D. J. Herda

To the writer who wanted to know whether he should risk rejection and waste time begging agents to accept his book or go the quicker route and self-publish it, my answer left little doubt as to where I stand. If you have any questions after reading it, just let me know!

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Should you go the conventional publishing route? Absolutely. Should you plan on begging, cajoling, or bribing agents to accept your manuscript? Absolutely not. There's a right way and a wrong way of doing everything in life, and that's especially true when pitching a literary agent or even a publisher, for that matter. Write an enticing, one-page pitch for your book. Then, write the perfect complete book (fiction) or sample chapter with an outline (nonfiction) on a hot, marketable topic, and I guarantee you success.

And, since you brought it up, what's so enticing about getting your book published quicker, anyway? Even if it took only 24 hours to produce (which won't happen), if it sells two copies, what's the advantage? See where I'm going with this? Quicker isn't always better.

Here are a few other publishing-industry misconceptions I'd like to clear up. Read More 

A young writer with relatively little experience in practicing his craft recently asked me what the benefits are of a first draft. I couldn't wait to respond.

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First-draft benefits? Are you serious? You might as well ask what the benefits are of buying a first car! Both eventually get you where you want to go, although not necessarily quickly enough to satisfy you.

Still, first drafts do serve a purpose, although there's no explanation of that purpose that fits all writers. In fact, a first draft serves different purposes for different writers at various stages of their careers. When I broke my teeth on long-form fiction fifty years ago, a first draft was my Red Badge of Courage. It showed me—proved to me—that I could write a novel. Never mind how good it was (it wasn't), and never mind that I didn't even think of it as a first draft (it was). I wrote it, and, by gum, I was proud of it.

Later in my development, a first draft became less of a measuring stick of my capabilities and more of an opportunity to screw something up before going back and setting things right. It enabled me to practice my concerto before lugging my instrument over to the concert hall for a performance. It also allowed me to see whether or not all the various pieces fit together in a way that made sense. It functioned as both a sounding board and a roadmap to where I wanted to go. Read More