Agentopia: Sarah Negovetich

Welcome to the September edition of Agentopia! For more information and to see other Agentopia posts, click here.

This month Sarah Negovetich from the Corvisiero Literary Agency is in the spotlight.

Sarah Negovetich knows you don't know how to pronounce her name and she's okay with that.

Her first love is YA, because at seventeen the world is your oyster. Only oysters are slimy and more than a little salty; it's accurate if not exactly motivational. We should come up with a better cliche.

Sarah divides her time between her own writing and working with amazing authors as a Jr. Agent and PR Team Leader at Corvisiero Literary Agency. Her background is in marketing, which is not as glamorous as it sounds. FYI, your high school algebra teacher was right when they told you every job uses math. Sarah uses her experience to help authors craft amazing stories, build platforms, and promote their work.

You can find her hanging around the web at:

Tumblr    Twitter    Facebook    Blog    G+

Wish list & Guidelines:

I am only accepting MG and YA fiction manuscripts. I am not considering chapter books, NA, or adult.

I'm open to any genre within those age groups, but prefer speculative fiction. Please note that speculative fiction is not a genre. You need to specify your manuscript's genre in your query.

Contemporary is not my favorite, but I will look at it. I am not interested in seeing poetry, novels in verse, short stories/novellas or anything focused on saving the environment (I'm all for recycling, but don't want to represent it).

To query me, send your query letter, 1-2 page synopsis and the first 5 pages pasted into the body of an email to Query@CorvisieroAgency.com. Please use "Query for Sarah" as your subject line.

I will respond to all queries. If I have not responded and you queried me prior to the dates listed on my blog, feel free to send a follow-up email. Otherwise, please wait to follow-up unless you receive an offer of representation from another agent.

For additional information, please see the submission guidelines at Corvisiero Literary Agency.

Sarah also kindly answered a few questions for our readers...

1. What are you looking for in YA submissions right now?

Right now I am really enjoying Science Fiction novels, especially ones that aren't space related (though those are great as well). I love all the creative ways writers are exploring how technology is growing and changing the world we live in. That said, I really just love YA, all of it. Right now, I'm getting a lot of feedback from editors that they are filled up on PNR and Dystopian, but that doesn't mean one of those would be an automatic rejection. Just keep in mind that the story has to be really unique if it falls in one of those genres.

2. What's an immediate turn-off in a query, something guaranteed to get the author rejected?

I'm not sure I have any auto-rejection buttons. That said, a big turn-off for me is the query that tells me about your themes and lessons instead of what your story is really about. I think this is a big issue in YA because some authors feel the need to include some sort of moral to the story when they are writing for teens. While it's always nice if your story shares a good message, that isn't what YA fiction is about. It's about a great story with characters we can relate to. So make sure your query tells me what your story is about, the plot, not the themes.

3. What's the story got to have to make you want to represent it?

A big deal for me is stakes. This is an issue in a lot of manuscripts I see. There can be a big conflict, but I need to know why your character has to be involved. Ask yourself: if your main character simply walked away from the conflict what is the worst that could happen? Ideally, these stakes should impact your character personally and impact the world (not necessarily the whole world, but your character's world). Hand in hand with that is a character I care about. You can have high stakes, but if I don't care that this bad thing will happen to your character then I'm not going to enjoy the book. It's a tall order, but you need to show me that I should care about your character and want to protect them from something really horrible.

The Hard Truth About Writing Contests

This past week has been all about writing contests for me*, so naturally when I sat down to write today’s post, it was the topic at the forefront of my mind.

But so much has been written about the value of entering contests, about the disappointment of not winning contests but the need to soldier on, about the difficulties of being on the other side of contests as a judge or mentor, I wasn’t sure what I could say that would be different or useful.

And so the only thing I can do is share my experience. I hope somewhere in here there’s a nugget or two you haven’t heard before, something that explains the value of entering contests, helps you deal with the disappointment of not winning, and gives you a glimpse of what it’s like on the other side.

