"If this were the last night of the world..."...and How to Find a Literary Agent!

Well, I am going to to all out here in these final hours before "The End of the World as We Know It," yeah, right and I'm going to give you a long-winded and Pepsi Throwback/Goya Decaf induced frenzy that has become the past several days.

As per the usual, my iTunes will chime in with its offerings...just finished the lovely first movement of Joe Jackson's "Symphony."  Right straight into Nick Moss & the Flip Top's "You Got to Lose."  

So first of all, the initial part of my title for this blog is taken from Bruce Cockburn's wonderful "Last Night of the World."  I suggest you find it and give it a listen.  It's really a beautiful song.

Tomorrow night is the Winter Solstice; Yule for those in my dual tradition.  For many more it is the end of the world, or rather they'll wake up in the morning and go, "Hey, wha'happened?" or whatever it is they'll do.

I could go on forever about these loons, but I won't.  They are not worth my time.

Anyway...December 21st for me shall be spent with good friends, many of whom I've not seen in too long.  So if indeed it is the last night of the world Friday night, I shall be amongst friends.

So what has been going on of late...well, I have been furiously working to finish a long-overdue edit of Volume 3 of the "Sweet Dreams Series," subtitled, "Tougher than the Rest."  The first two of the series are now as ready as they will ever be; the third, I don't know yet.  I need to read over the mad pace I set for myself this week.

Writing is never really finished; I have been advised by friends to not refine anymore, but you know, it's something that is different for each individual.  I am one who feels these stories are my children, and while I can't say how they're going to do in the world, I have to give them my best so they can be their best.

"Little Wing," from Axis: Bold as Love.  Jimi figures in a tiny little way in Book 3, or SDS-3 as I call it.  Kinda nice.

This leads to a question from a new friend.  I have joined this writer's community, through my new Google+ account:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/107534692606148129223

This is on the science of writing, and I think I'll meet some interesting folks who are as passionate about this business as I am.

Anyway, one of the fellows here asked me about my literary agent, and how I acquired her.

"Innocent Moon," Will Ackerman.  From Hendrix to gorgeous new age guitar...hmmm...love iTunes...for shuffle, anyway.

So you know, I am repped by Jeanie Loiacono of the Sullivan-Maxx agency, and have been for the past three years.  Jeanie has been kicking open doors, but no hits as of yet.  Bites, yes...but this is more about acquiring that agent, that person who can open those doors for you.

I am no expert, but I will tell you how I did it.  It was by working it like a job, and having a bit of luck.

How you find an agent is exactly how you find a job, in my experience:  you have to be ready to sell yourself, via the resume, or in the agent's case, a manuscript.

Whatever you have...make sure it's ready NOW.  Make 100% sure that what you have to offer is ready RIGHT FUCKING NOW.  You can go back and edit later, but you need to have it NOW.

"It's Time to Play," Alvin Lee...from a very good CD, "Saguitar."

There are conventional ways to find an agent, and there are books to help:

1.  Writer's Market.  This is one of the holy books of the trade, but there are others.  WM has one specially for literary agents.  So that's 2.

3.  Dustbooks publises a guide to Independent Publishers and Small Presses.  Just as it says.

1 & 3 are necessary!  2 if you want to go in-depth.

Figure out your genre(s), target audience, etc.  Then go hunting.

Read these books...mark them up, dog-ear the pages, highlight them, and keep a list (Word file or whatever) of everything about the presses and agents that are worth going after.  Everything...names, addresses, numbers, faxes, websites, web addresses...all of it.  You will need this, and it stays in your mind.

Do NOT waste the time of publishers (and YOUR TIME) by submitting to those that don't want your stuff.  If they say, "No this" or "No that," they mean it.

You will find plenty of places to send to.

"Into Brooklyn," by Innocence Mission...different.

Okay...next!  We go into Cyberspace.  

Check for websites, but...I will tell you right now:  keep a sharp eye out for sleazy, fly by night publishers and agents who want your money.

DO NOT GIVE ANYONE ANY MONEY, FOR ANYTHING, EVER.  NO reputable agency takes a reader's fee.  NOT ONE OF THEM.  YOU are NOT responsible for their costs.  THEY ARE TO GET PAID ONLY WHEN YOU GET PAID.

"I Kill Children," Dead Kennedys.  Love these segues.

There are several websites out there, in which forums are available to check out publishers and agents that might not list in WM or Dustbooks.  They all don't.  

AbsoluteWrite.com is a site I strongly suggest you join.  Look around, make contacts, and you will learn quite a bit.  I surely did.

"Sunday Papers," live version by Joe Jackson...with all that's in iTunes, they do repeat artists.

Okay...you often hear about "Vanity Presses."  These are companies that charge you money to print your books.  Createspace is one, Xlibris is another.  Avoid them.

