I attended a panel discussion last night and the topic was the paperwork of writing. It's actually a pretty broad topic: invoices, queries, galleys, emails back and forth with editors, etc. This echoes my earlier post on wowing editors, but I thought I'd share a few of the points that stood out:
Most editors are or were writers, so they understand how hard it is to submit your magnum opus and get rejected. (In response to the stock phrase, "I just wasn't passionate about it," one panelist retorted, "I don't want you to have sex with my book; I just want you to publish it.")
Biggest faux pas in query letters or book proposals – getting the editor's name or gender wrong, calling your book the next Harry Potter (cut the hyperbole), including irrelevant biographical information ("my proudest accomplishment is my two beautiful children" or "I'm an award-winning bagpipe player") and referring to your "fiction novel" (the phrase is redundant because novels are fictional by definition).
Writers need to be their own advocates. So many are willing to "give away the store" (copyright) just for the privilege of getting published. Often contracts are not writer-friendly because writers don't ask for better terms.
When nailing down the content and tone of your book, often editors don't know what they want until they see what they don't want. Give them options and keep them in the loop.
I asked a question but it fell flat because the panelists were more used to writing for print. Since we're online and most of you are pretty web-savvy I'll pose it here.
"Everyone wants original content. If you retain the rights to resell an article but it's already posted online, what is the incentive for another website to purchase the rights when the article is already online and available to readers elsewhere?
Bueller…? Bueller?"