The past two Saturdays I taught a two-part writing revision workshop. Here are some quotes I shared with the class.


“The beautiful part of writing is that you don’t have to get it right the first time, unlike, say a brain surgeon.”
Robert Cormier


"There is a difference between a book of 200 pages from the very beginning and a book of 200 pages which is the result of an original 800 pages. The 600 pages are there. Only you don’t see them."
Elie Wiesel, in “The Writer’s Chapbook”


"I looked at the stone and removed all that was not David."
Michelangelo, about his statue of David

My Long Journey to a Book Contract

Part 2:

In spring 2007, I completed my first mystery novel A Deadly Fall. After five drafts, I prepared to query publishers and agents. The story is set in Calgary and my preference was to publish in Canada.

My preparations began at a Writers Union of Canada one-day presentation on publishing. The presenters offered advice on manuscript submissions and query letters and a list of reputable Canadian agents. At home, I checked the agents’ websites and found a half dozen who were receptive to both unsolicited submissions and mystery genre books. I got my list of potential publishers from the Crime Writers of Canada website. That spring, they listed all the books submitted for the Arthur Ellis Awards, with authors’ and publishers’ names.

Large Canadian presses don’t have submission guidelines on their websites, since they don’t officially accept unsolicited submissions. They also don’t mention their editors’ names, probably so they won’t be flooded with queries from aspiring writers. The WU presenters said the big presses secretly comb the slush pile, not wanting to miss the next hot thing. They recommended sending a query letter and the novel’s first three chapters to the appropriate editor. I found those editors by going to the library and bookstores and studying the acknowledgements in the Arthur Ellis nominees’ books.

Small Canadian presses generally welcome submissions and post guidelines on their websites. Typically, they want a synopsis and the first few chapters, although some request the entire manuscript from the start.

My next step was to draft a query letter. People say this letter is vitally important. I modelled mine on the WU presenters’ sample, ran it by friends and scrutinized every word.

In June, 2007, I mailed my first batch of queries – to five large or medium-sized Canadian publishers and one agent. Three weeks later I received a request for the full manuscript from the agent. Wow. I was on my way. Four months later the agent sent an encouraging letter rejecting my novel. She liked the book, but felt new mystery writers were too hard a sell and had a few problems with my story. Her critique led me to make another, minor, revision before sending out more submissions.

I continued querying agents and publishers in batches and received form rejections and rejections with positive comments. Many publishers and agents did not reply. A second agent asked for the manuscript. She also liked the book but felt Canadian publishers weren’t buying mysteries from new authors. I entered unpublished mystery novel contests and didn’t place. I discovered more possible publishers through sources like Quill and Quire magazine. In July-Aug, 2008, I queried my 14th to 17th publishers. In November, one of them requested my manuscript – my first publisher’s request after almost a year and half of querying. In January, 2009, I got a request from Publisher Number 17, TouchWood Editions.

Statistically, publisher’s requests have about a 10 percent chance of leading to a contract. During the coming months, I queried 10 more publishers, knowing some were extreme long-shots. I sent e-mail follow-ups to the publishers who had my manuscript. An editor I’d sent it to unsolicited said he was passing it along to his publisher. I had a third faint hope.

In January 2010, I received an e-mail from Ruth Linka, the publisher of TouchWood Editions. She asked if my novel was still available and said she wanted to give the manuscript to another reader. I was too afraid to hope and knew my novel could go down to a final meeting, where it would be passed over for someone else’s.

I felt I was down to the wire with Canadian presses. I had tried all the ones I knew of that might conceivably publish my mystery novel - 26 in total. I expected to know by spring if my three hopes would fall through and came up with a Plan B: Revise the novel and try the US and British market. I was not looking forward to this.

In March, I went to Australia on holiday. Three days after I left, Ruth Linka called my home. The following week she e-mailed, asking for a convenient time to phone me. It took a week for me to get these messages and longer to find a suitable time to phone her from Australia. She made an offer to publish my novel. I was thrilled to say yes.

Back home, it all seems to be happening so quickly. I signed the contract with TouchWood this week. Next week, Ruth will put me in e-mail touch with my editor and in-house promotions person. I’ll be spending the summer editing and the year after that gearing up for the book launch.

