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April 23 – The Day of the Book

April 20, 2022 By Valerie Peterson Leave a Comment

Are you trying to slay the dragon of completing a novel or of getting a nonfiction book published? Then learn why April 23 is a day to celebrate books — and how it became UNESCO’S World Book and Copyright Day, which honors the book publishing process.

“Day of the Book” backstory — Saint George and the dragon

Since the Middle Ages, April 23 has been celebrated as St. George’s Day in many countries. “Sant Jordi” is the patron saint of the Catalonia region of Spain, and the celebration of “La Diada de Sant Jordi” in Barcelona and the other Catalan provinces is at the root of The Day of the Book.

Saint George was a Roman soldier who converted to Christianity and — tradition holds — died on April 23, martyred for this faith. Centuries later, during the Middle Ages and at the beginning of the chivalrous tradition, soldiers coming back from the Crusades also brought back the romantic legend of St. George slaying a dragon.

According to the story, a ferocious dragon terrorized a town, demanding that the inhabitants sacrifice two sheep a day to keep him fed. Once the sheep were gone, the townspeople were forced to sacrifice their children, chosen each day by lottery.

The king’s daughter lost the lottery and was awaiting being devoured by the dragon when Saint George happened into the town and slew the beast with his sword. The dragon’s blood spilled to the ground; on that spot a rosebush instantaneously grew. Saint George plucked a rose and gave it to the princess.

According to a Barcelona tourism site, “Records tracing back to the fifteenth century describe a rose fair being held for Sant Jordi that was traditionally visited by engaged couples.” So for centuries, a man’s gift of a rose to his girlfriend was the accepted form of celebration of Saint George’s Day on April 23, sometimes called “Day of the Rose” or “Day of the Lovers.”

Gaudi's Casa Batllo in Barcelona, decorated for Festival of Sant Jordi — Gaudi’s Casa Batllo in Barcelona, decorated for Festival of Sant Jordi *(photo courtesy Spain.info Official tourism website*)

A day for lovers becomes a brilliant book promotion

Some sources credit a Catalonian bookseller for noting that April 23 was also the date of both William Shakespeare’s and Miguel Cervantes’s deaths (both in 1616). During the 1929 International Exposition, book stalls were set up. Then, in an an enterprising stroke of book promotion, it was determined that a book would be the perfect gift to be given in exchange for the rose, and the mash-up of flowers and literature — El dia de Libre, the Day of the Book — was established.

[In the detail of 1470 painting by Paolo Uccello at the top of this post (National Gallery, London), the princess, saved, holds out her hand as if to say, “Nevermind the rose – where’s my book, St. George?”]

Book stall on Las Ramblas during April 23 Festival of Sant Jordi — Book stall on Las Ramblas during Festival of Sant Jordi *(photo courtesy Spain.info Official tourism website*)

Today, the El dia de Libre tradition is firmly entrenched in Catalonia and books are exchanged for roses and vice versa, regardless of sex — “a rose for love and a book forever.” On April 23 in Barcelona, Spain’s publishing capital for books in both the Catalan and Spanish languages, the annual Book and Rose Fair is held. Along the famous, tree-lined pedestrian thoroughfare, Las Ramblas, hundreds of stalls are filled with florists and booksellers.

Some sources estimate that nearly half a million roses are sold and it is estimated that half of all annual book purchases in Catalonia are made on April 23. Other literary events, such as author readings, also take place and the date is also a popular one for launching new books into the marketplace. It is also the day each year that the Miguel de Cervantes Prize, Spain’s most important literary honor, is awarded in Madrid.

UNESCO’s World Book and Copyright Day

Inspired by the Catalan El dia del Libre, in 1995 The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared April 23 to be World Book and Copyright Day. The goal of World Book and Copyright Day is to promote reading, publishing, and — critically important — the protection of intellectual property through copyright around the world.

UNESCO encourages the support of authors, publishers, teachers, librarians, and the media to help bring the World Book and Copyright Day celebration of books to the greater reading public. Each year, UNESCO names a city as the World Book Capital, and the selected city organizes literary events around a theme, such as” books and translations”, or “the link between publishing and human rights.”

