Here are the rest of your questions from my querying/getting an agent Q&A:
Susan Fields said...
My question: I've heard that queries should be extremely short and to the point, yet often when I read a magazine article on queries that worked, they're pretty lengthy. What's a good word count for a query?
Different agents will tell you different things on word count. Some agents I queried had exact word count requirements of 200 words or something like that (yikes!). I think the best way to make sure your query isn't too long is to keep your "pitch" to two paragraphs, and if the whole letter can all fit on one printed page (formatted correctly -- no 8 point font and 1/4 inch borders), then you are good to go.
Can I ask another question? If not, just disregard. :) Say you get that call from an agent offering representation. Do you then email the other agents who are considering partials and fulls and tell them you have an offer and give them a deadline?
YES! You do exactly that. And usually you give them one week.
Kristine said... Great contest Sara--I'm getting in under the wire here. Here's my questions--I've done some work-for-hire and had a few things published. Is that impressing an agent? Or should I downplay it in my query?Thanks again for the opportunity.
Hmmm... I think it depends on what it was and how widely circulated your work was. I think it's good to show them you have some experience, but I wouldn't make it sound like a big deal (unless it was!). If it was a small local magazine or something, I'd mention it in your bio section, but just briefly. If it was a national magazine or publication, and particularly if it relates to the subject/genre you are querying, then you should make a bigger deal out of it. Does that make sense? I'm not the expert on this, so definitely do some more research on it before taking my word for it.
Rachel Searles said... Thanks for offering this contest! My question: how many people did you have critique your query before you sent it out?
The first time? Um... none? Yeah, I was a total greenie. I had no clue what I was doing other than having read Stephenie Meyer's website about how she bought Guide to Literary Agents, picked her top 15 or something like that, and sent off her queries. Bam! Instant millionaire. So I figured, I could do the same thing. As I've detailed in my "path to getting an agent" series last year, though I did get interest that first round, it didn't work out. Then I got smart and started getting help. I had about 5-6 people critique my queries after that every time. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Definitely don't make the mistakes I did!
I hope this series has been helpful and interesting! Thank you again for your questions. Happy Monday everyone!
Showing posts with label Q and A. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Q and A. Show all posts
Monday, January 17, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
We're almost there...
I have just one set of questions left (after today's). Thank you so much everyone who participated, and I hope you've found this series of Q&A helpful.
Danyelle said... Thanks for your generosity. :)Question: If you have more than one offer of representation, how do you handle telling the other agents that you didn't pick?
After you have carefully made an informed decision on which agent is best for you, the best way to let the other agents know is to send them a professional and kind email letting them know of your decision. Unless you feel like you had a closer relationship throughout the process that would necessitate a phone call. But usually, an email is sufficient.
Theresa Milstein said... Since we often send queries with pages, how do we know when it's the query or the pages or other?
I'm assuming you're asking when should you send pages and when should you just send the query? This is where your research becomes very important. Find the most up to date information on the agent you are querying (through agentquery.com, their websites, etc.). They will tell you what they want. However, if an agent says "query only," I'd usually send the first page with it (pasted in the email) so they could see a small sample of my writing and include a sentence that said, "I am also including a one-page excerpt from ____." (Or something like that.) I had a couple of author friends recommend I do that, and I found it was generally a good thing.
Brooke said... Great contest and thank you for your generosity!My question is what happens if you have more than one project ready to query?
In my opinion and from what I know, I say you pick the one that you think is the best, and you only query that one. (As long as they are the same genre or "age group"--aka, both YA, or both non-ficton, etc. so the same agent could represent both of them.) Once you have an agent interested, then you can tell them about your other project. However, I've had someone else tell me recently that she disagrees and thinks you should let them know in the query that you have another one ready. Everything I ever read or have heard is NOT to do that, but she is a knowledgeable person and says she's had success with it. So you may want to research that one a little bit more.
We're half way through the week, and so far mine has been awesome. I can only hope the trend continues! How about you? Is January 2011 treating you well?
Danyelle said... Thanks for your generosity. :)Question: If you have more than one offer of representation, how do you handle telling the other agents that you didn't pick?
After you have carefully made an informed decision on which agent is best for you, the best way to let the other agents know is to send them a professional and kind email letting them know of your decision. Unless you feel like you had a closer relationship throughout the process that would necessitate a phone call. But usually, an email is sufficient.
Theresa Milstein said... Since we often send queries with pages, how do we know when it's the query or the pages or other?
I'm assuming you're asking when should you send pages and when should you just send the query? This is where your research becomes very important. Find the most up to date information on the agent you are querying (through agentquery.com, their websites, etc.). They will tell you what they want. However, if an agent says "query only," I'd usually send the first page with it (pasted in the email) so they could see a small sample of my writing and include a sentence that said, "I am also including a one-page excerpt from ____." (Or something like that.) I had a couple of author friends recommend I do that, and I found it was generally a good thing.
Brooke said... Great contest and thank you for your generosity!My question is what happens if you have more than one project ready to query?
In my opinion and from what I know, I say you pick the one that you think is the best, and you only query that one. (As long as they are the same genre or "age group"--aka, both YA, or both non-ficton, etc. so the same agent could represent both of them.) Once you have an agent interested, then you can tell them about your other project. However, I've had someone else tell me recently that she disagrees and thinks you should let them know in the query that you have another one ready. Everything I ever read or have heard is NOT to do that, but she is a knowledgeable person and says she's had success with it. So you may want to research that one a little bit more.
We're half way through the week, and so far mine has been awesome. I can only hope the trend continues! How about you? Is January 2011 treating you well?
Monday, January 10, 2011
More answers, and a darling new niece!
Time for more answers to your questions!
Kathryn said...
