In an age when everyone seems to be pinching pennies and a dollar doesn't buy what it used to anymore, reading about Audrey Niffenegger's nearly $5M, yes that's right, I said million, deal for her 2nd novel gives me hope.
As a writer, honestly, it isn't about the money. I do it because I love it. Because it gives me an escape into a world that (for now) is all my own. No one else lives there and I can get absorbed into the lives of my characters as they show me their stories. My only job is to capture everything I can as I see their lives unfold before me.
As a "pre-published" writer (you know, like pre-med student?), it gives me hope that there's a chance, however slim, that one can still make a living as a writer. Recently I've read a few agent blogs providing some general advice for the "pre-published" population and there were some really valid points they made. The one that has stuck with me the most is basically summed up as "Don't quit your day job." When I first read this it made me a little sad, because really, I'd love to just be able to write all the time, but for now, that's a bit unrealistic. And then when I read that same piece of advice on another agent's blog, well, I started thinking about it and it really does make a lot of sense. Nothing's guaranteed, right?
No one can truly know what's going to happen beyond right now (except maybe psychics, but they creep me out a little), so I guess following the old adage would be ideal: hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Do everything you can to help yourself succeed, but at some point, you have to let go and let the chips land where they may. Hopefully they land in the good places, the ones you wanted them to land in and maybe a few places you never even realized were there.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
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!
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!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Britney vs. Taylor
I have a confession. I LOVE Britney Spears (before and after the crazy period), but I really do. And the Backstreet Boys - the collective 5, I'm a little uncertain of the foursome still. And NSYNC. I'm a boy band, pop music junkie. That's not to say that I don't love a lot of other music too, but this morning they were talking about Britney's tour opening in New Orleans and even though everyone knows she lip syncs on stage, and honestly, who can blame the girl when she's dancing her little heart out?, she put on a phenomenal show and now I'm sad that I'm not going to her concert here. *sigh*
On a lighter note, the reason I can't go to see Britney is because my husband made me choose. Go see Britney (a less than PG rated show, I'm sure) or take our 3-yr old (P) to go see Taylor Swift, who all of us LOVE. Well, in an effort to be a good mom, I put my wants aside and am now waiting patiently (not really, I've been checking almost every day) for the Taylor Swift concert tickets to go on sale for her show here. Silver lining? The Taylor Swift tickets are about 1/3 the cost of the Britney show.
I love both, but I don't think P's old enough to truly appreciate Britney yet. I think her father hopes she never really does.
On a lighter note, the reason I can't go to see Britney is because my husband made me choose. Go see Britney (a less than PG rated show, I'm sure) or take our 3-yr old (P) to go see Taylor Swift, who all of us LOVE. Well, in an effort to be a good mom, I put my wants aside and am now waiting patiently (not really, I've been checking almost every day) for the Taylor Swift concert tickets to go on sale for her show here. Silver lining? The Taylor Swift tickets are about 1/3 the cost of the Britney show.
I love both, but I don't think P's old enough to truly appreciate Britney yet. I think her father hopes she never really does.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Great Deals
The weather over the weekend was much better than I expected. We even took the kids out, had family Costco day and got some errands done. It was good times. And can I just say, I LOVE that Costco carries the baby's formula in the gigantor containers? Much more cost effective. Plus, you can't beat the $1.50 hot dog and soda for lunch. Feed the whole family for under $5! Great deal in this economy.
Speaking of great deals in this economy: free critiques. I posted the link to my chapter ending and though I didn't get as many critiques as I would have liked, the ones I did get were great. Some really positive feedback (which always makes you feel better when you put yourself out there) and some great catches I didn't even notice in my self editing. I've been working through the edits based on the feedback and feel a lot better about my manuscript as a whole.
Thanks to everyone who provided me with feedback!
Speaking of great deals in this economy: free critiques. I posted the link to my chapter ending and though I didn't get as many critiques as I would have liked, the ones I did get were great. Some really positive feedback (which always makes you feel better when you put yourself out there) and some great catches I didn't even notice in my self editing. I've been working through the edits based on the feedback and feel a lot better about my manuscript as a whole.
Thanks to everyone who provided me with feedback!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Comments Welcome
We've had temperatures around 50 all week and today? Well, it's snowing. Not just the tiny flurries, either. These are big, fat flakes that look all nice and fluffy until you have to drive in it! As long as it's been since we've had a good snowfall, I think everyone's forgotten how to drive - again. The traffic report on the way in this morning sounded terrible. Accidents and slide offs. Come on, people. You live in Utah, driving in the snow should be in your blood! Okay. Enough griping, moving on.
