I was recently interviewed by Sara Connell at Authority Magazine for her bestselling authors segment, and today the post went live. Below is a glimpse of two of my favorite questions:
If you'd like insights into how I learned the writing craft, or to see more of the challenges I overcame in my personal publishing journey (it was no cakewalk--😱🙃--but was worth every daunting step!) and also some querying advice for aspiring authors, check out the interview at this link.
Today, I'm so honored to host an interview with the masterful and talented Jennifer Prescott,
author of the newly released The Hundred: Fall of the Wents.
If you love fantasy, especially epic and creature fantasy, you HAVE to get this book. I've already gushed about the amazingness of the story on GoodReads, so hop over here if you'd like to see my review.
Check out the synopsis and gorgeous cover:
Millions of years in the Earth’s future, humans have long vanished from the planet. Evolution has produced a host of wondrous and intelligent beings: shape-shifting Fantastic Grouts with globes of light atop their skulls; creatures descended from flowers; and massive swarms of bees that can bore perfect holes through metal or bone.
But some seek a way to bring the humans back into the world—a world filled with creatures like twelve-year-old Tully, a young, amphibious Eft who imagines humans as nothing more than old bones and fairy stories. When his beloved guardian is stolen by a menacing black shadow, Tully must embark on a journey to a cruel, northern land to save her and his entire species. In an adventure that blends time travel, magic, and science, Tully learns whom he can trust, and who will betray him—for the price of reawakening the Hundred.
You can buy the book as an eBook or paperback on Amazon here.
Now, let's hear the story behind the story...
1. Tell us about The Hundred.
The book was really inspired by the dire thought of human extinction. I had
read A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson and was blown
away by descriptions all the species that had ruled the planet once upon a time
and then vanished, as if they had never been. In addition, I understood that we
could be wiped out by one of many cataclysms in the future. Our time on this
planet is fragile. And so I asked myself: What might a future planet look like
without humans, and what if we mixed in some magic and time travel into that?
2. What sparked the idea for the book?
I had a really terrible fever a few years ago, such that I was almost
hallucinating. I slept and dreamed. When I woke, I wrote down one sentence in
my journal that became the seed for the entire book. Flipping through the
journal several months later, I encountered that sentence and knew the book had
to be written. That sentence was: “What
if there were a world in which it took three creatures (Ells, Efts, and Wents)
to reproduce, rather than two?”
3. What compelled you to keep going?
My husband read the first 30 pages and told me he would divorce me if I didn't
finish it. I’m not sure if he was kidding or not.
4. Are you afraid the book will get banned because it features creatures who
don't reproduce, um, traditionally?
Of course! I urge you to send it to any knee-jerk zealots in your address book.
They may find the prospect of creatures who reproduce through an intricate
system of pollination to be repugnant and anti-American, and will get my book
featured on talk shows. In reality, the way the Trilings carry on their species
is about as asexual as it can get. The Trilings include Wents (flower-like
creatures who bear the young), Efts (pollen generators who seed the young), and
Ells (pollen carriers who distribute the pollen from Eft to Went). Pretty
dirty, eh?
4. Why is the book so durned long? Don't young readers have short attention
spans?
People underestimate the ability of kids, tweens, and teens (and adults, for
that matter) to read and digest books that are not only long but complex. And The
Hundred is challenging. It asks the reader to pay attention and to really
think. Young adults who read it said that they liked how it made them ponder
some serious questions. Kids are smart. I loved that TV show Lost, which
made me ponder and wonder what was going on and what would happen next. Having
questions is a good thing. Books like your own Splintered aren’t short,
simple reads. People love to dive deep. And kids do and can, and they love it!
5. Will there be more after The Hundred?
My nine-year-old, an avid reader who read the book two years ago, used to
ask me that question every night. I was at the time working on two other books
concurrently, so I told him "soon." Soon is now "now." I
have plans for a first book in the series which takes place, in time, before
the events in The Hundred. A third book will take place after the events in The
Hundred and will bring back Tully, Aarvord, Copernicus, and other familiar
characters. Completing the trilogy is a daunting task but, in a way, I feel as
if all the books have already been written by my subconscious and are just
waiting to hit the paper.
6. Why did you choose independent publishing?
I wanted to do things my own way, after much soul-searching. The book may have
flaws, and I expect readers to point them out, but I put my whole heart into
every page. Because in this marvelous age, no one has to ask permission from
anyone to share their heart with the world. I am lucky to have wonderful and
talented friends who designed the cover, edited and read, and typeset the book
for me. I do know, however, the enormous effort that goes into producing a
book. Traditional publishers earn their due! And I have many friends who chose
the traditional route and have seen enormous success.
7. What authors inspired you?
Every author I've ever read, even the so-called claptrap ones. Everyone offers
a piece from which you can learn. But my heroes are Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and
Philip Pullman. Even these brilliant writers aren't perfect. I was reading The
Hobbit aloud to my three young boys and I thought, "Man, some parts of
this are really repetitive and boring, but the language is so beautiful!"
And they were mesmerized all the same. I don't always read YA and middle grade.
My favorite writer of all time is Annie Dillard, who writes nonfiction—much
about the natural world. I think everything informs you as a writer, especially
the genres that are not your own.
Okay, now let's get to know Jennifer better!
***5 for Fun!***
1. How many hats do you have in your home?
I have an astounding amount of hats. I seem to collect them! I dislike having a
cold head in the winter, and a jaunty hat can perk up one’s mood. I would
estimate we have 56 hats within the house.
