The Writer Librarian

365 Days of the Query: Issues and Solutions

2012-01-30T15:22:00.000-08:00

So a few more queries have been sent out. Per the advice of a critiquing buddy, I'm not going to post specific stats, as I originally intended. For those who want them, feel free to email me off list (cloudhime (at) gmail (dot) com).

Here are some issues that have come to my attention in the past few weeks, and possible solutions to them:

Issue 1: The sound of silence
I haven't been querying that long, but can already see how easy it is to get mired in the hollow silence that results after you send your query into the back and beyond of cyberspace. From what I've read from agent blogs, they receive hundreds of submissions a day, and thousands a month. So don't sweat it. If your novel is ready, keep querying. Start writing or revising the next book you plan on submitting. As we all learned from Meet the Robinsons, "Keep moving forward."
Solution: Work on other things, and remember to have fun and enjoy what you do.

Issue 2: Bonehead mistakes that make you feel like an ass hat
One of the last queries I sent was like forgetting your sweater when you go out. So you go back inside, put on the sweater, and walk outside and realize you forgot your sunglasses. And you go back in and out, and realize you forgot your wallet. Moral of the story: double and triple check the agent's specs before you hit the send button. Did you include the 1-2 page synopsis they wanted? The hyperlink to the article you wrote? You don't want something missing when it's too late to fix it. While it's okay to send corrections on minor things (see Janice Hardy's post here (scroll down to Don't Sweat the Small Stuff)), sometimes you have to let go and say, "At least I learned this sooner rather than later."
Solution: Mistakes are inevitable. Learn from them, and try not to dwell on them.

Issue 3: Terminology and formatting confusion
One agent is looking for a short synopsis within a query, another is requesting a 1-2 page synopsis in addition to the query. Another wants a pitch. So how to tell a synopsis from a pitch, and a short synopsis from a long one?

A pitch is a few short lines that summarize the crux of the novel, and is meant to grab the attention of your reader (or potential agent or editor)
A short synopsis is the who, what, where, when and why that's supposed to go in the query. 1-2 paragraphs, 150 words maximum.
A regular synopsis is written in third-person present tense, and is the sum of all important parts of your novel (including twists, turns, and plot reveals). This is probably one of the hardest things to write--a recent quote I saw said, "Writing a novel: like pouring champagne. Writing a blog: like pouring syrup. Writing a synopsis: like wading in liquid concrete."

Another common emailing pitfall is formatting mistakes, like this one. Be sure to copy/paste your content into Notepad before pasting it into an email, or your work may run the risk of being less than readable. (Mac users: Do you run into same sorts of formatting issues? Please feel free to comment.)
Solution: Do your research, and use computer tools to your advantage. If you make mistakes, see the solution to Issue 2.

Issue 4: Not thinking everything through
Sometimes I get caught up in the excitement of it all, which sometimes breeds mistakes if I don't stop and say, "Wait a minute." I'm sure I'll tame this with time, but it's always good to act as professional as possible, both within the query and during in-person networking experiences. If you think things through, you'll be doing both yourself, and everyone else a favor.
Solution: Be as professional as possible, and respect the time of your fellow writers (and agents, and editors)

Issue 5: Overworrying
That being said, it's also very likely I'm not giving myself enough credit, and that I'm able to deliberate just fine. Don't let the sound of silence from Issue 1 compound the insecurities you have. Believe in yourself.
Solution: Stop what-iffing, and get back to writing (and querying).

Above all, make sure you have a good support group of people to lean on when things get rough. When my husband and I attended a comedy show this past weekend, he texted "Karen is a great writer" to the advertising board. While this may or may not be true, it certainly made my day.

Addendum: Readers, make sure you see Anjelica Jackson's comment--a great example of a good pitch. Feel free to comment and leave your own examples.

FRESHMAN YEAR & OTHER UNNATURAL DISASTERS by Meredith Zeitlin

2012-01-25T10:39:00.000-08:00

This week I'm happy to feature Meredith Zeitlin's upcoming book, FRESHMAN YEAR & OTHER UNNATURAL DISASTERS, slated to come out in mid-February. After the book releases, I'll have a contest, giveaway, etc here on the blog...more details to be revealed then.

Synopsis, from Goodreads: Kelsey Finkelstein is fourteen and FRUSTRATED. Every time she tries to live up to her awesome potential, her plans are foiled – by her impossible parents, her annoying little sister, and life in general. But with her first day of high school coming up, Kelsey is positive that things are going to change. Enlisting the help of her three best friends — sweet and quiet Em, theatrical Cass, and wild JoJo — Kelsey gets ready to rebrand herself and make the kind of mark she knows is her destiny.

Things start out great - her arch-nemesis has moved across the country, giving Kelsey the perfect opportunity to stand out on the soccer team and finally catch the eye of her long-time crush. But soon enough, an evil junior’s thirst for revenge, a mysterious photographer, and a series of other catastrophes make it clear that just because KELSEY has a plan for greatness… it doesn’t mean the rest of the world is in on it.

Kelsey’s hilarious commentary throughout her disastrous freshman year will have you laughing out loud—while being thankful that you’re not in her shoes, of course…

Below is my interview with Meredith:

I see from your author bio that you are also a voiceover artist. As an aspiring writer with a full-time job, I'd be interested to know more about how to balance two different careers. What are some lessons you've learned in this process?

Yep - I've been doing v/o for almost ten years now (yikes!). If you're interested, you can find out more about that here: http://www.mzspeaks.com/. Here's the whole truth, though: my “full-time” v/o job isn't really very full-time. There are days I'm in the city running around to four or five appointments, but that's not necessarily typical; there are just as many days that I have nothing to do at all and stay in my PJs all day. So, I'm incredibly lucky to I have a ton of time to spend writing. I'm unlucky because I'm the world's worst procrastinator – in fact, it's actually on my busiest days that I tend to get the most writing done, because I can't keep putting it off for the nebulous block of time known as “later.” I have friends who are professional writers and keep very strict schedules - I honestly have no idea how they can be so disciplined, but I am totally in awe of them.

I'm glad you've found a way to do both! More writers are blogging about managing time/avoiding burnout, and the balancing act can be challenging for all of us...

I found it interesting that you named your website domain after your protagonist. How did you come to that decision, and what would you recommend to aspiring writers to promote their online platform?

Ah, good question! Well, I actually bought the site domain a long time ago, when the book was called "The World vs. Kelsey Finkelstein." Then after we changed the title, I had a few choices: leave it as it was, change it to an insanely long name (the new title), change it to an acronym that wasn't a real word and I was afraid no one would remember, or use my own difficult-to-spell-and-pronounce name. I ultimately decided that people would be most likely to remember how to spell Kelsey Finkelstein and left it at that.

As to promotion, the biggest thing I've learned is that it really is up to the author to self-promote. I made my own website, my own trailer... the publisher does a few things, but on a much smaller scale (which makes no sense, I know, but that's the way it is). Anyway, I'd recommend getting on Twitter and build a following if you can, approaching people you know who are social-network savvy, begging your Facebook friends to repost your updates about the book... I'm really still figuring it out as I go along!

Promotion is definitely a must! Thanks for the tips, and I hope those promotional avenues bring returns on your efforts!

I can tell from the premise of FRESHMAN YEAR AND OTHER UNNATURAL DISASTERS that you are able to effectively insert humor in your writing. What advice do you have for writers who want to incorporate humorous elements into their stories? How important do you think a sense of humor is for an author?

Hm. Well, trying to be funny - or to write funny - is never a good idea. If it comes naturally, it will read naturally, and that's when it works, I think. You never want the reader to feel like what they're reading took WORK, if that makes sense - and that goes for comic and serious pieces. Just like, when you're listening to a song, you don't want to be aware of the singer's struggle to hit the high notes - it should sound easy so the listener can relax and enjoy the performance, instead of worrying if she'll crack at the top.

I think every author definitely needs a sense of humor, though - not necessarily so they can write funny material, but so they don't take things too seriously. My personal journey with this book was loooooong and often extremely frustrating. If I hadn't been able to laugh about it (and I wasn't always able to!), I think I'd have gone nuts.

I absolutely agree. A sense of humor can make most anything more bearable. How did you come to the decision to pursue writing as a career? What do you love most about it?

I actually come from a family of writers, and it's something I've always done. I entered poetry competitions as a kid, wrote for the high school paper, and later became its EIC. I was in a 12-person screenwriting program in college. I wrote essays, articles and reviews for various publications and websites after I graduated, and was usually working on something creative of my own as well. "Freshman Year..." was the first big project I completed and decided to move forward with, tho - I really wanted to get the book out there. And without question, what I'm loving most is finding out how teens and tweens are reacting to it. Because as much as I love hearing what my friends and colleagues think (and their opinions are extremely important to me), I really wrote the book for the awkward 14 year olds out there.

So true--I think there's an awkward 14-year-old in all of us! What are some other projects you're working on?

Well, I wrote a children's book that my agent is pitching now. And I wrote a horror script - VERY different from the book! - with a friend that we're hoping to find a home for. I also have a new YA novel brewing that isn't a sequel to "Freshman Year..." but takes place in the same world. So look out! You might see some of the characters again...

I look forward to it! The tone in Meredith's book is refreshing, and she does a great job of capturing a unique character voice. Keep on the lookout for this book when it comes out in February!

The Versatile Blogger Award

2012-01-23T21:08:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Julia for nominating me for the Versatile Blogger Award! You can find Julia's blog by clicking on her name. A few weeks back, I was also nominated for a Kreativ Blogger award, thanks to Tarah Dunn. For those looking to buck up their manuscripts, Julia is a free-lance editor. You can follow her on Twitter at @julializzbeth.

So here's how it works:

1. In a post on your blog, nominate 15 fellow bloggers for The Versatile Blogger Award.

2. In the same post, Add the Versatile Blogger Award.
3. In the same post, thank the blogger who nominated you in a post with a link back to their blog.
4. In the same post, share 7 completely random pieces of information about yourself.
5. In the same post, include this set of rules.
6. Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each of their blogs.

7 Random Pieces of Information (per the Versatile Blogger rules)

1. I didn't see snow fall until I was fifteen years old. We flew to Wyoming when I was eight to see it snow there, but while we were gone it snowed in my hometown and stuck.

2. My grandfather (on my father's side) was born in 1897. I am the product of a second marriage--my dad is 76 and my oldest brother is fifty-something. (I'm the youngest, at 31). My oldest brother taught me how to tie my shoes.

3. In the sixth grade, I collided with a parked Ford pick-up on my bike. And yes, that did make it into my novel (except my protagonist has braces--much more gruesome).

4. Like Julia (listed above), I roll my own sushi (with a Japanese rice cooker and my husband's help).

5. I have one cat, Amazon, who was a stray, abandoned when her owners moved. She is a Maine Coon, has lots of fur and hates other cats (which is why we don't have more). A version of her also made it into my novel.

6. One of my best friends encouraged me to get first my novel on paper. Ironically, her last name is Page (and she's a great writer).

7. Some of my favorite sayings come from my grandfather (on my mother's side), who used to travel around the country giving speeches on how to sell better. I may build blog posts based on them, as a lot of them pertain to writing (and marketing yourself). Here are two of my favorites:

"There are two ways to climb an oak tree--one is to climb the tree, and the other is to sit on an acorn and wait."

"When you stop getting better, you stop being good."

And the 15 Bloggers I'm nominating (in no particular order)...

Eliza Loves Sci Fi
An aspiring writer from Ireland, Eliza blogs about writing, science, technology, and other fun stuff.

Tarah Dunn
Mentioned above. A great testimony to the journey toward publication, with a whimsical twist.

Juliana Haygert
Another aspiring writer who really knows her stuff. And the cover art on her projects are fantastic.

Young Adult Books-What We're Reading Now
This blog, written by Pamela Thompson, was nominated for a Best Blog 2012 award for the Texas Association of School Librarians. Great recommendations for YA reads (a reference to her blog was originally in my School Library Journal article, but was very unfortunately cut due to space constraints). Be sure to check it out!

Literary Rambles
This blog has 2000 followers, and is great for researching agents. Get this one in your blogroll if you haven't already.

Ryan Writes
Author of LUMINANCE HOUR, set to come out in 2013. Right now she's posting about her editing/revision process.

The Ruby Slippered Sisterhood
A blog run by a group of Golden Heart Winners from RWA (Romance Writers of America). One of the members, Anne Becker, heads up NARWA (Northern Arizona Romance Writers of America) and just published ONLY FEAR, a great book of romantic suspense.

Sarah Duncan
Useful blog by a published author with great info. Check out this post on how to format picture books before submission.

TerribleMinds
Written by the great Chuck Wendig. Offers great writing advice, like this. Chuck also wrote a book, 500 WAYS TO BE A BETTER WRITER.

distraction no. 99
Blog of Nova Ren Suma, author of IMAGINARY GIRLS. Lots of great guest posts from other authors also.

Angela Scott-Whimsy & Writing
Great blog from an aspiring writer. She talks about balancing writing and family life, among other things.

Elle Strauss
Her novel CLOCKWISE is available on Amazon. Great for info about indie publishing.

Anna Staniszewski
Her novel, MY VERY UNFAIRYTALE LIFE was just published. Also a great example of good blog design.

Hyperbole and a Half
Great for laughs, especially this post.

KelseyFinklestein.com
A blog written by Meredith Zeitlin, named after the protagonist of her new book, FRESHMAN YEAR AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS which comes out very soon! I'll be featuring an interview with her later this week!

Thanks to all the nominees! I've learned a great deal from you all.