It’s Not Whether You Win or Lose, It’s How You Play the Game . . . and other “Mom-isms” that Turn Out to Be True

In late 2012, I finally admitted to something I’d been doing in private for three years: writing. Other than my husband and one or two close friends, no one knew I’d been working on a manuscript for give-or-take two years. The thing I was slowly discovering I loved was far too fragile to put out there. What if I told people I was writing and nothing ever happened? That was my greatest fear (in many ways, it still is…but that’s another post for another day).

But in keeping my writing to myself, I was hampering my ability to do what I loved—what I couldn’t even dare to hope in the far reaches of my mind might possibly, one day, maybe become a career. Because without showing our writing to other people, without getting feedback and critiques, we are working in a vacuum, with no ability to learn, grow, or improve our craft.

If it weren’t for one login and password, I’m not sure I would have ever left my safe, but unproductive writing cave. That login and password were to Twitter. The writing world on Twitter opened its arms to me (special shout-out to Dee Romito (@writeforapples), Jen Malone (@jenmalonewrites), Summer Heacock (@Fizzyfrrl), and Brenda Drake (@brendadrake) for being some of the first writers to make me feel comfortable doing this thing called “tweeting”).

Somehow, in this semi-anonymous, semi-public world of people I had never met and would only recognize on the street if their heads were surrounded by tiny square boxes, I found the courage to say I was writing (I was still not ready to call myself “a writer”). This was the fall of 2012 and as this season tends to be, it was CONTEST TIME on Twitter.

Though I kept it hush hush with my friends and family, online, I entered contest after contest with my first manuscript and also with my second, the one I worked furiously hard to finish in time for Pitch Wars 2012.

The end result? I won some and I lost some.

How did this make me feel? It gave me the courage—and the desire—to call myself a writer. Let me explain:

For me—someone afraid to admit I was writing—the first time I advanced a level in a contest, I felt ecstatic but also a tremendous amount of relief. Not just to have advanced but to have gotten the tiniest of nods that “yes, maybe I can do this.” Did I lose contests after that? Including Pitch Wars. Yes and yes.

But I’d gotten the contest bug. I was determined to keep trying, to see what worked for others, to absorb every tidbit of feedback I was given, to do anything and everything to get more feedback. Because feedback was making me better. It was making me annoyed, frustrated, and the teensiest bit competitive, sure, but better too. Feedback was helping to teach me what I was doing great and what I could do better.

I sought feedback in every way, but three things ultimately made the most difference in my writing.

The first was getting critiques from published authors and from agents. How does one do this? It’s not easy. But Twitter helps. At times authors and agents (especially as auctions in support of great charities) give away critiques. These do cost money (but the money is going to help those in need, don’t forget). But in my case, I can honestly say that I would have never sold Becoming Jinn without these critiques I bid on and won. Feedback from those critiques run a straight line to elements I changed that led to my agent and book deal. Cost? Priceless.

The second was diving into an intense three-week First Five Pages Workshop online (that still runs; check it out: http://firstfivepagesworkshop.blogspot.com). This workshop gave me something I couldn’t get elsewhere: feedback on what I’d changed. Because it’s one thing for someone to point out what isn’t working but how am I to know if my changes are on the right track? By having fellow writers, published and not, look at each revision and give constructive criticism, I started to learn to trust myself. Even more priceless.

The third was, again, contests. But now I’m not talking about the feedback from contests. I’m talking about the people. Okay, so you’ve heard this before. But it is so true that I can’t not repeat it. Making connections with other writers is the most important part of this industry: for feedback in terms of critique partners, for gaining confidence to put your work “out there,” results be damned, for having people who understand what you are going through, who know how high your highs are and how low your lows are, and who will hold your hand through it all. It is through contests and Twitter that I found my writing friends who are now simply friends. (Shout-out to N.K. Traver (@nktraver), Chelsea Bobluski (@chelseabobluski), Nikki Kelly (@styclar), and the entire Freshman Fifteen clan (@freshman15s).

Contests are hard to enter. They are hard to judge (there’s so much talent, I find myself wanting to work with every single entrant and wishing I had the time to do so; picking one hurts me, maybe not as much as you, but it does, believe me).

