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Interview
with Terry Burns
March 14, 2007
Dear Musers Who Matter,
I am delighted to introduce you today to
MaryAnn:
Welcome to Musings That Matter, Terry! It's a pleasure to have you with
us.
Terry:
I appreciate you asking me.
MaryAnn:
Terry, please tell us a little about yourself.
Terry:
I've writen most of my life, but for 25 years the chamber of commerce
profession ate up most of my words. It has just been the last few years that I
could write what I really wanted and try my hand at fiction. Now I'm taking
another step in that career as an agent for Hartline Literary. Helping others
get their words out may be even more important than what I do with my own, and
in all those years of chamber work that's what I did, help others make deals.
MaryAnn:
You describe yourself as a "fifth generation Irish storyteller who happens
to be a fourth generation Texas Teller of Tall Tales". :-) In what
specific ways has your rich background influenced your writing?
Terry:
We're all a byproduct of our background. I had a college professor once tell me
that all of us have this little box of index cards. In it are
the sum total of our upbringing, our experiences, the people we like and
didn't like, our education, our successes and failures, and of course our faith
or lack thereof. We rummage around in our little box and we form communications
out of what we find there. On the other end a reader (or listener) takes our
communication and tries to dechipher it based on the cards they find in their
own box. To the extent that we can write in terms that other people readily
identify with our writing finds success.
MaryAnn:
Terry, you've chosen a profession that's predominantly dominated by women, yet
there is such a need for the male voice in Christian fiction today. What do you
believe is your role as a Christian novelist?
Terry:
I'm well aware that most books are bought by women, even those read by men. I
like to reach out to that male readership, but I know to do it that I have to
first interest the ladies. Most of my books are bought by ladies and the
preponderence of responses that I get back are from them. But I get that rare
response from a male that said he read my book and it set him on the road to
thinking about some things in his life. It doesn't take much of that to
motivate me. I like to tell a story in such a way that people get drawn in and
can't put it down. By the time a non-believer figures out there is a faith
content it's too late and they have to finish the story. I've had a number of
people tell me they bought copies of my books to give to unsaved friends for
that very reason.
MaryAnn:
You've been described as a author of westerns. How would you define a western?
What makes a western different from other genres of novels?
Terry:
I don't write westerns, I write inspirationals set in the old west. Big difference, and it's that difference that has the ladies
reading the books. Yet there is enough action and western flavor to reach out
to those guys that are so hard to interest in a Christian book. Many of my
friends have written a huge number of westerns, who say their books are clean
enough that they could easily be sold in a Christian bookstore but that market
was not open to them. They asked me what makes a so-called "Christian
Western." I told them it wasn't what was NOT in the
book, profanity, sex or excessive violence, but what WAS in it. The type
book that would make it into that category has an intentional
faith content, whether a little or a lot. With Christian fiction being the
fastest growing segment of the publishing industry for several years now this
distinction is becoming more and more important.
MaryAnn:
Terry, you've posted your very powerful writing testimony on your website. In
fact, I'm including the link here because I want our readers to read it: http://terryburns.net/Testimony.htm
In your testimony, you provide great insight on
recognizing whether God is calling us to write or whether we simply want to
write and offer our writing to Him. Would you elaborate a bit on that
distinction here?
Terry:
If we simply WANT to write for the Lord it is an offering, one that He will
surely accept and bless if it is done in accordance to His will. If we have
been CALLED to write it is different. We don't have the ability to quit as God
always finishes what He starts and He isn't going to let up on us until we're
done what He wants us to do. The good news is, if it is indeed a calling, that God equips those He calls to do what He wants
them to do. It probably won't happen as quickly as we want, after all, look how
long he prepared those who served Him in the Bible before He actually used
them, including Jesus himself. It will happen in God's time. I do recognize
that the calling may be for a specific task, and once we've done it we may find
ourselves called in a different direction. I'm wrestling with some of that now.
MaryAnn:
Terry, you are also an agent for the Hartline Literary Agency. Do you find it
challenging to juggle the roles of writer and agent? How did you get into
agenting?
Terry:
Joyce Hart at Hartline was my agent. We split ( amicably
) for a while because she wasn't working in some areas I felt I needed to go
after. I had success selling books in some other areas and she talked to me
about doing it for Hartline. She's again my agent, of course, and I love her to
death, but my brief effort approaching some other areas is proving useful in
expanding the Hartline base, particularly trying to reach out into some of the
secular markets as they try to expand into the Christian market buying
Christian imprints and forming Christian lines. We aren't seeing much product
coming from that yet, however, as they are still trying to get a handle on what
they need to do to take advantage of the Christian fiction growth.
