Welcome 2011--Now, what will I do with you?

I've said it before and I'll say it again and again and again :-) I enjoy setting goals. I do get annoyed when I don't meet them the way I plan to, but I've developed the ability to take pride in "Working Toward" rather than simply "Did It" and that's the spirit in which I shall report on 2010 and lay out my goals for 2011. With that in mind, here are my goals I set for 2010 and how I feel about them:

1--Lose 5 pounds --um, no. Not only did I not lose five pounds, I gained ten. I am at my biggest non-pregnancy weight of my adult life.

How do I feel about that?

I'm not even going to embarass myself by answering. How does anyone woman feel about having 10 extra pounds?

Next...



2--Run a 10K --I did not run a 10K, but I DID run a half marathon, which had been a 2009 goal I hadn't met that year.

How do I feel about that?


Stinkin' Awesome! I continued to have knee problems, but I resolved them. In March of 2010 I signed up for a triathlon and a 1/2 marathon spur of the moment ...then ended up with major surgery in July that made both events impossible. But my sister, Crystal, ran a half and watching her do it kept my fire light. Following surgery I was able to train for a November race and and not only did I complete the marathon, but I ran the whole thing. My final time was 2:22 and it was a fabulous, wonderful, confidence boosting experience.

3--Love better --I think this is the accomplishment I am most proud of. I really made it a focus to love the people around me, and learn more about love and I discovered that when I'm judging people, I can't love them. So, the root of love was not being so dang judgmental. And this lended itself toward judging myself as well.

How do I feel about that?


Really good. I'm very proud of myself for working on this--it didn't just happen. It took focus, it took prayer, and it took working through some very hard emotional baggage that was getting in the way of my ability to truly trust people, which is a big part of love for me. Not only do I feel good about what I accomplished, I am so very grateful for having set it as a goal in the first place. It was a little ambiguous and yet the results are solid and life changing.

4--Read 50 books. --I did not read 50 books. I was probably closer to 35.

How do I feel about that?


I'm disappointed. I really wanted to read more this year and instead I think I read less than I did last year. I'm only counting books I finish, and I bet I started 15 books that simply didn't hold my interest. That's disappointing, and yet I read some wonderful books that I really enjoyed. For instance, I discovered Kate Morton, who I really enjoyed. I read Train to Potevka which was wonderful, and The Message which was also very good. So, while I didn't meet my goal of 50 books, I'm still glad I set it and worked toward it.

5--Cook dinner. --I had hoped to cook dinner 4-5 times a week. I didn't do this conistently and probably averaged 2-3, which is more than it was in 2009 but not what I was shooting for.



How do I feel about that?


Frustrated. I love to cook and I love food and I love to eat with my family, so not fulfilling this goal means I missed out on three things I love. I am glad I improved and that's encouraging but I had hoped to make it more of a priority and I didn't do that.

6--Write at least 1 hour a day, 6 days a week. --HA--I did not even get close to this one. I started out strong, but it completely fell apart come March. Everything this year felt rushed and my writing was no different. I ended up doing most of my writing in chunks of time I had to carve out of regular life. Daily writing hasn't happened for me in months.

How do I feel about that?

Angry. Not sure why that's the one word answer, but that's how I feel. It should not be THAT hard for me to find 1 hour a day to write, and I know from experience that when I write this way I am much more calm and focused on my writing. I'm angry that I didn't make more time...and yet, this was a really tough year in a lot of ways and I did complete two novels and make good progress on another one. The result, therefore, was still good, but I would have liked a better process.

So, what's in store for 2011:

1--Love my body. Though I gained weight this year, and I'm not thrilled about that, I had several experiences this year that made me realize how unappreciative I am for the body I have. Both in regard to health and appearance, I am blessed and have not been kind to myself about that. This year, I'm not going to focus on weight, but instead am going to work on my fitness and my feelings toward the body I have, which is a gift from my Father in Heaven and deserves to be treated as such.

2--Run a 1/2 marathon in 2:10. That would be 12 minutes off my time, which would be almost a minute per mile faster than I did the one this year.

3--Complete 3 novels. I'm almost half way in one, another is started and another is only a pipe dream, but I want to finish them all by the end of the year.

4--52 Thank you cards. I always have the thought to send a thank you card to people, I have lots of thoughts, but I don't send them. I've recently started using an online greeting card company that sends real cards and it makes it so easy that I can take that thought and make it into an action without too much trouble. I have so many wonderful people in my life that I'm excited to do a better job at showing them. One thank you card a week shouldn't be hard to do.

5--Keep a better house. I've really let myself and my family fall into bad habits of not cleaning up after ourselves but I have pushed it to the back burner because it's not the most important thing I've needed to deal with. However, I feel better when my house is picked up and I feel that I have the ability and the commitment to do better this year.

6--Develop and follow a menu plan. I need to organize my dinner plans and have things on hand so I can make meals without having to take a trip to the store.

7--Expand and keep up on my freelance work. I have been able to develop my writing abilities through freelance work in the past, and I really enjoy it--both the challange and the security of knowing I can write in a variety of ways. I didn't do much in 2010 and want to keep it fresh this year. I'd like to submit 4 articles in 2011 and keep my eyes open for other opportunities.

I think that will do it--if I can make progress on all of these things, I will consider 2011 a success!

Congrats to . . .

If you're a blog follower and have a new book release, we're happy to announce it here! Let us know!

Congrats to Cheri Chesley on her new book: The Peasant Queen.




Also, congrats to Kim Coates. She's released The Write Planner.

Write-A-Thon Contest WINNER

What a night! Thank you to each and every one of you who participated, it is amazing what we can do when we block out that time. What a fun experience this has been. We had 9 participants for a total of 37,043 words!

So, without further delay, here is the winner:

Word Count Winner: ANNETTE LYON @ 7,461 words! (last time she was a runner up)

*She wins either a 50 page edit from PEG or a $50 gift card to Amazon.com. Way to go ANNETTE!

And because Annette is a PEG editor, we decided to offer a SECOND PRIZE to the next in line who is a non-PEG editor: so . . . . FOLKSINMT, who came in at 4891, also wins either a 50 page edit from PEG or a $50 gift card to Amazon.com. Congrats to FOLKSINMT!

Thanks again for being a part of the second official PEG Write-a-thon. We'll do it again.

(Annette & Folksinmt, please e-mail us at editor [at] precisioneditinggroup [dot] com and let us know which prize you want.)

START NOW: Write-a-Thon November 2, 2010

Ready? It's time to get this party started!

Here's a repeat of the rules-and-or-processes for tonight's write-a-thon:


1-Enter your starting time and starting word count in the comment section of this blog. Contest is open from 4:00 pm, November 2 to 12:15 am, November 3.

3-Write for four hours--set a timer if you need to! (You can take breaks, but track your time!)

4-When finished, come back to this blog and put your end time, end word count, and total words written in those 4 hours in the comment trail.

5-All "end time" posts must be posted by 12:15, Mountain Daylight Time (we're giving you 15 minutes to tally your numbers). To calculate your times based on where you live, go HERE and educate yourself about time zones.

6-Please be honest. You are your own time/word keeper and we are trusting that none of our dearly beloved readers would sell their integrity for $50 or 50 pages :-) You must post a start comment AND an end comment to be eligible to win and have your words counted toward the total.

7-The winner--whoever has the most words written in their four hours--will be posted Tomorrow, Wednesday, November 3rd here on the PEG blog. The winner will receive their choice of a $50 gift card to Amazon.com or 50 pages of a content edit from one of the Precision Editing Group editors.

