Been There, Done That

It took me a long time to admit that I'm really not that creative.

And guess what? Neither are you.

I read. A lot. It's kind of my job. A necessary by-blow of this has been that I've realized the old adage that all the stories have been told is... true. I can't tell you how many times I've opened up boxes of books (Yay!) only to glance at the back-cover material and realize it's been done before. A running mental commentary might run something like this (this isn't referencing any actual books, FYI, so don't go racking your brains trying to figure out what I'm referring to):

Okay, so this one is Hunger Games but set in Bulgaria and using cats.
Oh look! Turner & Hooch but with a dinosaur.
Hey! Romeo & Juliet but with a crustacean and a pearl hunter.

You get the idea. But here's the thing... the Romeo & Juliet title featuring the really attractive crustacean might have the zippiest dialogue this side of the Pacific, and it just might bring me to tears a lot faster than angsty Italian pre-teens with excellent wardrobes quaffing poison.

We've all been in love, we've all suffered loss. We all continue to learn from others and seeing the world through a pair of eyes that we weren't born with will always be a useful experience, even if the plot isn't the brightest star that ever rolled itself up into a gas ball.

Every time Mindy-Brain says, "Hey! I've got an idea!" I have to ask Mindy-Brain how it's been done before (not IF!), and how I can do it differently, give it the Mindy-Spin and make it Mindy's-Story instead of, Bogus! It's Jurassic Park with manic Dodo birds!

Always remember that your job as a writer isn't necessarily to come up with something that has never, ever been done, but to find a way to tell it again - your way.

On Submission with Liz Coley

Today's guest for the SHIT (Submission Hell – It’s True) is fellow Lucky 13'er Liz Coley. To make things even cooler, Liz is an Ohioan AND an imprint sister. So really it's like we're the same person. Since she's from Ohio, technically this is a SHIT - Wow! (We're Ohio Writers). Yeah, you like that little acronym, don't you?

Liz has been writing seriously for more than ten years, and is finally feeling the luck! Her novel Pretty Girl-13 is scheduled for release in early 2013 by Katherine Tegen Books of HarperCollins.

When thirteen-year-old Angela Gracie Chapman looks in the mirror, someone else looks back--a thin, pale stranger, a sixteen-year-old with haunted eyes. Angie has no memory of the past three years, years in which she was lost to the authorities, lost to her family and friends, lost even to herself. Where has she been, who has been living her life, and what is she hiding behind the terrible blankness? There are secrets you can't even tell yourself.

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

I had learned a lot about submitting short stories--format and etiquette--before I moved on to novels. Since I had attended a writing conference prior to subbing my first novel in 2005, I knew the formalities. However, when I look back at my early query letters I truly cringe. I’ve learned a lot about improving my pitch in the intervening years.

Did anything about the process surprise you?

The snail’s pace of responses surprised me in the early days. Two of my submissions did not receive replies for a full year, and one of them was a publisher who insists on exclusive submission of a full manuscript. That practice just eats your life away. Two years later, the speed of responses surprised me when we were starting to see queries allowed via internet. Going by the timestamp on the e mails, one of my queries to an agent in California was rejected BEFORE I sent it from Ohio. Explain that one, Einstein!

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

After my first two manuscripts had been roundly rejected by editors and all the major houses had closed to unagented manuscripts for children’s literature, I dedicated myself to finding an agent for my third manuscript. I put myself entirely in her hands for submissions. The only editors I researched were those guest editors at my annual writing conference, and I do recommend that since they will invite submissions at the end of the conference.

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

The only way to deal with the anxiety is to get on with the next writing project and forget the current one exists.

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

Well, the one that broke my heart was a husband-wife agency team who disagreed about whether to represent my first book. But the next manuscript I wrote received a hand-addressed, personal rejection letter from an editor who praised the story, found no faults, but couldn’t use it. I taped that one on the wall for a year as an encouraging “good rejection.” In a way, it is easier to get a manuscript rejection than a query rejection because the reader has the opportunity to see your real work. With a query rejection, you can drive yourself nuts second guessing the way you presented your credentials or your pitch.

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

I got my yes for representation on the phone a week after I’d sent my full manuscript (#3), and I felt like crying and drinking champagne. Such a huge wall had been knocked down and, for the moment, I thought I’d found the end of the rainbow. Actually, I’d found the leprechaun who still had to lead me to the end of the rainbow. It took another four and a half year to sell a manuscript (#7)--the big YES. And that was another cry in your champagne moment.

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

I did have to wait for the contract to be negotiated and the offer announced in PM. The hardest thing was keeping my husband quiet about it. I was so terrified of screwing things up, I didn’t breathe a word, even to my sons at college, until the deal was done. And then we all jumped up and down about it. The funny thing is, a friend of mine saw it in PM before my agency notified me that it was officially out, so lots of people knew before my own kids.

