Interview with Deborah Riley-Magnus

by Daisy Willis

Deborah Riley-Magnus is an author and an Author Success Coach. She is also an Assent Publishing Imprint Editor for Romance (Breathless Books) and Women's Fiction (Panoptic Books).

As an Author Success Coach, Deborah focuses exclusively on publicity, marketing, and promotional solutions for authors. She teaches live and online Author Success Workshops and has spoken at writers groups and conferences across the country.

GLVWG member Daisy Willis contacted Deborah to ask her about author promotions, marketing, and the genres she's interested in acquirng for Assent Publishing.

Daisy: New authors are often daunted by the fact that they now have to master both their craft and the marketing of it. How does Assent Academy help your authors with this challenge?

Deborah: In most cases, writers and authors, new or established, accept the fact that they must market their books. The only thing standing in their way is the fact that marketing represent a whole new skill set, seemingly in a foreign language to boot. They simply don’t understand how to use it, when to use it or why it works, but good marketing is more like writing than anyone realizes. It requires plotting, planning, practice and creativity. Taking all the mystical terror out of the task is the key to real success.

Assent Publishing is the first publisher of any size to establish an exclusive, internal, professionally-run training system for our contracted authors at no charge. The mandatory workshops are designed to give Assent authors a powerful marketing advantage through education, guidance and advice, strategies specifically developed for the author’s book(s) and time management skills.

Daisy: How important is social media in promoting an author's work? Does a strong platform help sway you towards an author or does the manuscript stand alone?

Deborah: Social media is an author’s VOICE. An author’s platform – including author website, book website, consistent and well-targeted blogging, twitter and Facebook presence – pumps blood into author success. Without tooting your horn, no one knows there’s a wonderful book coming on to the market. The time to start is when an author starts writing the book.

Our submission guidelines require a querying author give us an idea of how much they understand about marketing and their target book buyer. Yes, their platform comes in to play when we consider signing an author. I STRONGLY suggest that every writer Google themselves to see what we see. If their online presence is lacking, it’s not the end of the world, but it does tell our Managing Imprint Editors if that author is geared for marketing success. We’re looking for authors who want sales success and we give them the tools to do it.

Daisy: You're looking for romance, fantasy and women's fiction. How does a story really stand out in these genres?

Deborah: I’m pretty easy and a lot like every other book lover in the world. Catch my attention quickly, tell me a great story, give me compelling, polished writing and entertain me. I’m usually sold in the first five to fifty pages. If a writer can’t show me what I need to know in those first pages – that they have honed their craft, written a great story, and presented a well-edited piece – then I will pass.

Romance must be powerful, fantasy has to send my imagination soaring and women’s fiction needs to make me hold my breath for the main character. Like I said, I’m just like every other book lover in the world.

Daisy: As Managing Editor for Assent's romance imprint, Breathless Books, you must be excited about the "Great Romance" contest wrapping up at the end of April. What inspired this contest and what are you looking for in a winner?

Deborah: The Great Romance contest was created to bring new and remarkable romance to the forefront. We’re seeking great romance that isn’t bound to the standard formulaic plot structures and character traits we’ve all seen a thousand times. All romance subgenres are welcome, so the variety of the submissions has been exciting. The contest is an age-old challenge to tell us a love story in a different way. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins girl back isn’t going to cut it. Our Breathless Books Imprint wants romance writers to show us their creative muscle!

Daisy: Given your expertise in marketing, you probably have some good advice on pitching a story. What works and what doesn't?

Deborah: All I ask is that a pitching author truly KNOWS their story. If you can’t pitch me in 25-30 words – and within those few words convey the genre, who will read that book and what it’s about – you might lose me. If you hook me in with those 25-30 words, I will ask for more and more. Getting an idea across with a well-crafted economy of words tells me that your writing is strong. Don’t babble and by all means, please don’t be nervous. I’ve been on your side of the table. I don’t bite and I want you to be successful!

