Podcast & Video Recordings and Book Trailer Storyboards!

Yesterday I went to Salt Lake City for a meeting with my publisher, Shadow Mountain to record some promo spots and a podcast. 

My awesome dad drove me down through a blizzard with jackknifed semi trucks and emergency vehicles all over the place. He's a good sport.

For the podcast, we were in a little room at the top of KSL broadcasting station. It was awkward at first but they say I didn't sound too much like an idiot, so that's good. The video clips were harder. I was so nervous, but we did it so, Yay!

When we finished with that, we went back to Shadow Mountain where Chris showed me storyboards for A Monster Like Me's book trailer! They will be filming on Monday. The same director that did Brandon Mull's book trailer will be directing mine. There will be special effects and everything!

 

 He also said that they are working on my poster with Brandon Dorman (artist from Fablehaven books!) doing the art, and will have bookmarks to hand out to all the kids at the school assemblies I'll be doing in March.  So, hopefully in a couple weeks, I'll have a book trailer to share with you.

It's all pretty exciting. I can't wait!

My Successful Pitch

Hello awesome cyber-buddies! I'm thrilled to report that I got a request for a partial this weekend for COYOTE DREAMS! Yay! Would you like to hear my pitch? This is how it went...


After she smiled and shook my hand, she said, "so tell me about your story."
My pitch:

It's a coming of age story about sixteen-year-old Jenna who lives on the Sho-Ban reservation near Pocatello, Idaho. After her father has a near fatal accident, she has to run the family farm alone. But the dog that caused the accident is still harassing and killing her animals. This is no ordinary dog, but the fabled Coyote spirit.

Two neighbor boys, a farm boy and an Indian, offer to help, but their interest develops into something more than friendship. Jenna finds their attention both exciting and unsettling at the same time.

As the problems on the farm and the Coyote's attacks increase, she learns that accepting help is not weakness or failure. But when the Coyote goes after her little brother, she has to overcome her fears to save both their lives.

Coyote Dreams is 74,000 words and is similar to HATTIE BIG SKY, but with native mysticism and modern day characters.

Do you have any questions about my story?
 
The first thing she said was, "wow, that's a really good pitch. It sounded like the back of a book." Then she asked some questions and it ended with a partial request.
 
The reason why I'm posting this is because everywhere I turn people are saying shorter! Shorter! make it a one liner! Last year I did what they said and hacked at my poor query until it was something like this:
 
"After Jenna's father has a near-fatal accident, she must run the farm alone, but the dog which caused the accident is around and killing her animals. But this is not ordinary dog, it's the fabled Coyote."
 
The editor said, "so it's a horror then?" 
 
Um, no. Not even close.
 
I was so worried about getting it short, I'd lost the feel of what my story was about. This year I trusted my gut, listened to Elana Johnson on how to write an awesome query, and then followed the advice at Pitch University. And this time, I feel that regardless of what comes of this, I gave her a true look at what my story was really about.

***Update! I learned that your one liner/elevator pitch doesn't have to sum up the story, it can be a simple comparison to give the reader a feel for your story. For instance, my one liner for COYOTE DREAMS could be, "It's a contemporary coming of age story with Toni Hillerman aspects." Tada! Now you know it has some Native feel aspects but you also know it is a coming of age. I love learning new things!
 
Would you like to hear one more cool moment from this weekend? My boot camp instructor, Sheralyn Pratt said, "your writing is like the Mississippi; it's smooth and deep. It flows and takes you on this journey."
 
I'm going to write that one down in my journal. I'm still thankful that she said that about my story.

Here's the good news I told you about

Here’s the good news I told you about.


I participated in a flash fiction challenge for the Canadian emagazine, Open Book, and won! The rules stated that the story had to be 500 words or less, 3rd person limited, and funny. The winner would be published in the next month’s issue.

My flash fiction, Stroke, might feel a little risqué, but stick with it, and I hope it makes you smile.

You can go directly to Stroke here.

