Well, it's Friday again and I find myself in the same place as last week - having spent an entire week nursing another child with the flu. I'm typically selfish with my time, but I'd be lying to say it hasn't been a little nice getting to spend a lot of concentrated time with one kid at a time. I spent the majority of the day Thursday playing Old Maid, Crazy 8s, Concentration, and Go Fish, and reading a stack of amazing children's books, and the rest of the time just holding my daughter as we watched her favorite movies.
Life gets busy. I get busy. And distracted. But when my kids are sick, the world stops a little bit. and I get to do nothing but love them. And that's not an entirely bad thing.
My good things today are few but huge.
1. I decided I couldn't split my day between marketing and writing. The writing always lost out. And the marketing was getting frustrating beyond belief. Not so much frustrating, even, as just heartbreaking. And totally time consuming.
So my husband suggested I designate certain days as just marketing days, and others as just writing. And I did that. Wednesday was JUST WRITING. And I loved it so much, I made Thursday a writing day too. And after some days of heartache, I got back to what I really loved.
I didn't write thousands upon thousands of words. But I wrote. And I'm loving what I write. And I love writing. I love my new book - or the idea of what I want that book to be. I love the potential it has. It seems like a long time since I've looked at something I'm writing as something with a future - something that holds great dreams and hopes.
Writing? a good thing.
Making some boundaries on my time? a good thing.
Writing groups who listen when I come crying? definitely great things!
My husband? an awesome thing!
2. The goldfish... well, one has died. It lasted nearly 2 and a half weeks. That's two and a half weeks longer than I expected. But I worried for my daughter, who loved those cheap pets like they were her new babies.
But as we as a family stood solemnly over the toilet, Gilligan motionless in the tiny net waiting for his burial, and as we tried to all say something nice about him ("you were really pretty, Gilligan, until you were floating sideways on the bottom not breathing...then you looked kinda gross..."), I looked at my daughter -who was tearless - and realized that in life and goldfish, - like queries and agents and publishers and cover blurbs - sometimes one is all you need.
I'm always so encouraged by y'all's good things too, so if you think of one or two this week, leave it in the comment section. We can all be thankful together!
Have a great Friday, and a great weekend! See ya back here on Monday!
Friday, October 23, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
My Love Affair With Present Tense
I have a terrible admission to make.
I sat to write today and realized I have lost the ability to write in the past tense.
It's true. I don't know how it happened. For my entire life I'd only written in past tense, but when I wrote Some Kind of Normal, it came out in first person present. Scary stuff. Really, it was. I'd never done that before, and when it came out like that I kind of went, Woa! What's this??
But then I grew into it. And now I'm addicted to it. When I went through my novel-of-the-day last winter trying to find the new book in me, every one ended up in first person present. And, now that I think about it, most of the blog writing is that way too. So the past tense sort of grew out of me.
But I'm working on something now in which I've decided part of it needs to be first person present and part is in first person past. (I know, I know! Suicide! Don't even try to talk me out of it though...I'm still early into it and think it's going to be brilliant...)
Today my writing kept slipping into present tense, and when I tried to go back and put it into past tense, I couldn't. Literally, I looked at the words on the page and thought, how the heck do I change this? I added a few "-ed"s to the ends of some verbs, changed a hang to hung... but not all of it was that simple. Some of it I really didn't know how to change. I'd look at a sentence and wonder, "Is that pure present tense, or is that how you'd write it in past tense, too?"
So here is one of the paragraphs I wrote today that I struggled with:
Kristin sprawled out across my bed upside down, her feet hanging off one side and her head off the other, not caring that her shirt was riding up and showing off the belly button ring her mom didn’t even know she had. I tried not to stare at it, but that was really hard. It’s a fake diamond and it caught the light and bounced it off the ceiling, and I tried to follow the sparkle instead of staring at her bare stomach. It’s flat. I wished mine were that flat. I put my hand on my flabby abdomen and pressed it in.
The part that hung me up? "It's a fake diamond." That apostrophe s stands for "is": present tense. But can you say, "It was a fake diamond"? Same with "It's flat." And if you say "was," look at all the was's in that paragraph!
I think I really hate the word was. I love the word is. It feels active. And you can contract it. Was feels... boring.
Sadly, that isn't even the worst of my dilemmas. Some sentences I totally deleted - perfectly good sentences that I really liked - because I had no idea how to make them mean the same thing in past tense.
