![]() Agents want to work with Seniors, not Juniors. Be friendly to agents but don’t expect them to take you on just yet. Editors are people, not ogres, and they like having friends. If you find an editor you specially click with, keep in touch. You may find this hard to believe, but knowing lots of writers is better than knowing lots of editors, and it’s a whole lot easier. ![]() This does not mean getting in editors’ faces at conferences and making them sick of you. Juniors: Strive for excellence in your craft. After a year or so of hard work, you’ll be amazed to discover that you’re one of those enviable writers who have advanced to the rank of Junior. Don’t worry - someone will help you too, so just relax and have a good time. Continue making friends with other writers and do whatever you can to help them. #Freshman sophmore junior senior how to#This means reading books on how to write a book proposal, working hard at polishing an actual proposal, going to writer’s conferences with the best proposal you can possibly write, getting critiques on your proposals, and then doing it all over again. Sophomores: Keep working on your craft, but begin working on your proposal skills. Work on your craft faithfully for a year, and it’s very likely you’ll wake up one day to find that you’re a Sophomore. It’s amazing how many lifelong friends you can make at a five-day conference. You should also meet other writers at conferences. This means going to writer’s conferences, taking writing classes, reading books on writing, joining a critique group, and most of all. Here are some practical things you can do at each stage:įreshmen: Work on your craft. Don’t try to jump to the Senior level in six months. If you are a Freshman, work on becoming a Sophomore. she wants to buy your book! Your Plan of Action It’s one of those cranky editors you sent that proposal to last year and. ![]() There is nothing better than being a Senior on that magical wonderful stupendous day when your son is busy ironing the cat, rain is leaking through the hole in the roof that you could swear you patched with toothpaste just a week ago, and the phone rings. There is nothing worse than being a Senior. Seniors don’t realize that the editors are watching them, hoping to see the perfect proposal that can make it past the committee. Seniors are worried sick that those mean editors are never going to notice them, that they’ll be submitting proposals forever. Seniors are those few who are ripe to graduate. There is a reason, of course - they’re not Seniors yet. Their friends can’t understand why they’re not published. More importantly, editors are beginning to know their faces. They’ve had an editor say those magic words - “Send me that proposal.” They’ve gotten that unmagic letter - “We’ve studied your proposal carefully and it does not meet our needs at the present time.” They now know a few editors. They’ve submitted some actual proposals at conferences. Just how long does it take to get published, anyway? And how do you write one of those book proposal things? And do I really have to meet editors? Does anybody ever actually get published by going to writer’s conferences? Why can’t those editors see that my book is a heartbreaking work of staggering genius and just publish the thing? They’ve improved their craft and probably also their content and they’re starting to get restless. Sophomores have a bit of writing under their belts. It’s fair to say that all Freshmen are very confused. But most Freshmen are convinced that they will never sell anything and they might as well give up. Some Freshmen are simply astounded that editors aren’t lining up to write checks for six-figure advances. Or they have an outrageous scheme for getting an editor’s attention with the creative use of explosives and lingerie. Most Freshmen are scared to death by the very idea of talking to an editor. They often have very fine content, but their craft is unpolished and they usually don’t have any contacts at all. ![]() That’s about seven years too long.įreshmen are novice writers. One year is a reasonable amount of time to spend at each stage, but it is possible to take much longer. You should not assume that you automatically advance one level per year. Where are you in your writing career? I find it useful to categorize prepublished writers in one of four stages, Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, or Senior. ![]()
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