Accentuate the Positive: What If ... ?

When you've been writing for a long time and hung around the vast writing world, it's easy to see a lot of negative things bantered about. Consequently, it's easier to start thinking negatively about others and even worse, about yourself as a writer. So much emphasis is placed on nailing a query letter, your opening pages, your synopsis, your social presence, etc. that it becomes a quagmire of shadowy rules, rejection, deception, and negativity.

Think about your realm of influence for a moment. Are you often a beta reader or an established critique partner? Do you edit or help with PR? I'd even be so bold as to add, are you a literary agent or publisher?

How happy are you? How happy are the people around you? Is daily snark regarding other people the norm? Do you pick up someone's manuscript prepared to be a skeptic?

What if this next week you could only mention the positive things about someone's work?

What if instead of tearing someone down, you show them that they aren't hopeless or crazy but that they do have some things going for them. It may be a lot, it may be a little, but think how much of a boost you could give if that other person knew what they did right for a change.

What if you set a goal not to speak disparagingly of anyone else? What if you decided not to listen to or share gossip?

Focusing on the negative is a piece of cake. While we do need to know what we have to work on to become better writers it doesn't always have to come in a negative or derogatory package. It takes strength of character to be a positive person, someone who is genuinely concerned about helping someone else.

It's as simple as dealing with a child. If you always focus on what that child is doing wrong or where the child is lacking, you destroy their motivation and self-esteem. If you focus on what the child is doing right and point out their strengths, it motivates them to do even better.

Sure publishing is a business but people aren't. Sure you run into delusionals who have an ego the size of Brazil, but most people aren't that way. There is a hopeful person on the other end of that manuscript, someone who is trying to do better and whose basic desire is to share something they created.

Don't assume that they are getting positive vibes from other sources. You may be their only outside influence that day, week, or month regarding their work.

I find it very disturbing that as a society we're obsessed with perfection without having a concrete definition or outline for that perfection. If stripped down to our very core, we are all imperfect people, and you know what, it's okay. As long as we're trying to be a better person each day, isn't it time we chill out and admit that we're never going to reach perfection? Why would we expect everyone else to?

There is enough room for everyone to express themselves. There are so many subjectively diversified tastes out there, don't assume that your subjective tastes are what must be the rule. You may be tired of a premise, but that doesn't mean others are. You may think writing X + U is a bad idea, but that doesn't mean someone else won't think it's a brilliant pairing. Your style won't be the same as someone else's, and that's okay. Their voice will differ from yours as well. It's okay.

Now, I'm not saying you have to love, accept, or buy every story, query, or synopsis that you get. I'm not saying to you have to write a detailed letter of explanation for every rejection you give. But can we ditch the snark in social media for a week? Can we ditch it in our conversations? Can't we write a blogpost saying why we love writers or what they consistently do right? Instead of the "reasons why I'm rejecting this" feeds can we focus on "reasons I love this" feeds instead? If you're critiquing someone else's work, is it so difficult to highlight all the many more places they are getting it right instead of the fewer places they are getting it wrong?

Perhaps I'm the crazy one. I'm guilty of succumbing to the writing world negativity at times too. It's something I intend to change. If any of this has agreed with you, will you join me in a positivity week starting today?

Words That Will Kill Your Query

You’re doing your best, researching how to write a query, who to query, and when to query. You’re devouring blogposts, Twitter feeds, how-to books, and any other resource you can get your hands on. You want to cover all the bases. You want to make sure your not going to be that writer, you know, the one who blows their chances by making stupid mistakes or assumptions.

So here’s another one to watch out for: if you are a speculative fiction writer, there are certain words that will instantly doom your query.

Words such as:
Prophecy
Destiny
Chosen One
Survive/Survival
Fate
End of the World

… and so forth. You get the gist.

Why are these words and phrases bad? Just about everyone has used or is using them. Agents and editors see these words all the time. It’s an instant turn off. Suppose you had a stack of a hundred queries and each one used one of those words. You’d start to think writers only knew one kind of plot, one kind of story.

Even if your story is truly different, even if you take one of those tropes and turn it inside out, if you use those words in your query letter, you’re sunk before your story has a chance to prove it’s different.

I don’t care what Agent So-and-So recommends in their How-To-Write-a-Query book/blog/workshop. If they’ve said to use certain key words, you can bet thousands of other writers have read/heard this same piece of advice and are using those words. Watch out for overused phrases or common clichés as well.

But what if your story is about a chosen one whose destiny it is to prevent the end of the world? Find an inventive new way to describe it. It needs to stick out from the thousands (no exaggeration here) of other queries using the same general premise.

Know of any other overused words/phrases that would doom a query letter? Please share.

