Michelle Hauck's Blog, page 119
January 23, 2014
SVS 1: SCRIPTED, YA Contemporary
Title: SCRIPTEDGenre: YA ContemporaryWord Count: 54,000
My main character is most uncomfortable with:
The blazing beam of the sun while she and her other nine siblings are out picking food in their ten-acre garden every day of summer.
Query:
Seventeen-year-old Dani is one of ten, soon to be eleven kids, who films YouTube videos rife with homespun goodness on the family farm. Although the videos are made for earthy, crunchy mamas, Dani is a-okay with doing them—anything for the family. With Momma determined to keep popping out babies until they can land their own reality show, Dani's too busy chasing the little ones to ask questions.
It isn't until she meets fellow YouTuber and high school reporter Duncan that she examines her life and her place in the family. After being blamed for an accident involving a sibling, Dani rebels by making a YouTube video that protests her individuality.
When the video goes viral it attracts a TV producer who offers them Momma's long-sought after dream. But there's a catch—the family must follow a carefully written script. Dani has to choose whether to accept the role the TV execs have planned for her, or to forge her own path, except doing so may oust her from the crazy family she loves so much.
First 250 Words:
It always happened in public. When someone, most notably an older woman, spotted all ten of us together—looking like clones, with eerily similar straight brown hair and blue eyes.This woman, middle-aged, deep hollows carving out her cheekbones, asked the oh-so familiar question. "Is your family religious?"
No. We don't have an inkling of religion in us. That wasn't counting Aunt Daisy's needle pointed inspirational messages that hung skewed on our basement walls.
I stayed on script with my answer, because our lives were so carefully rehearsed, especially in public. "Yes, we're Catholic," I fibbed, caressing the silver filigree cross that was looped around my neck. I had to reposition it so the cross stayed put, front and center. It kept sliding off to the side, where it was hard to see.
With a look of impatience branded on his face, my older brother waved at me to join him inside the grocery store.
"I have to go," I said to the woman. "Wait up for me, David!" I called out, dilly-dallying next to her. I waited for her to ask me my name—or more information.
"David! What a holy, precious name," the woman exclaimed. She grabbed my hand and vigorously rocked it between hers. "Honey, if ya'll are ever in need, just let me know."
Removing her hand from mine, she dug around in her brown leather purse until she produced a thin, white card. "Here's my number and the church I work at. If ya'll ever need anything, you name it."
My main character is most uncomfortable with:
The blazing beam of the sun while she and her other nine siblings are out picking food in their ten-acre garden every day of summer.
Query:
Seventeen-year-old Dani is one of ten, soon to be eleven kids, who films YouTube videos rife with homespun goodness on the family farm. Although the videos are made for earthy, crunchy mamas, Dani is a-okay with doing them—anything for the family. With Momma determined to keep popping out babies until they can land their own reality show, Dani's too busy chasing the little ones to ask questions.
It isn't until she meets fellow YouTuber and high school reporter Duncan that she examines her life and her place in the family. After being blamed for an accident involving a sibling, Dani rebels by making a YouTube video that protests her individuality.
When the video goes viral it attracts a TV producer who offers them Momma's long-sought after dream. But there's a catch—the family must follow a carefully written script. Dani has to choose whether to accept the role the TV execs have planned for her, or to forge her own path, except doing so may oust her from the crazy family she loves so much.
First 250 Words:
It always happened in public. When someone, most notably an older woman, spotted all ten of us together—looking like clones, with eerily similar straight brown hair and blue eyes.This woman, middle-aged, deep hollows carving out her cheekbones, asked the oh-so familiar question. "Is your family religious?"
No. We don't have an inkling of religion in us. That wasn't counting Aunt Daisy's needle pointed inspirational messages that hung skewed on our basement walls.
I stayed on script with my answer, because our lives were so carefully rehearsed, especially in public. "Yes, we're Catholic," I fibbed, caressing the silver filigree cross that was looped around my neck. I had to reposition it so the cross stayed put, front and center. It kept sliding off to the side, where it was hard to see.
With a look of impatience branded on his face, my older brother waved at me to join him inside the grocery store.
"I have to go," I said to the woman. "Wait up for me, David!" I called out, dilly-dallying next to her. I waited for her to ask me my name—or more information.
"David! What a holy, precious name," the woman exclaimed. She grabbed my hand and vigorously rocked it between hers. "Honey, if ya'll are ever in need, just let me know."
Removing her hand from mine, she dug around in her brown leather purse until she produced a thin, white card. "Here's my number and the church I work at. If ya'll ever need anything, you name it."
SUN VERSUS SNOW MENTOR ROUND!
First off, I want to give a HUGE thanks to everyone who entered Sun versus Snow. We had some amazing entries and it was incredibly difficult to pick our teams.
Please remember, as always, that publishing is very subjective, and although you did not get picked that DOES NOT mean your entry was not stellar! In a lot of cases, we just leaned more toward things that were either in our interest group, or had so much voice we could not turn it away. Keep entering those contests!
So without further ado, here are the 15 members of TEAMSNOW and a link to TEAMSUN. These writers will have their query and first page reviewed by 12 AMAZING mentors and then, after some fine-tuning, their work will be shared with 15 INCREDIBLE agents!
Mentors will leave comments on January 23 and 24, then all are welcome to leave feedback on January 25. (For list of the TEAMSNOW mentors--so you'll recognize them--go here.)
TEAMSUN and TEAMSNOW members are required to give feedback on three other entries starting on Saturday, January 25th!
TEAMSUN AND TEAMSNOW members must have their revised queries back to the Sun versus Snow email by 8:00 pm EST on Wednesday, January 29th. Please don’t wait until the last minute.
Good luck! And make those comments constructive and positive!
As always follow the #sunvssnow hashtag as Amy and I will be shouting out when mentors arrive!
January 22, 2014
Getting the Call: Kelly Fiore
Kelly Fiore has a cautionary tale for us about how hard decisions can be in the writing profession. It's good to remember that not every road is smooth and sometimes what we thought was the end of our journey may just be a twist in the road. But happy endings can be closer then we think.
By Kelly Fiore, author of Taste Test (Bloomsbury USA) and the forthcoming Just Like the Movies (Bloomsbury USA – Summer 2014) and The People vs. Cecelia Price (Harper Teen – Fall 2015.)
On December 26, 2008, I started querying agents with my YA book, Gods of Rock. I started at “the top” of the YA agent list – the agents people talked about most online and the agents who I thought would like a paranormal/Greek mythology hybrid. I kept a chart of agents who passed immediately, requested partials, requested fulls, etc. In March of 2009, my first agent emailed me (with an Urgent tag on the email – you know, that little red exclamation point) saying she wanted to chat on the phone. She offered representation a few days later. I had to make the obligatory rounds and notified the agents who had my manuscript. Another agent offered representation and I had to choose between the two. I chose the first one – the one who chose me first.
So, my story might seem typical – you write, you query, you get offered representation. Done and done. But, in my case, things evolved over the course of the four years I was with my first agent. Gods of Rock never sold, but that wasn’t necessarily a deal breaker or even unusual. The biggest issue was that her professional focus had changed to mainly non-fiction and adult books, neither of which I wrote. She did sell my second book, Taste Test, in 2011, and my follow-up, Just Like the Movies, in 2013, but I was looking for a different type of writing career – the full time kind. I don’t think my agent understood how much I wanted to get out of my high school teaching job and focus on writing.
