Lois Winston: Author, Agent, Artist

by Jean Henry Mead

Lois Winston is an award-winning author and designer as well as an agent with the Ashley Grayson Literary Agency. Her latest book, Assault with a Deadly Glue Gun, the first book in her Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries series, received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Booklist.

Lois, as an agent with the Ashley Grayson Literary Agency, what advice would you give fledgling writers seeking literary representation?

If I had to pick one piece of advice, it would be: Don’t submit until your manuscript is ready to submit. Too many unpublished authors make the mistake of thinking their work is ready for submission when it’s far from ready. They start their agent search the moment they type THE END, without first learning how to write a publishable manuscript. Today, it’s harder than ever to sell a manuscript. Editors are doing the work of four and five people. They don’t have time to mentor writers with promise. The manuscripts agents submit must be near perfect. Likewise, agents aren’t in business to mentor writers. So before a writer wastes her time and ours, she needs to make sure her manuscript is the best it can be.

Tell us about Anatasia Pollack and your crafting mysteries.

Anastasia Pollack is a women’s magazine crafts editor, a reluctant amateur sleuth, and the star of the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries. Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, the first book in the series, was released in January and received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Kirkus Reviews called it, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.”

When Anastasia’s husband permanently cashes in his chips at a roulette table in Vegas, her comfortable middleclass life craps out. Suddenly, she’s juggling two teenage sons, a mountain of debt, a communist mother-in-law, AND her dead husband’s loan shark. And that’s before she becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a coworker she discovers hot glued to her office chair.

How important is humor to the mystery genre? And who, in your opinion, has best combined the two?

Humor is very subjective, which is one reason it’s so hard to write. As a writer of humorous fiction, I know that not everyone is going to “get it.” I just hope that more people “get” my humor than don’t get it.

Some people don’t think humor belongs in mysteries. However, I believe that it’s easier to get through anything if you have a sense of humor. A good humorous mystery doesn’t make fun of murder and death. The humor lies in how the protagonist approaches life and deals with all the caca thrown at her.

Personally, I love Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series because Stephanie never fails to make me laugh. Being favorably compared to Evanovich by several reviewers has me floating somewhere over the rainbow. Another favorite series of mine is Lisa Lutz’s Izzy Spellman books.

You’ve received some great reviews from Publisher’s Weekly, Book List and Kirkus, among others. How important are reviews to a writer’s career? And do bad reviews really damage a book’s success?

Great reviews certainly give a boost to an author’s career, but many books that have received mediocre or even lousy reviews have gone on to become bestsellers. Word-of-mouth is the author’s best friend. If people like a book and talk, tweet, and blog about it, other people are going to buy it, no matter what the critics have said.

How do you manage to balance your design art with your writing and agenting job?

LOL! I thought I was doing a pretty good job of juggling my designing, writing, and agenting careers until last Saturday at a conference when someone said, “See you next week.” Huh? As far as I knew, I had nothing scheduled for this weekend. Turns out, I’d agreed to speak at a SinC meeting and had completely forgotten about it. I guess the scheduling gods were looking out for me, because if this other author hadn’t said, “See you next week,” I would have stood up several dozen mystery writers.

I’ve decided I need a personal assistant, but first, I need to be making enough money to afford a personal assistant. Either that, or I need to win the lottery -- which means I’d better start buying lottery tickets. I wonder which has better odds.

You’ve won an amazing number of awards. Which one means the most to you? Why?

The award that means the most is the one I didn’t win. I was the first runner-up in Dorchester Publishing’s inaugural American Title contest. Even though I came in second, I was offered a publishing contract. That first sale launched my career as a published author.

How important is blogging? In your own experience, has it increased book sales?

It’s very hard to quantify how successful blogging or any social networking is in regard to actual book sales. All author promo is a crapshoot, whether it’s blogging or giving away tchotkes and doodads with your name and website printed on them. For that matter, even the promo done by publishers and independent PR firms is a crapshoot. What works for one author may lay a ginormous goose egg for another author.

