My debut novel, AMERICA’S NEXT REALITY STAR, was published a couple of weeks ago. There’s so much excitement that goes into the days before the release, but there’s also a lot of work involved. The past year has been a bit of a whirlwind for me. After all the time I spent looking for an […]
There are about a billion blog posts out there about querying, which is a difficult and painful process for many people. But there aren’t that many blogs about submission, which sucks about a million times worse. I know what you’re thinking – how could anything be worse than querying? I’ve been there. I remember those […]
Submission is brutal. Having a support group is crucial, whether it’s just a couple of close friends or a group. The process differs for everyone, but it’s nearly always emotional. It can last a very long time. In a group of writers polled about submission, common themes for getting through it included “drink more” and […]
Oh, word count. I can’t even begin to guess how many times you’ve heard me say those words. When we’re overwhelmed with awesome contest entries, or when there are so many we’re overwhelmed before even seeing how awesome many of them are, one of the easiest ways for me to thin the herd is to […]
Last week, I posted the results of a survey I did, asking agented and formerly agented writers to anonymously share their submission experiences. This week, I’m going to share some of the advice respondents gave for people going on submission for the first time. Overall, the advice tended to follow a few major themes: Write […]
Submission is cloaked in secrecy. For those of you who don’t know, this is when agents send your book to editors to try to get a publication contract. It’s kind of like querying – but also very much not. Writers don’t talk about it much, because we’re not supposed to air every good and bad […]
Now that Query Kombat is over (and with New Agent coming up on Wednesday), I want to explain some of things that impacted some of my votes. Hopefully, it’ll be useful for future contests and people thinking about submitting to me in Pitch Wars. Yes, I frequently picked the entry with the voice that spoke […]
To celebrate her amazing debut YA Contemporary novel, SONG OF SUMMER, Laura Lee Anderson is doing a blog tour. She’s graciously agreed to stop by my little blog and share her thoughts about critique partners. Personally, I had trouble finding a good fit. I swapped with a few critique partners before finding someone I really clicked with. Since […]
Now, I’m not gonna lie, getting an agent was the single most exciting thing that happened to me in 2014. It’s an amazing validation of all the hard work it takes to get to that point, and it lets you know that someone else believes in your work. That’s all wonderful. But what getting an […]
A month ago, I posted on The Writer Diaries about how exhausted I am and the need to rest without guilt. I also set several goals for myself for May, all geared at helping myself recharge my batteries. Let’s take a look at how I did: Visit my sister and meet my new baby niece. […]
One of the hardest things about writing a query is trying to infuse some voice into it. But it’s also really important to make sure your query fits the genre you’re telling me your story fit into. Consider the following (made up) query: Ten-year-old Harry hates living with his aunt and uncle: They make him […]
PitchSlam is fast approaching, and one of the things that sets this contest apart is that writers can submit their pitch and first page for feedback before final entries are chosen. Feedback is priceless, and the more the better, but at the end of the day, remember to do what feels right for your manuscript. […]