I sent a termination email. Thirty days later, I queried six agents who I was dying to work with. This time, I knew way more than I did the first time around. I’d done my research. I’d talked to other authors. Once again, I was faced with multiple offers of representation. I know this sounds like a dream, but it’s the hardest thing ever. Seriously. There are so many good agents out there and these were my dream agents. I wanted to work with all of them.
In the end, I chose to sign with Suzie Townsend. I knew several of her authors personally and they raved about her. Her agency, New Leaf Literary, boasts some of the most successful YA authors in the business and everyone who works there is supportive of all the authors on their roster. This decision was the best decision I ever made. A little over three months after I signed with Suzie, she sold my book, The People Vs. Cecelia Price, to Harper Teen. The deal allowed me to write full time and teach part time. She is directly responsible for helping me fulfill my dreams and I am beyond grateful.
I think my story is important for querying authors to hear because, sometimes, you have to leave an agent. It’s so super scary to do that – there are no guarantees that you’ll find another agent. That being said, though, you MUST leave your agent before querying new ones – agents don’t want to poach clients and rightfully so. In the end, research is important. Know what kind of relationship you’re looking for from your agent. I need a lot of contact because I’m always working on something and trying to get things done. I like communicating over email and I appreciate a quickish response. I also love that my agency has a client care program that helps to put the word out in social media about their authors. When I signed with my first agent, I didn’t consider anything like that – I just wanted to find representation.
(I should mention, too, that the second agent who offered me representation back in 2009 has turned out to be extremely successful with a high volume of sales. You never know how things will work out.)
I wish everyone good luck with their querying!Kelly Fiore has a BA in English from Salisbury University and an MFA in Poetry from West Virginia University. She received an Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council in 2005 and 2009. Kelly’s poetry has appeared in Small Spiral Notebook, Samzidada, Mid Atlantic Review, Connotation Press, and the Grolier Annual Review. Her first young adult novel, Taste Test, was released in August 2013 from Bloomsbury USA. Forthcoming books include Just Like the Movies, again from Bloomsbury, in 2014 and The People Vs. Cecelia Price from HarperTeen in 2015. Kelly teaches college composition in Maryland, where she lives with her husband and son.
You can connect with Kelly at her website (www.kellyfiorewrites.com), on Twitter (@kellyannfiore), or on Facebook (www.facebook.com/KellyFioreYAAuthor).
By Kelly Fiore, author of Taste Test (Bloomsbury USA) and the forthcoming Just Like the Movies (Bloomsbury USA – Summer 2014) and The People vs. Cecelia Price (Harper Teen – Fall 2015.)
On December 26, 2008, I started querying agents with my YA book, Gods of Rock. I started at “the top” of the YA agent list – the agents people talked about most online and the agents who I thought would like a paranormal/Greek mythology hybrid. I kept a chart of agents who passed immediately, requested partials, requested fulls, etc. In March of 2009, my first agent emailed me (with an Urgent tag on the email – you know, that little red exclamation point) saying she wanted to chat on the phone. She offered representation a few days later. I had to make the obligatory rounds and notified the agents who had my manuscript. Another agent offered representation and I had to choose between the two. I chose the first one – the one who chose me first.
So, my story might seem typical – you write, you query, you get offered representation. Done and done. But, in my case, things evolved over the course of the four years I was with my first agent. Gods of Rock never sold, but that wasn’t necessarily a deal breaker or even unusual. The biggest issue was that her professional focus had changed to mainly non-fiction and adult books, neither of which I wrote. She did sell my second book, Taste Test, in 2011, and my follow-up, Just Like the Movies, in 2013, but I was looking for a different type of writing career – the full time kind. I don’t think my agent understood how much I wanted to get out of my high school teaching job and focus on writing.
I sent a termination email. Thirty days later, I queried six agents who I was dying to work with. This time, I knew way more than I did the first time around. I’d done my research. I’d talked to other authors. Once again, I was faced with multiple offers of representation. I know this sounds like a dream, but it’s the hardest thing ever. Seriously. There are so many good agents out there and these were my dream agents. I wanted to work with all of them.
In the end, I chose to sign with Suzie Townsend. I knew several of her authors personally and they raved about her. Her agency, New Leaf Literary, boasts some of the most successful YA authors in the business and everyone who works there is supportive of all the authors on their roster. This decision was the best decision I ever made. A little over three months after I signed with Suzie, she sold my book, The People Vs. Cecelia Price, to Harper Teen. The deal allowed me to write full time and teach part time. She is directly responsible for helping me fulfill my dreams and I am beyond grateful.
I think my story is important for querying authors to hear because, sometimes, you have to leave an agent. It’s so super scary to do that – there are no guarantees that you’ll find another agent. That being said, though, you MUST leave your agent before querying new ones – agents don’t want to poach clients and rightfully so. In the end, research is important. Know what kind of relationship you’re looking for from your agent. I need a lot of contact because I’m always working on something and trying to get things done. I like communicating over email and I appreciate a quickish response. I also love that my agency has a client care program that helps to put the word out in social media about their authors. When I signed with my first agent, I didn’t consider anything like that – I just wanted to find representation.
(I should mention, too, that the second agent who offered me representation back in 2009 has turned out to be extremely successful with a high volume of sales. You never know how things will work out.)
I wish everyone good luck with their querying!Kelly Fiore has a BA in English from Salisbury University and an MFA in Poetry from West Virginia University. She received an Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council in 2005 and 2009. Kelly’s poetry has appeared in Small Spiral Notebook, Samzidada, Mid Atlantic Review, Connotation Press, and the Grolier Annual Review. Her first young adult novel, Taste Test, was released in August 2013 from Bloomsbury USA. Forthcoming books include Just Like the Movies, again from Bloomsbury, in 2014 and The People Vs. Cecelia Price from HarperTeen in 2015. Kelly teaches college composition in Maryland, where she lives with her husband and son.
You can connect with Kelly at her website (www.kellyfiorewrites.com), on Twitter (@kellyannfiore), or on Facebook (www.facebook.com/KellyFioreYAAuthor).
January 21, 2014
Query Questions with Adriann Ranta
Writers have copious amounts of imagination. It's what makes their stories so fantastic. But there's a darker side to so much out of the box thinking. When a writer is in the query trenches, their worries go into overdrive. They start pulling out their hair and imagine every possible disaster.
Here to relieve some of that endless worrying is a new series of posts called Query Questions. I'll ask the questions which prey on every writer's mind, and hopefully take some of the pain out of querying. These are questions that I've seen tossed around on twitter and writing sites like Agent Query Connect. They are the type of questions that you need answers for the real expert--agents!
If you have your own specific query question, please leave it in the comments and it might show up in future editions of Query Questions as I plan to rotate the questions.
The picks for Sun versus Snow will be on the blog soon. Until then enjoy this interview with Adriann Ranta of Wolf Literary Services! Adriann is helping us out with Sun versus Snow and now you can learn more about her.