There’s much to be learned on both sides. And that’s the other part of this: if you don’t take the feedback, if you don’t work hard to improve your writing, then you can enter all the contests you want, but your writing may not get you where you want to go.

Are all judges “right”? Absolutely not! But more often than not you will find a little something to take away: even if it’s reading the entries of the winning writers and comparing their work to your own.

So that’s it. Contests aren’t for everyone, but if they appeal to you, enter and grab onto all the feedback you can get!

* The contests I was a part of this week include the Freshman Fifteens-Wattpad Teen Short Story Mentoring Contest, which I organized. The pitches were amazing and the talent in this group of young writers runs deep. I’d love to invite you to read their pitches and return in January 2015 to read their finished short stories. Give them the feedback they deserve for putting themselves out there at such young ages. (http://www.wattpad.com/list/126467760-winning-common-room-pitches; http://freshmanfifteens.com/huge-announcement-winners-of-our-wattpad-teen-mentoring-contest/)

The second was, you guessed it, Pitch Wars. And if you would have told me in 2012 that the contest I just lost would have me as a mentor two years in a row, I’d have chuckled in your little square-headed Twitter box face. We never know what the future holds. Be open to everything and enjoy the ride.

Lori Goldstein is the author of Becoming Jinn (now available for preorder; Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan, May 12, 2015, sequel, Spring 2016). With a degree in journalism and more than 10 years of experience, Lori is a freelance copyeditor and manuscript consultant for all genres. She focuses on the nitty-gritty, letting writers focus on the writing.

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Writing and Motherhood

Today I'd like to welcome Emily Ungar, author of the delightful MG contemporary novel LIBERTY BELLE, to YAtopia, talking all about how she balances writing life with motherhood.

Writing and Motherhood: Before and After

by Emily Ungar

Writing is a little different now that I’m a mom to twin toddler boys. What was once a random two hours on a Saturday afternoon, for example, is now naptime to two very busy little guys. But no--not naptime for me. That time is for writing, and it is sacred.

Here’s a few ways my writing life has changed since becoming a mom:

How I handle writers’ block:

Before parenthood: surf People.com for scandals and shocking engagements

After parenthood: surf People.com for C-list celebrity pregnancy stories

How I Write:

Before: lounge on worn leather couch at Mo’Joe Coffeehouse in downtown Indianapolis. Bring husband. Unlimited coffee refills. Lots of procrastination and laughter. Clock disregarded. Word count for the day: 754

After: hastily shove sticky milk cups back in fridge. Ignore bills. Butt in chair until first cry is heard from the nursery. Freeze; could it be a fluke? Second cry heard. Writing time over. Word count: 947 (who said I couldn’t be productive in a 40-minute sprint?)

Clothing in Which I Write:

Before: jeans. ironed shirt (eye roll). Mascara. Coffee stain somewhere on fabric.

After: yoga pants. Breastpump hands-free bra. Coffee stain on aforementioned hands-free bra.

Favorite Writing Haunts:

Before: the lobby of the Sheraton Hotel, on my lunch hour. It was all very chic.

After: pecking at iPhone in bedroom after husband falls asleep. One novel later, a referral for a specialist for hand pain.

Best sounding board for story ideas:

Before: my husband, with undivided attention

After: a stuffed octopus named Ollie

Cages for plot bunnies:

Before: floral bound notebooks

After: torn scraps of Buy Buy Baby receipts

So, yeah--things are a little different. Would I change anything about my new writing lifestyle? Not a darn thing. Since becoming a mother, I often feel these incredible waves of creativity. I’m usually too tired to do anything about them, but still--they’re there. Surely having a hand in creating two new people lends itself to creating more fiction as well? Every hour of writing that I took for granted before is now recognized as a blessing. It’s obvious now if I want to write even when I’m dirty and hungry and the house is a mess and I just want to curl up at my kitchen table to nibble on animal crackers and read junk mail…I must really LOVE writing with a capital L. Being a mother is an amazing gift, and I’m grateful for having a passion such as writing that lets me feel the joy of creation every single day.

