Writing Effective Loglines and Pitches

One of the most important parts of selling your novel is creating an effective logline and pitch. Regardless of the fabulous epic novel you've written, filled with quirky characters, edge-of-your-seat action and riveting dialogue, the logline and pitch are the first thing any editor or agent will see to determine if your novel is something they wish to read. Therefore, they need several key elements that not only convey what the story is about, but also the tone of the story itself, distilled down to one or two sentences, in the case of the logline, and a couple of paragraphs for the pitch. I don't know about you, but this task, to me, may be even more daunting than the writing of the story itself.

Let's start with the logline. A logline gives a concise overview of the story without going into detail on characters or subplots, just the essential bones. For example, let's look at THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins. It's logline, taken from it's Copyright page, reads:

“In a future North America, where the rules of Panem maintain control though an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss’s skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister’s place.”

A strong logline will convey the following: WHO the story is about, a SETTING, if essential to the story, WHAT the protagonist wants and WHAT stands in his/her way. All of this is told without giving away the entire story. Think of it as the answer you'd provide when people ask you what your novel is about. Generally, it should be just one sentence, but more intricate storylines may use two. Use a really strong adjective or two when describing your main character (a geeky clarinet-playing seventeen-year-old, an overachiever, etc.) to help paint a bigger portrait of who the protagonist is. Also try and avoid putting "themes" or "messages" in your logline, as it may make the story immediately seem preachy or cliched.

The pitch lets you go into a little more detail. This is the information you would put into a query to agents, and ultimately what your agent would use to in turn pitch the story to editors. You have the ability to elaborate with a little more detail on the points you touched on in the logline, but again, be sure not to give away twists and turns or the ending. Otherwise it leaves the reader no need to read the story itself to find out what happens. Think of the pitch like reading the jacket flap on a book. It conveys an outline of the story with just enough detail to read you in but leave you hungry for more. It is important to include information about setting, genre, and what makes your book unique or stand out (i.e. not just another road trip novel or vampire story.) This is truly the place to let the tone of your book show and let the agent/editor get a feel for you as a writer. If your book is funny, the pitch better be too! Otherwise you are missing a golden opportunity to show the flavor of your book and your writing.

Good luck!

The Art of Letting Go

There is a famous quote by Reinhold Niebuhr that I try and live by daily. I'm sure you've heard it before: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

The agent search/publishing process falls neatly into the category of things we cannot change, nor have any real control over. Yes, we can tweak our query, revise our story, select who to approach, but the rest is all really up to the universe/fate/whatever. We can light candles, say prayers, do rain dances, and all sorts of other craziness (and, really, it probably can't hurt,) but at the end of the day, we can only do so much, and then it's simply time to let go.

Letting go of your work is probably the hardest challenge of all in the writing process. It's akin to the feeling you get in your gut as a parent when your child grows up and goes off to college or gets married and starts his/her own life. What happens to them from that point forward is out of your hands. So it is with your book. When you've done all you can do, and that book is in the hands of that agent, or that agent has sent that book out on submission, all you can do is wait. Nudging and pushing to find out the answer will more likely get you a no than a yes, and if it is meant to be, it WILL happen. And if it's not . . . it won't. It's that simple. Hard as it is to embrace that concept, it is essential in order to move forward as a writer. If you continue to focus solely on the project you are querying or are on submission with, you will never get to the task of writing your next book. Chances are, as your self-confidence naturally wavers and ebbs with the waiting and inevitable rejections that come, you will be less focused and less inclined to press ahead with new ideas.

The best thing you can do is to accept that whatever happens will happen, and start writing. Lose yourself in a new work, new characters, new world building. Use this time to catch up on reading and take workshops to hone your craft and meet people. These are all productive distractions, and ultimately, when that agent call comes, or that publisher wants to buy your book, you can let them know you are busy at work writing something else, or even better, have another completed work to share.

Checking your email 100 times a day and waiting by the phone will only make you crazy and unproductive. Accept the process, accept what you can do and know you've done all you can, and then let go. That's when stuff happens anyway, right? Just when we've given up, put it aside, and moved forward. Just as a watched pot never boils, it is no different with this process.

When is your novel ready to submit?

