On Word Count and Querying

Image borrowed from: www.nurseryeducationonline.com/-c-62.html

Attempt One:

Before I started on my manuscript, I was terrified that I wouldn't be able to write enough words for a full length novel. I tried writing a novel when I was 15, and it ended up being 3,000 words. I did a little better on a fan fiction that ended up in 74,000 words (16 chapters), which I think is quite amazing. It's packed with adverbs and other no-no's, but it's a good story with a good plot and sub plots. I was 26 at the time. Today I find that the more I write, the longer the word count. It is a challenge for me to keep it low enough, because there's just so much to write about. The first attempt at full manuscript ended in 125,000 words. I queried it as such, and got an auto-rejection. It may have been because of the word count, or because the query letter was horrible, or because the writing was terrible and packed with no-no's. Probably all of the above.

Attempt Two:

At the time, I had no idea there was such a thing as "appropriate word count" for young adult fiction (or any other age group, for that matter), I just thought that more words equaled better writer. I compared my manuscript length with Cassandra Clare's City of Bones, and Stephenie Meyer's Twilight, by doing formulaic count of words I was taught while learning to type. I remember the day I learned about appropriate word counts. I sat in the black chair in my office, curtains pulled closed to shield the tiny room from light, desk cluttered with books, print-outs and stationary. The silly little text on my screen said 110,000 max for YA novels. I felt like giving up. How could I possibly cut a single word out of my novel? Every single word was important. But after a lot of research, a reading of a book on how to write, and a second look at the manuscript, I realized that there was quite a bit I could cut out. The revised 125,000 worded manuscript became 111,000 words. Much better, or so I thought.

At WriteOnCon, I discovered that 111,000 is way too much. There was an agent who went over queries live. She began by plucking out all the manuscripts over 90,000 words and tossing them into the bin. She said that the manuscripts with higher word count have to be truly exceptional. She said that 90,000 words +/- 5,000 is max in YA (apparently opinion on this differs, possibly because my novel is Fantasy, which means a little more leeway with some agents). That means I'll have to cut it down to at least 95,000 to avoid such auto-rejections from agents. Before the WriteOnCon, I had submitted queries to a lot of agents. I also received quite a number of rejections. The reason could be because of the word count, or because the revised query letter was terrible, or because the revised writing wasn't quite up to snuff yet. Probably all of the above.

Attempt Three:

I learned from this that you should only query a few agents at a time, because of the learning curve. If I had submitted to all the agents I've now submitted to with my horrible first query - all of them would reject it. If I would submit to all the agents I have yet to query with my terrible second query - all of them would reject it.

In other words, to avoid auto-rejections based on word count, I have to slice my manuscript even further. I'm doing that with the aid of critique partners - something I never had before - something I should have had before. I have also tried to be honest with myself, and cut out pieces that I knew, deep down, were not supposed to be in the story. With the first 6 chapters rewritten/revised, plus a whole chapter later in the manuscript removed, the word count is already down to 104,000 words. After WriteOnCon, I have a formula for a fantastic query, along with amazing critiques from Elana and Casey that I won at the conference, so I'm hoping I'll be able to produce a kick-ass query before I continue my agent querying next year. I also realized, during WriteOnCon, that I have to take a second look at adverbs, and other tics that are frowned upon. The reason I'm not querying until January next year is not only because agents are generally less likely to sign new authors late in the year, but also because I'm taking Creative Writing at university, and I'm learning heaps.

We're reading Sol Stein's Stein on Writing. Chapter two is so inspirational that I had to put down the book and jolt down ideas. He talks about the importance of the first line and first paragraphs in a book. He gives fantastic examples (real examples are so rare in those educational books on how to write!), and I now know that I have to change the beginning of Book of Black. In fact, I've been inspired to change the whole first chapter with a whole new concept to dive the kids into the other world faster. He helped me see how my first chapter is a bit distracting. It's a good chapter, but there's a misleading story that doesn't set the tone for the rest of the book. I see now that this first chapter is material for a different story.

