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Interview with Terry Burns

March 14, 2007

Dear Musers Who Matter,

I am delighted to introduce you today to Texas author and agent, Terry W. Burns.

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 Mysterious Ways series? Where did you get your ideas for this series? Did writing it involve a lot of research?

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 Mysterious Ways was born. There is always a lot of research involved particularly for something set in the old west. That time period, at least the part that books and movies concentrate in is just about a 20 year time period, and those who read in it know it very well. They'll call your hand if something is done at a wrong time or a weapon is mentioned that doesn't exist, or a setting or item mentioned isn't appropriate. They really keep a writer honest. The other two in the series, Brothers Keeper and Shepherd's Son have a lot of continuing characters but the books do not depend on each other as far as having to read one before another can be read.

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