Today’s guest is Kelly Notaras, founder of KN Literary Arts, an editorial book studio specializing in self-help, personal growth, and spirituality. She joined me to talk about the niche in the marketplace for a how-to book on writing narrative non-fiction and memoir, and how Kelly filled that with her release, The Book You Were Born to Write. Also covered: untangling the baby steps toward creating your author platform.
Laura Taylor Namey on Accepting Rejection
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.
Today’s guest for the SHIT is Laura Taylor Namey, author of The Library of Lost Things.
How much did you know about the submission process before you were out on subs yourself?
Having a few published friends and attending publisher breakout sessions at conferences, I knew a fair amount. I mainly knew to prepare myself for what could be a long wait and that no two authors have the same sub experience. Hmm, that sounds like pregnancy to me…
Did anything about the process surprise you?
Not really, and I think that was due to my own research. Before I even had my agent, I’d listened to editors speak about submissions and the long process each book must go through from first read to an offer.
Did you research the editors you knew had your ms? Do you recommend doing that?
I did basic research on many of them just to put a face to a name. I recommend doing that only if it’s something you feel will ease your experience, not add further anxiety.
What was the average amount of time it took to hear back from editors?
I’d say the average time was 2-3 weeks. Some read and responded within days, and others only did after I received an offer. I got my offer around three months into sub.
What do you think is the best way for an author out on submission to deal with the anxiety?
I want to shout this from mountaintops and tattoo it on my forehead: the best way to deal with subbing one project is to be heavily invested in, and well into, a draft of another project. The second I began querying agents for book one (which sold,) I began drafting book two. I got an agent offer, paused my drafting to briefly revise book one, then dove back into book two during my sub process. I finished that book while on sub and was (and still am) so passionate about that story, I would’ve totally been at peace if book one hadn’t end up selling. Book two preserved my sanity and kept my eyes and momentum moving forward.
If you had any rejections, how did you deal with that emotionally? How did this kind of rejection compare to query rejections?
Rejections are a huge aspect of doing this thing we love called writing. I found sub rejections much more detailed than query rejections and actually quite kind and/or encouraging. Many editors who said my story wasn’t quite right for them still complimented my voice or characters or other aspects. While rejections are never easy, they do not have to be devastating. We can always move forward, adjust, and adjust again. It’s part of publishing.
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 carefully considered each rejection and tried to weigh them together to see if many editors were passing for one clear reason or common thread (they weren’t with this book. My rejections were mainly subjective.) There is one comment I received that resonated so much, I am going to address it in my current revision.
But, say, if ten editors pass for world building issues, it’s time to pull your story from sub and address the world building. This is where sub/rejections can help you make a better story to go out with in later rounds.
Beta reader’s feedback is posed as: here is where I am stumbling in your story, and here is where you should fix it. I feel betas read more like bookstore readers. Or, some of mine are sensitivity readers and I have them read for specific issues to help the authenticity of topics in the narrative.
Editors read with a different scope, an eye on sales and craft and marketing, and how the book would sit on their list.
When you got your YES! how did that feel? How did you find out – email, telephone, smoke signal?
My husband calls the day I received my deal my ‘tiara day.’ We were in the airport on our way to Italy, after receiving a big upgrade. So, it was already a great day. Then my agent sent me a text about twenty minutes before I had to board a twelve-hour flight. I had champagne on the plane and kept saying, “Is this my life?” I’ll never forget it.
Did you have to wait a period of time before sharing your big news, because of details being ironed out? Was that difficult?
Most authors have to wait––it’s part of the process. My wait wasn’t too long and one of my agency siblings actually saw my deal listed in Publisher’s Marketplace before I knew it was even public. I felt so grateful for my incredible offer, I wanted to share it with everyone, so even a small wait felt like eternity. The day my deal was announced, I was able to join my 2019 YA debut group, which has been fabulous.
YASH Fall Scavenger Hunt!
Welcome to YA Scavenger Hunt! This bi-annual event was first organized by author Colleen Houck as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors...and a chance to win some awesome prizes! At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our prize--one lucky winner will receive one book from each author on the hunt in my team! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 120 hours!
Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are FOUR contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the RED TEAM--but there is also a gold team, a blue team, and a purple team for a chance to win a whole different set of books!
If you'd like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page.
SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE
Directions: Below, you'll notice that I've listed my favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the red team, and then add them up (don't worry, you can use a calculator!).
Entry Form: Once you've added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.
Rules: Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian's permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by October 6th, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.
SCAVENGER HUNT POST
Today, I am hosting Kate Karyus Quinn who is an avid reader and menthol chapstick addict with a BFA in theater and an MFA in film and television production. She lives in Buffalo, New York with her husband, three children, and one enormous dog.
EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
Kate is sharing an exclusive sneak-peek scene from Fire & Flood (Mount Olympus Academy, Book #1). Enjoy!
Killing With Your Bare Hands is in a room that is half classroom, half gym. Cassie and I take a seat near the back while the other students seem to already have their cliques. Of course, it is halfway through the term. Tina is surrounded by a whole gaggle of girls with resting bitch face.
The class is taught by an extremely tall, very hot, very shirtless man who introduces herself as Kratos.
I turn to Cassie and jerk my head in the teacher’s direction. “Mr. Kratos?”
