Research is your friend

This month on YAtopia we're looking at new beginnings as the way to kick off the New Year. And I thought I'd discuss starting anew - starting a new writing project o. And my best advice to people is research.

Research in stories is becoming more and more important. The reality is that it always should have been, but there seemed to be a perception that 'hey, we're authors, we can make shit up.'

And don't get me wrong, we can. In fact, I've often said that phrase in jest when talking to friends. If we want to decide there are flying monsters that live in outer space that attack a space shuttle then we can make that shit up.

Research is important for making sure you make the real world elements of your story believable. And it's especially important for ensuring good representation of people, no matter what cultural group they belong to, or how they identify sexually or gender-wise, or any other identifiers such as mental health, etc. But today, I'm not going down that rabbit hole as it's a separate topic on it's own.

What I've found is how great research is for generating story ideas, whether it's for a brand new story, or if you've started a story and you're experiencing some writer's block. Jumping on google and exploring elements of your storyline can give you amazing ideas.

I'll give some examples from a couple of my stories. I've got one with a far-future setting, so I explored some technologies and advancements that could exist in the future, such as data storage on crystals. This became a really important element of my world building. In another series I needed to have elements of mind control, so I researched the topic and discovered some brain-washing techniques that were used on prisoners of war. That technique formed the basis of a major plot element in my story.

And nowadays you don't have to simply pop in a search on google and read webpages on the topic. You'll likely find videos as well where you can listen to tutorials on topics, and vlogs/interviews on people's experiences.

But, of course, you don't have to do all the research virtually. In a recent YAtopia post, Chris talked about the importance of imagery. One of my stories is set in Brisbane and features a sandstone building. I don't get to Brisbane very often, and when I do, I don't always get to go to areas that have those types of buildings. So I got my mum to go and get a bit handsy with the building and report back to me. Luckily I am getting to go to that area of Brisbane next week, and I'm going to try to subtly sniff a building and lay some hands on it.

Research can help expand your story ideas, flesh out your stories, and become a way better writer. It will help you add authenticity to your work. It can help you take the seed of an idea, and grow it into an oak. Never underestimate the power of research.

Romantic Times Las Vegas: Pitch Wars Road Show

I'm Vegas bound baby! And I'll be part of the Pitch Wars Road Show. Pitch Wars host, Brenda Drake, has a great post that covers off on what exactly the road show is. 

But who is Pitch Wars Road Show for:

• Anyone who is participating in Pitch-A-Palooza: This is part of the Romantic Times Conference where writers can pitch to editors and agents. Get in before your session and tweak your pitch. 
• Anyone who is planning to submit to Pitch Wars: Pitch Wars is only just around the corner. Get in early and pick the brains of the mentors. 
• Anyone who likes participating in Pitch Contests: Get your 35 word pitch polished. 
• Anyone who likes participating in Twitter pitches: Get your 140 character pitch ready. 
• Anyone who is currently querying: If you are currently querying agents/submitting to editors then you can bring along story-related part of your query (your query minus your bio, etc). 
• Anyone who is planning to query soon: Maybe you're waiting on feedback from readers before you query? Or working out who you want to query? If a query is around the corner for your then this could be for you.
• Anyone who is writing a story that they want to query at some point: I have heard some writers find it useful to have their query written before they write their story as it helps them with the writing process. 

Basically, if you're a writer, and you're in Vegas for Romantic Times, you should come and check out the Pitch Wars Road Show. And if you haven't booked in, what are you waiting for! It's going to be a fun week where you get to meet authors and industry professionals, score cool swag, buy books and participate in some great events. 

See you there!

Keep sharing the love - GIVEAWAY!

Valentine's Day may be over, but you can still share the love with the WORDS WITH HEART anthology.

It features a few YAtopians and all profits go to GIRLS NOT BRIDES.

The stories include:

WORDS WITH HEART is a Valentine’s Day inspired anthology, but that doesn’t mean the stories are all about love. Featuring a mix of genres, this anthology includes:

• A Winged Fool by Sharon M. Johnston

• Paper Hearts by Kady Ambrose

• Killing Your Darlings by James L. Weaver

• Star Crossed Lovers by E.L. Wicker and Sharon M. Johnston

• No Love For Valentine’s Day by Rebecca Carpenter

• The Pity Rose by Christine Jayne Vann

• Stepping Out by E.L. Wicker

• A Gargoyle’s Prom Nightmare by E.L. Wicker and Sharon M. Johnston

• The Wrong Heart Song by Heather Bryant

These authors have all donated their stories so please show them some additional support by following them on their social media.

Find it on Goodreads & Amazon. 

So we keep sharing the love, YAtopia is giving away two copies of the anthology. To be eligible you need to be prepared to post a honest review on Goodreads and Amazon. To enter, post in the comments on your favourite love story! Two winners will be drawn at random on 28th February. 

