This year, the Salt Cay Writers Retreat has donated a long list of items to the auction, including a full scholarship to the retreat, a cocktail party for 4 at Folio Literary Management’s New York City office, signed books, and homemade salsa and jam made by a “wicked, wonderful cook” — our very own Salt Cay Writers Retreat faculty member Jacquelyn Mitchard!

The Brenda Novak Online Auction for Diabetes Research is the biggest online event for diabetes research in the world. Each year, with the help of generous donors–which include some of the biggest and brightest stars in publishing, like Nicholas Sparks, Nora Roberts, Diana Gabaldon, Steve Berry and Janet Evanovich–Brenda offers up over 2000 fabulous items, creating a shopper’s paradise. Last year, the auction brought in $319,000. As a cumulative total, she’s raised $1,675,280.

But the auction is more than your everyday charity gala. It’s a blast to participate in–a real community. They do drawings and give away prizes. Shoppers quickly become donors and donors quickly become shoppers. It’s an outstanding fundraising model!

Here’s to making a difference!

“Other than the locale and swimming with dolphins,” she asked, “what do you think the faculty members hope to get out of this retreat?”

It’s a great question. Literary agents in particular receive hundreds of query letters from aspiring writers every week. Why would they take time from their busy schedules to go to a writers conference or retreat and meet yet more writers in person?

I’ve worked with well over a hundred literary agents thanks to my conference planning, so I asked a few of my favorites why they attend writers conferences. Their answers may surprise you.

Scott Hoffman (Founding Partner, Folio Literary Management):

Why do agents go to conferences? Three reasons: relationships, relationships and relationships.

First, it’s great for us to get the opportunity to spend time with editors and other agents in an informal setting. And if that happens to be at a conference in Miami in February rather than one taking place the same time of year in Minneapolis, all the better.

Second, although any given agent won’tnecessarily sign ev en one client from any given conference, expanding one’s network is a critical part of success in this business. From a purely financial standpoint, I can tell you that if you include writers we’ve met at conferences and people they’ve introduced us to, we’ve been able to do at least eight figures’ worth of book deals.

Particularly for first-time authors, there’s no better way to get to an agent than at a conference. Authors love one-on-one meetings with agents, but we know where the best writers can be found: at the bar. You think Hemingway would have given an elevator pitch at a 7:30 A.M. meet-the-agents session?

Third, well, what better kind of people is there than book people? You know you’ve already got something in common, right? I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t meet lots of friends (and before I was married, a few significant others, too) at writers’ conferences. Oh, and talk about scoring an agent — I know at least one writer who’s now married to an agent he met at a writer’s conference!

When books are on the table, all things are possible.

Jason Allen Ashlock (President, Movable Type Management):

I have to believe there’s a kind of reciprocity in the publishing community, a bit of karma, I think: give to the writing community and the writing community will give to you. I’ve certainly signed writers I met at writers conferences, but it doesn’t happen often. It’s less about the straight line from conference to client and more about the idea that we all benefit from getting together to talk about what it means to live a writer’s life and what it means to be in publishing today.I think there’s a net benefit that trickles down to the community of agents and editors: when we all work hard to educate writers, they send us better work, better queries, become better equipped to understand the way we make decisions. I often say that everyone’s job in publishing is to make the next person’s job easier. Writers should make agents’ jobs easier, agents make editors’ jobs easier, editors make booksellers’ jobs easier, etc. By really involving yourself in the work of teaching writers both craft and industry knowledge, you build a smarter writing world, and that’s better for everybody.

Personally, I also like the opportunity to share my ideas on radical mediation and the new role of the agent in the digital publishing economy. Connecting with industry professionals gives me a chance to hone these ideas and to hear how others are handling their own transitions.

Stephany Evans (President, FinePrint Literary Management):

To be honest, I have numerous reasons for attending conferences…1. Looking for talent – of course! While it can be an endurance event, I actually look forward to the one-on-one pitch sessions that some conferences have. Often an in-person pitch can be misleading and when your receive the requested materials there can be some disappointment, but I’ve also uncovered some gold nuggets. In one instance last year, a writer I’d passed on when she’d first submitted her novel “revisited” me during a pitch session and I got a second chance to work with her on her next book.

2. Getting to spend time with clients who live in different parts of the country — it’s nice to have that “in person” time, even if it’s just a few minutes.

3. Grabbing some (sometimes) more leisurely time with editors — either ones I’ve known for years or meeting new ones.

4. Keeping current at the “in the trenches” level. Learning about new ways authors are marketing their work, which I can sometimes pass along to my clients. There’s always a new twist — I try to keep eyes and ears open and see what I can learn.

5. Marketing the agency — or maybe being more of an “ambassador” for FinePrint. I think showing up and giving back (taking pitches, offering critiques, participating on panels, etc) puts a human face on who we are and what we can do for an author, as well as hopefully strengthening the industry as a whole, however incrementally.

6. Meeting new people, seeing new places. Many conferences have too little down-time to really check out a new place, but if I’m invited somewhere I haven’t been before I’ll sometimes see if I can take an extra day or two just to look around.

Katharine Sands (Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency)

Conferences are great for sourcing talent. We seek the holy grail: the publishable writer. Writers I have signed at conferences are often unexpected in some way, and not what I might have chosen from a query letter. For example, an IRS expert and a dominatrix…neither was what I was on the lookout for, but both turned out to be marvelous writers!

