That last one really hit hard. I started querying my adult fantasy in November, and the stress I felt over sending that first chapter or chapters was immense. Part of it was realizing that the romance was the A-plot while the magic stuff was the B-plot. That realization made the fact that the MC didn't even meet the LI until the fourth chapter hit me like a ton of bricks. Since then, I've done so much painful cutting, trying to get them closer to one another, and trying to have a well-defined catalyst/inciting incident. The rough part is that cutting three chapters and stitching what's left together means I've cut tons of character growth and backstory and world-building, all stuff that has to now be carefully and seamlessly woven into the rest of the MS. It... sucks, to put it bluntly.
Well the beauty is it's already written, so you can cut and paste it anywhere and if it doesn't work... I've had to do the same but I found that I was able to get back to word count adding something new and better than what I cut.
@@annmanzo Congrats on the successful edit! :) I don't mind losing the word count; the original was way high at 132k and now I'm at 118k (and that will likely go down more as I cut more...). I just miss all that backstory 😭 and it now becomes extra tough to make the reader care about the MC before Stuff Happens to him.
@@ArtemisMS I found something interesting. I wanted to query an agent who only wanted ten pages. But on page 11 I had something I wanted included. so I scrubbed my ten for anything that could be considered repetitive or not needed yet and was able to remove two paragraphs that when I read it back, I didn't even miss. The purpose was still there, and I got in what I wanted. So I went back and did that for my entire MS and shaved a bit there too. Might work for you. Thinking about what I wanted in those first pages helped me get to the point. But I did need something, like the above to get me looking in the right direction.
@@ArtemisMS Anytime. Don't forget beta readers weed out the unnecessary and boring parts too. Helped me immensely. Since $ goes by word count you could do half first and see what happens, if, like me you're on a tight budget. Fiverr!
Grateful for all your videos. An invaluable resource for writers, indeed :) I'm about to step into the querying process, so I'll definitely be taking home plenty. Best to you both, and the agency!
Well, a veteran agent just finished my full and said the storyline was thoroughly entertaining which was my aim! It's so insane that so many of the points y'all suggested came naturally to me! Agents are correct in encouraging writers to read everything they can get their hands on because I know I carried all of my fiction reading to my manuscript also! Thank you!❤️
I am thoroughly enjoying binge watching all your incredibly helpful videos. Like many authors, I’m looking forward to querying to Jessica once I’ve polished my baby, and your videos are helping prepare me so I don’t fall on my face when the time comes. Much appreciated.
When you guys mentioned Ashley Audrain’s The Push, I immediately read the first few pages (e-library), and yes agreed - great opening - who’s the sinister watcher, why? 👍
Very late to the party on this video...but thank you, it's wonderfully informative. I've given up on prologues myself, but just curious... If Jane Harper were an unpublished, unagented author, and was querying you with THE DRY, given how short, sweet, and powerful her prologue is (I ABSOLUTELY love it, too), would you still suggest that she omit it from her sample pages?
Hi! It's ultimately about how well the prologue works as a first glimpse into the story. If it seems to be doing a successful job of setting the tone, and also focuses on the main characters and what they're going through, it might be fine! We don't recommend including prologues that have a different tone or setting/characters than the rest of the book (for example, no flashbacks from 50 years ago)
Love your channel so much! Can you please do more picture book content?? Please, James?!! Even if you don't, I'll still watch. You have definitely convinced me that I need an agent. You both are so helpful.
@@BookEndsLiterary Maybe tips for querying as an author/illustrator? Do I still need 2-3 manuscripts plus more if you request them? How do I format my query, is it the same or different?
Thanks as always for the advice! The opening of the book I'm currently querying ("Stigmplay") flouts some of these rules, but I think it's consistent enough with the overall novel that I can stand over it. (If you search for Andrew Verlaine on Sound Cloud you can listen to me reading! - you tube seems to delete links for some reason).
Omg . . . I FINALLY CAUGHT UP ON ALL THE VIDEOS! Thanks for accompanying me for the past 2 months during all my laundry folding. (Don't worry, by "all" I really mean 95%, I'm not actually obsessed 😇.)
My first chapter introduces my main characters and the conflict right at the beginning of the conflict. My second chapter starts four years later after the world has had the conflict festering and building and I introduce characters and their stories to the readers and then introduce the characters to each other. So there isn’t a ton of action in the early chapters because you are meeting everyone and seeing the destruction the conflict is having on the world as the cast is being brought together. The action begins in chapter seven and once the ball is rolling it doesn’t stop. I’ve tried to figure out ways to get the action going sooner but nothing works. I’ve asked critique partners and they all agree that the beginning is slow because it is world building and character building and when I ask for ideas on how to change it they all tell me they wouldn’t because it works in my story. But Agents aren’t looking past the first few pages.