Wondering how your husband reacted when you signed with an agent! What was your family's reaction? :) My husband was SO excited. He knew how badly I wanted this and how hard I had worked to get to that point. He'd seen me at the breaking point, when I was so beaten down with rejection that I didn't know if I could handle even one more. He also saw me when I was so excited about the most recent requests or feedback or revision. When it finally happened, I was almost in shock with disbelief that I'd finally achieved my goal. He on the other hand was jumping up and down, yelling in excitement, lifting me off of my feet and swinging me in circles. My family was also very excited, but not so much that they lifted me off of my feet. ;)
Emy Shin said...
These are great advice! A question, hmm... Did you have a process for querying? Did you query all agents at once, or send five queries, wait a week, then send five more, etc.?
Definitely don't query all the agents on your list at once. But I do believe in doing it in chunks. I'd say five - ten at a time. I usually sent out a chunk every monday morning, and see what kind of responses I got. One thing I did do though, was whenever I got a particularly heartbreaking rejection, I'd send out a new query right away (or maybe a couple) to give myself new hope. It was one way I coped with disappointment--focus on the possibility of the future instead of the failings of the past.
Nicole Zoltack said...
Queries always need to be tweaked so I would love to win!My question: How do you know when your query is ready? Oh boy, this is a tricky one. Especially since I was often tweaking my query between every round of queries I sent out! But what I would usually do is have a few new people read it whenever I thought it was ready (on top of my CPs), and based on how they reacted I would decide. Another thing I did sometimes (when I was feeling really brave), was to call up a friend and read them my query as if it was the back of a book at a store to ask them if they thought it sounded good. I'm sorry I'm not much help on this one. Basically, get it to where you think it accomplishes your goal (concisely and intriguingly surmises your book), and then have the courage to send it out.
Wondering how your husband reacted when you signed with an agent! What was your family's reaction? :) My husband was SO excited. He knew how badly I wanted this and how hard I had worked to get to that point. He'd seen me at the breaking point, when I was so beaten down with rejection that I didn't know if I could handle even one more. He also saw me when I was so excited about the most recent requests or feedback or revision. When it finally happened, I was almost in shock with disbelief that I'd finally achieved my goal. He on the other hand was jumping up and down, yelling in excitement, lifting me off of my feet and swinging me in circles. My family was also very excited, but not so much that they lifted me off of my feet. ;)
Emy Shin said...
These are great advice! A question, hmm... Did you have a process for querying? Did you query all agents at once, or send five queries, wait a week, then send five more, etc.?
Definitely don't query all the agents on your list at once. But I do believe in doing it in chunks. I'd say five - ten at a time. I usually sent out a chunk every monday morning, and see what kind of responses I got. One thing I did do though, was whenever I got a particularly heartbreaking rejection, I'd send out a new query right away (or maybe a couple) to give myself new hope. It was one way I coped with disappointment--focus on the possibility of the future instead of the failings of the past.
Nicole Zoltack said...
Queries always need to be tweaked so I would love to win!My question: How do you know when your query is ready? Oh boy, this is a tricky one. Especially since I was often tweaking my query between every round of queries I sent out! But what I would usually do is have a few new people read it whenever I thought it was ready (on top of my CPs), and based on how they reacted I would decide. Another thing I did sometimes (when I was feeling really brave), was to call up a friend and read them my query as if it was the back of a book at a store to ask them if they thought it sounded good. I'm sorry I'm not much help on this one. Basically, get it to where you think it accomplishes your goal (concisely and intriguingly surmises your book), and then have the courage to send it out.
And now for your viewing pleasure, I'd like to introduce my beautiful new niece Zoey!!
Isn't she darling? I'm so in love.
And thank you for all of your wishes on SonB's birthday party. It went awesome! He loved all of it (including his cake), so hurray for success!
Did you all have a good weekend?
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
The Return... of the answers to your questions!
Okay, well let's get back to it, shall we? Since I took a two week break, I didn't finish answering all of your great questions regarding querying and finding an agent. Here are a couple more:
Jennie Bailey asked:
How do you whittle your book down to one small paragraph without leaving anything important out? Do you give away your ending? Or keep it secret? I'll be querying by Spring, but I have so much trouble with narrowing it down and getting to the good stuff (yes, I've tried a few times just for practice)!
Technically, you can whittle it down to two paragraphs, maybe even three if they're on the short side. But I understand what you mean. It is really hard to take a huge, 70,000 word novel (give or take ten or twenty thousand words) into a query. That is one reason I say start your query before you write the book if possible. That is when you have your core idea but not all of the details swimming around in your head yet. You will most likely edit and change it once you write the book, but at least you will have a good starting place. If you've already written the book you have to ask yourself two questions: who is my main character (the query should only focus on their story, no supporting cast allowed if at all possible), and what is my hook? The hook is what is going to grab an agent's attention. This is not the place to try and show them how intricate your plot is, or the number of twists you've thrown in. You don't want to confuse them by naming too many characters in those two short paragraphs. It is also not the place to reveal your ending. Save that for a synopsis. Take some of your favorite books and read the jacket copy or back of the book blurb. Which ones sound the best to you? That's basically what you are trying to accomplish with your query. Keep it simple, intriguing--stick to your basic plot and hook, and you've got a query.
Alexia asked:
Question: When you get THE CALL, if your brain goes completely blank from mega freaking out excitement, what is the one question you should not forget to ask? Sorry, that's probably totally unfair. No pressure :)
Ha ha, well, I'm going to cheat on this answer so I don't feel any pressure at all. This is why you PRINT OFF YOUR LIST. Your brain will freak out, and you will go blank, and you will have that lovely sheet of paper right there, with all of your questions printed on it, and a pen or pencil in your other hand to write down their answers (or at least jot down notes). Problem solved. But if for some truly horrible, awful, (really, really bad) reason you can't find your paper, I'd say the most important question is to ask them what their thoughts and goals are for your book. That's kind of squishing the "tell me what edits you envision for my book, or is it ready to submit right now?" question together with the, "do you already have an idea of who you are going to submit my book to, and how soon do you hope we'll be ready to go on submission?" questions into one. Honestly, just make sure and be prepared and have your paper ready. They will set up an appointment with you, so it won't take you by surprise or anything.
