Handling Success

I’ve been away for a few days and am now back in the saddle. I asked my Facebook friends for some ideas for my next blog and got some great responses. I’ll answer the first one now and try to answer the others over the course of the next few days.

Lori Roeleveld says: We read a lot about handling rejection. I’d like to hear something about preparing spiritually for success.

I hope I’m understanding Lori’s question correctly, so here goes.

Preparing spiritually for success isn’t much different than preparing for “failure.” I have to use quote marks there because there really is no such thing as failure for a Christian writer. And that’s why there aren’t many differences in the way we prepare ourselves for the results of what we write.

At some point—hopefully very early on—a Christian writer has to develop a deep sense that God is sovereign in what happens to this magnificent gift we call writing. Is He going to use it to reach many or just a few? In either case, it’s really all up to Him, not us. Sure, we do all the necessary preparation and follow through—the actual research, the writing, the submitting, the praying, and all the rest of it. But unless we know that God orders our steps, we’re going to be in for much greater disappointment than is necessary. In my previous blog I mentioned the disappointment I felt when a project I’d been working on for two years fell apart. But even as I experienced the disappointment, I had to acknowledge “the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.” I had been praying for that project every step of the way. So when it ended, I had to accept that too was the hand of God. One of the worst things a writer can do is allow disappointment or discouragement to end or derail a writing career. The only thing that should end a writing career for a Christian is a true sense in our spirit that God has called us to something else.

Just as so-called “failure” must not discourage us, neither should success cause us to become puffed up. Although I still go through the down emotions when I receive a rejection, I also experience joy at an acceptance and I’m overjoyed when I receive a letter from a reader whose life has been impacted by something I’ve written. And regarding the latter, I have to honestly say that when I read such a letter, I know more than anybody else how truly any work done in the reader was something God accomplished, not something I can take credit for. Just as in failure, so too in success you can’t let your emotions play too large a part in judging your work. Move on in the face of apparent failure and move on in the face of apparent success.

Lori, I guess that’s a long way of saying that success is something God does with our writing, not something we do. Knowing that will help us handle it wisely.

I want to add, too, that I believe Christian writers should expect to succeed. If I were to offer a “step-by-step” plan for success for Chrisitan writers, it would look something like this:

1. Be sure your writing is totally surrendered to God.
2. Pray for success and believe for success.
3. Learn the ropes.
4. Always do the next thing you know to do. Don’t look too far ahead.
5. Leave the results to God.

Next up I’ll tackle Bob Russell’s question which is related to Lori’s: What is success as a writer and how do you know when you ‘ve achieved it? How do you measure it? Book sales? Satisfaction? Lives changed?

Dealing with Disappointment

As some of my Facebook friends know, yesterday I received a heavy blow as a writer. For the past two years I’ve been working on a memoir with a noted actress from the Golden Age of Hollywood. It’s been a pet project of mine in many ways.

First of all, I really don’t care much for what Hollywood puts out these days. Most of the movies I watch are those on TCM. I miss the movies of Frank Capra and starring people like Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, and Mickey Rooney. (Have you ever seen Mickey Rooney’s performance in “The Human Comedy”? He deserved an Oscar!).

Second, I’ve always wanted to help someone famous write his or her story. I still do, in fact.

Third, knowing what I did about the actress in question, I knew I would enjoy the story itself.

Fourth—and perhaps it should be my first consideration–this actress has had an inspiring life. She is an active Christian and her faith is an integral part of her life’s story. That made the book we would write all the more exciting.

And so two years ago I began the project with a trip to Beverly Hills for my first interview session. It went well and I returned a few months later for the second interview. It too went well. A nice proposal and sample chapters were the result. Admittedly, during this time my subject expressed some reservations about a book. She is a private person—retired from acting of course—and a book was never something she desired to write. Still, we moved ahead.

One thing I had not anticipated, but should have, is that many editors are too young to remember Hollywood in its Golden Age. So in response to some of my queries, I received the message that she was not well enough known. That’s really not true—at least to two generations of book buyers. I’ve seen books by other stars of her magnitude—Esther Williams and Maureen O’Hara to cite two—do well in the market. In addition, this actress has a very active website and still makes an occasional appearance as a guest on TBN.

The result was that I collected a few rejections for the project and more than once my subject and I reworked the proposed manuscript. In fact, two editors had recently agreed to look at the new proposal when the call came yesterday that my subject had changed her mind about the book altogether.