2. What’s your favorite breakfast?
I don’t like traditional breakfast foods as things like pancakes and cereal
don’t hold me at all; I crash from eating things like that. I would love a nice
filet mignon as my ideal breakfast.
3. Are you Team Dog or Team Cat?
I am Team Squirrel. They are so fecund that there are hundreds of them
scampering about my lawn.
4. What video games do you play?
My boys play incessant Minecraft, but I don’t play many video games myself. I
do love a game called Fire Boy and Water Girl. You really have to think
strategically in order to get both characters to safety. It’s like a game of
Chess.
5. When would you go to if you had a time machine, and why?
I think I’d have to choose millions of years in the Earth’s future, just to see
if any of my sentient creations from The Hundred were there waiting for me!
*****
Thank you, Jennifer! If you have any questions for our debut author, please feel free to leave a comment below. I know her pretty well (considering she's one of my fave peeps in this world) and I know she'd love to chat with you about her writing journey and this incredibly imagined book!
Welcome to installment
number nineteen of my series on successful authors from QueryTracker. Some of my
guests have agents, others have found success in less conventional ways. But one
thing they all have in common is the utilization of the QueryTracker website to
help make their tracks in the publishing world.
Today’s guest, Kerri Maniscalco(known to QTers as mystree1),
is, according to the bio on her fabulous blogWrite. Eat. Repeat, "a twenty-something native New Yorker who drinks too much tea, loves avacados, reading, writing, and supporting friends and local musicians." She signed with her agent Barbara Poelle of the Irene Goodman Literary Agency at the end of February this year. To read her call story,
visit this post on her blog.
One of the things I
love about Kerri is her effervescent personality and positive outlook on life. It shines through her tweets
and blog posts. She's helped so many other writers with her amazingly inspirational blog. In fact, she's the only blogger I know to have ever earned the Blog That Sparks the Soul Award. So it's only fitting that today she's in the spotlight.
AGH: Kerri, welcome to my humble online abode! Could you give us a quick summary of the book which snagged your agent?
KM: Sure! INVARIANCE is a YA science fiction adventure story. It’s about a seventeen-year-old supernova hunter that has one week to solve a mystery that spans the space-time continuum almost a thousand years, or humanity will be lost forever.
AGH: Before you signed with your agent, how many books had you tried to query?
KM: This is my sixth novel. Before signing with Barbara I queried five other books for two years. While querying I would start writing another manuscript, that way if project “A” didn’t work out, I’d have project “B” polished and ready to go. I’m kind of a workaholic, so being idle for too long makes me anxious. (On top of already being super anxious over the querying process!)
AGH: What were the responses to those queries (stat-wise: fulls, partials, etc.)?
KM: Oh my gosh, I’m not sure. If I had to take a guess I’d say I racked up three or four hundred rejections, and averaged around a 40% request rate. I saved all my rejections as motivation, so I’ll have to count them one day and come up with accurate stats.
INVARIANCE was a little different when I queried it. I emailed it to Barbara first, then sent out a handful of queries and ended up with a 70% request rate. My offer came a week or two after directly submitting it.
I had A LOT of close calls with the last manuscript, and received a few direct submission requests. One of those came from my agent. If you’re still getting rejections, but an agent says to try again with your next project - take them up on it! You’re getting closer. The only time you fail is when you stop trying.
AGH: What genre(s) do you write?
KM: I write YA science fiction but there are always other elements that creep in. I’m a huge fan of genre bending and I enjoy adding horror, romance, fantasy, or thriller and mystery elements to my work, too.
AGH: What inspired your very first book idea?
KM: Fair warning, it’s a crappy story - but it does have a happy ending.
Writing is something I’ve always loved doing and there was a perfect storm leading up to that first book. Putting it mildly, I was going through a rough year personally. I had just gotten out of a relationship that played out like a brutal divorce, lost my job, my apartment, and I desperately needed an outlet to sort through all of those feelings. I felt blindsided and devastated by what happened and writing was my way of coping with it. Out of all the negative things that were going on, I was able to make a new world and turn it into something positive.
It was like the Universe decided I needed a major change and gave me a clean slate to start over. Terrifying (and painful) as it was at the time, I couldn’t be happier now. If I wasn’t forced to reexamine what I wanted out of life, I don’t think that first book would have ever gotten written.
AGH: How do you come up with titles?
KM: Titles are probably one of my favorite parts about starting a new project. My process is always slightly different with each book, so I’ll just talk about the last one. INVARIANCE was originally called “Relativity” since it deals with Einstein’s theory of Special Relativity. About halfway through writing it, I changed the title because there’s this theory called “Galilean Invariance” and it’s very fitting for the plot of my book.
AGH: What books / authors have most influenced your own style and concepts?
KM: I love authors (and poets) like Salinger, Frost, Dylan Thomas, Kerouac, and Shakespeare. Growing up I couldn’t get enough of Shel Silverstein, I must have read WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS and A LIGHT IN THE ATTIC a million and one times. I think that both he and Roald Dahl had a fairly large impact on my own style. Or my imagination at least. Ray Bradbury, Madeleine L’Engle, and Neil Gaiman were/are really influential, too.
AGH: How did you find QueryTracker, and how did it help you in your effort to get inside the publishing doors?
KM: Prior to querying (or even finishing that first novel) I was googling information on literary agents and how to draft a query letter. I think I found Nathan Bransford’s blog first, then Miss Snark, and eventually I came across QT. I thought it was a fantastic resource for finding agents that rep your genre and cross-referencing information.
