Tip of the Day: If you are in or visiting an area near a casino. Make sure to people watch. Great character ideas abound. And if you are looking for teen or kid character ideas, check out the arcade!
I have a confession to make. Maybe it’s a writer thing or the fact I still have a 6th grade Gossip Girl living inside of me, but I’m an acknowledgementoholic. The first thing I do when buying a new book is open the spine and check out the acknowledgement section. I’m fascinated by all the people that help in making books, and who has helped the writer along the way.
So you can guess I’m excited for this week. Because not only do we get to thank people that have helped us, but we get to talk about general writing things we are thankful for.
So without further ado, here’s what I’m thankful for writing-wise:
1. Critique Partners: Yes, it’s cliché, but having critique partners in the past that didn’t work out for various reasons, I am incredibly thankful for the ones I have. All of them have different strengths than I do, and are incredibly insightful when critiquing my work. Also, they are one of the best writing support systems. I think I might have quit on several books if it wasn’t for them reassuring me that “no, you don’t write like a drunk monkey,” or that they want to see my book in print so I better send it in. See what I mean? Invaluable!!
2. Online Friends: Not only my online critique partners that have been a tremendous support and encouraging force that has kept me going through all the close calls, but blog friends and buddies that I’ve enjoyed reading posts, learning about their writing, and hearing they are going through some of the same joys and struggles I am. It’s almost a necessity in this solitary business.
3. Supportive family (i.e. my husband): I’m incredibly thankful for everything my husband does, but in regards to supporting my writing he’s a tremendous help. Not only as a shoulder to cry on after a harsh rejection or close call, but the fact he’s never complained when I zone out mid-sentence because I’m thinking about writing stuff, when I pause the TV mid-show because I have to jot down my writing idea before I forget it, when I shut the door to write in complete silence, or sometimes emerge much later smelling like a left over turkey sandwich. And even now he’s letting me write this blog entry despite the fact we are in crapped hotel room, it’s way too early, he’s trying to sleep, and the glow from the computer screen and tapping of keys isn’t the easiest to tune out. Is that supportive or what? I’m also thankful for my parents and grandparents who are incredibly encouraging and want to see me succeed at writing, and the fact they instilled a love of reading upon me at a young age.
4. Learning to grow: I’m so thankful that I continue to grow in my writing abilities, and that I’m willing and open to pushing myself further. I’ve had several jobs in the past where I’ve just lost interest in, but with writing, despite how frustrating it is at times, I’m glad I’m still willing to give publishing a try. Because if I didn’t, I think I might always regret the “what if.”
5. Close calls: having written seriously for several years now, I’ve had my fair share of close calls. Several requested revisions that almost made it, but didn’t pan out because of another person not approving, the market, or just general losing of interest from the requesting person. Yes, they are frustrating and yes they make you want to cry. But then after that’s passed, I’m thankful for knowing that I’m close. That at any moment one of the close calls could be The Call. And I’d rather know my strengths and weaknesses as a writer to continue to grow further, and make the best books I can. And I’m thankful these people saw potential in me that they took time away from their busy schedules to write in some cases very detailed revision suggestions that helped improve my books!
I’m thankful for so much more, but if I go on further I worry I might sound like a Hallmark card or movie. Which I generally love, don’t get me wrong. But maybe it’s best to keep some of my thankfulness for my acknowledgement page! Gotta have some suspense, you know?
--Emily, Miss Awaiting an Agent
P.S. I'm also thankful for the Aroma Coffee Shop in Reno, NV, because after driving around all morning, they were the only ones that weren't going to charge me an arm and a leg to use their WiFi for less than 5 minutes to post this! Thank you!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
And Also I'm Thankful for Turkey and Cranberry Sauce Sandwiches
Tip of the Day: Only 38 days until Christmas!
