Never Know Unless You Try

And Try.


And Try.


And Try.


We're going to Idaho today. We just decided. I'm frantically trying to make lists of a few things in my head and have to remember to text my sister to swing by and check on the dog if she's not busy and bring extra clothes for the kids. It may be a sort of "trip on a whim" but that doesn't mean I can do it without planning. Especially when we have a 2yo and 5yo to entertain. Plus, I need to make sure and take the camera so I can scout some locations /settings that could be really good for the current wip.


As I tweeted late last night - #mystressisselfinflicted!!


What's in Idaho, you ask? Amongst all the wonderful qualities I'm sure it has, not least of which is a dear friend who lives in the grand potato state, is the Powerball Lottery. I am determined to beat the "no one west of the Rockies ever wins" odds. And guess what? You can't win if you don't play.


And you really can't win if you only play one ticket, lose, let the negativity and odds against you lead you to giving up.


Oh, hey, doesn't that sound like, hmm, I don't know, maybe the querying process? Just saying.


We've got an uber-busy weekend between Idaho and lottery tickets, carnivals (for fun & wip research), fireworks, family bbq, more fireworks, and who knows what else will arise! What have you got planned for the weekend?


Hope everyone (in the US at least) has a safe and fantastic holiday!

Try, Try Again

I'm back now. For real this time, (I hope). I'm running with the theme of this week's Quote and starting over. Sort of. I'm still working up to 100%, slow going, but I keep getting these "friendly reminders" to take the time. You know who you are!

Well, some of you may know, I've been swimming a bit in the vast query oceans and with all querying comes rejection. It totally sucks. There's a lot out there that tells you not to take rejections personally, but seriously?

These projects have taken months . . . years of our lives to complete. And have probably taken years off our lives just to get to this point!

Everyone deals with rejection differently and no matter how much we try to let it roll off our backs, the sting of it lingers.For me, I send off my queries, up to 5 at a time, and then just don't let myself think about it. It's a wonder what being distracted by your health, two small kids, a full time job, a monstrous reading list, and just the regular dealings of day-to-day life can do. And if a request comes up, Woohoo. If a rejection comes, well crap, but I can always drown myself in some Starbucks ice cream (my new fave!) and send out 5 more queries and try again!

So how do you deal with rejection? Some ice cream and more queries? A cup of tea and some agent research? Or how about 2K new words in your latest wip?

Query-tastic Contests!

Did you see it? Did you miss it? I surely hope you did not!

 

If you did miss it, head on over to Elana blog and check out her Query-TASTIC contest. This is running in conjunction with Shelli's contest over at Market My Words (deets on that one below also).

 

Elana's running this great contest and here are some of the awesome prizes she's got up for grabs:

• A query critique from one of 5 amazing agents!
• A copy of Elana's ebook - From the Query to the Call (which I can totally vouch for and say it's made of all things useful.)
• Or (a personal fave of mine as well) Super Sticky Post-It Notes

So hop on over there and get yourself entered!

Once you're done there, head on over to Shelli's blog and check out her contest. There's more to be won!

Shelli's offering up:

• A query critique from one of 3 awesome agents!
• Daily prizes throughout this Mardi Gras week
• And 2 grand prizes - 1 each for the agented and unagented author!

So go check out these contests and good luck to everyone!!

Recent Reads: From the Query to the Call

Book: From the Query to the Call by Elana Johnson
Book Count: 30

Last week I mentioned a new e-book coming out and I'd already received my preview copy, but I hadn't had a chance to read it yet. But I have now and it is available to everyone TODAY!!!

**UPDATE: Click >>>>HERE<<<< to go get your copy!**
Okay, so you've written a book. Maybe a couple. Or four or eight or thirty-two. But you've finally finished that one. The one you feel really has a chance at getting published. If only you could get it into the right hands. What now? What next? How do you even do that??

Well, here's some help!

Firstly, I have to be honest. I have a very short attention span when it comes to instructional "how-to" guides about anything besides home improvement projects or cooking (because I'm just that sad in the kitchen). So, at first, I wasn't sure what to expect. I mean, the title is pretty clear, but you just never know, right?

