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On getting comfortable with your craft, the upswing in book sales, and more

7/22/2020

 
LTS Editorial recently supported an author in writing a book from idea to final manuscript in four months  — you can read all about it here. 

There was a lot of planning and expertise (and late nights, and wine, and...you get the idea) that went into successfully writing a book in four months, but the biggest game changer for the project’s abbreviated timeline by far was the preexisting material the author brought to the table.

The author came to us with articles, notes, and even a previous draft of the book that we used to establish a baseline for his voice and to guide the strategy and concepting, which gave us the rock solid foundation we built the rest of the book on. Some of the material went unused, some things were reshaped into something entirely new, and some things were kept just as they were, but having some of his prior writing to work with and to inform our groundwork at the beginning made all the difference in the end.

See, the work an author puts into writing a book is rarely confined to the words they commit to the manuscript. Your plot outlines, rough drafts, and research notes all contribute to your book in a concrete way. And beyond that, anything you write  — blogs, a journal, social media posts, fan fiction, poems, love letters  — feeds into your overall body of work and your identity as a writer. Your collective portfolio is a testament to what you're capable of creating, and a representation of You, the Writer.

Whether or not you’ll be able to draw a straight line connecting any of that “extracurricular” writing and your final manuscript is uncertain, but you can trust that with every tweet, essay, and diary entry you create, you’re sharpening your abilities and honing your skills, and that will impact how at ease you feel working on a full-length book. So never shy away from writing whenever and whatever you feel called to, even if it’s not directly contributing to your magnum opus. It pays off to be comfortable with your craft, and the best way to do that is to write as often and as much as you can.

A writer never creates something from nothing. Your previous body of work gives your book a place to start.

We Wrote a Book from Idea to Final Draft in Four Months. Here’s How.

7/8/2020

 

A case study of the publishing equivalent of The Amazing Race

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Image courtesy of Lauren Taylor Shute Editorial
My editorial firm helps people write their books, and the level of help we give ranges from book coaching and strategy to editing and/or writing full manuscripts. Writing a book is a very lengthy creative process, so projects tend to take anywhere from a few months to a few years, depending on what an author needs.
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We were recently faced with a challenge, though; one of our more prominent authors wanted us to help him write his soon-to-be self-published book, start to finish, in four months, with the final version ready for publication.
​To put this in perspective, it takes most writers six months to a year to write just the first draft of their book, not to mention the time needed to revise and then have it professionally edited.​

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Writing a Book is a Radical Act of Self-Preservation

6/23/2020

 

Writing a Book is a Radical Act of Self-Preservation

In the face of an uncertain future, keep on writing.
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Photo courtesy of Maria Lupan via Unsplash
Since the pandemic hit, I’ve noticed myself reaching more often than not for historical books, movies, and TV shows -- most likely a subconscious effort to exchange our unstable present for the solid, dependable past. The show I’ve become most obsessed with is The Last Kingdom, a Netflix show which follows the brutal and bloody clashes between the Saxons and the invading Danish Vikings in ninth century England. 

Now, this isn’t my usual type of show, but there’s a throughline that keeps me coming back. The characters speak often of how they’ll be remembered, of the legacy they’ll leave behind when they leave this life. And keep in mind, there are at least 20 deaths per episode, so death is never far behind. They don’t have long to make an impact, so they often speak of doing something so noble, their people will sing of them many years later.

That is, until the king sees the power of reading and writing books.

In the past, books were sacred objects, notably because they were difficult to make and barely anyone could read. Still, books were vessels for tradition, history, and ideas; they gave insight into the way things once were, as well as shaped the way things would be in the future. People looked to books for guidance on their habits, fears, faiths -- their entire worldviews. By extension, the authors of these books were extremely powerful; as only a select group of people were able to read and write, the creators of these books became the arbiters and disseminators of truth and culture. 

The king, much to the confusion of everyone around him, prioritizes recording his life story even while the Danes are knocking down his door. He knows that future generations will likely be able to read, and if his books can only survive the ages, they’ll know his name and what he accomplished. He makes a massive sacrifice for the future, even when his time could be spent dealing with matters at hand in his unstable present. 

Of course, things are different today. Literacy is the default, books are much more widely accessible, and our tools for producing written work are far more advanced and diverse than they used to be. And most importantly, we no longer rely on just a few people (or kinds of people) to tell stories. Today, a good story can come from anywhere and can reach almost anyone.

