It was no surprise that Becky’s session for the Winchester Writing series was of a high standard. The surprise was that the high standard was achieved at a moment’s notice. It was a rich and informative session of which these notes – necessarily – form an abridged and paraphrased version. Nonetheless, I hope they help catch the essence of the evening.
Becky came into the world of publishing at 19, working for a small press in Northern Ireland. Becky has dealt with some big names over the years but reminded us that the difference between a ‘would be’ writer and a published author is summarised in a short sentence – ‘Authors are those who keep going’.
Approaching an agency:
Becky receives 20 – 40 scripts a day including weekends and bank holidays. If you do the maths…that’s some 7000 a year. You need to (i) stand out and (ii) send to as many agents as possible. Understandably, agents are looking for any excuse to reject because they are always feeling swamped.
Becky’s tips for standing out are listed below but there was a refreshingly subversive tone to her advice – ‘You make the rules’ she said.
Successful submissions needs to contain:
- Whatever they ask for – which is likely to include…
- Research – make sure you send submissions relevant to their preferred genres and be familiar with their lists – are their authors compatible with your sort of stories?
- Full compliance with the submission guidelines
- Correct spelling and grammar
- Brevity – less is more if you are reading 7000 submissions a year.
If you hear nothing after a couple of months a gentle prompt is appropriate (but check submission guidelines!) but beware of your tone – making demands on busy people who are reading your submissions for free will not go down well. Becky gets a cross phone call from impatient submitters about once a week. It doesn’t help their cause…
Becky’s slush pile method:
- Brief glance at covering letter.
- Read the first page. In 1 in 50 submissions she’ll read all three chapters.
- Of these she’ll read the full script of 1:3.
- Becky takes on 2 new authors a year.
Given the 7000 submissions a year, the odds of being taken on are 1:3,500…
How good is the writing?
The questions Becky asks when reading the first page include:
Is there a picture building?
Do I know where I am; time, setting, place?
Who are the characters?
Is it making sense?
Is it original writing with a distinctive voice?
Is there a hook or intrigue?
Finally – if the writing grips – she will look at what author is like.
The opening paragraph:
Make every word count – these are the most crucial few words you can ever write. Like a mini summary of your book the first paragraph should encapsulate everything you think and feel is important.
Look at the first paragraphs from as many books as possible, especially those that are similar to yours and remember that to be alive (paraphrasing Julia Green) you need to look, listen, touch and smell.
Feedback:
Getting a personalised rejection is a real achievement – Becky only writes about one a month. Try again if given feedback. Target agents who have given personalised feedback with your next story and remind them that they ‘said such and such last time so you might be interested in this one’. Try different styles and genres. Remember that rejection is only in relation to that publisher at that time.
The 4 S’s of a successful submission:
Story
Needs strong hook. The title explains story – ‘does what it says on tin’.
Memorable characters.
Page-turnability.
Originality.
Sales
Is it commercial – will people buy it
Is it truly original? Or in a style/genre with a proven track record?
Will your book convince other stakeholders? Acquisitions meetings – sales, foreign rights, editorial, marketing, art department?
Consider whether certain features might help it make the international market – e.g. multinational characters but don’t sacrifice the fluency of the story to be ‘internationalised’.
Series
Is there potential for Book Two?
Can you repeat the success?
They tend to like series to continue in genre you were successful in.
Success
Are you an author with potential?
Are you hungry for success? (This needn’t imply being egotistical or extrovert – it could be in a quiet authorly way that responds to feedback etc). Hard work tends to encourage success.
Will you help promote the book and engage audiences?
Questions:
You skim the cover letter and go straight to script so do you read synopsis?
If I’ve read the first few pages I’ll read the synopsis. Don’t put in too many spoilers but you could say there’s a big twist coming in the end.
Can you sell picture books without an illustrator?
Generally speaking NEVER try to do the illustrations. Publishers pride themselves on pairing the illustrator with the words. If you are a picture book author then that’s all you should do – leave the illustrations to someone else.
Do you exclusively represent children’s fiction?
No, I represent adult too but I’m focusing on children at the moment
Conclusion:
A very informative and encouraging evening with some useful ‘behind the scenes’ case studies of Sam Gayton, Pamela Butchart and Mike Lancaster. Even Bear Grylls got a mention.
Some of the takeaway messages for me included:
- You can get spotted via Litmus and the MA course.
- You can get spotted via the Slushpile
- You can get spotted through an editor session at the Winchester Writer’s Conference.
- You’ll probably be rejected but aim for a personal rejection – it’s the next best thing to being published!
- Be imaginative, creative and even a bit subversive (‘You make the rules’) but always be polite.
The latter is a pretty good rule for life in general… there’s a book in there somewhere…
Post by Alistair McNaught.
Litmus 2016 