Hey,
I finally have my wordpress blog up and am moving over today. I've posted a link to my new blog and can't wait for you to join me on Thursday's for Journey of Redemption and on Sunday's for Six Sentence Sunday. Thanks! http://melyndaprice.wordpress.com
Monday, July 18, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
YA Today
"What is a chode?" I asked my sixteen year old daughter, when I heard her and her friend laughing at the new nickname they'd recently given one of their male friends. When she told me, I was honestly a little surprised. Mostly because she actually knew what a chode was, and then I felt another grey hair spring forth. Am I really that old?
Writing a YA series has been a great experience, but it had also been challenging to walk the line of what's appealing without crossing over into adult. I've read many YA paranormal romance and some authors are better at it than others. This day and age, the YA audience could probably teach me a thing or two, so I'm not as worried about writing conservatively as I am about writing a great story, with real dialogue and tension.
My goal is that the YA audience will identify with my characters. They're not perfect, and they make mistakes. But one message comes through in this story, and that's forgiveness.
Writing a YA series has been a great experience, but it had also been challenging to walk the line of what's appealing without crossing over into adult. I've read many YA paranormal romance and some authors are better at it than others. This day and age, the YA audience could probably teach me a thing or two, so I'm not as worried about writing conservatively as I am about writing a great story, with real dialogue and tension.
My goal is that the YA audience will identify with my characters. They're not perfect, and they make mistakes. But one message comes through in this story, and that's forgiveness.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
It Only Takes One "Yes"
"It only takes one yes." This is the advice a fellow writer and good friend of mine told me recently, and she's right. It does only take one "yes" to make your dreams come true. But its finding that "yes" that's the challenge. I enjoy hearing stories from other authors sharing how they got their big break, but as much as I enjoy hearing of their success, I just as much enjoy hearing about their failures. No, I'm not sadistic, although misery does love company, but I believe there is a lot to be learned in those rejections.
If you're lucky, a rejection with an explanation will at least give you something to work with. But even deeper than that, rejection teaches us patience, and perseverance, while developing growth and character. It's easy to quit, easy to give up, but it takes strength and courage to repeatedly put yourself out there, hoping to catch that one "yes". You pray that your work will find its way into the right hands, of the right literary agent, who's in the right mood, at the right time.
I have researched several literary agents and made a list of my top ten. Who knows how many I'll have to query. So far, I've only sent Redemption in to my first choice. It can take up to 8 weeks to hear back, so again, patience... There are many, many agents out there. So many, that it's hard to decide who to query sometimes. Two of the very best websites I have found are AgentQuery.com and Karen Fox's list of literary agents.
The things I looked for in compiling my list of agents were: Who's represented books similar in genre to mine. Who has experience working with the publishing companies I'd like to publish through. Who has a reputation of being efficient and reliable. P&E (Preditors and Editors) recommendations are listed on Karen Fox's website, and I also found that extremely helpful in my research.
I hope this has been helpful in your own search for a literary agent. Just remember, it only takes one "yes" :) Have a great week!
If you're lucky, a rejection with an explanation will at least give you something to work with. But even deeper than that, rejection teaches us patience, and perseverance, while developing growth and character. It's easy to quit, easy to give up, but it takes strength and courage to repeatedly put yourself out there, hoping to catch that one "yes". You pray that your work will find its way into the right hands, of the right literary agent, who's in the right mood, at the right time.
I have researched several literary agents and made a list of my top ten. Who knows how many I'll have to query. So far, I've only sent Redemption in to my first choice. It can take up to 8 weeks to hear back, so again, patience... There are many, many agents out there. So many, that it's hard to decide who to query sometimes. Two of the very best websites I have found are AgentQuery.com and Karen Fox's list of literary agents.
The things I looked for in compiling my list of agents were: Who's represented books similar in genre to mine. Who has experience working with the publishing companies I'd like to publish through. Who has a reputation of being efficient and reliable. P&E (Preditors and Editors) recommendations are listed on Karen Fox's website, and I also found that extremely helpful in my research.
I hope this has been helpful in your own search for a literary agent. Just remember, it only takes one "yes" :) Have a great week!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Query Letters- Yikes!!
Okay, this was painful, and I don't mean your average, run of the mill, paper-cut painful. We're talking severed limb here. Writing a query letter, a more difficult task than writing the book, at least in my opinion. I searched google for advice on writing the dreaded thing, and found a ton of information. Unfortunately, I also discovered in pretty short order that everyone's an expert, and for every "helpful tip", I found two to contradict it.
So, how did I write this stellar query letter you may ask? With a lot of blood, sweat, and tears and about ten revisions. But I learned a lot along the way, and this is what I believe to hold true: Keep it short, concise, and professional. Address it and format it like a business letter, even if it's an email. Introduce your book, and include genre, and word count in the first paragraph. In the second paragraph, provide the hook/short synopsis for your novel. In the third paragraph, sell yourself. Mention any previous publication, awards, memberships, etc. In the last paragraph, thank them for their time and consideration and it always helps to include why you think they would be a good fit to represent or publish your book.
I read several query samples online and found the following sites to be particularly helpful:
Sample Query Letter .pdf I found this sample to be the best and most helpful.
Charolette Dillon There are a lot of good resources available here.
Nathan Bransford This is great advice from a literary agent's perspective.
I had a question last week about writing in deep POV. Here are some helpful links that do a great job of describing deep POV with examples.
