Anyone can call in and ask questions: At the appointed time, dial 1-857-232-0155 (long distance charges may apply, depending on your phone plan). Enter the Conference Code: 245657. To raise your hand and ask a question, dial 5*.To Mute yourself, dial4*.
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New interviews are being scheduled. Watch this space for details.
Tonight we were privileged to once again recieve a word from our Sponsor, David Farland. For this call, David was kind enough to illuminate for us the un charted waters of New Media, or "non traditional" media (Internet related media and e books) and how these new forms of information collection and distribution are already (and will potentially) change publishing as an industry and novel and short-story writing as a career.
Some of tonight's topics of discussion were:
Potential benefits and challenges of New Media for both established and aspiring authors.
Being more than an author: other facets of e publishing that are involved in publishing a book the New Media route.
Market trends: Where will they go?
For over an hour of discussion about this game changing development in the publishing world from a true industry professional, just push "Play".
Tonight we were privileged to talk to Janette Rallison, who is a master of YA romance. She has published 15 YA contemporary romance novels, 2 YA Fantasy (romance) novels, and, in October, will be branching out into YA Urban Fantasy (with romance). Her upcoming novel, SLAYERS, tells the story of a group of youngsters descended from a long lineage of ancient dragon slayers... whose skills are needed again in modern times when the dragons threaten mankind. Watch for it under the pen name of CJ Hill.
Janette shared with us all the tricks of writing a great romance. Though she focused on YA romance, she also taught us how to create a believable romantic subplot, why subplots are important, and the elements of any great romance.
Some highlights are:
Romantic (or, really, any) characters, should have Grit, Wit, and "It"
Romances are mostly for women--add them to "regular" books to attract a female audience
Romantic men should be a "catch"--Lord Somebody, or a talented high school artist
Romances are about wish fulfillment
Don't worry about the first draft so much--fix it later
Janette has generously agreed to give two of her books as prizes to two lucky callers/listeners:
How to Take the Ex Out of Ex-Boyfriend - Sixteen-year-old Giovanna Petrizzo finds it hard enough to fit in. Three years since her family moved to Texas, she’s still the newcomer compared to everyone around her. It doesn’t help matters when her twin brother, Dante, takes on the mayor’s son by running for class president. The least she could expect, though, would be for her boyfriend, Jesse, to support their cause. But Jesse’s apparent defection triggers Giovanna’s rash emotional side, and before she knows it, she’s turned Jesse from the boy of her dreams to the exboyfriend she dreams of winning back. UPDATE: And the Winner is... Erin Edwards!!
My Fair Godmother -Finding your one true love can be a Grimm experience! After her boyfriend dumps her for her older sister, sophomore Savannah Delano wishes she could find a true prince to take her to the prom. Enter Chrissy (Chrysanthemum) Everstar: Savannah’s gum-chewing, cell phone–carrying, high heel-wearing Fair Godmother. Showing why she’s only Fair—because she’s not a very good fairy student—Chrissy mistakenly sends Savannah back in time to the Middle Ages, first as Cinderella, then as Snow White. Finally she sends Tristan, a boy in Savannah’s class, back instead to turn him into her prom-worthy prince. When Savannah returns to the Middle Ages to save Tristan, they must team up to defeat a troll, a dragon, and the mysterious and undeniably sexy Black Knight. Laughs abound in this clever fairy tale twist from a master of romantic comedy.
UPDATE: And the winner is... Kathryn Packer Roberts!!
Here's how you win:
Required: Comment on this blog post
Certify that you listened to the call
Say which piece of advice was the most helpful to you
Say which book you’d rather win
Calculate Your Points:
2 Points for listening to the call live
1 Point for asking a question during the call (no extra points for extra questions)
1 Point for listening to the recording
Congratulations, Erin and Kathryn! Please email Robin with your snail-mail addresses: robinweekswriter at gmail dot com.
Lisa Mangum was our first editor guest. That's okay, though, because she's also the award-winning author of THE HOURGLASS DOOR, THE GOLDEN SPIRAL, and THE FORGOTTEN LOCKET. We talked to her tonight about her decade wading through the slush pile for Deseret Book and Shadow Mountain, where she still works as an Assistant Editor (with her own Editor's Assistant!).
She broke her advice down into ten simple tips regarding what we can and can't control about the publishing industry:
Five Things You CAN'T Control:
Publishing is a Business
Publishers want a book they can sell to hundreds of thousands of people--not just your mother and your neighbor
Authors who aren't willing to be business-like make it easier for the publisher to take a pass on their book
The number of manuscripts submitted in a given year
At Deseret Book, out of over 2000 yearly submissions, they will only publish around four
80% of those submissions aren't ready for publication
30-40% of those that aren't ready didn't follow the guidelines
The number of available slots a publisher has for new writers
Lisa has seen a debut author published every year she has worked for Deseret Book
If a publisher doesn't have room for a book, they can't publish it even if they love it
Other submitted manuscripts that are similar to yours
If they get four books on Themes in the Book of Revelation, they can only publish one
They will publish the one that they like best
An editor's mood
Lisa tries to do her critical work in the morning or after lunch
Don't put the editor in a bad mood by making your manuscript hard to get to
Five Things You CAN Control:
Do your homework
Think about the kinds of rights (foreign, movie, ebook etc) that are available so that you're ready to enter into a discussion about them
I first heard about Elana Johnson last year, soon after she'd signed her book deal to publish her debut novel, POSSESSION, a fun, snarky, YA dystopian. I was at a conference with her when she was awarded the prize for "Most Query Rejections in a Calendar Year" or something like that. To win the award, she had submitted 189 queries over the course of about 8 months and was rejected 188 times (you only need one agent to say yes, obviously). Through all the querying and rejections, she learned a lot about querying. Enough to write a book, in fact. So she did! Her free ebook FROM THE QUERY TO THE CALL is a wonderful compilation of what she learned.