As far as how it helped in my effort to get inside the publishing doors, that’s easy! Being around other writers who are going through the same process helps on the bad days when you question your sanity.
AGH: Have you recently learned anything about the business side of publishing that you can share with up and coming writers?
KM: Definitely! Up until the last few weeks, I had never heard of literary scouts before and the important role they play in foreign rights. I thought you had your agent and foreign rights agent, and that was it. After being completely immersed in EVERYTHING publishing I couldn’t believe I’d never come across information on them. They are another great resource for authors, since they have their thumbs on the pulse of everything that’s going on in publishing. It’s pretty incredible.
AGH: Do you have any current news to announce?
KM: As you know, publishing is a world filled with dirty little secrets - so I sort of have a gag order on what I can and can’t say at this time. We are on submission and it’s been equal parts thrilling and surreal. And terrifying. Always a little terrifying.
***Five for fun***
1.) Which would you rather do: carry an umbrella or sing in the rain?
KM: Sing in the rain! Carrying an umbrella is super practical, but sometimes you’ve just got to be wild and free.
2.) What’s your favorite breakfast?
KM: Oh man. I’m a little quirky with food. I always start by having green chai tea with agave and soy milk, and a strawberry/oat milk smoothie with a dairy-free meal replacement vitamin powder. The smoothie is packed with lots of nutrients and much needed brain-food. It’s also fast and easy to make when I’m writing so that automatically makes it my favorite.
3.) When would you go to if you had a time machine, and why?
KM: LOVE this question! I would travel back to 1610 when Galileo published STARRY MESSENGER and he described his observations of the 4 moons of Jupiter. It was basically the beginning of his conflict with the church because of his support of Copernican astronomy. The why? Let’s just say it would be in-depth research for my book.
4.) If you were tight with one of the Greek gods, which one would it be and what favor would you ask of them?
KM: This is tough because there are a few I’d love to be tight with. That being said... I’d have to go with Dionysus and I’d ask him to keep me supplied with endless wine. Writing can be stressful and let’s be honest, having a free wine tap would be awesome.
5.) Drinking tea … pinky up, or heavy on the Long Island?
KM: Both! In the morning and afternoon it’s pinky up all the way, but once it’s five o’clock somewhere the Long Island comes out to play :)
***
Kerri, thank you so much for stopping by! Your book's premise sounds awesome (love me some sci-fi) and I'm also interested in your wine tap idea! I know several writers who would be eternally grateful for such an invention. :)
You can follow Kerri's publishing journey on her twitteror website. And please give her some writerly/readerly love in the comments!
Have a great weekend, everyone! If you have a chance, stop by next week. I'm going to give a peek at my publishing timeline (how long it took me to from when I first started querying to the signing of the contract) and also I'll be announcing some pretty big changes on my blog. Hope to see you then!
Today is installment number eighteen of my "First Friday of the Month" series on successful authors from QueryTracker. Some of my guests have agents, others have found success in less conventional ways. But one thing they all have in common is the utilization of the QueryTracker website to help make their tracks in the publishing world.
My guest today, Rachel Harris,signed with her agent Lauren Hammond in August of last year, and by January she had signed a two-book contract with Entangled Publishing. And now her fabulous book has an equally FAB cover:
Available for pre-order now at Amazon
And deeply discounted at B&N for $5.70
Wow, things are moving fast for Rachel! Let's get the inside scoop on her journey.
AGH: Rachel, could you give us a quick summary of the book which snagged your agent?
RH: Quick, huh? Why is that always so hard to do? J Here’s a one-liner: When a teen walks into a gypsy’s tent and steps out into Renaissance Italy, she learns the only thing worse than an unwanted Sweet Sixteen is an unwanted suitor full of creeptastic amore.
But that does leave out gorgeous, aspiring artist Lorenzo….and sweet and innocent Alessandra…. And protective Cipriano…and the host of hilarity that follows Cat during her time travel adventure. This book was so much fun to write!
AGH: Before you signed with your agent, how many books had you tried to query?
RH: I queried one book before this, which is now actually being considered by my editor (*fingers, toes, and eyes crossed*)
AGH: What were the responses to those queries (stat-wise: fulls, partials, etc.)?
RH: For my first book, I sent 24 queries. Of those twenty-four, four asked for partials, ten asked for fulls, five passed with very personalized letters explaining why and giving feedback (which as a newbie, I so appreciated!), and five closed with no response.
For MY SUPER SWEET SIXTEENTH CENTURY, I sent my query out in batches of ten, and ended up querying thirty-five agents. Of those thirty-five, four asked for partials, ten asked for fulls, twelve passed with personalized letters back, and nine closed with no response. Four months to the day that I sent my first query, my agent, Lauren Hammond, emailed saying she received my signed contract and we were diving into revisions.
AGH: What genre(s) do you write?
RH: Right now, I write YA, though I just plotted out a fun adult contemporary romance. Within YA, my first manuscript is a contemporary romance, Super Sweet is a magical realism/historical/romance, and I also have a partial out with my editor that is a contemporary romance with a paranormal twist. I kinda like to experiment J
AGH: What inspired your very first book idea?
RH: I was first inspired to write after being completely sucked into the Twilight series—I just have to say that to begin with. I think the influence Stephanie Meyer has had on young people reading again has been amazing, and it also helped me remember how much fun it can be. But when I decided I wanted to try writing myself, it wasn’t paranormal that I was drawn to. I wanted to write about real life, a situation that any teen reading could relate to. I did pull some plot points from my own life as a springboard but it completely took off and morphed from there.
