Live Q&A with New York literary agent, Katharine Sands, TODAY. You comin'?

At 11 a.m. EDT, I will be hosting a live Q&A with New York literary agent, Katharine Sands, about all things writing, publishing (even self-publishing!) and Homeric Writers' Retreat & Workshop related. On my Facebook profile.

How it works is, I tag her in the post, and we have a live conversation in the comments section. What's even cooler about this is, that YOU get to ask her questions in the comments section too!

So, if you've got any questions for Katharine, even if they're about self-publishing alone and nothing to do with retreats, drop by for a chat! You're very welcome.

Please note, this is a bit of a publicity stunt to draw attention to the retreat I run, but Katharine is fully aware that the questions will not only be retreat-related. She's happy to chat to you about anything you like.
See you then? 11 a.m. EDT!

Just drop by my Facebook profile at 11 a.m. EDT, and you will see where we are. :-)

Please share! Just copy/paste this tweet:

Drop by Jessica Bell's FB page 4 a live #QnA w- NY lit agent Katharine Sands! 11 a.m. EDT! http://ow.ly/y7qiw #writing #askagent

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By the way, I'm going to be participating in a The Writing Retreat Blog Hop this Friday. It's a fun and simple challenge to list what you'd pack for a writing retreat. Those tagged to post should do so within 3 days of being tagged, so that would be next Monday for you. If you'd like to be tagged, please leave a comment and I'll send you more info! The very first blogger to post, will be Debbie Young, today. So if you want to check out the deal, you can do so by clicking here.

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HOW I GOT MY AGENT, by Sheri Larsen (+ Giveaway)

This week is a very special week. We have celebrations going on all over the place, so today, Wednesday and Friday, will be taken over by some amazing blogging buddies who have news to share, and lots of goodness to spread! Today we have the amazingly talented, and generous, Sheri Larsen.

So, my awesomesaucesome friend Jessica has offered to help me celebrate a fantastic milestone in my writing career. For those of you who don't know me, I write young adult, middle grade, and picture books. My freelance and short story work can be found in anthologies, magazines, and numerous local publications.

This summer brought me some exciting news. I signed with a literary agent—the fabulous Paula Munier of Talcott Notch Literary. And yes, I'm still hearing pompom cheers when I close my eyes. But within my original announcement HERE, I mentioned that there was more to the story. I hadn't traditionally queried Paula. So Jess has asked me to share how I ended up signing with my agent.

To be fair, I can't go into specifics yet--names, titles, and such. Here's what I can share with you. A year and a half ago, I wrote the first draft of my YA paranormal fantasy MARKED BEAUTY. Not happy with it, I decided to rewrite the entire manuscript, converting from 3rd person past tense to 1st person present tense. Risky? Maybe. But it felt right.

After receiving some amazing insight on my first 50 pages from YA author Michelle Zink, I decided to edit yet again, rewriting the entire beginning. I sent out a small round of queries, which vetted me requests but no takers. I combed through the manuscript another umpteen times and sent out an even smaller number of queries, only twelve. Again, many requests but no takers. I began to consider Indie publishing, even chatted with other Indie authors. That route just didn’t feel right for me at that time. So, this past June, I decided to take my publishing journey into my own hands and began submitting the manuscript to smaller publishers.

And VOILA! I got a hit. And then another. And then another. For now, let's just leave it at I received multiple offers to publish the manuscript with a few already asking for a sequel. Yup. I was totally freaking!! Of course I contacted some of my closest writer friends like AE Rought, Jessie Harrell, JA Souders, LM Preston, and Ciara Knight, asking for advice. Collectively, said ladies felt that querying a few agents and letting them know about my offers wouldn’t hurt.

I received a response within an hour of sending my query letter to Paula. Two days later we spoke by phone. She offered me representation, and I accepted.

So today, I'm inviting you to celebrate with me!! Our amazing writing community has offered up over 40 prizes for you to win from signed books to critiques, to personal chats. Seriously. Won't you celebrate with me and enter? I'd love it if you would. There's only one mandatory entry. Everything else is up to you!!