Ready, set, go...

Write-A-Thon Contest TODAY

At 4:00 p.m. MST, Precision Editing Group will be sponsoring our 2nd Write-a-Thon and we're inviting writers to show us how many words you can write in 4 hours! This will also be a great kick off for those of you who are doing NaNoWriMo.

The contest will open at 4:00 Mountain Daylight Time and end at midnight (You choose the best 4 hours during that period of time, or break it up and track your time). The person who writes the most words will receive their choice of a $50 Amazon.com gift card OR a 50 page content edit by one of the Precision Editing Group Editors.

Here's how it will work:

1-The Write-a-thon will officially begin at 4:00 Mountain Daylight Time.

2-The blog titled "Write-a-Thon Starts Now!" will post at 4:00 MDT--you need to enter your starting time and starting word count in the comment section of the blog when you begin.

3-Write for four hours--set a timer if you need to!

4-When finished, come back to the PEG blog and put your end time, end word count, and total words written in those 4 hours as another comment on the blog.

5-All "end time" posts must be posted by 12:15, Mountain Daylight Time (we're giving you 15 minutes to tally your numbers). To calculate your times based on where you live, go HERE and educate yourself about time zones.

6-Please be honest about your word count and use your time to write REAL words. You are your own time/word keeper and we are trusting that none of our dearly beloved readers would sell their integrity for $50 or 50 pages :-) You must have posted a start comment AND an end comment to be eligible to win either of the prizes.

7-The winner will be posted on Wednesday, November 3rd here on the PEG blog.

We'll also be adding up everyone's words, think we can hit 100,000 words in one night?

Feel free to spread the word to other writers (Facebook, Twitter, personal blogs), wherever they may live--send them here to read up on the specifics. This contest is open to anyone, anywhere. While the prizes are a perk, the true challenge is to see how much you can do in a four hour period of time dedicated to writing. Order pizza for the kids, turn off the phone, TIVO Letterman, and let your fingers go.

*Please ask any questions here, we'll answer them as soon as possible.

Write-A-Thon Contest TOMORROW!

Tomorrow is the big day! We will be holding our Write-A-Thon contest. Winner receives 50 page free edit OR $50 Amazon gift card.

Details HERE!

Spread the word!

Interview with author Brian Thornton

Welcome, Brian, to our writing blog. We’re excited to hear about your writing journey and how, as a history teacher, you decided to write informational non-fiction books for kids and adults.



Heather: First of all, congratulations on your review from the Washington Post for your most recent book, The Book of Bastards: 101 Worst Scoundrels and Scandals from the World of Politics and Power. The title alone pretty much describes what the book is about, but I loved this quote from the Post: “The wonder is that Thornton, a Seattle-based teacher who has stood before students at every level from sixth grade to college, finds only 101 bastards in our more than 200-year history. I smell a series.” So let’s talk about that first. Is there a sequel in the works?

BRIAN: The short answer is ‘yes, there is a sequel of sorts in the works for The Book of Bastards’. The longer answer is more complicated. The Book of Bastards deals solely with political corruption/economic villainy in American history, and while it would have been easy to populate the pages of several more books with American bastards, we’re doing something a little different with the follow-up, a book with a working title of The Book of Ancient Bastards. This one deals with historical bastards from the ancient and medieval worlds. Roman emperors and medieval popes alone give us a rich tradition of notorious bastardry on a much earlier stage.

Heather: As a history buff myself, that one sounds very interesting! Your latest release is for adults, but you also have a series you write for kids called Everything Kids Series. Tell us how being a history teacher led to writing these books.



BRIAN: I was actually brought in to write those two books after my publisher (Adams Media) had already established a readership with its broad-based Everything Kids series. The Everything Kids’ Book of the States and The Everything Kids’ Book of the Presidents constituted a two-book deal of the type that the publishing industry calls “work-for-hire.” So since it wasn’t my original idea, and I didn’t pitch the work to the publisher, I don’t receive royalties, ebook/foreign rights, or anything along those lines for these projects; just a straight fee for writing the two books.

What happened was that an acquisitions editor at Adams Media was casting about for a history teacher to write these books, talked to my editor/long-time contact there, and was referred to me. I was just wrapping up an extensive and exhausting project (Teacher Miracles) and didn’t initially have much enthusiasm for taking on anything new. But the subject matter appealed to me, and it was hard to say “no,” when they came back with another offer.

So I wrote those two books (40,000 words apiece) in eight weeks. They turned out quite well and I was very pleased with the end result (even though they were work-for-hire, I came up with the chapter layout templates and quick information pieces myself. That was also a fair amount of work.). 2006 was a busy year for me. I wrote those two books and edited another one, all while also working a full-time job.

Heather: Wow—that’s amazing. No more excuses for not finding time to write. The more I meet other authors, the more I realize how versatile they are. This includes you! Tell us about what led you to compile the inspirational book, Teacher Miracles: Inspirational True Stories from the Classroom.



BRIAN: That book was probably more work (acting as the collection editor, soliciting stories, editing and re-editing them, etc.) than the actual writing of any two of my other books combined. I’m very proud of the end result, and of the fabulous teacher/authors with whom I worked to put that volume together. Many of them were first-time authors, and you wouldn’t have known it to read the end-result.

Heather: Teachers are amazing, and I’m glad you did the work to bring that book to the public. Non-fiction, history topic books aren’t you only forte. You’re published in a Noir Mystery anthology centered on stories that take place in Seattle. Are you dabbling, or are you pursuing the mystery genre as well? After all, I did meet you at Bouchercon—a mystery writers conference.

BRIAN: I don’t know many writers these days who don’t wear many hats. You can’t afford not to in the current publishing climate, especially when you’re getting offered money up-front for doing it.

I actually started out intending to be a mystery writer. I began work on my first novel in 1998 and finished it three years later, after any number of many false starts and detours.

I learned a lot from writing that novel; most importantly, I learned how not to write a novel. I also learned that writing is hard work, and that I had a lot of company in having written an initial novel that was more instructive than publishable. Authors even have a name for it: your “mistake novel.”

But I kept at it, revising that first novel, and taking the advice of a friend who worked in marketing, began to network. In 2004 came the opportunity to publish my first piece of nonfiction. Nonfiction has kept me hopping ever since.

During all that time I haven’t stopped working on fiction. But eight books in six years takes a toll on both your schedule and your energy level, so most of the things I wrote to continue honing my fiction chops were short stories. A couple of publications in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine led to my being asked by collection editor Curt Colbert (author of the Jake Rossiter novels) to submit a story for consideration for publication in Akashic Books’ Seattle Noir.

I dusted off an idea I’d had about back in grad school, while doing research on the Immigration and Naturalization Service’s profiles of Chinese immigrants looking to get around restrictive immigration laws back during the 1890s. The result was a short story called “Paper Son.”

And I’m getting back to fiction work once I wrap up The Book of Ancient Bastards. I’ve got a final draft of a mystery (this one a historical that takes place in 1840s Washington, D.C.) to finish.

Heather: I have one of those “mistake novels” (in fact, about 3). Your 1840’s DC mystery sounds very interesting. Every writer wants to know how an author got started and how he/she landed a publishing contract. What was your experience? Do you have an agent? Or did you submit directly to a publisher? Also, was Adams Media your first publisher?