No, I'm Not a Literary Agent, but Thanks for Writing

Not too long ago, in my inbox I found someone had sent me a query letter. Not to critique, but addressed to my email assuming I was an agent. Strange? Very. It came from an author from overseas who was looking for a way into the U.S. market. Many of my blog visitors hail from other countries. I guess this person had made a mistake in the email address or mistook my spotlighting agents on this blog for my being an agent.

I am not a literary agent. Sorry!

Not that I haven't thought about it before with a little "let's pretend." I've had the privilege of working with many writers, critiquing their work, having mine critiqued in return, combing over query letters, trying to make sense of the publishing world and its workings. But I don't work at a literary agency, I don't know any editors personally, and I have no clout in the industry.

To that author, though, thanks for writing. I hope you find the right person to query and that your dream to break into the U.S. market becomes a reality. Querying is tough. Finding an agent match is worse than dating. Rejection hurts. But your letter to me doesn't go under the rejection category. It was a misdirection. And since I know how mind-wracking it is to not even hear back from someone you queried, I'm responding to your letter here on my blog. Keep researching agents and keep trying. For those who are overseas and want a U.S. agent, I highly recommend agentquery.com and querytracker.net.

Good luck!

Fifth Tuesday Links

On Marketing and Social Networking:
GLA: What Selling Lemonade Can Teach Us About Writing
Babbles from Scott Eagan: Make Your Own Opportunities - Editors, Agents, and Readers Won't Just Come To You
Rachelle Gardner: 7 Keys to Planning Your Career Path
Miss Snark's First Victim: A Tweet By Any Other Name

Regarding Subjectivity & Agent Interviews:
MuseInks: Publishing's Perplexing Pickle Problem
Babbles from Scott Eagan: Along With the Manuscript, We Look At Potential
The Write Life: 13 Ways to Convince a Literary Agent to Represent You
Books & Such: Let Your Agent Be the Bad Guy
Rachelle Gardner: Why Didn't I Say "Yes" to Your Submission?
Literary Rambles (Agent) Spotlights: Lana Popovic of Zachary Shuster Hamsworth (YA, MG, thrillers, fantasy)
Michelle Witte of Mansion Street Literary Management (MG, YA)
It's in the Details: Questions with Tamar Rydzinski
Questions with Jennifer Laughran
Questions with Danielle Smith
Questions with Jordy Albert
Questions with Juliet Mushens
Chasing the Crazies First Five Frenzy: Molly Jaffa of Folio Literary Management
Melissa Jeglinski of The Knight Agency

GLA New Agent Alerts:
Sarah Nego of Corvisiero Literary: "I am only accepting middle grade and young adult fiction manuscripts. I'm open to any genre within those age groups, but I prefer speculative fiction ..."
Beth Campbell of BookEnds, LLC: She is seeking "... romance ... YA, fantasy, science fiction ..."
Fiona Kenshole of Transatlantic Agency: "I am looking for kidlit categories from picture books to YA ... I like stories that make me laugh, or real children in magical circumstances and I love animal stories; in YA, above all else I look for a captivating and distinctive voice ... I am not looking for ... faith-based stories, or vampires, paranormal or sword-and-sorcery fantasy."
Jessica Negron of Talcott Notch Literary: "I'm interested in all kinds of YA and Adult fiction, but lean toward science fiction and fantasy (and all the little sub-genres), romance (the steamier, the better) and thrillers."
Roz Foster of Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency: She is interested in "... literary sci-fi, and literary YA. She loves novels that make her feel like the author is tuned into a rising revolution - cultural, political, literary, or whatnot - that's about to burst upon the scene. She looks for resonant, lively voice; rich, irresistible language; complex characters with compelling character arcs; and a mastery of dramatic structure ... Please note that (she) is not interested in ... romance, and children's middle-grade/picture books."

On Writing Itself:
Babbles from Scott Eagan: Your Story Dictates the Style
Keep Your Characters Dressed!
Find Your Central Story Arc and Stick to It
Kidlit.com: Introducing Fantasy Elements
The Bookshelf Muse: The Psychology of Disappointment & Our Characters
Writer Unboxed: Levels of Conflict
Questions and Archetypes: Stealing from another house (World-Building)
Picking the Brain of the Collective
Patricia C. Wrede: Being Mean

Contests & Online Conventions:
Miss Snark's First Victim: August Secret Agent
WriteOnCon: Write On Con
It's in the Details: Agent Greeting Contest
Writer, Writer, Pants on Fire: Are Contests Worth It?

Of course, this list of links is by no means exhaustive of all the great posts I've read this past month. Too many links can make your eyes glaze over. So we'll just do these this time. Isn't the internet wonderful sometimes?

The Query Process: The Numbers Aren't What You'd Think

I've come to about the end of my agent research, a cumulative effort of five years' work.