Is there a better or worse time of year to query?AR: Any time of year is fine, but expect responses to slow down around the holidays!
Does one typo or misplaced comma shoot down the entire query? AR: One typo wouldn’t, but a crazy amount of typos could. Most agents aren’t unreasonable people and we know mistakes happen!
Do you look at sample pages without fail or only if the query is strong?AR: I only read sample pages when the query letter piques my interest. Sometimes it’s immediately apparent when a project isn’t for me (“my 500,000-word One Direction fan fiction”) but if I’m unsure, I’ll read the sample pages.
Do you have an assistant or intern go through your queries first or do you check all of them?AR: I do have an assistant who reads queries for the agency, but I trust her taste implicitly. I’ve found many new authors and projects in the slush pile and I’m extremely anxious about missing something great. I’m usually spending at least a few hours a week reading unsolicited submissions myself.
If the manuscript has a prologue, do you want it included with the sample pages?AR: Yes.
Some agencies mention querying only one agent at a time and some say query only one agent period. How often do you pass a query along to a fellow agent who might be more interested?AR: I strongly recommend querying only one agent per agency—I think most agencies prefer this—and also strongly recommend querying a number of agents at once. Every once in a while I forward a query to another agent within (and sometimes outside of) the agency, but I admit it’s rare.
For 90% of agencies, a pass from one agent is a pass from the agency, and if an agency has a group box (“queries@agency.com”) we KNOW when you’re spamming!
Do you prefer a little personalized chit-chat in a query letter, or would you rather hear about the manuscript?AR: It’s nice to know when one of my books has really impacted an author, which inspired them to query me, but it’s totally not necessary. I do pay more attention to queries from authors who clearly want to work with me, however.
Most agents have said they don’t care whether the word count/genre sentence comes first or last. But is it a red flag if one component is not included?AR: I don’t care if it’s first or last either, but it is good to know. If it’s missing, I usually don’t notice until I request the full and get unhappily surprised by a gigantic manuscript. If it’s hugely over 100,000 words, I couldn’t sell it if I wanted to. Authors, be advised!
Writers hear a lot about limiting the number of named characters in a query. Do you feel keeping named characters to a certain number makes for a clearer query?AR: This is probably a personal choice, but naming too many characters in the query can be very confusing. I don’t want to name a number, but this is definitely something for authors to be aware of!
Should writers sweat the title of their book (and character names) or is that something that is often changed by publishers?AR: Titles are often changed by publishers, but I admit to being swayed by awesome titles. Kendare Blake’s ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD was an amazing project I found in the slush pile and I plucked it from the inbox immediately because of the title. I also admit to being turned off by lame titles, but I would never reject a book based on it.
How many queries do you receive in a week? How many requests might you make out of those?AR: We get about 100 queries per week, with maybe 1-10 requests? Some weeks are inexplicably good, some are inexplicably bad…
Many agents say they don't care if writers are active online. Could a twitter account or blog presence by a writer tip the scales in getting a request or offer? And do you require writers you sign to start one?AR: An author not being online wouldn’t hold me back from offering representation, but I always emphasize the tons of ways it could help them. I do know some editors who wouldn’t make an offer on an author who didn’t have an online presence, however.
Some folks are really bad at tweeting, and I don’t hold that against them. J
Some writers have asked about including links to their blogs or manuscript-related artwork. I’m sure it’s not appropriate to add those links in a query, but are links in an email signature offensive?AR: If it’s a query for an illustrated picture book and it’s a better presentation to host it on their website, I have no problem with clicking through. I also have no problem with including links to blogs in author bios, especially if you have a gigantic web presence or it’s a blog-to-book concept. If it’s just a link to a fake cover that you whipped up in Paint, don’t do it!!
In other words, if it’s relevant to considering the book or author, I don’t mind, but if it’s not totally necessary, leave it out.
If a writer makes changes to their manuscript due to feedback should they resend the query or only if material was requested?AR: It drives me crazy when authors withdraw or resend queries because they got feedback from another agent and want to revise. By all means revise, and if I request the full, please do tell me that you’re in the middle of revising, I’m happy to wait. But sending a bunch of follow-up queries just clogs my inbox. If I’ve already received the full, please just let me read the version I have!
What bio should an author with no publishing credits include?AR: Any relevant schooling, workshops, writing communities, or work experience that might lend the writer some credibility. If there’s really, truly nothing to say, I don’t mind a query without a bio.
What does ‘just not right mean for me’ mean to you?AR: I suppose this is an infuriating thing to say, but it can really mean anything! It could mean “I hate this but I don’t want to break your heart,” or “I loved this but I don’t rep the genre.” If I think someone has written an amazing pitch, or if a colleague comes to mind who’s looking for exactly this, or if I think the concept would work better from a different angle, I do try to say so, but often a book just don’t hit me in the gut and I have to pass.
Do you consider yourself a hands-on, editorial type of agent? AR: I do, and I often discuss possible edits the first time I speak with an author on the phone, which I suppose sets a tone. I try to take edits as far as I can before sending a project out on submission, and sometimes work with an author between rounds with editors, if there’s strong editorial feedback.
What three things are at the top of your submission wish list?AR: I’d love more women’s nonfiction (which I’ve tastefully described as “cool women doing badass things”), contemporary YA, and some smart MG.
What are some of your favorite movies or books to give us an idea of your tastes? AR: I’m the worst at picking favorites, but I love action-packed, historical YA like CODE NAME VERITY; smart, gritty crime novels like anything by Tana French; eco-fiction/eco-nonfiction like Norman McLean and Peter Hoffmeister (is it cheating to name your own client?); and I recently loved INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS, so I suppose I love those soulful biographies (whether real or fake) as well.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adriann Ranta is a literary agent at Wolf Literary Services. A magna cum laude graduate of the University of Arizona, Adriann’s first introduction to publishing was at The Editorial Department, a freelance editorial firm based in Tucson, AZ. After making the move to New York, Adriann spent two years at Anderson Literary Management before moving to Wolf Literary in 2009, where she keeps her own list, and co-represents select clients with Gillian MacKenzie of the Gillian MacKenzie Agency.
While an avid reader of most subjects and themes, Adriann is most interested in gritty, realistic, true-to-life stories with conflicts based in the real world. She likes edgy, dark, quirky voices, unique settings, and everyman stories told with a new spin. She lives in Brooklyn, has many tattoos, and is an evangelical fan of the X-Files.
Here to relieve some of that endless worrying is a new series of posts called Query Questions. I'll ask the questions which prey on every writer's mind, and hopefully take some of the pain out of querying. These are questions that I've seen tossed around on twitter and writing sites like Agent Query Connect. They are the type of questions that you need answers for the real expert--agents!
If you have your own specific query question, please leave it in the comments and it might show up in future editions of Query Questions as I plan to rotate the questions.
The picks for Sun versus Snow will be on the blog soon. Until then enjoy this interview with Adriann Ranta of Wolf Literary Services! Adriann is helping us out with Sun versus Snow and now you can learn more about her.
Is there a better or worse time of year to query?AR: Any time of year is fine, but expect responses to slow down around the holidays!
Does one typo or misplaced comma shoot down the entire query? AR: One typo wouldn’t, but a crazy amount of typos could. Most agents aren’t unreasonable people and we know mistakes happen!