BRIAN: In 2004 I got an opportunity to publish my first book. One of those connections I mentioned above was an editor who needed a book written about Abraham Lincoln by someone with a background in History. I have an M.A. in American/European History, so I fit the bill. The editor had read a draft of my “mistake” novel (God love her), and knew that I could write a good sentence. She asked me if I’d be interested in writing this one book on Lincoln as “work-for-hire.” I agreed to do it, thinking this would be a one-off.

Six years later I’ve got eight nonfiction books to my credit. This includes one that I’ve ghost-written for someone else, another that I wrote for the publisher (and for which I was paid), that they wound up “repurposing” into content for another book of theirs (when you write “work-for-hire,” you don’t control the presentation/publication of the work in question).

And that’s how I got my start. Adams Media was in fact my first publisher, I did submit directly to the publisher (although my work was solicited, rather than the result of a cold query). I didn’t have an agent to start with; I negotiated my own contracts for years because I didn’t have much time (I thought) to hunt for an agent. I do have an agent now, and my contracts/benefits/payouts are the better for it. She more than earns her cut.

Heather: You never know when a good relationship with an editor will pay off. And finally, what are the top three pieces of advice you’d give an unpublished writer?

BRIAN:
1. Thornton’s First Law: it costs you nothing to be gracious. If you’re going to ask someone for something (see networking below), be polite. Most authors I know are ridiculously generous with their time and sharing connections (it’s in their best interests to do so), but don’t ask to be referred to the agent of someone you just met, whose work you’re not familiar with, and who is just as busy trying to get ahead with their publishing career as you are.

2. Network, network, network. Join writers’ associations. Sisters in Crime has a great program for mentoring budding authors called “guppies.” International Thriller Writers has something similar (not too familiar with this one though). I got my first book contract as a direct result of a connection I made through Mystery Writers of America. It pays dividends, and it’s a great opportunity to make friends with other like-minded folks whose spouses/significant others’ eyes glaze over when they start trying to explain the plot of their latest novel to them.

3. Lastly, don’t screw around with negotiating your own contracts. If you get offered a boilerplate contract (as I have been repeatedly) by a publisher and you’re un-agented, MAKE THE TIME to beat the bushes for an agent. Anything you can negotiate (especially with little or no publishing track record) your agent will be able to improve upon. Don’t be afraid to ask for agent referrals; most agents only take on new clients that way. Of course, it’s a lot easier to request a referral from an author who knows and likes/respects you than it is to try to get one from one who’s signing you just attended.


Heather: Great advice, Brian. Amen 3x! Thanks for the interview, and I wish you all the best.

You can visit Brian's Blog Here

Or check out all of his books here.

What's everyone's good news?

Once in awhile we need good news.

Yesterday, a client of ours told me that she just got her first request for a "full" from an agent after Julie Wright revamped her query. For more info about the rejection game, read here.

So let us know if you have good news! And, as always, let us know if you have an upcoming release, and we'll post your cover on our blog.

These past couple of months have been extra busy for three of our editors. Annette Lyon, Julie Wright, and Josi Kilpack have all had book releases. Congrats ladies!

Write-A-Thon Contest!

On Tuesday, November 2, 2010, Precision Editing Group will be sponsoring our 2nd Write-a-Thon and we're inviting writers to show us how many words you can write in 4 hours! This will also be a great kick off for those of you who are doing NaNoWriMo.

The contest will open at 4:00 Mountain Daylight Time and end at midnight (You choose the best 4 hours during that period of time, or break it up and track your time). The person who writes the most words will receive their choice of a $50 Amazon.com gift card OR a 50 page content edit by one of the Precision Editing Group Editors.

Here's how it will work:

1-The Write-a-thon will officially begin at 4:00 Mountain Daylight Time.

2-The blog titled "Write-a-Thon Starts Now!" will post at 4:00 MDT--you need to enter your starting time and starting word count in the comment section of the blog when you begin.

3-Write for four hours--set a timer if you need to!

4-When finished, come back to the PEG blog and put your end time, end word count, and total words written in those 4 hours as another comment on the blog.

5-All "end time" posts must be posted by 12:15, Mountain Daylight Time (we're giving you 15 minutes to tally your numbers). To calculate your times based on where you live, go HERE and educate yourself about time zones.

6-Please be honest about your word count and use your time to write REAL words. You are your own time/word keeper and we are trusting that none of our dearly beloved readers would sell their integrity for $50 or 50 pages :-) You must have posted a start comment AND an end comment to be eligible to win either of the prizes.

7-The winner will be posted on Wednesday, November 3rd here on the PEG blog.

We'll also be adding up everyone's words, think we can hit 100,000 words in one night?

Feel free to spread the word to other writers (Facebook, Twitter, personal blogs), wherever they may live--send them here to read up on the specifics. This contest is open to anyone, anywhere. While the prizes are a perk, the true challenge is to see how much you can do in a four hour period of time dedicated to writing. Order pizza for the kids, turn off the phone, TIVO Letterman, and let your fingers go.

*Please ask any questions here, we'll answer them as soon as possible.

Guest Interview: Chuck Sambuchino

by Annette Lyon

I was thrilled to snag an interview with Chuck Sambuchino, part of the Writer's Digest family (a magazine I've been reading for over sixteen years).

Chuck is behind the Guide to Literary Agents blog and the editor of WD's annual directory of the same name.

He's also now the author of something new. In September, his new book hit shelves: How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack: Defend Yourself When the Lawn Warriors Attack (And They Will).

As someone with an insider's view to the agent world and as an author himself, Chuck is in an unusual position, and today, Writing on the Wall readers are lucky enough today to get a peek into his know-how. Below is our interview.

WOTW: In your experience with Guide to Literary Agents, what have you found to be some of the most common misconceptions about how to get an agent and/or what an agent does?

Chuck: One of the more common misconceptions is that you have to know somebody in the industry to get published. The truth is anyone anywhere can get published. All it takes is hard work, education and patience. As one agent once put it: “I will sign a guy living in a cave in the Ozarks if he can write.”

WOTW: What are some common missteps writers often make that turn off agents or sour a writer/agent relationship?

Chuck: I’m not sure if you’re talking about before they sign with an agent (the submission phase and first contact) or after, when they’re already together. I think you mean the latter. Problems in an agent-author relationship usually have to do with a lack of communication or one side not delivering on what they promised. If a writer agrees to do some major overhauls on the work prior to submission but then reneges, you’ve got a problem. If the agent is overloaded with other projects and has no time to dedicate to submitting your work to editors, there’s another problem. In other words, problems take all shapes and sizes—it’s a tough question.

WOTW: Many people describe the writer/agent relationship as courting and marriage, yet many writers are thrilled to get any agent. Why is the right agent for you more important than having any agent?

Chuck: Because if you have a bad relationship, then nothing gets done and you have to break up. And breaking up with an agent is much like a divorce would be, I imagine—horrible. You have to tell them they’re fired, and that is going to be one heck of an awkward conversation. And then you have to find another agent, who themselves are wondering why you broke up with the first agent. After all, it may be a sign you are a tough writer to work with. Whether that’s true or not, it may cross the second agent’s mind.

WOTW: You often remind readers that new agents are great opportunities. Elaborate on that: What benefits might a new agent have over an established one? What could be the downsides of having a new agent?

Chuck: Good question. New literary agents are usually in the course of actively building their client list. They are eager to sign writers and get submissions out there to editors and get those first sales on Publishers Marketplace. They still want excellent submissions and writers, but they are usually willing to give your work a longer look and consideration. (Keep in mind what I just said is usually true, but not always—once again showing that writing is full of principles, but has no hard-and-fast, 100-percent rules.)

