The fantastically nice people at Cornerstones Literary Consultancy are going to give us the benefit of their knowledge and experience to answer your questions about writing, on 18th January. So start thinking now....

They say they will contemplate anything, other than contractual issues- although they can still point authors in the right directions.

We want your questions - so get thinking over the holidays and post them in this forum. If there are loads, I'm guessing Helen and Kathryn from Cornerstones will cherry pick some, or maybe they'll attempt to answer them all, let's see. Some examples might be:

'Synopses: some agents say they want to know everything and others say they don't... so what do they want in a synopsis?'; 'if publishers are not taking on new authors is trying to get published a pointless exercise?' 'I've been told I should choose a point of view of one character but I want to involve all my characters - are multiple POVs unacceptable in today's publishing?'

Get posting folks!

Just reminding everyone about this. Have you got your questions ready?

I've only just read this, thinking it was about a writing course somewhere. You might get more response if you retitle and put under 'Getting Published'?

Jan

Great suggestion, thanks! I've updated it!

Do we actually post our questions on this thread?

Do we actually post our questions on this thread?

As good a place as any.

Yes, do post questions here! I should have said that in original post.

Q: Should one mention in the covering letter if this book is the first of a series; trilogy; working on a sequel? - seems that some genres welcome series while others don't.

Can I second Anna's questions, please, just in case anybody is counting up votes.

I also like Naomi's question and I have a couple more on the subject of covering letters:

Question 1:
I understand that agents/editors are interested in seeing whether you could be the sort of person that they could work with. But, also, it is not a good idea to talk about any experience outside the world of writing. For those of us who are not yet published, how do we get around that dilemma? Is it okay to make a brief reference to collaborative experiences, even if they are not related to creative writing?

Question 2:
Also, I sometimes despair that I don't have an interesting enough life to grab the attention of an agent or publisher reading my submission. I know that they should read my story but, assuming they like it, will their perceptions of how easily they can sell it on be affected by the fact that I have led a resolutely dull life? So that, no matter how good my story is, I might ultimately be rejected on that basis?

To put this question in a bit more context, I have written an action/adventure story but I have no direct technical experience that relates to any part of the story, such as being ex-army or law enforcement.

cheers

S

In cover letters, would you mention that the current sub is not your first ever novel?. The general consensus is that usually, you shouldn't, as it might give a negative view of you, a whiff of failure - but surely if you say 'this is my 5th novel', as is my case, it suggests you have honed your craft and it shows sticking power/determination etc? Or is it simply irrelevant.

Nearly all agents want to know if you have sent to them exclusively and ask you to tell them how many agents you have subbed to, sometimes asking for details. This is in their submission guidelines.

If one of the agents asked for the full ms, it would obviously be a different matter.

But is there really any need on the first approach, to antagonise would-be agents by, in effect, saying,
"Please consider my ms, and by the way, I have sent it to a half a dozen other agents"?

Is honesty really the best policy?

Do you have any predictions for hot themes in 2011/12?

Q: If an agent has said nice things about the mss, but ultimately rejected it, is it worth quoting them in your covering letter?

All good and interesting questions, keep them coming!

If you had successfully self-published would you mention this? Does it indicate admirable determination or desperation? (A friend of J.G. Farrell told me that this eventual Booker winner initially self-published).

Richard