Sigh. I guess that's what editing is for.
I sat to write today and realized I have lost the ability to write in the past tense.
It's true. I don't know how it happened. For my entire life I'd only written in past tense, but when I wrote Some Kind of Normal, it came out in first person present. Scary stuff. Really, it was. I'd never done that before, and when it came out like that I kind of went, Woa! What's this??
But then I grew into it. And now I'm addicted to it. When I went through my novel-of-the-day last winter trying to find the new book in me, every one ended up in first person present. And, now that I think about it, most of the blog writing is that way too. So the past tense sort of grew out of me.
But I'm working on something now in which I've decided part of it needs to be first person present and part is in first person past. (I know, I know! Suicide! Don't even try to talk me out of it though...I'm still early into it and think it's going to be brilliant...)
Today my writing kept slipping into present tense, and when I tried to go back and put it into past tense, I couldn't. Literally, I looked at the words on the page and thought, how the heck do I change this? I added a few "-ed"s to the ends of some verbs, changed a hang to hung... but not all of it was that simple. Some of it I really didn't know how to change. I'd look at a sentence and wonder, "Is that pure present tense, or is that how you'd write it in past tense, too?"
So here is one of the paragraphs I wrote today that I struggled with:
Kristin sprawled out across my bed upside down, her feet hanging off one side and her head off the other, not caring that her shirt was riding up and showing off the belly button ring her mom didn’t even know she had. I tried not to stare at it, but that was really hard. It’s a fake diamond and it caught the light and bounced it off the ceiling, and I tried to follow the sparkle instead of staring at her bare stomach. It’s flat. I wished mine were that flat. I put my hand on my flabby abdomen and pressed it in.
The part that hung me up? "It's a fake diamond." That apostrophe s stands for "is": present tense. But can you say, "It was a fake diamond"? Same with "It's flat." And if you say "was," look at all the was's in that paragraph!
I think I really hate the word was. I love the word is. It feels active. And you can contract it. Was feels... boring.
Sadly, that isn't even the worst of my dilemmas. Some sentences I totally deleted - perfectly good sentences that I really liked - because I had no idea how to make them mean the same thing in past tense.
Sigh. I guess that's what editing is for.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Rotisserie, Anyone?
Today I received an email from a writing partner on the cusp of querying. She asked the question so many authors find themselves asking: "Where does this book fit in?" She didn't mean in the larger scope of life, or on some metaphysical or metaphorical level. She meant, "what bookshelf would a bookstore put this on?"
Sometimes authors and books fit neatly somewhere. Some books are very clearly romance, or historical fiction, or young adult.
But some are not so clearly defined. There are historical aspects, but it's a mystery, too. It's romance, but set in an urban fantasy theme. Or, in the case of my friend, its protagonist is a teen, but the topic is very adult and the story takes place in the 1980s. It's easy to say it's a YA with crossover appeal, but when querying it becomes more important to figure out exactly where it fits best, so she can target agents better. And that distinction between YA and adult is more important to make in a query than, say, a book that could be literary or woman's fiction.
I've read agents say they don't care. Just call it a novel and let the publisher figure out where they want it shelved. The problem I am having is that my publisher wants me to tell them where to shelve it. I've flip-flopped on this book. I pawned it as commercial fiction, then agents said it was women's fiction. Then agents told me it was more literary. Then I was told it was Christian fiction. No one knows what to do with this book, and I've let everyone pull me around, even into the Christian fiction category, which was never my intention.
Don't get me wrong. I don't have any problems being a Christian. My identity as a person is a Christian. I am proud of my faith. I don't even have problems with Christian fiction. It's just not where I feel like I should be. Or where this book should be.
I've gone back and forth on this so much if there were a fire beneath me I'd be fully rotisserized by now. I've really tried to embrace that label. It just won't stick.
It's hard to explain why. I've been trying to figure it out myself, and couldn't come up with much other than "It just doesn't feel like where I should be."
Today I realized part of why. I didn't set out to write a book about faith. My book isn't about faith. My book is about people in crisis; people who happen to be church-going folks who wrestle with what to believe in that crisis. And I believe a lot of people - Christian, Muslim, Hindu, atheists - all wrestle with some of those same questions.