Well, that's it for now. More to come soon!
Jennie Bailey asked:
How do you whittle your book down to one small paragraph without leaving anything important out? Do you give away your ending? Or keep it secret? I'll be querying by Spring, but I have so much trouble with narrowing it down and getting to the good stuff (yes, I've tried a few times just for practice)!
Technically, you can whittle it down to two paragraphs, maybe even three if they're on the short side. But I understand what you mean. It is really hard to take a huge, 70,000 word novel (give or take ten or twenty thousand words) into a query. That is one reason I say start your query before you write the book if possible. That is when you have your core idea but not all of the details swimming around in your head yet. You will most likely edit and change it once you write the book, but at least you will have a good starting place. If you've already written the book you have to ask yourself two questions: who is my main character (the query should only focus on their story, no supporting cast allowed if at all possible), and what is my hook? The hook is what is going to grab an agent's attention. This is not the place to try and show them how intricate your plot is, or the number of twists you've thrown in. You don't want to confuse them by naming too many characters in those two short paragraphs. It is also not the place to reveal your ending. Save that for a synopsis. Take some of your favorite books and read the jacket copy or back of the book blurb. Which ones sound the best to you? That's basically what you are trying to accomplish with your query. Keep it simple, intriguing--stick to your basic plot and hook, and you've got a query.
Alexia asked:
Question: When you get THE CALL, if your brain goes completely blank from mega freaking out excitement, what is the one question you should not forget to ask? Sorry, that's probably totally unfair. No pressure :)
Ha ha, well, I'm going to cheat on this answer so I don't feel any pressure at all. This is why you PRINT OFF YOUR LIST. Your brain will freak out, and you will go blank, and you will have that lovely sheet of paper right there, with all of your questions printed on it, and a pen or pencil in your other hand to write down their answers (or at least jot down notes). Problem solved. But if for some truly horrible, awful, (really, really bad) reason you can't find your paper, I'd say the most important question is to ask them what their thoughts and goals are for your book. That's kind of squishing the "tell me what edits you envision for my book, or is it ready to submit right now?" question together with the, "do you already have an idea of who you are going to submit my book to, and how soon do you hope we'll be ready to go on submission?" questions into one. Honestly, just make sure and be prepared and have your paper ready. They will set up an appointment with you, so it won't take you by surprise or anything.
Well, that's it for now. More to come soon!
Monday, December 20, 2010
One last question
Happy Monday everyone!
I hope you are all having a wonderful December, and Holiday season. I love this time of year so much. Sometimes it can end up being stressful if we spread ourselves too thin, and I'm trying to avoid that. I am going to answer one more question on querying (from my contest/post last Monday), and then I'm going to take a break for the rest of the Christmas/New Year holidays. I want to spend the next couple of weeks focusing on my family, and making this a really fun break for my son who is now out of school until January. I will miss you all, and may break down and pop in a few times. We'll see. ;)
So, here's Jennie Bailey's question:
How do you whittle your book down to one small paragraph without leaving anything important out? Do you give away your ending? Or keep it secret?
Often the best way to do this is to write your query BEFORE you write your book. If you try to write it then, the idea is still at its core elements (usually), and you won't have all the details that come later confusing and befuddling you. You'll end up revising it, I can almost guarantee it, but you'll have a great start. If you've already written your book, the best thing to do is to focus on only one character--your main character, none of the supporting cast should appear unless absolutely necessary. Then decide what is his/her main conflict--aka, what is your hook? That is what your write your query on, and that's IT. You don't reveal the ending in a query, that is for a synopsis. Your query should really be no longer than two paragraphs for the book and one paragraph for your bio (if you have one). The query isn't intended to show all your complex plotting, and twists and turns, etc. Go find some of your favorite books, and read the jacket copy. Notice how different they are, and try and figure out which ones grab your attention the most. Or, you could go to the bookstore and try this. Find a bunch of different books you haven't read yet and try reading their jacket copy. Which ones grab your attention the most and make you want to buy it? What is the difference? That's basically what you're trying to accomplish. A short, concise, intriguing two paragraph letter that will grab an agent's attention. Also, the query should show the M.C.'s voice, so sometimes it works to write it in first person when you're drafting it, then switch it to third when you revise it.
I hope that helps! I could keep going and going, but I better get going on entertaining my kids! (Who are currently being entertained by the Disney Channel while I write this.) I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I will "see you" in 2011!
I hope you are all having a wonderful December, and Holiday season. I love this time of year so much. Sometimes it can end up being stressful if we spread ourselves too thin, and I'm trying to avoid that. I am going to answer one more question on querying (from my contest/post last Monday), and then I'm going to take a break for the rest of the Christmas/New Year holidays. I want to spend the next couple of weeks focusing on my family, and making this a really fun break for my son who is now out of school until January. I will miss you all, and may break down and pop in a few times. We'll see. ;)
So, here's Jennie Bailey's question:
How do you whittle your book down to one small paragraph without leaving anything important out? Do you give away your ending? Or keep it secret?
