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Tag: how to write a book

  • How to Write Creepy Books for Adults

    How to Write Creepy Books for Adults

    Halloween has come and gone, but readers of all ages love to cozy up with a good horror book throughout the fall and winter. So why not try your hand at writing a creepy book

    People have been fascinated by creepy subject matter since… well, forever. Ghost stories have been around since people have, and it’s not hard to see why. Horror is a way for us to explore one of our most primal emotions—fear—and it’s a way for us to talk about subjects that are often taboo in regular conversation, like death.

    If you’re in the mood to write something scary this season, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll talk about what makes a book creepy, then we’ll walk you through the process of how to write creepy books.

    What makes a book creepy? (Things to consider)

    First and foremost, let’s clear something up: you don’t have to write a horror story to write a creepy story.

    Horror is a genre that intends to disgust or frighten the reader. The entire goal is to make the reader feel unpleasant. If you’re writing a horror novel, you want that at the forefront of your mind.

    However, not every book with scary elements is horror. Paranormal romance, for example, often includes frightening creatures or spooky settings, but the objective isn’t to scare the reader—it’s to tell a love story. The reader is meant to feel all the feelings they might get from a romance, just with a side of creepiness. For more on romance tropes, read this article.

    This is all to say that you can use these tips even if you’re not writing a straightforward horror novel. Got a fantasy adventure with a scene in which your characters have to crawl through a haunted dungeon? You’ll want to know how to write that haunted dungeon to its full creepy potential. Got an action thriller with a torture sequence? If you want it to land, you’ll need to know how to use suspense and how to write violent scenes.

    So, what makes a book creepy?

    Dark atmosphere and tone

    The atmosphere in your book is the mood you’re creating for the reader. You could say it’s the book’s ‘vibe.’ Atmosphere varies from chapter to chapter or scene to scene (this comes with emotional variance—some scenes will be happy, some will be sad, etc), but there’s still an overarching sense of atmosphere throughout a given novel.

    In order to manipulate your novel’s atmosphere, you have to manipulate your tone. Grammarly defines tone as “the attitude your words employ.” To explain this, let’s take a look at two examples.

    Example A: “Mike’s totally crazy. He totaled Dad’s car doing donuts in the Hobby Lobby parking lot last weekend, and honestly, it’ll be a surprise if Dad lets him off the hook this time.”

    This feels like someone telling you a story. The words here aren’t very formal, the sentences aren’t super complicated, and overall it reads casually. This is a conversational tone.

    Example B: “Mike’s madness settled. In the dim light of the Hobby Lobby parking lot, his tires squealed, circling like the crows dumpster-diving behind the adjacent Olive Garden. He should go home. He knows he should go home. But his father will be there, and this time, Mike’s not getting off the hook.”

    Okay, so the Hobby Lobby thing aside, this is a different vibe. Words like ‘madness’ and phrases like ‘dim light’ give this telling a more serious, creepy flavor. This is a sinister tone.

    To create a creepy atmosphere by using tone in your story, focus on sensory details and use figurative language to create associations with spooky stuff. Vary your sentence structure to add tension or drama. ‘Leaves crunched under their feet’ is okay, but ‘leaves crunched under their feet like broken teeth’ makes me think of chewing leaves or chewing broken teeth, and both are gross! Which is what we want.

    There are all kinds of literary devices that will help you develop your creative writing.

    Uncomfortable setting

    Another way to make your book creepy is to put your characters in an uncomfortable setting. You can do this the obvious way by putting your characters in a cold, damp, dark, generally claustrophobic environment, but they don’t have to be in a creepy cave or scary dungeon to have a terrible time.

    The setting should pose a problem for the characters. Maybe this is a beautiful home, but the people in it are kind of evil and scary. Maybe it’s a decent hotel room, but there’s no smoking allowed, and our protagonist is starting to yearn for a cigarette.

    Use the setting and the characters’ circumstances to layer discomfort until they’re swaddled in a thick, itchy blanket of misery.

