It’s a cliché, but it’s damn right! The business of getting an agent, getting your book published and sold is definitely as hard, if not harder, as writing the novel in the first place. Similar to when you’re pregnant. You think being pregnant is bad (sickness, lassitude, ruined feet, stretch marks, galloping appetite, pan-galactic weight gain), but once the dear delight is born, you will be slogging away at a level you thought had been left in Victorian sweatshops.
One thing I’ve learnt that is crucial. You must do your research before you put one finger on the keyboard.
1. Know what sort of a book you’ve written (sounds obvious, but it isn’t always);
2. Find out which agents deal with your genre/type (Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook, Association of Authors’ Agents, etc.);
3. Try and find the agent within a big company that deals specifically with your sort of book;
4. Read up about them on their website, the internet in general;
5. If you have any writing friends, ask their opinion.
As for the letter, there are gazillions of websites and books giving advice about being focused, businesslike and informative, but something that’s struck me as essential is some marketing advice I heard a few years ago at a business seminar from a very respected marketing guru: BE NICE!
I’m not being sycophantic ;-), just practical. Agents want books, too. No books, no business. So basically, they’re a team member in your enterprise of getting your book to the reader and it’s bad work practice to be rude to your fellow team members.
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I went to an RNA London South East meeting yesterday with fellow newbie Rachel to hear Alison Joseph, author of the ‘Sister Agnes’ series, compare story structure in the two genres.
She observed that while crime and romance in the same story may be rare, there were similarities in the framework and essential elements. Both needed conflict and tension, for instance. Alison pointed to a high point in tension in her crime books at around seven-eights of the way through. The last eighth was a wrap-up along the lines of ‘So, Inspector, what about the fate of xxx?’
Alison said she enjoyed writing about extraordinary things happening to ordinary people (often the setting for romantic novels) and the relationships that developed between her characters (an obvious one in romance!). She got a lot of empathic smiles around the table about the necessity of avoiding the mid-book sag.
After a Q&A session from the twenty-odd members, there was a book raffle. For my 50p, I won Elizabeth Chadwick’s The Greatest Knight, the story of William Marshal, which I shall look forward to reading with great pleasure.
An afterthought: I was a little puzzled about the crime/romance mix comment, as were one or two others in my twitter group. David Hewson’s The Lizard’s Bite is an example of a successful mix, I think as are Lindsey Davis’s Falco series. Have just started JD Robb’s (Nora Roberts) Naked in Death which adds a futuristic element to the mix. I’ll report back…
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 Doing a bit of research into the post-Roman world, I came across Chris Wickham’s The Inheritance of Rome: A History of Europe from 400 to 1000. It’s brilliant!
From the first page, I was enthralled. Now, I’m a self-confessed Roman nut and intrigued by that mysterious time in Europe after the mid-400s AD until the more structured medieval period emerges, so I was keen to find out more. A lot of new research has been carried out in the past 30 years about this period. So are the ‘Dark Ages’ still considered dark?
I started reading with my afternoon cuppa and, vaguely registering my OH coming through the front door some time afterwards, went back to the Merovingians. About eight o’clock, a plaintive voice asked if we were going to have any supper. I was genuinely startled. I had been absorbed for hours by an academic history book. It took me back to when I did my masters (in history) and discovered with joy new facts and insights into a fascinating topic brought to me vividly by an accomplished communicator.
In brief, it’s packed with easily accessible information and balanced, reasoned arguments. Professor Wickham emphasises that the period, and every small scale society within it, needs to be examined in its own terms, not with hindsight or pre-judgements. He charts the many continuities from the late Roman period: law, tax, culture and systems, some of which lasted up to 1000 AD, possibly beyond.
So, sorry, the Roman Empire didn’t ‘fall’ just like that – it sort of localised, got a bit holey and eventually dissolved, but not without leaving us a huge heritage.
You’ll have to read the book to find out the rest…
(No, I’m not on commission and yes, the OH did get his supper. Eventually)
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