Author Websites for the "Pre-Published"

Waiting by Eye of Einstein (click pic for link)Earlier in the year, I asked you guys your opinions on writers having professional (non-blog) websites before they have an agent and/or book deal. I was debating with myself over putting one together. Most of you said you didn't think it was something to worry about yet, so I just reserved my domain name and left it at that. Then I went to a talk at my local RWA meeting on branding and changed my mind because of some of the points they made.

So I set up a simple website for myself. You can check it out here. It only costs a few bucks a month and it was point-and-click technology using a template--therefore easy to put together with no HTML knowledge needed. I didn't really think anyone was going to actually look at, but I liked having it done and up there.

Then I started the querying process. I didn't even include the address, I just included my blog. But when Sara contacted me to request my full after reading the partial, she mentioned that she'd gone to my blog and website and really liked them. (She also promised that she wasn't stalking me, just doing her homework, lol. To which I replied, stalk away!)

Then when we had THE CALL, she mentioned the importance of promotion and online branding. She said a website shows that the writer is already taking that portion of the career seriously. (And having no online presence at all is getting to the point of being a deal breaker for her.) She also sends her clients' website information with their submissions to publishers to show that the author is already out there building a name.

Now this is her opinion and if you search around the net, you'll find agents with complete opposite opinions. And if online stuff is getting in the way of you writing the best book possible--then obviously you have to focus on that first because the best blog/website in the world isn't going to make up for sub par writing. But I think it's something to think about for sure.

I think it goes back to that old adage of "dress for the job you want, not the one you have." No, we may not have a publishing deal or an agent or whatever it is we're seeking yet. BUT we need to act like this is already our career (even if we can only dedicate a small amount of time to our writing.)

You don't have to be insane like me and have a website, blog, twitter, facebook, and goodreads A website can be static, so once you have that up,  it's not any work. And then if you like to blog--blog. If not, then just do twitter or facebook (I'd recommend Twitter over Facebook if you're only going to do one--it's more effective IMHO). But do whatever works for you.

All I have to say is I'm happy I got these things off the ground before this point. Otherwise, I'd be scrambling right now, lol. (Although, I'll be changing my last name soon for a pseudonym--when I choose it--so I'll have to go through and adjust domains and such.)

So what's your opinion? Do you have an author website? Do you feel pressure to be out there doing all these thing now or would you rather wait until the agent/deal comes?

**Today's Theme Song**

"Don't You Know Who I Think I Am" - Fall Out Boy

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

Crit Groups v. Beta Readers: What Works For You?

If you stopped by on Monday, you saw that I am making an effort to streamline a few things in my life to free up more time for both my writing and my family. This involved the tough decision for me to cut down to MWF blogging instead of five days a week.  It also put another issue in my cross hairs.

So for about a year, I've been a member of the super fabulous Rumored Romantics critique group. The small membership has shifted and changed, but every person I've gotten to know through it has been an amazing writer and a great friend. I credit the big shift of "luck" I've had with my writing over the past year--contest wins, requests, and now an agent--in large part to the things I've learned being a member of this group.

However, the way the group is structured, we do chapter by chapter critiques. You get one chapter of yours critted per week and you're responsible in turn to critique one chapter of someone else's. This is great for those who are writing as you get critted--meaning you write a chapter, put it up for crit, start writing the next chapter and so on.

I, unfortunately, don't work that way. I have to write a rough draft in isolation first. I can't be getting critiques on something I'm currently drafting--it screws with my process. I think Stephen King said in On Writing to write the first draft with the door shut--meaning only for yourself. Then once you're done, open the door and share it with others. I don't think that has to be everyone's process, but it's definitely mine.

So I write the whole draft, then I start subbing to the group. But the problem with that is--then it's going to take 4-6 months for the group to make it through the novel. I don't have the patience for that. When I'm done with a project, I want to sub like now.

So with this most recent project, I sought out beta readers and found people who could read my complete book and give me overall feedback within a few weeks. Then I revised and submitted. When Sara offered me representation, my crit group was only on my chapter 3.

Therefore, I made the decision yesterday to step out of my group. It makes me sad, but the structure of the group just doesn't work for my style. I think my ideal situation would be to have two beta readers I trust to work with on full manuscripts. However, I'll be forever indebted to those ladies for whipping me in to shape and teaching me so many things I had no clue about when I first joined.

So, the good news for you guys is that, if you think the structure would work for you (and it does work for many) and you want a group that will give you the level of detailed feedback writers yearn for, there is going to be a contest to fill my spot!

Lynnette Labelle will be announcing details in the next few weeks, but if you write romance or something with romantic elements (no YA), then start polishing the pages you'd want to submit for consideration. The ladies are fabulous--two contest winning divas and an author with a three book deal with Tor, so whoever fills the spot will be a lucky gal (or guy!).

Also, in unrelated news, I found out Exposure Therapy is a finalist in the San Francisco RWA's Heart to Heart contest!

Alright, so how do you prefer to get your work critiqued? Do you like having a crit group that can offer detailed line edits or do you prefer beta readers and global feedback? Do you get critted as you write or do you have to finish a project first?

**Today's Theme Song**

"My Way" - Limp Bizkit

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

Balancing It All and Learning to Say No

I think it's pretty safe to say that all of us struggle with the issue of balance from time to time (or in my case, all the time!) For the majority of us, writing isn't our primary job. We have day jobs out in the world or we have kiddos to take care of at home--or both (to those of you who are working full-time, writing, and being mommy or daddy at night--I bow down to you in true Wayne's World I'm-not-worthy style.)

Then on top of those jobs, we have husband and wives we want to spend time with, a house that needs to be cleaned, meals to cook, errands to run. Add in blogging and facebook and twitter and crit groups and beta reading and conferences and networking and running contest/blogfests and reading other people's post. Well, it can get overwhelming.

For the past year, I've tried to manage it all. I've blogged five days a week, wrote and edited two books, beta read for more people than I can count, been an active member of a crit group, and did all my mommy/wife/human being stuff. Well, okay, my house isn't all that clean and my husband has had to turn his socks inside out to wear them a second time on occasion.  But I've done a decent job.

However, now the stakes have been raised a bit. Having an agent has given me a new sense of urgency and purpose with my writing. I have a tentative deadline on when my rewrites would ideally be done so that I can go on submission sooner rather than later. So I'm working against a clock for the first time with my writing--something I'll hopefully being doing a lot of in the future. :) And that means a few other things have to give.

So I'm having to learn the value of saying "no". I'm a Southern girl--I was raised to always be welcoming, friendly, and helpful. If someone asks you for a favor, you do your best to help them out. Which has meant that anytime someone e-mails me and asks me if I can help them out with something, I say yes.

