Poets & Writers Magazine presents the one book that every writer needs on the journey from the writing studio to publication. An essential volume from an organization renowned for providing reliable advice, The Practical Writer is filled with valuable information that will help emerging writers make intelligent choices and professional decisions at every stage of their careers. Filled with the insights and expertise of authors and other publishing insiders, it covers a range of topics: revising a manuscript, choosing a title, applying for grants, conducting research, evaluating an agent, understanding contracts, working with an editor, finding a literary community, promoting a book, and much more. With The Practical Writer, writers will know how to make the most of every aspect of their journey.

Introduction

From Inspiration to Publication

The poet Alberto Rios came by the offices of Poets & Writers Magazine several years ago, visiting from Arizona State University, where he teaches. He had come to town to participate in a tribute to the New Generation of Mexican Poets, a trip that coincided with one of the World Series Championship parades New York City hosted in the ‘90s. When we saw him he was toting Yankee caps and T-shirts, and he told us a story about the first game he had attended at Yankee Stadium, twenty years before. The Kansas City Royals were hot then; some where in the middle innings George Brett connected with a pitch that sent a ball arcing toward the upper deck where the young poet sat. Rios described the suspended moment he shared with the ball: So perfect was its trajectory, he knew without doubt that he could have caught it simply by opening his mouth. He and the ball were one…until a jumble of fans intervened.

That story has stayed with us since, in part because of the poet’s enviable ability to build a monument to a moment, and in part because the arc that baseball traveled describes the trajectory a writer travels to bring a creative work into being: from the private moment of communion between author and idea to the sometimes frustrated process of making the work public. The Practical Writer: From Inspiration to Publication is intended to ease some of the difficulties writers can encounter in transit, but even more important, to help writers recognize the value of each stage of the journey. Certainly publication is part of the writing process, but it is by no means the only worthwhile aspect of it. A writer who values the creative process, who never loses the awe of bringing something new into existence, who understands that the silence of the writing studio is as meaningful as the buzz of a publication party, that writer is one who will lead a rewarding literary life.

The Practical Writer is divided into five sections, five points on the arc a writer travels from inspiration through marketing and publication. In the first section, “Concepts of Craft,” you’ll find seven essays on imagination’s many forms. Helen Benedict, a journalism professor at Columbia University, tells how it is possible to get closer to the truth by writing fiction than by writing fact. The poet Gregory Orr explains how he turned to memoir after thirty years of writing lyric poetry—and why. Journalist Michael Depp makes an eloquent case for the elegant essay, following what Howard Norman calls “the meandering line of clarifying thought.” In an, er, revealing essay, former director of the University of Houston’s creative writing program Julie Checkoway shares what she learned about narrative from a Victoria’s Secret catalogue. Fiction writer David Long writes about the power of specificity in his article “Stuff.” In his essay on revision, poet Jeffrey Skinner addresses the creativity that emerges between drafts. And novelist Nicholas Weinstock writes about the trouble both he and F. Scott Fitzgerald had with titles.

The second section, “Initial Contact,” focuses on getting your short stories and poems off your desk and onto someone else’s. First, David Hamilton, editor of the Iowa Review, offers a proposal for knowing when a story or poem is done (don’t stick a fork in it). Amy Holman, the former publishing seminars director for Poets & Writers, Inc., advises on submission strategy, protocol, and the best ways to avoid making it easy for an editor to reject your work. Natalie Danford, series editor for Best New American Voices, reviews the range of literary and little magazines that are accepting new work from new writers, and surveys contests that are important to enter. Poets & Writers Magazine contributing editor Joanna Smith Rakoff provides a comprehensive over view of the glossies—the eight high-circulation magazines that pay a living wage to fiction writers. Atlantic Monthly (one of the eight) editor C. Michael Curtis lets you in on important advice on how to read the rejection letters you will inevitably collect (no good writer escapes them). Scott Bane, an expert on nonprofit foundations, helps you apply for a grant.