Or you can check out the emagazine, Open Book, here and scroll down to see the January Flash Fiction Challenge Winner.

I find writing comedy to be hard. It seems like it should be easy, but I don't think it is. I'm never quite sure if what I think is funny will tickle other people's funny bone or not. Do you have the same issue or is comedy easy for you?

In which I help a few kids and have a blast…

At my daughter’s request, I started teaching an after school young writers club. Friday afternoons I meet with 6-10 kids from the 5th-8th grade.

The first week we talked about Dan Wells 7 point story structure. If you have not watched all 5 of his free videos on Youtube, you should. They are awesome. Over the next few weeks we talked about character interviews. They filled in their own 7 points with both heroes and villains, and they interviewed each other.
We talked about grammar a little for some common mistakes, and focused on writing good dialogue. The Nanowrimo site has a terrific lessons for free downloads.

This last week, I was blown away by the quality of their writing.

One wrote a series of journal entries about a girl whose perfect family is falling apart as the parents spiraled toward divorce. Another wrote about a character who suffered from constant pressure from bullies and feared to tell anyone about it lest the cruelty get worse. The topics are far more deep and real than I expected. I’m excited to see what they write next.

After their stories are finished and edited, we’ll bind the stories together and make a book so they each get a copy to keep. I’m a shameless briber by the way. I give them a candy bar every time they complete a chapter.

When I was in 4th grade, I had a teacher that praised my poetry. In 7th grade when my grades were sliding and I had no faith in myself, a teacher asked me if I’d like to be in the honors English class. Why she noticed me, I’ll never know. But I still remember how it changed the way I thought of myself. I hope that when these kids finish this year, they will remember that this was the year they became authors.

Have you stepped out of your comfort zone lately?

Mark your Calendar--UNLOCKED is coming August 13th!

Unlocked by Wendy Swore, Rita J Webb and 7 other goodreads authors.



The brain-child of my co-editor (Rita Webb) and myself, this YA anthology is coming out August 13th! My short story, Crop Circles, is part of this FREE download. This collection of short stories is appropriate for YA readers but entertaining enough for adults too.

Humor, Regency, Fantasy, Horror,Coming of Age... Each of the 10 stories offers it's own spin on the key theme that binds them all. Check it out!

For me, the best part of this experience has been stepping into other roles. I selected the stories, co-edited, worked with each author, and even took the pictures that appear on the cover. My hat is off to all the editors out there--you have a difficult, but rewarding job. I hope you all like it!
View all my reviews >>

A Panel Discussion with Stephanie Black

This is part 2 of 5 covering the awesome panel discussion. Part 1 is here.

I had the opportunity to visit with Stephanie Black over dinner with her friend, Gregg Luke, at Storymakers 2010. They both were very personable and open. A Whitney Award Winner, Stephanie is the author of several books, including Methods of Madness.

At the panel discussion, Stephanie said to “give yourself permission to write a lousy first draft. It means freedom.” When she writes, she presses forward, writing to the end of a manuscript. Then she goes through it three times before using her test readers. “It’s all about the rewriting.” In her recent blog post Finish Line Jitters on June 23rd, she opens up about some of the angst she feels in letting go of her manuscript.

She needs “something of an outline to get going.” When her children were young, she wrote during naps. They were “golden. Nothing else got done—unless it was an emergency…like my mother in law coming over.”

Writers must “give up TV or whatever and squeeze that (writing) time in.” She subscribes to the idea that you don’t have time for everything, so make time for the things that matter by eliminating the things that don’t.

In regards to a writing career and getting published, Stephanie advises “make sure you do your research so you can go about it the right way. Don’t just stumble around.”

I was impressed by how she maintained an air of professionalism about her while still coming across as a real, down-to-earth, nice person.

Have you come across any cool action filled novels that are clean like her books? Which are your favorites?

A Visit With Heather Justesen, Author of Rebound

I recently had the privilege of reading Heather Justesen’s new release, REBOUND, and I couldn’t put it down.