    Paranormal activity

    Paranormal activity includes monsters, ghosts, the undead, spirits, demons, fairies, that kind of thing. The paranormal doesn’t have to be scary, but it definitely can be. If you’re including paranormal activity in your book, decide on the creature’s limitations and abilities and stick to them while you’re writing. This will keep your reader from getting confused and pulled out of the story by seemingly random, unexplained events or new powers coming out of nowhere.

    Nail-biting suspense

    Suspense is necessary for any storytelling—you’ll find a little suspense in most children’s books as well as books for adults. Suspense is what makes readers anticipate what’s coming up next, and if they don’t care, then they’re probably going to put the book down.

    Adding a ton of suspense, though, takes the reader past anticipation and into discomfort. It puts them on the edge of their seat and, ideally, they’re afraid of what’s going to happen next, but too invested to quit.

    How do you create this experience in the reader? It might seem difficult, but it’s a trick as old as time: setup and payoff.

    You want to establish the threat early on—in a horror story, this might be the opening scene where some unnamed character is murdered so we can see and fear the monster. Once you’ve set up the threat, you’ve done most of the work. The audience will be waiting for that threat to show up, and when it does, they’ll be both horrified and satisfied to see the setup paid off.

    You can play with suspense (and with setup and payoff) in other ways to unsettle the reader. Having things go not quite the way the reader expects them to will, in general, make them uncomfortable and eager to see the problem resolved. You just want to make sure that problem is resolved.

    Say your main character, Sarah, checks into a hotel. The staff all greet her warmly as “Paige.” When Sarah corrects them, the staff seem confused, and they don’t actually listen to her—they just keep calling her Paige.

    That’s kind of creepy—it’s definitely intriguing. Who’s Paige? Why are the staff so vehement about all this? We’re unsettled, and we want to know what’s going on. If we keep reading and the novelist never gives us any kind of a reason for why this is going on—in other words, it’s dropped—this immediately becomes frustrating because it’s a waste of time. There was no need for it—it didn’t matter to the story.

    How to write a creepy book

    Now that you know how writing creepy books works, you’re ready to get started on your own. We’re going to talk about the process from brainstorming all the way to revisions, so buckle up!

    Mindmap

    First, you’ll want to brainstorm—I suggest a mindmap. Mind Maps are word-association tools used to generate new ideas quickly, and they’re great for visual learners.

    To make one, find a mind-mapping software. Or, do it the old-fashioned way and write a word down in the center of a page. Write a line coming out from that word, and write something you might associate with it. We’re writing a creepy book, so we want things to stay on theme. If your first word is ‘nighttime,’ your associated words might be ‘haunting,’ ‘nightmare,’ ‘sleep paralysis demon,’ or ‘storm.’

    Do the same thing with those associated words until you’re all out of ideas. You should end up with what looks like a big web of ideas, images, characters, and plot points.

    Outline

    Take all the ideas, images, characters, and plot points you generated using your mind map and turn them into an outline.

    There are a few ways to go about this, none of them wrong: you might make a bullet-point list of the beats in your story, and you might include images or bits of dialogue as notes off to the side. An outline could be index cards taped to a piece of posterboard or to your wall, with each index card containing a nugget from your mind map.

    This is basically a guide for you to use while you’re drafting so that if you get stuck, lost, or scared, you’ve got a way to keep going instead of giving up. Do whatever works for you. Some people (myself included) like to do a combination brainstorm, outline, and rough draft—others find that separating these into different processes saves them time.

    Rough Draft

    With your outline handy to serve as your guide, you’re ready to start the drafting process. When you’re writing the rough draft of your novel, your objective is to complete the story as quickly as possible. 

    Pause as little as you can—if you hit a plot hole or unforeseen snag that threatens to stall the draft for days, if not weeks, make a note, accept that you’ll have to fix it later, and just move on to the next thing (that’s what your outline is for, remember?). If you think of a new idea, make a note (try a separate document or notebook if that helps to keep things sorted) and keep moving.