Deep POV Daily Writing Tips
WOW- Deep POV
RWA-Deep POV
I hope this is helpful :) Have a great week!
So, how did I write this stellar query letter you may ask? With a lot of blood, sweat, and tears and about ten revisions. But I learned a lot along the way, and this is what I believe to hold true: Keep it short, concise, and professional. Address it and format it like a business letter, even if it's an email. Introduce your book, and include genre, and word count in the first paragraph. In the second paragraph, provide the hook/short synopsis for your novel. In the third paragraph, sell yourself. Mention any previous publication, awards, memberships, etc. In the last paragraph, thank them for their time and consideration and it always helps to include why you think they would be a good fit to represent or publish your book.
I read several query samples online and found the following sites to be particularly helpful:
Sample Query Letter .pdf I found this sample to be the best and most helpful.
Charolette Dillon There are a lot of good resources available here.
Nathan Bransford This is great advice from a literary agent's perspective.
I had a question last week about writing in deep POV. Here are some helpful links that do a great job of describing deep POV with examples.
Deep POV Daily Writing Tips
WOW- Deep POV
RWA-Deep POV
I hope this is helpful :) Have a great week!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Polish It Until It Shines
I read the first three chapters of Redemption and tried to look at it with a fresh eye. I pictured myself being the overwhelmed literary agent with hundreds of queries, just looking for a reason to hit delete and flush my dreams down the toilet. I analyzed every sentence, every word, and then I became nauseous.
After taking a Zofran and chasing it with a glass of wine, I contacted three of my friends, who are amazing writers, and put their critical eyes to the beat up, overworked, pages of Redemption. The main things I wanted them to look for were consistency. Do my characters remain in deep POV? Do I have information download? Too much too soon? A huge pet peeve of mine is when I meet someone for the first time and I know their entire life story in the first ten minutes of meeting them. Where's the mystery? It's a tough line to walk sometimes, the balance between intrigue and oversharing. Can you feel the personality of my a characters? Because if you can't feel them, you can't bond to them. Weave all this into grammar, sentence structure, and punctuation--Whew! I think I need another glass of wine.
So I have roughly 25 pages to make the magic happen. 25 pages to convince this critical, tired, literary agent that I'm the next Stephaine Meyer or Becca Fitzpatrick. That's a lot of pressure, I think I need another glass of wine.
One of the things I'd suggest doing, is to get 3 or 4 books of similar genre and read the first three chapters. Compare their structure and try to pick out what it was about these books that hooks you. Look at character development and plot building.
All in all, I think Redemption is finally ready. Thank you to my critique group, you've been amazing. Next week I plan to tackle the dreaded query letter.
After taking a Zofran and chasing it with a glass of wine, I contacted three of my friends, who are amazing writers, and put their critical eyes to the beat up, overworked, pages of Redemption. The main things I wanted them to look for were consistency. Do my characters remain in deep POV? Do I have information download? Too much too soon? A huge pet peeve of mine is when I meet someone for the first time and I know their entire life story in the first ten minutes of meeting them. Where's the mystery? It's a tough line to walk sometimes, the balance between intrigue and oversharing. Can you feel the personality of my a characters? Because if you can't feel them, you can't bond to them. Weave all this into grammar, sentence structure, and punctuation--Whew! I think I need another glass of wine.
So I have roughly 25 pages to make the magic happen. 25 pages to convince this critical, tired, literary agent that I'm the next Stephaine Meyer or Becca Fitzpatrick. That's a lot of pressure, I think I need another glass of wine.
One of the things I'd suggest doing, is to get 3 or 4 books of similar genre and read the first three chapters. Compare their structure and try to pick out what it was about these books that hooks you. Look at character development and plot building.
All in all, I think Redemption is finally ready. Thank you to my critique group, you've been amazing. Next week I plan to tackle the dreaded query letter.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Journey of Redemption
It occurred to me today, as I near the end of what I hope will be my final edit of Redemption, that I have read this book at least six times. Every time I read it, I find something to change. So when is enough, enough already? It's time to send this story out into the cut-throat world of literary agents and publishing houses.
When I walk past book stores, I think to myself, every one of these books has it's own story. A story that goes beyond the ink-filled pages and the glue covered binding. Not many people stop to consider that when they pick up a book and turn it over to read the jacket, they're actually holding someone's dream in their hands.
I wonder how many closets, boxes, and flash drives are filled with pages of author's dreams, amazing stories that were rejected for one reason or another, buried under pages of rejection letters. What does it take to see a dream become a realty? Let's find out...I invite you to join me on the Journey of Redemption.
This is the first of a weekly blog that will follow an author through to publication. If you are an author, published or unpublished, or just a lover of literature, please join my blog and share your experiences. My goal is to share, educate, and provide resources along the way that will help authors who are trying to break into the literary market.
When I walk past book stores, I think to myself, every one of these books has it's own story. A story that goes beyond the ink-filled pages and the glue covered binding. Not many people stop to consider that when they pick up a book and turn it over to read the jacket, they're actually holding someone's dream in their hands.
I wonder how many closets, boxes, and flash drives are filled with pages of author's dreams, amazing stories that were rejected for one reason or another, buried under pages of rejection letters. What does it take to see a dream become a realty? Let's find out...I invite you to join me on the Journey of Redemption.
This is the first of a weekly blog that will follow an author through to publication. If you are an author, published or unpublished, or just a lover of literature, please join my blog and share your experiences. My goal is to share, educate, and provide resources along the way that will help authors who are trying to break into the literary market.
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