It is great to debate and discuss topics, share intel with the other agents and editors, especially in their cups. And authors are on the circuit too. Conferences afford agents and writers the chance to hang with childhood heroes and author idols…But if author mystique is something you prize….you might not want to watch as the poet laureate is hitting on co-eds; or be there when your literary goddess starts dissing the industry.

Most of all, I love to being in the trenches. I want to affirm a writer’s quest and creativity. To see the light come on in someone’s eyes is a thrill to anyone who loves teaching. Advice is a lovely thing to be able to offer.

The role of a literary agent at a writer’s conference is very empowering. People are so excited just to meet agents, and this keeps their dreams alive—the dream of the chance meeting that changes your life—as it can!

Jeff Kleinman (Founding Partner, Folio Literary Management):

Writers conferences can be fun and rewarding for all of the reasons that my colleagues have elucidated far more eloquently than I can. But these types of events sometimes leave the editor in me feeling a bit frustrated. Part of what motivates me as an agent is sinking my teeth into a manuscript — to really figure out what makes it tick, to live inside a character’s head — and, to some extent, inside the author’s head. Editing, plotting, determining what motivates the characters: all of these are my bread-and-butter and make the job of being a literary agent fun.(Don’t get me wrong — it’s also fun to sell those books and make the authors’ dreams come true, but sometimes that almost feels secondary to just helping work on a book that I’m proud to be affiliated with.)

I’m really excited about the Salt Cay Writers Retreat because of its focus on craft. Backspace has invited only Folio agents, and all of us Folio agents are supportive of each other and play well together in the sandbox (or sandy beach, I guess!), so there’s not even going to be competition among us agents (“Did you see Author X’s work? Are you going to try signing them? I’m going to!”, etc.).

It’s a chance to really allow agents, editors and published writers to focus on what is important in writing: writing. Not how to get published, not the eBook revolution, not marketing your work, not developing a platform. Writing. A week to dig into manuscripts, to share thoughts with some of the best editors and the most talented authors in the country in a gorgeous, inspiring environment. What agent wouldn’t want to go to a retreat like that?

I know I can fix it, if only I can get a look inside. When I tell my parents, they don’t laugh. Instead, my dad gives me a set of miniature screwdrivers, my mom gives me an empty shoebox, and on that day, my writing career is born.

Okay, technically, I didn’t take up novel writing until I was in my mid-forties. But by encouraging me to go ahead and try to fix that clock, even though they knew full well that all I’d have to show for my efforts would be a shoebox full of clock parts, my parents in effect said, “We believe in you.”

Their faith in me, along with the corollary that it’s okay to fail as long as you try, laid the foundation for every major challenge I’ve undertaken since. Moving with my husband and infant daughter to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to live in a tent while we built our tiny cabin; traveling to an active volcano on Red Alert in Northern Patagonia, Chile to research my second novel; running a writers conference in New York City two days after Hurricane Sandy.

Faith in yourself and your abilities is not the same as self-confidence. There’s not a writer on the planet who doesn’t suffer from massive insecurity and self-doubt. And yet we are compelled to push forward. No one will want to read what I have to say; millions will pay to read what I have to say. With those conflicting voices screeching constantly inside our head, it’s no wonder the stereotypical writer turns to drink.

The truth is, it’s not easy to write a novel. Like a clock, a novel has many moving parts, and they all need to work together in perfect balance. Pace. Momentum. Tension. Plot. Characterization. Story arc. Character arcs.

“A novel is a large, complex, fluid and difficult-to-manage undertaking,” warns literary agent and writing instructor Donald Maass in his how-to book Writing the Breakout Novel. “It is a tough art form to get right, one tougher still to master.”

And finishing the novel is only the beginning. The author still has to get their book published.

Most aspiring authors have no idea how difficult it is to place a novel with a major publishing house, and that’s okay. If I had known it would be 8 years from the time I began writing with a view to publication until my first novel sold (or that it would be almost another two years before the novel appeared on bookstore shelves), I might have opted to invest that decade pursuing a career that had a better chance of success—like becoming a nuclear physicist or a brain surgeon.

What keeps a writer going through years of uncertainty and rejection and is an unshakeable belief that we can do this. We have no evidence that we will eventually succeed. No outside validation that the creative process taking place inside our head will one day pay off.

But we don’t need proof. We know we can write. We know we’ll get a book contract eventually, if only we keep at it. If our current manuscript doesn’t find an agent or a publisher, we’ll write another. And another, and if necessary, another and another.

At my recent post-Sandy writers conference, I saw this conviction demonstrated over and over again. One attendee drove to New York from Washington D.C. after her Amtrak train was cancelled, not knowing for certain where she’d stay, since the hotel where she’d booked her sleeping room was closed. Another who came from Toronto stayed in his hotel even though the hotel was without power and had only cold running water. Another aspiring author’s husband drove her and their children first to Pennsylvania so they could drop the children at their grandparents, then drove her into the city, then drove back to Pennsylvania again to take the kids trick or treating that evening—after himself driving 14 hours to get home after his own flight was cancelled.

Was attending the conference really that important? After all, the entire East Coast was in disarray. People had lost power, lost their homes and possessions, lost their lives.

Without in any way minimizing the staggering economic and personal loss of the hurricane victims, the answer for these writers was “yes.” They’d finished their novels—most after years of sacrifice and effort. Meeting with literary agents to get professional feedback and (possibly) an offer of representation which could lead to a publishing contract was the next step.

Some might think that traveling to a city that had been devastated by a hurricane to attend a writers conference was irresponsible and foolish. But the genuinely crazy part—the true act of faith—was that these authors had written a novel in the first place.