I am so happy for a writer friend of mine. She has been working on her novel for five years - yep! that's right - five years - and FINALLY got it to that sweet spot where she knew it was ready to start querying. She'd queried it before in another form and generated interest, even did a full rewrite for an agent at their request, only to have them pass. However, instead of that destroying her confidence, she dove back into the manuscript and kept what advice she found useful and brought it back to the story she wanted to tell, not the story somebody else was looking to hear.

Several years and many rewrites later, she sent out ten queries in her first week and instantly got three requests for the full from three top agents. This is the amazing stuff every writer wishes would happen to them. However, when you hear of someone's insta-success, or a huge amount of interest in their book straight out of the gate, there's usually a story behind it. There's usually years of hard work, agonizing rewrites, painful hours of cut and paste and spell check and tears, moments of wanting to give it up, moments of thinking it's there only to realize it's not. Sure, instant successes happen, but it's important to remember that nothing worth having in life comes without hard work. Writing is hard work, and although sometimes it's hard to keep the optimism level high and the words flowing, the only way to get your novel to where you want it to be is by doing the work.

So how do you know when it's done? The truth is - it's never done. There is always something, upon reflection, that you find that you wish you could tweak or change. For a novel to be ready, it must undergo many revisions. When I get feedback, I read it through and see if I honestly agree with it. If just one person says it, I mull it over and see if it feels right. However, if two or more people say it, I change it without hesitation. Then it's no longer a subjective thing; it's an identifiable problem.

If you send your book out in the world when the feedback coming back is still saying something needs attention in one way or another, you are only short-changing yourself opportunity. You only get to query an agent once with a project, unless they request changes or you've made a substantial revision and they initially expressed strong interest, in which case you can certainly contact them and see if they would be open and willing to reconsider your work.

When you feel your book is truly done, be honest with yourself. Are you just sick and tired of working on it and it is what it is? Have all previous concerns from feedback you've received been addressed? Were there things you received feedback on that you stubbornly refused to change, and if so, why? Are you just anxious to get it out there already? If your answer to any of these questions is yes, do yourself a favor - take a step back. Because guess what? Your novel probably isn't ready. And the beautiful thing is - at this stage in the game, time is on your side. There are no deadlines save the self-imposed ones. You have the luxury of being able to take all the time you need to make it right, and in the end, it will have been worth it.

Finding An Agent

You've written the book, you've spent hours perfecting your query and synopsis, and now the time has come to get your baby out into the world. Where do you start? There are, literally, hundreds of literary agents out there. How can you possibly know who they are, what they like, and which one would be the best fit for your work?

The best place to start is by making your own personal agent "wish list", i.e. what factors are the most important to you in a working relationship. Remember, your relationship with your agent is a partnership akin to a marriage. You have to be able to feel comfortable to approach them with questions and issues, there needs to be clear communication, and that person has to "get" you and your work. Are you more comfortable working with a man or a woman? Huge established agency or a smaller boutique agency with a smaller client list? A newer agent or someone who has more experience? Someone who communicates to you every step of the way or someone who just checks in when there's something important to say? Based in New York or based somewhere else? (By the way, the latter point does not seem to matter much these days with the advent of the internet, Skype and whatnot - they all are well connected to the primarily New York-based publishing houses.) Written contract or verbal agreement? Only you can answer these questions as to what works best for you, and will help you hone in on select people as you begin your search.

The next step is to become familiar with several key websites that are a tremendous asset in helping research what each agent is looking for. Hands down, the best one I've found is Literary Rambles, which is literally a one-stop shop for finding the low-down on some of the top agents in the business. The site has specific submission guidelines for each agent, their interests as far as requested materials, and an abundance of links to further research anyone who catches your eye. You can branch off and read interviews on blogs, or see their listings on Publishers Marketplace, and so on.

Also excellent are sites like AgentQuery.com, which allows you to perform searches in a specific genre and also has information like comments from other writers, response times and request percentages, contact information, and much more. This site will also tell you if the agent likes to see queries by email or snail mail.

