When That First Book Doesn't Sell

It's a hard thing to let a book go. Actually, it sucks big time, and with it comes an inherent sense of failure that pulls at my chest and churns in my stomach. And then, I have to remind myself I've failed at nothing here. I wrote a book, which is a huge accomplishment all by itself. It got me an agent, which is yet another flaming hoop, and it got read by some of the top editors in the publishing industry, many of whom praised my writing. I have to remind myself that that, all by itself, is success, even if the ultimate outcome is not what I hoped for.

Yet, truthfully, it feels much like a death. These are characters I've given birth to, know intimately, laughed with, ached with, rooted for. The book is a part of me. I understand publishing is a business, and that rejections aren't personal. A book is only as strong as the marketplace that is willing to receive it. Across the board, the feedback I received was wonderful, constructive, and helpful. They praised the writing, they loved the humor and the characters, many thought it was a fun, great concept for a YA. However, most ultimately felt that this book was a tough sell for the current market because it had a male protagonist in a book that wasn't geared for boys. Some even mistook the target audience to BE boys because it had a male protagonist. (I don't know many that would willingly read a humorous, romantic comedy, but hey...) So whereas I thought perhaps my "fresh" take on things was to let girls live inside the head of a boy and hear the story from his perspective, apparently publishers thought their readers would not ultimately respond.

Fair enough.

But now that the book has been read by all the major players in YA publishing, we can't return to them with essentially the same novel but flip-flopped with a female protagonist. So what happens next?

Unfortunately, it's time to put it on the shelf (for now).

It's not unusual for that first book to not sell. In fact, as I prepared to throw myself a major pity party, other writer friends showed up and graciously shared their stories with me of how they could relate to what I was feeling because they'd been there themselves. One major bestselling YA author I've met sold her first book with the 9th book she'd ever written. Another said the process took her 10 years. It happens.

Therefore, the best thing you can do while your book is on submission is to WRITE SOMETHING ELSE. Not only does it keep you nice and busy and distracted, but that way, if the first one fails to get attention, you have something else waiting in the wings. One of the positives of having sent the book out there, despite the rejections, is it let the editors become familiar with my writing style, and several said they would love to see anything else I wrote as I result. That's huge! It means for the next book, there's a built in audience of where we can send it that already likes the way I write. We can strike while the iron is hot and the interest is current by sending something new. There's little room to feel overwhelmed by being discouraged because there's a new and exciting project waiting to take its place.

Rejection is a huge part of the process, unfortunately. No way around it. But there is more to be learned from the rejections than anything else, frankly. The feedback, for those that take the time to give it, can help your future writing be stronger with greater attention to specific details that may have missed the mark on the previous work. You are introducing yourself to the editors, and although they may not connect with that particular work, it may whet their appetite for others.

So if your first (or second, or eighth) book doesn't sell, keep moving forward. There are many stories within you, and it's simply a matter of finding the right one that connects with the right editor and the right marketplace at the right time. And once you've established a foothold and had your work published, you may be able to pull that old book off the shelf and re-introduce it. It may have less of a "risk factor" if you're an established author with a clear audience.

So remember the old adage - "If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it was meant to be." This is true for our stories too. Trust that everything is as it should be, even if we cannot appreciate it at the time, and that if it is meant to happen, it will find its window.

Why Throwing In The Towel Is Not An Option

Ever have one of those days/weeks/months/years where you feel like throwing in the towel on this whole writing thing? Where it seems like you are destined to be the perpetual tortoise in a self-imposed race full of hares? That the breaks seem to come easily and often to others and here you are working your butt off and nothing seems to be happening? You look around and your house is a disaster, your fridge is near empty, your kids haven't had something for dinner that hasn't come from a drive-thru or a box in weeks, and you wonder what the point of keeping on with this is if nothing is happening.

Patience.

Like anything, this process takes time. Lots and lots (and lots) of time. And with that, lots and lots (and lots) of patience. But there are several key things here to remember:

THIS IS NOT A RACE
This whole writing to publication thing will be different for every single person. There are such a range of influencing factors including everything from straight up talent to hitting a market trend to simply being in the right place at the right time. However, unlike many professions, age is irrelevant. You can write until your last breath as long as the ideas and the words willingly come. Just because one person's book may sell within 10 days of going on submission and your first (and possibly second and third) books don't sell at all does NOT mean you've failed, nor lost the race. Because it's not a race. It simply means you haven't connected with the right publisher, or that the market is not currently hungry for the type of book you've written and it may need to be put aside temporarily, or so many other things. A no for now is not a no forever. It means if you're serious about this business, get back to work and keep on keeping on.