Writing a novel is the easy part

Writing a novel sometimes feels like it was the easy part.

Write a 56,000 word manuscript

Me: No worries.

Write a two-page synopsis

Me: Ahhhhh! *runs for the hills*

Write a query letter.

Me: *rewrites a million times until there's four variations I'm satisfied enough with to use with agents then uses all four versions to test what works best*

Write a bio

Me: *writes multiple versions, never really happy with one, no matter how many drafts I try - stabs at screen*

Write a book dedication.

Me: *Ponders on how to get wording right. Looks up other dedications as this needs to be epic*

Write a book acknowledgement

Me: *freaks out, worrying about missing someone out who beta read for me, if it's too long, if it's crappy*

Write 2nd novel

Me: *engages alpha read and writes like crazy* No worries.

Write a two-page synopsis for 2nd novel.

Me: *buries head in pillow and screams*

What part of the writing process do you like the best and what frustrates you the most.

New routes to publishing don't mean easier

The face of publishing is changing with writers' communities and self publishing giving authors direct access to readers and giving readers the opportunity to influence what gets into mainstream publishing.

When I first joined Inkpop, I had a feeling it was going to part of something new and exciting. And it was. Leigh Fallon and Wendy Higgins both were discovered via Inkpop.

Wattpad, Figment (who bought Inkpop from HarperCollins) and Movella are sites that I've dabbled on. I'm not overly active on them anymore as my day-job, writing, internship with Entangled and blogging all take priority of these sites. But they can be a lot of fun and a great way to meet writers.

Wattpad has produced Brittany Geragotelis, who had a huge following on the site, self published and then scored a three-book, six-figure deal.

Movella has produced Emily Baker, a member who wrote a One Direction fan fiction that was spotted by Penguin. The publisher then commissioned her to update the story for publication.

We all know Amanda Hocking started in self publishing and then got snavelled up by a publisher.  E.L.James started out with fan fiction that she shared online.

One thing I've noticed with all of these writers is that they all worked really, really hard. Like super hard. On the writing/fan fiction communities you have to work really hard to get readers and develop a following. On Inkpop I had the most popular Australian story, but that involved about 1,000 people reading it. That's nothing compared to Brittany who had 13 million reads.

Amanda Hocking work extremely hard  and she talks about how self publishing isn't easy on her blog. Leigh, Wendy, Brittany and Emily all worked hard on their respective writing sites to gain followers. Site like this can involve a lot of time reading other people's work and giving feedback on it as well as promoting yourself.

Basically, there is no easy path in the publishing industry. You need to write a story people want to read, write it well and then get it out there. It's hard work, but it can be done if you've got the right stuff and are willing to work hard.

So I have some questions for you:

Have you tried any writing community sites that you would recommend?

And if you're interested in getting published, what path are you thinking about taking.

P.S. For those of you looking for an agent, I'm one of the coaches for Pitch Wars and I'm interested in seeing YA and NA pitches.

YAtopia Relaunch: Suzanne and Sharon

Today we're introducing you to new YAtopian Suzanne van Rooyen and reintroducing you to YAtopia old-timer Sharon Johnston.

Suzanne van Rooyen

Suzanne grew up in the concrete jungle of Johannesburg, South Africa. After a brief stint in Australia, she felt most at home in the forests of Finland where the cold, dark winters provide a perfect excuse to stay indoors and write. She is the author of the cyberpunk novel Dragon's Teeth (Divertir, 2011), the YA science fiction novel Obscura Burning (Etopia Press, 2012) and several short stories published by Storm Moon Press, Niteblade and others. Despite having a Master's in music, Suzanne prefers conjuring strange worlds and creating quirky characters. When she's not doing that, you can find her playing in the snow with her shiba inu or eating peanut butter and watching science fiction movies.

You can find Suzanne on her website, on Twitter @Suzanne_Writer or on Goodreads.

Sharon Johnston

Sharon is a corporate communication manager and a former journalist from Australia who writes in her spare time. Sleeper is Sharon's first novel that she is currently querying. Although she normally writes about the strange and the weird, her first publication is a general fiction short story call "Growth" as part of The Australian Literary Review's anthology The Basics of Life.

Sharon loves YA, science-fiction, speculative fiction, paranormal and anything that comes from the deepest darkest parts of someone's mind. She draws inspiration from local writers who have made it in the tough Australian publishing industry such as Tara Moss, Kerri Arthurs, Karen Brooks and Emily Rodda.

Well-known for her fantastic taste in shoes, Sharon has actually been stalked by women wanting to know where she got her high heels from. She invites you to read her personal blog and she is a Twitter fiend so follow her @S_M_Johnston.


Suzanne, interviewed by Sharon:

Sharon: Dragon's Teeth is Cyberpunk. What makes a novel Cyberpunk?

