Hi, guys,
Sorry about the lack-o-blogging this past week. I've been one busy lady, editing, revising, editing, and you know, re-writing. Phew!
Anyway, I finally had time to catch up on my fabulous blog-readage, and look what I found--a contest and a fabulous book trailer for a debut novel, SILVER PHOENIX, by Cindy Pon!
Link: http://elloecho.blogspot.com/2009/04/contest-to-win-autographed-copy-of.html
Go to her blog to enter to win a signed copy of her book, or other awesome prizes. Otherwise, go buy the book on 4/28/09, and help show the publishing industry that debut authors are the way to go ;).
See? I have an evil plan!!
Happy Sunday!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Hardcover Vs. Paperback
I was going through my favorite editor and agent blogs today, and found an old post of Moonrat's that got me thinking.She had a delimma: should her debut novelist's book come out in hardcover or as a trade paperback?
It was fascinating, because I'd never really sat down and thought before about the pros and cons of either--I just figured when the time came, my Awesome Future Editor would tell me what the house was thinking of going with and I'd say "Hooray!" no matter what.
However, Moonrat laid out that for some authors, coming out only in paperback makes them Sad Pandas because they feel that their book is being slighted and won't be reviewed as widely.
BUT in this economy, are people really buying hardcovers? I know I don't unless it's something I've read in paperback and want to collect and preserve for all time. Those things are expensive!
Yet their expensive-ness is what makes them three times as profitable... WHAT TO DO??
Sell more paperbacks, but run the risk of not creating good review buzz? Or sell fewer hardcovers, and run the risk of their never being a paperback run because your publishing house is saddened by your awful, tiny, puny, microscopic sales numbers?
What do you guys think? Which would you go with if you had the choice?
Cloth or paper?
Monday, April 20, 2009
Just Do It
As I was in the gym today, laboring under a squat bar and trying to figure out what was wrong with my "squattin' form," I had an epiphany. What I've been doing wrong for about two weeks is trying to control my squat, and by being a control freak, had not been letting my body drop low enough to do the exercise correctly.
I finally put the heavy metal stuff down and decided to just see if I needed to stretch to do it right, and BAM! The second I just decided to let go and see how far down I could really go... I did it. My ass hit grass, and I realized I went down lower than I ever thought possible in that moment.
(Here's a link to some awesome "how to squat" videos that led to my revelation: http://www.stumptuous.com/lurn-to-squat-good-e-zy)
This got me to thinking--this is a lot like some of the breakthroughs I've had in my writing. I can be such a control freak that I have a hard time letting go and letting myself go ass-to-grass with my story.
My husband is amazing at getting me to let go my white-knuckled grip on "propriety," and helps me get down to the dark places where I need to go for my novel. For example, I was having a hard time writing a fairly violent scene and kept thinking "my grandma is going to read this, my mom is going to read this, the church will hear about this..." and couldn't just let go and write already.
My man sat me down with a notebook and threw down this challenge: Write down the most visceral, awful thing you can think of. No inhibitions. No worries. No grandmas watching.
What I wrote in those few minutes (the words have a tendency to flow when you let up a little), turned out to be awful and yes, totally awesome. I actually have incorporated that exercise as a pivotal part in my novel. It's weird, but in that uninhibited space I did some of my best writing.
So here is my question for you guys:
Do you have any moments where you found yourself truly going Ass-To-Grass in your writing? How did it pay off?
If you haven't, I challenge you here and now. Throw down your hang ups, and GO FOR IT. Whatever you wanted to write but never could, the secret is, you CAN.
The only one stopping you is you.
I finally put the heavy metal stuff down and decided to just see if I needed to stretch to do it right, and BAM! The second I just decided to let go and see how far down I could really go... I did it. My ass hit grass, and I realized I went down lower than I ever thought possible in that moment.
(Here's a link to some awesome "how to squat" videos that led to my revelation: http://www.stumptuous.com/lurn-to-squat-good-e-zy)
This got me to thinking--this is a lot like some of the breakthroughs I've had in my writing. I can be such a control freak that I have a hard time letting go and letting myself go ass-to-grass with my story.
