Is It Time to Seize Your Author Destiny?

I’m worried that your protagonist is too passive.

The above is a common note I give to writers when I critique their work. Your main character can’t wait for things to happen, they must make things happen. They need MCE or main character energy.

But it’s not just characters that need to kick butt and lasso their fates, authors need to adopt the same kind of agency as their characters.

Whether you’re on sub, looking for an agent or lamenting some unfairness in the publishing process, instead of griping, waiting around, or wringing your hands, embrace your MCE. Those who take the reins of their author careers are the ones who thrive.

For example, many an author has wanted to write books with middle-aged protagonists, only to be told by publishers that readers don’t care about perimenopausal women. Lucia Macro, a former editor at Avon once said, “In my book group we read a romance where the heroine was forty-five and my friend said ‘I know I’m forty-five, I don’t want to be reminded of it!’”

But is it really true that readers don’t want middle-aged characters? Or just some myth that’s been floating around publishing?

In 2020, thirteen authors called BS on the notion that readers dislike characters with crow’s feet. The Fab 13 invented a subgenre, paranormal women’s fiction featuring magical, midlife female characters dealing with issues like menopause, aging parents, and chin hairs.

As it turned out, readers embraced witches with hot flashes and necromancers with empty nest syndrome.

The Fab 13 coordinated marketing tactics proved to be so successful that paranormal women’s fiction is now considered to be a hot niche, and there are currently thousands of titles like Midlife Bounty Hunter and Crone to the Bone.

Another example of writers taking charge was during the pandemic when publishers canceled dozens of book tours. Many authors lamented their lousy luck, but four writers decided to find another way to promote their books.

The writers hosted a weekly happy hour on Facebook Live which grew beyond their wildest dreams. Friends and Fiction now has 10,000 viewers, a Facebook group with 270,000 members, and a podcast.

Authors with agency don’t wallow or wait; they create. As Seth Godin, author of The Practice says, “Writers write. Runners run. Establish your identity by doing your work.”

If you’re on submission that might mean writing supporting essays for your book and getting them out there. If you’re querying, it means planning your next novel. It might also mean getting your website up or coming up with a social media plan.

It helps immensely to have a specific vision for your future life as an author. Write down what you’d like to see and set out to create it. Every day ask yourself what you can do to make that vision happen and record your successes, no matter how small.

As an author, you’re not meant to be a character in Waiting for Godot. Instead, lean into your main character energy by challenging common assumptions, acknowledging obstacles as part of your path, and working daily to build the author life you desire.

Related Links:

Alexandra Sokoloff

advocates writing an author vision statement to help you design the writing life of your dreams.

If you’re feeling author burnout, editing guru Tiffany Yates Martin offers a pep talk.

Thoughts on MCE? Love to hear from you. I’m also opening up for services again. Scroll to the bottom for this month’s specials and availability.

THIS WEEK IN PITCHING

Where I take a critical look at some of the fiction deals in Publishers Marketplace

THIGHS WIDE SHUT, pitched as for fans of Sarah Hogle and Rosie Danan, a debut romantic comedy about a young woman who reunites with her ex-best friend, only to discover that their lingering tension masks deeper feelings—and that to reconnect, she must confront the barriers that have long kept her from authentic intimacy.

Kudos to the cute title but this pitch has a problem I see all too often. It’s too darn general. Besides the clever title, what sets this story apart from thousands of other rom-coms? I can’t tell from the pitch. Lingering tensions? What type? Barriers? What sort? When pitching, the more specific the better.

THE JEZEBEL LIST, a post-religious trauma rom-com in which a pastor's daughter and a documentary filmmaker work their way through her to-do list of previously forbidden experiences as she embarks on a journey of joy, embracing her newfound freedom

One of my favs this week. The title describes the premise perfectly, and it’s fun for readers to view the familar through a newcomer’s eyes. I’m on board!

Favorite Beginnings

I’m judging a writing contest this summer and every time I take on this role, I’m motivated to discuss the importance of a strong beginning. They are few and far between even in published novels. Here’s some jewels I’ve seen lately.

My Other Heart by Emma Nanami Strenner

Mimi Truang did not yet know that her baby was gone. She sat back and closed her eyes, coffee in hand. It was still some time before they could board the connecting flight to Newark for their journey home to Saigon.

I love dramatic irony, i.e., when the author lets the reader in on a secret that the main character doesn’t know.

The Faceless Thing We Adore by Hester Steel

I cut off my hair at 3:00 A.M. in an airport bathroom. I find the scissors in my bag; I must have slipped them in during the fight. So here I am, alone in a bathroom, with scissors I’ll have to chuck out at security anyway, another scrap of my life I can’t keep. They gleam. They say, you’ve lost almost everything. Give a bit more.

This paragraph arouses so much curiosity. Why is she cutting her hair? What fight? What has she lost? Love the personification of the scissors.

A Girl Within a Girl Within a Girl by Nanda Reddy

Some moments sear themselves onto your brain.

Me standing by the kitchen sink, the dogwood flowering outside the window, this envelope in my trembling hands.

They’ve found me. The air thickens and sounds recede.

Double-threat beginning. Gorgeous prose paired with intrigue.

FURTHER READING: Seven Ways to Nail Your Novel’s Beginning

NEWS YOU CAN USE

Fascinating article on what America really wants to read (pssst… romantasy didn’t make the cut) and what they don’t want to read. (Some big surprises.)

Also Goodreads features the most-read books this year so far by genre.

Rom-coms and New Adult move over. According to Circana, darker romances are dazzling readers.

This month’s specials: Query evaluations $50. (regularly $70). Only three spaces available. Also, I have one editorial assessment slot for novels 80,000 in June. Demand is so high I’m having to raise prices, but this month it’s still only $350. For the month of June, I’ll read your first ten pages for $25. Only three spaces available. Message me or email me at karin.gillespie@gmail.com More info about all my services here.

CRAFT

Are we too hard on adverbs?