And then I looked around at some of the top fiction sellers over the past years and I noticed something. There are a fair number in which other religions hold a place in the book. Where other religions even drive the story. Particularly Middle Eastern faiths and settings and characters are very popular right now.
And I found myself asking, why aren't those on the faith-fiction shelf? Why is it okay for them to revolve around religion and still be categorized as literary fiction, and mine, in which faith is part of the fabric of the characters' lives but not part of the punchline of the book, cannot be?
I've looked at my obligation to shelf my book myself as a frustration. Why won't my publisher just tell me the answer?? I know they think it should be here, so I guess I have to put it here.
And then I realized today, in a flash of much-belated brilliance, that they have given me the gift no other publisher would give me. The gift of whatever shelf I want. All the readers who have come before and tried to label my book no longer matter. All that matters is where I think it should be.
What a freeing gift that is!
Sometimes authors and books fit neatly somewhere. Some books are very clearly romance, or historical fiction, or young adult.
But some are not so clearly defined. There are historical aspects, but it's a mystery, too. It's romance, but set in an urban fantasy theme. Or, in the case of my friend, its protagonist is a teen, but the topic is very adult and the story takes place in the 1980s. It's easy to say it's a YA with crossover appeal, but when querying it becomes more important to figure out exactly where it fits best, so she can target agents better. And that distinction between YA and adult is more important to make in a query than, say, a book that could be literary or woman's fiction.
I've read agents say they don't care. Just call it a novel and let the publisher figure out where they want it shelved. The problem I am having is that my publisher wants me to tell them where to shelve it. I've flip-flopped on this book. I pawned it as commercial fiction, then agents said it was women's fiction. Then agents told me it was more literary. Then I was told it was Christian fiction. No one knows what to do with this book, and I've let everyone pull me around, even into the Christian fiction category, which was never my intention.
Don't get me wrong. I don't have any problems being a Christian. My identity as a person is a Christian. I am proud of my faith. I don't even have problems with Christian fiction. It's just not where I feel like I should be. Or where this book should be.
I've gone back and forth on this so much if there were a fire beneath me I'd be fully rotisserized by now. I've really tried to embrace that label. It just won't stick.
It's hard to explain why. I've been trying to figure it out myself, and couldn't come up with much other than "It just doesn't feel like where I should be."
Today I realized part of why. I didn't set out to write a book about faith. My book isn't about faith. My book is about people in crisis; people who happen to be church-going folks who wrestle with what to believe in that crisis. And I believe a lot of people - Christian, Muslim, Hindu, atheists - all wrestle with some of those same questions.
And then I looked around at some of the top fiction sellers over the past years and I noticed something. There are a fair number in which other religions hold a place in the book. Where other religions even drive the story. Particularly Middle Eastern faiths and settings and characters are very popular right now.
And I found myself asking, why aren't those on the faith-fiction shelf? Why is it okay for them to revolve around religion and still be categorized as literary fiction, and mine, in which faith is part of the fabric of the characters' lives but not part of the punchline of the book, cannot be?
I've looked at my obligation to shelf my book myself as a frustration. Why won't my publisher just tell me the answer?? I know they think it should be here, so I guess I have to put it here.
And then I realized today, in a flash of much-belated brilliance, that they have given me the gift no other publisher would give me. The gift of whatever shelf I want. All the readers who have come before and tried to label my book no longer matter. All that matters is where I think it should be.
What a freeing gift that is!
Monday, October 19, 2009
Kreativ Blog Awards
Holy Guacamole, folks! Brit over at Dream the Dream nominated me all the way back in August for this award!! I think this should officially now be renamed the procrastinator's blogger award!
In fact, I think I'll start one of those.... later.
So here it is. If I were you I'd just skip down to the awesome awardees, because I've found some really cool new bloggers I'd love to introduce you to. But if you insist on order, here is the mandatory stuff first:
Kreativ Blogger Award
1. Thank the person that who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominated.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they were nominated.
1. Thank you Brit! You're the best! I am - every single day - thankful we met at that cruddy, awful, mind-bogglingly terrible writing group - and that we survived together! And not just because you are an awesome writer and great crit partner, but because you are just a fantastic person. And you have a really cool accent. :)
2. Logo copied. Check.
3. Brit linked. Here it is again if you need it.
4. Seven things about me that you might find interesting:
So there you have it. Were you interested?
