Author/Illustrator Teams and an Online Writers Conference

Good morning, Esteemed Reader


I know what you’re thinking: where the heck’s the book of the week? It’s Tuesday, already. Or this might be your first time here and you could be thinking what the heck is a middle grade ninja? Either way, I’m not sure I care for your strong language:)

I'm often asked how I find time to write fiction and maintain this blog and keep up with a demanding full time day job and maintain a happy marriage. Well, the answer is I married a fantastic woman who is very supportive of my writing. The second answer is that when push comes to shove and I only have enough time to do either my fiction or this blog, I choose my fiction. My WIP is and always will be the priority.

Push came to shove this weekend. Not to worry, we are still going to celebrate author Bonnie Doerr and her book Island Sting this week, we’re just going to be celebrating them a little later than usual (I remind you this blog is free). So check by later tonight, maybe tomorrow, and I should have a review up. I really enjoyed Island Sting and I think you will too.

The And Then Story is finished and revised! Hurray for me. I came in on schedule and am now free to play video games again! Yea! As a show of my discipline, I have had Super Mario Galaxy 2 in my possession for almost a month and I have only played the first level. If you are a certain agent who I know reads this blog wondering where the heck the query I promised is now that the book is done, that will be just a little longer. One of the authors interviewed here was kind enough to offer a critique and I’d be a fool to pass that up before sending this on to said dream agent.

In the meantime, I have some links for you, Esteemed Reader. I had a burning question about author/illustrators. My best friend is a very talented artist and my first choice to illustrate anything I write. But is it viable for us to approach agents and editors as an established team? Another dream agent, Mary Kole, was kind enough to answer my question over at her wonderful blog:

http://kidlit.com/2010/06/14/working-as-an-author-and-illustrator-team-before-submission/

Also, there’s going to be an online writers conference held for free in August! