Pardon our French...

One of my good friends, Mindy McGinnis from the Writer, Writer, Pants on Fire blog, has recently escaped the burning pit of submission hell (those of you who have been there, or are there still, know the truth behind that phrase) with a fantastic 2-book contract with Harper Collins, due out in Fall 2013.

Here's Mindy's PublishersMarketplace Announcement:

Mindy McGinnis's NOT A DROP TO DRINK, the story of a teenage girl surviving in a rural America where an ounce of fresh water is worth more than gold and death wanders the countryside as thirst, cholera, and the guns of strangers; when her mother dies in an accident, the girl must decide between defending her pond alone or banding together with a crippled neighbor, a pregnant woman, a filthy orphan, and a teenage boy who awakens feelings she doesn't understand, to Sarah Shumway at Katherine Tegen Books, in a good deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, by Adriann Ranta at Wolf Literary Services (World).

CONGRATS, girl!!

Mindy's not only a talented author, she's also a blogging WIZARD. She's come up with a whole slew of blog series ideas, and finds the funniest and most creative acronyms to represent them. One of my favorites, and most irreverent (but somehow even more fitting for that reason) is the S.H.I.T. (Submission Hell – It’s True) Interview, where she invites authors to talk about their submission journey once they've finally sold.

To celebrate Mindy's success, I thought it would be fun to have her interview herself using her own questions with my blog as host. So off we go!

Welcome, Mindy One and Mindy Two. You have the floor.

M1: How much did you know about the submission process before you were out on subs yourself?

M2: I knew quite a bit, due to the excellent crowd over at AgentQuery Connect, quite a few of whom are agented and / or published. I knew what to expect as far as the waiting process, although honestly it wasn’t all that bad in terms of length of time for feedback.

M1: Did anything about the process surprise you?

M2: A little. I had some passes from editors who loved the book but couldn’t get enough enthusiasm from others to actually make an offer. It was odd to think, “Wow, someone important loved this, but that wasn’t enough.” It takes more than one to get that cart rolling.

M1: Did you research the editors you knew had your ms? Do you recommend doing that?

M2: I did. I don’t know that I recommend doing it though, because it’s not like it helped me out in any way. Mostly it just made me antsy. Once I had some offers, THEN I did research. I needed to know what the best fit was going to be.

M1: What was the average amount of time it took to hear back from editors?

M2: Some were SHAZAAM fast, and those were all negative. So, I learned that waiting was a good thing.

M1: What do you think is the best way for an author out on submission to deal with the anxiety?

M2: Stay busy, in all things. I wrote, I cleaned, I read, I blogged. I didn’t let myself think about it.

M1: If you had any rejections, how did you deal with that emotionally? How did this kind of rejection compare to query rejections?

M2: Oh, I had rejections. It definitely hurt more than a query rejection, because it was like, “Not only do I reject your premise, but I reject your WRITING!! BWAA HA HA!!” *throws lightning bolt* OK, not really. My rejections were actually all very complimentary and explanatory about reasons for passing, which I did appreciate.

M1: If you got feedback on a rejection, how did you process it? How do you compare processing an editor’s feedback as compared to a beta reader’s?

M2: It was hard to process because some of it was directly contradictory to feedback I’d received the day before. My agent and I sat down in a phone conversation and culled through all our feedback at one point and we decided that a lot of what we were seeing was personal preference. However, there were one or two consistent points that weren’t working for editors, and we took that seriously.

M1: When you got your YES! how did that feel? How did you find out – email, telephone, smoke signal?

M2: I got my YES over email, as it came in late on a weekday evening. How did it feel? I literally slammed my laptop shut and took the Lord’s name in vain. Then I apologized to both the Lord and the laptop and opened it back up again. The email was still there. I was kind of freaked out. And I literally couldn’t sleep. I was up til 3 AM two nights in a row.

M1: Did you have to wait a period of time before sharing your big news, because of details being ironed out? Was that difficult?