1. I combed through the data bases on both Agent Query and Query Tracker and created a list of potential agents based on what they said their preferences were. I ended up with nearly 300 names.

Great start, right? I thought, I'd surely find several interested agents with these odds.

2. Next, I visited each agent's website or did further research into what they want, what they represent, and if they were still agenting or taking unsolicited queries. This took up most of my time, was often tedious and frustrating, but was well worth the effort.

Some agent's are very open about who they represent and specifically state what they want. Most are vague and tend to generalize. Compared to when I began my research five years ago, more agents have an online presence today. So if their agent bio on their website unhelpfully says they want YA projects, there are usually interviews, spotlights, and other data available online to clarify what types of YA projects they gravitate toward.

By the end of this phase, my promising list of 300 was down to 160 agents. And I learned another valuable piece of querying information which promised to dwindle that list even more.

3. Many agencies state that you may only query one agent. Some say "at a time" but most give you the option of one and one only. Often this is because agent's will pass on a query letter to another person in their office they think would be a better match, or because they discuss query letters as an agency. It makes sense and is good news for querying writers.

However, this meant I needed to prioritize my agent list. So I drew up a second list, one which pulled the agencies from the first list. I put all the potential agents under the banner of their agency and then researched them further to give them a pecking order. I found that every agency that didn't have the "one only" rule, I had only one potential agent for. With the other agencies, I assigned numbers to each of the agents, based on who I thought would be my strongest fit down to the least likely. It's a rather revealing process, one which should make my query letters better when I state why I chose to query that agent.

My list went down from 160 to 95. The odds might look not so well in my favor now on one hand. On the other hand, I stand to waste less time querying agents who wouldn't fit, and the potential of garnering more partial or full requests raises.

4. This step goes with step 3, but I'm giving it a separate place. This is my last step in the research phase, delving deeper by subscribing to Publisher's Marketplace. Here I can find out exactly what these agents are acquiring, selling, and representing. I'll go back through my prioritized list to make sure the pecking order is as it should be. I expect there'll be changes. The number may even drop from 95.

And that's okay. As I stated in my recent query advice post, you want to target the right agents. It's not about how many agents you query, but who you query and why.

I had to think long-term when making cuts to my agent list. While my current project fits under one genre banner or age group, other projects differ. I don't mean as drastic a difference as say, a thriller versus a children's book, but rather more like the difference between a fantasy and a science fiction. Some agents don't do both. I had to find potential agents who would fit my entire writing career, not just one project.

I know I took longer at it than the average writer. I like to be thorough. So don't feel like you have to take five years to research. But I can't say it enough, do more research than you first feel inclined to do. If anything, it will help cut the depressing numbers of rejections you'll receive.

If I had only done step #1, then sent out query letters to those nearly 300 agents, my rejection numbers probably would have killed my publication aspirations within weeks. Querying after step #2 would have been better, but I'd have not only received a lot of rejections, I probably would have alienated quite a few agencies as well by not following the "query only one agent" rule. Querying after step #3 might have been fine and safe, but what if the agent I targeted hadn't been the right one for me, and they didn't feel like passing on my query to anyone else in the office that day? Despite well written query letters and research, sometimes getting an agent depends on luck and an agent's mood.

From my point of view, why not take the time and give your story its best chance for success?

Contests, Agents, and Links

Good morning, everyone! I thought the blog was well overdue for some helpful links, so here we go.

New agents to check out via GLA New Agent Alerts:
Kathleen Zakhar of Harold Ober Associates
She's looking for: "Kathleen loves all things YA and is also actively looking for adult science fiction, fantasy in all its varieties, historical fiction, and horror novels. She enjoys quirky middle grade tales with captivating adventures and original voices, and will also accept picture books. Kathleen has a special place in her heart for sweeping love stories, magical realism, inventive world-building, repurposed folklore, dark comedy, and genre-bending novels."

Christa Heschke of McIntosh & Otis
She's looking for: "picture books, middle grade, young adult and new adult projects and is currently building her list. She is a fan of new adult and young adult novels with a romantic angle, and strong, quirky protagonists. In young and new adult, Christa is especially interested in contemporary fiction, horror and thrillers/mysteries. She’d also like to see any steampunk and fantasy (urban and high), that pushes the boundaries of what’s currently on the shelves, perhaps a new take on these genres that has yet to be seen. As for middle grade, Christa enjoys humorous contemporary, adventure and magical realism for boys and girls. For picture books, she’s drawn to cute, character driven stories..."

If agent Jill Corcoran is on your query list, you need to send in your query before the first of May. She will stop accepting unsolicited queries at that point. To quote: "Starting May 1, 2013 I will only accept queries from authors I meet at conferences, A PATH TO PUBLISHING participants and referrals."

