So the writing community's version of March Madness is all set for the hosting round. For most of us who entered, we've been benched and get to watch the rest of the action from the sidelines. But just like any other talent, you can choose how you want to use that time. Do you sit on the bench and sulk, wallowing in your misery?
You can. It's your choice. Personally, I think suppressing all your disappointment and sadness isn't healthy. But don't waste all your time on it. Give yourself a day, or a week, to indulge your feelings a little. Acknowledge them, take a little time for self-care, and then pull yourself up and get ready to work.
Because your other choice is to watch the winning team and learn from them. Read their pitches, once the agent round begins. Look for others in your age category and genre; see what they're doing that works, and apply those techniques to your own manuscript. Admitting that your writing is flawed is HARD, people! Our stories are so often personal, a snippet of our souls, that sharing them and then facing rejection can feel devastating.
Finding out that your truth wasn't quite good enough? That can be even harder.
But it's all fixable, if you stick with it. Don't take yourself out of the game. Google everything. Read about how to pitch online, in person, and via Twitter. They're all different. Read about comma usage, if that's where you struggle. Read about how to use beat sheets if you struggle with pacing. Try the if/then method. Fill out character worksheets until you know each character, no matter how minor, better than you know your own family. Read up on settings, historical eras, poisonous plants, futuristic technology, whatever your story needs to make sure it's believable.
Then go out and look on Amazon for all the top-selling books in your age category and genre. Read as many as you can get your hands on, and start with the most recent ones. You want to know what sells right now. Read the reviews people have written of those books, dissecting them. What did people like, and why? What bothered readers?
And find yourself a small crew of critique partners and beta readers to work with. You don't need that many, although some people like having several at a time. For me, I have one tried and true CP who reads all my work after a couple drafts. She is amazing and thorough and puts me under a microscope. I have a few other new ones, and we're still testing out our relationships to see if we'll work well together. Finding your people can take time, but it is so incredibly worth it. These are the people you'll thank in your acknowledgements. They're the ones you'll want to call when you finally get that offer of rep, when that contract comes your way. And they'll keep you sane in the meantime.
I keep forgetting to add this: Critique for other people. If you can start reading other people's writing more consciously, looking for errors deeper than basic grammar, figuring out what you liked/disliked and why, you start to develop those skills to apply to your own stories. I have a much easier time analyzing other people's work than my own. And sometimes I can come off too harsh, unfortunately, so I'm working on honing my own critiquing skills. But the more you do it, the better you get at breaking things down and seeing the nuts and bolts of how a story ought to work.
So...ahem. On to something slightly more concrete. My pitch for Pitch Madness was not great. I didn't put as much time into it as I needed to. But during the reading round, I had time to sit down and (again) read over advice from the pros on pitching, and I hope what I crafted is going to land me some requests. I had to entirely scrap the way I had been structuring my 35 word pitch and start over again. As much as that sucked, sometimes it's necessary.
Here's the pitch I entered:
Seventeen-year-old Emily has two weeks to write a novella or she’ll flunk English and lose her full-ride scholarship. Then her characters start arguing with her—unless she’s losing her mind. And that’s her worst nightmare.
It's not awful. It identifies the MC right away, without spending too many words on her. I found, after feedback, that readers needed Emily's age to know whether she's a college or high school student. So that's the WHO. WHO your pitch is about needs to be clear, but sometimes we get too wrapped up in wanting to tell about how cool our MC is that we waste space on extra details. Keep the WHO slim.
WHAT is next. That's the challenge, your MC's main obstacle. In my case, it's having to write the novella or flunk and lose her scholarship. So I've laid out both the obstacle and the stakes (why she has to overcome that particular challenge).
HOW is last. HOW is tricky. And it's part of where I think I failed in this pitch. HOW is more subtle - which path is she going to take, and why, and how does it affect her ability to overcome this obstacle? (You don't have to answer all of those questions at once, but those are the kind of things at play here.) Without some reason here, you end up with "My character is going to rob a bank today because I said so." Instead of "My character is going to rob a bank today because he's been out of work for eight months and he's already sold everything he can, including a kidney, and he's out of options because the bank dropped off a foreclosure notice that morning." It's why any of this matters, and why it should matter to the rest of us.
Here's my newly drafted version, after I spent half an hour trimming it from about 50 words down to 35:
Emily dreams of curing the disease that took her mom, but school’s too expensive. When an eccentric teacher’s magical typewriter triggers her fear of inheriting dementia, she must face her fears or lose her scholarship.
I'll admit, I still don't think it's perfect, but it's getting better. We still have the WHO up front, but I decided to eliminate the age. I think it gives a rough impression of her age, especially since it's YA. It's enough to go on.