Suzanne: Excellent question. Cyberpunk as a genre usually denotes a future where there is an emphasis on sophisticated technology, but a breakdown in society. Dragon's Teeth has exactly that! There's an emphasis on technology, specifically on medical procedures that increase longevity, including the use of cybernetic implants. There's also a huge breakdown in society. It's post apocalyptic, but more than that, in the world of Dragon's Teeth there is rampant corruption and an underground criminal network undermining the society that's trying to reclaim its place on a damaged planet.

Sharon: You've got a passion for music and dance. How does that influence your writing?

Suzanne: Music definitely influences my writing. I use music as a soundtrack for all my writing. It helps me capture the right atmosphere and character emotions and can even help with setting. As for dance, I'm not sure that influences my writing as much as music does. It certainly helps character creation though. Many of my works feature muscians and in my WiP one of my secondary characters is a dancer.

Sharon: How has your reading as a teenager influenced your writing for teenagers.

Suzanne: As a teenager I didn't read teen books. I mostly read fantasy by authors like Caiseal Mor, Stephen Lawhead and Juliet Marillier - none of which is YA as we know it. I think that has made me realise that teens don't need to be coddled or written down to. Today's teenagers are quite sophisticated and they expect a lot from YA authors. That definitely puts us writers under pressure, but also raises the bar on quality, which is never a bad thing.

Sharon: What are your top four favourite books and why?

Suzanne: Oh I hate this question! Only four? Lost Souls by Poppy Z Brite because I love her description and the effortless ways she weaves together romance and horror somehow making the horrific aspects of her story rather dreamy - that takes skill! The Sandman by Neil Gaiman, that's an entire graphic novel series so I'm cheating here, but that series blew me away. Gaiman really is a genius and his Sandman creations are phenomenal: fantasy, science-fiction, horror - all rolled up into one with so many layers. Love it! The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater because she writes beautifully and her characters are so real. Stiefvater also manages to keep her book fantastic and yet totally believable, and I'm a sucker for creatures from mythology. The Crow by James O'Barr because this is the story that first got me into darker fantasy. O'Barr wrote the story and illustrated his own graphic novel - that's incredible. I love how visceral and dark but also how totally heartbreakingly poignant this story is. Ah, I could go on and on about all the books I love...


Sharon, interviewed by Suzanne:

Suzanne: Can you tell us a bit about Sleeper?

Sharon: I can, but will I? (Sorry, that's the influence of my English teacher sister coming through). Sleeper is a Speculative Fiction (Science-Fiction/Fantasy mix) about a girl, Mishca, who discovers that her adoption was a front and that's she's actually a sleeper soldier for a private army. Her programming is accidentally triggered by a life saving heart transplant operation. The rest of her "unit" have the same condition, so are deemed as defective and scheduled for termination. So Mishca sets out to save them.

Suzanne: What do you think makes the Australian publishing industry a tough nut to crack?

Sharon: We're such a small market and there's so many books from overseas that a lot of publicity here. Even published Australian authors aren't necessarily finding homes for the new stories. But I think this will change as teenagers are thinking more globally and want to read stories from other countries. Australia is one of those countries that everyone wants to know more about. I had not only one of the most popular Australian manuscript with an earlier version of Sleeper on a YA writing site, Inkpop (which was recently bought out by Figment, but was the site that discovered Leigh Fallon and Wendy Higgins), but one of the most popular stories on the whole site. So that definitely showed me that teens internationally love stories set in Australia. More and more Aussie authors are finding success overseas, especially with the rise of ebooks.

Suzanne: If you could be any fictional character for a day, who would be and why?

Sharon: Wow, this one is tough. A lot of characters I love face so much adversity that I really wouldn't want to walk in their shoes. I love Tonks from Harry Potter. She's a bit bad-ass and a bit goofy and I'd love to change my hair colour whenever I feel like it. She can handle a broom too.

Suzanne: Which 2012 YA book was your favourite and why?

Sharon: A Million Suns was just amazing. I loved Across the Universe so much. It's like a YA 1984. The insights into the flaws of society continue on into the sequel. And the twists! Revis is just a master. I can't stop at one. Pandemonium blew me away. I didn't mind the first one, but the sequel rocked. While it's not my usual YA, From the Ashes was also amazing. It really helped me understand writing from the male POV.

 For more info on the re-launch, including how you can win some incredible prizes, click here!

Pitch Madness is coming!

It's here! Well, not quite yet. The submission windows for the semi-annual Pitch Madness go live on Saturday, September 1 at 12PM EST and 6PM EST.

And we've added another submission time for September 4... 3RD SUBMISSION TIME: 10:00 am EDT (EST-NY time) first 100.

The game theme this time is Paintball. What's Pitch Madness, you ask? Well, its a game where Brenda Drake brings together a bushel of agents to compete for your pitches. We're  joining three other blogs in this funtastic event. So I guess I'll start by introducing them first.

Brenda Drake

Shelley Watters

Erica M. Chapman

Here's the crazy awesome agents participating...