This week at Author2Author, we’re kicking off the holidays by blogging about what we’re thankful for in our writing lives. And, you know, it’s pretty easy to be thankful. I’m mostly thankful to be born in this time and place. I can work on a PC in the evenings and weekends, rather than using a sharpened quill or spending all my time foraging for food and wood. But all the people clogging the highways with me on my morning commute are also recipients of the gifts of living in a first world country in the 21st century. What makes me different from most of them? What makes me a writer and not a plumber or an accountant or an embezzler?
OK, perhaps I don’t have the education to make a good embezzler. But I think what drives me to be a writer, what makes me most thankful in my writing life, is that I was raised to have a wacky sense of humor. Nothing reminds me of this more than the holidays.
Like, we had this gorgeous old Nativity set that belonged to my grandmother and each piece was about a foot tall. We placed it under the tree every year. One of the wise men lost his head. So we used to balance the wise man’s head carefully on his shoulders and hide gifts behind him. When someone came to our house to celebrate, we’d ask him to hand us the gift we had tucked away. Naturally, the wise man’s head would fall off and my brothers and I would gasp and yell, “Oh, no, you killed the wise man!” This remained hysterically funny to us year after year. We called our Nativity people “the Wise Guys.” We also had assorted angel body parts hanging from the tree since we refused to get rid of broken ornaments, and there was much family laughter when we hung the disembodied heads on the tree.
I was very picky about the tinsel. We called that foil stuff you get at the dollar store “tinsel” and I despised clumps of it on the tree. “Separate the strands!” I’d tell my brothers every year. “Don’t just chuck it on there! No clumps!” The first year I attended college away from home, I drove home for the semester break at night. My brothers had tossed the Christmas lights into one big clump in the bushes to welcome me home.
Every year when How the Grinch Stole Christmas came on, the whole family would gather around the TV and complete silence was mandatory. I don’t know what the penalty would be for breaking the silence because nobody did. I learned the genius of Boris Karloff, Chuck Jones, and of course Dr. Seuss from my father’s absolute worship of this Christmas special. He always laughed, every year. When I asked him why he still enjoyed it so much even though he was an adult, he said, “Kate, we’ll always be kids on the inside.”
I thought he meant everyone, and it took me a long time to realize that not everyone stays a kid on the inside. And I’m thankful that my parents thought it was OK for me to stay a kid on the inside. I’m thankful we had a house where we could laugh all the time, where it was funny that the ornaments were all broken and you could watch the Grinch for free on TV and it was the highlight of the year. I think I became a writer so I could keep that feeling of looking at the world and finding it remarkably, amazingly weird and funny. I hope I can share that feeling with readers someday.
This week at Author2Author, we’re kicking off the holidays by blogging about what we’re thankful for in our writing lives. And, you know, it’s pretty easy to be thankful. I’m mostly thankful to be born in this time and place. I can work on a PC in the evenings and weekends, rather than using a sharpened quill or spending all my time foraging for food and wood. But all the people clogging the highways with me on my morning commute are also recipients of the gifts of living in a first world country in the 21st century. What makes me different from most of them? What makes me a writer and not a plumber or an accountant or an embezzler?
OK, perhaps I don’t have the education to make a good embezzler. But I think what drives me to be a writer, what makes me most thankful in my writing life, is that I was raised to have a wacky sense of humor. Nothing reminds me of this more than the holidays.
Like, we had this gorgeous old Nativity set that belonged to my grandmother and each piece was about a foot tall. We placed it under the tree every year. One of the wise men lost his head. So we used to balance the wise man’s head carefully on his shoulders and hide gifts behind him. When someone came to our house to celebrate, we’d ask him to hand us the gift we had tucked away. Naturally, the wise man’s head would fall off and my brothers and I would gasp and yell, “Oh, no, you killed the wise man!” This remained hysterically funny to us year after year. We called our Nativity people “the Wise Guys.” We also had assorted angel body parts hanging from the tree since we refused to get rid of broken ornaments, and there was much family laughter when we hung the disembodied heads on the tree.
