Conference Notes: An Editor’s Wishlist

“An Editor’s Wishlist” presented at Making it in Changing Times by the dashing Jessica Morrell

* I really tried to take these conference notes word-for-word–but naturally something will be lost or manipulated along the way. My apologies. In addition, I added my own special formatting to the notes. For example in this first post I will do a simple “bullet list” since the topic was editor’s “wishlist”.

 

———————————————–“Editor’s Wishlist”:

———————————————-A writer who:

 

• #1. Has Voice!

  What is Voice?

  -Your character’s consciousness
  -A character who has more personality than you do
  -In harmony with your roots
  -Changes depending on the circumstances

 

• Can promote their own work via personal blog, goodreads.com, Twitter, Facebook. One more time: CAN PROMOTE THEIR OWN WORK VIA PERSONAL BLOG, GOODREADS.COM, TWITTER, FACEBOOK

 

• Has realistic expectations about editors and publishers (piggy-backing off the former bullet)

 

• Is shocking, surprising, and uses “fire-fly” words (i.e. magical, special words. No clichés!)

 

• Uses word combinations that make you feel something, one example is “he huck-finned his way across the nation” 

 

• Has a “high-concept” story–a story that gets across a single point such as Cheryl Strayed’s WILD: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. A story about a woman hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Another example is Jurassic Park. A story about Dinosaur’s living in the modern world.
  

  “There is a dramatic question at the heart of every high-concept story” – Jessica Morrell

  A story that is NOT high-concept makes the reader say “wait, what is this story about exactly?”

 
In closing:

“The traditional publishing world has changed–but editors need you, publishers need you. You are teenage girls and publishers are teenage boys.” – Jessica Morrell