Two Bits of Exciting News to Share with You by Nancy M Bell

 

To learn more about Nancy's books click on the cover above.

First, my contribution to BWL Publishing Inc. Canadian Historical Mystery Collection releases September 1, 2023. It is set in Winnipeg Manitoba in the late fall and early winter of the year 1869. The murder mystery is set against the backdrop of the Riel Rebellion which came to a head during this time period and into early 1870. It was a custom of the immigrating European men to take native wives. While they didn't marry them in a church, they were considered married by a la facon du pays, or according to the custom of the country. These country wives ensured the survival of the immigrants who were in no way equipped to survive the harsh Rupert's Land winters. However, once the settlement became more developed and expanded, the English imported women from the home country who were considered more acceptable in the increasingly European society. The new brides, dainty and refined, were married by clergy and usurped the country wives positions. These native women, both indigenous and Metis, were cast aside along with their children. Most of the women and children were absorbed back into their communities, some just disappeared. 

My second bit of good news. On the August long weekend, I had the pleasure of attending When Words Collide in Calgary. It was a wonderful time as always. I sat on three poetry panels with some amazing poets, and was on the panel for two slush pile readings, YA and Romance. We were treated to some amazing works in progress and invited to give our advice and feedback. 

It was great fun to touch base with old friends and make new ones. 

The poetry panels were Epic Poetry Readings and the audience was encouraged to share their poems as well, Cast A Spell with Poetry and Birth of a Poet. On the poetry panels with me were Jennifer Slebioda, Tammy Rebere, Josephine LoRe, Richard Graeme Cameron and Sandra Fitzpatrick. It was a lovely time and hopefully When Words Collide will continue to thrive under the new management. Registration for 2024 is open now online. 

Stay well, stay happy, stay safe.

 

Some Pre-Release reviews for Chance's Way and A shout out to When Words Collide by Nancy M Bell

 

To learn more about The Alberta Adventures series and The Cornwall Adventures that proceeded it please click on the cover above.  

First, When Words Collide, that wonderful and very affordable writers festival has wrapped up for another year. This is the second year we've gathered online and all things considered it seems we are getting better at managing Zoom calls. The wonderful thing about WWC is that all the presenters and hosts and organizers volunteer their time and expertise which makes this amazing event accessible to everyone. Hopefully next year we can all meet in person again in Calgary. I sat on several panels and did a presentation on Character Development which was well attended. Thanks to everyone who tuned it and participated.

Now, for a bit of shameless self promotion. As you may or may not know reviews are so important to an author. Chance's Way releases on September 1, 2021 and I have been lucky enough to get a couple of pre-release reviews. So, just to whet your whistle, so to speak....

From KC Finn of Readers Favorite

Author Nancy M. Bell has crafted a great YA drama that will introduce readers to country life in Canada, with sweet romance and highly relatable protagonists. Chance’s journey was intelligently penned and well-balanced to give a heartfelt but not overdone approach to his big life turnaround. The issues surrounding his ne’er-do-well father were so interesting to explore, and you could really feel Chance’s family conflict coming through. I also enjoyed the presentation of Laurel immensely, and her dialogue and charm made me want to read the rest of the books in the Alberta Adventures series to see her personal journey too. Overall, I would recommend Chance’s Way to fans of the existing series and new readers seeking emotional tales of young people just setting out to carve a future for themselves despite their setbacks and adversities.   

Till next month, stay well, stay happy   

The Dos and Don'ts of Pitching Your Work by Nancy M Bell

To learn more about Nancy's books please click the cover above. Dead Dogs Talk is Book 2 of The Alberta Adventures and a worthy addition to Wild Horse Rescue. Now in pre-release.



What is a Pitch?
A pitch is short, concise presentation which can be given in person, over the phone, via Zoom, other similar platform, or in an email. Very rarely are pitches sent by snail mail anymore. The content introduces your story idea, the genre and word count. If given in person in a formal situation such as a writers conference or an in person meeting with an agent or editor you should have a hard copy to leave with them. All formal pitches should include your contact information.

