Cat Rambo, volunteer extraordinare for the SLF, asked me if the text of my "How to Build a Writing Career: The Basics" lecture was posted anywhere on the Internet. Well, it is now. Under the LJ cut is the collected wisdom of several years' worth of writing teachers, distilled into a massive LiveJournal post for your edification.

The most important things to remember when trying to build a writing career are:

1. Be good
2. Be persistent
3. Be knowledgeable
4. Be professional
5. Be social

Here's some details on each.

1. Be good: This one's the most obvious one. To be published, you need to write good stories. Sexual favors will only get you so far. You can sleep with your editor, but can you really sleep with all your potential readers? And while money can get you a vanity publisher, that vanity publisher certainly won't get your book into stores, and no legitimate reviewer will bother giving it a write-up. Being good is really the best way to go. [[Insert the text of an entirely different lecture on how to find a writing teacher here.]]

2. Be persistent: This is the step that starts losing people. You can't send one story out twice, and another out once, then quit when you get three rejections (like I did). You have to keep sending your stories out, and you need to keep writing new ones. Make sure they're as good as they can be, and then get them in the mail. If you get one rejection on a piece, don't pull it from circulation to revise it. Wait until you have several rejections on the piece, or better yet, leave it alone unless a rejection gives you specific feedback that you agree with. You'll really do better to write a new story than to revise an old one. Also, resolve to get a rejected story back into circulation within 24 hours. If you hang onto it, you'll mope. If you get it back out there, then you're back in hopeful mode. And you're more likely to be able to work on a new story if you're feeling hopey rather than mopey.

Here's some stats from my own career that might help illustrate this point:

• I'm currently up to 223 short story rejections. I got my first one in 2001.
  
• I received around 70 short story rejections before making my first sale.
  
• I've only sold one story to the first market I tried with it
  
• I sold one story to the 19th market I tried.
  
• One of my favorite stories is at its 24th market

And what has all of this gotten me? I've sold 16 stories and made 3 reprint sales. That's an 8.5% sale rate, which I've been told is not too shabby for a new writer.

Remember, shoot for the top! Send the story out to the very best markets first, then start working your way down to the less-known markets.

3. Be knowledgeable: So how did I find 24 good markets for that story? By knowing where to look. I routinely check www.ralan.com for new markets, and I subscribe to their free newsletter. I read the boards at webnews.sff.net for new market info, as well as those at www.rumormill.org. I'm a member of several LiveJournal communities devoted to genre writing and markets, and I network with writers and editors online and at conventions (more on that in #5).

Other things to be knowledgeable about are each market's requirements. Strange Horizons caps submissions at 9,000 words, so don't send them a novella. Analog publishes science fiction, so don't send them high fantasy. Aurealis won't accept submissions from non-Australian writers without a query, so don't send an unsolicited story if you live in the U.S. For most markets, you also need to understand what standard manuscript format is and know how to do a manuscript word count (articles on both can be found at www.sfwa.org/writing/ along with some other really good advice). The more you seem to know about a market and about manuscript submission, the better your story will be received. Slush readers read dozens, sometimes hundreds of stories at a time, and they'll be looking for any reason to stop reading yours as quickly as possible. Don't give them one.

You also want to keep alert for scams. One thing to always keep in mind is something called Yog's Law: Money always flows *towards* the writer. If anyone asks you for money to publish something of yours, they're not legitimate. Run away as quickly as you can. It's better not to be published than to be published by a scammer. If the only people interested in your work are scam artists, then perhaps it's a sign that you need to work on step 1 a little longer.

4. Be professional: This ties in strongly to #3. You will seem professional if you understand a market's requirements. But you will also seem professional if you don't try any fancy stuff. For instance, your cover letter should be brief and to the point, like so:

Dear [editor],

Enclosed is my short story "An American Weresquid in London" (word count: 5,600). My fiction has previously appeared in Strange Horizons and Apex Digest, and will be appearing soon in Fictitious Force. If you choose not to accept it, the manuscript is recyclable.

Regards,
Jennifer Pelland

See? Nice and simple. You can also add something like "It was great talking with you at Readercon" if indeed you did speak at Readercon, and you didn't do something crazy (see #5).

Your cover letter should not do any of the following (numbers indicate footnotes):

Dear Bob(1),

Enclosed is my latest submission to you, "An American Weresquid in London," which I am certain you will find better than the previous 31 stories I've sent your way(2). My writing group agrees that it's my best story yet(3). It's certainly better than that crappy story by Stephen King you published in the last issue(4). My previous work has appeared in Abyss and Apex, Apex Digest, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, Tales of the Unanticipated, Here and Now, Escape Pod, Strange Horizons, and the Writer's Hood, and will be appearing soon in Space Squid, Fictitious Force, Alien Skin Mag, Electric Velocipede, and the Town Drunk (5). My story "Last Bus" won the Readercon 12 short fiction contest(6).