There are also many invaluable blogs, which I have mentioned in previous posts, and books like Writers Market and Jeff Herman's Guide to Book Publishers, Editors and Literary Agents. These books are updated annually because editors and agents move around a lot, so it is always best to check the agency's website directly to make sure that particular agent is still there. Writer's Digest also has an online component with the most current listings if you purchase the deluxe edition. They also have a smaller resource guide that is specific just for literary agents, which can be found here.

Start small and send out queries to just a few at a time. Hopefully, someone bites with interest right away, but if not, you can take the feedback you get to help you tweak the query or hone your focus differently. For example,Agent A that works for mega-huge agency that you'd sell your first-born to work with may state specifically she loves paranormal and sci fi and you're sending her your contemporary romance. Show them you've done your homework. Know who they represent, especially if they rep writers similar to how you write.

And most of all, have patience. This process takes a loooooong time, unless you're one of the super lucky ones who gets an agent right out of the gate, but remember, they are the exception, not the rule, so don't feel like giving up if it doesn't happen on the timetable you've envisioned. Good luck!

Writing the Dreaded Query Letter

Just seeing the words 'Query Letter' give me an involuntary shudder. Admittedly, I hate them. How is it possible to take several hundred pages and sum them up succinctly, flavor them with the voice and tone of your story, and put them into one to two paragraphs to relay the entire essence of your book? And further, how do you pitch yourself as an author worth taking seriously when you do not have a long list of writing credits?

The truth is, I don't have the answer. I struggle with it myself. The best place to start is by reading other query letters. Very often, agents will offer up ones from their published clients that show what worked for them and why they were hooked. What do theirs have that yours don't?

One of the biggest mistakes that can be found in a query is that it is too wordy. I speak from personal experience. Back when I started querying my novel, before it was truly ready to be queried, I might add, my query was nothing short of an epic. Too much detail, too many character names - in short, it was utterly craptastic. That summer, I attended an amazing online writing conference called WriteOnCon, and they offered up a Query contest which was to be judged by agent Joanna Volpe of Nancy Coffey Literary. You can imagine how thrilled and excited I was that she chose mine as the first one to break down. (You can read her comments here.) Although it was unnerving to put myself out there like that and have all my newbie mistakes on display, Joanna gave me an incredible gift - she actually told me what I was doing wrong (and peppered it with what I was doing right, thankfully.) For must of us, we send our query out and when we get no response, we either tweak it or continue to send another round. I actually had new direction now, and from the comments, other writers were helped by it too because they had made similar mistakes. If you have the opportunity to enter your query in a contest, or get feedback from other writers on it, do so, preferably before you submit it to half of New York City. After making these changes, interest in my book jumped.

Shortly after, I befriended YA author Eileen Cook online, and in our banter, she was kind enough to offer to take a look at it for me and sent further comments and revisions my way, helping me turn it into the query it is today. Ever since that further change, the interest spiked again. It underscored the truth that a great, tight query is everything. You have an agent's attention for approximately 45 seconds or less. If you can't hook them and get that idea across, they are on to the next one. They literally get hundreds every week, so yours must stand out.

As for pitching yourself as a writer with limited credits, look into your history and see what parlays as experience. For me, I had a history in motion picture development as a reader, as well as writing Outreach materials for a PBS station in Seattle, specifically for a popular children's television show. I'd graduated from the Screenwriting program at UCLA extension, and of course, maintain this writing blog. Not as effective were the countless hours of my childhood spent in front of a typewriter fancying myself the next Judy Blume, or the meeting I got to have with the Editor-in-Chief of Putnam Publishing when I was thirteen based on a submission, or the interest I'd had from the Disney Channel in a script I'd written when I was a teenager. Nothing ever happened with those things, so they aren't useful, except to me to reassure myself that this has always been in my blood and been my passion for as long as I can remember. You don't need to spell out "I've never been published." Saying "This is my first novel" can be enough. But don't overdo it. Less is more.

For some great tips on query letter writing, check out YA author Elana Johnson's blog entry, and even better, her free eBook "From The Query To The Call." For an excellent list of 10 query no-no's, check out this link. AgentQuery.com has a great how-to list that gives you great structure and tips. Another great resource is The Writer's Digest Guide to Query Letters. A quick Google search will bring up countless more.

What are some great tips you use to make your query stand out? Good luck, and may the force be with you.