THIS TOO SHALL PASS
Just like any other highs and lows in our lives, we have strong emotions caught up in the extremes, and when we make decisions or take action during the height of our emotions, we often make the wrong choices. Often, if we sit and let our feelings marinate, we will always come back to the best solution. Yes, writing is a frustrating business and you may often question if you can do this or if you should just give up. But just know that if this is truly your passion, you will always regret it if you do not see it through. The only one you are truly in "competition" with is yourself. Each time you sit down to create, the challenge remains to have this piece be tighter, the writing be stronger, to have learned from your mistakes, to make sure you hit the right beats and have a strong hook and rich, unforgettable characters. Every blank page with a blinking cursor is an invitation to try again and NOT give up.

YOU WILL NEVER REGRET TRYING BUT YOU'LL ALWAYS REGRET QUITTING
There is a difference between trying and not succeeding and just outright quitting. You'll definitively know the outcome if you quit. It won't happen for you. But if you try - the possibilities are infinite. Believe in yourself, believe that you deserve the same shot as anyone else and that if you persevere that you can make it happen. It may test your faith and even at times your sanity, but if you stay the course, you will never regret it, because you will know you gave it your best shot. And that's what it's all about, right? Because if you don't reach for that brass ring, someone else will, guaranteed.

THE DELAY IS NEVER THE DENIAL
Even if that first book doesn't sell, it doesn't mean it never will. It is not uncommon for an author to have their first book sale be the third or even ninth book they wrote, and once they are published and have established themselves, older works can be pulled out again and reworked and find new life.

Keep moving forward. This is your dream. And you can't have a dream come true if you don't hold fast to the dream. Now get back to writing!!

Finding the Story Only You Can Tell

I just returned from an amazing weekend at the SCBWI LA International conference, and spent three days surrounded by amazing writers, editors, illustrators and agents. I soaked up knowledge from some of the top people in the industry and met countless new faces, ever-expanding the circle of people in my life who help keep my momentum going. Though there were many wonderful panelists and breakout sessions, there were two main things I walked away from this experience with that I will think about the most: Write for the teenage you, the kind of stories that would have satisfied YOU when you were the age you are writing for, not just the reader. (Courtesy of Tony DiTerlizzi, author of The Spiderwick Chronicles) And courtesy of Ruta Sepetys (Between Shades of Gray), find the story within you that only YOU can tell.

The latter piece of advice really stuck with me all weekend. There are plenty of stories in my head, but really, pieces of them all belong to other people too. How can we not help but be inspired by other great existing works of literature, wonderful movies and television shows? The ones that resonate stay with us forever and unconsciously tend to influence the work that we write even though we are not intending to duplicate nor plagiarize. But what is truly original anymore? However, there is one story that is completely original: your story.

Think about the different events of your life. The moments that shaped you, nearly broke you and brought you to your knees, the secrets in your family history, the skeletons in your very own closet. They exist for all of us, and when we dig deep and find them, we realize that no one else can possibly tell this story the same way because it is ours.

For me, I grew up on movie sets. My father was a producer and a studio executive, and I loathed being pulled out of school to go on location. I started drinking black coffee at age 5 just to keep warm on night shoots, I traveled all over the world first class and one of my fondest childhood memories is sitting with Dudley Moore at the piano bar at the Parker Meridien Hotel in New York City on one of my Dad's shoots. Gene Wilder and I were friends and penpals and he used to babysit me. This, and so much more, were my normal. And I never appreciated it. I just felt awkward, out of sync, disconnected from my peers. And then I realized: THIS is my story. So there's a sneak peek at what I will be diving into this fall - trying to find a voice for my story, and hoping readers will connect to and be interested in a character with an unconventional life. Because teenage Robin would desperately have loved to have read about that girl.