She explained her reasons and I understood and accepted her explanation. In fact, I felt relief in a sad sort of way. This book was number one on my list of projects and as such it took a lot of emotional and creative energy. To have it gone will allow me to invest that energy in some of the other fifty-plus projects on my list.

Here’s my take away for my fellow writers:

* We all know that rejection slips (or actually rejection e-mails these days) are a part of the process. They hurt, but we learn to get past them and move on. But what we experience more rarely (or at least I hope more rarely) are those huge pet projects in which we invest a lot of time and energy and which end up unpublished for one reason or another. Those too, we must learn to handle with grace and acceptance. If prayer is part of your writing life, you understand that God is ultimately the one in control of your success as a writer. When, for whatever reason, God closes the door on a pet project, we just have to know that this is for the best. We also need to have the courage to leave a door closed that has been shut by God. As recently as this morning I was conniving a way to bring this back to life. That was wrong–and God reminded me that it was wrong. What He closes can only be reopened by Him. I do not expect that to happen in this case.

* A hard fact I’ve learned more than once is that if someone or some subject matter is not on the personal radar screen of the editor who sees the project, they will likely dismiss it, assuming wrongly that if it’s not on their radar screen it must not be on the radar screen of much of the book-buying public. This is so short-sighted. I could blog about this one thing and really get up a good head of steam…but I won’t. Just know that this is one of the obstacles you face—finding an editor who can look beyond his or her own line of vision and see what you see. (And yes, your proposal must attempt to do that).

* Consider these large failures as learning experiences. Hopefully you will have enjoyed the time invested and will also have gained some valuable knowledge. In my case, I loved every minute I spent on this pet project. I had those two wonderful trips to Beverly Hills. I heard stories about Hitchcock, Selznick, Bob Hope, and others. It was truly an experience I’ll never forget. A special bonus is that my subject and I are parting friends. I hope to visit her again someday.

* Also, one thing I did about halfway through the process—and that I recommend you do if you’re ever in a similar situation—was to ask my subject for a letter of reference. She gave me a beautiful reference for my work on her book and I will be sending that out to my next potential subject. One additional reward from working on this book was that I discovered I enjoy writing another person’s story. So now I will move on and approach someone else. The question now is who will that be? 🙂

A great find!

I’m sorry to be so long between blogs. There are two reasons I don’t blog more often. One is that I have a lot going on right now—both at work and with my own writing. Time is short. The other reason is that I’m often at a loss as to what to blog about. I want my entries to be helpful and interesting. Otherwise, why bother? I think perhaps a good interview is about due. I’ll have to think about that.

But today, I do have something I hope novelists will find of interest—particularly historical novelists. However, I think even contemporary novelists will benefit. We’ll see. It’s a long one, so refill your coffee cup and sit back and read.

As some of you know, I sell used books on Amazon as a hobby. Plus I have a good-sized library of my own. To feed both of these habits, every weekend finds me scouring thrift stores and an occasional garage sale for books.

This past Saturday I found a wonderful old book that prompts this blog entry. The book is Early Days in Greenbush. The subtitle is With Biographical Sketches of the Old Settlers. It was first printed in 1905, but the book I bought is a later reprint. The Greenbush of the title is in Illinois. The original compiler of the book, William Snapp, says in the introduction:

These early settlers braved the dangers of frontier life, endured hardships, toil, deprivations, and the loneliness of the country at that time. Many of them lived in simple log cabins affording poor shelter from the storms of winter. But they planted civilization here, which has made possible the comfortable and luxurious homes of today.

Wow. That was written in 1905. I wonder what the author would say about homes today!

The book is an extremely interesting (to me anyway) accounting of the lives of some of the early settlers in Greenbush. There are lots of dry statistics (who married who, when and how so-and-so died, etc.), but even those hold a fascination for the fertile imagination of a writer.

One section lists the occupations of the townspeople. There is a list of those in the mercantile business, the blacksmiths, the wagon-makers, the doctors, the shoemakers, the coopers, the harness-makers, and so on.

