Almost a year ago I chatted with writer Neil Roberts about his love for short fiction. Fast forward 11 months and we met up in cyberspace to talk about where the fragments of his imagination have taken him since then. It seems he's been busy!
Q1 Neil, as a writer of
short fiction, how does it feel to have a debut, full-length novel on
circulation to agents?
Frankly there are mixed
feelings. Although From On High is the first novel I've circulated to agents
it's not the only one I've written (more of that later). Likewise I've been
published a few times in anthologies which has coloured my opinion of my own
writing.
A few years ago I touted a
previous novel to a few agents and publishers. It never found a home, but
received a some positive responses among the form rejection letters. Those
handful of encouraging sentences kept me going - words of praise from
professionals have that effect - but my self-doubts always said "if the
novel had been that good they would have accepted it". Such is my inner
voice, and it speaks longer and louder than any isolated sentence ever could.
As a result I toiled away in seclusion, writing more for my own pleasure than
out of any hopes of publication. I wrote a second novel in that time, but kept
it to myself.
From On High is actually my
third novel, but only the second I've sent to all those agents and agencies.
This time the process feels
different. Having had shorter works published I now know that my writing is of
sufficient quality to warrant acceptance so selection comes down to that
intangible set of criteria used by agents. Do they feel passionate about it? Is
there a market for it? Can they sell it to a publisher? That last is vital, of
course - they are running a business after all.
So far I've received
nothing but rejections, but I can honestly say I'm far less bothered than I was
before. A little bit of self-confidence goes a long way. Having said that,
there's still that heady mix of good vibes and doubt whenever I check my
emails.
Q2 Tell us about your work
and what inspired it. Use the elevator pitch idea if you want - you're in a
lift with the agent of your dreams, so what do you say before the fifth floor?
Fifth floor? Well then I'm
going to seriously bend your ear - you know how fast I can speak.
In just a couple of
sentences: From On High is an end-times novel set in in the modern day, placed
in Christian Cornwall and written by a secular Jew. It centres around Finn and
a mysterious figure named Doe who becomes part of his life, an invader and
protector rolled into one. Think 'urban gothic' without the unnecessary
romance, but with extra hamburgers. There's conversations, confrontations,
revelations and more. I hope you'll get a chance to read it very soon.
As to what inspired it,
well it evolved from a short story of the same name which I wrote some time
ago, itself inspired by a short story you wrote, Derek (Behind Enemy Lines? Am
I recalling correctly? [You have a good memory, Neil!]). I always knew my own short had a kernel I could expand
upon but it took years (and several false starts) to discover that hidden
story.
Writing it was as close to
torture as anything I've ever done. Seriously, it was the literary version of
self-harm. There are some very dark threads running through everything I write,
but none more so than with From On High. In places it was a real struggle to
carry on writing, to follow those threads to their horrifying conclusion.
Gruelling might be a better word. Thankfully the result has been far more than
worth it.
Q3 How did you decide which
agents to try first? Also, what made you choose the traditional publishing
route as your first option?
I actually did a search on
the Internet and started noting down agents which seemed to fit. Sometimes it
was based upon the genres they listed as of interest, sometimes on their
existing clientele, sometimes on the agents' bios. Much as when they choose
their clients, I find that choosing an agent has definite insubstantial
components.
Once I had that list of
twenty or so agencies I started calling them. A few I crossed-off right then
and there. Maybe I'll approach them again in future, but not right now. Why?
you ask. Well, not because I wasn't a fit for them, but because I didn't get a
feel that they would be a good fit for me. As an author I will be working
closely with an agency for a long time - there's a reason so many books are
dedicated to agents - so if someone starts off being brusque, unfriendly or
downright rude that sets off alarm bells. And remember these people will
potentially be representing me so I needed to think how I would come across in
their hands.
Most of the people I spoke
to were receptionists or PAs, not the agents themselves, but you can get a good
handle on an organisation by their choice of customer-facing staff. I noted the
names and positions of those with whom I spoke and was as polite as I could be.
I also made sure I knew to whom I should address my submissions.
Once I had my final list I
started sending off submissions in the format each agent requested. Some agents
want just three chapters, others 10,000 words and others still the first 50
pages - I gave them what they asked and always included a covering letter
including my bio and the fact I'd already spoken to them or one of their
colleagues. I used the names from the notes I'd taken as well. Sending a cover
letter "to whom it may concern" is never as good as one which is sent
"Dear Mr Blogs", and if I've spoken to their colleague Dave it makes
sense to say so.
Then I waited. And waited.
And waited. As emails came in I responded to them and updated my list. It's not
a quick process. After three months a few had not replied so I called them
again. Three hadn't received my submissions (possibly thanks to spam filters)
and one had lost it in an internal reorganisation, so I resent emails to each
of them.
So far it's been over five
months since those first emails were sent and I've not yet heard back from all
the agents (one responded exactly five months to the day after I'd sent my
submission).
As to why I've chosen to
pursue 'traditional' publishing, well that's probably due to several factors,
and was not necessarily a conscious decision.
I still have an emotional
connections to actual books so that was undoubtedly an important reason, but I
also know that my strengths as a writer are in writing, not marketing. I don't
know publishers, their business or their craft. While I could educate myself,
I'd rather explore the option of using an expert in such matters first, and
that's exactly what agents are.
But I'm more than happy to
explore non-traditional publication. In fact I already have...