The essays in section three, “Building Your Team,” address the best ways to work well with publishing professionals. Literary agent Noah Lukeman offers a step-by-step guide on how to land an agent for your manuscript. The general counsel for the Authors Guild, Kay Murray, walks you through a book contract so that you understand what you are signing…and what you shouldn’t sign. Betsy Lerner, agent, former editor, and author of The Forest for the Trees: An Editor’s Advice to Writers, has a clear sight line on what a writer should expect from an editor, as well as what not to expect. Publisher and writer Sol Stein (Stein on Writing) dispels the myth of the “midlist” author, and offers an insider’s perspective on why it was created in the first place. Michael Taeckens, publicity director of Algonquin Books, lays out a publicity primer for new authors—ways to help your publisher’s publicist, and ways to make her job really, really hard. A consultant to booksellers across the country and abroad, Kate Whouley wrote the book—Manual on Bookselling (ABA, 1996)—on the subject. In her article, she instructs authors on how to make friends with bookstore owners and managers, a writer’s most direct link to people who buy books. Novelist and publishing journalist M. J.   Rose explores the gray area between what your editor and publicist are saying and what they really mean.

The whole point of publishing is to go public, right? Well, the essays in section four offer strategies to make the most of meeting your public, and tell you what to do when you’re face to face, or when they are in your face online. Story Line Press publisher Robert McDowell writes about tactics small press authors and poets (those who don’t have big publicity machines behind them) can use. Journalist Catherine Wald helps you organize an online publicity campaign. Jacqueline Deval, a book publicity expert with more than twenty years’ experience at four major houses, walks you through the etiquette of a bookstore reading and signing. Poet Tom Bradley has tips on how to read with conviction. R. Eirik Ott takes an indie approach on selling his poems.

Section five offers essays on jobs in the field. Rebecca Wolff, founding editor of Fence, narrates the little-pay, lots-of-reward undertaking of starting a literary journal. Guy Shahar, founding editor of the Cortland Review, does the same, but for an online-only journal. Fran Gordon, founder of the PAGE reading series at the National Arts Club in New York, discusses how to do something similar where you live. Novelist Melvin Jules Bukiet, who was surprised to find himself proprietor of the KGB Bar, writes about how it became a literary watering hole. Novelist Hilma Wolitzer, a teacher of creative writing for thirty years, shares her secret of giving your own work primacy, even when you’re busy with the work of your students.

The appendices are also full of important information for writers. Every page confirms that there is a national network of writers, a community waiting for you to join—through conferences, workshops, literary journals, small presses, and national and regional literary organizations.

Poets & Writers Magazine (originally called Coda) has been helping emerging and established writers since the 1970s. Its readers—a literary lineage that includes Billy Collins, Rita Dove, Clarence Major, and William Styron—know it as the only comprehensive clearinghouse for pertinent, trustworthy, and legitimate information about publishing and grant opportunities. Its writers—those whose articles have distinguished the magazine—come from all walks of literary life. Many of them are established poets, novelists, and essayists; others are agents, editors, and publishers.

The Practical Writer gathers the guidance thirty-one writers offer from various vantage points on the trajectory of the writer’s life. Collectively, their essays address much of the experience, observation, and insight that has helped shape the national literary community and conversation, both of which we hope you’ll join. We also hope their words provide good company along the sometimes lonely, often puzzling, al ways rewarding journey of a committed writer.

—Therese Eiben, Mary Gannon,

and the staff of Poets & Writers Magazine

Acknowledgments        vii

Introduction: From Inspiration to Publication      xiii

SECTION I

Concepts of Craft: Imagination’s Many Forms

Fiction vs. Nonfiction: Wherein Lies the Truth?

