Question of the week: How do you know your manuscript is ready to query. Have an opinion? A related post? Please share it with us!
After the Sale
- How To Find Music for Your Book Trailer [GalleyCat] Need music for your book trailer? Check royalty-free music sites by theme. via @GalleyCat
- How To Make a Super 8 Book Trailer [GalleyCat] Want to try your hand at a book trailer? Here's some great tools. via @GalleyCat
- Armchair BEA, Day 2: Best of 2011 [Mundie Moms] Forty-five amazing YA titles recommended by Mundie Moms. via @MundieMoms
- A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young [THE BOOK BUTTERFLY] Fantastic review of Suzanne Young's A NEED SO BEAUTIFUL. via @BookButterfly9.
- Lest Ye Be Judged: Writers Nitpicking Other Writers [* Fiction Groupie *] Why writers should leave the nitpicking to reviewers and readers. via @RoniLoren
- Crystal Kite Winner Interview Week Two: Claire Saxby, THERE WAS AN OLD SAILOR [Alice Pope's SCBWI Children's Market Blog] Congrats to Claire Saxby, winner of the 2011 Crystal Kite for Australia!
- Publishing Pulse: 5/27/2011 [QueryTracker.net] Congrats to Claire Merle and Trisha Causley, who each found the right agent fit!
- How I got my editor. [Angels and Demons and Portals. Oh My!] Well-deserved CONGRATS to J.A.Souders and @Natalie_Fischer for the recent Tor Teen deal! via @jasouders
- Crystal Kite Winner Interview Week Two: Marsha Skrypuch, STOLEN CHILD [Alice Pope's SCBWI Children's Market Blog] HUGE CONGRATS to the brilliant, lovely Marhsa Skrypuch who just won the 2011 Crystal Kite Award!
- Silence of the blog [Angels and Demons and Portals. Oh My!] Congratulations J.A. Souders and Natalie Fischer on your three-book deal! We're soooo happy for you!
- Thank-You Contest of AMAZINGNESS! [Dancing with Dragons is Hard on Your Shoes.] Amazing contest to celebrate @msforster's book deal. Enter by 6/9. AND CONGRATS!
- Beauty Queens Giveaway [Kim Harrington] Enter by 6/6 to win Libba Bray's BEAUTY QUEENS. via @Kim_Harrington
- MFT: Steampunk Giveaway of 5 Books! Open Worldwide! [Candace's Book Blog] Win five great steampunk books. Enter by 7/5. via @candacemom2two
- Do Stories Need a Theme? [Jami Gold, Paranormal Author] Using premise to develop your theme. via @JamiGold
- Word Magic for Writers: A Review [WOW! Women On Writing Blog] Great review for WORD MAGIC FOR WRITERS. Sounds like a must-buy. via @womenonwriting
- To Plot or Not to Plot? [Ingrid's Notes] Cheryl Klein lecture on action plot, emotional plot, catharsis & structure. via @IngridSundberg
- Beginnings [Magical Words] Five ways to avoid infodump via @LucienneDiver
- Good Stuff On Plot [Between Fact and Fiction] Dan Wells with five great videos to help demystify the craft of plot. via @nataliewhipple
- 7 Essential Elements in the First Page [.W.I.P. It] Seven things your first page must contain. via @LyndaRYoung
- How Do You Learn to Write? [Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent] Twelve ways to learn to write. via @RachelleGardner
- The Joy of Writing (Not More, Just Better) Sex [Beyond The Margins] Three tips on writing sex scenes--even if they don't include any sex. via @BTMargins
- How To Avoid the Trap of Creating Unlikable Characters [Author, Jody Hedlund] Three great tips to avoid making your characters too unlikeable. via @JodyHedlund
- How to keep tension through the middle. [Laura Pauling] Eight ways to maintain tension through the middle -- and they don't start in the middle. via @laurapauling
- Coming Up With a Strong Conflict [*Lynnette Labelle* @Chatterbox Chitchat] Eight kinds of conflict, and why you might want to mix them up. via @Chatterbox
- 3 Reasons Action is Important, 3 Reasons It’s Not [A. Victoria Mixon, Editor] Why you should tell your story through action, and why that's hard to do. via @VictoriaMixon
- Re-Envisioning: How to Fix Big Problems with Small Changes [Jami Gold, Paranormal Author] Scene not working? Maybe it's not the scene but what the reader takes away. via @JamiGold
- Creating Endings that Resonate [Julie Musil] Four ways to make your ending resonate memorably for your readers. via @JulieMusil
- Reversals in Novels and Movies [Nathan Bransford, Author] Switch up the ups and downs, scene by scene, and beginning to end. via @NathanBransford
- Hiding the Football [GENREALITY] How disclosing information to the reader can be more suspenseful than hiding it. via @rclementmoore
- Chatty Main Characters [Writer Musings] Internal monologue helps us understand your character, but too much bogs your story down. How to find a good balance.
