Stuck my nose out of bed this morning and hastily stuck it back in again. Cold! The air was cold, and so was my nose. Autumn, it seems, has arrived. Yet by midday, I was hot while walking the dog. Now, as I write this an hour later, it threatens to rain and it might be a good afternoon for working. We had a wonderful morning walk at the beach this week. Tim's first exposure to the sea....he trotted toward it, full of curiosity, and then......(see later this week!)

I have plucked up my courage and sent off two partials submissions on Capture a Queen, aka Matho's story, in the last month. Now comes the nail biting time of sitting and waiting for a response. Meanwhile, I have gone back to work on my next Viking story Blood Feud. Suitably exciting title, don't you think? It will pick up the character Oli from Far After Gold, when he has reached sixteen, and tell his story.  So far it is exciting, but I have to keep stopping and think how characters are going to get out of the difficulties I have given them. Usually I'm stuck for a day or two, and then the idea pops into my head while I'm asleep, or nearly asleep. Sometimes I forget it by the time I've woken up next morning, and Yes, I know I should keep a notepad and write the idea down, but really, that's just too much fuss when dh would be grumbling about the light being switched on, and the dog would wake up and come nosing around - and his nose is even colder than mine was this morning! If the idea is good, it will come again, or I'll remember it half way though the day.

So far I have seven books published, which surprises me sometimes. They all sell, some better than others, and the one with the most sex sells better than the rest, so I know what I have to do. They are all listed on the My Titles page on this blog. All historical, but for Shadows, which is set in contemporary France.

As I anticipated, it is now sheeting down. Good thing I didn't do any washing today!

The submission thing

After all my concentrated efforts on editing my first few chapters, I think I'm ready to send off to an agent. Again. The last agent I applied to on 30th January has yet to respond, so I guess that's dead and gone. Looking around the agent listings over the last few days, I notice  many of them now ask for e-mail submissions. Not only that, they have prepared online forms  . Somehow I find these more daunting than the old cover letter, synopsis and three chapters routine. OTOH, it is very clear what they want, which helps, and probably only seems strange because it is new.

I've been trying to discover which agent actually wants historical fiction and pin-pointed one or two who come across well on Twitter - or at least, they come across in a way I like. Not all do, of course. It is interesting to think that agents are - to use that dreadful American expression - showcasing themselves by being on Twitter. I wonder if they think of it in that way? Balancing that and the information they give out on their websites, I have made my choice.

Not all want the historical stuff, unless it creeps under the radar as literary or commercial fiction. I find it difficult to claim that I write literary anything - that is for others to decide. But I think I can claim the commercial tag. Maybe even women's fiction, though perhaps that is too limiting. I'd like to think both sexes would read my book. There are lots of male characters to hold their attention, but there are also two very strong women who have a large part to play in the storyline. The male reaction to having women in any sort of power role back then was so contrary to the general run of things, that it makes for a very interesting time for novelists.
Ah well, off to do that submission thing. Wish me luck!

A decade of paperwork

Today should be the start of getting back to normal. There's been a week of upheaval at chez Black, but now I have only a few books to move back to their original place and voila! I'm done. It was a good opportunity to weed out all the accumulated rubbish of the past decade, and I've filled the "paper" wheelie-bin ready for collection tomorrow. It is amazing to see how long I have been sending out submissions. The first was dated 8th March 2001 and in it I committed almost every sin - giving my age, mentioning a brother - I mean, what has that to do with my writing? Hopefully I've got better at it.

Not that learning to write query letters and stuff brings success. It brings the same old rejection letters, but now they all say I write very well but they don't love the work quite enough to go with it. I suspect I will have to change the format of my book and bring it into line with all the Queen-type books for sale these days. It seems from my latest dip into the market place that men write from the male POV and women write from the female. There are exceptions, but generally, that is the way it works, but I've done both in the same story. Time for a re-think.

With more snow forecast for today, plus the fact that I'm bowling off to Durham for lunch with friends, I thought I'd put up a picture of the lovely walk along the river bank at Durham on a hot, sunny day. The wooden steps down, used by the boat crews, were steaming in the heat! Those were the days....

Pitching and Business

Helen commented, "Whilst I haven't pitched books before, I've done plenty of pitching over the years as part of my career in professional and financial services. What's worked for me is firstly,

• ensure the target already knows you or is aware of you before you even try and pitch."

I don't know how many pitches a business person receives but they say a literary agent receives thousands of partial submissions a year. If I lived in London, where most agents seem to congregate, then meeting them at a conference or party would be possible, but even then I suspect they get mortally tired of being approached by would-be authors talking work over an alcoholic beverage. I should think the best we can do is read their websites. Some give lots of detailed instructions on how to approach them, others give very little; but at least we can check that they are seeking new authors, which is vital, and that they want stories in the genre we are writing.  Then it is sensible and polite to address them by name - with the correct spelling - and introduce ourselves in the covering letter. Does that fit your suggestion or miss it by a mile?

"Secondly, really understand his/her work style and preferences (you could even ask them long before you pitch)."

 That’s a difficult one. Looking over their author list gives some idea of their past choices, but isn't foolproof as each title is so different. Making contact with an author who works with the agent would be one way of getting the information. Some agents are quite specific and say what they require on the website – and of course, the sensible person matches those requirements.