Useful Books for Writing Crime Fiction

2012-01-19T19:06:00.000-08:00

Last November, I reviewed two books about writing crime fiction. While I was reading them, I discovered the information within them could be useful to both writers of crime fiction and aspiring writers in general. Excerpts from my reviews are below (the full reviews can be read in the December 2011 issue of Library Journal):

Budewitz, an attorney-at-law who has been published in mystery magazines, wrote this book to help crime writers wade through the time-consuming and often confusing process of legal research. The book covers 160 topics, including proper legal terminology, realistic courtroom behavior and dialog, proper procedure (both at the state and at the federal level), and the legal system as a whole. The frequently asked questions featured in each chapter are also arranged by topic within the table of contents, enabling readers to pick and choose the legal aspects most relevant to their writing.

Topics include how to plot thrillers, create realistic detectives and villains, and write suspenseful crime scenes. The chapters are divided by subject; each is written by a published mystery and/or crime author (some concepts, such as "setting as character," are presented by multiple authors). Sections like Meg Gardiner's "Ratcheting Up the Suspense" focus on thrillers, while others, like Jane K. Cleland's "Avoiding Saggy Middles," can be applied to general fiction. Each chapter offers writing exercises to help readers put knowledge into practice.

Though crime fiction isn't my current genre, I found both these books useful to my writing. Books, Crooks, and Counselors provided much needed insight into a character of mine who was put into a juvenile facility, and Now Write! Mysteries offered a ton of writing exercises that I plan to use both in my current WIP and future stories.

So if you're writing a crime or mystery novel (or even if you're not), both these books are worth a read. Be sure to check them out.

365 Days of the Query, Phase One: Getting Started

2012-01-16T18:35:00.000-08:00

Over the next year, I'm going to send out query letters for my new novel, TRISKELEON. I will keep track of my progress on the blog, probably in a format like this:

Agents queried: 1
Partials requested: 0
Fulls requested: 0

If you're on this journey too (or in a place where you're thinking of querying), here are the steps I went through before I even thought about submitting:

Attend a workshop (or view examples) to figure out what (and what not) to do.
When my book was complete, but not yet ready, I attended an workshop hosted by an agent I was interested in querying down the line. I might have been getting a bit ahead of myself here, but the knowledge I gleaned during this workshop was golden. The agent who ran it even agreed to see our query drafts.

Get feedback from a trusted source.
The agent who revised my letter let me know I was somewhat on the right track, and what aspects of the letter needed improvement. After that, I waited until my manuscript was ready, and I revised my query with the help of a writer friend who's already represented by an agent.

Below are three different drafts of my query, to let you know the evolution it's been through (please note that I haven't included all the ways I customized the introduction (and conclusion) for the agent, but that is something everyone should ALWAYS DO--your agent needs to know why you're querying them in the first place).

First Draft:

I’ve completed a YA fantasy adventure novel entitled Triskeleon, with series potential, that I hope you might consider.

In the land of Anderli, the trees are dying, the lake has disintegrated, and the fungus that ravaged the farmlands is showing signs of re-emerging. All hopes are pinned to Weatherby, whose spells have failed to reverse the damage. After his master disappears, he remembers Rags, a local beggar who is rumored to know the source behind the madness.

When Marnie arrives in Anderli by the aid of a Triskeleon, the ancient bracelet linked to her bloodline, she doesn’t believe she is the one fated to save Anderli and its people. But under Weatherby’s tutelage, she soon discovers powers she didn’t know she possessed, skills remnant of a dying breed of people known as Momenta. In the process, she meets seventeen-year-old Quinn, who she wishes would notice her as much as she does him. She also wishes she knew how to reverse the corruption, especially when she finds out who Rags really is, and what will happen if Anderli continues to unravel.

Triskeleon capitalizes on the unique traits that that we all naturally possess—and how they can be used to overcome insurmountable obstacles. It’s not just about traveling from one world to another—it’s about the relationships formed during the journey.

In the coming week, I will be contributing to the Literary Rambles blog with a piece entitled “YA Books in Libraries.” The article is about a survey I conducted to determine YA titles most popular with librarians and library consumers. I am also in discussions with School Library Journal to publish an expanded version of this data.
For more information, you are welcome to visit my website, http://www.kbmccoy.com/ or my blog, “The Writer Librarian” (http://thewriterlibrarian.blogspot.com/).

Boring and vague, right? The agent's feedback on this draft was very kind and useful. She told me to include details about the main character to make her "pop" a bit more, and she said it wasn't as well-written as it could be, which would indicate to an agent that the manuscript might not be all that well-written either.

But what didn't occur to me was Weatherby appears to be the protagonist instead of Marnie. Below is an updated draft (after many iterations) to try and fix this:

Later Draft:

Dear [Agent Name],
I saw on your blog (PW, Facebook post) that you sold a novel called ______ and was wondering if you’d be interested in TRISKELEON, a 101,000 word YA fantasy/sci-fi novel with series potential.

In the land of Anderli, the trees are dying, the lake has disintegrated, and the fungus that ravaged the farmlands is showing signs of re-emerging. When Weatherby’s magic fails to stave the damage, he looks to Rags, a local beggar, for answers.

According to Rags, Anderli’s fate lies in the hands of fifteen-year-old Marnie Sayebrooke, whose latest claim to fame is colliding with a parked Ford pick-up on her bike.

When Marnie arrives in Anderli by the aid of a Triskeleon, the ancient bracelet linked to her bloodline, she doesn’t believe she is fated to save Anderli and its people. But under Weatherby’s tutelage, she soon discovers her abilities to manipulate time and space, skills remnant of a dying breed of people known as Momenta. If only she could stop melting into a puddle every time seventeen-year-old Quinn winks at her.

To save Anderli, Marnie must locate the impostor who works for Terrsarah, a powerful being fueled by her strong hatred of Momenta. As thick-armed beasts invade rivers and set forests afire, it becomes imperative for Marnie to find Terrsarah’s access point within the land, especially after she discovers Rags’s true identity. If Rags is right, and Anderli is destroyed, the universe will twist into a state of unravel.

Last July, I contributed to the Literary Rambles blog with a piece entitled “YA Books in Libraries,” accessed here. An expanded and updated version of this article will be published as a feature in School Library Journal this month. For more information, please visit my website, Twitter feed, or blog.
I hope to hear from you. Thank you for your time.
Best,
Karen McCoy
Website: http://www.kbmccoy.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/WriterLibrarian
Blog: http://thewriterlibrarian.blogspot.com/

A few notes here. First, notice that all my contact info is below my name (this is the proper way to do it, I'm told). There's more detail about Marnie as a would-be clumsy hero, which hopefully makes her stand out a bit more. I've also added stakes, which weren't there before, so the agent knows what my character is up against. But the error I'm running into now is what the Query Shark and others call "character soup," in which I'm introducing a bunch of characters (Rags, Weatherby, Quinn, Terrsarah) without specifying where they fit. And what do the beasts have to do with anything?

After some more helpful feedback, I've ended up with what I have below, an iteration of which I queried an agent with this afternoon:

Most Recent Draft:

In the land of Anderli, the trees are dying, the lake has disintegrated, and the fungus that ravaged the farmlands is showing signs of re-emerging. According to Rags, a beggar with a keen sense of Anderli’s place among other worlds, the land’s fate lies in the hands of a fifteen-year-old redhead--Marnie Sayebrooke, from Spring Oak, California. Unfortunately, Marnie’s latest claim to fame is colliding with a parked Ford pick-up on her bike.

When Marnie arrives in Anderli by the aid of a Triskeleon, the ancient bracelet linked to her bloodline, she doesn’t believe she is the one to save Anderli and its people. But she soon discovers her abilities to manipulate time and space, skills remnant of a dying breed of people known as Momenta. Weatherby, a warlock helping her hone her talents, has enlisted Quinn, a warlock-in-training, to support her, even though Marnie can’t stop stammering and blushing when Quinn shows her defensive tactics.

Before Anderli disintegrates, Marnie must locate the impostor who works for Terrsarah, a powerful sorceress fueled by her hatred of Momenta. But it isn’t until she discovers Rags’s true identity that Marnie understands the full implications of Terrsarah’s corruption—that if Anderli is destroyed, the universe will separate into an irreversible state of unravel.

For the past four years, I've reviewed books for Library Journal, and my background as a librarian has allowed me insight into the ever-changing tastes of teen readers. Last July, I contributed to the Literary Rambles blog with a piece entitled “YA Books in Libraries,” accessed here (linked). An expanded and updated version of this article was published as a feature in School Library Journal, entitled “What Teens are Really Reading,” found here (linked). I am also a P.A.L. member of SCBWI. For more information, please visit my website, Twitter feed, or blog.

I hope to hear from you. Thank you for your time.

Best,
Karen McCoy
Website: http://www.kbmccoy.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/WriterLibrarian
Blog: http://thewriterlibrarian.blogspot.com/

So it still needs work. I can probably get rid of that blurb about Weatherby in the middle--but I'm not sure how else to introduce Quinn in context. It's a work in progress.

Also, make sure you are 100% clear on your agent's specifications before you submit. The agent I queried today wanted a synopsis as well as a query, so I took out the synopsis from the middle and put it below. After I sent it, I realized it was possible that the agent wanted a pitch in the query as well as a synopsis. Next time I'll ask the agent about specs before I submit, to make sure I'm doing everything right.

So, one query sent, and many more to go. I'm pretty sure that not much will come out of my first query (especially if I got the specs wrong), but I wasn't expecting an instant win. Expecting a win from a first query attempt is like getting a job offer after writing only one cover letter. Not likely.

It's a process, with lots of phases. I'll be sharing what I learn as mine unfolds.

DITCHED: A LOVE STORY, by Robin Mellom

2012-01-12T19:19:00.000-08:00

I'm really excited to feature DITCHED: A LOVE STORY, by Robin Mellom that debuted this week!

Synopsis, from Goodreads: High school senior Justina Griffith was never the girl who dreamed of going to prom. Designer dresses and strappy heels? Not her thing. So she never expected her best friend, Ian Clark, to ask her.
Ian, who always passed her the baseball bat handle first.
Ian, who knew exactly when she needed red licorice.
Ian, who promised her the most amazing night at prom.
And then ditched her.
Now, as the sun rises over her small town, and with only the help of some opinionated ladies at the 7-Eleven, Justina must piece together — stain by stain on her thrift-store dress — exactly how she ended up dateless. A three-legged Chihuahua was involved. Along with a demolition derby-ready Cadillac. And there was that incident at the tattoo parlor. Plus the flying leap from Brian Sontag's moving car...
But to get the whole story, Justina will have to face the boy who ditched her. And discover if losing out at prom can ultimately lead to true love.
Filled with humor, charm, and romance, Ditched: A Love Story by debut novelist Robin Mellom will have readers dreaming of love on their own prom nights.

I can't wait to read this book! I really admire authors who can effectively infuse humor into their fiction.

Robin was also kind enough to answer some questions I had:

I read on your website that you used to be a teacher, and I love the creative ideas you used to get your students jazzed about writing stories. How did your own enthusiasm for writing originally develop?

I was the daughter of a teacher, so I spent all my afternoons hanging out after school with other teachers. I'd erase their boards and they'd all gather and tell each other stories, which were usually very funny or totally heartfelt. Teachers are amazing storytellers, so I think spending EVERY afternoon of my childhood listening to them is what led me to want to write stories for children.

I love that you've inserted humor into your new book, DITCHED. Where did the idea for the story come from, and why do you think this book was successfully able to sell?

I once had my own experience with a date-gone-wrong where the guy drank more than he should have and ran around unzipping all the girls' dresses (including mine). That "dress malfunction" was the nugget that led to DITCHED. Except I decided to make it a prom and make the zipper dress incident just the beginning of when everything goes all terribly wrong...

I think the book sold because it maintains the fun, rompy feel all the way through, and yet there is a moment of tenderness where the emotions are laid out. A combination of humor and tenderness is what my editor always wants to see, and I hope readers are looking for that too.

I saw that THE CLASSROOM is your next release, and this book looks like it's geared toward a much different audience! What are some of your favorite genres to write in, and why?

I will always write humorous stories because I rarely know how to be serious. It's like an issue for me. So I'm sticking to the goofy and writing for the middle grade and teen audience.

And finally, I have to say, I love the design elements on your website. What recommendations do you have for aspiring writers who want to build a web presence?

Thank you! I almost went nuts trying to figure out how to design the website since I write for different age groups and genders. How do you appeal to 16-year-old girls AND ten-year-old boys at the same time? Ha! Not super easy. So we decided to combine chalkboard drawings and photography. Luckily my husband is a photographer so he photographed all the icons at the top of the page. (Those green shoes are my actual shoes I wear pretty much every day.)

For aspiring writers, I would definitely start a blog. That's what I had for many years and it worked wonderfully. They are amazing now because through Wordpress and Blogger you can create "pages" where you can have your bio, info on your work, etc., and its essentially like having a complete website for free. Plus blogging is a great creative outlet and you meet other writers and readers.

Thanks for having me, Karen! And thanks for letting me interview you, Robin!

DITCHED is available now, so be sure to get out there and get yourself a copy, like I just did!

The Dangers of Overstructuring

2012-01-11T08:44:00.000-08:00

I had an interesting discussion with a coworker this morning about classically trained musicians versus musicians who improvise. As an improvisational musician, he told me how astonished he was at how uncomfortable his classically trained friends were with playing music on the fly. As a fellow classically trained musician (I played piano for about fifteen years) I could relate--if someone gave me a drum beat and asked me to make up a tune, I'd be petrified.

Later, when visiting my usual writing blogger sites, I ran across Eliza Green's newest post about what happens when writers feel too boxed in while plotting out their novels. And I realized I was reading about the same issue I'd discussed my coworker. Writers, like musicians, grapple with the dangers of improvisation. How to let creativity flow while keeping stories successfully structured.

