Insecure About Queries? #IWSG

Welcome, Insecure Writers! If you haven't yet joined this wonderful group--created by Alex J. Cavanaugh--jump over here and fix that!

Are you feeling insecure about writing a query? Me too!

Two of my books were released last year, and when I go back and read the queries, I'm so proud that I wrote them. The query for The Boy Who Loved Fire helped me sign with an agent. It's perfect for that book.

As I entered the "new query" stage for another project, I was frozen. I couldn't snatch the words floating in my head and put them in a logical sequence that captured an entire story--even though I'd drafted a query pitch before I wrote the book. Was I losing my skills? Had I taken a step back?

No. It felt this way before I wrote the query for The Boy Who Loved Fire, and before I wrote the query for The Summer of Crossing Lines.

The trick for me is to do the following:

1. Research "how to write a query," to remind me what works and what doesn't.
2. Dive in.

Diving in can be the hardest. But once the crappy words are written, they can be deleted, replaced, and shaped. We can't do that with a blank page. So my crappy words are written, and I'm in the pruning stage. I'll get it right--with time and hard work.

If you're insecure about the query, like me, here are some links that may help: Writing a Query Letter, by Elana Johnson; articles about writing a query by Janice Hardy; and How to Write a Query Letter over at AgentQuery.com.

How about you, fellow writers? Do you struggle with writing queries? Have you nailed it? Any tips you can share with the rest of us?

Novels in Verse: Tips and Encouragement from Elana Johnson

Friends, today the queen of queries and all around nice person, Elana Johnson, is here to share helpful tips about writing. But we aren't talking about query letters. We're chatting about novels in verse.

I downloaded Elana's YA verse novel, ELEVATED, and absolutely loved it. After I read the final page I asked Elana a few questions about writing in verse and indie publishing. She generously shares her experience with us.

Before we get to the interview, here's a summary of Elevated:

The last person seventeen-year-old Eleanor Livingston wants to see on the elevator—let alone get stuck with—is her ex-boyfriend Travis, the guy she's been avoiding for five months.

Plagued with the belief that when she speaks the truth, bad things happen, Elly hasn’t told Trav anything. Not why she broke up with him and cut off all contact. Not what happened the day her father returned from his deployment to Afghanistan. And certainly not that she misses him and still thinks about him everyday.

But with nowhere to hide and Travis so close it hurts, Elly’s worried she won’t be able to contain her secrets for long. She’s terrified of finally revealing the truth, because she can’t bear to watch a tragedy befall the boy she still loves.

1. What made you decide to write ELEVATED in verse?

I had started writing it in regular prose. I had over 100 pages! But something with the story wasn’t right. For one thing, it wasn’t long enough. I couldn’t figure out the ending. And then I started reading verse novels, and I thought, “I wonder if I can try writing a verse novel.” 

And so I did. I read a few more of them, did a little research online, and then decided to stretch myself and write in this new form. I went immediately to ELEVATED – this unfinished, sort of dead-in-the-water story – and transformed it into a novel in verse. 

The form worked really well for the kind of novel it is, and I just knew: the reason it didn’t work the first time was because I was writing it wrong. 

2. Had you written in verse before? How did you learn how to do it?

No, I had never written in verse before. I did a little research online about free verse, and form, and things like that. Then I just dove into it, writing by “feel,” basically. Reading out loud also helped me get the poetic rhythms I was going for. 

3. What surprised you most about writing in verse?

How much you can say with hardly any words. I am working on another verse novel right now, and I’m still surprised at how much I don’t have to say to get the same story across.

4. Tell us about your decision to indie publish ELEVATED.

ELEVATED went out to New York editors in the spring of 2013. It was received pretty well, getting a lot of enthusiastic responses. A few editors passed it to their higher-ups, and acquisitions meetings were held. But in the end, no one bought it. There were varied reasons, but it came down to the verse market being “soft.” They had other verse novels they’d already purchased, blah blah blah.