Often the best way to do this is to write your query BEFORE you write your book. If you try to write it then, the idea is still at its core elements (usually), and you won't have all the details that come later confusing and befuddling you. You'll end up revising it, I can almost guarantee it, but you'll have a great start. If you've already written your book, the best thing to do is to focus on only one character--your main character, none of the supporting cast should appear unless absolutely necessary. Then decide what is his/her main conflict--aka, what is your hook? That is what your write your query on, and that's IT. You don't reveal the ending in a query, that is for a synopsis. Your query should really be no longer than two paragraphs for the book and one paragraph for your bio (if you have one). The query isn't intended to show all your complex plotting, and twists and turns, etc. Go find some of your favorite books, and read the jacket copy. Notice how different they are, and try and figure out which ones grab your attention the most. Or, you could go to the bookstore and try this. Find a bunch of different books you haven't read yet and try reading their jacket copy. Which ones grab your attention the most and make you want to buy it? What is the difference? That's basically what you're trying to accomplish. A short, concise, intriguing two paragraph letter that will grab an agent's attention. Also, the query should show the M.C.'s voice, so sometimes it works to write it in first person when you're drafting it, then switch it to third when you revise it.
I hope that helps! I could keep going and going, but I better get going on entertaining my kids! (Who are currently being entertained by the Disney Channel while I write this.) I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I will "see you" in 2011!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Q&A answers!
Thanks for all of your questions! Here we go with my super-awesome answers.
Carolina asked: How many revisions did you go through before you got your agent, and how many after?
Well, my whole journey to getting an agent took me 6 posts to do, and it explained a lot of that, so I will try to condense the answer. I did tons of revisions on different books, but the book that actually got me an agent I did a couple of rounds of revisions before sending out to agents (with my CPs). It was a fairly clean draft because I was more careful while I wrote it and didn't have to do as much revising. After I got my agent, I did two rounds of revisions, one was a little bit more involved and one was mostly just line edits (change a word here or there, or move this paragraph around, etc.).
Carolyn asked me to let you all know how the signing went, which I did in my last post!
Christine also wanted to know the same question as Carolina (she loves hearing about other people's journeys). Again, I did a big series of posts about "my path to getting an agent" a couple of months ago. If you haven't checked those out yet and want to know more about my path, that's where to get the low-down.
Janiel asked: How many other projects do you have in the works? How's your heart? The kids? Is YOUR agent going to agent your future works?
I have four projects at different stages, two are done being revised with my agent, one needs more revising and one is my current WIP. My heart is doing so much better, I decided not to use the beta blockers or anything, and so far, so good. I'm very grateful for that, especially after the way my last couple of weeks have gone, ha ha! My kids are doing awesome, Kid A decided to join his K-3 elementary school Christmas choir and has his first practice in the morning. His last soccer game got rained out unfortunately, but he did great this season and loved having SHH (otherwise known as his dad) be his coach. Kid B is too dang smart for his own good. He's really beginning to talk a lot, which is so fun. One of my favorites is when he says "boat." He sticks his lips way out, in a huge pucker, to enunciate the 't.' So cute! And yes, I'm planning on my agent being my agent for a LOOONG time to come (preferably until the end of my career. When I die. Ha ha). I love her and we work together really well. I'm so happy to have her as my champion in this business and as a friend.
Jennie asked: how do you balance it all: mother, wife, blogger, author?
Oh man, it's really hard sometimes. Okay, all the time. My friend Ally and I have often joked about how we don't "have time" to write (as many people, usually people who aren't writers) like to assume (you know the ones who say, "boy I wish I had time to write a book!" ha ha. Yeah. Right.); we have to "steal" the time. I steal time from housework, from sleep, from relaxing or TV, or any number of activities. I try very hard not to steal the time from my kids or my husband, but let's be honest, sometimes they probably get the short end of the Mommy/Wife stick--especially if I'm on a deadline. I just have to cut out anything superfluous, and I have learned to work very quickly in the time I have. Especially now that I work from home at nights, too. (Which unfortunately does cut into my prime writing/reading time.) I try to think about ideas during the day, so when I sit down to write, I'm ready to go.
Sometimes the blogging part is the hardest part for me. Blogging, and reading other's blogs, and commenting can take up SO much time. But it's so wonderful, and the online community is so amazing, that I am determined to make the time for it. Usually late at night, or maybe if my kids are playing and happy I will jump on my laptop and try and hurry to sneak some blog reading in.
Really, it's just hard, but I do my best to juggle it all and make it work.
Elana asked: Your favorite food? Treat? Season? Give me some faves!
Ooh, boy. Food. One of my passions. I ADORE cooking and baking, so you have to be more specific if you want faves for food. As a teen I would have immediately said "steak and mashed potatoes" (which is still a favorite), but now I have categories. Favorite ethnic food: Thai, especially with Mangoes and Sticky Rice for dessert. Favorite restaurant overall: Benihana. Oh man, I'm salivating just thinking about it... Favorite dessert: super tough because I'm a huge dessert junkie. But my number one standby is an amazing brownie sundae. But, as any of my friends or family will tell you, I have a huge list of incredible desserts I make. I just love dessert. I could keep going, but I should stop. My stomach has started to growl.
I really love all the seasons (except the middle and end of winter, when everything's dead and ugly and it's not Christmas anymore so snow, and coats, and boots, and cold aren't fun anymore, and I just want it to warm up again), but to narrow it down, my absolute favorite Holiday Season is Christmas. Hands down. I just love Christmastime.
Colene asked: Your fav book? Movie? Fav guilty pleasure? Fav thing to do when you aren't writing, reading, mom-ing, working?
Oh boy, hard questions. I really love a lot of books. My over-all favorite book as a teenager was THE POISONWOOD BIBLE by Barbara Kingsolver. That book really made me want to not just be a writer, but an amazing writer that could do something like she did with that book. My favorite book series of all time is definitely Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling is my hero, and as I've said before, I would die if I could meet her. I love MATCHED, and PARANORMALCY, and THE DARK DIVINE and Julie Berry's books and Shannon Hale's books, and oh dear this could go on and on, so let's stop there. Just know there are many, many, many more. You can friend me on goodreads if you'd like to know more about my tastes.
