Now, “normal” doesn’t mean “boring”. Bored characters = bored readers. It should still be engaging and enticing—but it should also showcase the MC AS THEY CURRENTLY ARE. As their life currently is. Not AFTER everything has snowballed into change.

We NEED to see the MC before the inciting incident. We NEED to see the steps leading to the inciting incident in order to be invested and care about it. We NEED a semblance of normal for them first.

It’d be like watching The Matrix if it started after Neo has already taken the red pill.

Sure it’d still be cool—but why would we care about him? How would we understand the consequences of this choice? How would we understand the emotional and mental pieces of that choice?

We’re thrown into an (often) emotionally charged situation, one where life changing stuff has gone down and a lot is going on and it SHOULD be exciting and enthralling...

And all the reader is experiencing is confusion and distance from the MC.

It may seem logical to start in the meat of things as it’s ramping up—but it has the opposite effect.

If we don’t get to see the character in some version of their “normal”, if we don’t get to see the inciting incident, why should the reader care what happens to them?

A common theme in my inbox today: beginnings starting in the wrong place.

The query builds a great inciting incident... and then the story begins AFTER that inciting incident has happened. In the aftermath of whatever kicks off the MC’s journey.

#querytip #editingtip

Good morning #WritingCommunity! I’m already seeing some great queries from you. Just wanted to mention I only accept queries through Query Manager (link is in my Twitter bio), but keep them coming! #querytip

There is also a certain type of support professional who concentrates all of their talent on their ability to woo and sign new clients. Before hiring anyone in this field, talk to one of their existing clients to make sure they are still feeling flirted with years down the line.

It's also psychological. A lot of my role is literally just managing my authors' anxiety. (See @kate_mckean's excellent Substack for her thinking on this.) And also engineering the most competitive auction situations possible.😈

The value of a real support professional is relational and alchemic; it's in what we can create in relationship with you, in relationship with editors, etc. We have the creative and market intelligence to elevate work. We know acquiring editors' personalities and desires.

A good agent might not have time to do personalized brain picking with you, but if she wants to connect, she will withhold ZERO information about process, norms, competitive advance ranges and royalties, etc. ZERO. Knowledge of that is not our value add.

This is the mark of a charlatan, whether they're a freelance editor, coach, agent, or whatever. If someone tries to pretend like you need to hire them to get "industry secrets" that you can easily find on google or in a book, such a sample proposal, please avoid that person.

Small #pubtip thread: I was in a coffee shop years ago next to one of those "publishing coaches" doing a paid session with a poor author. As I eavesdropped, he told the woman with great fanfare that he had something very secret and valuable to share: a *real live book proposal.*

1st sentences matter! I can tell A LOT from the 1st few sentences of a manuscript. I love analogies, so for me it’s like meeting someone for the first time. Do I get a firm or soft handshake, a coy look, a confident stare, work-worn or soft hands, somewhere in between. #querytip

Today's #querytip is to include your name in your email.

Hello! I understand if you've gotten a pass & are sending a revision starting from last correspondence & making clear this is a revision. Don't send the exact same query & submission unchanged & DON'T attach to a pass. We can see that you haven't done the work. #subtip #querytip

What if I started sending things to editors with the title & author in the subject & the body of the email is just "AND WITH THAT PLEASE FIND THE ATTACHED." It would be bad, right? So maybe don't query agents that way. You have to serve your work, friends. #querytip #subtip

#QueryTip: Don’t send more pages than the agent asks for - doing so won’t showcase your writing better and it will make it seem like you didn’t read the agent's instructions.

Even though manuscripts are turned in electronically, it's still vital for authors to put page numbers in the manuscript.

#pubtip

Idk how she does it, but I’m indebted to @RFaithEditorial for writing this #querytip thread straight from my own brain!! (Editors *are* basically mind readers so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised)