I'm in the News!

A few months back I gave a presentation at the LDS Storymakers conference on writing for the Church magazines. Michael De Groote interviewed me, and the article has gone live here!

It's a good article, and Michael was very generous in handling the piece. Hope it's helpful!

Excellent writing telesminar

I participated in an excellent teleseminar last week about the publishing industry and changes in how authors need to view it. Although predominately leaning towards the nonfiction market, much of what was said and shared relates to fiction as well.

The seminar was hosted by Roger C. Parker (for more about him, check out his Web site), and his guest was Stephanie Guzikowski (you can read a summary of the conference she presented the ideas used as the basis for this seminar here).

They discussed "The 10 Awful Truths About Book Publishing," compiled by Steven Piersanti, president of Berrett-Koehler.

Very interesting. What it all boils down to is this: because publishers are doing less and less for marketing books, authors need to rise above the average rest and really shine in their efforts to produce excellent material and to market themselves, building a fan base and connecting with individuals. Very interesting stuff. For example, about 1 million books were published last year, more than ever before, but even as the number of books published go up, book sales are declining. Today the average published book has less than 1% chance of getting shelf space in the average bookstore.

However, authors can combine new media and old strategies to get recognized. They can even hire a publicist. Stephanie is a publicist, so she had a vested interest in promoting the concept. Still, it can be helpful. My sister published a book two years ago as part of my sisters' joint company ("The Venus Week": book my wife and many of her friends think is extraordinary about women's health). They hired a publicist who played a key role in helping them get promoted. Of course, one of my sisters is a marketing expert, so that didn't hurt, either!

Time to Get Excited? Maybe...

So I'm having lunch today with a couple of good friends to talk about my new middle grade novel--they've been reading chapters from my first draft. One of them also happens to be an editor for a major publishing house.

So how excited do I get? On the one hand, this friend is doing this as a favor to me. On the other, boy, I'd love to hone this book to meet their expectations so that it is valuable to them and publishable.

I'm really excited, but trying to remind myself that this is, fundamentally, a lunch with friends and not necessarily a business lunch promoting my book. But I can pretend it's the latter!

Finding Your Genre

I've written about this before in previous posts, but I find this topic particularly on my mind after discussing my current interests with other authors, agents, and publishers. For the longest time, I considered myself purely an epic fantasy novelist. Oh, I have a couple of human interest books in mind--I've got one particularly good one brewing about challenges in the conversion process and how to see through others' eyes--but those are just a few specific plans.

In truth, ever since I read Tolkien in my youth--perhaps 10 or 11 years old--I fancied traditional fantasy. I was never much interested in science fiction, and fantasy that did not have a particularly strong medieval component didn't seem my thing. I was a bit of a snob, really, turning down books of many categories, even subcategories of my own interest, for such reasons.

But recently I've been telling my children fantastic fairytale stories that I create on the fly. Episodic in nature, these tales have found themselves woven together in an interesting tapestry of myth and plot that make a compelling story. At the urging of my children, I began to take notes of these stories and turn them into a written book.

The process has required a great deal of additional material, mostly to smooth out transitions, to create character arcs and evolve the story, and moving events out of original sequence to create a more logical chain of events building to the eventual climax and denoument. Characters have to be more fleshed out, dialogue added, and an overarching plot conclusion known now from beginning to end creating the complete plot sequence have all been mapped out.

But here are a couple of things I find curious:

1. I'm having a blast writing for the middle grade audience. I always thought it possible, but nor likely, that I might consider writing for audiences other than epic. After all, I obtained my master's degree in medieval history and studied Classics and medieval history for many years. I developed quite a sophisticated way of communicating. I thought that's where my main talents lay.

Yet here I am, finding this method of writing as though storytelling to youth not just fascinating, but downright exciting and entertaining for me as an author. Who knew that would happen?

2. I'm finding it easier to maintain the correct voice. For epic, I tend to hear a rather falsely eloquent, 'high' voice as though I were some pompous bard, pronouncing the tale in my head. That voice has to be gently nudged to the side, sometimes forcely and at gunpoint, so that a more accessible and engaging voice and tone can come through.

But with this middle grade, I find it more natural to slide into the voice I want. I still tend to hear things a little high minded. Yet turning on the storytelling voice comes more naturally. I have simply to imagine my children, or others of a young age, and try and tell it to them. Then I have to add sensory details and character voice to complete the spell. It's just a more natural experience for m.

3. I can keep the novel in my mind so much more easily. A plot of 190,000 words, now that is daunting to keep together in my head, especially when I've got plans for sequels. But 40,000 words? I know the end from the beginning much more easily.

4. It's just so much fun! And my kids are really enjoying the experience, too. They are my captive audience and focus group.

This experience begs the question: what genre are we really suited for? And is there only one? I no longer think so. In fact, I've become a believer that to really hone your craft you have to write things outside what you normally write. You have to experience different audiences. Not that you have to write to every audience and every genre. But even this simple change has opened my eyes to possibilities, reinvigorated my excitement and interest as a writer, and brought new waves of plans and potentialities that I had never considered.

So if you find yourself stuck in a rut, try a different audience or genre. If you just feel a change might do you good, go for it. Grab a group of kids, or adults, or just imagine they are there, and practice telling a story to them. How different would the story be from what you normally do? How would this impact your voice? Your tone? Your style of delivery? Your characters?

It's made a huge impact on me and for my career.

Joshua J. Perkey writes epic, YA, and middle grade fantasy. He also dabbles in human interest writing and works as a senior editor for the Ensign and Liahona magazines. While not playing with his kids or spending time with his wife or serving in church or the community, he's trying to catch up on his favorite pasttime: sleep. He gets far too little of that!