Same thing with movies. I miss going to the movies all the time like I used to, but there just isn't time. The movies that I've absolutely loved the most this year are INCEPTION (by the way, I know for sure how it ended, if you want to know...!) and AVATAR in IMAX 3D. They were both so incredible. All time favorites would be super hard to narrow down, but a couple that come to mind are THE ULTIMATE GIFT (a smaller movie that was so powerful and beautiful and I love it), I loved all the LOTR movies, especially RETURN OF THE KING. I'm also a sucker for great chick-flicks, some classics are HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS, ENCHANTED (kind of a kid's movie, but I love it), THE NOTEBOOK, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, THE SCARLET PIMPERNELL, MADE OF HONOR, you get the idea. Can you tell I love books and movies? And that I can't make decisions?
As for a favorite guilty pleasure... hmmm, probably eating all those desserts I mentioned before. And my favorite thing to do besides writing, reading, mom-ing, working? Probably taking a hot bubble bath, except that usually involves reading, so um, sleeping? No, no, I know! Going on a date with my SHH. That doesn't happen nearly enough for my liking. I love going on dates with my guy--just us, no kids, no stresses, just relaxing and being together. Usually eating good food. And indulging in my love of desserts.
Carolina asked: When do you write?
I think I pretty much answered that already. Whenever I can steal the time, but especially at night, or during naptime for SonB (and if SonA is watching a movie or playing happily).
Thank you so much for all of your questions, I hope you enjoyed reading my (sometimes really long) answers!
Carolina asked: How many revisions did you go through before you got your agent, and how many after?
Well, my whole journey to getting an agent took me 6 posts to do, and it explained a lot of that, so I will try to condense the answer. I did tons of revisions on different books, but the book that actually got me an agent I did a couple of rounds of revisions before sending out to agents (with my CPs). It was a fairly clean draft because I was more careful while I wrote it and didn't have to do as much revising. After I got my agent, I did two rounds of revisions, one was a little bit more involved and one was mostly just line edits (change a word here or there, or move this paragraph around, etc.).
Carolyn asked me to let you all know how the signing went, which I did in my last post!
Christine also wanted to know the same question as Carolina (she loves hearing about other people's journeys). Again, I did a big series of posts about "my path to getting an agent" a couple of months ago. If you haven't checked those out yet and want to know more about my path, that's where to get the low-down.
Janiel asked: How many other projects do you have in the works? How's your heart? The kids? Is YOUR agent going to agent your future works?
I have four projects at different stages, two are done being revised with my agent, one needs more revising and one is my current WIP. My heart is doing so much better, I decided not to use the beta blockers or anything, and so far, so good. I'm very grateful for that, especially after the way my last couple of weeks have gone, ha ha! My kids are doing awesome, Kid A decided to join his K-3 elementary school Christmas choir and has his first practice in the morning. His last soccer game got rained out unfortunately, but he did great this season and loved having SHH (otherwise known as his dad) be his coach. Kid B is too dang smart for his own good. He's really beginning to talk a lot, which is so fun. One of my favorites is when he says "boat." He sticks his lips way out, in a huge pucker, to enunciate the 't.' So cute! And yes, I'm planning on my agent being my agent for a LOOONG time to come (preferably until the end of my career. When I die. Ha ha). I love her and we work together really well. I'm so happy to have her as my champion in this business and as a friend.
Jennie asked: how do you balance it all: mother, wife, blogger, author?
Oh man, it's really hard sometimes. Okay, all the time. My friend Ally and I have often joked about how we don't "have time" to write (as many people, usually people who aren't writers) like to assume (you know the ones who say, "boy I wish I had time to write a book!" ha ha. Yeah. Right.); we have to "steal" the time. I steal time from housework, from sleep, from relaxing or TV, or any number of activities. I try very hard not to steal the time from my kids or my husband, but let's be honest, sometimes they probably get the short end of the Mommy/Wife stick--especially if I'm on a deadline. I just have to cut out anything superfluous, and I have learned to work very quickly in the time I have. Especially now that I work from home at nights, too. (Which unfortunately does cut into my prime writing/reading time.) I try to think about ideas during the day, so when I sit down to write, I'm ready to go.
Sometimes the blogging part is the hardest part for me. Blogging, and reading other's blogs, and commenting can take up SO much time. But it's so wonderful, and the online community is so amazing, that I am determined to make the time for it. Usually late at night, or maybe if my kids are playing and happy I will jump on my laptop and try and hurry to sneak some blog reading in.
Really, it's just hard, but I do my best to juggle it all and make it work.
Elana asked: Your favorite food? Treat? Season? Give me some faves!
Ooh, boy. Food. One of my passions. I ADORE cooking and baking, so you have to be more specific if you want faves for food. As a teen I would have immediately said "steak and mashed potatoes" (which is still a favorite), but now I have categories. Favorite ethnic food: Thai, especially with Mangoes and Sticky Rice for dessert. Favorite restaurant overall: Benihana. Oh man, I'm salivating just thinking about it... Favorite dessert: super tough because I'm a huge dessert junkie. But my number one standby is an amazing brownie sundae. But, as any of my friends or family will tell you, I have a huge list of incredible desserts I make. I just love dessert. I could keep going, but I should stop. My stomach has started to growl.
I really love all the seasons (except the middle and end of winter, when everything's dead and ugly and it's not Christmas anymore so snow, and coats, and boots, and cold aren't fun anymore, and I just want it to warm up again), but to narrow it down, my absolute favorite Holiday Season is Christmas. Hands down. I just love Christmastime.