On this call, Elana reviewed the basic parts of a query and explained what elements should be in each one. She used examples from real-life query letter drafts submitted by callers beforehand, and described what worked and what didn't.
The basic elements are as follows:
Introduction: Here, you show off your industry knowledge, and demonstrate that you know what THIS agent is looking for.
Hook: Should sum up the novel in one sentence, not be a question, and propel the reader to read the rest of the query.
The Set-up: As the bridge between the Hook and the Conflict, the Setup provides a few details about your world, your main character, and your setting, but is short (75-100 words). This is the catalyst that moves the main character into the conflict.
The Conflict: Tell what your character wants and what is keeping him/her from getting it.
The Consequence: What will happen if your main character doesn't solve the conflict? Leave the agent on a cliff-hanger, hungry to read more (in your manuscript). Try to craft this as a complement to your Hook, so your hook and your Consequence can work as a mini-query, and bring the query full-circle.
Everything else: I can't possibly summarize all the great advice she gave us on Marketing, Publishing Credits, word count, etc. You'll have to listen to the call. :)
I'm including Elana's own query blurb for POSSESSION, so you can see how a master crafts a query letter:
In a world where Thinkers brainwash the population and Rules are not meant to be broken, fifteen-year-old Violet Schoenfeld does a hell of a job shattering them to pieces.
After committing her eighth lame ass crime (walking in the park after dark with a boy, gasp!), Vi is taken to the Green, a group of Thinkers who control the Goodgrounds. She’s found unrehabilitatable (yeah, she doesn’t think it’s a word either) and exiled to the Badlands. Good thing sexy Bad boy Jag Barque will be going too.
Dodging Greenies and hovercopters, dealing with absent-father issues, and coming to terms with feelings for an ex-boyfriend—and Jag as a possible new one—leave Vi little time for much else. Which is too damn bad, because she’s more important than she realizes. When secrets about her “dead” sister and not-so-missing father hit the fan, Vi must make a choice: control or be controlled.
You want to read it now, don't you? Of course you do!
Thanks go to all those brave souls who sent in their queries, and extra thanks to Elana, for critiquing each one.
Tonight we spoke with Steven Gould, Science Fiction and YA author of the books: Helm, Reflex and Jumper and the soon to be released Seventh Sigma (Release Date: July 5, 2011). A cohesive narrative is integral to a successful story, be it in short fiction or novel format. An integral part of such a narrative, especially to maintain believability for your reader is, making sure:
When you set up a premise (or a consequence for a character's actions)make sure it pays off well in the end.
Your character's actions in your work are affected by their environment.
Too much tension for your characters without periods of rest tire your audience.
If you've ever read others works (or your own) and thought: "Hold on- why did they do that, again?!" and need to know how to fix or refine that aspect of your work, give this episode a listen!
Tonight we spoke with Larry Corriea, author of the Monster Hunter series and Hard Magic: Book One of the Grimnoir Chronicles. During our conversation this evening, Larry "The Action Guy" shared with us ways we can improve the pacing and the flow of the actions our characters choices (or the choices placed upon them by the circumstances we put them in) play out in our books or stories.
Improving the action in our writings can include (but is not limited to):
Balancing the amount of action vs the amount of characterization.
Making sure you as the author don't overstimulate your reader with Action sequences.
What "If its boring, fix it!" actually means.
Put on your "Big Boy" (or Girl) pants, sit down, belt up and hang on- Larry "The Action Guy" has something to tell ya!
You can access the MP3 here or you can listen to it below:
I have a friend at work who reads a lot of the same books I love. We're constantly trading book recommendations. One day, I stopped by her counter and she had this new book: SOULLESS by Gail Carriger. I read the back and couldn't wait to read the whole thing. It's an amazing comedic blend of Victorian steampunk and fantasy (think werewolves and vampires, out in society, winning wars for the crown and influencing fashion). I was hooked. I wasn't the only one: it was a NYT Bestseller, won an ALA award, and forced debut author Gail to learn a lot about the publishing industry, like NOW.
On this call, she shared her knowledge with us, for when it's our turn. Some (but not all, by a long shot) highlights:
It is still possible to be plucked from a publishing house slush pile.
Pick an agent who can help you negotiate a favorable contract, and who has time for you on her client list. (Gail's agent is Kristin Nelson of Nelson Literary Agency. Kristin also blogs at Pub Rants.)
Pick a publishing house with an editor you can trust to be professional, and with whom you can relate (Gail's publisher for the SOULLESS series is Orbit Books).
Your publisher's marketing efforts will likely correspond to the size of your advance.
There are a lot of things an author can do to market her own books--calling in favors is often involved.
Blending genres is cool, but can be confusing to marketing departments, bookstores, and other industry professionals. Be prepared to explain your book, but you might get to help design your cover. :) (Well, at least Gail did.)
If you perform well in public, your publisher will give you more opportunities to do so.
Publishing money comes in stages: upon signing, upon delivery, upon publication, upon winning of awards, hitting benchmarks, out-earning advance, etc. Don't expect a big fat check all at once.
Gail stayed extra long to answer caller questions and to make sure we knew everything she thought we should. Plus, she pointed us to this post on her blog, where she talks in detail about her post-sale events and marketing efforts. Be sure to check it out!
You can access the MP3 by clicking here, or you can listen to the call below.
Tonight we spoke with Larry Corriea, author of the Monster Hunter series and Hard Magic: Book One of the Grimnoir Chronicles. During our conversation this evening, Larry "The Action Guy" shared with us ways we can improve the pacing and the flow of the actions our characters choices (or the choices placed upon them by the circumstances we put them in) play out in our books or stories.