Dawn Frederick - Red Sofa Literary
Brittany Howard - Corvisiero Agency
John Cusick - Scott Treimel NY
Victoria Marini - Gelfman Schneider Lit.
Judith Engracia - Liza Dawson & Assoc.
Louise Fury - L. Perkins Agency
Sarah LaPolla - Curtis Brown Ltd.
Brooks Sherman - FinePrint Literary Management
Molly Ker Hawn - The Bent Agency

We'll have more about the agents up in our Meet the Agents' post coming September 4 and 5.

Now, here's the submission deets ...

Shine up your 35-word (exact-anything over will be disqualified) pitches and the first 150-words (if the cut-off falls in the middle of a sentence, go to the end of that sentence) of your finished Adult, Young Adult, and Middle Grade fiction. We'll pick 60 entries to move on to the Agent Pitch Match.

We've doubled the number of entries we're taking in this time. There will be a percentage of what genres make it in based on all the agents likes. You guessed it, there will be more YA in the contest than Adult, but the main thing we're looking for is the WOW factor. Only one entry per person.

We have two submission times, and this year we're holding it on a Saturday.

The windows open on September 1 ...

1ST SUBMISSION TIME: 12:00 pm EST for the first 100.
2ND SUBMISSION TIME: 6:00 pm EST for the next 100.

Only the best of the best will make it to the final round.

Here's how to format your entry ...

Name: Brenda Drake
Title: The Britanika Journals: Around the World in 80:45:07
Genre: Middle Grade Adventure
Word Count: 50,000

Max and Annika use a transporting globe to find her missing father. With evil men in an airship on their tails, Max must use his sleuthing skills with Annika’s inventor ones to rescue her father.

Maximilian Drayson knew that a masterful sleuth had to pay attention to one crucial thing—the details. He tightened his grip on the white apron he had snatched from the Britanika's laundry room. It took several hours into his investigation to find it, and most would think it was just a soiled apron, but he believed it to be a clue.

He paced the manicured lawn of the Britanika's residence, scratching the back of his neck and searching the ground. This particular mystery came about after he had overheard one of the Britanika's housemaids, Molly, sobbing to another servant about losing her mother's brooch. At hearing Molly's distress, he went into action.

Before beginning his investigation, Max interrogated Molly, asking her a series of questions: When had she last seen the brooch? Did she wear it while she worked? What were her household duties? He needed every bit of information he could obtain if he wanted to mark this case as solved.

For those that don't make it into Pitch Madness we'll be hosting a twitter pitch party on the hashtag #PitMad on September 13 from 8AM to 8PM EST. So get those twitter pitches ready!

That's it. We're so excited!

Opportunities take flight

I'm excited to announce that I'm going to be presenting at The Whitsunday Voices Youth Festival this year - "Words Take Flight". It's a rather exciting prospect for me to see myself on the program along side some of Australia's best YA and Children's writers. Cath Crowley (Graffiti Moon), Steph Bowe (Girl Saves Boy), Andy Griffith (too many awesome books to pick just one to highlight!) and Kate Forsyth, with many others.

It's a bit out-of-the-box thinking to have an emerging author on the program. I've got an anthology under my belt and short story competition success, but that's not why I'm presenting. I'll be talking about effective use of social media for aspiring authors and passionate readers.

This will be the first year that there will be a session like this included in the festival. Of course I'm not at ALL nervous about being a presenter at a festival which has about 5,000 students attending it! But I am excited at the recognition that the virtual world is getting for it's role in publishing.

I'll be talking about have to engage authors, agents and editors in the various social media platforms (which will include when not to engage them as well), the opportunities available to aspiring writers on social media, navigating online writing communities and blogging. I'm sure I can squish all that into 45 minutes.

The most important thing I've gotten out of this is to take opportunities when they present themselves. Self promotion is an important part of being a writer in the current climate. Being part of a Youth Festival will show potential agents and editors that I'm not afraid to put myself out there for public speaking events (note I didn't say I wasn't afraid of public speaking itself) and that I look for unique opportunities.

So if you could present at a literary/writers festival what would you talk about? And if you've been to any festivals or conferences, what's been your favourite topic/speaker from that event?

April is Aussie Author Month

Don't make me use the Force on you. Go buy an Aussie book.

Aussie Aussie Aussie! *puts hand to ear* Oi Oi Oi!

It's a war cry that nearly ever Australian knows, and will join in on. And today I call it out proud, not just to my fellow Aussies, but to everyone involved in the literary industry - writers, readers, bloggers, agents, publishers, to join in on the April activities.

Australians produce some great writers with amazing stories that are just waiting for you to read or to be discovered by the publishing industry. My hopes for April are that:

• Bookshops have an Australian display, making Aussie authors easy to find in April.
• Readers will buy or borrow at least one Aussie book.
• Bloggers will review at least one Aussie book, interview an Aussie author or have a competition with an Aussie book as the prize.
• I hear about an agent offering rep to an Aussie author.
• I hear about a new Aussie book deal.
• I see Tweeters and bloggers involved in the Aussie Author Month events.
• People give to the Aussie Author Month fundraiser: Indigenous Literacy Foundation.

