Hello to all of my readers. I'm back!

Over the past few years, I have put aside this blog in the pursuit of other projects. I was raising children, writing for a variety of clients, and pursuing more education, but in the less formal spheres. I took a class on writing grants, graduated from Florida State's EBV-F program for military families pursuing businesses, attended both VWISE and Techstars Patriot Bootcamp, won a pitch contest, won a small grant, and FINALLY became a member of American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA). My new niche publishing business is up and running, Pocket Parks Publishing, and I am at work on the second guide in that series. I am also attending the upcoming Facebook Vets-In-Tech Hackathon next week and looking forward to presenting my idea for an app, an idea that went over pretty well at the Techstars conference. Wish me luck!

As you can imagine, I have learned many things throughout my journey and I would like to share them with you here on Writing Military Mom. While I will continue to post about opportunities for the military community, I also plan to write about entrepreneurship, what I have been learning throughout the last year or so, and how I'm moving forward with my plan to become a profitable small publisher.

I look forward to hearing from everyone and am happy to be back!

Rosemary O'Brien

Pipe Dreams

Do you know what’s cool? I can actually see the day when my first book, FIRST SATURDAY, is optioned as a screenplay. Some people would say this is a pipe dream, but this is actually my job! I am paid to write for people and I love it. I love that I can create people and events from my head for people to read about and enjoy.

This topic came up when a friend and I were talking about choices. We were discussing how when I was an actress in New York. People who were not in the business thought it was so glamorous to get on stage and accept the applause. I have news. Nothing is easy. It was hard work keeping my body and my voice in shape, prepare for auditions and get acting jobs. It was satisfying and fulfilling work because I loved doing it all, but work nonetheless.

That is the key to achieving your pipe dreams: work. You can choose to be successful or you can choose to just take a job. Those who just take any job without direction think things like optioning a screenplay or publishing novels are pipe dreams. Those who choose a path they enjoy and work hard, those people, my friend, are the people who achieve their dreams.

Go for it. Work at what you love and achieve your dreams.

On Literary Agents

I am a firm believer in having a literary agent. After all, I am just a writer in the publishing world. Yes, I am also a businessperson, but I am not a businessperson in the middle of the publishing world. A literary agent, on the other hand, is exactly that. He knows who is looking for your type of book, when to pitch it, and how to craft a pitch that will get you that big advance. After the sale, the agent will also handle contract negotiations, contract advice to you, and will even be the person who collects your checks. After he receives your check, he deducts his well-earned percentage and sends you your share of the advance and later the royalties.

An agent is a very valuable person to have on your side. And he is on your side. He is there to get you the best deal possible. The deal will not only benefit you, but it benefits him in a larger payment. The percentage he makes from you is what he works for. That being said, you should never pay a fee up-front, a reader’s fee or any other fee. It is unethical. Any copying fees are a deduction for their business, and no one should be paid to find themselves new work. Writer’s don’t get paid to find their next assignment, why should your agent? Your agent gets paid when you get paid after the sale of the book.

To find a reputable agent, I suggest you look to the Association of Authors’ Representatives http://www.aar-online.org/mc/page.do. The member agents have to agree to a code of ethics in order to become, and remain, a member, and none of them charge reading fees. You can also look in Jeff Herman’s “Guide To Book Publishers, Editors and Literary Agents,” or Writer’s Digest’s “Guide To Literary Agents.” In each of these books you will find addresses of agents, what they are looking for complete with a Q&A of each telling readers how the agent prefers your submission. As any good writer knows, the way you submit is half the battle sometimes. Agents and editors receive thousand of unsolicited submissions each week. Only a fraction of those submission will be even considered for representation, so they weed their pile by dumping those that have been submitted incorrectly. An incorrect submission includes sending an entire manuscript, sending a cover letter with no synopsis, typing in a font that is too small or embellished or on colored paper … the list goes on. Read the market books to get an idea of the format.

Are you shopping for an agent?

Feel free to comment with any questions or experiences you may have.


NOTE: I love reading your e-mails, but if you feel like going public, I would appreciate your comments on this blog. Any information you share may help someone else. You can write about writing, parenting, military spouse issues - anything that interests you.

To Agent or Not To Agent

Many new writers are getting into the self-publishing business. Through companies such as Author House and iUniverse, people with something to say have an easy way to say it. They simply write their book, pay the publisher, and get it out there. Of course, this is the simplified version that does not mention the revision process and all of the customer service some of these publishers offer, and it is all good stuff. The problem is who is going to read these self-published books? Where are they going to sell?

If you want to write something for the family to read, just want to see your name in print, or are producing a cookbook for a fundraising event, then self-publishing is a good idea. I attended a seminar presented by iUniverse at an ASJA conference a few years ago and discovered I could re-print my back listed novel for my readership, but why would I?

At the risk of offending self-published authors, or the self-publishers, authors need an agent. Yes, I sold my first book without an agent, but that was a fluke. A new small publisher requested it, and then accepted the book. I did not receive an advance, nor did I get much of a royalty check later. The result was that a publisher who chose good books published my first novel. They marketed to a degree, but being small, they could not do everything with their small staff. I ended up doing much of the marketing myself, which was fun, but left me little time to write the next book.

If I had an agent, it would have played out much different. After doing the “marketing” of my work and myself in order to snag an agent, I would have started writing the next book. Yes, I would have had to stop for revisions along the way after the editor got hold of it, but someone else would have been shopping the book to the big publishers. You know the ones with the royalty checks and advances not to mention the space on the bookstore shelves? Moreover, because my book would have been presented to a publisher by an agent and not by an individual author (known as an “unsolicited” manuscript), it would have headed to the publisher with a seal of authenticity. In other words, the publisher would know that the book is good and not fraught with typos, misinformation and bad writing. They cannot know that if you have published the book by paying someone to do so.

“So how do I get an agent?” you ask. You will have to tune in next week for an answer to that question. In the meantime, answer one of my questions.

Have you self-published a book?

Tell me about it. In the meantime, keep writing the next one.

Rosemary