In some ways, acquisitions is the gateway to publishing. Acquisitions Editors are the gatekeepers. Sorting through slush piles of proposals and sample chapters from new writers. Here’s another question from a young editor.
3. I feel like I would like to do acquisitions. How would I get into it?
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You could probably break into acquisitions in New York. I’ve been told that the big publishing houses love to hire new editors and pay them very little while they learn how to edit and acquire manuscripts.
Since many of us are already in that position (of getting paid very little), why not give it a shot? What do we have to lose?
And talk about opportunities for professional development! New York is oozing with writing groups and workshops like Gotham City Writing Workshop and Columbia University and New York University and a million other free cultural events.
If you don’t want to move to New York, I completely understand. Maybe you can visit a friend there? Take the ultra cheap trip. Sleep on the sofa. And do nothing but free stuff.
Last time I was in New York, I checked Time Out Magazine and discovered that Cherry Jones and BrÃan F. O’Byrne were performing a free reading of Walt Whitman’s poetry. At the time, they were starring in the play, Doubt, that went on to win a Tony for best drama. I went to the church where they were reading. Sat on the front row. And wept as Brian O’Byrne read excerpts from Song of Myself and “The Mystic Trumpeter.”
My wife wants me to remind you that I’m not some kind of super sensitive guy. I just get emotional about poetry instead of sports. See, other guys sit on the couch and drink a beer and watch the game and say, “Uh huh. Uh huh†when their wives try to talk to them. I do the same thing, only I’m reading poetry instead of watching the game.
Back to the Whitman reading. It was completely free.
And one of the best tutorials in poetry and voice that I’ve ever experienced.
Of course, if you don’t live in New York, moving there might be a bit extreme. How can you break into editing without going to New York?
Most universities have lit mags. You could volunteer. You could volunteer at the local newspaper for a summer internship. Or get a job with the local newspaper as a copy editor. Start at the bottom and move up.
If you are a volunteer, you run the risk of not being valued because your services are free. So you would have to really walk with confidence in order for that to work. But it could work.
Whatever you decide, time and persistence will get you where you want to go. It’s just a matter of how badly you want to get there.
I really believe that. You can do anything if you want it bad enough.
“Anything?†you ask. “Yeah, right.â€
I’m serious. But there are two big sticking points.
First, the thing I think I want is often not the thing I want. I can’t tell you how many people I know who say they want to be writers—but they never write. See, those people don’t really want to be writers. They want to be admired maybe. They want to be book signers maybe. (Why? who knows.) They certainly want to receive royalty checks. But they don’t love sentences. They don’t love metaphors. They don’t love writing alone in a room for hours.
Second, sometimes I am not willing to do what it takes to become the thing I want. That’s the situation I’m in now. Sure, I really really want to publish a book. But in order to do that, I would have to steal time from my family. And I’m not willing to do that right now. I’m content to say, “Maybe later.â€
That kind of thinking will probably turn into a mid-life crisis. We’ll see. Maybe a mid-life crisis is just the moment when our family doesn’t need us as intently, and we can pursue the dreams that we shelved for awhile.
And, you know, some dreams aren’t worth the cost. In folk tales, you can meet the devil at the crossroads to make a deal. Only that’s not a folk tale. The devil will give you what you want if you are willing to do anything for it.
Cut corners. Cheat clients. Sleep with the boss. Sleep with the director. The world is filled with people who cheat to get what they want.
If you want something badly enough, you can get it that way, too.
But it’s not worth it.
15 comments ↓
I meet lots of people who want me to give them ten easy secrets to getting published. If only that were true. Or maybe it is:
I spent TEN YEARS writing before I had a single publishing credit. The five books I have out now came out in the last two years, but they took a generation to birth. During those ten years, my children were young, so my main role was to love them and play with them. Now that they’re in school, I have time to write.
I created deadlines for myself. And I was ruthless about meeting them. This discipline helps me tremendously right now.
My advice? Labor in obscurity, long enough to know the literary world doesn’t hinge on your very words. Write or edit for free. Get your feet wet. Accept lots and lots of critique. Be humble and teachable.
I like your last point. I think that we writers can face a subtle form of “cheating.” And that’s to write what we believe an audience wants to hear, rather than being prophetic. Or it’s to write in a style we think an audience will be comfortable with, rather than stepping out and experimenting. I’m not saying we writers are always called to be non-conventional, but sometimes we surely are… and the question is whether or not we will cheat in that moment, that season.
LL, I heartily agree!!
Mark, I think I qualify as a writer, lol! I love grammer, I love discovering a jewel of a word, and I get the greatest thrill out of a piece of blank paper and a pen! (Craver, I can hear your brain’s gears whirring….).
Oh, by the way, I’m at 30,866 words on my first 6 chapters of my rough draft-hurray!!