But I felt that it was a good book (but I’m biased, because I’m the author! Ha!), and that just because one of the New York houses didn’t want it didn’t mean it shouldn’t be published. It was also a book I believed in, that I loved writing, and I still love reading. So I decided that I should self-publish it. 

5. What advice can you offer writers who are considering a novel in verse?

Do it! Do it now! The only thing you’ll gain is an increased appreciation for the written word, and maybe you’ll stretch and grow as an author in ways you don’t expect. So do it!

6. Any advice you can offer writers who want to indie publish?


Do it! Do it now! Haha. But I have loved my self-publishing journey. I loved doing the cover, formatting the interior, all of it. I still hope there’s a spot for my books in the traditional market, but for those titles that I am passionate about that don’t get placed there, I will be self-publishing them. 

Friends, I found this information totally fascinating. I love verse novels, but I've been too chicken to try it. Now maybe I will!

Have you ever written in verse? Do you read verse novels? Would you object to indie publishing stories that haven't found a publishing home?

Elana Johnson’s work, including Possession, Surrender, Abandon, and Regret, published by Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster), is available now everywhere books are sold. Her popular ebook, From the Query to the Call, is also available for free download, as well as a Possession short story, Resist. School teacher by day, Query Ninja by night, you can find her online at her personal blog or Twitter. She also co-founded the Query Tracker blog, and contributes to the League of Extraordinary Writers

Amazon * Barnes and Noble * Kobo * iTunes * Goodreads

Caution: Query Under Construction

The lucky winner of Jody Hedlund's latest release, Unending Devotion, is Karen K. Congratulations!

And now, a little about queries. Dun, dun, dun...

For the first time in a looooong time, I recently sat down to write a new query. And since I have the attention span of a 9-year-old boy, I'd forgotten all the great lessons I'd once learned. And so the research began.

Tips for writing successful queries are endless, as are agents' and editors' tastes in what they want to see in a query. As always, it's important to check the guidelines for specific agents and editors and follow those guidelines exactly.

Here's some helpful information:

Clarity Rules The Day

Scott Eagan, literary agent for Greyhaus Literary Agency, wrote this great post: Clarity In Queries--The Biggest Reason Editors and Agents Say No. It's a great post, and definitely worth a read. Eagan reminds us to answer these questions in our query:

1. Title, genre and word count
2. What makes your story unique
3. Who the characters are
4. What is their goal, motivation and conflict
5. What is the central conflict in the story
6. What is the theme or "take-away" for the author

Query Writing Basics

Querytracker.net has an excellent resource, Query Writing Basics, which explains what a query letter is, and what should or shouldn't be in one.

Style and Voice

One lesson I remembered is that our queries should whet the appetite of agents and editors. They should reflect the tone and voice of the manuscript. We should choose strong, specific words that quickly announce to the pros what our book is about.

Read Successful Queries

The links on Querytracker.net provide plenty of samples of successful queries. When writing my new query, I dragged out my previous query that had caught my agent's attention. It was helpful to once again see how I'd whittled down my own novel into concise paragraphs with plenty of flavor.

Hook, Setup, Conflict

Elana Johnson, super person, amazing author, and Queen of the Query, has great tips for writing queries on her blog. Check out her posts on The Hook, The Setup, and The Conflict. 

On Bubblecow, Author Gary Smailes wrote The Query Letter That Won Me An Agent And A Four Book Deal (And Why It Was So Successful). It's interesting to see the author break it all down and point out what made it work.

Is my query finished? Heck no! There's plenty of work to be done. But studying the basics helped lead me in the right direction. 

Have you written a query letter lately? Do you like or loathe the process? Can you share any query tips with the rest of us?

photo credit

Loosey Goosey Goals

"Establishing goals is all right if you don't let them deprive you of interesting detours." - Doug Larson

Do you set firm goals for the year, then freak out if you don't reach them?