I want to help. I like helping. When one of you nice people emailed me recently asking for a critique, and I had to say no because I just had too much going on, I felt terrible. But saying yes all the time to others means saying "no" to my own writing, family time, or the other the things I need to do. Therefore, I'm going to have strike a balance and learn how to say no sometimes.

I also have decided to adjust my blogging schedule for a while. Anne R. Allen blogged yesterday about this topic and about "slow-blogging". I'm not moving to slow blogging--I love to blog too much--but I am going to cut back to three days a week for a while. So, expect posts from me M-W-F each week while I tackle these revisions.

So, what about you:? How do you find a balance? Do you have trouble saying no? What balls drop first when you're trying to juggle it all?

**Today's Theme Song**

"All the Small Things" - Blink-182

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

Guest Blog: E-Publishing Myths and Advantages from Author Christine Bell

Today, I'm happy to turn over the blog to the lovely Christine Bell, whose first novella Pray releases today from Cobblestone Press!  Let's all give her a squee to celebrate her first release!  She also has another title upcoming from Cobblestone and one from Carina Press (Harlequin's digital first publisher). She's on a roll!

Now, I've made it no secret that I'm a supporter of e-books. I heart my Kindle and regularly buy titles from digital-only/digital first publishers. I've discovered some terrific stories and some new favorite authors that way. However, I know there are a lot of misconceptions out there about digital publishing. So, I thought I'd have someone "in the know" discuss her experience so far with e-publishing since she can give us the nitty gritty information.  So, Christine, take it away...

I want to start by thanking Roni for inviting me to guest blog!  It’s a real pleasure for a couple of reasons. First, because her crib is way more glam than mine.  If blogs were dogs hers would be a bichon frise and mine would be a basset hound (and by that, I mean sad looking).  Second, because it gives me a legitimate excuse not to work on my current WIP.  Since I prattled on for a long (long) time, we’ve split this into two parts.  Part one is here and part two is on my blog, so come check it out. I’ll try to clean up before you get there, but try not to judge me too harshly.   

Myths and Commonly Offered Advice That I (and think you should) Ignore and Why, Part One (catchy title, no?)

E-Publishing is Less Valid Than Print Publishing 

I’m going to have to disagree with this one.  I know there are going to be some doubters out there who think because I’m strictly e-pubbed, I’m just fooling myself here.  Making excuses because I haven’t managed to grab the brass ring; *cue lights and choir* New York.  Truth is, I’ve never even tried.  

So far, I’ve written novellas, which are far better served in a digital format.  One is a steampunk novella that begged to be written, so I wrote it, never thinking, “Who’s going to buy it?”  I knew exactly where I wanted it to go; to Carina Press, where no great story goes untold.  So when Angela James called me to tell me they wanted it, there was no reservation. I was 100% elated.  I cried, I laughed. I never thought, “Well, this doesn’t really count” or “It would be better if it was a print publisher.” 

When I got my first contract offer from Cobblestone Press for my wolf-shifter novella, Pray, I felt the same way.  I know that some people feel that anyone can sub just about anything and get e-pubbed.  I have a pile of R’s to refute that. Most reputable e-pubs only accept about 3-5% of their submissions.  Per a recent post from the Carina Press website, of the 1600+ submissions they’ve received, only about 160 of them were acquired and of those, only 80 of them came from the slush pile. That seems pretty choosy to me.  

I think if any good e-pub is going to invest time into editing, cover art and marketing (and from my experience so far, they do) they have to feel you have a good product. Since my first contract offer, I have sold five manuscripts and gone through the editing process with two of them. I can promise you, it’s the real deal.  The process is rigorous.  My editor for Pray (Hi Darcy!) was completely sans ruth, and I love her for it.  My dealings with the cover art department have been nothing but professional and wonderful.  All in all, it has been fabulous.  

And, given the fact that print books will likely be all but obsolete in the next 50 years, I think aspiring authors should take advantage.  That’s not to say that I’m anti-print.  I totally understand the desire to want to have your name on a physical book.  And when I decide to write a full, I may choose to submit it to a print publisher.  But if and when I do, I will never stop e-publishing.  It’s the wave of the future, the antidote for the instant gratification junkie and I think it's really fantastic medium. 

5 Reasons I love E-pub

 1. The wait times are shorter and I'm impatient.  

I hate waiting on pins and needles to see if a publisher wants my book, and once I find out they do want it, I want to get it published.  I want my cover art.  I want to start edits.  I have friends who are contracted with big print publishers that have been waiting longer from submission to publication than I have been writing.  That’s just depressing.  Send your partial and wait three months.  Get a request for full.  Six months later, get a revision request.  Nine months later, the full is accepted.  Publication date?  12 months after that.  Ack!!!  I could make a toddler from scratch in that amount of time. 

2. No messy mail. 

I use my computer for everything.  It's how I connect with family around the world, how I pay my bills, how I get my news.  The idea that I have to print out hundreds of pages on paper, go to a post office (I haven't been to a post office in this millennium), and mail something is a hurdle for me. 

3. More options.  

Not many print publishers accept unsolicited ms’s from un-agented writers and actually reads them, unless it's category romance.  E-pub isn’t just erotica anymore.  Pubs like Carina are offering to read and publish all types of stories, almost any genre, almost any length, and some are even branching out into audio-books. 

4. Your backlist is easily accessible and (almost) never goes out of “print”.  

Once you have a few books under your belt, fans can easily go back and find your earlier books and download them.

5. I buy e-books, therefore I want publish them.  

When I'm in bed at night, looking for excuses not to write, I can go online and get just about any book I want, RIGHT that second. 

So, to sum it up, I’m thrilled with how things are going for me right now in e-publishing.  And if you’re on the fence about it, while you're waiting for your New York dreams to come true, I encourage you to try it too.  If you want to become a published author, build a fan base, write something erotic, something mainstream or even something that doesn’t fit perfectly into an established niche, and make some money while you’re at it, e-publishing might be for you.  Come on in, the water's fine!

Thanks again to Christine for her insight and be sure to click over to her blog to read the second part of this post AND to enter her contest where you can win all kinds of fab prizes!

So what are your thoughts on e-books? How do you feel about some of these points/myths, pro/cons, etc.? Do you read e-books?  Are you considering e-publishing for your own work?

**Today's Theme Song**

"Who Knew" - Pink

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

Networking and Branding

I'm knee deep in rewrites already. If anyone is under the illusion that agents only sign on to represent books that are perfect, then let me relieve you of that notion. :) I have some BIG things to change--changes I'm excited about because they will make the book better and add depth--but definitely more than just simple line edits. So, I'm giving myself the morning for writing.