On the same day she turns twelve years old, Savannah moves away from everything she’s known in sweet, sunny Georgia to preppy Washington D.C. Not only will she miss her best friends Katie and Tessa, Savannah will start a new school. She soon discovers that her schoolmates love to brag—about their clothes, their parents’ governmental connections, and even who has the in with the school authorities.

Unhappy and lonely, Savannah decides if she can’t make life better, she can at least make it sound that way. Soon she is living in the childhood home of George Washington, riding in the limo of the vice president’s daughter, and even moving into the former Luxembourg embassy.

All is well until she learns that her true friends from Georgia are coming for a visit. Now Savannah must create the life she’s been talking about in her letters—and fast! Will Savannah find herself or lose her friends?

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About the Author

Emily Ungar is a graduate of Indiana University, where she majored in journalism. After living in seven different U.S. states by the time she finished college, she now lives in Indianapolis, Indiana, with her husband and very curious twin toddlers. When she isn’t chasing after her twin boys, Emily loves to curl up in a chaise lounge with a book in one hand and a lemon cupcake in the other. Emily loves connecting with her readers, so she welcomes you to say hi on her blog at emilyungar.com.

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Imaginary Friends

I was looking at my blog stats and noted a post I'd originally posted TWO YEARS ago still gets the most hits! One of my regular features when I first started blogging was "Mental Health Mondays." In it, I'd answer writers' questions about different psychiatric illnesses to help them craft authentic characters. Sometimes, I'd highlight a diagnosis. Below, you'll see my post on Imaginary Friends. Click HERE to see the original post and check out the comments.

I often hear writers liken their characters to imaginary friends. Heck I do it too.
What’s interesting to me is that imaginary friends during childhood are quite normal. It’s a phase of development where the child is learning creativity and how to integrate their personality.
But what about imaginary friends in adults?
I’m not talking about our characters. I’m talking about adults who actually have imaginary friends. There’s not a lot of research on this (can you imagine getting a sample of people who’d be willing to share such information?), but the studies that are out there seem to link imaginary friends with dissociative identity disorder (aka multiple personality disorder). This disorder occurs when a child faces severe neglect and abuse (sexual or physical) and the only defense they have is to “fragment” their personality. Doing this compartmentalizes the trauma away as a means to protect the self.
As adults, people with DID note missing periods of time, the feeling that other people are inside them and these other people can take control, and they can hear voices (generally inside their head).
Another theory of imaginary friends in adults comes from attachment theory. Some kids (maybe single children or neglected children, for example) don’t get enough emotional nourishment and develop imaginary friends as a support system.

What do you think about imaginary friends? 

* * * * 

Laura Diamond is a board certified psychiatrist and author of all things young adult paranormal, dystopian, and horror. She’s a lucid dreamer, meaning she can direct her dreams while they’re happening. When she’s awake, she pens stories from her dreams and shares them with her readers. Laura has many published titles including the Pride Series (New Pride, Shifting Pride, and Tsavo Pride), the Endure Series (Endure and Evoke), The Zodiac Collector, a novella Sunset Moon in the Lore anthology, and several shorts stories. When she’s not writing, she is working at the hospital, blogging at Author Laura Diamond--Lucid Dreamer, and renovating her 225+ year old fixer-upper mansion.

If you’re interested in reading more about me, or interacting with me on the web check out the following links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DiamondLB

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLauraDiamond

Author Laura Diamond: www.authorlauradiamond.com

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5815639.Laura_Diamond

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Laura-Diamond/e/B009Y7L432/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1377733776&sr=8-1

Blog: http://lbdiamond.wordpress.com/

Author Interview: Christina Farley

I (Sarah) am a featured blogger for Coastal Magic Convention, so today I'm featuring one of the CMC authors for an interview spotlight! If you're interested in paranormal bookish con in Florida in February, make sure to read more about the Con at the bottom of this post!

Also, stay tuned to the end of this post for a super cool giveaway!