I was very picky about the tinsel. We called that foil stuff you get at the dollar store “tinsel” and I despised clumps of it on the tree. “Separate the strands!” I’d tell my brothers every year. “Don’t just chuck it on there! No clumps!” The first year I attended college away from home, I drove home for the semester break at night. My brothers had tossed the Christmas lights into one big clump in the bushes to welcome me home.
Every year when How the Grinch Stole Christmas came on, the whole family would gather around the TV and complete silence was mandatory. I don’t know what the penalty would be for breaking the silence because nobody did. I learned the genius of Boris Karloff, Chuck Jones, and of course Dr. Seuss from my father’s absolute worship of this Christmas special. He always laughed, every year. When I asked him why he still enjoyed it so much even though he was an adult, he said, “Kate, we’ll always be kids on the inside.”I thought he meant everyone, and it took me a long time to realize that not everyone stays a kid on the inside. And I’m thankful that my parents thought it was OK for me to stay a kid on the inside. I’m thankful we had a house where we could laugh all the time, where it was funny that the ornaments were all broken and you could watch the Grinch for free on TV and it was the highlight of the year. I think I became a writer so I could keep that feeling of looking at the world and finding it remarkably, amazingly weird and funny. I hope I can share that feeling with readers someday.
-- Kate, Miss Apprentice Writer
Friday, November 14, 2008
Getting a negative review and living to tell about it
Tip of the Day: Have some Christmas shopping to do? Start now! Only 40 shopping days left!
All right. Let’s talk about reviews.
Specifically, bad reviews.
Good reviews are a piece of cake. Starred ones leave you, well, starry-eyed. A good review, especially a starred one, gives the author validation that his/her book is worth reading. Actually, even better - worth buying!
But bad ones? They hurt. There is just no way around it, unfortunately. As a book release approaches, an author is trying to figure out ways to get the word out. Marketing is probably occupying the brain about 75% of the time two months before a release. The hope, I think, is that some reviews will come in that get people talking. Because that’s what you want, right? A buzz. A buzz that it is so persistent, people just can’t ignore it and so they go to the bookstore and buy the book.
THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins is a book that had so much buzz around it I just HAD to go and get the book. And I wasn’t disappointed, believe me.
But how often does a buzz like that really happen? It seems to me, not very often. So is it realistic for us to think that any review might even come close to doing this for us? Probably not.
So what if a review comes in for your book, and it’s not what you were hoping for? In fact, it’s quite the opposite of what you were hoping for. Is it the end for your book? Like, is it over before it even began?
No. Not at all. First I think you have to ask the question, who is going to read the review journal? In the kidlit world, it’s primarily librarians and teachers. Most or all of the reviews will also end up on Amazon and B&N, but I wonder, in the end, how important those reviews are to regular readers? I think readers often put more weight into what other readers have to say versus professional publications, but that’s just a guess on my part.
Negative reviews remind me a lot of a harsh critique. At first, it stings. At first, you want to argue with everything negative being said. But eventually, after some time has passed, your brain begins to ponder the comments, and you might even begin to think, yeah, maybe that is something I need to work on.
One of my reviews for I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME talked about how, beyond Ava, my characters were only “shallowly realized.” I can tell you that those words stuck with me, and as I wrote my next book, I found myself paying more attention to the character development.
As they say, that which doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, right?
~Lisa, Miss Pinch Me I’m Pubbed
All right. Let’s talk about reviews.
Specifically, bad reviews.
Good reviews are a piece of cake. Starred ones leave you, well, starry-eyed. A good review, especially a starred one, gives the author validation that his/her book is worth reading. Actually, even better - worth buying!
But bad ones? They hurt. There is just no way around it, unfortunately. As a book release approaches, an author is trying to figure out ways to get the word out. Marketing is probably occupying the brain about 75% of the time two months before a release. The hope, I think, is that some reviews will come in that get people talking. Because that’s what you want, right? A buzz. A buzz that it is so persistent, people just can’t ignore it and so they go to the bookstore and buy the book.
THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins is a book that had so much buzz around it I just HAD to go and get the book. And I wasn’t disappointed, believe me.
But how often does a buzz like that really happen? It seems to me, not very often. So is it realistic for us to think that any review might even come close to doing this for us? Probably not.
So what if a review comes in for your book, and it’s not what you were hoping for? In fact, it’s quite the opposite of what you were hoping for. Is it the end for your book? Like, is it over before it even began?
No. Not at all. First I think you have to ask the question, who is going to read the review journal? In the kidlit world, it’s primarily librarians and teachers. Most or all of the reviews will also end up on Amazon and B&N, but I wonder, in the end, how important those reviews are to regular readers? I think readers often put more weight into what other readers have to say versus professional publications, but that’s just a guess on my part.
Negative reviews remind me a lot of a harsh critique. At first, it stings. At first, you want to argue with everything negative being said. But eventually, after some time has passed, your brain begins to ponder the comments, and you might even begin to think, yeah, maybe that is something I need to work on.
One of my reviews for I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME talked about how, beyond Ava, my characters were only “shallowly realized.” I can tell you that those words stuck with me, and as I wrote my next book, I found myself paying more attention to the character development.
As they say, that which doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, right?
~Lisa, Miss Pinch Me I’m Pubbed
Thursday, November 13, 2008
My Cover
Tip of the Day: Facebook is SO much fun! You should sign up. And then friend me.
I don't want to right out say I'm a psychic but I may open up a 900 line in the near future. Remember earlier in the year when I talked about my Cover Dreams? When I said I couldn't really imagine my cover but that maybe it would have a big espresso mug and maybe it would be brown or pink.
I swear I had no input but check it out:
What do you think? It's cute right? And I'm definitely a fan of the pink. Whenever I hit a bookstore or library I pick up the pink books first. (Hopefully I'm not the only one who does this).
Ahhhh. At first I thought the whole publishing process was going so slow. And now it feels like it's picking up speed! Sure, the book still won't be out until next fall but it's almost 2009! Next stop is ARCs. And then reviews (only good reviews please). And the marketing prep. Fun stuff ahead!
Kristina, Miss Soon-to-Pub
I don't want to right out say I'm a psychic but I may open up a 900 line in the near future. Remember earlier in the year when I talked about my Cover Dreams? When I said I couldn't really imagine my cover but that maybe it would have a big espresso mug and maybe it would be brown or pink.
I swear I had no input but check it out:
What do you think? It's cute right? And I'm definitely a fan of the pink. Whenever I hit a bookstore or library I pick up the pink books first. (Hopefully I'm not the only one who does this).Ahhhh. At first I thought the whole publishing process was going so slow. And now it feels like it's picking up speed! Sure, the book still won't be out until next fall but it's almost 2009! Next stop is ARCs. And then reviews (only good reviews please). And the marketing prep. Fun stuff ahead!
Kristina, Miss Soon-to-Pub
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
It's the Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of (or "It's the Stu-uffed Green Tomatoes"*)
* With apologies to Carly Simon
Tip of the Day: Never travel via airplane without a bag on wheels -- even if it's just a carry-on. When you have to sprint through the Atlanta airport from concourse E to concourse C to catch your next flight that leaves in 5 minutes and your bag is full of free YA novels, you will regret it.
This past weekend I was in Nashville for a YALSA (Young Adult Librarian Services Association) conference. The sessions were fantastic. I learned lots of things that I can apply as a librarian and as a writer.
And I realized I want to some day speak at a YALSA conference. This is my newest/latest/additional career goal.
It was so amazing to be among so many people who love literature for teens! I could turn to anyone around me and talk about YA books, and freedom of speech. There were other librarians writing books, too! If a presenter mentioned a book but couldn't remember the author's name, at least one person in the audience would know who it was. Usually more than one. So cool.