Interview with Emma Pass

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!

My guest today for the SAT (Successful Author Talk) is fellow Lucky13'er Emma Pass. Emma lives in the north-east Midlands in the UK with her husband and a retired racing greyhound, and has a day job in the local library, where she also runs a writing group. Her debut YA dystopian, ACID, will be available from Random House in 2013. It takes place in the year 2113. When Jenna Strong was 13, she was jailed for murder by ACID - the Agency for Crime Investigation and Defence. Now, four years later, she’s been broken out by a mysterious organisation who won’t tell her who they are or why they got her out. Set up with a new identity, Jenna is just getting used to being on the outside when she runs into Max, the son of the man who died getting her out of jail. Soon, ACID are on their trail and they’re forced to go on the run. Now Jenna must keep herself and Max safe – and somehow prevent Max from finding out who she really is…

Are you a Planner or Pantster?

A bit of both! I like to have a rough outline before I start, and an idea of the start, middle and end, but if I plan a book too rigidly I get bored with it before I’ve even started writing it. And things always end up changing. The story I end up with is usually nothing like the one I started out with in my head.

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

It varies, but on average it’s around 6 months for a first draft. Subsequent drafts tend to be quicker - about 3-4 months.

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

One project at a time. I get so into my story and characters that I don’t have room in my head for any more! However I usually have the next project brewing away at the back of my mind, and if any revelations come to me about it I’ll make notes.

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

Not really. I wrote my first ‘novel’ when I was 13, and just remember feeling incredibly excited about the whole thing, because it was then that I realised this was what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. It always feels daunting to start something new, but I welcome that fear, because it makes me strive to write as well as I possibly can.

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

Two - both contemporary YA novels. I queried the first one, but didn’t bother with the second as I knew it wasn’t good enough.

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

Yes. It was the MS in between the book that got me an agent and ACID. I wrote about 5 drafts before I gave up on it, but I knew, deep down, that it wasn’t working almost from the start. It just never seemed to come alive – I couldn’t click with the main character and I knew readers wouldn’t either. To be honest, when my agent read it and agreed I should start something new, it was a HUGE relief.

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

My agent is the wonderful Carolyn Whitaker at London Independent Books, who I found in the Writers and Artists Yearbook. I chose her because she represents one of my favourite authors, Chris Wooding, and because YA is one of her specialities. When I sent her my query (for another contemporary YA), I was preparing for my wedding. A few weeks before I was due to get married, she wrote to me saying she liked the chapters I’d sent, and asking me to send the next 10,000 words. In a daze of excitement, I shoved them in the mail. Then I went off to get married. When we got back from our honeymoon, I got another letter from her saying it sounded good so far, so please could I send the rest. You can imagine how excited I got then!

Not long after that, my husband and I were driving to the supermarket when my phone rang. It was Carolyn, wanting to talk about my MS and some ideas she’d had for revisions. Cue frantic scrabbling around in the glove box for a pen and a scrap of paper, while my husband (who was driving) looked for somewhere to pull over. After those initial revisions (which I was more than happy to do), the novel went through another two rounds of revisions, and then she started sending it out. I didn’t dare call her ‘my’ agent for ages, though!

How long did you query before landing your agent?

Carolyn was the third agent I queried (with my third novel… so I guess there’s some truth in the saying, “third time lucky”!).

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

Keep going. Keep writing. If you don’t get taken on with this book, you might get taken on with the next one… but if you don’t write it, you’ll never know.

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

ACID’s not out till next year, but it’s highly likely I’ll burst into tears in the middle of the bookstore. Or jump up and down. Or scream. Or all three.

How much input do you have on cover art?

I have no idea! My publisher does wonderful covers, though, so I’m totally confident that ACID’s cover will be wonderful too.

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

How long everything takes - you definitely need to be patient in this business! And I am in awe of my editor’s insight into my book and her ideas to make it better. I always thought you had to write a book that was good enough to be published. Now I know you have to write a book that’s good enough to make an editor want to work with you… and then between you, you write the book that’s good enough to be published. 

Do you have a blog / webisite?

Sure do! Twitter, Blog, Pinterest, Goodreads, Facebook Author Page

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

I didn’t do any social networking before I got my book deal – and that was four years after getting my agent! It was my publisher who gently suggested I should start tweeting and blogging, and I have to admit, my heart sank at the thought. But it’s brilliant - I really love it! I don’t think it was a problem that I didn’t do any of these things before, though. You have to feel comfortable doing these things, and take them at your own pace.

Do you think social media helps build your readership?

Yes, absolutely. I’ve connected with so many readers, book bloggers and other authors online, and I’ve read tons of books because I’ve heard about them or talked to their authors through social media.