For those who eventually see their novels published, I’m willing to bet that somewhere in their past is a shoebox full of clock parts.

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Karen Dionne is the internationally published author of the science-based thrillers Freezing Point and Boiling Point. She is co-founder of the online writers community, Backspace and organizes and runs the Backspace Writers Conferences held in New York City every year, as well as the Salt Cay Writers Retreat in Salt Cay, Bahamas.

Karen is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers, and the International Thriller Writers, where she serves on the board of directors as Vice President, Technology.

Karen blogs at The Huffington Post, and has written about the publishing industry from an author’s perspective for AOL’s DailyFinance. She also reviews for The New York Journal of Books.

Did you know that William Styron put the finishing touches on Sophie’s Choice while vacationing on Salt Cay, Bahamas? Or that Anne Morrow Lindbergh worked on Gifts From The Sea during a visit to Salt Cay as well?

Now you too can practice your craft on this beautiful private Bahamian island. While the Salt Cay Writers Retreat curriculum is particularly suited for advanced literary and upmarket commercial fiction writers, memorists and narrative non-fiction writers, any author who wishes to take their writing to the next level is welcome to join us for a memorable week of writing and instruction  October 20-26.

Imagine a faculty of #1 New York Times bestselling authors, top editors from the most prestigious publishers, and prominent literary agents. Add a sunset dinner cruise, swimming with dolphins as part of the curriculum, island feasts with local entertainment. Finish with plenty of time to write in a beautiful, secluded, and inspiring setting.

With 65 students and 10 faculty members, the Salt Cay Writers Retreat focuses on craft at an MFA level in a non-academic setting. Published authors who wish to take their writing to the next level are welcome to apply.

October 20-26, Salt Cay, Bahamas
www.saltcaywritersretreat.com

Salt Cay Faculty:

Robert Goolrick,  #1 New York Times bestselling author

Jacquelyn Mitchard, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Chuck Adams, Executive Editor, Algonquin Books (WATER FOR ELEPHANTS)

Amy Einhorn, Publisher and Vice President, Amy Einhorn Books (THE HELP)

Kate Miciak, Editorial Director and Vice President, Ballantine/Bantam Dell

Michelle Brower, Folio Literary Management

Steven Fisher , Vice President, Agency for the Performing Arts

Erin Harris, Folio Literary Management

Jeff Kleinman, Founder, Folio Literary Management

Erin Nuimata, Senior Vice President, Folio Literary Management

For a limited time, qualified applicants save an additional $500! Just put “Backspace 2013” in the “coupon code” field when you fill out the application form. The SCWR will also waive the $10 application fee. Offer expires 4/20/2013.

Questions? Email Salt Cay Writers Retreat administrators Karen Dionne or Christopher Graham. You may also telephone Chris at 732-267-6449.

Karen and Chris are cofounders of the online writers community Backspace, and have directed the highly respected Backspace Writers Conferences held in New York City for the past 9 years.

Randy Susan Meyers will be on the faculty at the 2013 Backspace Writers Conference May 23-25, New York City

Unmitigated panic. Unrelenting fear. Ulcer-inducing worry.

Two years ago my book was launching and I should have been on cloud nine. I was realizing a life-long dream at a time when many my age popped Lipitor. I was edging close to a sedative habit.

Looking back to my novel debut, terror defined my anticipatory state-of-being. How would I bear bad reviews? (Weeping. Definitely weeping.) What if I got no reviews? (More weeping) What if no one came to my book launch party? What if there was a blizzard that night? What if the food ran out? What if I couldn’t find a dress, the bookseller forgot to come, and I got truth-telling drunk?

Would I look fat in the pictures?

The hardest part was facing the unknown: What if I behaved badly? What if I made life-altering mistakes? I depended on books for knowledge and though there were many on my offering advice on writing, selling, promotion, grammar, and even the giving and taking of criticism, I’ve couldn’t find Miss Manners guide to launching a book (which was desperately needed as the self-absorbed monsters in my head screamed me, me, me, like a collection of over-waxed beauty queens.

Finding no rule book, I turned to the policies carried by Moses and dribbled them with the good, bad, and clumsy I witnessed in myself and in others. Now, with the paperback, another me, me, me about to consume, I remind myself of my Writer’s Commandments Upon the Occasion of Launching a Book:

1. You shall have no other gods before: Remember thy agent: she who brought you into this world. She who rescued you from the sucking sound of mud, dragging you by the strength of her strong motherly arms, and introduced you to your editor and publishing house. Consider her always in your decisions. Hide nothing.

2. Beware blasphemous words : Remember the flood of clients thy publicist is juggling. Swallow thy rage at not showing up in People, Entertainment, New York Times Book Review, Washington Post. Thy publicist must spread her love wide. Suck it up and stand in line as the grateful child thou must (pretend to) be. In other words, be careful to whom you complain.

3. You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain: Never speak ill of thy publisher or editor, for it shows naught but crass ingratitude and will forever boomerang back. If thou spreadest evil on the Internet, thou are too stupid to deserve a second chance.

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Jeff Kleinman will be on the faculty at the 2013 Backspace Writers Conference May 23-25, New York City

Step #1. TALK to fellow participants.

A couple of months ago I whined about how tough it was to get a project that was really ready to go – a project with a great voice, great writing, great concept. Do you realize what a huge boon you have at these conferences, literally tripping over published authors and – possibly even more intriguing – other wannabe writers who could be an enormous asset to you – reading drafts of your manuscript, offering a different perspective on your work?