You'll notice I backtracked on the WHAT here. (This is the part I'm not sure about yet.) The premise of having to write a novella or lose her scholarship is downplayed, but I'm hoping with the addition of WHY, it will work out.
HOW/WHY is given much more space in here. WHY should you care about this story? Because it's about invisible illness. WHY does Emily want to go to med school? Because of her dead mom. WHY does the magical typewriter freak her out so badly? As a person with a family history of dementia, I can tell you first hand that it gets to you. Forgetting things, mis-remembering things, feeling confused...it's not a pleasant worry to have hanging over your head. Anyhow. All this makes Emily a much more sympathetic, and interesting character. Her plight becomes more interesting, more nuanced, as well. The connection from A to B to C isn't as clear as I'd like it, but it feels stronger to me.
As always, if you have thoughts, comment away! If you want to hit me up on Twitter and talk about pitching, you know where to find me. @ me, or DM me if we follow each other.
Sunday, March 5, 2017
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Part 3 of Contest Wisdom
As the team reveal for Pitch Madness approaches, I thought I'd post about etiquette and self-care for that part. A lot of this, I didn't know a year ago. I probably would have made some serious missteps if it hadn't been for other competitors and mentors passing along gentle reminders. Don't tell my kids, but I'm not *really* all-knowing. I've just been around the block a little by now.
(I wish I had half of Carla's sass)
THE BIG REVEAL
1. BE CONSIDERATE
I’ve been on both sides of the competition. I’ve been selected, and not. Not getting picked can be devastating. And it’s OKAY to feel that! It’s normal! But…don’t take it out on anyone else. Don’t dump on the mentors and trash them for not picking you. (Word gets around. Anybody else who entered PitchWars 2016 remember the crazy jerky older guy? He's not going to be getting a publishing deal anytime soon after demonstrating that he's unwilling to work with anyone or take advice. Don't be that guy!) Try to keep your disappointment off the hashtag. Vent privately if you need to, offline, to a trusted friend or family member.
More like this:
And less like this:
On the flip side, if you ARE chosen, congrats! But remember that only a tiny percentage of entries are selected. You’re going to feel giddy, exploding with excitement.
Celebrate! But again, save most of it for in private. DM your best CP friend who got in with you. Talk to your spouse, your parents, your BFF, your pet hamster. If you go on and on about yourself online, on the hashtag, think of how hurtful that is to all the people who didn’t make it in. So if you get picked, limit yourself to one or two tweets on the hashtag. We like to see that you know you’ve won, after all. Last year, those of us who were in NoQS created our own separate hashtags, so that we could talk and find our teammates without rubbing everyone else’s noses in it. A little politeness and consideration go a long way.
2. MAKE 2 PLANS BEFOREHAND
Decide what you’re going to do if you win. Pick a way to reward yourself. The road to publishing is filled with tiny victories, and they’re important to celebrate, because the constant stream of rejection will drag you down if you don’t actively take time to notice the positive.
Also decide what you’re going to do if you lose. Set a time limit for how long you are allowed to sulk, if you think that’s something you’re going to need. Step away from your story for a week, if you have to. Don’t obsess over the feed, or why you “lost” and someone else won. Indulge your hurt feelings for that short period of time, then get up and keep on going. Sometimes the mentors will do blog posts or Twitter threads on trends they saw that people need to fix. Read them! Apply their strategies to your novel. You can get out of a contest as much or as little as you want to. I’ll tell you right now that I’m a much better writer now than I was a year ago, and it’s due to the resources I found online through these contests. I started reading everything more critically and writing more consciously, and it shows.
If you win, be gracious. If you lose, be gracious. And either way, you’re in for a lot of hard work and revisions.
THE BIG REVEAL
1. BE CONSIDERATE
I’ve been on both sides of the competition. I’ve been selected, and not. Not getting picked can be devastating. And it’s OKAY to feel that! It’s normal! But…don’t take it out on anyone else. Don’t dump on the mentors and trash them for not picking you. (Word gets around. Anybody else who entered PitchWars 2016 remember the crazy jerky older guy? He's not going to be getting a publishing deal anytime soon after demonstrating that he's unwilling to work with anyone or take advice. Don't be that guy!) Try to keep your disappointment off the hashtag. Vent privately if you need to, offline, to a trusted friend or family member.
More like this:
And less like this:
On the flip side, if you ARE chosen, congrats! But remember that only a tiny percentage of entries are selected. You’re going to feel giddy, exploding with excitement.