AGH: How do you come up with titles?
RH: Ha, my husband helps A LOT! I came up with the title for my first manuscript, 2nd Type of Girl, on my own and it just came from writing…. It was a term that the characters used a lot. But My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century was a complete collaboration with my husband, and the companion novel, A Tale of Two Centuries was all him. He likes to remind me of that often J
AGH: What books / authors have most influenced your own style and concepts?
RH: I read so much—I’m kinda/a little bit/okay a lot obsessed with it—that it’s kind of a huge eclectic mix, but I would say if I had to pick the authors that most shaped the kind of author I wanted to be, I would have to say: Stephanie Perkins, Holly Schindler, Sarah McLean, Sarah Dessen, Simone Elkeles, Susane Colasanti, Mandy Hubbard, and Gayle Forman. J See, even that list is huge!
AGH: How did you find QueryTracker, and how did it help you in your effort to get inside the publishing doors?
RH: I learned about Query Tracker from Mary Lindsay (Shattered Souls) who is in my local RWA and YA writers group. They were having a contest with her agent and she encouraged me to submit. Though I didn’t win, I did get an email from her agent asking for the first ten pages, and then a partial. Being my first attempt to send my work out, it was an amazing start to my writing career. Then using QT going forward, I learned of so many agents I would’ve have otherwise, and the most special part was the relationships built with the other writers in the trenches. Cheering each other on, lifting each other up. It helped me to see just how supportive and welcoming the writing community is, and was a complete blessing.
AGH: Do you have any current news to announce?
RH: My editor just sent me the digital ARC, which has had me petting my screen for a few days, and we hope to have a handful of ARCS for the RT Convention in Chicago. I’ll be there and looking forward to meeting everyone! Then it is all about getting ready for the release in September and completing the companion novel, A Tale of Two Centuries, which will be released June 2013!
**Five for fun**
1) Which would you rather do: carry an umbrella or sing in the rain?
Sing in the rain. Definitely. Not only do umbrellas bother me—half the time I can’t figure the darn things out, and I get wet trying to open and close them anyway—but there is just something fun and childlike about dashing between the drops and splashing in the puddles J
2) What’s your favorite breakfast?
I’ll eat anything—cereal, left over pizza, yogurt, cheeseburgers lol—but I HAVE to have caffeine! Sadly, I don’t do coffee much, but I can drink my weight in Dt. Mt. Dew.
3) If I were at your house right now, what would I find in your refrigerator?
Lots and lots of Dt. Mt. Dew, water, lettuce, spinach, yogurt, left over salmon, strawberries, salsa, and jalapenos. Makes me sound a lot healthier than I am, trust me.
4) When would you go to if you had a time machine, and why?
He he, I feel like I’m cheating since I kinda wrote about this, but yes, definitely Renaissance Italy. I’ve always loved that time, one of discovery, and art, and beauty. The clothes, the art, wonder. And come on, it’s Italy! But I would also love to go to Regency London (again with the clothes, the balls, the hot dukes and rakes), or 1950s America. Not totally sure why the last one but the music is so fun and innocent, the clothes interesting, and I’ve kinda got a crush on young Elvis. I blame my mother.
5) Drinking tea … pinky up, or heavy on the Long Island?
Ha! Heavy on the Long Island, but still pinky up….even with a cold long neck beer, my pinky remains up while I drink. Hey, I’m all about the classy.
***
Thank you for the interview, Rachel. Your book premise sounds amazing and FUN. I'm already crushing on Lorenzo (I have a thing for artists). I may not be a gypsy palm reader, but I see great things ahead in your future, lady!
To our readers, please feel free to offer support and kudos to Rachel in the comments. Also, you can follow her publishing star on the internet:
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.
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!
Today is an abundance of interviews day. I'm hanging with the savvy Melodie Wright over at Forever Rewrighting where she asked some of the hardest most insightful questions I've ever had the pleasure of answering. Heh. In all seriousness, this girl is one of the best interviewers I've had the pleasure of working with.
And of course, here in the land of madness it's installment number thirteen of my "first Friday of the month" series on successful authors from QueryTracker. Some of my guests have agents, others have found success in less conventional ways. But one thing they all have in common is the utilization of the QueryTracker website to help make their tracks in the publishing world. I just realized how appropriate it is to have the 13th QT interview in October. But there's nothing scary or unlucky about today’s guest, Gennifer Albin.Her success story is one that would give anyone inspiration (not to mention cause much drooling in awe and wonder). Genn had a whirlwind submission after she signed with agent Mollie Glick of Foundry Literary + Media. Within a matter of weeks there was an auction for her book which ended in a major deal. Her story on QT,here, was enough to leave me breathless just living vicariously.
By the end of today's interview, no doubt we'll all need inhalers. (◕‿-)
And onward we go...
AGH: Welcome, Genn. Could you give us a quick summary of the book which snagged your agent?
GENN: Incapable. Awkward. Artless.
That’s what the other girls whisper behind her back. But sixteen year-old Adelice Lewys has a secret: she wants to fail.
Gifted with the ability to weave time with matter, she’s exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen as a Spinster is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to embroider the very fabric of life. But if controlling what people eat, where they live and how many children they have is the price of having it all, Adelice isn’t interested.
Not that her feelings matter, because she slipped and wove a moment at testing, and they’re coming for her—tonight.
Now she has one hour to eat her mom’s overcooked pot roast. One hour to listen to her sister’s academy gossip and laugh at her Dad’s stupid jokes. One hour to pretend everything’s okay. And one hour to escape.
Because once you become a Spinster, there’s no turning back.
AGH:Before you signed with your agent, how many books had you tried to query?
GENN: This was the first book I ever queried. I'd come to close querying a book I never finished back in my naive days. I'm so glad I didn't.
AGH:What were the responses to those queries (stat-wise: fulls, partials, etc.)?
GENN: I had about a 70% request rate, about 40% of those were requests for partials and the rest were requests for the full.
AGH:How long did it take to find a publisher after you signed with your agent ?
GENN: We had out first preempt offer in a little over a week and then we went to auction about 3 weeks after I signed with my agent. It was unusually fast.
AGH:What inspired your very first book idea?
GENN: I've been obsessed with a painting by Remedios Varo that shows women embroidering the world since I first saw it in college. One day I wrote a one page prologue that came to me out of nowhere. It was the story of a girl in the painting, and I went from there.
AGH:How do you come up with titles?
GENN: I have to have a title before a book will really flow for me, so I obsessed over this. Originally I thought Tangled would be great, but when I googled it up came a new Disney movie! I was so disappointed, although I actually loved the movie. From there I pulled ou the thesaurus and started looking up weaving and sewing terms. When I saw CREWEL, I knew it was perfect
AGH:What books / authors have most influenced your own style and concepts?
GENN: That's hard to say. I have considerable time put in towards PhD in literature, so I think I'm heavily influenced by a lot of the themes from the early novels of the 18th century. My next book is much more academically influenced. But then I think I've learned a lot from rereading my favorite books and really studying the voice and style of people like Rowling and Collins, but then I think conceptually I was influenced by people like Margaret Atwood and Orson Scott Card. I certainly have a mixed education in literature.
AGH:How did you find QueryTracker, and how did it help you in your effort to get inside the publishing doors?
GENN: The lovely Scott Tracey posted about QT and since I was so impressed by his success, I ran over and joined. First of all, everyone should get the premium membership because it allows you to see all these special charts and reports, which is awesome when you want to obsess during the querying process. I loved that people posted stats in the comments, and I still try to stop by and offer support when I can. I also used the QT boards to vet my queries before I sent them out. Overall, it's such a supportive, welcoming community that I feel comfortable there. Not too big, but constantly moving - QT was a perfect fit for me.
AGH:Have you recently learned anything about the business side of publishing that you can share with up and coming writers?
GENN: No one else's success will look like yours! I think we all look to stories for insight into what to expect. Like so-and-so was asked to share her favorite covers with her designer, or such-and-such got a huge ARC campaign - it doesn't mean anything in regard to what you will get! Trust me. It's a bad and good thing. Share in others stories to support them, but keep your eyes on your own paper. Focus on your book and your campaign and don't get stuck in comparison hell.
AGH:Do you have any current news to announce?
GENN: CREWEL is coming out October 16, 2012!
**Five for fun**
1) In your opinion, what was the best thing before sliced bread?
GENN: Stew. Everyone knows it was around the day man crawled from the primordial ooze.
2) Which would you rather do: carry an umbrella or sing in the rain?
GENN: Why can't you do both? I loved to splash in the rain, but I use an umbrella since I wear glasses. I also have my cake and eat it too.
3) Are you Team Dog or Team Cat?
GENN: Cat. I guess I appreciate having to work for my cat's love. The Tuesday cat runs the house.
4) If I were at your house right now, what would I find in your refrigerator?
GENN: Cheese. So much cheese. Dubliner. Wisconsin cheddar. Goat cheese. Feta. Pepper-encrusted pecorino. And Gouda. Always gouda.
5) Drinking tea … pinky up, or heavy on the Long Island?
GENN: I have to say I have a weakness for Long Island iced tea, but I also love Earl Gray. But if I had to choose, heavy on the Long Island.
~~~
Thank you for sharing your amazing experience, Genn! CREWEL sounds incredible, and I love how you thought of the story and title. I'm so excited that you have a pub date now, and wish you every success! Although it's obvious you're already there. (◕‿◕)
Don’t forget to visit Genn’s blog and follow her on twitter to stay abreast of news and announcements. Also, please leave her any questions, comments, or kudos below. I know she'll be thrilled to see them.
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, and I'll see you next week.
Today is installment number twelve of my "first Friday of the month" series on successful authors from QueryTracker. Some of my guests have agents, others have found success in less conventional ways. But one thing they all have in common is the utilization of the QueryTracker website to help make their tracks in the publishing world.
Today’s guest, Miss Bethany Crandell, wears many hats. She's known as: #shakiragoat, @rookieriter, or Rookstar on twitter, and BethanyMC on QT, or just good ol' Bethany over at her Rookie Riter blog. But underneath all those hats is the secret to her witty cynicism and hysterical charm: she has a brain hamster who keeps her creative wheels turning. And he's quite good at his job, considering Bethany has recently signed with agent Rachael Dugas of Talcott Notch Literary Services. Click here for her success story on QT.
This interview is extra-special to my heart because over the course of the past few months, Bethany and I have become very dear friends. It's almost like I'm having her over to the house for the first time, so I'm all nervous and aflutter trying to get the dusting done and the cobwebs swiped away (ergo the huge award post last week). Now that the big day has finally arrived, I'll push up the special chair for her,
Offer her a margarita, and once she's all comfy-cozy, we'll settle in for the interview.
AGH: Welcome Bethany! Could you give us a quick summary of the book which snagged your agent?