- Noteworthy Links: How to Keep Readers Worried [The Other Side of the Story] "If your character is comfortable & loving life, the reader won’t enjoy your story." via @Janice_Hardy
- The Importance of First Impressions [Ingrid's Notes] Teen readers are a tough audience! How to impress them starting on the very first page.
- World Building: Don’t Do It! [The Creative Penn] Hook your readers with visceral, evocative, & telling details. LOVE this article on world building.
- The Kung Fu Panda Guide to Writing Action Scenes [Wordplay: Helping Writers Become Authors] Flying fists & fancy footwork dazzle on the silver screen. How to make action scenes sparkle on your written page.
- Balancing Outer and Inner Story in Your Book [How to Plan, Write, and Develop a Book] Outer story reveals truth through action. Inner story shows why it matters. via @elizabethscraig
- Does Your Title Raise Expectations? [Words and Such] Titles should be short, catchy, appropriate, evocative, specific, and memorable.
- Your Character’s Code [The Editor's Blog] Force your characters into decisions they would never make. via @NovelEditor
- Pace Yourself [The League of Extraordinary Writers] Is the last third of your book faster paced? (Hint: It's not just action.) via @ElanaJ
- Guest Post: Author Liz Borino – Writing Natural Dialogue [All About Writing] Three ways to make your dialogue more natural. via @simplywriting
- Time to get passive aggressive – get your main character out of the back seat [Nail Your Novel] Does your MC make things happen, or does s/he simply react to what other characters do? via @DirtyWhiteCandy
- The Flip Side of “Concept” [storyfix.com] Creative and mechanical concept and how the two sides must work together. via @StoryFix
- What “Finding Nemo” Can Teach Us About Story Action [Kristen Lamb's Blog » What “Finding Nemo” Can Teach Us About Story Action] Great tip: Study children’s movies to learn fundamental story structure. via @KristenLambTX
- How to Respond to Rejections & Negative Feedback [The Editor's Blog] Some truly great advice on submission, rejection, and feedback. via @NovelEditor
- thirteen reasons why (it's hard to find the right critique partner) [The Intern] Thirteen critique partners from you know where. Prepare to laugh. via @internspills
- How to Start a Writers' Group (And Keep It Going) [YA Highway] Five steps to finding and keeping a writer's group. via @YAHighway
- An Analysis of First Pages [christina lee] Want some feedback on your first 40-75 words? Post it here. via @Christina_Lee04
- Writing Middle Grade vs. Other Genres [Writers' Ally aka ➔ sa larsenッ] Author Kari Lee Townsend on writing MG vs Cozy Mysteries. via @SherWordsGirl
- From spreadsheet to book deal--#2 in the series of How I Found My Agent [Bent on Books] Beautiful recap of Lori Roy's writing and querying journey. via @JennyBent
- Voices in Your Character's Head [The Character Therapist] Nurturing vs. critical parents and how to use them in your writing.
- Bad Dog: train the writer in you. [Words from the Woods] What stands in the way of guilt-free writing?
- Interview Tip: Pick up the Phone [The Blood-Red Pencil] Need facts for your story? Pick up the phone and you'll get more than you bargained for.
- Thinking in Nonlinear Terms [The Literary Lab] Where words gleam bright under the sun and make you squirm. They make you grow. @LiteraryLab
- Are you making false assumptions about writing? [Time to Write] Are you putting unnecessary limits on your writing? Push through them to succeed.
