The Basics

It seems there are a number of aspiring writers out there who haven't the least CLUE about RWA or anything else about actually being published. Fear not, I am here to help make sure your manuscript does not immediately meet the roundfile.

First the super basic: www.rwanational.org Home page for Romance Writer's Association. The mother of all romance/women's fic. Belonging is the one of the first steps to being taken seriously by agents/publishers.

Now: Format. This should be standard stuff but often people do not know. White paper, 1 inch margins all around. 12 pt. Courier New or Times font. Black ink. Your name and title of work should appear on each page in the left hand corner as a header, the right should have page numbers.
Example:

B. Smith/Generic Manuscript 1

Then jump down about a third and start off with a big ol' Chapter One. Now, some of you have prologues. You consider them more important thatn life and would rather sacrifice an arm then remove them. Get your saw out. Loose it. People want to be in this story RIGHT THEN not wandering around in the past/future.

Third: New Scene, Head hopping, Tense

If you have a new scene in a chapter use # as the divider, don;t try anything cutesy. Example:


Bob's horse stopped short throwing Bob off a cliff and to a bone shattering death. Poor Bob.

# # #

Meanwhile back at the ranch...

Got it?

Headhopping? Unless you're Nora Roberts then, no. Just no. It's bad formatting and just bad storytelling. Bob should have his own paragraph.

Tense, let's be consistent here. While mishmashing first and third person may seem edgy. It's not.

Now, exposition. The down fall of most writers, the damn exposition fairy comes and whacks the shit out of you with her wand. And suddenly you have characters staring out at landscapes and remembering childhood trauma or lost loves or the LONG LONG story of how they lost their car keys that hilarious time in Modesto. Stop that. It's boring. Here is THE RULE: SHOW DON'T TELL. Move those people around, interact them, tell me what's going on.

Don't have a cute email address when applying to an editor/agent. They have told me time and again that anyone with an email address like "BoBoFooDog1" or "KittySnuggles" doesn't get much respect. I set up an email address that is ONLY on my business cards for agents and editors.

Go to sites and join organizations and web boards that can help you. RWA has many special interest chapters. Go look. Romance Times has a great website. Publisher's Marketplace. Predators and Editors. Publishing houses and Agents blogs/websites. Other writer's websites. Don't be afriad to email your favorite author and just say hi, I love your work. Often they're looking for a reason to procrastinate and email is the answer. Mary Janice Davidson and I got in a multi email discussion once about TWOP. Read Miss Snark. Check out Jenny Crusie's Cherrys.

Contest: Meh. I recommend the Golden Heart if you are going to do one. You prepay and there is a very strict deadline. So you feel pressured to meet it. Just like real life. Keep in mind that contest results are often wildly skewed based on the reader. If you do enter other contest look for things that offer your category. And your weakest points. I write a great cover letter so I need not enter a coverletter contest. I don't need validation. But my synopsis are awful. So a synopsis contest might be useful. Also, keep in mind that these are just four or five random people's opinions.

Time to send out that manuscript? I'll just print out all four hundred pages and ship it right out. NONONO! Don't you dare. First, find your targets. Where does your book fit? Is it category? Is it mystery? Find who and what handles your sort of stuff. Now take a look at their "Submission" page. They all have one but you may have to look closely. Some will tell you they do not except unagented material. Fine, get back to them when you have an agent. Now, unless stated otherwise, send your query letter and ONLY your query letter in whatever form they wish. SOme will ask for partials right off tha bat. If that's true than by all means do it. Each publisher/agent will tell you EXACTLY how to package things. LISTEN TO THEM, otherwise? Round File.

Other questions? No. Get back to me if you have any. Hope this helps some of you.