Celebrate! But again, save most of it for in private. DM your best CP friend who got in with you. Talk to your spouse, your parents, your BFF, your pet hamster. If you go on and on about yourself online, on the hashtag, think of how hurtful that is to all the people who didn’t make it in. So if you get picked, limit yourself to one or two tweets on the hashtag. We like to see that you know you’ve won, after all. Last year, those of us who were in NoQS created our own separate hashtags, so that we could talk and find our teammates without rubbing everyone else’s noses in it. A little politeness and consideration go a long way.
2. MAKE 2 PLANS BEFOREHAND
Decide what you’re going to do if you win. Pick a way to reward yourself. The road to publishing is filled with tiny victories, and they’re important to celebrate, because the constant stream of rejection will drag you down if you don’t actively take time to notice the positive.
Also decide what you’re going to do if you lose. Set a time limit for how long you are allowed to sulk, if you think that’s something you’re going to need. Step away from your story for a week, if you have to. Don’t obsess over the feed, or why you “lost” and someone else won. Indulge your hurt feelings for that short period of time, then get up and keep on going. Sometimes the mentors will do blog posts or Twitter threads on trends they saw that people need to fix. Read them! Apply their strategies to your novel. You can get out of a contest as much or as little as you want to. I’ll tell you right now that I’m a much better writer now than I was a year ago, and it’s due to the resources I found online through these contests. I started reading everything more critically and writing more consciously, and it shows.
If you win, be gracious. If you lose, be gracious. And either way, you’re in for a lot of hard work and revisions.
Monday, February 27, 2017
More words of wisdom from yer old Auntie B
The fun thing about having been around the Twitter writing circle for a little bit now is I'm starting to feel old. Plus, I know lots of authors with published novels, who are significantly younger than I am. Mid 30s are the new 60, apparently!
But with age comes wisdom. So here is post #2 about writing contests.
DURING THE CONTEST
1. MAKE NEW FRIENDS!
This is the best part of contests. Everyone involved can make new connections in the writing community. And since a lot of us are introverts, meeting new writer friends online is less intimidating, and it fills a void. Knowing there are other people out there just as crazy as you is empowering. Find new critique partners and beta readers, and cool people you just want to keep in touch with. This business is hard, and having friends along the way makes it so much easier to take the rejections.
And don’t just make friends with the other contestants. Get to know the mentors, readers, and judges. Most of them are just a few steps further along in their writing career, and they remember exactly how hard it is to be querying. Many of them host blogs with great writing tips—free learning resources with solid techniques on how to improve your own writing. Because whatever you’re doing wrong, chances are someone else out there has done it too.
Author confession: Every time a mentor follows me back, I squee a little.
The flipside of that is, do also respect that these are busy authors. Ask them questions when you need help, but try to find the answer yourself first. Don’t ask silly questions you could find out the answer to in 5 seconds on Google. They’re glad to help, but if you’re constantly asking things that are already answered on the contest FAQs and directions, they’re going to start questioning your reading comprehension skills.
2. PARTICIPATE ON THE HASHTAGS!
It’s fun! And playing all these games, where you describe your character in 3 words or come up with comps or whatever are actually useful. The games help you define your novel. The more concise you can be, the easier it is to pitch. And if someone asks what your MC likes to eat, and you can’t answer…maybe you need to get inside his/her head a little more. If you can’t picture your setting, have you given it enough thought and description in your story? So use the hashtags to have fun, make friends, and figure out your own strengths and weaknesses.
3. TRY NOT TO OBSESS
We all do it. But you have to figure out what your personal mental health limits are. The first time I entered, I think I was on the hashtag almost all day long. Bad me. This time, I’m checking in a few times a day. I’m relaxing over it. Part of that comes with experience, but it’s also a choice. Remember, if you don’t get in, it’s not the end of the world. Most writers don’t find their agent through competitions.
Stay tuned for part 3!
But with age comes wisdom. So here is post #2 about writing contests.
DURING THE CONTEST
1. MAKE NEW FRIENDS!
This is the best part of contests. Everyone involved can make new connections in the writing community. And since a lot of us are introverts, meeting new writer friends online is less intimidating, and it fills a void. Knowing there are other people out there just as crazy as you is empowering. Find new critique partners and beta readers, and cool people you just want to keep in touch with. This business is hard, and having friends along the way makes it so much easier to take the rejections.
And don’t just make friends with the other contestants. Get to know the mentors, readers, and judges. Most of them are just a few steps further along in their writing career, and they remember exactly how hard it is to be querying. Many of them host blogs with great writing tips—free learning resources with solid techniques on how to improve your own writing. Because whatever you’re doing wrong, chances are someone else out there has done it too.