I was planning a post on branding to cover some of the things I learned at RWA about websites and social networking.  However, I stumbled across an article (thanks to my local RWA email loop) that covered it really well.  So instead of reinventing the wheel, I'm going to encourage you to check out the article on the Savvy Author website. (And if you haven't joined Savvy Authors, you definitely should check it out--GREAT info, workshops, and regular opportunities for agent/publisher pitches.)

Also, Natalie Bahm did a really nice blogpost about why she thought to refer me to her agent. :)

And, don't forget to stop by tomorrow.  Guest blogger/author Christine Bell is going to give us the inside scoop on her experience in digital publishing! :)

Have a wonderful day, everyone!

**Today's Theme Song**

"Have a Nice Day" - Bon Jovi

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

Does Your Novel Have A Theme Song?

Any of you who have hung around my blog for a while have probably figured out that I'm a big music fan--hence the daily blog theme song, the romance I wrote about a rockstar, and my regular tweets about going to concerts or playing Guitar Hero. (Yes, I'm a thirty-year-old mom who plays Guitar Hero--look, I never said I was cool, alright.)

So it's probably no surprise that I find music very inspiring for my writing process too.  Sometimes a song can spark a story idea or sometimes I'll hear a song later and it resonates perfectly with something I've written already. The latter happened to me the other day.

I was driving, thinking about my book, and a song that I've heard many times before came on.  However, this time I really heard the lyrics and they gave me chills--the song fit the theme of my book perfectly.  So now every time I hear it, it just makes me want to work on the book more.

So here's my theme song for Exposure Therapy. Now, I know it's a sad song--and yes my romance does have a happy ending, it is a romance after all--but there are also a lot of dark things these characters have to handle within themselves before getting there.

"Outside" by Staind   (player in sidebar, if you want to hear the song)

Staind - Outside Lyrics @ LyricsTime.com

So I'm curious, do you use music in your writing?  What's one of the songs that you'd put on the soundtrack for your book?  Does your story have a theme song?

How I Got My Agent and How Blogging Played a Role

Okay, so first I have to say I'm overwhelmed by all the congratulations, well wishes, and warm comments from everyone yesterday.  Thank so much, y'all!  My news was that much sweeter because I had so many fabulous people to celebrate with.  I've never come across such a supportive and genuine community of people as I have with writers.  I'm regularly amazed at how kind-hearted and giving everyone is to each other.

In fact, that online writerly support played a big role in getting the ball rolling with my agent.  At the beginning of June, I got an email from the lovely and fabulous Natalie Bahm.  (Btw, if you're not following her awesome blog, get on it.)  Natalie said that Sara, her agent, was going to RWA Nationals and was looking to sign a few more romance writers before the conference.

Natalie knew what I wrote because we were blog friends and she'd read a few excerpts I'd posted here and saw my contest wins, so she offered to give me a referral.  I also got a message from a Twitter friend (and another of Sara's clients) Miranda Kenneally offering to read some of my stuff and possibly offer a referral as well.  (See how wonderful and generous writers are?)

Unfortunately, my book (Exposure Therapy - the erotic romantic suspense) wasn't quite ready.  I had a few chapters to finish and then needed to put it through beta readers, revisions, etc.  As much as it pained me to pass up the chance with such a great agent, I didn't want to send something that wasn't polished.  Natalie (because she's awesome like that) assured me that she'd give me a referral whenever I was ready to query.

So I went to RWA Nationals, my book ready to go (thanks to my uber fast, super helpful beta reader J. Leigh Bailey), and set about learning any last details I could before I queried.  Sara spoke at the PRO Retreat on an agent panel and I really liked what she had to say.  She seemed friendly and approachable, and she was one of the few that talked about the importance of an author having an online presence while they are trying to get an agent.

So I came back home, chose my top five agents I wanted to query, then contacted Natalie to see if she was still cool with the referral.  She definitely was and had me send a query and partial to Sara (allowing me to skip the query only first step--yay!).  Sara contacted me a few days later and asked for the full.  I was beside myself, but knew not to get too excited yet.  Back when I queried my YA, I had a number of full requests that didn't pan out.  Not to mention, I follow Kristin Nelson's blog, so I know their stats:  Last year==38,000 queries, 55 fulls requested, 6 offers of representation.  Um, yeah.  A little daunting.

But then, four (yes, four) days later, Sara emailed me.  She said my book "spoke" to her (yes, now THAT is why I write.  I can't tell you how thrilling those words were to hear--makes me a little misty-eyed just thinking about it.)  However, she had a lot of thoughts on the changes she would want me to make to strengthen the story and wanted to see if I was on the same page with that.  The changes she wanted were pretty big things, but I really could see how those elements would deepen the book, darken it, and up the suspense.  So I sent her my thoughts on those changes and we scheduled THE CALL!  The rest you can figure out.  :)

Now, I'm embarking on rewrites.  Wish me luck!

Feel free to ask me any questions I might have not covered!  :)  And are you as amazed as I am by how awesome the writing community is?

**Today's Theme Song**

"A Little Help From My Friends" - Joe Cocker

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

Guess What? I HAVE AN AGENT!!!!!!!

OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! *deep breaths* OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG !!!!

Yes, it actually happened....

I

HAVE

AN

AGENT!!!!!

*twirls around in a circle*

This has happened so fast, I can barely believe it.  I came back from RWA Nationals at the beginning of the month with my list of the top five agents I wanted to query. I signed up for Query Tracker, sent out the letters, and settled in for the wait. I'd been down the road with my first novel and prepared myself for the long haul.

Well, I totally didn't need to spend that money for that QueryTracker premium membership (although, I highly recommend it--great program) because...

Two weeks later, I got an offer of representation from none other than ...

The fabulous Sara Megibow of the Nelson Literary Agency!!!!!

Needless to say, I accepted. She had great things to say about my book and has terrific input on how to make it even stronger. I'm so looking forward to working with her.

Now, my head is still spinning, so I apologize that this post is neither insightful nor coherent. I promise I will totally go in to details about how it all happened, how blogging played a part, which book I was querying, and what's going on now.  

Later.  

Right now, though, I'm too busy doing this....

**Today's Theme Song**

"Beautiful Day" - U2

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

The Evolution of Rejection

Used with permission from Debbie Ridpath Ohi at Inkygirl.com

As we all know, rejection is a big part of this business.  Like Nora Roberts said, if it were easy to get published and stay published, then it wouldn't be special.  However, that doesn't make rejection any easier to take.

I attended a panel at RWA called It's For Your Own Good: What You Can Learn From Rejection.  The panel was led by Brenda Chin, senior editor at Harlequin Blaze and two authors who she had rejected in the past (but had since found success.)

