There's A Forum For That - Guest Post by AM Supinger

I'm madly writing the sequel to NOT A DROP TO DRINK, so some of my ultra-helpful talented e-friends over at AgentQuery took me up on an invitation to guest post here on the blog.  My guest today is Ashlee Supinger (A.M.Supinger to AQ'ers), who runs an adorable blog over at Inner Owlet and tweets from @AMSupinger.  You should follow her.  She RT's me. :)  Ashlee debated about topics for her guest post, and asked me what I thought.  I know I push AQ a LOT - I'm a veteran, plus a Mod over there.  So I asked her to write about being a "guppy" at AQ (a new fish in the pond), in the hopes that my readers will understand the awesome feeling of community over there extends to all.

I’m a guppy. If you’ve never been to the site AgentQuery Connect that probably doesn’t mean anything to you, but it’s a title I claim proudly.

It takes courage to write. I’ve never been lion-hearted, but I accepted the NaNoWriMo challenge last year and ended up with a 50,000 word manuscript and no idea what to do next. My attempts at editing were well-intentioned and heartfelt, but my first draft was a disaster. Still, I hoped to polish my novel and get published – and I recognized that I needed help.

I searched for weeks and found several cut-throat forums for writers, but I always left them feeling like a naïve idiot. Every critique was a stab at my talent, a crushing blow to my inky ego. In despair, on the brink of tossing out everything I’d ever written, I went back to the NaNoWriMo website. I browsed and felt my hopeful heart sink when I found a page devoted to published WriMos. That will never be me, I thought.

That depressing thought led to a dumb idea and one of those lucky instances when a dumb idea turns out to be inspired. I arbitrarily picked a name and emailed the former WriMo (I really did! Me, an unrepentant chicken!). Against all odds, a day later I actually got an email back. In that email, bless this woman’s kind heart, were links to Miss Snark, Query Shark, and AgentQuery Connect. My sheer good fortune is almost unbelievable in retrospect.

I spent a whole night – from three in the afternoon until five the next morning – on Miss Snark’s blog. It was funny, scary, and completely overwhelming. Query Shark was the same. It was AgentQuery Connect that kept me from falling to pieces. I went to the site and peered into the forums, looking for a hint of the mean-spiritedness found on other websites…but nothing punched me, bit me, or asked for a credit card number. I created a free account, made up a username, and (figuratively) dove in.

I’m a lucky guppy. Not only is AQC a nice place for newbies like me, but they have agented writers willing to answer questions, critique groups for all genres, and forums that I’ve yet to fully explore. Oh, and weekly chats discussing everything an inexperienced guppy needs to know about the business side of writing.

It sounded too good to be true at first. My novel had almost been garbage-fodder and because of this one website I had hope again. I may have wept ink; I know I did cry. After a week of no hidden charges and no rude, snide, or degrading comments, I settled in. With my natural optimism bubbling, I found critique partners for my novel, wrote several terrible queries, and entered the forums with my humble opinions.

To be honest, the only problem I had with AQC was that I felt so welcomed I didn’t write for a week. I just lurked in forums and chatted. Fortunately, AQC moderators are omniscient. ‘The Odometer’ is a new forum where daily, weekly, or long-term writing goals are posted – a place where your word count is scrutinized by friendly AQCers.

I’m not agented or published – I may never be – but I am a writer. AgentQuery Connect helped me recognize the value of my words, and, in honor of their awesomeness, the tattoo GUPPY is forever emblazoned on my forehead (ha, ha-ha. Not really, but I dreamed about doing it).
THANK YOU AQC!

Some YA Romance - 80's Paperback Style

My family grew up without air conditioning. (What? Call children's services!!) We also lived in a brick house, which kind of doubled as a gigantic oven for humans during the dog days of summer. My sister and I found relief in the basement. No, not like we climbed down into a dirty hole and hid from the sun - although I have days where that sounds kinda attractive. We had a finished basement, and it was our sanctuary for July and August afternoons, to which we usually retreated with books in our hands.

There was a stretch of time in the 80's when a line of romance books from Scholastic - called the Sunfire series - was wildly popular in our household. Each book was written by a different author, focused on a historic event in US history, was titled with the female MC's first name, and inevitably the cover featured our MC and the two dashing young men she would have to choose between. Yes, there was always a triangle. Every. Single. Book. It's not exactly fresh material.

In any case, Sister and I blew through the series, checking off the little boxes in those handy order forms they printed in the back showing you which titles you didn't have. Together, we completed the series. When we each got married and moved out neither one of us wanted to bust up the series, but we didn't want to part with our own books either.  So industrious me got on Ebay and bought up Sunfire books like mad, managing to put together two complete series.

Yes, they're that addictive. To this day I can look at the covers and tell you which guy she picked.

Recently my college roommate came over to hang out (and boy, have we got some stories). She tripped over My Little Ponies in the upstairs hallway, brainstormed the names of the JEM dolls with me, then went to the bathroom to find a Rub A Dub Doggy hanging out in the tub. She said, "Mindy, the '80s aren't over; they're at your house."

