Beth told me about a new book, Putting Your Passion Into Print, by Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry. She’d heard it was fabulous. So, I bought it. This morning, I read it, or at least the sections that were pertinent to my writing situation.
Of the 400 plus pages of the book, the first 150, those that deal with the unpublished writer looking for publication, applied to me. The rest of the book is about what to do when you get a book contract. Maybe someday I’ll need those sections. You never know.
The authors agree with my strategy of finding an agent first. This could be because Arielle is a former literary agent, or it could be because it’s the most efficient way to get published. Or so it would seem. I’m still not sure, but because I woke up this morning thinking that I really need to blanket query a bunch of agents, that’s the plan. For now.
So this morning I’ve been looking through my dream agent list from the last book, and the extensive spread sheet Toni sent me, and reading this book about passion. Pretty much, Arielle and David say the same thing Jennifer Crusie’s said many times: look to the acknowledgement pages of books you love and query the agents thanked therein.
They also say some other interesting stuff, like taking time to research the industry, the “odds of getting published go from nearly nil to extremely decent.” One thing they suggest is subscribing to Publisher’s Weekly to get all the latest news, and this was something I was going to do anyway now that I’m saving $90 in annual RWA dues. I really wasn’t going to subscribe because of the industry tibdits, though. I was more subscribing because of the book reviews, because I’m a book reviewer.
Passion not only covers fiction, but non-fiction as well. Which got me thinking about that memoir…but then I pulled myself back to the task at hand, selling Remodeling Eden. More than the chapter on finding an agent, I liked the “Rejection Section.” The optimism and anecdotes from famous writers cheered me up and gave me the necessary push to just go ahead and continue my journey toward publication.
My favorite quote was from Barbara Kingsolver, who says not to consider returned material rejected. “Consider that you’ve addressed it ‘to the edtior who can appreciate my work’ and it has simply come back stamped ‘Not at this address.’ Just keep looking for the right address.”