Moving on...
5 and 6: Seven bloggers...
I'm picking these people because I haven't chosen them for any other awards, and because I think it's possible they might be new bloggers to some of you. Some of them, anyways. Of course, some of them might be you, so you'd know them. because they're you and all............. anyway...
Louder than Noise: I love Jessie's blog title, but I love reading her blog more! I have no idea how she found me, but I'm glad she did. She's a writer, a mom, a fellow life-juggler, and always an encourager. If you haven't met her, you should!
Kristi Faith: a new friend in the blogosphere as well, and a fellow writer. She writes practically and eloquently of life as mother, wife, and writer. And she has the nicest things to say when she leaves comments. I'm looking forward to following her progress in NaNo!
MeganRebekah: I'm embarrassed to say I don't know if Megan is just Megan whose last name is Rebekah, or whose middle name is Rebekah, or who goes by the all smooshed into one first name of MeganRebekah. Should I keep addressing her as MeganRebekah or just Megan? These are the kinds of things you just can't know by only reading a blog. I'll have to ask. In any case, I love her blog. She's really fun. And creative. And is writing what looks like an amazing book.
K. M. Weiland: her second book was just published, and I love that she is as excited about it as if it were her first! Her blog is chock full of really great writing hints, tips, advice, musings, and the journey. Her blogroll itself is something I could spent hours perusing!
Caroline by line: I have no idea how I found Caroline, but it was off someone else's blog who quite possibly mentioned her in relation to this very award, and commented on the great blog title, to which I echo: how awesome is that blog title??? AND - it turns out she's a pretty fun blog writer to read, too! This week? She turned her closet into a writing office. It's so cool! Go check it out!
My Friend Amy: Amy's blog was one of the ones I found when I was hunting down bloggers who do book reviews. My first impression was how much I loved the look of the blog. Then I read it, and now I keep going back because of the content. Lots of great book reviews. I have no idea how she gets so much reading done! She's a Christian, and though not all of the books she reviews are Christian, many are reviewed through the eyes of being a Christian. The downside is now I have to find time and money for all these new books on my to-read list!!
Watch the Book: I have no idea who runs this blog, but it's an incredible collection of book trailers...a new one every day. Hoping to get mine in there one of these days, but for now, it feeds my obsession of finding new ones!
Phew! Okay - off to let them know. If you have time, go visit too!
In fact, I think I'll start one of those.... later.
So here it is. If I were you I'd just skip down to the awesome awardees, because I've found some really cool new bloggers I'd love to introduce you to. But if you insist on order, here is the mandatory stuff first:
Kreativ Blogger Award
1. Thank the person that who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominated.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they were nominated.
1. Thank you Brit! You're the best! I am - every single day - thankful we met at that cruddy, awful, mind-bogglingly terrible writing group - and that we survived together! And not just because you are an awesome writer and great crit partner, but because you are just a fantastic person. And you have a really cool accent. :)
2. Logo copied. Check.
3. Brit linked. Here it is again if you need it.
4. Seven things about me that you might find interesting:
- My feet get claustrophobic. It happens randomly and without warning. One minute I'm fine and the next I feel like I'll have to claw my feet off if I can't get the shoes off fast enough. My heartrate goes up, I hyperventilate. I feel like I'm going to explode. Once the shoes are off, I'm fine. Bet you're so glad I told you that. :)
- I tend to write without contractions. I have no idea why this is. Then I have to go back and contract it all to make sure I don't sound like some formal, stuffy buffoon. Except the word y'all. I'm pretty good at that one the first time around.
- I can't twitter because I can't write under 140 characters. I'm way wordy. I'm sure you've noticed that, though, so maybe that wasn't very enlightening...
- I have to chew on a pen while writing. I think this started in middle school, when I used to chew the pen caps down to the nubs. Now I still stick a pen in my mouth when I'm typing on the computer.
- I didn't drink coffee at all until I was 38. Now it's the reason I get out of bed.
- I nearly drowned in a whitewater rafting accident when I was 13.
- I am an expert at catching lizards that get into our house. Really. They're like lightening fast and I'm the only one who can catch them. I'm very proud of this. And it may seem like a useless talent until you are trying to go to bed and you know there is a lizard running around your room somewhere.
So there you have it. Were you interested?
Moving on...