The U.K. and Ireland celebrate World Book Night on the evening on April 23. The annual event is run by The Reading Agency, a national charity that “tackles life’s big challenges through the proven power of reading.” Note that since the mid-1990s, the Reading Agency has promoted children’s books and reading by giving kids a token that is to be exchanged for a book. Due to the late April conflict with the U.K. and Ireland school calendars, this children’s event — World Book Day — takes place in those countries on the first Thursday in March.

Official image Plato quote about books - UNESCO World Copyright Day — Yep.

Of course, copyright is critical to a creator’s career — a sword that protects the value of the soul, wings, flight and life we produce for the entertainment and edification of others.

So if you’re on a publishing journey, when you celebrate St. George’s Day (as I know now you will), think of both of centuries of book love and the valor of copyright protections.

“A rose for love and a book forever.”

Books & Copyright FAQs

January 7, 2022 By Valerie Peterson 3 Comments

Copyright is extremely important to authors because it constitutes the ownership of one’s original work. The legal fact of copyright enables you protect your work as intellectual property, yours to manage and — ideally — yours to profit by.

Here are some frequently asked questions about copyright.

What is copyright and why is important to authors and other creators?

According to the U.S. government, “Copyright is a form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression.” The word “fixed” means that a written novel is under copyright protection even if it’s not published. Once “fixed” (aka written), the idea of the novel becomes a fully formed creative expression of the author.

So, importantly, as the Authors Guild puts it, “Effective copyright protection is the linchpin of professional authorship; it enables authors to make a living writing.”

And, having copyright ownership means you can protect your work as intellectual property and control who makes money from it — ideally you and those to whom you assign rights in a contract, like a book publisher, translator, film producer, etc.

How do I know for absolute certain that my intellectual property is being legally protected, especially with so much digital piracy going on around the world?

It’s true that piracy is rampant. There are plenty of unethical people who are looking to make a buck from books or other content that isn’t rightfully theirs to sell. And piracy has been around long before the digital age (Charles Dickens used to complain about the unauthorized American copies of his work — now we complain about China).

In the United States, copyright protects your work — published or not — from misuse by others within the country. Each nation has its individual copyright laws, and many respect each other’s rules — though some most certainly do not.

For better or for worse, though — in the case of emerging writers, the truth is also that you don’t have to worry that much. Most pirates won’t bother with stealing your work unless you’re making a lot of money on your intellectual property. Cyber criminals of any kind are looking to make a quick buck; IP stealers won’t make money on unknowns.

That being the case, be cautious when sending out your work. Some steps to take include:

Use a secure portal to transfer documents (hopefully your publishing company or DIY service has one); at the very least, send a PDF which is harder (though becoming easier) to change.
Place a copyright notice on any unpublished manuscript copies before they are sent out, per U.S. Copyright office. Even though protected by law, a reinforcing notice doesn’t hurt. For example, something like: Where the House Plants Grow (working title); unpublished work © 2022 Jade Succulent).
Register your work with the U.S. copyright office, for the extra protection it provides.

I’ve heard you can’t copyright the title of a book — is that true?

Yes, it’s true you can’t copyright a book title. Book titles are among the things that cannot be copyrighted, which include names, titles, slogans, or short phrases. (Read more about book titles here.)

How do others know that I’m the copyright holder of my books?

The copyright holder or holders are cited on the copyright page of your book. The copyright page most often appears at the front of a book although sometimes it appears in the back.

Note that even if you wrote the book, if your book might contain elements for which you don’t own the copyright (and, therefore, don’t have the right to use without limits). For example, for original photos or artwork that isn’t “work for hire”, the copyright might be held by the original photographer or artist. (In the instance of my and Janice Fryer’s Cookie Craft copyright page (below), you’ll see that the whimsical illustrator Sophie Blackhall and the photographer Ellie Miller Studio own copyrights to their work.)

Cookie Craft copyright page with photographer Ellie Miller Studio and illustrator Sophie Blackhall circled. — Cookie Craft color illustrations and photography copyrights are owned by the respective creators.

Who registers the copyright for my book?

If you are being published by a traditional book publisher, your publisher takes care of registering your copyright. If you are an indie author, you should consult your specific DIY publishing service to make sure that copyright registration for you is part of their service (and you should make sure your agreement with them gives you copyright).

Okay, so I have copyright of my book. Where does that leave my publisher?

As the copyright holder, you assign certain rights to your book publisher and, in return, are given a percentage of the proceeds of the books sales. These assignments of rights and fees are spelled out very specifically in your book contract and — because they dictate how you are paid for your work — you should be familiar with and understand the clauses.

