Secrets of the Acquisitions Editor: 5 Steps to Getting Your Novel Published

As my guest poster today I'm thoroughly impressed. When asked to describer herself Erin Lale wasn't pulling any punches "Acquisitions Editor at Eternal Press and Damnation Books and Editor and Publisher of Time Yarns and an author published both self and traditionally." See what I mean.

Secrets of the Acquisitions Editor: 5 Steps to Getting Your Novel Published

By Erin Lale, Acquisitions Editor at Eternal Press and Damnation Books, and Editor and Publisher of Time Yarns

If you want your novel published by a publishing company, there are five important steps to ensure success. These steps are based on the five most common reasons why I reject a manuscript submission from Eternal Press or Damnation Books.

1.   Follow instructions. Read the submissions guidelines and follow every requirement. If the guidelines say to submit your manuscript in doc or rtf format, don’t submit it in a different format. If the guidelines say to include a marketing plan, then do so. “Market plan: whatever will sell millions of copies J” (yes, that is a quote from a real cover letter) is not a marketing plan. If you don’t know how to write a marketing plan, it’s OK to ask for help. An author’s marketing plan is just a list of all the types of publicity and marketing in which the author is willing and able to participate. An example would be doing a guest blog post via email, like this one except about your book. Not following instructions is the most common reason why I reject a manuscript submission.

How Can An Old Jewish Tale Give Guidance In Todays Publishing World? Don't Worry I'll Tell Ya...

We as writers are essentially in a brother and sister hood of sorts. We all want the same goal publication success. However, on that journey we can handle ourselves two ways...we can be selfish and  self serving or we can have empathy and charity. We can impart our praise, patience, knowledge and time.

 An old Jewish legend tells of two brothers, Abram and Zimri, who owned a field and worked it together. They agreed to divide both the labor and the harvest equally. One night as the harvest came to a close, Zimri could not sleep, for it didn’t seem right that Abram, who had a wife and seven sons to feed, should receive only half of the harvest, while he, with only himself to support, had so much.

So Zimri dressed and quietly went into the field, where he took a third of his harvest and put it in his brother’s pile. He then returned to his bed, satisfied that he had done the right thing.

Meanwhile, Abram could not sleep either. He thought of his poor brother, Zimri, who was all alone and had no sons to help him with the work. It did not seem right that Zimri, who worked so hard by himself, should get only half of the harvest. Surely this was not pleasing to God. And so Abram quietly went to the fields, where he took a third of his harvest and placed it in the pile of his beloved brother.

The next morning, the brothers went to the field and were both astonished that the piles still looked to be the same size. That night both brothers slipped out of their houses to repeat their efforts of the previous night. But this time they discovered each other, and when they did, they wept and embraced. Neither could speak, for their hearts were overcome with love and gratitude. ⁸

This is the spirit of compassion: that we love others as ourselves, ⁹ seek their happiness, and do unto them as we hope they would do unto us. ¹⁰

^{Let us learn from the example of Zimri and Abram. As we gain success let us impart of our substance of time and experience to those authors that seek after it. I'm not saying that we should ignore deadlines and answer every scrap of email that comes through. Use your common sense and simply be willing. I have to say I would rather have just enough success and a network of friends and colleagues than a NYT bestseller and no one to share the joy with.}

Sexist reader convinced...

Sweet Dreams

Book One In The WJA Series Mark Appleton faces his worst nightmare as he hunts a killer, but little does he know that he is the one being hunted. Kirk Weston is a detective with the Detroit police department. His life, although not going as planned finds himself investigating a mysterious group known only as the WJA. Just when he is about to make a breakthrough on the case something terrible goes wrong? He finds exactly what he is looking for!
 
 
Sexist reader converted...a romantic fanatic convinced...Sweet Dreams is told from not only one but two male POV’s, something I usually avoid. It is a suspenseful action adventure thriller; this is a genre I avoid like someone on a diet avoids buffets. However, thanks to Patterson’s Sweet Dreams I will become morbidly obese on suspenseful thriller fiction, also known as Noir.