Interspersed are the interesting anecdotes—the gossip, to be honest. For instance, at the mention of a man named James Crawford, Snapp says:

This man Crawford was a good workman and was considered honest and reliable, only he would take spells of drinking liquor. At one time he went to Burlington, got on a spree and was arrested, convicted, and sent to the penitentiary at Ft. Madison, Iowa, for passing counterfeit money. It was believed by many that this counterfeit money was given him in change and that he did not know it was counterfeit. A petition for pardon with many signers was presented to the authorities in Iowa by William May of Greenbush. Crawford was finally pardoned and came back to the residence of Isaac Hanks where in a short time he died. This was in 1862. He was buried in the Bond graveyard on the north side.

I don’t know about you, but I find that story fascinating.

Next the several weavers in town are listed with a note that “in the township there were many looms and many families did their own weaving.”

A few paragraphs later the cabins and their furnishings are described in detail. I’d never heard of a sop lamp. The author says:

The sop lamp was a very useful article. It was filled with lard or grease of some kind. The wick was made by twisting up a small piece of cotton cloth and placing it in the grease. It was then ready to light and stick in the wall. Those who had candles, used japanned tin candlesticks and candle snuffers….Sometimes candles were made by dipping wicks in melted tallow, but these candles did not give good satisfaction. They were likely to go out and leave you in the dark; hence the saying, “Go out like an old-fashioned dip-candle.”

Well, I could go on and on. It’s utterly fascinating. From the details of who cheated who to the town’s cholera epidemic in 1851. Sad to read:

It was in June 1851 that the cholera made its appearances in Greenbush and vicinity. There were about twelve deaths from this disease at that time. Lawson Walker was the first one. He died June 15, 1851. Abner Walker and his daughter Abigail died on the same day, June 24, 1851, making three deaths in the same family. Abner Walker lived on the north side of the square in the village and was engaged in keeping hotel.


The other nine victims are then listed and the section on cholera ends with:

Porter J. Jack and John C. McCall took an active part in doing everything they could for the sick and dying. Philip Karns was also very helpful in removing the dead to the cemeteries and burying them.

In a later chapter, we learn that Mr. Karns’ “last years were spent on his farm north of Greenbush, where he was engaged in farming and stock raising. He died March 10, 1898.”

In addition to the stories and statistics, you’ll often catch a nice turn of phrase or an evocative paragraph. Apparently the local “academy” had no bell in the belfry, so the women arranged to raise money for a bell. The author notes:

Different religious denominations used this bell to call the people together, where the minister exhorted them to a better life. Often as the years went by, it tolled the years of departed ones in tones that were received in sadness and sorrow.

Very evocative.

The book tells of murder, hangings, and the means of death of several leading citizens (boiler explosion, death by hot steam, accidental shooting, etc.).

The latter half of the book is comprised of short bios of the leading townspeople. Almost each one concludes with the person’s politics and religious persuasion. An example is John Webb Nance:

In politics he was a Whig up to 1856, afterwards a Democrat. In religion, he was a member of the Missionary Baptist Church.

My point in all this is that having spent just an hour with the book (engrossed!), I felt THERE in Greenbush. Had I been starting a historical novel, I could have easily used the objective information from the book AND, more importantly, the subjective feel I was getting from the book to properly set my own novel. Research is more than just learning about your locale and historical era. Research’s most important benefit, in my opinion, is to so transport the novelist to his or her setting, that the story unfolds naturally, just as if the writer is there witnessing, for example, the public hanging of Thomas Brown and George Williams for the murder of Harvey J. Hewitt. It went like this according to the compiler, William Snapp:

The hanging occurred in the south part of Peoria, then an open prairie. Under the bluff the platform was suspended by a rope. Brown was very anxious that the rope used in hanging him should be so adjusted that the fall would be sure to break his neck. After the arrangements were all made, Brown, from some cause, turned his head around, the drop fell, and Brown struggled for a long time, the rope having turned under his chin. Williams seemed to die easy.

Wow. I’m so there!

Folks, do your research, not just to find useful information by which to prop up your story. Do your research with the notion that it will take you to your setting and will even dictate a good portion of your story. Find the books like this one that will allow your imagination to run wild with the possibilities. Become a sponge of, not just the facts you’re reading about in your research, but of the emotions that can be generated by those facts. Be there with the Walker family as they lose three loved ones to cholera. Be there at the hanging of Brown and Williams as if you were a relative or friend of their victim, Mr. Hewitt. Be there with Philip Karns as he removes the dead bodies of his neighbors to the cemetery. Allow your research to highly inform your story itself.

Another way to put it is to say that research isn’t just to take your reader to the setting and era, it’s to take YOU there.