I know Rafflecopters can sometimes be a pain, but it was the only way to organize such a huge giveaway. Thanks you so much for reading and to Jessica, who is my writing sister across the sea.

List of Rocking Participants: Lenny Lee, Colene Murphy, LM Preston, Darby Karchut, Joanne Brothwell, Patti Larsen, Christine Fonseca, Catherine Stine, Jessica Bell, Kelly Hashway, Leigh Moore, Christine Danek, Alex Cavanaugh, Katie Mills, Matthew MacNish, Beverly McClure, Marcy Hatch, Jennifer Million, Nicole Zoltack,Christina Lee, Kris Yankee, JL Spelbring, Sharon Mayhew, Candice Granger, Dianne Salerni, Lisa & Laura Roecker, Elana Johnson, Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi, Susan Kaye Quinn, Lydia Kang, Julie Musil, Natalie Agurrie, Talli Roland, Medeia Sharif, Kelly Polark, Angela Brown, Sarah Fine, Stina Lindenblatt, Lynda Young, Susan Fields, PK Hrezo, Shannon O'Donnell, Shelli Johannes-Wells, Theresa Brown Milstein.

Links to Rafflecopters:
Giveaway #1: a Rafflecopter giveaway 
Giveaway #2: a Rafflecopter giveaway 
Grand Giveaway: a Rafflecopter giveaway

Afraid to get an agent ...

So, I KNOW, my work is not quite fit for the commercial market. But despite it being classified as 'literary', I do believe I can hook my readers into thinking that's it's not really. I can tell a story. I know how to keep the suspense going, even though the suspense is hanging from emotional threads, rather than action threads.

I think if I worked hard enough to get an agent, that I would eventually get one. Especially with my latest work in progress, MUTED. But I know, from my attempts re my last two novels, that I gave up after not getting anywhere with my "priority list". For some reason, I've resigned myself to the fact that I'm a "Small Press" magnet. I'm happy being published by a small press. I don't need that six-figure deal to feel successful. And the pros behind these presses "get" me. And are passionate enough to get my work out there the best it can be.

But there's a certain someone in my life who keeps insisting that I need an agent. She's convinced that there's an agent out there who will be as passionate about my work as she is, and as the Small Press pros are, and as some of my readers evidently are. And after her constant pushing to get me to promise that I will seek an agent for MUTED, and not give up, I started to wonder why I'm so hesitant about it.

I've come to realize that I'm SHIT SCARED.

Why? Because I'm worried that I'll get that passionate agent, and they won't ever be able to sell it in this whacked publishing climate of today because of its "literaryness" and that the book will be in limbo for years on end, and then I'll end up having to publish it with a small press anyway. I HATE BEING IN LIMBO. And I predict that if I score that agent, that I will be in a perpetual state of frustration. It will mess with my head.

On the other hand, I could get that agent, and score an awesome deal with Penguin, or something, yeah? But, of course ... I can't bring myself to be that optimistic ...

Thoughts? What are your agent fears?

If it were a year ago I'd be bawling my eyes out thinking I've failed ... But today I refuse to. Here's why ...

Source

I don't really know if I've spoken to you all about my hunt for an agent. Actually, I don't think I have. So I'm going to bite the bullet today and let you know what I've been up to ...

I've queried about 70 agents for my second novel Bitter Like Orange Peel. Probably about half of these agents have replied, the other half ... total silence. Of the half that replied I got four partial requests and one full request. I've now heard back from all these agents and I'm afraid I've had no luck. I'm not really upset about this. But it does somewhat scare me. Here's why ...

Not one of these agents disliked my writing. In fact, I even got a few rejection letters that told me how much they appreciated my talent and creativity, and how they believed I had a strong future ahead of me. You know what else is even scarier? I can tick all these boxes ...