Helen Benedict 3

Paths and Pearls: A Poet Ponders Memoir and Lyric

Gregory Orr      10

On Essays, Literature’s Most Misunderstood Form

Michael Depp   19

The Lingerie Theory of Narration

Julie Checkoway           25

Stuff: The Power of the Tangible

David Long       33

Push Hands: Balancing Resistance and Revision

Jeffrey Skinner  44

The Trouble with Titles

Nicholas Weinstock       50

SECTION 2

Initial Contact: Getting Your Work off Your Desk and onto Someone Else’s

Loose Bottoms: On Becoming Ready to Send Your Work Out

David Hamilton 57

Submission Strategy and Protocol

Amy Holman    62

Little and Literary

Natalie Danford            67

The Glossies

Joanna Smith Rakoff     73

How to Read Rejection

C. Michael Curtis          83

How to Get a Grant

Scott Bane        93

SECTION 3

Building Your Team: How to Work Well with Publishing Professionals

How to Land an Agent: Strategies for the Search

Noah Lukeman 105

Negotiate Your First Book Contract Without Losing Your Deal, Your Future, or Your Mind

Kay Murray      118

Editor Etiquette

Betsy Lerner     129

Midlist and Other Fictions

Sol Stein           .135

Publicity Primer

Michael Taeckens         I 43

How to Win Friends and Influence Booksellers

Kate Whouley   50

How Lucky Can You Get…and Other Things No One Tells You

M. J.  Rose       157

SECTION 4

Meeting Your Public (and Getting Them to Buy Your Book)

Publicity for Your Small Press Title

Robert McDowell          167

Techno Promo: Are You Ready for Digital Marketing?

Catherine Wald 175

Bookstore Appearances and Speaking Engagements

Jacqueline Deval           182

How to Give a Rousing Reading

Tom Bradley     189

Slam Your Way Across America

R. Eirik Ott       195

SECTION 5   

Jobs in the Field: Lots of Reward, Little Pay

So You Want to Start a Literary Magazine?

Rebecca Wolff  203

Editing Lit Mags Online

Guy Shahar       213

How to Start a Reading Series

Fran Gordon      218

Tales of a Literary Saloon Keeper

Melvin Jules Bukiet       225

Balancing Act: Teaching Creative Writing

Hilma Wolitzer 231

Afterword

Why I Write    

Robert Phillips   237

Appendices

Grants & Awards         247

Conferences & Residencies      311

Resources for Writers   333

Notes on Contributors  345

About Poets & Writers, Inc.     351

Index    357

“The Practical Writer is a superb companion for the writing life, gathering to gether in one volume the best possible guidance for writers. Loaded with down-to-earth advice and insights, it covers just about everything from the mystery of the creative act to the mystery of publication.” —Sue Monk Kidd, author of The Secret Life of Bees

“Think of The Practical Writer as a five-star writers’ conference, minus the salad bar and the steep enrollment fee. It anticipates and serves the needs of the beginner, the scribe just entering the publishing maze, and the seasoned veteran of the printed word. Along with sound advice on the craft and busi ness of writing, it has helpful appendices that give poets and prose writers leads on grants, resources, and safe harbors. The Practical Writer is solid, serviceable, and valuable—a treasure trove.” —Wally Lamb, author of She’s Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True

“The information and insights here will help you win a writer’s best rewards. And because the book comes from Poets & Writers, you can rely on it for good reading as well as valuable advice.” —Judith Appelbaum, author of How to Get Happily Published and managing director of Sensible Solutions, Inc.

