Interview with Sara Zarr

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!

Sara Zarr is the acclaimed author of three novels for young adults: STORY OF A GIRL (National Book Award Finalist),  SWEETHEARTS (Cybil Award Finalist), and ONCE WAS LOST (a Kirkus Best Book of 2009, Utah Book Award winner, INSPY winner). Her short fiction and essays have appeared in Image, Hunger Mountain online, Response, and several anthologies. Sara's newest title, HOW TO SAVE A LIFE, will be available October 18, from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Read my review here.

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’m not totally sure what a pantster is, but I’m guessing it has something to do with flying by the seat of one’s pants? I would say I’m somewhere in between. Generally, before I start, I have a sense of an opening image, several major events along the way, and usually an at least vague notion of the ending. What takes longer is getting to know the voice and letting the character(s) surprise me. Those things can cause small or large changes to the rest of the story. But I don’t outline plot point by plot point.

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

Believe it or not, I’ve never taken the time to figure that out. It seems to take me about a year to get a draft I’m not embarrassed to send to my editor. Then the length of the editorial process varies depending on what the problems with the book are, and how easy or difficult they are to solve, and what the time pressure are in terms of the publishing schedule if it’s a contracted book.

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

I used to only be able to do one thing at a time, but I turned 40 last year and though I know that is still young, that coupled with some health issues have given me a greater sense of urgency. There’s a lot I want to accomplish over the span of my career. So now I’m more likely to have a few things simmering on the back burner while I’m working on my primary, deadline-riddled project.

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

I have to overcome fears every time I sit down to write. I don’t have a clear memory of “the first time,” but I know that for the first couple of years I had this sense that I needed permission to do this. From what or whom, I don’t know. It was like I was an interloper into a world where I didn’t belong, and I think for a long time after that I was always seeking some sense of being granted approval by the Powers That Be. Now my fears are more around the story itself: Will I figure this out? When? Will this be a flop or disappointment? Etc.

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

I actually got an agent with my first book, but she was not the right agent for me and it was not the right book. It never sold. I wrote two more unsold books, left that agent, and then it took about two to three years to find another agent. So I had three completed novels before my fourth one, STORY OF A GIRL, was agented and published.

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

Yes. I mean, obviously with those first three books I eventually reached a point where I didn’t have the will or desire or skill to make them work. With Story of a Girl, I had a much more tenacious grip. Something about that story, those characters, compelled me to keep going and figure it out. I think when you reach a point when you don’t have the will anymore, and that feeling sticks (it’s normal to burn out and need to take breaks), it’s time to move on.

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

I’m with Michael Bourret at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management. It was a traditional query plus sample chapters. Though I had a friend who was with that agency, I didn’t think to mention her, so it was basically a cold query.

How many queries did you send? 

Talking about my second round of agent-hunting: I don’t remember an exact number. It was a lot. Part of the reason it took three years was that the book was with one particular agent for a total of about a year—I did some revisions for her, and a lot of waiting, before she ultimately passed. But I’d guess all told there were more than ten queries and less than twenty.

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

I got very, very discouraged during that time. I knew STORY OF A GIRL was a good book. I knew I was finally ready. But no one else seemed to be convinced. There were long stretches of despair for me, and being ready to give up. When I started feeling like that, I dealt with it either by sending out a couple of new queries just to believe I was doing something, or by taking a break from even thinking about the whole thing.

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

It was right around Christmas, 2006. The book’s official publication date was in January but I heard it was in stores. I went out with my friend and I think we hit every store in town looking for it. Whenever we found it, I’d pick it up off the shelf and hold it over my head and say kind of loudly, “I wrote this!” I’m not sure it felt “good” so much as strange and wondrous. Surreal. The writing process is so solitary and your reasons for writing a particular story can be so private, and for a first book especially the wait can be so long, and then there it is. And it becomes a different thing from what it is when you’re writing it.

How much input do you have on cover art?

