The Big Reveal

It was Friday, February 10th. I was a little down and out about querying. I had given a certain publishing company a look before, I knew who they were, I knew some of their authors, I knew they were very author friendly, and I knew that they were legit and making a big splash. After even more research, they seemed like exactly the type of team I wanted to be on. So, I thought, "Why not?"

I put together my query for Heather Howland, Senior Editor, and pressed the send button. Normally, when sending a query, I would hem and haw over clicking that button, but for some reason, I barely hesitated this time. Twenty minutes later, she responded with an enthusiastic full request.

One week and a day later, February 18th, I was having a phone conversation with her. She loved my book... Sigh... That feels SO GOOD to say!

Today, I signed the contract!

That's right... I'm an Entangled Teen author!!! My book, THE SUMMER I BECAME A NERD, is slated for Spring 2013!!!

Wow... I still... I can't even... Yeah, I'm still in shock...

Birds in My Brain

So, I've finished THE SUMMER I BECAME A NERD. It's polished. At least, I think it's polished. I've been querying, waiting for someone to bite. And I've gotten a couple of nibbles, which just means I have to wait even more. I'm sure I've said this before, but I'll say it again: I'm a very impatient person. So, maybe I'm learning a lesson in how to keep my mouth shut and just trust that news will come soon, but the waiting is driving me crazy. The general line of advice I've been getting from writer friends is to keep writing, start something new, which is proving to be incredibly tough.

In our front yard, there's a huge pecan tree. It's gorgeous with it's tire swing and phoenix fern covered trunk. So, I was on the porch this morning, watching the tree, watching little birds flit to it then to the ground and then on their way and so on. I look over at my kids' window and there's my cat, Minnie the Skinny, doing the same thing as me: bird watching. It occurred to me then that this is exactly what trying to find the right idea for the next project is like.

The tree is my brain and here comes a little bird. It settles on a branch ever so lightly. Maybe it pecks at the branches, leaving little remnants of the fact that it was there, ideas for scenes or plot points. Then, it moves on. More birds come, more birds leave. Ideas flit in and out, none staying long enough for me to find my binoculars so I can take a longer look. I make note of the ideas like I'm checking off different species in a field guide to birds of North America.

It's only when one of the birds decides that my pecan tree is the perfect place to make its home that I'll be able to start that new WIP. I could write the wren that hopped from branch to branch, never staying still. I could write the crow that cawed so loudly it woke the dogs sleeping in the yard. But I want to fall in love with my story. I want it to build a nest and have babies (Am I really saying I want to have baby birds hatch in my brain? Geez, I'm weird) then nourish those chirpers and teach them how to fly.

Agents and Queries and Links, OH MY!

So, writing a book is tough. This is a universal fact (and if it's not a fact for you, then I hate you. Okay, maybe hate is a bit strong. How about loathe? Yeah, that's better). Getting that book published seems to be even harder. The next step, after you've edited and revised, repeated that ad nauseum, is too find an agent (unless you want to go a different route like self-publishing or directly to publishers which I know nothing about). So, I thought I'd put together some links I've found useful for this process.

The very first step when you find an agent you're interested in is to go to their website to make sure they rep what you write, are accepting submissions, and to make sure of their submission guidelines.

Literary Rambles has been absolutely INVALUABLE for me. The tons of agent spotlights are helpful and concise. The "Helpful Posts" in the right sidebar are just... well... INVALUABLE.

The Absolute Write Forums are a great place to meet writer buddies, get critiques, and find out even more information on prospective agents from people who have real experience with them.

I can't do a query blog post without mentioning QueryTracker. So much info on agents there.

The Query Shark: read every word, you guys, to help with your query writing. Same goes for The Evil Editor who is really good about critiquing every query sent.

Publishers Marketplace is another place to find agent info. Their most recent sales, their submission guidelines, and links to their websites. Some sections are for paying members only, but there's still a lot of info to be had by us poor people.

Oh and check to see if your agent of choice is on Twitter. If he/she is, then stalk, er, follow their tweets. But, for the love of all that is good and holy, do NOT pitch to them on Twitter. Unless they're doing some type of Twitter pitch contest. Maybe there is someone out there that pitched to an agent on a whim on Twitter and it actually worked out for them, but I have yet to hear that story. I've only heard agents say that this does not work.

Google... yes, Google the hell out of the agents you're interested in. Read their blogs, read every interview they've ever done.

And just to keep your spirits high and maybe spur you toward following your dream, check out the How I Got My Agent columns over at Writer's Digest. Some days I read one after another after another just to remind myself that it does happen as long as one works hard enough.

Obviously I'm not an expert at this whole thing because I am neither repped nor published (and even if I were either one of those things, it probably wouldn't make me an expert), but this all comes from spending A LOT of time investigating the process. I hope this helps and if you have any more suggestions on great places to research agents or to help with query writing, comment away!