The Referral: A Success Story

By now I'm guessing that a lot of you have seen Roni (the Fiction Groupie's) big news, but if not go take a look. Don't worry, I'll wait.

Done? So now you know that Roni signed with my wonderful agent, Sara Megibow, earlier this week. Pretty darn awesome right?

What makes it even more cool is that I had a tiny hand in matchmaking Roni and Sara. Roni gives a pretty detailed description here, but the short version is that I knew Sara wanted more romance writers and I knew Roni wrote romance. I'd read a few excerpts of Roni's work on her blog, and I knew she could write well.

I wrote a few emails, and then I got to giggle and squee when Sara wrote me to tell me she loved Roni's work and do it again when Roni wrote to say she liked Sara's notes. It was fun, and it was a great diversion during my summer of very little productivity and lots of not fun things. I'm so happy for both of them and I'm hoping they'll have a quick sale once revisions are done.

I've been thinking about why Roni came to mind when Sara asked if I knew any talented romance writers, and these are my thoughts:

1. Roni has a GREAT blog. Really. It's one of the first blogs I started following and I think it appeals to writers of all genres. Her posts are helpful, well written and informative and the look of her blog is very professional.

2. She posts occasional excerpts. This is something I've haven't done much because to be honest, when I see long excerpts (and sometimes short ones too) on a blog I usually skip it, especially if the blogger posts excerpts daily or weekly. BUT, I'll read excerpts if they are part of a blogfest I'm participating in, or if I feel like the blogger is a friend.

3. And that brings me to my last thought: Roni isn't just a blogger, she's a blog participant. She reads other people's posts and comments, she gives back with contests and critiques, and she's approachable. She's the kind of blogger that makes everyone feel like a friend.

I have no doubt that Roni would have found an agent regardless of my referral, but I hope it made the process a little quicker (and the WAIT is the worst, right?)

Have any of you agented writers given your agents a successful referral? Are those of you who are not yet agented making the most of your blog presence?

That book you COULDN'T put down

Hey everybody! Sorry for my stinky blogging lately. I'm finding it really difficult to sit at the computer and write anything these days. Between the pregnancy and foggy medicine brain I have a hard time forming coherent sentences. The good news is I am 33 weeks pregnant today and it looks like I might have the baby as soon as 35 weeks, so I should be back to normal (sort of) pretty soon. :)

I may not be a stellar writer just now, but at least I can read! I've been reading some great books lately. Over the weekend I decided to reread THE HUNGER GAMES and CATCHING FIRE to prepare for tomorrow's MOCKINGJAY release. I forgot how much I love these books. Suzanne Collins is pretty much my (and about a million other people's) writing hero.

When I started reading I wanted to analyze the reason that these books are so engrossing. Then I got too engrossed to analyze anything. This is about all I can come up with.

1. The story is brilliant. The concept is unique, the tension is constant, and the relationships are compelling from page 1 of Book 1.

2. The writing is fantastic (in my opinion-- this is one of those really subjective things). Suzanne Collins is not a word waster. Every sentence, paragraph, and chapter moves the story forward. She includes the perfect amount of description. The setting and characters are vivid. I can see the world she's created. But, I haven't noticed a single time when I've skimmed a descriptive paragraph to get to the good stuff (something I do really often when I read a wordy author).

That's about it. I can't wait for MOCKINGJAY tomorrow! I wish I could make it last a few weeks, but I'm sure I'll devour it in a day or two. And I think I'm Team Whoever at this point. I'm just excited to see where Suzanne's master storytelling takes us.

I don't think I've read a book quite so gripping/hard to put down for a long, long time. And I read a lot!

So have any of you read something recently that you couldn't put down? Please share! I'll be pregnant and on bed rest or I'll have a brand new, slightly premature baby for the next few months, so I'll probably be stuck at home for a while. I could use some recommendations for awesome books! What have you read in the last few years that you COULDN'T put down? What made it so good?

When The Words Flow

There are a few positive things that come from being pregnant and sick and mostly confined to my bed and my couch.

