Author Spotlight: Barbara Zito

DEBUT NOVEL LUCKY STIFF THROUGH LITERARY WANDERLUST

Writers come to me every day with a long list of reasons they can’t finish or publish a novel. “How can I ever find a traditional publisher for my novel?,” they ask me. Or “Why are all the literary agents rejecting my work?”

Oftentimes, these writers are at their wits’ end, because they’ve tried everything they can think of to traditionally publish a novel.

They’ve read the books on writing craft, taken the “how to write” or “how to publish” classes, attended the “Best ways to Publish” workshops, and read every article that exists on the internet about how to write a book and how to get published. 

Yet they still haven’t finished their manuscripts, and they still haven’t published. These writers are understandably, incredibly frustrated, or even worse, feel their writing isn’t good enough for publication. 

When Barbara came to me, she was one of these writers. She’d done the work, and even had an MFA (a Master of Fine Arts), which many writers consider to be the pinnacle of a writer’s career.

The problem with an MFA is that the classes teach you how to write, but they fail to teach you how to publish. 

In fact, one of the biggest complaints the literary agents I work with have about MFA writers is their manuscripts are cookie cutter. Most agents can sniff out an MFA manuscript from a mile away. They’re all the same, which doesn’t give them that edge to be publishable. 

This was Barbara’s issue exactly.

She had a great concept, but needed to break out of the MFA mold and transform her manuscript into something literary agents would scramble to represent.

Barbara and I worked on her novel revisions over the course of several months. During that time, I was in conversation with several literary agents about Barbara, her manuscript, and how to position her book for optimal success. 

What was incredible about working with Barbara is for the first time in her writing career, the revision process was not a stress-ridden nightmare for her, but enjoyable. Barbara and I laughed together during our meetings and enjoyed each other’s company, because she finally felt she was on the right track to publication. 

When Barbara finished revising, I sent her synopsis to a literary agent I work with frequently. Within 20 minutes of reading the synopsis, she asked me for a full manuscript. 

Let that sink in. 

20 minutes. 

Have you waited days, weeks, even MONTHS to hear back from an agent, only to get a “no thanks, not for me”? 

Imagine getting a yes from a literary agent in 20 minutes. 

Many would-be authors spin their wheels for years trying the same old things over and over again, hoping for new results.

Worse: they piddle their money away one workshop, one class, one MFA at a time. 

Real results ARE possible, but you’ve got to be willing to take the right steps. I work with authors who are coachable and eager to publish. They’re tired of spinning their wheels and are willing to put in hard work and invest in themselves in order to get where they want to go. I work with authors who take writing and publishing seriously without taking themselves too seriously. 

If you’re interested writing the best novel you can and traditionally publishing as Barbara Zito did,I’ve opened some time in my calendar. I’d love to chat with you about where you are, where you’d like to go, and how you can get there.