“It a gem of a guide! The advice it offers is wise and realistic. I wish it had been around when I began my writing career.” —Susan Isaacs, author of Shining Through and Long Time No See

“An ‘up periscope’ onto myriad aspects of the writers’ world, The Practical Writer will prove an essential addition to any writer’s library. A wonderful companion in the trenches, for pro and tyro alike.” —Janet Fitch, author of White Oleander

Notes on Contributors

Scott Bane, a writer, is a manager of the Community Justice Program at the JEHT Foundation in New York City

Helen Benedict is the author of three novels, A World Like This (Dutton, 1990), Bad Angel (Plume, 1997), and The Sailor’s Wife (Zoland, 2000), as well as four books of nonfiction. She is a professor of journal ism at Columbia University

Torn Bradley is a novelist living in Nagasaki, Japan. His work has appeared in McSweeney’s, Exquisite Corpse, Nthposition, as well as on the Web sites Salon.com and Arts & Letters Daily. Excerpts and reviews of his books, plus recordings of his rousing readings, can be found at tombradley.org.

Melvin Jules Bukiet is the author of seven books of fiction, most recently Strange Fire (WW. Norton, 2001) and A Faker’s Dozen (Norton, 2003). He teaches at Sarah Lawrence College.

Julie Checkoway is the author of two books, Little Sister: Searching for the Shadow World of Chinese Women (Viking, 1996) and Creating Fiction (Story Press, 1999). A recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, Checkoway has published work in the New York Times, on NPR, and in many anthologies. She lives in Houston with her husband and daughter.

C. Michael Curtis is a senior editor at the Atlantic Monthly, where he has edited fiction and nonfiction articles for more than thirty years.

Natalie Danford is coeditor of the Best New American Voices series (Harvest/Harcourt). Her reviews and articles have appeared on the Web site Salon.com as well as in the Washington Post, Boston Globe, and Publishers Weekly, among other publications.

Michael Depp writes for Reuters and has contributed to The Chronicle of Higher Education, Food & Wine, Time Out, The Dictionary of Literary Biography, and many other publications, as well as public radio. He teaches at Tulane University.

Jacqueline Deval, publisher of Hearst Books, formerly worked as director of publicity for several publishing houses, including William Morrow, Villard, Doubleday, and the Book-of-the-Month Club. She is the author of Publicize Your Book! (Perigee, 2003), from which her article in The Practical Writer was excerpted. To read more about her book, or to contact her, visit www.publicizeyourbook.com.

Fran Gordon is the author of the novel Paisley Girl (St. Martin’s, 1999), a finalist for Quality Paperback Book Club’s New Voices Award in 2000. She directs the National Arts Club’s PAGE reading series and teaches creative writing at the New School and Fairleigh Dickinson.

David Hamilton is the author of Deep River: A Memoir of a Missouri Farm (University of Missouri Press, 2001) and the chapbook The Least Hinge (Frith Press, 2002). Other poems and essays have appeared from time to time in various magazines. Since 1978, he has been the editor of the Iowa Review.

Amy Holman has taught more than 700 writers how to publish, pitch, and promote their poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction in her position as director of Publishing Seminars at Poets & Writers, Inc. She is also a contributor to “The Artist’s Toolbox” on the National Endowment for the Arts Web site and to Making the Perfect Pitch (The Writer Books, 2004). Her poetry has been in The Best American Poetry 1999 and twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Betsy Lerner has an MFA in poetry from Columbia University. She worked as an editor for twelve years at various trade publishing houses before becoming an agent with the Gernert Company. She is the author of The Forest for the Trees: An Editor’s Advice to Writers (Riverhead, 2000) and Food and Loathing: A Lament (Simon & Schuster, 2003).

David Long’s most recent novel is The Daughters of Simon Lamoreaux (Scribner, 2000). He lives in Tacoma, Washington.

Noah Lukeman is a New York-based literary agent and author of the best-sellers The First Five Pages (Simon & Schuster, 1999) and The Plot Thickens (St. Martin’s Press, 2002), recently published in paperback. To read a sample chapter, or to contact him, visit www.lukeman.com/theplotthickens.

Robert McDowell, a poet, is the publisher of Story Line Press.

Kay Murray is general counsel and assistant director of the Authors Guild, the nation’s largest organization of published authors. She is also the executive editor of the Authors Guild Bulletin, a quarterly publication of business and legal advice.