Get your 25-30 word pitch as polished as possible. Practice it, rehearse it and know it well because that perfect pitch will carry you through everything from getting a publishing contract to requesting reviews, enticing the press, and gaining live speaking or book signing engagements. Done well, it can be your most powerful marketing tool. And never forget, you are marketing to the editor or agent you pitch.

Interview with Jita Fumich

by Charles Kiernan

Jita Fumich first began working with Folio in 2006. She has also worked with the editorial department at Berkley Books at Penguin and with Macmillan Publishers at their self-help podcasting website, and is currently the secretary for the AAR’s Digital Rights Committee. She holds a B.A. from New York University and has taken classes at NYU’s Center for Publishing.

Jita can’t think of any better industry to be in than publishing.  Her favorite trips as a child were to the bookstore or the library, and she always tried to take home more books than she could carry.  She is excited about being part of the magical process of making an author’s idea end up on bookshelves.

Charles Kiernan: When you are slogging through romance and fantasy submissions, and your eyes glaze over, what pops out at you, calling you to pay attention to this one? Does romance and fantasy differ in what attracts your attention?

Jita Fumich:  I think it's important to have a strong log line or a succinct synopsis that really pinpoints why your story is so much more interesting or unique than anything else in my inbox.  I am not a fan of queries that try to be different in terms of format (queries that are written by the protagonist of the story, for example), but simply a clean, well-written, properly-formatted query can actually stand out from the crowd.

For that reason, what simply attracts my attention does not change whether it is fantasy, romance, or another genre entirely.

C: I am sure you keep an eye open for storylines that are fresh or have a new treatment of an old theme. At present (I know this changes quickly) what are the storylines that make you say, “Oh, not another one!”

J: Any fantasy story that involves a (generally mis-matched) group going on a quest.  The writing might be great, but this is just not a plot that makes me eager to read on.  I also see too many demons and vampires without sufficient world-building to make me believe in the author's unique vision.

C: What are the storylines that never fail, the ones that will always have an audience?

J: I would say that romance is where common storylines tend to feel tried and true rather than tired.  There are, after all, only so many ways that a couple can get together, so it is more in the drama of the story, the conflict surrounding or between them, and the setting.  However, there is no specific storyline that I can say I don't mind reading over and over--anything gets tiring after a while!

C: When you represent a work, what is the nature of the partnership you enter into with the author beyond signing a contract?

J:  Not only do I carefully work with each author on a project editorially before it is sent out, but I also believe that selling a book is no more the end of my job than writing a great one is the end of my client's.  This starts (but certainly doesn't end) with educating authors on and advocating for them during the publication process, working with them on promoting their books, and making sure to discuss and work toward achieving long-term writing/career goals.

C: Taking new authors as a group, what are their usual weak points in understanding their role in finding a publisher?

J: I wouldn't say that there is much of a role in the author *finding* a publisher--after all, that's my job!  What I would say, though, is that they need to think about building their own platform even before we send out a project.  Get involved in the reading and writing community surrounding their genre, try to make friends with other authors--make yourself and your writing as marketable as possible.

C: Again, as a group, what surprises them the most about their role after their book is published?

J: The exact same thing--that the job isn't done!  Authors need to always be thinking of ways to build their fanbase and connect with their readers.  That can mean anything from making sure to stay up to date on new social media platforms, to maintaining an active website, and other ways to reach their community.  And yes, all of this has to happen while the author is hard at work writing their next book.

C: Thanks so much for agreeing to be interviewed.

J: Thank you so much for interviewing me.  I very much enjoyed answering such insightful questions!

A Conversation With Literary Agent Lauren Ruth

by Tess Almendarez Lojacono

I was pleased to have an opportunity to pose interview questions to Lauren Ruth, literary agent for BookEnds, LLC. Just as I suspected, her answers were full of energy and enthusiasm, as here is an agent who truly loves books and people and the awesome job of representing both to major publishing houses.

Tess Almendarez Lojacono: Tell me the facts about your life. The basic stuff, but also the three things you feel are most important for readers to know.