Why should you pitch?
If you want to sell your story, you need to have a way to get the agent or editor interested. In order to be published traditionally or be represented by an agent you need to be able to give them a quick concise bit of information that will enable them to ascertain if what you are offering fits with their current requirements.

When Should you Pitch?
Now this is the sixty-million-dollar question.
The manuscript must be complete and polished before you even consider pitching.
Your manuscript should not only be completed, it should have been read by new eyes in the form of beta readers. These fresh eyes will pick up things the author misses. For example: time line issues, consistency of names or locations and spellings of names etc.
Then, before you consider pitching, the manuscript should be edited to the nth degree. You need to hire a good editor for this. No author can edit their own work successfully.
The presence of spelling errors, words used in the wrong context, missing quotation marks etc. indicate to the agent or acquisition editor that the author is either lazy or very inexperienced. Neither impression is going to get an offer of contract if indeed the author gets far.
You need to be prepared to produce your polished manuscript upon request. Nothing will turn the agent or editor off quicker than to go through the pitch process, ask for a part or full manuscript and discover that the manuscript in question is incomplete or ‘still with the editor’.

Do you need more than one pitch format?
Yes, for sure.
What if you run into your dream agent or acquisition editor in the elevator or God forbid the bathroom? You have a very limited amount of time to say “Hi, I’m so and so, I’ve been wanting to meet you. I have a that centres around that I think will interest you. Here’s my contact info (hand them your card complete with contact info and website etc). It was nice meeting you, thanks for taking the time to chat with me. Then exit gracefully.
Your pitch in this instance should be a very short summary of what makes your book:
Unique
Striking
Fresh
Compelling
That’s the famous Elevator Pitch.
Do’s:
Write your pitch out. As many times as it takes to fine tune it.
Practice this pitch until you can recite it word perfect in 30 or 40 seconds. You will sound polished, confident and professional.
Be polite.
Be succinct and brief. Twenty words is perfect and certainly no more than fifty words.
Do remove everything from your book description except that part that most interests the reader.
Fox example: Harry Potter Orphan boy with magical powers goes to school for wizards.
Do smile.
Be pleasant- agents and editors are human- speak as you would to a casual friend. Not too familiar but not like you’re overwhelmed.
Do respect their personal space. It’s fine to be passionate about your work, but don’t get too close and invade their personal space.
Don’ts:
Don’t get wordy and longwinded - they will check out.
Don’t be pushy even a bit. It’s okay to be passionate but no one is comfortable caught in a confined space with someone who is clearly giving you the hard sell.
Don’t linger, or follow them off the elevator or out of the bathroom still pitching.
Don’t be flippant. Respect their attention and time they are giving you.
Don’t be touchy-feely. It’s fine to offer a hand shake (although not in these Covid-19 times) but no touching their arm to make a point.
You don’t need to explain all the granular aspects of your story line. You just want this Important Person to say, “Hey, that sounds interesting. Tell me more.”

The Formal In Person Pitch at a Conference.
In this instance you have a bit more time than the Elevator Pitch. Usually there is a ten or fifteen minute window scheduled for each pitch.
Create your pitch and revise it until it is clear, concise, to the point, polished and most important geared to hook the person’s interest you are pitching to. You’re fishing for that “Please tell me more” response and a request for either a part or full manuscript.
Once you’ve polished your pitch practice it. Practice in front of a mirror, practice on your friend or writers group, practice on your partner. Practice until you can recite it in your sleep. Be ready for any questions the agent or acquisition editor might ask. Be ready to sell yourself, have a concise answer in the back of your mind or questions like: Do you have anything published? If yes, be ready to answer if you are self or traditionally published. Don’t reel off along list of publications if you have them, stay succinct. “I have twelve novels published by . If they wish to know more, have a hard copy of all your bibliography ready to hand.
The agent/editor will know your name, but introduce yourself anyway when/as you sit down.
Remember to meet the agent/editor’s gaze without being too intense.
Smile.
Give your pitch- which should be short enough to allow time for the agent/editor to ask questions and for you to answer.
Exhibit an understanding of how the publishing business works, be familiar with the books and authors that the agent/editor you are pitching too and be able to mention them should the topic come up.
Be ready to discuss your marketing platform if the agent/editor is interested in asking about it. The same with your online presence and social media presence.
Regardless of the outcome of the pitch, be polite and thank the agent/editor as you take your leave. You never know when you might run across this same agent/editor in the future. Just because this pitch might not have been successful doesn’t mean a future pitch won’t be.
A point to remember: Agents/editors talk to each other. If you make a bad first impression with one agent/editor, it stands to reason they might remember that if another agent/editor mentions your name or a pitch you delivered to them in a positive light. If the first agent/editor shares their less than positive first impressions of you it will colour the second agent/editor’s opinion and might be the deciding factor in you receiving a request to submit or not.

