Magan Vernon's Blog, page 46
October 21, 2011
Why I went Indie
The big question on most of your minds is: Why the heck did I go Indie instead of the traditional route?
Well, I guess I can give you all the long and short of it. The short: I was tired of waiting and struggling, and now the long:
After college I decided that I wanted to take a jab at writing a novel and getting published. I took a stab at an adult thriller, failed miserably, and then started on a love story about a college aged girl in the south. This story would be My Paper Heart.
I loved my story, my beta readers loved it, but it didn't seem like a winner with agents. Sure I got a lot of requests, but ultimatley it was turned down because of the character's age. After entering a contest and failing miserably, I decided to start working on How to Date an Alien.
The whole process for HTDA was much better. My writing was better, my editing great, and my critique partners seemed to love it. So I sent it out into the world. Agents had contacted me and I had queried them. With 4 fulls out, I thought 'This is it, I'm going to get an agent.' But all those fulls ended in rejections and not even bad ones. Infact I didn't get a single bad rejection just alot of, 'I love the story, but it's not right for my client list.'
I was totally bummed. After spending alot of my free time querying, I decided to work on something new and bring it to my RWA meeting and that is where I met GP Ching.
She read the first chapter of a Sci-fi novel that I was working on and said, "You need to come join the Darkside." At the time I wasn't sure, I still thought that I wanted an agent and to go for the big deal, so I talked to my husband and friends about it.
My husband point blank said, "You have been waiting years to get your book out there, why not submit to an Indie publisher?"
I thought about it. Years of waiting and other books had been published. Even if I did get an agent that didn't gurantee that I would even get published. It was time to get my book out into the world and stop waiting, so I submitted to Darkside and I've never looked back.
Have you submitted to an Indie publisher or ever thought about going Indie? Do you have any questions regarding Indie publishing?
Well, I guess I can give you all the long and short of it. The short: I was tired of waiting and struggling, and now the long:
After college I decided that I wanted to take a jab at writing a novel and getting published. I took a stab at an adult thriller, failed miserably, and then started on a love story about a college aged girl in the south. This story would be My Paper Heart.
I loved my story, my beta readers loved it, but it didn't seem like a winner with agents. Sure I got a lot of requests, but ultimatley it was turned down because of the character's age. After entering a contest and failing miserably, I decided to start working on How to Date an Alien.
The whole process for HTDA was much better. My writing was better, my editing great, and my critique partners seemed to love it. So I sent it out into the world. Agents had contacted me and I had queried them. With 4 fulls out, I thought 'This is it, I'm going to get an agent.' But all those fulls ended in rejections and not even bad ones. Infact I didn't get a single bad rejection just alot of, 'I love the story, but it's not right for my client list.'
I was totally bummed. After spending alot of my free time querying, I decided to work on something new and bring it to my RWA meeting and that is where I met GP Ching.
She read the first chapter of a Sci-fi novel that I was working on and said, "You need to come join the Darkside." At the time I wasn't sure, I still thought that I wanted an agent and to go for the big deal, so I talked to my husband and friends about it.
My husband point blank said, "You have been waiting years to get your book out there, why not submit to an Indie publisher?"
I thought about it. Years of waiting and other books had been published. Even if I did get an agent that didn't gurantee that I would even get published. It was time to get my book out into the world and stop waiting, so I submitted to Darkside and I've never looked back.
Have you submitted to an Indie publisher or ever thought about going Indie? Do you have any questions regarding Indie publishing?
October 18, 2011
Third Campaigner Challenge- The wastopaneer
Now for the Challenge (and please note the word count change!):
Write a blog post in 300 words or less, excluding the title. The post
can be in any format, whether flash fiction, non-fiction, humorous
blog musings, poem, etc. The blog post should show:
that it's morning,
that a man or a woman (or both) is at the beach
that the MC (main character) is bored
that something stinks behind where he/she is sitting
that something surprising happens.
Just for fun, see if you can involve all five senses AND include these
random words: "synbatec," "wastopaneer," and "tacise." (NB. these
words are completely made up and are not intended to have any meaning
other than the one you give them).
