Mandy Hubbard's Blog, page 10
June 29, 2010
On Pondering....
Last night I twittered, "Finished a Full MS. Commence Pondering."
A few people replied, asking what that meant.
Whenver I finish a full manuscript, regardless of how much I love it, I try to spend a few hours (somtimes days, depending) thinking about it. I want to know that I'll feel strongly about it not just in that moment I read the last page, but that the feeling lingers, and the story stays with me, even after I'm done reading.
The first things I think about are revisions:
*How big would w...
June 25, 2010
On "Treasuring" being unpublished....
Michael Bourret, of Dystel & Goderich literary agency, has a rather interesting post up on his blog, about how writers should enjoy the time that they have before they get a book deal, that is is a "very special time in their career."
Go read it.
Then come back.
I think Michael is brilliant. I met him at a conference a couple months ago, and the dude knows his stuff. And he makes a lot of really, really great points. There IS a certain amount of freedom in writing before you're published. It's...
June 18, 2010
Guest post by Saundra Mitchell
I WISH I MAY, I WISH I MIGHT
I couldn't be more excited about Mandy's next book, YOU WISH. I was
lucky enough to hear about it when it was just an idea, and it's been so
exciting to see an entire book take shape from beginning to end in her
hands. It's such a great idea, too- what would happen if you actually
got all those birthday wishes you made?
In my case, it's probably a good thing that I didn't. I was an odd
child, and depending on th...
June 17, 2010
On When To Give Up....
During the #askagent session on Twitter last night, I mentioned my Prada & Prejudice story-- rewriting it after 20+ editor rejections, and getting two offers.
Someone asked me how to know when you should give up on a project. How many rejections is enough? When should you throw in the towel and just trunk it?
And here's my twitter-sized answer: When you have something better to shop. When your skill has grown beyond what you're shopping. Then you give up.
And that's what it boils down to...
June 15, 2010
The project formerly known as SHATTERED....
Big news! SHATTERED, my debut written as Amanda Hubbard (coming June(ish) 2011) has been retitled and will now be known as BUT I LOVE HIM.
I <3 it! It is about a girl in an abusive relationship, told in chronologically backwards. The phrase, "BUT I LOVE HIM" captures everything the book is about.
And since it is Teaser Tuesday, I thought I'd share the first 2 pages....
August 30
One Year
I lie in pieces on the floor. A hundred different things surround me: shards of a destroyed wooden...
June 9, 2010
On Crushing from Afar...
No, seriously, I really want to know! A few weeks ago we had the conversation that revealed we didnt really truly have mean queen bees nearly as often in real life as we did in fiction.
And the next oft-used trope is the untouchable perfect boy who doesn't know we exist.
For me, that one is tru...
June 8, 2010
On opening pages....
I asked Twitter for blog topics, and Laura suggested what I look for in opening pages. And then, duh, I realized as much time as I spent talking about queries, I haven't even touched on opening pages.
So here's what I look for, more or less in order of importance.
*Tension. This is a must for me. I need some kind of conflict or question that propels me forward-- a reason I just can't put it down. There are too many projects in the slush pile that consist of a character just... walking around ...
June 7, 2010
Prada & Prejudice-- now available in Spain?!
It has a very simliar cover, eh? I like the little 'y' instead of the & symbol.
According to their website + Google Translate, this is how they describe it:
A Callie everything goes wrong, is tired of being the typical awkward nerd girl. So during a trip to London decide to buy their way into popularity: an authentic pair of Prada shoes. But these prove to be too high, and...
June 4, 2010
The Very, very random Friday 5
1) Although the reason behind an amber alert is terrifying, I find the amber alert itself strangely moving. It reminds me of the way our Country banded together after 9/11. The way the radio stations, news, highway reader boards, etc, all work in unison and everyone is keping their eyes peeled for the license plate? It makes me feel like we are all shouting "SCREW YOU, MOTHER EFFER! YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE!"
Yeah, told you this would be random.
2) It is raining. It has rained all sprin...
June 3, 2010
Foreign rights-- and the Indonesian Prada & Prejudice cover!
First off, I am very excited to share with you guys the indonesian cover for Prada & Prejudice! It releases there on June 30th. I think the publisher, PT Serambi Ilmu Semesta, did a pretty kick-butt job.
It took me a while to even notice the wallpaper in the background was made of shoes. :-)
As I was posting this, it occured to me that you may not know exactly how foreign rights sales work, and thus, here we go:
When you sell your initial deal to your fancy NYC publisher, they have a few option...