So, with all these new discoveries, and with the aid of the amazing WriteOnCon, that was a revelation to me, I hope that when I start querying again, I won't get auto-rejected because of word count, I will have a catchy query letter, and that I will get a contract because of my new and shiny writing skills.

The Fat in the Book

By Mytrueblood "Sookie is Mine"

A weekend out in the country is over. The sun was way too hot (something we don't get a lot here, and also something I don't thrive well in), and I saw five--FIVE-- spiders! Eugh! I suppose that with the weather warming, the number of insects increase. I don't mind flies so much (even the bees I used to be terrified of before I became a mother), but spiders, even though they're tiny = a squeal and a shudder + warily looking about everywhere I go and feeling tiny little itches everywhere.

Back on subject:

There are two things I'd like to talk about today: Cutting the fat out of the book and short endings.

As I've talked about before, I wrote my first manuscript without having read a word about how to write a book. I wrote it as I would like to read it. It was, after all, originally a book forme from my fantasy world. After reading several books on writing, I learned to stick to the plot and cut out trivial information that were just for fun. By doing that, I severely reduced my word count (which was way too high for a YA novel), and the story became faster. But! I have been reading a lot of YA books since, and there are books, like the House of Night series, where there is a lot (and I mean a LOT) of little things that could be cut out, but if they had, the story would be missing a lot of its charm. The plots in those books are relatively simple, but essential to further the series along (there are going to be 12 books), so I get that the authors have to put a lot of fat on the meat. They have Zoey (the heroin) eat breakfast, get snacks before watching a movie, having conversations with her friends that have nothing to do with the plot, and even a lot of interaction with her cat (that, for now, has very little to do with the plot).

Charleine Harris's books, The Sookie Stackhouse Series (True Blood), is also like that. The series is for adults. Sookie does her hair in a certain way, gets dressed in this or that, puts on makeup, does yard work, cooks, cleans. And I love it all. The books wouldn't be the same without it.

I wonder if adults prefer reading books that get right to the point, and in doing so, loose a lot of the little things that the teenagers might be more eager to read. Most (if not all) books about how to write books are written by adults. I wonder if the "How to Write YA Books" were different if they were written by teenagers.

And then there's the endings... I've noticed that in most of the books I've read, the final plot reveals itself when there's only a handful of pages left. It is natural to have it at the very end, but I always feel a bit cheated when, after the plot is revealed and the hero/heroin has saved the day, there are only 2-3 pages left for the aftermath. I want more. I want to read about everyones reaction and discussions about what happened. I want to read about what they're going to do next. I want to read about how they go on with their lives after the big event is done.

I'm writing a series myself (3 books, but could possibly become more), and there's a whole chapter dealing with the aftermath (my chapters are very long, around 8,000 words). In that final chapter, more is revealed about the big event: questions asked and answered, and then decisions are made. The heroin struggles with decisions, feelings about the big event, and one of her fellow travelers develops as a character. Some other characters deepen as well and there are hints to what will happen in the next book. I don't think the book is complete without all of this, and I'm going to fight for this chapter if I get a contract, because it is essential to further the series as a whole.

What are your opinions on this? Do you prefer a direct line to the plot, or more fat on the meat? Do you prefer curt endings, or do you like to see the aftermath?

Task for the day: Play with twins.

Lord of the Rings meets Me

My twins are on a month’s vacation from their kindergarten and they’re wearing me out! Due to this fact, I won’t have as much time to blog (or write *whine*), but I’ll try to get in two-three blogs a week.

