Write Good or Die by Scott Nicholson Read Free Book Online Page A

developing
characters that would interact with the demon, and then a storyline
that would do the concept proud.
    A year later, my techno
thriller Origin was
completed.
    Now what was I supposed to do with it?
    I went back to my Rejection Book to review my
previous queries, and was surprised to see how poor they were. The
letters fell into two distinct categories: egocentric and
desperate. Rather than succinctly pitch my novels, I had been
begging for them to be read, or stating how rich I’d make the
publisher once they bought me.
    Plus, I was shocked to see typos and poor
grammar, not only in the queries, but in the sample chapters I’d
submitted.
    For Origin , I needed a different approach.
I decided to do the same thing publishers do to sell books. Namely,
an ad campaign.
    Rather than a standard query letter and
sample chapters, I put together a four-page package. The first page
was a two-paragraph excerpt from the novel, when the hero first
sees Satan sitting in a gigantic plexiglass cage. The second page
was styled like back-jacket copy, describing the story and the hook
in a few sentences. The third page was an author bio, with
black-and-white photo. The final page was a simple note stating
that the book was seeking representation, and my phone number.
    No SASE. No return address. I didn’t even
personalize the note.
    I made one hundred and
twenty submission packages and sent one to every agent in the
Writer’s Digest Literary Agent
Guide .
    I sent these on a Thursday.
    By Tuesday, I had five agent phone calls, all
demanding to see the book.
    I was in shock. Usually, an agent response
took between three and ten weeks. Now I had them fighting over me.
What should I do?
    Luckily, I had previous agent experience, so
I knew how to approach the situation.
    When I finished my first novel, I sent it to
six NY agents, and one of them took me on. I sat back and waited
for the money to roll in.
    Eighteen months later, and the agent isn’t
returning my calls. When I finally pin this person down, I find out
the agent submitted my book to a total of two editors in a year and
a half.
    This time, I wanted to hire an agent who
would work for me. I wanted to be involved in every aspect of the
submission process. My next agent would keep me informed, be my
biggest advocate, and help me build a career.
    After several phone interviews with
ultimately twelve agents, I decided on Todd Keithley from Jane
Dystel Literary Management. Todd was my age, had a specific plan to
market me, and most of all, loved the book.
    There was rewriting. And more rewriting. And
more rewriting.
    Todd generated a buzz in NY about the book
and went out to the top 15 publishers with an expiration date on
the manuscript.
    It was very exciting and a thrill to be a
part of.
    The rejections were the hardest of my
life.
    On the plus side, many editors said wonderful
things about me and my book. I got many compliments, and finally
vindication from the publishing world that I indeed had talent.
    But Origin was ultimately rejected because
it slipped through the genre cracks. Editors didn’t know how to
market it. Was it horror? Sci-fi? Techno-thriller? Comedy? Where
did this book fit on the shelves?
    To compound the injury, Todd then left the
agency to pursue a law practice in Maryland.
    I was devastated.
    Luckily, his boss saw potential in me. Before
Todd bid his final adieu, I received a phone call from Jane Dystel
who succinctly asked, "What else have you got?"
    I did have something else,
another high-concept idea that came to me while writing Origin . I pitched it over
the phone to Jane.
    "Write it," she advised.
    I did.
    Another year passed,
research and writing. When I finished, I gave Jane the same kind of
ad campaign I’d designed for Origin .
    Jane loved it. She generated a buzz and went
out to 17 publishing houses.
    The rejections mirrored
those received by Origin . What kind of book was this? Was it a thriller, or a
comedy?
    But one publisher liked it.