Author confession: Every time a mentor follows me back, I squee a little.
The flipside of that is, do also respect that these are busy authors. Ask them questions when you need help, but try to find the answer yourself first. Don’t ask silly questions you could find out the answer to in 5 seconds on Google. They’re glad to help, but if you’re constantly asking things that are already answered on the contest FAQs and directions, they’re going to start questioning your reading comprehension skills.
2. PARTICIPATE ON THE HASHTAGS!
It’s fun! And playing all these games, where you describe your character in 3 words or come up with comps or whatever are actually useful. The games help you define your novel. The more concise you can be, the easier it is to pitch. And if someone asks what your MC likes to eat, and you can’t answer…maybe you need to get inside his/her head a little more. If you can’t picture your setting, have you given it enough thought and description in your story? So use the hashtags to have fun, make friends, and figure out your own strengths and weaknesses.
3. TRY NOT TO OBSESS
Stay tuned for part 3!
A little contest wisdom (Or, I get by with a little help from my friends)
Hey you! Yes, you. A year ago, I was in your shoes. Sitting in front of my laptop, scanning the Twitter feed during a contest, crossing my fingers and hoping that my entry would get picked. Spoiler alert: it didn’t.
For this past year, I’ve made a concerted effort to learn, improve my writing, and get published. I’m obviously not there yet, because I’m still querying and entering competitions along with you, but I HAVE learned a lot along the way, and I figured it’s time to share the love. So here are some words of wisdom, based off my contest and pitching experiences of the past year. I'll be doing a series of posts since I ended up with a lot more info than I thought I would. But I am known for rambling on and on and on...whoops.
(In case you were wondering: My 1st #pitchmadness entry made it onto one team’s shortlist, but not onto the final. I entered a different MS into #PitchWars, had absolutely no requests, but did get amazing advice on how to rework the story into something 100 times better. I labored over that MS for months, revising it until I couldn’t stand the story any longer, and then entered it into Nightmare on Query Street. I got in! I got a few requests! But…no agent. So here I am, back at #pitchmadness again.)
BEFORE A CONTEST:
1. ALWAYS READ THE RULES.
Make sure you’re eligible. Make sure you’re in the right age group, pitching the right category of book. Make sure that if you’ve won a different contest, you aren’t DQ’d from this one. And please, for everyone’s sake, NEVER EVER EVER enter a contest with a manuscript that hasn’t been revised and beta read at the very least; for the love of all that is holy, don’t enter an unfinished manuscript.
It will show. The judges will notice. And word might get around that you are wasting people’s time, trying to skip the process. None of us are geniuses who put out perfect stories on the first try. Not even the magical Brenda Drake. Remember, publishing is a looooong game; there will be other contests, other pitch days, and plenty of time for you to find an agent.
2. ALWAYS DOUBLE/TRIPLE CHECK YOUR FORMATTING
This is a pet peeve of about every slush reader and mentor I’ve ever seen, and agents too. If it’s a minor detail, they’ll probably let it slide. But if your entire MS is in Comic Sans, single spaced, and purple lettering…you’re more likely to end up in the trash.
Following the boring, technical formatting details shows that you’re serious. You can read and follow directions, which means you’re more likely to take instruction. So if an editor comes back to you and points out something that needs to get changed, you’re more likely to listen. That’s the impression you want to give. Writing is creative, but it’s still a profession. If a contest decision comes down to two amazing manuscripts, one who followed all the rules and one who didn’t, who do you think would get chosen?
3. INVESTIGATE
Check out the contest. Look for past successes—not to say that new contests are horrible, there was a great new one last year—but make sure you’re not being sucked into a scam.
Also, take a look at the readers, hosts, and agents. Follow them on Twitter. For some competitions, you’ll have to select which mentors to submit to. Read their books and blogs and follow them on social media to get a sense of what they write, what their style is, and if it would be a match for you. Don’t sub to someone just because you think they’re cool. It’s tempting, I know, but you’re better off finding someone who actually likes your genre. If a mentor has a specific list of triggers they don’t read, respect it.
Always check out any agent or publisher as well. Most agents and publishers out there are legit. But there are always presses who try to take advantage of the fact that we are dreamers getting constant rejections in a disheartening business. If someone is asking you to put up your own money to publish a book, run. If they’re offering you a shortcut, check it out. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. So vet them online as well. Check out Publishers Weekly, Preditors and Editors, Absolute Write. Google them. Does their website look like my preschooler put it together? Bad sign. Ask around. The writing community is pretty tight knit. If a publisher is shady, chances are someone else has run into them before and can steer you clear.
