No News is...VERY stressful!

I'm trying not to over-think this process but, I'll tell ya, I'm freakin' out! Okay maybe not freaking but it'd be nice to put my mind at ease for two seconds. Every time my phone chimes, I'm typing in my password before I can say "Rejection" or "Offer" or "Oh, it's just junkmail :( ".

And don't even get me started on Twitter! Word of advice: In order to remain sane, as humanly possible, during a time like this, DO NOT follow perspective agents on Twitter. Take it from me. Keep your head on and just DON'T!

The best thing to keep you sane (well, me at least) is more writing. Work on your next project. Throw yourself into it (or them!) and don't look back until someone else (preferably an agent with good news ;) ) mentions your submitted work.

As you can see, not much has changed.

And the tally:

10 (yes, I submitted another, even though I said I wouldn't) queries
5 Rejections
2 Requests (one full, one partial)
3 Non-repsonders

I'll keep you posted!

Synopsis Hell.

So it's happened. Just when I thought the hard part (choosing agents to query) was over, up pops another agent. I've read comments from other writers before about that agent who's perfect for your book. The one who you were sure was "the one". Your kindred agent spirit. Well, I think I found her and I'm honestly afraid to even say that out loud.

This morning I woke up and performed my usual routine:

1. Work out
2. Have shower
3. Make smoothie
4. Open computer while sipping on smoothie
5. Login to querytracker.net
6. Open up Literary Rambles
7. Pull up agent twitter accounts
8. Find out what the news is for the week, all while still sipping on smoothie

Somewhere between the 8th and 9th step I shook things up a bit by doing an impromptu search in Literary Rambles. The search brought up an agent I hadn't considered before. Why? I have no clue. I follow her blog, so I have a good idea of what she likes. It's just weird that I never realized, until today, that she is perfect for this book. 

So that makes three agents who would do this job better than all the rest. 

Anyway, that's how the 9th step got all screwed up. Instead of my normal, leisurely writing I was hurdled into the world of Synopsis Creation: a world of hell. With words. 

This is the first synopsis I've ever written and, if it wasn't for this agent, I honestly wouldn't bother. During my search, I actually avoided agents who required a synopsis. Seriously. 

Truthfully, the first hour wasn't so bad. I was really in the groove and I like the way it sounds--at the beginning. It's the end of the day now and the only thing that's keeping me going is reading every ounce of web presence this agent has. Every time I want to give up, I go to one article or another and am reminded I have to query her. 

And so it continues. Step 9:  Walk through coals.

I'll keep you posted.

The School of Writing

First let me update you on my querying process.

As you know, I've sent 8 queries: 1 in April and 7 in May.


Here are my stats:

1 Full Request
1 Partial Request
4 Rejections
2 Still Waiting

The rejections, with the exception of one, were kind of expected, if not totally understandable. I can't believe how cool I am with someone telling me my baby is ugly...lol. Okay, well not really, although one of those requests could end that way.

Whenever an email comes in I either rush to check it or am slow to open it. This is a trip. But I love every second of it.

One thing I've learned is how important research is. Writers need to plan every step. Decide exactly who you will query and why it's a good idea. Not because they rep one of your favorite authors or someone who made millions off their books, but because you know they will love your baby as much as you do. It's kind of like an adoption process. You want to make sure the person you choose has all the right credentials...for you and yours.

When I look at my stats this rings true. Of the 8 agents I queried, there is only one who rejected my query that I thought might be interested. The other rejections were all long shots, and I won't do that next time. I'll have more respect for my work and query only those who truly have the potential to appreciate it. Otherwise I'm wasting my time and theirs. If all writers just send queries to "dream agents" or "top agents" or "long shots" can we be surprised that the slush pile is so big? And that it's so difficult to get noticed?

Of course rejections may still come from those that seem right for the project, but at least from that you'll learn something. Maybe the market isn't right. Maybe your query isn't up to snuff. Perhaps your writing isn't.

The querying process is a learning process. Hell, writing is. After everything we've endured just writing our manuscript, querying the opportunity to test the waters, see if you've got what it takes and what find out what else you can improve on. I used to sit in front of a blank screen and cloud my head with ideas of what might be the next big thing. Now I just write. I use life, experiences, good and bad, to create unique stories. Stories that I can relate to. It's no longer about what's hot. It's about what's me.