5 and 6: Seven bloggers...
I'm picking these people because I haven't chosen them for any other awards, and because I think it's possible they might be new bloggers to some of you. Some of them, anyways. Of course, some of them might be you, so you'd know them. because they're you and all............. anyway...
Louder than Noise: I love Jessie's blog title, but I love reading her blog more! I have no idea how she found me, but I'm glad she did. She's a writer, a mom, a fellow life-juggler, and always an encourager. If you haven't met her, you should!
Kristi Faith: a new friend in the blogosphere as well, and a fellow writer. She writes practically and eloquently of life as mother, wife, and writer. And she has the nicest things to say when she leaves comments. I'm looking forward to following her progress in NaNo!
MeganRebekah: I'm embarrassed to say I don't know if Megan is just Megan whose last name is Rebekah, or whose middle name is Rebekah, or who goes by the all smooshed into one first name of MeganRebekah. Should I keep addressing her as MeganRebekah or just Megan? These are the kinds of things you just can't know by only reading a blog. I'll have to ask. In any case, I love her blog. She's really fun. And creative. And is writing what looks like an amazing book.
K. M. Weiland: her second book was just published, and I love that she is as excited about it as if it were her first! Her blog is chock full of really great writing hints, tips, advice, musings, and the journey. Her blogroll itself is something I could spent hours perusing!
Caroline by line: I have no idea how I found Caroline, but it was off someone else's blog who quite possibly mentioned her in relation to this very award, and commented on the great blog title, to which I echo: how awesome is that blog title??? AND - it turns out she's a pretty fun blog writer to read, too! This week? She turned her closet into a writing office. It's so cool! Go check it out!
My Friend Amy: Amy's blog was one of the ones I found when I was hunting down bloggers who do book reviews. My first impression was how much I loved the look of the blog. Then I read it, and now I keep going back because of the content. Lots of great book reviews. I have no idea how she gets so much reading done! She's a Christian, and though not all of the books she reviews are Christian, many are reviewed through the eyes of being a Christian. The downside is now I have to find time and money for all these new books on my to-read list!!
Watch the Book: I have no idea who runs this blog, but it's an incredible collection of book trailers...a new one every day. Hoping to get mine in there one of these days, but for now, it feeds my obsession of finding new ones!
Phew! Okay - off to let them know. If you have time, go visit too!
Friday, October 16, 2009
It's Friday; It's a Good Thing
It's Friday again. How did that happen so fast? One of my daughters caught the flu this week and for four days I've been a recluse tied to my own home. You'd think with that kind of couch-time, I'd have made huge progress on writing.... or on something. Anything, really.
But not so much, as it turns out.
And because I was pretty much a captive in my own basement, I don't even have anything interesting to report unless you'd like the milk and bread supply update (running very low) or a follow-up on the goldfish (still alive! two weeks!).
In fact, the highlight of the week was the fact that the weather suddenly turned from balmy fall to mid-winter overnight, and I got to use the bun-warmers in the car. Of course, the only time I was in the car was driving my other two kids to the bus-stop, which isn't far enough away to even get the bun warmers warm, but still... it's the idea of it.
But home-bound or not, it's still Friday, and it's time to reflect on what is good.
1. I updated my website to include a form for people to request to be notified when my book becomes available, and I've already gotten more than a handful of responses! And they weren't even family! In fact, some of them I don't even know! So cool!
2. I'm thankful I'm not sick. In fact, so far I'm pretty healthy. Which is something considering how many flu germs must be floating in the air around me. (I admit I feel a bit like the goldfish in this manner... I'll hold out full-on cheering until another week has past and I'm still well)
3. Sweatshirts. I know it must seem like I'm reaching here, but it's sweatshirt weather, and the minute I slipped it on this week I thought, "Is there anything more comfortable than this??" The answer, of course, is no.
4. Ross the Intern on Jay Leno. If you live out of the country, my apologies on the cultural references, as well as my deepest regrets on your loss. Ross is hilarious...and never fails to make me laugh, and just feel happy.
5. Bloggers. Y'all are awesome. Yesterday Kristi asked if she could pass on my trailer on facebook or her blog, and then Kimberly went and posted it on hers!! Way to spread the word, guys!! If any of the rest of you want to help and post the link to the trailer (or my website) on your facebook or Twitter or MySpace (or whatever social network you use), that would be fantastic! This is the link to copy and paste:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsuE9hG1tPk
6. On the note of awesome bloggers, several of you have given me awards lately and I've been terrible at paying it forward. Thank you, especially Shelli and Brit... I have a post to pass the awards on set for Monday.