Lastly, take a look at the contest itself. What’s the prize? Is it something you want? Will it advance your career? And are you willing to put in the time and effort it takes, if it’s a mentoring opportunity? If you’re convinced your story is word-for-word perfect and aren’t open to suggestions, then do everyone a favor and don’t take a mentored spot someone else is dying to have.
Next, I'll tackle what to do during the contest to make the most of your experience. And if you have any words of wisdom to add, please comment! This is just based off my own experience and I'm sure there are other people with more ideas to share.
For this past year, I’ve made a concerted effort to learn, improve my writing, and get published. I’m obviously not there yet, because I’m still querying and entering competitions along with you, but I HAVE learned a lot along the way, and I figured it’s time to share the love. So here are some words of wisdom, based off my contest and pitching experiences of the past year. I'll be doing a series of posts since I ended up with a lot more info than I thought I would. But I am known for rambling on and on and on...whoops.
(In case you were wondering: My 1st #pitchmadness entry made it onto one team’s shortlist, but not onto the final. I entered a different MS into #PitchWars, had absolutely no requests, but did get amazing advice on how to rework the story into something 100 times better. I labored over that MS for months, revising it until I couldn’t stand the story any longer, and then entered it into Nightmare on Query Street. I got in! I got a few requests! But…no agent. So here I am, back at #pitchmadness again.)
BEFORE A CONTEST:
1. ALWAYS READ THE RULES.
Make sure you’re eligible. Make sure you’re in the right age group, pitching the right category of book. Make sure that if you’ve won a different contest, you aren’t DQ’d from this one. And please, for everyone’s sake, NEVER EVER EVER enter a contest with a manuscript that hasn’t been revised and beta read at the very least; for the love of all that is holy, don’t enter an unfinished manuscript.
It will show. The judges will notice. And word might get around that you are wasting people’s time, trying to skip the process. None of us are geniuses who put out perfect stories on the first try. Not even the magical Brenda Drake. Remember, publishing is a looooong game; there will be other contests, other pitch days, and plenty of time for you to find an agent.
2. ALWAYS DOUBLE/TRIPLE CHECK YOUR FORMATTING
This is a pet peeve of about every slush reader and mentor I’ve ever seen, and agents too. If it’s a minor detail, they’ll probably let it slide. But if your entire MS is in Comic Sans, single spaced, and purple lettering…you’re more likely to end up in the trash.
Following the boring, technical formatting details shows that you’re serious. You can read and follow directions, which means you’re more likely to take instruction. So if an editor comes back to you and points out something that needs to get changed, you’re more likely to listen. That’s the impression you want to give. Writing is creative, but it’s still a profession. If a contest decision comes down to two amazing manuscripts, one who followed all the rules and one who didn’t, who do you think would get chosen?
3. INVESTIGATE
Check out the contest. Look for past successes—not to say that new contests are horrible, there was a great new one last year—but make sure you’re not being sucked into a scam.
Also, take a look at the readers, hosts, and agents. Follow them on Twitter. For some competitions, you’ll have to select which mentors to submit to. Read their books and blogs and follow them on social media to get a sense of what they write, what their style is, and if it would be a match for you. Don’t sub to someone just because you think they’re cool. It’s tempting, I know, but you’re better off finding someone who actually likes your genre. If a mentor has a specific list of triggers they don’t read, respect it.
Always check out any agent or publisher as well. Most agents and publishers out there are legit. But there are always presses who try to take advantage of the fact that we are dreamers getting constant rejections in a disheartening business. If someone is asking you to put up your own money to publish a book, run. If they’re offering you a shortcut, check it out. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. So vet them online as well. Check out Publishers Weekly, Preditors and Editors, Absolute Write. Google them. Does their website look like my preschooler put it together? Bad sign. Ask around. The writing community is pretty tight knit. If a publisher is shady, chances are someone else has run into them before and can steer you clear.
Lastly, take a look at the contest itself. What’s the prize? Is it something you want? Will it advance your career? And are you willing to put in the time and effort it takes, if it’s a mentoring opportunity? If you’re convinced your story is word-for-word perfect and aren’t open to suggestions, then do everyone a favor and don’t take a mentored spot someone else is dying to have.
Next, I'll tackle what to do during the contest to make the most of your experience. And if you have any words of wisdom to add, please comment! This is just based off my own experience and I'm sure there are other people with more ideas to share.
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Spotlight post: Michelle Hauck's FAITHFUL!
Hello everyone!
Today I'd like to spotlight a new book that's just been released by an author friend of mine, Michelle Hauck. I'm currently enjoying her first book, GRUDGING, and the way she totally immerses the reader in her historical-fiction world. But I'll let her tell you more about herself and her books below!
