How Not to Get A Book Deal, But Write the Book You Want to Write

Craft and publishing

I’ve been vowing to write on Substack for a long time, and today is April Fool’s Day, which seems as good a time as any, right? So here goes.

I’m not yet sure how much time I have to spend on Substack. I mean: social media is such a distraction, and I’ve books to read and classes to plan and a garden to garden and meditation to practise and and and.

And there’s already a lot of stuff on writing and publishing on my blog Andrew Wille Writing Studio. Though blogging feels so tucked away and niche nowadays - such a solitary profession!

But I don’t really know how Substack works: subscriptions, or notes vs posts, or how to insert headers or photos or audio or change the colour of that button. Or maybe even what any of this even MEANS. So I thought I’d just dive in and see by adding and updating a post from my blog that contains useful resources on writing and publishing. Is that cheating?! I don’t think so - and surely it’s good to share this with the new and different people I see here.

And we like sharing free stuff. I wrote the original post a couple of years ago when I discovered a literary agency was charging £649 for a daylong course called How To Get A Book Deal, and I decided I should put some free stuff into circulation instead.

We all have to earn a crust, but I feel literary agents should do that primarily by taking a commission for selling author’s books. There are good courses run by agents and publishers (and writers and editors and writing teachers too …). And there are numerous festivals and writing conferences where writers can pay to hear the advice of industry professionals and sometimes even pitch to them – hey, we live under the system of global capital, right? And until the day the Revolution comes the exchange of money is often the foundation for the use of other people’s time and expertise, okay?!

But £649 seemed a lot of money to shell out for a day. I trust the pastries were first-class!

So, for FREE, let me tell you that the way you get a book deal is to write a book someone else wants to read.

It’s as simple as that. And if lots of people want to read it, you could be very successful commercially.

I am not being facetious. I really do think there is great value in grasping the clarity of these facts. Too much can be overegged and overpromised in the world of creative writing, and promises made are rash ones. No one can really predict what a publisher will acquire, or whether a book will sell once it is published. I’ve heard too many stories of paltry sales, or unattended author events. I’ve shopped at the remainder book shops.

So rather than grasping for uncertainties, enjoy the satisfaction of writing a good book. And if you really want to be published, it comes down to the simple matter of writing something that readers want to read. And it doesn’t even have to be a good book: just look in a bookshop!

But, too, what is a good book anyway? Taste matters as much as technique, and we know there’s no accounting for it.

Perhaps it makes more sense to pay attention to: the book you want to write. Sometimes we lose track of our sense of that.

With that in mind, it helps to develop our craft and technique, and also to gain inspiration in establishing an effective creative process. And though there are many excellent resources out there that you can pay for, there are also many that are FREE. Here are some of the ones I recommend most frequently.

On intention
* Alexander Chee, How To Unlearn Everything: written to address that contentious topic of writing ‘the other’, this essay also goes to the heart of three of the most important things in writing and publishing: your purpose in writing; your chosen narrative style; and understanding your readers. All writers should read it.
* Carmen Maria Machado, On Writing and the Business of Writing: a powerful essay on the intersections of art and commerce, grounded in real-life examples. If you are serious about getting published, this is required reading.

On creative practice
* Charlotte Wood and Alison Manning on the Writer's Life: a series of podcast interviews, with plenty of practical guidance on matters ranging from finding focus and discipline to working with feedback. There are many podcasts on writing and books, but I’d certainly make room for this one. Other podcasts and resources are linked on Charlotte Wood’s site and she has a Substack too: Subtraction.

On understanding how craft powers your story
* Lincoln Michel, On The Many Different Engines That Power A Short Story: or novel or memoir or any narrative form. And while you are there, I highly recommend you sign up for the LitHub Daily – plenty of excellent craft essays and reviews and matters book-related.
* Lincoln Michel’s Counter Craft is a highly recommended Substack too.
* Rebecca Makkai’s SubMakk is another excellent Substack on matters of craft.