The downside of having a newer agent (again, this is common so but not guaranteed) is that they have less experience and connections than an experienced agent.

WOTW: What lessons from your blog did you use in seeking an agent and going through the publishing process?

Chuck: I got an agent around the same time I started the blog, but I have followed my own advice through the process thereafter. I made writer friends because they are the ones to trumpet your book through social media. I sat down and wrote a lot. The publishing process is slow and real hit-and-miss. You need to write a lot to 1) succeed, and 2) keep your sanity. Lastly, I tried to have a good time doing it. Somebody in Hollywood once said, “If you’re writing a spec script and you’re not having fun, something’s wrong.” What they meant was: If you’re writing a project for you (rather than working on an assigned project for money), you better be having fun doing it. Otherwise, what’s the point?

WOTW: Describe your book and where the idea came from.

Chuck: How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack is the first and only survival guide against these little malicious garden dwellers. While gnomes pose as merry creatures of the earth, I believe they are actually little murderers that kill for sport. (I had many FBI files to prove this but they have all disappeared. Methinks the gnomes took them.) The book is a quick read and includes lots of color photographs of garden gnome shenanigans in action. It’s a good gift for that relative who loves to garden.

The idea for the book first came when thinking about The Full Monty (the 1997 movie). There is a scene with a garden gnome in there, and I started getting the heebie-jeebies during that scene because gnomes creep me out. Then it hit me that if garden gnomes creeped me out, certainly they creep other people, as well. I started writing some jokes and knew within an hour that there was a book there.

WOTW: How did you develop your pitch for Garden Gnomes?

Chuck: I took a ridiculous subject (safety prevention against garden gnomes) and then treated it with absolute seriousness and a dash of college professor vernacular. Luckily for me, I was able to easily show my agent/editor that readers enjoyed survival parody books (zombies, vampires, robots, etc.) and they also enjoyed garden gnome books—so putting them together would be an explosion of awesomeness.

WOTW: A regular feature on your blog has published authors listing seven things they've learned so far. As a writer yourself, name a couple of items that would make your list of things you've learned so far.

Chuck: I’ve already mentioned some in this speech—including the fact that we have to keep writing and not put all our eggs in one basket. Another one is to seek out new markets, including new agents. That’s about all I can say because I actually talk about my “7 Things” when speaking to writers conference audiences live. It’s a big speech I save for live audiences only as something special to give to them at events. I can’t put everything on the blog or else no one would come out to events! (If you want to see where I will be in 2010-2011 see HERE.)

WOTW: What's next for you?

Chuck: 1) Brainstorming more humor book ideas. 2) Deciding whether to rewrite kids novel #1 or move on to brand-new numero dos. 3) I’m writing two screenplays with a buddy and we’re excited about those projects, though we have no idea if they are going somewhere or not. 4) And of course, begin the next cycle of Guide to Literary Agents as well as Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market (the 2012 edition's due out next summer).

PEG: Many writers have quirks—rituals to find their zone, places to write, and so on. What's a writer quirk most people probably don't know about you?

Chuck: I typically listen to one song over and over again when writing a project. If I can find one song that gets the brain synapses firing, I have no problem listening to it over and over—even for weeks at a time if that’s what it takes. I will tell you that, for the last two large projects I wrote, the two songs that I listened to were “Heroes of Our Time” by Dragonforce, and “Walking in Memphis” by Marc Cohn. Don’t try to make sense of it all—you can’t. It’s just a quirk. Besides that, I am most creative very late at night.

Thanks, Chuck! Best of luck with your book!

Come to our All-Day Workshop

Precision Editing Group has been invited to teach the Friday Workshop for the League of Utah Writers annual writers conference. For more information and registration visit HERE.

Join us in Salt Lake City,Utah, on Friday, September 17, for an all-day, hands-on intensive workshop:

Topic:

From Plotting to Final Draft: Getting Your Manuscript Ready to Compete

Heather Moore, owner of Precision Editing Group, and four senior editors will teach this in-depth, hands-on workshop: From Plotting to Final Draft: Getting Your Manuscript Ready to Compete. Publishers and agents receive thousands of submissions each year. More so than ever, your book concept needs to stand above the rest, and your writing needs to be tight and carefully edited. Come ready to write, to learn, and to discover how to take your manuscript to next level.

About the instructors:

Josi Kilpack writes women’s fiction and suspense. She’s an award-winning suspense author and has published nearly a dozen novels, her most recent includes the best-selling Sadie Hoffmiller mystery series.

Annette Lyon is the award-winning author of several contemporary and historical novels, as well as the popular grammar guide, There, Their, They’re: A No-Tears Guide to Grammar from the Word Nerd, and the upcoming cookbook, Chocolate Never Faileth.

Heather Moore owns and manages Precision Editing Group. She is also an award winning author of seven historical novels and one non-fiction work.

Lu Ann Staheli is a Best of State winner for Educator, K-12 grade. She is the co-author of the recent memoirs, When Hearts Conjoin: The True Story of the Herrin Twins (also 2010 Best of State winner), and Psychic Madman.

Julie Wright is the author of several YA novels, both contemporary and fantasy, including the science fiction series, The Hazzardous Universe, which is blasting off February 2011.

Pyschic Madman

No, we're not calling you all psychic madmen . . .

Congrats to our senior editor and writing coach, Lu Ann Staheli, on the recent release of her new book she co-authored with Jim Karol, entertainer and memory expert. Check out Psychic Madman on Amazon.



As always, we are happy to post your book covers here. Let us know of your successes!

Spot Check

by Heather Moore


So, how is everyone's summer going? What are you working on?

I'm writing a new book this summer (well, I started in March), so it's been very interesting. In the past I haven't committed to a serious writing project in the summer.

My goal is 2,000 words a day, and for the most part it's been doable. If the day is more busy than usual, then I get up early, if not, then I can usually get in a couple of hours in the afternoons. I've found that I have to seriously limit blog-surfing in order to make true progress :-) Although, I can't really resist all of the time, especially when posts like this pop up from Janet Reid, Literary Agent.

What are your tricks for finding time for summer writing?

Monday Mania--Query Letter

One of our readers submitted a query letter for critique. Feel free to make comments, but please keep them constructive.

Critique Archive 0038:

Dear Ms. ______________________

He’s not in heaven, she’s no angel . . . and he’s her punishment.

Where Paradise Lies, a 98,000-word paranormal adventure, tells the story of two brothers: selfish and charismatic David Jenner, and good-hearted but easily manipulated Will Jenner. While being robbed, one is killed and the other mortally wounded. The surviving Jenner wakes on an uninhabited island with no idea how he got there or who he is. Unable to escape, Jenner’s prayers seem answered when a beautiful woman washes ashore. Then she says she knows him and he’s evil. She explains that they’re both in comas and the island is Purgatory. Fears, prejudices and growing attraction surface as they search for the purpose of their conjoined asylum. Then Jenner wakes up in his body. His memory is back and that makes all the difference. The clock is ticking. A comatose woman lies waiting. And drastic measures must be taken. The worst part is—the happily-ever-after involves dying.

I have two published novels, am a member of the League of Utah Writers, and have led a critique group since 1999. I am also a professional artist and have spent the last eleven years drawing portraits of deceased people in the arms of Jesus. I’ve interacted with the dying and bereaved, and see their innate cravings for peace. I’ve heard more than a few tragic stories, some with miraculous bitter-sweet endings. After years of reflection on the questions of life and death, the result is Where Paradise Lies.