Bravely, the two authors shared their own rejection letters from their past and deciphered the language of the letters to show what the author should take from it.  Really, there are positives in rejection.  No, seriously, there are.

Okay, so here's what they had to say about the different types of "no"...

Type one:  The dreaded form rejection

What we hear: You suck
What it can mean:  Pretty much anything...
Story type not right for the agency/publisher
They already have clients that have projects too similar to yours
It just didn't fit that person's tastes
Your writing isn't strong enough yet
They don't think they can sell it
You didn't follow guidelines
You may actually suck or you may be brilliant--you just don't know.

Type two: The no but here's a positive nugget.

What we hear:  They like me!  But not enough. This is the "really enjoyed your (insert attribute), BUT (insert reason)--usually it's I just didn't fall in love with it.
What it means: You're making progress!  You've done something well!  But it's still a no.

Type three: The I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure there's a market for it.

What we hear: No one is going to want to buy your book.
What it means: For whatever reason, this agent doesn't feel like they can sell it. However, it doesn't mean that someone else won't want to.  AND, someone actually liked your story!

Type four: The this project isn't right but would be open to see something else from you in the future.

What we hear: NO
What it means:  THIS project isn't a right fit, but I liked your writing enough to ask to be subjected to  it in the future.  So, you've got skills, baby!

Type five: The no, these things are an issue, but good luck somewhere else.

What we hear: No, go inflict yourself on someone else.
What it means: They thought you had enough potential to take the time to give you personalized input--don't underestimate how big a deal that is for people who are so darn busy.  And now, you've got usable feedback!  Celebrate!  Take the things they suggested and make your manuscript better.

Type six: The revise and resubmit

What we hear: Houston, we've got interest!!!
What it means:  They liked your story and you don't suck!  So much so that they want you to fix things and read it again.  *throws confetti*  So get your butt in the chair and get to work.  And remember, resubmit to that agent, don't just fix and move on to another agent.  Give the person who gave you the feedback the chance to see it again

Each of these different types (outside of the form rejection, which doesn't tell us much) should be seen as a small victory and a step in the right direction.  Like I talked about earlier this week, persistence is the name of the game.  At each stage of these rejections, people give up and stop writing.  Don't be one of those people.  The only way to guarantee 100% that you'll never get a "yes" is to bow out of the race.

So, what do you think?  Have you experienced these different types of rejections?  What types am I missing?

Also, don't forget to stop by next week.  I'll be talking about my own experience so far in the query wars.  :)

**Today's Theme Song**

"Don't Go Away Mad, Just Go Away" -  Motley Crue

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

*picture credit: inkygirl.com

Do You Call Yourself a Writer?

Okay, this morning has been a bit hectic.  My husband almost hit a dog when leaving for work today, so he pulled over and checked on it. Pure bred pug. Collar, no tags, and hella friendly.  Clearly, someones pet.  We put it in our backyard and drove around the neighborhood to see if anyone was looking for a dog, but couldn't find anyone.  So, we had to go drive it to the no-kill shelter in town.  The dog was definitely an inside dog and I didn't want to leave it in the backyard all day in 103 degree heat.  So, hopefully, the owners call us or go look for it at the shelter.  *sigh*  Makes me sad to think someone might not find their dog.

But anyway, needless to say, I didn't get much done this morning, including blogging.  So I'm keeping today's post simple.

Do you call yourself a writer?  No, I don't mean just in your head.  Do you label yourself as such when other people ask?

There are a lot of names we give ourselves out in writing land--aspiring, unpublished, pre-published, wannabe, delusional, etc.  Okay, admittedly some are more positive sounding than others.  But regardless, most of us qualify the term writer (see, look over in my sidebar, I use aspiring.)

But why?  If we write, we're writers.  The only people who shouldn't call themselves writers are the people who TALK a lot about writing, but never actually put pen to page.  The if-I-only-had-time-I-would-write-the-great-american-novel people.  They are not writers--they are the aspiring, wannabe, etc.

So, wear your label proud and don't be afraid to tell others you're a writer.  It's freeing.  In fact, after today, I'm removing aspiring from my sidebar.  We write, therefore we're writers.  Period.

So, what's your opinion?  Do you call yourself a writer?  If not, what's stopping you?  When do you think a person can legitimately claim the writer title?  

**Today's Theme Song**

"Paperback Writer" - The Beatles

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

Voice, Voice, Voice

Voice.  Yes, I know it's a popular topic and I've talked about it before, but it also seems like one of the hardest things to get our minds around.

Wanting to find a strong/fresh/interesting voice seems to be the A-number-one commonality among agents and editors. It was mentioned at every agent/editor panel I attended at RWA.  However, it also seems to be one of the most elusive things to define.  Even the pros seem to struggle with pinning down a definition when asked--it's one of those things they just know when they read it.

Which, of course, makes us panic because we want everything in our manuscript to be perfect--and dammit, we want to make sure we've nailed voice, too.  But, I'm here to tell you--you already know what a good voice is. Think of any of your favorite authors.  If that author were to write a new book and someone were to give it to you without the author's name on it--would you be able to recognize who had written it?

Yes?  That's voice.  It's how the author tells the story, the word choices, turns of phrase, the humor, the writing style.  It's the personality of the writing.  So, look and see, does your story show that personality?  And is it a personality that will appeal to people?

Voice is the difference between saying:

I can't answer the phone right now, please leave a message.  

and

"I know how devastated you are to miss me, but leave a message, and I'll try to ease your agony." --Adrian from Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series. 

Yes, some of that is character voice (I talked about the difference here), but it's also Richelle Mead's snarky, fun style.

So the key is figuring out what your voice is and making sure it makes it onto the page.  And don't force a voice that isn't yours.  Brenda Chin, the senior editor at Harlequin Blaze, said on a panel that voice can't really be changed--it's too tied to who the author is--but that it can be honed.  And as with most things with writing, the only way to hone it, is to continue to write, write, write.  Your voice will show itself in time.

So do you struggle to find your voice?  How would you define your own voice?  Which author's voice do you admire?

Ride the Hard: Inspirational Words from Nora Roberts

Okay, first, get your minds out of the gutter over the title.  I know you went there.

The first luncheon at RWA featured Nora Roberts as the keynote speaker.  For those of you who aren't romance readers, she's basically the queen.  She's written over 150 NY Times Bestsellers!  I know, crazy, right?  I can't even imagine.

Beyond being an entertaining speaker, she had a great message that I found really inspiring.  She said she's heard people complain about how hard it is to get published "these days."  That things were easier "back in the day."  She scoffed at that.   Try writing on a typewriter with carbon paper, try researching without the internet, try submitting to Harlequin when they said they only had room for one American writer.  She said it's always been hard--that it's supposed to be.  Here's the quote (stolen from this site because frankly I didn't take notes, I was busy eating my green chicken--yes, green.  Don't ask.)