M2: I had my first offer on a Wednesday, then a few more offers came in on Thursday. Adriann and I talked details and decided what the best fit was on Thursday evening, and my Publisher’s Marketplace announcement went up on Sunday. So no, I didn’t have to wait long. I told my family members, and they took my direction to keep it quiet very, very seriously. They whispered whenever they talked to me about it ☺

***

Thank you, Mindy(s)! Hee.

If any of you would like to see the query letter that started the ball rolling and won Mindy's agent, hop over here. Also, if you're looking for some inspiration, visit this post where Mindy gives a rundown of her ten year journey to success. It's a very inspiring story, and shows why tenacity and a tough hide are so important if you're serious about being an author.

Thanks for coming by! And please drop in tomorrow for my Trailer Thursday series. I have some pretty exciting news about Splintered to share. Until then, have a great Wednesday everyone!

Putting on my cowgirl boots and stepping out...

I'm guessing some of you popped over here in hopes to see me riding a mechanical bull. Sorry! Not today, although I might be willing to try that closer to my book's release date as a promotional event.

Hmm. On second thought, I'd like to keep my spine intact. ;)

I don't normally post on Fridays, except for Query Tracker Fridays, but I have a few exciting announcements to share before my weekend haitus.

First, I've been invited to take part in a joint blog where Texas YA paranormal authors hang out, write posts, and cross promote. The blog is called TeenShiver, and "will feature & nurture Texas YA books that make you shiver." (Thanks to Jordan Dane--one of our featured authors--for that excellent catch phrase!).  I'll be posting over there about twice a month, and during those weeks, it will be quiet here in the land of madness and whimsy. I'll give you a heads up when my posting days will be as soon as I know myself.

If you'd like to meet the TeenShiver authors, hop over to this link and say "howdy!" And anytime you're curious what's new over there, you can just click on the TeenShiver button on my sidebar (color coordinated to fit my blog's motif), and much like Aladdin, you'll be magically transported by magic carpet. Okay, you'll be transported via routers, servers, cell phone towers, satellites, etc... but it's the next best thing! And you don't have to worry about frayed edges. :)

My second announcement: I now have an official GoodReads author page. And Splintered even has a page of it's own where people can mark it as to read right now! And then wait patiently for ... oh, a year and a half-ish. :)

Click Me

This was so fun to set up, because it made me feel ... authorly. I know, it's not a real adjective, but what say we make it one for today? If any of you are on GoodReads, please friend me and I'll friend back! I'd love to see what you're reading.

And lastly, this Sunday (September 18th) I'll be hanging out at my good friend Mindy's blog: Writer Writer Pants on Fire, sharing my submission experience. So please drop in if you'd like to read a few behind the scenes details about my journey to finally snagging that elusive publisher.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you all have a wonderful, restful, and safe weekend! And I'll see you again next week. :)

QueryTrackers Making Tracks, #1

Today, we begin the official first of a series on successful authors. (For the unofficial first, hop over to my LiveJournal blog for an interview with Mindy McGinnis.)

Some of the authors I'll be spotlighting on Fridays have agents, others have found success in less conventional ways. But, one thing they all have in common is their use of the QueryTracker website, whether for information or emotional support. In some way or other, each of my upcoming guest posters have utilized this amazing online tool to help make their tracks in the publishing world.

For our official first QT author interview, I'd like to welcome Brenda St. John Brown, who recently signed with literary agent Marlene Stringer. If you're a fan of dancing Snoopies, and you'd like to read Brenda's representation story, click here.

Let's jump right in:

AGH: What genre(s) do you write?

Brenda: I write YA Contemporary. I've got a women's fiction that's about 50% complete, but I'm not sure I'll ever go back to it, although I still like the story line, so never say never, right?

AGH: What inspired your very first book?

Brenda: My first complete MS is a YA paranormal, inspired by all the paranormal I was reading at the time, no doubt. It's got some good points, the best being what it taught me about writing, characterization, moving the plot along, showing vs. telling...I could go on and on. My betas were incredibly helpful and I learned SO much from them that I then took and applied wholeheartedly to what I've written since. My current MS, SWIMMING TO TOKYO, is definitely better for it!