Gregory Orr teaches at the University of Virginia. He is the author of eight books of poetry, the most recent of which is The Caged Owl: New and Selected Poems (Copper Canyon Press, 2002). He is also the author of a memoir, The Blessing (Council Oak Books, 2002), and a book on lyric poetry, Poetry as Survival (University of Georgia, 2002).

R. Eirik Ott was recently featured on national television as part of HBO’s showcase Def Poetry and as part of Black Entertainment Television’s comedy/variety show The Way We Do It. His chapbook series The Wussy Boy Chronicles was nominated to the Utne Reader’s Best of the Alternative Press Awards 2000. He was a member of the 1999 San Francisco Poetry Slam Team, which was a co-champion of the 1999 Poetry Slam in Chicago.

Robert Phillips is the author and editor of more than thirty-two books of poetry fiction, and criticism. His honors include an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts’ and Letters. He has been director of the Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston, where he is currently the John & Rebecca Moores Professor of English. Most recently he published The Madness of Art: Interviews with Poets and Writers (Syracuse University Press, 2003).

Joanna Smith Rakoff is a contributing editor of Poets & Writers Magazine. She writes frequently on books and authors for the New York Times, Vogue, Newsday, and many other publications.

M.J. Rose (www.mjrose.com) is the author of Flesh Tones (Ballantine Books, 2002) and Sheet Music (Ballantine Books, 2003) and more than 150 articles on the publishing industry.

Guy Shahar is the editor in chief of the Cortland Review (www.cortlandreview.com), an online literary magazine founded in 1997. He works as the sole Interactive Project Engineer at Ogilvy Interactive, where he leads the display technology team in the development of Web sites. He lives in New York City.

Jeffrey Skinner’s latest collection of poems, Gender Studies, was published by Miami University Press in 2002.

Sol Stein was publisher and editor in chief of Stein and Day for twenty- seven years. Two of the books he edited and published were chosen for inclusion in Modem Library’s list of The 100 Best Books of the Century. He is the author of Stein on Writing (St. Martin’s, 1995), nine novels, and the computer programs for writers WritePro® and FictionMaster® (www.writepro.com). His article “Midlist and Other Fictions” is derived in part from How to Grow a Novel, published by St. Martin’s Press in 1999.

Michael Taeckens received his MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Work shop. He currently works as publicity director at Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, a division of Workman Publishing.

Catherine Wald is the author of The Resilient Writer: Tales of Rejection and Triumph from 20 Top Authors (Persea Books, 2004). She can be contacted through www.writerwald.com and www.rejectioncollection.com.

Nicholas Weinstock’s writing has been featured on National Public Radio and in the New York Times Magazine, Vogue, Glamour, US, Elle, Out, and Ladies’ Home Journal, among other publications. He is the author most recently of the novel As Long as She Needs Me (Harper Collins, 2001). Weinstock lives in New York City with his wife, the writer Amanda Beesley, and their two children.

Kate Whouley works with booksellers across the U.S. and abroad on a variety of projects, from designing new stores and store expansions to advising bookstore owners on operational and financial matters. A frequent contributor to book industry publications, Whouley edited the fifth edition of Manual on Bookselling (American Booksellers Association, 1996) and is the series editor for the American Booksellers Association’s Fundamentals of Bookselling.

Rebecca Wolff is the editor and publisher of Fence and Fence Books. She is the author of two books of poems, Manderley (University of Illinois Press, 2001) and Figment (WW. Norton, 2004).

Hilma Wolitzer has written several novels, including Ending (William Morrow & Company, 1974), Hearts (FSG, 1980), and Silver (FSG, 1988), and a book on the craft of fiction, The Company of Writers: Fiction Workshops and Thoughts on the Writing Life (Penguin, 2001). She has taught at the Bread Loaf Writers Conference, Columbia University, the University of Iowa Writers Workshop, and many other universities.