Got A Writing Question? Bet There's A Blog To Answer It!

I know . . . don't rupture an aorta from the shock of me putting up two blog posts in as many days, but this seemed like a good add-on to what I blogged about yesterday. I mentioned there are several fantastic writing blogs and websites out there that provide a plethora of informative, insightful and amazing advice. And best of all, you don't need to change out of those grungy sweats you wouldn't dare be caught dead in, nor abandon your favorite writing chair or let your morning coffee grow cold on the counter. You can garner all this info., free of charge, right from your computer. So sit down, get your mouse clicker finger ready, and be prepared to be enlightened.


GOT GRAMMAR ISSUES?
First off, does your grammar suck? Are you like me and abandoned your basic grammar skills after 10th grade, only to have that come back and bite you in the butt when you decided to become a writer? Well, guess what. Have I got a lifesaver site for you! http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/ Grammar Girl is my new best friend. Unfortunately, we can't go have a latte together now and again or paint each other's nails, but she does give me the skinny on what I'm doing wrong and how to fix it. You can even subscribe to her newsletter and get great grammar tips daily. Another great grammar site is http://grammar.net Grammar.Net has a lot of the same stuff as Grammar Girl, as well as a section where you can actually cut and paste chunks of text to analyze it for errors. It catches things even my Word Grammar checker did not. They also have a newsletter you can subscribe to, and I find the tips in it very helpful.

WONDER HOW TO WRITE A QUERY? OR *shudder* A SYNOPSIS? AND HOW THE HECK SHOULD I FORMAT THIS DOCUMENT?
Glad you asked! There are soooo many great blogs out there, many run by agents or writers, that give the insider scoop on the way things should be done. Some will give you examples of great query letters, formatting tips, do's and dont's, and answers to just about every publishing question you can think of. Here are some of the best ones I've found:

http://nathanbransford.com
Nathan Bransford is an ex-agent from Curtis Brown, Ltd., who is now a self-described publishing civilian working in the tech industry. He is also an author, and holds my current personal record for fastest rejection ever - a mere 43 minutes from query to pass, but I still love his blog anyway. To me, he is THE go-to source if I want answers.

http://kidlit.com
Mary Kole from the Andrea Brown Literary Agency also provides an incredibly insightful blog, including resources for writers and information about upcoming events and conferences. Mary is a highly respected agent, a YA and middle grade author, has a strong web presence, and knows her stuff. She encourages readers to send her questions directly that she can address on the site. You can get lost for hours on there.

http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents
Chuck Sambuchino's Guide To Literary Agents blog features fantastic articles and interviews, as well as a platform for writers to share with other writers how they got their agents. He spotlights new agents, providing a great opportunity to approach someone new. You can spend hours going through the back archives and garnering great insight from industry professionals.

http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/
Jessica Faust at BookEnds LLC has probably answered more "when in doubt" questions for me than she knows. There are so many great entries here. The information is shared with humor and heart.

www.rachellegardner.com
Rachelle Garner at WordServe Literary also has an amazing blog. Her information is spot-on, short and to-the-point. QueryTracker often includes links to her blog. She talks about everything from author platforms to query advice and beyond.

/www.greenhouseliterary.com/index.php/site/sarahs_blog
Sarah Davies at Greenhouse Literary offers up a wealth of advice on every topic under the sun. She is honest and forthright, and tells it like it is. She has a great sense of humor and I guarantee if you follow her tips, you will improve your writing.

http://jennybent.blogspot.com
Jenny Bent of the Bent Agency has a fantastic blog called Bent on Books. In fact, I was once writing back and forth with one of her clients and he told me, as I was describing my time in the trenches of query hell, to check out her blog, that it was one of the best he'd seen. I agree. She makes you laugh and offers up gems that are invaluable.


This is just a small sampling of what's out there, and should keep you busy for a while. There are also countless blogs written by authors from every genre, and often they will have links to other blogs you may enjoy in the same vein. We are fortunate to live in a time where so much knowledge is available to us with a simple click. Take advantage of it. And keep on writing!!!