I will, by the way, not be selling this book. It’s a keeper. 🙂

When You Don’t Have a Platform

Previously, I suggested that some books sell well even when the author doesn’t have a platform. One of you asked me to explore that a bit more, so let’s do so today.

Virtually all books that sell well do so because there is an attraction to the book buyer. That attraction is the “hook.” Authors with large platforms from which to promote their books have a head start on the concept of a hook. Book buyers will hear these authors promote their books via the platform—whether that platform is on radio, TV, the internet (blogs, websites, Twitter, Facebook, etc), or in personal appearances.

Some authors have gained a solid reputation, so their platform, while still important, becomes less important as a hook. When an author like Max Lucado, Karen Kingsbury, Ted Dekker, or Jan Karon comes out with a new book, the audience is waiting for it. Their very name has become the hook…or the attraction to the book buyer.

But what about those of us without a platform? What are we to do? Knowing we still need the hook by which to attract the attention of readers, we must look somewhere other than our own “fame” by which to attract that attention. One logical answer, then, is to write about topics that have their own hooks inherent in the subject matter. At Harvest House we’ve published several hugely successful books by authors with little or no formal platform. The success of their books was due to the topic on which they wrote.

I’m not going to give examples from the authors I work with, instead I’m going to point you to our website and see if you spot those books that have succeeded in spite of being written by an author you’re never heard of. The clue, as I’ve already indicated, is that many times a certain topic can be its own hook.

Let me use my own experience to demonstrate my point. I do not have a large platform yet. But my two bestselling books are 365 WWJD: Daily Answers to “What Would Jesus Do?” (more than 75,000 sold) and Promises to Keep: Daily Devotions for Men Seeking Integrity (more than 50,000 sold).

The first example was a devotional based on those WWJD bracelets that were all the rage several years ago. The second example came out at the peak of the Promise Keepers movement and included readings by several of the PK leadership, along with other prominent Christian men.

Another book I did (with my friend Steve Miller) was The Best-Ever Christian Baby Name Book. That, like the two previous examples, is its own hook. It doesn’t require ME to have a hook. So the task for non-fiction writers without a platform is to find a hook in your topic. Preferably one you care deeply about and that will strike a chord with large numbers of readers.

It’s even easier for fiction writers to succeed without a platform. Just write a really fine novel in a genre that’s popular. Or write a compelling novel that’s “out of the box” and yet will resonate with large numbers of people. As for the former, consider the Amish fiction craze. More than one author who had failed to succeed as a fiction writer in another genre eventually found success by turning to Amish fiction. As for the latter, think about The Shack for a moment. Did people buy that book because they were William Young fans? No, it was the theme that sold the book. That theme resonated with readers and the word of mouth publicity put it over the top.

The bottom line is that to establish yourself, you may need to start somewhere other than where you are now. You may have to write the book that has its own hook now and wait until you’re better known to write the book that’s your personal passion. That’s what happened to me. The success of my first two books gave me the opportunity to do the books that were more personal to me. (As you can see, all my books mentioned are on the right side of this page).

I want you to just stop, think, and *pray about all this. Perhaps your best option is to rely on building your platform and then write your book(s). But on the other hand, you might just come up with a dandy idea for a book you can write that will help establish you as a published and successful writer, even without a platform.

* I hope by now I don’t need to restate the obvious: because we are called of God to write, ALL our efforts must be directed by prayer, even as we move slowly ahead in that calling, following God’s lead.

Reasons for Rejection

I thought about making this blog entry about my time at Mount Hermon this past week. But there was just so much, I don’t know where to begin. Parts of that experience will no doubt surface in upcoming blogs. Suffice to say you need to be there next year or at some other conference later this year. It’s important to your writing career. (By the way, the keynoter next year at Mount Hermon will be Liz Curtis Higgs. You won’t want to miss her!).

Instead of recounting Mount Hermon, I see that the time before last I said: “next time I’ll offer a couple of reasons proposals never get past my desk to make it to the committee level.” Easy enough. Here we go…

1. The easiest rejections are those that are not even close to being what we want. Usually these are unsolicited and very amateurish. Letters written in pen on binder paper yanked from a three-hole binder or a notebook do not get much attention. And, of course, the author will never know because there was no SASE. I get submissions almost every day without an SASE or that in some other way shouts “Reject me!”

