Nathan Bransford on characterization. He proves he’s more than just a pretty face. He’s more than a nice fellow with a positive attitude. He’s also brilliant. 

Every character has to want something, he tells us. When I am bored with a book, this is almost always the reason–the characters don’t want anything or if they do want it, they aren’t taking any steps to try to get it.

Here’s a wonderful blog post on naming your characters.

In her list of things to avoid in character names, she give us:

3. Overly exotic names.
Okay, I am talking about names that are usually reserved for strippers, I mean exotic dancers, professional sex workers and soap opera stars: Remington Steele, Shy Love, Johnny Wad, Trixie Rain, Jack Hammer, Bunny Bleu, Cookie Anderson, Angel Long, Summer Haze, etc.

The entire blog post is great and well worth the read.

While you’re there…check in her left sidebar. She has a wealth of writing info on the blog for you.

Here’s a good post on cutting a novel down so you can speed the novel up.

I like this tip in particular:

• It can be okay to tell. Both editors I’ve worked with have told me, in essence, “Sometimes I wish ‘show, don’t tell,’ had never been invented.” Writers who have already learned to do a good job of showing can save words by occasionally telling. Choose judiciously. Sometimes, Ariel didn’t need to have her skin go clammy and the nape of her neck prickle — she could just be scared.

The tips are given by Joni Sensel who has written The Farwalker’s Quest (published by Bloomsbury–oh man would I love to be published by Bloomsbury). I found her at Darcy Patterson’s Revision Notes, by way of Holly Cupala’s Brimstone Soup.

Here’s a good interview with Stacey Barney, Penguin Children’s Editor.

What makes a good character? What captivates you in a character? What makes a character memorable?

1. Strength of will (needs to want something and to have the will power to go after it)
2. Larger than life (says and does the risky, and fun things our inhibitions won’t allow us to do and say)
3. Active (as opposed to passive, sure, but also as opposed to reactive)
4. Conflict  (if he doesn’t get what he’s after his life will change negatively in a big way)
5. Flawed, with certain flaws (acceptable flaws are too honest; too clean; too messy; lying, cheating, stealing to save a baby brother or sister; stubborn as long as you’re fighting for right.–flaws that are not acceptable would be sleazy rapist; pervert; adulterer; or even whiner. Nobody likes a whiner.)
6. Witty (fast thinking–always ready with the funny response.)
7. Mostly honest (maybe he’s blind to his weaknesses, but I like a character is not purposely deceitful. I just am not attracted to liars and cheats unless they have a good reason for lying and cheating.)
8. Good looking (Hmmm, how important is this? One of the beauties of the fictional character is that you can look on the heart in a way man is not usually permitted to do. So we can judge a character by things that are deeper than skin deep. Still, if the character is ugly, we have to very quickly give him a soul so beautiful that the reader is attracted to him, despite his deformity.)
9. Relate-able (we have to be able to relate to him–if he’s too perfect we won’t relate and if he’s too flawed we won’t relate. We want flaws we can forgive and goodness we think we can attain for ourselves.)
10. Self-sacrificing (the character who sacrifices what he’s worked the whole book to get, is truly “my hero” and he seems to be everyone else’s hero, too. We love the guy who will lay down his life for his friends.)

So I’ve been over at “Miss Snark’s First Victim” reading and commenting on some entries to her first page Secret Agent contest.

I love the Secret Agent Contest. I only just found it, but I think it’s super cool.

Why?

Because how often do you get a chance to have an agent comment on your first 250 words?

Usually you send a query or a proposal to an agent and if he doesn’t like it, he sends you back a little note saying, “Thanks, but no thanks,” and that’s the end of that.

Sure it’s kind of nice to be able to tell yourself that the agent had reasons for rejecting you that had nothing to do with your writing. His wife just left him and he’s rejecting everything because he’s feeling rejected. His stepped in dog doo that morning and everything he opens stinks. He and his teen-aged son had words and he’s cranky.