The next volume in the Birth of Saints series is available now!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Today I'd like to spotlight a new book that's just been released by an author friend of mine, Michelle Hauck. I'm currently enjoying her first book, GRUDGING, and the way she totally immerses the reader in her historical-fiction world. But I'll let her tell you more about herself and her books below!
The next volume in the Birth of Saints series is available now!
Following Grudging--and with a mix of Terry Goodkind and Bernard Cornwall--religion, witchcraft, and chivalry war in Faithful, the exciting next chapter in Michelle Hauck's Birth of Saints series!
A world of Fear and death…and those trying to save it.
Colina Hermosa has burned to the ground. The Northern invaders continue their assault on the ciudades-estados. Terror has taken hold, and those that should be allies betray each other in hopes of their own survival. As the realities of this devastating and unprovoked war settles in, what can they do to fight back?
On a mission of hope, an unlikely group sets out to find a teacher for Claire, and a new weapon to use against the Northerners and their swelling army.
What they find instead is an old woman.
But she’s not a random crone—she’s Claire’s grandmother. She’s also a Woman of the Song, and her music is both strong and horrible. And while Claire has already seen the power of her own Song, she is scared of her inability to control it, having seen how her magic has brought evil to the world, killing without reason or remorse. To preserve a life of honor and light, Ramiro and Claire will need to convince the old woman to teach them a way so that the power of the Song can be used for good. Otherwise, they’ll just be destroyers themselves, no better than the Northerners and their false god, Dal. With the annihilation their enemy has planned, though, they may not have a choice.
A tale of fear and tragedy, hope and redemption, Faithful is the harrowing second entry in the Birth of Saints trilogy.
Faithful- November 15, 2016
Harper Voyager
Find It: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | HarperCollins | Goodreads
Also enter to win a signed paperback of Grudging, the first book in the series:
A world of chivalry and witchcraft…and the invaders who would destroy everything.
The North has invaded, bringing a cruel religion and no mercy. The ciudades-estados who have stood in their way have been razed to nothing, and now the horde is before the gates of Colina Hermosa…demanding blood.
On a mission of desperation, a small group escapes the besieged city in search of the one thing that might stem the tide of Northerners: the witches of the southern swamps.
The Women of the Song.
But when tragedy strikes their negotiations, all that is left is a single untried knight and a witch who has never given voice to her power. And time is running out.
A lyrical tale of honor and magic, Grudging is the opening salvo in the Book of Saints trilogy.
The North has invaded, bringing a cruel religion and no mercy. The ciudades-estados who have stood in their way have been razed to nothing, and now the horde is before the gates of Colina Hermosa…demanding blood.
On a mission of desperation, a small group escapes the besieged city in search of the one thing that might stem the tide of Northerners: the witches of the southern swamps.
The Women of the Song.
But when tragedy strikes their negotiations, all that is left is a single untried knight and a witch who has never given voice to her power. And time is running out.
A lyrical tale of honor and magic, Grudging is the opening salvo in the Book of Saints trilogy.
GRUDGING
November 17, 2015
Harper Voyager
Harper Voyager
Find it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Goodreads
Michelle Hauck lives in the bustling metropolis of northern Indiana with her hubby and two kids in college. Besides working with special needs children by day, she writes all sorts of fantasy, giving her imagination free range. A book worm, she passes up the darker vices in favor of chocolate and looks for any excuse to reward herself. Bio finished? Time for a sweet snack.
She is a co-host of the yearly contests Query Kombat, Nightmare on Query Street, and Sun versus Snow.
Her Birth of Saints trilogy, starting with Grudging and Faithful (November 15, 2016), is available from Harper Voyager. Another epic fantasy, Kindar's Cure, is published by Divertir Publishing. She's repped by Marisa Corvisiero of Corvisiero Literary.
She is a co-host of the yearly contests Query Kombat, Nightmare on Query Street, and Sun versus Snow.
Her Birth of Saints trilogy, starting with Grudging and Faithful (November 15, 2016), is available from Harper Voyager. Another epic fantasy, Kindar's Cure, is published by Divertir Publishing. She's repped by Marisa Corvisiero of Corvisiero Literary.
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
A Querying Nightmare
I participated in Nightmare on Query Street this last week. It was an interesting learning experience, like most contests I've participated in so far. Nightmare is run by Michelle Hauck; you can read more about her and the contests she helps host on her blog here. Basically, Michelle and her co-hosts, Michael Anthony and Laura Heffernan each select 15 entries out of 250 submissions. Entries consist of a query letter and first 250 words of a manuscript. Those 45 chosen entries are mentored by other authors and editors who volunteer their time for a few days, and then the 3 hosts post the shiny new entries on their blogs. Participating literary agents drop by and request pages from entries they like and might consider representing.