This is a great video, and I really appreciate this channel 🙂 Question - in your experience, are the opening pages I read in published works remain similar to what agents have read in the early manuscript? Or is it more common for editors input their own vision upon the opening pages during the editorial journey? What I'm getting at is, if the opening pages of published works closely resemble its early draft, I can see how the high the standards are. It drives me, as an author, to pull up my socks and strive for perfection!
Hi! It's not unusual for agents to focus their editorial efforts with their clients on the first few pages, since they want to grab the editor right away, so a lot of first pages do change over the course of revisions. However, it's also good to note that a lot of agents decide to represent books whose first pages grabbed them right away, so lots of first pages may stay exactly the same!
They mentioned The Dry has a good opening, which has a prologue that shows three dead bodies. Then later say they don't like prologues that show someone dying or someone being killed... Isn't that the same thing and therefore contradictory?
I have a question, and this is referring to the novel I wrote. My main character is born in the first chapter, and I have had a few rejections because of this. How would you suggest I go about rewriting or explaining to a agent that the first 10 pages don't have the main character in it to build his character because he isn't born yet?
I'd go for taking it out and adding it back in as backstory in little snippets. If they find someone interesting as an adult they are far more likely to be curious as to how they came in to existence. Imagine trying to tell the nativity story to people who don't know what was special about the baby.
What is considered middle grade? Is the age of the protagonist or the journey they go through like Harry Potter. I'm writing a new story about a ghost and a human. My main character has night terrors since age 12 but she grows up to age 16 through out my story. The Ghost is a fallen angel named Jace. How should I break it down between middle grade and Ya.
For #2 don't start with a serial killer unless you're Neil Gaiman and it's The Graveyard Book--and imagine-that's ya. #4 some books start third person then switch to first. I like third so when it does that I move on.
You all say these things but what we see are books that are the same . There’s a trend to publish the same things, no originality. Not even in the titles which are something like. ‘ the girl from…’. It probably sells if they’re publishing these types of books. I don’t read them. I don’t follow trends and I want sth different, good prose.
Very helpful! And validating. 😊
Super helpful, thank you! I’m in the middle of revising my first chapter, so perfect timing.
That last one really hit hard. I started querying my adult fantasy in November, and the stress I felt over sending that first chapter or chapters was immense. Part of it was realizing that the romance was the A-plot while the magic stuff was the B-plot. That realization made the fact that the MC didn't even meet the LI until the fourth chapter hit me like a ton of bricks.
Since then, I've done so much painful cutting, trying to get them closer to one another, and trying to have a well-defined catalyst/inciting incident. The rough part is that cutting three chapters and stitching what's left together means I've cut tons of character growth and backstory and world-building, all stuff that has to now be carefully and seamlessly woven into the rest of the MS. It... sucks, to put it bluntly.
Well the beauty is it's already written, so you can cut and paste it anywhere and if it doesn't work... I've had to do the same but I found that I was able to get back to word count adding something new and better than what I cut.
@@annmanzo Congrats on the successful edit! :) I don't mind losing the word count; the original was way high at 132k and now I'm at 118k (and that will likely go down more as I cut more...). I just miss all that backstory 😭 and it now becomes extra tough to make the reader care about the MC before Stuff Happens to him.
@@ArtemisMS I found something interesting. I wanted to query an agent who only wanted ten pages. But on page 11 I had something I wanted included. so I scrubbed my ten for anything that could be considered repetitive or not needed yet and was able to remove two paragraphs that when I read it back, I didn't even miss. The purpose was still there, and I got in what I wanted. So I went back and did that for my entire MS and shaved a bit there too. Might work for you. Thinking about what I wanted in those first pages helped me get to the point. But I did need something, like the above to get me looking in the right direction.
@@annmanzo That's really great advice, thank you :)
@@ArtemisMS Anytime. Don't forget beta readers weed out the unnecessary and boring parts too. Helped me immensely. Since $ goes by word count you could do half first and see what happens, if, like me you're on a tight budget. Fiverr!
I love my opening, but now I'm second guessing it. 😣
Thanks for continuing with this channel. Love it!
Always appreciate you guys doing these sort of videos
Grateful for all your videos. An invaluable resource for writers, indeed :) I'm about to step into the querying process, so I'll definitely be taking home plenty. Best to you both, and the agency!
Excellent suggestions, as usual. Thank you for the helpful advice!
Well, a veteran agent just finished my full and said the storyline was thoroughly entertaining which was my aim! It's so insane that so many of the points y'all suggested came naturally to me! Agents are correct in encouraging writers to read everything they can get their hands on because I know I carried all of my fiction reading to my manuscript also! Thank you!❤️
I am thoroughly enjoying binge watching all your incredibly helpful videos. Like many authors, I’m looking forward to querying to Jessica once I’ve polished my baby, and your videos are helping prepare me so I don’t fall on my face when the time comes. Much appreciated.
Thanks so much!
When you guys mentioned Ashley Audrain’s The Push, I immediately read the first few pages (e-library), and yes agreed - great opening - who’s the sinister watcher, why? 👍
Very late to the party on this video...but thank you, it's wonderfully informative. I've given up on prologues myself, but just curious...