You can read my review HERE but I bet you can already guess that I really enjoyed this book.

Heather is a fellow member of Author’s Incognito and she was kind enough to answer a few questions about her writing experience.

1. How long from when you started looking did it take you find your publisher/agent?

The LDS market is very small, so there are far fewer places to submit, and we don't use agents. I started submitting my first book in early March and had a contract in late September—but Cedar Fort had only had my manuscript for a couple of months before they offered to publish it.

2. Were you surprised with how many edits your editor asked of you or was it what you expected?

Honestly, I'm not sure what I expected. I did very few edits—and I've since learned it was far fewer than most publishers go through. That means I have to be extra diligent about self-editing and getting good feedback from reliable sources--but then, that's true no matter what publisher you work with.

3. Did you ever feel like giving up on your quest to be published?

I took several breaks during my journey to being published (and it was nearly 10 years before I got a contract) but not because I decided I didn't care, so much as because I had other priorities that had to come first.

I love writing and can't imagine giving it up, but I've had my moments of doubt about whether I would ever see a book in print, or if I was wasting my time--I don't know anyone who doesn't feel that way from time to time.

4. What is the hardest part about writing for you?

Building enough plot to keep the momentum going. I started out as a seat-of-your-pants writer and had trouble pushing the book through to the end because I either didn't build enough conflict into the manuscript, or I wasn't using the conflict I had well enough, so I would start to flounder around 60%-70% of the way through. I still struggle with that, but I do some basic plotting ahead of time now, so I have a better idea of where I'm going.

5. What's the easiest?

The first kiss--that scene pretty much writes itself!

6. Has your family always been supportive of you being a writer or did anyone need convincing?

I still remember telling my mother-in-law that I was going to be a writer and her saying "That's a nice hobby, but what are you going to do for a living?" Then she read one of my early manuscripts and became one of my staunchest supporters. =)

As for my family, my siblings claim they always knew I would be a writer one day--apparently I was the only one taken by surprise. I guess I'm very lucky in that my Uncle Allan Burgess was published many times over during his life, so it wasn't this odd fantasy that my family scoffed at--it was a totally doable goal.

7. How many drafts of your queries did you go through before you found one that worked?

You don't really do a normal query in this market, because all of the publishers take unsolicited submissions, but I'm terrible and admit that I only tweaked my cover letters a couple of times each before sending them. I've since learned a great deal more about queries and am taking this a lot more seriously in future submissions, including getting feedback from people who know more about a good query letter than I do.

8. I heard you mention in Danielle Ferguson’s interview that your next few books don't have basketball in them. Is there a reason you held to the basketball theme for the 1st two and then changed out for the next?

I don't think that was a conscious decision, actually. The fact is, I established in the first book that Curtis played basketball, and I wanted to make him a main character in the second book, so it ended up being basketball related. The next book in the series uses characters that aren't basketball players--and those characters actually existed before either of the books I have published. Sometimes I make decisions about what kinds of things I want the characters to be doing, and sometimes they tell me how it's going to be. =)

9. what did you want to be when you grew up?

I ran the gamut, but in college I seriously considered marine biology, and even took a bunch of heavy chemistry and biology classes, but changed to English Lit partway through my first year. I really didn't know what I wanted to be when I finished, but I remember thinking I wanted to do something with books and publishing, because I love books so much--but I wasn't going to be a writer, so I didn't plan for that at all! Writing is something that happened to me, and I found that I loved it and couldn't let it go, so I went after it. It wasn't something I planned from childhood like so many people I know--if it were, I probably would have been published years ago.

10. Is there any fun thing about yourself that we don't know?

I'm mildly allergic to melons, so I can hardly ever eat them, and I have a real thing for Rice Crispy Treats using the cocoa flavored cereal. So yummy!

11. anything else you'd like to mention?

Check out my BLOG between June 21 and 25th for some really fun giveaways!