Laura selected my entry (which you can read here) and I was over the moon! I've entered a few similar contests over the past year, and being chosen was amazing. In a way, that felt like winning all on its own, because that same MS was passed over for Pitch Wars a few months back. I've worked hard on that story, revising it, restructuring part of the plot with the wonderful Rebecca Petruck, and polishing it up word by word. (Seriously, if you're having plot troubles, take Rebecca's workshop. Her method is simple to apply, but had a profound impact on my story. I never would have pinned down my problem so quickly without her help.) The story I have now is significantly better than what I submitted to PW in July.
So I knew what I had was better, but was it any good?
Apparently it was. And that's a good feeling, y'all.
When my entry went live for agents to see, I discovered something unfortunate. I don't do well with public querying. I can handle Twitter pitching. I can handle querying agents and publishers. But this sort of format was extra stressful for me. I couldn't help but compare how my entry was doing against the other entries in the competition, even though we weren't competing against each other. Watching other entries get requests while mine sat, lonely and ignored, really ate away at my self-confidence. When it reached the point that almost 3/4s of the entries had requests and mine didn't, I'm going to be honest. I cried. I'd worked so hard on my entry with my mentor; we'd made sure every last comma and word were perfect, and entries with grammar errors were getting picked over my poor baby. It hit my confidence hard.
I ended up with one request, which was all I'd hoped for. But that one agent likes what she's read so far. As one of my critique partners put it, it doesn't matter how many "no's" you get; all it takes is that one "yes." I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.
But here's what I'm choosing to take out of all this: First, I don't think I'll do any more competitions where you query kind of against others. It's too draining for me. I've made amazing friends, and have met wonderful mentors and authors who are willing to share their knowledge by entering, but I'm going to put my mental health first and avoid that sort of situation.
Second, the fact that I was chosen for Laura's team and had an agent want to read my story and then ask for more is an amazing validation. I'm making progress toward this goal of mine. Someday I'll get there. It's a long road, and it requires a lot of patience, but knowing that I'm getting better will help me hang in there.
Third, the best thing about these competitions really is the people you meet. It's what we all say, but it's true. I've made so many friends who get how dang hard it is to want to be a writer. That's invaluable. My family loves me, and my husband supports me, and he watches how hard I work. They see the external wear and tear, the hours I put in. They can't see the internal strength and growth and labor that becoming a better writer requires. Having friends who get that is important. And I now have a group of friends who'll listen to me when I need to let out a little whine to let off steam or when I get some good news and want to jump for joy. They're my sounding board when I have a crazy idea or a story problem I can't wrap my head around. My online community is full of generous authors who are only a few steps ahead of me on my journey. They remember how hard this part is, and they encourage me; they share their wisdom, their skills, and even their own struggles.
The big point is this. As you query and pitch and enter competitions, you're going to get out of it whatever you choose to. You can sulk, or you can embrace it and grow.
Laura selected my entry (which you can read here) and I was over the moon! I've entered a few similar contests over the past year, and being chosen was amazing. In a way, that felt like winning all on its own, because that same MS was passed over for Pitch Wars a few months back. I've worked hard on that story, revising it, restructuring part of the plot with the wonderful Rebecca Petruck, and polishing it up word by word. (Seriously, if you're having plot troubles, take Rebecca's workshop. Her method is simple to apply, but had a profound impact on my story. I never would have pinned down my problem so quickly without her help.) The story I have now is significantly better than what I submitted to PW in July.
So I knew what I had was better, but was it any good?
Apparently it was. And that's a good feeling, y'all.
When my entry went live for agents to see, I discovered something unfortunate. I don't do well with public querying. I can handle Twitter pitching. I can handle querying agents and publishers. But this sort of format was extra stressful for me. I couldn't help but compare how my entry was doing against the other entries in the competition, even though we weren't competing against each other. Watching other entries get requests while mine sat, lonely and ignored, really ate away at my self-confidence. When it reached the point that almost 3/4s of the entries had requests and mine didn't, I'm going to be honest. I cried. I'd worked so hard on my entry with my mentor; we'd made sure every last comma and word were perfect, and entries with grammar errors were getting picked over my poor baby. It hit my confidence hard.
I ended up with one request, which was all I'd hoped for. But that one agent likes what she's read so far. As one of my critique partners put it, it doesn't matter how many "no's" you get; all it takes is that one "yes." I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.
