Posted by Christine on Jun 5, 2007 in Publishing |
I made the decision yesterday that I was at the point of diminishing returns with my query research and writing efforts. Not that I think my query is perfect, I am sure there is a great deal I can still learn. However I think at this point the more I look at it the harder it gets to SEE it. So this morning I sat down, I read through the query, synopsis and first page one last time and I hit send on the e-mail. Off went my first query to my first agent. I divided the list of 14 agents into first round and second round. It was pretty random how I divided the list. I am hoping to get some kind of feedback on my query from the first round and then send out to the second round. Am I nervous? No, that doesn’t begin to describe the butterflies in the pit of my stomach. Am I eager? YES YES YES. I know- absolutely know that it takes agents up to three weeks to respond to an e-mail query and then they only respond if interested. So I have been really good. I have limited myself to only checking my e-mail once an hour in the three hours since I sent it. 🙂 In all honesty as much as I know to expect no response I have to admit I can’t help the little day dream that things will be different for me. My first agent will ask for a partial. Fortunately I have enough to do to occupy my time that I can stay busy and not sit around and wait for a reply. I have 6 other query’s to get out after all. I hope everyone has a lovely...
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Posted by Christine on Jun 1, 2007 in Publishing, Scottsdale |
You can actually see that but you know – I had to state the obvious. I hope everyone enjoys the updates. In other news I have a synopsis written. I cannot tell you the hours and hours I spent researching how to write a synopsis and what agents were looking for. I visited many different agent and author blogs. I read critiques of other synopsis’s. I read articles on how to write a synopsis, articles on how not to write a synopsis and articles on why the synopsis is important. I think that the hardest thing was when I found conflicting information on what should be in a synopsis. One thing I did find over and over was that almost uniformly people dread writing a plot synopsis. However I also found everyone has to do them. Even published authors write them for future projects. So I guess in writing, and dreading, my synopsis I’m in good company. So now I’m ready. I have a synopsis written that I hope is what agents are looking for. I have a query letter written that I can adapt to the agents and editors I plan to send it to. I have a manuscript that flows well with an opening chapter I hope will really hook the reader and still stay true to the rest of the story. Now I need to start sending the query letters. I am completely terrified of the coming rejections, but also totally excited by the idea that someone somewhere will love my story....
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Posted by Christine on May 27, 2007 in Publishing, Scottsdale |
I worked on the rewrites of a couple chapters that had to change to accommodate the changes in the first chapter yesterday. I think that the rewrites are truer to the characters as they evolved later in the story so that is good. Also I am hoping it makes the information I have to give the reader a little more spread out this may be good or bad depending on your point of view. In my opinion it makes it easier to take in, but it leaves the reader waiting longer for certain details. Speaking of Point of View… I have been working on that too. I have been reading several books in my attempt to become a good writer. One of these is Orson Scott Card’s book Characters &Viewpoint. I have read and re-read the section on point of view (POV) as I know this is a major point in storytelling and editing. I struggled with what POV to use in my story. I started writing in the limited third person, and then switched about midway through to third person omniscient. I knew I would have to go back and pick a POV and stick with it throughout and I am working on that now. So what did I pick? Well, after much indecision I decided to go with a shifting limited third person POV. What does this mean, in different chapters we will see the story through different people’s eyes. In a few chapters the point of view will change mid chapter to let us see the scene from more than one persons POV. I try to limit in chapter changes though to where it is REALLY necessary. So why did I choose limited third instead of omniscient. There are so many characters in the book and most of them will have at least one chapter told from their personal POV. Including Lexi, Damian, Meredith, Sonya, Farrell, Micah, Tali, Brinna and in a few places/chapters Drew, Garin, Ellsa, and Levi (I probably forgot someone). It would seem that the omniscient view would be easier to adapt to this many characters. I made the decision based on primarily one thing. A quote from the above mentioned book by Orson Scott Card in which he shares the best way to get the reader emotionally involved with your character is the limited third POV. (Characters &Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card page 162 copywrite 1988.) That is my goal; to get the readers to emotionally connect with the characters I have written. Consider this, a portion of my query letter: As an avid reader I am always searching for characters I would want to know. Often I feel let down by characters who are either too perfect to be real or to flawed to be likable. In Coradonna Lost I have created characters the reader will wish they could know. These...
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Posted by Christine on May 27, 2007 in Publishing, Scottsdale |
I actually wrote this post yesterday… not sure why I didn’t post it then. So here it is. I am finding that no matter how much editing I do I still find things I need/want to rewrite. Sometimes I feel like I am on the 100th draft of the story instead of the sixth. I have recently finished writing two new scenes I realized the story needed to lead up to some plot in the second book. Also I have been working on a complete rewrite of the first chapter. This will be the third incarnation of chapter one, which just does not seem to want to flow. BTW – Thank you to those who gave me feedback on the chapter. I found it all very helpful and I am using it in the rewrite. So where does this leave me as far as publishing attempts go. Well, I am on hold at the moment. First off because I still need to write a good, concise, complete and interesting plot synopsis boiling 100,000 words down to just about 500. I am still working on that in between rewrites. Also because I am reshaping the first chapter I have no first chapter to send out at the moment. So I am now hoping to be sending things out by the beginning of June. The good news – my early readers tell me that my writing is getting better and better. Hopefully they are right and all this rewriting will lead to an even better draft then I ever imagined ending up on the right agent or editors...
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Posted by Christine on May 8, 2007 in Publishing |
Over the past few weeks I have been editing and shaping the first two chapters of the first book in the Coradonna’s Children series. I have been working on the book synopsis and the query letter. Query letters are a real challenge to write. I have to admit I find the whole process intimidating. This is especially true since this letter and my skill with writing it will determine if the agent or editor will even READ my work. There is a great deal of pressure to write a perfect query letter. So I have spent several weeks working on this when I would much rather have been working on writing my story. Another challenge is the synopsis. I keep telling hubby if I wanted to write short things I would not have written a novel. I have been struggling to boil the plot and action down to 500 words or less while still catching the readers interest. I guess this is part of the challenge of being an author and not just a storyteller. You have to be able to sell yourself and your work. My goal is to send out query letters to about 7 agents this coming week. Then go back to focusing on editing draft three of Lexi’s story while I wait. I hope to receive feedback from at least a few of them in the next three or four months. I want to use that feedback to help me with round two of query letters, which will include another 10 agents and two editors. I have no illusions. I understand that I will most likely get hundreds of rejections before someone even asks to read my entire manuscript and even then there will likely be more rejections before I am ever even close to getting published. However I am hoping for FEEDBACK from the agents and editors. I am hoping that the comments and ideas they share I can use to help improve my writing in general and my marketing. I also have to admit deep inside a tiny part of me dreams and imagines that someone will love my work so much they will call me within days of getting the first two chapters and ask me to send them the rest of the manuscript because they simply cannot WAIT to read it. OK ok I have a REALLY active imagination. What can I say that is why I love to tell stories. I know it will never happen but I can dream....
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