Later!
Jen(7)

Oh, the problems in that letter.

(1) Never be overly-familiar with an editor in your cover letter unless you are actually over-familiar with the person in question. And even then, it can't hurt to refer to them by Mr./Ms. Lastname. There are very few editors who I refer to by first name, and it's always the ones I chat with outside of the submissions process.

(2) For starters, don't presume to know the editor's tastes. And don't remind them how many times you've tried to be published by them.

(3) The editor only cares what s/he thinks about the story, not what your writing group thinks, or what your mother thinks, or what your cat thinks. The only time you should mention something like this is if a Big Name has read your story and says to drop their name in the cover letter. In that case, keep it humble: "Jim Kelly read this story and told me I should send it your way."

(4) Never never never tell an editor that their taste in stories is bad. Yes, this happens. I've heard editors complain about it.

(5) Don't list all your credits, just the best few.

(6) The only awards worth mentioning in a cover letter are things like the Nebula and the Hugo. If an editor's never heard of the award, then they won't care about it.

(7) See point #1.

Other ways to seem professional are to print your manuscript on white paper in standard manuscript format (no fancy colors, no fancy fonts), to provide sufficient postage on your return envelope, and to refrain from putting confetti or gifts in with your manuscript (this happens all the time). Oh, and make sure your spelling and grammar are impeccable. You want your story to stand out for its prose *and nothing else* when you submit it.

5. Be social: It really helps to network with other writers, especially ones farther along the path to publication than you are. Networking with agents and editors is really helpful too. But don't be pushy about it. You'll do much better if you chat with someone simply to be social than if you chat with them to try to get them to look at your manuscript. So how do you meet these people?

• Conventions: these will give you face to face time with writers and editors. You can chat with them at panels, in the con suite, at parties, or in the hall. Some conventions will have kaffeklatsches and literary beers where you can sign up to spend time with the editor or writer of your choice for an hour. I highly recommend doing this if you get the opportunity. This is time that the writer/editor in question has set aside specifically to talk to people that they don't normally get a chance to talk to. And you don't need to worry about screwing up the courage to go up to them if you've signed up to spend an hour sitting around a table with them and a few other fans. You can also see if there's a free writing workshop at the convention and sign up for that. That's face time with a pro right there.
  
  
• Workshops: Again, this is time that the pros have set aside to work with budding writers, so they're great for face-to-face time. Just don't go into a workshop hoping that the pro will say, "This manuscript is brilliant! I must publish it/introduce you to my agent immediately!" It's a lovely fantasy, but it so rarely comes true.
  
  
• Online: If you live in the middle of nowhere and can't afford the airfare to a workshop or a convention, the Internet is the great equalizer. The Online Writer's Workshop and Critters are online crit groups that both attract professionals, so posting work there can sometimes help your career (a friend of mine got her agent that way). Look for writing communities on LiveJournal, or spend time reading and posting at webnews.sff.net and www.rumormill.org. If you're a Baen-style writer, spend time at their message boards. A friend of mine got a "get out of slush free" card that way. Spend time reading the Nielsen Hayden's blog at www.nielsenhayden.com/makinglight--you'll recognize a lot of big names in writing in the comments. Science fiction writers love the Internet. You can do a lot of networking without ever taking your butt out of your chair.

But no matter what you do, remember, BE SANE. Don't be a stalker, don't push your MS on someone the first time you speak to them, don't expect an editor to become your best friend just because you both breathe oxygen. Be a sane human being, respect people's boundaries and free time restrictions, and relax and be social. You could land an agent that way, but more likely, you'll meet a bunch of fellow writers who can tell you about new markets and give you advice on your stories.

If you do get a little time with an editor, and you do have a manuscript, and you'd like to try to see if they're open for a pitch, here's what you say:

"How does one submit a novel to [insert the name of their publishing house]?"

If they say, "Well, you'll need to have your agent send it" or "Instructions are on our web site," then thank them and don't say another word about your manuscript.

If, however, they ask:

"What's it about?"

this is when you launch into a very short pitch. Do not offer to hand them the manuscript on the spot (I've been assured this is a very bad thing), do not go into a 10-minute speech, do not stutter and blush and freeze up (although this is the best option of the three). Keep it short and sweet. You might get lucky and they might ask to see it (again, don't pull it out of your backpack on the spot), but if they don't, that means they're not interested, and you should stop your pitch. Crazy authors don't attract editors. Remember, if they sign you, they have to work with you. Editors would much rather work with someone who understands and respects boundaries.