Did you love the Sunfire series? Do you remember it? Am I delusional to think someone else out there might care? If you DO care tell me which was your favorite - I'm partial to SABRINA, the Revolutionary War title.

An Interview with Jeyn Roberts & A Query That Worked

I'm lucky (or cunning) enough to have lured yet another successful writer over to my blog for an SAT - Successful Author Talk. SAT authors have conquered the query, slain the synopsis and attained the pinnacle of published. How'd they do it? Let's ask 'em!

Jeyn Roberts (pronounced Jen - the Y is silent) grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and started writing at an early age, having her first story published when she was 16 in a middle-grade anthology called LET ME TELL YOU.

When she was 21, she moved to Vancouver with dreams of being a rock star, graduating from the University of British Columbia with a degree in Writing and Psychology. For the next few years she played in an alternative/punk band called Missing Mile before moving to England where she received her MA from the prestigious Creative Writing graduate course at Bath Spa University. Jeyn is a former singer, songwriter, actress, bicycle courier and tree planter.

An avid traveler, she’s been around the world, most recently, teaching high school in South Korea.
A lover of animals, Jeyn volunteers regularly with helping abandoned and abused animals, especially cats.

Jeyn's YA title DARK INSIDE will be released by Simon & Schuster 1 Nov 2011.

SAT authors have conquered the query, slain the synopsis and attained the pinnacle of published. How'd they do it? Let's ask 'em!

Are you a Planner or Pantster?

I just go with the flow. Usually my idea starts tiny and grows from there.  I almost never know the ending of my stories when I start writing them.

How long does it typically take you to write a novel, start to finish?

Three to five months.

Do you work on one project at a time, or are you a multi tasker?

I try to stick to writing one project at a time but it’s rare that I’m thinking about just one project. With my last novel, I had three other ideas competing with my brain at all times. It gets a little crowded inside the brain sometimes.

Did you have to overcome any fears that first time you sat down to write?

Not usually.  But recently, since working on my sequel to DARK INSIDE, I’ve been having a lot of nagging doubts that this book will be terrible compared to the first one. But I think that could just be the paranoia of the ‘second book’ syndrome.

How many trunked books (if any) did you have before you were agented?

Four. Two of which I’m still working on, two of which I’ve chalked up as learning experience.

Have you ever quit on an ms, and how did you know it was time?

Not since I’ve started taking writing seriously. When I was a teenager, I started new books every day.

Who is your agent and how did you get that "Yes!" out of them?

My agent is Julia Churchill from The Greenhouse Literary Agency. I got her the old fashioned way, I queried her.  A year ago she had turned me down after requesting a full on another novel. Although she gave me a no then, she left enough of an impression that I queried her again with DARK INSIDE.

How long did you query before landing your agent?

Julia was the first person I queried. She requested to read the book and signed me within twenty-four hours.

Any advice to aspiring writers out there on conquering query hell?

Always get advice on your query before you send it out. There are a lot of great websites that offer query help so take advantage of them. The query letter is harder than writing the novel; don’t be afraid to take advice. Be open-minded. Most writers query before they are ready. Be patient. Expect rejection. Don’t give up. All it takes it that one ‘yes’.

How did that feel, the first time you saw your book for sale?

The book isn’t out until September (UK) and November (USA/Canada) but I’ve had some pre-sales so far. It was pretty amazing to see that Amazon rank go up.

How much input do you have on cover art?

To be honest, when they sent me the cover art, I was so blown away by how amazing it was, there was no need to ask for any changes. But if I had truly hated it, they would have worked with me to find something more suitable.

What's something you learned from the process that surprised you?

I’d learned a lot about the publishing industry when I did my MA in England so I knew a lot about the process. But I do think a lot of writers are surprised at how long it takes to get a book out into the public.

How much of your own marketing do you?

I’m on Twitter, Facebook and Myspace. And my UK website has just launched.

When do you build your platform? After an agent? Or should you be working before?

That’s a tough question. I’ve seen people with options all across the board. With me, I waited until the book deal was announced.  I wanted to wait until I felt I had something that was good enough to push to an audience.

Do you think social media helps build your readership?

Absolutely. But it doesn’t have to come from the author. It’s really the fans that matter. They’re the ones who are the most important and no writer should ever forget that.

Jeyn was awesome enough to share her Query That Worked with me.  Read it and you'll know why she was signed within 24 hrs. of sending it.

In the moments before a worldwide disaster—the Baggers are awakened. 

On the first day Mason’s mother dies. Then the earthquakes shatter the West Coast. The Baggers stir and the killings begin. In just three weeks, mankind is on the edge of extinction and the last remaining survivors are still being hunted. 

Mason learns quickly there are no friends in this new world. In an attempt to escape his guilt, he travels across the country where he meets Aries, Clementine, and Michael. He knows he shouldn’t trust them but he’s drawn into their circle. Together in an abandoned tenement they will do whatever it takes to stay alive. But someone will betray them, a friend who doesn’t want to kill but can’t ignore the darkness inside.