Christina Farley is the author of the Gilded series and was born and raised in upstate New York. As a child, she loved to explore, which later inspired her to jump on a plane and travel the world. She taught at international schools in Asia for ten years, eight of which were in the mysterious and beautiful city of Seoul, Korea that became the setting of Gilded and Silvern. Currently she lives in Clermont, FL with her husband and two sons—that is until the travel itch whisks her off to a new unknown. For more details, check out her website at www.christinafarley.com. Christina holds a master’s degree in education and has taught for eighteen years. She is represented by Jeff Ourvan of Jennifer Lyons Literary.


Sarah: What is your favorite thing about going to events like Coastal Magic Convention?

CF: I love attending events like Coastal Magic because they're my chance to connect with my readers. I also have a blast meeting other authors and hearing out their books and worlds that they have created. Coastal Magic is a smaller convention so it has a great friendly atmosphere for attendees to learn and connect with the books that they love.

Sarah: Do you have any weird writing habits?

CF: Other than eating lots of chocolate and coffee? Not really. But last year I was working two jobs plus writing so I had to write whenever I had a free moment. I was always writing in the car either during my kids’ soccer practice or on our way to an event or vacation. I also have been known to write in my closet when I am in need a quiet place to write.

Sarah: Which one of your characters has the most of you in him/her?

CF: I would say I’m most like my main character Jae Hwa Lee. She’s got a lot of spunk and has a strong personality. But there are also aspects about her that I wish I had. Like to speak out about what I think as she does. To not be afraid to take risks, even if they are the wrong choice. And of course, I definitely wish I was as good in tae kwon do as she is.

Sarah: If you could only give aspiring writers one piece of advice, what would it be?

CF: I believe that in some capacity we are all writers with a story to tell and characters to share with others. The crux of being a successful writer is to never lose sight of the love for the story.

For me, it’s so rewarding to put the story from my imagination onto paper and then sharing it with others. I recommend for those writers who wish to get published is to learn the craft, read as much as possible, and listen to advice you are given from those established in the field.

But the most important advice would be to write because you love it.

Sarah: What's next for you? What are you working on now?

CF: I have a couple of projects underway, but nothing set in stone. Book #3 of the Gilded Series is now with my agent as well as another proposal. And I’ve started writing another YA series that fans of the Gilded series would enjoy. So lots of exciting possibilities along with crossing fingers and toes!


About Gilded

A Korean god. An ancient curse. Can she escape becoming GILDED?

A girl with a black belt and a deadly proclivity with steel-tipped arrows discovers an ancient Korean god has been kidnapping the first-born daughters of her family for generations. And she’s next.

Sixteen-year-old Jae Hwa Lee is a Korean-American girl with a black belt, a deadly proclivity with steel-tipped arrows, and a chip on her shoulder the size of Korea itself. When her widowed dad uproots her to Seoul from her home in L.A., Jae thinks her biggest challenges will be fitting in to a new school and dealing with her dismissive Korean grandfather. Then she discovers that a Korean demi-god has been stealing the soul of the oldest daughter of each generation in her family for centuries. And she's next.

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Check out the sequel, Silvern, due out September 23: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | BAM | Indiebound | Book Depository


About Coastal Magic Convention

 
Coastal Magic is a super casual, urban fantasy and paranormal romance focused convention in Daytona Beach, FL. With panels designed to start interesting discussion, and meet & greets with fun themes, we’ve got something for every fan. Join us for reader, blogger, and author shenanigans, and lots of “supernatural” inspired activities. Saturday’s charity book sale and signing is open to convention attendees, and FREE to the public. Come take a bite out of the beach with us!! Feb 5-8, 2015

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Editopia: Katie Teller with Curiosity Quills

Today we're pleased to welcome Curiosity Quills editor Katie Teller to Editopia. Here's a little more about her and read on to see how you can submit to her:

Born and raised in Australia, Katie’s early years of day dreaming in the “bush”, and having her father tell her wild bedtime stories, inspired her passion for writing. After graduating High School, she became a foreign exchange student where she met a young man who several years later she married. Now she lives in Arizona with her husband, daughter and their dog. She has a diploma in travel and tourism which helps inspire her writing. She is currently at school studying English and Creative Writing. Katie loves to out sing her friends and family, play sports and be a good wife and mother. She loves to write, and takes the few spare moments in her day to work on her novels.