Contests:
Query Kombat, beginning May 13th in which participants submit their query letter and first 250 words of their manuscript for a duel-style tournament. Literary agents will be involved. A great opportunity to see if your query and opening are up to par and maybe get an agent's interest. For details go to SC Write, It's in the Details, or Writer's Outworld.

And if that's not enough excitement, you can also submit your pitch and first 250 words of your manuscript for some mentoring and a chance to catch the attention of the participating agents for the May Pitch +250 Contest over at Adventures in YA & Children's Publishing. They are taking submissions on April 28th until they reach 100 submissions. The window is narrow, so be sure to look through the contest details.

Other Great Links:
From Writer Unboxed:
What NOT to Do When Beginning Your Novel: Advice from Literary Agents

From Pub Rants:
New Adult - Perhaps the latest word for ChickLit
And do you agree?

 

The Epic Quest: Update #2

Today I'm going to do the first cluster of authors I've researched. Take a look at them, if you write epic speculative fiction, and see if their works are comparable to yours. It gives a good indicator of what their agents and/or publishers like. Also what these same agents and publishers already have. Some won't take on projects too close in competition to titles they already represent.

1) Aaron, Rachel
Website/blog: http://rachelaaron.net/
First book published: 2010
Publisher: Orbit Books
Agent/agency: Matt Bialer of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates

2) Abercrombie, Joe
Website/blog: http://joeabercrombie.com/
First book published: 2006
Publisher: Gollancz (UK), Orbit Books, Pyr (US)
Agent/agency: Robert Kirby of United Agents (UK)

3) Abraham, Daniel (also writes under two pseudonyms)
Website/blog: http://danielabraham.com/
First book published: 2006
Publisher: Pocket, Orbit, Tor
Agent/agency: Shawna McCarthy of The McCarthy Agency, LLC

4) Ahmed, Saladin
Website/blog: http://saladinahmed.com/
First book published: 2012
Publisher: DAW
Agent/agency: Jennifer Jackson of The Donald Maass Literary Agency

5) Anderson, Kevin J.
Website/blog: http://wordfire.com/ ; http://kjablog.com/
First book published: 1988
Publisher: Spectra, Aspect, HarperPaperbacks, William Morrow, Orbit, Simon Schuster, and more
Agent/agency: John Silbersack of Trident Media Group
 

The Epic Quest Begins

I see it more and more, writers of epic speculative fiction having the devil of a time trying to find representation for their work. Few agents come out and say in their guidelines "Send me epic _______ fiction." The blogosphere is noisy with the YA-loving crowd and their parameters. It's hard to do research for epic speculative fiction because the people who work with it or write it aren't a dominate presence online (collectively.)

So I'm embarking on a quest to find out as much information as I can. I'll share my findings here on the blog and if you've done some research, please share also.

By epic, I'm referring to:
Huge, door-stopper books that are standalones; also series, sagas, and trilogies of epic proportions. These are books where there is a lot of story/plot, often with multiple POVs, and they take place in fantastic worlds or settings. See also this blogpost: Where are the massive epic science fiction series? Also you can pull up "epic" lists off of Goodreads or even Amazon (although take them with a grain of salt because the books listed are based off where readers categorize them.)

My first step was to comb online looking for authors of epic novels and to write them down on a spreadsheet. I came up over 200 names from my first gleaning alone and I'm sure I'll find a lot more. Finding so many authors cheered me up because it proves people will read long series and fat books. Some of the authors are dead, some are long-time veterans, but quite a few are new and thriving. There is a market for this kind of fiction.

I also noticed that epic authors tend to use initials; that there are a lot of Davids, Richards, and Kates; and that both male and female authors came up about even in body count on my list. Epic fantasy outnumbers epic science-fiction or epic paranormal. Epic YA speculative fiction gets a lot of the limelight these days but don't discount the adult crowd just yet.

Some websites that deal with epic speculative fiction:
Locus Magazine
TOR.com
Epic Fantasy Books Blog

What are your favorite epic books and your favorite epic-writing authors? Help me refine my list so I can move on to stage two: identifying publishers and agents (if applicable.) I hope to have a good-sized list of websites and blogs by epic authors next time for you.

Interview with Precy Larkins, Newly Represented!

Precy Larkins is a mother by day, a dreamer by night, and a writer in between. She grew up in the Philippines, a country steeped in superstitions and rumors of enchanted beings roaming the woods. She now lives in Utah, where she occasionally hunts for fairies, with her husband and three kids. When she’s not teaching her preschooler how to tie his shoelaces, she writes stories that transport her to unexplored places. Precy maintains a blog and a Twitter account, where her friends know her affectionately by her nickname, Cherie. Her Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy novel, HIDDEN, is a story of a girl battling demons in her head only to find out they are real. With dark magick and soul-suckers on the loose, and a boy who can’t be trusted, she must use her visions to survive the world hidden beyond her own.