So he’s rejecting your gem and it has nothing to do with you.

The problem with that thnking is that it leads to whining, anger, and eventually to thousands of lousy, submissions clogging up the system.

The bottom line is that if an agent or acquisitions editor rejects you with a form letter, something is wrong with your manuscript. It may be poorly written. It may be well-written but have a whiny protagonist. It may have a far-fetched plot, or one that is tired and obvious. It may be perfect in every way but it didn’t reach out and grab the agent. 

Isn’t it better to know the reason then to remain in blissful ignorance? You can’t get better unless someone tells you what you’re doing wrong.

And you can enter annonymously. No one has to know which entry is yours unless you tell them. That’s a pretty painless way to get input on your work.

There are other contests you can enter. Look for ones that provide feedback for all entries, as they are especially helpful. But even the ones that don’t provide feedback help because as you enter and read the finalists and winners you begin to see what makes the winners stand out.

SCBWI has grants (no feedback on entries) and many regions have local contests. Here’s the link to mine. (Does provide feedback.)

Writer’s Digest has contests. (No feedback on entries.)

ACFW takes YA in their Genesis contest.  (Does provide feedback.)

Delacorte has contests for both YA and MG novels.

So start polishing up your work and sending it in. Contests are a great way to get feedback and to grow.

Two of my favorite author/agents are offering free e-books.

First, Noah Lukeman is offering How to Write a Great Query Letter, and Amazon short.

And then we have Donald Maass, giving away The Career Novelist.

I already have The Career Novelist, but I downloaded it, too. I love having an electronic, searchable version on hand. I love real books, with pages and bindings. I do. Especially ones with thick, creamy pages. But I love electronic books, too, that can be downloaded in seconds and can then be searched and supped on in. Nonfiction books, in particular, are wonderful in electronic formats.

So, go, click, enjoy.

As promised, here’s some of what Amalia Ellison had to say at SCBWI LA ’08.

Amalia is young and she’s an assistant editor. She wanted to tell us why that was a good thing and how she could benefit us.

She is autonomous (at Abram’s Amulet Books, where she works now) and she acquires just as many books as anyone.

Abram’s is a mid-sized publisher in regards to the number of books they publish each year. But it’s a small publishers in terms of employees. They have only 80 employees, five in children’s books. Amalia is Amulet—all submissions go to her.

And the five people at Amulet do the same amount of work as a house with sixteen employees. So they are working hard and there is a slow response time.

The best bet in submitting is to submit to the bottom of the ladder because those on the bottom are so dedicated and so hungry. It’s also good to direct your submissions toward someone who loves what you love. It’s harder to target young assistant editors, but it’s worth the risk.

She says:

• “I have the energy to devote to you, if you have a kernel of talent.”
• “We see you as the golden ticket. When we take a first-time writer, we have something to prove. We want to show that we can spot potential and we can mold it.”

She likes:

• The Unknowns was her first big acquisition (six figure multi-book deal).
• books that will cross-over (to adult readers) such as The Book Thief, His Dark Materials, and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
• PB’s that are funny, unique, and clever.
• MGs. She’s a huge fan and will take almost anything. She thinks that is a magical time in reading. It’s a formative time in life. She’ll look at all genres. She’d love to see a funny mystery MG.
• YAs with a sense of humor. A lot of teen books are angst-filled. That’s not her cup of tea. She’s very picky when it comes to YA.
• Mystery, fantastic language, quirky, and a little left of mainstream—she looks for these elements.

She doesn’t like:

• Goblins and dragons—she loves fantasy, just not goblins and dragons. 