The rising sun broke through the waves and spilled light over the
white sand beneath me. I blinked twice before sitting up. My head
felt like it weighed a tacise. I squinted at the bronzed beauty laying
next to me, a definite wastopaneer with a farmer's tan and helmet
hair. I shook the bits of grit out of my hair and detected something
foul coming from the boardwalk. I turned towards the smell. What was
that? Symbatec and last week's sushi was my guess. I couldn't sit
there any longer, watching the tide roll in. I had to escape. An
outstretched hand burned against my skin. The wastopaneer had
awakened.
"Morning," she breathed.
"Uh, yeah same to you." An excuse, an excuse was what I needed.
Something to get me away.
"Do you want to come to my place and shower before you leave?" Her
big doe eyes melted in the rising sun.
"No, I'm fine, but Thank you." I stood up and grabbed my gown,
pulling it over my bare flesh.
"Don't forget this." My bonnet dangled from her slender fingers.
I grabbed the white fabric and threw it over my braid, avoiding her
longing stare.
"Will I ever see you again, Ruth?"
I let my mind wander to a world where Rumspringa was every day and I
would never go back to the fields. "Maybe, baby, maybe."
Write a blog post in 300 words or less, excluding the title. The post
can be in any format, whether flash fiction, non-fiction, humorous
blog musings, poem, etc. The blog post should show:
that it's morning,
that a man or a woman (or both) is at the beach
that the MC (main character) is bored
that something stinks behind where he/she is sitting
that something surprising happens.
Just for fun, see if you can involve all five senses AND include these
random words: "synbatec," "wastopaneer," and "tacise." (NB. these
words are completely made up and are not intended to have any meaning
other than the one you give them).
The rising sun broke through the waves and spilled light over the
white sand beneath me. I blinked twice before sitting up. My head
felt like it weighed a tacise. I squinted at the bronzed beauty laying
next to me, a definite wastopaneer with a farmer's tan and helmet
hair. I shook the bits of grit out of my hair and detected something
foul coming from the boardwalk. I turned towards the smell. What was
that? Symbatec and last week's sushi was my guess. I couldn't sit
there any longer, watching the tide roll in. I had to escape. An
outstretched hand burned against my skin. The wastopaneer had
awakened.
"Morning," she breathed.
"Uh, yeah same to you." An excuse, an excuse was what I needed.
Something to get me away.
"Do you want to come to my place and shower before you leave?" Her
big doe eyes melted in the rising sun.
"No, I'm fine, but Thank you." I stood up and grabbed my gown,
pulling it over my bare flesh.
"Don't forget this." My bonnet dangled from her slender fingers.
I grabbed the white fabric and threw it over my braid, avoiding her
longing stare.
"Will I ever see you again, Ruth?"
I let my mind wander to a world where Rumspringa was every day and I
would never go back to the fields. "Maybe, baby, maybe."
October 17, 2011
OH, look a guest post!
Today I shall direct you elsewhere and you can check out my post on Tymothy Longoria's blog.
It's titled: Always a Writer
Enjoy!
It's titled: Always a Writer
Enjoy!
October 12, 2011
Meet me and get your name in a book!
I will be making my first author apperance at Joliet public library's author fair this Saturday! Not only do you get to see me, but you get to see the awesome GP Ching, Megg Jensen, and Karly Kirkpatrick!
But wait...I don't have a book out (yet) to sign or anything to offer you, why come see me?
Since I don't have anything physical to give away, I decided to give away something BETTER.
If you come to the Author's fair and tell me that you heard about me from this blog, twitter, Darkside's site and you will be entered to have a character named after you in the second Alien book!
So what are you waiting for? Make plans to come to come see me!
And for more info, or other apperances check out the Darkside site!
October 10, 2011
Ch-Ch-Changes
With my upcoming publication, I have to say that things are going to be changing.
For one, you wont be following my rambling on and on about how I want to cry from rejections (btw, got two rejections after I got the call from Darkside. I laughed.). But there are some other changes and some of them you may not like.
--I will not longer be doing reviews & recipes or any sort of reviews. Why? Well, for one, it's kind of time consuming and I would rather spend my time getting my edits done and getting my wonderful books out to you. The other reason is that I feel it had become sort of a conflict of interest at this point. Am I endorsing a book? Would it be fair for me to keep my agreements with other publishers to review books when I'm not working with them? I decided that it wouldn't be fair and that I needed to discontinue. Recipes & Reviews, or even just recipes, may trickle in from time to time, but not as frequently.