Writing is hard. It's supposed to be hard. The fact that it's hard is what makes it special, makes it worthwhile to keep going. Embrace the hard work.  For doing so makes writers special. 

That really impacted me.  I think it's so easy to get  frustrated in this business.  The rejection can beat you down and make you feel like you're banging you head against the wall.  And oftentimes, we're doing that head-beating without very much support around us.  Sure, our loved ones cheer us on, but we all know that many of them still see our writing as a hobby, a quirk, a pipe dream that's not going to go anywhere.  And that makes it tempting to give up.

But if I've learned anything by going to conferences and writers' groups and by reading blogs, it's that persistence and commitment to constant improvement are vital if you're going to succeed at this.  It's rare that you run across a writer who says--oh yeah, I queried my first book and I never got rejected, agents fell over themselves to represent it and I went on to be a bestseller.  Um, right.

No, the stories you hear are about people who kept going despite all the rejection and setbacks, who love writing so much that they are willing to "ride the hard."  And even once authors get to that next step--an agent, a sale, etc., there's more hard and rejection beyond that.  So each of us has to decide whether we're willing to ride the hard to get there.

And, Nora's last bit of advice--find friends in the writing community who get you and who will be there when things are great and, more importantly, when things are no so great because in Nora's words: "no one should have to face the hard alone."

So what do you think of Nora's advice?  What do you do when you get to those head-beating moments?  Do you have people in your life that you can face the hard with?


 
 
 

*Pic from above credited to this site.  Check out the rest of their tongue-in-cheek demotivators, really funny.

**Today's Theme Song**

"What It Takes" - Aerosmith

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

Exercising Optimism: Writing a Series

So it's no secret that book series are more the norm than the exception these days.  This is especially true in genres like YA, romance, paranormal/urban fantasy, and mysteries.  The appeal is obvious--get readers hooked so they continue buying the books.  It's also a nice thing for an author because you start a new book with things already in your toolbox--characters you know, a world you've built, etc.  (Although, my guess is that when you hit uber success and are on book 15 of a series, coming up with new things within those parameters gets much more challenging.)

Now, I'm a sucker for series.  I love going into a new book with some insider information from a previous book.  And there's nothing I enjoy more than when an author makes me love a secondary character in a book, then gives me a book with that character as the hero/heroine.  I also like series that are a continuation of the main story with the same heroine like the Vampire Academy series and the Sookie Stackhouse books.

So, does that mean when we (the unpublished) are writing that we should write with a series in mind?  Is that smart or overly optimistic?

Every book I've written has been written with series potential.  I'm not sure I did this consciously at first, but I get so into my characters that halfway through most books, I start half falling for one of my secondary characters and thinking about what their story would be like.  And this seems to have come across in the book according to my beta readers.  Two of the secondary characters I'd want to write stories for stood out for them as well, which makes me happy.

However, here's the big question...now that I'm querying this book, do I go forth and start writing the second in the series or do I move on to something completely different until I'm sure this first one has some interest?  Obviously, in romance, connected books have to be able to stand alone, so it's not like writing a sequel per se but it's still an intimidating leap of optimism (and although I'm optimistic by nature, I'm also cautious.)

Then there's the argument  of once you do get a deal, the publisher may want to sign you for a multi-book contract and having other things ready to go is a good thing in that case.  So, I don't know the answer and am throwing the question out to you guys.

What do you think?  Have you written a series or sequel?  Do you write your stories with future books in mind?  What's your favorite series to read?

**Today's Theme Song**

"Mr. Brightside" - The Killers

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

Rebel With a Cause: Rule-Breaking

Another workshop I attended at RWA was called Breaking Rules to Break In or Break Out.

Hop around the blogosphere (including this very blog) or flip through the writing craft books at your local bookstore and you'll be hit with what?  A whole lot of rules.

Don't use adverbs, don't open with weather, make sure your hero and heroine meet on page one (romance), don't kill off a beloved character because readers will hate you, etc.  All the advice is often overwhelming and at times, contradictory (as we demonstrated on Monday with the debate of whether are not to list your genre at the top or bottom of a query letter.)

But we're all so focused on getting published that we want to follow every rule to make sure we give no one a reason to reject us.  However, what that can result in is perfectly correct, lifeless prose.

The editor on the panel said that she often judges contests where the person hits all the right points on the scoresheet/checklist and gets a high score, but the story has no life, no magic.  Writing is not paint-by-numbers and when it becomes that, readers can tell.

However, having said that, when you break the rules, you need to do so consciously (hence the blog title).  Know the rules before you break them and know WHY you are breaking them.  If you ignore all the rules willy-nilly and send in something that's full of passive verbs, long chunks of flowery descriptions, and replaces every s with a z like the LOL cats, you'll probably get rejected.  Rules are there for a reason.  But when done right, rule-breaking can be spectacular and make your book stand out.

I remember when I first picked up Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles, I was like--oh wait, alternating first person POVs? This is going to drive me crazy. (I think I was still scarred from that technique in New Moon.)  But it worked so well and turned out to be a terrific book--not to mention it just won the RITA award at RWAs for best young adult romance of 2010.

So don't be afraid to do something that's considered rebellious.  My little acts of rebellion so far: I've been told that writing about rockstars is a no-no, especially if you're writing a Harlequin, because rockstars have those notorious lifestyles and a stigma attached.  But I love rock music and think rockstars are swoon-worthy, so I wrote it anyway. Now, Harlequin hasn't given me an answer on my full yet, but Wanderlust has won first place in two contest so far, so hopefully the risk was worth it.

Then, in this latest manuscript, I took a bigger risk.  I wrote a dual-timeline story.  Each chapter alternates from present to ten years ago, basically two story arcs that eventually merge.  Admittedly, I tried NOT to take this risk because it made me nervous.  But you know, some stories just demand to be written a certain way and this one refused to give in.  So I did it.  Now, I'm not the first to do this, but I can only think of two other recent novels that have done this Megan Hart's Deeper and Private Arrangements by Sherry Thomas. So I'm praying I didn't shoot myself in the foot trying this.  We'll just have to see.

So, what rules have you broken?  Which books have you read that broke the rules in a totally effective way?  Which rule do you hear all the time that you would like to overturn?

**Today's Theme Song**

"Rebel Yell" - Billy Idol

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

The Query Critique Group

Photo by Deb Nystrom

We all know that critique groups and beta readers can be a great thing.  I have a fab critique group and have also met up with a few super awesome beta readers with this last manuscript (*waves at J. Leigh, who got through my book in record time and offered awesome input).  So I'm a big proponent of getting this kind of feedback.  I think it's the rare writer that can produce a perfectly polished manuscript in isolation.

