When Irene comes home: author shares life's lessons (06/29/03)

When Irene comes home: author shares life's lessons

by Oryna Hrushetska

CHICAGO - This city's aspiring writers were blessed with a rare treat last month, compliments of the Young Friends of the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art. Acclaimed Chicago-born author Irene Zabytko led an animated workshop on the business of writing, during which she shared invaluable advice and writerly wisdom.

Ms. Zabytko, whose work was awarded the PEN Syndicated Fiction Award and has been broadcast on NPR's "The Sound of Writing," opened with a warning: the road to publication is not an easy one.

After many years of attempting to write what she called "Cheeveresque" stories, she was struck by a revelation: "I didn't know those people in the Hamptons, and I didn't really want to know them. That's when I learned you have to write what you know."

This revelation, along with her trip to Ukraine, resulted in a long labor of love that culminated in the publication of "The Sky Unwashed."

When Ms. Zabytko completed the novel, she was writing for the Orlando Sentinel, where an editor suggested she send a query letter to a colleague at Algonquin Books. After collecting a stack of rejections from various publishing firms, Ms. Zabytko received a request for her manuscript from an editorial director at Algonquin. A few months later she was offered a book deal and asked to sign a "standard" contract. The author signed without consulting an agent - a mistake she warned other writers to avoid.

After reading a review of "The Sky Unwashed" in Publishers Weekly, an agent solicited and signed Ms. Zabytko as a client. With her professional representation came increased understanding and leverage in the deal-making process. Now armed with practical experience and enhanced marketing savvy, the author is building on her previous success. Currently on tour with her second novel, "When Luba Leaves Home," Ms. Zabytko is now speaking to full houses and signing stacks of books. She has come home in style.

The author's leading advice for fledgling writers? Before you even ponder the business of writing you must edit, edit and edit again, until your work is as good as you can possibly make it. Then, Ms. Zabytko recommends you garner feedback from objective acquaintances and edit again. Finally, send your work to as many agents and publishers as possible, but do not call them. They will call you. Your time will be better spent cultivating more personal contacts in the industry - who you know is just as important as what you know.

For more guidance on the creative writing process itself, readers can take Ms. Zabytko's online course offered at www.writingclasses.com.

Young Friends of the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art is a newly formed committee of the institute with young members and a program geared to their interests. For more information on the organization's calendar of activities, contact Anya Antonovych at (773) 227-5522 or uima@netzero.net.

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