2. Personal experience proposals are pretty quickly rejected. Not because I want to, necessarily, but because we have not found them to sell well. I do know there are some books in this genre that succeed, but not for us. We stick to what works for us. So in this case, the take-away message for you is to be sure you’re sending your proposal or query to a publisher that publishes what you write.

3. Similarly, we get other types of non-fiction proposals that are not viable, topic-wise. Easy rejects, sorry to say.

4. Platform issues. If I find a proposal on a topic that interests me, I will look at the writing ability and the author’s ability to promote the book (the platform). If the writing ability is good but the platform isn’t there, I will either try to help the author overcome this obstacle or decide if a platform is really necessary for this book. It will surprise some of you to learn that not all non-fiction books need a platform. Some books are impulse items and the author’s credibility isn’t as important. An example of that is the book my friend Steve Miller and I did: The Best-Ever Christian Baby Name Book. Because of my limited platform, I often prepare proposals for books that I perceive as impulse items and then send them to an appropriate publisher.

5. If the topic is of interest and the author has a platform, but the writing is poor, I may determine to help the writer bring the writing up a few notches. If he or she is willing, I’ll schedule the proposal for the committee. If the writing is poor and I don’t think it’s fixable or if the author seems unwilling, that’s a rejection.

The above five reasons apply mostly to non-fiction. Let’s continue by looking at some reasons (a few of which are the same as for non-fiction) that are more likely to cause a fiction manuscript to be rejected.

6. The novel is in a genre that doesn’t sell for us: this includes fantasy, contemporary suspense, Biblical novels, etc.

7. Bad writing. This is often due to a violation of the “show, don’t tell” principle.

8. Lack of characterization skills. Simply put, the characters do not interest me, and I conclude they will not interest readers either.

9. A slow beginning. You have a page or less to capture my interest (and the interest of book browsers in Barnes and Noble). If I’m not pulled in almost immediately, the book is rejected. Slow beginnings are often (not always) indicated by a description of the weather or the landscape on the first page. That’s a personal no-no in my book. Sure, it can be done effectively and no I won’t reject a book for that reason alone. It’s just a red flag to me. Whatever follows has to be all the stronger to keep my interest.

10. Another pet irritant of mine is when an author of a historical novel uses descriptions or phrases (usually in dialogue) that are too contemporary for the time the novel is set. One such novel had two women driving a covered wagon across the mid-nineteenth century prairie. One of the women turned to the other and said something about thinking she was “pregnant.” Women back then did not use that word to describe their condition. Again, this is a case where I would not reject a novel on that basis alone, but it’s another red flag that screams “amateur.” If you’re going to write a historical novel, know how the people spoke back then.

11. The novel lacks what Henry James called “felt life.” I think of it in terms of the animation of the characters. Are these characters real to me as a reader who is willing to suspend his disbelief? Or are they simply characters the author has called down from central casting to carry out a prearranged plot? Learn how to animate those lifeless characters!

12. Then, as with my earlier blog about why the committee says no, sometimes there is no logical explanation for my rejection. I may not feel right about the proposal for some unexplainable reason or it may have landed on my desk on an off day. Yes, that does happen from time to time. I think it happens to all of us. We simply aren’t prepared at that particular time to reach the same conclusion we might reach under different circumstances.

Finally, it must be added that ALL editors misjudge proposals and manuscripts from time to time. I’ve said yes to some proposals that did not turn out well as books. I’ve said no to some obviously excellent proposals whose excellence was not apparent to me, but was to another editor. Naturally, that’s one reason I tell authors who have been rejected a few times to keep trying elsewhere. And, too, it’s why I keep submitting my own proposals that have been rejected by editors who can’t fathom the excellence before them. 🙂

Hope this helps.

By the way, I couldn’t find the previous suggestions for blog topics that I thought I had. If you have a suggestion, try again in the comments section.

Off to Mount Hermon!

April 12, 2011

Tomorrow I’m going to Mount Hermon. I go one day early just to be alone and enjoy the surroundings. This year, though, I’m also taking a writing project with me that has an April 30 deadline.

From the results of my last blog, it’s obvious what most of you are interested in. I’ll try as much as possible to stick to topics on how to succeed as a writer and/or behind the scenes looks at publishing. I do have a couple of your previous suggestions I promised I’d follow up on. I’ll try to do so when I return. I’m taking my laptop, so I may even have a chance to blog from the conference. (Hey, there’s still time for you to register for the conference. Come! You won’t regret it).

