10: David Farland- How to Sell Your Novel

Tonight, we took time for a word from our Sponsor, David Farland. Dave shared with us five key factors an aspiring author or newly published author must have for a novel that sells. Those five factors are:

1. Make sure your novel is as good as it can be stylistically and grammatically before you try selling it.
2. Research prospective agents and editors for your work.
3. Crafting well written query letters.
4. Where (and how) to best meet agents and editors who will properly market your work.
5. Personal persistance and tenacity, how much is too much?

Dave took ample time to field questions from our Forum members. If you desire to astound the world with the brilliance of your prose, amaze humanity with your heart-rending flights of literary fancy, why haven't you stopped reading and started listening to what Dave had to say?

You can listen to it here on our handy-dandy player:

Or, you can listen to it on your computer's Window's Media Player by clicking here.
(If it's not downloading, switch to Internet Explorer.)

09: Dan Wells: Monsters, Sociopaths, and Other Sympathetic Characters

Tonight Dan Wells told us about the secrets of creating sympathetic villains, heroic sociopaths, and many other things he learned as the author of I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER, MR. MONSTER, and the soon-to-be-released I DON'T WANT TO KILL YOU.

When he's not writing, Dan also co-hosts Writing Excuses, a weekly writing-advice podcast with Brandon Sanderson and Howard Tayler.

Among Dan's advice:

• A humorous sociopath with a lousy life who wants to be good will evoke reader's sympathies
• A good villain will be flashy and/or relatable and/or fascinating
• Villains need a believable goal--if they want to blow up the world, they'll be just as dead as everyone else if they accomplish it, so it might be a tough sell to your readers
• A villain can have a try-fail cycle, too--if you're careful

**Warning, this call contains spoilers for I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER**

As always, you can listen to the call here:


Or you can listen to it on Window's Media Player.
(If you're having trouble downloading, switch to Internet Explorer.)

Thanks to Dan and to everyone who called in!

8: Michaelbrent Collings-- Ten Steps to Overnight Success OR How it Only Took a Decade to Get Paid

Tonight Michaelbrent Collings shared his presentation Ten Steps to Overnight Success OR How it Only Took a Decade to Get Paid. I saw him present this topic in February at BYU's Life, the Universe, and Everything symposium and loved it so much I just had to hear it again. I think you'll agree--this is great advice, and Michaelbrent had lots of great stories to go with it.

Michaelbrent is a novelist, screenwriter, martial artist, and until recently, was a practicing lawyer (he quit when being a writer started to pay better). He has written numerous novels, including RUN, BILLY: MESSENGER OF POWERS, THE LOON, RISING FEARS, and THE MERIDIANS. Michaelbrent has also sold, optioned, and done rewrites for screenplays for major Hollywood production companies, and is currently developing several movies and television shows. He couldn't give us details of his movie deals (yet), but maybe in a few weeks....

March 11 Update: Michaelbrent can finally confirm that his screenplay BARRICADE is being produced by WWE Studios, starring Eric McCormack. See the announcement by The Hollywood Reporter. Congrats, Michaelbrent!

In a nutshell, the ten steps are:

1.      Write.
2.      Involve yourself in marketing.
3.      Plug your book (or script, or whatever)!
4.      Make connections.
5.      Play nice with others.
6.      Constantly improve…but don’t over study.
7.      Be clear.
8.      Be interesting. And interested.
9.      Be prepared to be part of a big game hunt. And you’re not the hunter.
10.    You cannot fail…if you don’t give up.

To get the explanation behind the steps, you can visit Michaelbrent's website and read the PDF of his presentation under the tab "LTUE Papers" or you can download the MP3, or listen to it below:

7.Ken Scholes- Self Awareness: A Writer's First, Best Tool.

Tonight we spoke with Ken Scholes, author of the Psalms of Isaak Fantasy series from Tor books. Ken's topic for the night was an important one for beginning writers: knowing yourself as a person and as a writer. Knowing what methods work for you to not only thrive personally, but to thrive and succeed in your writing aspirations as well!

We were able to hear from Ken's own experiences that :

• Working without an outline can (and does) lead to success.
• Having a strong support network of family, friends and colleagues to encourage, motivate and even pester you can be intergal to your success as an author .
• Triumph can often spring from personal tragedy.
• Whether you're a seasoned professional, or a beginning writer- You're always "in the trenches".

And much much more!

If you missed it, you can listen to it below:


Or, you can download the MP3.

6: Robyn Carr: Developing Strong Characters

Tonight we chatted with Robyn Carr, who has been my friend and mentor for years. Way back when I was putting my first (really bad) stories together, my friend Ian mentioned that he'd practically grown up in her house (he was her son's best friend), and that she was really nice... so I emailed her. Turns out, he was right... and then some! A few thousand emails later, Robyn is one of my favorite people, one of my favorite writers, and as down-to-earth nice as it is possible for a woman to be--especially one with her accomplishments!

New York Times Bestseller Robyn Carr has been writing—and publishing—for almost three decades. In that time, she’s written screenplays, historical romances, a psychological thriller, and even a writing help book called PRACTICAL TIPS FOR WRITING POPULAR FICTION. Eventually, Robyn found her calling writing women’s fiction set in a rugged small town in the mountains of northern California. Her bestselling VIRGIN RIVER series debuted in 2007, and quickly started gathering awards. The series is now in its fifth year and, by the end of March, will have 13 books, 3 novellas, and a legion of fans, with over 5 million copies in print.

Our main topic was Developing Strong Characters, which Robyn does in spades. Her Virgin River series is home to an extensive cast of memorable characters who continue to grow and develop as more and more couples hook up, get married, and have babies amid log cabins, dirt roads, and towering Sequoias. Her books (and therefore her characters) are classified as romantic women's fiction, but her advice can be applied (with some modifications, where noted) to any genre.