Some favorites from childhood:

• The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
• The Westing Game
• Tuck Everlasting (the perfect book—you don’t have to dumb down your language or your sentences)
• Nancy Drew books
• From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
• Holes
• Wayside School books
• Roald Dahl books

She closed with some figures on advances that I found very interesting, since almost no one likes to talk about money. She said an average advance for a first-time author is 10 to 15 thousand dollars. 7 thousand is low. If Amulet really feels committed they might go 20 thousand. If the author’s agent is a bad ass, they will go 25-30 thousand. Auctions go for more, obviously, and the publisher will take you for the lowest amount they can get away with.

• The Unknowns was her first big acquisition (six figure multi-book deal).
• books that will cross-over (to adult readers) such as The Book Thief, His Dark Materials, and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
• PB’s that are funny, unique, and clever.
• MGs. She’s a huge fan and will take almost anything. She thinks that is a magical time in reading. It’s a formative time in life. She’ll look at all genres. She’d love to see a funny mystery MG.
• YAs with a sense of humor. A lot of teen books are angst-filled. That’s not her cup of tea. She’s very picky when it comes to YA.
• Mystery, fantastic language, quirky, and a little left of mainstream—she looks for these elements.
• “I have the energy to devote to you, if you have a kernel of talent.”
• “We see you as the golden ticket. When we take a first-time writer, we have something to prove. We want to show that we can spot potential and we can mold it.”

As promised, here are my notes from SCBWI LA 2008 on Michael Stearns and Amalia Ellison.

Michael Stearns, first.

He’s now with Firebrand Literary. He has edited on and off for twenty years with Harcourt and HarperCollins.

Among the books he’s published:

• East by Edith Pattou
• Fly by Night by Frances Hardinge
• A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
• Skullduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy
• Tangerine by Edward Bloor
• Gone by Michael Grant
• Whale on Stilts by M.T. Anderson

Also he’s published books by Bruce Coville, Jane Yolen, Bruce Hale, Vivian Velde, Andrew Auseon, and Diane Duane.

What he likes?

• Novels, not picture books.
• Fine writing with great plots (ha ha, he and every other editor and agent in the world).
• He also likes to laugh. (Read the books he’s published—that kind of funny.)

What doesn’t he like?

• Issue books

Some random answers he gave to questions:

• He’s not looking for one book. Each staff member at SCBWI was supposed to give one word when they were introduced. Michael’s word was perseverance which tells me he’s looking for someone who is in it for the long haul, not looking for someone wanting to get rich quick. In the questions and answer time he said he doesn’t want to sign up one book. He used Edith Pattou as an example of how an author’s career can grow. Her first book sold 2000 copies. The next sold 5000. The third sold 40,000. Once the third book took off the first two sold, also.
• He wants authors who will trust him and work with him and believe him if he says, “This book is never going anywhere,” even.
• On the issue of issue books: Moral fiction is great. If fiction is well thought out, it tends to be moral. It has to be about something. But first it is a story with a hook—not an issue book. Why do kids want to read the book. Kids pick up Thirteen Reasons Why because it has an awsome hook.
• He will absolutely represent authors outside the US.
• Historical fiction? Tough to place right now. Lately people have been marrying historical with other genres—The Lux is an example. It’s an 1890′s Gossip Girls. So position your novel as and adventure or a mystery or something else. Don’t lead off with, “It’s a historical novel. . .”
• Fly by Night sold 40,000 in hard copy, but it kept bubbling just under the best seller lists so Harper was disappointed. They’d spent a lot of money on it and it didn’t meet expectations. The second novel is out– Well Witch
• Is he open to a series from a first time author? Pitches don’t tell him anything about the writer. Books live or die on the page. So, “No.” He wants to see writing. Submit the first book as a book, not a series.
• How to submit? Go to the website [firebrand literary] and upload a letter of submission. Upload a bio. Upload two pages. In two pages, he knows if he wants to see more. It’s easy to submit and they respond quickly.
• What do we put in the bio? Whatever shows you’re a professional—awards you have won, columns you’ve published for years. Basically he wants anything that lets him know you’re not an inmate. (But then, I think he changed his mind and said inmates who could write well would be fine.)
• What’s the difference between commercial and literary? Literary=vintage international novels you can’t finish. Nothing happens. Commercial=John Grisham. Action and plot. On the one hand you can have language so fantastic but you don’t give a damn. That’s literary. On the other hand you can have great action but the writing is terrible. He likes fine writing, so he thinks he might not recognize a poorly written blockbuster plot novel—he wouldn’t read far enough to see it was a great story. (I’m paraphrasing)
• How do you signal that in your query that you are simultaneously submitting? You say, “I’ve sent this to several agents, but I’d prefer to be repped by you because you’re brilliant. (heh heh)
• Age range? He loves middle grade and teen books.
• What if I have no awards or clips. He’ll read your query anyway. His favorite bio was from a guy who gave a bulleted list. Built the Brooklyn Bridge, Won Chewing Gum Contest, etc. (didn’t offer to represent the guy, though.)
• He wants writers who aren’t afraid of plot. Look at A Northern Light. It has a lot of plot. Plot is not “This and then this and then this. . .” That’s sequel. Plot is how it all ties together. You need to add big events. You need to make it worse for the characters. Push the characters. Take them to the worst possible place. “You have to write the book, you don’t think you can write.” (I’m not sure if he said that or if he was quoting someone.)

