On the Value of Fiction
After reading our book, False Positive, a woman who directed a university healthcare program said she did something she thought she’d never do—she changed her mind about abortion.

She had known many facts about abortion, yet it took empathizing with a character for her to really listen to what she had always considered “the other side.”

Non-fiction explores what is true; fiction explores truth. The length of a novel allows a writer to break out of the sound-bite approach to complex issues and show the various shades of gray. If she does it skillfully, the reader even loses himself in the process of being edu-tained.

I find it ironic that many of the same people who argue that fiction is frivolous teach their children Aesop’s Fables (“Don’t cry wolf!”) and retell with affection the plot of “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

On How Movies Have Influenced My Writing
Movies have influenced my writing by teaching me some principles of storytelling:

Babette’s Feast: A lovable character can hold interest every bit as well as fast-moving action.

Star Wars: When determining when a story is set, the writer isn’t limited only to past, present, and future. A futuristic story can happen long ago in a galaxy far, far away.

Jane Austen films: The message (women should be able to inherit, own land, marry whom they please) should submit to the story, not vice versa.

A Beautiful Mind; Sixth Sense: The reader respects the storyteller who crafts a big-surprise ending (especially if said reader realizes he or she should have seen it coming).

Titanic: When people already know how the story turns out (the ship sinks), an intriguing subplot (where’s the necklace?) can keep the pages turning.

On What Editors Have Taught Me
... to highlight “am,” “are,” “is,” “was,” “were,” and “being,” and to replace these with stronger verbs. One editor allowed zero forms of “be” verbs. (How to say Darth Vader = Luke’s dad still has me stumped.)

...to nix “with” phrases. (“She looked at him with a smile” becomes “She smiled at him” or even, when possible, “She smiled.”)

...to cross out “I remember” and dive right into the memory unless I want a level of distance between the reader and my story. So, for example, “I remember my dad taking me to Central Park when I was six” becomes “When I was six, my dad took me to Central Park.”

...to verify that every “this” has a clear antecedent. Then to verify again.

....to limit the use of couplets (guide and protect; simple and clean; joy and peace) to two per day.

....to use odd rather than even numbers of phrases in a series (“I came, I saw, I conquered” [3] works better than “I came, I saw, I wanted, I conquered” [4]).

One editor also taught me that I can’t have a character saying “She kicked my butt at handball” in a CBA novel. Good thing she told me....

On Self-publishing
In my case, despite having authored a stack of traditional books, I have twice engaged in self-publishing.

When might self-publishing work better than a traditional publisher?

. When the product you want to get out there is for a niche market.
. When you need to get product out there more quickly than the typical book production cycle would allow.

A writer got booked to be on a panel for a national Christian radio show with about two months’ notice. For the point of view he was taking there were no books on the market that reflected the latest research. So we drafted one, sent it to a copy editor, wrote back cover copy, had a graphic designer do covers, applied for an ISBN number, priced printing options, and had it printed. We did every step ourselves. Niche market; fast turnaround, great marketing opportunity. We cut a deal with the radio producer so the show would sell our product and mention its availability on the air. We have recouped our costs and then some. A year later, we took the idea to a traditional house, and they bought it.

What are the pros and cons?

CONS:

Copy editing, book cover design, layout, ISBN number, ISBN bar code production—all the things the publisher would do for you, you must eitherdo for yourself or hire someone else to do.

You must do 100% of your own marketing.

Instead of receiving an advance, you fork over cash.

You have to find a place to store your extras unless you do a print-on-demand piece. Garages = humidity = curled pages. So the storage space needs to be inside.

PROS:

You have more control over every detail of the final product.

You have a product that probably would not otherwise exist that meets a specific need/demand.

If the product sells, you “cry all the way to the bank.”

Your book never has to go out of print.

Is there prejudice against those who self-publish? How can that be overcome?

Absolutely. But an excellent product that sells is all the vindication necessary. I like to think of “indy” book publishing as being a little like indy movie producing. People didn’t turn up their noses when Independent Artists released “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” They didn’t care who made it because it was so good.

What are the best method/companies/marketing tips/sales outlets?

www.lulu.com has excellent tutorials online so you can understand the process, even if you don’t publish with them.

I paid a lot to have ISBN labels made the first time around. The second time I found a place online where I could make my own for free, once I had the number: http://www.barcodesinc.com/generator/index.php. We incorporated the bar code into the back cover design rather than adding stickers to each copy of the book.

One more thing: Even the best writer/editor/copy editor needs an editor. Do not skimp on this step.

On Common Mistakes Beginning Writers Make

Grammar:
Failure of agreement in number
(My daughter’s teacher wrote this in the newsletter sent to parents today: “Please go over simple multiplication facts with your student. It is imperative they know their facts.”)

Punctuation:
Improper semi-colon use
Geographical confusion (commas and periods outside the closing quotation mark—in America, bad)

In both cases, writers need to learn their grammar and punctuation. Yet sometimes writers, especially beginners, feel unnecessarily bound to obey every last precept their English teachers taught them. William F. Buckley, in his book The Right Word, talks about a reader who wrote with a complaint:

Dear Mr. Buckley, Don’t start a sentence with “and.” In the last paragraph of your column I see this, and apparently the Star-Ledger proofreader did not. (She sleeps a lot.) I am beginning to wonder just how good (or bad) your high school was, and how good (or bad) a student you were. Very truly yours, David Dearborn

Mr. Buckley replied:

Dear Mr. Dearborn: Verses 2–26 and 28–31, Chapter I, Genesis, all begin with “And.” The King James scholars went to pretty good high schools. Cordially, WFB