But if worrying about your plot structure starts to sap your creativity, I say stop. Plotting, per my last post on this subject, is about parameters and benchmarks. Nothing more. Let your plot grow in expected ways, and don't reign yourself in too much. Only use those parameters when you need them.

Here's why. The classical music world can be a very tense business. My experience was all written tests, theory, and sight reading exercises. This is why I quit playing the piano--there was no heart, no soul, no feeling in the music. It was all practice, practice, practice.

But it doesn't have to be the same way with writing (though practice is indeed important). We should let ourselves have fun, put our hearts and souls into the words and sentences we compose. Where would Mozart have been if he hadn't done that with his music?

So write. Play. Revel in unexpected feelings, places, and experiences, and only use parameters when absolutely necessary. I leave you with the very question I'd wish I'd been asked about my music: How does your writing make you feel?

What Teens Are Reading

2012-01-09T21:51:00.000-08:00

The article I wrote a few months back, the one I mentioned in this November 2011 post is now published in this month's issue of School Library Journal! (It's entitled "What Teens are Reading: a librarian's informal survey uncovers the hottest YA fiction" and can be viewed here).

Now that the article is public, I can delve into deeper depths about what it's about and why I wrote it. Here are some reasons:

1. Aspiring authors (myself included) want to know what's popular before we query.

Casey McCormick of Literary Rambles was the one who originially came up with the idea, and she expressed an interest in which YA books were popular in libraries. It's a point-of-view that hasn't often been discussed: we know what's on an Amazon bestseller list, but what books are libraries purchasing? Since I was in charge of the children and teen's collections at the time, I decided to use my own data as well as survey others. Results revealed that libraries are just as likely to purchase books with staying power along with new releases (especially to account for replacements and repairs)--and this is a marketing demographic that booksellers (and publishers, and agents) may want to explore.

2. Librarians (especially those new to the field) are always looking to beef up their collections in order to best meet the needs of their users.

When I was in charge of selecting teen materials, I always appreciated a list of recommended titles--ones I knew would circulate, and justify the cost the library paid for them. A children's librarian new to her position was particularly interested in my findings, once they became available, so that she could ensure her collection stayed up-to-date.

3. I want to pay it forward to fellow writers. I figured librarians would likely purchase some of the titles I listed, and that might boost the publicity of the authors who wrote them.

Most authors listed already have a significant following, but new releases also had a place on the finalized lists. For example, although Marie Lu's dystopian, Legend, just released, it's still getting significant buzz among librarians, and it made the Top 20 list within the article (linked above).

For more comprehensive data (I received recommendations for hundreds of titles and series) feel free to email me at cloudhime at gmail dot com or leave your email in the comments section.

Phew, I'm exhausted, and my cat is meowing at my door. I've probably neglected her too long. Happy reading, everyone!

SOMEONE ELSE'S FAIRYTALE, by E.M. Tippetts

2012-01-04T20:57:00.000-08:00

I'm very happy to feature SOMEONE ELSE'S FAIRYTALE, by E.M. Tippetts (she also writes science fiction under the name Emily Mah). She's the first writer I know of who, in addition to writing and jewelry making, maintains two blogs-- one under E.M. Tippets and the other under Emily Mah.

Here's the summary from Goodreads:

Jason Vanderholt, Hollywood's hottest actor, falls head over heels for everygirl, Chloe Winters, who hasn't gotten around to watching most of his movies. It's the ideal fairytale... for most people. The last thing Chloe needs is public attention as this brings back dangers from the past that she's worked her whole life to escape.

Emily was also kind enough to let me interview her. Here's what she had to say:

When did you decide to become a writer? Could you tell us a bit about your journey since then?

I've wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember, and to put that in perspective, I remember my first day if preschool in detail, from the way I felt abandoned to the magic marker drawing of a horse I had with me, drawn by my cousin, Sarah. So it's been a long journey since then. I wrote a lot as a kid and as a teenager. When I was nineteen I got a letter from DAW that said they really liked my manuscript, suggested some changes, and invited me to submit again. I was so inexperienced that I didn't know what that meant (it means you're very close to making a sale), so I didn't pursue it, just dove into another novel. After law school I decided to turn my attention to writing and I attended the Clarion West Writers Workshop for Science Fiction and Fantasy. After that I was invited to join Critical Mass, a critique group in my home state of New Mexico. Back then I had the naive idea that with all my practice and a good credential like Clarion West, I'd then start selling short stories, eventually get an agent, sell novels, and so on. While there isn't anything I truly regret about my life, I would counsel anyone else still in high school who wants to be a writer to get training sooner, and keep it up. It took me five years after Clarion West to sell my first short story, and now, another five years after that, I'm juuust to the point where I can sell to the major markets. I sold a chick lit novel to a small LDS press in 2007, but ended up parting ways with them soon after the book came out. I shelved my other chick lit ideas for a couple of years, and then when the indie movement got going, I decided to publish my chick lit that way, since most mainstream publishers aren't interested in chick lit these days.

New Mexico is a great place to write! I first put my novel to paper when I was living in Farmington, encouraged by a good friend (another aspiring writer). Who are some of your influences?

Probably too many to name. Orson Scott Card and Anne McCaffrey introduced me to soft science fiction, which I write a lot of. My Clarion West instructors were invaluable. They were Octavia Butler, Nalo Hopkinson, Bradley Denton, Connie Willis, Ellen Datlow, and Jack Womack. Then there are of course the members of Critical Mass: Daniel Abraham (who also writes as MLN Hanover and James SA Corey), Terry England, Ty Franck (the other half of James SA Corey), Sally Gwylan, George RR Martin, Vic Milan, Melinda Snodgrass, Jan Stirling, S.M. Stirling, Ian Tregillis, Sage Walker, and Walter Jon Williams, among others whom I've surely forgotten to name. They're the ones who picked apart everything I wrote for ten years and told me what it was I did wrong, and I'll always be grateful to them for that. As for who influences my actual style of writing and the stories I tell, I can honestly say that it was getting away from other people's influences that helped me start to sell stories. I find I've got my own way of putting together a narrative, which doesn't necessarily show in the finished product, but is what enables me to do the best work I possibly can.

It's always great when you can find your voice as a writer! I think many of us struggle with that.
Where did you get the idea for this story? What do you think are the most important themes, and what would you like readers to take away after reading the book?

Someone Else's Fairytale got its start when I was reading entertainment headlines and wondering why people care so much about celebrity. I though how if I got hit on by a celebrity, I'd probably laugh, and then I had my idea. The rich guy/poor girl story is an old one, but I thought I'd play it for humor. The love interest, Jason Vanderholt, is mega-famous, like Robert Pattinson or Justin Bieber. Millions of women fantasize about him. My main character, Chloe Winters, just doesn't care, which creates a funny situation. Could you imagine having everyone else's heartthrob show up on your doorstep to spoon feed you ice cream? The theme is, obviously, fairytales, our dreams and fantasies and what is it about them that makes them endure like they do. Even now, in an era of liberated women and no reported dragon sightings for over a hundred years, I think fairytales are relevant, because they were never really about the prince with a palace who could rescue a damsel in distress. What I'd like readers to take away is that, we all need our dreams. Life is pretty bleak without them.

I agree--dreams provide much needed hope for us all. I also enjoy fairytales, and usually choose books that include them in the title or plot (which is why I was originally drawn to your work). What are some other projects you're working on?

Right now I'm working on a science fiction short story. I've sold a couple of these to Analog Science Fiction and Fact, and hope to sell more. They're a great magazine.

I'll be sure to remember that title when I consider submitting short stories! What do you love most about writing? Why?

Getting better at it, I guess. Despite my lifelong love of the craft, I don't feel like I ever had much natural talent, so every word I put on the page is the result of over a decade of hard work, study, and practice. Ten years ago I'd get stuck as I tried to explain a sight or frame some dialogue, and that still happens, but not as often.

Thank you Emily, for sharing your experiences and insight! SOMEONE ELSE'S FAIRYTALE is available on the Kindle, Nook, and through Smashwords. Be sure to check it out!

2012: Dispelling Old Ideas and Trying New Things

2012-01-02T19:32:00.000-08:00

Congtatulations to Bibliotropic, last week's commenter and winner of THE BOOK OF LOST SOULS!

And now, on with the blog...

The longer I've been writing, the more I've had to change my perceptions about the process. The nice thing about the New Year is that it allows an opportunity to reassess before moving forward.

Here are some "truths" I've dispelled:

1. If you want to write seriously, turn off your television

This is true to a certain extent, and reality television is definitely off the table. But good scripted shows offer a look at plotting done right, and let viewers know which plot elements work (and which don't). Or, if you are looking to improve your ability to write dialects, a good documentary of the country/region where your novel takes place helps. My new mantra: "Turn off cable television and Netflix shows with good scripts."

2. If your idea is taken, forget about trying to publish it

A short trip in the blogosphere reveals that this isn't as true as I thought it was. When I was about 200 pages into my manuscript, I saw a published book that made me want to cry. The plot was similar enough to mine that I thought my work was done. But I soon wrote down more ideas and added different elements to make the plot more exciting. It even led to unexpected twists in subsequent books.

The agents I follow are looking for good writing, unique plotlines, and memorable characters. So even though dozens of stories have been told, and re-told, re-hashed, and told again, if you make your plots and characters readable, interesting, and most importantly, unique, you don't have to doom your manuscript to the trunk just yet.

My grandfather once said, "When you stop getting better, you stop being good." I think the best writers have this mindset--that they can always get better, no matter how good they (or others) think they are. Even Neil Gaiman said "yes" when asked if he thought his writing needed improvement. In the spirit of reassessment, here are some new things I've tried (and plan to try) in order to improve:

1. Write in different mediums

Literary agent Janet Reid periodically has contests on her blog that flex a writer's muscle. The most recent involved reversible poems. I was quite daunted by this, as I don't consider myself a poet, and, with the exception of Emily Dickinson, despise poetry. But, I gave it a whirl, and found it a wonderful challenge. My entry (with recent revisions) is below:

Brittle and breaking,
You hide, soft
berneath your hard candy shell
Listen. You’re next.
Don’t criticize, because
Most people do
criticize…themselves

Criticize themselves
Most people do.
Don’t criticize, because
listen—you’re next.
Beneath your hard candy shell
You hide--soft,
brittle and breaking

Contests like this are fun, and it doesn't matter if you don't win. The practice is well worth it. I've also entered NPR's "Three Minute Fiction" contest even though short stories aren't my genre of choice, and I took a creative nonfiction class to buck up my description and structure. What outside genre would you write in? Have you tried it yet?

2. Live more outside the box

I've encountered some writers who, shall we say, don't get out much. It's like their novel is their sole purpose in life, and they hole themselves inside to weave together their masterpieces (and their skin is so pale you can see blue veins pulsing). But interaction with people and outdoor experiences is a necessary part of writing. It gives plots, characters, and settings the depth they need to jump off the page. I always take a tiny notepad with me on a hike or a day trip, and usually something catches my eye and becomes a part of a world I'm trying to build. Interacting with people also helps attune an ear for dialogue. In the coming year, I'm planning experiences that I haven't yet had, like a trip to Slide Rock (an earth-made water slide), a venture to the Grand Canyon, and, if money allows, a flight to Japan.

3. Try to be a successful learner

The best writers are successful learners, and the best way to be a successful learner is to keep an open mind. Accept useful feedback. Ask as many questions as you can. In an article from Poets & Writers, an agent stated she was surprised more aspiring writers weren't asking the following questions of agents:

a) Whom do you represent? (Sometimes this is easily accessible online).
b) Which publishing houses do you work with?
c) Which editors do you like?
d) How do you go about deciding where you're going to send something?

The best thing about being a successful learner is that it's okay to make mistakes, and sometimes those mistakes can teach you valuable lessons that carry you through.

So, a happy and healthy New Year to everyone. Two questions for all: What ideas are you dispelling? What new things do you plan to try?

THE BOOK OF LOST SOULS, by Michelle Muto

2011-12-21T12:54:00.000-08:00

THE BOOK OF LOST SOULS, the first in the Ivy MacTavish series, provides a unique twist on YA paranormal fiction. While the book looks very dark, it is actually quite humorous and fun. I hope to see more books that aren't afraid to tickle our funny bones.

Synopsis: When teen witch Ivy MacTavish changes a lizard into her date for a Halloween dance, everything turns to chaos. And when no one is powerful enough to transform him back except Ivy, it sparks the rumor: Like father, like daughter. Ivy has heard it all before - that her father, who left when she was seven – was involved with the darkest of magic.

Making the rumors worse, someone uses an evil spell book to bring back two of history's most nefarious killers. Ivy's got a simple plan to set things right: find the real dark spell caster, steal the book, and reverse the spell. No problem! But she’ll have to deal with something more dangerous than murderous spirits that want her and her friends dead: the school’s resident bad boy and hotter-than-brimstone demon, Nick Marcelli. Nick’s offering Ivy more than his help with recovering the missing book – he’s offering her a way to ditch her scaly reputation as a lizard-lover. Demons are about as hard to handle as black magic, and as Ivy soon discovers, it’s going to take more than a lot of luck and a little charm if she wants to survive long enough to clear her status as a dark witch, get a warm-blooded boyfriend, and have her former date back to eating meal worms before the week’s end.

Michelle was kind enough to answer a few questions about the book and her journey as a writer:

How did you come up with this unique story?
I got the idea for The Book of Lost Souls because of my love of Harry Potter. I loved the whole series, but especially miss the early books where things are funny and innocent and new. It seems that most books that are on shelves for young adults is dark and dystopian, which is fine - I love them too. But, I just wanted something light and fun. So, I wrote the story in my heart. The Book of Lost Souls is what I call my Disney book in that it’s appropriate for teens, tweens, and even adults who want something lighter to read.