My husband is amazing at getting me to let go my white-knuckled grip on "propriety," and helps me get down to the dark places where I need to go for my novel. For example, I was having a hard time writing a fairly violent scene and kept thinking "my grandma is going to read this, my mom is going to read this, the church will hear about this..." and couldn't just let go and write already.
My man sat me down with a notebook and threw down this challenge: Write down the most visceral, awful thing you can think of. No inhibitions. No worries. No grandmas watching.
What I wrote in those few minutes (the words have a tendency to flow when you let up a little), turned out to be awful and yes, totally awesome. I actually have incorporated that exercise as a pivotal part in my novel. It's weird, but in that uninhibited space I did some of my best writing.
So here is my question for you guys:
Do you have any moments where you found yourself truly going Ass-To-Grass in your writing? How did it pay off?
If you haven't, I challenge you here and now. Throw down your hang ups, and GO FOR IT. Whatever you wanted to write but never could, the secret is, you CAN.
The only one stopping you is you.
Friday, April 17, 2009
QueryDay Lessons: Sharing is Caring!
I participated in the Fabulous QueryDay today on Twitter (well, ok, lurked), and wanted to say that IT ROCKED!Strangely enough I wished there was a wee bit less asking of questions and little bit more query rejecting. Weird, right? However, even though I missed a little bit of the old "fail," I did have a great time reading the questions other writers had and the answers from the agents.
One thing that absolutely blew my mind was this: Agents prefer only one space after a period!
Holy Uncomfortable Wrongness, Batman!
My whole life I've been living a lie. Everyone told me this was correct from birth until now, and I just learned today that the publishing world prefers the one-space rule. Agent Colleen Lindsay said it looked funny on her e-reader when there were two spaces, creating vast deserts of whiteness that was hard to look at.
Who the heck knew?
While I was crying over the thought that I'd now have to go through my manuscript sentence by sentence and remove the offending extra-spaces, I had an epiphany I would like to share. You can do a Search & Replace in Word by typing in Search For *space space*, Replace With *space.*
Magnifico! Technology to the rescue :). Needless to say, I love Bill Gates right now, and am grateful that Microsoft Word is so awesome.
I hope this helps any of you just now learning this same fact and thinking "blimey, so many spaces...so maaaaaany!"
Tell me: am I truly the last person on earth to discover this rule?
Happy Friday, Everyone!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
#QueryFail 2: Queries Never Die
Remember all of that intarweb hoopla a couple of weeks ago caused by #Queryfail on Twitter, and the scathing responses in #Agentfail? Well, hold onto your hats, because tomorrow is #Queryfail 2: Queries Never Die! It's actually been renamed, which I think is sort of cool, to #Queryday, so please make sure you search for that if you're going to follow it.
Here's the link to agent Colleen Lindsay's post about it: http://theswivet.blogspot.com/2009/04/heads-up-rules-for-queryfail-2-queries.html.
The agents have really taken the feedback they received to heart and are aiming to make this a more friendly, educational day.
I was morbidly fascinated by the first round of #Queryfail, but am even more excited about #Queryday. We get to ask questions as well as seeing the query-readage in real time. SWEEEEET!
So? Who's in? :D
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Progress Update!
Hi, All,
I hope this evening finds you well! Yes, it's that time again--time for an update so I can show you that I'm not just a slacker, blogging away all of my writing time ;).
This week I've been going nuts on my revisions (in a good way), and feel like I've been accomplishing a lot. Have any of you ever noticed that when you add a new scene to beef up your story that it comes out about 10 times stronger than your "first draft" writing? What's up with that? I think it must have something to do with the fact that I know how the story goes, unlike when I was writing the rest. I know how it starts, ends, everyone's motivations, and most importantly exactly what I want to add to that part of the story.
I once read somewhere someone saying "I'm not a good writer, but I'm a great re-writer." I really feel that way this week, and it's encouraging. Also, it's encouraging that no one has to get it right the first time.
Here are some other great quotes to sum up my week:
"The waste basket is the writer's best friend." --Isaac Bashevis Singer
"The writer, when he is also an artist, is someone who admits what others don't dare reveal." --Elia Kazan
"Even the best writer has to erase." --Spanish proverb
"The role of a writer is not to say what we can all say, but what we are unable to say." --Anais Nin
Hooray for the DELETE key, that keeps us all grounded! Isn't it nice to know that all writers both strive for the same outcome that we do, and struggle along the way?
