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Rose & Thorn editor Deborah Andoetoe interviewed Blythe
Camenson, co-author of the book, Your Novel Proposal: From Creation
To Contract, published in 1999 by Writer's Digest Books. This book is
a complete reference for the novelist and gives solid information on how
to create a proposal, how to meet agents and editors, and how to sell your
novel. After reading the book, Deborah said, "I really enjoyed seeing
the quotes from some of my favorite authors. It showed me that they went
through the same steps that Camenson recommends. Anyone can follow these
steps and get their novel read by the right people."
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ROSE & THORN: Since each of us has a different story,
how did you get started in writing?
Blythe Camenson: I had always wanted to write, ever since
I read my first Nancy Drew. I started writing professionally in 1989, when
I lived overseas in the Persian Gulf. I was teaching English there for
many years. In between writing novels, I started writing articles and
submitting them to publications in the US and in the Gulf, and met with
instant success with the articles. I made a lot of beginner mistakes,
though. At the time, there was no one to advise me in the Gulf; I had to
learn on my own. A colleague had a stockpile of old Writer's Digest
magazines and I poured through them. They were incredibly enlightening.
When I returned to the States in 1990, after being evacuated out of
Baghdad at the start of the Persian Gulf War, I decided I would try my
hand at writing full time. Luckily, I had some savings to fall back on. It
took about two years of writing and submitting nonstop, but I did it. My
first assignment with NTC/Contemporary books (the publisher of all my
career books) was to update a book of theirs that had been in print for a
number of years, Careers in Education. They were in a pinch. The
author who had been scheduled to do it backed out and they needed the
manuscript in two weeks. I turned it in in one. After that, I studied
their catalog and pitched other books to them that would fit into their
series. It's been about eight years now and I have written around fifty
books for them. My latest book, Your Novel Proposal: From Creation to
Contract, came out recently from Writer's Digest Books.
R&T: If you had one, single piece of advice to give a
new writer, what would it be?
BC: I always tell new writers to be persistent and never give
up. Coupled with that, though, I stress the importance of learning how to
write well, to write for the markets, and to learn how to approach those
markets professionally. There are a lot of new writers out there who don't
bother to learn the ropes, but if you do, you give yourself an immediate
edge.
R & T: How important is a query letter, synopsis and proposal?
BC: The query letter is the single most important piece of writing
you'll do. It's your foot in the door, the first impression you make. A
synopsis is equally important. It shows that you can "write
tight." I always stress the importance of a one-page synopsis, as
opposed to longer, rambling ones. A synopsis also shows you can write with
style, and have created original characters enmeshed in compelling
conflicts, and that you know how to resolve those conflicts with a
satisfying ending to your book. A proposal for a novel is the complete
package -- the query letter, the manuscript, the synopsis, the cover
letter. How you present yourself and your material is as important as the
manuscript itself.
R & T: When you look for an agent or editor, does your work
need to be perfect?
BC: There are a lot of writers who think that the job of an agent
or editor is to polish their manuscripts. I try to tell them the
manuscript must be as perfect as it can be before they send it out.
R & T: How long does it take you to complete a book-length
project? How does that compare to the time it took you when you began
writing?
BC: With nonfiction, depending on the length of the book and the
subject matter, it could be anywhere from a week to two or three months. I
write fast. Fiction takes me a little longer, in part because I spend a
lot of time plotting before I sit down to write, and also because my time
to write fiction -- my first love -- is limited because of all the other
hats I wear. While I am writing fiction, I edit and polish as I go, so
once the manuscript is complete, it's pretty polished at that point. But I
still go back and revise my drafts several more times. It is much fussier,
writing fiction than nonfiction, at least for me. With nonfiction I write
one draft, basically, and it's done.
R & T: You teach writing classes online. What makes these
classes unique?
BC: I used to teach several courses through AOL, but for the last
year and a half I've been teaching them through FWC. The courses I
personally teach (I have other instructors who offer other courses) are:
How to Approach Editors and Agents, How to Write Winning Query Letters,
How to Write a Novel Synopsis, and How to Write a Nonfiction Book
Proposal. What makes my courses unique is that each student receives a lot
of individual attention and feedback. The first course gives students a
lot of information and at the end of the course they should be
sufficiently market savvy to sell their work. At the end of the other
three courses students finish up with a query letter, synopsis or proposal
ready to go out.
R & T: I know a lot of new writers are very worried about
copyright problems, especially with agents, editors and publishers
stealing their ideas and manuscripts. Does this fear have any basis in
reality?
BC: Not really. This is a question I get asked all the time. The
copyright laws are written to protect writers -- they don't even have to
file officially. Your publisher does that for you once your book has been
accepted. And the likelihood that an agent or editor would steal your work
is very far fetched. They know the copyright laws. I always joke with new
writers and tell them they should thank their lucky stars if someone does
steal their work. The lawsuit would probably earn them more than any
advance would!
R & T: How did you get involved in Fiction Writer's Connection?
BC: It was 1993. I had been back from the Gulf for three years,
living in Florida, and working hard on articles and books. In Florida, at
the time, there was an organization for freelance writers and a couple of
organizations that were genre-specific -- The Romance Writers of America
and The Mystery Writers of America. I realized there was a need for a
group that could provide help to new writers across all genres. I started
with offering seminars for writers, inviting speakers in, mailing out the
information, building up my mailing list. From observing what was being
offered elsewhere and talking to a lot of writers, I decided what services
writers needed, and thus FWC was born. It was local at first, then grew.
Our website opened in March of 1998 and membership has tripled since then.
Members come from all around the world. Through FWC I offer members free
critiquing, free consultation, free newsletters containing interviews with
editors and agents open to working with new writers, and discounts on both
our email courses and on Writer's Digest books. The website is at www.fictionwriters.com.
Blythe Camenson, FWC Director
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Hardcover -
256 pages (August 1999)
Writers Digest Books;
ISBN: 0898798752 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.03 x 9.32 x 6.33 |
Blythe Camenson is a full-time writer of both nonfiction
and fiction. She is the director of Fiction Writers Connection (FWC), a
membership organization for new and seasoned writers. She has more than
two dozen career books in print, published by VGM Career Horizons, an
imprint of NTC /Contemporary Books in Chicago and has 15 more due out in
the next two years. She co-authored The Complete Guide to Proposing
Your Novel, recently released and available through Writer's Digest
Books. Her articles and photographs have appeared in 100+ publications.
Two of her novels have had movie options.
Deborah Andoetoe has been writing for many years. She teaches classes
online and is currently offering Plot Is A Verb and Speculative
Fiction. She began selling in 1988 when her two children were in
diapers. She has a background in animal husbandry and spends her free time
riding dressage and working with the local 4H club sheep department.
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