Grub Street's Muse and the Marketplace

This weekend was Grub Street's Muse and the Marketplace workshop in Boston. I've never been before, but I'd always heard wonderful things about the program. I was not disappointed. My company, Kelley & Hall Book Publicity, was approached to be on the "Book Marketing and Promotion" panel. My sister Jocelyn did the Saturday panel and I was part of the Sunday panel. Not only did I hear how authors have taken their promotion into their own hands (Jenna Blum's story was very inspirational), but I also got the chance to connect with some amazing authors, editors, agents and people involved in the publishing industry.

The entire weekend was filled with parties and panels and networking with other writers and industry professionals. We were thrilled to spend time with some of the authors that we've worked with (Brunonia Barry and Lisa Genova), authors we would love to work with in the future (Trish Ryan, Julia Glass and Amy MacKinnon), and authors we've admired from afar and were excited to finally meet (Jonathan Franzen, Anita Shreve, Scott Heim, John Sedgwick and many, many others)!

As a debut author with a book coming out this summer, I was star struck most of the time. But as a publicist, I needed to remind myself that I was there as an industry professional. It's an unusual dichotomy.

It was hard not to gush when speaking to someone whose work I'd loved and read for years--I had to pinch myself when speaking with Anita Shreve and listening to her talk about the house that has served as a central character in her novels. It was surreal to be joking around with Jonathan Franzen about bird watching in Marblehead and my sister's liberal use of the word "literally" when she's nervous. (She literally said it more than ten times in the conversation.)

The thing that I loved most about the conference was that everyone was treated as a peer. We felt like we were all in this crazy world of publishing together. It wasn't like the intimidating behemoth of Book Expo America where you needed ten different forms of ID to get from room to room and a huge (invisible) barrier kept the authors shielded from the general public. Instead, everyone--from the struggling writer to the New York Times best-selling author--had come together to discuss the challenges of working in this industry, talking about our love of literature, regaling each other with anecdotes about mutual friends, and offering helpful tidbits on the business of writing and selling books.

The climax of the event was definitely the keynote speech by Jonathan Franzen, who encouraged us to continue to clink our silverware because he didn't want to deprive us of our nourishment during his reading (during the Q&A he pointed out that he wished that he had eaten beforehand as well). His reading from his brilliant memoir/essay collection, The Discomfort Zone: A Personal History, evoked both laughter and tears from the audience. (Interestingly enough, this was one day before he labeled Michiko Kakutani, the lead reviewer of the New York Times, as the "Stupidest Person in New York" during a speech at Harvard. I'm curious if he's attempting to alienate the figureheads of both the literary world (Kakutani) and the commercial literary world (Oprah), and still manage to make a living as a writer in spite of it. He doesn't seem to be concerned about ruffling any feathers. (Despite his love of birdwatching, as he'd mentioned the night before over very strong Mojito-type drinks and potato-spiraled shrimp.)

During his reading, he described his attempt as a college student at using German literature to help him with his writing and how it helped him to see his family more clearly, and therefore allowing him to write about them without the veil of childhood altering his views. He mentioned that he wrote in his college journal the German phrase which he thought meant "I have written." What he actually wrote was the phrase, "I am written." Then, of course, all the obligatory Oprah questions were asked of him. I even went so far as to ask him what writers he would include in his own book club. He first answered that he'd let the other members of the book club decide for themselves, and then went on to mention Alice Munro, Peter Carey and his friend David Means. But what I really wanted to ask him was that after all of his success, his five books, numerous essays and twenty-five years as a writer, if he felt that he had finally been "written." Was he successful in using language and the written word to help him discover the answers that he sought throughout his life and his writings? I suppose he'll tell us eventually through his work.

Just not on Oprah. Literally.

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Bound Manuscript = excitement!

I just got my very first bound manuscript of SISTERS OF MISERY. Such a thrill!
It was an amazing experience to get the book covers (which made the whole getting published thing seem more real and tangible). But receiving the bound ms from my editor cemented it for me. The funny thing is that I can't bring myself to read it. I still have my copyedits to go through for the ARCs and the final manuscript. Yet, I don't even know if I will be able to read the book once it's published.

Isn't that strange?

Something that I've been waiting my entire life for--my debut novel--and I can't even bring myself to read it. Now I can finally understand why actors and actresses say that they don't like watching their own movies. (I always thought that was a big, cop-out lie--and maybe it is for some.) Maybe I'm just too close to it right now (and sick of revisions, revisions, revisions!). But, now that I think of it, I never read my articles in magazines after they are printed. I have copies of my articles from Glamour, Elle, American Baby, Boston Magazine, etc., but after they are printed, I cannot bring myself to read the article. How strange is that?