AGH:  How do you come up with titles?

Brenda: Titles are hard! My current MS is titled SWIMMING TO TOKYO and will likely be changed due to all that's happened recently in Japan.The title fits the book, but it might be inappropriate. So, I'll use my usual totally nonscientific method and scour Amazon to see if what I've thought of has already been taken (98% of the time it has) and then think about what's unique about my character or situation that could make a pithy title. I'm a fan of short titles, so the fewer words the better.

AGH: What scenes do you find most challenging when you write? 

Brenda: I try to visualize the scene as I write it, so emotionally charged scenes are difficult for me. I can "see" it but then choosing the words that match the pictures in my head -- without being too over the top -- can be a challenge.

AGH: Is there a message or theme that seems to be prevalent in your novels?

Brenda: Hmmm...well, there always seems to be a love interest/first love (because it's really fun to relive all of that excitement and angst when it's not actually happening to you). Difficult family situations seem to be prevalent, too...to add to that angst?

AGH: What books / authors have most influenced your own style and concepts?

Brenda: In current YA contemporary, I love Sarah Dessan and Sara Oeckler. I tried writing in first-person present after reading Meg Cabot this summer. And Margaret Atwood is my long-time absolute favorite. I wrote my grad school thesis on "The Robber Bride."

AGH: How did you find QueryTracker, and how did it aid you in your effort to get inside the publishing doors?

Brenda: I found QT via Elana Johnson's blog and have found it invaluable! From researching agents in my genre to helping write the query in the forums, I can't imagine going through the process WITHOUT it. People are so genuinely helpful and there's a great sense of community.

AGH: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything about your querying process?

Brenda: I'm a VERY cautious querier, so I'd probably send out more queries. I only sent out 13 queries, including the one I sent to Marlene. I've been lucky to land such a great agent so quickly, but I also learned a lot from the rejections I got and had some good feedback on a couple of rejected partials that I'll definitely think about when I'm doing edits.

AGH:  Can you share any current news with us?

Brenda: I just got my agent edits back this week, so am working on those. They're not as extensive as I feared and I'm excited to get those underway.

AGH:  Have you recently learned anything about the business side of publishing that you can share with up and coming writers?

Brenda: I've barely touched this side of things, so no, probably not.  I will say that I'm always surprised when I go over to the QT forums and I see people posting their query letters who say, "I've been getting a lot of rejections on this, so I thought I should ask for some feedback." Get feedback before you send a single query. Other people can almost always see your query more clearly than you can and better to get it ripped apart in the forums or by your betas than pile up the form rejections.

5 For Fun:

  
AGH: How many hats do you have in your home?

Brenda: There are three of us...my husband, 5-year-old son and me. I swear, we have enough hats for our entire neighborhood.

AGH: Which would you rather do: carry an umbrella or sing in the rain?

Brenda: I never carry an umbrella. A huge mistake in London, can i just say? And my curly/wavy/frizzy hair pays for it dearly.

AGH: What’s your favorite breakfast?

Brenda: Coffee and Doritos.

AGH:  Are you Team Dog or Team Cat?

Brenda: Definitely Team Dog. We have a yellow lab named Lucy.

AGH:  What video games do you play?

Brenda: I'm really bad at video games, but occasionally I play on the Wii with my son. I really like the boxing game and I do far better at Wii bowling that I ever do in real life.

Thank you, Brenda, for sharing your insights and for letting us peek into what makes you unique and successful. Two things I love: 1) that you don't carry an umbrella, and 2) that you live in London. It's all so romantic, somehow.  :-) Congratulations on catching that elusive agent, and I wish you much luck and happiness on your climb to the shelves!

Now it's your turn ... anyone who has questions for Brenda about her journey, her agent, or her book--or if you'd simply like to congratulate her--please leave a comment! And don't forget to follow her blog as her dream to be published unfolds.