Can you tell us more about your writing and your experiences since you got started?
I’ve been writing for years, and I did try the traditional publishing route. In fact, The Book of Lost Souls was with a great agent at a major New York agency for a while (over a year). But, an established client decided to write something similar, so they couldn’t represent The Book of Lost Souls. They said wonderful things about it, so I decided to go the indie route after reading about Karen McQuestion, J.A. Konrath, and Amanda Hocking. There wasn’t any point in letting the manuscript languish away on my computer.

Since then, I decided to stop querying and continue with the indie route. I don’t have to wait months to hear back from agents, wait for months to a year to hear from a publisher, and then wait for a publication date. Readers don’t have to wait for my next book. Well, aside from me writing it, having it edited, get cover art, and uploading it. The downside is that it is harder to get the word out about my books. That’s changing in the traditional world too, though. A published friend has to do all her own promotional work.

It's wonderful to know that there are a lot of options, for both writers and readers! Thank you, Michelle, for sharing your wisdom and experiences. Here's some more info about Michelle and where you can find this great book:

Blog: http://michellemuto.wordpress.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/MichelleMuto
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michelle-Muto-Author-Page/154882381238003
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4712387.Michelle_Muto

Books available on:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Michelle-Muto/e/B004RWAZCK/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/michelle-muto
iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/michelle-muto/id428434082?mt=11
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=Michelle+Muto

——

Michelle has kindly offered a free ebook copy of THE BOOK OF LOST SOULS to a lucky random commenter! (Wish I could participate!) I'll choose the winner ~~by the end of the week~~ after the New Year--this giveaway has been extended so leave a comment to win!

Why Plotting Works

2011-12-19T09:24:00.000-08:00

Some lingo I've picked up recently is "plotting" vs. "pantsing". A plotter outlines plot points and character sketches from start to finish before the novel is written, while a pantser, for lack of a better phrase, "flies by the seat of their pants" and constructs the novel as it comes, changing plot ideas, etc. as the writing happens.

I'm an admitted pantser. I prefer my characters tell me what they want to say (instead of me making them speak), and often times the plot will go in unexpected directions as I'm writing everything out. But the fall-out results in a bunch of plot threads that aren't connected, and a narrative that becomes disjointed.
When I wrote my first novel, an event led to a plot twist, which led to three more sub-plots and...you get the idea.

A former writing instructor offered the following advice: Find the 2-3 most important story threads and either discard the rest or save them for later books. My discarded plots are now acting as working outlines for the second and third books in my series (and I even know what happens at the end of each book).

So how do you know which threads are important and which aren't? Above instructor also encouraged me to outline everything in an excel chart--with chapters across the top and the characters down the side. Something like this:

Completing the above chart for each book usually helps center me when plots start to get messy. It also gives me a place to jot down ideas for future chapters so I don't forget important elements by the time I get around to writing them.

Storyboarding is another good method, usually done on a large poster board. This method didn't quite work for me, as my storyboard got text-heavy and crowded, purple ink here, orange ink there--a mess. The boxes in excel were the precise restricters I needed. Still, if you're interested in this approach, you can find out more about it here.

In my experience, nonfiction writers tend to have the best grasp on structure. A good book to peruse is Storycraft, by Jack Hart, in which the long-time journalist uses news stories to illustrate Freytag's dramatic structure: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement. Janice Hardy provides a lovely variation of this that works well for YA. Other examples of structuring are found in this post, with tips from another nonfiction author.

So the moral of all this: Pantsing is great fun, and great stories and characters emerge that way. But plotting is a necessary element to make your story readable (and sellable).

Larkstorm, by Dawn Rae Miller

2011-12-14T09:16:00.000-08:00

Today's YA book feature is Larkstorm, by Dawn Rae Miller.

From Goodreads: "In the years following the destructive Long Winter, when half the world’s population perished, the State remains locked in battle against the Sensitives: humans born with extra abilities.

As one of the last descendants of the State’s Founders, seventeen-year-old Lark Greene knows her place: study hard and be a model citizen so she can follow in her family’s footsteps. Her life’s been set since birth, and she’s looking forward to graduating and settling down with Beck, the boy she’s loved longer than she can remember.

However, after Beck is accused of being Sensitive and organizing an attack against Lark, he disappears. Heartbroken and convinced the State made a mistake, Lark sets out to find him and clear his name.

But what she discovers is more dangerous and frightening than Sensitives: She must kill the boy she loves, unless he kills her first."

Dawn's journey as an author is a great example of how being self-published is no longer the stigma it once was, evidenced in this interview with her and her agent, Kathleen Ortiz. While it's rare for a repped author to self-publish, I think it may start happening more often, if this experience by a now best-selling author is any indication.

For those who want to travel down the self-publishing path, however, I've heard it's best to do so with caution. First, make sure your book is ready for publication. Self-published books definitely need a copyeditor (if you don't believe me, see this blog post by Catherine Howard). Also, make sure you know where to market your work--you may need to pay extra to help get your book more visibility (though author pages on Amazon are free, at least for now).

Though self-publishing is more lucrative than it has been in years past, I'm still of the opinion that it should only be pursued if other avenues (like querying agents and publishers) come up dry.

Promotional Avenues For Your Writing

2011-12-12T15:50:00.000-08:00

One of the biggest challenges in writing, other than the writing itself, is how to make your content marketable and sellable to others (how else will your book get an audience, after all?). This is something I've run into while preparing to query my novel--finding the marketable hooks and plot points that will draw people in, as well as finding ways to network and build an audience.

Structure Your Novel to Make it More Readable

Literary agent Jill Corcoran just wrote a great blog post about activating the first part of a novel (you know, the part that usually has all that backstory?). Jill says, "start right before everything changes for your main character." Backstory is a nice way to help a writer get to where the character needs to be, but on revision, those placeholders can easily be cut.

For example, my main character, Marnie, grew up without her mother. In the beginning, I had a whole section of flashbacks to earlier parts of her childhood--asking her father where her mother went, meeting her stepmother, etc. Upon revision, I found these parts, while interesting (at least to me, anyway) bogged down the overall narrative. 20 pages or so--gone. But I'm hoping my book is better for it.

Partner Up with Other Authors/Writers

I know I've said this before in my post on beta readers, but networking with authors and other aspiring writers opens up all kinds of possibilities, including, but not limited to:

1. A group who can give your work the edits/critiques it needs
2. People who can help you through roadblocks we all run into in the writing process (and if they're already published or repped by an agent, they may be able to give you some insider info about what to do (and what to avoid))

Fellow writers may also be able to help you promote your work, and help you find where you're marketable (take this example from a group of authors in Philadelphia.)

In the last few months, other writers have helped me answer the following questions:

1. When is a novel ready to query? (When you're not editing anything except a punctuation mark here and there)
2. What about my novel needs improvement? (Need to be clearer about the protag's motivation, and which aspects of the plot are most dire)

But remember, this works both ways. In turn for the wealth of advice I've received, I try to help promote newly published authors by featuring their work on my blog, and hope to someday conduct interviews like those I've seen from Literary Rambles and this recent entry from Eliza Loves Sci Fi.

Don't Use Facebook as a Promotional Tool Unless...

...you already have a professional following. I've seen agents successfully promote the work of their clients this way, but if you're a lone author looking for an agent, publisher, or audience, Facebook isn't the place for you.

Back to Eliza, who shares her less than positive experiences with Facebook, and demonstrates why Twitter is a better networking tool. (Caveat: Don't query an agent on Twitter unless you want yourself blocked).

Librarians should also heed this advice, as evidenced by this most recent entry from Annoyed Librarian.

I think that's enough for one day, don't you? I'd be interested to hear from others about positive (or negative) promotional experiences.

The Fallen Queen, by Jane Kindred

2011-12-08T09:00:00.000-08:00

The Fallen Queen, by Jane Kindred, has such a fantastic premise that I had to share. Its great-looking cover also allowed me an opportunity to finally test posting pictures to my blog:

Here's the premise, from Goodreads:

"Heaven can go to hell.

Until her cousin slaughtered the supernal family, Anazakia’s father ruled the Heavens, governing noble Host and Fallen peasants alike. Now Anazakia is the last grand duchess of the House of Arkhangel’sk, and all she wants is to stay alive.

Hunted by Seraph assassins, Anazakia flees Heaven with two Fallen thieves—fire demon Vasily and air demon Belphagor, each with their own nefarious agenda—who hide her in the world of Man. The line between vice and virtue soon blurs, and when Belphagor is imprisoned, the unexpected passion of Vasily warms her through the Russian winter.

Heaven seems a distant dream, but when Anazakia learns the truth behind the celestial coup, she will have to return to fight for the throne—even if it means saving the man who murdered everyone she loved."

You can an excerpt of Fallen Queen here. And, if you're interested in following Jane's blog tour, you can go here.

The Goodreads entry contains a good example of an effective hook: "Heaven can go to hell." I haven't yet figured out the hook for my currently unpolished book, Anderson's Curse, that I wrote for NaNo, but I do know the elevator pitch: "Foster kids with superpowers." (Though a tired interaction and NaNo brain death one evening reduced this to "Kids with foster powers.")

Have you thought about a one-sentence hook or pitch for your current novel? Feel free to share in the comments section.

Expect "Glowing Rejections"

2011-12-06T10:13:00.000-08:00

In getting to know some local writers in my area, a phrase keeps cropping up in my conversations with them. "Glowing rejections." What exactly are these?

Essentially, even if you're doing everything right--your query is flawless, pages or full manuscripts have been requested, your plot, storyline and characters are all memorable and easy to follow--rejection may still follow anyway, and most of the time, it has nothing to do with you.

Take one of my writer friends. She wrote a great zombie novel, but the people reading her manuscript were concerned that zombie-lore might be waning. It had to do more with what was already out there than the quality of her manuscript.

Another writer friend, who just published a great novel called Only Fear said that she received many "glowing rejections" before she landed an agent. But despite these, she was eventually able to sell her book. So really, the tides can turn either way.

Glowing rejections don't mean doom, and they certainly don't mean you won't get published. They're just an inevitable part of the process.

I don't yet speak from experience on this--I won't start querying until next year. But when I do, I want to ensure that I am considering an agent's workload just as much as my own. With the staggering amount of queries they receive, it is their job to pick the best ones out of the bunch. And they deserve nothing but respect for that process.

But don't get discouraged. Just keep trying, even when the glowing (and not so glowing) rejections come in. As my grandfather once said, "There are two ways to climb an oak tree. One is to climb the tree, and the other is to sit on an acorn and wait." (Just make sure you climb efficiently. Don't be an oak tree stumbler, as evidenced in this recent blog post by Janet Reid.)

So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and climb!

Legend, by Marie Lu

2011-11-29T12:49:00.000-08:00

Once again lurking on Janice Hardy's blog, I happened upon this great guest post from up and coming author Marie Lu.

Lu's new book, Legend, looks like a great new dystopian read. It releases today, and is published by Putnam/Penguin.

From Goodreads:

"What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal."

Marie Lu's guest post talked about the importance of strong secondary characters. She gives some great tips on how they can enhance conflicts for protagonists. (See: Severus Snape (Harry Potter), Gollum (Lord of the Rings), Helen Burns (Jane Eyre), Marilla Cuthbert (Anne of Green Gables), and Billy Costa (The Golden Compass). And that's just scratching the surface.)

So have you thought about your secondary characters, and the role they have in your story?

What Makes a Good Query?

2011-11-28T15:58:00.000-08:00

A week or so back, Janice Hardy had a guest author, Elle Strauss, who offered advice on how to write a proper query. For those unfamiliar with Elle, her new book is called Clockwise, and definitely sounds worth a read!

Clockwise

Here's the synopsis, courtesy of Goodreads:

"A teenage time traveler accidentally takes her secret crush back in time. Awkward.

Boy watching with her best friend would be enough excitement for fifteen year old Casey Donovan. She doesn't even mind life at the bottom of the Cambridge High social ladder, if only she didn’t have this other much bigger problem. Unscheduled trips to the nineteenth century!"

If you want to see Elle's very good advice about how to format a query, go to Janice Hardy's blog, here. And speaking of Janice Hardy, I'm a bit miffed that my local Barnes and Noble doesn't carry her Healing Wars Trilogy on the shelf. (Sure, they have it on the website, but people browsing the physical bookshelves in the store won't find it.)

But back to querying. Here are some tips I've picked up along the way:

1. Wait until the NaNo wave subsides before submitting to agents or publishers.

I received this anonymous tip from a friend of a friend who's trying to get published. Apparently, after National Novel Writing Month (NaNo WriMo) finishes, some people feel their manuscripts are ready to go and start submitting right away, which makes for a very large slush pile. To avoid being part of a very muddy deluge, wait to submit until spring.

2. Know where you're marketable, and what your exact genre is.

Sometimes genres can get messy, and books can fall into more than one category. What if you wrote a dystopian science fiction? Or a paranormal fantasy? My advice is: pick the genre that speaks most to your storyline. Is it more dystopia, or more science fiction? If it's more dystopian, stick with that.

Also--Do you know who the potential audience for your book will be? If so, what demographic is it? Do you know the most important hooks your story has? If so, how do you plan to emphasize them?

3. Let the story sell itself.

The best way to come up with a pitch is to find the parts of your story that are most intriguing to a potential audience. What makes your story unique? Instead of telling agents how great your story is, show them why it's great.

4. Don't treat your manuscript like your baby.

I know I've probably said this before, but it's very sound advice. I got it from a close friend who used to work in the publishing business. A lot of writers are so attached to the manuscripts that they've "birthed" that they sometimes come off as over-eager or rude to potential agents and publishers, especially after they receive rejections.