I‘ve been reading a lot of books in my genre (YA fantasy), and I‘m especially interested in the vampire series. It is important to read a lot in your genre to be able to compare your work and see what works and what doesn‘t. While I read, I also try to think about what makes the book interesting, what keeps me reading, how chapters end, the much important “voice” (which is something I hadn't heard of until two months ago), how each chapter is constructed, and I look out for hints throughout the book and then guess at the ending (which has spoiled books for me, since I can often guess at the ending in the middle of the book). I then compare these things to my novel. I can say this: I read books in a whole new way since I started writing.

It‘s hard for me to find exactly what I need to compare my books to, other than the technical factors. If I were writing a vampire book, it would be easy to explain how it is different from other vampire books. I’d like to be able to do the “meets” thing—you know: Lord of the Rings meets Ella Enchanted meets Morganville Vampires, but all I can come up with is the Lord of the Rings because my land is medieval and there are wizards. There aren’t even dwarves in the land or dragons (which is why I can't use Eragon as a “meets”).

I suppose I could say Lord of the Rings with a dash of humor, pinch of romance, two spoonfuls of mystery and three cups of sexy darkness. That’s still not a good way to give people an idea of what it is. I intend to do a lot of reading this month of exhaustion and maybe I’ll come across a book that I’ll be able to use as a “meets”.

I’m often disheartened when I read really interesting books and I think that I’ll never get there, but then I remind myself that a) Stephenie Meyer was a miracle case and most writers have been writing for years before getting published, b) their manuscripts go through serious changes and rewrites with the aid of the publisher’s editorial team before they are ready, and c) my manuscript is darn good, so there’s no reason to put myself down. Again, I wonder if I should change the first chapters, but I decided two weeks ago that it was good as it is and I’d just have to have some faith.

I’ve also been thinking more about e-books and Kindle. If I would publish the series that way, I could just write and write, and it would urge me onwards just to have the next book out there. I know myself and know that even if I only had one reader out there, I’d finish the series because I’d know that there’s a person out there who likes my story.

I figure that if I continue to write a lot and publish books on Kindle, eventually some people will like what I write and will want to read the other books as well. They’ll tell their friends and so on. Of course I’d try to market myself on the internet, but I’d have to promise myself to be patient and not to be worried about slow sales to begin with. I want writing to be my career and this is one way to start it. Who knows, maybe an agent/publisher would notice my work out there and offer me a deal. I know that’s a dream-case scenario, but it has happened and will happen again.

The rejection toll is up to 14 now. All polite form rejections (which I appreciate). I respect that those 14 had the courtesy to reply; I know that many won’t. I’ll also have to sort through which I’m allowed to re-query (a different agent within the agency). I already re-queried the very first one that I queried over a month ago, but I haven’t heard back from her since I sent the re-queried letter last week.

Task for the day: Read.

Fantasy Genre

Vampire Girl from the Dark Moon homepage

I'm a total sucker for vampires. Ever since I watched the movie Interview with a Vampire in my teen years, I've been hooked on those fang-bearers. I even love watching Angel! (The vampire, not a fallen angel). I absolutely adore Charleine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series, and I read any YA vampire novel I can get my hands on.

I didn't choose to write about vampires when I was designing my story. I started creating my magical characters before Twilight hit the theaters (which was when I discovered the books), so YA vampires weren't big in my world at the time. I should be thankful for thinking outside the box when I decided to write a book, because now agents and publishers aren't taking in new vampire novels. At the time, I had no idea there were such things as trends in book publishing, and I thought that if someone wrote a good vampire novel, they'd get it published. As for me, I suppose I wanted to create something that was mine from the start.

I have also read books about fallen angels. I must admit that angels don't appeal to me as much. I don't know what it is. They're supposed to have the dark element, but they just don't do it for me. I'm now reading Fallen, by Lauren Kate, and we'll see how I feel after that. It's definitely something I wouldn't choose to write about.

Then I've read books about fairies, and I honestly don't know if I could ever write books about fairies. At least not the kind of fairies I've read recently. Elves are a different matter, and to me, they're not the same (although they sometimes seem to star in fairy books).