BC: SUMMER ON THE SHORT BUS: After a botched party attempt at the country club, seventeen-year-old Cricket has been sentenced to work as a counselor at a summer camp in Western Michigan. As if being left for dead in mosquito country with limited cell coverage isn’t bad enough, she learns that Camp I Can isn’t just an ordinary summer camp. It’s a camp for disabled teens. What she learns about herself, and her differently-abled campers, after three weeks of handicapped hell is inspiring, funny and life-changing.
Side note: I’m the mother of a special needs kiddo, so I’m personally connected to this topic. This isn’t a book with a message. It’s just a story about people being real—P.C. be gone! AGH:Before you signed with your agent, how many books had you tried to query?
BC: One. STALKING PEGGY FLEMMING was my first attempt at a novel. I had no idea what I was doing. It's actually a pretty good story, but it needs some special lovin’ that I am not prepared to give right now.
AGH:What were the responses to those queries (stat-wise: fulls, partials, etc.)?
BC: Actually, not bad for a first effort. As I recall, I had a handful of partials and six or seven requests for the full. (I think I sent out about 90 queries). Most of the feedback was the same, though. Great concept, strong voice, but they didn’t know how to market it. The protag is 17 but the story is set in the late 1980s. A contemporary YA is usually current—was it YA? Was it women’s fiction? Oh the drama. J
SUMMER ON THE SHORT BUS was around 90 queries, too. I think there were a total of 12 requests for the full over ~6 months of query time.
AGH:What genre(s) do you write?
BC: Based on my answer to question #3 I’m probably not in any position to answer that. *hee* I write YA, and that’s what I considered the first novel to be, too.
AGH:What inspired your very first book idea?
BC: Growing up the youngest daughter to a Christian Reformed minister, I was well aware that the world’s expectations of who I should be didn’t mirror who I was. Thankfully my parents didn’t subscribe to that notion. I was given a ton of freedom to be myself—no matter how contradictory to my dad’s profession that seemed to the outside world. That’s ultimately what led to my first novel—the idea of what it would be like to have your parents wish you were someone else. STALKING PEGGY FLEMMING was about a girl whose mother was so obsessed with a former Olympian that she raised her to be just like her—instead of letting her be who she was.
AGH:How do you come up with titles?
BC: Usually while under my hair dryer. It’s true. I have a whole lot of hair, and my Revlon Ion Pro Stylist (I’m hoping to get paid for product placement someday) provides the perfect combination of solitude and white noise. I do my best thinking under there.
AGH:What books / authors have most influenced your own style and concepts?
BC: The first book I remember falling in love with was LORD OF THE FLIES. We read it freshman year of high school. I remember feeling anxious and uncomfortable while I read that—how chaotic it became when the boys started turning on each other, and then when they dropped the rock on Piggy…Poor Piggy! But as shocking as it was, it was also incredibly liberating. Up until then my reading fixes were through safer books: Beverly Cleary, Judy Blume, etc., but that book allowed me entrance into a world that felt a little dangerous, but because it was on paper, I knew it was safe.
AGH:How did you find QueryTracker, and how did it help you in your effort to get inside the publishing doors?
BC: I was having a private Google party one day and stumbled upon it. I used QT with my first book, but was too insecure about what I was doing to dare comment and actually “engage” in conversations with other writer’s about my book. (I didn’t even dare call myself a writer at that point.) As the rejections came in, and my skin grew nice and thick, I started revising, going to conferences, working with a writing coach, and then I got some courage to put myself out there. QT was the perfect format for that. When I was ready to query THE SHORT BUS I dove in head first; engaging with other writers, following comments, searching for new agents, looking up stats.
Bottom line: QT was a great place for me to get comfortable being a writer.
AGH:Have you recently learned anything about the business side of publishing that you can share with up and coming writers?
BC: I’ve learned that agents aren’t evil, manuscript-hating trolls who feast on the dreams of hopeful authors for dinner. They’re actually cool people who want your book to be as successful as you do. (Who knew?!)
AGH:Do you have any current news to announce?
BC: We are officially on submission. So far it’s going very well.
**Five for fun**
AGH:In your opinion, what was the best thing before sliced bread?
BC: This is a toss-up. Either the DVR or guacamole.
AGH:Which would you rather do: carry an umbrella or sing in the rain?
BC: I have LARGE hair. (My fro was frisked by airport security—no lie) Venturing out without an umbrella is completely out of the question. I’d be targeted as a terrorist for sure.
AGH:What’s your favorite breakfast?
BC: Mmm…maple & brown sugar oats topped with blue & blackberries with a banana on the side.
AGH:Are you Team Dog or Team Cat?
BC: I have no use for a cat. I have a nine-year-old daughter. If I’m in the mood to be ignored, glared at, or judged for things I’ve yet to do—I will just barge into her bedroom. GO TEAM DOG, WOOF!
AGH:Drinking tea … pinky up, or heavy on the Long Island?
BC: Neither. Pinkies will be wrapped around the beer bottle right beside the other fingers.
~~~
Thank you for the interview, Bethany! LOL about the airport security frisking your hair. That would actually make a hilarious scene in a book. ;D
Don’t forget to visit Bethany’s blog and follow her on twitter to stay abreast of news and announcements. Also, please leave her any questions, comments, or kudos below. I know she'll be thrilled to see them!
Bethany, I'm so excited your book is on sub, and hope the submission trail is short and lucrative for you! I wish you every success. Everyone else, have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you next week.
Today is the third of a series on successful authors I've met through QueryTracker.
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.
