Earlier this week, I constructed a sneaky snare trap and captured me a special guest: Mr. David Kazzie.
You might remember David from his prior visit on my QueryTracker Making Tracks series, due to his unconventional leap into representation. His agent, Ann Rittenberg of the Ann Rittenberg Literary Agency, came to him (instead of the other way around) after his "So You Want To Write A Novel" video went viral in the writing/publishing community.
You can read the detailed play by play on David's blog here.
Recently, David made another huge and unconventional leap to further his publishing career, and I dragged him over to talk about it because his savvy and courage so inspired me that I wanted to share it with you. Even if I had to fight him tooth and nail! Okay, small exaggeration. He didn't put up too much of a fight.
That said, I will take off David's gag, and give him the floor. ;)
~~~
About a year ago, as I was making my peace with my last manuscript, The Jackpot, reaching the end of the line, I started taking note of the developing eBook situation. As a reader, I loved my Kindle, but as a writer, I didn't want to believe what I was seeing. I wanted - no, I needed to believe that everything I'd learned about publishing still applied.
J.A. Konrath was a crazy person, I told myself. He was a known quantity, a writer who, via his traditional book deals, had laid the groundwork for success with self-publishing. I felt like the only option for me or any other unpublished writer was to query and hope for the best.
But as the calendar pages turned, as he began featuring writers I'd never heard of, people who hadn't had traditional publishing deals, people with no agents, but who were still selling eBooks like crazy, I had to pay closer attention to what he was saying. Still, my heart didn't want to accept what was happening, what my head told me was happening. I didn't want to accept there was a tectonic shift in publishing underway.
Then my animated videos took off last fall, and I started to think about how I could best use the exposure to further my novel-writing career. As the weeks and months went by, the evidence that publishing was changing radically continued to pile up. And then I had an epiphany - if I want to be in the business of writing, I needed to be making my writing-career decisions with an eye toward what was best for the business, not based on what my preconceived notions about publishing had been.
As J.A. Konrath (or maybe it was Barry Eisler) put it (paraphrasing here), a print book is merely a delivery system for a story. And for the first time ever, there is a viable alternative delivery system in place, one that had put down the necessary groundwork to give writers an option other than pursuing the traditional route to getting published. There's nothing wrong with print books and big publishing companies and so on, but you are doing yourself a disservice if you don't examine ALL your options.
I took a long look at the state of my writing career. I had these videos out there, plowing the road for me. Collectively, they still get about 2,000 hits a day. But the Internet being what it is, that probably won't last forever. A year from now, will people remember or care about a handful of short animated videos? Should they? Is that what I want to be remembered for?
And so when I looked at it as a business decision, the answer quickly became clear.
Self-publishing was the answer.
Isn't NOW the time for me to take advantage of the exposure I'm fortunate enough to have, especially when talking about my career as a novelist? Isn't that what any smart businessperson would do? And self-publishing provides me the vehicle to get my product to market as fast as possible.
So after discussing it with Ann, my agent, I set my sights on self-publishing The Jackpot. And I really enjoyed running the entire show myself. I worked closely with a really good freelance editor. I had total say over the cover, all the way down to the spacing of the letters. It was a ton of work, but it was well worth it.
Click cover for Amazon details and book blurb
But let's not forget, we're writers because we love to write and because we love books.
And so all cold-blooded business aside -- seeing my book on Amazon for the first time last Friday afternoon, with a cover I loved, was the best moment of my writing career.
~~~
Thank you so much, David. And yes, that's a FANTASTIC book cover! :)
Now I'm opening up the floor to our readers. Are any of you out there considering going this route? If you'd like to know more about the process, this is a great time to ask our guest. (Not sure how long these ropes will hold, so get your questions in quick!)
Also, please support David by tweeting, face booking, and chatting up his blog and new book. Let's get the buzz started for him.
And make sure you drop by here on Friday when I'll be having my last QueryTrackers Making Tracks interview until mid July. I'm taking off from interviewing for six weeks to make time for family vacations and home renovations. ;)
This week's QT guest will be Lisa Iriarte, a lady who had a whopping SEVEN offers of representation. Stop by to find out how she decided between them, and to learn what fluffy powderpuffs have in common with her book's characters.
Today is the second of a series on successful authors I've met through QueryTracker.
Some of the authors I'll be spotlighting on Fridays have agents, others have found success in less conventional ways. But, one thing they all have in common is their use of the QueryTracker website, whether for information or emotional support. In some way or other, each of my upcoming guest posters have utilized this amazing online tool to help make their tracks in the publishing world.