Do you look at sample pages without fail or only if the query is strong?AR: I only read sample pages when the query letter piques my interest. Sometimes it’s immediately apparent when a project isn’t for me (“my 500,000-word One Direction fan fiction”) but if I’m unsure, I’ll read the sample pages.
Do you have an assistant or intern go through your queries first or do you check all of them?AR: I do have an assistant who reads queries for the agency, but I trust her taste implicitly. I’ve found many new authors and projects in the slush pile and I’m extremely anxious about missing something great. I’m usually spending at least a few hours a week reading unsolicited submissions myself.
If the manuscript has a prologue, do you want it included with the sample pages?AR: Yes.
Some agencies mention querying only one agent at a time and some say query only one agent period. How often do you pass a query along to a fellow agent who might be more interested?AR: I strongly recommend querying only one agent per agency—I think most agencies prefer this—and also strongly recommend querying a number of agents at once. Every once in a while I forward a query to another agent within (and sometimes outside of) the agency, but I admit it’s rare.
For 90% of agencies, a pass from one agent is a pass from the agency, and if an agency has a group box (“queries@agency.com”) we KNOW when you’re spamming!
Do you prefer a little personalized chit-chat in a query letter, or would you rather hear about the manuscript?AR: It’s nice to know when one of my books has really impacted an author, which inspired them to query me, but it’s totally not necessary. I do pay more attention to queries from authors who clearly want to work with me, however.
Most agents have said they don’t care whether the word count/genre sentence comes first or last. But is it a red flag if one component is not included?AR: I don’t care if it’s first or last either, but it is good to know. If it’s missing, I usually don’t notice until I request the full and get unhappily surprised by a gigantic manuscript. If it’s hugely over 100,000 words, I couldn’t sell it if I wanted to. Authors, be advised!
Writers hear a lot about limiting the number of named characters in a query. Do you feel keeping named characters to a certain number makes for a clearer query?AR: This is probably a personal choice, but naming too many characters in the query can be very confusing. I don’t want to name a number, but this is definitely something for authors to be aware of!
Should writers sweat the title of their book (and character names) or is that something that is often changed by publishers?AR: Titles are often changed by publishers, but I admit to being swayed by awesome titles. Kendare Blake’s ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD was an amazing project I found in the slush pile and I plucked it from the inbox immediately because of the title. I also admit to being turned off by lame titles, but I would never reject a book based on it.
How many queries do you receive in a week? How many requests might you make out of those?AR: We get about 100 queries per week, with maybe 1-10 requests? Some weeks are inexplicably good, some are inexplicably bad…
Many agents say they don't care if writers are active online. Could a twitter account or blog presence by a writer tip the scales in getting a request or offer? And do you require writers you sign to start one?AR: An author not being online wouldn’t hold me back from offering representation, but I always emphasize the tons of ways it could help them. I do know some editors who wouldn’t make an offer on an author who didn’t have an online presence, however.
Some folks are really bad at tweeting, and I don’t hold that against them. J
Some writers have asked about including links to their blogs or manuscript-related artwork. I’m sure it’s not appropriate to add those links in a query, but are links in an email signature offensive?AR: If it’s a query for an illustrated picture book and it’s a better presentation to host it on their website, I have no problem with clicking through. I also have no problem with including links to blogs in author bios, especially if you have a gigantic web presence or it’s a blog-to-book concept. If it’s just a link to a fake cover that you whipped up in Paint, don’t do it!!
In other words, if it’s relevant to considering the book or author, I don’t mind, but if it’s not totally necessary, leave it out.
If a writer makes changes to their manuscript due to feedback should they resend the query or only if material was requested?AR: It drives me crazy when authors withdraw or resend queries because they got feedback from another agent and want to revise. By all means revise, and if I request the full, please do tell me that you’re in the middle of revising, I’m happy to wait. But sending a bunch of follow-up queries just clogs my inbox. If I’ve already received the full, please just let me read the version I have!
What bio should an author with no publishing credits include?AR: Any relevant schooling, workshops, writing communities, or work experience that might lend the writer some credibility. If there’s really, truly nothing to say, I don’t mind a query without a bio.
What does ‘just not right mean for me’ mean to you?AR: I suppose this is an infuriating thing to say, but it can really mean anything! It could mean “I hate this but I don’t want to break your heart,” or “I loved this but I don’t rep the genre.” If I think someone has written an amazing pitch, or if a colleague comes to mind who’s looking for exactly this, or if I think the concept would work better from a different angle, I do try to say so, but often a book just don’t hit me in the gut and I have to pass.
Do you consider yourself a hands-on, editorial type of agent? AR: I do, and I often discuss possible edits the first time I speak with an author on the phone, which I suppose sets a tone. I try to take edits as far as I can before sending a project out on submission, and sometimes work with an author between rounds with editors, if there’s strong editorial feedback.
What three things are at the top of your submission wish list?AR: I’d love more women’s nonfiction (which I’ve tastefully described as “cool women doing badass things”), contemporary YA, and some smart MG.
What are some of your favorite movies or books to give us an idea of your tastes? AR: I’m the worst at picking favorites, but I love action-packed, historical YA like CODE NAME VERITY; smart, gritty crime novels like anything by Tana French; eco-fiction/eco-nonfiction like Norman McLean and Peter Hoffmeister (is it cheating to name your own client?); and I recently loved INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS, so I suppose I love those soulful biographies (whether real or fake) as well.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adriann Ranta is a literary agent at Wolf Literary Services. A magna cum laude graduate of the University of Arizona, Adriann’s first introduction to publishing was at The Editorial Department, a freelance editorial firm based in Tucson, AZ. After making the move to New York, Adriann spent two years at Anderson Literary Management before moving to Wolf Literary in 2009, where she keeps her own list, and co-represents select clients with Gillian MacKenzie of the Gillian MacKenzie Agency.
While an avid reader of most subjects and themes, Adriann is most interested in gritty, realistic, true-to-life stories with conflicts based in the real world. She likes edgy, dark, quirky voices, unique settings, and everyman stories told with a new spin. She lives in Brooklyn, has many tattoos, and is an evangelical fan of the X-Files.
January 17, 2014
Handy Sun versus Snow Links
As the submission window nears for Sun versus Snow, here are links that will take you directly to the important posts.
To find the submission guidelines go here.
To find the agent list go here.
For the mentors here.
And the original announcement with the dates is here.
Can't wait to dive into the slush! Go Team Snow!
January 16, 2014
Getting the Call: Mariam Kobras
Call stories come in all forms, but this one takes an unconventional path. See how Mariam Kobras befriended her way into showcasing her talent for a publishing contract that won her Independent Publishers awards.
Some things in life happen when you least expect them.When I woke up on that cold and dreary November morning in 2010 and decided to write a novel, I had no idea that only two years later, it would be published, and go on to win a Bronze Independent Publisher Book Award.
I met my publisher, Buddhapuss Ink LLC, on twitter about the same time I started writing.
Or rather, they found me. Looking back now, the serendipity of it all still makes my breath stop. There I was, a middle-aged, bored housewife, tweeting my little heart out with overseas friends to overcome the loneliness of my daily life, and out of the blue that publisher with the black cat as their icon was tweeting with me.