We're doing things a little different this time. My guest, the lovely Kristine Carlson Asselin (golfergirlkca to us QTers), has recently signed with agent Vickie Motter of Andrea Hurst Literary Management. She's written up a post detailing her unique journey, and how QT played an integral part in finding not just one agent who had a hand in her success, but two.
Welcome, Kristine!
Thanks Anita for having me on the new blog today! I’m so excited to be able to share my QueryTracker story—it was an invaluable resource for me during my query process. On March 1, 2011, I signed with Vickie Motter of Andrea Hurst Literary Management. QueryTracker kept me organized, sane, and informed.
I first discovered QueryTracker waaayyyy back before it was in its current format—Patrick was just starting out. I hadn’t written my YA novel and was querying picture book manuscripts. How things change! When I rediscovered it, I was thrilled to see what a great tool it had turned into, complete with blog, message boards, and personal tracking tool.
I got serious about querying in the spring of 2010. I had a completed YA novel that I was DYING to query. I entered, and ended up winning, a pitchline contest sponsored by QueryTracker. That rocked!—I knew I had something with my novel. I wasn’t sure what yet exactly. But that contest validated my concept. And the agent was someone who was unfamiliar to me—he ended up helping me immensely in my revision process, though I ended up signing with someone else. If not for QT, I wouldn’t have had an incredible interaction that really helped my book.
As a ridiculously unorganized person, QT was my lifeline to keeping track of my queries. I recorded who was on my wish list, who I queried, who rejected, and who requested. The coolest day was when I recorded my offer—the little icon has sunglasses on—very cool.
It bears saying—and I think QT and Patrick and his team would agree—QUERY WIDELY. You never know what is going to interest any particular agent at what time. I’m not saying query anyone for any project, you have to do your research. But don’t give up after ten queries—I sent 67 before I signed with my agent. Stay positive!
Thank you, Kristine, for sharing your story, and congratulations on finding your dream agent. And just in case our readers are curious, here's Kristine's prize winning pitch from the QT contest:
With the family golf course on the verge of bankruptcy, Kate Anderson decides she's going to be the first girl to win the Junior State Championship to draw the crowds back, but her plans are derailed when her best friend and crush is accused of vandalizing the course with a blowtorch.
Sounds fabulous, and I can't wait to read it! Until then, I wish you much luck and happiness on your climb to the shelves.
Now it's your turn. If you have questions for Kristine--or if you'd like to congratulate her and show your support -- please leave a comment below.
And for those of you who participated in the book-give-away contest, I will be announcing the winner on Monday. Until then, have a wonderful weekend, everyone!
Today is the second of a series on successful authors I've met through QueryTracker.
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.
AGH: David, your road to representation took some interesting and unconventional twists and turns. Could you give us a rundown of how you got your agent?
David: I’ve been writing fiction for about 10 years. In that time, I had completed a couple of manuscripts and after finishing each one, I tried to find an agent. As the years went by, I felt like I was improving with each manuscript – getting more responses from agents, more requests for material, but I never was able to find an agent. It did get discouraging.
But I kept writing, and last summer, I decided to start writing a humor blog while I figured out which way to go with my fiction. I wrote the So You Want to Go to Law School video in October (now with 1.3 million hits), and then I followed that up with So You Want to Write a Novel in November. As you know, the Novel video went viral in the writing/publishing community, which put me in contact with a number of different agents, including Ann. She read my blog and watched my other videos, we talked about what my future writing plans were, and then she offered to take me on as a client.
AGH: Before you signed with your agent, how many books had you tried to query?
David: I'd queried two different books before signing with Ann. I wrote the first one from 2001-2002, queried about 20 agents, and completely struck out. Honestly, It was a truly terrible book. My villain was a corrupt U.S. Senator, which I've since learned is always a bad, bad sign for your book. I gutted that one and rewrote it, including changing the villain to someone who wasn't such a terrible cliche. I got a few more requests the second time out, and I think it had some good parts, but overall, it was still pretty weak.
I took some time off from writing and started a brand-new manuscript in late 2007. Including revisions, I worked on that for about 18 months.
AGH: What were the responses to those queries (stat-wise: fulls, partials, etc.)
David: Manuscript 1 (and its rewrite) -- collectively, probably about 50 queries. A couple requests for the full.
Manuscript 2: 175 queries. About 12 partial requests and 7 more requests for the full.
AGH: What genres do you write?
David: Crime thrillers. It's one of my favorite genres to read, and I've always been fascinated by the dark side of humanity -- crime, violence, greed, and other bad decisions. I'm particularly interested in the humorous side of all this malfeasance.
AGH: What inspired your very first book idea?
David: Honestly, I used to be terrible at coming up with story ideas. For the first one, I had this idea for the main character whose brother goes missing just as the brother is supposed to reveal some family secret. I started writing without really fleshing out much more than that. I'm still amazed I came up with 325 manuscript pages for that.
Now I've figured out that just about anything can make a good story if you execute the concept the right way. I like to play the "what if" game to come up with story ideas.
AGH: What books / authors have most influenced your own style and concepts?
David: Carl Hiaasen has had the biggest impact on me. I discovered his crime novels about 10 years ago, and it really opened my eyes about how to use satire and comedy in writing thrillers. He's just freaking brilliant. My early manuscripts read like standard thrillers, but I worked hard to inject a lot of dark humor into my last book -- i think it paid off, as it was by far my best work to date, and I think that's my natural style of writing,
My three favorite books are The Stand (I love apocalyptic fiction, and the characters from The Stand just make the book so unbelievably good), Mystic River (hands down, the best crime novel I've ever read) and Lonesome Dove (it's just a kick-ass story).