J.A.: How long have you been writing? What are your favorite genres to write?

P.L.: The first time I penned a book-length novel was four years ago. I’ve been writing on and off since—short stories, unfinished mss, and my current ms that got me my agent. I usually stay within the speculative fiction genre, specifically fantasy and paranormal. Oh, and I write YA and MG. I’m too much of a kid at heart to indulge in Adult Fiction all the time.

J.A.: What are your favorite genres to read? Which books have had the greatest impact on you?

P.L. While I do read books that are in the genre I write, I have a more diverse taste when it comes to reading. A memoir that won’t let me put the book down? Bring it on! Nonfiction science books with quirky humor? Yes, please! I also love to read horror and thrillers.

I can’t say there was ONE specific book that had the greatest impact on me as a person, or me as a writer. I’ve always loved reading, and it’s really a culmination of my reading experiences—the emotions I felt, the stories I cherished, and the truths I discovered through books all affected me in many ways.

J.A.: Aside from writing, what do you love to do?

P.L.: I love to draw. And play games with my family (board games, card games, even video games.)

J.A.: What can you tell us about your new agent and the process of signing on with her?

P.L.: My lovely and fabulous agent is Ms. Julia A. Weber of J. A. Weber Literaturagentur GmbH. She’s based in Germany and the UK, but she takes clients from the US as well. I absolutely adore her. Because she lives in a different continent, we’ve subsisted on an email correspondence. Oh, and Twitter, too. It took her 4 days to offer me rep—yes, she was THAT fast! The day I sent her my query, she asked for a partial within two hours. The next day, she emailed me asking for the full. Three days later, my heart stopped when I saw her email that started with: It is my pleasure to tell you…

After much squeeing and running around, muttering, “What do I do? What do I do next?”, I emailed my soon-to-be-published friend Bethany Crandell and basically yelled at her to help me! She responded quickly with very helpful info and a list of questions reserved for when you get The Call. Only in my case, it was The Email. So I asked the questions, and my agent got back to me promptly with excellent answers. Then I had to ask for time to notify the other agents I’ve already queried, or had my full submissions.

Ten days later, I was giddy when I sent Ms. Weber an email telling her I accept her offer of representation. It’s been great since.

J.A.: May we see your agent-winning query letter?

P.L.: Sure! It’s not perfect, but it got the job done. :)

Sixteen-year-old Layla Cadwell is losing her mind. Again.

The first time she lost it, she nearly drowned reaching for the blue lady she saw in the river. Years later, branded Freak Extraordinaire by her peers, Layla’s learned to keep her visions to herself. But when her father dies in her arms, murdered by a soul-sucking shadow-witch, Layla lands a stint in the psych ward. Because there’s no such thing as monsters, see.

After too many kumbaya-inducing meds, the memory of her father’s death becomes fuzzy. Mom, fearing Layla’s relapse on the upcoming death anniversary, takes the family to a distant town for the summer. But despite the relocation and anti-psychotic pills, Layla sees monstrous creatures prowling the woods nearby, and the blue water lady reappears to haunt her—this time begging for help.

As the visions intensify, Layla uses them to unearth the town’s secret of hidden people enchanting the woods. The phantom blue lady turns out to be her great-grandmother, whose soul’s been trapped in the shadow-witch’s dark magick. The same witch who killed her dad for revenge. And Layla is next in line. It’s a family feud, paranormal-style.

Or…maybe it’s all in her mind. But the local hottie believes Layla, though his trustworthiness factor is down to zero. Rumor has it he turned his exes loony-bin mad with just a kiss. Major relationship killer, right? When his eyes shift to resemble the witch’s gold-rimmed ones, Layla knows he’s trouble, though her heart tells her otherwise.

As the witch closes in, Layla must trust her visions to survive the world hidden beyond her own. A YA Contemporary Fantasy, HIDDEN is complete at 76,000 words.

J.A.: How long did you query before finding your agent? 

P.L.: About 6 weeks. Hidden is the first book I’ve ever queried. I was prepared for the long haul of querying, so imagine my surprise at landing my agent so quickly. I sent out about 40 queries in all. When I started querying at the end of March, most agents were coming back from the Bologna Book Fair so I only sent out a few, mostly to test my query (which was still in its early stage). Lots of waiting ensued. In the meantime, I worked and reworked my query with the help of friends and critique from a writing forum, Agent Query Connect. Anytime someone would tell me it was great, I would send out a few. My first two responses were form rejections, but the third one was a full request.

I didn’t stop working on my query. My gut told me it wasn’t quite right yet.  I also had to deal with spam issues—some of my query emails did not go through when I sent them. I knew this because I was supposed to get an auto-reply from the agent’s email, but never did. This is why you’ll need to do your research. Some agent websites will specify that they have an auto-responder. If you don’t get an auto-reply letting you know your email went through, then try again.