On the intersections of plot and character, and how they connect with readers
* Parul Seghal, The Case Against The Trauma Plot: lots of food for thought here for how stories are presented as tidy fictions – or messy ones. Valuable reading.

On developing a narrative style
* Tell Me A Story and A Book Is Not A Film: blog posts of my own about narration, showing and telling, and knowing who or what is telling your story.
* Emma Darwin, Psychic Distance: What It Is And How To Use It: I tend to use the term narrative distance, which I feel is more accurate for relating both interior and exterior modes of storytelling; whatever the language, understanding this concept can really empower your storytelling. And there is a whole textbook’s worth of writing advice in Emma’s excellent Tool-Kit, and she’s also on Substack too: This Itch of Writing.

On story types
* Ronald Tobias, 20 Master Plots: I think the detailed checklist of the 20 types of story is behind the publisher paywall now, but you can still find the contents list as well as an except on the story type of Revenge (always one of my faves …). Thinking about story type is a really handy way of marshalling your narrative content and shaping it into a story, especially at the revision stage. The book is a good investment for writers - not everything can be made free, after all. It’s an excellent reference.

On story structure
* Michael Hauge, The 5 Key Turning Points Of All Successful Screenplays: okay, a book is not a film (see above), but we can adapt these ideas as we develop an understanding of ways to pace and plot your action. I often suggest that writers grow their instincts for pacing and structure by watching a favourite movie and looking for those key plot developments such as the Point of No Return and the Major Setback.

On prose style and voice
* Chuck Palahniuk, Thought Verbs: a niche matter, but choosing the best verbs to power your sentences is imperative. Lots of other useful craft essays on the LitReactor site too, and Chuck Palahniuk is one of the most generous and thoughtful writers on Substack: Plot Spoiler.
* Constance Hale, Sorting Out Grammar, Syntax, Usage & Style: Constance Hale’s book Sin and Syntax is *the* book on style, grammar and usage that I always recommend: practical, witty, and breezy. This essay gives some good, emboldening pointers about matters where writers are sometimes fearful, and there are plenty of other resources on her site too.

On publishing
* Margaret Atwood, The Rocky Road To Paper Heaven: a pithy overview of the path from writing a book to getting it out in the world.
* Editor’s Rejection Bullets: because we don’t have to take it personally.
* Jane Friedman’s Writing Advice Archive: should answer most questions about the business of publishing. Jane Friedman is a good one to follow.

On making yourself comfortable with uncertainty
* Masterclass, John Keats’ Theory of Negative Capability in Writing: or cultivating the habit of being ‘in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason’. Masterclass has a lot of free articles on other writing topics too.

On returning to the page
* National Writing Project, Thirty Days Of Lockdown Writing: because we don’t want you spending *too* much time doing the reading, a month of daily prompts, many inspired by that guru of writing practice, Natalie Goldberg.

All of that advice: for FREE! (Or at least: it was once free, and remains so in part.)

I might have other suggestions at other times and for specific contexts, but this is a start. And ideas for podcasts and YouTubes could form entire other posts. Lots out there.

Also: join your library! While we still have them. Use your library: request books for your library’s stock, and keep your libraries busy, and show their value as a public good. Librarians are heroes. Plus I reckon many authors earn more from Public Lending Right and library loans than they do from, e.g., royalties on digital purchases.

And if you are really keen, and don’t mind shelling out on a few textbooks or going to the library: here is my DIY MA in Creative Writing. FREE. You might want to find classmates or writing partners for the journey, but you can pursue it on your own - numerous writers have used it or adapted it for their own needs, and some are even published now too.

And there are lots other resources and writing experiments on my site, of course. FREE!

And though they isn’t free (yes, I can hustle too, because this is Substack, after all): my next Zoom masterclasses are on Setting and Situation on 8 April, Story and Plot on 13 May, and Form and Structure on 10 June.

You can also join my mailing list here.

More anon, maybe - maybe I’ll work out how to change the colour of that button and add a few more bells and whistles. Meanwhile, feel free to suggest other free resources on writing and publishing in comments below.

Cheers,
Andrew

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