“Sure, I really really want to publish a book. But in order to do that, I would have to steal time from my family. And I’m not willing to do that right now. I’m content to say, “Maybe later.â€
That kind of thinking will probably turn into a mid-life crisis. We’ll see. Maybe a mid-life crisis is just the moment when our family doesn’t need us as intently, and we can pursue the dreams that we shelved for awhile.”
This is a great thought! Thank you for putting words to how I feel about writing right now.
I wonder what you heard, Eve. (tapping forehead) I got nothin.
It sounds like good sense to labor in obscurity for a while, as Mary suggests. A few might not break free from obscurity, but it’s probably worse if multitudes make their voice heard too soon.
LL, do you think that the distinction between the diplomat and the hypocrite sometimes gets a little fuzzy?
Mary, “Labor in obscurity” ? Wow. That’s tough. And great advice.
(What about all the movies where people write books in the end and the publishing process is like some bizarre deus ex machina? Do you mean that’s not how it works?)
You also said, “Write or edit for free.” A nice reminder to me in particular. Two presses at BEA suggested I edit a book on spec, so they could test my skills. I guess it’s something like an internship by project.
Eve, congrats on the incredible progress! Over 30,000 words is definitely something to celebrate. And the pieces of draft I’ve seen read very well. Bravo!
L.L., excellent point about the ways we cheat ourselves and our stories. The story must be true to itself–whether nonfiction or fiction. I agree with you that many writers are called to be prophets. The problem is that prophets don’t get group hugs.
Craver, you lost me on the diplomat and hypocrite. I understood the empty head joke, though.
Karen, thanks for the comment. I’m glad I could offer some encouragement. To be honest, I’m a little worried about the whole mid-life thing. I have a midland accent by the way. A “non accent” apparently. And I suspect I’m a literary or drama nerd, but that quiz was too long.
Great thoughts and comments.
It kind of reminds me of the sports arena…pro-athletes are sometimes criticized for their bargaining and attitudes about their already exorbitant salaries with the comment, “If they really loved to play the game they’d play for free.”
As you mentioned, it’s not that it’s bad to receive payment for doing something you love, but would you still do it if you got paid nothing…just because you loved it so much (or had the irresistible urge to do it)?
Not to mention, ultimately it’s God’s glory we’re seeking through our writing. We can’t put limits or specifications like publishing or circulation numbers on that. We have to let Him work as He sees fit.
Thanks, Mark!
Mark, loved that link about prophets!
And, Craver, I think I struggle with that line. Somehow my particular writing gifts take me in the direction of “prophet,” yet my audiences seem to stay with me because I can also be diplomatic (oh, not in real life… just in my writing!)… am I sometimes too diplomatic? Maybe. Does that make me a hypocrite? Maybe. Or maybe it just makes me a coward or a sloth.
Tina, you are so right about not measuring success based on circulation numbers. Many of my favorite poets never published or were publishing disasters during their lifetimes.
And now English students across the country study their work as some of the best poetry ever written in our language.
As a writer, I need to constantly remind myself to trust God’s will for my life and my work. And God’s timing.
As much as I’d like to be God, it’s a very good thing that I’m not.
Mark, the diplomat and hypocrite was in reference to LL’s comment about “what we believe an audience wants to hear, rather than being prophetic.” I struggle with it whenever I want to say something that I believe is right, but have to retype it because the method of communication is sin-laden with abrasiveness. Conversely, when I must warn someone of their sin and its consequences, it can come across too soft… more like an apology than admonishment.
Generally speaking, Earl Palmer is right. Prophets don’t get group hugs.
LL, your writing is exempliary! It comes across as a writer with a tender heart who genuinely cares both for the truth as well as the people who need to hear it.
Craver. Thank you. That is a wonderful compliment (and now I know I can never meet you in person, because I am more exemplary in print than I am in sandals.)
“For whatever boasts I made to him about you, I was not put to shame. But just as everything we said to you was true, so also our boasting before Titus has proved true. And his affection for you is even greater, as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling. I rejoice, because I have perfect confidence in you. 2 Cor. 7:14-16
*laugh* I didn’t expect a response to my comment, or (especially) for you to visit my blog… and that you visited on a quiz day!!! *blush* I’m a little too fond of those quizzes.
As far as mid-life? I think it’s a good thing to rethink goals and aspirations. The fact that we are expected to do so later in life may actually deprive the youth of the nation, as they don’t labor beneath the expectation that they should reevaluate more often. Of course, the general expectation is that mid-life crisis will cost ’someone’ a lot of money. It’s traditional to ‘finally’ be selfish once we’re done figuring everything out, and the economy runs on selfishness. With God’s help you won’t be so deluded.
Now forgive me for tossing in so much extra change.