I queried intermittently throughout the month of April and the first week of May. My agent, Ms. Weber, got back to me so fast that some of the agents I had newly queried didn’t even have time to see my original query. A lot of them missed the notices I sent out about getting an offer of representation (so I ended up with emails long after the deadline from agents saying they were sorry they missed the opportunity). So here are my stats (I finally got it figured out):

40 queries sent
3 fulls requested before my agent offered representation (including my agent)
6 more fulls requested after I sent out notices of offer of rep
12 no response
5 passes because they saw the notices too late
14 query rejections

It’s true, you know. It only takes one to love your work.

J.A.: What advice would you give to those who are actively querying or getting ready to query?

P.L.: I’ve already mentioned some tips in my previous answer. But here they are again, plus a few more:

~Do your research when querying agents. Know their submission guidelines and follow them.
~Keep on working on your query. There’s always going to be room for improvement.
~Watch out for spam filter issues. This goes hand in hand with researching your agents. Some websites will let you know that they have an auto-response system in place. Others will tell you their turnaround time, and if you don’t get a response as soon as that time is up, most likely your query email went down Spamtown. So go send your query again.
~Another great way to track down the queries you’ve sent is to use Query Tracker. Some of the QT members will post their stats, and from that info, you can see where the agent is at with the slushpile. Just don’t get too obsessive. There’s no hard-and-fast rule with how agents sort their query pile.
~This goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: BE POLITE. ALWAYS. If you get rejections, please do NOT take it personally. Just take a deep breath and move on. It’s not the end of the world.
~ Be very, very patient. Querying takes time. Agents are people, too, and they have busy, busy lives. Like you.
~Query widely. People have different tastes. Just because one agent didn’t care for your concept doesn’t mean another one out there won’t care for it either. You won’t know until you take the plunge. Be brave.

J.A.: What have you learned from writing and querying that you didn’t know before?

P.L.: That no matter how you prep yourself for querying and putting your work out there, that no matter how much you tell yourself you’re a big girl and can take the rejections with a smile, you will fail. You will be sad when you see that form rejection. You will squeal and dance around when you get a request. Your heart will beat so hard you’ll think you’re on the verge of a cardiac arrest when you send out that first full manuscript submission. You will worry and bite your nails as you refresh your email every ten seconds. You won’t be able to help feeling all these emotions. Even when you tell yourself again and again that you would never do all of these things.

J.A.: How important were your beta readers/critique partners?

P.L.: Very important! (Shout out to A. M. Supinger, my crit partner!) I valued their feedback, but at the same time, I also kept my vision for my book in check. Their comments made me think. Their critiques made me see my work in a different angle—something I would never have seen by myself. It also helps to have them proofread and spot my typos.

J.A.: What are you most excited to experience in the whole agenting process?

P.L.: My agent asked me in an early “getting-to-know-you” email what I expected from an author-agent relationship, which is a fantastic question, by the way. I think it’s good to know what our expectations are and to voice them out so that there is an understanding between the two parties. My answer was this: I view it as partnership. There has to be communication on both sides. It’s almost like a marriage, I guess. You have to trust each other, trust that they will work on their end while you work on your end.

Ms. Weber has been nothing but amazing! She’s excellent with communicating what she needs from me or what are the things I should know. She’s always open to questions and encourages me to voice out whatever concerns I have. At the same time, we’ve developed this camaraderie over Twitter—so much fun! This relationship has gotten off to a very good start, and I’m excited to embark on this collaboration with her. You see, having an agent represent you is not a short-term deal. We’re in it for the long haul. So it’s very important you find someone you can work with easily because you’re not only going to be dealing with them with one project, but your lifelong career of writing and future books as well.

Thank you, Precy. (I have to get used to calling you that now!) Some of us don't think much about looking for an agent overseas and it's good to know there are agents who take submissions for the U.S. Your story has evolved since I last saw it and it sounds great! We're wishing you a lot of luck as you start this next phase in your writing career. And for anyone reading this interview, definitely check out Precy's blog. She's in my spotlighted blog list and she's a very sweet person. Get to know her.

Linkage Catch-Up

Normally I try to do something like this on an occasional Saturday, but let's face it, it's the growing season and all my spare time is spent outside in battle trying to reclaim my yard from the weeds the landlord let go rampant everywhere. So let's play a little catch-up on some of the really good blog links that have recently come out. And hey, if you've run across a really good one I didn't spot, mention it in the comments.

Let's start with some new agent alerts from GLA:
Jennifer Azantian, now at Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency: "Jennifer is only interested in: young adult science fiction and fantasy (including all of their subgenres)."

Okay then, here's a fresh new agent for all of you writing speculative fiction from the YA POV.