1. My mother-in-law comes and cleans and cleans and cleans some more AND entertains my children. Mmm hmm. Some people might have lousy mother-in-laws. I am not one of those people. My mother-in-law is an angel.

2. I get a lot of couch snuggle time with the kids.

3. I have plenty of time to read.

4.I get to attend the AWESOME WriteOnCon from the comfort of my own home.

5. I can write as much as I want.

It sounds pretty idyllic, huh? There have been some crumby days lately, I'm not going to lie, but I've had a couple of great ones too.

Last week I had a day where the kids played sweetly with each other for two hours and I was able to WRITE. It was one of those days when the words just flowed. It was one of those days when I sat down at the computer and was immediately immersed in the story and in sync with the characters. One of those days when I LOVED the story and knew it could be great. I've only had a handful of days like that since I started writing. Usually I have to work for my words, typing them out, even when I don't feel like writing. But I guess it's worth working through those days to have a magic day every once and a while.

Have you had days like this? I wonder if the people who can write books in a few months (or weeks) have days like this all the time. If you have magic days all the time, I need your secret to success!

What We Can Learn From Reading

I haven't done nearly as much writing as I would have liked to this summer, but I've done a lot of reading.

I read a variety of genres. The last 10 books I've read include:

2 Middle Grade Fantasy

2 Contemporary Middle Grade

2 YA Fantasy

1 Contemporary YA

1 Classic

1 Adult Memoir

1 Adult Fiction

I've read varying opinions about what we, as writers should read. Some people say you should read extensively in your genre, some say you should avoid your own genre (so it won't effect your manuscript and you can write something fresh), some suggest that you SHOULDN'T read while you're writing, and some say you should read new releases and NYT Bestsellers, so you can understand what people are reading now and write to the market.

I believe I should read what I feel like reading! Reading is something I do for fun, but it's also something I do to learn. I think I can learn more by reading a variety of great books, (and maybe a few that aren't so great), than I can by reading only one or two genres (or heaven forbid, nothing at all!).

A few lessons I've learned this month from reading that will help me with my writing:

-I like short chapters, they keep the action going.

-I'm not a fan of explaining or over-description. If a book takes 500 pages to tell a story that could be told in 250 pages, I will be annoyed.

-Non-linear story-telling is awesome if it's done well (I don't think I'll try it anytime soon though).

-Humor is a great tool for keeping the audience engaged. This is true for almost all genres.

-I love a bit of a cliffhanger at the end of a chapter.

Do you read while you write? Do you read outside of your genre? What do you learn from the books you read?

You Gotta Have Friends

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for the sweet comments and well wishes and emails and everything this week. You're all wonderful.

It's been kind of a stinky time, I'm not going to lie, but the baby and I are doing okay and I'll be 30 weeks along on Sunday, which is good.

I managed to get some writing done this week! It feels so great to accomplish something again. I am inching along on this manuscript, but I really love what I've got so far, so that's encouraging.

And I made a surprise appearance at RWA on Thursday to hang out with two of my favorite people, Sara Megibow and Karen Hooper!

My trip was made possible by the photoshopping skills of the talented Megan Rebekah (I love that she added a pregnant belly!), and the photography skills of the lovely Tiffany Reisz. You girls are awesome. :)

I've been following all the RWA tweets and blogs all week and that has been ALMOST as fun as being there. It sounds amazing. I will make it there someday! Karen has had a bunch of great updates on her blog, so if you want the inside scoop you should check it out.

I looked at my summer word count yesterday and it's shockingly low. I've only written about 5000 words since June 1. Granted, it's been a crazy summer. I'm just hoping the quality is a little better than usual and that's why it's taking forever.

How has summer been for your writing? Are you more productive, less productive, or about the same during summer months?

Sometimes Life is Tough

In June I decided July would be the month I would make stuff happen. I was going to finish my manuscript. I was going to enjoy awesome-summer-mommy-time with my kids. I was going to go to RWA and meet my amazing agent, hang out with some of my favorite people, and be surrounded by writers, agents, editors, and DISNEY WORLD for three whole days. July should have been the month I did all the things I wouldn't be able to do when baby #4 comes in October.