I've been really hesitant, I mean, really really hesitant, to put much of my writing out there. It's just so personal and there's the fear of someone making a critique and my taking it too personally. But I did it! As part of a "Drop the Needle" critique opportunity on Miss Snark's First Victim blog I just made the cut off! The theme? Chapter endings. The rules? 250 words. Let me tell you, identifying that last 250 words at the end of a chapter in a manuscript closer to 85,000 words is no easy thing. So if you're interested, here is my submission: Just Maybe. Comments welcome.
They just said the snow should stop soon and it could get up to 40 before the end of the day! Hooray! And sunny by Sunday? Maybe the weekend won't be a total wash!
Have a great weekend!
I've been really hesitant, I mean, really really hesitant, to put much of my writing out there. It's just so personal and there's the fear of someone making a critique and my taking it too personally. But I did it! As part of a "Drop the Needle" critique opportunity on Miss Snark's First Victim blog I just made the cut off! The theme? Chapter endings. The rules? 250 words. Let me tell you, identifying that last 250 words at the end of a chapter in a manuscript closer to 85,000 words is no easy thing. So if you're interested, here is my submission: Just Maybe. Comments welcome.
They just said the snow should stop soon and it could get up to 40 before the end of the day! Hooray! And sunny by Sunday? Maybe the weekend won't be a total wash!
Have a great weekend!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Disclaimer
My third manuscript has been completed for a little while now. I let it sit and stew for a while before going back to do my edits and am working through that right now, but as such, I've also done a couple drafts of my query. I've had a few people read through my query, mostly just to get some general "would you read this if you didn't know me" feedback. My husband has said that isn't really a fair statement to add to my favor-asking because these people can't help taking into account that they know me. But still.
Overall, I received some great feedback and I've made some edits to my query and have since moved into the letting it stew for a few days period before I go back to edit some more. Before I do that, though, I had to share the reply to my query from one reader who shall remain nameless. I actually received 2 versions of the disclaimer, as I couldn't read the first one right away and reader decided that they needed to go back and "edit" their reply to me before sending it to me again as there were grammatical errors. Regardless, if you know who reader-who-shall-remain-nameless is, you will probably laugh as hard as I did. If not, well, it's still pretty funny.
So here I present reader-who-shall-remain-nameless's disclaimer version 2.0:
although i am not a writer nor read an absurd amount of books...in fact I'd say very little (2-3 books a year is about right), the options expressed are not in any way made through years of study, but rather from personal experiences and being an editor for a biweekly health article published at the U. I'm a biology major and all i have are experience points (which mean nothing). however, below are my thoughts on your query and I hope they help in provoking though. i did use "i think..." a lot and i'm well aware of my poor grammar, just so you know this is coming from a credential-less person. So please take this with with a grain of salt and let me know if i'm completely out-of-line or wrong. =) as i can give it, i can also take it (talking about criticism...not to be misunderstood as a statement of my sexuality...lol jk!).
Overall, I received some great feedback and I've made some edits to my query and have since moved into the letting it stew for a few days period before I go back to edit some more. Before I do that, though, I had to share the reply to my query from one reader who shall remain nameless. I actually received 2 versions of the disclaimer, as I couldn't read the first one right away and reader decided that they needed to go back and "edit" their reply to me before sending it to me again as there were grammatical errors. Regardless, if you know who reader-who-shall-remain-nameless is, you will probably laugh as hard as I did. If not, well, it's still pretty funny.
So here I present reader-who-shall-remain-nameless's disclaimer version 2.0:
although i am not a writer nor read an absurd amount of books...in fact I'd say very little (2-3 books a year is about right), the options expressed are not in any way made through years of study, but rather from personal experiences and being an editor for a biweekly health article published at the U. I'm a biology major and all i have are experience points (which mean nothing). however, below are my thoughts on your query and I hope they help in provoking though. i did use "i think..." a lot and i'm well aware of my poor grammar, just so you know this is coming from a credential-less person. So please take this with with a grain of salt and let me know if i'm completely out-of-line or wrong. =) as i can give it, i can also take it (talking about criticism...not to be misunderstood as a statement of my sexuality...lol jk!).
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