Thank you ,Heather, for both the enjoyable read and the interview. It’s been fun getting to know you better!

A visit with James Dashner and Jeff Savage -part 2 of 2-

For the first half of the conversation, check out Part 1.   These two guys were open and willing to answer all the questions we threw at them. Read on for more pearls of wisdom...

When asked about YA word counts, James said, "The average word count for YA is 60,000 words. “But yet Lisa McMann’s books are around 38,000 words, and mine are more like 100,000. Don’t worry about the word count; just write your story.”

On publishers, James notes that “a small publisher can treat you really well and a big one can, but if a big one treats you really well, then they can do way more for you. You may be doing all your own marketing anyway, so it’s both ways. Random house, has so much more power and placement and distribution, that if you are lucky to be published with them… I loved Shadow Mountain—really I do—but Maze runner has sold more in one month than 13th reality has this whole time. For Fablehaven, Brandon Mull has had to work his tail off.”

Jeff says, “a national contract will want a right of first refusal on that genre or on whatever you publish next. The LDS market is a different beast entirely. Deseret book is the largest publisher, and Shadow Mountain is big too. Some of the smaller publishers have contracts that are really tight so you need to be careful. Like you will sign and then everything you have ever written or every will write in this market again belongs to us. BE careful about this type of publisher.”

“A right of first refusal doesn’t mean that your book must go to them,” James clarifies. “They can look at it and they can offer, but you can still look around.” It’s not legal for them to force you to take a tiny amount for a book when another publisher is willing to pay much more for the same book. If your contract says FIRST AND LAST refusal, then it’s not a good thing. Read carefully before you sign.

Jeff notes that “Authors need to be savvy. If you don’t like it, ask if it can be changed before you sign.” Some will change and some won’t, but you should ask before you get stuck in your contract.

Where do you get your ideas for your books? Dashner smiles and says, “Ideas come to me all day long in my sleep, in the shower, on the potty, whatever. I can forget them so I try to write them down. When I was working on the 13th reality, I had to take time away from that. I can’t really do both at the same time, so I do a month at a time on one book and then the other.”

In answer to a question on whether or not to get an agent, Jeff raises his finger and instructs, “first of all, never ever take money out of your pocket to pay ANYONE.” Reputable agents and publishers require no money from you. “I don’t care if you’re the next Stephanie Meyer or not, You still have to market. You have to go on tour. You have to do your blog. There are publishers that can do more for you, but an agent gets your MS in the right hands (like the editor they had lunch with the week before). They do foreign rights, keep track of different trends. I cannot tell you how valuable it is to have a good agent, and it is worth EVERY PENNY.”

“This is a no brainer,” says James. “It is absolutely better to have an agent than not to have one. My agent makes me SO much more than I would make without one.” He noted that in general, the LDS market doesn’t have agents.

Should we submit to agents or publishers first? “Submit to publishers & agents both. If you get an agent, great. If you get a publisher, you can almost start calling agents and saying do you want to represent me?”

“If I could have told myself something 7 years ago…” James rubbed his chin in thought. “It’d be to have patience, both in my writing and in my submitting to publishers and agents. Patience in all those aspects. Something that has changed from my first book to the last, is that I take more time to add depth, and sensory scenes to the story. You can’t sell tons of books immediately. Word of mouth, school by school, book signing by book signing. Patience.”

Jeff’s parting thought was this, “Successful authors believe that they are good enough to be published and it’s just a matter of time. Go find your favorite book on Amazon, and look at a one star review, print it off. Use it as motivation to keep writing. Because every author I know has moment where they think they are terrible. There is a word for determined writers, Published.”

After the meeting, I stayed to visit with them and ask for permission to blog about what I’d learned. Both men were very gracious and offered me their email addresses. I learned a great deal from their “impromptu” breakout and I hope you learned a thing or two as well.

Be sure to check out FARWORLD and THE MAZE RUNNER along with their other books the next time you need an excellent read.

Thank you both for an amazing afternoon!