Spotlight Profile
January 2001
A new year, a blank slate--it's time to make at least one really good New Year's resolution. Here's food for thought from Evan Marshall, our member in the Spotlight this month.
Asked for a favorite quote, Evan said, "Here's one I love and live by, from that great philosopher, Woody Allen: 'Eighty percent of success is just showing up.' I think this is especially true in the world of writing.
"Though we all try to produce our best work, equally important is just producing! How many geniuses' novels never leave the bottom desk drawer to see the light of day? In other words, in order to succeed, the first step is always to put your seat in the chair and get it done!"
Evan is his own best example of that truth.
He began his career in publishing as a book editor, working at Houghton Mifflin, New American Library, Everest House, and Dodd, Mead. He left Dodd, Mead to become a literary agent with the Sterling Lord Agency, and then founded the Evan Marshall Agency.
He has also worked as an independent book packager, as a founding partner of Sutton Press, Inc., which produced fiction titles for publishers including Avon, Harlequin, HarperCollins, St. Martin's Press, and Dorchester Publishing Company.
Evan's first published book was Eye Language: Understanding the Eloquent Eye (1983). It's a little gem, with chapters on eye types, the eye language of love, the etiquette of staring, and the evil eye, among other topics. Now out of print, Eye Language can be found online through Bibliofind.
Missing Marlene, which launched Evan's Jane Stuart and Winky mystery series, was nominated by Romantic Times magazine as best first mystery of 1999. Hanging Hannah, second in the series, was released in 2000, and Stabbing Stephanie will be out in May.
His writing guide, The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing, is an international best seller. Its sequel, The Marshall Plan Workbook will be published in March.
Evan, it seems, was born to write. In his words ...
"Books were always a big part of my life. At age six I set out to write a dictionary. I still remember starting with 'aardvark.' Never got past (appropriately enough) 'abandon.'
"At thirteen I was already churning out novels -- mysteries set in France, Hawaii, Switzerland. I had a ball, writing away into the wee hours of the night, typing up my precious pages on my mother's Selectric. Later I began submitting my novels and stories, and I remember the sense of excitement mixed with disappointment when my SASEs appeared in the mailbox filled with rejection slips. But I was submitting! I was part of the process!
"After attending Boston College, I enrolled in the Publishing Procedures Course at Harvard Summer School, where I not only made connections that would land me my first job (assistant to a senior editor at Houghton Mifflin in Boston), but also met my wife, now an agent like me.
"I never stopped trying to get published, and it was when I was 27, a senior editor at Dodd, Mead, that my first book, Eye Language, came out. That year was also the year of my marriage.
"It was after that job that I made the transition to agent. That was nearly 18 years ago now. My wife and I have two wonderful boys, age 15 and 12, and they, along with my agency, keep me hopping. I'm also writing a lot. My Jane Stuart and Winky mystery series has received a wonderful response from readers both in the U.S. and in Italy, where they are published by Mondadori, and I've also written two how-to novel-writing guides, the first of which has been a bestseller both here and in the United Kingdom and Germany. I'm very grateful for this good fortune."
The self-described "relentless bookworm" found time for a few other activities, such as:
"I watched a lot of old movies, preferring the juicy relationship stories. My favorite was 'Leave Her to Heaven' with Gene Tierney. That film got me interested in old novels.
"I read Ben Ames Williams' novel on which which the Gene Tierney film was based, then went on to everything from Peyton Place to Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House to Good Morning, Miss Dove to Scollay Square, whose author, Pearl Schiff, coincidentally lived around the corner from me and was a wonderful inspiration.
"As you can see, I had ecclectic taste. I was also a mad hobbyist -- coins, stamps, seashells, tropical fish ... At school I pursued extracurricular activities of the literary type. I headed the literary magazine in high school, acted in the school play."
Obviously, the good fortune he speaks of has little to do with luck, and everything to do with "showing up." During the month of December, Evan shared some thoughts on writers and writing. Read on ...
IC
You have two books coming out this year: The Marshall Plan Workbook, March 2001 from Writer's Digest Books, and Stabbing Stephanie, May 2001 from Kensington Books.
Let's talk about the writing guides first. How will Workbook differ from The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing?
Evan
The Marshall Plan Workbook is based on the system I presented in The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing but takes it further. There is a unique feature in the book called the Blueprint, which literally takes the writer through the process of plotting a novel, using a kind of "Choose Your Own Adventure" flowchart method. The workbook is also far more interactive, with lots of places to record ideas about career and stories.