Lauren Ruth: I love to blog and can be found at www.slushpiletales.wordpress.com. I started this blog when I was interning, and it's aim has changed as I have. Now, it's a resource for writers, but is read also by agents and editors. Aside from that, I'd like to mention that I'm just itching to find big commercial fiction that has something extra, a bit of pop that makes it really, really unique. Lastly, I think it's worth saying that I never really get sick of romance. I'll always read romance, and specifically I love paranormals and historicals (or both at the same time).

TAL: For me, the idea of the agent encompasses many things beyond what we tend to see as an "agent." You are not only a salesman, but a purveyor of words as well. Tell me how these two things come together. How do they benefit one another, or even work together for you?

LR: I wouldn't say that I am a purveyor of words. I don't feel like I provide them to anyone, but rather they're provided to me. I like to think of my process, and that of all agents, as a specific vehicle that is designed to navigate a terrain no other can. That being said, I am emotionally incapable of being objective about the works I choose to represent. I cannot have my client's work get rejected (even once, by that imprint I didn't care about anyway) without sharing their hurt. I can't get an author published and then not whoop and not holler and not crack open the champagne that night. I think this inability serves me well. The higher any agent's passion is about a book, the better he or she will champion for it--and I always have high enthusiasm and passion or I wouldn't have taken it on.

TAL: You are educated in English Lit. and Language and will soon have a degree in book publishing as well. How do these fields inform eachother?  Does one effort make you better at the other?

LR: My English degree has not served me very well in publishing. I think going to college is important for almost any career, but learning about literary greats like Hemingway and Faulkner does not help in today's world of commercial book publishing. There should be a degree in commercial fiction--that would have served me. As for my graduate work in book publishing, it has given me perspective, if nothing else. A master's degree in book publishing is like an MBA, but specific to book publishing. I was able to learn about a publisher's business model, what works and what doesn't, why books are priced the way they are and why some things sell and some don't. In addition to actually interning at Simon and Schuster, I was able to see behind the smoke-screen and understand how the editorial, marketing, sales and business processes work hand-in-hand and independently of each other at a big publisher and I was able to see all of this as it applies to different areas of publishing, from children's to textbook.

TAL: What kind of characters/fiction are you drawn to?  So much of the fiction today is dark and disturbing.  Do you think this is a trend that will change? How do you pick projects that you work on—strictly choosing what appeals to you as a reader or looking for that product that will ‘sell’?

LR: I love anything that takes me somewhere new, whether that "somewhere" exists in a character or in world or in a situation. I love fiction that is dark and disturbing. The reason for this is that  in my reading, I want to be forced to feel something. I want the author to paint his ideas on my mind and I want that experience to leave something behind, not just be washed away by the paint of all the other authors. I can always tell when something really moved me, because I remember it months later after reading pages and pages of other people's work. Romance, done well, does this for me as does upmarket commercial fiction. also, literary and upmarket women's fiction.

As for the way in which I choose projects to represent, I don't ever go looking for something that will sell and I'll tell you this probably hurts my bank account. The fact is, if I don't think something is worthy, and I didn't enjoy it, it's really hard to sing its praises to an editor. I've done it before and I don't like it: I feel like a clown, performing. If I truly have passion for and have enjoyed something supremely, the praise-singing comes naturally and I find that it's more infectious if its genuine. So, yes, generally it needs to appeal to my tastes as a reader.

TAL: If you could, how would you change the publishing world? 

LR: Honestly? I wouldn't change publishing...I would change society. In my wildest fantasy, everybody on Earth reads...as much as they watch TV. And authors are huge celebrities and people have challenging conversations about published ideas and stories. And I'm sitting right in the middle of it and people think I'm so lucky to work in this industry. Well, I did say it was a fantasy...

TAL: What are today’s biggest challenges to the agent?  To the writer?

LR: The biggest challenge to an author is to establish and maintain an audience, especially online. As an agent, I think my biggest challenge right now is to intuit not only what I will like, but what editors will, and what readers will.

TAL: What would you say is the most common mistake writers make when they query?  When they submit a manuscript?