In an ideal world, authors would sit at their keyboards and write while their publishers handled all the promo. However, today’s world of publishing is a less than ideal world, and authors are expected to flak their books. In the three years between publication of my last book and my current book, much changed, especially the way authors use social media for promo.

I knew it was time for me to have a blog, but I didn’t want to compete with all the well-established author blogs already populating the blogosphere. So I decided Anastasia should blog, not Lois. Since Anastasia works as an editor for a women’s magazine, it seemed like a natural extension that the magazine should have a blog. Thus was born Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers -- http://www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com . Mondays through Thursdays the various editors of the magazine blog. Fridays are Book Club Friday with Anastasia hosting guest authors who talk about their books.

Has Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers resulted in more book sales for me? I don’t know. What I do know is that every week I have more visitors to the blog and a growing following. Hopefully, that’s extrapolating to more book sales.

How has writing changed your life?

Writing has enriched my life in so many ways. I’ve discovered a talent I never knew I had. I’ve met many incredible people, some of whom have become extremely close friends. My life would be wanting in so many ways without these supportive, wise, and knowledgeable women. I’ve also enriched my mind, accumulating knowledge that I otherwise wouldn’t now have. And I’ve learned that it’s sometimes possible to have dreams come true if you work hard enough toward your goals and don’t give up on yourself and those dreams.

Thank you, Lois.

You can visit Lois at her website: http://www.loiswinston.com/,

Her blogsite http://www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com/ and

Twitter: @anasleuth but she says, "I’m planning to become the last person on the planet not on Facebook."

The Giant Crane: The Power of Perception

by Beth Terrell

When I was about six years old, there was a story on the news about a little boy who had been killed by a crane. The kind of crane I was most familiar with was a long-legged, long-necked bird with white feathers. Although I knew they had sharp, powerful beaks, I couldn't imagine a normal crane having killed a child, so I knew it must have been an abnormally gigantic one. I imagined something along the lines of a feathered, long-legged teradactyl. And since it had killed a little boy, it must have been abnormally viscious as well. Cranes, I knew, were fish-eaters, but somehow, this one must have acquired a taste for human flesh. It didn't occur to me that the boy might have provoked the crane. I figured the newscaster would have mentioned a thing like that, so I was convinced that the bird was some sort of monstrous mutation, like you might see in an old Godzilla movie. Maybe it had been exposed to radiation; everybody knew how radiation could make lizards and ants--and, presumably cranes--grow to enormous sizes and turn them into savage killers.

For weeks, when I played outside, I kept an eye on the sky. I stayed under awnings and in the shadows of trees, and when I had to cross open ground, I ran as fast as I could to the next bit of shelter, expecting the long shadow of the teradactyl/crane to fall across me at any minute. When we drove out to visit my cousins in the country, I sat in the back seat and watched out the window for a glimpse of it. As soon as the car stopped, I scurried for the safety of the trees. I don't remember ever telling my mother about my fears. I just spent my days watching for the crane and planning my escape from it.

The crane never appeared, and eventually, I began to forget to look for it. It had moved on, I supposed. Found another hunting ground. There were no more reports of dead children. The world began to feel safe again.

Many years later, something jogged my memory and I remembered my fear of the giant crane and the news story that had prompted it. For the first time, it occurred to me that the child had probably not been killed by a bird at all. The child had probably wandered onto a construction site and been crushed by a piece of heavy machinery; a mechanical crane that had either run over the child or accidentally dropped something on him. That story took on a whole new meaning. It was tragic, but no longer terrifying. The event had not changed--a child had been killed by a crane--but my perception of it had.

Perception matters a lot for a writer. It determines the themes of our novels and the actions of our protagonists. It also affects our professional lives. Imagine two writers, Writer A and Writer B. Both have completed manuscripts. Both are equally talented. Both have read about the submission process and have sent out their first queries, along with a synopsis and sample pages.