What I've Learned Thus Far

So, here I am, two years in to this journey, and I do feel slightly farther down the path than when I started. Although I still have not found that perfect agent, nor had the thrill of holding my published book in my hand, I have learned so much, and in the end, it can only stand to make me a stronger, better writer.
JUST BECAUSE YOU'VE FOUND THE PERFECT AGENT DOESN'T MEAN THEY'RE PERFECT FOR YOU These past few weeks, a couple of friends of mine have taught me a lot about the realities of having an agent. When we're new, we query everyone we can in the hopes that someone will bite. Admittedly, we are just so excited to see our words in print and our dream realized that we are not truly as selective as we should be. Finding the perfect agent has been likened to a marriage - you want to be in this relationship a long time, so you should be able to look at the world the same way, to communicate effectively, to get along well and mutually get what you need from one another. You would not pick a guy to date simply because he's the next guy to walk through the door, so why should you pick an agent simply because they are the next name on the list? Take the time to research them, to know what kinds of books they like, to hear feedback on their personalities and the ways they communicate (or don't), and assess if they would truly be the right fit for you. THEN query. And what if you find your dream agent and they don't want YOU? That's the part that's the toughest of all - to remember that it may not be THIS project that brings you together, and that you must keep writing, and with each book comes a new opportunity to connect.
YOU MUST KEEP WRITING It's hard to let go of a project, or put it on the shelf, when you've invested so much time and energy into it. But sometimes it's necessary. The reality is, if you do not keep writing and have something new, when you get "the call," an agent is going to know what else you've got and if you have nothing, that may not be what they're okay with hearing. After all, at the end of the day, publishing is a business, and they can't make money if they don't have a project to sell. Nor can you. So, although some days I just want to dive in and re-tweak just one more scene, or just query, or not write at all, I remind myself of the harsh reality that THIS book may or may not be the one, and I need to keep moving. I currently have two books I'm working on, and we'll see which one makes it to the finish line first.
IT'S IMPORTANT TO SURROUND YOURSELF WITH WRITERS I cannot stress enough the importance of having writer friends and surrounding yourself with them, whether in person at the local coffee shop to write together, at a conference, or online in forums, on blogs, or any other social media site. We are a strange breed, and can understand each other and it often helps to have that extra boost of support when we need it most. They are a wonderful resource to find out about upcoming events, promotion of your work when it's ready, information about agents, publishers, and the industry in general. And when you're talking about writing or sitting and actually doing it together, you're much more likely to feel inspired and keep on keeping on. Writing is a solitary business, and it's easy to let the self-doubt creep in, especially in an industry where things move at a snail's pace and you might not hear a peep for months.
WRITE WHAT YOU LOVE If you write what you love, chances are, it will show in your writing. There is something authentic and true that shines through when a writer is passionate about their subject matter. Although I enjoy reading a well-written paranormal now and then, I write (and love) contemporary romantic/humorous YA. I like characters I can relate to, situations that I may have been in or would love to be in, young romance that makes me swoon like I was sixteen years old all over again. For many teens, a good book is an escape, and if I can make someone laugh or look at their world in a different way, I have done all I set out to do as a writer. I know where my strengths are. That said, it's not that I don't advocate moving out of your comfort zone to challenge yourself by writing something that isn't your norm - I think that's a GREAT exercise to do - but write for YOU. Write what you love. Don't worry about getting agented and getting published for now, or what the latest trends are and how to meet them. Like fashion, everything comes around again in its own time, so write what moves you.
DON'T GIVE UP One of my most prized possessions is the signed title page from Laurie Halse Anderson's novel TWISTED. Laurie did a one-on-one critique for me at the SCBWI LA conference, and she told me she absolutely loved my book and I should have no problem selling it. She told me I'd nailed the voice and the writing was nearly flawless. I laughed and told her from her mouth to an agent's ears. She made me promise I would never give up, that I clearly had talent as a writer and must remember this is a process, and a long one at that. And she signed her book for me "To Robin: Who is not allowed to stop writing Love, Laurie". Every time I feel that niggling self-doubt filling up the silence and the dead space, every time I stare at that blinking cursor and wonder what the heck I'm going to write next, every time I stare at that inbox longingly in the hopes it will light up with great news, I think about that. It may well be one of the greatest gifts anyone has unknowingly given me in my lifetime, and it is truly then that I realize how subjective it all is and press on.