I always feel that authors are so focused on the editor-agent thing that they forget about the people sitting right next to them, the other writers who could actually be of huge assistance to them. I honestly think that it’s not at all a bad idea to ignore the editors and agents prancing around and just sit down in the hotel lobby with a couple of other writers, trying to create a community, a sounding-board – trying to make a connection to someone whose insights could really prove valuable.

If you go to a writer’s conference, just try this (no matter how painful and terrible it is – and believe me I’d hate to do it myself, so I feel for you). Turn to the person sitting one seat down from you (because you always sit with empty seats on either side if you can help it) and say, “Hello, my name is [fill in your name – not mine] and I’m working on a book about [one-sentence description of your book]. What are you working on?”

See if you have some kind of common ground. You might not, of course – the person sitting one seat down from you could be an absolute dragon with terrible breath and appalling clothes – but then again, you might make a worthwhile connection. If for no other reason, writer’s conferences are great places to (hem) meet other writers, so meet them, for goodness sake.

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Step #2. Take Conferences With More Than One Grain of Salt.

It’s true that, as billed, conferences are one of those rare occasions when you have a chance to meet people on the other side of the mailbox – editors, agents, PR and marketing professionals, and so forth. We’re generally called in to do a bunch of different tasks at these events – lectures, workshops, manuscript evaluations, one-on-one meetings, etc. Often we choose sexy and compelling titles for our talks – stuff like “Write A Bestselling Novel in 5 Minutes A Day and Lose 30 Pounds in the Process,” or “Become Independently Wealthy and Emotionally Fulfilled Through Freelance Writing.”

Point being: we have a lot of information that we can impart, and certainly knowing the business side of things can be really helpful, but don’t get too sucked into these kinds of talks. Your business is writing, so make a connection with the writers. Use whatever information you find useful from these editors and agents, and throw out the rest. Whatever you do, don’t panic, hearing the kind of stuff we talk about.

Sometimes people get all upset, going to a talk about, say, “Trends in Nonfiction” – someone on the panel will say that memoirs are dead, and all the memoirists in the audience will gasp and turn blue; and the reality is that no trend is dead – it just hasn’t had the next breakout book to hit yet. Let’s face it, Marley & Me is just a memoir about a guy and a dog, and there are millions of those stories out there – so who will want to buy another book like that? Millions of people, apparently. So don’t take what we have too say too seriously.

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Step #3. Use Proper Etiquette When Talking To Publishing Folk.

OK, if I haven’t lost you yet, then you’ve hung on for the real reason I was writing all this today. Conferences are opportunities to meet and speak with (either in a structured one-on-one setting, or informally over lunch or a beer) editors and agents – who, for the purpose of this discussion, shall henceforth be termed PF, for “Publishing Folk”.There’s a possibility to talk to these folk about your project, get their feedback – who could resist such an opportunity?

Before you go and talk to them, though, here are a few handy-dandy rules to print out (with the proper copyright notice, please: © Jeff Kleinman 2006) and carry with you everywhere. They’re listed in order of importance, of course (but from most to least important, or least to most, I’ll let you decide).

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1. Never hand your manuscript to PF without being asked to do so.

That means don’t push it under the bathroom stall, shove it under the hotel room door, leave it for them at the front desk, staple it to their windshield wipers, etc. That’s considered “unsolicited,” and you don’t want to do that. If PF ask you for your material, that’s a whole different thing, of course.

2. Be prepared.

Have a proposal (if NF) or the first 50 pages (if F) available, in case PF ask to see it after all. It should be nicely formatted and all that kind of nonsense.

3. Know Your Log Line.

A typical conversation with PF goes as follows:

You: I wrote a book.
PF: You did? Huh. What’s it about?
You: Many many longwinded sentences about your book.
PF: Huh.

Be able to boil your book down to a single sentence – and make it a single sentence that generates the following response from the PF: “Oh, wow, that sounds terrific – can I read it?” That “wow” is a very difficult thing to achieve, so it’s worth really thinking about what makes your book, and/or you, special/interesting/different/remarkable.

If you can’t do it yet, that’s OK – then probably the project isn’t ready for PF after all. Use the single sentence as a test for yourself: if you can’t sum up the book succinctly and in a way that engenders immediate interest, keep rewriting the book until you can.

4. Research The PFs Ahead of Time.

All PFs are not created equal. Some PFs, like yours truly, do not represent romance novels. Other PFs, like yours truly’s partner Paige Wheeler, do. It would be a mistake to ask yours truly about your paranormal romance, because I wouldn’t know a paranormal romance from a three-toed black sloth – in fact I’d certainly know a three-toed black sloth much better. You can find out about PFs from a variety of websites (including Natalie’s fabulous one).

Just because you research the PF ahead of time, though, doesn’t mean that you should necessarily contact the PF and try to set up a meeting – that can be confusing and difficult to manage, since the PF is often at the mercy of the conference’s schedule.

5. Don’t Ask Overly Specific Questions at the Q&A.

Q&As are times for general questions, not opportunities for you to discuss your project with a room full of strangers.

6. Relax.

On several occasions at conferences, someone sits down across from me, we introduce ourselves, and then the writer on the other side of the table bursts into tears. It’s a truly weird and horrible feeling to be sitting there watching a grown woman, carefully made up, sobbing into a wad of typescript.

Remember: these PFs are generally nice people. They’re generally interested in what you have to say. They’re not mean, or cruel, or vicious – and if they are, you certainly don’t have to take it; just get up and walk away.