--My posting will not be as frequent in the next couple weeks. I have gotten some major edits back from Darkside and need to work on those. I'll still try and post as much as possible, but I think you would all rather read my book about aliens, right?
That's about it for now. I'm pretty sure that I could handle still doing all the blog things with editing (I did create an entire alien race in six months after all), but I also work full-time and have to keep up with a demanding baby. So, alas, these changes will be made.
Xoxo,
The punching bag
For one, you wont be following my rambling on and on about how I want to cry from rejections (btw, got two rejections after I got the call from Darkside. I laughed.). But there are some other changes and some of them you may not like.
--I will not longer be doing reviews & recipes or any sort of reviews. Why? Well, for one, it's kind of time consuming and I would rather spend my time getting my edits done and getting my wonderful books out to you. The other reason is that I feel it had become sort of a conflict of interest at this point. Am I endorsing a book? Would it be fair for me to keep my agreements with other publishers to review books when I'm not working with them? I decided that it wouldn't be fair and that I needed to discontinue. Recipes & Reviews, or even just recipes, may trickle in from time to time, but not as frequently.
--My posting will not be as frequent in the next couple weeks. I have gotten some major edits back from Darkside and need to work on those. I'll still try and post as much as possible, but I think you would all rather read my book about aliens, right?
That's about it for now. I'm pretty sure that I could handle still doing all the blog things with editing (I did create an entire alien race in six months after all), but I also work full-time and have to keep up with a demanding baby. So, alas, these changes will be made.
Xoxo,
The punching bag
October 7, 2011
The Soulkeepers and Dr. Silva's Pumpkin Cocoa
Jacob Lau's life truly began the day he died. But as he was brought back from life he learned that his mother was missing and that he would have to move from his home in Oahu to the small town of Paris, IL with his estranged uncle, whom he'd never met or knew about. As if moving across the country wasn't enough he also has to face racisim by his new classmates and strange dreams of his neighbor, Dr. Silva, visiting him in the night. Things only get weirder when Jacob finds out he is a Soulkeeper, a protector of good. But how does he know who really is good and who really is evil? And will he be able to hone his new ability in time to save the people that he loves?
Release Date: June 24, 2011
Page count: 308
Genre: Young Adult
Similar to: Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers
Recommended to: Boys and Girls 10+
Stars: 5/5
*The Good:
*FINALLY, I have been waiting for a story that doesn't have your typical all-american white bread teenagers. A half-chinese boy and an Indian girl as the leads? Now that is something that you don't see in YA literature, or any literature for that matter and it was very refreshing.
*You could tell that Ching did a lot of research for this novel because the details were so vivid and the story was so well put together. Ching told me that Soulkeepers was based in actual angel lore and you can tell that she did her homework and got down such wonderful details that made me feel like I learned something, yet kept me enthralled with the story.
*The Not-as-good:
*The only thing I could say that I didn't like was the fact that I wanted just a little bit more romance. BUT GP says that there is much more romance in the sequel, so I'm looking forward to reading that!
All in all, this is a very recommended read for girls and boys, so you should go read it NOW.
Dr. Silva's Pumpkin Cocoa
serves 4-6
Ingredients:4-5 cups whole milk
11 ounces white chocolate chips
4 teaspoons cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup pure pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
Directions:In a heavy saucepan, combine 2 cups of milk, white chocolate, and cocoa powder. Cook over medium heat, whisking periodically, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is well combined. Whisk in the pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, allspice, and ginger. Add the remaining milk, 1 cup at a time, until the desired consistency is reached.
If desired, serve topped with whipped cream and a sprinkling of nutmeg. Just be sure not to fill the mugs too full before adding the whipped cream, or you might have some overflow.
October 3, 2011
The How-I-Got-Published Post
Usually everyone posts these 'How I got my Agent' stories and I admit that I was looked longingly on these posts wondering when I'd have an agent of my own.
I sent out 53 queries. By some standards that isn't a lot and I actually got a lot of positive responses. But it was the positive responses that were driving me nuts.
"I love the story, but it just doesn't fit in my client list."
"I love your characters, but I just don't see where it fits in the market."
"It's just too quirky for my book of business."
I was getting frustrated. I had been querying for the past two years (two different stories) and had come so close, but everything just seemed so far away. Then my wonderful critique partner, Leta, suggested going for a small press or Indie publisher.