 We have a small industry, but have produced some amazing writers. We should support them all year round, but let's all make an extra special effort this month to get behind Aussie authors.

So what do you think you can do to support and promote Aussie authors?

World Read Aloud Day

World Read Aloud Day is a way to celebrate literacy and draw attention to the 793 MILLION Earth citizens who cannot read or write. It's "about taking action to show the world that the right to read and write belongs to all people."

To celebrate World Read Aloud Day, Sharon, Leigh and Sarah read short excerpts for you!

Three accents. Three awesome book excerpts. One great cause!



Here's the link if this doesn't embed for you.

A novel description competition

Over at my personal blog, Down Under Wonderings, is a novel description competition. All you have to do is come up with a creative comparison to describe a book.

Examples:

Blood Song is a YA version of The Game of Thrones.
Across the Universe is a YA 1984 set in space.
The Selection by Kiera Cass is being called The Bachelor meets Hunger Games.

Up for grabs is a $30 B&N evoucher and a copy of Blood Song - one prize per winner (so at least two winners). You don't need to follow this blog or promote to enter - but it would be nice if you did.

So head on over to my blog for a chance to win!

Word Lover

I love words. With.A.Passion.

In my Professional Writing class at university, on the very first day, my lecturer posed a question to us about how language had changed over the centuries and did we agree that the simpler dialogue that had developed was better.

First to answer (cause I suffer from know-it-all-itis), I said the change was horrible because I didn't want to lose the rich culture of literature from years gone by.

I should now add that Professional Writing looked at communication from a business perspective and was basically a PR subject.

Well, my lecture, who I adored because she was a columnist in the local paper, shot me down and said simpler was better. Supposedly the average person has a reading age of a twelve year old and I had to write to that.

I was crestfallen at the thought of dumbing down my writing. My idea was to save endangered words, not stomp them into extinction.

But from a business writing perspective, she was right. And since I started as a journalist many years ago and moved into public relations, I have tailored my writing for my audience - simplifying it when I've needed to.

However, in my fiction realm I try to use a wider variety of words to keep the prose rich and warm. So here are some of my favourites that I love to use, but try not to over-use:

• Snavel
• Perch
• Snare
• Myriad
• Sporadically (thank you Clueless)
• Exasperated
• Blurt
• Scouring
• Scooch
• emanates

So, what are some of your favourite words?

Critiques, ebooks and $50 Barnes and Noble voucher!

I launched my author website The Weird Writing World of S.M.Johnston, also known as smjohnston.com, and to celebrate I'm having a HUGE giveaway. My fellow YAtopians pitched in with prizes too (aren't they so lovely):

Up for grabs is:

• a $50 Barnes and Noble e-gift card.
• A query critique from YAtopian and kNight Romance author Chanelle Gray.
• A chapter/first ten pages critique from YAtopian and Entangled author Kelley York.
• An ebook copy of Angelfall courtesy of YAtopian and member of YA Rebels. Sarah Nicolas.
• An ebook copy (preorder) of Sweet Evil courtesty of YAtopian and Crescent Moon author Kelley Vitollo.
• Sweet Evil bookmarks courtesy of YAtopian and HarperCollins author Wendy Higgins.
• A copy of Carrier of the Mark courtesy of YAtopian and HarpCollins author Leigh Fallon.

So head on over to my blog for the competition details and to see the amazing new website layout.

Betaing yourself up

Most aspiring writers have heard of the term Beta editor or Beta Reader - someone who you send your draft MS to go through and provide feedback on.
But why is it so important to have them?

Perspective. A good Beta reader will give you a perspective on the flaws in your manuscript. It's easy to be so in love with your characters and your plot that you don't see what's missing from your MS - or what's in there doesn't need to be.

Listen to the feedback and learn from your writing buddy.                                            

Another benefit of this is preparing you for the editorial process if you do get an agent and/or a publisher. I haven't heard of an author that has been traditionally published who hasn't made some changes under the guidance of their agent or editor.

You need thick skin in the publishing game and getting constructive feedback from people you can help you get used to your precious process being picked to pieces.
So why should you be a Beta editor?

Well, for starters, if you're asking someone to read for you, then you should offer to return the favour.

But it also can help make you a better writer. I've been doing a fair bit of Beta reading lately for some writer friends and I've noticed two things.
Firstly, I see things that I'm missing in my work. It makes me want to aim higher with my writing.
Then, sometimes I see what's missing from my friends manuscripts. When I see missing character development or plot holes, it makes me think about my work and if I've done the same thing.
Giving and receiving feedback makes you a better writer. To find out more about being a good Beta reader here and ways to connect with other writers here. And tell us about your Beta reading experiences in the comments.