AGH: David, your road to representation took some interesting and unconventional twists and turns. Could you give us a rundown of how you got your agent?
David: I’ve been writing fiction for about 10 years. In that time, I had completed a couple of manuscripts and after finishing each one, I tried to find an agent. As the years went by, I felt like I was improving with each manuscript – getting more responses from agents, more requests for material, but I never was able to find an agent. It did get discouraging.
But I kept writing, and last summer, I decided to start writing a humor blog while I figured out which way to go with my fiction. I wrote the So You Want to Go to Law School video in October (now with 1.3 million hits), and then I followed that up with So You Want to Write a Novel in November. As you know, the Novel video went viral in the writing/publishing community, which put me in contact with a number of different agents, including Ann. She read my blog and watched my other videos, we talked about what my future writing plans were, and then she offered to take me on as a client.
AGH: Before you signed with your agent, how many books had you tried to query?
David: I'd queried two different books before signing with Ann. I wrote the first one from 2001-2002, queried about 20 agents, and completely struck out. Honestly, It was a truly terrible book. My villain was a corrupt U.S. Senator, which I've since learned is always a bad, bad sign for your book. I gutted that one and rewrote it, including changing the villain to someone who wasn't such a terrible cliche. I got a few more requests the second time out, and I think it had some good parts, but overall, it was still pretty weak.
I took some time off from writing and started a brand-new manuscript in late 2007. Including revisions, I worked on that for about 18 months.
AGH: What were the responses to those queries (stat-wise: fulls, partials, etc.)
David: Manuscript 1 (and its rewrite) -- collectively, probably about 50 queries. A couple requests for the full.
Manuscript 2: 175 queries. About 12 partial requests and 7 more requests for the full.
AGH: What genres do you write?
David: Crime thrillers. It's one of my favorite genres to read, and I've always been fascinated by the dark side of humanity -- crime, violence, greed, and other bad decisions. I'm particularly interested in the humorous side of all this malfeasance.
AGH: What inspired your very first book idea?
David: Honestly, I used to be terrible at coming up with story ideas. For the first one, I had this idea for the main character whose brother goes missing just as the brother is supposed to reveal some family secret. I started writing without really fleshing out much more than that. I'm still amazed I came up with 325 manuscript pages for that.
Now I've figured out that just about anything can make a good story if you execute the concept the right way. I like to play the "what if" game to come up with story ideas.
AGH: What books / authors have most influenced your own style and concepts?
David: Carl Hiaasen has had the biggest impact on me. I discovered his crime novels about 10 years ago, and it really opened my eyes about how to use satire and comedy in writing thrillers. He's just freaking brilliant. My early manuscripts read like standard thrillers, but I worked hard to inject a lot of dark humor into my last book -- i think it paid off, as it was by far my best work to date, and I think that's my natural style of writing,
My three favorite books are The Stand (I love apocalyptic fiction, and the characters from The Stand just make the book so unbelievably good), Mystic River (hands down, the best crime novel I've ever read) and Lonesome Dove (it's just a kick-ass story).
AGH: How did you find QueryTracker, and how did it help you in your effort to get inside the publishing doors?
David: I don't remember exactly how I found QT -- it must have been through a blog. I'd been using another submission tracking site, but then they revamped their site, and I didn't like the change, so I moved everything over to QT.
I found it to be very helpful in keeping things organized, and it had a lot of up-to-date info on agents and people's experiences submitting. Oh, and finally getting to click on the "Offered Representation" field was pretty awesome too.
AGH: Can you share any current news with us?
David: Nothing right now. I'm more just adjusting to the idea of working with an agent and settling back into writing fiction again.
AGH: Have you recently learned anything about the business side of publishing that you can share with up and coming writers?
David: I think writers need to remember that it IS a business. Publishers have to make money. Agents have to make a living. Rejection isn't personal -- agents and editors know you've poured your heart and soul into your work, but the nature of the business sometimes demands a quick and impersonal rejection.
And yes, I hate to say it -- sometimes luck is involved. Why one book takes off and another doesn't. Why one person gets an agent after 10 queries and another queries 200 agents and has nothing to show for it (even if the books are of relatively similar quality). Always, always act professional. Never respond angrily to a rejection.
That said, social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and industry blogs lets writers get up close with agents and editors on a daily basis. You probably don't want to add an agent you don't know as a FB friend, but you can certainly follow them on Twitter and interact with them (appropriately) in the Twitterverse. Many agencies also have FB fan pages, where you can also interact with people.
AGH: Considering how your YouTube "writing a novel" video went viral and your law school parody has over a million hits (WOW), you appear to be a master at promoting yourself online. Is there any advice you can give those of us who are already or are about to be on the promotional side of our publishing careers (marketing our book trailers, pushing our titles, etc…)?