But I’d say pretty much everybody who does these conferences is a pretty nice person, most of the time – so just talk. Know what your book is about, be able to discuss it concisely and passionately. And then be ready to listen, to hear the questions the PF asks, be ready to respond concisely and passionately.

7. Know that It’s All in the Writing.

Let’s repeat that: It’s All In The Writing. Conferences can be fine things, and being able to talk about your project concisely and passionately is a fine thing, too; but in the end it boils down to the words that are laserprinted on that page. PF may ask to see your material; PF may jump for joy after hearing your description; but bottom line is that PF must read your material. So although it’s always good to have the bells and whistles in place, it’s even better to have a gorgeously written manuscript. The writing is everything.

And there you have it. If you go to a conference, have a great time (and buy me a beer, if I’m there).

©Jeff Kleinman

Jeff Kleinman is a literary agent, intellectual property attorney, and founding partner of Folio Literary Management, LLC, a literary agency in New York City, which works with all of the major U.S. publishers (and, through subagents, with most international publishers). He’s a graduate of Case Western Reserve University (J.D.), the University of Chicago (M.A., Italian), and the University of Virginia (B.A. with High Distinction in English).

As an agent, Jeff feels privileged to have the chance to learn an incredible variety of new subjects, meet an extraordinary range of people, and feel, at the end of the day, that he’s helped to build something—a wonderful book, perhaps, or an author’s career. His authors include Garth Stein, Elizabeth Letts, Eowyn Ivey, Neil Abramson, Robert Hicks, Charles Shields, Bruce Watson, and Philip Gerard.

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Dante, translated by Dorothy L Sayers.

Middles can be hard. When I start a novel the writing process has the freshness of a holiday trip: new characters, a sense of an untrodden path that could take me anywhere. I have an outline but it doesn’t bind me too strongly to a particular route. I hurl myself into the first twenty or thirty thousand words. This is easy! If I keep writing two thousand words a day I’ll have a rough first draft in no time at all.  There are some little niggles to sort out but there’s still plenty of time.

It grows harder. The springy turf on the original footpath turns to clay that binds itself to my writing boots. Moving forward even half a chapter takes so much out of me I almost have to lie down in a darkened room afterwards. I distract myself by bouncing from one website to another, skim-reading articles that don’t really interest me at all.

I really should turn off the wireless connection on the laptop. Or just write freehand in notepad, as I sometimes do on holidays. Sometimes this seems to free up my subconscious.

I know I should do these things, but I’m in a deep woods and I can’t seem to move at all.

This is the eighth novel I’ve written. I should be past this. Panic grabs me, making it hard for me to even open the file on my laptop.   The characters who seemed to propel themselves forward feel clunky, their words leaden. I place them into what I think are intriguing and dramatic scenes and they respond by suggesting that everyone should sit down and have some coffee.

I respond by burying myself in research. I need to know about village life in late seventeenth century England (not much coffee-drinking then out in the countryside, but they can sit by the fire and smoke pipes). I visit museums and order up books. I like museums and books and it’s easier than actually having to write myself. Just a few more notes and I’ll be ready to get back to my ms. Honest.

It strikes me that I’m not only midway in a novel but, at 49, I’m somewhere midway in my life. The old youthful certainties have gone. I used to think that I could always pick up freelance writing or editing work if I needed. The recession has disabused me of that one. Clients stop ringing. They’ve lost jobs themselves. New work is harder to find.

My children are older, not really little any more and more complicated in their needs and demands. Parents and in-laws are older and need help. We spend more time on the telephone enquiring about blood tests and doctors’ appointments. I still have my roadmap for my life but it’s looking less relevant now. I need to get on with this novel. The sooner it’s written the sooner it can be (hopefully) sold.

‘You’re having problems because there isn’t enough conflict in your novel,’ a writing friend tells me. I look at the last chapters I’ve worked on and think he’s on to something. ‘And you need to throw in a surprise,’ the friend suggests. ‘You’re writing safe, like someone who wants to please their agent and publisher. Write the book the way you would if you didn’t give a damn. Shock yourself.’

At this stage in my book’s development the electric kettle not working would probably rank as a huge shock. I mean, how would they make all the coffee?

I look at my outline again to remind myself what I told my agent this book was about. Ah yes. I see there was another character who was supposed to enter at this point. Fifth business, I think, remembering Robertson Davies: the person who turns everything upside down. I resist the temptation to reread all my Robertson Davies novels as ‘research’. Could this proposed new character cause havoc? It might be fun to make her upset everything. Is one of the characters perhaps more interesting than I have allowed her to be? Is she, in fact, a she at all?

It might be an idea to make this middle writing more fun. Writing used to be something I did because I enjoyed it.

Middle age itself can sometimes be not as fun as I’d like.

I think of the outline again, of the notebook I keep with ideas for books. These are the points I write down fearing they’re not quite strong enough to make it into the book itself but shouldn’t be lost: half flashes of dialogue and scenes, notes about the feel and smell of places I visit. My notebook might open up this book again and propel me out of the forest.