Me with Laurie Halse Anderson, amazing writer and fellow band Mom, who continues to inspire me daily.

My summer vacation...writer style

Although my summer has been deprived of writerly events thus far like ALA and ComiCon, I have been able to live vicariously through the blogs of fellow writer friends who were there, and am excited for SCBWI LA, which is right around the corner. That event changed my life last year, introducing me to wonderful people and instilling me with confidence and strength I didn't even know I had to press forward and pursue this crazy dream.

I have spent this summer tweaking, revising, querying like a madwoman, working on not one but two WIP, and above all, reading. I have probably read close to 75 YA novels this summer, and while part of it was just to know what is popular, what is getting published and why, it has been the best education in writing I could ever hope for. There is much to be learned from both good AND bad writing. When I read, I will often sit there with spiral notebook and pen in hand, scribbling down passages where the author described something so perfectly, or wrote a witty comment that made me snort out loud. When I see how someone does something well, when faced with a similar situation in my writing, I can refer back to that and see how to incorporate those descriptions and word choices into my own to make it stronger. One of the biggest things I've learned is about showing, not just telling. Writing a line of dialogue followed by "he said" is far less effective than writing the line of dialogue preceeded or followed by a description of the expression on the character's face or what was in his/her head at the moment. The reader can still tell who is doing the talking but they are drawn deeper into the story and the emotions of the moment by this one small change. (Thank you Stephanie Perkins, especially, for that one!)

The agent search still continues, and this summer has shown a flurry of interest, which has been equally exciting and nerve-wracking. It's hard to keep in perspective sometimes just how long this road is, and that you need to keep the three P's in mind: Positivity, Persistence and Patience. I think the last one might be the hardest for me. I'm from a long line of impatient women. :)

Summer is winding down, and soon my kids will be back at school and quiet will return again, restoring my house to my writing sanctuary where I can blast my playlist and write uninterrupted by the strains of Disney Channel or Xbox or making lunches. I'm trying to savor the moments in between with my kids, because truly I learn so much from them and infuse it into my writing as well. They are ten and almost sixteen, and I am blessed with the rich opportunity of being able to re-live those ages again daily through their stories and experiences (minus the acne and the bitchy girls).

I am savoring every minute of the journey, and eagerly await the next chapter.

Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans....

So it's been forever and then some since I've updated this blog. In that time, I revised the novel completely and then re-entered query hell. I tried to embrace it as a process rather than something to be dreaded or feared. This was an essential step - putting the book (and myself) out there, knowing that just as in life, some people would think it's terrific and want to hang out more and others would decide it's not for them and move on. I keep reminding myself that I have yet to meet an author who wasn't rejected hundreds of times before landing their agent or their first book deal, and this is part of the journey.

And at the end of the day, all it takes is one yes.

And then, a blip occurred. I lost a close friend of mine, and suddenly my proverbial snow globe was shaken up. I couldn't even begin to think about querying, let alone working on the new novel I'd started, and with each passing day, I lost the resolve I'd worked so hard to build.

Then, a light bulb went off.

It's okay. It's important to take time to grieve, to take in all these feelings, to fully feel this experience, and somehow know that one day, this will be useful. Because the truth is, we write best what we know. And as painful as this experience has been, it can only ultimately add depth to my writing, to make it more authentic, and provide me with yet another topic which I can write about with authority and honesty. I'd rather it wasn't in my list of life experiences, granted, but I knew that I was starting to feel better when suddenly what I was feeling was also sparking ideas of how to exorcise that pain through my writing. The story is not fully formed, but it lays in it's embryonic state, waiting to be fleshed out when I am ready. I know that there will be healing in writing it, and ultimately, it too may move or touch someone.

It's hard not to feel discouraged when you're on a linear path pursuing what you want and life throws you detours and roadblocks, but the most important thing is to realize that sometimes your story can actually lie in the detours and roadblocks even more than on the path you originally envisioned. Be open to the world around you and take in your experiences, big and small. You never know where your story lives and only you can tell it.