In the meantime, here’s an interesting blog I think you fiction writers will like. Author BJ Hoff sent it to me and I enjoyed it. So the question now is: Are YOU a pantser?

Seven Reasons the Committee Says No

Yesterday I asked for blogging suggestions and there were a number of good responses. In fact, I’ll answer several over the course of the next few blogs. The one I’m picking today is Michael Reynolds’ question: ‎”What are the top five reasons books get shut down in pub committee?”

First, for those just learning the ropes in publishing, “pub committee” is a publisher’s committee that decides which books to publish. Editors alone cannot make those decisions. Instead, when we editors see something we like and we believe is a good fit for our publishing house, we present it to the publisher’s committee and hope they’ll agree with our judgment and vote yes to publish the book. Right now, my batting average is about .600. That is, for every ten projects I pitch, approximately six get a yes and four get a no vote. Although it might vary a bit from publisher to publisher, the members of the committee include at least one person each from editorial, marketing, and sales. In our case, the president of the company is also on the committee.

Instead of the five reasons Michael asked for, I’m going to offer seven. They are, by the way, not in order. They all pretty much carry equal weight.

1. The author is unknown and the book will probably not make him or her known. Face it, most book buyers purchase books from authors they already know and like. Why will they want to try your book—if you’re unknown to them? Similarly, the retailer has only a certain number of inventory dollars with which to purchase his stock. If, say, this September new books are being released by Max Lucado, Karen Kingsbury, Joyce Meyer, Stormie Omartian, and you—what reason will the store owner have to order your book when he would be safer spending inventory dollars on the well-known authors? This is where the very worn term “platform” comes in. A platform is your way to promote your book, thus sending people to bookstores to ask for it. Are you on the radio? TV? Do you hold workshops and seminars about your topic? In short, how will your potential readers hear about you and know if you’re writing for them? By the way, this is an area where I, as a writer, am challenged. I don’t have a platform and in my book proposals, I have to find a way to overcome my lack of a platform. Next week at the Mount Hermon Christian Writer’s Conference, one of my workshops is “When You Don’t Have a Platform.” (Come if you can. It’s a great conference!)

2. The topic is not of interest in the current market. I see some fine proposals for books that are not presently selling in our market. Twenty years ago, it may have been hard to sell an Amish-themed novel. Now it is not all that hard (if well-written). Currently, contemporary suspense does not sell for us, though apparently some other publishers are finding some success with that genre. Fantasy does not do well. In non-fiction, personal stories don’t fare very well. Related to this is when a book’s potential market is too small. A good example is a well-written proposal I saw a few years ago. The proposed book was for Christian grandparents who were raising their grandchildren because their own adult children had defaulted on parenthood. I’m sure there are many grandparents doing that, but not enough for us to reach effectively through our channels of distribution.

3. The proposed book is not a good fit for our publishing house. This follows perfectly from point two. We’ve had success in areas where other publishers have not. Others have had success where we’ve failed. This is why I often stress the importance of sending a proposal to not just any publisher, but to the publishing house that is successfully publishing what you write. Do your research. [I’m editing this point to add that a book may not be a good fit for us at this time. We may have recently released a similar book and must regretfully say no for now. More than once, I’ve waited and re-presented a good proposal to the committee at a later time and had the book accepted.]

4. Poor writing. Although ideally editors such as myself, only take proposals to committee we believe in, that should mean that poor writing is not a reason the committee would turn it down. After all, why would I take something to the committee that was poorly written? The truth is that I might indeed take a proposal from someone who has a platform and is writing on a strong topic, but whose writing is weak. (With the knowledge that as his or her editor, I can help “fix” the manuscript). But often the committee will just say no in such a case.

5. Sometimes the perception is that the author might not be a good fit for us. One of our core values at Harvest House is: Develop and maintain long-term relationships. If you look at our bestselling authors, you’ll notice that many of them have been with us for a long time. Few of our authors venture elsewhere. That’s because of our commitment to having a relationship that’s not purely business. We’re friends with most of our authors. We pray for them when they need prayer, we encourage them when necessary, and we try to produce the best book we can from their manuscript. But sometimes that’s not what an author really wants. Another reason an author might not fit is that we’re looking for authors who will build a writing career, not just publish one or two books and then call it quits. If you’re a one-book author, you will have a hard time finding a publishing home.