Top five Noob mistakes

A lot of people want to be a published writer, but very few people make it. There's a lot more to writing than just having a great idea and getting the words out of your brain and onto paper (or into a computer as the case may be).

I get to read a lot of aspiring writers' pieces of work and I regularly see the same mistakes, which are often a sign of poor research. Just like anything else, if you want to be good at it you need to study it and work at it. I'm not saying you have to go to uni, but you should at a minimum be researching online, or trying to make it to conferences. (WriteOnCon is free and it's online so there's no excuse!)

But here's the top five newbie writer mistakes I see:

Dialogue

As a former journalist, I had correct dialogue formatted burnt into my frontal lobe by my uni lecturer  editor.

"I can't believe how often people dialogue wrong." She said.   WRONG!
"I know. It's crazy," he replied.  Right!

When you're using a verb for talking after the speech, it's still the same sentence so it needs a comma, not a full stop (period for those of you in the US) and if it's not a person's name then it's lower case for the next word.

Telling

I think when everyone starts out, we do a bit of telling. Especially if we're writing in a hurry. But we need to look for opportunities to use showing instead.

Bob's hair is brown and he doesn't brush it. Telling!

I resist the urge to reach out and sweep the clumps of unbrushed hair from Bob's eyes. Showing!

Mary Sue

Hello Mary Sue, how do you do? Still perfect? Still beautiful, but denying it. Still having "everything coming up Milhouse" for you?

If the character has no depth and flaws, then they will be uninteresting, uninspiring and flat.

Rushing queries

I've just finished this MS and it's the total bomb - time to query!

Stop it! You should revise yourself, get multiple Beta editors to have a squiz, workshop your query letter too - then maybe you'll be ready to query.

Writing to trends

If you write to something is hot now, remember, by the time you finish writing it the trend is probably on the decline and the chances of you getting picked up are low.

In saying that, you should also try to write the story that is in your heart. Listen to your muse. But always try to come up with a unique concept as the last thing you want is to be rejected because it's too similar to something on an agent's list or something on the bookshelves already.

Not listening to advice

I think by nature, most people who have a desire to write also have a personality that LOVES affirmation. That can make it hard for us to listen to constructive criticism *raises hand* and means that we can ignore advice because our pride is hurt, rather than looking at it constructively.

I've learnt to mill over advice for a couple of days if it doesn't ring true to me at first as it might be my ego getting in the way.

So, that's the top five things I've noticed with writing noobs. How about you? Got any stories from when you were a noob, or anything you've noticed. Let's share the wisdom.

Entangled Publishing Publicist Interview & Giveaway!

Blogger, writer, book reviewer, website owner and now a publicist with Entangled Publishing Stacey O'Neale knows the book industry from multiple angles. So let's get to know the woman who is a well recognized face on Twitter and in the Blogisphere.

I first found you on Twitter and have enjoyed reading your blog and The YA Fantasy Guide. Would you tell us a bit about the YAFG?

Thanks! :-)

The YAFG is a website dedicated to books within the YA fantasy genre. The site features recommendations/reviews by category, author and literary agent interviews, articles for aspiring writers, and monthly contests/giveaways.

How did you get into this?

Two people actually inspired the YAFG. The first one was Simon Lipskar from Writer's House. I had a chance to attend a literary agent panel that included Simon. In case you don't know who he is - he's one of the best and most respected literary agents in the business. The panel was discussing writing platforms and someone in the audience had asked if a writer should have a blog and what amount of traffic would be impressive to an agent. Every agent said 5,000 hits per month then Simon said 10,000. Everyone laughed but I remember thinking that I wanted to create an online presence that would even impress someone like him.

A few weeks later, a friend was telling me that she was re-reading Twilight for the 5th time and I looked at her like she was insane. I couldn't understand why she would continue to read the same series when there are so many other books in that genre worth reading. I ended up running down a list of other vampire books that I thought she might like and that got my wheels turning. When I went online that night, I looked for a YA fantasy site that broke down books by favorite characters (faeries, mermaids, etc.) or subgenres (paranormal, urban, steampunk, etc.) and I couldn't find anything. That's pretty much when the YAFG was born.

In case you're wondering, the YAFG gets anywhere from 20,000-30,000 hits per month. If I ever meet Simon again I'll thank him. :-)

What are some of your favourite YA books/series and why?

LOL, how much time do you have?

It's easier for me to tell you authors I love versus books. Anyone who follows me on twitter knows that I love Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, and Melissa Marr. I'd buy an encyclopedia if one of those ladies wrote it. From Holly, I love the Tithe series and the Curse Workers series. Holly is a master world builder and probably my favorite writer period. From Cassie, I favor the Infernal Devices series a smidge over her Mortal Instruments series because I have a fetish for steampunk. Cassie's great for creating characters that can make you laugh, and two pages later, make you cry. I love Melissa's Wicked Lovely series. The world she created is so dark and sexy. It gets to a point where you don't even know who you're cheering for because each character is so multifaceted.