May I send sample chapters and a synopsis, or the full manuscript? Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

AUTHOR

Encl.: SASE

Teen Writers Conference

THE TEEN WRITERS CONFERENCE

Pass on the information to teens in your area who are interested in becoming published authors.

Precision Editing Group is a sponsor of the annual Teen Writers Conference. Registration Deadline is May 25, 2010. This year, space is limited, so please register asap.

For more details and registration information, visit the website HERE.

Guest presenters Janette Rallison, Dan Wells, and Lisa Mangum, as well as many other published authors.

Saturday June 5, 2010

Weber State University in Ogden, Utah

Classes on everything from writing a first novel to finding the right publisher for your book.

The popular Writing Contest is back!

Agent Tips from Storymakers 2010

by Heather Moore

Laura Rennert & Heather Moore

Over the weekend, I attended the Storymakers Conference in Provo, Utah, with my fellow editors and 450 other writers.

I was lucky to host Laura Rennert, a talented agent with Andrea Brown Literary Agency. She had great advice, along with agent, Nephele Tempest, of The Knight Agency (it was fun learning to pronounce Nephele's name and we all agreed she should be an actress with such a fine stage name--Neh feh lee). Both agents were friendly and outgoing women who were simply a delight to hang around with.

I think the most interesting thing about listening to an agent speak is learning what their preferences are. Most of their advice is the same across the board. Bottom line, they are looking for good writers with compelling stories.

Nephele Tempest told us to not be afraid when pitching to agents--they are just people who love books and are fortunate to work in an industry they love.

I liked that. I love books and therefore, it already gives us writers a lot in common with agents.

Laura Rennert made a point of saying that publishing contracts vary by quite a large degree. But she told us not to get caught up in the number or the size of the publishing house. She said that the books she represents will find the right home for that particular book. She also talked about fine-tuning your craft in her workshop. Out of the criteria that she considers when reading a submission, she said that voice is the hardest thing to edit. And her advice on finding the right voice for your work? Write. A Lot.

Conference Tips

by Annette Lyon

The entire Precision Editor Group staff will be at a writers conference this weekend as presenters. We love participating, both as speakers as well as attendees.

Conferences are a great place to do lots of things:

Learn the craft.

The first conference I attended was nearly 14 years ago. In that time, I've had the chance to listen to some amazing (and, okay, some less-than-stellar) speakers. I know a lot about writing, but I can always learn more. I attended a friend's class a few years ago simply to support her. While most of the workshop was a review for me, I still learned . . . and came away with some fantastic ideas for developing my characters further. There's always a nugget to be learned, regardless of how "good" you are.

Learn the industry.

I recall attending a conference where the visiting agent was getting questions that I thought were elementary. It wasn't until that moment that I realized that six years prior, I hadn't known the answers to those very questions. I'd come a long way!

Meet other Writers.

Some of the people who are now my best friends are those I met through conferences and other writing networks. Writing is a rather solitary profession; it's just you and your keyboard. I'm still amazed at the positive impact that a strong support network of friends who GET what being a writer means (and have been there, done that) can be.

Meet Industry Insiders.

As unfair as it sounds, the reality is that very often it's not necessarily the best manuscript that gets published. Often it's who knows who and what manuscript lands on the right person's desk on the right day. The more writers, editors, agents, and other professionals you know, the greater the chance of reaching the right person when your time comes.

As we've mentioned before, these kinds of meetings can sometimes happen in pitch sessions and manuscript review appointments. Prepare for them, but be professional. Don't stalk the agent and start with your elevator pitch WHILE IN THE ELEVATOR.

Recharge Your Batteries

Even if you think that you won't learn much from a particular conference, chances are that if you go, you'll leave pumped to write and improve. I know that every spring after this conference, I come home jazzed to get back to the keyboard and do what I love most: WRITE.

I can hardly wait for this weekend to arrive, when I get to see the friends who understand me best, be immersed in the writing world, and come home totally on fire.

Write-a-Thon Winners!

What a night! Thank you to each and every one of you who participated, it is amazing what we can do when we block out that time. What a fun experience this has been. We had 29 participants for a total of 106,005 words!

So, without further adieu, here are your winners:

Word Count Winner: Sarah Eden @ 8991 words

*She wins either a 50 page edit from PEG or a $50 gift card to Amazon.com. Way to go Sarah! She just couldn't bring herself to write 9 more words I guess :-)

Random Winner: Jade Simmons

*She wins a $30 gift card to Amazon.com, Congrats Jade! She also wrote 3,954 words--awesome!

AND, because our total was over 100,000 words we have a third winner:

Word Total Random Winner: Amy

*She wins BOTH a copy of my There, They're Their: A No-Tears Guide to Grammar from the Word Nerd AND a hand-bound blank journal from Pendragon's Bookbinding. Congrats Amy! She also wrote 5,206 words!

Thanks again for being a part of the first PEG Write-a-thon. We'll do it again.

(winners, please e-mail Josi at kilpack@gmail.com with your address so we can get your prizes to you.)

START Write-a-Thon April 8, 2010

This was supposed to post automatically, but maybe it was on East Coast time. Sorry. It's 4:22 now so . . .

Rev up your engines, it's time to get this party started!

Here's a repeat of the rules-and-or-processes for tonight's write-a-thon:


1-Enter your starting time and starting word count in the comment section of this blog. Contest is open from 4:00 pm, April 8 to 12:15 am, April 9.

3-Write for four hours--set a timer if you need to! (You can take breaks, but track your time!)

4-When finished, come back to this blog and put your end time, end word count, and total words written in those 4 hours in the comment trail.

5-All "end time" posts must be posted by 12:15, Mountain Daylight Time (we're giving you 15 minutes to tally your numbers). To calculate your times based on where you live, go HERE and educate yourself about time zones.

6-Please be honest. You are your own time/word keeper and we are trusting that none of our dearly beloved readers would sell their integrity for $50 or 50 pages :-) You must post a start comment AND an end comment to be eligible to win and have your words counted toward the total.

7-The winner--whoever has the most words written in their four hours--will be posted Tomorrow, Friday, April 9th here on the PEG blog. The winner will receive their choice of a $50 gift card to Amazon.com or 50 pages of a content edit from one of the Precision Editing Group editors.

**Bonus prize: If all participants combined word counts meet or exceed 100,000 words an additional prize drawing will be held for a hand crafted journal from Pendragon's Bookbinding.

Ready, set, go...

Write-a-Thon **NEWS** and Tips

by Annette Lyon

Are you ready for Thursday evening?

You know what I'm talking about, right? The big Precision Editing Group Write-a-Thon!

You know the basics:

• Write for FOUR hours between 4:00 pm and midnight, Thursday, April 8, MDT.
• Enter your start time and beginning word count (if applicable) on the post that will be up then, titled, "The Write-a-Thon Starts Now!"
• Track your 4-hour block (set a timer if you need to so you don't go over).
• Come back and post your finishing time and your total words written during the 4 hours.

PRIZES: So here's the fun part!

• The person who writes the MOST words will receive a $50 gift certificate to Amazon.com OR a 50-page content edit from Precision Editing Group.
• One participant (selected at random) will receive a $30 gift certificate to Amazon.com

PRIZE UPDATE!

To encourage as many people as possible to participate, we've added a third prize, courtesy Pendragon's Bookbinding, who hand-sew blank journals. (Check out their website HERE. Their work really is a nearly lost art.)