However, what I never considered was the query critique aspect of things.  That letter, which we talked about yesterday, can make or break your chance with an agent or publisher.  I typically send mine to my crit group and get their opinion, which is uber helpful, BUT I didn't take into account that they usually know the story by the time they see the query.

At Queryfest, the agents suggested having separate people to crit your query--people who haven't read your story.  Your crit group may be great, but if they've already read your story, when they read the query, their mind is going to automatically fill in any blanks the letter may have.

I think this may have been the issue with a few of the queries they critiqued in the workshop.  You could tell the people knew how to write, but the summary was so confusing that we were left going, "Wait, what?"

So seek out others to run the query by, see if they "get" your story and are hooked by doing a cold read of that letter alone. Let them play agent.  Or, post on a site like Public Query Slushpile--I've always gotten solid feedback there as well.  If you find yourself having to answer questions and fill in the blanks for the people reading it, then you haven't conveyed the idea clearly.  Revise.

I've already taken this advice and hooked up with one of my new buddies I met at RWA *waves at Murphy* and it's been great to get an outside opinion.

So what do you do to get your query in shape?  Do you get it critiqued or just go for it?  Have you ever posted on one of the public sites to get feedback?  And feel free to put your email in the comments if you want to exchange query critiquing with others.

**Today's Theme Song**

"Selling the Drama" - Live

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

Lessons from Queryfest

One of the most helpful workshops I attended at RWA was a two-hour event called Queryfest.  The premise was pretty simple. Queries were collected from the audience, then a panel of five agents listened to the queries read aloud by a moderator and gave feedback.

For the first few, they listened to the full query before commenting.  Then, about halfway through the workshop, they switched to a format where each agent would say "Stop" when in normal query reading, they would stop reading and reject the person.

I know, brutal right?  I have mad respect for those people who submitted their queries to the gauntlet.  But the experience was rather eye-opening. Even I started to say "stop" in my head when I would hit the point that I'd lost interest or got confused.

So here's what I learned:

Do not put your title, genre, and word count at the bottom of the query.

I always did this.  It was usually my last paragraph because I wanted my hook at the top.  But every agent on the panel agreed it was better upfront.  After hearing the queries aloud, this suddenly made total sense to me.  When you don't know the genre, reading the query can be confusing because you're constantly trying to place what kind of story it is.  Then sometimes you get in your head it's A and then the query drops the bomb that it's actually B or Z.  (There was actually a gasp from the crowd after one query that sounded like adult urban fantasy turned out to be YA.)  So first line should be something to the effect of "I am seeking representation for my 70,000 word historical romance, TITLE."

Don't bury your hook.

Okay, I know I just said you should have genre up at the top and I still mean that, but then you need to drop in your hook as soon as you start talking about your story.  And let it stand out.  Some people had a great hook and then they went on and on AND ON.  By the time the query was done, we'd all forgotten what the story was about and that sparkly hook.  So use your hook and then get to the guts of your summary, but keep it brief!

Agents like accurate comparisons.

I've heard mixed things on this topic, but all four agents on this panel liked the idea of the comparison pitch.  I.e. Glee meets True Blood.  Okay, so that story probably wouldn't work, but you get the idea.  The one query that did this had the agents requesting they send material on the spot--FROM  JUST ONE LINE. Seriously.

Know your genre.

Many of the queries seemed to be labeled with the wrong genre.  There were queries for romances that didn't talk anything about the primary relationship of the book.  There were also a few that tried to merge too many genres.  You can't pitch an urban fantasy, historical, inspirational, middle grade, cross-over paranormal romance.  The agents wants to know where you would be placed in the bookstore.

Voice is always vital.

Beyond hook, voice was what sold them on things.  So make sure you inject the voice of your prose into your query.

Agents don't care about your personal information if it doesn't relate to the book.

They don't care if you've been writing all your life, wrote your first book at age five in crayons, and that you love to water ski in your free time. Writing credentials aren't necessary for fiction, so don't fluff that paragraph if you don't have any.  However, if you DO have something relevant: contest wins, previous publications, write articles for a magazine, etc. then put that in there.  Also, this is where you can put in that you blog.

They assume overwritten query means overwritten manuscript.

Some of the queries had adjective soup, like the person was trying to SOUND like a writer.  Don't do this.  Many assume the sins of the query will be the same sins in your book.  (And not all of them jump to the sample pages to find out.)

They are human--everyone likes to be kissed up to a little.

Personalize those queries.  Let the agent know (in a very brief way) that you have researched them and consciously selected them--not that you're just throwing spaghetti on the wall to see what sticks.  Maybe you saw them speak at a conference, maybe you love their blog/twitter, maybe you admire their clients.  Be genuine and tell them why you are interested in their representation.

Alright, those are the main points I gleaned from the talk.  Hopefully, these tips helped.  We'll see if they helped me soon since I'm now actively querying my latest novel, lol.

So did any of these tips surprise you?  Have you incorporated these in your query? What other tips have you heard?  And am I the only one that has a HORRIBLE time trying to come up with those comparisons?

**Today's Theme Song**

"Ice, Ice Baby" - Vanilla Ice (I couldn't resist, sue me)

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

RWA Nationals and My Contest Win!

As most  of you know, I had the privilege of attending my first RWA Nationals a little over a week ago. The conference was amazing, fun, and overwhelming.  I highly recommend going if you ever get the chance.  I think I'm hooked now and will be saving up to attend every year.  Next year it's in New York!

Now, the amount of information to be had was daunting and I tried to attend as many workshops as possible (often forgoing getting stacks of free books from the publisher-sponsored signings in order to do so.  See how dedicated to learning I am?  :)  Okay, so I still came home with about thirty free books but I didn't miss any workshops to obtain those.)

I plan over the next few days to share as much as I can about what I learned including: lessons from Queryfest, a practical way to do a synopsis, notes on voice, digital publishing/ebooks, breaking the rules, the awesomeness of writers, and a number of other things.

But first, before I get to the meat of those topics, I just wanted to share (in case you didn't see on Twitter or notice in my sidebar) that my manuscript won FIRST PLACE in Passionate Ink's Stroke of Midnight contest!!!  Winners were selected by the senior editor at Harlequin Spice.  :) This is the second first place win for Wanderlust (and is the last contest I entered it in), so I was really excited.

Also, on that note, I actually saw the Harlequin Blaze editor who has the full of Wanderlust in one of my workshops. Despite my extremely introverted tendencies, I knew if I didn't approach her and introduce myself, I'd be kicking myself on the way home.  So, after the workshop, I stopped her to chat.