WHAT?
I’d never thought of publishing my writing before that. I hadn't even thought about creating a novel someone else would want to read. My writing was meandering through the lives of my protagonists, it captured every detail and mood of their exciting adventures, down to the color of their socks. I had created a pretty little fantasy world for myself where no one ever had to think about what they’d serve grumpy high school boys for dinner, or listen to a teacher husband’s rants about kids unwilling to study.
So here was this publisher, and I was chatting with them about what we were having for breakfast, the weather, about the puppy they’d just gotten that was keeping them awake at night. Of course I quickly figured out that I wasn’t talking to a publishing house, but to a real person, and so, after a few months, in a very quirky mood, I offered the first three chapters of my first novel, The Distant Shore, to her (the publisher) instead of the usual virtual cup of coffee.
Heart attack #1: she replied, “Yes, I’d love that!”
I remember quite clearly how my heart raced, how I told my son to shut up, lunch would be late, I had more important things to do than boil potatoes.
I sent those chapters. There was no response. We still talked about the weather, coffee, the puppy, but there was no response to my submission.
Now I know that it was a kind of submission. Back then, I didn’t. I knew nothing about submission protocol, about the no-nos of a query. I just tossed my chapters at her as if they were cookies, confetti, dry leaves.
My life went on as if nothing had happened. I posted blog posts now and then, never with great enthusiasm, and one day I posted page 99 of The Distant Shore on my blog. Again, serendipity steered my hand, because I tweeted the link to Buddhapuss.
Moments later, I got a comment: “If you keep this up we’ll have to sign you!”
That was when I had heart attack #2. I’m sure you can imagine!
Only seconds later, they’d sent me a private message on twitter: “When can we have the full manuscript?”
WHAT?
Heart attack #3.I replied that I needed time; that the novel wasn’t finished, that I’d not edited Distant Shore yet; that it would take me at least six weeks.
“Okay,” they said, “we’ll wait.”
I know. I know. I can hear you gasp, can see you clutch your throats. But I’m telling you again, I had NO idea about submission protocol.
Also, I was facing a monstrous task. My novel had 400K words, and I knew that it was way too long to get accepted.
So I whittled it down to just over 136K. Many beloved scenes and chapters ended up on the cutting room floor.
The query letter that went with it was a very short bio, and the sentence. “I’ll do anything I have to to help market my book, except dance naked on tables.”Forget the synopsis.
Christmas passed. I waited. January and February passed - and I still waited.
Then THE CALL came. It came in the form of a Skype conversation, and the person I was talking to was a very nice lady about my age.She told me that she totally believed in my project, and yes, we had a book deal, if I wanted it.
Seriously? We had a book deal!
It was Good Friday, just before lunch, and my always-hungry teenager was stomping through the house, yelling for food, and mom, the pasta is boiling over, but there I was, laughing, and chatting with my publisher.
My publisher. Suddenly, an author. Wow.
In January 2012, my first novel, which was also my first attempt at writing, was released. It went on to win the Bronze Independent Publishers’ Award right away.In fall 2012, my second book, Under the Same Sun, the second in what would become the Stone Trilogy, was launched, and it, too, won an award, this time, the silver medal.Last year, the third book in the trilogy was released: Song of the Storm.
I’ve since written two more books, which have expanded the trilogy into a series. They are prequels, and they will both be released in 2014: Waiting for a Song: Naomi's Story in spring, The Rosewood Guitar: Jon's Story in the fall.
A few weeks ago I started on a new project, leaving the Stone family behind and moving into the mystery genre, which makes my publisher very happy. They love mysteries.
While all this was going on, I traveled to the US twice to see my publisher. I’ve spent hours sitting at a desk in their offices, signing books, bookmarks, bookplates, while they fed me Chinese food and red velvet cake. I’ve been in their storage vault and seen the cartons and cartons of my books, ready to be delivered to Amazon and other sellers.
One time, a lot later, after I’d read many, many blog posts by agents on how to submit, I asked my publisher at Buddhapuss Ink why they’d accepted my very unconventional submission.The answer I got was, “Because you dared to follow a new path. And because you’re very talented.”
Gosh, I love those people. They gave me a new definition. Writing for them is a blast. Just call me the happy author.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Two-time Independent Publisher's Book Award Winner, Mariam was born in Frankfurt, Germany. Growing up, she and her family lived in Brazil and Saudi Arabia before they decided to settle in Germany. Mariam attended school there and studied American Literature and Psychology at Justus-Liebig-University in Giessen. Today she lives and writes in Hamburg, Germany, with her husband, two sons, and two cats.
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Mariam-Kobras/e/B006ZNYT3A
http://mariamkobras.blogspot.com
http://www.buddhapussink.com
www.facebook.com/MariamKobrasAuthor
Some things in life happen when you least expect them.When I woke up on that cold and dreary November morning in 2010 and decided to write a novel, I had no idea that only two years later, it would be published, and go on to win a Bronze Independent Publisher Book Award.
I met my publisher, Buddhapuss Ink LLC, on twitter about the same time I started writing.
Or rather, they found me. Looking back now, the serendipity of it all still makes my breath stop. There I was, a middle-aged, bored housewife, tweeting my little heart out with overseas friends to overcome the loneliness of my daily life, and out of the blue that publisher with the black cat as their icon was tweeting with me.
WHAT?
I’d never thought of publishing my writing before that. I hadn't even thought about creating a novel someone else would want to read. My writing was meandering through the lives of my protagonists, it captured every detail and mood of their exciting adventures, down to the color of their socks. I had created a pretty little fantasy world for myself where no one ever had to think about what they’d serve grumpy high school boys for dinner, or listen to a teacher husband’s rants about kids unwilling to study.
So here was this publisher, and I was chatting with them about what we were having for breakfast, the weather, about the puppy they’d just gotten that was keeping them awake at night. Of course I quickly figured out that I wasn’t talking to a publishing house, but to a real person, and so, after a few months, in a very quirky mood, I offered the first three chapters of my first novel, The Distant Shore, to her (the publisher) instead of the usual virtual cup of coffee.
Heart attack #1: she replied, “Yes, I’d love that!”
I remember quite clearly how my heart raced, how I told my son to shut up, lunch would be late, I had more important things to do than boil potatoes.
I sent those chapters. There was no response. We still talked about the weather, coffee, the puppy, but there was no response to my submission.
Now I know that it was a kind of submission. Back then, I didn’t. I knew nothing about submission protocol, about the no-nos of a query. I just tossed my chapters at her as if they were cookies, confetti, dry leaves.
My life went on as if nothing had happened. I posted blog posts now and then, never with great enthusiasm, and one day I posted page 99 of The Distant Shore on my blog. Again, serendipity steered my hand, because I tweeted the link to Buddhapuss.
Moments later, I got a comment: “If you keep this up we’ll have to sign you!”
That was when I had heart attack #2. I’m sure you can imagine!
Only seconds later, they’d sent me a private message on twitter: “When can we have the full manuscript?”
WHAT?
Heart attack #3.I replied that I needed time; that the novel wasn’t finished, that I’d not edited Distant Shore yet; that it would take me at least six weeks.