The Highs and Lows of Rejection

Summer is over, the kids are back to school, and once again my house is filled with the sweet sounds of silence that mean only one thing - time to get writing again. Mug of coffee at the ready, check. High carb salty snacks with a chocolate chaser. Check. Inspiration and motivation. Now where'd I put that again?

This is an interesting part of the journey for me. I started writing Band Geek a year ago at this time, and every day the words flowed as if channeled from somewhere else. No writer's block. I felt certain when I started writing again, this book would come the same way, but no, apparently not. Instead, two stories showed up, each fighting for my attention, one middle grade and one YA. I started one, then flip-flopped to the other. Now I'm writing both simultaneously, and trying to maintain my sanity while awaiting the response to my partial and full requests that are dangling out there. It's daunting to start a new project without the first one having been sold, let alone agented. It eats at my resolve, especially each time my inbox lights up with another rejection, and I have to remember, this is part of the process. I can do this.

At first, the rejections felt personal - how could they not? I tried to remind myself that writing is subjective, and just as I do not fall in love with every movie or book that critics love, so will it be the same for my own work, but I have to have faith that one day, someone will read it and connect. Instead of making a bonfire with rejection e-mails and toasting marshmallows and throwing myself a pity party, I realized that maybe these rejections were actually doing me a huge favor. Maybe they were forcing me to take a step back and put some time and distance between me and my book and let me come at it anew with fresh eyes and a list of comments and suggestions from those few agents and fellow writers who had graciously taken the time to offer them up.

Recently, I went to a meeting of my local SCBWI chapter, and one of the authors there said that "Your book is never done. Even when it's published, it's never perfect. You can always find things you want to go back and change." True that. Just because my book is "done" doesn't mean it's ever really "done". If an agent falls in love with it, chances are they will have a take on what they feel it needs to make it even better, and the publisher will have an even bigger list. In many ways, rejection almost has more value than praise for a writer. I think it makes us BETTER writers. Sure, it feels good for someone to say your work is wonderful, don't get me wrong, but when someone really takes the time to tell you what DOESN'T work, that is actually the greatest gift of all. It gives us the building blocks to rework our stories in ways that can serve to make them stronger that we may be too close to the work to see.

I'm thankful for each and every person that has had the courage along the way to be honest and take time out of their busy lives to help me make my work the best it can be. The old saying goes "That which doesn't kill us only serves to make us stronger." Well, I'm still alive and kicking, and though I may be down for the count momentarily each time a new "no" comes, I know if this is what I want, if this is what I'm passionate about, if this is what I MUST do, then I always have to get back up again.


So don't give up. Keep writing. Keep moving forward. There are many stories within each of us.

My first SCBWI conference...a.k.a. What It Felt Like To Be A Real Writer For 48 Hours

It's been awhile since I've posted as summer has hit and I've been in mommy mode rather than up to my neck in query letters and writing and revising (and revising again) the synopsis and the novel. At this moment, I am entering week 8 of a 6-8 week window of hearing back from an agent who has my full manuscript, and got to meet him at my first SCBWI conference and told him "Dude, you owe me a manicure - I've bitten off all my fingernails," which, thankfully, made him laugh.

The SCBWI conference was amazing. I met so many incredible authors doing exactly what I want to do, and hearing their individual stories of the road to get where they are today echoed my own, which gave me lots of hope. I attended some amazing panels and breakout sessions led by bestselling YA authors and top agents, and garnered information that was invaluable and I will put to use every time I sit down in front of my computer to write for the rest of my life. But most of all...for 48 hours...I felt like a real writer. I cannot recommend this experience enough to any writer at any stage of their career. The people I met were so welcoming, despite the fact that they were all published and enjoying their respective successes. They were absolute cheerleaders for where I was at, having been there not so long ago themselves. A couple offered up referrals to their agents, which can make all the difference in the world for getting one's foot in the proverbial door. The key to any real success, the kind that really matters and makes you well respected within your community of peers, is remembering the importance of paying it forward. Sitting amongst a sea of 1100+ people, all doing or wanting to do exactly what I've wanted to do all my life, I felt exhilarated, inspired and all the more motivated to thicken my skin and press on, because if they can do it, why can't I?