David: I think it's important that whatever self-promotion you do needs to reflect your identity as a writer. My videos and my blog (and more recently, my Twitter account) have a lot of dark, satirical humor, and so I'm guessing that people will (rightfully) expect that my fiction will be similar in style. Also, never, ever post anything less than your best work. You never know who's watching.
Also, be polite and friendly. My five-year-old knows this, and yet I still find instances where people don't act friendly. Talk up other people whose work you like. I've made numerous friends and contacts through social media doing that.
As for the videos -- I wish I had a secret formula for making something go viral. With my most successful videos (Law School, Write a Novel, and Facebook), I think I just tapped into what a lot of people were thinking. And the Xtranormal website was the perfect vehicle for my ramblings.
I think there's a lot you can do even without a viral video. Visit other blogs, participate in discussions, play to your strengths. It can be time consuming, but I think it's worthwhile. Plus, you get to meet a lot of cool people.
Five for fun:
AGH: What’s your favorite breakfast?
David: The egg-and-chicken burrito from Chick-Fil-A. With coffee. Or an asiago cheese bagel with honey-walnut cream cheese.
AGH: Are you Team Dog or Team Cat?
David: Dog. We have an 11-year-old Lab mix. Although I respect cats and how they don't give a crap about anyone.
AGH: What video games do you play?
David: I grew up on Super Mario Bros. and Nintendo Ice Hockey. I haven't mastered many things in my life, but I dare you to find someone who could've beaten me in Nintendo Ice Hockey in the late 1980s. No, I didn't date a lot. These days I play Lego Star Wars on the Wii with my son.
AGH: When would you go to if you had a time machine, and why?
David: Oh, a dangerous question indeed. If I changed anything about the past, I might not be where I am today, right? Butterfly effect and all. But if you visit the future, you see where you end up, and then the question becomes whether everything you do from now up until that point is predestined. And if you try to avoid it because you don't like how things end up, maybe it's doing those avoidance things that get you to the place you're not happy with.
But let's say you could go anywhere with no effect on the timeline -- sort of like watching a replay. I think I'd go back to the day I met my wife and see how the day unfolded. Maybe even the whole week before. I think it would be interesting to see all the little things that had to happen to put me at that place at that moment. It turned out to be the most important day of my life -- but I had no idea for a good part of it.
AGH: Drinking tea … pinky up, or heavy on the Long Island?
David: Long island is my preference. Black tea is my reality. Pinky is never, ever up.
Thank you, David, for sharing your insights and for letting us peek into what makes you unique and successful. And I'd like to point out that, judging by that lovely and swoon-worthy answer you gave to the time machine question above, should you one day have a little daughter who wants you to drink tea with her -- pinkies up -- you'll be a proper English gent and wear a smile on your face the whole time. What a nice guy!
Congratulations on catching that elusive agent, and I wish you much luck and happiness on your climb to the shelves! Don't forget to follow David's blog or tweets as his journey unfolds. He also has a success interview posted at QueryTracker.
Now it's your turn. If you have questions for David --or if you'd simply like to congratulate him and show your support --please leave a comment below!
Viral used to be such an ugly word. But now it's something we as writers -- seeking to promote ourselves and our books -- aspire to. On that note, here's a teaser for our second QueryTrackers Making Tracks guest, David Kazzie, who will be joining me here on Friday:
What does this very familiar and hilarious video have to do with my guest? Well, he watched it like all the rest of us, for one. But there's something a little more personal this video did for David ... some way it played into his recent offer of representation. Want to know more? Stop by on Friday for all of the dirt on David's unconventional journey toward publishdom!
Also, since we're talking viral, I'd like to help fellow author, Jessica Bell, get closer to reaching that sought after status. Her debut novel, STRING BRIDGE, is a women's fiction about a woman who gives up her career as a musician to have a family, then later plots a return to the stage to try to find the person she lost along the way.
Jessica's having a contest to help spread word of the book trailer she's posted on YouTube. Visit her blog here to meet her and win prizes!
To further entice you, I have a sneak peek below (and heads up: that's Jessica herself singing a song her mother wrote. So this lady is twice talented. What an incredible gift!). Now without further adieu, I give you, the trailer.
Thank you Leigh T. Moore for cluing me in to this amazingly talented author/musician. I LOVE this song!! And the story looks every bit as fantastic!
Good luck, Jessica! And I hope to see you all on Friday for David's guest post. He's got some interesting insights into the viral phenomenon. Maybe, if we're nice, he'll share. ;-)