Q4 What are you working on
at the moment?
I'm taking a break for a
little bit, pursuing digital sculpture with more diligence while I rest the
literary portions of my mind. But there's still a little research going on, a
little bit of editing filling a few of my hours. I just needed to take a few
weeks off from writing to recharge the batteries.
My first novel was As Cruel As Nature and in November I chose to publish it via CreateSpace and Kindle
Direct Publishing. Why? Because at 140,000 words long it was simply far too
large for a first-time author to hope to see published.
However, it remained my
first novel, a passion-piece and a real learning experience, so I wanted to get
it out there.
I put about a month into
rewriting, editing, polishing, prodding and formatting it. The process had been
started many times, but this was the one which I vowed would end with
publication. For various reasons it became vitally important to me.
I published at the end of
November so now As Cruel As Nature is finally available in paperback or ebook
in the usual places (i.e. Amazon).
If you're interested - and
since you've read so far I assume you are - it's set within free Russia,
occupied Russia and Poland during the winter of 1943 and follows a group of
Russian insurgents on a mission deep into the heart of the Third Reich. It's what
would happen if the task to save Private Ryan had been given to a very Russian
Dirty Dozen.
I also decided recently to
publish a few collections of my short stories - I have been in a publishing
frenzy!
I've been formally
published a few times now, both here and in the US, and subsequently had the
rights to those individual stories revert to me so thought I'd get those pieces
back out there. To be frank, there's not a lot else to do with them -
publishers are after first publication rights, not second. I also had a few
other stories written for competitions and the like which were just taking up
space on my hard-drive so decided to anthologise them all in three small,
themed collections.
I called them Fragments of
My Imagination and they are available for download on Amazon too.
Oh, and I'm working on a
collection of stories alluringly titled ReVive Clive.
I guess I'm not taking as
much of a break as I thought.
Q5 Ebooks or paperback, or
both?
Both. Definitely both.
I'm still attached to the
physical medium, but ebooks are so accessible these days.
There's also the financial
factor. Books have a per unit manufacturing cost and this reflects the price.
To illustrate, As Cruel As Nature in paperback costs £12.99 while in ebook it's
just £1.99. And I see practically the same royalty from each. Naturally I
didn't have the same production overheads and running costs as a publishing
house when I prepared As Cruel As Nature, but that means there are costs I
don't need to pass on to my readers. So I haven't. The only reason my printed
works cost more is because of those manufacturing costs.
There are downsides to the
ebook revolution though. When sites like CreateSpace made self-publishing
through print on demand so easy the volume of books available surged. The rise
of the ebook has turned a surge into a deluge. There are thousands of books
published every day on Amazon, books which would otherwise have gone out to
publishers. And that's the problem. While many of those books have merit there
are so many more which would have never have travelled beyond the slushpile.
More of a shame is that many of those which are actually of a potentially
publishable quality desperately need the attentions of an editor or two.
Seriously, check out some of the reviews on Amazon (assuming you haven't a
volume or two already on your shelf) and see how many lament the layout,
misspelling and grammatical errors in otherwise excellent books. Once the
monumental task of writing a novel has been completed every writer wants to get
their book out there - I know I did - but there's a reason it takes publishers
the best part of a year to get that story from "the end" to the
shops.
There is, however, a
solution. If you're serious about writing then join a writers' group or two.
Not only does it focus your writing it also gives feedback. A second eye on
your work is always a good thing - it's far too easy to become blind to your
flaws while you're toiling away in blissful isolation.
Q6 Name two books that
changed the way you thought about your own writing.
That is a damned difficult
question. Seriously, it's a real ass-kicker.
The first would have to be
Use of Weapons by Iain M Banks. It made me realise that it had become possible
to break genre expectations. When many hear sci-fi they think Star Wars or Star
Trek, but Banks broke that mould. Hell, he shattered it. Even though Use of
Weapons isn't hard sci-fi, it's far from space opera too, and - most
importantly - the setting is predominantly a backdrop to a story about the
human condition (even though none of the protagonists are exactly human).
The second book is an
anthology named Slaughterhouse: the Serial Killer edition, volume 2. It was the
first anthology for which I was accepted and, simply put, that was the first
time I believed I was actually capable of producing publishable work. That was
a real sea-change for me. It meant that I'd passed an important threshold, one
which many writers never breach. 'Acceptance or rejection' is still the big
dilemma in my writing life, but now I can legitimately believe that the factors
involved needn't include whether I'm any good at the actual writing bit. At
long last I am, at the very least, good enough.
Q7 How do you know when
your characters have 'come to life'?
When I stop being able to
write them and have to accept the way they want to act. Yes, it's a cliche, but
there comes a point when the characters are in situations where I have planned
for them to act a certain way. And they don't. I'll find myself saying
"Finn would never be so blasé" or "Weidermann wouldn't say
that". That's when my novel finally becomes their story.
Q8 What are your writing
goals for 2017?
To use my writing time more
wisely. Seriously, if I wrote as much on my word processor as I do in YouTube
comments I'd be more prolific than Stephen King.
I'm also intending to make
more use of my Twitter account.
Q9 Where can we find out
more about your writing?
As mentioned previously, I
keep a very occasional Twitter account on @WriterRoberts. I also have a goodly
amount of work now available on Amazon. Just search for P N Roberts. Then tell
your friends (especially if they're literary agents). Damn, I'm becoming shameless.
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