6. Sometimes an otherwise fine book is rejected because of the lack of spiritual value. In addition to our list of core values, we also have a mission statement: To glorify God by providing high-quality books and products that affirm biblical values, help people grow spiritually strong, and proclaim Jesus Christ as the answer to every human need. One good question to ask when you’re looking for a publisher is: What is their mission statement and does my proposal fit that mission? If it does, it wouldn’t hurt to point that out in your cover letter or as part of your proposal.

7. Number seven can only be described as “for unknown reasons.” Publishing committees, like editors and like readers, are subjective. Sometimes they pass on really great projects that go on to be very successfully published elsewhere. Sometimes we read success into a proposal that really isn’t there…and the book fails to live up to our hopes. Sometimes I never find out exactly why I got a no. Usually, though, the committee’s judgment is eventually confirmed. One time I presented a well-known author to the committee and I thought for sure it would be a slam-dunk yes. The proposal was on a topic that was popular in the marketplace, it was well-written, and the author seemed personable. For reasons I never knew or have now forgotten, the committee said no. When I emailed the author’s agent about the results, I received nothing in the way of a “thanks anyway” or “gosh, it would have been great to work with you,” or some sort of acknowledgement that I had championed this author. But I never again heard a peep from either that author or her agent. So in retrospect, I doubt she would have fit in at Harvest House anyway.

Let me add a final word that, just like there are unknown reasons why a book may be rejected, there are sometimes exceptions to a couple of the above reasons for rejection. We have published books when the author had very little or no platform because we felt it was an important book that needed to be published in spite of the possibility of low sales. We have taken books where the writing was less than stellar, but which we were able to edit into excellent books. We have also taken a novel from a “one-book author.” Those are rare exceptions, however.

There you go, Michael. Two reasons more than you asked for. I think maybe next time I’ll offer a couple of reasons proposals never get past my desk to make it to the committee level.

Some of my favorite rejections

I have a new blog percolating in my mind, but it’s not ready yet. So, until then, I want to offer a few of my favorite famous rejections (taken from Rotten Rejections by Andre Bernard).

Make sure these don’t happen to you!

* In 1962 Mary Higgins Clark received the following rejection for her novel Journey Back to Love: “We found the heroine to be as boring as her husband had.”

* Pearl Buck received these words concerning her manuscript for The Good Earth: “Regret the American public is not interested in anything on China.”

* James Farrell’s manuscript was returned with this note: “Although these manuscripts are physically a mess, they are also lousy.”

* The Diary of Anne Frank was rejected with these words: “The girl doesn’t, it seems to me, have a special perception or feeling which would lift that book above the ‘curiosity’ level.”

* Erle Stanley Gardner, creator of the Perry Mason mysteries was rejected with: “The characters talk like dictionaries, the so-called plot has whiskers on it like Spanish moss hanging from a live oak in a Louisiana bayou.”

* Kon-Tiki was rejected with: “The idea of men adrift on a raft does have a certain appeal, but for the most part this is a long, solemn, and tedious Pacific voyage.”

* Tony Hillerman’s book The Blessing Way was rejected with: “If you insist on rewriting this, get rid of all that Indian stuff.”

* Here’s a great one: William Kennedy’s Ironweed earned this interesting rejection. “I like
William Kennedy, but not enough. He’s a very good writer….and his characters are terrific. I cannot explain turning this down.”

* George Orwell’s Animal Farm: “It is impossible to sell animal stories in the U.S.A.”

* Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand is now being made into a movie. But the book was first rejected as “…much too long…I regret to say that the book is unsaleable and unpublishable.”

* Dr. Seuss’s first book And to Think I Saw it on Mulberry Street was rejected as “too different from other juveniles on the market to warrant its selling.”

One of my favorites is Samuel Johnson’s rejection to an aspiring writer: “Your manuscript is both good and original. But the part that is good is not original and the part that is original is not good.”

OUCH!

For a final parting shot, I’ll end with the succinct reply Oscar Wilde got for Lady Windermere’s Fan:

“My dear sir,

I have read your manuscript. Oh, my dear sir.”

Never let rejection get you down…at least not for too long. Like maybe five minutes. Editors can wrong. I was wrong once a few years back. 🙂

Mannerisms (again)

This will be the first time I’ve repeated a blog, but I find it necesssary. In the past 24 hours I’ve reviewed two manuscripts that–although pretty good–violated this principle far too boldly for my taste. One infraction was a lip-chew in the first chapter and the other was a skipped heartbeat on page two.

