Question of the day: How do you deal with editors? How much can an editor actually do to, and for, your work? 

This answer is going to vary from writer to writer and from publishing house to publishing house. Some authors will tell you that these days, editors - to no fault of their own - are overworked and don't have a ton of time to actually edit. That agents are increasingly handling the bulk of that load: that agents will work with clients to really polish a manuscript before it goes out such that it doesn't need a heavy hand once it's been sold.

That said, I've been truly fortunate in that my editors at Shaye Areheart/Crown have been just the opposite. They dive in and have really helped me shape my books. I work with my editors in the way that some writers probably use critique groups, albeit with larger portions of a book. With The One That I Want, I really struggled to pinpoint what wasn't working with the manuscript, so my editor read the first hundred pages and offered some suggestions. When she does this, she isn't saying, "Make your characters do this," or "Cut this," she just more suggests some themes to play with, some general ideas to get the juices flowing. For example, Tilly, my protagonist, is given the gift of foresight into the future, she originally was given this gift by your stereotypical fortune teller. It didn't ring true, and I knew this and I raised it with my editor, who said, "Hey, this is a book about your past and your future, why not consider having the person who tells her this prophesy be a person whom she already knows?" GENIUS! I took that suggestion and ran with it...and that new character became a major - and pivotal - character in the rest of the book.

The same is true once the overall manuscript was complete. Again, I knew it wasn't where I wanted it to be, so my editor - who smartly didn't want to read much more again after the 100 pages so she could see the completed work with fresh eyes - gave me broad brushstrokes: why don't you try this, or how about drawing this out more, and then letting me figure out just HOW I was going to do that. Which I really appreciated. I've said this before, but I know myself as a writer: I can take something to a certain level and then I need an objective resource to help steer me to the next level. My editor does this by letting me retain total control and freedom over my writing and characters and imagination AND while still fine-tuning the ms.

So that's my experience. I know this doesn't hold true for everyone, but in the best of all worlds, I imagine this is what editor-author relationships to be. Anyone else want to weigh in?

Question of the day: I know I have writing in my blood. I can feel it. How can I turn this urge to write into a career? What steps should I follow?  Once I have an idea for a book, what should I do to make it published?  

Lots of "how do I get started" emails in my in-box right now - must be the New Year's resolutions! :)

How do you turn this urge to write into a career? Well, if you're talking about fiction - which I assume you are since you refer to a book - you need to start writing. Full stop. The end. So many people - too many people - believe that they have books in them. Guess how many of them actually take the time to write said books? Unscientific data tells me that it's at about 1%. Thinking that you have a book in you doesn't equate to anything - sitting down and writing it might. 

Which leads me to your next question: how to get it published. If you're writing a novel, you actually have to have written the entire thing before you can even consider this next step. Once you've banged out, oh, 80k-100k words, and revised them, and revised them again, and maybe even revised them AGAIN (yes, I know, really), then you start looking for an agent. There are hundreds of great agents out there who are eager to sell good fiction, and you can start your search at Agent Query, Publishers Marketplace, google or the acknowledgment pages of your favorite books. You need to put together a bang-up query letter (you can search the blog for examples of some), email it out to dozens and dozens until one says yes. That agent will then likely help you revise the manuscript again, and then take it to publishers, one of whom you will also hope will say yes while offering you a check in return.

But getting back to my first paragraph: the most important element in all of this is sitting down and writing. I have a few close non-writer friends who want to write books - and who I think would all likely write very good ones - but they talk a lot about writing them without every writing them. You're never, ever, ever going to be a published author if you don't first write the book. I know that sounds obvious but for a lot of people, I'm actually not sure that is. Write the book. Worry about the rest of it after that. And good luck!!

So today....drum roll, please....I am thrilled to be turning the blog over to my fabulous agent, Elisabeth Weed. She'll be answering your questions all week, and she's enjoyed the experience so much, I'm happy to say that she'll be doing the same once a month here at Ask Allison. Without further ado, here ya go.

Question of the day: My question is...we read articles that say now-famous authors with best-sellers were rejected by ten, fifty, a hundred agents before the one who say yes. I'm wondering if persistence is the key or if there's a time that you think it's clear the book is a no-go. I guess it would be the same for agents submitting to publishers -- what's the cutoff? Is there one? I'm jumping ahead since I'm not there yet --- but I am always relieved when I hear that someone queried 100 times before finding an agent. I believe I have that in me too.

I love hearing those stories.  The Help by Kathryn Stockett is one of the best. (I quickly looked in my rejection log after reading her story in The New York Times and was thrilled to know I didn't reject her!)  I think  the key is a combination of persistence and a well as a certain savvy about the market and reading between the lines in terms of feedback.  I've had the pleasure of selling a fair amount of debut fiction, but each author has a very different story on how they got to me and then their publisher. In some cases, the author worked on that novel for many years, as it transformed from one genre to another, based on feedback from her writers group, agents and published writers.  In another scenario, the author had a novel that got rejected from upwards of 50 agents. She realized from the responses that it wasn't her craft, but rather the structure of the novel. So, she shelved it, wrote another book, and was greeted with several offers of representation within weeks of sending it out.  This is all to say that I think stories like Ms Stockett's are much more common that you realize. We just don't hear about them in the NY Times because her success of finding an agent and getting published is only written about because of the real success story, of being a debut novel that for all intents and purposes has been number one on the bestseller list (big brand name authors that get published new books every week are the only thing keeping her from that spot).

In short, I don't think there is one path to getting there but if you believe in yourself, do your homework, listen to feedback and yes, be persistent, you will give yourself and your book the best chance for success.  I hope that helps.  Does anyone want to share their stories of finding an agent? 

So you've probably heard the phrase co-op here on the blog before, and if you're new to the industry, wondered just what the heck I'm talking about: a pc health-store where everyone pitches in? A preschool where the parents work in shifts?

Nope, I'm talking about the space at the front of the store that publishers pay for.  Kristy Kiernan tweeted this Fast Company article about co-op last night that I wanted to pass along to you - it's a very good explanation of what it is and why it's important, and while I don't share the author's relative dislike of BN, I think it's a great behind-the-scenes explanation. Co-op is arguably THE MOST important element a book's success, so it's always good to understand the machinations behind it.

Read the article here. 

Question of the day: When you break up with your agent after your first book was published does the new agent now rep that title or does that stay with the old agent?

I've never been in this exact position but I believe that technically, yes, the old agent reps that title. I know in my case, my agent left her old agency after she sold my debut, but I still get royalty information from that old agency, so technically, they'd get any profits, etc, from that book. THOUGH, since I'm still with the same agent, she still reps this work if, say, we ended up selling other rights than we previously had.

I think the best thing to do in this case - I'm assuming you've parted ways with your agent and are interested in selling additional rights to that work - is simply ask her if she has any intention of ever furthering that book's chances in the marketplace, and if not, ask her if she'd consider releasing you from the contract you signed. It might not be up to her: if she's one of many agents within an agency, she might not have authority to do this, but if she works alone, she might. (I'm guessing here.) If she has no plans of ever making another dollar off of this work - and if she's a reasonable person - she might just let you pass it off to the new agent, who could pursue foreign opportunities, etc.

But as I said, I've never been in this exact situation. Have any of you readers out there? Want to advise our question-asker?