My editor and agent and I finally settled on a title for my second book in the SISTERS OF MISERY series, and I'm thrilled with it. The second book, which will be published in 2009, is called THE LOST SISTER. Now all I have to do is write it. :) I have it all outlined, but I'll be documenting my writing process in this blog. I'm also going to chronicle how I'm promoting SISTERS OF MISERY. Luckily, I have promoted other authors through my literary publicity company. But publicizing my own work is going to be a lot harder than promoting the works of Jackie Mitchard and Michael Palmer. I don't have the name recognition or the "New York Bestselling Author" moniker that they have. But, I'm hoping that I can overcome that by connecting directly with readers. I've already reached out to a lot of YA readers that seem very excited about SISTERS OF MISERY. One girl on MySpace even told me that she had a dream about my characters. How cool is that?

In any case, I will continue to blog about how I'm promoting SISTERS OF MISERY, which will be published in August 2008. I will also include my writing strategies for Book Two. (And also offer some tidbits about my publicity company, since that takes up a major amount of my working hours as well.)

Kelley & Hall Book Publicity was just asked to be panelists for the upcoming Grub Street conference "The Muse and the Marketplace" in Boston this April. We were so honored to be invited to speak on the panel (I'll be speaking on one day and my sister, the next) and
shocked that anyone had even heard of our company. True, we did get a lot of exposure for helping Brunonia Barry win a multi-million dollar book deal with William Morrow. Her self-published book, THE LACE READER, got the largest book deal for a self-published book in the history of publishing--and we helped make it happen! Here's a link to the Boston Globe article about it.

In any case, I don't think it's possible to make lightning strike twice, but I'm at least hoping to get a fraction of the success for my own book that we were able to get for Brunonia.

We shall see...

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My book cover!

I'm so excited to share my book cover for my debut novel, SISTERS OF MISERY. I fell in love with cover (just as my amazing editor, Danielle Chiotti at Kensington said I would) the minute I first laid eyes on it. Even though I'm still going through revisions (ugh! The revision process!), having the cover and the book jacket copy is really helping over the last hurdle. The finish line is definitely in sight.

Over the past few months, I also created a MySpace page for my main character, Maddie Crane. It was a great way to connect with readers and to get the word out about my book. At first, however, I pretended that I really was the character and that my cousin, Cordelia LeClaire, had gone missing. I thought it would be a good way to pique readers' interest. However, most of the people that I tried to "friend" were very skeptical, and didn't want to accept my friendship. While I applaud the teenage girls who were smart enough about the Internet to question a random "friend request." at the same time I felt really bad that I was frightening them. I was ready for Chris Matthews and Dateline to burst through the door with a segment on "To Catch A MySpace Predator"!!

So, once I got the jpeg of my cover, I was able to replace the stock photo with my book cover. One would think that that would put most people's minds at ease. Not really! I continued to get
emails from teenage girls saying, "Who R U? Do I no U?" Once I allowed my grammar geek self to get over the TERRIBLE text message/shorthand way that teens write these days, I was surprised to see how skeptical everyone was. I figured once they saw the book cover, they'd understand that I was simply trying to promote my book. (As a literary publicist, that's kind of what I do--promote books!)

On one hand, I applaud the girls for being so cautious online. It's so important to realize that the person on the other side of the email or MySpace message may not be who they say they are. (In my case, it was true. I wasn't a 15 year old girl named Maddie Crane whose cousin had just disappeared. Yet, I wasn't trying to harm or trick anyone.) So, I'm happy that people are becoming aware of the dangers of the Internet. It's something that I will try to teach my five year old daughter, especially since going online and sending emails is something that she sees me do every day. To her, there isn't any danger associated with going online. It's my job to teach her the dangers of the Internet. (Hopefully, I won't have to do that for at least a few more years. But Piper is five going on fifteen, so it will most likely be sooner than later.)

Here's my link to my MySpace SISTERS OF MISERY page. Enjoy!

http://www.myspace.com/mkh_books

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I've written a book. Now what?

I recently received a letter asking how to go about getting published. Many people believe (as I once did) that there
was some magic formula out there that got you published. Whether through connections or seminars or by the osmosis process of actually being near published authors, I believed--like many others--that there was some secret, some hidden door that, once found, would win me the coveted role as a published author. During my entire time as a writer and literary publicist, I have almost always come into contact with someone who, after finding out about my profession, tells me that they have written something/will write something/always wanted to write something/etc. Then they ask how get published. I did the same thing. I asked the same questions. It's what every beginning writer does.