There are a lot of "how to get published" books out there. There probably is some valuable information in them too. Somewhere. You may need to don a wetsuit and oxygen tank before you dive in. No idea how long it could take to find what you're looking for.

I was concerned needlessly. Elana Johnson's e-book is 63 pages of valuable info that every aspiring author should read. It's what I think totally fits into the description of "Short, Sweet and Straight To The Point."

This is not a book about how to write a book. It is not a book about how to edit a book. It is about what to do after you've written your book, gone through 30 iterations of editing it and hashing it out with your beta readers / crit group(s), etc and have mentally and emotionally (to some degree anyway) braced yourself for the inevitable rejections that will come.

From the Query to the Call is just that. It takes you on a journey from writing a "Killer Query" through the what happens after you send it out, all the way through what happens when you get THE CALL!

Elana addresses questions with sound advice and real world examples. There are points made around what NOT to do when you get a rejection. What a simple cover letter responding to a request could be. Suggestions on what to do while you're waiting. And waiting. And waiting. And waiting.

Some of my fave parts:

• Interviews with agented authors.
• Tips on researching agents.
• Sample query letters. (A must read!)
• Links. Links. Links. **

**Because this is an e-book, there are links EVERYWHERE so you don't have to try to figure out which article Elana is referring to, or which blogs she referenced. Soooo helpful and such a time saver!

I have to be honest, this is the FIRST writer's guide-ish book I have ever FINISHED. And it was probably because the book is concise and written clearly with the end reader in mind. I was finished reading it before I even realized I was done and I've already been able to use it as a reference!

If you're an aspiring author sitting in that limbo of having just finished your wip and are now considering seeking representation, research is key. Take a look. Read a book. Might I suggest this one? And seriously, it's 63 pages of some of the best information that will take you From the Query to the Call.

Sorry, that last line is oozing of cheddar, but it made me giggle when I typed it. So I had to keep it. :D

Wowza!

So normally, Wednesday would mean that it is time for a wip update. But, yanno, I wasn't really feeling in the updatey mood. Could be because I feel like I've done NOTHING for the last week. We had too much family time over the weekend. Or maybe just because I have something MORE EXCITING to talk about than how many words I attempted to write. (The number is so pathetically low, I don't even want to get into finding an excuse.)

Anyway, many of you know my awesome friend ElanaJ. She's supportive to other writers, between her personal blog and the QueryTracker stuff she does, it seems Elana always has answers. And now behold: a bunch of those answers are coming in e-book form! W-O-W!

From the Query to the Call is an awesome resource on, well, everything from writing a fantabulous query to fielding all those calls from agents who are fighting to represent you (the situation we ALL want to be in!). The e-book will be available later this month, so keep an eye out! I'll have some more insight on the book later this week, but I wanted to make sure that if you didn't already know about it... you do NOW!

Oh, yeah. You can become a Facebook Fan of the book HERE.

SEPTEMBER 14, kids. Pick it up!

So Glad It's FRIDAY!!

I'm tired. And I feel like this has been, like, the LOOOOOOOOOONGEST. Week. Ever.

The 4-year old started preschool. She loves it. I mean LOVES it. So much so that when I dropped her off on her first day, I had to holler to her to come back and give me a kiss goodbye before she left for her day. Yeah, the kid is all about schoolish stuff - she totally got my bookworm-nerd genes.

With preschool comes 1 morning a week I drive car pool. After much shuffling, scuffling, rearranging and maneuvering, we have discovered 3 booster seats do not fit well in the back seat of my sedan. So now we need a new car. I haven't had a car payment in 7 years. Not looking forward to this.

Speaking of my car, the registration expires this month. For the first time EVER the husband was timely on and all safety and emissions stuff has been done (yesterday). All that's left is renewing online.