Be sure to gain some objectivity over your work--that way, you can better see where it needs improvement. Remember, agents and publishers can only make a strong book better--they can't make a weak book strong. Seeing weaknesses in your work requires objectivity, and a lack of ego.

I think that's all I've got--does anyone else have any tips for submitting queries they'd like to share? Feel free to comment!

Beta Readers, anyone?

2011-11-21T10:37:00.000-08:00

So I'm looking for one last critical eye on my polished novel to ensure it's at a professional level, or agent-ready, as I've been discussing in my last few posts. When I start submitting to agents and publishers, I want to make sure I'm giving them something worth reading.

At an online NaNo "Ask the Author" session last week, Gail Carriger, author of The Parasol Protectorate Series brought the idea of beta readers to my attention.

Before we get into that, here's a synopsis of the first book in Gail's series:

Soulless: Without a morsel of exaggeration, its publisher describes this debut novel as "a comedy of manners set in Victorian London full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking." At the center of Soulless's "parasol protectorate" is Miss Alexia Tarabotti, a young woman who lacks not only a suitor but also a soul. And those are not her only problems: When she accidentally kills a vampire, it begins a series of events that she must set out to resolve without the help of any proper authorities.--courtesy of Goodreads

So, what are beta readers? According to Gail, they are able to give your work the critical eye it needs to ensure its readiness to show agents and/or publishers. As an example, she talked about "red-lining," in which one of her beta readers crosses out paragraphs and/or chapters that either need tweaking or omitting.

But where does one find people willing/able to give such necessary feedback? Gail is lucky in that she's known her beta readers for many years. But for those of us who haven't yet found an established group, here are some tips:

1. Ask Around

Find where the creative writers are in your community. Are there writing groups? Local organization chapters of RWA or SCBWI? Is there a creative writing program at a local univeristy? People in these groups are likely able to give you the critiques you need, or will know of others who can.

2. Online Communities

Another option is to seek feedback from the collective wisdom found online. A good place to do this is critique.org, which has a "Critters Writers Workshop"--a group of online workshops and critique groups all in one place.

3. Once you find your readers (or if you decide to become a beta reader for someone else), know how to give and receive feedback.

Janice Hardy (author of The Healing Wars trilogy) has a great piece on giving and receiving feedback. I know I mention Janice a lot on here, but her blog is top notch and offers a lot of wisdom in all steps of the writing/publishing process.

4. Start your own group.

Gail was very kind to point out that one of the best ways to connect is to start a group of your own (something I'm seriously considering). Your group can be critique-oriented, or it can just be a time/place for everyone to meet and write.

And speaking of publishing, Gail also wrote a great post about what authors can expect after they sell their first book.

Above all, remember to keep perspective on your work, and the work of others. If you're like me, the draft of your novel never feels up to snuff (even after a few run-throughs) especially if it's the first one you've completed. But if all you're doing is changing punctuation marks, it's probably ready to query.

Good advice for writers, at every corner.

2011-11-11T11:09:00.000-08:00

Maybe because it's NaNo. Or, maybe it's because more aspiring writers are emerging. But lately, I've been noticing advice for writers is rampant right now, if you know where to look. (Or maybe this has always been true, and I haven't been looking properly.)

I found the first through an email newsletter I received through Writer's Digest. It's from Robert Lee Brewer, who writes a blog entitled My Name is Not Bob. He talks about 11 Tips for Writers and ways to build and maintain the momentum necessary for a professional writing career (with a particular focus on blogging).

On to Janice Hardy, author of The Healing Wars Trilogy, who always provides a wealth of good information about writing and getting published. Her latest post talks about what to do when your story stalls in the middle, and strides you can make to get it up and running again. If you're in the throes of revising, check out this piece about macro vs. micro editing. If your story is already finished, her tips on the submission process are also helpful.

If you find yourself being discouraged by the whole writing/publishing process, this guest post by Sara Zarr is a necessary read.

Now that we've heard from writers, what do agents have to say? One of the best places for this is BookEnds, LLC, an agent blog I mentioned in my last post. Check out their latest post about accepting criticism. Another good agent to follow is Janet Reid. She spells out exactly what she wants in a query and occasionally posts 100 word contests for blog commenters.

I think that covers most of the bases. Your mind swimming yet? I've found the best way to filter through the available information (especially information that's constantly updated) is to set up RSS feeds. As a refresher, an RSS feed is an alert you can set up in your internet toolbar to notify you when someone has updated their blog. If you are unsure about how to set up an RSS feed, I highly recommend the following video.

Happy Veterans' Day, everyone!

Keep striving, but try to be as informed as possible when you do.

2011-11-09T09:42:00.000-08:00

A great post by Sarah Duncan is an inspiration to aspiring writers. It shows the importance of not giving up what you love, even when circumstances can get discouraging. I've decided I'm going to keep writing, whether I get published or not. Because I love it, and because I'm compelled to. Besides, you may be surprised at who is getting published these days, in addition to the sometimes preventable fall out that affects publishers.

Lately, I've been concerned if my book is agent ready. In addition to Eliza Green's post I received very good feedback from today's #askagent session from Sara Megibow and Kevan Lyon on Twitter. It revealed the importance of critique groups, and the importance of letting go of a piece once it's been properly tampered with. Along these lines, a good friend of mine (who used to work in the publishing biz) gave me the following advice: Don't treat your novels like your children. Embrace them as an extension of you, not as a part of you. In other words, cut the cord! This sort of distance will allow you to better accept necessary criticism when it (inevitably) comes your way.

But before submitting, do check out this very useful post, Submissions 101, by BookEnds, LLC, a great agency blog to check out if you haven't already.

So, by all means keep striving to the top, but learn as much as you can on the way, and try to pay it forward if you can--newly published authors need our support to help garner their audience! And, for perfectionists like me--when your work is ready, cut the cord, and don't be afraid to release your written art to the world.

Another up and coming author to pay attention to...

2011-11-08T12:03:00.000-08:00

...though I already mentioned her interview with Literary Rambles here. Ryan Graudin's new book won't come out until next year, but she's definitely an up and coming author worth paying attention to. For more information about her book, Luminance Hour, here's an excerpt from Goodreads:

"In which a partying prince falls in love a Kate Middletonesque fae, who has been protecting the British royal family for centuries, and who must make an impossible choice amidst a backdrop of a palace murder and paparazzi mayhem."

This particular blog post was particularly poignant regarding world-building, something that every fantasy author should be thinking about. I love what she says about making readers comfortable in the worlds that she builds. To follow her blog, go here, or to subscribe to her RSS feed, go here. And, if you're into that sort of thing, she also has a Twitter account.

Is your novel ready for agent eyes?

2011-11-03T21:33:00.001-07:00

Something I've grappled with lately is whether my novel is ready or not. I've done multiple drafts, and looked over the pages, words, descriptions and sentences until my eyes glazed over. It's better than it was...but I'm not sure if it's agent ready.

Eliza Green, another aspiring writer, has two great posts that offered me the insight I needed. One had to do with choosing editors, and the other had to do with putting together a checklist before submitting to agents. Her blog is full of useful information, and I highly suggest you check it out.

And as far as your material goes...I've learned...don't rush it. Make sure your work is ready when you submit it.

Tight deadlines.

2011-11-03T20:59:00.001-07:00

I'm excited to announce that if all goes as planned, I will have an article published this coming December. For those interested in going this route, I thought I'd share some lessons learned:

1. Be sure they're getting your information up front

When I heard the news that my article was picked up, I was ecstatic. But when it turned out that my editor wasn't receiving my emails, the deadline came up much quicker than I expected. I had to pull an almost all-nighter to get everything finished. If I had made a stronger effort to ensure that they were getting my correspondence, I wouldn't have found myself in that situation (though I've heard tight deadlines are somewhat common in publishing).

2. Make sure you're clear on their expectations

Once the email debaucle was cleared up, I made extra sure I was answering my editor's questions in a way that made sense to both of us. Make your questions specific, and clarify their questions when necessary.

3. Find others who have published articles in similar publications and contact them if you can

To add further content to my material, I interviewed someone who had written an article similar to mine, but with a much different scope. She was extremely helpful in helping wade through unsure waters, and offered very useful advice.

4. Don't worry so much

Be confident in your work. They chose it for a reason. Don't question what you've written (as I so often did). Just dot all your i's and cross your t's, and make sure the material is useful to a wide audience (or relatable to a wide audience if you're writing fiction).

Great new YA book!

2011-11-01T13:51:00.000-07:00

My Very Unfairytale Life, by Anna Staniszewski debuted on November 1st. This book looks like so much fun!

Here's an excerpt from Goodreads:

"You know all those stories that claim fairies cry sparkle tears and elves travel by rainbow? They're lies. All lies."—Twelve-year-old Jenny has spent the last two years as an adventurer helping magical kingdoms around the universe. But it's a thankless job, leaving her no time for school or friends. She'd almost rather take a math test than rescue yet another magical creature! When Jenny is sent on yet another mission, she has a tough choice to make: quit and have her normal life back, or fulfill her promise and go into a battle she doesn't think she can win.

For more information, you can follow Anna's blog, or read her interview on Literary Rambles.

Finally Joined the Masses...

2011-10-31T13:25:00.000-07:00

...and Twitter-fied my blog. I was very skeptical of Twitter for a long time (mostly because the majority of it is a breeding ground of status spit wads), but have found that it can be a good way to connect with writers, agents, and publishers. The trick is filtering out all that other stuff. So, if you want to follow me there, I'm @WriterLibrarian.

Stage fright.

2011-10-27T09:49:00.000-07:00

I thought I was over stage fright. Really. In college, I took a public speaking class. This, combined with a dunk in the deep end of elementary education taught me how to get up in front of a crowd without sweating, stuttering, or fidgeting. Years later, as a librarian, I've grown accustomed to presenting to students. I've been doing it for so long that I don't really think about it anymore--I just engage with the students, and we have fun.

So when I agreed to do a live reading of one of my short stories, I thought "ain't no thing." But as I watched the man in the cowboy hat before me read his poem, my palms started to clam up and my hands started shaking. When I finally got up to read, I hid behind my piece of paper and mumbled, stumbling over various words and phrases. The people up front liked my story, they said--but the ones in back probably couldn't hear a thing.

Even though it was a bit humiliating, I'm glad I did it--part of being a published author (if I get there someday) is standing up in front of people and reading what you've written. Sometimes, this means baring your soul. And that can be petrifying. But if you practice, practice, practice--as I plan to--then--ain't no thing.

What to do with old books, and more ebook surprises

2011-10-27T09:21:00.000-07:00

So in keeping with the "librarian" theme of The Writer Librarian, I think it's high time for a library related story. This one by NPR blogger Linda Holmes provides an interesting angle. What should libraries do with old books? We're talking about the ones that not even people want to buy for a penny at the annual library book sale. As the article specifies, some libraries have such limited space (and budgets) that they have no choice but to throw them out. Libraries--'gasp'--throwing out books? Unheard of!

But with ebooks becoming more of the norm, libraries may not have a choice, unless companies like Amazon sell ebooks for cheaper. According to this blog entry, Amazon's pricing for may be a bit steep--They're offering ebooks at a price alternative to hardbacks instead of paperbacks. But what about consumers who prefer a $7.99 paperback over a $10.99 ebook? Or those who--'gasp'--get the hardcover in a library for free? It will be interesting to see when (if?) Amazon takes this into consideration.

So, the book wars continue. Ultimately, consumers will decide which trends will win out. And librarians, publishers, and corporations will need to adapt accordingly.

Literary Rambles does it again, and other musings

2011-10-19T11:34:00.000-07:00

...5 Things I've Learned from forthcoming YA author Ryan Graudin is necessary reading for aspiring writers. Literary Rambles does it yet again. If you don't yet follow their blog, I highly suggest you do. Soon.

One of the most useful pieces of advice from "5 Things I've Learned" is about how to conduct queries. Graudin recommends spacing out query letters in fives--and waiting a good amount of time between each wave. This way, a writer doesn't blow through an entire agent list right off the bat. (Another good piece of info I've heard is to not query the same agency at the same time). As I'm going to start querying next year, this was very timely insight.

Graudin also talks about the importance of networking with other writers. When trying to navigate the vast oceans of how to get your work noticed, it helps to confer with someone who's been through the process.

And speaking of process, here's another gem from Janice Hardy about tightening narrative voice. I wish I'd seen this when I was getting the first draft of my novel on paper. She provides a nice step-by-step method to make narrative more readable.

Another thing I've learned recently (that no one ever told me) is that sometimes there will be significant deadline crunches, particularly when working with publishers. It's good to balance time when you can, but sometimes cramming is inevitable. More on this in a future post.

-The Writer Librarian

Great Blog for Aspiring YA/MG Fantasy/Sci-fi Writers

2011-10-13T09:59:00.000-07:00

This past week I found an interview with published author Janice Hardy on Literary Rambles. It's worth sharing with anyone aspiring to write Young Adult/Middle Grade Fantasy trilogies.

For those unfamiliar with Janice Hardy's work, she wrote the Healing Wars trilogy. The newest book in the series, Darkfall, was released Oct. 4.

Here's a summary from Goodreads:

"War has come.

Nya’s the one who brought it. And the people love her for it.

With Baseer in shambles and Geveg now an impenetrable military stronghold, Nya and the Underground have fled to a safer location—without Tali. Nya is guilt-ridden over leaving her sister behind and vows to find her, but with the rebellion in full swing and refugees flooding the Three Territories, she fears she never will.

The Duke, desperate to reclaim the throne as his own, has rallied his powerful army. And they are on the move, destroying anyone who gets in the way.

To save her sister, her family, and her people, Nya needs to stay ahead of the Duke’s army and find a way to build one of her own. Past hurts must be healed, past wrongs must be righted, and Nya must decide: Is she merely a pawn in the rebellion, a symbol of hope—or is she ready to be a hero?"