Sweet Dreams isn’t the typical beginning, middle and end book. Patterson has a way of weaving the threads of not only one but two men’s lives. Mark Appleton is a successful and happy business/family man. It’s only when a violent personal tragedy unleashes the destiny he was trained for that he really begins to live. Kirk Weston is a reluctant hero. Divorced, unkempt, and arrogant your first impression of Kirk is far from positive. As you experience the thought process of Kirk’s investigative techniques you begin to appreciate his unlikely but effective methods. By the end you are cheering for him just as much as Mark Appleton. As these two men’s lives run parallel and criss cross yet without meeting it leaves you satisfied for the moment; yet salivating for more. Which you will get since Dream On is available now.

bought this series for my fourteen year old son. He was very happy with it. Well as happy as a fourteen year old boy allows people to know. I knew he liked it alot when he couldn't put it down then asked when the third book would come out. I then read it myself. I was really impressed. It was also a great experience in that my son and I began to discuss the WJA series. Any parent who knows how hard it is to talk to a teenager will understand the significance of this experience. The WJA series would be a great Christmas present this season for teenager and adult alike since Patterson only writes what is considered clean fiction.

Author Interview with Aaron Patterson

Aaron Patterson lives in Boise Idaho with his wife Karissa and three children, Soleil, Kale, and Klayton. Aaron is the author of the bestselling WJA series. SWEET DREAMS, DREAM ON and IN YOUR DREAMS. He also began a line of "Digital Shorts" which are E-book short stories. His first in the line is "19."



I was able to ask Mr. Patterson some questions about his techniques and books. Here are the spoils of that interview...



 How long did it take you to write Sweet Dreams?  30 days.


So that’s the Raw unedited draft? Yes. I like to just sit down and write.

So your not the type of writer that does outlines and chapter outlines? No I write in sequence. I usually don’t know how it ends until I’m 3/4ths of the way through. There comes a point in my books, well it’s happened every time so far, that I have this epiphany and it all just comes together or falls into place is more like it such as with Sweet Dreams. When I began it I knew I wanted to do some sort of secret organization, that was the initial premise. Then the story kind of wrote itself. Like the dream effect…I was working out at the gym and it came to me. I literally left the gym and had to go right it down immediately.

Did you plan on Sweet Dreams being a series? No. Initially I didn’t. However, every book ultimately defines itself and at the end of Sweet Dreams I knew that Kirk and Mark’s story would continue. So now we have Dream On (available now) and In Your Dreams coming out in Summer of 2011. I’m curious to see how readers respond to how it wraps itself up.

Mark and Kirk are polar opposites, however they are both effective in their own way. Would you say that they are your own alter egos? Every character has a part of you...you create them. Just like every character created is a representation of someone real initially then they take on a life of their own.

You are finishing up your 4th book, Aierl, now, compared to your first novel did the writing come easier? Yes. Sweet Dreams was very choppy. Each novel I write it just gets smoother and smoother.

 Aierl is your first YA novel, can you tell us a little bit about it? Of course, It’s set in two time periods, I jump between the two. The past being around 2100 BC and the other present day, in the past there is an angel who has left heaven and fallen in love with a mortal. They marry and produce offspring. There is a demonic group who are after their offspring for disposal. Then in present day you have Airel who begins to have all these strange symptoms and abilities and thinks she is sick. She is kidnapped and finds out she is a descendant of this long ago angelic/mortal race.

Sounds amazing...When will Aierl be released? The ebook will be available around Christmas 2010 with the print to follow in the spring of 2010. StoneHouse Ink will have all the up to date information.

After speaking with Mr. Patterson my opinion of him would be best described as the humbled brilliance of a talented author and accidental publisher.  Just like the characters of the WJA organization he desires nothing but the betterment of his fellow authors. To find out for yourself visit his blog at The Worst Book Ever .

Thank you Mr. Patterson for your time and your talents.

Bri