I can't bring myself to check out a werewolf book from the library. I've seen them in movies and read about them as vampires vs. werewolves, but I always cheer for the vampires. Edward was always the one I rooted for, and Jacob was just annoying at times. The same goes for the movie Underworld, which really wasn't a great movie, but it's about vampires, and so I watched it. Charleine Harris has werewolves and fairies, but I let that slide because I love her vampires so much.

I suppose that if I can't write about vampires (if I want to be published -- and I do), I'll have to continue creating my own race of fantasy creatures. I don't know if that'll ease my way into publishing or hinder, since it might be a risk for publishers to introduce new creatures. I have caught myself wondering if I should write a vampire series, I even have an idea for one, but reading the agent/publisher blogs I've decided not use my time on that and rather continue with my own creation.

Vampire books will always be the thing I love to read. I hope that although agents/publishers are rejecting such books today, they'll never stop completely so that suckers, such as I, can continue reading what we love.

What are your favorite creatures in fantasy novels?

Dystopia: The New Utopia

There has been a lot of discussion about trends in the writing market recently. It seems that one can't really jump right into the current trend, because when one finally finishes the manuscript, agents/publishers are no longer accepting trend novels because the market is "filling up".

The YA trend has been vampires since Hurricane Twilight sent teenage girls racing to the bookstores. Everybody wanted to catch the gust and wrote vampire YA (books that I still greedily seek out). There is now an overflow of unpublished manuscripts and agents are rejecting all queries that have the word "vampire" in them.

The current and near-future trend seems to be YA Dystopia. I actually had to look up that word (anti-utopia), and I get it; I like watching movies where the world is inside-out after some catastrophe, and I should be able to enjoy such books as well. Of course, a dash of paranormal wouldn't ruin it for me.

When I read about the dystopia trend, I immediately thought that maybe I should try to write one, but by the time I'd get it done, everyone and their cousin will have sent out query letters and agents will be rejecting all queries containing the word "dystopia".

One might say that unpublished writers live in a dystopian world and are desperately trying to reach utopia. I think that the only chance writers have to ride the wave of trends is by either having manuscripts ready before the tide hits to be able to ship them out immediately when their genre is prophesied to be the next big thing, or to be abnormally fast at creating manuscripts, and risking the manuscript being rushed.

If you want to break into the market, you'll have to write what sells; and what sells is the current and next trend. Kristin Nelson recently talked about how most queries she's receiving today are about ghosts telling their stories, psychics solving a mystery, vampires (still, as she puts it), and people seeing things in dreams that lead them on an adventure. Apparently writers are expected to think outside the box and try to invent the next hype, but at the same time it is difficult to sell the manuscript because it involves a great risk to publishers.

I have tried to be innovative in my manuscript and created paranormal beings that I haven't seen before. Now the big, hairy and nasty question is: are they too innovative for the publishers to take the risk?

Rejected!

Picture from Audojungle.

I received an email yesterday; I got rejected. It took the agent less than 24 hours to respond and I appreciate that. I'm also very proud that I didn't cry. Of course it was hard and I had to take a few deep breaths, but I was so busy yesterday that I didn't have time to wallow in it. The very first rejection is probably the hardest (that, or the very first rude rejection). The letter was very polite, thanking me for the query, saying that unfortunately the manuscript didn't sound like something that's right for them, and wishing me the best of success on placing my work elsewhere.

--> Be strong and proud of yourself when you receive your very first rejection.

So I did some thinking. I read Jody Hedlund's advice on first chapter mistakes, and it confirmed my suspicion that my chapter starts off too slowly, with way too much backstory. She also advices to make the manuscript the very best it can be before querying. As I've reflected before, I think that mine could do with some work on the first chapters. So I've decided that before querying more agents, I'm going to delete the first three chapters and see if I can make the story go a lot faster. I'm also going to delete one of the minor plots that doesn't weight much anymore since I deleted the fifth chapter some weeks ago and rewrote it. This will both shorten the word count and make it more fast-paced.