    Rough drafts do not need to be good—in fact, they’re not going to be. Any given rough draft is going to be almost entirely rewritten during revisions anyway. (I’m talking to myself a little bit, here, as someone who tends to let perfectionism hinder the actual completion of a draft.) Jane Smiley said that “every first draft is perfect because all the first draft has to do is exist,” and she’s perfectly right.

    Revise

    Almost all of the writing process takes place in revisions. You’re going to rewrite almost everything you wrote in your rough draft several times. I don’t say this to overwhelm you, but rather to help you set reasonable expectations—this is going to take a while, and that’s normal.

    But how do you avoid endlessly rewriting, creating new problems, and working in circles?

    Keep your story top of mind. Your first few passes at revision should be about things like character’s motives, pacing, fixing plot holes—structural stuff. Are you setting up a good satisfying scare for your audience, and if so, are you paying it off later? Once you’ve got the structure down, you’ll start looking at word choice. Are you using tone to set a creepy atmosphere when you want to?

    While much of the drafting process is up to you, it is really recommended that you do structural edits before line edits. Otherwise, you could labor over sentences, paragraphs, pages, or even chapters that end up just getting deleted.

    Next Step

    Now that you know what makes a book creepy, and have an overview of how to write one, it’s time to get started. Check out this resource to help you take the next step.

    twl-fiction-prompts
  • A “Novel” Idea: How to Write a Book With a Partner

    A “Novel” Idea: How to Write a Book With a Partner

    When my college best friend asked me to co-write a romance novel, I thought she might be crazy. After all, we lived in different states, and I had never written romance.

    But, I was intrigued.

    I tend to put off writing by finding more pressing things to do, like staring into the fridge, wondering what I’m going to feed my toddler when he wakes from his nap.

    Co-writing seemed like a good way for me to stop procrastinating. I would have a writing partner to answer to on a daily basis. I was also a closet romance reader, something not even an MFA in creative writing had extinguished.

    So, off we went, embarking on this collaborating adventure. Four months later we completed our romance novel, in half the time it would have taken me to write the novel by myself.

    Co-writing a novel with your best friend is similar to writing one on your own, but with some key areas to think about during the process.

    1. Communication is key

    It’s important that you communicate with your writing partner.

    Even if you have a lot in common, as I did with my college best friend, being able to speak honestly and clearly is important when you encounter bumps along the way.

    Since we lived in different states, we set up a Google Doc and spreadsheet for the project. Using a Google Doc means that everything is automatically saved, sharing is easy and you and your writing partner can edit at the same time.

    Your writing will also go more smoothly if you schedule weekly phone calls to go over important thoughts and concerns.

    2. Share a similar vision

    Sharing a similar vision might not happen immediately. During the initial stage of planning, it’s important to clearly define your vision, to make sure both of you are on the same page. Yes, pun intended.

    One of my biggest concerns was that we wouldn’t have the same vision for our project. We were different writers. I liked darker Bell Jar kind of literature, and she dreamed of the resurgence of chick-lit.

    But remaining open to each other’s ideas helped shape the setting, characters and plot.

    3. Plan the novel

    Your writing will go more smoothly if you have a strong plan in place.

    Before we even began to write, we developed our characters, plot, and setting by communicating and using a Google Doc to keep us organized. We knew that we needed to have a clear idea of the entire story before we begin.

    This helped ensure that our vision remained the same and that we could work on different parts at once. Once your plan is in place, you don’t necessarily have to go in chronological order.

    how to write a book4. Create a writing schedule

    If you are sharing a Google Doc to write the novel, you might decide to write at different times.

    My partner wrote in the mornings, and I in the afternoons. Most of the time, I would start where she finished.

    It was always exciting to see what she had written. Sometimes I was surprised at the direction she had taken or how differently she envisioned a character. Some days I would open the document to spy on her writing.

    You might find, as I did, that seeing a writer in action is magical.

    5. Establish a timeline to complete the project

    It’s a good idea to discuss the timeline and how you plan to complete the project together so you can hit your word count and stay on track.

    We set start and finish dates for each stage of the project.

