Chief Editor M. Neff

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Poor poor Papa.

Revision is Emotional “Revision! Whatever that is.” And thus Gotham’s own Arlaina Tibensky kicked off our Fiction Writing Conference a couple of weeks ago, with a panel on strategies for revising. Which was perfect, because by asking, “What even is this?” Arlaina freed the other writers in the room to come back with an unexpected answer. Revision is… emotional. “The first thing is accepting that even though you’ve been working on your book, and you think you’ve finished it, it’s really not your book yet,” said Kate Fagan, sportswriter and author of the novel The Three Lives of Cate Kay. “You’ve got to mourn that.” When she first sends a book to her editor, Fagan—who has also published two nonfiction books and is working on her next novel—indulges the fantasy that the draft is perfect, or nearly so. When her editor instead responds with notes, Fagan takes two days to mourn, “the loss that I didn’t deliver the perfect book.” “You have to build the emotional space inside yourself for the realization that your first draft is only holding one little space in your heart,” Fagan said. “You have to create room and emotional energy for subsequent versions—it’s a very real thing.” The emotional roller-coaster doesn’t end there, though. Matt Bell, novelist and author of a craft book all about revision called Refuse to Be Done, said he goes through a stage of revision where some characters don’t know who they want to be yet. They move in and out of drafts, existing sometimes “almost as a kind of alternate reality character that lived in the book, or maybe didn’t.” “Living with uncertainty is another revision skill that gets stronger over time,” Bell said. “You learn it’s OK to have multiple things still in flux, that maybe that’s actually kind of joyful, even if it feels frustrating at time.” For Gotham teacher Katherine Taylor, revising her second novel involved facing down demons, writing through heartbreak, and summoning no small amount of courage. Because, one day after going through a bad breakup, Katherine went to lunch with her editor, who told her she had to throw away her entire first draft. “I literally boo-hooed for probably an hour, and my editor sat there, and we talked, or I talked and she listened, and finally, when I said, ‘I’m ready to talk about the book now,’ she just said it: ‘I need you to throw out this entire draft and start again,’” Katherine said. The editor liked the characters and the story. But the voice and point of view were not working, and so everything else had to go. Katherine briefly tried to salvage something from the draft, asking if there were even any nice sentences in it that she could keep. But once the shock wore off, she plunged in and started fresh. “I think I was like every writer with their debut novel, traumatized by the response to my first book. I was trying to make the second one so different that I squashed out all the warmth and all the humor and all the stuff that makes my work, work,” Katherine said. “I took a breath and let all that stuff back in. And I did totally rediscover the book. I had fun writing it, which of course showed in the draft. Suddenly the voice was alive and not stuffed down and dead. And everything in the book was a total surprise after that.” If all this makes revision sound like a wrenching gauntlet, I apologize, writers. If you re-read their comments, you’ll notice a common thread among all these writers. After each one made peace with their own demons, they all found another emotion—joy. Kelly Caldwell Dean of Faculty/Gotham Writers

Revision is Emotional “Revision! Whatever that is.” And thus Gotham’s own Arlaina Tibensky kicked off our Fiction Writing Conference a couple of weeks ago, with a panel on strategies for revising. Which was perfect, because by asking, “What even is this?” Arlaina freed the other writers in the room to come back with an unexpected answer. Revision is… emotional. “The first thing is accepting that even though you’ve been working on your book, and you think you’ve finished it, it’s really not your book yet,” said Kate Fagan, sportswriter and author of the novel The Three Lives of Cate Kay. “You’ve got to mourn that.” When she first sends a book to her editor, Fagan—who has also published two nonfiction books and is working on her next novel—indulges the fantasy that the draft is perfect, or nearly so. When her editor instead responds with notes, Fagan takes two days to mourn, “the loss that I didn’t deliver the perfect book.” “You have to build the emotional space inside yourself for the realization that your first draft is only holding one little space in your heart,” Fagan said. “You have to create room and emotional energy for subsequent versions—it’s a very real thing.” The emotional roller-coaster doesn’t end there, though. Matt Bell, novelist and author of a craft book all about revision called Refuse to Be Done, said he goes through a stage of revision where some characters don’t know who they want to be yet. They move in and out of drafts, existing sometimes “almost as a kind of alternate reality character that lived in the book, or maybe didn’t.” “Living with uncertainty is another revision skill that gets stronger over time,” Bell said. “You learn it’s OK to have multiple things still in flux, that maybe that’s actually kind of joyful, even if it feels frustrating at time.” For Gotham teacher Katherine Taylor, revising her second novel involved facing down demons, writing through heartbreak, and summoning no small amount of courage. Because, one day after going through a bad breakup, Katherine went to lunch with her editor, who told her she had to throw away her entire first draft. “I literally boo-hooed for probably an hour, and my editor sat there, and we talked, or I talked and she listened, and finally, when I said, ‘I’m ready to talk about the book now,’ she just said it: ‘I need you to throw out this entire draft and start again,’” Katherine said. The editor liked the characters and the story. But the voice and point of view were not working, and so everything else had to go. Katherine briefly tried to salvage something from the draft, asking if there were even any nice sentences in it that she could keep. But once the shock wore off, she plunged in and started fresh. “I think I was like every writer with their debut novel, traumatized by the response to my first book. I was trying to make the second one so different that I squashed out all the warmth and all the humor and all the stuff that makes my work, work,” Katherine said. “I took a breath and let all that stuff back in. And I did totally rediscover the book. I had fun writing it, which of course showed in the draft. Suddenly the voice was alive and not stuffed down and dead. And everything in the book was a total surprise after that.” If all this makes revision sound like a wrenching gauntlet, I apologize, writers. If you re-read their comments, you’ll notice a common thread among all these writers. After each one made peace with their own demons, they all found another emotion—joy. Kelly Caldwell Dean of Faculty/Gotham Writers ________________________________[url={url}]View the full article[/url]