Colene asked: Your fav book? Movie? Fav guilty pleasure? Fav thing to do when you aren't writing, reading, mom-ing, working?
Oh boy, hard questions. I really love a lot of books. My over-all favorite book as a teenager was THE POISONWOOD BIBLE by Barbara Kingsolver. That book really made me want to not just be a writer, but an amazing writer that could do something like she did with that book. My favorite book series of all time is definitely Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling is my hero, and as I've said before, I would die if I could meet her. I love MATCHED, and PARANORMALCY, and THE DARK DIVINE and Julie Berry's books and Shannon Hale's books, and oh dear this could go on and on, so let's stop there. Just know there are many, many, many more. You can friend me on goodreads if you'd like to know more about my tastes.
Same thing with movies. I miss going to the movies all the time like I used to, but there just isn't time. The movies that I've absolutely loved the most this year are INCEPTION (by the way, I know for sure how it ended, if you want to know...!) and AVATAR in IMAX 3D. They were both so incredible. All time favorites would be super hard to narrow down, but a couple that come to mind are THE ULTIMATE GIFT (a smaller movie that was so powerful and beautiful and I love it), I loved all the LOTR movies, especially RETURN OF THE KING. I'm also a sucker for great chick-flicks, some classics are HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS, ENCHANTED (kind of a kid's movie, but I love it), THE NOTEBOOK, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, THE SCARLET PIMPERNELL, MADE OF HONOR, you get the idea. Can you tell I love books and movies? And that I can't make decisions?
As for a favorite guilty pleasure... hmmm, probably eating all those desserts I mentioned before. And my favorite thing to do besides writing, reading, mom-ing, working? Probably taking a hot bubble bath, except that usually involves reading, so um, sleeping? No, no, I know! Going on a date with my SHH. That doesn't happen nearly enough for my liking. I love going on dates with my guy--just us, no kids, no stresses, just relaxing and being together. Usually eating good food. And indulging in my love of desserts.
Carolina asked: When do you write?
I think I pretty much answered that already. Whenever I can steal the time, but especially at night, or during naptime for SonB (and if SonA is watching a movie or playing happily).
Thank you so much for all of your questions, I hope you enjoyed reading my (sometimes really long) answers!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Ask for it...
Thank you all so much for your comments on my last post - it really is gratifying to know that the things I'm sharing and the knowledge I've gained is useful to you. I will admit there are days that I think, "why am I spending so much time on this blog? Does anyone really even care about what I have to say? Especially when there are so many other blogs out there, written by authors who are more experienced/funny/knowledgeable/etc." Your comments on Monday (and many of my other posts as well) made me feel like I have something to offer, too. And I appreciate that more than you know.
Okay, warm and fuzzy moment over. I promise.
On to business. I happened to notice I'm at 192 followers right now. Wow, that is amazing! And I also noticed I haven't done a giveaway for a little while... hmm... 192 is pretty close to a nice, even number that starts with a 2 and ends with an 00. I'm thinking a contest will be showing up in the near future, most likely when I hit that nice even number. Wink, wink. Yeah, I know, totally subtle. Now, what to do for that contest? I will have to think about it. Stay tuned for what I come up with.
As for the title of today's post, I also realized it's been a long time since I've done a question and answer post. I usually try to do one every couple of months, just to mix things up and see if any of my new (or old) followers have thought of any questions they wish I'd answer. So have it: what are you just dying to know about me, or from me? Feel free to ask in the comments and I will do an answer post on Monday! (Friday is reserved for my recap of my friend Julie Berry's signing tonight at The King's English here in SLC! Go check out her new book, SECONDHAND CHARM. She is SO talented, trust me!)
Hope you are all having a great week!
Okay, warm and fuzzy moment over. I promise.
On to business. I happened to notice I'm at 192 followers right now. Wow, that is amazing! And I also noticed I haven't done a giveaway for a little while... hmm... 192 is pretty close to a nice, even number that starts with a 2 and ends with an 00. I'm thinking a contest will be showing up in the near future, most likely when I hit that nice even number. Wink, wink. Yeah, I know, totally subtle. Now, what to do for that contest? I will have to think about it. Stay tuned for what I come up with.
As for the title of today's post, I also realized it's been a long time since I've done a question and answer post. I usually try to do one every couple of months, just to mix things up and see if any of my new (or old) followers have thought of any questions they wish I'd answer. So have it: what are you just dying to know about me, or from me? Feel free to ask in the comments and I will do an answer post on Monday! (Friday is reserved for my recap of my friend Julie Berry's signing tonight at The King's English here in SLC! Go check out her new book, SECONDHAND CHARM. She is SO talented, trust me!)
Hope you are all having a great week!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Answer time! (I'm still suffering from FBS, so be warned)
Kathryn asked:I've checked out some of your older posts and I can't find anything on your progress towards getting an agent or writing your novel. Could you tell us more about that? :)
Hey Kathryn – I’m not sure if you want to know the details of my path to getting an agent, or just where I’m at in getting one. The word “progress” is what threw me off, because my progress to getting one is technically over as I do have an agent. I have two finished novels that she and I are working on revising and submitting, with a third that is also finished and needs revising but is on the back burner for now. If that is totally not what you wanted to hear, and instead you wanted to know what my path was, stay tuned because I am planning on doing a series of posts about my journey to getting my agent very soon.
Melissa asked: Hey Sara.... my internet's been down but I know you went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter recently and I'm going in a couple of weeks... I was just wondering if you remembered how expensive things were in the gift shops? Like did you think it was ridiculously expensive or was it reasonable?