If you read this a year ago when I first posted it, it won’t hurt to read it again. Your heart might even skip a beat at the wisdom here.

From April 2010:

First, let me say that I compiled this list at least two years ago…so if I’m your editor, please know that this list was not the result of something YOU did.

That said, here is my pet peeve about some mannerisms in fiction.

How often do you really shake your head? Or swallow hard just because you’re nervous? Does your heart really skip a beat when you’re in love? (If so, you should see a cardiologist right away).

Sorry, I’m still stuck on the mannerisms in a novel I recently read. The author has at least a dozen occurences of someone shaking their head when they say no to something:

Maggie shook her head. “Only the doctor can help now.”

But do people shake their heads all that often? I don’t think I ever do. I know the reader will “get it,” so when I edit a novel with shaking heads all over the place, I may leave a few instances…but I’m certainly going to cut back in frequency. It just doesn’t happen that often in real life. Besides, it sounds hollow and very unimaginative.

Here’s my list of the trite mannerisms I do not normally allow to be repeated in the fiction I edit. (Maybe once. Maybe even twice…but thrice? He shook his head decidedly no.)

Feel free to add your own suggestions. I’m all ears (he said as he raked his fingers through his hair).

No:

curling lips
furrowed brows
knitting of brows
lip biting, chewing, or gnawing
hair raked through his;/her fingers
heart pounding
heart skipping a beat
swallowing hard when nervous
blood draining from the head
stomach knotted
lifted or arched eyebrow
nostrils flaring
narrowing of eyes
eyes blinking
shaking of head
muscles in the jaw twitching
throat tightening
tucking a tendril of hair behind her ear
face knotted
eyes fluttered open
winced
every muscle in her body tensed
covering mouth with hand
temples throbbed
lifting the corners of the mouth
pushed a smile up from his lips
chest tightened
clearing his throat
cheeks warm
letting out a slow breath

More contributions?

Felt Life

So how does a writer put “the secret” into action? Trying to teach a person how to do that is even harder than articulating the secret itself. It reminds me of the often-quoted Somerset Maugham line about writing. Maugham said: ““There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately no one knows what they are.”

In my years as a writer/editor/bookseller/bookmobile-driver, I’ve seen and heard it all from writers as to how they work. I’ve heard some authors say they write their very final paragraph first. That way they know where they’re going. Others write the middle first. Others can’t get past page one until it’s perfect.

So too with infusing your writing with the words that will help you capture a reader’s heart. I’m going to suggest a few things you might try….but with no guarantees. In short, most writers try one thing and then another until they stumble on what works for them.

But one vital element, it seems to me, is to come to the blank page full. You can’t give out what you don’t have. Come with your own internal passion, and come prepared to spill out that passion on the page. Another Maugham quote occurs to me here. He said, “I’ve always liked to let things simmer in my mind for a long time before setting them down on paper.” Depth doesn’t come in a single sitting. The best writing comes from brewing, stewing, and waiting.

Then as you write, write from the depths, not the shallows of your life. Reflect on your work. Come at it from different angles. Learn to feel your story before and as you write it. To be honest, most manuscripts I see tell a story, but it’s a passionless story. In such cases, I suspect the author has no passion for the story either—or they’ve not yet learned how to tap their passion and make it come out their fingertips and onto the keyboard.

One suggestion I’ve offered to writers who write without passion is to stop writing to a faceless entity you’re calling the reader. Instead, pretend you’re sitting across the table from your target reader at Starbuck’s. This person has come to you either asking advice or for a story that will move them. Envision your reader and warm up to them. Give the person a name, if necessary. And then talk to them on the page as if they’re your dearest friend.

Another way of looking at what I’m calling my secret is to borrow a phrase from Henry James. He talked about the need for “felt life” in good writing. What is “felt life?” Does anyone reading this want to try defining it for us? I know what it means, but I know it intuitively, and it’s hard to explain things one knows intuitively. And yet “felt life” is, to my mind, that very thing that reaches out from your heart to the heart of your reader. It is the secret.

What about you? What has worked in your writing? How do you invest your writing with felt life? How do you choose words that convey more than intellectual meaning? I’d really like to know.