The interview on Literary Rambles led me to Janice Hardy's blog, The Other Side of the Story. Be sure to check out the left sidebar, in which she provides a useful step-by-step methodology for writing fantasy and gives useful tips on the submission process. (She even has a post this week about query letters!).

-The Writer Librarian

This is your life.

2011-09-28T15:34:00.000-07:00

As seen on stumbleupon.com.

Paper Sculptures: Appreciation of Libraries and Books

2011-09-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

While perusing Neil Gaiman's blog this week, I noted a link he put to a website that showed anonymous paper sculptures someone left in the Scottish Poetry Library. They can be found here.

When librarians (and aspiring writers) have difficulty marketing ourselves, it helps to remember the purpose, the core of what we do. It is when we realize that writing and librarianship are less about books and words, and more about sharing experiences, that we better resonate with our audiences. As the anonymous note left by one of the paper sculptures says: "We know that a library is so much more than a building full of books...a book is so much more than pages full of words...This is for you in support of libraries, books, words, ideas...a gesture..."

Sarah Dessen is a master of sharing ideas. Right now I'm reading her YA book, Just Listen. It addresses the dangers of witholding truths in order to be nice. It also takes a firm, honest look at what an eating disorder does to a family. When the protagonist's sister plants herb seeds and leaves them, unseen, to grow, the reader knows she is attempting to rebuild what she's lost and put the pieces of herself back together again.

Aspiring writers and librarians should all strive to find ideas that resonate with others. Writers: instead of focusing on whether your sentences are accurately structured, think about the overall themes you want your readers to take away from your stories. Librarians: instead of concentrating on re-branding, focus on what your patrons need to take away from their library experiences. That is how we will all keep our audiences.

-The Writer Librarian

Social Media and Online Platform Tips

2011-09-06T11:06:00.000-07:00

In our digital age of ebooks, digital text, and yes, hybrid books, it becomes all the more imperative to develop an online presence to go along with query submissions. And yes, even us reluctant to get on the social media band wagon may need to bite the bullet and give Twitter a try (no matter how vapid it seems). More often, agents are developing an online presence, which you can use to see the kinds of submissions they're accepting, as well as submission instructions (or if they've stopped accepting for the time being, like this agent).

Let me clarify--social media avenues require discernment. One should not start a blog, join Twitter or Facebook just because it's the "cool" thing to do. Those who do generally tire of the game quickly, finding such means of communication to be a time-suck. And they usually are, unless they're used correctly.

In the theme of working smarter, not harder, consider what social networks have to offer you. Here's what I've learned so far in my experience:

1. Use Facebook and Twitter to find literary agents (try to avoid LinkedIn if you can).

A lot of literary agents have a Facebook presence. Go find them. This will help you keep in tune with what they're doing and what they deem important. Following an agent on Twitter can also be helpful. My experience with LinkedIn was pretty negative--when I joined, they "spammed" all the people in my address list, trying to get them to join LinkedIn too. I called them and asked them to shut the notifications off. As yet, I haven't gotten any benefits or connections by being a member of LinkedIn, but perhaps others have.

2. Create RSS feeds to agents you're interested in querying.

A great blog, Literary Rambles, features a weekly agent spotlight, and links to online presences, if applicable. I've created RSS feeds to three different agents using this method. For those unfamiliar with how to get RSS feeds, see instructions here. Note: many RSS readers are already built into internet browsers. Mozilla Firefox's reader has worked best for me so far.

3. If you want to try blogging, link to author and agent blogs, and follow good blogging practices.

Your blog should:
a) Be updated at least twice a week (I'm trying to get better about this one)
b) Contain content that others can use
c) Link to author and agent blogs through a blogroll

4. Design a website to showcase your writing (including previously published works).

This step is the most daunting, but it's also the most necessary. If you're unfamiliar with web design, I suggest the following book to help you get started. Also, research your hosting site--some charge only about $25 a year. When you query agents, you can refer them to your website, and it indicates that you're serious about marketing yourself as a writer.

I know what some of you must be thinking: all of this will take away from time spent writing. Yes, it will. But you can write and build a platform at the same time. It's just a matter of carving out the time for both.

-The Writer Librarian

Potentially Bad News?

2011-09-01T10:08:00.001-07:00

I read the Annoyed Librarian (AL) blog on occasion. Usually she (I think it's a she, as the AL is anonymous) has some wry quip about how the library profession is self-destructing, and librarians are too worried about staying relevant to notice. I usually enjoy these diatribes, but today's post left me a bit depressed, probably because it had "death" in the title. It's called "Death of the Author" and can be accessed here.

The post references this article from the Guardian which argues that although books aren't going away, the digital revolution will make "The Writer" obsolete as a profession. The AL argues, "Who cares?" My feeling is, a lot of people might, especially aspiring writers who dream of making a living at what they love.

AL also points out that not all published books are of good quality, especially when it comes to ebooks. I'd tend to agree. As was mentioned in my previous post, I am of the opinion that publishing houses are more concerned with profitability than quality. But this overall trend implies that publishing houses may have more to worry about than aspiring writers do.

The author of the Guardian article tends to blame Generation Y, the "Millenials," who prefer digital over paper. He uses statistics from Barnes and Noble to back up his claim. While this might be a bit daunting, I don't think it should stop aspiring authors from putting themselves out there.

Of course, we all know that digitial is much cheaper than paper (and sometimes can be distributed for free). I'm hearing more and more about authors, fed up with the process of trying to make money in a tough market, choosing to create author pages on Amazon and digitizing their books there (at no extra cost to them). They probably won't make a profit, but at least their work is out for others to see.

I've been told that if someone is just writing in the hopes of a big dividend, that they shouldn't be writing at all. Maybe this digitized trend may separate those who write for writing's sake, and those who write because they want to be rich and famous. And perhaps that's a good thing.

-The Writer Librarian

Who's Really to Blame? Does it Matter?

2011-08-27T11:08:00.000-07:00

For a long time, I thought editors were to blame for books that weren't very well-written. After all, wasn't it up to them to clean up unecessary words, sentences, and phrases that didn't move the story along?

But the more I've talked with, researched, and read blogs from people on the editing/publishing side the more it seems they know what they're doing. Their job is to figure out how to tighten up plot points, sentence structure and word choice so the books they represent are more likely to sell. And most of them seem really good at this.

So how, then, do sub-quality books get on the market? If agents and editors are doing their job, then who isn't?

A better question might be, "Who is reading all these sub-standard books?" As long as a book has a market, it will sell. A question floated on this blog a few weeks ago as to why popular authors, once they've achieved success, don't seem to produce the same quality of material. A possible answer might be that people see an author they like, and buy their books on name recognition, and take them home. Regardless of the quality, the author and the publishing house still make money.

Some might say our society is dictated by money rather than quality of work. Owners of tabloid newspapers aren't concerned about producing good pieces of writing. They're concerned about putting headlines on grocery store racks so people will be intrigued enough to buy them.

Owners of publishing houses also seem concerned about profit margins. This is probably why they're more likely to take chances on well-known authors rather than a new ones. (Though feedback I'm getting from librarians seems to dispute this--they say publishers are doing a good job of finding the best new authors out there.)

As for the authors themselves? What else motivates their art besides a paycheck? Those who remember Alanis Morisette know the quality of her music went down considerably after she found success. Was it because she no longer had the angsty tone that made her a commodity? Or were there other reasons that affected her ability to produce good work?

I'm not sure answering any of these questions will get us any further ahead, or make us feel any better. My solution is this: no matter the condition of things, do what you love. Write what you love. Read what you love (when you can find it). The rest can fade into white noise.

-The Writer Librarian

Corrections, Delays and More on Why Authors Produce Drivel

2011-08-10T16:11:00.000-07:00

Many apologies for the delay. New job, new house, moving to a new state, and other life events forced my writing to the backseat, which I always hate. Now that things are settled, I'll be posting more frequently.

I'd like to place a correction to my Twilight reference from the previous post. Stephenie Meyer did not live anywhere near New York, nor did she have many networked connections in the writing world before she was published. Her story is one of having the right book for the right market at the right time.

So maybe that's half the battle after all. Perhaps your masterpiece sitting in a drawer collecting dust hasn't found it's market yet--maybe it's a fantasy novel trying to make it in a world of Dystopias, led by the immensely popular Hunger Games (Note: Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins is an example of previous connections paying off--she was a screenwriter for Clarissa Explains It All before someone suggested she try her hand at novels.). Or, maybe, like Stephenie Meyer, you can defy the odds and be an exception to the rule.

After the last post, a kind commenter also pointed out that popular authors, once established, don't seem to put in the same amount of effort when they write subsequent books. She cited Fannie Flag and Jaqueline Mitchard as examples. I have not yet read these authors, but I'm familiar with the phenomenon. (See: Nora Roberts, Janet Evanovich, Mitch Albom, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Julie Powell.) My theory is this: once successful, authors are restricted to deadlines, and their creativity is more forced--which produces less desirable results.

Because who, unless they have superhuman talent, can write on demand? I sure can't, particularly when my husband nudges me into putting poetic greetings in our holiday cards (even though I don't work well under pressure and, with the exception of Emily Dickinson, despise poetry). I did write said poem, but the process wasn't fun and the content reeked.

But, that's just one theory. I'm open to other suggestions as to why writing quality is being sacrificed for other things. So, for those of you still out there, I'm interested in your thoughts.

-The Writer Librarian

Another Stinky Galley

2011-06-28T11:14:00.000-07:00

I've commented in previous posts about some of the books I'm assigned to review. Some are interesting reads, while others are, shall we say, not.

An interesting read results when an author considers their reader. This translates into straight-forward sentences (with no unecessary words dangling like useless branches waiting to trip up the narrative) and unique content that sparks universal interest (not how cute your daughter looks during her ballet recital).

The unpublished galley I just finished reading had neither of these characteristics, and included all sorts of "daughter" references (come to find out said daughter is grown and well into her 20s). The horrible irony is this: The author is a children's writing instructor, and her book is filled with all kinds of rookie mistakes. Too many words. No sentence variety. No overall structure. And she, high on her pedestal, proposes to tell parents how to help their children become better writers.

How this got past the slush pile and into the hands of an editor (who must have been sleeping instead of making corrections) I'll never know. The only thing I can figure is that she spearheads a lot of well-known literacy organizations and she lives in New York (location, location, location).

So this begs the question: Do connections and location trump writing ability? The Twilight novels point to yes. So how can good writers transcend these barriers, and get their writing recognized in the way it deserves?

I wish I had the answers to these questions. If I find them, I'll be sure to share in subsequent posts. In the meantime, I'll keep sloshing my way through the stinky swamp of galleys.

-The Writer Librarian

Useful Blogs Updated

2011-06-24T10:52:00.001-07:00

I've updated the "Useful Blogs" section to include blogs from literary agencies. I also included a really great one that features up and coming YA titles.

I'm in the throes of moving, but will send more updates once we're settled in the new place.

Thanks!

-The Writer Librarian

Wise Words from Sandra Cisneros

2011-06-14T20:37:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of hearing Sandra Cisneros read at a local library. Never had I seen a writer captivate her audience so easily. She told us about her days at Catholic school (with the "happy housewives of God") and how she was taught to be a "dutiful daughter." She read a beautifully woven short story called "Eleven" that conveyed the thoughts and feelings so many of us experience but are afraid to talk about. She also told us how she wanted to write a book where girls could see themselves (what I hope to accomplish with my first novel). And, she gave some very valuable writing advice:

1. Take your ego out of it

In other words, be humble about your writing. Don't write to impress others. Write because you love it. Write because you're compelled to create something beautiful.

2. Be courageous and fearless in your writing

I really needed to hear this one. Too often I'd censored myself in my short stories (and on this blog) because I feared reprimand from those who read my material. Ms. Cisneros likened writing to an empty bedroom where you can say anything you want--which I found oddly satisfying. Censoring myself wasn't all that fun, really.

3. Tell the truth without hurting anyone

Write about anyone you want--just change them enough so that those you are slicing apart with your pen don't recognize themselves. Change hair color, gender, or anything else you see fit.

Ms. Cisneros might have seemed gentle at the podium, but when I spoke to her afterwards I saw the tigress underneath. I told her how much I admired her and identified with her writing, and she firmly told me to write what I knew, to seek out my own voice. After I left that evening, I felt a new sense of bravery and determination. I hope to thank her someday for the wisdom she passed along, to convey how much she helped me as a writer.

-The Writer Librarian

Stop Blowing Smoke up my Skirt!

2011-06-13T15:29:00.000-07:00

I took a creative nonfiction writing class recently, where I learned a lot about format (including what a nut graf is), and how to make my descriptions more relatable. The class was taught by someone who had worked for a very popular magazine (I won't say which) for over 30 years, so I figured if there was anyone who could give proper criticism on my writing, he'd be it. The unpleasant surprise came when it turned out he'd been criticizing people for 30 years--and was tired of it. He gave us these wonderfully intricate short stories to read, and we were more critical of those than we were of our own writing.

On the flip side, criticism isn't useful unless it's constructive. Anyone who says, "I don't like this because it doesn't have enough sex in it" or "This isn't how I would have written this" isn't giving feedback that's useful. I'd rather hear "This description doesn't work because of..." or "This line of dialogue isn't relatable because..." or "If you eliminated this word, this sentence would read better..." etc. Without constructive feedback, writers run the risk of getting an inflated perception of the quality and relatability of their material.

I have a few friends who have done professional editing for people--people who paid for feedback. What I kept hearing was "This person didn't like my feedback and we stopped being friends" and "She gave me her manuscript because she didn't understand why it wasn't published. I told her my thoughts and she never spoke to me again."

