1.

THE MARKET IS FULL OF BOOKS ON HOW TO WRITE. WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU HAVE A DIFFERENT MESSAGE?

2.

HOW DID YOU GET YOUR START AS AN EDITOR?

3.

YOU WRITE, SO WHY DON'T YOU CALL YOURSELF A WRITER?

4.

SO YOU’RE SAYING YOU KNOW HOW WRITERS CAN GET PUBLISHED?

5.

WHERE DO YOU GET THE STATISTICS YOU USE, SUCH AS 28 MILLION REJECTIONS?

6.

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR AUTHORS SEEKING PUBLICATION?

Q. THE MARKET IS FULL OF BOOKS ON HOW TO WRITE. WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU HAVE A DIFFERENT MESSAGE?

A. I tell writers what the industry doesn't want them to know:
    • how their submissions are actually handled by an agent's or editor's "reader" — whom I call the screener-outer;
    • why manuscripts are judged on craft before content, and
    • why 90 percent of submissions are rejected in the first few pages — about 4 million a year.
    As soon as one or two clues to average writing are spotted, whether by page 10, or 2, or paragraph 2, the first reader stops reading.
    Manuscripts are rapidly tossed onto the "no" pile, long before anyone reads far enough to appreciate plot and character.

    Second, I explain each clue to quick rejection and show how to find and fix these dead giveaways to average writing. This gives a writer's manuscript a better chance of being read.

    Third, I review examples from 212 authors who write romance, short story, young adult, paranormal, mystery, and so on, and I show how others solved the same problems that every fiction writer deals with. When writers see options for, say, an intriguing opening hook or effective body language, they try techniques they never realized were possible.

    P.J. Parrish, the New York Times best-selling author of nine thrillers, calls my selection of examples in the Agatha Award winner Don't Murder Your Mystery "Wonderful."

Q. HOW DID YOU GET YOUR START AS AN EDITOR?

A. I wanted to be a commercial artist. I made it into one of New York City's competitive-entry high schools, Music & Art (now LaGuardia), graduated at 16, and got my first day job—in public relations. I was a lowly clerk, but I could watch real artists at work.

   What a shock! I knew right away I could never produce as fast. They got a design right the first time. I'm a tinkerer, a fine-tuner.

   But I'd been reading from age 4 and I had a photographic memory for details — spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Those were the dark ages — no monitor glowing with email. I hand-carried the rough drafts from one desk to another, and I tinkered and fine-tuned. Did I get into trouble? No, my supervisor promoted me!

   I'd always taken reading and writing ability for granted — didn't everyone have the same skills? I was on my way, first as a copy editor—a job I hadn't even known existed. Over time I learned on the job from other editors, and I'm still learning even after 44 years in the business and now retired.

Q. YOU WRITE, SO WHY DON'T YOU CALL YOURSELF A WRITER?

A. Writing is hard; I do it only when I have to — like when clients pay me enough to ghostwrite their books, or when something I strongly believe in compels me to write it. For my two most recent books I was compelled — by seeing so many writers continuing to murder their manuscripts.

   I have enormous respect for anyone who even tries to write a book. But I'm an editor. I've studied editing, and I keep up with developments in my field. I deplore the term writer/slash/editor, which says to me, "I really want to write, but while I'm waiting for the next big break I'll take on whatever editing I can get on the side so I can earn some extra money." I'm sorry, but if that's what all the slash/editor is about, I keep my distance. I don't intend to contribute to reducing my field’s professionalism.

  People come up to doctors at parties with complaints, not to say "I could be a doctor too if I wanted to take the time and effort to go to med school, study, be an intern," and so on. But writers tell of people who say to them, "I could write, too, if I had the time." Well, I meet people who say, "I could be an editor, too, because I love to find errors." Fixing commas and spelling is not what editing is all about. I want to show writers of fiction how to use suspense, dialogue, conflict, description, and lots more so they stop sabotaging their submissions.

Q. SO YOU’RE SAYING YOU KNOW HOW WRITERS CAN GET PUBLISHED?

A. Yes and no. Good writing, landing on the right agent’s desk, then the right publisher’s desk, has the potential for publication. But if anyone says they can get you published and all you have to do is buy this, pay that...run the other way. For a manuscript to be read by a legitimate agent or publisher, writers must replace ineffective techniques with effective ones so they aren't labeled "amateur."

  This word isn't mine; "amateur" is well-established in the industry to separate the professionals from the unhappily unpublished.

    For example, most manuscripts suffer from what I call gesturitis: pointless, stereotyped body language following a line of dialogue. The character paused and took a deep breath, another ran a hand through his hair. A frown creased her brow. He nodded and smiled. She shrugged and shook her head. He smiled and looked around. She looked at him. He looked out the window.
   I yawned.

   This is body language illiteracy. All this moving around contributes no insight into character, adds no meaning to dialogue. And just putting quotation marks around a sentence doesn't make it dialogue.

   Differences in plot and character become insignificant. In fact, identical images and phrasing make it seem as if the same author wrote 99 percent of all submissions. Editors get a sense of déjà view—the feeling we've viewed the same writer’s work before.

Q. WHERE DO YOU GET THE STATISTICS YOU USE, SUCH AS 28 MILLION REJECTIONS?

A. Bowker is the publishing industry’s major source of data, and they report that 282,500 titles were published in 2006. Of those, 42,076 were adult fiction.
   I've interviewed many agents, and they estimate one in a hundred manuscripts becomes a book. Other agents cite far worse statistics, but I’m looking at the best case scenario. I’m no statistician, but I figure that for every one of the 282,500 titles published, at least 28 million rejections had to occur.

Q. WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR AUTHORS SEEKING PUBLICATION?

A. You wouldn't expect to play a violin solo at Carnegie Hall without years of taking lessons, practicing, and listening to virtuosos perform. Writing is the only profession I know in which the beginner expects to solo before an audience on the first try. Some writers actually brag about not reading books — when the best advice for becoming a writer is to read widely, to study the craft of writing, to learn to listen to what good writing “sounds” like, and to practice, practice, practice — by writing, writing, writing.
   Ask for feedback from people who don't know you and won't tell you what you hope to hear. Take the art of writing seriously if you expect the publishing world to take you seriously.