Writing Effective Loglines and Pitches

One of the most important parts of selling your novel is creating an effective logline and pitch. Regardless of the fabulous epic novel you've written, filled with quirky characters, edge-of-your-seat action and riveting dialogue, the logline and pitch are the first thing any editor or agent will see to determine if your novel is something they wish to read. Therefore, they need several key elements that not only convey what the story is about, but also the tone of the story itself, distilled down to one or two sentences, in the case of the logline, and a couple of paragraphs for the pitch. I don't know about you, but this task, to me, may be even more daunting than the writing of the story itself.

Let's start with the logline. A logline gives a concise overview of the story without going into detail on characters or subplots, just the essential bones. For example, let's look at THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins. It's logline, taken from it's Copyright page, reads:

“In a future North America, where the rules of Panem maintain control though an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss’s skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister’s place.”

A strong logline will convey the following: WHO the story is about, a SETTING, if essential to the story, WHAT the protagonist wants and WHAT stands in his/her way. All of this is told without giving away the entire story. Think of it as the answer you'd provide when people ask you what your novel is about. Generally, it should be just one sentence, but more intricate storylines may use two. Use a really strong adjective or two when describing your main character (a geeky clarinet-playing seventeen-year-old, an overachiever, etc.) to help paint a bigger portrait of who the protagonist is. Also try and avoid putting "themes" or "messages" in your logline, as it may make the story immediately seem preachy or cliched.

The pitch lets you go into a little more detail. This is the information you would put into a query to agents, and ultimately what your agent would use to in turn pitch the story to editors. You have the ability to elaborate with a little more detail on the points you touched on in the logline, but again, be sure not to give away twists and turns or the ending. Otherwise it leaves the reader no need to read the story itself to find out what happens. Think of the pitch like reading the jacket flap on a book. It conveys an outline of the story with just enough detail to read you in but leave you hungry for more. It is important to include information about setting, genre, and what makes your book unique or stand out (i.e. not just another road trip novel or vampire story.) This is truly the place to let the tone of your book show and let the agent/editor get a feel for you as a writer. If your book is funny, the pitch better be too! Otherwise you are missing a golden opportunity to show the flavor of your book and your writing.

Good luck!

Should They Or Shouldn't They? Coming Up With The Best Ending For Your Story

One of the key components of any good novel is to leave your readers guessing so that they keep turning the page. Even if your story is simply about characters going from A to B, unless you throw in twists and turns that threaten that journey, or change their course, your reader will be, in a word, bored.

In fact, some of the best writing comes when you leave the reader surprised - as in they never saw that coming. Recently I read Hilary Weisman Graham's fantastic YA novel REUNITED, and it really got me thinking about great writing and how to surprise the reader by hitting them with something they never expected. Without providing an unwanted spoiler, I will say that while aspects of the book run the course I expected they would from the beginning, there were other aspects that didn't at all, and that's what made me love it so much. But doubling back to the first part, where the outcomes of certain aspects were predictable from page 1: that's not always a bad thing. In fact, if that HADN'T been the outcome, it would have been highly unsatisfying. With some stories, if you tweak the outcome you've been building towards, it can change the whole story entirely, and not always in a good way.

I am facing a similar dilemma in the new novel I am writing, TWO JACKS AND A JILL, which is a contemporary road trip novel. There is a love triangle of sorts, and I have to decide which boy the reader would be rooting for her to end up with more. I even posed it as a question to my writer friends on Facebook to ask them if an ending would be unsatisfying or a nice twist if the girl didn't end up with the guy they thought she would all along? Immediately, the responses started flowing back, all equally insightful and brilliant. There should be a damn good reason, not bad timing or something. It's not a romantic comedy if they don't get together, it's just a comedy. And ultimately, that it's the HOW they get together that holds the twist, the coming together despite the odds and great differences.

Then I received a private message from an author friend who said the real words I'd been needing to hear. That she worried I was getting too caught up in the mechanics of the story instead of the story itself. She advised, so wisely I might add, that I take a step back and think about if I'm telling the story I want to tell or I think I should be telling. That I shouldn't worry about making it unique or surprising as much as making it MINE and that it would BE those other things.

She was right. Once again, I was reminded that there are stories in me that I want to tell the way I want to tell them. And much like Katy Perry talks about in her recent concert movie, I'm not interested in being the next anybody, I want to be the first Robin Reul. I'm not looking to follow someone else's rules or wish list, I want to write this story as I would want to read it. So when a friend asked me, "What do YOU want to happen? Do YOU want them to get together?" the answer was simple and came without hesitation. And I was no longer scared that I was making the wrong choice. Because if it satisfied me, then it would likely satisfy other readers as well.