--> Make the story the very best it can be before querying.

I started brainstorming yesterday, and continued when I woke up this morning. I now know how I'm going to start the chapter, and the rest should come easily after that (since I know my characters so well). I'm going to do what Jody suggests: throw the characters into the whirlpool and see what happens. I don't think I'll change the later chapters, only adjust them a little.

But today I'm going to take a breather. I'm going to finish reading the book I've been putting on hold, then I'm going to the library, and play with my kids over the weekend. I'll start writing on Monday, bright and early, so that I'll have the whole week to concentrate.

Task for the day: Relax.

Have a nice day!

Agent Querying

Inspired by Iceland

I just sent my very first query letter, and I actually feel a little queasy. My finger hovered for about a minute before I pressed the send button. I pressed it when my husband threatened to press it for me.

--> Be the one to press the very first send to your very first query!

I suppose that the reason I feel a bit queasy is a) nerves, b) excitement, c) the fact that I still haven't finished reading the final read of my manuscript. But it'll only take the next two days to finish reading it and I'm sure it'll take more than two days for the agent to pick out my query letter to read. They say I can expect a month. So I'll get busy reading today to make sure that there were no little mistakes last time I made corrections.

I also offered the agent to request the full proposal. I felt it was ready last night, but now I'm bit nervous since I feel I must shorten the character sketch part and maybe the author bio. Again, I should be able to do that over the weekend.

--> Be completely happy with your full profile before querying...if you don't want nerves to pain you the next day.

This is why you shouldn't query when you're too tired.

--> Be wide awake and fresh when querying.

Despite of all that, I'm very excited. I know my chances are slim, but I'm curious to see what happens. I thought the query letter turned out well and I included the first five pages of the manuscript.

What I was unhappy with was that I chose to write in plain format, which means that there were no italics and the whole thing looked just like a string of letters. I fixed it so that there were white spaces between paragraphs, but if the agent copies it to Word, there'll be double spaces. I chose to write in plain because then I'd be sure that there would be no funny letters in between (which sometimes happens in rich formatting). I've read multiple posts on how agents don't like fancy formats and such, so I made it as simple as I could. I have no idea if plain format is the right choice, but here's for hoping.

--> Don't use fancy fonts and decoration in your query letters.

I also kept to the point, but kept my voice, as many blog editors/agents recommend.

--> Keep your voice in the letter, but be professional.

I promise to post my query letter if I get published (if the publisher won't mind it). If you've been reading my blog, you'll see that I've complained about the lack of actual successful queries posted on the internet.

Well, it's independence day here in Iceland, 17th of June, and it's time to focus on my twins now. The celebration should be fun (even though I'll probably sneak in an hour or three of work).

Task for the day: Read 50 pages and then take a breather to enjoy the day.

Have a nice day!

Fantasy Forever

By bkharmaw on photobucket.com

Wow. I completed my query letter yesterday and sent it off to have it proofread. It'll take 1-2 days and it's already been one, and I'm oh-so-tired of waiting. How will I be when I actually send it and have to wait for a response? At least I feel that I'm ready to send it, and that's a good sign.

Since yesterday, I've been reading the manuscript yet again, and I'm so glad I did. Last time I read it, I made so many changes, so I've already found five places half way through where I forgot to delete a word. Naturally, I used the opportunity to change other little things as well.

--> Read the manuscript again if you've made a lot of changes.

I don't think I'll read it again though. I think I must have read all of the 250 word pages at least twenty times, and I so want to get the novel out there and try my luck. Honestly, I've read the manuscript so many times that I think I can tell the story blindfolded. At least I'll be able to tell the agent/publisher how changes would affect the rest of the chapters.

The query letter turned out nicely, I think. I've been poring over different hooks and then suddenly a good one came to me. I hope it'll catch the attention of the agent, if not, then I'll have other query letters ready, just in case.