    At first, I wasn’t sure we’d be able to finish the novel in four months, but since we had a schedule and I had a writing partner to answer to, I kept to the timeline.

    6. Let go of control

    Like me, you might not be used to sharing creative control with another writer.

    There were times  I disagreed with a choice my partner made. And I sometimes shy away from confrontation.

    But I learned that not having to call the shots all the time left me with more energy to write. Another creative mind was taking the story to unexpected places.

    You and your writing partner may need to let go of your egos as you collaborate.

    7. Be open to criticism

    You and your partner are in this together — listen and trust each other.

    I’ve sat through my share of writing workshop critiques, so I know the difference between negative and constructive criticism, but I still have to remind myself to listen to feedback.

    One afternoon early in the project, my partner completely changed a chapter I had written the night before. Emails flew back and forth. I realized in the end that she was right to have made those changes.

    Sometimes it’s the paragraph or chapter you hold on to the strongest that needs to be deleted.

    As you share in the ups and downs of your collaborative project, you’ll find that the knowledge that you’re not alone is comforting. Also, collaborating is faster because you’re sharing the work.

    Co-writing a novel turned out to be a fun and exciting project that pushed me to stop procrastinating. I loved that the story went to unexpected places that wouldn’t have happened if I had been the only one writing.

    By the end, we had a completed novel that we were proud to have written.

    Have you co-written a novel? Or would you like to collaborate? Share in the comments below.

  • Before You Try to Write a Book, Complete These 3 Tasks

    Before You Try to Write a Book, Complete These 3 Tasks

    Overwhelmed by the thought of finally writing that book of yours?

    You’ve dreamed about it forever.

    You’ve almost started several times before, then convinced yourself you weren’t ready.

    You worry you’ll be forever trapped in the planning stage, never fulfilling your dream.

    After more than four decades in this game, believe me, I’ve been where you are — more times than I’d like to remember.

    How to eat an elephant

    The most well-worn cliche (after “well-worn cliche”) in publishing is that you write a book the way you eat an elephant: one bite at a time.

    If you envision it as a whole, you’re likely to give up before you start.

    Don’t give up. Take it from one who knows. The rewards can be worth the work.

    Here are three lessons I learned that can serve as your flight plan to get the book inside you off the ground.

    1. See that elephant as parts, not the whole

    An African elephant can stand 13 feet tall and weigh as much as 15,000 pounds. A book can easily total well over 450 double-spaced manuscript pages and more than 100,000 words.

    Both are daunting when viewed that way.

    But you’re not eating an elephant. So let’s look at your potential book manuscript.

    View your potential manuscript as pages. These will consist of headers that will include your name, the book title, the chapter number and perhaps chapter title, and the page number. These can be formatted once and inserted automatically thereafter as you’re writing.

    Then you’ll write a line at a time, deciding when to end sentences, paragraphs, and chapters. You may break your book into parts or sections.

    You may have such elements as a dedication, acknowledgments, an epigram, a prologue or introduction or preface; and at the end an epilogue or author’s note, an index, bibliography, or footnotes. Certain academic works may have even more esoteric components.

    But you will be responsible for writing these various pages, and one way to keep your head is to focus on them as just that — daily, hourly, manageable projects broken down to a page at a time.

    Stay at it and they will accumulate.

    Before you know it, you will have produced a manuscript. But to do that will require the second prerequisite:

    2. Make time to write

    All right — let’s get real.

    I didn’t say find time. You have to carve it out of your schedule.

    Like everyone else on the planet, you have 168 hours in a week. You have to eat and sleep, and then decide your other priorities.

    What has to go so you can write? How important is this dream?

    No one can answer that but you, and the answer is in your calendar.

    What will you sacrifice for the sake of time at the keyboard?

    Concerts? Ballgames?

    Dinners? TV?

    Movies?

    Reading? (Be careful with that one.)

    Social media?

    Face it, you make time to do what you really want to do.

    Pros make time to write. If you want to be one, you’ll do it too.

