"Personal" question(s) to John Jarrold

[Psyloke]

sorry about the small font of my post.. not sure what happened there.

[John Jarrold]

I have to admit that I don't usually ask for or read synopses - if I like the early chapters I ask to see the full script. I do know that one UK author who recently did a deal with a major publisher spent well over three months working and re-working the synopses for all three novels in the series.

Personally, I would say concentrate on the main storyline and don't get sucked into precising every scene or plot twist...

Good luck!

[SJAB]

Originally Posted by John Jarrold

All anyone can do is their best.

That is all we can do with everything , but I often wonder can I do better? This applies to a lot of things in my life.

Yes, Brian, I do tend to beat myself up about my writing; confidence is not my strong point.

As to writing a synopsis personally I think they are the devil's own torture! There is only one thing worse, that's condensing a three or four page synopsis down to a 250 word bite/hook/call it what you will for a query letter.

Anyhow, this year I have at least bit the bullet and sent my work out, even though it has caused a major crisis of confidence at one point. I will continue to send out the three manuscripts till I have pestered all the poor agents/publishers on my list, then, well, I should have effort number four finished by then.

[Triceratops]

Poster Above me: You've got the spirit of a writer down pat. You're approach is logical, and you've got a nice selection from which to choose. Just keep your eye peeled for comments and revision suggestions. If you get a fair share of similar comments, rewrite accordingly, especially if it agrees with your gut/senses.

Tri

[Marco]

Unless an agent LOVES your writing, nothing else matters. So it's interesting if you have a website, but won't make a difference between an agent taking you on or not doing so. Charlie Stross has put an entire novel up on the net, which has also been published in print form in the US and the UK, so that isn't a problem - but that obviously is a discussion for much later on...

John Jarrold (from the "website tomfoolery" thread).

Let's discuss it, then!
I'm glad to hear about Charlie Stross's online novel being in print. I've been putting forward the idea of novelists trying out their first novel on their own websites for some time. It has the advantage that you can enjoy being read on a small scale (if your novel's good enough!) while waiting for publication, and get feedback, and even fanmail! Charlie Stross and his print publishers are not the only ones to realise that an online novel does no commercial harm to a print version, and that the effects can even be positive. U.S. publisher Baen books has been putting some of their books up as online freebies for some years (about 80 of them when I last saw the Baen Free Library site) and apparently Tor Books is going to follow suit.

It seems as though writers have nothing to lose by trying out a complete novel on their own websites, and judging by your comments above, perhaps you agree, John?

[John Jarrold]

Yes, I do...

[Pointfinder]

John, in your experience have you found that exposure in literary magazines and/or ezines makes an author more marketable to publishers? I know you've said before it's really all about how good the work is, but if that is so why are there so many writers who chose this route? Are they (we) simply wasting time?

[John Jarrold]

Mainstream publication in novel form is not the only reason to write. Writers write! Many old mates like Paul Mcauley and Ian McDonald love writing short fiction and not every idea is novel-length. They certainly didn't begin by thinking 'I will write short stories, get noticed, then write novels'.

If you have an idea which works as a short story, write it and try to get it out there. It MAY be that if someone builds up a major reputation over a number of years and then writes a wonderful first novel, their rep will help. But that really isn't the be-all and end-all of writing short fiction...do it for enjoyment, to tell a story and because you must.

[John Jarrold]

Incidentally, it's also true that POD and self-publishing novels are not necessarily routes to mainstream publication, but writing is what it's all about. Some writers will want to go those routes, others won't. Every writer has to learn their trade, so writing, writing and more writing comes first - what you do with it then is up to the individual.

[Jordan Lapp]

John,

I've heard it said that many agents don't read the a submission's prologue, because usually the story could be written without it anyways. Is this true? If I have an introductory chapter that sets up the story and doesn't involve the main character should I just call it Chapter 1 instead of the prologue to ensure it gets read?

-J

[John Jarrold]

Jordan

Don't know about anyone else, but I read the opening, whether it's called 'prologue' or 'chapter 1'. But I do think that starting the book with action is often better than an information-laden build-up - the former is a hook, the latter is quite likely to get your book turned down. The phrase 'Argh, info-dump' is heard every day in SFF editors' offices...

[John Jarrold]

Just seen this from the Independent newspaper. Some joy for horror writers in the UK...


Independent Online Edition > Features

[Commonmind]

Hey there John. Myself and a good friend of mine have been working on series of novels for the past 10 years. I've recently finished the second draft of the first book and have put it away, to sit on it for a few months before re-reading, doing a final revision, and sending it out for publication. My question is, I've put a lot of work into the book and have recieved quite a bit of praise from some objective readers (individuals not closely related; friends or family) and I really think I have a chance to get published. However, I'm a bit concerned. Taking into account the basic outline of the entire story, there is a good chance we will be writing well over 7 or 8 books. Is this size project turned down purely on the basis that we are first time authors and also, does our being co-authors make a difference?

(I believe Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series was his first work)

[John Jarrold]

That won't get it turned down by itself. If an editor and his/her colleagues LOVE the book, they'll consider it seriously. Joint authors can be an issue with some publishers (I worked with one sales director who tried to veto any book by joint authors who weren't already bestsellers), but there are ways around that. However, first things first. If no one in mainstream publishing loves the book sufficently, it's not an issue...

[itsmelen]

Mr. Jarrold,

I have a hypothetical: Let's say I have an epic fantasy novel I'd like to submit, which is told from multiple points of view. So, Chapters 1 and 2 might be character A, Chapter 3 might be Character B, et cetera. Now, let's say I want to submit it to a publishing house whose submission guidelines ask for the first 3 chapters, not the entire manuscript.

Here, the issue that I see is that if the first few chapters are needed to fully introduce multiple characters, there will not be as much plot development as in a story where the groundwork can be laid using fewer words. This might equate to a submission that doesn't "grab" the reader, even if the prose itself is strong. I worry that by essentially having to write three "chapter ones" I may be giving the publisher the ammo necessary to reject my submission.

I've thought about some ways to approach this, but all seem to present different problems. If I re-arrange the first chapters so that the first three all focus on one character, the publisher is missing out on the world that I've built; it's analagous to trying to describe the entire U.S. after seeing one city. If I go as is, the publisher will see more of the world I've built, but may wonder if it's going anywhere. I do not want to hasten the plot or put in little benign cliffhangers (like ending chapter 2 with "the moonlight reflected off the eyes in the shadow, and he knew he was not alone" only to start chapter 3 with "and it was his dad, just coming to say hey and not posing a threat or advancing a storyline."). I DO have a prolouge, which is fast-paced as it is set at the end of a war, but by including that one of the protagonists will be cut out of the submission.


My question is: have you faced a problem like this before, and what do you think is the proper course of action? If the prose is good, should I rely on that to carry the submission, or is something semi-major going to have to happen in the first three chapters?