LR: The most common mistake in a query is what I call The Synopsis Splatter. The author has spent years writing something like 90,000 words and has entirely lost perspective. She can't fit all of that into 250 words, so her ideas come out like a messy splatter: too much here, too little there, a glop of the unintelligible over here, a string of unnecessary at the bottom...in other words, there's substance there, I just know it, but it's not very coherent.

TAL: Who are your own favorite writers? Books?LR: My all-time favorite books are To Kill a Mockingbird and Jane Eyre, which I suppose illuminates my varied tastes. My favorite current authors are Jodi Picoult, Neil Gaiman, Wally Lamb, Jonathan Tropper, Jeffrey Eugenides, Barbara Kingsolver, Loretta Chase, Charles Bock, Lauren Weisberger, Chuck Palahniuk, and probably a whole bunch more who escape my memory.My tastes, as you can see vary very, very widely. I'm not sure what all of these authors have in common, so I'll call it je ne sais quoi, if you don't mind.

TAL: What is your own definition of what makes a good writer?

LR: Technically, I think a writer needs to have a natural, inborn talent and a way with words. Beyond that, they need to be able to plot their novel out with surprise and pop and uniqueness. They really do need to have a voice all their own. Also, writers today need to be able to take revision suggestions and really work with that. There have been times when I've told an author that Character A would benefit from being a little more brooding, a little more angry. Then when I get the revisions back, the author has simply typed in several areas "...he was angry and brooding..." That is not what I mean about taking a revision and working with it. Tell me how angry and brooding he was without using the words or anything close to their synonyms and do it throughout, is really what I mean.

Lastly, authors need to be marketeers these days. They need to be on Twitter and Facebook and blog in order to really knock their work out of the park.

TAL: For this last question, I want to ask you eight more questions. But they are pretty much possible to answer with very short answers:

1) What inspired you to go into the field of literary agent?

LR: When I was a kid, I asked my dad if, when I grew up, I could read for a living because that would be totally awesome, wouldn't it? He said something like "Maybe. Pass the potatoes." All I really needed was a maybe.

2) What book has most influenced your life?

LR: I think Stephen King's Bag of Bones. I was only 13, I think, and should not have been reading that, but I loved it so much, that I read it several times. It was also the first mention of editors and agents, even though that was ancillary to the plot in Bag of Bones.

3) What is your biggest time waster?

LR: You want me to admit I waste time? Honestly, though, my time is very strapped and I don't waste it. Even reading for pleasure adds to my knowledge base, even blogging adds to my public image, even perusing Twitter helps me learn and connect.

4) What is the hardest part about being an agent?

LR: I think the hardest part of being an agent is that my work is largely based on instinct and experience. There's no definite bestseller, no sure thing.

5) Name three things you are most proud of.

LR: I'm proud to work with books. I think most people don't live out their childhood dreams, and even though mine is so tame, I actually did it. So, in my mind, I'm like a ballerina or an astronaut. I'm especially proud of my intelligence and my ability to think quickly, whether in a concrete way or an abstract one. And I'm proud that even though I'm a single mom, I still find the time to cultivate my two-and-half-year old's interest in reading.

6) Think back to when you were about 13. What was your very favorite book?

LR: At that time, it was probably Stephen King's entire body of work.

7) Which of your favorite literary characters is most like you?
LR: I'd like to say Jane Eyre, but that seems more like an aspiration. Probably Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice.

8) What is one of the craziest things you've ever done?
LR: I once told the preeminent Virginia Woolf scholar that I did not find the subject of his life's work very appealing, commercially or otherwise. I shared this opinion while sitting in his college seminar on her body of work. He handled it very gracefully and then shunned me for the rest of the semester. 


Lauren will be at the WriteStuff Writers Conference in March. I’m sure you’ll be as eager as I am to meet her in person! And in the meantime, don’t forget to go to her blog at: www.slushpiletales.wordpress.com. You’ll find query letter critiques and other valuable advice to writers!

An interview with Tracy MacNish: Part II

This post conclude's Dianna Sinovic's two-part interview with Tracy MacNish, author of four darkly romantic historical novels with Kensington Publishing. Tracy will speak at the Write Stuff conference on March 26-27, 2010. Her most recent release, STEALING MIDNIGHT, was given a Top Pick by Romantic Times Magazine, and has received excellent reviews. Her previous novel, VEILED PASSIONS, was also awarded a Top Pick and went on to be nominated for Best British Isles Set Novel of 2008.