It’s been a fortnight since I’ve looked at my novel. I’m starting to itch to get back to the middle of that book and sort it out. Let me at it!

~~~~~

Novelist Eliza Graham lives with her family in Oxfordshire. When she’s not writing novels she works as a freelance copy-editor.

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You’re a querying or soon-to-be querying writer. You’re on Twitter, doing your research, following agents and editors, carefully choosing which agents you want to query, and networking with other writers. You’re doing a lot of work to learn the ropes, and now you want to make Twitter work for you. How can you make that happen?

Like quite a few agents, I spend a bit of time sussing out potential clients on Twitter. Maybe you queried me and included your Twitter handle; maybe you didn’t include it and I Googled you. Maybe you’re not querying yet, but you followed me and I clicked through to your profile (I really do this, and I’m not alone!). While there are no hard-and-fast rules of Tweeting that are guaranteed to impress all agents, there are certainly some basics (Disclaimer: I can’t speak for all agents here, only myself). So, without further ado, I give you seven tips for writers who want to rock Twitter:

Your username. 

If possible, pick a username that’s your real (or pen) name, or something close to it. Agents will see @Jane_Smith as much more professional than @JaneyCat523. Also, you should always be thinking ahead in your career: when your book is published, your readers are going to want to find you quickly. An intuitive Twitter handle makes it easier for readers to connect with you. (Okay, it also makes it easier for agents to find you on Twitter once you’ve queried us and we’re interested in learning more about you.)

Your bio. 

You don’t have a lot of space, so make the most of it. You might identify primarily as a mother to three adorable kittens (aww!), but if you’re looking to be taken seriously as a writer, I wouldn’t recommend putting that first. Make sure to include the genre(s) in which you write and a link to your blog or website, if you have one. I’ve clicked through to author websites before, read about an intriguing WiP, and emailed the writer from there! If you’re a member of a writers’ organization, like the SCBWI or RWA, you might mention that. A cool identifying tidbit—it could be as crazy as “Silver medalist in curling!” or as simple as where you live—helps make it personal.    

Your picture.

Keep it classy. It doesn’t have to be taken by a professional photographer and you don’t have to look like a model. A simple headshot will do. Make us think “book jacket!”

Your reading tweets.

Tweet about books you love. It’s okay to @ authors in your tweets! They’re people too, they’ll often write back, and it’s great to get involved in the community. If you hate a book (or even a certain genre), don’t needlessly eviscerate it. These things can come back to haunt you when you’re trying to get an agent (she reps the author!), on sub (the editor offered on that book—or even acquired it!), or being published (you need a blurb, and the author and all of his/her friends found your burn online). There’s no need to lie and say you loved something when you didn’t, but don’t go out of your way to be mean. Karma, y’all.

Your writing tweets. 

One of the great things about Twitter is that it allows authors to share and bond over their thoughts on the writing process. You can get—and give—a lot of helpful advice. If you’re querying, though, I’d advise against tweeting about the rejections you’ve received thus far. I’m not saying that agents are like lemmings; we’re not going to reject you just because other people have. We know this business is subjective.  But we don’t want to sign someone who comes across as overwhelmingly negative. Conversely, if you received a full request from your dream agent, it’s best to keep that mum for now. First, it’s the professional thing to do. There will be many times throughout your writing career when you’ll need to keep something private, and it’s good to practice that now. Second, if I’m interested in a query and I see the author gushing online about how they’ve connected with their One True Agent, I probably won’t want to spend the hours it’ll take to read the manuscript, take notes and throw my hat into the ring.

Your fun tweets. 

It’s perfectly fine to tweet about your personal life, of course! Just try to tweet things that are appropriate to the genre and audience for which you write. If you’re writing middle grade, you don’t need to be tweeting sex tips. If you’re writing a memoir of your time as a phone sex operator, sex tips are totally appropriate. You’re always building your brand, even before you have an agent.

A sort-of secret about how agents use Twitter. 

When I’m interested in a writer, I look to see which other agents they’re following. That gives me a sense of who else she might be querying, and it also makes me go ACK! I must email her now! I can’t let Agent X get this one! If agents I know are following the writer I’m interested in, that’s even more telling, because they’re probably interested, too. Several of my agent-friends have confessed to using similar tactics, by the way. So now you know. Nothing like a little friendly competition to stoke the flames!

These tips are, of course, no substitute for a great manuscript and a killer query letter. Those always come first! A great Twitter account alone isn’t enough to get an agent, but a badly handled account can be enough to turn off an agent who might otherwise be interested in your work.  Happy Tweeting!

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Molly Jaffa is a literary agent and co-director of foreign rights at Folio Literary Management, and has been working closely with Folio authors’ projects since 2008, and is an Associate Member of the Association of Authors’ Representatives (AAR).

In addition to building her selective but growing list of clients, Molly utilizes her editorial background, previous work experience in the e-publishing industry, and intimate knowledge of the Folio list in her position as Folio’s Co-Director of International Rights. She actively pursues sales of international and audio rights and attends all major international book fairs, helping Folio clients’ books reach wide audiences in as many formats as possible.