I wrote these books because I was frustrated with the large number of writing books out there that present information in a vague, abstract way. How, I wondered, could a writer put it all together? I had devised a very concrete novel-writing method for myself, and felt it would be helpful to other writers if I shared it. The response has been extremely gratifying.
IC
The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing begins with targeting a genre. Under Mystery, you list 19 subgenres. Let's take your first novel, Missing Marlene. Would you classify it as Amateur Detective, Cozy, Malice Domestic, all of those? Are there distinct differences or do the subgenres overlap?
Evan
I would call Missing Marlene (and the other novels in my series) cozies, and also amateur detective. There is a good bit of overlapping among these genres and subgenres.
For instance, I don't believe a cozy must necessarily feature an amateur detective. Ruth Rendell's Inspector Wexford mysteries, and P.D. James's Adam Dalgliesh mysteries, are what many would call cozies, but their detectives are police officers. By malice domestic, I mean mystery or suspense novels that focus on everyday home life. A good example would be See Jane Run by Joy Fielding.
IC
Missing Marlene was nominated for a Romantic Times magazine award, and you were one of several mystery writers participating in the magazine's recent convention in Houston.
For those not familiar with the magazine, Romantic Times has an excellent Mystery section with ratings, reviews and author interviews. Ratings are keyed to 12 categories; reviews add another tag. The Vanishing Violinist by Sara Hoskinson Frommer, for example, is reviewed as Traditional-Series-Romantic.
Is this a trend, or have romance and mystery writers always crossed genrelines? Would you advise beginning mystery writers to spice up the plot witha little romance?
Evan
With more and more romance writers making the transition into mysteries, I think you'll find romantic subplots in more and more mysteries now. I find it interesting that Romantic Times makes a distinction between the books that contain this element and the ones that don't.
My mysteries are considered Suspense-Series-Romantic because of Jane's continuing romantic relationship with police detective Stanley Greenberg. Readers tell me they like reading about this aspect of Jane's life, and I find it fun to write about.
I do advise beginning mystery writers to consider adding a touch of romance, but only when it fits naturally into the book. Readers will always love romance, wherever they find it!
IC
How was that convention, by the way? Will we be seeing more romances with mysterious overtones and vice versa?
Evan
The 2000 RT Booklovers Convention in Houston was great fun. Mystery is a new genre for Romantic Times, so most of the writers and readers in attendance were on the romance side, but there were still a good number of mystery people.
The edges between romance and mystery are definitely blurring. Look at the tremendous popularity of romantic suspense. Soon we'll have trouble saying whether a book is romantic suspense or suspense with romance!
IC
Before we draw the curtain on romance, let me recommend your first book, Eye Language: Understanding the Eloquent Eye. It's a fascinating study. Chapter 4 on the eye language of love is as delicious as it is useful. Do you ever consult this book when you're writing?
Evan
Thanks for the kind words about my first effort. Eye Language was great fun to write, and I learned a lot about "body language" that I use in my writing today.
For example, eye cutoffs--looking away or "stammering" with the eyes--say a lot about what a person is thinking while he or she is speaking. An eye cutoff can signify a lack of confidence, or lying. I've used this in my mysteries and do refer to the book for other ideas.
IC
You frequently attend conventions and conferences as a panelist and/or workshop presenter. How helpful are conventions/conferences to first-time novelists?
Evan
Conventions are enormously helpful. Beginning writers have access to valuable information presented by industry insiders like editors, agents, and other writers. In addition, the contacts writers make at these events often lead to contracts. I always encourage first-time novelists to attend the better conferences, within the restraints of time and money.
IC
Speaking as a longtime editor and agent, what are the most common mistakes you've seen in manuscripts by first-time novelists? Are today's writers making the same mistakes as yesterday's writers?
Evan
Sadly, the mistakes never seem to change. Here are five of them.
- The manuscript doesn't fit clearly into any recognized genre. What is it? It must fit in somewhere in order for an agent to sell it. This mistake is the result of a lack of market research on the part of the writer.
- The writer has no conception of viewpoint writing. We're in anybody and everybody's head all at the same time. Yes, published books break this rule, but the best way to tell an agent or editor you're an amateur is to show a lack of knowledge in this area.