--> If you're exclusively querying an agent, have other queries ready in case he/she turns you down.

As I've said before, I'm only going to query this one exclusively, and then I'll send a bunch if he declines.

I read an interesting interview with Stephenie Meyer. She said that she sent out 15 queries. Five didn't answer back and eight turned her down. She then got an agent deal and a huge book deal, and shortly after she received the ninth rejection letter that was terribly rude, saying that she'd never get published etc.

I find myself asking, why would agents send such rude letters? I can understand it if the writer querying is rude in his/her letter, but why be so mean?

I don't know. Yes, it's nice to get a critique, even if they break your heart, but downright rude critiques? I just don't see the point in them. At least this example shows how different agents are in their tastes.

I'm still bracing myself for the whole process of agent questing. As I've said before, I'm going to view the rejection letters as a part of the process and nothing personal (even if I'll get a rude letter like Meyer got). I'm kind of looking at it as a challenge, and I'm actually kind of looking forward to it.

And I'm so determined to get my book published. If it won't, I think I'll even re-write it, because the story idea and characters are good, and it's different and fresh. I wrote it before I knew anything of the market (the requirements, structure etc.), and then edited it afterwards. I've also been reading a lot of books in my genre recently and noticed that my novel doesn't start as quickly as they do. I think that if I'll get turned down by everyone, I might rewrite the first half of the novel (ugh, but it would be a challenge, and as I said: it's going to get published).

--> Be positive and keep rooting for your book!

I've also been worried about the trend of fantasy dieing down, but then I read somewhere that even though the agents are turning down all queries containing the word "vampire"; my novel doesn't have vampires in it. The beings I have created are different (and aren't remotely related to vampires), and might be just what the agents are looking for.

Fantasy will never die. It's been alive since our ancestors were telling stories about elves, trolls, Odin, Thor, and the rest in Valhalla. Even the ancient Egyptians told fantasies. It's in our blood, and it will continue to fascinate future generations.

So, I'll let myself believe that although vampires may be getting old, other kind of fantasy will take its place for now.

Task for the day: Read the next chapter.

Have a nice day!

P.S. Vampires may be fading, but I'm still heavily sucked in. I'm currently reading the House of Night series by P.C. and Kristin Cast.

Full Proposal Completed!

Inspired by Iceland

I finished my full proposal yesterday, and I feel incredibly accomplished! This means that all I need to do now is take a second look at the query synopsis before I send it out. I'm uncertain if I should send the Hollywood-action-blurp one, or the sedate-'stating what happens'-professional one. It seems that Query Shark would prefer the sedate one, but Heather Brewer has this nice action one that gave her nine out of eleven responses. But Heather's book is rated for kids of ages 9-12 on Amazon, and my book is for 14-22, or thereabouts. I wish I knew how Stephenie Meyer, Christopher Paolini and Cassandra Clare queried. Honestly, there should be a site with examples of the successful YA writers' query letters.

--> Have your query letter read for mistakes before sending it.

I have a problem. My fingers are itching to rewrite the whole first chapter and delete a chunk of the second chapter. I'm not sure if it's just an excuse not to send out the query yet (because the act of sending a query is terrifying to me), or if I'm truly unhappy with the first chapter. I suppose that if I look deep, I am happy with the first chapter, but it has a lot of backstory and doesn't "dive in" like many people suggest that first chapters should do. Still, I think it's beautifully written and it explains so much that needs explaining before the "point at which the action starts" (as Query Shark calls it). That point doesn't happen until the end of the second chapter/beginning of the third. And my chapters are loooong, I realized after I wrote the book. They're 7,000-8,000 words.

Kristin at Pub Rants says that the point of action should be within the first 30 pages. Mine is at page 33. I hope it doesn't make too much of a difference, but I'm now thinking that I could change the first chapter and delete a big part of the second to make that happen.