So, are U.S. copyright laws set in stone?

Good question. Like many legal protections we’ve taken for granted, they are subject to attack and change by those who would most benefit (hint: not authors). And there are movements afoot to take a fresh look at what some consider antiquated laws that now benefit large corporations vs. the creators. Take heart that organizations which protect creators, such as the Author’s Guild, work diligently to protect fight for laws to protect copyright.

Copyright postscript

Especially if you’re a writer or creator, for the sake of your own Art Karma, do your part to respect the intellectual property rights of others. Every time you buy a bootleg copy of something that’s available by legitimate means or use another creator’s work outside of “fair use” or without appropriate permissions, credit and/or payments, you help damage all writers and artists’ ability to make a living.

Notes: I’m a writer with publishing expertise, not a lawyer or an agent; this blog post is not in any way a substitute for legal advice. Before signing a contract and/or to fully understand your own copyright situation, contact a qualified attorney. Also, consider joining the Authors Guild; the AG offers legal services for several thresholds of members, including to those writers who are self-published.

About Book Proposals — and How to Get Started on Yours

July 27, 2021 By Valerie Peterson Leave a Comment

Do you want to publish a non-fiction book — perhaps to amplify your business or to showcase your expertise?

If you have a non-fiction book idea, know that you’re not expected to write the book in its entirety before looking for a literary agent. Instead, the first step is to create book proposal.

Why?

Book publishing is first and foremost a business and books succeed not only on the strength of the book’s content, but on the audience for the topic and author and the overall size of the marketplace.

Literary agents who are in a position to represent you and editors who are in a position to publish you are looking for every assurance that a relationship with you will be a successful endeavor.

Your book proposal is the “shorthand” document that helps convince the publishing pros that your book and you are good investments for them.

As someone who’s read hundreds of book proposals with an eye to whether they’d be a good fit and investment for the publisher I worked for, let me give you some insights into starting your own book “pitch”.

What is a book proposal?

At its most basic level, a book proposal is a sales and marketing document, the accepted vehicle by which aspiring non-fiction authors and their agents sell their book ideas to editors.

A book proposal serves as a brief but in-depth overview of your book concept. It also explains your value as a potential author — with a focus on your qualifications and your platform — and gives an idea of the potential, targeted marketplace for the book.

The goals of a book proposal are to definitively and compellingly convince agents, editors, and other book acquisition decision-makers that:

You know your subject and can effectively write about it
You know your audience — and have built at least a bit of an audience for yourself
You’ve done your homework and know that there’s enough of a market for your book to make the publisher’s investment in you worthwhile.

First the book proposal, then the book

Many aspiring authors who don’t know much about how traditional book publishing works start and even complete their book manuscripts and then look for an agent.

But even if you already have a written manuscript about your topic or specialty, you will still need a book proposal.

This is because an agent or an editor who doesn’t know you well will want to get the full picture of the book as well as you, the author, to judge whether or not you have — and can execute — a salable book idea.

Once a book deal is struck, then you go on to write the book. And even if you have already written the manuscript, likely the editor will want changes to things like chapter order, idea flow, format, etc.

Book proposals are not EASY

While writing a book proposal might take less time than completing a finished book, it is not necessarily easier. A well-crafted, bulletproof book proposal requires you to think hard about the book you want to write, think hard about how you can position yourself in the best light — and do some serious research into the specifics of marketplace.

Book proposal brainstorm

While book proposal format is a fairly specific one, to get started thinking about your book proposal, brainstorm on — and bring your personal passion to — the answers to these three basic questions:

Why THIS?
Why does there need to be a book on this topic? Who are the intended readers and how will this book serve their needs? How large is that audience of readers? What are the holes in the marketplace — that is, how are the needs of your intended readers not being served by the books that are currently on the market? How will your book fill those holes? What is your vision of the finished book; when he or she is finished reading the book, what do you want the reader to come away with? Why is the information in your proposed book best presented in book format?
Why YOU?
Why are you the absolutely most perfect person to write this particular book? What in your background qualifies you to write the book you are proposing? What is your media platform? How can you otherwise help the publisher’s publicity department and marketing department to formulate a media strategy and get the word out about the book when it is published?
Why NOW?
What are the factors that make the topic of your proposed book timely? (But not flash-in-the-pan timely: keep in mind that a print book usually takes at least eighteen months from proposal to bookstore). What are the growing trends that point to the fact that this book is needed now? And/or, what are the factors that make your book idea timeless (i.e. a perennially-selling backlist book)? What are the other currents in the marketplace and/or media that will support the book?

