Hi Writers,
Publishers Weekly published an essay last week "Two-Way-Street" by Charlotte Cook.

Cook, an independent publisher of her own book line, Komenar Publishing, was the subject of a short profile in Writer's Digest last year. She writes that she was deluged with queries, phone calls and submissions after that article came out. It seems like attention would be a good thing for a small publishing house.

But here's the rub: Cook writes that even with all of the attention Komenar received for that article in WD, they've seen little impact in the way of sales.

I suppose the implication here is that writers aren't supporting the industry that they're asking to support them. This makes me sad on a number of levels, but especially because I don't believe it's an accurate assumption to draw from one publisher's experience.

I think, if anything, writers are the heaviest readers and the heartiest supporters of the book industry.

So, in the spirit of solidarity with your fellow writers, I'd love to hear your comments on what you're doing to support the struggling book industry.

"A writer is a reader moved to emulation."
-Saul Bellow

Keep Writing,
Maria

Hi Writers,
It's another visual aid bonus day here on the Writer's Perspective!

Here's a short video interview with bestselling author and Writer's Digest marketing columnist M.J. Rose, who knows more about marketing books than anyone I've ever met. She's a true industry dynamo and visionary. Check her out here.

Keep Writing,
Maria

Hi Writers,
If there's one thing I've learned from spending time with all the thriller writers at ThrillerFest 08, it's that the adage, "write what you know" holds little merit.

Here's another short Q&A I did with David Baldacci, in which he discusses the merits of writing what you don't know.

Keep Writing,

Hi Writers,
I'm in the middle of transcribing a lengthy Q&A with Brad Thor (The Last Patriot) for the December issue of Writer's Digest and I thought what he had to say about literary agents was quite interesting for going against the grain of traditional publishing wisdom (this is unedited, direct from a transcript):

I know agents hate hearing this, but the single agent submission process is so un-businesslike, and this stuff about well you should only pitch one agent at a time and wait to hear back—that’s BS. I really don’t believe in that. I tell people, put together the strongest best package you can. Why should you wait months to hear back from an agent only to be told no, and then you have to wait a few more months. It’s ridiculous. I had agents lose my submissions, take forever to get to it and I thought, you know what, this is ridiculous. I’m not doing this just because this is the rules that they’ve set up for themselves. I thought, they’re not going to know if I’m submitting to multiple places. And what happens with agents when they’re submitting you’re book? They try to start a bidding war! They’re not going to wait onesie, twosie, at every publishing house to see what they think. Authors should do multiple submissions to agents. I mean, that’s the way the business world works and whether or not the industry likes it or not, they can’t stop you from submitting to multiple agents and you know what? If an agent misses out on you because they took too long with your query letter, tough luck for them. It will be a smart, savvy agent who recognizes your talent, who snaps you up. And I really believe that.

So, what do you think about multiple submissions to agents?

Keep Writing,
Maria

Hi Writers,
I've been attending a lot of writing conferences recently and in listening to keynote speeches I've noticed an odd correlation in the first-published stories of many writers.

Just off the top of my head, I can name three bestselling authors who cite being fired as the impetus to write and sell their first book.

• Lee Child lost his job with the BBC and soon after wrote and sold his first Jack Reacher novel.

• Sandra Brown wrote her first novel after being fired from her TV reporter position.

• Laurell K. Hamilton was downsized from her job with IBM when she decided to give the writing thing a real crack.

Anyway, don't go off and tell your boss off, this is merely an unscientific observation, but I have started to wonder if "fired" leads to "inspired." What do you think?

Keep Writing,
Maria