It’s a testament to humanity’s drive to create that so many barriers to writing and sharing stories have been broken down over time, but it’s become so easy to read and write and consume that I think we’ve forgotten the power that stories really have. We take them for granted today because the process has been simplified and made accessible; but the innate power of books, the immutable quality that made them so significant in the past, isn’t any less than it used to be. And if we take a moment to reflect on what purpose stories serve for their authors, maybe we can better understand the value they hold for everyone else.​

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Writers, you have a voice. Use it to speak out against racial injustice.

6/4/2020

 

Writers, you have a voice.
Use it to speak out against racial injustice.

Now is not the time to be silent.
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Courtesy of Derick McKinney via Unsplash
I’d like to first honor the incredible Chantai Thomas, who has been working with LTS Editorial on our marketing for years, for taking the lead on this piece. Tackling racial injustice is a tough, messy process, and her willingness to devote time and energy to this has been invaluable. - Lauren Taylor Shute

The cruel and needless death of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of white police officers has brought to the forefront of our national consciousness something too easily repressed by the privileged in times of health and prosperity: All races are not treated equally in America.

This nation has an enduring and systemic issue with equality that has led to the death, injury, and oppression of countless Black people and other people of color, and to the degradation and rot of the very institutions bearing the motto, “to protect and serve.” This harm is regularly perpetrated by police officers, as in the cases of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor; as well as by racist civilians, as seen in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery -- now being investigated as a federal hate crime. These are only the most recent egregious instances of disregard for human life and racism resulting in the death of a Black person, and they join a list that is longer than any of us can imagine.
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LTS Editorial stands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement; with those against racist and violent policing; and with those against racist civilian vigilantism. These problems are large and looming and we’re all asking what we can do to help; here are some ways you, as an ally and a writer, can use your voice and actions productively in this fight.

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Everything you need to know about publishing in 2020

5/11/2020

 

How playing the long game now will save you headaches in the future

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Photo by United Nations COVID-19 Response
As we progress further along the course of the Coronavirus, we’re starting to get a clearer picture of its effect on writers and publishing. 

Admittedly, we’re not at a point of ultra-HD clarity yet, but it’s obvious that this industry and the people — authors, editors, agents, and publishers — it comprises are searching for ways to stay productive and creative and to maintain some sort of momentum as the “new normal” takes hold.

Writers, you may be concerned about the track your project is on, and what adjustments you need to make to your plan for getting published. I covered some of this briefly in my last letter, but I wanted to share some more in-depth insight on the state of publishing and what that means for writers. 

Writing an article like this is inherently tough because we’re trying to predict the course of a situation that’s changing every single day. There’s a lot that we don’t know still, and there will be consequences for our actions today that we won’t fully come to terms with for some time. What we do know is that as more cities lift restrictions, we’ll see a resurgence of the virus, and we will be dealing with this for a while. 

If you only take away one thing from this article, let it be this: the best thing you can do for your career as a writer in 2020 is to play the long game alongside publishing, and be prepared to adapt to new trends and a quickly shifting industry climate.


To make sure you get all the answers you’re looking for, I’ll be hosting a free online Q&A this Thursday, May 14 at 2 PM EST where you’ll be able to ask me any questions you have about publishing and being a writer right now. Sign up here and I’ll see you then!

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Letters from the Editor: The Past Five Weeks in NYC

4/23/2020

 

It’s strange to be in New York City right now, at the absolute bullseye center of the pandemic that has hit every population in the world.


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The day before the beginning of the Coronavirus quarantine, Brooklyn, NY
I haven’t written to you all in quite some time, and for that I apologize. The truth is, it’s been hard to write about this virus while it’s still happening. I’ve thought often of the wisdom behind not giving the world a piece of your writing that you’re still experiencing yourself. As a writer, you need time to digest what you’re experiencing, to find the lessons and themes within. It’s nearly impossible to do that while you’re going through an experience in real time. 

But, here we are. And I’d like to share with you what it’s been like here in New York for the past five weeks.

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Letters from the Editor: On the good in judging books by their covers, sharing lit with coworkers, and more

2/26/2020

 

​Judging Books by Their Covers Isn’t Such a Bad Thing After All

Why you should start thinking about your book’s cover while writing the first draft


Alright, I’ll say it: the phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover” is...mostly wrong.

When people drop this line it’s usually in reference to a person rather than an actual cover of a book, but let’s take this literally for a second — why shouldn’t we judge a book by its cover? A cover can tell readers so much about a book before they even crack it open.

So why not think about your own cover sooner rather than later?
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Covers, when given the right treatment, are a launchpad for examining what’s popular and relevant in your genre, as well as for learning about your audience, and you can use what you learn from that exploration to prepare your book for the best reception possible.