Writer A receives a rejection and perceives it as a personal affront. "That agent is just jealous," Writer A says. "If he could write half as well as I can, he would be a bestselling author instead of an agent. It's a conspiracy by the stupid people in the publishing business to publish drivel and keep works of astonishing genius from seeing the light of day." Writer A writes a blog post blasting the agent who rejected him before sending out his submission package the same day. As he drops it into the mail slot, he mutters to himself, "Let's see if this one has sense enough to recognize the next blockbuster when she reads it. I doubt it, though. If you don't know somebody in this business, you don't stand a chance."

Writer B receives a rejection and perceives it as an indication that his work did not meet that agent's current needs. "I wonder if there was a problem with the query or the synopsis," Writer B says. "Is my writing as strong as it needs to be, or is this just not a good match for this agent at this time?" Writer B rereads his submission package with a critical eye, makes edits as needed, and sends it out to another agent (whom he has carefully researched and found to be a likely match). "I hope she likes it," Writer B says, "but if she doesn't, it's not the right match." Writer B perceives each rejection as an opportunity to improve his writing and as a step closer to the agent of his dreams.

Which writer is more likely to see his work in print?

The greatest difference between these two writers is perception. But what a difference perception makes! It can be the difference between fearing a teradactyl-crane and understanding a tragedy. It can be the difference between a bitter existance and achieving a dream.

How do your perceptions affect you and your writing?

The Querulous Query

By Beth Terrell

I've been writing query letters. I have no idea if they're good queries or bad queries. The only thing I can say with any confidence is that I've learned a lot by writing them.

Query. It sounds innocuous and very civilized. Like something Winnie the Pooh might say to Christopher Robin. A one-page query. How difficult could it be?

First up is the brief paragraph explaining why you chose the particular agent you're querying. This paragraph is designed to show the agent that you are a Serious Writer who has done his or her homework and should therefore be considered more closely than all those other hacks who are sending in queries. You get brownie points if this paragraph mentions one or two of the agent's clients whose work is similar to your own.

Some agents make this easy by putting their full client lists on their websites and keeping the lists updated (God bless them). Some expect you to figure this out on your own. I recently read a comment from an agent saying that if she hasn't sold anything by a given author in the past two years, she probably isn't representing that author anymore and doesn't appreciate having him or her referenced. So even if you did your homework, you lose brownie points if it's outdated. Sometimes you find lists, but they don't match other lists about the same agent. I don't know how to advise you on this. Choose the one that's the most reputable and recent. If they're not the same, I'd go for the most reputable. Or do more research. But when you've exhausted your resources (Publishers Marketplace, Preditors and Editors, Agent Query, the agent's website--and blog, if applicable, the acknowledgements page in books that are similar to yours, etc.), you may just have to guess. Your dream agent will understand.

Oh yes. Some agents want this paragraph at the beginning of the query. Some want it at the end. Some want you to jump right into the "plot summary" paragraph (discussed below) and give all the niceties later. But others feel insulted if you don't do the personal stuff first. Try to find out what you can about the agent you're querying and then hope for the best.

Now you're ready for your "plot summary" paragraph, the one where you take those 400 to 500 pages of your masterpiece and distill them into one paragraph. Not just any paragraph, but a tightly-written, scintillating paragraph the sheer beauty of which could stun the very gods (or at least an overworked literary agency intern, which is pretty much the same thing, right?).

Put in lots of specific details, but not too many, because that would be boring and might also result in a lack of clarity. Clarity is important. You have to choose exactly the right details to show that your book has depth and complexity and suspense enough to enthrall readers, keeping them on the edge of their seats. You have to convince an agent that you're not just a competent writer, but the one who is going to knock their socks off. Use short sentences.

But not too short.

And not too long. If your sentences are too long, the agent will assume your manuscript is bloated. Too short, and they'll think it's too simplistic. Think of this paragraph as a postcard by which you will tantalize the agent into booking a trip to your literary world. If your postcard/paragraph isn't perfect, the agent will send you a beautiful rejection. Don''t think of that as pressure. No, really, just don't think. Cover your eyes and write.