If Jane Harper were an unpublished, unagented author, and was querying you with THE DRY, given how short, sweet, and powerful her prologue is (I ABSOLUTELY love it, too), would you still suggest that she omit it from her sample pages?
Hi! It's ultimately about how well the prologue works as a first glimpse into the story. If it seems to be doing a successful job of setting the tone, and also focuses on the main characters and what they're going through, it might be fine! We don't recommend including prologues that have a different tone or setting/characters than the rest of the book (for example, no flashbacks from 50 years ago)
Thank you.@@BookEndsLiterary
Love your channel so much! Can you please do more picture book content?? Please, James?!!
Even if you don't, I'll still watch. You have definitely convinced me that I need an agent. You both are so helpful.
Don't have to ask me twice! Anything in particular?
@@BookEndsLiterary Maybe tips for querying as an author/illustrator? Do I still need 2-3 manuscripts plus more if you request them? How do I format my query, is it the same or different?
Thanks as always for the advice!
The opening of the book I'm currently querying ("Stigmplay") flouts some of these rules, but I think it's consistent enough with the overall novel that I can stand over it. (If you search for Andrew Verlaine on Sound Cloud you can listen to me reading! - you tube seems to delete links for some reason).
This was helpful. Is it possible that you do a picture book version of advice for openings?
Omg . . . I FINALLY CAUGHT UP ON ALL THE VIDEOS! Thanks for accompanying me for the past 2 months during all my laundry folding. (Don't worry, by "all" I really mean 95%, I'm not actually obsessed 😇.)
Wow! Thank you so much
Oh well, I guess my prologue is definitely out of the question. 🙃
Thanks... This is a video to save in the watch later section.
My first chapter introduces my main characters and the conflict right at the beginning of the conflict. My second chapter starts four years later after the world has had the conflict festering and building and I introduce characters and their stories to the readers and then introduce the characters to each other. So there isn’t a ton of action in the early chapters because you are meeting everyone and seeing the destruction the conflict is having on the world as the cast is being brought together. The action begins in chapter seven and once the ball is rolling it doesn’t stop. I’ve tried to figure out ways to get the action going sooner but nothing works. I’ve asked critique partners and they all agree that the beginning is slow because it is world building and character building and when I ask for ideas on how to change it they all tell me they wouldn’t because it works in my story. But Agents aren’t looking past the first few pages.
World builD through actions my friend
The Push by Ashley Audrain
The Dry by Jane Harper
Good subject. Thank you.
Thankful for this
This is a great video, and I really appreciate this channel 🙂
Question - in your experience, are the opening pages I read in published works remain similar to what agents have read in the early manuscript? Or is it more common for editors input their own vision upon the opening pages during the editorial journey?
What I'm getting at is, if the opening pages of published works closely resemble its early draft, I can see how the high the standards are. It drives me, as an author, to pull up my socks and strive for perfection!
Hi! It's not unusual for agents to focus their editorial efforts with their clients on the first few pages, since they want to grab the editor right away, so a lot of first pages do change over the course of revisions. However, it's also good to note that a lot of agents decide to represent books whose first pages grabbed them right away, so lots of first pages may stay exactly the same!
They mentioned The Dry has a good opening, which has a prologue that shows three dead bodies. Then later say they don't like prologues that show someone dying or someone being killed... Isn't that the same thing and therefore contradictory?
3 dead bodies are different then showing torture and murder. but it's less about the specifics and more about standing out.
I have a question, and this is referring to the novel I wrote. My main character is born in the first chapter, and I have had a few rejections because of this. How would you suggest I go about rewriting or explaining to a agent that the first 10 pages don't have the main character in it to build his character because he isn't born yet?
I'd go for taking it out and adding it back in as backstory in little snippets. If they find someone interesting as an adult they are far more likely to be curious as to how they came in to existence. Imagine trying to tell the nativity story to people who don't know what was special about the baby.
What is considered middle grade? Is the age of the protagonist or the journey they go through like Harry Potter.
I'm writing a new story about a ghost and a human. My main character has night terrors since age 12 but she grows up to age 16 through out my story. The Ghost is a fallen angel named Jace. How should I break it down between middle grade and Ya.
Hi! We just did a video called "What is the Difference Between MG & YA" that you will likely find helpful.
For #2 don't start with a serial killer unless you're Neil Gaiman and it's The Graveyard Book--and imagine-that's ya. #4 some books start third person then switch to first. I like third so when it does that I move on.
You all say these things but what we see are books that are the same . There’s a trend to publish the same things, no originality. Not even in the titles which are something like. ‘ the girl from…’. It probably sells if they’re publishing these types of books. I don’t read them. I don’t follow trends and I want sth different, good prose.
The Girl on the train..
The girl on the window..
The girl..
😂😂😂
Math can be a issue for some. I've heard, 5 out of 4 people have a problem with math.