The Formal Written Pitch- either via electronic means or snail mail.
This one is a bit less nerve wracking for the author. No face to face meeting where nerves can get the best of you. However, this also means everything you put before the agent/editor had better be letter perfect.
Your entire formal pitch or query should be one page. No longer. Agents and editors get multiple emails and hard copy pitch/queries. You need to get their attention and keep it quickly. Cardinal rule: Don’t be boring.


If you are querying different agents/editors then make sure when you copy and paste that you have the name and company right. No spelling errors, especially in a person’s name. perfect grammar and formatting.
You will need your pitch and a cover letter. You can combine the two as long as you are careful not to get too carried away.
Your cover letter should make it clear you are serious about writing and are passionate about it, that you are not seeing dollar signs flashing. If you are pitching your first novel but are working on a another that’s a good thing to include, so the agent/editor knows your not that one hit wonder ( or hope to be one hit wonder) and you’re in this for the long haul. Briefly list any contests, competitions you’ve entered, any articles published in magazines. What kind of networking you’ve done, attending writers festivals or conference, writing courses you’ve taken. Show them you are serious about writing as a business.
Make sure your pitch/query/manuscript conforms to the agent/editor’s requirements. For example if the information states TNR 12pt don’t send your manuscript in Calibri 10pt. Should it be double spaced, 1.5 or single spaced? Please don’t use hard tabs for indents, you can format your manuscript in Word to automatically indent. Failure to adhere to requested requirements is an immediate turn off to the person you are trying to impress.
Know the nuts and bolts of your work- be able to provide the basics in a few short lines- similar to the Elevator Pitch.
Exhibit an understanding of how the publishing business works, be familiar with the books and authors that the agent/editor you are pitching too and be able to mention them should the topic come up.
Your job is to sell yourself and your work.
Please don’t be flippant or attempt to be humorous. This is hopefully going to be a professional relationship, start as you mean to go forward. Don’t send pictures of your dog, or your kids, don’t send ‘presents’, no matter how innocent.
Do outline a marketing strategy and provide an overview of it. Please be sure you have one. That’s a whole other topic I’m not going to cover here.
Include information on your website, social media presence and any other information that would make you and your work more saleable. That might include education or professional contacts pertinent to the topic or genre of the work you are offering.
Be sure the work you are offering is consistent with what the agent/editor is interested in.
This is a job interview in a sense. Any sloppiness indicates to the person you are trying to impress that you are not someone who pays attention to detail, which in turn implies your work may be full of the same issues. If you display a lack of attention to detail in the all important initial contact it would follow that you are not a competent self-editor which is important. Not to say that you won’t need an editor, but as an agent or editor, you want to be confident the author is going to present you with a pretty clean and tight manuscript.
The hardest part of this pitch is the waiting. There most likely will not be a quick response. It will depend on a number of things, including how many submission emails are in the agent/editor’s inbox, along with whatever else they may be working on.
Make sure you read their website and take note of any expected response times that might be noted there. For example the agent/editor may indicate it may be 3 months, or six months for a reply. If that is the case, don’t email or contact them before that time is up. If after the specified time has elapsed, you can send a polite brief email asking for an update. Don’t nag, don’t bug, above all don’t be pushy.

