Good evening, readers! Today's word of the week, forte is brought to you by Penelope Paige. Someone's forte is his or her strong point. In Italian, forte actually means "strong," so it makes sense (and you pronounce the word the same way in both languages). When the English borrowed the word from the French in the 1700s, it referred to the sharpest/stronger part of the sword's blade in fencing.
Next week I have a very fun post for you on writing horror stories with newly obtained information I received today and yesterday at the I-Con convention, a place where geeks all over the nation gather to discuss awesome things. I'm sorry to say that this week's post will be shorter and less awesome than usual, but I just got home from the 3-day I-Con convention and I'm tired. But next week's post will be awesome, pinky promise (that is, if my parents allowed me online on Easter). Anyway, on to the topic.
Networking! This is something that I also learned a lot about at I-Con. One of the YA authors, Sarah Beth Durst (writer of many fantasy novels, the newest one being "Ice"), spoke to me today about getting connections. There are are many exceptional authors that never get published, and if they do, never get recognized because they don't know the right people. Their work can be sitting at the bottom of the query pile because they don't have the priority. She said that although writing takes skill, getting published is mostly related to luck and knowing someone in the business. The Quill, for example, is a way to network and branch out and I predict it will be a great resource once it really sets off.
However, you can get lucky like Durst did. She went the traditional route to publication: sending out queries to publishers until one of them finally picked her story up. Now she has multiple books out on the market! Luck and networking is the key to publication. Go to different message boards, talk to people at conventions.
One final warning: If a publisher wants YOU to pay THEM, it's a scam. Durst told me that they're just trying to take money from you. The publisher makes money when your book sells, so they'll pay YOU to publish your novel.
Durst also mentioned that it's extremely difficult to live on just your writing, since you don't get that much per book and not many authors have merchandise or anything. Unless you're J.K. Rowling, don't quit your day job.
That's all for tonight, writers! I'm exhausted, but I hope you enjoyed today's post. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at penelopepaige@rocketmail.com. Time to go sharpen that pencil...
Question: Have you ever been published? Do you have any methods of networking?
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