For this post, we had a talk with Vanessa Aguirre, an up-and-coming editor at St. Martins. She is looking to publish sharp, commercial stories that make her laugh, cry, and flinch. She has a soft spot for anything SFFH: fantasy, science fiction, horror, speculative, magical realism, and all things in between. ___________________________ INTERVIEWED BY BRIANNA HALL ON BEHALF OF UMS Vanessa, hi. Thanks for the interview. First of all, what do you look for in a debut manuscript before acquiring? VA: Voice, voice, voice! If a book instantly sweeps me away and doesn't let me go, I'm in love. BH: What trends are you seeing in the market right now in terms of acquisitions—romantasy, horror, etc.? VA: Fantasy in general is very exciting, and romantasy is still very popular, though I think the kinds of romantasy that rise to the forefront now will have to be fresh and incredibly standout in some way. Horror and genre mash-ups within that have also been growing in buzz, which makes me really happy, ha. BH: Regardless of trends, what kinds of books has your imprint been most successful with over the past five years? VA: One of my colleagues likes to say "books with Big Feelings," and it's one of my favorite phrases ever. Those are the kinds of books we've been seeing resonate with readers again and again. BH: How are platforms like TikTok and other social media influencing how you think about acquiring and marketing books? VA: Certainly discoverability has shifted in many ways--social media has kind of amplified word of mouth marketing and given us new avenues to interact with "gatekeepers", which used to mainly be booksellers and reviewers but has now grown to include influencers. We've also gotten more direct access to what a lot of readers want and are excited about, which has been really fun and interesting. BH: Where do you see your role as an editor evolving within today’s rapidly changing publishing landscape? VA: This may perhaps come off as blithe, and I don't mean it to, but I don't really see it changing. My vision was, and still is, to acquire books I believe in and to support authors in their career to the best of my ability. Regardless of what's going on in the industry, I'll remain committed to that. BH: Looking ahead, how do you see the publishing industry shifting in the next few years? VA: The embracing of the indie-to-trad-pub pipeline is going to lead to some fun genre mash-ups, I think. On the production end, tariffs and inflation are most likely going to continue to affect book lengths and distribution. BH: What is one thing you think all aspiring career authors should know? VA: Community is so important. Writing can feel like a solitary sport, but it isn't. Having a village to both fall back and support is invaluable. And the writing community is, I've found, lovely and open and generous. This industry can be tough, but it's easier when you're not going through it alone--for a variety of reasons. BH: Thanks again for your time, Vanessa. See you at the New York WTP! _____________

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LOL! If you had that many followers, they would hire a ghost writer to bang out the novel and sign you to a contract regardless. What a time saver, eh?

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The Puckster will buckle!

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Your Brain on ChatGPT: Cognitive Debt When Using AI for Essay Writing Excerpts as follows: " A total of 54 participants took part in Sessions 1-3, with 18 completing session 4. We used electroencephalography (EEG) to assess cognitive load during essay writing, and analyzed essays using NLP, as well as scoring essays with the help from human teachers and an AI judge." "Cognitive activity scaled down in relation to external tool use. In session 4, LLM-to-Brain participants showed reduced alpha and beta connectivity, indicating under-engagement." "Self-reported ownership of essays was the lowest in the LLM group and the highest in the Brain-only group. LLM users also struggled to accurately quote their own work. While LLMs offer immediate convenience, our findings highlight potential cognitive costs. Over four months, LLM users consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels. These results raise concerns about the long-term educational implications of LLM reliance and underscore the need for deeper inquiry into AI's role in learning." - Link to the Study Article

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We had another case years before this wherein the MN charged into other writer's pitch sessions in New York and demanded to be heard. It didn't work out so well for her. The editors were stunned.

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