a good book or two, grab Ray's books while they are still in print. www.rayderby.com

Something I like

As strong as the desire is to fit in and be accepted, we usually try to give our children enough self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-worth that they are not owned by the latest fad, and yet have some sense of fashion and style.

The latest fad I'm hearing is, "It is what it is!" It is already annoying me and I can't believe the number of people who say it. First off, I think it sounds stupid. Might as well say something jibberish. I have a strong desire to reply, "And just what is it, exactly?" (So far, I haven't given in and asked.)

The point I'm leading up to here is that sometimes a writer will get in a rut with a cliche and over do it. Being cute or clever isn't the same as good writing and the reader will tire of it.

I'm probably one of the toughest audiences for writers, because I don't like to read fiction. I love reading mss because I accept that they aren't the finished product. But once a book is published, especially by a big publisher, I expect the story to represent fine writing. So when I can't put down a book and read it in one weekend, that is meaningful.

Ray Derby writes government conspiracy books that fling me into their world and hold me there until the end. If you're serious about reading a good book or two, grab Ray's books while they are still in print. http://www.rayderby.com/

Thou shalt not...

There is a lot written about how to write, and perhaps a bit less written about how not to write. Somewhere in the middle is perfection. The closer a manuscript hits that mark, the more likely it is to become published.

In my mind there are two types of writers: Those who plan every detail so that by the time they have written, rewritten, and edited each chapter before moving forward it is totally rigid and has no energy left; and those who write stream of consciously thinking every word is golden, which results in a whole lot of superfluous dribble and clever remarks to the reader.

Either style has to have an end point in mind. The story line has to stay on track and get from A to B with little distraction and wandering off to too many antidotes that do not advance the story. The writer has to keep asking, "What does this have to do with the story?" and stay true to the story line.

The elements of good writing that I look for when I consider a queried piece are these:
1) Does the story move along to a logical endpoint in an interesting way to keep the reader reading?
2) Are the characters developed with a heartbeat so the reader cares about them?
3) Is the dialogue realistic or forced? (Someone once told me they write the first draft, then go back and add the dialogue. I can't imagine how that would work.)
4) Has the ms been polished enough to show me the author cares about the craft?
5) The ms has to be marketable. Marketability has many facets. It has to appeal to a definable audience, and for me, it has to contribute to the Cactus Rain catalogue.

Before a book can reach the reader, the author has to first reach a literary agent or publisher and sell the story. It would be insane not to do multiple submissions, but each should be tailored to the recipient. Do the research. It makes no sense to spend years writing the perfect ms then sending it to the wrong person.