I also love to discover new blood and help them promote great new books. I was blown away by Tahereh Mafi when I read Shatter Me a few months ago. A few of the YA fantasy book/authors coming out of Entangled have really impressed me including Touch by Jus Accardo, Hushed by Kelley York, and Obsidian by Jennifer Armentrout. Now that I think about it, I actually wrote an article about some of my favorite debuts from the beginning of 2011.

What gives you inspiration for posts?

I attend a ton of conferences and have taken a ton of writing courses. I've also had the opportunity to talk to some fantastic people within the publishing world like successful authors, editors, publicists, literary agents, etc. Usually, the inspiration comes from something I learned that I think might help someone else or something someone told me that helped them during their road to publication. Other times, the inspiration comes from something currently going on in the publishing world or a request from someone online. The post, "How to Get a Blogger to Review Your Book" was a request from a follower on twitter.

You are currently working on a novel that sounds like you'll soon be querying. Would you share with us your writing process?

I'm very organized. I'm not a writer who can just sit down and go without a plan. When I do that I get lost. I always spend weeks writing a detailed outline of each chapter before I start the actual writing process. I try to write everyday even if it's only one page. I prefer to write during the day and usually with some music playing in the background.

In terms of the book I'm writing now, I'm in the middle of revisions. I had the novel professional edited and they came back with a really good suggestion, but it has caused a major rewrite of my first six chapters. Ugh, but that's writing. Most people rewrite their novel several times before it's ready for a publisher to consider.

You are now a publicist with Entangled Publishing, who are publishing our very own YAtopian - Kelley York. What made you decide to apply for the position?

I'm actually Kelley's publicist. :-)

Two Reasons:

#1 - Liz Pelletier and the rest of the EP Staff

I've known of Liz for years because I'm a member of Savvy Authors. When I heard about Entangled Publishing I knew I wanted in. The quality of people involved in EP is extraordinary. The level of talent here has the ability to change the game as we know it. I believe we will remake the e-pub model.

#2 - The EP Authors

Before I started with EP, I had a chance to get a few of the ARC's on Netgalley and I was blown away. Our authors are really talented and it's just getting better and better. I'm like a little kid when I find out that I've been assigned another author. I can't wait to get started with them.

What does a typical day for a publishing publicist entail?

Lots and lots and lots of emails. Most of my time is spent organizing book tours so I spend a tremendous amount of time talking to bloggers which l love because bloggers rock! Think about it - people who love books so much that they create a blog to talk about them. What's not to love about that?

Juggling three jobs within the publishing industry is a tough task. What's your secret to success?

HAHA! Answer - Determination. I'm very competitive and I want to be a successful writer as much as I want to see the writers I represent on the bestsellers list. I love publishing and I feel so blessed that I'm able to make a career out of something I'm so passionate about.

Rapid Fire Questions:

Mermaids or Griffins - Mermaids
Steampunk or SciFi - Steampunk (this one is hard to answer because I also really love SciFi)
Cinema or DVD - Cinema
eBook, hardback or paperback - eBook
Pink or Blue - Blue

Stacey is giving away an e-copy of the YA paranormal, TOUCH, by Jus Accardo and the YA thriller, HUSHED, by Kelley York. Just comment on the post with what type of stories you’d like to see come out of Entangled, or want Entangled release are you hanging out for. The winner will be drawn at random.  Make sure you leave your name and email adress as well so we can let you know if you've won. Entries close December 8.

The Chemistry of Strange Fiction: Interview with Amanda Rutter

Last week, YA readers rejoiced at the announcement that Angry Robot is starting a sister imprint for lovers of teen fiction called Strange Chemistry. Launching in September 2012, Strange Chemistry will release five titles, and then a new book each month after that.

Taking the helm of this speculative fiction venture is editor and blogger Amanda Rutter. She took some time with me to talk about what readers can expect from Strange Chemistry and where she sees YA heading in the future.

Sharon: Would you tell us a bit about how the new imprint came into being?

Amanda: Well… Over the last two years, Angry Robot has become more and more recognized for producing very high quality SFF novels – and Marc Gascoigne (being the head honcho and all-round Robot Overlord) started to think about how to achieve world domination in this particular market! In actuality, he saw the massive impact that YA fiction has had, and the superb novels that are being published in this arena already, and figured that it would be a brilliant direction for Angry Robot to move into. He had discussions and meetings with various important people, who agreed that YA was a natural progression for the company, and the result is Strange Chemistry.
 

Sharon: What type of book submissions are you hoping to come over your desk?