Dianna: You have had a string of novels published over the last several years. First, congratulations on your success! Did it take you long to find an agent or publisher? How did you find that person?

Tracy: Thanks! It was a long road getting here. It took me four years to complete my first novel and three years of rejection to secure an agent. BUT—it only took my agent two months to sell my first two-book deal.

Moral of the story: Keep going. Keep trying. You will never get accepted if you don’t risk rejection. And come on – the rejection’s not so bad. It makes you tougher and wiser and a well-seasoned writer.

As for finding the right agent, even though I know it’s expensive, I do recommend pitching at writers’ conferences. It’s the very best way to connect with an agent, and most of them will ask you to send your proposal package to them by way of courtesy. Make sure to write “requested material” on the envelope and to thank them for their time in person and also in your cover letter. Be polite, be professional, and submit only your very best work.

D: Brent Monahan was your mentor. Please talk about your experiences with him—how did he encourage and/or shape your fiction writing? Do you recommend mentoring in general?

T: Brent Monahan taught me how to write a book. I came to him knowing how to turn a phrase, how to tell a story, and how to write strong “scenes,” but Brent taught me how to make them hang together within the structure of a novel. 

As for how he encouraged me – he put time into me. Brent is a busy man. He writes plays, novels, musical textbooks, screen plays, and musicals, as well as teaching writing on the university level, teaching music for specially chosen students, acting on stage, and singing professionally. This list doesn’t include his hobbies, his family, and his private time. Suffice it to be said that I didn’t want to make him feel as though the time that he put into me was wasted. I wanted to work to the potential that he saw in me, and the fact that he saw potential at all was encouragement in and of itself.

I do recommend mentoring in general, if you happen upon the right fit, as Brent and I did. I was, and am, extremely respectful of Brent’s incredible wealth of knowledge, as well as his talent, his creative mind, and his intelligence. That said, I still wrote MY book, and he let me do so. A great mentor, such as Brent, knows that the writer is ultimately in charge, and that while he is there to teach and guide, he isn’t there to take the reins or change the writer’s vision of the story.

D: What authors have been influential to your work? What books are on your nightstand right now?

T: I admire Kathleen E. Woodiwiss a great deal. I grew up on her books, and they made me fall in love with romance.

Right now I’m re-reading Siddhartha, a book that I turn to whenever I need reminding that it’s all about the journey. When I’m done I’m not sure where I’m going to start. My work office has a small library that they’re closing down and there are about 500 books that are all mine for the taking.  I’ve been bringing a box filled with books home with me every day… and it’s awesome.  ‘Free books’ – is there a better phrase known to the Nerd populace?

My bookcases at home are already full and I have no idea where I’ll keep this bounty, but I’m taking them home, anyway. My master plan is to have my husband line our bedroom in floor to ceiling built-in bookcases so I can sleep and wake in my own private library, but he’s not digging the idea. I guess (until I get my way) I’ll add them to the stacks in my office and be glad we don’t live on an unstable fault line. 

 

D: Please talk a bit about your daily writing routine. You mentioned in your blog that you recently got a job – what is it? How have you modified your writing schedule to accommodate?

T: When I’m writing a book, I write every day, or at least make a valiant attempt. If the words are coming hard, I do edits and research. When I’m not into a book, as I’m not right now, I don’t write much at all but do an enormous amount of reading.

Yeah, I got a job. (sigh) I’m leasing apartments – which is interesting most days.  There are certainly a lot of characters there, to say the least. As far as a regular job goes, it’s a pretty good gig. The money’s good, the people I work with are cool, and I get benefits. The only downside is the constant exhaustion.   

As for writing while working full time… well, it’s not easy, that’s for sure. Right now I am trying to write a bit on the weekends, but that hasn’t been going well because my family and friends actually want to see me at some point. But I have a book I really, really want to write, so my new plan is to begin rolling out of bed at 5 or 5:30 so I can get a few pages in before it’s time to get ready for work.