...Or maybe I'm just having a hard time letting go...

--> Learn to let go!

I asked Randy of how to do it and hope that he'll reply.

Task for the day: Look at nice queries and see if I can apply my novel to the recipe. Look at my already existing queries and see if I can make changes. Have my queries read to check spelling/punctuation.

Have a nice day!

Final Polishing

Well, it took a little longer than I thought, but I've finished my final polish at last. I ended up spending all of my time during the weekend with my sons, and I greatly enjoyed it. I suppose even writers need a break from their work. I've spent all days and evenings since reading the second half of the manuscript and typing it into the computer. I suppose it differs between writers, but I enjoy the reading and editing more than typing it all in.

I managed to get the manuscript down to 118,000 words, but I added an emotional chunk in the last chapter which took the manuscript up to 118,600 words. Still, it's better than 126.600, and it is true what they say; less is more. This first book of mine has gone through major changes since the original manuscript, but it being my first, I've been learning as I go and I'm very pleased with the results. What I've chopped off this round are things like "Meg said sardonically" and such, because the reader can already see that her remark was sarcastic.

--> The reader isn't stupid and can read between the lines.

I've wondered if I'd have to do such serious changes through the next manuscript, but I highly doubt it since I know a lot more now and I should be able to apply it as I write. My fingers are itching to write the next book, I already have some scenes written, but I've read some blogs and articles that recommend holding off writing the second book in a series until the first book is ready for publication, since the manuscript will go through serious editing first and that might change the whole second manuscript. I suppose I'll just write some scenes while querying agents, since the process supposedly takes so long.

Now that the manuscript is ready for querying, it's time to work on my full proposal again. I've found many articles and blogs on how to do it, and I'll also read Randy's book, which is just wonderful and easy to follow. I'll save the comparison to other books in the same genre for last, I think, since it's going to take some pondering. I know that it'll fly off my fingers once I get into it though. I have already finished the two-page synopsis, which wasn't difficult to write at all! All I did was follow Randy's formula and voila! Randy is my Wikipedia of getting published.

--> Write a two-page synopsis.

I submitted my one-sentence summary to Rachelle Gardner's blog, but I learned that it was much to vague. I'll have to spend some time on it to make it better. Rachelle made long posts on what made the winning entries win and what made the bad one bad. I think I need to introduce more conflict into the sentence. There's a lot of conflict in the book, but to make it so that it's conveyed in 25 words or less is a bit difficult. Apparently, according to some, this one-sentence summary (storyline) is a big deal for publishers. I like Randy's reasons for writing one, and that is to be able to tell people and agents/publishers you're meeting what the book is about in one, short sentence. I tried following his instructions on how to write one, but as I said, mine is too vague and could apply to a number of books.

Currently it goes: Stuck in a mystical world, Eva is forced to pick a side in a deadly battle between good and evil to get home.

I also had: Eva and the boy of her dreams are stuck in a mystical world, and are forced to pick a side in a deadly battle between good and evil to get home.

What I was trying to point out here is that they'd consider choosing evil. Clearly their stake is to get back home and the conflict was supposed to be to choose.

The problem, I think, is that the stakes of the series is to get home, while the stakes of this one book is to choose between helping the good or evil. The storyline for the second book is easy, but that's not going to sell this book.

I think I'll have to re-think the whole sentence and maybe approach it from different angle.

--> Write a one-sentence summary (storyline).

Maybe I could have it: Eva loves Richard and they’re stuck in a mystical world together, but when Eva meets the dark and dangerous enemy, she finds it hard to fight the attraction.

That's Eva's conflict, and she's the only PoV character in the book. The choice between good and evil is more the conflict for the group (of four) as a whole.

Any thoughts?

Today's task: Print out two copies of the book and have two obliging friends read it over one last time. Work on the full proposal - Executive Summary, to be exact - and finalize my character profiles (have most if it done already).

Take care!