Amanda: The very best in Science Fiction& Fantasy YA, of course! In all seriousness, I am hoping for novels that showcase strong protagonists (both male and female) and explore the issues and themes that concern teens. I would like to see more science fiction oriented submissions. I think we’ve seen a healthy mix of fantasy, horror, dystopia and romance within YA, but where are all the robots and spaceships? If I could introduce more teens, via YA science fiction novels, to fantastic adult authors such as Peter F Hamilton and Alastair Reynolds, I would be more than happy.

Sharon: Strange Chemistry is currently only open to submissions via an agent. Will Strange Chemistry have an 'Open Door Month' like Angry Robots?

Amanda: I hope so! I am in discussions with Marc and Lee about what form their Open Door Month will take in 2012, and whether the YA will be directly included in that or whether we’ll do it completely separately. After the wonderful success of the AR Open Door Month, it really appeals to me to reach out to all those unagented YA authors who potentially have brilliant novels that we can publish.

Sharon: Do you have any books already in the works for the Strange Chemistry imprint?

Amanda: I’m afraid I can’t reveal too much at this stage, thanks to discussions going on behind the scenes and contracts being negotiated, but I can say that I have read some WONDERFUL manuscripts and I’m so excited about bringing more information about these first few titles to you as soon as I am able! The quality has been amazing so far.
 

Strange Chemistry Editor: Amanda Rutter

Sharon: Tell us a bit about your background and how that helped you land this gig?

Amanda: As the press release for Strange Chemistry mentioned, I have been a blogger for a few years now (on my personal blog Floor to Ceiling Books; on Tor.com as a contributor to the Malazan re-read; and on Fantasy Literature as a guest reviewer). I also took on a freelance editing gig with Morrigan Books, and was one of the organizers of the Genre for Japan appeal. Basically, I took every opportunity to be a part of the brilliant SFF community, since fantasy and science fiction have always been an interest of mine. During that period, I have had contact a number of times with Marc and Lee – for instance, Angry Robot was one of the first publishers to commit auction lots to Genre for Japan. Interestingly, I do believe it was a negative review of an Angry Robot book that first brought me to their attention, which just goes to show that negative reviews can be useful! I think the real clincher in the role being offered to me was the opportunity I took to become a reader for the AR Open Door Month. I spent a great deal of my own time reading through over half of the 994 submitted manuscripts, and I believe this demonstrated my passion and commitment. It doesn’t hurt that I am a massive advocate of YA novels! In the SFF field, I fear that the role of YA novels is still not entirely understood, and so I welcome the chance to make real connections between those who read SFF and those who read YA. It will be fantastic to see younger readers of Strange Chemistry novels move onto adult SFF novels!

Sharon: You're well known in the blogging community, are you going to feature blogging as part of Strange Chemistry?

Amanda: Definitely! I have already published a post to the Strange Chemistry website, detailing how the imprint was named. In the future, I have plans to blog about the process of picking submitted novels and details about the day-to-day job of being an editor. I will also be showcasing interviews and reviews with Strange Chemistry authors through the website. Most of all, I will be looking to connect with YA bloggers and readers, and inviting them to contribute to the Strange Chemistry website. I want it to be fully interactive! 

Sharon: Is there anything else readers and authors need to know about Strange Chemistry?

Amanda: Basically, Strange Chemistry aims to bring the YA market fantastic books through a variety of exciting mediums. We are embracing the eBook revolution, we are recognizing that bloggers have voices that should be heard in the championing of excellent books, and we are intending to introduce more people to the progressiveness of YA fiction.

Sharon: Where do you see the YA publishing industry heading over the next few years?

Amanda: I see it as a time of great excitement and turbulence. The increasing numbers of people who are using eReaders makes this a fascinating period in the publishing industry. In terms of YA specifically, I believe there will be more award recognition for sterling works (after the success of such authors as Patrick Ness); I think even more adult publishers will look to move into the YA market; and I think there will be an ever-increasing adult readership. Personally, I’m hoping for another massive series (like Twilight or The Hunger Games) to make a splash and lead the YA market in a new direction – it would be even better if Strange Chemistry were to publish it!

Sharon: What creatures and themes would you like to see more of in YA writing?

Amanda: I’m more of a themes person than a creature person. Themes can embrace various different settings, situations and characters, and allow great freedom in publishing. We’ve seen a lot of novels carrying themes such as eternal love, survival, and growing into adult roles – I would love to see now themes such as optimism and hope for the future. The world has become such a dangerous and depressing place that I think YA fiction should provide some escapism. Not to the point of ignoring the fact it is happening, but allowing teens to see that there might be a way out.

I would also like to see fairytales embraced as a means of telling a story. Authors such as Charles de Lint and Robert Holdstock have used this to great effect (in fact, Charles de Lint has also written some novels in the YA arena as well), and I would like to see more of this.

Rapid Fire Questions:

Cats or dogs CATS!

Ghosts or Aliens ALIENS!

E-book, hard back or paperback PAPERBACK!

Salad or veggies SALAD!

Unicorns or centaurs CENTAURS!

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