I've also been blessed with the challenge of critiquing other people's manuscripts, which is just a lot of fun, and a great way to procrastinate. All in all, I've been a busy gal, and loving every minute of it.
I'd love to hear from you guys what you're up to with any works in progress!
Happy Wednesday!
I hope this evening finds you well! Yes, it's that time again--time for an update so I can show you that I'm not just a slacker, blogging away all of my writing time ;).
This week I've been going nuts on my revisions (in a good way), and feel like I've been accomplishing a lot. Have any of you ever noticed that when you add a new scene to beef up your story that it comes out about 10 times stronger than your "first draft" writing? What's up with that? I think it must have something to do with the fact that I know how the story goes, unlike when I was writing the rest. I know how it starts, ends, everyone's motivations, and most importantly exactly what I want to add to that part of the story.
I once read somewhere someone saying "I'm not a good writer, but I'm a great re-writer." I really feel that way this week, and it's encouraging. Also, it's encouraging that no one has to get it right the first time.
Here are some other great quotes to sum up my week:
"The waste basket is the writer's best friend." --Isaac Bashevis Singer
"The writer, when he is also an artist, is someone who admits what others don't dare reveal." --Elia Kazan
"Even the best writer has to erase." --Spanish proverb
"The role of a writer is not to say what we can all say, but what we are unable to say." --Anais Nin
Hooray for the DELETE key, that keeps us all grounded! Isn't it nice to know that all writers both strive for the same outcome that we do, and struggle along the way?
I've also been blessed with the challenge of critiquing other people's manuscripts, which is just a lot of fun, and a great way to procrastinate. All in all, I've been a busy gal, and loving every minute of it.
I'd love to hear from you guys what you're up to with any works in progress!
Happy Wednesday!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Agent for a Day!
Today I participated in Nathan Bransford's blog contest "Agent for a Day."
To my surprise and delight, going through queries is FUN AS HELL! If you haven't already, I recommend you get yourself over to http://nathanbransford.blogspot.com/, read the rules, and dive on into the slush pile! The water's fine.
Basically, I got the chance today to sift through 50 real queries and decide if I loved them enough to request some sample pages. We could only request a total of 5 out of the 50, to make it realistic (agents can't help their clients if they are waist-deep in sample chapters, after all), which was the hardest part.
I read each and every query and found at least 7 that I really, really liked. THEN I had to go through the agony of paring it down to those I absolutely loved.
I see much more clearly now that when an agent rejects you, it may not be because your writing stinks or your query is poor. It could be that they are just in "like" with your project, but not head-over-heels in love with it.
And it has to be true freakin' love when you have that many queries to get through in a day.
So, KUDOS to all the agents out there :). I love your job, and I can see why a lot of you really enjoy reading queries on a day to day basis. But I also get how hard it is to reject people, why you need form letters just to keep on schedule, and that you have to be truly nuts about a book before you can say that fateful "Yes."
Good luck to all you queriers out there, and remember: sometimes it's not you. It's the slush pile.
To my surprise and delight, going through queries is FUN AS HELL! If you haven't already, I recommend you get yourself over to http://nathanbransford.blogspot.com/, read the rules, and dive on into the slush pile! The water's fine.
Basically, I got the chance today to sift through 50 real queries and decide if I loved them enough to request some sample pages. We could only request a total of 5 out of the 50, to make it realistic (agents can't help their clients if they are waist-deep in sample chapters, after all), which was the hardest part.
I read each and every query and found at least 7 that I really, really liked. THEN I had to go through the agony of paring it down to those I absolutely loved.
I see much more clearly now that when an agent rejects you, it may not be because your writing stinks or your query is poor. It could be that they are just in "like" with your project, but not head-over-heels in love with it.
And it has to be true freakin' love when you have that many queries to get through in a day.
So, KUDOS to all the agents out there :). I love your job, and I can see why a lot of you really enjoy reading queries on a day to day basis. But I also get how hard it is to reject people, why you need form letters just to keep on schedule, and that you have to be truly nuts about a book before you can say that fateful "Yes."
Good luck to all you queriers out there, and remember: sometimes it's not you. It's the slush pile.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)