Oh, there was a lot more there than I thought. We’ll visit Amalia next week.

I just got back from the 2008 LA conference.

Yikes! Talk about writer’s cramp. I filled a notebook with notes. I need to start taking a laptop with me.

I have several things to tell you.

Where to start? Hmmm. I have it: Adam Rex is adorable. Heh heh

OK sorry. I will tell you something that matters to writers.

Arthur Levine says that picture books are too still being published, despite the gloomy predictions of the naysayers.

Some facts and figures from Arthur:

In 1996 when the picture book market was very strong, there were 19,586,000 kids between the ages of four and eight in the US. In 2006 there were 19,811,000. Same sized audience available to buy picture books, Arthur says.

Why the decline in willingness to publish PB’s then?

There are fewer indy sellers.

Mr. Levine explained the importance of the independent bookseller. With Barnes and Noble you have one national buyer. If he doesn’t like your book it’s not going to get into any of his stores. With indy sellers each one has an opinion and each opinion counts. So you might not get into the big box stores, but if a bunch of indy sellers like your book and they start hand-selling it, you can still break out.

Picture books, in particular are hand-sold. And big chain stores don’t hand-sell, typically.

The problem is that in 1996 there were roughly 4,500 indy sellers and in 2006 that number had gone down to somewhere around 1,500. Yikes! There was a loss of 2,840 indy bookstores between 1996 and 2006.

Is there any good news for PB authors?

There is.

In 1996, when picture books were king, there were 586 new PB’s slated for publication. In 2008, when industry insiders are saying PB’s are dead, there are 524 new PB’s slated for publication. So dead apparently doesn’t mean dead. It merely means a slight decline.

Levine also said that when he asked the purchaser for Scholastic book sales (the sales in the school book fairs) how PB’s were doing, she told him they were the number 2 seller, out of 30,000 categories. (Are there really 30,000 categories or did I hear something wrong there?) And that they came in just behind school supplies. She said they sell more than 12,000,000 PB’s a year at their school book fairs.

Following your passion is a good thing.

Levine encouraged his listeners to take risks and to change the face of the publishing landscape.

He ended by telling us how in 1997 the market was dead for hardcover middle grade novels. There was, apparently, no audience for such books. Book stores were positive they couldn’t sell them. Publishers didn’t want them.

Mr. Levine was riding in an elevator with a woman who claimed that the only thing for publishers to do was to tighten their belts and take the conservative approach.

Levine said he didn’t know. He was about to publish a hardback middle book.

A fantasy, no less.

By an unknown British author.

The woman assured him it would never sell.

Thank God for stubborn ones, the risk-takers, the visionaries.