Alas, July had different plans for me. I got sick. A few weeks into the illness I was diagnosed with a nasty little pregnancy complication. All of my plans for July (and August and September) were put on hold or cancelled, (sniff...RWA...sniff), and I spent the month passed out on the couch while my kids watched brain-frying amounts of PBS. Good times.

The good news is I have a fantastic doctor and we feel like everything is going to be okay. I just need a lot of rest and the baby needs to stay healthy and delay his entry into the world for another 7-8 weeks.

Until then, (and probably for a month or two after), I'm sure my blog posts will be sporadic. I will promise to write about writing or reading or something sort of interesting when I do post.

I didn't read many blogs in July, (I hope to check in with everyone this week). I'm sure I've missed some things. What have you all been up to? Amazing vacations? Conferences? Agents? Book deals? Fill me in peeps.

Oh and if any of you are on Twitter you should check out my super cool agent, @SaraMegibow. She just started tweeting a few weeks ago and she's getting the hang of it now. Plus, I think she'll be tweeting from RWA next week, and if you can't go, aren't tweets the next best thing?

Another Visit From My Agent

Hey everybody! I'm still on my month-long blogging break but my lovely agent, Sara Megibow, offered to share some notes from last month's referral experiment and I knew you'd find them interesting. Enjoy!

Dear readers and writers -

Thank you for all the wonderful submissions referred by Natalie last month! I've had a delicious month reading romance, romance, romance! Just wanted to say thank you for all your hard work and for considering me in your agent hunt.

Here are the results:

I read 75 partials (still have a few in my database, but not many)

I asked for 3 fulls

if I sign any new clients, I will definitely let Natalie know

Of the partials that I read, there were three main reasons for passes - I thought I would share my notes in case it helps. These notes are not true of all submissions of course, but were more of a general observation.

1) stories that opened with dialogue in which the purpose of that dialogue was to "explain" the story to the reader:

ex. (and I am making this example up - it's not taken from any real submission)

Chapter 1

"Fred, how could you? You know that mom and dad sent us here to Wisconsin specifically so you could learn how to get along with others and stop fighting!"

"But Sally, I've just had such a hard time since mom's cancer and I don't like anyone here in Wisconsin anyway"

To me, this feels like an awkward way to introduce a story to the reader, so it was one reason why I passed on some partials.

2) occasionally, I saw examples of weak writing right up front. Yes, as an agent, I could "edit" this kind of thing. But, if I see it up front, then I'll gamble that it's throughout the book. An editor at a publishing house would pass on a book for weak writing and therefore so will I.

ex. (again, making this up)

James looked out across the mesa. James picked up his coffee cup and took a sip of the hot liquid. He didn't know what was next in life, but he felt overwhelmed. James felt like this a lot.

Obviously, no submission is perfect. But, if I saw too much of these kinds of mistakes (poor use of pronouns and "telling" the reader what James is feeling instead of showing us), then I would pass on the sample.

3) data dump. This is the number one reason that I pass on projects submitted to the agency in general. I know it's really hard to integrate backstory and get the reader "into" the story. But, editors will only read 30-50 pages before nixing a work, and that's how important those first 30-50 are. So, there is no room for datadump especially upfront.

ex. (again, not taken from anything specifically)

Gretchen was an only child and the last chance for the Duchess to produce an heir. She's been sent to boarding school, trained to perform, pampered, educated, pushed and prodded. And yet, she was 22 and single. Her mother was losing her patience and Gretchen was losing her confidence. Really, there was only another month until her 23rd birthday and her mother was insisting on throwing a big ball in an effort to attract suitors.

I hope my thoughts and notes are useful and I wish you all Happy Writing!

Sincerely,

Sara Megibow

Nelson Literary Agency

http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/SaraMegibow/

www.nelsonagency.com

Good stuff, huh? I've struggled with all three of these things. My first manuscript was a lovely little story that began with a gigantic info dump. I did learn a lot from writing it though and I'm glad I didn't give up after the first attempt. Practice. Practice. Practice. The more we write the better we get!

I hope you all have a great July and I'll see you in August.