What are your thoughts on the should they/shouldn't they dilemma? Do you vote for a satisfying ending that the reader has been building towards or want to opt to surprise them with a whole new direction, one that might end up being empowering for one character but perhaps leave the other disappointed but oh-so-much-wiser?

Having Lunch With My Agent And Other Surreal Things That Happened To Me Last Week

Last week, my family and I went on a much-needed vacation to New York City. Not exactly the most relaxing place, I agree, but nonetheless, none of them had been there, it was quality time with our two kids, one of whom is ready to leave the nest next year, and for me, it held the added caveat of being able to meet my agent face-to-face, break bread and talk about writing and publishing.

As surreal as it was to get the actual call offering representation, there are few words that can describe what an amazingly cool thing it is to sit in a restaurant in Midtown Manhattan and have lunch with my agent. I felt like the little kid who was finally being offered a seat at the adult table. I enjoyed the freedom of stripping away the limitations of email and the telephone to talk about where things are at and what the future holds. Even if it was only for two hours, he made me feel like I was his most important client, and renewed my confidence that I am with the right person for me and that his knowledge of the industry and where my work fits is extensive and spot on.

We talked about the kind of writer I want to be and the stories I want to write, and then he discussed with me the realities of the marketplace and what I need to do as a writer to stay competitive and get my work out there, remaining unafraid to stretch past my comfort zone. His honest pep-talk of sorts was just what I needed to bolster my spirits as I move forward on the rewrite of my second novel while still knee-deep in the waiting game on my first one. (You thought agents take a long time to respond to queries? Try being on submission with editors with a non-high-concept novel. Just sayin'...)

Living in Los Angeles, I am completely unfazed to drive by movie studios like Disney, Warner Brothers, Universal or Fox. They are just part of the landscape here like Starbucks or anything else. But I was positively giddy and reduced to a state of sheer awe to behold the likes of Simon & Schuster or walk past 1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza and know that that was the home of Dell Yearling, the once-publisher of all the Judy Blume novels I grew up reading until the pages were practically separated from the binding.

The rest of the week was spent enjoying the city with my family, seeing six plays, touring the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, exploring two museums, and enjoying copious amounts of pizza, especially via our walking pizza tour of Greenwich Village. And best of all, on the plane ride home, an idea for a new novel came creeping into my brain and started taking shape.

Published or unpublished, agented or unagented, there is something about being a writer and coming to New York City to truly make you feel like one. I highly recommend it, if nothing else but to inspire you and reinforce that you can't have a dream come true if you never have a dream.


Me with my agent Bill Contardi

Firsts and Lasts

Today is a pretty big day in my house. My daughter is graduating elementary school and as of tomorrow, my son will be entering his senior year of high school. I've been a part of this elementary school for the past twelve years, and as of this afternoon, that chapter of my life and my daughter's life will come to a close. It's definitely the end of something, but also the beginning of something new and uncharted, filled with potential surprises.

These moments of firsts and lasts are what help define and shape us, and these are also the moments that suck us in the most when we are reading a great story. Everyone universally experiences this regardless of race, finances, geographic location, etc. It's part of the human experience, and the emotions that these firsts and lasts elicit from us are what drive us forward or stop us cold in our tracks and keep us paralyzed until we find the resolve to move forward as we know we must.

There is no greater source of plot to draw from than this little nugget, because in every first and last comes replete with its own story. And we can write these stories with authenticity and honesty because we remember how they felt. Who can't remember the first time you liked someone and they liked you back? Or your first kiss? Or when someone died that you loved? Or you had to say goodbye to a friend who moved away? Or started a new school and didn't know a soul? Or gave birth to your first child? The list goes on. But no matter what the first or last, guaranteed it stirs something in the pit of your stomach or creates a heaviness in your heart or makes you wish you could turn back time. THIS is what you want to infuse your stories with. THIS is what draws your reader in and not want to let go.

Some may be wonderful and some may be painful, but cherish every first and last because both are fleeting. This is the fabric of life, and the true heart of any great story.