For the librarians, the visiting authors were rock stars. I've never seen so many women in one room racing for YA novels like it was their oxygen. (And yes, I was one of them.) It's not that I want to be a rock star, but to know that so many people understand the value and importance of literature for teens is reaffirming and rewarding. I want to speak to people who know this.
So I'm putting it out there. I will sell my books, and I will speak at a YALSA conference to fantabulous librarians who know what teens need, enjoy, and treasure.
Deena, Miss Recently Repped
Tip of the Day: Never travel via airplane without a bag on wheels -- even if it's just a carry-on. When you have to sprint through the Atlanta airport from concourse E to concourse C to catch your next flight that leaves in 5 minutes and your bag is full of free YA novels, you will regret it.
This past weekend I was in Nashville for a YALSA (Young Adult Librarian Services Association) conference. The sessions were fantastic. I learned lots of things that I can apply as a librarian and as a writer.
And I realized I want to some day speak at a YALSA conference. This is my newest/latest/additional career goal.
It was so amazing to be among so many people who love literature for teens! I could turn to anyone around me and talk about YA books, and freedom of speech. There were other librarians writing books, too! If a presenter mentioned a book but couldn't remember the author's name, at least one person in the audience would know who it was. Usually more than one. So cool.
For the librarians, the visiting authors were rock stars. I've never seen so many women in one room racing for YA novels like it was their oxygen. (And yes, I was one of them.) It's not that I want to be a rock star, but to know that so many people understand the value and importance of literature for teens is reaffirming and rewarding. I want to speak to people who know this.
So I'm putting it out there. I will sell my books, and I will speak at a YALSA conference to fantabulous librarians who know what teens need, enjoy, and treasure.
Deena, Miss Recently Repped
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
The J.K. Rowling Effect
Tip of the Day: in between all your writing, don’t forget to make time for reading too!
Working in a library I am exposed to wannabe writers on a frequent basis. I am constantly amazed at the number of people in our community that want to publish a book.
But out of the large section of wannabe writers, I’m starting to notice an interesting trend. These people tend to fall into two groups.
Group 1: Potential writers that read
Group 2: Potential writers that don’t read
And a large portion of these people are in Group 2. People who are not readers, nor do they want to be.
Writing that sentence seems like an oxymoron to me. What’s the point of writing if you don’t read? And if you don’t read, then how on earth do you expect other people to want to read your book? (Yes, even if people are in Group 2, they still want to “publish” a book traditionally and see it on library shelves ::hits head against desk::).
I attribute this trend to the J.K. Rowling Effect.
There are many potential J.K. Rowling Effects. But in this instance, I mean people that hear about J.K. Rowling’s story: about how she was on welfare and looking for a way to support herself and her kids, so she wrote a book, and now she’s richer than the Queen of England.
But they don’t hear about all the rejection she went through to get that success.
There’s a lot of misconceptions about publishing, but I have to say this is one of the ones that baffles me the most.
And I’m amazed it comes up as much as it does.
Because for every one person that is genuinely interested in learning about writing, invested in taking the writing programs we offer at our library, and doing research on the subject by reading books or blogs like this, there’s another person that walks in and basically wants you to publish their book for them. And the last thing those people want to do is pick up a book and read what others are writing, because nine times out of ten, they “don’t think their book is like any out there, so what’s the point in reading others.”
If this happens at our little, local library, I have no idea how publishing companies and agents deal with this on a daily basis.
Nor do I understand where so many people got the idea publishing is an easy process, that most people make a lot of money from it, or that you don’t have to edit your novels before publishing them, but I wish it would stop.
Does this happen in other industries, too? Does every Joe Schmo going to an acting audition believe if they get a gig they can become Brad Pitt. Despite the fact, they don’t even want to read the script before the audition?
Because I really don’t think people would expect that. But maybe I’m naïve like that.
So to do my part to end this particular J.K. Rowling Effect, anytime anyone asks me anything about writing or publishing, I am going to slip in somewhere in the conversation that to be a writer, you have to be a reader.