“Okay,” they said, “we’ll wait.”
I know. I know. I can hear you gasp, can see you clutch your throats. But I’m telling you again, I had NO idea about submission protocol.
Also, I was facing a monstrous task. My novel had 400K words, and I knew that it was way too long to get accepted.
So I whittled it down to just over 136K. Many beloved scenes and chapters ended up on the cutting room floor.
The query letter that went with it was a very short bio, and the sentence. “I’ll do anything I have to to help market my book, except dance naked on tables.”Forget the synopsis.
Christmas passed. I waited. January and February passed - and I still waited.
Then THE CALL came. It came in the form of a Skype conversation, and the person I was talking to was a very nice lady about my age.She told me that she totally believed in my project, and yes, we had a book deal, if I wanted it.
Seriously? We had a book deal!
It was Good Friday, just before lunch, and my always-hungry teenager was stomping through the house, yelling for food, and mom, the pasta is boiling over, but there I was, laughing, and chatting with my publisher.
My publisher. Suddenly, an author. Wow.
In January 2012, my first novel, which was also my first attempt at writing, was released. It went on to win the Bronze Independent Publishers’ Award right away.In fall 2012, my second book, Under the Same Sun, the second in what would become the Stone Trilogy, was launched, and it, too, won an award, this time, the silver medal.Last year, the third book in the trilogy was released: Song of the Storm.
I’ve since written two more books, which have expanded the trilogy into a series. They are prequels, and they will both be released in 2014: Waiting for a Song: Naomi's Story in spring, The Rosewood Guitar: Jon's Story in the fall.
A few weeks ago I started on a new project, leaving the Stone family behind and moving into the mystery genre, which makes my publisher very happy. They love mysteries.
While all this was going on, I traveled to the US twice to see my publisher. I’ve spent hours sitting at a desk in their offices, signing books, bookmarks, bookplates, while they fed me Chinese food and red velvet cake. I’ve been in their storage vault and seen the cartons and cartons of my books, ready to be delivered to Amazon and other sellers.
One time, a lot later, after I’d read many, many blog posts by agents on how to submit, I asked my publisher at Buddhapuss Ink why they’d accepted my very unconventional submission.The answer I got was, “Because you dared to follow a new path. And because you’re very talented.”
Gosh, I love those people. They gave me a new definition. Writing for them is a blast. Just call me the happy author.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Two-time Independent Publisher's Book Award Winner, Mariam was born in Frankfurt, Germany. Growing up, she and her family lived in Brazil and Saudi Arabia before they decided to settle in Germany. Mariam attended school there and studied American Literature and Psychology at Justus-Liebig-University in Giessen. Today she lives and writes in Hamburg, Germany, with her husband, two sons, and two cats.
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Mariam-Kobras/e/B006ZNYT3A
http://mariamkobras.blogspot.com
http://www.buddhapussink.com
www.facebook.com/MariamKobrasAuthor
January 15, 2014
Cover Art Release for Dark Paradise
My dear CP and friend Angie Sandro is having her very own cover release day. Heartfelt best wishes, Angie! Go get 'em!
DARK PARADISEAngie SandroJuly 1, 2014Grand Central Publishing/ Forever Yours
BOOK BLURB:
DARK LEGACY
Mala LaCroix has spent her whole life trying to escape her destiny. As the last in a long line of “witch women,” she rejects the notion of spirits and hoodoo and instead does her best to blend in. But when she finds a dead body floating in the bayou behind her house, Mala taps into powers she never knew she had. She’s haunted by visions of the dead girl, demanding justice and vengeance.
DEADLY SECRETS
Landry Prince has always had a crush on Mala, but when Mala discovers his sister, murdered and marked in some sort of Satanic ritual, he starts to wonder if all the rumors about the LaCroix family are true. Yet after Mala uses her connection to the spirit world to identify his sister’s killer, he starts to form his own bond to her . . . a very physical one. As they move closer to each other and closer to the truth, Mala and Landry must risk everything—their families, their love, and even their lives.
PRE-ORDER ON: AMAZON: ADD ON: GOODREADS: AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE: HACHETTE BOOK GROUP:
GIVEAWAY:
Angie is giving away a $25 Amazon Gift Card.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
ANGIE SANDRO:
Bio:
Angie Sandro was born at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. Within six weeks, she began the first of eleven relocations throughout the United States, Spain, and Guam before the age of eighteen. Friends were left behind. The only constants in her life were her family and the books she shipped wherever she went. Traveling the world inspired her imagination and allowed her to create her own imaginary friends. Visits to her father's family in Louisiana inspired this story.
Angie now lives in Northern California with her husband, two children, and an overweight Labrador
Author Links:
BlogFacebookGoodreadsTwitter
January 13, 2014
Sun versus Snow Submission Format
Here's the moment you've all been waiting for! The proper format for sending your Sun versus Snow entry!
The submission window opens at 12 noon (EST) on SATURDAY, January 18th! The window will close at 8pm (EST) on Sunday, January 19th. Please do not send before 12 noon on Saturday. Early entries will be deleted. (There is plenty of time. No need to all send entries at 12 and clog the email.)
We are accepting all age categories and genres, excluding erotica. You must have a complete and polished manuscript. NaNoMoWri projects are probably not ready.
Michelle and Amy will make 14 picks each for their teams, plus their Free Pass winner. These 30 will go up on our blogs bright and early Thursday, January 23rd. Mentors will make exclusive comments on January 23rd and 24th. All other comments will be deleted.
Then January 25th - 27th everyone can comment! Please make your comments helpful and constructive. Anything deemed unacceptable will be deleted.
Entrants are REQUIRED to comment on three other entries during this period from January 25 - January 27th. We are looking for useful feedback, including what works for you and what didn't.
Entrants will then have two days to revise their entries and return them using the contest email. Entries must be returned by 8pm (EST) on January 29. Entries that don't make it on time forfeit their spot. (Please be on time. We won't have time to go hunting for you.)
Amy and Michelle will hustle like crazy to format the entries and have them up for the agent round on February 1st. Which is why we are strict about late entries.
On February 1st, the fifteen agents will make requests using phrases to show whether they prefer sun or snow. Such as: This query is pretty as a snow angel, send a full. Or Throw me my sunglasses, I need a partial. Agents will review all entries, regardless of affiliation toward Sun or Snow teams.
To participate, you have to be following both our blogs (Michelle and Amy). We also encourage you to follow us on twitter using the hashtag #sunvssnow as we will be tweeting about mentor and agent activity.
The Format:
Send submission to Sunversussnow (at) yahoo (dot) com. Only one submission per email address or person is allowed.
Here's how it should be formatted (yes, include the bolded!) Please use Times New Roman (or equivalent), 12 pt font, and put spaces between paragraphs. No indents or tabs are needed. No worries if your gmail doesn't have Times New Roman.
Subject Line: SVS: TITLE, Age Category + Genre (example: SVS: PYGMY HAZARDS, MG Fantasy)
In The Email:
Title: MY FANTASTIC BOOK (yes, caps!)Genre: YA dystopian (Age category and genre. YA/MG is not a genre.)Word Count: XX,XXX
My Main Character is most uncomfortable with:
Stories thrive on conflict and making your MC suffer. Tell us which weather would make your MC the most uncomfortable or unhappy.