- There's no plot! Countless manuscripts are clearly accounts of events in the writers' lives, or of their whole lives. A life is not a plot. A plot is a main character encountering obstacles while seeking to attain the story goal. Just because it really happened doesn't make it a viable story. Yes, events from real life inevitably become part of fiction, but real life "unedited" won't work.
- The writing is just plain amateurish. Improper dialogue punctuation. Poor grammar. Jerky, difficult-to-follow writing. Endless, boring passages about the weather.
- The writer is trying too hard to sound like a writer. The prose is self-consciously flowery, stylized, "literary." Just tell your story, plainly, cleanly, simply. Write as you would speak; then go back and polish and tighten.
IC
In one of your articles available online at iUniverse, you said: "Agatha Christie would never have sold her flat-character puzzlers today -- or at the very least, she would have been told to work on her characterization! Emotion, human nature, psychology, and the complexity of relationships feature strongly in today's best mysteries. We come to know sleuths and other major characters intimately."
Can you give us a shining example or two from mysteries you've read in thepast year?
Evan
Sure. One is An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears, a fascinating mystery set in 17th-century England about the murder of an Oxford don. Four very different people recount events as they witnessed them, and in doing so reveal everything about themselves.
Another, less well known book is Not Fair by Domini Taylor, a pseudonym of Roger Longrigg, who died this past year. ("Domini Taylor's" best-known novel was Mother Love.) Not Fair is the story of Nicola Maude, the victim of a car "accident" meant to kill her. The killer is still near, and as Nicola tries to untangle the truth, we learn what it feels like to be a paraplegic. We also learn, from the other characters' points of view, how it feels to envy someone who has lost the ability to walk yet still seems to have it all. Fascinating. I'll miss this excellent writer.
IC
Novelists desperate to break into the market can sympathize with the Australian writer who paraglided into a courtyard at Buckingham Palace last month, hoping the publicity would get a publisher to look at his book.
Paragliding may be overdoing it, but what do you expect--or hopefor--from a writer contacting you for the first time?
Evan
Don't give anyone ideas! Actually, our agency has had its share of "interesting" approaches from writers--but I won't go into that here.
From a writer approaching me for the first time, I like to receive a well-written, one-page query letter. It should tell me the genre of the novel in question and give a brief idea of the story (the main character, the story's setup). Some writers mention that their novels may appeal to readers of established novelists, and this is helpful. The query letter should tell me about any pertinent credentials the writer may have (previous publishing credits, awards or prizes won, writers' organizations he or she belongs to).
We can tell so much about a writer from a query letter. If it's poorly written, there's no point in asking to see the manuscript.
The most important thing to remember is that a query letter is a business letter. It isn't jacket copy--the writer should not indulge in self-hype or lofty promises of wealth and bestseller lists. It's the accepted way of telling an agent about your book and asking for permission to send it. One professional talking to another. Oh--don't forget the self-addressed, stamped envelope for a reply.
IC
Your protagonist, Jane Stuart, gives us a behind-the-scenes look at an agent's work. How closely does her typical day resemble yours? And how do you make time to do your own writing?
Evan
Take my typical day, remove all the boring parts, and you have Jane's day. People want the juicy stuff about agenting and publishing, so that's what I give them. They also want to learn about the finer details of an agent's work, so I show Jane engaging in all sorts of varied activities.
How do I make time for my own writing? Running my agency keeps me hopping during business hours, so my writing gets done nights and weekends. Fortunately, I'm a fast writer!
IC
Based on your years of experience as editor, agent and author, do you have any predictions about the publishing industry? Do you see alternative publishing, especially e-books and print-on-demand books, making much headway in the market, either sooner or later? What is your view of these alternative publishing opportunities?
Evan
Yes, I see alternatative publishing making tremendous headway already. These new technologies have enabled a whole crop of small publishers to come into being, and these publishers are able to serve up books that New York publishers might consider too small or too risky.
All of this is good news for writers, who now have many more markets to submit to.
What's missing for these smaller publishers is strong distribution. I foresee the appearance of more distributors to make the print-form offerings of these companies more widely available.
IC
You're in the Spotlight, Evan. Any closing thoughts or parting shots?
Evan
Just a thank-you, Pat, for allowing me to share my thoughts. And happy new year!
IC
Our thanks to you, Evan, for getting our Spotlight year off to a rousing start.
This interview was conducted during the month of December 2000 for SinC-IC by Pat Browning.
Visit Evan's Site
E-mail Evan
E-mail Pat
Read an earlier Spotlight Profile