And remember, when we went out of town (who can forget the infamous Rest Stop adventure)? It was because the Husband and his brother had plans to do some serious vehicular improvements on his "Ladybug" - aptly named by the 4-year old. (I'll find a picture and it will explain everything, but not right now. I'm too tired right now.) Anyway, Husband LOVES this car. Anyway, on his way home after picking up Preschool & Toddler from daycare, he was rear-ended. SUCK. All the people are okay, but the car is injured, though still functional.

This takes us back to, oh, wouldn't it be nice to have a new car. *sigh*

Moving along, on the brighter side, I've been querying a bit on the DL. I like to think I have a pretty thick skin, but it is my own false self-assurance and I have decided I really don't. So here is my thoughts on queries and you can take it for what it's worth.

Rejection sucks.
Requests rock.
Waiting is akin to the 7th circle of Hades.

You can probably tell where I'm sitting.

Okay, well, sorry for the full o' venting post. Just had to ramble a bit to get stuff out of my system. But hey, it's Friday, right? So seriously, my weekend can only get better from here!

To Query or Not To Query (aka: 1st person POV vs 3rd person POV)

For the last several days, er, weeks is more like it, I have been working on my query letter. I've come to the decision that anyone can write a book. Whether it is a good book is another story, but lo, anyone can write a book. The kicker is, how good of a query letter writer are you?

Me? Well, this is my 2nd go around on the writing a query for a novel thing. My first query I don't think I put enough effort behind, I was possibly just too excited for the whole thought. Countless rejections later (actually 13 to be exact), I have found that perhaps I jumped the gun a bit in the beginning.

So now, new novel, new query. I'm currently on version 13 of this query. And I'm still not sure I feel "good." (Definition of "good" in this case is "like this is absolutely, positively the best query letter I've written for this novel.") Here is my dilemma: 1st person vs 3rd person.

When I started drafting letters, I wrote a query letter in 3rd person, as is customary. Feedback I received: it's a little weak (with suggestions on how to improve). I wrote a query letter in 1st person, despite reading a lot of advice against that. Feedback I received: stronger, "it had a voice" (still with suggestions on how to improve). The comment about it having a voice really stuck with me, because I know that is what a lot of agents look for.

In a fit of uncertainty, I posted a hybrid of my 1st/3rd person query here. The comments, though there were only 2 to date, have given me fantastic insight into how the query reads on both the 1st person POV and the 3rd person POV sections. (I have to say, the reference to Sarah Dessen is going into my scrapbook of feedback because I am a huge fan!)

So as the saying goes, I'm heading back to the drawing board, er, notepad and pen, er, computer keyboard. It's a lot easier to delete, cut & paste and it doesn't make my hand hurt as much.

What about you? Thoughts on 1st person vs 3rd person POV, in queries and in general?

Learning Lessons

Firstly, it's snowing. The weekend was close to 70 the whole time, and now it's snowing. Big. Fat. Stick to your face. Stick to the road. Stick everywhere. Flakes. I'm really tired of this. Spring, spring, where are you?

Because I have so much free time (yeah, right), S and I decided last night that he needs to work on taking more "people" pictures. He's much better at the nature pics, but that's not as good at generating funds as "people" pictures can be. But I'm much better at envisioning pictures, so as my third job, I'm taking on the position of art director. Hopefully this pans out well. We have our first "job" in a couple weeks.

On another note, there have been so much fodder going around about #queryfail on Twitter! Both negative and positive and if you don't know what #queryfail day was, check out this link to Colleen Lindsay's blog. Apparently, she's getting hate mail for it, but as a writer, I think it was really valuable, if a little snarky. But everyone's entitled, I think. I mean, who doesn't get a little snarky at work? Sometime's you just sit there and ask yourself, "seriously? so-and-so did not just do/say that. oh, seriously he/she did. OMG, I can't believe it." Well, if you can't learn from your mistakes. . . right? For me it gave me further insight into the world of the slush pile agents have to wade through, making me think that much harder about my own query. Just like everyone else, I don't want to #queryfail.

While some out there may see it as negativity and to a point, it may be, but is the glass half full, or half empty? It's all in how you see it. My glass is half full and I'm taking notes on what not to do. (From what I hear, following submissions guidelines is the way to go! LOL)

Happy snowy Monday!