AGH: How did you find QueryTracker, and how did it help you in your effort to get inside the publishing doors?
David: I don't remember exactly how I found QT -- it must have been through a blog. I'd been using another submission tracking site, but then they revamped their site, and I didn't like the change, so I moved everything over to QT.
I found it to be very helpful in keeping things organized, and it had a lot of up-to-date info on agents and people's experiences submitting. Oh, and finally getting to click on the "Offered Representation" field was pretty awesome too.
AGH: Can you share any current news with us?
David: Nothing right now. I'm more just adjusting to the idea of working with an agent and settling back into writing fiction again.
AGH: Have you recently learned anything about the business side of publishing that you can share with up and coming writers?
David: I think writers need to remember that it IS a business. Publishers have to make money. Agents have to make a living. Rejection isn't personal -- agents and editors know you've poured your heart and soul into your work, but the nature of the business sometimes demands a quick and impersonal rejection.
And yes, I hate to say it -- sometimes luck is involved. Why one book takes off and another doesn't. Why one person gets an agent after 10 queries and another queries 200 agents and has nothing to show for it (even if the books are of relatively similar quality). Always, always act professional. Never respond angrily to a rejection.
That said, social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and industry blogs lets writers get up close with agents and editors on a daily basis. You probably don't want to add an agent you don't know as a FB friend, but you can certainly follow them on Twitter and interact with them (appropriately) in the Twitterverse. Many agencies also have FB fan pages, where you can also interact with people.
AGH: Considering how your YouTube "writing a novel" video went viral and your law school parody has over a million hits (WOW), you appear to be a master at promoting yourself online. Is there any advice you can give those of us who are already or are about to be on the promotional side of our publishing careers (marketing our book trailers, pushing our titles, etc…)?
David: I think it's important that whatever self-promotion you do needs to reflect your identity as a writer. My videos and my blog (and more recently, my Twitter account) have a lot of dark, satirical humor, and so I'm guessing that people will (rightfully) expect that my fiction will be similar in style. Also, never, ever post anything less than your best work. You never know who's watching.
Also, be polite and friendly. My five-year-old knows this, and yet I still find instances where people don't act friendly. Talk up other people whose work you like. I've made numerous friends and contacts through social media doing that.
As for the videos -- I wish I had a secret formula for making something go viral. With my most successful videos (Law School, Write a Novel, and Facebook), I think I just tapped into what a lot of people were thinking. And the Xtranormal website was the perfect vehicle for my ramblings.
I think there's a lot you can do even without a viral video. Visit other blogs, participate in discussions, play to your strengths. It can be time consuming, but I think it's worthwhile. Plus, you get to meet a lot of cool people.
Five for fun:
AGH: What’s your favorite breakfast?
David: The egg-and-chicken burrito from Chick-Fil-A. With coffee. Or an asiago cheese bagel with honey-walnut cream cheese.
AGH: Are you Team Dog or Team Cat?
David: Dog. We have an 11-year-old Lab mix. Although I respect cats and how they don't give a crap about anyone.
AGH: What video games do you play?
David: I grew up on Super Mario Bros. and Nintendo Ice Hockey. I haven't mastered many things in my life, but I dare you to find someone who could've beaten me in Nintendo Ice Hockey in the late 1980s. No, I didn't date a lot. These days I play Lego Star Wars on the Wii with my son.
AGH: When would you go to if you had a time machine, and why?
David: Oh, a dangerous question indeed. If I changed anything about the past, I might not be where I am today, right? Butterfly effect and all. But if you visit the future, you see where you end up, and then the question becomes whether everything you do from now up until that point is predestined. And if you try to avoid it because you don't like how things end up, maybe it's doing those avoidance things that get you to the place you're not happy with.
But let's say you could go anywhere with no effect on the timeline -- sort of like watching a replay. I think I'd go back to the day I met my wife and see how the day unfolded. Maybe even the whole week before. I think it would be interesting to see all the little things that had to happen to put me at that place at that moment. It turned out to be the most important day of my life -- but I had no idea for a good part of it.
AGH: Drinking tea … pinky up, or heavy on the Long Island?
David: Long island is my preference. Black tea is my reality. Pinky is never, ever up.
Thank you, David, for sharing your insights and for letting us peek into what makes you unique and successful. And I'd like to point out that, judging by that lovely and swoon-worthy answer you gave to the time machine question above, should you one day have a little daughter who wants you to drink tea with her -- pinkies up -- you'll be a proper English gent and wear a smile on your face the whole time. What a nice guy!
Congratulations on catching that elusive agent, and I wish you much luck and happiness on your climb to the shelves! Don't forget to follow David's blog or tweets as his journey unfolds. He also has a success interview posted at QueryTracker.
Now it's your turn. If you have questions for David --or if you'd simply like to congratulate him and show your support --please leave a comment below!
![[headshotmwcc3.png]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_cRwNaBdNVtB9vhYQXdbb9ZGytN5K5ZRL6yrYCPUXkZb8uQx1PCgDz9V_8D5PxbPRneSHx22TTtKCtDd2cgIaPyBmffQCQiYvErIyf1k4SZy_qrT9YndYg4MXNNi9uCefTLrjiD5v-U/s220/headshotmwcc3.png)
Thanks Anita for having me on the new blog today! I’m so excited to be able to share my QueryTracker story—it was an invaluable resource for me during my query process. On March 1, 2011, I signed with Vickie Motter of Andrea Hurst Literary Management. QueryTracker kept me organized, sane, and informed.