Thursday's Children 12/13/12

This week's Inspiration came from eavesdropping on Twitter.
Two Writer-Tweeps were talking, and one of them mentioned the TV Show WipeOut.

WipeOut - a metaphor for a writer's journey to publication.

Round One

You've finished your manuscript, your betas and CPs have had at it, you've polished and tweaked and can't think of anything to do to it that would make it better - you're ready to enter the competition. 

First Challenge: Querying, or The Big Balls.

There are at least 3 parts to a successful query:
Researching Agents, Writing a Kickass Query, Having an Opening Bit that Rocks

Along the way something often goes wrong...

And your doomed query languishes in the slushpile.

I've heard that 95-99% of Queries Never Escape the Slushpile

But IF you take your time, and study how others have effectively navigated 

The Big Balls, well, then maybe this will happen.

You've Beaten the Big Balls, aka Received a Request for a Full or Partial!

This is ENORMOUSLY validating.

Keep those requests. Read them often. Even if ultimately this is what happens.

It feels just like that.

Reading something like the letter 

I received from an agent a couple of years ago regarding my first book.

From my archived "File of Pain" as one of my CPs calls it...

Dear Rhiann, 

Thanks for letting me look at your partial manuscript.  

I love your voice.  It's subtle and very natural.  But I'm afraid the plot felt slow.  The idea driving this story, which you laid out in the letter, is terrific.  I found myself wishing this world were developed more right from the start in a more page-turning fashion.  

With this in mind, it's with regrets that I'm going to pass.  Sorry this didn't work out but I wish you the best of luck finding the right agent for this project.  Thanks again for thinking of me.

Clearly my MS didn't live up to the query letter. 

Words of Friendly Advice: When a letter from an agent starts off with a compliment and quickly segues into a "but", go get yourself a drink. And some chocolate. 

Maybe even a shoulder to cry on.

Here's another rejection for the same book. The "pass" was so vague that I asked for some clarification. Here's what she wrote.

Dear Rhiann,

We appreciate and respect that as a new writer, critical feedback is
key to honing your craft. We actually found your writing and pacing to
be quite engaging. Rather, it was the character development and use of
what have unfortunately become over-mined and archetypal aspects of
this genre that kept us from being fully won over. I hope this is helpful.

Alright, so this agent thought the pacing was fine, but didn't like the characters. 

I'm still working on revising that manuscript. 

IF you survive the query and the request, and maybe even a revise and resubmit, THEN you will have

AN OFFER OF REPRESENTATION! 

Round 2!

I've heard that Round 2 is a lot like Round 1, only now you have a team-mate. 

You and your agent are strategizing.

He or she is contacting editors. 

You might be working on a synopsis for a sequel, or your social media platform, or a WIP. 

Or your wardrobe, in case Oprah wants you for her Book of the Month Club. 

Again, things can go wrong... 

I saw an agent tweet that she estimated 60-90% of agented authors get a deal. 

Which means 10-40% won't. I prefer not to think about that. 

But it probably feels something like this.

But let's say you get a Book Deal- Go, You!!

As you can see, everything is all fancy and dramatic now. 

Round 3 - The Big Leagues.

THE LAUNCHING OF YOUR BOOK

Think of the obstacles as Publicity/Marketing, Reviews, Competing Books, Foreign Rights, Film/TV etc.

At the end you might feel like this...

Except of course, you'll be holding your book.

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Inspirational Thursday 9/13/12

Why Thursday? 

Thursday's Child has far to go - and most days nothing seems further away than the gleaming spires and golden turrets of the Kingdom of Published Authors.  It's like the Emerald City or Cinderella's Castle, only better. 

My Fairy Godmother appears to be on sabbatical because I've seen no evidence of a pumpkin coach.  I'll be trudging through the Quagmire of Querying (huge risk here of slipping into the Slushpile from which few writers return), launching my manuscript into the Sea of Submissions, and climbing the Precipice of Publication without her help.  Wish me luck.






Writing something is the first step.  That's where the inspiration comes in.  On Thursdays I'll share the things that made me say "Now, THAT might be fun to write about!"

Please feel free to add your own inspirations in Comments.

Talking Headstones - As you can imagine, this news item caught my eye!

The old fashioned, low-tech way

 

Techy-entrepreneurs have come up with the genius idea of QR codes for grave markers.   Visitors with smartphones can access a website with details about the dearly departed - photos, videos, testimonials. 
Password-protected of course! 

Do I have to worry about who will "like" me on my Dead-Face(book) page?

Richard III's Remains Discovered

Here's something you might not have known - when I was a teenager I belonged to the Richard III Society.  Along with the occult, the bubonic plague, and horses, I was obsessed with the Tudor and Plantagenet dynasties.  My Aunt Sybil and PBS are partially to blame.

British archaeologists believe they've unearthed Richard III's skeletal remains.  The spine shows evidence of scoliosis.  Yes, Shakespeare said he was a "hunchback", but Will's smear campaign was cleverly designed to please his patroness "Good" Queen Bess, granddaughter of Henry Tudor, who became Henry VII.  Same Henry who stole Richard's crown.  (Henry was Welsh which makes things tricky for me, divided loyalties and so on.)  Some may doubt Elizabeth's claims of virginity, but nobody disputes her considerable political acumen.  

The poor butchered skeleton also shows a lodged arrowhead and a skull-crushing fatal injury, most likely delivered by a battle axe.  At least it was probably quick.  Quicker than the plague.  Yes, I could play six degrees of separation with the Black Death.  Who'd like to join me?

Here's a picture of him (then, not now obviously).  DNA testing will prove whether or not they've got the right corpse.
I no longer belong to  The Richard III Society but might go poke around for old time's sake.

And finally this...

I don't write Sci-Fi or Horror (though some of my characters have horrible things happen to them), but IF I did, I think a mass migration of crustaceans might make an awesome inciting incident. 
Angry, ruthless crabs... Crab dip, anyone?