When I first started to take creatively writing seriously, decided that I wanted to get published, I said:

"I'll try. I'll write a book. I'll try to get an agent. If it doesn't work out, I'll quit."

I've come a long way since then. This isn't just a dream I'm chasing. It's the thing I love. My escape from a bad day and the thing that is always guaranteed to make me smile. I've learned more than I ever could have imagined. And I doubt I'll ever quit now.

For Revisions Sake!

So just as I finish up the fourth draft, and take a leap of faith and send off one query, I come up with an annoyingly great idea. An idea that will require at least another week of revisions (she says, steam pouring from her ears).

This whole thing started with a dream last night. I'll admit, I'm a little bit of a geek. So, of course, I'm one of the many subjects of Geek God, Joss Whedon. With the new Avengers movie coming out, I decided to revisit Buffy. The first episode and Buffy's introduction to Sunnydale reminded me so much of my character's plight. The dream had nothing to do with the plot or the show, but it did have to do with querying (Which does tie in to the Joss Whedon thing, I promise). In my dream, I queried an agent who suggested I send my work to a different agent he was sure would love it.

As things go with dreams, I didn't remember this name until later this morning. My first thought was "Yeah, right, this is so not his thing. Mr. Agent is too cool for this." So I pushed it out of my mind (You see, he isn't just cool, he's, like, Joss Whedon cool).

Anyway, I decided to do a little research on Mr. Agent and realized that there were some things we had in common. Number one is our fave author. That still wasn't enough to convince me, I couldn't justify putting that in the query letter because her writing and my manuscript aren't much alike. She's just awesome. And while we both agree on that, it's not enough to warrant us working together. So I read his Literary Rambles entry and any other interviews I could find. I finally did a quick review of his bio on the agency website and found a little disclaimer that gave me somewhat of an angle. It's a weak angle, but an angle nonetheless.

So I'm sitting there, personalizing the query, coaching myself to just get on with it. Send it and see what happens (even though I promised in my last post I wasn't sending anything else until I've determined the result of my first one :P). And, all of a sudden, I get this idea. One that will make the plot so much  better. More realistic, but not change it too much. The revision involves turning one character into a group of characters (I'll be using inspiration from another dream for this part). I'll also be giving another character more face time. I'm getting started on it today.

Wish me luck :)

Foot Soak Update :)

So a few weeks ago, I posted my intention to finally submit one of my manuscripts. I said I'd send it out on or before March 14th. Well, not quite :) I may have jumped the gun a little :P

I sent it off for beta last Friday and I'm not planning on sending out queries until sometime in April, (probably near the end).

Just wanted to give you and update. I haven't forgotten about it and I'm not pretending that previous post doesn't exist :) Sure, I'm a little behind schedule but the plan is still in motion.

I will not chicken out!

Second Draft Completed :)

I've recently completed my second draft and now I'm in the process of the very painful self edit.

I self edited the first fifty pages and have sent them to be critiqued by a professional editor.

A side note on that:

I've decided that paying to have my work edited by someone who does it for a living is my best bet if I want to take this seriously. Friends are great-- smart even :) but there are two problems that can arise from having friends or family edit your work...well three actually.

• A friend or family member may end up being too nice in an effort not to hurt your feelings. This, of course, completely defeats the purpose of the critique. Nothing is ever perfect.

• A friend or family member might take their sweet time. LOL...this may be the most painful thing about choosing the fam/friend option. They're not getting paid. They're doing you a favor. Therefore all you can do....is wait.

• And of course the last thing is that friends and family usually aren't professionals. They may bring up issues that might seem irrelevant in the grand scheme of things (like 'cars don't have fans' and 'I'm confused, one minute they were in the car and the next they were in the hotel lobby'--long story). If your editor is not an avid reader (if they watch a lot of TV instead) you might be in for a very painful edit, and not in a good way.
  Not to say that these so called 'irrelevant' issues are ones you shouldn't pay attention to (every critic deserves to be heard) its just that when you are looking for a hard edit, one that is crucial to the success of your work, a professional will break down the 'real' problems with your novel, like voice, tense, tone, plot, character depth...etc.