She was very gracious and actually remembered the title of my manuscript without me mentioning it (so I thought that was a good thing). And though I told her I wasn't asking about status (because I'm not one of those crazy conference stalkers), that I just wanted to say hi and let her know about my contest win, she did let me know that I'm still in her to be read pile and that she hopes to get to it in the next few months.

So, it was good news (not rejected!) and bleh news (more waiting.)  But I'll take more waiting if that's what's needed. We're going on nine months since they requested the full, so even though that seems interminable in my own Roni-time, it's really not that long in this industry.

So, all around, the conference was a terrific experience and totally fed my writer soul.  If you ever get the chance to go to a conference, even a smaller, local one, I say go!  Yes, you can learn a tremendous amount online and (if you're like me) that saves you having to push past your shyness.  But nothing can substitute for the feeling you get being surrounded by other writers and talking to people who truly UNDERSTAND this crazy existence.

*And for those of you who care, the picture above is of me with some of the members of my local RWA group at the conference.  From left to right: Michelle Welsh, Kim Quinton, Me, Jerrie Alexander, Marsha West, author Nikki Duncan, my bestest conference buddy Jamie Wesley, author Shayla Black, and author/blogger Heather Long.

Have you gone to any local or national conferences?  What was your experience?  If you haven't gone to one, besides the cost, what are your concerns?

**Today's Theme Song**

"Thnks Fr Th Mmrs" - Fall Out Boy

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

Totally Epic WINNERS!!!

Before I announce the winners of Roni and Julie's Totally Epic Summer Contest, I want to thank each and every one of you who entered and pimped this thing all over the internet.  Y'all were awesome!  I hope that beyond the prizes, you all enjoyed the interviews as well.  And speaking of interviews, thanks again to all the publishing professionals who granted us interviews and generously offered prizes.  And thanks to Julie for sharing the contest with me!

And just to remind you guys, here's what was up for grabs...

Hannah Moskowitz's Break

Lisa Desrocher's Personal Demons (ARC)

A query or first five pages critique from Fine Print Lit's intern, Gemma Cooper

A query or first five pages critique from Janet Reid's assistant, Meredith Barnes

A query or first five pages critique from agent Suzie Townsend

A query or first five pages critique from editor Brendan Deneen

For those wanting to know the details of how winners were selected.   Here you go:  There were 991 entries (164 people, but each did a number of things to earn unique entries.)  Each entry was assigned a number, then I fed the numbers into random.org, which gave me the winners:
Random Integer Generator

Here are your random integers, generated without replacement:

869
223
166
717
333
500

Timestamp: 2010-08-09 12:46:56 UTC

And who were the lucky owners of each of those numbers????

• FIRST PLACE....Tiffany Neal!!!

• SECOND PLACE...Sierra Godfrey

• THIRD PLACE...Michaele Staughton

• FOURTH PLACE...Carrie Dair

• FIFTH PLACE...Christi Corbett

• SIXTH PLACE...Angela McCallister

Congratulations to the winners!  I will be emailing you over the next few days so that you can select your prize.

Also, because we were so grateful for all the promoting you guys did, we tossed the names of the people who earned ten points or more during the contest into a drawing for a honorable mention prize--a query or 5 pg. crit from me or Julie.  The winners of the "Best Pimp" prizes are:

• Julie Ann Lindsey
• Jessica Brooks

Alright, that's all I've got for you today!  Join me in congratulating the winners and be sure to stop by tomorrow.  I'll be starting a series of blogs on the workshops and things I learned at RWA Nationals!

**Today's Theme Song**

"We Are the Champions" - Queen

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

Interview with Editor Brendan Deneen - Win a Critique!

Alas, we've reached the final day of epic-ness.  I know, I'm sad, too.  But don't despair, next week I have loads of information to share from my amazing trip to RWA Nationals, so stay tuned. 

Now, on to another interview of fabulosity (yes, I'm inventing words; it's allowed on Friday)--editor Brendan Deneen of Thomas Dunne books.

BIO: Editor, Thomas Dunne Books (a division of St. Martin's Press), former Agent, Co-author of the comic book series FLASH GORDON, Also known as the book-to-film guy. Most recent deal listed on Publisher's Market Place - Julie Cross's TEMPEST

Other Recent Deals: Mathew Costello's VACATION, David Wong's THIS BOOK IS FULL OF SPIDERS a sequel to JOHN DIES AT THE END

What was it about Julie’s novel that captured you?  What made her story stand out?

I had been looking for a young adult time travel novel for a long time…I think for at least a year or two.  What captured me about Julie’s book (previously called ENEMIES OF TIME) was the premise: a young man witnesses his girlfriend’s murder and then jumps away by accident.  It was the perfect set up.  And was exactly what I’d been looking for.

What kind of submission would you love to see come across your desk?  What are you tired of seeing?

I’m honestly tired of vampires.  I’m just sick of them.  And I know there are lots of great vampire stories still to be told.  I’m a fan of them, in theory.  But it just feels like overkill at this point.  And I’m getting there with zombies, too.  I want whatever is next.  My gut had been telling me it was time travel.  And now I have my YA time travel book.  What’s after that?  A friend of mine suggested an underwater tale.  That’s a tough one to pull off but you never know…….  And I’d love to see a great YA or adult ghost story.  Will someone please scare the shit out of me?

What excites you the most about your job?  What’s the part you find the most challenging?

The most exciting thing is finding great new writers.  Two of the books I’ve bought since becoming an editor are by first-time authors.  The idea of finding never-before-published yet extremely talented writers is still super exciting for me.  Maybe it’s because I’ve written four unpublished novels!  I wall-papered my bathroom in college with rejection letters.  Perhaps I want to save someone else’s bathroom from the same torture.  The most challenging aspect is learning the infrastructure of a massive publishing company.  I didn’t come through the system as an assistant, so I have to constantly remind myself that there’s more than just reading and editing.  There’s SO many aspects to being an editor; it’s a LOT of work.  Luckily, it’s an AWESOME job, so I’m not complaining.

You’ve done a lot of work on the film side of things.  I often finish a book and think—wow, this would make a great movie.  But obviously, only a select few are chosen for that medium.  So, in your opinion, what elements make a story more suitable for that format?

It’s almost impossible to predict.  So much of it is timing; a great director happens to want a certain genre and a certain book happens to cross his desk at the right moment.  A studio head saw that any given movie was #1 at the box office so he wants the next movie like it.  But that being said, it’s important, especially these days, to have a commercial hook.  Romance, action, intrigue, adventure.  And most importantly, great characters.   I think authors should write what’s in their gut.  If it’s a great story and told with emotional honesty, Hollywood will take notice.

We all know that beginnings are vital in hooking a reader.  However, there’s been a lot of debate among the writing blogosphere about starting with immediate action vs. the glimpse into the ordinary world.  What do you like to see in a beginning?

I think beginnings should start with a bang.  I’m a big fan of starting in the middle of the action and then pulling a “24 hours earlier” type of thing in chapter one.  But if you’re going to start in the ordinary world, it needs to be funny or exciting or something.  I’m not going to read 50 pages of someone making a sandwich.  Unless it’s the most incredible sandwich ever invented.  Crap, now I’m hungry.

When you get time (if you ever do) to read for pleasure, what are your go to genres or authors?

I almost never read for pleasure, sadly.  For awhile, I was reading the Harry Potter books when on summer vacation.  I’ve actually never read The Lord of the Rings books (except The Hobbit), so I keep telling myself that I’ll read them on one of my upcoming vacations.  

Thanks so much to Brendan for answering our questions and for donating a query or 5-pg. critique!  To see the rest of his interview, make sure you stop by Julie's blog.

Also, if you haven't entered the contest yet, you have until MIDNIGHT (central) on Sunday to do so.  Six winners will be randomly selected and announced on both blogs early next week.

Today is also the final day to receive bonus entries.  FOR TODAY ONLY, I will also count a facebook mention like a twitter mention.  Just fill out the form below and check I tweeted (even if it was on facebook).  And remember, you can't earn a bonus entry unless you've already filled out the main contest form (link at top of page.)

Thank you to everyone who has pimped this contest this week.  We can't even tell you how appreciative we are.  Good luck to everyone who has entered!

*CONTEST CLOSED*

Interview with Agent Suzie Townsend - Win a Critique!

Today we're excited to welcome Agent Suzie Townsend of Fine Print Literary to the blog!  Suzie has kindly given her time to answer some of our burning questions and has also donated a query or 5-pg. critique as one of the prizes!  So without further adieu...

Bio:

 

Suzie is actively looking for fiction and non-fiction: specifically Middle Grade and YA novels (all subgenres, but particularly literary projects), adult romance (historical and paranormal), and fantasy (urban fantasy, science fiction, steampunk, epic fantasy).

Recent sales include Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers (Tor, September 2010), All These Lives by Sarah Wylie (FSG, winter 2012), Valkyrie Rising by Ingrid Paulsen(Harper, winter 2012), Sea Rose Red by Cat Hellisen (FSG, spring 2012), Zombie Tag by Hannah Moskowitz (Roaring Brook, fall 2011), andTempest by Julie Cross (St. Martin’s Press, forthcoming).

She’s interested in strong characters and voice driven stories: she’s particularly keen on strong female protagonists, complex plot lines with underlying political, moral, or philosophical issues, and stories which break out of the typical tropes of their genre.  Some of her favorites are When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff, The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels series, and Jacqueline Carey’s Kushielseries.

She drinks too much diet orange soda, has a Starbucks problem (those soy chai lattes are addictive), and lives in Brooklyn with two dogs who know that chewing on shoes is okay but chewing on books is not.
Suzie keeps a blog at http://confessionsofawanderingheart.blogspot.com and can be found on twitter @sztownsend81.

What would you like to see more of in your query inbox?  And on the flipside, what are you tired of seeing?

This is also tough because I’m a little torn.  I love YA.  And I love paranormal YA.  But…I’m seeing so much of it that a lot of it seems to sound the same.  (And by so much, I mean probably over 90% of my queries are paranormal YA).  But I am still requesting paranormal YA if it sounds different and unique enough (like Ingrid Paulson’s forthcoming Valkyrie Rising). 

But I’d love to see contemporary literary YA (like Arlaina Tibensky’s forthcoming Bell Jar Summer) and literary YA with a speculative twist (like Before I Fall, How I Live Now, and Sarah Wylie’s forthcoming All These Lives).  I taught rhetoric before I got into publishing, so I love when I read something where I can get lost in the story and later think to myself “wow, the way he/she used language to write that story” (I’m a nerd, I know). 

I’d also love to see more YA science fiction projects (the science fiction elements have to be accessible though like in Julie’s forthcoming novel Tempest) with a romance.  And I love YA fantasies like Kristin Cashore’s Graceling, Melina Marchetta’s Finnikin of the Rock and Cat Hellisen’s forthcoming Sea Rose Red.

And I would love love love to find a YA set in a historical time period – steampunk, magical realism, more time travel, just straight up historical.  But I love Libba Bray’s Gemma Doyle series.

Then outside of YA, I’d love to see more literary Middle Grade projects that have a great commercial premise but have a depth and complexity to them (like When You Reach Me and Hannah Moskowitz’s forthcoming Zombie Tag).

And I’m also looking to expand into the world of adult fiction.  I’d really love to find an urban fantasy series, a paranormal romance series (J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series is akin to crack for me) and a dark romantic fantasy series (I love Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels series and Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel series).

And if anyone has a thriller like Patrick Lee’s The Breach, I’d love to find that too.

Since I also have a lot of romance writers who read this blog--and because I'm self-serving and want to know for myself ;) -- what subgenres of romance are you open to representing?

I love all things romance.  So really, I want to see it all.  Paranormal, historical, contemporary, fantasy.  I’m a sucker for romance.

Different agents have different opinions on what a writer should do before entering the query phase—i.e. find critique partners, finish a second novel before querying the first, go to a writing conference, etc.  What do you recommend a writer do before taking that step? 

For most writers, I have to say that critique partners are invaluable and a vital step in the process before querying.  (I do know a few writers, who don’t have critique partners, but they’re usually the brilliant exceptions).  It also helps if writers familiarize themselves with the industry before they start querying – either through research online or going to a conference or networking with other writers.  It’s important to understand how the business works before diving in.

How important is it, if at all, for a writer to have an online presence before having a book deal or agent?  Do you find it’s more important for a YA writer vs. another genre?

An online presence isn’t make or break at any stage.  The most important thing is writing a good book.  But before the book comes out, it will help if a writer develops an online presence and networks in order to get their name out there.  It’s especially important for YA writers since so much of their readership is also online, exploring social media.

We hear the horror stories about writers following agents into bathrooms to pitch their stories or sending weird things with their queries.  So, tell us, what’s the strangest method someone has used to try to query/pitch you?

I have gotten a bathroom pitch.  But the strangest method is the query I got in a Starbucks cup.  Yes – someone sent a Starbucks cup through the US Postal Service (I hadn’t realized that was possible until that moment), and inside there was the query and a bag of flour.

Thanks so much to Suzie for the great information and don't forget to click over to Julie's blog to see the rest of the interview including what makes a manuscript stand out from the rest!

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