The stronger your book proposal, the more likely it will sell you and your book to an agent and editor. Your answers to the above questions will be the basis for outlining and writing your formally structured book proposal.

Next steps: learn about the specific elements of an effective book proposal.

Mo Willems and the Artistic Process

July 19, 2020 By Valerie Peterson Leave a Comment

Dug out and am “surfacing” this interview with Mo Willems from the book publishing archives. Here Willems — the best-selling and award-winning author and illustrator of such classic children’s books as Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, as well as an animator, app creator and filmmaker / TV producer — discusses his career path and artistic processes and name-checks some of his favorite children’s book authors.

Mo Willems demonstrates his versatility, art and artistic process.

Those who know me know that when I’m asked about children’s book publishing, I say “I know adult book publishing — children’s books are a separate animal.” And I generally leave children’s book publishing to the experts, for example in my extensive interview with kids’ book agent, Elizabeth Harding for TheBalanceCareers.

But just before “stay at home” orders hit New York City, Mo Willems — a man most widely known for his children’s books — blipped into my consciousness. At the end of February, Deadline announced that Mo Willems with Stampede Ventures had inked an exclusive deal with HBOMax to be its inaugural Artist in Residence, creating live action and animated specials, concert films and TV series based on his books.

Then, as schools closed due to the global pandemic, he launched the hugely popular YouTube “Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems” under the auspices of the Kennedy Center, where he’s an Artist in Residence (currently “from home”).

#MoLunchDoodles – Mo Willems doodles for all at COVID-19 lunchtime.

My own Mo Willems deja vu moment was postponed, however, as the COVID-19 cases surged here in NYC and then the importance and urgency of Black Lives Matter took center stage…

But now I’m posting about Mo. And why does Willems’ current doings pique my book publishing person interest?

Because some years ago on the occasion of his publishing Don’t Pigeonhole Me, I had the privilege of orchestrating, editing and publishing an email interview with the children’s book master — and Willems’ answers still hit home for any creator.

I loved how Willems’ career evolved and one of my key takeaways remains: he never stopped creating, never stopped following his curiosity… and his career emerged from that.

In which I (again) leave children’s book writing / illustrating to the experts

For this interview, I relied on writer-illustrator Dana Carey to thoughtfully craft the questions that kids’ books pros and aspirants want to know. More of her estimable bio below — but without further ado, here’s a slightly re-edited/condensed version of Mo Willems about his multi-faceted artistic career and his process.

Dana: Let’s begin at the beginning — how did you get your first job as an illustrator? What did you have in your portfolio coming out of school?

Mo: By the time I’d finished film school I’d made several short films that found their way into various touring festivals and became my calling card for many years.

These films, of course, led to me becoming a freelance cover photographer for books about psychological disorders, a bubble gum card painter, carver of Paul Klee inspired images on pottery, and gag writer for Monster Truck rallies.

That, obviously, led to me being invited to write scripts and animate cartoons for Sesame Street, create and head-write cartoon series on cable TV and perform radio essays for the BBC.

From there it’s a pretty straight line to becoming a children’s bookmaker.

But, my first paying gig was in high school when I did a weekly cartoon for the local real estate weekly called “Surrealty”.

The New-York Historical Society Museum & Library featured an exhibit on Mo Willems work in 2016 and created this fun gif via Giphy.

Dana: Do you create a character then develop a story for it or does the story always come first?

Mo: I like to explore the inner workings of my character and his/her situation before I trudge into the messy work of plot-y, beginning-middle-end stuff.

So, I sketch and write, doodle and outline, walk and think. It’s important for my characters to be fully realized, living beings before I slap a story on them.

Conversely, if I have a story idea, I need to get to know if my characters are right for it or not.

Dana: You’ve often spoken about your picture book style as being very reductive so that children can copy it. Do you have stories to tell where you’d like to change this and illustrate in another style?

Mo Willems chose Jon Muth’s style to illustrate this particular children’s story.

