The best communication tool I ever learned was in math class

And of course, it wasn't about math at all.

Now, I love math. I love its elegance. I love its clean form. I love that there is one right answer, and I love that there's not much room for opinion. It's either right or wrong.  (That tells you a lot about me of course, but nothing I didn't already know to my rueful dismay--but I digress)

The best teacher I ever had was a math teacher in college. He was a graduate student. Most likely he hated us undergraduates who were there to get our science requirements satisfied.  He was teaching the second term, geometry, of a three term, year long sequence.

Here's why he was great: he'd write a problem on the board. Then he'd show us how to solve it. He'd explain the guiding principle of the solution.

Then he'd ask us if we understood.

All you had to do, IF you understood, was nod your head.

The trick was, if you DIDN'T understand you could just sit there, looking befuddled.
Or confused.

And he'd explain it again. In a different way. Sometimes with a different problem, or a different graph or drawing.

Then he'd ask us again if we understood, and again, all we had to do was nod.

Most of the easy stuff we got right away. More complicated stuff took two, or even three explanations.  And even if I thought I understood on the first pass, those second times usually helped cement the concept.

I learned a lot of geometry that term.  But I learned something more important: If what I was saying didn't make sense to people listening it wasn't their fault. It wasn't my fault either, exactly, but as the teacher, my job was to explain it, not make people feel stupid for not getting it.

I was reminded of this recently when, in a fit of madness, I replied to a query letter about a non-fiction book. I explained  I needed a couple of things to evaluate a proposal (things not included in his initial query.) One key thing was how to reach the market (platform.)

The query writer wrote back telling me about the size of the market.
I wrote back explaining it wasn't the size of the market, but how to reach the market that I was concerned with.

At this point the querier dropped the ball. He wrote back telling me my assistant should read the query so as to explain it to me.  The implication was that clearly I was too stupid to see what he had explained so clearly.

Well, OK, my assistant IS very bright, and I do depend on her to explain a lot of bewildering things to me (most recent explanations:  famous tattoo artists, and drummers) but generally I do know what I'm talking about when the subject is query letters and platform.

This query writer made the same mistake a lot of people do: if I didn't understand what he was writing, I was stupid.


I failed in my effort to communicate what I needed to this querier, but in dismissing me as stupid he ended my willingness to explain a third time using a different example.  Don't close down communication by dismissing the person who doesn't get what you're saying until you've tried at least three times.

That applies to your beta readers, your query critiquers and anyone else giving you feedback.  "You're wrong" shuts down the process.  "Let me try again" gives you another shot.

Be smart. Don't assume I'm stupid.

My talk to the NYC chapter of Sisters in Crime

I crowdsourced the good parts of this talk this morning on Twitter. I had my basic points in mind, but I tweeted "I'm giving a talk to SinC on things writers should be doing. Any suggestions?"

There were a lot of good suggestions, but I had a limited amount of time (sadly!)

Here are the ten points of my talk:

TEN THINGS YOU SHOULD BE DOING RIGHT NOW

1. Have a website with
a. contact info (your OWN email address: @alwayscoffee)

added note: the anthology you gave me tonight does NOT have all the website addresses for contributors (tsk! tsk!) That's a must! If I like your story, I might want to get in touch!

b. sample of your writing
c. IF PUBBED: a professional photo

d. If you have a blog instead, don't blog about writing.


2. Be visible on Twitter (the notes that are underlined were obtained from people who helped me crowdsource this talk this morning on twitter.)

3. Subscribe to Google alerts for
a. your name
b. your book title
c. keywords (Bella Stander's idea)

4. Subscribe to Shelf-Awareness

5. Volunteer at Sisters in Crime/be part of the leadership (this is your in-house crowdsourcing)


6. Subscribe to CrimeSpree, MysteryScene and other industry mags. Read reviews

7. Attend READER/fan conventions: Bouchercon, Left Coast Crime, Love is Murder, Malice Domestic


8. Read widely (all the finalists for the Edgars, and Agathas for starters)

9. Write to a disciplined schedule
a. Get the first draft on paper. Until you do it's all academic (Jen Burke)



10. Do NOT drink the kool-aid on E-publishing. It's too early to be making sweeping statements about any of it. We're all learning this as we go and the right answer to almost everything is "we'll see what happens."


If you take away just one thing tonight I hope it will be this, from Bill Cameron: Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Don't be afraid to fail. Neither will kill you.



I came away very impressed with the enthusiasm and professionalism of the NYC chapter of Sisters in Crime.  Clearly a very good group of writers.  Probably a good group to join if you're looking to get published as a crime writer!

A very smart guy said

"For all of the "how-to write" blog posts and con sessions, the best place to learn the craft is by reading voraciously."

I believe that is true.


On the list of things to read is GALVESTON by Nic Pizzolatto.  The first 22 pages are a master class in how to start a novel.

Let's talk about non-fiction query letters for a minute

I get a lot of queries for non-fiction; recently I've noticed you're giving in to temptation to list a series of problem, often in the form of rhetorical questions.

(We all know rhetorical questions are the kiss of death in a query right?)

I sense these query writers learned their pitching skills from late night television "What would you say if I could chop that tomato with a sword!"

(to which I'd say "I hope you're not planning to chop tomatoes in MY kitchen" but you get the point.)

Here's the thing about non-fiction; you need to pitch the SOLUTION right up front with the problem.  Your book is about the solution first and foremost, not the problem.

Your book is about why your solution is better, faster, smarter than anyone else's.

If you're pitching a book about writing query letters you might say:

This book demonstrates an effective way to write and revise queries so writers communicate what their books are about in clear concise language.

The problem is: you know you're writing a crappy query letter.
The solution is: I'm going to show you how to write and revise your way out of the crap heap.

How you phrase that first sentence in a query letter for any non-fiction book can be the difference between me scoffing (tomato/sword) and me being interested (book that solves a problem I see everyday)

Capisce?