Sarah Joy Freese, now at Wordserve Literary: "Christian romance, Christian historical romance, Christian suspense, and paranormal romance...I am looking for full-length fiction, 65,000-100,000 words in either the general or Christian market."

So if you are writing paranormal romance with a Christian bent, you might want to check her out.

Sara Sciuto, now at Full Circle Literary: "Sara is actively building her list with a focus on middle grade and young adult, in particular, dystopian, science fiction, fantasy, and unique paranormal. She also enjoys contemporary stories with a strong, authentic voice (but no chick-lit, please). She has a particular soft spot for anything in the Deep South (sweet contemporary to dark paranormal), gritty contemporary, utilitarian dystopias or dystopian thrillers, anything with international locales or period settings (think flappers or “Mad Men”), and anything with artistic themes. Sara is also looking for standout picture books, especially those with a quirky or humorous narrative. She’s also considering select nonfiction in the areas of craft, design, how-to, lifestyle, and pop culture. Currently, she is NOT considering any adult fiction (all genres)."

Again, here's one for the YA/MG writing crowd.

Andrew Wetzel, now at Martin Literary Management: "Speaking of my tastes, the areas I’d most like to carve out for myself with Martin Literary Management would be ‘Literary with a capital L’ fiction (think Eugenides, Houellebecq, Murakami, Cormac McCarthy, Martin Amis) as well as the dark corner of the literary list that is slightly less pretentious and slightly more commercial (think Palahniuk, Bret Easton Ellis, Dennis Johnson). That’s a very ‘male’ list and it is definitely where my personal tastes lie. I love a great story but style is just as important to me sometimes. I’m also very interested in reading Young Adult novels, specifically those with a macabre sensibility or a fascinating dystopian or fantasy setting."

Promising for many speculative fiction writers whether writing to adults or YA.

And now onto some good blogpost links:
Write to Express, Not To Impress by Bernadette Pajer
Confusion is Not the Same as Mystery by Mary Kole
The Real Beginning by Mary Kole
Fridays With Agent Kristin: Episode 7 - What is a Plot Catalyst?
The Criteron for Evaluating an Agent by Kristin Nelson
7 Bad Habits of Successful Writers by Rachelle Gardner
Quality Books Take Time by Rachelle Gardner
Contracts by Anne Elliot (The contract between writer and reader)
Something Old, Something New by Sophie Masson
Going Deeper: A Process Rather Than a Technique by Robin LaFevers
How NOT to write a series, OR, Don't put all your eggs in one basket by Jennifer Laughran
ProTips for Published Authors Pt.1: Website Tips by Jennifer Laughran
ProTips for Published Authors Pt. 2: The Bookstore Event by Jennifer Laughran
April Offers--FAQs by Vickie Motter
May Conferences: Prep Work by Vickie Motter
May Conferences: Etiquette by Vickie Motter
Checking References by Sarah LaPolla
Start Your Story: a post from TBA Intern Y on The Bent Agency blog
It's in the details, writers! by Alan Rinzler
Writers Wednesday: An Authors Greatest Tools by E.M. LaBonte
The Five Stages of Query Revisions by Riley Redgate
What Are You Looking for in an Agent? by Jami Gold
Cliffhangers: Not Just for the End of a Book by Jami Gold
Thinking about first person by Patricia C.Wrede
What Kind of Skeleton by Patricia C. Wrede (Plot structure)

I think if I do more your eyes will glaze over. What's listed should fill any spare blog reading time.

Odds and Ends with Links

As a follow-up to this blogpost I’m happy to report that despite the sleeve fiasco the dress came out better than I hoped. Ripping out the part that didn’t work and putting something new in made it stronger, better, and beautiful. I’m almost afraid to let my daughter wear it for Halloween.

I did the same in my manuscript the other week. I ripped out an entire scene that I originally thought moved the action along but also revealed more about some of the characters. It wasn’t until I took it out that I realized I didn’t need it. It also made room for a couple of new scenes that did a better job of moving the plot along.

I haven’t had the time (or energy) to post the old Saturday Link Specials but there have been some great links lately that I’d like to pass on. Especially for those of you who don’t do Twitter.

First up:

GLA has the low-down on new agent Barbara Scott of Wordserve here. She’s looking for (in fiction): Adult Fiction: Full-length fiction, 65,000 to 100,000 words. General market or Christian market. Genres: Women’s, Romance, Suspense/Thriller, Mystery, Romantic Suspense, Historical, Family Saga, Amish, Political Thrillers, Mainstream, Supernatural/Speculative, including End Times. Short contemporary and historical fiction, 40,000 to 65,000 words. Christian market. Genres: Romance, Historical, Romantic Suspense. Will accept queries for Barbour, Steeple Hill Love Inspired, Summerside Love Finds You, and Avon Inspire. Kids: Middle grade and YA books

Literary Rambles has the info on agent Roseanne Wells from the Marianne Strong Literary Agency here. Ms. Wells is looking for: strong literary fiction, YA, sci-fi (most subgenres included), fantasy, and mysteries (more Sherlock Holmes than cozy mysteries.)