So, yes, I've decided to pay for editorial services. I figure it will pay off in the long run and ensure I'm on the right track. When it comes to sending my work to the 'agent of my dreams' I can feel confident that I won't look like a fool and foil my chances of obtaining solid representation after the first try.

But here's the kicker. When I first started writing this novel a little voice kept telling me that it wasn't long enough, not descriptive enough and maybe didn't have enough characters. So I compensated.

Now, I want to KICK myself! My final word count at the end of the second draft was 132, 000 (+). For some reason I had in my mind that YA novels should be between 70-120,00 words.

Well....I was wrong. I did my research (after the fact, which was a big mistake!) and realized that the actual appropriate word count for YA fantasy is roughly (and I say roughly because it can vary) between 40, 000 and 70, 000 words.

So, needless to say, this self-edit is going to be very, very painful!

Right now, after removing many beloved scenes and even a few characters, I am at 105, 000 (only 35, 000 more to go!).

I'll keep you updated :)

PERSPECTIVE GAINED :)

So it's been about one month since I've blogged...about anything at all...and six weeks since I've blogged about the (exciting) journey of become a published (and respected) author.

In September, I read 7 novels in my genre. It was nice considering it had been so long since I'd had the time to read anything that wasn't a required reading. I guess these were kind of a required reading but in a good way.

I read one four-book series, the first of a book from another four-book series that 'my dream agent' represents, one that covered the same topic and was (very slightly) similar to my plot, and one that was the same topic, entirely different plot.

These readings were very beneficial. They gave me the confidence to continue on. There comes a point in the process of writing a novel that you get bored of your own words and you begin to worry whether or not they are worth anything or good enough.

After reading other work, some good, some very good, some bad and some very bad, you can more easily gain perspective.

This is going to be a GREAT journey!

For the last three weeks, I've been editing my first draft. I'm nearly complete. In fact, I have one more scene to edit so, after today, I will be.

Updates tomorrow!

First Novel Complete :o)

Yes.

The novel, which five years ago was a dream, and just four weeks ago the scattered pieces to a jigsaw puzzle, is now officially complete (well the first draft anyway).

And now for the month off; the month to gain perspective. During this month I've decided to read anything and everything that is currently popular in my genre. I'll also be doing a lot of research on what those reading my genre don't like, what they found annoying about the currently popular novels, what was missing and of course what they loved.

Lots of reading and even more research should keep my mind off my book and hopefully help me fight the urge to go back and start editing again.

I figured now is as good a time as any to make this pledge; a pledge that I hope will help me stay on course in the fight to fulfill my dream of becoming a successful novelist.

I hereby pledge to share my entire journey (heartbreak, rejection and all) with anyone who might be reading. From beginning to end, Kelbian Noel's journey to becoming a novelist: to whatever and wherever it leads her.

I hope blogging will help me stay on track and keep on keeping on despite any disappointment(s). Rejection is a scary thing, but its inevitable for any writer. And so I take the plunge.

Then...when I am the previously mentioned successful novelist you'll be able to say you kinda knew her when... ;)

Wish me luck...

Thanks, I'm gonna need it!

EXPOSING MYSELF

In her recent Writer's Digest Interview, Kirby Larson stated "You do need an agent and you do need to promote your work, but don't even thing about sending your manuscript anywhere until it's been read by someone who secretly hates your guts." This advice she placed as number eight on her top ten list of Things Every Aspiring Writer Should Know.

I did the inevitable a few moments ago. I sent unfinished creative work to ten different readers asking for their honest opinion. I've never let anyone read my creative writing before; unless it was created for academic purposes. What I just sent out, to the people I few as the best critics I currently know personally, was not.

The ten people I chose represent the many different sides to my Gemini personality.

My brothers and sister; who know me very well.

The fathers of my two children who know me (almost) equally as well but different sides of me and at different periods in my life.

Two of my very good friends who know the unequivocal feminine side of me.

My long time internet buddy, who really only knows what I'm willing to reveal to him at any point in time.

And a former classmate who knows the more serious, academic side of me.

I don't know if any of these people secretly hate me, but I suppose it doesn't really matter because they're all going to have their unbiased opinions about my work. They're going to be completely honest with me (whether I want them to or not)

And I'm about to find out whether or not I've really got something.