Your Bio
Something else I should mention is the importance of a good author bio. You want to highlight your writing cred, past publications, awards won, competitions entered. You can include a bit of personal info, but don’t dwell on it. We don’t need to know your dog(s)’ names, or kids names. Keep it short and to the point and then you can include a bibliography below the short bio if needed or asked for.

I’ve whittled mine down over time. I was recently asked for one that was 50 words MAX.
This one was targeted for the editor of a poetry anthology in answer to a call for submission, so I removed anything that wasn’t pertinent to this particular instance.
Nancy lives near Balzac, Alberta. She has publishing credits in poetry, fiction and non-fiction. Her work is included in Tamaracks Canadian Poetry for the 21st Century, Vistas of the West Anthology and by the University of Holguin Cuba in their Canada Cuba Literary Alliance (CCLA) program.

The earlier version was a bit longer and covers more info, but the anthology editor probably doesn’t care that I also facilitate workshops. And he specified a bio of 50 words or under, so you have to be able to cut to the quick without losing the information pertinent to this situation.
Nancy lives near Balzac, Alberta with her husband and various critters. She is a member of the Writers Guild of Alberta. Nancy has presented at the Surrey International Writers Conference, at the Writers Guild of Alberta Conference, When Words Collide and Word on the Lake. She has publishing credits in poetry, fiction and non-fiction. Recently her work has been included in Tamaracks Canadian Poetry for the 21st Century and Vistas of the West Anthology of Poetry. Her poetry is also being included by the University of Holguin Cuba in their Canada Cuba Literary Alliance (CCLA) program. Her latest book Dead Dogs Talk will release in September 2020.


A Good Pitch
If in person- arrives on time-
Is targeted to the requirements of the agent/editor being pitched to
Is practiced and delivered confidently and professionally- if delivered in person
If by electronic means- copy sent to agent/editor is clean. Addressed to the correct person who’s name is spelled right. Copy is clear of spelling and grammatical errors and adheres to all submission guidelines.
Provides contact info clearly and easily found- you’d think this should be obvious, but you’d be surprised.
Gives a concise and succinct idea of what the work being pitched is about- the essence of your work, no long convoluted explanations-
Know what genre your work is- pick the ONE that most fits your work even if there are sub-genres involved
Gives an overview of your experience as a writer/author- publishing history- speaks intelligently about the publishing industry as a whole
Very brief overview of your marketing plans for the work at hand- social media/online presence
Wraps up in a timely and professional manner. Pitcher thanks the agent/editor for their attention etc
If in person- hand over your business card just before you leave.
A Bad Pitch
If in person- arrives late
Is not targeted to the requirements of the agent/editor- genre, word count, formatting
Is clearly not polished or practiced- fumbling for words- inability to answer questions
Inability to answer simple questions- i.e. What genre is your book? What is your word count?
Answers not straight and to the point, rambling on off topic or becoming too involved and convoluted to follow easily.
Uses unprofessional language and/or body language
Pitcher is abrupt or offhand or worse- defensive if hearing something they’d rather not
Going over the allotted time
Forgetting to say thank you and leaving gracefully
Failure to leave contact info- business card is best
Rudeness even if unintended- be aware of your body language and the tone of your words and how they are delivered.

If delivered by electronic means:
Addressed to wrong agent/editor OR name spelled wrong
Copy is not formatted to submission guidelines
Not carefully proof read- spelling and grammatical errors
Does not provide contact information OR it is hard to find
Does not provide some idea of author’s experience
No mention of any marketing strategy or social media/online presence
Rudeness- even if not intended- be aware of the tone of your words.
Incorrectly formatted
Genre not stated or clear


Until next month, stay well and happy.
Nancy www.nancymbell.ca

The Process by Victoria Chatham

 

NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

Earlier this month I attended the When Words Collide conference in Calgary and spent nearly three days listening to presentations, discussions on various writing topics by panels and – best of all – talking to other writers. One topic that seemed to consistently crop up was that of the process of writing. What is this magical process? As it turns out, there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

What one writer loves, another abhors. Take Scrivener, for instance. I know several writers who swear they could not write a book without it. I looked at Scrivener, but whichever way I looked at it, however many people explained parts of the program to me, it made no sense. Rather than make the writing easier, it seemed like more hard work. Another author writes in longhand and then revises when she transcribes her work to the computer. That I can understand a little more. There’s something very basic about sitting with pen and paper and letting your words flow across the page in total freefall, the method by which Canada’s great W.O. Mitchell (Who Has Seen the Wind, Jake and the Kid, Roses Are Difficult Here to name just a few of his titles) wrote and which has been the basis of many authors giving birth to their ideas.