But here's what I'm choosing to take out of all this: First, I don't think I'll do any more competitions where you query kind of against others. It's too draining for me. I've made amazing friends, and have met wonderful mentors and authors who are willing to share their knowledge by entering, but I'm going to put my mental health first and avoid that sort of situation.
Second, the fact that I was chosen for Laura's team and had an agent want to read my story and then ask for more is an amazing validation. I'm making progress toward this goal of mine. Someday I'll get there. It's a long road, and it requires a lot of patience, but knowing that I'm getting better will help me hang in there.
Third, the best thing about these competitions really is the people you meet. It's what we all say, but it's true. I've made so many friends who get how dang hard it is to want to be a writer. That's invaluable. My family loves me, and my husband supports me, and he watches how hard I work. They see the external wear and tear, the hours I put in. They can't see the internal strength and growth and labor that becoming a better writer requires. Having friends who get that is important. And I now have a group of friends who'll listen to me when I need to let out a little whine to let off steam or when I get some good news and want to jump for joy. They're my sounding board when I have a crazy idea or a story problem I can't wrap my head around. My online community is full of generous authors who are only a few steps ahead of me on my journey. They remember how hard this part is, and they encourage me; they share their wisdom, their skills, and even their own struggles.
The big point is this. As you query and pitch and enter competitions, you're going to get out of it whatever you choose to. You can sulk, or you can embrace it and grow.
Monday, October 3, 2016
Help me find a genre!
I'm neck deep in revisions on my YA story, ONCE UPON A TYPEWRITER, but I've been thinking ahead to marketing. And I realized that I still have the same problem I found during Pitch Wars. Thankfully I've straightened out the age category issue, but I'm still not sure what genre to market it as.
For anyone who hasn't read snippets of the story yet, the premise of the story is that 17-year-old Emily has to write a novella in 2 weeks to make up for missing her English final, or she'll flunk out of the class and won't graduate on time. As she's writing, the characters in her story begin talking back to her, making her question her sanity. She and the characters argue over what direction the story should go in, along with all sorts of silly little points as well. The outer, real-world arc, centers on Emily's worries about her mental health and her relationships with her family. The inner fairytale arc focuses on a woefully unprepared party and their quest to save the kingdom from a plague of giant insects.
To me, Emily's outer arc feels like contemporary magical realism. There's just a touch of magic in the typewriter--assuming she isn't actually losing her mind like her mom did.
The inner arc is an old-fashioned medieval fantasy story; Emily uses the story to poke fun at some tropes along the way. There are dragons, a wicked witch, a bumbling wizard, and a curse. So their story is high fantasy.
Overall, the entire novel is split fairly evenly between the two stories if you look just at word count. It all comes down to Emily, her sanity, and her relationship with her sister; the inner story starts to mirror the outer story and push it along as well. So of the two storylines, Emily's is the dominant one.
SO...do I market it as magical realism for online competitions that allow you to only check one? I worry that someone might like MR but not fantasy, and be disappointed when they get to that part. And in a query letter, do I explain that it's both, or do I leave that for the agent/publisher to discover?
Help a fellow writer out, and comment with your thoughts below! TIA.
For anyone who hasn't read snippets of the story yet, the premise of the story is that 17-year-old Emily has to write a novella in 2 weeks to make up for missing her English final, or she'll flunk out of the class and won't graduate on time. As she's writing, the characters in her story begin talking back to her, making her question her sanity. She and the characters argue over what direction the story should go in, along with all sorts of silly little points as well. The outer, real-world arc, centers on Emily's worries about her mental health and her relationships with her family. The inner fairytale arc focuses on a woefully unprepared party and their quest to save the kingdom from a plague of giant insects.
To me, Emily's outer arc feels like contemporary magical realism. There's just a touch of magic in the typewriter--assuming she isn't actually losing her mind like her mom did.
The inner arc is an old-fashioned medieval fantasy story; Emily uses the story to poke fun at some tropes along the way. There are dragons, a wicked witch, a bumbling wizard, and a curse. So their story is high fantasy.
Overall, the entire novel is split fairly evenly between the two stories if you look just at word count. It all comes down to Emily, her sanity, and her relationship with her sister; the inner story starts to mirror the outer story and push it along as well. So of the two storylines, Emily's is the dominant one.
SO...do I market it as magical realism for online competitions that allow you to only check one? I worry that someone might like MR but not fantasy, and be disappointed when they get to that part. And in a query letter, do I explain that it's both, or do I leave that for the agent/publisher to discover?
Help a fellow writer out, and comment with your thoughts below! TIA.
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