I thought, that wasn't what I wanted to do, that I wanted to see my book in the bookstores. So I talked to my husband and another critique partner and they said the same thing. "You've been waiting two years, why not give it a shot?"
So, I really thought about it. Did I want to sit around another two years and wait for an agent? Or even sit around another two years after that while I waited for a publisher to pick it up?
I then decided that I wanted to submit directly to publishers and after reading SoulKeepers, I decided that Darkside was the place that I wanted to be. I sent in my manuscript, crossed my fingers, and hoped for the best. I got a message from Gen saying that Megg Jensen loved my first five pages and requested a full.
I was so excited, but then my husband took me back down to Earth, saying this wasn't my first full and the other ones ended in rejections. So I waited. But I kept getting messages from Megg and Gen seeing how I was, asking if I read their work, so I started to really get my hopes up and prayed that it wouldn't end up in a big fat R.
Then I finally got it, THE CALL (or the text) from GP Ching asking me to join Darkside.
And the rest is history.
I sent out 53 queries. By some standards that isn't a lot and I actually got a lot of positive responses. But it was the positive responses that were driving me nuts.
"I love the story, but it just doesn't fit in my client list."
"I love your characters, but I just don't see where it fits in the market."
"It's just too quirky for my book of business."
I was getting frustrated. I had been querying for the past two years (two different stories) and had come so close, but everything just seemed so far away. Then my wonderful critique partner, Leta, suggested going for a small press or Indie publisher.
I thought, that wasn't what I wanted to do, that I wanted to see my book in the bookstores. So I talked to my husband and another critique partner and they said the same thing. "You've been waiting two years, why not give it a shot?"
So, I really thought about it. Did I want to sit around another two years and wait for an agent? Or even sit around another two years after that while I waited for a publisher to pick it up?
I then decided that I wanted to submit directly to publishers and after reading SoulKeepers, I decided that Darkside was the place that I wanted to be. I sent in my manuscript, crossed my fingers, and hoped for the best. I got a message from Gen saying that Megg Jensen loved my first five pages and requested a full.
I was so excited, but then my husband took me back down to Earth, saying this wasn't my first full and the other ones ended in rejections. So I waited. But I kept getting messages from Megg and Gen seeing how I was, asking if I read their work, so I started to really get my hopes up and prayed that it wouldn't end up in a big fat R.
Then I finally got it, THE CALL (or the text) from GP Ching asking me to join Darkside.
And the rest is history.
September 29, 2011
I've joined the Darkside
For those of you that didn't figure out after this video, my novel is going to be published with Darkside publishing! I'm super excited to bring my alien into the world and looking forward to having all of you read it!
More info will soon be coming, but you can always check out all of my girls at Darkside.com until then!
More info will soon be coming, but you can always check out all of my girls at Darkside.com until then!
September 27, 2011
Tell the truth Tuesday
1.) I have been slacking on blog posts and Campaigner challenges because I've been busy working on something that is a pretty big deal. Okay, that, and my daughter's teething and very needy so I've been spending more time with her.
2.) I just got finished reading the first two books in The Cloud Prophet trilogy by Megg Jensen and The Soulkeepers series by GP Ching and they are both wonderful. You should go out and buy them. NOW.
3.) I DO have a review coming up this week, so atleast that is something.
4.)I baked pumpkin and made my own homemade pumpkin puree. Obviouisly I think that I am Martha Stewart or something.
5.) And I'm done...I need sleep and to catch up on visiting blogs. Someday.
2.) I just got finished reading the first two books in The Cloud Prophet trilogy by Megg Jensen and The Soulkeepers series by GP Ching and they are both wonderful. You should go out and buy them. NOW.
3.) I DO have a review coming up this week, so atleast that is something.
4.)I baked pumpkin and made my own homemade pumpkin puree. Obviouisly I think that I am Martha Stewart or something.
5.) And I'm done...I need sleep and to catch up on visiting blogs. Someday.
September 20, 2011
Book bloggers wanted!
Do you read science fiction/fantasy?
Are you a sucker for a good YA romance?
Would you like to participate in a blog tour?
If so comment here with your blog name or email authormagan@gmail.com for more info!
And that's all I've got for today. Stay tuned.
Are you a sucker for a good YA romance?
Would you like to participate in a blog tour?
If so comment here with your blog name or email authormagan@gmail.com for more info!
And that's all I've got for today. Stay tuned.