MaryAnn:
How would you advise a writer looking for an agent?
Terry:
Looking for an agent or an editor is the same process. The person should do
their homework and make sure they are approaching the right people with the
right product. What people don't realize is, going through the market guide and
doing mass mailings to all the editors and agents that even remotely seem to
qualify probably not only guarantees a rejection, but may burn a bridge in so
doing that with the right research and the right approach might have been a
successful query. One of the things that is important
in selecting someone we want to represent is the history of the manuscript. Why
would I take a manuscript, even one that is very well written, if it has
already been pitched and rejected at all the places I would want to carry it. I also get a lot that have already been published in
some format and they want me to sell it to a big publisher. It's already
published. The best I could do would be to sell reprint rights, which a big
publisher seldom does and then only if it has sold well up in the thousands
demonstrating it's market viability. I understand
nobody wants to do the research to find the right place to pitch and the
reasons that the editor or agent might like the pitch, but the people that are
successfully published not only did it, but did it well.
MaryAnn:
Terry, what, in your opinion, is the most important function of the Christian
fiction writer in today's culture?
Terry:
When I came to decide I had a calling I told the lady I was working with that
it couldn't be, that I only wrote simple little
fiction. She said, "Yes, and Jesus only taught with simple little
parables." Christian literature is written for believers. You can hardly
tie a non-believer down to make them sit through some of it, they are so
resistant. It brings them under conviction which is very uncomfortable so they
put it down to take off the pressure. Christian fiction brings faith to them
sugarcoated in a story that keeps them interested as they are exposed to a
little Christian theme. If it's done right the author's faith or intention
never shows. His or her characters have or don't have faith and it is their
interaction that brings any religious theme to the book. Today's Christian
fiction writer deals in modern parables.
MaryAnn:
Please tell us about your
Terry:
I was watching an old movie where a man was disguised as a preacher while he
did his nefarious deeds. I thought, "Yeah, and you'll really be in trouble
if they start expecting you to perform those duties." That idea intrigued
me and
MaryAnn:
Would you share a bit about your future writing plans?
Terry:
A little up in the air. I'm focusing on developing the agent role right now,
and I just finished a light mystery which was something of a change for me. The
jury is still out on that one. I would have liked to have done a couple more in
the series, but it ended at three. The Lord has something in mind for me and
I'm a bit unsure as to what that is yet, but He'll make it clear.
MaryAnn:
Any parting words?
Terry:
I do a lot of programs and workshops and I almost always get asked for the most
valuable piece of advice I can give and I never hesitate. Never give up. 85% of
all writers are never significantly published. That's a discouraging number,
but it does mean that we are just up against 15% of the 6 million manuscripts
currently estimated to be in play. And I don't know of anybody that the
publishing industry has told to quit writing and take up needlepoint, so why
the large number? They aren't told to quit, they lose faith and give up. Those
who are willing to put in the time, to grow in their profession, to do the
research necessary to do it right find success. In a perfect world we wouldn't
have to do any of that, we'd just stay home and write our stories and a
publisher would beat on our door and offer us an obscene amount of money to
publish our book then do wll of the work necessary to make it a huge
best-seller. If that's what we're waiting for we have a long wait ahead of us.
There are no shortcuts, it's just hard work.
MaryAnn:
Terry, it has been a blessing to have you with us today. Thank you for giving
us of your time and your talent. :-)
Terry:
I've enjoyed it.
MaryAnn:
I invite all of you visit Terry's website at www.terryburns.net and you'll find
his contact information there or at www.hartlineliterary.com
_______________________
Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Comments
Pam Halter had something to say .
. .
Thanks for a great interview with good information, Terry and Mary Ann.
Never give up ~ I've been hearing that more and more from writing
friends, yes, but also I feel the Lord is telling me the same thing. How can I
say no when God is saying yes?
#1 | 03.14.2007, 8:32 AM
Lena Nelson Dooley had something to say .
. .
A very good interview.
Thank you, MaryAnn. I've known Terry a long time and value his friendship. I
was also privileged to endorse two of his
I hope all of your readers will get these. They are wonderful!
#2 | 03.14.2007, 10:23 AM
Tracy Ruckman had something to say .
. .
Great interview! I, too, am a Terry fan - my husband and I both love
the
Terry - we recently watched an old movie where the guy pretended to be
a preacher. Wonder if it happened to be the same one you saw?
Blessings,
#3 | 03.14.2007, 1:30 PM
Kevin Scott Collier had something to say .
. .
Terry is my agent and a wonderful man. Reading anything about him, or his views is always uplifting. Thanks, Maryann...
Kevin Scott Collier
Author and Illustrator
#4 | 03.15.2007,