Unfortunately, there isn't an easy answer. There isn't even on sure-fire, definitive answer. You want to be a doctor? Go to medical school. You want to be a lawyer, go to law school. You want to be a published author? Ummmmm....well...it's kind of a crap shoot. First of all, you will be rejected. A lot. That's a given. Once you accept that, you can move on.

Even established writers have difficulties in getting their sons/daughters/aunts/uncles/friends published. Sure, they may have an advantage, but the publishing world is fickle and extremely competitive. Here's the letter I received, and here is how I answered it (and I am in no way the authority on how, when, where and why someone should get published. But this is what I've learned throughout the many, many years of trying to get published.

Dear Megan,
I have recently completed my first novel. My husband has the laborious task of making the first edits. He is approximately 3/4 of the way through. I have arranged for a poetry/literary professor to read it once he's done. Afterwards, I plan to take your advice and seek an agent.

I have the Writer's Market Guide to Literary Agents for 2007 and have researched agencies that take writing in the genre I've written. I've also sought out agents who are currently accepting new writers to represent. Although it is obvious how patient I will have to be through this process, I am very excited. I'd love to hear about your experience in finding an agent and getting your book published.

This was my advice. I know many people have heard this advice before and even though it is frustrating, it is a long, crazy, fickle process:

Dear (future writer),

You've finished the first draft of your novel. Yay! You've overcome the first hurdle.
Unfortunately, the hard work doesn't stop there. It sounds like you are definitely
headed in the right direction. I would suggest getting as many readers as you
can to take a look at your book. No matter how many times I thought I was done
revising, I still ended up having to take another crack at it. (I'm actually knee-deep
in revisions with my editor right now--I've probably gone through five to
six rounds up to this point already!!.)

Then, most importantly, you need an agent. It's pretty tricky finding a good match
in an agent. Your best bet is to find someone who's taking on new clients (usually
it's a junior agent, someone who just moved over to a new agency, or a smaller
boutique agency.) There are some online lists of agents that are actively seeking
clients. It's important to do research on what agents are interested in acquiring
different genres. Writer's Market puts out a great book on literary agents, and
they are pretty up to date. Almost every bookstore and library has one.

Another great tip is to find a book in the same genre and see who the author thanks
in their acknowledgements. They almost always thank their agent or even a junior
agent within that agency. Don't try to submit directly to editors. They are so
overwhelmed by the submissions from agents, that they rarely have the time
to read something from the slush pile (or unsolicited manuscript pile). Plus,
they view agents as the gatekeepers-- only passing along work that they think
has merit and will sell.

While you have others look at your book, work on perfecting your query e-mail
or letter. A lot of agents will take queries or partials by e-mail now, which is great.
Send out as many queries as you can. It's all about numbers. The more people
you get to look at your book, the faster you'll get an agent. But make sure that
your finished product is as polished as it can be before it gets out there. Check
out Noah Lukeman's book called The First Five Pages. He basically says that
the first five pages are what will grab an agent, then a publisher, and finally, the reader.

Also use this time to try to get published in smaller literary magazines. Or try
to get a magazine article published. It always helps to have a good "portfolio"
of your writing. Since publishing is getting so competitive, many agents won't
take chances on a completely unknown writer. So if you can get something into
either Ploughshares or any of the other dozens of small literary magazines, it
would help your odds. Join a local writer's group while you start submitting. It's
always good to get feedback from other writers.

Also, don't lose faith if you get rejected (which you will, because everyone does).
It's such a subjective industry. It completely depends on the person reading it,
whether or not they connect with it or not. NY Time's best-selling author Jodi
Picoult was rejected over 300 times!!! And even JK Rowling was rejected many
times--the agent who finally took her on told her to keep her day job because
he said she'd never make a living writing children's books (she only got a $5000
book deal with her first London publisher and now she's richer than the Queen
of England).

You could have written the "Great All-American Novel" only to get a curt rejection
letter in return. This is why it's important to find an agent who likes the type of
writing that you do. That's why so many writers look at books similar to theirs
to find out who was the agent for that "type" of book. But then, on the flip side,
you could send a book to an agent who has too many books like yours and wants
something different. I had an agent love my book, but she had just signed someone
with a very similar theme, so she passed. Even though I understood where she was
coming from, I was still crushed nonetheless. It's such a tricky balance of getting
the right person at the right time. The same thing happened to me with finding a
publisher. One house was really interested in my book, but had just bought a similar
book only one month prior to my agent submitting my manuscript. You really need a
thick skin in this industry. (Even when you finally get published, you quickly learn
that there are some reviewers that are not that nice!)