Oh, the wonderful Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I love that place. A lot. The merchandise wasn’t cheap, but I figured it wouldn’t be, so I saved my money to get my souvenirs there. I got two shirts for myself and they were both around $20-$25. My sister waited in line for two hours to get a wand, and I believe she paid close to $30 for it. So not Rodeo Drive horrendous, but not cheap either. I hope you have a great time!
Also, I'd like to hear more about where you are in your journey as a writer.
As I mentioned above, I am agented and am working with her on two of my YA books. I’m hoping to have a deal before the end of the year (preferably much sooner than that!) but we’ll see. This business can be so slow – especially during the summer. Editors are pretty hard to get a hold of during August apparently, so… Hopefully something will happen sooner than later but you just never know.
(also, are you going to patent the title FBS because I rather like this syndrome.... :P)
I definitely think I should!
Carolyn V. asked:
Favorite writing snack. Fess up Sara. What do you eat when you write. (Please don't tell me you snack, although you might not because you are so skinny.) =)
Did you mean “please don’t tell me you don’t snack”? Oh dear. You’re going to be mad at me. Sometimes I do snack when I write, but most times I don’t. When I write, I'm just so absorbed that I forget to even eat meals, let alone snacks. Plus I can't stand typing with icky fingers (sticky, dirty, etc.) so I don't usually eat while I write. That doesn’t mean I don’t snack ever – I definitely do! However, I rarely ever buy myself candy or treats. Not because I don’t like them, I just don’t think to do it. It’s this weird mental thing that would take too long to explain in a Q&A. If you’re dying to know, I can do another post about it I guess. Ha ha! When I am going to snack on something it’s usually leftovers or desserts. The rare time I do get candy I love Swedish Fish, and Skittles (my favorite flavor is the green skittle in the purple bag), and I love those new fizzie ones. I also like tropical starbursts and I’m a pretty big fan of Symphony chocolate bars with toffee. My favorite kind of chocolate is hard to get here in the U.S. (although Ikea has made it much easier!), it's the Swedish chocolate Marabou. That chocolate is so amazing it will ruin you for almost all other kinds of chocolate bars. I do love Cadbury Mini Eggs that are only out at Easter. I can eat an entire bag in one sitting if I'm not careful. Also, one of my favorite snacks ever is to make ranch dip (the Hidden Valley kind with sour cream – fat free if I’m feeling guilty) and slice up cucumbers and celery and dip it in. Yum yum! Sometimes I’ll use potato chips to dip in it, too. Wow, that was a way longer answer than you anticipated, isn’t it? Oh well. Even snacking is complicated for me I guess. ;)
Janiel Miller asked:
When do you do your best writing?
I’d have to say when there aren’t distractions and when I have new music to listen to that I just love and haven’t gotten used to yet. It might be during naptime, or at night when the kids are asleep, but as long as no one is interrupting me every five minutes, I seem to get a lot more done. And when I have a new soundtrack or music to listen to that still gives me chills or makes my heart swell with emotion – that transfers to the page for me and I find that my stories just fly out through my fingers.
The Dixon Family asked:
I want to know how you are (present exhaustion excluded) and what type of book you are currently working on.)
I am up and down and all around. Life is kind of like that and so is the writing world. In life I am doing all that I can to be the best mom and wife possible. Some days go so well I feel exuberantly happy and secure with the “job” I’m doing and some days go so horrendously bad that I want to go hide in a corner and hire someone else to fix the messes I’m afraid I'm making. As far as writing goes, it’s about the same. One day I’ll get good news, or have a great writing day and feel like I can conquer the world and it’s only a matter of time before I have my deal! Others I feel like I’m never going to get there, even though I finally have an agent. So, overall I’m doing well. Ha, ha. :D
As for the type of book I’m working on, the two books I’m working on with my agent are both YA – one is fantasy that has been described as the tone of THE HUNGER GAMES meets the lyrical fantasy world of GRACELING, and the other is a paranormal romance about a girl with a unique ability that might end up getting her and everyone she loves killed. I’m also playing around with a new YA dystopian idea, but haven’t done too much on it yet.
I hope you enjoyed my answers. I am still suffering from FBS, so if they seem confusing and muddled, it’s because that is an apt description of my brain right now. Happy Friday!
Hey Kathryn – I’m not sure if you want to know the details of my path to getting an agent, or just where I’m at in getting one. The word “progress” is what threw me off, because my progress to getting one is technically over as I do have an agent. I have two finished novels that she and I are working on revising and submitting, with a third that is also finished and needs revising but is on the back burner for now. If that is totally not what you wanted to hear, and instead you wanted to know what my path was, stay tuned because I am planning on doing a series of posts about my journey to getting my agent very soon.
Melissa asked: Hey Sara.... my internet's been down but I know you went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter recently and I'm going in a couple of weeks... I was just wondering if you remembered how expensive things were in the gift shops? Like did you think it was ridiculously expensive or was it reasonable?
Oh, the wonderful Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I love that place. A lot. The merchandise wasn’t cheap, but I figured it wouldn’t be, so I saved my money to get my souvenirs there. I got two shirts for myself and they were both around $20-$25. My sister waited in line for two hours to get a wand, and I believe she paid close to $30 for it. So not Rodeo Drive horrendous, but not cheap either. I hope you have a great time!
Also, I'd like to hear more about where you are in your journey as a writer.
As I mentioned above, I am agented and am working with her on two of my YA books. I’m hoping to have a deal before the end of the year (preferably much sooner than that!) but we’ll see. This business can be so slow – especially during the summer. Editors are pretty hard to get a hold of during August apparently, so… Hopefully something will happen sooner than later but you just never know.
(also, are you going to patent the title FBS because I rather like this syndrome.... :P)
I definitely think I should!