    3. Know. Know.

    I say it twice because there are two things you must know: Know what you want to say and know to whom you want to say it.

    Please don’t start writing a book just because you fancy yourself an author.

    Successful writers don’t write because they’re writers. They’re writers because they have something to say.

    A book must not simply be about something. It must be for the purpose of something.

    Knowing your message and your audience allows you to write from your passions, and that’s what will draw you to the keyboard every day. That’s what will keep you there when the manuscript begins to again look like an elephant instead of small manageable bites.

    When you can distill your entire book into one sentence and can picture your audience in your mind embodied by one person, you’re ready.

    Eat that elephant a bite at a time.

    Which of the points above will you focus on this week? Tell me in the comments section.

  • How to Write a Book in 3 Weeks: This Plan Makes It Possible

    How to Write a Book in 3 Weeks: This Plan Makes It Possible

    I’m an author.

    For writers who want to publish a book, the thought of uttering those words is a dream waiting to be explored.

    But for many, it never transfers to reality.

    Why?

    For some, it’s a lack of time. Or you’re not clear on what you should write about.

    For others, the discipline it takes to write a book eludes you.

    What if I told you that you’re just three weeks away from having a finished  manuscript in your possession?

    That’s how long it took me to write mine. And in this post, I’ll share how I did it.

    Start with why

    Why do you want to write a book?

    Like Simon Sinek repeats, your why is what drives you.

    It’s what will motivate you when the last thing you want to do is write. And it’s what will keep you moving towards your goal when you’re about to give up.

    So I’ll ask you again: Why do you want to write a book?

    Is it as simple as introducing yourself as an author? Or does it go deeper than that?

    For some, it’s about credibility with your target audience. For others it’s about marketing and brand growth.

    For me, it was about showing my audience that my expertise goes beyond writing copy.

    What’s your why?

    Plan to write your book

    Along with having smart writing tools available when you get down to writing, making a conscious plan for your project is vital — especially when you’ve restricted your delivery date to three weeks from today.

    I didn’t take on any new clients, and I minimized my social activity. It was only three weeks, and I was on a mission!

    I also told friends what I was doing. My business accountability partner knew my mission and helped keep me on track by sending me messages on random days asking how my progress was going. It pushed me to action when I was watching another episode of The Walking Dead!

    You don’t need to write for three consecutive weeks like I did. You could pick one week per month for three months, and stick to that.

    If you’re willing to block off three consecutive weeks, here’s the schedule I used:

    Day 1-4: Planning, chapter outlines and research

    Day 5-16: Writing

    Day 17-19: Proofreading

    Day 20-21: Revisions and final manuscript

    Along with making a schedule, plan for the partners you’ll need, like proofreaders, contributors or interviewees. Schedule calls with them and get time on their calendars.

    Planning these events not only prepares your partners for their commitments, but also helps you stick to your deadlines because they’re relying on you to deliver.

    Use the 20-minute technique

    Starting, by far, is the most difficult part of writing your book. Most people have little idea of what their book would be about, and put off starting until they find the one golden idea.

    A friend taught me a 20-minute technique that I used on day one of my project. By the end of 20 minutes, I had an overview of the messages in my book and how I would outline my chapters.

    It’s a simple technique that goes like this:

    1. Set a timer for 10 minutes
    2. Take a pen and paper and answer the following question: What are ten key messages of my book? (These will be your chapters!)
    3. Once your 10 minutes is up, set the timer again for 10 minutes
    4. For each of your key messages (chapters), write three key outcomes for each chapter

    This exercise is incredibly simple and open, and allows you to explore exactly what the messages in your book will be.

    It also draws on your gut instincts about your book. If you’ve been thinking about it for a while, you already know what your book will be about.

    This technique forces you to expand on your idea. Limiting this task to just 20 minutes  forces you to make a decision about the direction of your book.

    Don’t worry if your ideas aren’t refined. You can polish them later.

    This technique is here purely to help you commit to your ideas on paper.

    Turn commitment into discipline

    Three weeks isn’t a long time to write a book, especially when it includes proofreading and creating the final draft.