“Drop the Mr. He’s just Kratos.”
“Okay, but Kratos…he’s a god, right?”
“Demi-god, technically,” she whispers back. “Of war.” Her eyes widen dramatically, like she finds this both scary and exciting.
I guess that also sums up how I feel about this dude—er, god. I can’t seem to rip my gaze away from his bare torso. Golden skin covers bulging muscles. So. Many. Muscles. He is definitely a badass. He has it written all over himself. Like literally. It’s tattooed across his back.
He sidles past my desk, giving me a little smirk to let me know he saw me checking him out. Then he tells us to open our books to page three hundred and five. It’s a chapter titled, “They’re Not Actually Dead Until They Piss Themselves.”
“Alright, who wants to walk us through strangulation?” Kratos asks.
Almost everyone immediately raises their hands. Great, so not only is this the most difficult course, but it’s full of overeager super achievers. Kratos skims over the extended arms and then does the classic teacher thing of picking a guy at the back who seems more interested in studying the ceiling.
“Val,” Kratos nods to him. “Please come to the front of the classroom.”
The boy stands and for the first time I miss my inhaler. This school is overrun with extremely good-looking people, but there’s something about Val that’s more than just pretty. He walks to the front, all liquid and smooth, like he’s not made out of flesh and bone. I realize pretty quickly he might not be. I have to remember I’m not in high school anymore—I’m at Mount Olympus Academy. He’s got his uniform a little bit punked out, like my roommate Tina, but he’s wearing a t-shirt with a cute bunny rabbit under it, which feels very not-vampire to me.
“What is he?” I whisper to Cassie.
“And for your victim,” a hand settles onto my shoulder, heavy and squeezing more than necessary. “The new girl, who likes to talk during class.”
Everyone giggles. Even Cassie, although I’m starting to realize it’s her auto-response to everything. Kratos propels me to the front of the class, while I fight the urge to adjust the back of my skirt and make sure I didn’t tuck it into my underwear when I used the bathroom.
“Hi,” I say to Val when I get up to him, and he nods, using the motion to both acknowledge me and toss a shiny black curl out of his eyes.
“Hey,” he responds, his voice low and slightly rumbly. The last thing I need is some dumb crush—especially after my last one ended so badly. And yet with just that one word I can feel the fascination forming. My eyes latch onto his shirt, which is a sunny yellow. This close, I can read the words printed above the trembling rabbit, which say, Inside I’m just a scared wittle bunny wabbit.
“Your shirt is great,” I say, nervously.
“I know,” he agrees in a way that is both dickish and inexplicably attractive. I frown as the shivers travel down my spine. I refuse to fall under this guy’s spell. And that means no more sweet little Edie. I’m in the assassination class now. I need to be a badass.
“Not that you care, but I’m Edie.” Okay, that was more passive aggressive than badass. I’ll have to keep working on it.
“No,” Val replies with another hair flip. “You’re dead.”
And then I’m in the air—not because my wings are out, but because Val’s got my neck in one hand.
I automatically grab Val’s wrist and pull, but it’s like steel. I look down into his bright blue eyes, silently begging him to stop because I don’t have the ability to speak right now.
He doesn’t, and Kratos begins to narrate my death.
“You can see by the way her color is changing that the oxygen has been cut off. First the skin will go gray—”
At their desks, students lean in closer, taking notes on my skin tone. Tina is in my line of vision and her gleeful smirk enrages me. My lungs are on fire, black spots popping in my vision. I claw and scratch at Val’s hands, but I’m not even leaving marks on his skin. My vision begins to darken and my chin slumps onto my chest.
I’m about to pass out. My eyes flutter closed. Suddenly the eyes of the thing inside me stare back. They are angry. And they remind me that I’m not completely defenseless.
My wings pop. I open my eyes and glimpse them in my peripheral vision. They are lustrous and bright red with anger. The sight of them gives me strength. I give a gigantic push, both wings wafting around me, creating a draft that makes Val unclench his fist and sends him sprawling back onto his ass.
There’s a gasp from the whole class as I settle back onto the ground, and I don’t know why. Surely on a campus full of vampires and werewolves, a girl with wings is not a big deal? But people aren’t looking at my wings. They’re looking at Val—who is on fire.
“Oh shit,” I yell, but Kratos is already on it, casting a heavy blanket over Val and rolling him across the floor until he’s just a tube of cloth, with feet sticking out the bottom and hair out of the top. Singed, smoking hair.
“I’m so sorry,” I say, running up to Kratos, who gives me a shove that sends me rolling down the aisle.
“Don’t approach without permission,” he shouts, casually flipping the blanketed Val into the air, unrolling him. He hits the ground, blackened skin smoking. There are only scraps left of his t-shirt that I’d admired a few moments ago. His perfect face is still perfect, but the rest of him…
He’s ruined. He’s dying. The skin on his chest is peeling away, revealing white bones beneath.
And somehow, I did that.
And don't forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a ton of books by me, Kate Karyus Quinn, and more! To enter, you need to know that my favorite number is 9! Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the red team and you'll have all the secret code to enter for the grand prize!
CONTINUE THE HUNT To keep going on your quest for the hunt, you need to check out the next author Lish McBride! And don’t forget to scroll down to enter to win an ARC of BE NOT FAR FROM ME!