Two paragraphs down, one to go. This is the one where you put your credentials, why you are the one and only person who can write this book of staggering genius. (But don't SAY it's a work of staggering genius. You lose more brownie points for that.) This is a very important paragraph. You have to create the perfect balance between humility and confidence. You have to seem personable but not too chatty, professional but not a stick-in-the-mud, easy to work with but never, ever desperate. This is not the place to talk about how many pets you have, or how you have the world's largest collection of Mickey Mouse stamps (unless your book is about a Mickey Mouse stamp collector). It's not the place to talk about how you always wanted to be a writer, even as a tiny tyke. Should you mention writers' organizations to which you belong? I have no idea. Some agents say yes, it lets them know you take your writing seriously, and others say no, that's the sign of an amateur. I'd take a middle ground here and only include them if you hold an office or have a title of some kind. But that's just me. Your best bet, as always, is to research the particular agent you're sending the query to.

Because the most important thing I've learned about queries is that different agents want different things. Some of them are generous enough to tell us on their blogs or websites. Others...well, I'd like to think the ones who don't put preferences out there are the ones who don't sweat the small stuff. After all, writers aren't mind readers. But I may be being overly optimistic. Agents get hundreds of queries a week. They can afford to be capricious.

Where, then, can we get guidance? Nathan Bransford has a wonderful blog in which he graciously offers specific advice about the kind of queries he likes (and he has a lot of great information about publishing in general--how to write a synopsis, how to write a query, and so on). On Query Shark, authors send in their queries to be critiqued, and an agent explains why they do or don't work. Jessica Faust has a good blog, and there are a number of other very good agent blogs out there.

So do your homework. Do your best. And then stop worrying.

After all, it's just a one-page query. How hard can it be?

First, You Have to Buy a Ticket

I heard a joke once about a woman who prayed to win the lottery. Her prayers were fervent, and she prayed them every day. "Please, God, let me win the lottery." Finally, after years of this, the woman died. She stood before the pearly gates and said, "Lord, I prayed and prayed. Why didn't you ever let me win the lottery?"

And God said, "Well, first, you have to buy a ticket."

I've been thinking about this a lot, because my second book is finished and looking for a home, a traditional publisher this time, because the self-publishing route is really a difficult row to hoe, at least for fiction. I've written query letters, pitched agents, even sent the manuscript off a few times and gotten the inevitable rejections. I really felt like I was putting it out there.

Then a friend of mine went to Thrillerfest and came back with a story from bestselling thriller writer Jim Rollins. I believe I mentioned it last week, the one where Jim was describing his road to publication and said that the agent who accepted his first novel was agent number 50. That's when I realized that sending a manuscript to two agents in two years is not really "putting it out there." In essence, I've been trying to win the lottery without buying a ticket.

I've been treating finding a publisher like something I'd like to do and not something I really want. There is a huge difference in those two things. I'd like to lose 50 pounds, but I want a pint of Haagen Dazs chocolate chocolate chip ice cream. I'd like to go rafting down the Amazon, but I want to snuggle with my puppy in a temperature-controlled, mosquito-free environment where I am unlikely to be sucked under the rapids and bashed brainless against a rock. The things we'd like to do rarely get done; it's the things we want that we work to achieve.

So here's what I've done to move finding a publisher from my list of "like-to's" to my list of "do at all costs." I've submitted a partial to a publisher who requested it; I made a list of 100 agents and small presses that take unagented responses (James Rollins did it in 50, but it's always good to have a spare, right?); I'm in the process of looking up each agent's submission requirements and enough information about them to personalize my query letter and explain why I chose them. I've written a generic query I can tweak and four synopses of different lengths. And I've begin submitting. I expect to have a publisher before I get to agent 100, but if I don't, guess what? I'll make a new list.

I'm finally buying a ticket.

Maybe the thing you want is different from mine. Maybe it's a college degree or to see your artwork in a gallery or to win a blue ribbon in a horsemanship class. Maybe you're already on your way to achieving it. But if you're still wishing and waiting, the first step is always the same: get out there and buy a ticket.