Example: Little Bit is from a world where the sun sends out deadly radiation so the sudden arrival of snow would freak her out and give her a heart attack. (Can be in your MC's POV, but doesn't have to be. 100 words or less.)
Query:
Query goes here! Include greeting and main paragraphs. Please leave out bio, closing, and word count + genre sentence.
First 250 words:
Here are the first 250 words of my manuscript, and I will not end in the middle of a sentence, even if I hit 259 words
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Confirmation emails will be sent to all queries received. If you don't get one, ask one of us on twitter.
Again, the picks will go live on January 23rd. You'll have to wait until then and no amount of bribery, even with chocolate, will make us tell. We will be giving hints on twitter however!
Good luck!
Feel free to leave questions in the comments or on twitter.
January 11, 2014
Review of Red Rising
Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.
But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.
Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity’s overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies . . . even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.
I received a copy of Red Rising from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
If you like a story with loads of action, then this is your book. Once it gets going, Red Rising is a nonstop thrill ride of events, dialogue, and twists and turns. There is very little sitting still happening in this story line.
Promised as a mash up of Ender’s Game and The Hunger Games, Red Rising lives up to that challenge in its world building. Set on Mars and full of futuristic elements, it lives up to its billing by setting up a complete society with plenty of cruelty and repression for the folks born into the Reds. The ruling Golds become a perfect example of villains.
I should warn that there is a lot of violence in this book and it might not be a good fit for younger readers. Animals are killed in large numbers as well as human beings. The main character, Darrow, often seems to favor violence purely for the sake of violence. There is little lightening of the killing with regret for its necessity.
The writing is done in a minimalistic style. Descriptions of settings and characters are done in a few bold strokes. For the settings, that was more than enough to ground me in the action. The limited description let my imagination take control of picturing the world and that worked well for me.
However, I was a little disappointed with the characters. The lack of characterization kept me from rating this book five stars. I didn’t feel that I got close enough to the characters to care deeply whether they lived or died. The sheer numbers of this large cast and the brevity of the writing kept me from getting as close to the characters as I usually preferred.
The driving force behind Darrow is the loss of his wife, yet I never developed sympathy for her. Though I tried to get attached to her and Darrow, I couldn’t lose myself in his cause. I did come to have respect for Darrow as he turned the corner and found enlightenment and purpose in his own journey.
Red Rising deserves four stars for its very cool futuristic concepts and gripping action.
January 10, 2014
Getting the Call: Clara Kensie
Wow! Just wow! That's all I can say after reading Clara's call story. You're gonna love it and be inspired.
Blurb: Part One in the riveting romantic thriller about a family on the run from a deadly past and a first love that will transcend secrets, lies and danger…
Sarah Spencer has a secret: her real name is Tessa Carson, and to stay alive, she can tell no one the truth about her psychically gifted family and the danger they are running from. As the new girl in the latest of countless schools, she also runs from her attraction to Tristan Walker—after all, she can’t even tell him her real name. But Tristan won’t be put off by a few secrets. Not even dangerous ones that might rip Tessa from his arms before they even kiss…
When I started querying RUN TO YOU, I sent my carefully-prepared query letter to a handful of agents. I’d worked hard on those query letters: I took an online workshop on queries. I asked my RWA chapter, Chicago-North, for feedback. I researched each agent and learned their submission guidelines. I personalized every letter, specifying why I was querying that particular agent. Each letter took me hours to get just right, and then my finger would hover over the SEND button even longer, until I gathered the courage to press it.
A few days into my query process, I sat at the computer to send out a couple more. Procrastinating because of nerves, I checked Twitter. Laura Bradford, a knowledgeable and hilarious agent who was on my dream list, had just completed a ten-tweet story about why she doesn’t like cupcakes. The ratio of frosting to cake is ridiculous. And how do you eat a cupcake without getting frosting all over your face? What do you do when you’re done and left holding a messy, oily wrapper?
See? I told you: hilarious. Without thinking, I dashed off a query to her, saying I completely agree with her feelings about cupcakes. I plopped in the paragraphs about my manuscript, and closed it by saying I was now going to go eat a piece of cake, properly, with a fork. Then I hit SEND.
And then I panicked.
What had I done? I’d written and sent that query letter in less than a minute. Why would I talk about cupcakes in my query letter? I hadn’t even checked it for typos! Could anyone be more unprofessional? I’d just blown my chances with my dream agent because I’d been impulsive for the first time in my life.
*headdesk*
A couple weeks after the cupcake-query fiasco, I got an offer of representation from another agent. Woohoo! The next morning, a Friday, I woke up super-early to alert the couple of other agents I’d queried that I had an offer. When I opened my email, the very first message was from Laura Bradford, requesting a partial.
I hadn’t blown it after all!
Laura stated that her reading period is six to eight weeks, so I replied, explaining that I’d gotten an offer the night before, and if she was still interested, would she please expedite her consideration of my manuscript?
She responded quickly, saying that she was leaving for a conference within the hour, but if I could get my full manuscript to her before she leaves, she would read it at the conference.
I got the manuscript to her within ten minutes.
Then I waited. Occasionally, I distracted myself by checking Twitter.
Now, if you follow Laura on Twitter, you know that she tweets a lot (that’s one of the things I love about her). A few hours after I sent her my full, she tweeted that she had a few manuscripts to read that weekend during a conference, including an emergency full. I wondered if she was talking about my full.
A little after that, she tweeted that she always appreciates when authors fill out the Properties section of Word documents with their name and the manuscript’s title, so it appears correctly on her e-reader. I had filled out the Properties section of my manuscript, and again, I wondered if she was talking about me.
The next day, I had an eye doctor appointment to get my eyes tested for glaucoma. That’s the test where they dilute your eyes and everything is bright and blurry for a few hours. In the waiting room, I checked Twitter on my phone… and saw that Laura had tweeted, “The manuscript I’m reading just got way too gushy.”
This time I knew she was talking about my manuscript. I knewit. I even knew which scene she was talking about. If there had been a desk in the eye doctor’s waiting room, I would have banged my head on it. I wanted to tweet, “Wait! I can revise it! I can take the gush out, I swear!!!”
The eye doctor called me in then, and sheepishly, dejectedly, I shuffled into the exam room. He put those dumb drops in my eyes, effectively blinding me for the next three-to-four hours.
Longest three-to-four hours of my life.
Eventually, my vision cleared enough in one eye that if I squinted and held my phone an inch from my nose, I could check Twitter. To my delight, Laura had tweeted a few more times about the too-gushy manuscript, including this one: “I’m think I’m going to dream about this manuscript tonight. That’s a good thing.”
Oh my God oh my God oh my God!!
On Monday morning, Laura emailed me that she really liked my manuscript and would like to talk about it. We set up a phone appointment for that afternoon. We chatted. She told me what she liked about my manuscript and what she didn’t (I was correct about which scene she thought was too gushy). She was super-cool, and I was a big, tongue-tied dork. But despite my supreme dorkiness, she offered representation!