One participant, again chosen at random, will win BOTH a copy of my There, They're Their: A No-Tears Guide to Grammar from the Word Nerd AND a hand-bound blank journal from Pendragon's Bookbinding . . . IF . . .

Yes, there's a catch: The journal (a writer's best friend, no?) and my grammar guide will be awarded ONLY if all participants' word counts written during the 4-hour marathon add up to more than 100,000 words.

That means in order for anyone to win a third prize, we need lots of participants!

So spread the word far and wide on your blog, via Twitter, and Facebook! Let's get as many people doing this as we can so someone can win prize #3!

Write-a-Thon TIPS:

I've done a few all-day writing marathons (8-10 hours each), and here are a few things I've learned that can make the time more productive than if you sit down and plunk your fingers on the keyboard cold:

• Think ahead, very specifically, to what you'll be writing. Consider going so far as writing a list of scenes you know are coming. A few key words or a sentence that will trigger your memory is plenty.
• Make your scene list 50% longer than you think it needs to be. This helps in two ways: not only will you have plenty to work with and not run out of material at 3.5 hours, but if you end up stuck on one scene, you can easily abandon it and jump to another one--without losing valuable time trying to work through a block.
• Have snacks and water nearby. You may think you won't need them, but four hours can (actually, WILL) result in brain fry and low blood sugar. Small snacks like cut-up apples, a little container of raisins, something with protein like nuts, or (because who are we kidding) some chocolate can help you keep writing . . . and prevent you from getting up to check the pantry.
• Plan on tiny breaks, then take them, but make them brief. Yes, technically you may lose 5 minutes here and there if you get up to walk around. But I've found that simply pacing the house for a few minutes is enough to get the juices flowing again. It helps your muscles AND your brain unkink, making you more productive when you sit back down (and more than making up for lost minutes).
• Do NOT use breaks for replenishing snacks. Mini breaks are meant to get your brain and body back into gear. If you spend them staring into the fridge, you'll not only get sidetracked, but your brain won't be taking the pit stop it needs (instead, it'll be contemplating salami versus bologna, Monterey jack versus cheddar).
• Write with a buddy. As long as the two of your are both committed to writing and not chatting, a buddy can keep you on track. Hearing another person's keyboard clicking away can be just enough to keep your fingers going (much like having a buddy in a race can keep you taking the next step and the next).

I can't wait to get started on my write-a-thon, and I hope we have lots of participants.

Good luck, everyone! Let's crack 100,000 together!

Write-a-Thon Contest!

On Thursday, April 8, 2010 Precision Editing Group will be sponsoring a Write-a-Thon and we're inviting writers to show us how many words you can write in 4 hours! The contest will open at 4:00 Mountain Daylight Time and end at midnight (You choose the best 4 hours during that period of time). There will be two winners. The person who writes the most words will receive their choice of a $50 Amazon.com gift card OR a 50 page content edit by one of the Precision Editing Group Editors. An additional winner will be chosen from everyone who participated in the write-a-thon. This winner will receive a $30 gift card to Amazon.com and be chosen through www.random.org.

Here's how it will work:

1-The Write-a-thon will officially begin at 4:00 Mountain Daylight Time.

2-The blog titled "Write-a-Thon Starts Now!" will post at 4:00 MDT--you need to enter your starting time and starting word count in the comment section of the blog when you begin.

3-Write for four hours--set a timer if you need to!

4-When finished, come back to the PEG blog and put your end time, end word count, and total words written in those 4 hours as another comment on the blog.

5-All "end time" posts must be posted by 12:15, Mountain Daylight Time (we're giving you 15 minutes to tally your numbers). To calculate your times based on where you live, go HERE and educate yourself about time zones.

6-Please be honest about your word count and use your time to write REAL words. You are your own time/word keeper and we are trusting that none of our dearly beloved readers would sell their integrity for $50 or 50 pages :-) You must have posted a start comment AND an end comment to be eligible to win either of the prizes.

7-The winner will be posted on Friday, April 9th here on the PEG blog.

We'll also be adding up everyone's words, think we can hit 100,000 words in one night?

Feel free to spread the word to other writers (Facebook, Twitter, personal blogs), wherever they may live--send them here to read up on the specifics. This contest is open to anyone, anywhere. While the prizes are a perk, the true challenge is to see how much you can do in a four hour period of time dedicated to writing. Buy hot dogs for the kids, turn off the phone, TIVO Letterman, and let your fingers go.

*Please ask any questions here, we'll answer them throughout the week.

Recent Release by Annette & Update Your Status!

Updated 3/26/10

Dear Readers,

As a reminder, if any of our "followers" have a book published, we'd be happy to post the good news here! One thing that is unique about Precision Editing Group is that all of our editors are published writers. So we really understand the challenges of writing, editing, and publishing.

Congrats to Annette Lyon (PEG Editor) who has a new book out: Band of Sisters

Daron Fraley, one of our readers, just had a new book released: The Thorn. (Thanks for letting us know!) Congrats, Daron!

So what is everyone working on this month? Writing? Editing? Submitting?

Songs About Writer's/Writing

By Josi S. Kilpack

Thanks for all the great suggestions on movies about writers last week, I was reminded of some I'd forgotten and made aware of other's I had never heard of. It got me thinking about another topic--songs about writers/writing. Here's what I came up with, please add others you know:

Unwritten by Natasha Beddingfield
Paperback Writer by The Beatles
Dancing in the Dark by Bruce Springsteen
Everyday I Write the Book by Elvis Costello
Shadow Stabbing by Cake
Lady Writer by Dire Straits
She's not Just a Pretty Face by Shania Twain (okay, that one's a stretch, but she does say Romance Novelist in it :-) 

Monday Mania--First Page

One of our readers submitted a first page for critique. A first page of a manuscript must hook an agent or editor. Feel free to make comments, but please keep them constructive.

Critique Archive 0037:

Maren sat on the bathroom floor often.

She liked to feel the cold floor through the fabric of her clothes and hear the quiet echo of closed in noises bouncing off the hard tile walls. Sometimes she even liked to turn the shower on, to hide the sound of her crying.

But today isn't a day of turning on the shower; She doesn't want the sound to go down the drain with the wasted water.

All she wants is to be alone. Just Maren and the razor.

The small sharp piece of metal gleamed invitingly on the white tile as she stared at the back of the shut door. The wood's grain patterns she'd memorized seemed a dull place to being focusing on and she felt tears come as she realizing what she was about to do.

Then she criticized herself for being a coward picked the small blade up, grasping it firmly between her forefingers and thumb and immediately brought it down and across the thin layers of skin stretched over her left wrist.

The flesh opened and spewed up life, blood, and she hissed, dropping the blade to the ground.

The gash burned harsh and hard like a fire consuming her nerves, making her writhe in pain.
“Ah. Ah. Ah.” she panted, her eyes wide. But slowly the burning faded out and she felt herself relax.

She knew it was coming, the release, and she welcomed the growing wooziness as she felt herself become weaker and weaker.

She took one last look through droopy eyes at the enlarging scarlet puddle covering the stark white tile.

“Mine...” She mumbled, watching her blood spreading outward until she could no longer hold onto consciousness and she slumped down, sprawled over the wet floor.

Movies About Writers

By Josi S. Kilpack

I was pondering this week on the many movies where the plot revolves around writers and was surprised at just how many I could come up with, and yet I know there are some I've missed. So, I'm going to present my list, and I'd love for you to fill in the ones I missed.



Stranger than Fiction


The Secret Window


Misery


Romancing the Stone


Jewel of the Nile


Martian Child

Finding Neverland


Capote


Finding Forrester


The Shining



So, what did I miss?