I woke up today and sent out six more query letters (and got one rejection back right off the top but that's okay!) I realized I can't just sit around waiting for things to unfold, I have to press on and be proactive, and much like throwing pasta against the wall, eventually something is bound to stick.

Now my mind is swirling with ideas for the next book. Originally I intended to write a YA romance/road trip book but now my mind is buzzing with ideas for a middle grade story, as that seems to be the newest trend the marketplace is hungry for. That said, I'm not one who ever really wants to chase trends - I write because I can't not write. I write the stories I want to read, the kind of stories I loved as a kid about real kids in contemporary settings that I could relate to, that made me laugh, that made me root for them, that gave me hope. When I wrote as a kid, I never wrote for others - I wrote for myself, and the words flowed. It's tempting to write for others - but at the end of the day, I think we need to write for ourselves, the stories we NEED to tell and want to tell, because that authentic voice will shine through.

The waiting is the hardest part

5/24/10

Hi everyone! I decided to join this century and set up my own blog to help chronicle my road to publication (positive thinking!), discuss great new books I've been reading, music I can't stop listening to, links to writing tips and websites I think are invaluable for the writing process, and most of all, a place to vent! Welcome!

So as anyone who has known me for a while can tell you, I've wanted to write since I'm about three. At 13, I wrote a novel that I submitted to the then editor-in-chief of the children's division at Putnam Publishing Comapny, and that got me a meeting with her in New York. I remember walking into the marbled and esteemed lobby of this incredible place with my mom, thinking myself very dressed up in a tan blazer and pleated cords, overwhelmed by just how much I wanted to be a part of the writing world. The editor told me I was not quite ready for publication but handed me a stack of books by writers whom she said wrote in a similar style to myself, and suggested I read them and study for them, and above all else, keep writing and feel free to send her anything I wrote without even a query from that point on. Naturally, at that point I was a teenager, and shortly thereafter became more interested in boys and a social life than writing, so I sadly let this opportunity slip away. The dream of being a writer, however, remained a constant. It was just simply...dormant.

I wrote here and there over the years, went through the UCLA Screenwriting program and completed a screenplay, but when I finished it, I was nearly nine months pregnant with my daughter Katie, so I opted not to shop it around, and then once again, life had other plans and I devoted myself to being a full-time stay-at-home-mom. However, I turned 40 last year and it was like something hit me hard. It was time. This could no longer be back-burnered. It was time to stop dreaming about being a writer and do the work. A famous writer friend of my parents once said that "You're not a writer unless you're writing." I didn't like that answer, and so it helped to propel me forth and face my biggest fear in the whole process - rejection.

I started writing "BAND GEEK" in the fall of 2008. I wrote the first 11 pages and put it away. I took it out again in the fall of 2009 and committed myself to a writing routine of writing Monday through Thursday from 8:45-1 while the kids were in school. It worked. I completed the novel in seven months, and honestly, I never once experienced a day of writer's block. The words just flowed. I think part of the reason was because I'd never had a story idea delivered to me in one piece like this before - characters so clearly developed, a unique hook and an ending. Ironically, as I wrote the book, the ending changed, and I hope the one I came up with will satisfy the reader far more.

I started making revisions, passed it around for feedback, and when I felt it was tight and solid, began working on the dreaded query letter. Oh. My. God!!!! Writing that was waaaaay harder than writing the actual book. It was so incredibly daunting to boil down 303 pages to two paragraphs and include all the key details, let alone figure out how to format in Apple Mail from a Microsoft Word document, which apparently remains one of life's greatest mysteries along with where the other missing sock went , so I'm in good company. And then...the synopsis!!!! Hang me from the tallest tree right now. That was even worse!! And the most frustrating part is...these two documents, which barely capture the flavor and voice of the book enough to do it justice, are what will win over an agent and/or an editor. I've got basically 45 seconds to wow them and then they turn off my spotlight.

I got my first rejection a record 43 minutes after I sent the first query (thank you Nathan Bransford!! I still think your blog is awesome!!!) and several others followed suit ranging in response time from hours to weeks to the dreaded not at all. And so...I wait. I continue to query, I sit on my hands, I bite my nails to the quick, and I hope beyond hope that my chance will come, that someone will believe in what I wrote and think it's fantastic. At least, someone that isn't a blood relative