I would. That's why I create loosey goosey goals for each day: Write x number of words. Revise x number of chapters. Read through critique pages. Query Tracker had a great post about writer's goals here.

I have long-term publishing goals, but they're somewhat dependent on the tastes and actions of other people. If my goal was to publish a novel in 2011, I'd be disappointed on December 31st.

My goals for 2011 are loose: charge forward, write new material, revise like crazy, try new things, submit, submit, submit, and keep learning.

Nothing is impossible if we work hard enough and push through our obstacles. As Jack Penn said, "One of the secrets to life is to make stepping stones out of stumbling blocks." And as Elana Johnson wrote in this post, "the impossible is possible."

Do you have concrete goals for 2011, or will you take the loosey goosey approach? Please share!

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No Pressure!

I'm reading "Writing Magic" by Gail Carson Levine (thanks, Julie Hedlund!). Levine lists these easy-to-f0llow rules for writing:

1. The best way to write better is to write more.
2. The best way to write better is to write more.
3. The best way to write better is to write more. (Hmmm, I'm noticing a pattern)
4. Write whenever you can, even if it's only for five minutes.
5. Read. (We all love reading, right?)
6. Reread a beloved book. (I should do this more often)
7. Save everything you write, even if you don't like it. Levine suggests keeping everything for at least 15 years. (Wow)

Levine's first three rules got me thinking: she says write more, but doesn't say we must write every day. Semantics?

I try writing every day, but it's not always possible. Does that make me less of a writer? Not so, says Elana Johnson in her post Don't Write Every Day.

And according to the post Don't Write Often, if we're only producing volume, without improving our skills, we're not helping ourselves.

It's important that we hang on to the joy of writing. As Levine suggests, we can sharpen our skills, read great stories, and add words to the page on a regular basis. All without putting too much pressure on ourselves.

How often do you write? If it's not every day, do you feel guilty?

photo credit: google images

Leaky Faucet vs. Tidal Wave

Are you the type of writer who sits at the keyboard for hours while the story gushes out of you? Or are you like me, the leaky faucet who drip, drip, drips their way to a finished manuscript?

Some writers literally can't stop themselves when they're writing. I'm not that type of writer. Little by little my wip is dripping its way toward the first draft finish line. It hasn't been a speedy process, but I'm okay with that.

I appreciate the cooling-off time between writing sessions. My brain doesn't work fast enough to pour all that out at once, and I need a little down time in order to refill my creative well.

How about you? Are you a tidal wave writer, a leaky faucet, or somewhere in the middle?

In case you missed it, please read this guest post by Elana Johnson over at Adventures in Children's Publishing. Elana defines perseverance, and I'm always inspired by her story. Elana says,

"Publishing a book is not a race where the winners come in first. It’s not important WHEN you finish, just that you DO. Oh, and one more thing: Your journey is your own. It won’t look or feel like mine. It shouldn’t. Don’t compare journeys. Just be grateful you can take one more step."

photo credit: flickr

WriteOnCon!

A free writer's conference? No way!

Yep, some amazing gals are putting together an epic writer's conference for free. Check out their blogs for fun giveaways, and visit WriteOnCon for more details.

And the pay it forward gurus are... *drumroll please*

Jamie Harrington

Lisa and Laura Roecker

Elana Johnson

Casey McCormick

Shannon Messenger

Thank you thank you thank you thank you!!!!

(temporarily abandoning the don't use too many exclamation points rule!!!!)

Sharing, Spock, and Puke

The miracle is this: the more we share the more we have.

-Leonard Nemoy

One thing I've noticed about writers: they share. Information, advice, encouragement, you name it.

There are far too many helpful blogs to mention, but here are a few where I've received amazing information:

Adventures in Children's Publishing

Angela Ackerman

Anita Nolan

Heather Mc Corkle

Elana Johnson

(Elana's post on cleaning up the puke can NOT be missed)

Many thanks to each blogger out there in cyberspace who takes the time to post great stuff. I appreciate each of you!