Staying Focused

I just finished reading the 50 pages, and found that the changes I made really work. The story is more to the point now and even has more action in it. I've only read through about 1/3 of my book, I'll read the rest over the weekend. At least I won't have to do any more serious changes to the manuscript.

--> Read carefully through your manuscript before querying. Then read carefully through it again.

After I finish correcting the little changes, I'll read through the manuscript yet again (for possibly the 15th time - as I said, perfectionism can be a curse). Then, hopefully it'll be ready. I had a freelance editor read over the old manuscript, but I don't think I'll have her read over it again, since I only changed one chapter, because it costs a lot of money (especially since the Icelandic Krona plummeted in 2007 and hasn't recovered much since).

--> Have someone read over the manuscript for mistakes (grammar or structure-vise).

--> Have the manuscript polished and ready before querying.

Last night I was feeling a bit pessimistic about ever getting this book published, because I keep working on it, over and over, and I never seem satisfied. The story, writing and everything is great, and much, much better than a lot of what I've read, but I see this difficult task ahead of getting an agent, and reading about all the trials and horrors of trying to get one. One starts to wonder why one would be the exception. I think that ALL new authors must be intimidated by the process, so I don’t think I’m alone here.

In my agony, I visited Publishers Marketplace and very easily found 10 possible agencies, in case my chosen one refuses. I'll look for more (already have some bookmarked that I haven't written on my list yet), because I expect to have to query a lot, just like everyone else.

--> Compile a list of agencies to query - a lot of agencies.

Reading comments on the agencies’ pages kind of lifted my spirits and encouraged me to just stay focused on my project, finish polishing the manuscript (and I won't - I repeat - won't read over it again after I've finished reading through all of it as a whole after my changes), finish writing the full proposal and polish my query letter to the chosen one.

--> Keep focused on one thing at a time and try not to be overwhelmed by what's ahead.

Then, since my book is the first in a series of three, with the possibility of more if the publisher would be interested, I'll have to make a synopsis for the other two books, which should be easy since I know exactly what's going to happen and have most of it noted.

I read somewhere last night, that publishers were going for single books now, instead of series, and I was disheartened by that. But then this morning I read on Randy's blog that publishers often want to sign new authors who have series, because the marketing cost will stretch over a series of books instead of all of it on a single book. That made me feel better. Whichever is true, I'll have to stick to my project, which could by no means fit into one book, and stay positive.

--> Make a synopsis for the next book(s) in the series. Include this in your full proposal.

The one thing I'm dreading a lot (if I allow myself to think of the things ahead) is comparing my book to other books. Most of the books I like to read are vampire books, and my book isn't vampire-based, although it's paranormal. I know that many writers probably say this, but I don't think there's another book quite like mine. The magical creatures are unique - I haven't heard of or read about any that are similar, and the world, I suppose, is a bit Lords of the Ring'ish - and yet not at all the same. I can hardly compare my book to the masterpiece of J.R.R. Tolkien - I've read warnings about comparing your book to anything hugely popular (I think it was Randy that advised against it in his book).

--> Find books in the same genre, make short synopsis for them and compare them to your books in a few words. Include this in your full proposal.

I thought I could use Eragon, Twilight maybe (although it's vampire based, and hugely popular), The Mortal Instruments series (definitely) and ehm... Any ideas anyone? I could hardly go for Harry Potter, since that was beyond huge. Still, I suppose I could compare it - it is another world, and although my series is for teens a bit older than the first Harry Potter book was written for, the later books were for older teens, I thought. I suppose these books are the most commonly chosen to compare ones YA fantasy with.

Task for the day: Type in the little changes into the three chapters I read this morning, pick up my twins form the kindergarten and go to my parents for the weekend!

Task for the weekend: Read the rest of the chapters and check for any mistakes and try to put the book out of my mind for just enough time to enjoy the celebrations.

Have a nice day!

Tessa Quin