• I have a kick-ass query letter (thank you Matt and Dawn for your help with this). And for literary fiction, I think that can be quite difficult to master.
• I have a good platform. Blog following, Website, Facebook, Twitter ...
• I have previously published works. A novel by a traditional press, a poetry book, short stories and poems in anthologies and literary magazines.
• I've won a poetry award with Writer's Digest.
• I have interdisciplinary skills. I'm a musician, and I've taken advantage of that skill to give my debut that little bit of extra drive. This means that I have another way to market myself. Double-whammy.
• I'm not a one-hit wonder. I want a career out of this. I'm currently writing my third novel. And I don't plan on stopping there.
• I have wonderful relationships with published authors and aspiring authors alike. I have one of the best support systems I could ever ask for.
• Almost 100 blogs have signed up to participate in my blog tour for String Bridge, during November 1st - 20th. That is not a number to laugh at.
• I have proof that I'm a good writer from all the amazing reviews I've received so far from my target audience on Twisted Velvet Chains, and String Bridge. I'm not afraid to say that. No, some people may not be a fan of my work, and that's to be expected, but others are, and I'm proud and thrilled to have achieved that. Let me say that again. I'm proud of my work and I believe in myself. There's nothing wrong with having confidence.

So what am I doing wrong? Nothing. That's what. So, I shall continue the Small Press route and strengthen my base of readers gradually. (Unless some sort of miracle happens between now and January.) The harder I work, the bigger my fan base will grow, I know that. And I'm willing to put in the effort. But you know what I'm worried about now? I'm worried about YOU.

Yes. YOU. All of you who are just starting out and dreaming to make it big. I'm not saying that this isn't possible. Of course it's possible, and some people are just super lucky and I'm TOTALLY happy for those of you who have achieved that dream ... 

But what about all of you out there who are a little bit like me? A little different in their approach to writing? Those who write in a genre which isn't likely to hit the bestseller shelf, or can't be pigeon-holed? I'm worried because I don't want you all to think that you won't make it, or that you can't write because you keep getting rejected. I don't want you to think that you aren't GREAT. Because you are. You are just different, and I think you should embrace that. I mean, for goodness sake's, take another gander at my bullet-pointed list up there! If it's difficult for me to get an agent with all those achievements, I hate to imagine how hard it is for those with even half of them.

What I'm saying is, having an agent isn't the be all and end all. Okay? Having an agent is just one of MANY routes you can take to have a career as an author. And most of all, I want you to believe in yourself. If you believe in yourself, you can make anything happen. It may not be the Hollywood ending you dreamed of, but it might be a step closer to that Hollywood ending, you really never know.

Can you believe that a year ago today, I didn't even have ONE of those things in that list up there? So yeah. I'm proud of myself and I'm standing tall and flaunting it.

So my message to you today is ...

Be proud.

Stand tall.

And find another way to make it happen.

Over and out ...

Does it really pay to be different in this business?

One of the problems with getting my debut novel published has become outstandingly clear to me recently after being rejected, once again, despite the editor 'enjoying' it. So many people 'enjoy' it, but don't 'want' it for some reason or another. The most common reason is that:

My voice hits middleground.

It's TOO COMMERCIAL for the small presses that have a reputation for publishing less mainstream literary voices, and NOT COMMERCIAL ENOUGH for agents who are looking for the next bestseller to pay for their dream condo.

So where does that leave me? I can't change my voice. It's my voice. It's me. It's how I write. Does this mean I'm never going to find an agent or publisher because they can't find a shelf to slot my voice in?

You know, I like this a little because it means I'm 'different', and what reader isn't looking for something different, right? I like being different. I always have, ever since I was a kid and wanted to go grocery shopping in a pink tutu and black heavy metal t-shirt.

But what's the point in being different if publishers don't start publishing different books? What do you think? Do you think the books being published nowadays are a little samey? Does it pay to have an original voice like everyone keeps telling us, or is what they're really saying code for 'write what everyone else is writing so we can sell it'?

*PS: not complaining here - just think it's an interesting dicussion topic!

Dead in the corner of my bedroom ... for real?

My novel Dead in the Corner of my Bedroom has been through hell and back five times. And it looks like it's going to live up to its title. It looks like it is actually going to sit, dead, in the corner of my bedroom. This book went through five full revisions over the course of five years. 1.5 years worth of querying, and a pink crocodile full of chewed rejections.

