Posted in What I've Learned, musings, novel, tagged agents, music, musings, novel, pitching, publishing, queries, What I've Learned on July 14, 2008 | 5 Comments »
Well, that title is a bit misleading… I’m new to writing and publishing and don’t know “everything I need to know” by a long stretch.
The inspiration for this blog post came when a quote from Willy Wonka popped into my head and seemed to fit my quest for publication.
“There’s a hundred billion people in this [...]
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Posted in What I've Learned, musings, novel, tagged agents, identity theft, novel, partial, pitching, queries, SASE, The Edge of Memory, What I've Learned on May 23, 2008 | 1 Comment »
This is tangentially related to Part II.
When in doubt, err on the side of making it easy to contact you.
A few months ago, I attended a lecture on “What to Do After ‘The End’” by author Sean Chercover.
When asked what he would do differently if he was seeking agent representation today, he told us he [...]
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It’s hard to believe it’s been a month already since What I’ve Learned, Part One.
So, Time for Part Two:
Read the Directions.
I know this seems too obvious to bother pointing out. Specifically, it reminds me of one of the most major verbal ass-kickings I survived as a child.
When I was in fourth grade, our teacher, [...]
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I have been a serial monogamist for as long as I can remember. I got engaged to my first boyfriend at 3 years old. Our engagement lasted two years, until we started separate kindergarten classes and decided to part ways.
That’s when I got engaged to the boy I called “Mucho Macho Jason” [...]
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Posted in What I've Learned, novel, tagged agents, conferences, jubilation, novel, pitching, publishing, queries, The Edge of Memory on April 30, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Kristin Nelson rocks. Seriously.
I attended her workshop on Query Pitch Blurbs at the Chicago-North RWA Spring Fling. Using her suggestions, I crafted a query letter and sent out an equery on Monday night.
Tuesday afternoon, I got a request for a partial.
She has been blogging on the same topic. Well [...]
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Posted in What I've Learned, novel, tagged agents, conferences, genres, jubilation, novel, pitching, publishing, queries, The Edge of Memory, wordcounts on April 27, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Well, I’m back to my regularly scheduled doctorhood today.
I got in late last night and I’m working a 24+ hour shift today. So I didn’t have a chance to finish blogging about the conference.
Wow. What a crazy, wonderful experience that was!
Saturday, I drove in early for more workshops. I had a great session [...]
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I have struggled a bit with developing the pitch for my novel, since it doesn’t fit easily into a single category. I had lunch with an English teacher friend who’s just finished reading and asked her what she thought about genres.
“Well, it’s sort of a romantic, psychological thriller,” she said.
“With paranormal elements.”
She snorted her [...]
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My test reader chitties will remember this…
Thought I’d just put my original query letter up for review.
I decided it was too formal, though.
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and much nagging of test readers and even folks who have not read my book, there seems to have emerged a preference among the recent title front-runners.
So, I should begin querying in earnest soon. I sent off a couple of e-queries last week under my previous title of “Still Haunted” also, so we’ll see [...]
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Well, I am dangerously close to trying to query. I’ve picked out 5 agents to start with. I’ve researched them and composed letters for each one.
But I still struggle with what to call my book. I honestly think it could be marketed in a number of different ways, and I’m not sure [...]
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Posted in novel, tagged queries, agents, dark, formatting, lulu on February 22, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Well, in a fit of early morning nuttiness a couple of days ago, I sent off an e-query to an agent whose blog I’ve been following. I received the standard form rejection letter.
As it turns out, there is speculation that this particular agent does not represent dark subject matter, so it is probably for [...]
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Posted in novel, tagged queries, editing, critique circle, test readers, publishing, rewriting, epilogue, symbolism, gratitude on February 15, 2008 | No Comments »
I am so close to finishing I can taste it! I just finished editing Chapter 33, which was the major scene I needed to add. I’ve got to go back and review it later to see how it fits after a little distance, but I think it worked out well.
Seven chapters left on [...]
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Well, I’ve finished my second run of editing up through Chapter 30, which concludes Part II of my novel.
The third act is now all that stands between me and the next phase. I am so excited to hold a copy in my hands. I’m determined to order my personal copy by February 29th.
The [...]
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Posted in novel, tagged editing, queries on February 12, 2008 | No Comments »
I am storming through the second round of editing. I’m through 18 chapters now… not quite halfway. Well, less than that, even, since I have a couple of scenes I need to add in the second half of the book.
Still, major progress.
I’ve now set the end of the month as my [...]
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Editing away. There are now three chapters yet to be edited.
I definitely have some reworking to do in these last chapters, though. Polishing for the ending.
Then it will be back through again for touch-ups and more descriptions. A very helpful writing buddy gave me a great suggestion for an extended scene, [...]
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