It has been a long, hard eighteen years that don’t feel so bad now that they’re over. There were many times I felt like quitting, felt my writing didn’t measure up and felt I’d never get here. What kept me going, I think, is that I enjoy the writing process. I like sitting in my room making up stories. I like going over and over them to develop their meaning and make them come across to others. I like learning techniques to make my writing and stories better.

I also enjoy the social aspect – attending writing group sessions and gatherings and classes, meeting fellow writers and making new friends.

Now, I’ll enjoy the social part of giving readings, presenting at festivals and conferences and, I hope, connecting my stories to readers.

Great news: In April, I got a call from TouchWood Editions. They made a novel to publish my novel A Deadly Fall. I signed the contract in May. It took me years of hard work and pursuing publishers to get there. Here is Part One of that story.

My Long Journey to a Book Contract

Part 1:

Nineteen years ago, I decided to become a writer. Aside from letters and term papers, I hadn’t written anything since high school. I plunged into a semi-autobiographical novel I expected to finish in a few months. Within a few years, I knew it would hit the bestseller lists.

It didn’t work out that way.

I quickly realized I had a lot to learn about writing and enrolled in Concordia University continuing education courses in Creative Writing and Magazine Writing. For the latter, we had to write an article and query letter targeted to a magazine or newspaper. At the time, I was living in Montreal and was an avid reader of The Montreal Gazette newspaper travel section. I wrote a travel piece about the Calgary Stampede, which I had visited the previous summer, and sent my query to The Gazette travel editor.

I sweated his reply. Two months passed. Why was he taking so long? One night, while I was at a school parent committee meeting, the editor phoned. He wanted to publish my article. I couldn’t stop smiling for a week. This writing-thing had been the right choice. It was going to be easy.

I queried magazines with other travel article ideas. And received rejections. I wrote a short story and sent it to a literary magazine. Rejected. I started two murder mystery novels and abandoned them after a couple of chapters.

A short story I started morphed into a novel. A year later I had a first draft – 1,000 pages. Even I could see that was a tad long for a first book. I ruthlessly cut it in half.

My husband’s job transfer took me to Calgary, where I discovered a thriving writing community. I joined the Calgary Writers’ Association (now defunct) and the Alexandra Writers’ Centre Society, where I took courses and later served as president. I became a member of the Writers’ Guild of Alberta and Mystery Writers’ INK. All of these groups taught me much about the writing craft, offered tips on getting publishing and brought me into contact with fellow writers. Many have offered support and advice over the years and become valued friends.

All this time, I worked on my novel in workshops, classes and critique groups. I radically revised it, polished it up and sent it out to the publishing world.

No one was interested.

Discouraged, I turned to short stories, which I could finish in a much shorter period. My plan was to publish some for recognition and a feeling of accomplishment. The plan worked, albeit slowly. I kept sending my stories out, receiving rejections, sending them elsewhere. Gradually a number were accepted. Each acceptance gave me a mental boost. My story credits lead to an offer to teach writing courses at the Alexandra Writers’ Centre, an activity I thoroughly enjoy. They also provided a track record that became a selling point down the road when I queried publishers about my murder mystery novel.

I started the mystery novel in the fall of 2003 and finished the first draft by Christmas. The following summer I brought the first two chapters to a one week workshop with author Fred Stenson at the Alexandra Writers’ Centre. Fred and the class attacked my work. I wound up with a tighter, much improved opening. A fall novel course at the AWCS with author Eileen Coughlan gave me direction for the rest of the book. I wrote the second draft and took a few middle chapters to The Sage Hill Writing Experience Fiction Workshop with Steven Galloway, a literary writer who believes in the importance of plot. My Sage Hill critiques propelled me into draft number three. When I finished it, I considered beginning queries, but something about the book didn’t feel right. I registered for a Booming Ground online mentorship with Lawrence Hill, another author who values plot. After a gruelling year of work I had the book I wanted. I did a fifth draft based on comments by Hill and friends who had read the manuscript. I was ready to query agents and publishers.

And three months fly.

This is fun: Looking for a book to read next? Check out www.bookseer.com to find a book to suit your personal tastes.