Mo: The simpler the drawing, the more expressive it has to be. The idea is to focus on the words and the body language of the characters. Everything else is superfluous.

While I do fluctuate from no backgrounds to heavy backgrounds, pencil to brush, narrative to word bubbles, my strengths lie in a simple line. If I grow a story that demands a different look, like in City Dog, Country Frog, I have to go out and find a pal, like Jon Muth, to execute it.

**Dana: Speaking of… City Dog, Country Frog was a departure from the kind of story people usually expect from you. How did you experience having another illustrator interpret your text?**

Mo: Stories are grown and demand the type of rendering that will be most effective. I never start out thinking about style; that needs to be part of the discovery process. In the case of City Dog, Country Frog, I’d illustrated the basic story in a variety of styles (photo collage, watercolors, and whatnot) but nothing worked.

After that, it was simply a matter of trusting a friend.

Dana: Who are some children’s picture book illustrators and author/illustrators that you admire?

Mo: The great thing about picture books is that they are extraordinarily individual. A Kadir Nelson book is not a Lane Smith book. I love that I can be in a business where my peers do the same thing I do differently.

Any list of people whose work I admire would be both too long and risk missing some real talents, but off the top of my head I’ll read anything by Marla Frazee, Jon Scieszka, Jackie Woodson, Jon Klassen, Lane Smith, Kadir Nelson, Dan Santat, Brian Collier, Tony DiTerlizzi, Daniel Handler [aka Lemony Snicket], Lisa Brown, Carson Ellis, etc…

cover of Jacqueline Woodson's book Brown Girl Dreaming — Mo Willems will “read anything by” author Jacqueline Woodson, among others.

Dana: Now that you’re well-established, how do you submit new projects?

Mo: Each project is different, but at this point in my career I generally mention to my agent and editor that I think I may have a book idea, which I then am obligated to somehow produce.

Dana: While I’m sure you don’t have any trouble stimulating the interest of traditional publishers, are there projects for which you’ve thought of going the self-published or “indie” route? If so, for what type of project?

Mo: I’ve been exploring adult cartoons and stories in small mini-books called The Mo Willems Sketchbook annually since 1993. These were either part of a ‘zine or self-published.

These sketchbooks are an outlet for me to play and experiment for my pals and peers with no commercial pressure.

Some of the books are collections of cartoons, others short stories, or more serious illustration.

The most ‘famous’ of these sketchbooks, I suppose, is the original version of Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, which fell into the hands of an agent who was amused, who in turn showed it to multiple publishers, who were not. My published collection of 20-years-worth of these efforts is entitled Don’t Pigeonhole Me! Two Decades of the Mo Willems Sketchbook.

Dana: You’ve also created apps. Books vs. apps — how are the processes different for you?

Mo: Books and apps are like apples and elephants.

Books are essentially individual endeavors, made to be absorbed, loved, opened, and interpreted.

Apps are big productions; games that at their worst occupy time and at their best engender creative thought.

Much like film or TV, apps productions are collaborative, involving animators, actors, producers, programmers and a host of others. The key is to create a framework that allows for some kind of new experience for your audience based on the skills of your collaborators. In that sense I’m more of a conductor than composer.

My rule is that we can’t create something that will continue to ‘work’ if the child leaves the room. Also, it should be funny.

Mo Willems began his career as a writer and animator for PBS’s Sesame Street, where he garnered six Emmy Awards for his writing. While serving as head writer for Cartoon Network’s #1 rated show, Mo began writing and drawing books for children. His debut effort, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, became a New York Times best seller and was awarded the first of Mo’s several Caldecott Honors. Read more about his diverse artistic work and many honors at mowillems.com.

Writer and illustrator Dana Carey is International Illustrator Coordinator for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and the Assistant Regional Advisor for SCBWI France, as well as an acquisitions reader of middle grade and young adult novels for French publishers and writer for the Sub It Club, a website that supports authors/illustrators in the children’s book submission process. See Dana’s work on her website.

Learn more about ContentMeant for Authors.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links relevant to the content. Purchases made through those links may result in good art karma for contributing to the financial health of creators, bookstores, etc., and to ContentMeant through a possible small commission — none of these at any extra cost to the purchaser.

7 Agatha Christie-Inspired Rules for Authors

September 4, 2019 By Valerie Peterson Leave a Comment

Dame Agatha Christie, known for her mystery novels and the now-iconic detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, enjoys ongoing status as the world’s best-selling author.