In other writing-related articles and such:

Writer Saundra Mitchell has an open letter to debut authors reassuring them that Eventually You’ll Care Less (and that’s a good thing!)

The D4EO Literary Agency announced on Twitter that they have an offical website now with query submission info included. You can find that here.YA authors will want to target Mandy Hubbard and Kristin Miller.

Author Patricia C. Wrede tackles what The Problems with Sequels are.

Shrinking Violet Promotions has a great article on utilizing Goodreads if you are a published author. Good to know for those of us aspiring to be published too. I love Goodreads anyway since it's an easy source to find new reading material and keep track of what I've read and what I want to read.

Agent Kristin Nelson blogs about Sacrificing Plot and Character Motivation For Fun.

Jami Gold's had an interesting time of it, going head-to-head with the numbers/popularity=sales debate. You can find the latest update (plus links to the other posts and the agent's blogpost that started it) here.

These are only a snippet of the great posts going on. Saturday Link Specials should make a comeback soon.

The Savvy Writer: Organized and Educated

The query process is daunting. Research, writing the query letter, finding agents, more research, rewriting that query letter a few more times, getting feedback from others on the query letter, etc. When it comes to the research and finding agents part, I think I might have some valuable input. (For good input on the actual query letter, you might want to start here or here.)

Where to begin? Finding literary agents is kind of like a game of hide-and-seek. There is no one all-encompassing reference, especially as agents come and go, switch agencies, or start up their own. There are many literary agent lists found in publications and online. Putting all that information down and keeping tabs on everything is a chore in itself.

You may already have a system for storing and maintaining a list of possible literary agents to query. How do you do it? Or you might rely solely on some writer websites to do the work for you.

I like to use an Excel spreadsheet. It's offline, can easily be added to, and has all the information I've gathered on one page. Whether you use a program like Excel or even just a simple notebook, it's important to keep organized and gather up as much information as you can in order to pinpoint the agents most likely to represent your type of fiction or nonfiction and to personalize those query letters.

What kind of information should you look for and record?
1) Full name of the agent and the agency she works for. Double check for things like spelling and gender.
2) The agency's address and website.
3) The agent's submission e-mail, website, or blog url. (Once you have this info use it. Follow their blog, check in regularly on their website when getting ready to query, keep tabs on submission guidelines.)
4) What the agent represents or is looking for.
5) Is this particular agent open to new submissions? Are they interested in previously published writers only or will they take on the unpublished? Sometimes agents become closed to submissions for a period of time. It's something to check into before you send out that next batch of queries.
6) How do they prefer they to get query letters? E-mail? Snail mail only? Any particular words needed in the subject line? What do they want included in the query letter? Do they want sample pages? A synopsis? Attachments or no attachments for an e-mail?
7) Tracking record of the agent. This can be membership in AAR, listings in notable databases like AgentQuery or QueryTracker, Publisher's Marketplace to see what the agent has recently sold, online interviews, etc. Can this agent be easily found? What sort of feedback and reputation does this agent have? How old or new is this agent as far as experience is concerned?
8) Who does this agent represent? Part of the query research is knowing where your novel might be shelved in bookstores. Who else writes your type of fiction or nonfiction? Who represents those authors? I always check the acknowledgement section of a book to see if the author has listed their literary agent. That little piece of information can tell you more than a dozen blog interviews.

I do recommend gathering this kind of information right away, even if you're not ready to actively query yet. In fact, if your not ready, this is the perfect time to do the research. If you're chomping at the bit to send out those query letters, scrambling to get all of the information listed above will seem even more daunting. It does take time. Is it worth it? Yes.

When we send out those query letters, we don't want to simply snag any old agent. We want an agent who loves the type of stories (or subject matter for nonfiction) that we write. We want an agent that we can work well with as a business partner. Sending out queries blindly handicaps writers. When an offer of representation is made, are you prepared to make an educated decision?

On the flip side, agents like writers who do their homework. Writers who follow submission guidelines and personalize their query letters to the agent show professionalism. Writers who know what a particular agent represents and likes are more likely to query the right agents for their work, saving time and frustration for both sides.

On Thursday I'll share a great blog dedicated to rounding up information on literary agents so be sure to check in then.

If anyone has other great tips for organizing agent research, please share it. There are some online writer services that allow writers to gather and list agents. I've yet to find any that compile everything on the list above, though. The fewer places one has to look for gathered info, the less hassle, in my opinion.