There’s a time to query. There’s a time to wait. There’s a time to … revise? I started querying DUET WITH THE DEVIL’S VIOLIN in April, entered a little contest called The Writers Voice in May, queried a bit more for the first two weeks in June, then decided to wait. You see, I had…
querying
Contests, Contests Everywhere
The other day I participated in a Q&A for @MissDahlELama, and one of the questions she asked was: What are your feelings on participating in contests, and what are your favorite kinds? I thought this was a particularly interesting question, especially with the crazy amount of contests going on at the moment. You’ll probably be…
Homicidal Fairies and Other WriteOnCon Lessons
I spent the last two days glued to WriteOnCon, plus several days before in the forums critiquing and posting. If you are a writer and don’t know about WriteOnCon–particularly if you write for kids or teens–head over there now! The conference was online, and everything remains posted forever. Thank you to all of the published…
The Questions We Ask While We Wait
Yesterday Susan Adrian wrote a great post on what to do while you’re waiting, with tips like work, read and observe, as well as what NOT to do. After I retweeted it, a fellow writer emailed me to check in on my agent search. It’s nice to have other writers who are in the same…
What I’ve Learned in a Year of Querying
One year ago today I sent the first round of queries for THE MODERN CAVEBOY’S GUIDE TO SURVIVING BATS, BULLIES AND BILLIONAIRES. In honor of this anniversary of sorts, I’d like to share a few tips from my querying journey. Titles are important. I did a number of things right when I started querying, but…
The Querying Quandary: When to Wait
A couple of weeks ago I posted about why it’s so hard to get your first novel published, and I said I was having a different experience with the novel I’m currently querying. It’s because I have more experience this time. The key? Patience. I am not a patient person, but I learned in my…
Why It’s So Hard to Get Your First Novel Published
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about why it’s so hard to get your first novel published, and I think it mostly comes down to inexperience. It takes time to learn how to write a publishable novel, as well as how to present it to agents and publishers. Obviously there are writers who succeed on…
How Querying Is Like Selling Your House
We moved in April. It was a crazy whirlwind of activity that almost didn’t happen, but that’s another story. I absolutely love our new house. It has everything and more than I wanted, and we don’t plan to ever leave it. Just check out this picture of my office. Yes, I get to work here…
Twitter Pitch Party, Anyone?
Now that the agent round of “The Writers Voice” is over, I’m turning my attention to Thursday’s “The Writers Voice” Twitter Pitch Party. Basically, you post your pitch between 12-6 p.m. EDT on Thursday, and agents will request from it. If more than one agent requests, you have to pick one. Click here for more…
It’s Not My Cup of Tea
A couple of weeks ago I attended the Missouri Writers Guild Just Write! Conference. During the conference, I had the opportunity to pitch to two agents. I researched them online, scouring the Internet for information about their likes and dislikes. As a bonus, the Missouri Writers Guild conducted interviews with each of them and even…
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