This plan, by the way, is highly experimental. Touch base with me in March at the conference, and I’ll let you know how it’s working out for me. 

Tracy MacNish brings spark of desire to The Write Stuff

Tracy MacNish, author of four darkly romantic historical novels with Kensington Publishing, will speak at the Write Stuff conference on March 26-27, 2010. Her most recent release, STEALING MIDNIGHT, was given a Top Pick by Romantic Times Magazine, and has received excellent reviews. Her previous novel, VEILED PASSIONS, was also awarded a Top Pick and went on to be nominated for Best British Isles Set Novel of 2008. What follows is an excerpt from an interview conducted by Dianna Sinovic.


Dianna: What will you speak about at the 2010 Write Stuff conference?


Tracy: Passion and sexual tension. It will be fun, I think – I was considering holding a contest to see who could count how many times I blush in 50 minutes. But in all seriousness, it makes for better character development if you can work those aspects of human behavior into your stories. It doesn’t matter what genre you’re writing in—your characters, if they are human, will feel desire. Depicting emotions isn’t always easy, so I think this workshop will be really useful for anyone who wants to include a little passion in his or her stories, but isn’t quite sure how to do so without crossing over into lurid territory.


The second session will cover creating time and place, and this is the most important of all the aspects of good storytelling. After all, your setting is the chassis that your story rides upon, and it affects every single aspect of your characters’ thoughts, dress, speech, actions, reactions, and so forth. One cannot underestimate the presence of setting; it is the main character of your novel, hidden in plain sight on every page. In this session we’ll be doing more than covering books that do it well; we’ll be dissecting actual passages to see exactly what works, what doesn’t, and why. 


D: Why did you choose historical romance as your genre? You also write short fiction, as well?


T: I adore love stories. I also love learning about history, and get so excited when I read something that makes me think, “what if….” 


I think stories about the human condition are the most interesting of all and find myself disconnected from books that don’t have enough “feeling” in them. I like romances because they end well, and it’s my opinion that real life offers enough opportunities for bad, sad, open-ended, wistful, or just downright depressing endings. 


I read everything, but when it comes time to write, I am particularly drawn to the stories of peoples’ lives: how they got to where they are, what they want, who they love, and how they work through their troubles. No other genre gives a writer as much freedom to explore those dimensions better than romance, and I love how the romance genre has so many sub-genres. There really is no limit to what kind of stories one can write—under the umbrella of romance, there is a place for any story of any subject matter.


As for short fiction, I write short stories when I have an idea that’s not big enough for a book but too urgent to dismiss. I’m delighted to have a short story coming out in the Mad Poets Review in November 2009. It’s a dark, strange, metaphoric tale titled Never Mind What Sheep Say. I’m thrilled to see it alongside poetry, even though that’s not where I would have imagined it would end up.


D: Tell me how you approach historical research for your novels. Do you travel? Do Web-based research? Use reference books? How long does it take you?


T: Traveling to do research isn’t a luxury I can afford now, and certainly wasn’t possible when I was first starting out. Books are the best resource, in my opinion—the Internet is a great tool, but I make sure to find the same information in at least three places before accepting it as truth.


I pretty much read until I’m ready to start writing, which for me is decided when the characters in my head become defined and begin speaking to each other. That’s when the words go to paper, and from there I research as I go, basically looking up what I don’t know as I’m immersed in the story. I like to know enough to get the setting right before I start, the milieu, to understand the vernacular, the currency, the modes of dress and how they lived, and to offer verisimilitude.

The important thing for a beginning writer to keep in mind, however, is not to let what you don’t know prevent you from beginning, because it’s easy to get mired in research and to let it delay you from the work of actually writing your story. I know a would-be writer who has three filing cabinets full of well-documented research, but whose book has yet to be started.


Nora Roberts said it best:  “I can fix a broken page, but I can’t fix a blank one.”


More from Tracy in next week's post!

Do Tracy's sessions intrigue you? Days until The Write Stuff registration opens: 70!