Victoria Strauss, author of The Arm of the Stone (Feb 28-March 6)

Please welcome Victoria Strauss, author of The Arm of the Stone. Victoria will be chatting on LibraryThing until March 6th.

Hi, everyone,

Glad to be here! I'll be happy to answer questions about my books (including my forthcoming historical fantasy for teens, "Passion Blue"), about Writer Beware, the publishing industry watchdog group I co-founded, and about publishing and the process of getting published.

A few websites to check out:

My own website: http://www.victoriastrauss.com/

My blog: http://www.accrispin.blogspot.com/

Writer Beware website: http://www.writerbeware.com/

Thanks!

- Victoria

Greetings Victoria,

Thanks for participating. I am curious about the publishing process. Was there a difference in how you had to approach publishers in regards to publishing adult fiction and teen fiction? Was it easier to market towards the teen market first and then break into adult fiction, or vice versa? I am just curious about how to approach each market.

Thank you!

-Casey

Hello!

Back in 2004, I interviewed you for Vision: A Resource for writers and asked if you though the Internet was a help or hindrence to writers. Have you changed your mind about any aspects of the Internet in the last few years?

Hi, Casey,

Sorry not to respond to your question sooner--my modem is on the fritz, and right now I'm piggybacking off of a neighbor's unsecured wireless network.

I think that wherever you decide to start, having previous publishing credits is helpful in getting you attention from editors (and agents, if you're looking for a new one). So if you start out by selling YA, and then want to sell an adult novel--or vice versa--the fact that you've got professional experience can work in your favor, even though it's in a different market. Ultimately, though, it comes down to the manuscript--previous publishing credits won't help if you haven't written something marketable.

When you switch genres, there's always a bit of difficulty, because even though you have credits, you're starting from scratch in a new market, trying to build a new audience. You may have built a nice platform of fans for your YA fiction, for instance, but that won't necessarily translate to the adult market, and publishers will take that into account when considering your manuscript. You may be asked to change your name, for instance, so they can launch you with a lot of excitement as a debut author. Many writers who write in more than one genre use pen names.

The teen market and the adult market are separate areas of publishing. The basic process of approaching editors is the same, but the editors and publishers (and imprints of publishers) are different, and the interests are different, and you need to know where to go. Or your agent does. I wouldn't try to sell fiction to one of the big houses or the larger independents without an agent. It's also really, really important to have an agent with the right contacts. YA is a hot genre, and many agents who don't have a lot of experience with it are looking for submissions from YA authors--but you'll stand the best chance of success if you go with an agent who has done a lot of selling into that market.

Hope that answers your questions--if not, please ask more!

- Victoria

Hi, Zette,

I can't remember exactly what I told you back in 2004, but here's what I think now.

The Internet is an incredible help to writers in any number of ways. It's an amazing research resource, it enables effective and inexpensive self-promotion, and it facilitates a variety of new publishing options. It also makes it possible to connect with other writers, via blogs, writing forums, etc. When I published my first novel I felt terribly isolated, because I didn't know any other writers, but now I have a whole wonderful online network of writer friends and colleagues. I can barely remember my professional life before the Internet, and I can't imagine my writing life without it.

That said...the Internet does pose some dangers for writers. For one thing, it's a time sink. I spend more time on the Internet--mostly professional, but also for entertainment--than I've ever spent on any single activity other than a day job.

For another, it makes multi-tasking way too easy. Maybe you have your latest writing project open, but you also have your browser open in case you need to do some quick research, which of course means your email is open, and then there are the little Twitter and Facebook widgets you can add...I think that all of this simultaneity, all of this jumping around from one thing to another, can erode the kind of singleminded, focused attention that's really needed for writing. (I'm raising my hand here.)

The biggest danger of the Internet, though--at least for new writers--is that while there's tons of good and useful information online, there's at least as much bad and false info--and if you don't know how to filter it, you won't be able to tell the difference. Writers who are just starting to submit their work, and are going online to try and learn what they need to know about the process of getting published, are especially vulnerable. I always suggest to new writers that they start by getting a book on how to get published, rather than looking for Internet resources, and go online only after they have a bit of knowledge under their belts. Very old-school, I know--but a book from a reputable publisher is likely to be written by someone with some qualifications, which can't be said for a lot of the websites out there. The point is that if you know something about publishing before you go online, you're less likely to buy into the bad info when you run across it.

- Victoria

I don't have a question or anything, but... I read Garden of the Stone not long after it came out and somehow didn't realize it was a sequel until, well, just now. I'll have to find the first one (and revisit the second) now :)

I tried to make the book as standalone as possible--glad to know it worked!

Actually both books have just been re-published, in nice new trade paperback editions, and also, for the first time, as ebooks.

- Victoria