Monday Mania--First Page

One of our readers submitted a first page for critique. A first page of a manuscript must hook an agent or editor. Feel free to make comments, but please keep them constructive.

Critique Archive 0036:

Anxiety. It started with anxiety. I’m twenty-four years old, but in the mornings, I feel anxiety when I’m alone. But only on the mornings when it’s early enough to still be dark outside. Darkness like a suffocating murderer waiting to creep inside, slip under the bathroom door like smoke, surround my vulnerable throat and twist and choke until it’s over. I get scared in the shower, when I start to hear the noises and sense a stranger coming into my house and breaking down the bathroom door so he can do what he wants.

When I was in junior high, my mom and stepdad would leave at 6 a.m. some mornings, and I would be alone in the house, in the bathroom getting ready, while the darkness was getting closer. I talked to a counselor about it, about my anxiety. He told me to write down what I felt. All I could write was that I was scared, and I didn’t know why. I wasn’t ready to know why. The counselor told me I had to talk myself out of thinking that way, I had to calm myself down. He tried to put me on Prozac because a pill will solve anything. But not what’s inside of me. I tried two different counselors and then gave up on “therapy.”

The little girl didn’t talk to me then. Or maybe I just wasn’t listening. I didn’t know she even existed.

Panic. He had a beard. I hate beards. They brought him over so I could hang out with him. I had to go out with this guy, my brother-in-law’s brother, but I didn’t want to. I’d had one boyfriend before for about a month, but I didn’t like dating much. I could like a guy until he liked me, and then I was done. My sister really wanted me to go out with this guy, she wanted me to get out more. I started to panic, said I had homework. I didn’t freak out until after they left. My mom asked why I didn’t go.

She started yelling, “I don’t want to go! They were making me. I’m scared. I don’t want to go. I’m scared. I’m scared.” Over and over. She cried. Hard and long. She sobbed. She hid in my bedroom. She curled up into a ball, and I rocked her back and forth, back and forth. She could only speak tears. I felt her fear. She was so scared. She rocked and cried.

Mom said it was a panic attack and started to really worry about me.

Monday Mania--Query Letter

One of our readers submitted a query letter for critique. Feel free to make comments, but please keep them constructive.

Critique Archive 0035:

Date

Dear Editor/Agent,

Watched is a young adult romantic suspense novel about fifteen year old Christy Hadden, who finds her life changing more from the attention of two boys than witnessing a brutal murder.

A complete social outcast at home, Christy sets off to change her life on a school trip to Washington D.C. After witnessing the murder of a Senator’s aide, not only are the eyes of the terrorists and the FBI on her, but also the eyes of two hot boys. Choosing between them will prove even more difficult than helping uncover the terrorists’ plot. Alex sends her heart racing, leading her to do things she wouldn’t normally do, while Rick makes her feel safe and secure in her own skin. She must discover if what she has learned about boys and right and wrong holds true in the real world, risk feeling the guilt that comes with choosing to go against what she has been taught, and discover what she truly believes and values.

Being a teacher, and having won an award for my writing, I wanted to write a book my own students would love to read. Watched will captivate teens as they identify with Christy’s desire to change, the excitement and pain associated with it and the inevitable discovery of those pieces of herself she is unwilling to alter.

The completed manuscript of 95,000 words is available upon request. Thank you for your generous time. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Monday Mania--Query Letter

Two of our readers submitted query letters for critique. Feel free to make comments, but please keep them constructive.

Query #1
Critique Archive 0033:

Dear ______________

I’m seeking representation for my completed, 65,000 word, middle-grade fantasy entitled, Little Pig, Little Pig.

When Eli, a 1950’s farm boy, receives a pair of magical, mind-reading piglets from an anonymous sender, he thinks it’s the beginning of something wonderful. What the boy doesn’t realize is that the pigs have been delivered because of his habit of telling tall tales. The more Eli lies, the faster the pigs grow and the hungrier they become. When his pigs take to secretly raiding neighboring feed supplies and even harming other animals and people, Eli’s impoverished farming community is in danger of financial ruin and even serious injury. Eli must stop the pigs before they hurt anyone else but the pigs have multiplied and the boy discovers they intend to force him to mail their offspring to other deceitful children. Can Eli defeat the products of his own dishonesty before they destroy other families and towns? Or is it too late to tell the truth and make up for what he has done?

I would appreciate the opportunity to send you a few chapters, or the entire manuscript of Little Pig, Little Pig at your request. Feel free to contact me via phone, email, or the enclosed SASE. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

AUTHOR


Query #2
Critique Archive 0034:

Dear _______

Michael Anderson has never set foot on Earth, but it haunts him as much as the fear that he will never live up to the legacy of his astrophysicist parents. So when his parents construct mankind’s first artificial, traversable wormhole, he sets out on the mission to explore the source of a mysterious signal coming from the other side—a signal originating from an eerily Earth-like world.

Twenty light years from home, an ancient alien ghost ship materializes in mid-space and starts to chase them down. To make matters worse, Terra, Michael’s mission partner, begins acting strangely, avoiding him and refusing to share her work. As the ghost ship draws nearer, Michael must answer: what do the aliens want? Why won’t they respond to his transmissions? What caused the alien civilization on the surface of the world to disappear? And is Terra the one going insane—or is it him?

Genesis Earth is a 73,000 word science fiction novel. While it stands on its own as a complete story, it has potential for at least two sequels. I have one short story published in the January 2010 issue of The Leading Edge (Brigham Young University’s science fiction & fantasy magazine), and in past years I have won first and second place in the annual Mayhew short story contest at BYU.

Thank you very much for your consideration. As noted in your submission guidelines, I have enclosed ______.

Cordially,


AUTHOR

Kelli Stanley: From Small Press to Big Success

Interview by Heather Moore

Welcome, Kelli, to our writing blog. We’re excited to hear about your writing journey and how you went from getting your first mystery novel, Nox Dormienda: A Long Night for Sleeping, published with a smaller press to landing a contract with a major publisher for City of Dragons.

Heather: First of all, congratulations on your starred reviews from Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Booklist for City of Dragons! Pretty amazing to say the least. But first things first . . . I recently read your award-winning mystery novel, Nox Dormienda (an Arcturus mystery) and really enjoyed the classic Roman noir setting. Tell us about the beginnings of your publishing career with this first book.

Kelli: Heather, thank you so much for having me over! It’s an honor to be here at Writing on the Wall. And thank you very much for the kind words! I wrote NOX DORMIENDA just a few years ago when I was in graduate school, earning a Master’s degree in Classics. It was the first novel I ever tried to write, but I’d written “stuff” my whole life, from poetry to screenplays. I wanted to do something creative with my degree—and my life. My choices were really to either go forward in academia, pursuing a Ph.D., or try something new. So inspired by the success of writers like Stephen Saylor and Lindsay Davis, I took the plunge and wrote NOX, which combines my love of noir and hardboiled fiction and film with the history and culture I’d spent so much time studying.

Contrary to expectations, I found an agent immediately—the first agent I queried, in fact. However, she moved out of the country and I was left—in my graduating semester—with very few prospects. That was a scary time, let me tell you. And to compound the stress, I was operating in a vacuum of ignorance. I knew no one in the community, I wasn’t a member of any organization—no Sisters in Crime, no Mystery Writers of America. I’m kind of mule-headed (some in my family might say VERY mule-headed, lol!), and I just didn’t feel comfortable investing any money in myself if all this publishing stuff was a pipe dream. So I wasn’t sure what to do. My former agent suggested I submit the manuscript to Five Star, a small, library press—they get their books reviews and it seemed like a good place to start. I thought to myself, “Just get a toe in the doorway.”