I wish you the best on your journey toward getting published. I wish I could say
that just getting the first draft done is the hardest part, but there's still a bit of
work ahead for you. (And then, even when you land the agent, the editor, etc.,
there's only more and more and even more work. It's never ending!!! But definitely
worth it in the end---I hope!)

Good luck to you and I hope to see your book on shelves in the very near future!

Best,

Megan

P.S. Definitely attend any writer/editor/agent conferences in your area. It's
great to get out there to meet agents and editors and get to know them and
what they are looking for. We've had many clients who've bumped into the
right agent/editor/publisher at just the right time and it made the process
so much easier. So, keep your eye out for any of those events. Best of luck!

Those were my two cents. Hopefully they helped the writer who contacted me.
And maybe they will help readers of this blog. Again, I'm far from being an
authority. I'm just someone who got lucky. (Not as lucky as JK Rowling,
Stephenie Meyer, or Harlan Coben. Plus I don't have Oprah beating down my
door to select my book as her latest book club pick, but I still consider myself
lucky nonetheless.)

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The Title of a Freelance Writer

For those who've stumbled upon this by accident (or through my other blog--the angerball), I've decided to start a blog about freelance writing: novel writing, feature magazine writing, high-tech PR writing, promotional writing--just about every type of writing that you can do (and I've done it all!) to establish yourself as a writer. (Not that I feel particularly established--I know people who've been writing for 20-plus years and who've been on New York Times bestselling lists who still feel like their writing career is a work in progress.)

So my question is this...when do you feel comfortable enough in yourself and your work to actually call yourself a "writer"? I always felt--and still feel-- the need to justify myself and the career path I'd chosen when people asked what I did. It wasn't until I was published in a magazine that people had actually heard of or when I got my book deal that I felt like I was "allowed" to call myself a writer. Yet, I still use the term "freelance" whenever I'm asked what kind of writing I do. If I say novelist, people will start to look for my books in the store (they'll be looking for a long time, because SISTERS OF MISERY is still in the revision stage and won't hit shelves until August 2008). If I say magazine writer, I get asked which magazine I write for so they can start looking for my articles. When I tell them that I'm not going to have a piece in EVERY issue, I get that glazed over look.

For those who are not in this business, they don't realize that this month I could be in Glamour, and next month I could have a piece in Cat Fancy (well, maybe not Cat Fancy, because I really don't know all that much about, nor do I really fancy, cats.) And even if I have a short, say 500 word piece in a national magazine, it took a lot of work and edits and emails and sweat, blood and tears to get that little article.

Think of it this way. The next time you read your favorite magazine and the article wasn't written by one of the in-house writers and you see the little name printed at the bottom of the piece, understand that that is a VERY big deal for that writer. Just to get into those magazines is an incredible hurdle. And just because a writer gets published in Vogue once, doesn't guarantee that they will consistently be assigned pieces for that magazine. Even well-known, very established authors with instantly recognizable names have to pitch (yes, they still pitch, just like you and me) to these magazines just like the rest of us freelance writers. While they may have the added benefit of possessing a household name, they still need to pitch an idea that's fresh, innovative and exciting.

In some ways, it levels the playing field for the rest of us--us freelance writers.

But I digress.

I still do not feel 100% comfortable calling myself a writer. Technically I was a writer when I wrote ad copy, press releases, radio commercials, high-tech PR pieces, advertorials and book reviews, but I still couldn't bring myself to call myself a writer. I even had a business card from a PR company that I worked for part-time that said Megan Kelley Hall - Writer, and I still flinched when people asked what I did. Because when you say writer, instantly people's eyes light up. They inevitably ask what magazines I write for, what books I've published, what essays I've crafted. And up until recently, I could only name a few obscure journals and unknown papers.

Now, when people ask, I can say that I've written for Glamour, Elle, New England Bride, Boston Magazine, American Baby and that I have a novel coming out in August. But I can't drop the freelance moniker. Because, technically, that's what I am. And that's what I'm comfortable saying. And until I have on-going articles in magazines with wide circulation, multiple books in the bookstores with my name on them, and many, many, many essays published in anthologies, I'm sticking with title of "freelance writer." Even if it continues to confuse people.

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