Not a lot. My publisher always asks for and welcomes my feedback. But, they’ve got a whole team of experts in design and in marketing, so mostly I defer to them. I gave more input on the HOW TO SAVE A LIFE cover than on my other three covers combined. In part because it has two narrators, two voices, two arcs, it took awhile to get it just right.

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

The publication process is much more collaborative than I’d realized. I had this idea that I’d turn in a book, my editor would tell me what to change, I’d change it, and then the machine would sort of take over. In fact (at least in my experience), editorial decisions are, in the long run, the author’s call. And from the editor to the copyeditor to the designer and marketing and publicity people, to the teachers and librarians and booksellers and bloggers who are engaged in getting the book to readers...ideally the author is involved or at least aware of what’s going on all through that process, throughout the life of the book.

How much of your own marketing do you?  Do you have a blog / site / Twitter? 

I do have a web site that includes a blog, and I’m on Twitter, and I have a Facebook author page. For me that’s not so much about marketing as being present to what’s going on in the bigger world of publishing and reading. But my blog and my tweets are not heavily marketing-oriented. I share book news when I have it but I also enjoy the connections I have with other writers, readers, publishing people, etc. They are my people, so it’s nice to have those social ties.

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

Oh, I don’t know. I don’t think I know what “platform” means, especially. The most important thing is your writing, your books, and spending as much time and energy as you can and as necessary on craft. I happened to have already had a blog going when my first book came out because I enjoyed it and, as I said, enjoyed “hanging out” with other writers, so I was already there on the fringes. But none of that matters if you don’t have a good book. And if all of that stuff just stresses you out, you can have a perfectly good career without it.

Do you think social media helps build your readership?

I don’t know. I think my books help build my readership—that is, people like my books, and talk about them, and yes, word of mouth spreads much more quickly through social media than any other way, and I probably have more readers because of that. But again, the work is the main thing.

For my Followers: Have you noticed a trend in the SAT's? Nearly every author I've interviewed has achieved representation through the query process - hang on tight to those hopes!

Insight on the Submission Process with AC Gaughen

 If there's one thing that many aspiring writers have few clues about, it's the submission process. There are good reasons for that; authors aren't exactly encouraged to talk in detail about our own submission experiences, and - just like agent hunting - everyone's story is different. I managed to cobble together a few non-specific questions that some debut authors have agreed to answer (bless them). And so I bring you the submission interview series - Submission Hell - It's True. Yes, it's the SHIT.

AC Gaughen is the author of SCARLET, a young adult retelling of the Robin Hood legend out February 2012 from Bloomsbury/Walker.  She's a big fan of diet coke, traveling, and her two goldendoodles who like to fight like polar bears.  She is represented by Minju Chang of Bookstop Literary.

How much did you know about the submission process before you were out on subs yourself?

To be honest, I learned as I went along.  I think I made the same mistake lots of people do and sent my first manuscript out on a wing and a prayer before it--or I--was really ready.  I certainly didn’t know enough then.  I also started getting very actively involved with NE SCBWI and online communities, and your rookie errors become pretty glaring very fast.  It’s a hands-on activity!

Did anything about the process surprise you?

So much!  Just the dumb luck of it all--people will give you feedback that is the perfect opposite of feedback you’ve already received (I had back to back query reviews for the same query that identified the exact same thing--and one said she liked it and the other said never to make that mistake again) and I do believe there’s a level of talent involved in making it through to the other side, but I also believe there’s a silly amount of dumb luck involved.

Did you research the editors you knew had your ms? Do you recommend doing that?

A little.  My agent handled creating the list, and I asked her for the names of who she sent it to.  I checked around a bit, but I think the less you know the better; I certainly don’t begrudge anyone who didn’t want to buy my book, but I’ve heard of authors who take it very personally and I think one of the reasons to have an agent is to keep that layer of separation.  It’s business!

What was the average amount of time it took to hear back from editors?

Bad news is always fast, let’s put it that way.  My agent and I submitted the package late spring, so I think the anticipation of summer meant it got pushed back a little on the to do list.  It took a solid two month for responses to come in.