If you want to self-publish, be prepared to know that you will be in charge of everything, from the editing (unless you hire an independent one) to your own marketing and promotion.  I have friends who have self-published in various ways, and they can tell you...don't quit your day job.

I don't have the money to invest thousands of dollars into this, only to get a cover that was not what I wanted, pages that fall out, typeface that is unreadable, and nothing anyone would buy just on the aesthetic displeasure you get.  Also, I've seen too many people sitting alone in bookstores with their horribly produced books stacked there, and smiling, hoping someone comes and buys their books.

There's so much more you need.  If you can get the help, then accept it.

Next up...the Internet is a great place to find reputable, decent and professional literary agents.  You can check them out through numerous ways, thanks to the 'net, so these can be vetted pretty fast.

Here's another...Twitter.

I have found not only a ton of bookstores, but publishers this way!  The big and the small, they all Tweet.

"Little by Little," by James House.  Great song; I generally despise nearly all the country music produced since 1991, but this one from '94 was alright.

Now...do you know who you are going to send to?  Have you got your target list, one you will add to as time goes by?  What do they want?  A query letter?  The first chapter?  Do they want email, or snail mail?  

Do it the way they want it!  Or you get nowhere; or at least a fast trip to the slush pile.

The Query Letter is probably the hardest thing I've ever had to write, up there with a cover letter for a job.  Yes, this is a job, and I shall remind you now of this.  This really is a job, or your job.

No more than one page; clear, concise, no flowery bullshit.  That's all.  They'll want to know the word length (75-thousand is average for a novel), but few more or less is not a terrible deal.  

Get to the heart of it in just a few words (clearly, less than mine here!).

Keep track of every letter or email you send; date your master list, keep your receipts, all of it.

"Strange Brew," BBC session by Cream.  Nice...

Budget out your time; if you are still writing, good!  Time for writing, time for finding, time for sending, time for updating the lists.

Do what works for you, but keep in mind you're looking for a job here.  

So how long did this take?  I literally spent four months, nearly every day doing these very things I told you about.  I got lucky; damned lucky.

A small agency in Georgia, Sullivan-Maxx took me on.  My agent loves the "Sweet Dreams Series," she gets it.  Sometimes all you need is one believer, beyond your circle of friends.  

Do not quit, and do not get discouraged.  Can't stress it enough; this is a lot of work, it don't happen overnight.  If you wish to go the traditional route this hard work really will be worth it.  You will get somewhere.

Meanwhile, keep writing; keep refining, keep thinking about what you have dreamed of and get it ready.  It will happen...it's not a question of "IF," it is a question of "WHEN."

"I Feel So Good," Willie "Big Eyes" Smith and Pinetop Perkins...legends doing great music...

Now, I do not mean to denigrate anyone who chooses the self-publishing way, such as through Amazon.com or however you do it.  Make sure it is what you want; I honestly do not have the tools within me to do every single thing.  I do not know a lot of that, but I also know I have to keep learning as the time goes on.

Do what you feel is right, for you.  I wish you well on the journey...and for those who do, a Joyous Yule.

Peace.

Flooding, a New Concept Album, Activity of Varied Sorts

I've been busy of late, in different ways...been mostly seated at the temporary York Office (read:  Morebucks), and while on it, I've been trying to accomplish something.


My iTunes is a wonderful thing, once there's enough music in it.  It trumps the horrid burnt offerings that this shop has to play at eleven.  Who decides that this music is good?  Pretentious, and wanky for the most part.


"Eat Me" by Rachel Fuller is playing...wonderful song, and this lady's stuff has really been inspiring.  Doesn't hurt that she's Pete Townshend's collaborator and girlfriend, now does it?


But no, one of Rachel's songs, "Imperfection" has made its way into "Silk Road Days," a long-winded novel I am endeavoring to return to today.


"Revival," a little Allman Brothers, shall we?


Anyway...the flooding is a horrible situation.  If you thought we were out of it with Hurricane Irene, we're not.  Recent tropical storms and Hurricane Katia's behavior in the Atlantic have made things a terrible mess.  


Yesterday was another monsoon, and it snarled traffic badly all over the region.  Flooding shots from all over the state are pretty rough; we have had at least four deaths across the region, and hopefully no more.  


I'm not required; normally, I'm doing something, somewhere, but not this time.  I've actually had the past few days to myself, which is good, because starting next week, I will be busy as all hell.


Working out going well, broke 40 days without a smoke...gaining some definite strength, and I think I have lost a little weight.  Some tightness in the tendon areas of my arms, I've noted, but nothing painful.  There's a difference between feeling a bit tight, or burning, and pain.


