How to Get & Stay Published

 

"Why was my novel rejected?" Millions of writers haven't a clue, says veteran book editor Chris Roerden. "Average writing is the cause," she says. "Like doubting your meaning is clear and using repetition for insurance, which I call malpractice."

 

She adds, "Putting quotation marks around information doesn't make it dialogue." Editors and agents quickly spot the clues and stop reading.

 

Roerden teaches writers to see those clues, eliminate them, and boost their odds of getting published. "What's scary," she says, "is that most writers sabotage their submissions in identical ways." And she will visit with us at the Main Library on Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 6:30 p.m. Attendance is free and open to the public, of course.

 

Roerden estimates 4.7 million rejections occurred in 2008, based on the industry average of one in a hundred manuscripts becoming a book, and on 47,541 new adult fiction titles published last year.

 

To improve the average writer's 1-in-100 odds for publication, Roerden takes her workshops to public libraries and writers' groups throughout the country. She wants writers to know the secrets of how manuscripts are really evaluated and what leads to quick rejection, so their manuscripts will at least be read and evaluated on the merits of their content.

 

Over her 44 years in publishing Chris has edited authors published by St. Martin's Press, Berkley Prime Crime, Rodale, Viking, Intrigue, Midnight Ink, and more.

 

Anticipating retirement, she wrote Don't Murder Your Mystery in 2006 and revised it in 2008 for all genres under the title Don't Sabotage Your Submission. Published by a small royalty press, Bella Rosa Books, her books received no major reviews but much Internet buzz, which led to 2 national awards: the 2006 Agatha Award for Best Nonfiction Book and the 2009 Benjamin Franklin Award for Literary Criticism, a juried award now in its 21st year. Her work also became a finalist for 3 national awards and 1 international award.

 

New York Times best-selling author Charlaine Harris (whose Sookie Stackhouse series is the HBO hit True Blood), says Roerden's work is "chock full of practical advice for the novice writer. Even seasoned writers could use a copy as a refresher course." And NYT best-selling author of award-winning thrillers P.J. Parrish says that after hearing Chris Roerden present a workshop, then reading her book, "I went back and rewrote an entire first page."

 

When Don't Murder Your Mystery's ranking on Amazon led to acquisition by the Writer's Digest Book Club, Roerden knew she was reaching thousands more writers with her books than in all her years of editing, 15 years of teaching writing at two universities, and more than 225 popular workshop presentations.