Donna Morrissey Interview Follow-Up

Donna was able to take a few moments to send responses to the follow-up questions sent in by Stephen.

Has Donna had any experience with grant applications? If so, what goes into writing a good one and where can one learn how to writing a winning proposal?

Don't know any winning formulas....follow instructions on the form, it's good if you have ten pages of a ms to send it; [It's] better to send in sample of writing, than simply an idea. I was a judge once for grant applications, and the only thing that I used as criteria was the writing sample itself.

Any marketing techniques learned through experience that J.A. Konrath hasn't already blogged about?

Regarding marketing the manuscript, Donna wrote: All I did was simply package up thirty pages of my ms and send it in. With that great letter of intro, then, cross your fingers and hope, and don't be shy of resending.

Regarding promotion after publication, Donna wrote: My publisher does all the marketing. I do some stuff, IE, I say yes to most anything that's asked of me, like doing readings or fund raisers or donating books, and I always go to book groups whenever I'm asked. It's time consuming, but such a pleasure to sit with people who enjoy your work and give you that feedback.

It's lonely as a writer. Nice to connect with people. Writer's get different packages, depending on how many copies you sell and how much money your book makes the publisher. I think the rule is 'one dollar' of the cost of each book... so, five thousand books, five thousand dollars for travel, etc..... Everything has a formula. [It's] not a lucrative industry -- the book industry. So, really, unless you're making the sales, there isn't too much a publisher can afford to spend on you. Most definitely though, I think every novel published should get a launch..... that's not hard to pull off... any bar will do, and people buy their own drinks. Simply offer some munchies, send out invites and do a reading. In the end, the biggest seller of books is word of mouth. That's been shown to be true.

What is her relationship with her agent? Personal, business, distant, close? What should it be? What if it's not what she thinks it should be?

My relationship with my agent is very personal. We share everything, broken hearts, recipes, but mostly we share shop talk. She has taught me a lot about the writing world, how it works, what to expect, not to expect, she keeps me grounded, she's my friend, she encourages me when I'm down, tells me all the right things... I love her.

I'm fond of small presses, but I'm fond of money, too. What advice would she give to someone whose book is being evaluated as "wonderful but not for us" at the big houses?

Keep resending til you hit somebody who thinks you're great. It's the one game in town where no never means no. Wait eight months then send again; people move around, different readers, editors.... And in the meantime, keep writing, start a new story....

God bless, good luck with it... See you on the circuit...

Thank you, Donna! This is terrific insider knowledge.

Colleen