Find Katie Online:

Website  | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads 

Hi Katie and welcome. First off: how did you get your start in the industry? Did you always want to be in publishing?

It kind of just happened. I'd signed with Curiosity Quills as an author, when they asked if anyone knew of people interested in becoming an acquisitions editor. So, I said I'd be interested, and after some supervised reading and reviewing, I slipped into my position. I've been doing it for about a year now and just love it.

That's great! Most authors are surprised to find out that editors’ days aren’t spent kicking back at their desks with mugs of tea and piles of manuscripts and that, in fact, most work reading happens outside of work. Describe what your “typical” day actually is.

I don't have a typical day. Each is different. But there's preschool, house work, the gym, author things like promotion and writing, and my biggest time consumer is my kid. I don't keep a tight schedule, but I do try to keep things within certain time frames. I do my reading during the kid's "quiet time" and once she's in bed.

I would guess a lot of our readers are familiar with that particular balancing act. What does your to-read pile look like? How many manuscripts are in your inbox at any one time?

I have a full and two partials in my inbox, and a decent size slush pile I'm determined to help shrink! I also have books by other writer friends I like to squeeze in wherever possible too. So my to-read pile is never ending.

What trends are you seeing in kidlit these days? Are there any subjects or genres you don’t want to see in your inbox? Any you want to see more of?

I see a lot of zombies, transferring to other dimensions, or straight contemporary girl meets boy, boy helps with *insert issue here*. I'm not a fan of zombies, vampires, or angels, and especially things that slam god. That's one way for me to slam you book shut. What I really want to see though, is a story for the sake of telling a story. No agendas, no soap boxes, just a raw story where I can get lost within the pages. Old school story telling. I feel like all the stories I've contracted have a firm grasp on that. Give me Narnia, Jane Austin, anything that will take me away from the real world and immerse me in the joy of escapism.

You address this above but I'll ask anyway. What are some things that would make a manuscript stand out to you?

Clean, crisp writing, a character who is smart and has a real heart. Someone I can look at and say, yeah, if I met you in real life, I'd enjoy hanging out with you. Again, a story that's a story I can get lost in and forget about day-to-day life.

Can you describe what the acquisition process is like at your house? What happens next once you’ve found a book you love?

So yes. There's the slush pile, which gets divided between our team, then we do our thing. Once I find one I love, I write out a proposal to our "higher ups" saying why the manuscript would fit well in our catalogue. Then, they give me a yes or no, because they can see all the manuscripts coming up and can see the grand scheme of things. Anyway, once I get the approval, I send through a contract to the author. The author then goes through the contract, and can say yes or no. If they say yes, they send through the signed copy, I arrange counter signature, then send it through to production to get it in the pipeline. Although I've handed them over, I love keeping tabs and helping out the authors wherever I can.

Without implicating anyone, can you tell us one of or some of the weirder submissions you’ve received?

Ahh… let me think. Usually I forget subs right away if they don't take my fancy. I've had some stuff that I read and think, Why would anyone write that, ever? But usually, I see people who aren't quite ready for publication yet.  Telling, information dumps, poor dialogue, all things that come in time with study and practice. That's what rejections are for, to help us get better. At least they should be. I usually try to give a reason why I've rejected.

As an author, that feedback from editors is sooo appreciated, even when it's not "hey I need your book on my list ASAP"! Okay, were reaching the end, where you get the chance to plug a few books on your list you’re excited about…

Well… Destruction by Sharon Bayliss is the first of a great series you won't want to miss, then The Undead by Elsie Elmore is coming out soon which is a fun and slightly gory read. I have two more in the pipeline as well, but they're a long way off so I'll leave them for now. But they will be GREAT!

Curiosity Quills will soon be closing to unsolicited submissions, but if you act fast, you can still submit to Katie following these guidelines:

Fill out the online submission form here: http://curiosityquills.com/submission-guidelines/ 

Include Attn: Katie/YAtopia interview.