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Can you Handle It?

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

Rachelle called me with the good news on October 29th. I didn’t get to sign the contract until January 20th. I thought that wait would be easy-peasy. After all, I had a book deal! And the first month it was….but then the doubt crept in and a profound realization hit.

I know this analogy has been beaten to death, but let me just say, there are SO many similarities between pregnancy and writing for publication. Here’s what getting the call and waiting for the contract feels like: it feels like the first trimester. You get the positive pregnancy test and you jump up and down and go crazy, but you can’t really tell anyone yet (which is killing you) AND you get these paranoid thoughts. All the worry you expended over not getting pregnant transfers to…what if I lose the baby?

Same thing happened with this.

I knew I was getting published…but I couldn’t announce it yet and a small, hidden part of me (this part that I couldn’t even voice out loud) worried that something would go wrong and the contract wouldn’t come. The wait went from easy-peasy to worry-laden. In which I had to hit my knees and surrender all over again.

And that’s when realization hit.

The long waits and the insecurities and those paranoid thoughts NEVER end. Seriously. They may ebb and flow, depending on where you’re at in the journey, but they don’t go away. It’s not like you get the contract and everything’s all sunshine and roses. The waiting and worry doesn’t go away, it just transfers. There will always be something to worry about and something to wait for.

So my question to you is: Can you handle that? Are you prepared for it? Or are you living under the misconception that once you get to a certain point, all that yucky stuff will go away? And what do you do to make the waiting easier?

Me? In a weird way, I kind of like it. My prayer is always: Lord, keep me on my knees. I’m glad to be in an industry where that’s pretty much a guarantee.removetweetmeme

What is It? The Importance of Knowing

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

You’ve never purchased something without knowing what it is first, right? Of course not. As consumers, we want to know what we’re buying and we want to know relatively quickly. That’s why it is vitally important to know your story. To be able to answer the question: What is it?


Because if you don’t know, the agent won’t know, and neither will the editor, the publishing execs, the book sellers, or the readers. And if they don’t know, they’re not going to buy it. Plain and simple.

Blake Snyder, screenwriter and author of Save the Cat, a craft book for screenwriters, says this: “In my opinion, thinking what is it is just good manners.” He goes on to say that if we can’t answer that question – then maybe we don’t really have a story at all.

Some of you might be thinking…I think I know what my story is. Let me ask you this: Can you condense your entire novel–your 100,000 word beloved baby–into one simple logline? If you can’t, then you haven’t discovered your story. At least not yet.

So how do you discover your story? Here are some questions you can ask to get on the right track.

  • What is the something and the someone? Every story is about a someone trying to do something. Do you know what yours are?

  • Can you sharply define your someone using two or three words? The who is important, because the who tells the buyer who they’re going to experience the story through. The way you describe him or her will form the buyer’s first impression. And you know what they say about first impressions.

  • Does your something create a clear and compelling mental picture? The something is the story goal. It’s the what your who is trying to accomplish. Hopefully, when you say yours out loud, whoever’s listening will be able to picture it in their head.

  • What is the conflict? Without this, you have nothing to sustain your story. So what is the driving force that gets in the way of your hero accomplishing his/her goal? Is it BIG? Are there stakes involved? If you can answer yes to both of those, then you’ll have a story that will keep readers turning pages.

  • What’s the irony? Snyder devoted several pages in Save the Cat to the idea of irony and the importance of finding it in your story. The ladies from My Book Therapy talk about this too. What is unexpected or contradictory about your story? Something that will hook the buyer’s interest – an itch they must scratch. One of the best examples of irony that pops into my head is from You’ve Got Mail. Meg Ryan falls in love with a man she hates, but she doesn’t know they’re the same guy. Ironic, no?

Once you’ve answered these questions, you should have a firmer grasp on your story. Now you just have to put the answers together into a logline.
I have to be honest – I hate writing loglines. I’m not very good at them. But despite my dislike, they are an important part of making it in this industry. So I have to keep practicing and wrestling with them until I find the right one.

Here’s my logline for A Broken Kind of Beautiful:
In order to raise money for a disease that has plagued his family, a photographer who quit the intoxicating world of high fashion must team up with a woman who epitomizes it.

Let’s dissect:
We have a clearly defined hero – a photographer who quit.

We have a story goal – raise money.

We have the stakes – it’s for a disease that’s plagued his family.

We have conflict – he’s going to have to work with a woman who epitomizes the world he intentionally left behind. Which also acts as my irony.

Now it’s your turn to play.

Who has a killer logline they’d like to share?

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Are You Getting Others Involved?

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

I’m taking a break from 3 C’s to try something new. For the next several Fridays, I’ll blog about things I’m experiencing, learning, pondering, or wrestling with on this new leg of the journey. In a month or two, I’ll reassess and see if this is a good direction.

So without further ado, here’s a small epiphany I had while telling people the news:

I don’t know what’s more fun – getting the contract, or getting to tell people about the contract. I’ve gotten some great responses, some funny responses, and some very humbling responses. You know the ones. When the person just sort of stares at you while crickets chirp backup, and then finally they say something like, Oh, that’s nice, when really they mean, You’re kind of weird. Gotta love those.

The most popular is probably: Are you going to quit teaching?

The most awkward: So is there a lot of money involved?

The most laughter-inducing: Are you going to be famous now?

But my two favorite have got to be these:

  • When I found out I was getting published, I was in the middle of teaching and therefore couldn’t tell a soul. I teach with two close friends who have read all my books and have supported me through this entire journey. So after school, when I’m about to burst with the news, I have Susan and Melissa meet me in Melissa’s room, whereby I blurt, “I’m getting published!” Oh my goodness. It was the BEST reaction ever. They hurled themselves at me with hugs and screams. They jumped up and down with me and cried with me. I’ll never forget it.
  • The second was more unexpected. I volunteer Wednesday nights at junior high ministry. One of the 7th graders used to be my student two years ago while I was writing Beneath a Velvet Sky. While she waited for her bus at the end of the day, she’d answer my farming questions. So while we were hanging out on Wednesday night, I told her I was getting published, thinking she’d smile, but not really get it. Nope. She freaked out! Then she asked if it was the one she helped me with and when I said yes, she about peed her pants.
Both of those reactions got me thinking. People like to be involved. Melissa and Susan wouldn’t have gotten as excited as they did if I never would have shared my writing with them. But I did. And it’s like this publishing deal isn’t just happening to me, it’s happening to them too. They are such an important part of it.
And then there’s my junior high girl. When I think of my reading audience, I do not think junior high. I think adult women. But when I told her, she was SO excited to buy my book. So excited that she helped me with it. She told her friends and all of a sudden, I had three girls who couldn’t wait to buy a novel that won’t come out until next spring. Three girls who couldn’t wait to tell their moms about it, because their moms like to read, and their moms ARE my intended audience.
So here’s something I’ve learned. Something I’ve rolled around in my head:

As writers, we should be looking for ways to get people involved. Because when people get involved, they get invested. And when people are invested, they’re going to encourage others to get invested too. And really, isn’t that the core of good marketing?
Let’s Talk: How are you involving people in your writing? Do you have a hard time doing this? Why or why not? And just because I’m not sharing my 3 C’s, doesn’t mean I don’t want to read yours. Feel free to share those too!

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