- How to Get a Foot in the Publishing Door [.W.I.P. It] Seven things to do to work toward publication. via @LyndaRYoung
- No-one is buying debut novels. [Claire King] Ten debut novelists that landed agents and deals in spite of the odds. via @ckingwriter
- Time Management for Writers [WOW! Women On Writing Blog] Need writing time? Track what you're really doing. You'll be surprised. via @womenonwriting
- People-Watching with Purpose: Twenty Tips [Cheryl's Musings] Twenty ways to create better characters by watching people around you. via @CherylIRWrites
- 9 Tips For Finishing That Novel [Anna Staniszewski] Stuck mid-book? Nine ways to keep moving forward. via @annastanisz
- 3 Publishing Trends Writers Must Stay On Top Of [There Are No Rules] Three new publishing trends that will affect your WIP. via @JaneFriedman
- Survey: ‘One in Every Three People Who Download eBooks on Their Digital Readers Do So Illegally’ [GalleyCat] British survey revales 1/3 of books downloaded to eReaders are illegal. via @GalleyCat
- WHAT, YOU DIDN'T KNOW I WAS A TWITTER TREND-SETTER? [Help! I Need a Publisher!] Have you played #lessinterestingbooks yet? #1 Trend on Twitter! via @NicolaMorgan
- Beautifully Said, Severus [christina lee] Alan Rickman's beautiful thank you to J.K. Rowling. Must see. via @Christina_Lee04
- Strengthen Your Voice [Fantasy Faction] Eliminate passive voice by having your subjects act directly. via @FantasyFiction
- Ten questions to consider when hiring a freelance editor [Hey, There's A Dead Guy in the Living Room] Considering hiring an editor? Ask these nine questions, and check the bio. via @alisonedits
- "He Says ... or Does He?" [Novel Matters] More on the use of dialogue tags, and when
'said' may NOT be right. via @NovelMatters - Stepping Out: A Look at POV Shifts [The Other Side of the Story] What constitutes a POV shift and how to spot (and fix) them. via @Janice_Hardy
- Ponder, Polish, Perfect: How to Successfully Revise [Adventures in Agentland] Brilliant post on all things revision, including why it can't be done by the numbers. via @Natalie_Fisher
- 10 Tips to Balance Parallel Sentence Structure [Daily Writing Tips] Ten sentence mistakes we all make, and why they ARE mistakes.
- Punctuation confrontation [edittorrent] Can your writing stand the distraction of the em dash? via @TheresaStevens
- Twisted Tuesday: Examining REWRITING, Step 2 [Writers' Ally aka ➔ sa larsenッ] Three simple steps to a scene rewrite. via @SherWordsGirl
- 10 Grammar Rules You Can And Should Ignore [www.publetariat.com] Grammar should produce clear writing. What rules can you safely ignore and why?
- Get Back! Working Backward to Flesh Out Your Plot [The Other Side of the Story] Great post on tweaking motivation to up the tension for your midpoint. via @Janice_Hardy
- 6 Key Components of an Online Author Platform [There Are No Rules] The visible and invisible sides of a successful online author platform. via @JaneFriedman
- About Page Blues: Are You Making Any of These 5 Mistakes on Yours? [Cat's Eye Writer Blog | Judy Dunn | Blogging Coach | Social Media Copywriter] What does your About Page say about your blog?
- Twitter Tuesday #18 [Kristen Lamb's Blog » Twitter Tuesday #18] How many #hashtags are too many? via @KristenLambTX
- The 7 Biggest Fan Page Marketing Mistakes [www.allfacebook.com] Have a fan page on Facebook? Make sure you're not making any of these mistakes.
- The Write Apps: This Year’s Top Picks for Busy Authors [Beyond The Margins] Six LOL-worthy apps for writers. If only they were real!
- Why I Don’t Count Followers, Mentions, Google Alerts, or Blog Hits Anymore [Writer Unboxed] Excellent article by LJ Cohen on putting the social back into social networking. This one's a keeper.
- LinkedIn: The Social Media Tool Writers Should Not Ignore [Writer Unboxed] You're on Twitter, & probably on Facebook. Should you be on LinkedIn too? Learn about it here.