How will we grow as writers if we aren't willing to accept criticism? Where is the lesson if we pick apart published writers (like we did in my class) and don't take a good look at our own?

So I say this: Stop blowing smoke up my skirt! Please be honest if you don't like something about my writing. Please tell me what does and doesn't resonate with you as a reader.

I ended up approaching this instructor to ask how my writing could improve. After a few weeks of deliberation he told me to use more sentence variety. I am thankful for his feedback and have been taking a closer look at my sentences ever since.

-The Writer Librarian

Juggling Two Careers: Writer or Librarian?

2011-04-01T14:52:00.000-07:00

In finishing the second draft of my novel and figuring out where to network and make connections, my writing pursuits are starting to turn into a full-time career. In this process, I am increasingly finding that the demands of my day job are starting to clash with the pursuit of my dream job. The sad part is, I'm not even in a tenure-track position (those of you who are have my sympathies!). If I were to take one, I'd have more pay to supply my writing habit (and networking possibilities) but less time to actually write creatively (with the pressures of academic publishing and other ephemera that come with tenure-track requirements). So: what do we do when the demands of our day-job clash with our dream job? And how does one find the time to keep organized, and still leave time for other important life demands, like family and marriage? For answers to this query, I consulted "Dr. Google" and came across this article that focuses on television writers (beware profanity) and sums up some possible solutions. The message is this. Have no time? Make it. Set up a disciplined routine and stick to it, like you would for any other career. I'm reminded of one of my writing instructors who would set his alarm for 5 am and squeeze in a few hours of writing each day. This might be harder for some of us non-morning people, but we will only see the fruition of our efforts if we put in the work to begin with. The same article argues that it's also vital for an aspiring writer to "give up things that are important." This is where I disagree. Balance can be found, and it is just as imperative to value your loved ones as it is to value your career as a writer. It is equally important to relax, recharge, and find time to experience life. This will not only help your well-being, but also your writing. How can you write accurately about a beautiful sunset if you never experienced one? How can you write characters if you never meet them on the street, in a bar, or at the store? So should you find extra time to write? Absolutely. Should you also take the time to relax, give yourself, a break, and spend QT with your loved ones enjoying life? Absolutely. -The Writer Librarian

Useful Blogs

2011-03-25T08:14:00.000-07:00

I'm putting my ear to the ground and looking for online resources to help with networking. The other day, I stumbled on this really useful blog called "Literary Rambles." Not only a clever title, but offers a useful and comprehensive list of literary agents, updated weekly through their "Agent Spotlight" feature. I've included their blog under the heading "Useful Blogs," if you'd like to take a closer look.

If anyone out there is aware of other blogs they've found useful in the writing world, please notify me at cloudhime@gmail.com.

-The Writer Librarian

Correction re: Cicada

2011-03-23T11:28:00.000-07:00

Cicada is not accepting submissions at this time. I noted this when I visited their website today. FYI.

More later.

-The Writer Librarian

Poor Man's Copyright and Where to Submit Literary Fodder

2011-03-22T15:58:00.000-07:00

The second draft of my novel is nearly done. It will still need a lot of work, but I'm going to back it up a disc and mail it to myself. This practice, if you're not familiar, is known as the "Poor Man's Copyright." This way, if someone claims I stole their idea, I can back it up with an unopened postmarked package with a date.

The writing part of the novel was a wonderful, excruciating, daunting, and delirious process. Now comes the part where I put it down for awhile (I found it surprisingly saddening to say goodbye to my characters) and get some distance from it. In the meantime, I am submitting it to some trusted writer friends who I hope will rip it to shreds. That way, it will already be beaten to a pulp before I think of submitting it to an agent.

I've also been told that I need to get some short stories published, otherwise an agent or publisher won't give my work a second look. I found a list of publications (and specs) to send submissions, courtesy of Poet & Writers magazine. The list can be found here. Since I'm also trying to break ground in the YA genre, I will see if I can draft up some material for a publication called Cicada.

The attempt to publish will I'm sure be even more excruciating, daunting, and delirious. It's like I've climbed an Everest, just to be presented with another Everest. I've heard horror stories. How getting published is like winning the lottery. That the business side of art is ruthless. How cold calls will be necessary. How I'll have to write probably ten more drafts of my novel before it's even readable. But hey, nothing worth doing is easy, right? At least that's what I'll be telling myself as my palms sweat and the nausea bubbles in my stomach.

-The Writer Librarian

Publishing in Library Land

2011-03-09T09:14:00.000-08:00

Stumbled upon a really interesting article on the In the Library with the Lead Pipe website today. The author is well-informed, and goes over all the hoops involved with publishing a book in the ebook and internet "exploding text" age. The article can be found here.

One of the things she talks about is how complicated the process is, and how many different people have to have stamps of approval on the work. This is something that isn't commonly talked about among writers, but it definitely should be a necessary topic of conversation for those who want to market their work.

For those interested in query letters, here's a link with some useful tips. This focuses on publishing young adult fiction, but can likely be applied to most genres.

I'm interested in researching other ways to network in the writing world--with every Tom, Dick, Harry, Sally, and Molly trying to get published, this task seems even more daunting. More on this later.

More author blogs...

2010-11-18T18:03:00.001-08:00

...courtesy of Goodreads.com

Fiction Writing

2010-11-18T16:35:00.001-08:00

So I know it's been awhile since I posted. Thought I'd give up on the whole blogger thing, but have instead decided to refocus this blog and dedicate it to fiction writing.

One reason for the change is I'm editing my first novel, and am interested to hear from those who are in the same throes and snags. So, anyone else out there? I'll be interested in hearing what you've run into.

I've updated some blogrolls of my favorite authors as well. Hope you enjoy (if you haven't completely forgotten about this blog by now :))

The Writer Librarian

LIS Publications Wiki

2009-06-10T16:06:00.000-07:00

Finally, a one-stop shopping wiki that allows you to reach colleagues and communities in the library publishing world. Say hello to the Library and Information Science Publications Wiki:

http://slisapps.sjsu.edu/wikis/faculty/putnam/index.php/LIS_Publications_Wiki

Note: This wiki is still new and somewhat underdeveloped. But, the more people who join, the more useful content it can have.

-The Writer Librarian

Quick, Easy Exercise for Fiction Writers

2009-06-08T15:35:00.000-07:00

I know we've focused mostly on nonfiction writing thus far, but I know there are a lot of closet fiction writers out there too. For those in the midst of writing their first (or umpteenth) novel or short story, here's a good strategy for assessing the effectiveness of your descriptions:

1. Pick a significant piece of description that lasts at least a few paragraphs and contains no dialogue.

2. Read through the section and tally up the following:
-How many simple sentences?
-How many compound sentences?
-How many similies?
-How many metaphors?

3. Assess your numbers. The objective is to get the quantities of each as even as possible.

Note: Adding similies and metaphors help appeal to your readers' senses. If you're feeling gutsy, you can tally how many times you describe sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures.

As an example, I had too many compound sentences, which made it difficult for a reader to discern what was going on. Once I chopped down some sentences and placed periods instead of commas, the writing became infinitely better. By the same token, if there are too many simple sentences, feel free to whip out some commas and make for some sentence variety.

And for sentence compounders like me, don't be afraid to bend some grammatical rules in your fiction. It isn't technial writing, so grammar isn't held by the same restrictions.

-The Writer Librarian

Great Blog with Writing Tips

2009-05-21T15:27:00.001-07:00

I stumbled across this blog that focuses on books and the publishing industry. One entry outlines ten common "rookie" writing mistakes, and is found here.

This is a good blog to follow especially for those looking to publish fiction. For those who are interested, here is a link to the RSS feed.

-The Writer Librarian

Conference conflicts, another call for authors

2009-05-05T12:30:00.001-07:00

I had insurmountable conference obligations that got in the way of the "upcoming" post that I teased with a month or so ago. Now that the conference is over, more updates to the blog will be coming. For now, here is another call for authors, particularly useful for academic librarians:

"Good day all...

Instruction librarians are encouraged to submit book chapter proposals for the forthcoming monograph, "Best Practices for Credit-Bearing Information Literacy Courses." As the title suggests, we are soliciting proposals from librarians who have developed and implemented innovative and effective methods for teaching credit-bearing information literacy courses. We are particularly interested in the use of educational technologies, including smart classrooms and Internet communication tools. Other items of interest for this volume are: assessment; course design; lesson planning; history of the course in higher education; integration of the course into disciplinary and/or institutional curricula, and instructional methods.

The intended publisher for this book is Neal-Schuman, and the target date for publication is fall of 2010. Interested authors should submit a 1-2 page proposal as an email attachment to me at: cvh2@buffalo.edu. The proposal should include: author's name, full contact information, institutional affiliation, and list of professional publications; working title for proposed book chapter, and abstract for proposed book chapter (maximum of 200 words). Proposals are due by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, May 29, 2009.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Cheers!
-- Christopher Hollister
Information Literacy Librarian
Oscar A. Silverman Undergraduate Library
112 Capen Hall
University at BuffaloBuffalo, NY 14260
Phone: (716) 645-1323
Fax: (716) 645-3067
E-Mail: cvh2@buffalo.edu"

Call for submissions: Library Worklife

2009-04-07T12:48:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of the ALA-APA publishing committee. Contact the editor with questions:

Do you have a story to tell? Come and share it at Library Worklife!
Library Worklife is looking for aspiring and experienced writers - library employees and graduate students who have stories to tell about their careers, jobs, research, and pathways to success. Stories can be about:You or a great project that you want to share with colleagues - Spotlight Advice, testimonials, opportunities and research about advancing your career – Career AdvancementWhy it is important to participate in professional development and continuing education, including state and national certification programs - Certification Legal issues facing or concerning library personnel - Human Resources Law How to manage library staffing issues, such as training, budgeting, performance appraisals, hiring, outsourcing, and motivation - Human Resources Practice What you, your library or your state has done to address pay inequities - Salaries and Pay Equity and StatisticsHow do we attract people to the profession? - Recruitment Profiles, standards, innovative approaches, conferences or topics of concern for support staff - Support Staff How you manage the two (or more) roles you play on a daily basis - Work/life Balance Write about your ideas or use some of ours on almost any other topic related to working in libraries.
Submission should range from 200 – 1200 words, although longer articles can be accepted by arrangement. They can be in almost any style from serious academic research to humorous work-life articles. Further details can be found at the Library Worklife web page, http://www.ala-apa.org/newsletter/newsletter.html or by emailing the editor, Jenifer Grady at jgrady@ala.org.
And the best news is… If you commit to writing three (3), count ‘em THREE, articles in one year, you get a free subscription to Library Worklife, a $35 value (for ALA Regular members.)

So come and share your story at Library Worklife.

-The Writer Librarian

P.S. I'll have an upcoming post regarding different writing styles.

Issues in Scholarly Publication

2009-04-03T13:50:00.000-07:00

I received the following tip from John Meier:

You should probably write about issues in scholarly publishing for librarians. Considering that is what this post is about. We hardly ever look in our own eye for a beam when library journals are some of the worst for copyright for authors, cost, electronic access, and they are bloating as fast as any profession. - John Meier

The blog entry below goes over some of the ins, outs, and considerations of scholarly publishing:
http://librarianscommute.blogspot.com/2009/01/professional-publishing-in-libraryland.html

-The Writer Librarian

Call for Papers: Journal of Library Innovation

2009-02-27T07:41:00.000-08:00

The following is courtesy from the ili-l listserv:

Call for Papers:

The Journal of Library Innovation is seeking submissions for publication for its inaugural issue in January 2010.

The Journal of Library Innovation, one of the first journals devoted explicitly to innovation and creativity in libraries, is a peer reviewed, electronic journal published by the Western New York Library Resources Council. Its mission is to disseminate research and information on innovative practice in libraries of all types.

Innovation in libraries can include, but is not limited to the following:

•The discovery of unmet user needs.
•The introduction of new services or the retooling of traditional services resulting in a better user experience.
•Creative collaboration between libraries, or between libraries and other types of institutions, resulting in demonstrable improvements in service to users.
•Implementing new technologies to improve and extend library service to meet user needs.
•Explorations of the future of libraries.
•Pilot testing unconventional ideas and services.
•Redefining the roles of library staff to better serve users.•Developing processes that encourage organizational innovation.
•Reaching out to and engaging library users and non-users in new and creative ways.
•Creative library instruction and patron programming.
•Finding new ways to make library collections or library facilities more useful.

The Journal of Library Innovation publishes original research, literature reviews, commentaries, case studies, reports on innovative practices, and book, conference and product reviews.

The journal also welcomes provocative essays that will stimulate thought on the current and future role of libraries in an Internet Age.

For more information and submission guidelines visit http://www.libraryinnovation.org/ or contact Pamela Jones, the Managing Editor, at pjones@medaille..edu.

-The Writer Librarian

Summary: NMRT Online Discussion Forum - Publishing for the Profession

2009-02-25T15:32:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Rachel McWilliams for putting together the summary below:

NMRT Online Discussion Forum – January Topic: Publishing for the Profession

January’s discussion topic covered issues with publishing in the library profession and how you get started. Some of the questions we asked include:

-How do those who are new to the library profession obtain opportunities to publish?
-What are some relevant topics regarding the library profession that aren't yet published (and need to be)?
-What are some of the necessary writing and research skills needed for publishing?
-What are some good techniques for getting rid of writer's block?

In addition to these questions, George Gottschalk raised the question about how serious the publications have to be and if public librarians have any system like tenure in their libraries.

In response to these questions, John Meier suggested that people working on tenure would probably need to publish in peer-reviewed journals. He also says that the best strategy would be to “take is one where you build up from writing book reviews, to short opinion articles, to longer explanatory articles, to perhaps a full research study”.