Writing music and lyrics like made the past few days; I've assembled 13 songs and some bits for a concept album about my life in radio.  It comes out of listening to "Radio KAOS" by Roger Waters; a very good story and idea, but I don't know if the music overshadowed the story, or it was just not articulated as well as could have been.  Either way, a good revisit to the 80's.


"Dixie Highway," Journey...hmm...don't remember this song.  Never was a huge fan of theirs, but it's interesting.


So anyway, yeah...I have these songs, mostly new that fit together in a song cycle.  I also pulled a couple of old songs that I wrote in the 90's for this.  There is one song from the Ahltyrra days, and a cover by John Hiatt, which just fits.


Another thing I'm working on, as you can see...


...what else?  I have been putting together character sketches for a new story, and it's cooking a lot in my head.  I'm not ready yet to write it, and I wonder when on Earth I'll have time to do that!


"Silk Road Days," trying to get back to it, with new scenes.


"Take Another Road," Chapter 12 was just put up here the other day, and I'm going to need time before I can do the next one.


Songs...ei yi yi, music for several of the concept, new tracks, and a bunch of other ideas that are connected.  Going very close to manic the past few days.


One of my guitars is due out of the shop today; put off getting it fixed for a long time.  Another is awaiting a set of bridge pins, and yet another no longer has the electrics working.  Still plays beautifully as an acoustic; I'm not gonna worry about that yet.


Restrung (yes, I did!) my #1 Laguna...also gave it a good cleaning.  #2 (which is the one I am playing in my profile pic) needs the pins, and I'm getting brass ones, because this is the second time the plastic ones have gone to shit on it.  I generally do not restring my axes until they need it; my hands are fucking horrible at that, and I'm not one of these purists that changes them all the time.  Not needed, for what I do.


Trying hard not to buy a Martin...yeah, there is one I like very much where my Fender a/e is getting fixed, but I don't have the money, nor the justification for buying it...yet.


"Fire Lake," Bob Seger...skipping this one...not in the mood right now...sorry, Bob...


..."Street of the Broken Dreams," my song, done with Ahltyrra...no, not right now...


..."Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere," the Who.  That's more like it!


Still some more cleaning at home to do, and other stuff on my mind that needs to be dealt with.


Interesting back and forth on the email from my bass player and me.  Dan really should do a blog, and I have encouraged him to do it.  He looked at my recent rant, and pointed out a few things.  He is right about this area, much much more so than I, as Dan has lived here all his life.  


There's things I don't see, and I wonder if I'm removed from a part of the world I need to see and know about again.  


My situation is thus:  I really can't move, unless I either get the chance of a lifetime, the Sweet Dreams Series gets picked up by a publisher, or I feel that this place becomes so untenable, spiritually politically and otherwise that I must get out.  So I'm doing my usual of making sure I am useful to my colleagues...that's where the concept comes in...this is what I do.


All these crazy insane things I do...hahahahah...wish all to be safe out there...

Day 1 of TrafficTalk, a Review of the SDS (Book 2), and Other Odd Things...

Look folks, you're getting a lot this evening!

Okay, first things first:  the kickoff of TrafficTalk finally happened, and to all accounts, we've done rather well. 

http://www.traffictalk.info/

I did my first afternoon drive shift, hosting the DC Metro Area, and it was quiet for a couple of reasons.  On the first day, it will be; also Tuesday was the day after a snowstorm, and you know in DC is ONE FUCKING SNOWFLAKE HITS THE GROUND, IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT!!!!!!!

But yeah, everything went well.  Three actual callers, and two from my bosses to check in and see how it was doing.  Really good; got good information from the drivers, and they seem to understand the concept easily enough.

***

Now:  my good friend Kristen and I chatted this evening.  She has been kind enough to read SDS-2.  For the uninitiated, SDS is short for the Sweet Dreams Series.  Book 1 (for short) is subtitled, Searching for Roy Buchanan.  Book 2 (for short again) is subtitled Call it Love. 

Kristen has enjoyed it thoroughly, found it much deeper than Book 1, and felt the execution was right on.

Aaahhh...that makes me feel good.  To have more than one person read it and get a real sense of where I was going with the storyline, the characters, yeah, very good.

There are only three people on Earth I know of who have read all of Book 2.  All have been wonderfully supportive.  Ahhh....so nice.

I know I'm on the proper track with my writing...NOTE I DIDN'T SAY RIGHT TRACK!!!

Too easy.

But yes, this makes me feel really good, and more confident.

***

What else?

Urg.  Just urg.  I was worried that this sudden need to be back home at 3 pm every afternoon was going to suck, in order to do this.

You find the hours go quickly, and also you find that within the length of your headset cable, there is much you can do, and need to do.  Multi-tasking...lots of it.