Molly is an avid reader, and when she’s not devouring manuscripts, she can usually be found camped out in the aisles of the Union Square Barnes & Noble (until they kick her out at closing time). Her clients include Lana Krumwiede (FREAKLING, Candlewick, October 2012, and ARCHON, Fall 2013), Julie Murphy (SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY, HarperCollins/Balzer & Bray, 2014), and Kristen Lippert-Martin (TABULA RASA, Egmont, 2014). You can follow her on Twitter @molly_jaffa and read her blog at mollyjaffa.blogspot.com.

Having fallen in love in The Bro-Magnet, ultimate man’s man Johnny Smith and D.A. Helen Troy marry at the outset of ISN’T IT BROMANTIC? Never has a sports-loving couple been so well suited. Now everything should be wedded bliss, right? Not exactly.

On a honeymoon cruise, both contract a virus but Helen recovers more quickly. Still confined to their stateroom, Johnny is fine with her going off on her own, until Helen has a little too much fun playing beach volleyball with an all-male group of German tourists.

And things only grow worse as they return home to CT and try to set up life as a married couple. Can Johnny and Helen’s marriage be saved?

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Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter

Katarina Bishop and W.W. Hale the fifth were born to lead completely different lives: Kat comes from a long, proud line of loveable criminal masterminds, while Hale is the scion of one of the most seemingly perfect dynasties in the world. If their families have one thing in common, it’s that they both know how to stay under the radar while getting—or stealing—whatever they want.

No matter the risk, the Bishops can always be counted on, but in Hale’s family, all bets are off when money is on the line. When Hale unexpectedly inherits his grandmother’s billion dollar corporation, he quickly learns that there’s no place for Kat and their old heists in his new role. But Kat won’t let him go that easily, especially after she gets tipped off that his grandmother’s will might have been altered in an elaborate con to steal the company’s fortune. So instead of being the heir—this time, Hale might be the mark.

Forced to keep a level head as she and her crew fight for one of their own, Kat comes up with an ambitious and far-reaching plan that only the Bishop family would dare attempt. To pull it off, Kat is prepared to do the impossible, but first, she has to decide if she’s willing to save her boyfriend’s company if it means losing the boy.

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A Cold and Lonely Place by Sara J. Henry

Freelance writer Troy Chance is snapping photos of the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival ice palace when the ice-cutting machine falls silent. Encased in the ice is the shadowy outline of a body–a man she knows. One of her roommates falls under suspicion, and the media descends. Troy’s assigned to write an in-depth feature on the dead man, who, it turns out, was the privileged son of a wealthy Connecticut family who had been playing at a blue collar life in this Adirondack village. And the deeper Troy digs into his life and mysterious death, the murkier things become.

After the victim’s sister comes to town and a string of disturbing incidents unfold, it’s clear someone doesn’t want the investigation to continue. Troy doesn’t know who to trust, and what she ultimately finds out threatens to shatter the serenity of these mountain towns. She must decide which family secrets should be exposed, what truths should remain hidden, and how far her own loyalty can reach.

A Cold and Lonely Place, the sequel to Learning to Swim, follows Troy on a powerful emotional journey as she discovers the damage left by long-hidden secrets, and catches a glimpse of what might have been.

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Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler

Eighty-nine-year-old Isabelle McAllister has a favor to ask her hairdresser Dorrie Curtis. It’s a big one. Isabelle wants Dorrie, a black single mom in her thirties, to drop everything to drive her from her home in Arlington, Texas, to a funeral in Cincinnati. With no clear explanation why. Tomorrow.

Dorrie, fleeing problems of her own and curious whether she can unlock the secrets of Isabelle’s guarded past, scarcely hesitates before agreeing, not knowing it will be a journey that changes both their lives.

Over the years, Dorrie and Isabelle have developed more than just a business relationship. They are friends. But Dorrie, fretting over the new man in her life and her teenage son’s irresponsible choices, still wonders why Isabelle chose her.

Isabelle confesses that, as a willful teen in 1930s Kentucky, she fell deeply in love with Robert Prewitt, a would-be doctor and the black son of her family’s housekeeper–in a town where blacks weren’t allowed after dark. The tale of their forbidden relationship and its tragic consequences makes it clear Dorrie and Isabelle are headed for a gathering of the utmost importance and that the history of Isabelle’s first and greatest love just might help Dorrie find her own way.

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PRODIGY by Marie Lu

June and Day arrive in Vegas just as the unthinkable happens: the Elector Primo dies, and his son Anden takes his place. With the Republic edging closer to chaos, the two join a group of Patriot rebels eager to help Day rescue his brother and offer passage to the Colonies. They have only one request—June and Day must assassinate the new Elector.

It’s their chance to change the nation, to give voice to a people silenced for too long.

But as June realizes this Elector is nothing like his father, she’s haunted by the choice ahead. What if Anden is a new beginning? What if revolution must be more than loss and vengeance, anger and blood—what if the Patriots are wrong?

In this highly-anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestseller Legend, Lu delivers a breathtaking thriller with high stakes and cinematic action.

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Life Before Legend: Stories of the Criminal and the Prodigy by Marie Lu

Find out more about June and Day in this never-before-seen glimpse into their daily lives before they met in Marie Lu’s New York Times bestselling LEGEND series. As twelve-year-olds struggling to survive in two very different worlds within the Republic’s stronghold, June was starting her first day of school at Drake University as the youngest cadet ever admitted, and Day was fighting for food on the streets of the Lake sector. LIFE BEFORE LEGEND contains two original stories written by Marie Lu that give readers a sneak peek into the lives of their favorite characters in a thrilling new context.

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The Comfort of Lies by Randy Susan Meyers

