Algonkian Writer Conferences Tale: Kim Boykin's Pitch Rewrites and Contracts "The Wisdom of Hair" and Boy Can She Cook!

AWC: What is the backstory of Kim Boykin? You’re working with the South Carolina writers group and editing the Quill? How long have you been writing fiction?

Kim: How far back do you want to go? Growing up, I learned how to tell a story from my grandpa in rural Georgia who held court under an old Mimosa. When the weather was too rough to farm, people would come in droves just to hear him tell tales and share his unique take on the world. As a child, I was enthralled, but when I started to write, really write, I realized what a master teacher of pacing and sensory detail he was. I wrote and tossed, not to be confused with pitched, two novels, then wrote a version of THE WISDOM OF HAIR ten years ago.

I got an agent but she died after the first round of submissions; the agent I inherited didn't get southern fiction at all. When it was clear she had no intention of selling my novel, I left and just kept writing books. I turned 53 this year, which doesn't mean anything other than I've been at this a really long time. I've dabbled with queries and attended a conference or two, but nothing really happened until I attended the New York Pitch Conference.

I'm on the board of the South Carolina Writer's Workshop, which is an statewide organization dedicated to helping its member develop as writers and publish. We have a very well respected conference in Myrtle Beach, SC every year. As a matter of fact I pitched the same novel to four agents last year, but I didn't have a clue as to what I was doing. Part of the pitch is finding out what works and doesn't work in your story itself. I didn't really understand that until I went to New York.

AWC: Kim, do tell, what is the origin of THE WISDOM OF HAIR? How did you arrive at this concept, and having arrived, how did you evolve it into an entire novel?

Kim: Well, the title came from one of the editors at the pitch conference and it just stuck. But the story came to me like all my stories, voices in my head, telling me what to write. It didn't hurt that I spent a lot of time when I was growing up hanging out at my mother's beauty salon. She had a lot of interesting clients--war brides, a Zigfield girl, all kinds of women with all kinds of stories but the one thing they had in common was their hair and the belief that if they could change their hair, they could change their life.

Funny thing is, until I had to write a pitch and figure out what made my common story uncommon, I didn't see that. But that's exactly what had the editor's nodding their heads and asking to see the script.

AWC: Who is your readership for this book? Are you working on marketing plans now?

Kim: If I had to dust off my marketing degree and figure out that kind of stuff, I'd say Women 35-54 would be the core demo. But the concept of fix your hair/fix your life is universal among women, which is why I've created a blog, thewisdomofhair.com and a Facebook page by the same name. The idea is to get women talking about their hair. The first entry has the thoughts from two women, a dyed in the wool Baptist from South Carolina and a Muslim student from Canada. So what does it mean when their views about hair coincide? It means we've found something universal, a common wisdom that can change the world or at least change our world. How cool is that?

So the takeaway is social media is huge. When the blog is ready for prime time, my agent's going to tweet about it, and I've got other folks out there ready to spread the gospel of HAIR. I also have another blog boykinshecook.com and a website kimboykin.com. One thing the editors made clear at the Pitch Conference in NY was, if you don't have a blog or a website, get one.

AWC: How long were you looking for an agent before you found your current agent?

Following the conference, I queried 57 agents between July 9 and the 24th. Sixteen agents asked to read; ten asked for the whole manuscript, and five asked for exclusives, which of course I couldn't give them because so many agents were reading. On July 25, I had my first offer for representation. I sent out a letter to the other agents to let them know and heard from three who said they were going to read the script that night. One of the three called my house and left a message not to sign with anyone until I talked to her, but I did talk to Kevan Lyon and signed with, and that was that.

How long was I looking for an agent before that? Seven years!

It's great to pitch a book, but you also have to have written a good story. If the writing isn't good, you've wasted a huge opportunity. I felt good about the writing but even that changed after the New York Pitch Conference when I talked to the editors and saw things in my pitch they responded positively to. For example, in the story the protagonist's mother is an Appalachian version of Judy Garland (the lounge singer, not Dorothy Gale.) The editors really liked that, so I came home and punched that up throughout the book and opened the first chapter with a great scene complete with Mama, which got me a lot of looks from agents.

AWC: What series of events got this over the top and signed with a top literary agency?

Kim: What made the difference for me was the conference. After having an agent who passed away and then inheriting one who really didn't want me, the idea of pitching directly to publishing house editors in New York was very appealing. I was able to finally sign with a great agent because of the first paragraph of my query letter which noted the publishers at the conference who were enthused about my novel. And she's interested in the new book I'm writing about a lady cop down in the Low Country who finds redemption from her own past by helping a victim of black market adoption. Lots of strong Southern women, snappy dialogue, and set in the Charleston, SC area which is hot thanks to Pat Conroy, Dorthea Benton Frank, and everybody in between who writes about the Low Country.

AWC: What is your next book about? It feels like a series could develop from this.

Kim: There might be, the protagonist and her best friend were very appealing to all the agents who read the story.

AWC: When can the staff of Algonkian Writer Conferences come to South Carolina and sample some of your cooking?

Kim: Boykinshecook.Com is about two of my great obsessions, WRITING (check out my new post "Lessons From My Childhood About Writing") and FOOD. So if you all make it down this way, just give me a little heads up so I set enough places at the table. Y'all come!