Christie’s habits have much to teach writers about both the craft and the career of a successful writer. Here’s some advice gleaned from the life and habits of Dame Agatha – along with some links to additional information to help you utilize that advice today.

1. Be a good observer

According to those who knew her, Christie “listened more than she talked, who saw more than she was seen,” and she was reported had over 100 notebooks where she jotted details. Those notebooks that have survived have been analyzed and, in the book Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks, traced forward to the plots and characters they inspired and offer a glimpse into the process of a brilliant and prolific

Christie “saw more than she was seen.” @thegoldbergs via @giphy

In Christie’s first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, the character Hercule Poirot (who would go on to become one of the favorites) was inspired by the Belgian WWI refugees who settled in her hometown. Her second book was inspired by a conversation the writer overheard in a tea shop.

Whether it’s the cadences of natural dialogue or the personality tics of a particular character, good writers draw from life and in order to do that, you have to observe.

2. Turn your dull day job into an asset

Christie reportedly started writing mysteries partly because she had a tedious volunteer job dispensing drugs for the Red Cross during WWI. During WWII, she worked in a hospital pharmacy and parlayed the gig into extensive research about poisons.

“But I hate my job and I hate my boss.”
“Then write something where you kill off your boss.” #9Marple @9GEM via @giphy

3. Get feedback on your work

Even though she was an accomplished writer, Christie got feedback from others. According to her grandson, Michael Pritchard, she used to read her first drafts to the family after dinner, “one or two chapters at a time… I think we were used as her guinea pigs at that stage; to find out what the reaction of the general public would be.”

Learn how to get constructive feedback for your book-in-progress, on this site.

4. Understand your book contract & watch the bottom line

Christie’s first book was published by John of Bodley Head, who signed her next six books as well. Like many first-time authors, she later realized how unfair and exploitative the deal was.

To fully understand your own first – or third – book contract, check out the Author’s Guild for tips and advice.

And remember this quote from Dame Agatha herself: “There are doubtless certain unworldly people who are indifferent to money. I myself have never met one.”

Professional authors need to watch the bottom line.

5. Get yourself a good literary agent

Eventually, Agatha Christie found a literary agent, Edmund Cork, of Hughes Massie. Cork who got her a new publisher — William Collins and Sons, which is now today is HarperCollins — who gave her a better book deal.

A good literary agent — or the Author’s Guild — can help with a contract.
www.simpsonsworld.com via @giphy

6. Delegate and utilize technology

Though not rich most of her life, Agatha Christie managed to have household help and childcare – and she used a then-revolutionary Dictaphone to dictate her novels and had them transcribed by others.

To preserve time for writing, how can you delegate chores or use technology?

7. Keep challenging yourself as a writer

Needing a change of pace and not content to write only mystery novels, Christie wrote women’s fiction under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott and also wrote stage plays.

Bonus rule: To be used with caution

A little scandal never hurt anyone? Read more about the original “Gone Girl”‘s life to see how a teensy bit of unexplained craziness may kept Dame Agatha in the news 😉

• • • • • •

Need a more book writing or marketing advice or tactics or other publishing advice? Here are marketing lessons from the best-selling cookbook author and first food media star, Julia Child and some of my pro insights about content marketing (which is what authors and writers do, after all).

And for more personalized advice, see the Resources & Quick Solutions to learn about ContentMeant’s offerings.

How to Maximize Any Feedback on Your Book

August 28, 2019 By Valerie Peterson 1 Comment

Early drafts of anything—novel, book proposal, screenplay, children’s book—are rarely ready for the prime-time of literary agents’ or editors’ in-boxes. For that reason, it’s advisable to get feedback on your work, to vet it and revise it before you send it out into the world for potential representation by a literary agent or potential sale to a book publisher.

For those going the self-publishing route, getting constructive reader feedback now can mean that your book appeals to more readers—or addresses more reader needs—when it’s out in the marketplace. So feedback is advisable for authors who are self-publishing, too.

1. Be appreciative of any feedback

The goal of getting feedback and revising your manuscript accordingly is to improve it before the pros or a broader audience sees it. Getting and acting on good feedback

So, first, some reminders:

Reading and giving feedback takes valuable time—and being thoughtful about it takes even more time. Please appreciate your readers. Because all readers provide useful information.
Reading and giving feedback is meant to help. Take in all feedback—no matter what the message, no matter how it’s delivered—in a spirit of thankfulness.