Click below and read on for an exercise to get those marketing/design juices flowing and advice on how you can get rid of concerns about your book's selling power, because there's no time to worry when you've got a book to write.
let's see those covers

Behind the Scenes of a Six-Figure Book Deal: A Peek Inside the Publishing Industry with Debut Author Ash Ambirge

2/11/2020

 

A conversation with author Ash Ambirge on how shattering convention led to the creation of her wildly successful company, and her new book, The Middle Finger Project.


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​Publishing, an industry built on tradition and convention, isn’t often kind to authors who decide to play by their own rules. Ash Ambirge did just that and landed a six-figure book deal. I recently sat down with Ash to talk about how she took what she learned from running her rebellious online company, also called The Middle Finger Project, and channeled it into making her dream book a bold reality. 


Before we dig in, a little about Ash and The Middle Finger Project:

Ash Ambirge is an internet entrepreneur, creative writer, speaker, and advocate for women being brave and doing disobedient things with their careers and their lives. She’s inspired tens of thousands of people to reject the world’s expectations of success and get on their own path to happiness, and now she’s funneled a lot of that advice into her debut book, The Middle Finger Project (Portfolio; on-sale February 11, 2020). Expanding on the short, pithy advice on Ash’s blog, The Middle Finger Project draws on her unconventional personal story to offer an empowering and occasionally potty-mouthed manifesto for the transformative power of radical self-reliance and taking risks. On a personal note, Ash’s entrepreneurship advice was even instrumental for me when I was first starting my editorial firm, and I can credit a lot of my early growth to her inspiration. ​

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Letters from the Editor: On what writers can learn from '1917,' the morality of ripping books in half, and more

1/28/2020

 

Why Writers Should Watch the Film 1917 Right Now 
A Lesson in Building Scenes That Grip Your Readers

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Courtesy of Universal Pictures
*If you have this on your watchlist, don't worry! We're talking purely craft today.*
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If you've been struggling with bringing a sense of immediacy to your writing, I've got just the movie for you. 
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I'll keep it really bare bones here: 1917 is a movie about two young soldiers in World War I tasked with delivering a message that could save a lot of lives. Director Sam Mendes made a decision to make the film appear like one continuous take so that it felt like more of a real-time thriller. (It isn't actually a single take, but the illusion is pretty spot on.) The camera follows just one or two characters at a time and in every moment you're either seeing what the character is seeing; you're seeing the character close-up; or you're seeing the character as an element in the larger landscape. Every moment, you feel like you're alongside them on their journey through the trenches.

What Mendes does expertly in 1917 is choreograph "a dance between the camera and the characters and the landscapes, all three of which are moving all the time." He layers shifts in perspectives in a way that gives you a sense of constant momentum and of both the objective and subjective scope of the story. You see how big the situation feels to the character; how small they are in comparison to the landscape; how the characters' actions make an impact on the greater narrative. And it's all just subtle shifts in perspective! You'll notice Mendes never lingers too long on one point of view before moving on to the next, and that every shift maintains a connection between the perspectives it serves as a transition for so it has a naturally fluid progression.

When you're writing a novel, you get to play director, cinematographer, and camera. You have complete control over what your readers see, and every piece of information you include or leave out will change how they experience the story you're telling. You are the narrative lens, and for your story to be as effective as possible, your reader needs to live through it with your character more often than they're a removed observer. I highly recommend watching 1917 for some notes on how to bring exactly this kind of immediacy and intimacy into the scenes you're writing.
Clue me in

Letters from the Editor: On taking control of your writing career, the books to be excited about in 2020, and more

1/15/2020

 

It's 2020, A.K.A. Time to Take Control

Aaaaand we're back! 2020 really isn't pulling any punches so far, is it?

A continent is on fire, World War III memes have situational relevance, and the to-do list grows longer by the second. It's enough to make you feel at least little nuts, but I'm not going to let 2020 keep my head spinning, and you shouldn't either.

For all my writers out there who need a little New Year's inspiration, take a few minutes to read (or read again) the piece we put out last month: Authors Aren't Getting What They Need From Publishers Anymore. Here's What They Can Do About It. When I wrote this, my mindset was more one of criticizing an industry that doesn't love writers like it should. That still holds true, but rereading it now, all that comes to mind are all the opportunities you have to take control of your own damn destiny as a writer. 2020 is a great year to give a middle finger to anything that doesn't help you flourish and to be bold.

If you want some insight on ways you can give yourself what publishing isn't giving freely anymore, read on; and if you've got questions or ideas you want to bounce off me, I'm all ears. This is the year we make some magic happen!
Clue Me In
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