At the moment it is in the hands of an Australian agent, who contacted me recently to say they are behind on their reading. But I tell you, if this one doesn't bite, I'm seriously considering shelving it. Am I nuts for considering this? Should I keep pushing till I burst?

An author friend of mine, Susanne Lakin, who has a novel coming out in October with Zondervan, called Someone to Blame, has read my novel. She emailed me not too long ago to tell me not to give up, because she thinks it would really sell. She said to keep pushing, that someone out there will fall in love with it as much as she did. Well, this made me smile so hard, I still can't feel my lips. But is she right? Is she really right? And how will I ever know, if it sits, dead, in the corner of my bedroom ... ?

???

(Addition after some comments came through: Yes, I've had it professionally edited. Yes, I am writing something else ;o)

My last words for the week.

Swamped with work and deadlines to meet and shopping to do and bags to pack and bills to pay and scooter parts to buy and rooms to clean and clothes to wash ... *deep beath*

But all is for good reason because we are going away.

So that leaves me with this to say ...

I received a rejection on a partial last night and needed to cry but I couldn't because of an overwhelming ache in my chest. Not an ache. An emptiness. This emptiness made me come up with a beautiful description too, of how it felt (thank you Jen for the gmail chat last night). I said to Jen that my chest feels like there is a ghost inside it breathing all my air. My soul was choking me from the inside out. But this made me wonder ... what do I do with all this sorrow inside me? So, I sat on my bed and continued to read Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson and look at the beautiful paragraph I came across, just when I needed it:

"Our dream of life will end as dreams do end, abruptly and completely, when the sun rises, when the light comes. And we will think, All that fear and all that grief were about nothing. But that cannot be true. I can't believe we will forget our sorrows altogether. That would mean forgetting that we had lived, humanly speaking. Sorrow seems to me to be a great part of the substance of human life."

I looked up from the book and I closed it. I closed my eyes, switched off the light, and sat in darkness. In silence. Listening to the hum of motionlessness. And I thought, 'This is sorrow. I can hear it hum around me and brush against my skin. The sorrow that keeps my senses alive. I will cherish it. I will feel it and recognise it and consider it a vital part of my existence. I will enjoy it as I do the happiness, and then I will move forward. Because without the sorrow, we would never feel the relief. And when the relief comes, so will the happiness. So whenever relief and happiness are ready for me, I am ready for them. And in the meantime, the sorrow can follow me around for a while. At least to remind me that I can 'feel'; that I am human.

That I am me.

UK Literary Agencies

Why is it, that the majority of UK literary agencies do not accept queries via email?

I find it extraordinary considering what a battering the environment is getting nowadays ... mind boggling ...

Angst of Anticipation

An agent has requested my full manuscript, and now I'm so stressed about sending it - it's an agent that I sent a query to more than four months ago and had given up on - an Australian agent that would positively be the most perfect agent for me, because then I'd have excuses to visit home more often!

I've drafted and drafted and redrafted the diavolos out of this thing. Can you believe it's coming on four years? Yes, it was my first attempt at a novel and I have had so much to learn, and I've learnt mountains - I mean MOUNTAINS of meaningful skills during this time, and I wouldn't trade that four years of tough love for anything. But now, after four years of hacking this novel to pieces, I really REALLY just want it to be perfect. Is there ever such a thing?

And another thing ... why was I so confident about it before it was requested? Why do I now think, "Oh, why would they want it? They represent the screenwriter of my most favourite film! How can I live up to that?" How do I get over this? I know it, now I'm going to be way over-excited and have all these over-emphasized expectations build up inside, and then I'm going to get disappointed and cry for days. Why do I do this to myself? Why do I put myself through this torture? I'm so excited, yet utterly terrified at the same time.

How do/did you feel when your full manuscript is/was requested?

Little Literary Agent Lullaby

Rock your writing motivation by reeling out this to the tune of 'All you need is Love', by the Beatles:

"All you need is ONE ... da da dada da ... All you need is ONE ... da da dada da ... All you need is ONE, ONE ... ONE is all you need."