--Emily, Miss Awaiting an Agent
Working in a library I am exposed to wannabe writers on a frequent basis. I am constantly amazed at the number of people in our community that want to publish a book.
But out of the large section of wannabe writers, I’m starting to notice an interesting trend. These people tend to fall into two groups.
Group 1: Potential writers that read
Group 2: Potential writers that don’t read
And a large portion of these people are in Group 2. People who are not readers, nor do they want to be.
Writing that sentence seems like an oxymoron to me. What’s the point of writing if you don’t read? And if you don’t read, then how on earth do you expect other people to want to read your book? (Yes, even if people are in Group 2, they still want to “publish” a book traditionally and see it on library shelves ::hits head against desk::).
I attribute this trend to the J.K. Rowling Effect.
There are many potential J.K. Rowling Effects. But in this instance, I mean people that hear about J.K. Rowling’s story: about how she was on welfare and looking for a way to support herself and her kids, so she wrote a book, and now she’s richer than the Queen of England.
But they don’t hear about all the rejection she went through to get that success.
There’s a lot of misconceptions about publishing, but I have to say this is one of the ones that baffles me the most.
And I’m amazed it comes up as much as it does.
Because for every one person that is genuinely interested in learning about writing, invested in taking the writing programs we offer at our library, and doing research on the subject by reading books or blogs like this, there’s another person that walks in and basically wants you to publish their book for them. And the last thing those people want to do is pick up a book and read what others are writing, because nine times out of ten, they “don’t think their book is like any out there, so what’s the point in reading others.”
If this happens at our little, local library, I have no idea how publishing companies and agents deal with this on a daily basis.
Nor do I understand where so many people got the idea publishing is an easy process, that most people make a lot of money from it, or that you don’t have to edit your novels before publishing them, but I wish it would stop.
Does this happen in other industries, too? Does every Joe Schmo going to an acting audition believe if they get a gig they can become Brad Pitt. Despite the fact, they don’t even want to read the script before the audition?
Because I really don’t think people would expect that. But maybe I’m naïve like that.
So to do my part to end this particular J.K. Rowling Effect, anytime anyone asks me anything about writing or publishing, I am going to slip in somewhere in the conversation that to be a writer, you have to be a reader.
--Emily, Miss Awaiting an Agent
Monday, November 10, 2008
Working the Rochester Children's Book Festival
Tip of the Day: Check out this blog post Tina pointed me to: http://editorialass.blogspot.com/2008/11/crash-flow-or-what-went-wrong-in.html on poor book sales in October. Depressing, but there's hope!
I didn't want to steal Tina's find for my Tip of the Day, but it piggybacks on my news from the weekend. I volunteered at the 2008 Rochester Children's Book Festival on Saturday. Can you say CROWDED? Wow! What a fantastic turnout! It was the best turnout for the festival ever. The authors sold out of many of their titles halfway through the day. The onsite bookstore sold out of their titles. We were afraid people wouldn't be buying books due to the economy but that was way off.
Anyway, I'm still recovering from hours on my feet saying "The authors are signing upstairs. Bruce Coville and Tamora Pierce are speaking in the Red Room. Follow the red balloons. The zoomobile is downstairs. Jeff Mack is reading in the yellow room. Follow the yellow balloons. The elevator is behind you." I gave people directions for hours. Almost everybody was friendly except for the parents of kids who didn't get balloons. Look, every kid got a free balloon, but sometimes the balloon people had to restock for a minute. Tip to organizers of children's events: Balloons are serious business!
Anyway, it's amazing how hard the volunteers worked and how long of a day our authors had. But if you get a chance, volunteer! I had a great time! Thanks to the phenomenal Barbara Underhill for coordinating the volunteers and sending me these pictures. And thanks everyone who made it out to Rochester for a successful event. The authors shown here are Bruce Coville, Michelle Knudsen, Tamora Pierce, Vivian Vande Velde, and Ellen Stoll Walsh.
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