Rami Attebury had some great responses to some of the questions that started the discussion. One of her suggestions was to collaborate with others when writing for publications. Another idea was to take research methods class if it was available to learn about the different types of research and how to write a research article. Her last suggestion was to find information in the Cabell’s Directory of Publishing Opportunities in Educational Technology and Library Science.

Other ideas include:
-Submitting articles to online locations that allow guest authors
-Submitting articles to professional organizations that you are a member of (library or other)
-Current students – work with practicum supervisors to publish

In response to the writer’s block question, Jenny Emanuel (who was working on her literature review for her dissertation) said that she just had to take the time to work and then she would reward herself after she was done. Another thing she had was a positive work environment that helped motivate her and where she could take down time to get some work done.

Jessica Moyer also had some ideas about overcoming writer’s block. She creates a schedule and breaks it down into days and even hours. She makes tasks small enough to be manageable and writes everything down so that she can cross them off when she is finished, which helps her stick with it. She also suggests keeping your writing schedule somewhere you can see it.
As for ideas for articles, she says to write about things that you personally care about, things you want to see changed, things that may bother you at work or even other articles you have read and did not like. Also, find an article you like that includes future research directions and use some of those ideas to create your own article or study.

A follow-up question that we thought of in regards to the discussion is:
-What are some tips you can give to people who may not be very good writers or may have ideas about what to write about but have a hard time getting the point across?

James Elliott responded to this question by suggesting that you get someone to critique your article/writing and ask them to be brutally honest. He said to ask someone who knows about writing or who has experience in writing articles or writing in general, not someone who is close to you and may not be as critical.

Another suggestion that Jessica Moyer had would be to start writing book reviews. These are a good “to learn to be a clear, concise, and precise writer only if you have a strict word limit and guidelines that will force you into that kind of writing.”

Jennifer Hand recommended that if you are a recent graduate, or have assignments that you were working on in library school, you could use those assignments as a jumping off point to start writing a full-fledged article or study. Most of them have already been critiqued by your instructor and so you could add to it with regards to the guidelines of whatever publication you are writing for.

The last suggestion was made by Karen Long. She wrote in terms of strict word limits and said that reading sentences aloud can help you with structure, organization and cohesion. Also, you can read your writing as if you’ve never heard it before and look at it like a regular reader would.

Call for Articles: Art Documentation

2009-02-25T15:14:00.001-08:00

As seen on the BUSLIB-L listserv:

Editors are accepting articles for both the Fall 2009 and Spring 2010issues of ART DOCUMENTATION, the semiannual peer-reviewed journal of theArt Libraries Society of North America. Articles should fall within thescope of art and architecture librarianship, visual resourcescuratorship, digital image management, technology related to the visualarts, book arts, art publishing, artists’ books, and related fields. The deadline for the Fall 2009 issue is April 1, 2009; the deadline forthe Spring 2010 issue is September 1, 2009. ART DOCUMENTATIONcontributor guidelines may be found at http://www.arlisna.org/artdoc/contrib_guidelines.html.

APA-ALA Call for Newsletter Writers

2009-02-06T15:33:00.000-08:00

Below is a message I received on the NMRT-L listserv:

ALA-APA is in need of newsletter article writers for its publication, Library Worklife: HR E-News for Today's Leaders. The electronic newsletter is sent monthly to thousands of ALA institutional members and subscribers. The newsletter informs readers about issues—career advancement, certification, human resources practice, pay equity, recruitment, research, work/life balance—that concern all library employees. We are particularly interested in HR Law, HR Practice Support Staff and Worklife-focused articles. Here are a few possible topics, but feel free to send me your own. If you write three articles in a 12-month period, you receive a free annual subscription. Our guidelines for submission are on the ALA-APA website. Please email jgrady@ala.org your topic(s) and your preferred deadline(s).

Developing a great relationship with your boss· Finding a job when you're trailing your partner· Why you would take a lateral career move· Learning style assessments· Personality assessments· Management assessments· Conflict management in the office· Explaining why you left an organization or seem to "move a lot" and how to talk about a bad situation without burning a bridge or yourself· Sloppy speech habits like "uh"· Developing a personal budget and financial goals· Great staff development programs· How to get someone to critique your resume and how not to get caught in the critique cycle· Business ethics· Interviewer styles· How to follow up after an interview· Asking for a raise during a promotion· Tips for working from home· How a career coach can make a difference· What every library employee needs to keep in/on their desk

Eliminating Unnecessary Words

2009-02-02T17:57:00.000-08:00

I heard some really good suggestions recently on the NMRT-L listserv that discussed eliminating unnecessary words and tightening up sentence structure:

"I was criticized in my 8th grade physics report card for being 'overly verbose.' For anyone else with this trait, I recommend reading Stephen King's 'On Writing.' It's a fantastic read - heck, everybody who writes at all should take a look if you haven't already. It's full of advice that will have you looking at adverbs in a whole new way."

-Linda Shippert

"I also recommend editing a printed newsletter or something similarly space-limited. It's amazing what an eye you can develop!"

-Elizabeth Crownfield

And, my own suggestion:

Reading aloud what you've written allows awkward sentences, unnecessary words, etc. to make their way to the surface.

-The Writer Librarian

Interesting article on self-publishing

2009-01-29T09:30:00.001-08:00

Found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/books/28selfpub.html?em=&pagewanted=all

4 Things to Remember when Writing

2008-12-31T09:11:00.000-08:00

Ok, so perhaps you have a big writing project coming up. Maybe you're publishing in a journal for the first time. Or, maybe you're beefing up your Web page or online portfolio. When staring a new project, here are some key tips to remember:

1. Remember your purpose

Above all, you are writing for your readers. What do you want them to learn or gain after they've read your written work? Write down the answer to this question, and put it in a place you can easily refer back to while completing the project.

2. Know your stuff

It is easier to write about a topic when you've done your homework. Conduct thorough research through a wide variety different formats (authoritative websites, scholarly online journals, books, encylopedias, etc), and then be sure to organize your data in a way that is efficient for your writing.

3. Did I say organize?

You should not only organize your research, but also develop an outline to help keep you focused. Consider what you what you want to cover. Again, what is the main point that you want to convey to your readers? What do you want to say first? Last? Keep referring back to your outline as a map to guide you toward a cohesive sequence. Also, remember to break down your work into manageable chunks. Write two pages a day instead of trying to fit 14 pages in one sitting.

4. Don't micromanage your writing

When developing a first draft, focus on your main points and overall organization instead of harping on sentence and word details. Correcting spelling, grammar, and syntax should should be put off until after you've finished your first draft. Once you are ready to revise, reading the work aloud helps determine its readability, clarity, and unity. So, relax.

-The Writer Librarian

Joe the Plumber's Pen

2008-12-12T08:08:00.000-08:00

I think this article will resonate with quite a few aspiring writers:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/opinion/07egan.html?ref=opinion

Opportunity for New Librarians to Publish

2008-12-08T14:10:00.001-08:00

From beyondthejob.org...

Call for book chapters: Library instruction lesson plans

Fiction Fixer = Useful?

2008-12-08T13:15:00.000-08:00

Fiction Fixer is a paid (quite a hefty price too!) online editorial program that will help edit your manuscript for you. It is designed for people who want to be bestsellers. For the curious, here is a sample evaluation. Note: Fiction Fixer works best via Firefox.

The site also offers some free resources, such as a recommended reading list of books. Subcategories within this list include:
Fundamentals (read these first)
Craft (Basic)
Craft (Advanced)
Details
Form
Editing and Revision

So, do any of you think that the Fiction Fixer editing service could be useful for those willing to pay the price? I'm thinking that one could pay a regular, human editor a lesser amount to do a better job.

I am interested to hear what you have to say.

Addendum to my last post:

I admit I got onto a bit of a rant. My main point was not that anyone can publish, but that a lot of material gets published for the purpose of making a profit instead of considering the point-of-view of the reader.

Anyone can Publish

2008-11-25T09:49:00.000-08:00

No, really. It's true. In writing two book reviews this month, both books that came across my desk were pure drivel. It's not so much the content or subject matter that irked me, but the lack of writing structure and sequence. Another too common phenomenon I've seen lately (again, these authors are published!) is the overstating of the obvious. Like we don't know. Like we're idiots unless they spell out every single thought in their head.

But their writing ability isn't why they are published (obviously). Rather, they promoted a marketable idea in a way that made sense to someone else. So if you want to get published too, find an idea that is relatable and intriguing, one that will spark people's interest. Just please, pretty please, take note of the books you read, specifically how the words are chosen and the sentences structured. Find what annoys you and avoid it. Don't overcompensate for your reader. People are smart. They will understand where you are coming from.

Hopefully, with this in mind, by the time you publish you can save book reviewers (and readers!) the trouble of sludging through your work with the same motivation that one would have while mopping a floor.

-The Writer Librarian

Knocking Out Writer's Block

2008-11-21T15:54:00.000-08:00

Much of writer's block comes from putting on too many restrictions. It is helpful to reduce limiting factors, such as inner critics, bogged-down writing rules, and time constraints. Once you break free, you can customize your writing process in a way that works for you. Below are some handy tips, adapted from Outwitting Writer's Block and Other Problems of the Pen by Jenna Glatzer:

-Learn to silence your inner critic
Don't get stuck on the wheel of self-criticism ("that's cliche," "the work isn't really ready," etc.). Turn your critic into a pragmatist in order to give yourself realistic and constructive feedback.

-Make your own rules
You don't have to start at the beginning. A lot of writers get tripped up on introductory paragraphs due to the pressure of covering the impact of the whole piece before it's even written. Instead, write two or three key ideas on a separate sheet of paper, or start an outline. You can then use the starting thoughts to formulate some of the later paragraphs, and return to the introductory paragraph when you're ready.

-Don't let looming deadlines get the best of you
If a strict deadline is upon you, just keep writing. If you freeze in panic, the work will never get done. Just write something, anything, even if you think it stinks. You can also delegate the workload by having a trusted colleague proof your work. To avoid future looming deadlines, treat the writing process like eating an elephant: do it a little bit at a time. If you need 10 pages by Saturday, write 2 pages each day until Friday. If the writing flows more than 2 pages a day, feel free to do more. Make your own schedule.

-The Writer Librarian

Write for the Tech Static

2008-11-10T12:47:00.001-08:00

The Tech Static is an upcoming journal about technology-related collection development. They are currently soliciting for collection development article queries. Current needs are here, guidelines can be found here.

-The Writer Librarian

Writing Outlines with Bubbl.us Concept Maps

2008-11-06T12:33:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I have trouble organizing my thoughts before writing. Doing a concept map usually works best for me, and today I happened upon an ILI-L listserv post that linked to a free concept map tool: http://www.bubbl.us/index.

Once you log in, you can create interactive mind maps to help organize your thoughts. This can also be a good teaching tool for you IL librarians out there.

-The Writer Librarian

Question of the Week: What organizational tips have helped you as a writer?

Newbie Librarians = Published Writers?

2008-10-29T16:29:00.000-07:00

One commenter asked how those who are new to the library profession can get published. I know there are a lot of new librarians out there who share this individual's concerns.

Some common issues include:

1. Lack of professional connections
2. Feeling like one doesn't have enough "authority"
3. Inability to narrow to a write-able topic and do scholarly, reputable research

As a new librarian, I have found that joining ALA's New Member Roundtable (NMRT) can help start breaking down the barriers of #1 and #2. NMRT has an NMRT-L listserv that new librarians can join (but I think you have to be a member of ALA). The NMRT-L usually announces calls for publication in upcoming print and online journals and newsletters relating to librarianship, such as NMRT Footnotes. Calls for conference presentations are also listed, which can sometimes lead to publishing articles in print proceedings. I also recently discovered the NMRT New Writers List (NMRTWriter), which you can find by scrolling to the bottom of this internet page.

If you don't want to pay for an ALA membership (it can be pretty pricey!), then maybe join some of the other library listservs, and ask around, maybe to former professors (the tenured ones are usually published) or seasoned librarians that you work with. If anyone from either of those groups is reading this blog, I'm all ears...perhaps you know of strategies I haven't covered.

As far as being able to narrow your topic (#3), choose a niche that interests you. The nice thing about librarianship is that it has a lot of little niches, where a lot of us "Jack of all Trades, Master of Nothings" can still excel. After choosing a niche, do a review of the literature and see what has already been published about it. This will accomplish the following:
-You won't steal anyone else's idea
-You can find an area in this niche that hasn't yet been explored and do your own
scholarly research (think back to library school when you were assigned those "Action
Research" proposals and how you went about gathering info).

I hope I've sufficiently answered your questions. I wrote all of this very quickly, and there are probably some stones I left unturned.

The Writer Librarian

2008-10-21T14:48:00.000-07:00

I started this blog to help librarians who want to be published. Whether you are an academic librarian looking for tenure, or you surround yourself with poetry and prose in the hopes of writing your own book, you fall into this category. I am sure there are many of us.

This is a place where librarians who want to be published can ask questions, and where librarians who are already published can pass on some wisdom to the rest of us. Writing can be a tricky business, and we should help one another.

One of the best tips I've received is to write as simply as possible. Clear the clutter. I read an article in the November 2008 issue of Communication Briefings that discussed writing to the lowest common denominator. Basically, it is better to be understood by as many people as possible instead of using smart-sounding words that no one knows the meaning of. (Yes, you scholarly types, that means you.)

This goes hand-in-hand with eliminating unecessary words in a sentence. Instead of writing "I feel that it is important for librarians to meet the needs of users," it is clearer and more concise to write, "Librarians should meet the needs of users." Go ahead, give it a try. Look over something you've wrote, and see if you can eliminate words while still retaining the meaning you want to convey.

-The Writer Librarian