“Happiness at someone else’s expense came at a price. Tia had imagined judgment from the first kiss that she and Nathan shared. All year, she’d waited to be punished for being in love, and in truth, she believed that whatever consequences came her way would be deserved.”

Five years ago, Tia fell into obsessive love with a man she could never have. Married, and the father of two boys, Nathan was unavailable in every way. When she became pregnant, he disappeared, and she gave up her baby for adoption.

Five years ago, Caroline, a dedicated pathologist, reluctantly adopted a baby to please her husband. She prayed her misgivings would disappear; instead, she’s questioning whether she’s cut out for the role of wife and mother.

Five years ago, Juliette considered her life ideal: she had a solid marriage, two beautiful young sons, and a thriving business. Then she discovered Nathan’s affair. He promised he’d never stray again, and she trusted him.

But when Juliette intercepts a letter to her husband from Tia that contains pictures of a child with a deep resemblance to her husband, her world crumbles once more. How could Nathan deny his daughter? And if he’s kept this a secret from her, what else is he hiding? Desperate for the truth, Juliette goes in search of the little girl. And before long, the three women and Nathan are on a collision course with consequences that none of them could have predicted.

The Promise of Stardust by Priscille Sibley

Matt Beaulieu was two years old the first time he held Elle McClure in his arms, seventeen when he first kissed her under a sky filled with shooting stars, and thirty-three when they wed. Now in their late thirties, the deeply devoted couple has everything—except the baby they’ve always wanted.

When a tragic accident leaves Elle brain-dead, Matt is devastated. Though he cannot bear losing her, he knows his wife, a thoughtful and adventurous scientist, feared only one thing—a slow death. Just before Matt agrees to remove Elle from life support, the doctors discover that she is pregnant. Now what was once a clear-cut decision becomes an impossible choice. Matt knows how much this child would have meant to Elle. While there is no certainty her body can sustain the pregnancy, he is sure Elle would want the baby to have a chance. Linney, Matt’s mother, believes her son is blind with denial. She loves Elle, too, and insists that Elle would never want to be kept alive by artificial means, no matter what the situation.

Divided by the love they share, driven by principle, Matt and Linney fight for what each believes is right, and the result is a disagreement that escalates into a controversial legal battle, ultimately going beyond one family and one single life.

CJ Lyons’s BLACK SHEEP sold to Hannah Green at Sphere, by Heather Baror-Shapiro at Baror International in association with Irene Goodman Agency

New York Times bestselling author Lisa McMann’s books 4-7 in the UNWANTEDS series sold again to Liesa Abrams at Aladdin, by Michael Bourret at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (World).

Audio rights to Amy Nathan’s THE GLASS WIVES sold to Brilliance Audio.

Claudia Gray’s CAN’T GET NEXT TO YOU, the first book in the Firebird trilogy, about a girl who must pursue a killer through alternate realities where she sees all the radically different lives she might have led, and realizes her target may be far more than the cold-hearted murderer she’d believed him to be, sold to Sarah Landis at Harper Teen, in a three-book deal, by Diana Fox at Fox Literary (World).

Alison Weiss at Egmont has acquired world English rights to Kristen Lippert-Martin’s debut novel TABULA RASA. In this contemporary YA thriller, a 16-year-old girl held in an isolated research hospital undergoes a forced experimental treatment to erase all recollection of her past. But when the procedure goes awry, she must face off against mercenaries sent to eliminate her once and for all. The projected pub date is fall 2014; Molly Jaffa at Folio Jr./Folio Literary Management brokered the deal.

Awards, Honors

Marie Lu’s newly released young adult dystopian novel PROPHECY hit #9 on the young adult New York Times list.

Melanie Benjamin’s THE AVIATOR’S WIFE debuted at #19 of the New York Times list.

This month, Naseem Rakha begins a month alone on the rim of the Grand Canyon as their Artist in Residence.

The Reading Cafe named Maureen McGowan’s DEVIANTS one of their best young adult reads of 2012.

Priscille Sibley’s THE PROMISE OF STARDUST is Target’s February Book Club Pick.

THREE Backspace members’s new releases made the February Indie Next Pick list!
THE PROMISE OF STARDUST by Priscille Sibley
CALLING ME HOME by Julie Kibler
THE AVIATOR’S WIVE by Melanie Benjamin

The Michigan Council for the Humanities has declared Karen Dionne a Humanities Scholar for professional expertise in the humanities field as a writer, author, and co-founder of Backspace. Karen will be listed in the Michigan Council for the Humanities directory as a Humanities Professional.

Agent Signings

Karen Dionne signed last month with Lane Shefter Bishop, Hollywood producer and CEO of Vast Entertainment, after talking to Lane about her project at the November Backspace Agent-Author Seminar. Lane will be looking to put together a possible feature film deal for Karen’s not-yet published young adult novel. Lane’s other clients include Sandra Brown, Robyn Carr, Robert K. Tanenbaum, Heather Graham, Anne Perry and many more.

Articles, Essays

Karen Dionne’s guest essay “Faith and a Box Full of Clock Parts” appears on Backspace member Jennifer Haupt’s “One True Thing” column on Psychology Today.

Short Stories

Karen Dionne’s short story “Calling the Shots,” which originally appeared in the anthology FIRST THRILLS: High-Octane Stories by the Hottest Thriller Authors edited by Lee Child was featured in Rogue Reader’s weekly newsletter.

Zarina Zabrisky recently performed a live reading of her short story, Halloween at the Gym,” originally published by Red Fez Magazine.

Reviews

Zarina Zabrisky’s collection of short stories, IRON, received a terrific review from Al-Khemia Poetica: “Zabrisky has hit the ground running with a strong literary debut that furthers the great tradition of Russian literature into the 21st century.”

Appearances

Sara J. Henry would like to extend an open invitation to the launch party for her second novel, A COLD AND LONELY PLACE. It will be 7 pm, Feb. 5, at Barnes and Noble, Cool Springs (just south of Nashville), with a party afterward. Anyone who could make it – it would be great to see you. Will have a few extra beds for people who are traveling and need to stay over.