2. Remember: you want constructive, actionable notes

Writers whose friends and acquaintances read their work like to be told things like, “I really liked it!” or, even better, “I loved it!” (C’mon, admit it.)

“Liked” and “loved” are actually vague and subjective opinion and, while nice to hear, that’s actually not very useful to you right now.

What is useful—what you want—is for people to be thoughtful and constructive and honest enough to also tell you what’s not working in your novel. Notice I didn’t write “what’s wrong” —that, too, is subjective. The answers to the question “What’s not working for you?” is feedback you can use to improve your story.

3. Ask for / prompt for specific feedback

Tell your readers that you welcome their “like” and “love,” but you can really use some specifics about why they liked what they liked and loved what they loved. And what they did not.

Here are some prompts you might give readers before they read your work:

Did you have difficulty understanding anything?
Were you able to follow the plot or (for non-fiction), the flow of the information?
Did you stumble over anything?
Did you perceive any gaps in the narrative? Any places where you could’ve used more information?
Did you have difficulty getting beyond a certain plot point or passage? Where was that?
Did any passages strike you as slow-moving or boring?
What did you think about the characters?
Did any characters behave in a way that seemed “out-of-character,” as they’d behaved previously in the story?

Once you have the first draft down, get feedback and edit.
[www.simpsonsworld.com via @giphy]

There are many more questions you can ask, depending on the specifics of your book, but the general idea is to get your reader talking about what might ultimately need clarification.

4. Analyze the feedback

Now you need to seriously examine the feedback you’ve been so generously given. Analysis takes some time and thought.

When reviewing feedback, know that readers may not all be great at articulating what’s bothering them about When a reader says “I didn’t understand when,” “I was confused at the point…,” “What exactly was happening with…?” pay close attention.

If a person mentions to you any sort of dissatisfaction about a certain passage (or plot point or chapter or character) in any context, it indicates that there is a sticking point for that reader, something that bugs them.

If more than one person stumbles over that same passage—even if the exact feedback is slightly different or even conflicting—you have a plot (or tone or character or clarity or pacing…) problem you need to address. For example, “The part about the apocalypse seemed really long” and “I didn’t understand why the hero saved the villain during the apocalypse” points to the fact that your apocalypse needs work.

5. If you have to explain it, you really should change it…

When hearing feedback, some writers have a tendency to explain themselves and defend his/her writing or story or choices against the reader’s notes. (“I know it’s confusing but I want to keep the readers off balance,” “But the villain is meant to be a complex character,” “The scientific studies are conflicting…”)

Fight that urge. What you might be encountering is a disconnect between your writer’s vision and what the reader is experiencing. Solving for these disconnects is the whole purpose behind getting feedback — you want to ensure your own creative or informative vision makes it smoothly to the reader.

So, instead of getting defensive, get curious about what the reader is experiencing. Ask more questions, dig deeper. For example, you might ask:

“What exactly did you find confusing in that section? Was it confusing you want to know more about what’s going on? Or confusing like “This is too confusing to make me want to continue?”
Was it that you didn’t understand why the villain would help the hero? Or was it just that the writing wasn’t clear and you didn’t understand what was going on in that chapter in general?
The scientific studies do show conflicting results — what didn’t you understand about the way I presented that?

Again, honor the time and effort it takes to read and give feedback by truly exploring it and taking it very seriously.

6. … but you get to make your own artistic choices.

The goal is to resolve the readers’ sticking points in a way that satisfies and still honors your creative vision. Yes, doing so takes skill and craft and you’ll be working on that, too.

Note that you might get suggestions: “You should make her kill the intruder, not just maim him.” “He should get set up on a double-date with her grandmother.” “It would be funnier if the character had Tourettes Syndrome.” Ultimately, of course, you’re the author—you can absolutely ignore specific suggestions or solutions even while you take seriously the reader’s impression or thought behind it.

If you’re unable to figure out how to solve for a certain problem, ask for specific feedback about that section from another writer whose opinions you trust.

Paying attention to thoughtful feedback can help you better engage your first professional readers— agents or editors or others who are critical to your getting that book published.

7. Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite

Now…

via GIPHY