Today’s interview is with Barton Paul Levenson, author of the science-fiction novel I Will. He shares with us the most difficult part of writing his new work, rejection etiquette and why learning to cut scenes from one’s work is so important.
LUX ZAKARI: How did you come up with the premise for I Will? What meaning does the title for the story have for you?
BARTON PAUL LEVENSON: I wrote the story in reaction to stories by some other SF authors who treat love between humans and aliens as a sign of immaturity and unrealistic thinking. This is basically a revival of the Greco-Roman attitude that romantic love is a kind of neurosis, and it’s the responsibility of your friends to talk you out of it. I wanted to depict a human-alien romance, and a protagonist so determined to win the girl he loves that he’ll take on an entire planet to do it. The title refers to Art Gordon’s determination. The words come from the poem The Song of Wandering Aengus, by W.B. Yeats, which deals with a related theme.
LZ: What was the hardest part of writing your new book? What was the most rewarding?
BPL: The hardest part for me is always revising! I Will started out as a short story and its sequel, totaling 40,000 words together, and finally came out at 60,000, despite cutting a lot of dross and verbosity in the early drafts! The fun came from imagining the appearance and culture of my aliens, the Tani’Anneray, and conditions on the research starship Startoucher (Silnon-chooayn), where most of the action takes place. Plus, I gave Art a crazy sense of humor for the sheer fun of it.
LZ: Is there something important you hope to convey to your readers, a theme or message most commonly appearing in your work?
BPL: There are two here—persistence, and the fact that any intelligent, self-aware being qualifies as human in moral and ethical terms. Male, female, hermaphrodite or neuter; black, white, yellow, red, or brown; gay, straight or bi; rich or poor, Christian, Hindu, Jew or Atheist; college professor or truck driver—all self-aware persons enjoy the same God-given rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
LZ: As a published author, what marketing advice do you have for writers just starting out? What works? What doesn’t?
BPL: Start with short fiction before you try novels. Make sure you have a good grasp of English grammar and spelling and hit the books if you don’t. Join a writers critiquing group and learn to handle criticism without despair or anger. Your early work may be awful—that’s normal. The more you write, the better you get. Above all, learn to revise. “Anyone can write. A writer can rewrite.”
And keep at it! I sent in my first short story for publication at the age of 14, I got my first acceptance on my 116th try at age 31. First novel submission at 14, first novel acceptance at 45, my 115th try. I didn’t spend all that time steadily writing; I only got serious about it in my 20s and began mass submitting in my 30s. But give up and you’ll never see your name on a book.
And learn to deal with rejection—don’t send editors angry or insulting letters even if they are rude to you. Don’t even reply to a rejection, unless it’s along the lines of “Thank you for considering my story. I hope I can submit something even better suited to your magazine in the future.” You have to be coldly professional about the writing business—and keep in mind that successful people are polite to everybody. Rant and rave to your spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend, brother or sister or friends about how editors are flaming idiots who wouldn’t know good writing if it bit them on the butt—but never let an editor see that side of you. Get a reputation as a difficult author, or a crank, and no one will want to work with you.
LZ: What lessons have you learned regarding book publishing? What lesson has been the most valuable to you?
BPL: Learn to write a one-page synopsis of your book. More and more publishers want that. And knowing how to cut, cut and cut again is a valuable writing skill. Less is more. Omit needless words.
Bend over backward to accept your editor’s suggestions for revision. You may have to lose whole chapters or write new ones. When in doubt, go with what the editor wants. And don’t offend the publisher.
Big houses have advertising budgets, but small presses expect you to do your own marketing—so study up on how to do that. You can waste a lot of money on ads before you hit the right methods and the right target audience, and you’re in this business to make money, not lose it. If you have a physical book in hand rather than an e-book, put together a publicity kit, send it to every local newspaper you can think of plus big national ones, and physically visit every local bookstore to politely ask the manager if he/she will stock your book. Arrange signings and get a dealer’s table at cons. Send review copies to book reviewers at newspapers and magazines. And so on.
LZ: What can readers expect from Barton Paul Levenson for the duration of 2010?
BPL: I hope my short stories will continue to appear. The anthology Infinite Space, Infinite God should come out soon with my story A Problem in Logic inside, and ditto Cheer Up, Universe! with Sophie and the Supernova. Lyrical Press has brought out my SF action-adventure novel Max and Me in June 2010, and with luck Hearts on Fire Books will publish my SF juvenile, Year of the Human, this year—definitely by next year. And I’ll still be yakking about global warming on the climatology blogs.
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To purchase I Will from its publisher, Virtual Tales, visit www.virtualtales.com/Science-Fiction/I-Will.html.
For more information on Barton Paul Levenson, visit his Web site, BartonPaulLevenson.com.