    This is when discipline comes into play.

    A commitment like this can bring up many limiting actions — writer’s block, procrastination, and so on.

    Luckily for you, The Write Life has plenty of resources to help you become more disciplined in your writing. Here are some my personal favorites:

    Now you know what to do, go forth and write!

    Tell us: Have you been planning to write a book? What has held you back from getting it done?

  • How to Write a Book Without Losing Your Mind: 10 Tips to Make It Easier

    How to Write a Book Without Losing Your Mind: 10 Tips to Make It Easier

    If you’re itching to write a book — or are stuck in the middle of one — join Jenny’s Book Ninja 101 course this month for just $97. Use code THEWRITELIFE at checkout.

    “Writing a book is hard.”

    In the last three years of working on Pivot — from the book proposal that my agent first rejected, to re-submitting one a year later, to the book deal with Penguin Random House in 2014, to turning in the final draft last month — that was the one phrase I wouldn’t let myself say.

    Writing a book is a privilege, and complaining about how hard it was throughout would not make the process any easier.

    Writing a book is complex, don’t get me wrong, but I adopted the motto, “Let it be easy, let it be fun” instead. Stress is a systems problem; an opportunity to get even more organized.

    These 10 tools helped keep me sane throughout the book outlining, writing, and editing process.

    1. Setup

    Create three collection buckets (notes) in Evernote: Articles, stories, and ideas. As you go, even before you have the book outline, you can save relevant notes to each category.

    I highly recommend the Evernote web clipper for saving content; you can also forward emails directly to your Evernote email address.

    2. Outlining

    I started my outline with Post-it Notes on the back of my front door. I first put a bunch of blank Post-its under the following categories: Inspiration books, core skills, process, personal stories, and quotes.

    Every time I had an idea I would add it to the wall, or sometimes when I was taking a break from other work I would stand by the door and just stare until ideas came up — and they always did!

    The Post-it app allows you to take pictures of Post-Its (or a whole wall), then move them around digitally in the app.

    [twl_reusable_block post_id=41455]

    3. Research

    Save all citations early as footnotes, including page numbers from the books you reference!

    This will save a ton of hassle down the road. Even if you don’t know (or don’t want to take the time to do) proper citations, at least save the book and page numbers — or article name and link — as a footnote as you go.

    Otherwise, it’s a huge pain to remember where you found everything. To make the research process easier, check-out Ask Wonder — they’ll do research for you with a quick turnaround and comprehensive list of links for any question you pose. 

    4. Structure

    Thanks to a tip from Shane Snow, author of Smartcuts, I created Google Drive folders for each of the book’s parts, then a Google doc for each chapter within each part.

    At one point I had seperate Google docs just for essays that would go in each chapter, but it started to get unwieldy. It was helpful in the beginning, though, for feeling like I could write in manageable chunks.

    5. Writing

    With all the tools available, one of the most enjoyable apps to write in was OmmWriter: peaceful music, blank background, and those glorious typewriter sounds!

    6. Editing

    I didn’t do this nearly as much as I could have, but after I wrote an essay in OmmWriter, I would sometimes do a quick grammar check in Hemingway Editor, a super-helpful automatic text editor. You’ll have to try it out to see what I mean!

    7. Curating

    I sent out a Google form for written story submissions to include as anecdotes throughout the book

    Once those responses were in, I combined all the results into a Google doc. From there, I printed the doc so I could highlight key quotes and mark potential chapters for where to insert them.

    You can also use TypeForm for this, which is really beautiful and easy for the respondent to use.

    8. Interviewing

    I asked for permission up front to record interviews, letting people know I might release them for a podcast near the time of the book launch.

    I’m so glad I did this! I record calls with Skype + eCam Call Recorder. For a conference-call service, I love Dialpad Meetings (no dial-in passcodes, and it texts you when a person is waiting on the line).

    9. Transcribing

    CastingWords provides audio transcription at $1 per minute. For long interviews, I printed these notes and highlighted by hand.