- Ten Tips for a Better Blog [Coming Down the Mountain: From Reclusive Writer to Published Author] Is your blog floundering? Here are ten basic things your readers may expect. via @KarenGowen
- http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NathanBransford/~3/Bu1moFsFZWw/how-to-use-twitter-reply.html [Nathan Bransford, Author] A quick lesson on how to use the @Reply correctly. via @NathanBransford
- Creating Blog Posts that Attract Attention – FREE Video [BubbleCow] Want your posts to bring visitors to your blog? Check this video. via @BubbleCow
- Agent Spotlight: Terrie Wolf [Literary Rambles] Terrie Wolf looking for Romance, GNs, YA/Kids, MC, Western, Inspirational. via @Casey_McCormick
- Agent Advice: Katie Shea of Caren Johnson Literary Agency [Guide to Literary Agents] Trust yourself. Trust your instincts. Oh, and master a one-sentence pitch. via @ChuckSambuchino
- How to find out if your agent is an idiot-part trois [Janet Reid, Literary Agent] How can you avoid signing with a idiot, sales-challenged agent? via @QueryShark
- How Many Projects Should You Have Before You Submit? [Babbles from Scott Eagan] The pros of having multiple projects when you sub or query. via @greyhausagency
- New Agent Alert: Rachel Stout of Dystel and Goderich [Guide to Literary Agents] New agent Rachel Stout is looking for believable and thought-provoking YA and magical realism. via @ChuckSambuchino
- Agent Love [Unedited] Three first sentences that hooked Park Literary. via @jenunedited
- Don't Let Creativity Get In The Way - Marketing books that cross genres [Babbles from Scott Eagan] If you can't name your genre, you can't sell the book. via @greyhausagency
- Successful Queries: Agent Elisabeth Weed and ''The Arrivals'' [Guide to Literary Agents] The query letter from Meg Mitchell Moore that hooked agent Elizabeth Weed. via @ChuckSambuchino
- Mass appeal – the bigger picture [Behler Blog] Using the bigger picture theme to sell your book. via @behlerpublish
- Jane Friedman of Writer's Digest does a wonderful list of best tweets of the previous week.
- Alice Pope does a Wednesday Tweet Roundup for the SCBWI Children's Market Blog.
- Northern Colorado Writers do This Week in the Writing World every Friday.
- Jennifer Roland does a Writing Roundup on Fridays.
- Ricki Schultz does an "In the Blogosphere" post on Fridays where she lists posts she's enjoyed during the week.
- Elizabeth Craig posts a weekly list of all her helpful Twitter posts.
- And don't forget to check Nathan Bransford's blog later this morning for his weekly recap of publishing news and information.
- Saturday Link Party [Forever Young] Jessica rounds up fun and interesting links.
- Stina Linddenblatt does a Cool Links Friday. This week, she caught a lot I wish we had on ours. I know what I'm doing for the next few minutes!
- DuoLit does a weekly list of links with some emphasis on self-publishing and marketing.
- YA Highway's Friday Road Trip hits the high points of the publishing industry, writing craft, submissions process, and other fun stuff.
- Cynthia Leitich Smith at Cynsations does a Cynsational author and book news review.
Happy reading and joyous writing,
Martina, Marissa and Clara
Thanks so much for the link. Over the course of the past few months and all these great posts - I'm earning my MFA. :)
ReplyDeleteWow, huge congrats to Marsha, J.A., and Natalie. Amazing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for all these great links, and for the shout out. I appreciate what you guys do.
Awesome sauce over here! Thx ladies!!
ReplyDeleteWonderful links here, I plan on getting to a lot of them this weekend. Great stuff!
ReplyDeleteOnce again, I'm ready to jump in to all these fantastic links--thanks for all you do to bring them to us! Also, appreciate the mention :-)
ReplyDeleteTough question about knowing when something is truly ready to query. As writers find out, even after a query is accepted, that is only the beginning of all the work to get a manuscript ready for eventual publication. I think these things help you know when it's ready:
ReplyDelete1. You can describe your novel in one line.
2. Your critique group feels your novel is ready. (They could be wrong, but they are the next best thing you have to an agent or editor, and if they've been working at writing for awhile and are a good group, they are likely to be able to help you determine your readiness objectively.)
3. If you are getting short notes or even a word rather than just form reject letters from agents and editors. This is huge, because it's a sign that you're on the right track, even if you're not totally there yet or haven't found the perfect rep./house for your book.
4. You've educated yourself about the craft of writing by constantly reading tons of books in your genre, constantly reading books on the craft of writing, networking and learning at conferences, taking an active part in a good critique group, and writing consistently. You can't help but improve if you do this, and even though you may not feel ready, you'll be more ready than you were before you started.
great great collection here once again, ladies! You are remarkable.
ReplyDeleteMay I suggest you stop in - I'm having another epic Elevensie Debut giveaway of 6 different books. Something for everyone.
Hi Martina, Marissa, and Clara. As always, thanks so much for all the useful information.
ReplyDeleteAnd I am always so flattered when I see one of my posts listed among so many awesome links.
ReplyDelete