Some high points:

• The best writing advice is to write the book you want to read. The worst writing advice is to write what you know--first you have to learn to write, and then you can research whatever you don't know.
• Characters have layers: Dominant, Complimentary, and Contrasting traits. These traits should not conflict with each other in the same moment.
• When writing characters, there is no substitute for good instincts--and you can develop your instincts by practicing and by reading hundreds of books in your genre. You have to think like a real, live human being being before you can write a believable character.

If you missed it, you can listen to the call below:


You can also download the MP3 here.

5: The Six: Writing Groups and Breaking Into Publishing

Sara, Kimberly, Bree, Emily, Valynne, Brodi
(picture by Michelle Sallay Photography)

Tonight we heard from The Six, a long-standing writer’s group, based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Two are published and poised to release their sophomore novels. Three are currently under contract. Four have agents. Five have finished at least one novel. All Six are made of awesome and chock full of advice for newbie authors about how their writing group works and how to break into publishing.

Over an hour and a half (yeah, we had a bit too much fun), The Six answered such burning questions as:

·         How did you know when your group had the right balance of crazy?

·         How do you critique (/rewrite) each other’s stories?

·         What do you do at writing retreats (besides writing)?

·         How do you ever get any writing done with 5 of your best friends around all the time?

·         Do you find threats or writing contests more motivational?

·         How do you approach scary-powerful agents and editors at writing conferences?

·         How many queries does it take to land an agent?

·         What is the appropriate wardrobe for receiving news of a book sale?

·         How many days should you wait before talking to your editor about their recent revision letter?

·         Can published authors still be fangirls?



The Six, in order from least to most crazy, are:

#6 Sara Bolton has a degree in journalism, years of professional editing experience, and has written and published hundreds of non-fiction articles and product advertisements in newspapers and magazines. She is currently working to finish her first novel, a YA Historical Fantasy that explores chivalry and knighthood from the perspective of a female knight.



#5 Kimberly Reid used to be an editor for the FRIEND magazine, and is the author of hundreds of articles published in the FRIEND, NEW ERA, ENSIGN, and LIAHONA magazines. Her picture book THE CHRISTMAS MEMORY QUILT won a Moonbeam Award in 2007. Her agent is currently submitting her first novel, a YA contemporary about a small town threatened with extinction after the death of a five-year-old.



#4 Valynne E. Maetani works professionally as a script editor for educational stories. She has worked as a film producer and has edited several screen plays, including MY LITTLE WAR IN JUAREZ, the winner of the 2010 Creative World Award. She has completed two novels and will soon be seeking representation for her latest book, THE ROTTEN ONES, an abnormal romance set amid horror flicks and bouts of petty espionage.

#3 Bree Despain is the author of the THE DARK DIVINE, in which Grace Divine, a pastor's daughter, must unravel the secrets behind her foster-brother's sudden return after a mysterious three year absence, and why her real brother wants her to have nothing to do with him. The second book in the trilogy, THE LOST SAINT, is scheduled for release on December 28, 2010. Her release party will be at The King’s English in Salt Lake City at 7pm that night.

#2 Emily Wing Smith is the author of THE WAY HE LIVED, which won the Utah Book Award in 2008. In her next book, BACK WHEN YOU WERE EASIER TO LOVE, Joy takes a road trip to visit her abruptly-departed, possibly-ex-boyfriend… with his former-best-friend riding shotgun. It is set for release on April 28, 2011. Emily will also be teaching a beginning YA class at the upcoming Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers on June 13-17, in Sandy, Utah.

#1 Brodi Ashton just sold her first book, EVERNEATH, to Balzer and Bray (Harpercollins). EVERNEATH tells the story of a girl who just spent six months or a hundred years (give or take) in a version of Hell, and now has six months to spend with her family and her boyfriend before going back… this time forever. It is set for publication in the Winter of 2012, with two more books in the series already contracted.

If you missed the call, you can listen to it below. (Turns out Brodi is quite technologically savvy, as well as being an awesome writer. Thanks, Brodi!)

You can also download the MP3.

4: Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta: Collaborating on a Novel

Kevin J. Anderson is an award-winning, international bestselling author of the new Dune series (with Brian Herbert), the Terra Incognita and Saga of Seven Suns series, X-Files, Star Wars, and numerous comics; he has published 100 books, with more than 20 million copies in print in 30 languages.

Rebecca Moesta (pronounced MESS-tuh) started writing in 1991 and, as a solo author, has written Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Little Things and three novels in the Junior Jedi Knights series.

Together, this husband / wife team has written the Crystal Doors trilogy, several movie novelizations, a novelization of the popular StarCraft computer game; and have worked on several other projects.

Kevin and Rebecca proved to us just how well they work together. You can tell from listening to them that they make quite the team.

Some of the high points of their advice:

• One of the biggest parts of the collaborating happens during the brainstorming process
• If your collaborator is good at the same things you are, why are you collaborating?
•  You have to trust your collaborator during edits--don't try to figure out what he/she changed--fix what you think still needs to be fixed and eventually the manuscript will be a great blend of your two voices.
• Be careful who you collaborate with--if it doesn't work out, you may need to scrap the project.
• And much more....

Also, Kevin and Rebecca announced that, until the end of the month, there will be a collaboration discount for the Superstars Writing Conference: sign up with a friend and you will save $200! (Total cost of $998.) Again, the Superstars of Writing include Kevin, Rebecca, David Farland, Brandon Sanderson, Eric Flint, and Sherrilyn Kenyon. It will be held on January 13-15 in Salt Lake City, Utah. There's still time to hint to your loved ones how much you would love that for Christmas....

If you missed the call, you can listen to it below:


Or, you can download the MP3.