    When it was time to check the quotes for the final versions of the book, I copied and pasted their section into a Google doc with permissions set at “suggest edits only.”

    10. Clearing space in your schedule

    Copy and set-up this editorial calendar template.

    This is the format I use to plan posts and newsletters. Tt’s particularly helpful if you have multiple contributors, sites or guest posts. It helps keep things running smoothly while working on a project as complex as a book!

    You might also appreciate my systems and strategy for working with a virtual assistant: A detailed look at what to delegate, how to efficiently set up your systems, and what pitfalls to avoid as you clear up space to work on your big book project.

    These are the tips and tools that helped me most. What’s your approach?

    What bite-sized chunk of your book project can you commit to this week? Reply in the comments and let us know.

  • Writing a Novel: 5 Lessons From One Author’s First Book Deal

    Writing a Novel: 5 Lessons From One Author’s First Book Deal

    If you’ve ever dreamed of getting a book deal, don’t be dissuaded by the talk about how no major house is publishing debut fiction anymore, or that you need insider contacts to get published.

    I got a deal with a top publisher within a year of starting my novel.

    With some determination and a thick skin — I got rejected by 60 agents along the way — you can get published from the slush pile as well.

    Here I share my best lessons learned on the journey:

    1. The bigger your idea, the more you’ll be rejected

    One of the biggest conflicts every debut novelist has to endure is figuring out how to approach your genre.

    If you write a predictable novel — yet another damaged CIA agent story or young-adult dystopian fiction — you’ll find it hard to get published because you’re competing for the same audience as established authors in the genre.

    On the other hand, the bigger and more unexpected your story, the less willing a major publisher will be to take a chance on it.

    My novel, about a man confronting his questions about mortality, is less self-help and more of an adventure story. There is no established, clear-cut genre for such a book. As a result, I consistently got lukewarm responses from literary agents.

    Both approaches are hard, and ultimately, you can only write what you can write. But if you do go with the latter approach of a big, unexpected idea, do know that there is light at the end of the rejection tunnel.

    Identify literary agents who deal with high-concept fiction versus genre fiction on Publisher’s Marketplace, and query until you find a match.

    Once you do, the agent will know exactly which editors to pitch your book to at the major publishing houses.

    For perspective, it took me eight months of rejections to find my agent, but only six days after that to land multiple offers from the top-five publishing houses.

    2. You don’t need a platform to get a literary agent

    I’ve always had a corporate career, so I wasn’t exposed to the writing community in New York until I got a book deal. I’m glad I wasn’t, because I would’ve probably been sucked into wasting time on rite-of-passage activities I’ve heard other writers talk about — activities that don’t move the needle at all.

    For instance, take the idea of building a platform.

    I don’t think a random blog post here, one Facebook post there, and a few Twitter updates constitute a platform that will attract a major publisher. To build an authentic platform, you need to devote genuine attention to it and touch hundreds of people’s lives with your words. And that’s hard to do when you’re trying to write an impactful novel.

    Hanging out at book readings with other unpublished novelists who are hoping to get noticed by agents or publishers is another killer waste of time. I advocate a rather monastic approach to meaningful fiction: Commit your full undistracted mental energy to it.

    Make your novel and pitch shine so much that it stands out of the slush pile. Every editor will tell you that debut fiction eventually sells on the strength of the idea and the writing.

    If you can build an authentic platform around it, that’s a nice bonus. But your platform should never come at the expense of your writing.

    3. Your novel should combine meaning with entertainment

    You’ve thought about your idea for years. You’re convinced it’s the one story that has to be told.

    But it may be too meaningful.

    I was so possessed with Eastern mysticism while writing The Yoga of Max’s Discontent that early drafts of my novel looked like a Ph.D. thesis on meditation. The result: Rejections.

    My story hadn’t liberated itself from the author.

    In subsequent drafts, I focused on the character’s journey from drug dens in the Bronx to hidden yoga ashrams in India. Without trying to communicate any message, I allowed his journey to open windows to new secret worlds for my protagonist — and for my readers.