I wanted to accept right there, but I had to be cool and professional. I still had the offer from the other agent, and I liked and respected her, too. I had to make a decision. But come on. It’s Laura Bradford. She’s a rock star. She called out my manuscript on Twitter for being too gushy. I knew she would push me to make my manuscript the best it could be. There was no decision to make. I am so proud to call Laura my agent.
The gushy scene was the first thing I revised in my manuscript, and thanks to Laura, that manuscript is now a book. The esteemed Natashya Wilson at Harlequin Teen bought it, and RUN TO YOU is Harlequin Teen’s very first serial, beginning February 1, 2014 with three weekly releases, followed by the sequel in June.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clara Kensie grew up near Chicago, reading every book she could find and using her diary to write stories about a girl with psychic powers who solved mysteries. She purposely did not hide her diary, hoping someone would read it and assume she was writing about herself. Since then, she’s swapped her diary for a computer and admits her characters are fictional, but otherwise she hasn’t changed one bit.
Today Clara is the author of romantic paranormal thrillers for young adults. Her first book, RUN TO YOU, a three-part serial from Harlequin TEEN, begins February 1 2014 with weekly releases. The sequel, also a three-part serial, begins June 1 2014.
Her favorite foods are guacamole and cookie dough. But not together. That would be gross.
Find RUN TO YOU at your favorite e-tailers, including:
AmazonB&NiBooksGoogle Play BooksFind Clara online:
Website
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads
Blurb: Part One in the riveting romantic thriller about a family on the run from a deadly past and a first love that will transcend secrets, lies and danger…
Sarah Spencer has a secret: her real name is Tessa Carson, and to stay alive, she can tell no one the truth about her psychically gifted family and the danger they are running from. As the new girl in the latest of countless schools, she also runs from her attraction to Tristan Walker—after all, she can’t even tell him her real name. But Tristan won’t be put off by a few secrets. Not even dangerous ones that might rip Tessa from his arms before they even kiss…
When I started querying RUN TO YOU, I sent my carefully-prepared query letter to a handful of agents. I’d worked hard on those query letters: I took an online workshop on queries. I asked my RWA chapter, Chicago-North, for feedback. I researched each agent and learned their submission guidelines. I personalized every letter, specifying why I was querying that particular agent. Each letter took me hours to get just right, and then my finger would hover over the SEND button even longer, until I gathered the courage to press it.
A few days into my query process, I sat at the computer to send out a couple more. Procrastinating because of nerves, I checked Twitter. Laura Bradford, a knowledgeable and hilarious agent who was on my dream list, had just completed a ten-tweet story about why she doesn’t like cupcakes. The ratio of frosting to cake is ridiculous. And how do you eat a cupcake without getting frosting all over your face? What do you do when you’re done and left holding a messy, oily wrapper?
See? I told you: hilarious. Without thinking, I dashed off a query to her, saying I completely agree with her feelings about cupcakes. I plopped in the paragraphs about my manuscript, and closed it by saying I was now going to go eat a piece of cake, properly, with a fork. Then I hit SEND.
And then I panicked.
What had I done? I’d written and sent that query letter in less than a minute. Why would I talk about cupcakes in my query letter? I hadn’t even checked it for typos! Could anyone be more unprofessional? I’d just blown my chances with my dream agent because I’d been impulsive for the first time in my life.
*headdesk*
A couple weeks after the cupcake-query fiasco, I got an offer of representation from another agent. Woohoo! The next morning, a Friday, I woke up super-early to alert the couple of other agents I’d queried that I had an offer. When I opened my email, the very first message was from Laura Bradford, requesting a partial.
I hadn’t blown it after all!
Laura stated that her reading period is six to eight weeks, so I replied, explaining that I’d gotten an offer the night before, and if she was still interested, would she please expedite her consideration of my manuscript?
She responded quickly, saying that she was leaving for a conference within the hour, but if I could get my full manuscript to her before she leaves, she would read it at the conference.
I got the manuscript to her within ten minutes.
Then I waited. Occasionally, I distracted myself by checking Twitter.
Now, if you follow Laura on Twitter, you know that she tweets a lot (that’s one of the things I love about her). A few hours after I sent her my full, she tweeted that she had a few manuscripts to read that weekend during a conference, including an emergency full. I wondered if she was talking about my full.
A little after that, she tweeted that she always appreciates when authors fill out the Properties section of Word documents with their name and the manuscript’s title, so it appears correctly on her e-reader. I had filled out the Properties section of my manuscript, and again, I wondered if she was talking about me.
The next day, I had an eye doctor appointment to get my eyes tested for glaucoma. That’s the test where they dilute your eyes and everything is bright and blurry for a few hours. In the waiting room, I checked Twitter on my phone… and saw that Laura had tweeted, “The manuscript I’m reading just got way too gushy.”
This time I knew she was talking about my manuscript. I knewit. I even knew which scene she was talking about. If there had been a desk in the eye doctor’s waiting room, I would have banged my head on it. I wanted to tweet, “Wait! I can revise it! I can take the gush out, I swear!!!”
The eye doctor called me in then, and sheepishly, dejectedly, I shuffled into the exam room. He put those dumb drops in my eyes, effectively blinding me for the next three-to-four hours.
Longest three-to-four hours of my life.
Eventually, my vision cleared enough in one eye that if I squinted and held my phone an inch from my nose, I could check Twitter. To my delight, Laura had tweeted a few more times about the too-gushy manuscript, including this one: “I’m think I’m going to dream about this manuscript tonight. That’s a good thing.”
Oh my God oh my God oh my God!!
On Monday morning, Laura emailed me that she really liked my manuscript and would like to talk about it. We set up a phone appointment for that afternoon. We chatted. She told me what she liked about my manuscript and what she didn’t (I was correct about which scene she thought was too gushy). She was super-cool, and I was a big, tongue-tied dork. But despite my supreme dorkiness, she offered representation!
I wanted to accept right there, but I had to be cool and professional. I still had the offer from the other agent, and I liked and respected her, too. I had to make a decision. But come on. It’s Laura Bradford. She’s a rock star. She called out my manuscript on Twitter for being too gushy. I knew she would push me to make my manuscript the best it could be. There was no decision to make. I am so proud to call Laura my agent.
The gushy scene was the first thing I revised in my manuscript, and thanks to Laura, that manuscript is now a book. The esteemed Natashya Wilson at Harlequin Teen bought it, and RUN TO YOU is Harlequin Teen’s very first serial, beginning February 1, 2014 with three weekly releases, followed by the sequel in June.
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Clara Kensie grew up near Chicago, reading every book she could find and using her diary to write stories about a girl with psychic powers who solved mysteries. She purposely did not hide her diary, hoping someone would read it and assume she was writing about herself. Since then, she’s swapped her diary for a computer and admits her characters are fictional, but otherwise she hasn’t changed one bit.Today Clara is the author of romantic paranormal thrillers for young adults. Her first book, RUN TO YOU, a three-part serial from Harlequin TEEN, begins February 1 2014 with weekly releases. The sequel, also a three-part serial, begins June 1 2014.
Her favorite foods are guacamole and cookie dough. But not together. That would be gross.
Find RUN TO YOU at your favorite e-tailers, including:
AmazonB&NiBooksGoogle Play BooksFind Clara online:
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