• "Finally, understand their next steps in the the pitch process (e.g. is his/her next step to present to a committee, board etc). By understanding this stage you will be able to prepare your pitch in a format that makes their life a little easier"

Here we seem closer. If the agent accepts you  and your story, then s/he has to pitch it to editors of publishing houses, who then has to convince her colleagues that her story is the one they should take on. It follows that if we provide a killer title, a succinct tag line or selling blurb that really works, then it makes their job so much easier.

 "Just my observations - not sure if they translate from the business world to the wonderful and exciting literary world."

It was good to see them, Helen, and thank you. Do tell if you think I'm missing opportunities!

A summer night

Aproaching Lou Peyrol

Last night we downed a few kirs by candlelight in the garden because it was so warm and we suspected it might be the last opportunity of summer! We'd heard the weather forecast predicted lots of rain for the next few days, so we wanted to make the most of the warm evening.It was fun sitting talking in the dark as the little candles expired one after another... After a late start this morning, I look out of the window and see we have no rain. In fact, we have cloudy sunshine. There's no keeping up with British weather. Or weather forecasters.

After purchasing and reading Nicola Morgan's books on writing a synopsis and how to address an agent, I sent off two submissions yesterday. Even if I say it myself, they looked immaculate, but we'll see how they do out in the big wide world. I rewrote the synopsis and my query letter and think both are much clearer now, and therefore better, so that is down to NM's advice. I sent both submissions snail mail, because I'm not happy with receiving absolutely no response to e-mail submissions.

This week has been a bit of a spending spree for me, and I am noting it here because it is so unusual! I'm not by nature a big spender, but I bought a smart new suitcase and pair of lightweight beach shorts on Monday which will be fine for when we're at the beach house in Australia, and then yesterday, when I saw the turquoise cord jacket in M&S, I very much wanted it. (I'd always wanted one of those denim bomber jackets, but never found one I really liked!)  Pillowcases, one of those big, heavy two inch deep blades chef's use, and a new pair of shoes. All in one day! Phew!

Font Wars

When IKEA changed the font it used last year - when it replaced its old faithful Futura with the more modern Verdana - the company found itself embroiled in a “font war”. Not only were customers vexed about this unwanted attempt to “refresh the brand”, but there was also much rudeness on websites dedicated to graphic design. Wikipedia soon had a page called “Verdanagate”. People, it seems, had discovered they cared about something they had never knowingly cared about before.

When I read this piece over the weekend, I acknowledged that I like some fonts and hated others. Don't care for Courier, as it happens, and like Times New Roman though I am coming around to Bookman Old Style. Close on the heels of that thought, came another: if fonts mean so much to people, what happens if we send in a submission to an agent or publisher, and it is in a font the receiver loathes? Does the submission go straight in the bin? It may well be true, and it's a frightening thought.

Rejection rears its ugly head

Saturday morning is usually the day when rejections fall on the mat beneath the letterbox. Agents and publishers alike must clear out submissions Friday morning, send the pile tottering off to the post office Friday afternoon so they have a clean desk for Monday morning. It makes sense. I could come to dread Saturday mornings.

This one acknowledged my work as competent, which is good, if not something to set me dancing around the room. Better than telling me to give up and find another hobby, though! Evidently I did not set the agents's pulses singing, competent though I might be. Still, that comes down to personal taste, I think. Another agent may find that it does something for them, so I am not too disheartened. And I didn't wait ages to hear; I sent the sub off before I went on holiday, so it has only been 3 weeks.

I still await a reply from a publisher who cited 6-8 weeks for a response and they're still within their time-frame. Last September an e-publisher got in touch with me, asked for a clean copy of the whole ms and now does not answer my follow-up e-mails. I think I have to regard that one as fallen over the edge of a cliff and gone for good.

My skin has thickened since I began this writing thing. Once a rejection would have dejected me for at least a fortnight, but today woke up the very next day thinking where are the first 3 chapters of that ms...let me see what I can do with it before it goes out again.

Submissions and writing

I finished my latest story just before I went off to Cyprus and now it is going through a critique group. Comments on the first chapter were favourable, which is a good sign. I find this group most helpful and I learn a good deal by reading their work. Let's hope they stay with me to the end.

I've already begun a new tale. This time I've deliberately made my heroine older and already a widow. Not that it makes her old, or even what we would call mature these days. But by the standards of the early 1800s, she was no longer considered a girl at 26. It will be an interesting exercise, as most all of my other heroines have been exceedingly young.

I checked up on my submissions this morning. Samhain took 7 weeks to reject with this: "liked the premise of your plot and felt your writing was strong, unfortunately I did not feel sufficiently compelled by the storyline and the characters to offer a contract."

I'm still musing that one over. Perhaps I make my young heroines characterless?

Then there's the full submission to HM&B. The 18 weeks is up on 20th December. Perhaps I'd better give them an extra week or two before I query that one! The partial with them has only been there fifteen weeks, so....

I subbed to P'sF on 5th July. When I telephoned to ask if they'd ever received it, they said they had and though they had a huge backlog, I should hear something soon.

Yesterday I finished looking over Shadows, the book that got hung up in litigation over Triskelion's collapse, and subbed it to Dark Eden Press. (DEP) It's a fairly new online publisher, so perhaps won't have such a huge backlog of stuff to sift through. They deal with e-books only, which is what Shadows was written for, and promise a response within six weeks.

So, now it's a case of sitting back, getting on with the new book, and trying not to chew my nails as I wait...and wait...and wait. And I hate waiting for anything!