Carolyn V. asked:
Favorite writing snack. Fess up Sara. What do you eat when you write. (Please don't tell me you snack, although you might not because you are so skinny.) =)
Did you mean “please don’t tell me you don’t snack”? Oh dear. You’re going to be mad at me. Sometimes I do snack when I write, but most times I don’t. When I write, I'm just so absorbed that I forget to even eat meals, let alone snacks. Plus I can't stand typing with icky fingers (sticky, dirty, etc.) so I don't usually eat while I write. That doesn’t mean I don’t snack ever – I definitely do! However, I rarely ever buy myself candy or treats. Not because I don’t like them, I just don’t think to do it. It’s this weird mental thing that would take too long to explain in a Q&A. If you’re dying to know, I can do another post about it I guess. Ha ha! When I am going to snack on something it’s usually leftovers or desserts. The rare time I do get candy I love Swedish Fish, and Skittles (my favorite flavor is the green skittle in the purple bag), and I love those new fizzie ones. I also like tropical starbursts and I’m a pretty big fan of Symphony chocolate bars with toffee. My favorite kind of chocolate is hard to get here in the U.S. (although Ikea has made it much easier!), it's the Swedish chocolate Marabou. That chocolate is so amazing it will ruin you for almost all other kinds of chocolate bars. I do love Cadbury Mini Eggs that are only out at Easter. I can eat an entire bag in one sitting if I'm not careful. Also, one of my favorite snacks ever is to make ranch dip (the Hidden Valley kind with sour cream – fat free if I’m feeling guilty) and slice up cucumbers and celery and dip it in. Yum yum! Sometimes I’ll use potato chips to dip in it, too. Wow, that was a way longer answer than you anticipated, isn’t it? Oh well. Even snacking is complicated for me I guess. ;)
Janiel Miller asked:
When do you do your best writing?
I’d have to say when there aren’t distractions and when I have new music to listen to that I just love and haven’t gotten used to yet. It might be during naptime, or at night when the kids are asleep, but as long as no one is interrupting me every five minutes, I seem to get a lot more done. And when I have a new soundtrack or music to listen to that still gives me chills or makes my heart swell with emotion – that transfers to the page for me and I find that my stories just fly out through my fingers.
The Dixon Family asked:
I want to know how you are (present exhaustion excluded) and what type of book you are currently working on.)
I am up and down and all around. Life is kind of like that and so is the writing world. In life I am doing all that I can to be the best mom and wife possible. Some days go so well I feel exuberantly happy and secure with the “job” I’m doing and some days go so horrendously bad that I want to go hide in a corner and hire someone else to fix the messes I’m afraid I'm making. As far as writing goes, it’s about the same. One day I’ll get good news, or have a great writing day and feel like I can conquer the world and it’s only a matter of time before I have my deal! Others I feel like I’m never going to get there, even though I finally have an agent. So, overall I’m doing well. Ha, ha. :D
As for the type of book I’m working on, the two books I’m working on with my agent are both YA – one is fantasy that has been described as the tone of THE HUNGER GAMES meets the lyrical fantasy world of GRACELING, and the other is a paranormal romance about a girl with a unique ability that might end up getting her and everyone she loves killed. I’m also playing around with a new YA dystopian idea, but haven’t done too much on it yet.
I hope you enjoyed my answers. I am still suffering from FBS, so if they seem confusing and muddled, it’s because that is an apt description of my brain right now. Happy Friday!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
In which my brain is fried and I reveal things I might regret
So, let's just be honest right now. Multiple super long car rides + very little sleep + children + no food in the house = Fried Brain Syndrome. Hereafter known as FBS. In which I can't come up with a coherent blog post about writing.
Hence, instead I am going to ask all my shiny new followers that I've gotten in the past couple of months (and any of the old ones, too - you're also very shiny) if they have any questions they'd like me to answer? Yep, we're doing a good old Q&A. Ask me anything in the comments and I will answer them for you! (Okay, almost anything. Let's be honest here.) I'm not telling you about one of my most embarrasssing moments where I pretty much threw up on a guy who totally deserved it. He freakin' tried to kiss me after breaking up with me and I had the stomach flu at the time and was already on the verge. My eighteen-year-old self was mortified when I had to literally shove him away from me to hurl in the bushes. My twenty-seven-year old self laughs and thinks it would have been even more funny if I'd actually thrown up on him. I did tell him I didn't feel good and to stop it. Did he listen? Oh, no. I mean, HELLO! Why are you trying to kiss me after breaking up with me? But that still isn't a story I'd want to share. Oh... wait.
Okay, maybe I'll answer just about anything. So have at it!
(But be nice, did I mention I have FBS?) Or if you don't want to ask a question, tell me one of your most embarrassing moments! Can anyone top mine??
Hence, instead I am going to ask all my shiny new followers that I've gotten in the past couple of months (and any of the old ones, too - you're also very shiny) if they have any questions they'd like me to answer? Yep, we're doing a good old Q&A. Ask me anything in the comments and I will answer them for you! (Okay, almost anything. Let's be honest here.) I'm not telling you about one of my most embarrasssing moments where I pretty much threw up on a guy who totally deserved it. He freakin' tried to kiss me after breaking up with me and I had the stomach flu at the time and was already on the verge. My eighteen-year-old self was mortified when I had to literally shove him away from me to hurl in the bushes. My twenty-seven-year old self laughs and thinks it would have been even more funny if I'd actually thrown up on him. I did tell him I didn't feel good and to stop it. Did he listen? Oh, no. I mean, HELLO! Why are you trying to kiss me after breaking up with me? But that still isn't a story I'd want to share. Oh... wait.
Okay, maybe I'll answer just about anything. So have at it!
(But be nice, did I mention I have FBS?) Or if you don't want to ask a question, tell me one of your most embarrassing moments! Can anyone top mine??
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