What do you think is the best way for an author out on submission to deal with the anxiety?

Forget about the submissions and keep writing.  Looking forward, feeling like you have something new to offer if this doesn’t work out, keeps you floating.

If you had any rejections, how did you deal with that emotionally? How did this kind of rejection compare to query rejections?

UGH!  It was so much unexpectedly worse than agent rejections.  I thought I had such a thick skin, but I think once you get your YES from an agent, you’re all, “They like me!  They really like me!” and the next wave of rejections at higher stakes is a little brutal.  But as long as you squeak through with that one, all important yes, it’s fine.  It’s like speed dating; you don’t care if you get rejected in the minute and a half, but if the guy takes you out and he’s like, “Actually, I would NOT like to see the rest of your manuscript” it’s a bit of a bummer.

If you got feedback on a rejection, how did you process it? How do you compare processing an editor’s feedback as compared to a beta reader’s?

I waited for my agent to tell me what feedback to listen to (ha!) and just cringed.

When you got your YES! how did that feel? How did you find out – email, telephone, smoke signal?

I sort of knew it was coming.  For a few days we had been inching closer--one company offered a deal with some revisions and a little less money, and then my agent contacted some of the other interested publishers, and then my agent sent me an email saying she had “good news”--I had to wait to call her until after a staff meeting that afternoon, but she said what I hoped she would say--Bloomsbury/Walker had offered a better deal and they didn’t want me to do any major revisions.  The first company didn’t counter, so we went with Bloomsbury/Walker and she told me all this as I’m cruising down the highway.   I cried my whole way home--and listened to “The Fire” by the Roots and “So Much Better” from Legally Blonde, The Musical--and went and found my mom.  I promised that she’d be the first one I told good news to.

Did you have to wait a period of time before sharing your big news, because of details being ironed out? Was that difficult?

Just because I was crazy superstitious, I didn’t tell anyone that there were bites of interest or anything until the official offer came through.  Then I told everyone I could by word of mouth, but I didn’t put anything on the internet until SIX MONTHS LATER, when the contract was finalized.  It was KILLING ME!!  But it gave me some time to process.  Who am I kidding, who wants time to process??!

Success On Submission Without An Agent

If there's one thing that many aspiring writers have few clues about, it's the submission process. There are good reasons for that; authors aren't exactly encouraged to talk in detail about our own submission experiences, and - just like agent hunting - everyone's story is different. I managed to cobble together a few non-specific questions that some debut authors have agreed to answer (bless them). And so I bring you the submission interview series - Submission Hell - It's True. Yes, it's the SHIT.

Cory Putman Oakes was born in Basel, Switzerland, but grew up in Novato, California. She graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles in 2001 with a B.A. in Psychology.  In 2004, Cory graduated from Cornell Law School with a Juris Doctorate Degree and her husband, Mark (the first was the intended consequence of attending the school, the second was a bonus).  Since then, she has been an associate at a big law firm, taught business law to undergraduates at Texas State University and written several books for young people.

Her book, THE VEIL is about seventeen-year-old Addison Russell who is in for a shock when she discovers that she can see the invisible world of the Annorasi. And when this strange new world forces Addy to answer for a crime that was committed long ago, by parents she has never known, she has no choice but to trust Luc, the mysterious Annorasi who has been sent to protect her.  Or so he says . .

How much did you know about the submission process before you were out on subs 
yourself?

I came to publishing from an entirely different world (I was a lawyer before I became a writer), so I knew nothing at all! I had a copy of Publisher’s Marketplace and that’s where I learned what a query letter was, how to submit to agents, etc. I learned as I went, like a lot of people do, I suspect.

You were agented at one time, but you ended up selling your manuscript directly to a publishing house yourself. What’s the story there?