Algonkian Writer Conferences Interview Series with Editors: Dana Isaacson of Random House

Algonkian Writer Conferences talks platform, passion, and craft with Dana I.

Dana Edwin Isaacson is a Senior Editor with the Random House Publishing Group, where he edits both fiction and non-fiction. He has worked as an abridger, a writer and a literary agent. He has also been an editor at ReganBooks, St. Martin’s Press and Pocket Books.

AC: These days it appears more and more true that for various genres of fiction aspiring authors often have an edge in getting a first novel published if they possess an authentic platform for telling the story, i.e., a media platform, or at least one of sufficient experience and expertise that applies in a significant way to the essence of the work. For example, the author of one of our recent successes at the New York Pitch Conference, Lipstick in Afghanistan, would fit easily into the category above.

Do you see platform becoming more important these days for certain types of fiction. And if so, what kinds? What do you look for in the way of platform when in the office, or at a conference listening to a writer pitch you their work? And can you give us writers some tips in this area?

DI: Regardless of their book’s category, an author’s platform has become ever more crucial in the brave new world of electronic publishing. If your book is published as an ebook, how is the consumer to find that book and purchase it? Owners of ereaders very well might not stroll down the bookstore aisle and pick up what catches their eye. Instead, new and innovative ways must be found to connect authors and readers. This is the sort of marketing that many introverted writers have difficulty mastering, but without a doubt online communities, personal blogs, or alternate outreach strategies can be extremely useful in boosting an author or a specific project’s visibility. If an author has sensible strategies to reach potential readers, they have a leg up on the competition.

AC: Which fictional elements do you like to hear clicking soundly in a pitch communication, those that enable you as an editor make a decision as to whether or not the project has commercial potential? Can you summarize the elements and tell us which ones are most important to you, and why?

DI: With a commercial novel, the emphasis must always be on a well-structured narrative, one that unflaggingly keeps the reader engaged. When a proposed book idea sounds gimmicky or cluttered with explanations rather than an absorbing or rollicking good story, I start to tune out. The emphasis must always be on story: it should be unique, the characters should resonate with the reader, and it should be resolved in an fashion that is both satisfying for the reader and that makes sense within the construct of the narrative.

AC: Do you feel such discussions about characters and plot, etc., help the writers focus on the truly vital issues they need to hash through before they can become published authors?

DI: Nothing thrills most writers more than talking about their creations, and such discussions are incredibly valuable. An isolated writer at his or her desk can overlook narrative problems that are obvious to others. Obviously the more feedback an author receives the better. 

AC: It seems axiomatic over time that publishers prefer, if possible, to market novels with great stories and characters, and that it behooves an aspiring author in most genres to attempt, insofar as possible, to create a story that is "high concept", i.e., commercially viable yet not sounding like a tale you've heard a few thousand times, or worse yet, one that everyone knows has failed in the marketplace. Can you discuss this? How important is a story that sounds unique while also flying a banner of potential commercial success? Or is "mid" or "low concept" equally acceptable as long as the prose is superb, as one might find in more literary novels? Or does it naturally depend on the genre?

DI: For a novel to be truly successful, a high concept idea must be secondary to a satisfying plot. “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.” Ultimately, a publisher is skeptical when hearing you have an idea that is as good or better than “The Da Vinci Code.” A clever concept within any genre might grab a reader, but an absorbing narrative will win a reader’s loyalty. Publishers want to be convinced that your novel’s story absorbs the reader like “The Da Vinci Code,” that its well-constructed narrative causes readers to flip the pages as fast as they would with a novel by Jody Picoult, or Janet Evanovich, Nicholas Sparks or Ian McEuen.

AC: How important are a writer's fiction writing credentials in the genres you represent? Are you more or less likely to ask to see a project if the writer has strong fiction creds? What are your standards? Do you balance creds against a great story or are both equally important?

DI: Writers learn how to write by writing a lot, so naturally an editor looks closer at a project from a writer whose past signifies discipline and a seriousness about the craft. Still, the past matters only so much. The question facing the editor at a pitch conference is: does this story sound like it will sell books tomorrow?

AC: What other advice can you give the aspiring authors out there? What is important to you that we have yet cover?

DI: Read as much as you can and learn. Join a writers group to get feedback for your work. Establish a writing routine and set deadlines. While of course publication is the dream of most writers’, also understand that the act of creation is the most satisfying part of the process. If you are serious about writing, you should do your best to enjoy the very long journey it takes to get published. Be Buddhist about the craft.

AC: In general, what do you see as the future of novel-length fiction, both in terms of quality, and in terms of evolution away from paper? Will bookstores always have a place in American culture?

DI: People will always love physical books, and I certainly hope there are always bookstores. One fantastic development that comes with electronic publishing is that length becomes less relevant. Works of fiction that would in the past have been too short or too long can now be marketed and sold. For example, if they can find their readership, publishers and writers can sell short stories for 99 cents. And of course there is a democratization that comes with electronic publishing, which is why the major publishers will remain relevant. As in the past, they will continue to be seen by book buyers as the gatekeepers for quality.