So I sent the book to Five Star and I was accepted. And it was at that point that I started to actually believe in myself, and promptly tried to make up for all the lost time and join organizations and learn as much about the industry as possible. After this start, you can imagine my surprise and gratitude at NOX winning the Bruce Alexander and becoming a Macavity finalist last year.
Heather: That must have been a thrill to have NOX in such a prestigious way. You have written a sequel for Nox Dormienda, but that’s not the next book coming out. City of Dragons was picked up by Thomas Dunne/Minotaur and will be out February 2, 2010. How did you find your agent for this book and how long did it take to secure a publishing contract?

Kelli: There are a lot of characters and plots roaming around in my head, and I never planned to just focus on Rome—too limiting. My true love is mid-century America, particularly the 30s through the end of World War II. So I planned to write a novel with a female private detective, and I was going to set it in 1939, at the San Francisco World’s Fair—the Golden Gate International Exposition.

Now, once I realized that it would be very, very difficult—almost impossible—to get my first series picked up by a major publisher, I knew that writing another series would provide me a fresh chance. Fortunately, I’d written CURSED, the sequel to NOX, in just a few months—before I submitted NOX and while I was waiting to figure out what to do with my life.

So I wrote CITY OF DRAGONS. The book became darker, set in 1940, and while the Fair plays a role—and is actually the setting for a Miranda Corbie short story that’s coming in the FIRST THRILLS anthology in June—Chinatown is the backdrop.

In the meantime, I was without an agent, and knew I’d have to go through the tortuous process of finding one. A friend recommended her agency, I sent them my work, and found the absolutely best agent in the world—Kimberley Cameron, of Kimberley Cameron and Associates. I finished CITY OF DRAGONS a few months after NOX was published, and Kimberley put it on the market in the second week of January, 2009. The market fell out and I was petrified it wouldn’t sell. But three weeks later we had a deal with Thomas Dunne/Minotaur, and believe me—I couldn’t be happier. I adore my editor and my publishing team!
Heather: I’ve heard Kimberly Cameron is an excellent agent. Congratulations. I think every writer was holding her breath when the market went south. But you are one of the survivors. The cover for CITY OF DRAGONS is stunning, so kudos to your publisher's design department. What are some of the key things or mottos that you believe have attributed to your success as an author?

Kelli: My family, number one. They’ve believed in me from the beginning, and help prop me up through all the self doubt. And the generosity of this community—the crime fiction community—is unbelievable. I have been helped and supported by so many people … and one of my goals is to be able to give back in any way I can.

I also think it helps that my expectations are fairly realistic—I want to write full-time. That’s it! And I recognize that publishing is a business—that writing is a business, and that authors really need to look at themselves that way.

And, of course, perseverance counts the most. You just can’t give up, though there have been times that I’ve thought I should.

Heather: Perseverance is even more important than ever. The typical writing process can take years from writing, to submitting, to a book release. I think it’s important for novice writers to understand that the success we see splashed in the newspapers and magazines has been a long time in building up. What are your writing habits—and how long does it take you from idea to completion of a novel?

Kelli: I hold a day job, so writing has to be worked in around everything else. And though I use a loose outline, the plot also develops as I write—characters come in I don’t expect, etc. I prepare a certain amount of research ahead of time, too, but also research specifics as they come up. So all in all, I’m usually a fairly fast writer, but how long it takes to get to the finished product depends, like everything else, on other demands: day job, personal and family life … and certainly, all the editing, marketing, etc. that goes into launching a new book.

Heather: Like the rest of us, you are juggling many things. Gratefully, the internet has given authors instant access to self-promotion. How important is internet presence (websites, blogging, social sites) to your marketing?

Kelli: Enormously important. The internet is where most people receive their news, their impressions of what might interest them. The trick is to figure out what—of the million on-line opportunities out there—might work. I wish I had the answer! Social networking is fun—and when you spend a lot of time staring at a page, it’s great to take a break and connect with friends and readers. But—the downside—it can be an enormous time drain. So you have to constantly remind yourself, again, that you’re a business, and you don’t have time to harvest your crops in Farmville.

Heather: LOL. The other day I deleted about 30 requests for Farmville and finally blocked it. Based on your experience, would you advise an unpublished writer to submit first to small publishers or to find an agent?

Kelli: Unpublished writers, in my opinion, should ALWAYS seek an agent first. Even with a small press, agents will recognize a one-sided contract when they see it. If I’d had an agent when I signed my contract for NOX, we could have bargained for a much better deal in terms of length of ownership of rights, etc. All kinds of things you don’t think about—or at least I didn’t, because I didn’t know any better. An agent will protect you from getting taken advantage of because you want something—to be published—very, very badly. That’s their job, and they can and should be a writer’s best friend.

That said, it takes time and perseverance to find the right agent for you. Think of it like a marriage—you wouldn’t fly to Las Vegas together on the first query letter, so take the time to research the agents you submit your work to, take time to ask them questions. Research their reputations, email their clients. It’s a personal relationship as well as a business one, and it needs to click.

Heather: Research is so important. I had an agent once send me a contract and only after the fact did I do the research. Every author I contacted told me NOT to go with that agent. It would have saved me a lot of time and heartache if I’d done the research in advance. What additional advice would you give to those dreaming of becoming published writers?

Kelli: Take a piece of paper and paste this to your computer: Butt in Seat. That sums up what you have to do … sit there and focus and finish the book. Don’t send anything to anyone that is unfinished. Finish it, have done with it, make sure you’re happy with it, but don’t endlessly tweak it, either. Then start the query process.

And don’t repeat the mistake I made. Join Sisters in Crime, join International Thriller Writers and Mystery Writers of America! You’ll learn so much, and all of it will help. You’ll meet writers who might blurb your book when you get your contract, you’ll meet agents, you’ll learn about the industry. If you’re serious about being published, you have to be serious about the business, and these organizations will help.

Heather: Excellent advice. Tell us about the book(s) you are working on now.

Kelli: Right now, I’m working on the sequel to CITY OF DRAGONS—the working title is COUNTRY OF SPIDERS, but that may change. I’ve got a Miranda Corbie short story called “Children’s Day” coming out—it’s a prequel to CITY OF DRAGONS—in FIRST THRILLS: HIGH OCTANE STORIES FROM THE HOTTEST THRILLER WRITERS, the next ITW anthology. It’s full of stories by stellar writers and bestsellers like Michael Palmer and Jeffery Deaver next to stories by “up-and-comers”, and it’s edited by Lee Child—so you can imagine how thrilled I am to be there! The book comes out June 22 from Tor/Forge.

And the impossible did happen! My editor bought the sequel to NOX, so both series are now with Minotaur. CURSED should be out maybe at the end of this year, maybe early next year—I’m not sure yet. Meanwhile, I’ve got my hands full with the second Miranda book and launching CITY OF DRAGONS!

Heather: Congrats, Kelli, and thanks so much for taking time out of your busy promotion schedule! You can read Chapter 1 of CITY OF DRAGONS here. Also, visit Kelli Stanley's website for upcoming events, reviews, book trailers, interviews, and more.

Kelli: Thanks a million, Heather—it’s been absolutely wonderful to be here, and good luck to all your Writing on the Wall readers for success with their projects!