I had the good fortune to work with a wonderful agent for about two years on a Middle Grade project, which unfortunately never ended up with a publisher. I didn’t have an agent for THE VEIL. I took a break from submission process around the time my daughter was born and once I was ready to re-enter the publishing world, I was determined to self-publish. I asked Lee Klancher, the owner of Octane Press, for advice on how to go about this. Octane had never published a YA title, so I never thought about them as being a potential publisher for THE VEIL. Lee was an absolute fountain of knowledge about publishing. At some point he actually read THE VEIL, and not long after that he surprised me with the news that Octane wanted to make it their first YA title! So that’s the story – it was a rather unusual way of ending up with a publisher, but I am so grateful it happened the way it did, because my book could not have found a better home!

What do you think is the best way for an author out on submission to deal with the anxiety?

You know those cupcakes they sell at Randalls/Safeway? The ones that have about twice as much frosting as cake? Every time I got a rejection (and I got many of them) I’d buy a large container of those cupcakes and eat them while I wallowed. I actually think it’s very important to let yourself feel sad for a while when something you hope for doesn’t pan out. Eventually I would start to feel better and/or guilty about all of the calories I had just eaten, and I would go on a long, sugar-fueled run while I planned my next move (the running also helped to off-set the cupcake weight-gain!). That was seriously my process – if you don’t believe me, ask one of my many, many friends who I have forced to wallow in rejection-letter-cupcake-misery with me! And whether you use cupcakes or running or whatever, the important thing is to always focus on planning your next move. There is no giving up – there is only where you will go from here.

If you got feedback on a rejection, how did you process it? How do you compare processing an editor’s feedback as compared to a beta reader’s?

If someone takes the time to give me feedback, even if it’s in the context of a rejection, I pay very close attention to it. Particularly when I hear the same thing more than once. My beta readers were all friends, so I knew I had to take their feedback with a grain of salt (in that, I was pretty sure none of them were going to tell me they hated it). Editors are more inclined to be honest. But friends who know you, and who know your weaknesses, may also catch things editors don’t. My best friend, for example, caught a mistake in THE VEIL where I had the characters driving in the wrong direction on the freeway (south instead of north). An editor who knew I was writing about my hometown might have just assumed I had the direction right. But my best friend, who is well aware of how directionally-challenged I am, knew to check it on a map (thank you, Tara!). So I think a good combination of feedback from friends and editors is probably the best way to go.

When you got your YES! how did that feel? How did you find out – email, telephone, smoke signal?

My YES came via email, but I don’t think I actually processed it until I realized that this meant we could actually open the bottle of champagne that had been sitting in our fridge for the last 5 years! That night, my husband and I had champagne and a box of the aforementioned cupcakes which, for the first time, were being eaten in celebration instead of misery!

How much input do you have on cover art?

THE VEIL cover art was actually finished before I signed with Octane – luckily, Octane loved it as much as I did so I got to keep it! It was done by my friend David Brady, who is a graphic designer. I knew there was a certain scene in the book that I wanted to base the cover art on, so I sent it to David along with a very rambling explanation of the vision I had in my head. He was able to sort out my ramblings and incorporate the passage from the book in order to create an absolutely perfect cover (in my humble opinion!). The lettering is actually photographs of woodcuts – isn’t that cool? The book’s designer, Tom Heffron, was able to incorporate that same look throughout the chapter headings on the inside, which I think really pulled the book together nicely.

When do you thing writers should start building their platform? Do you think social media helps build your readership?

I don’t think it’s ever too early to start building a platform. I started seriously delving into the social media thing about 3 months ago, and I wish I’d done it sooner! The more people you can connect with and talk to, the more you learn. Social media has been a huge help for me in getting THE VEIL off the ground! Twitter especially has been great – I was very intimidated by it at first, but I’ve found that if you take the time to actually get to know your Twitter followers (as people, as opposed to just “what-can-you-do-for-me-bookwise,”) you end up with a network of people who you actually care about and who actually care about you. At least that’s been my experience! I’ve learned a ton just by talking to people and seeing what they’re doing on Twitter.