The idea of freefall is to simply write, with no attention to sentence structure, grammar, punctuation or any kind of editing. Use as many adverbs as you like! As Nora Roberts has said, you cannot edit a blank page. In getting down the bones of whatever your idea is, you are filling your pages and therefore have something to go back to revise and edit. Freefall is different to stream of consciousness which is an internal monologue reflecting a person’s thoughts, feelings or observations on what they see about them, whether it is another person, an event or something that has caught their attention. It is written in much the same way as freefall. That is, without worrying about grammar or the editing gremlin on your shoulder. Stream of consciousness writing does not actually tell a story.

You may be familiar with the term pantser, which refers to a writer who sits down at his/her computer and writes. I lean towards being a pantser. The only time I resort to actual plotting is if I get lost in the middle, when it becomes something of back-paddling scramble. My usual process is to write timelines for my major characters, decide what is going to happen to them, do whatever research I need to do and then sit down and write. Being an editor at heart I usually read the last six pages before I start another writing session, just to get myself up to speed on what I wrote yesterday and revise as I go. At the start of a book I’ll decide how many chapters it will be and stick a post-it for each chapter on my white board. There may be some notes about that chapter, more often not. I have to say that the further I get into a book, the less social I become. In fact, at about the half way point I am so engrossed I have been known to become quite grumpy if interrupted.

Once my book is finished, it goes to my critique partners and beta readers and when I’ve done whatever revisions might be necessary I kiss it goodbye and send it to my publisher. My process after finishing a book is similar to après skiing. There’s wine, chocolate, cozy blankets and sleep – lots of sleep.  

Find me and my books at: 

http://bookswelove.net/authors/chatham-victoria/

www.facebook.com/AuthorVictoriaChatham

http://victoriachatham.blogspot.ca.

It's August! How did that happen? by Nancy M Bell

Seems like it was just yesterday it was June and the light was growing stronger. Suddenly I realize it's the middle of August. The birds are starting to flock, the caragana peas are popping all over the place and the light is drawing in a little closer every day. Hours of daylight shortening as we move toward the longest night in December.

It's been busy. Last month I shared my lovely day at the Stephan G Stephansson House reading poetry and enjoying this amazing historical site. This month I have just returned from presenting and enjoying the Calgary writers festival When Words Collide. What a wonderful experience. Seven hundred writers and fans all crammed into one hotel for three days. So much creative energy. I did a Blue Pencil cafe for eight writers and totally impressed by the quality of the word I was presented with. If you feel inclined you should check out their site and consider joining us for next year.

One exciting thing that happened at When Words Collide is that Books We Love announced the upcoming series- Canadian Historical Brides. This is a series of thirteen books, one set in each province and territory. Each book has a different author who will chose a historical event to center her story around and a bride who figures in the story line. The cover art I have seen so far is marvelous.
My own contribution to the series is book four which is set in Ontario in the WW1 era. The title is His Brother's Bride and is based very loosely on elements of my grandparents' story. After all what do we know better than our own family stories. There is always bits and pieces we can pluck out, turn in our hands and use in our stories.

I love the cover the Books We Love talented cover artist has created.

The first book in the series will release in October of 2016 and is set in Saskatchewan, book two releases in November 2016 set in the Yukon, book 3 releases December 2016 set in Alberta at the famously haunted Banff Springs Hotel. My contribution is book four and will release in February 2017. The rest of the series will release at two month intervals so keep your eyes peeled you won't want to miss a single book in this series.

Til next month, stay well, stay happy.