7. My son chose to play percussion in band this year. I actually like listening to him practice. It brings back great memories of high school football games.
8. I've been wrestling for a long time now with how to get several blurbs for my books before the book comes out without having the book to send to the authors in question. (NorLights doesn't do ARCs... they do galleys but the process is pretty fast - too fast to forward it to authors and wait around for them to read it and decide if they want to praise it or not). I don't want to send a .doc of the book - that seems terribly unprofessional! In talking it over with someone yesterday (thanks mom!!) I realized the perfect solution! Yay! Now I can get at that!
9. Jen is having a baby. It's so exciting! Even for me just to experience second-hand. I can't wait to pick out clothes for the baby, and see pics and get to hear every detail! If you get a chance and you haven't already, go say congrats to her. And read her baby posts on Thursdays. They're awesome!
So help me out. Tell me one great thing from this week. And then go have a great weekend!
But not so much, as it turns out.
And because I was pretty much a captive in my own basement, I don't even have anything interesting to report unless you'd like the milk and bread supply update (running very low) or a follow-up on the goldfish (still alive! two weeks!).
In fact, the highlight of the week was the fact that the weather suddenly turned from balmy fall to mid-winter overnight, and I got to use the bun-warmers in the car. Of course, the only time I was in the car was driving my other two kids to the bus-stop, which isn't far enough away to even get the bun warmers warm, but still... it's the idea of it.
But home-bound or not, it's still Friday, and it's time to reflect on what is good.
1. I updated my website to include a form for people to request to be notified when my book becomes available, and I've already gotten more than a handful of responses! And they weren't even family! In fact, some of them I don't even know! So cool!
2. I'm thankful I'm not sick. In fact, so far I'm pretty healthy. Which is something considering how many flu germs must be floating in the air around me. (I admit I feel a bit like the goldfish in this manner... I'll hold out full-on cheering until another week has past and I'm still well)
3. Sweatshirts. I know it must seem like I'm reaching here, but it's sweatshirt weather, and the minute I slipped it on this week I thought, "Is there anything more comfortable than this??" The answer, of course, is no.
4. Ross the Intern on Jay Leno. If you live out of the country, my apologies on the cultural references, as well as my deepest regrets on your loss. Ross is hilarious...and never fails to make me laugh, and just feel happy.
5. Bloggers. Y'all are awesome. Yesterday Kristi asked if she could pass on my trailer on facebook or her blog, and then Kimberly went and posted it on hers!! Way to spread the word, guys!! If any of the rest of you want to help and post the link to the trailer (or my website) on your facebook or Twitter or MySpace (or whatever social network you use), that would be fantastic! This is the link to copy and paste:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsuE9hG1tPk
6. On the note of awesome bloggers, several of you have given me awards lately and I've been terrible at paying it forward. Thank you, especially Shelli and Brit... I have a post to pass the awards on set for Monday.
7. My son chose to play percussion in band this year. I actually like listening to him practice. It brings back great memories of high school football games.
8. I've been wrestling for a long time now with how to get several blurbs for my books before the book comes out without having the book to send to the authors in question. (NorLights doesn't do ARCs... they do galleys but the process is pretty fast - too fast to forward it to authors and wait around for them to read it and decide if they want to praise it or not). I don't want to send a .doc of the book - that seems terribly unprofessional! In talking it over with someone yesterday (thanks mom!!) I realized the perfect solution! Yay! Now I can get at that!
9. Jen is having a baby. It's so exciting! Even for me just to experience second-hand. I can't wait to pick out clothes for the baby, and see pics and get to hear every detail! If you get a chance and you haven't already, go say congrats to her. And read her baby posts on Thursdays. They're awesome!
So help me out. Tell me one great thing from this week. And then go have a great weekend!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Querying Vs. Marketing: Tomaytoes, Tomahtoes
Twelve months ago, almost to the day, I started querying agents with my novel. Today, I spent the majority of the day working on marketing. The similarities are eerie. So here is my take on the two, side by side.
The Query Process: starting out SUPER excited!! I'm gonna get me a fantabulous agent!