    Success immediately followed. Are you able to immerse your reader in an alternate reality, or is there too much of your own voice and your own motivation present in the story?

    Good fiction liberates itself from its creator. It does have meaning, thanks to the protagonist’s lofty, all-consuming goal, but it’s simultaneously entertaining because it opens windows to exciting new worlds for readers.

    Just think of Harry Potter, a story layered with meaning about a kid realizing the depths of his own potential, yet constructing an elaborate secret world right from the start. The moment I was able to combine the two, I got multiple agent representation offers.

    4. Hiring a professional editor is the best money you can spend

    Jake Morrissey, my editor at Random House, accepts fewer than 0.5 percent of manuscripts that land on his desk, despite them being vetted by top literary agents.

    With odds like these, there’s zero room for error when your manuscript finally makes it to a top agent’s desk. That’s why I highly recommend hiring a professional editor to polish your manuscript at two stages of the writing process:

    • A developmental editor for broad comments on story, structure, and character trajectory right after your initial drafts
    • A line editor or copy editor when you’re done with your final, final draft to polish sentences, grammar, and copy

    Like in any endeavor, in writing you have to spend money to make money. Luckily, it doesn’t have to be $50,000 on an MFA.

    I spent $700 on a developmental editor after two drafts of my novel, and then $2300 on a line editor after I got a stream of rejections from literary agents.

    Not only did they both shine new light on my manuscript; they also taught me a lot about the craft of writing which will guide every book I write in the future. My publishing deal was an excellent return on the investment.

    If you’re trying to break into the “A” league, don’t rely on friends and family. Invest in a professional editor to elevate your game.

    5. Modify your query and manuscript when it’s not working

    I’ve seen a lot of “failure porn” in the writing industry — writers celebrating how Harry Potter was rejected 12 times, Chicken Soup for the Soul was rejected 134 times — as some kind of proof the publishing industry doesn’t know what it’s doing.

    But if you’re querying the right people and getting rejected again and again, you have to consider the possibility that your query or your manuscript may require work.

    The moment I changed a significant portion of my query, my response rate doubled. After completely revamping the first 30 pages of my manuscript so readers were thrown into the story’s secret world right away, I got three agent representation offers in just one week.

    Based on my trial and experimentation over eight months of querying, I’ve arrived at the following method:

    • Submit your query in batches of 12
    • Set your goal at a query acceptance target of 25 percent. If three or more agents out of the 12 you queried ask to review your partial or full manuscript, then you know your query is working. If you get zero positive responses in 12 submissions, rework the query.
    • At least one agent among every 10 who read your manuscript should extend an offer. If they don’t, you need to rework your manuscript, especially the beginning.

    How to survive the querying process

    Now, a final tip to speed up the inevitable rejections in the query process: Create a sense of urgency in the submission process.

    This is the exact follow-up letter I’d send to all the agents in my round of 12 if I got a bite from another agent:         

    Dear (Agent Name),

    No intention to hurry you whatsoever as I know it takes more time to evaluate a query and I fully respect your process.

    I just wanted to keep you in the loop that two of the agents I sent my first set of queries to responded with a request for a full manuscript, somewhat surprisingly for my understanding of the longer timelines in the U.S. publishing process.

    Since you were at the top of my desired list because of your confluence of interests in commercial fiction and religion/spirituality, I was really eager for your response. If at all your time allows, I would be very grateful if you could tell me of your interest.

    Thank you,
    Karan

    Eighty percent of the time, agents would respond immediately, cutting down wait time and getting more eyes on my manuscript.

    Ignore the rules that say you need to wait six weeks or six months before following up with an agent.

    Agents are drowning in queries. Create your own hype — your own scarcity triggers — to rise to the top of the pile. This principle may well be the key to the whole journey of getting a top debut publishing deal in record time.

    Ignore the rules. Write a big story. Believe in your own hype. Create scarcity. Selling debut fiction is hard, but it’s also democratic — you can break in on your own steam!

    Novelists, what are the most important lessons you’ve learned on your writing journey?