The Marketing Process: starting out SUPER excited!! I'm gonna sell me a million books!
The Query Process: realizing quickly, holy smokes, I don't know a thing about this!
The Marketing Process: realizing quickly, holy smokes, I don't know a thing about this!
The Query Process: sorting through a gazillion websites and blogs on how to write the perfect query to entice agents into thinking I have a book they need to read
The Marketing Process: sorting through a gazillion websites and blogs on how to get word out that I have a book they need to buy
The Query Process: accumulating a list of a hundred agents perfect for me
The Marketing Process: accumulating a list of a hundred reviewers perfect for the book
The Query Process: writing the perfect query letter; tearing it up and starting over with a more perfect query letter
The Marketing Process: writing a perfect plan, then adding to it obsessively with new plans
The Query Process: motrin
The Marketing Process: motrin
The Query Process: worrying no agents will want me
The Marketing Process: worrying no reader will want the book
The Query Process: rejections from agents
The Marketing Process: rejections from reviewers
The Query Process: compulsively checking QueryTracker for agent updates
The Marketing Process: compulsively checking YouTube for new book trailers
The Query Process: blogging nonstop about it until blog readers' ears bleed
The Marketing Process: blogging nonstop about it until blog readers' ears bleed
The Query Process: dreaming about book covers and doodling author bio
The Marketing Process: sweating over book covers and crying over author bio
The Query Process: dreaming of interviews and media spots
The Marketing Process: struggling to find 2 people/newpapers/blogs/TV/radio shows to even ask
The Query Process: worrying everyone else has a better query
The Marketing Process: worrying everyone else has a better book
The Query Process: summing up the book in a 5 sentence pitch
The Marketing Process: summing up the book in a one sentence book trailer
The Query Process: having people constantly asking me, "So, when's you're book coming out?" and having to explain how long the process is
The Marketing Process: having people constantly asking me, "So when's you're book coming out?" and getting to say, "Soon. Do you want to be on the mailing list?"
The Query Process: sanity saved by people who have read the book and believe in it - and me.
The Marketing Process: saved by people who have read the book and believe in it - and me
The Query Process: starting out SUPER excited!! I'm gonna get me a fantabulous agent!
The Marketing Process: starting out SUPER excited!! I'm gonna sell me a million books!
The Query Process: realizing quickly, holy smokes, I don't know a thing about this!
The Marketing Process: realizing quickly, holy smokes, I don't know a thing about this!
The Query Process: sorting through a gazillion websites and blogs on how to write the perfect query to entice agents into thinking I have a book they need to read
The Marketing Process: sorting through a gazillion websites and blogs on how to get word out that I have a book they need to buy
The Query Process: accumulating a list of a hundred agents perfect for me
The Marketing Process: accumulating a list of a hundred reviewers perfect for the book
The Query Process: writing the perfect query letter; tearing it up and starting over with a more perfect query letter
The Marketing Process: writing a perfect plan, then adding to it obsessively with new plans
The Query Process: motrin
The Marketing Process: motrin
The Query Process: worrying no agents will want me
The Marketing Process: worrying no reader will want the book
The Query Process: rejections from agents
The Marketing Process: rejections from reviewers
The Query Process: compulsively checking QueryTracker for agent updates
The Marketing Process: compulsively checking YouTube for new book trailers
The Query Process: blogging nonstop about it until blog readers' ears bleed
The Marketing Process: blogging nonstop about it until blog readers' ears bleed
The Query Process: dreaming about book covers and doodling author bio
The Marketing Process: sweating over book covers and crying over author bio
The Query Process: dreaming of interviews and media spots
The Marketing Process: struggling to find 2 people/newpapers/blogs/TV/radio shows to even ask
The Query Process: worrying everyone else has a better query
The Marketing Process: worrying everyone else has a better book
The Query Process: summing up the book in a 5 sentence pitch
The Marketing Process: summing up the book in a one sentence book trailer
The Query Process: having people constantly asking me, "So, when's you're book coming out?" and having to explain how long the process is
The Marketing Process: having people constantly asking me, "So when's you're book coming out?" and getting to say, "Soon. Do you want to be on the mailing list?"
The Query Process: sanity saved by people who have read the book and believe in it - and me.
The Marketing Process: saved by people who have read the book and believe in it - and me
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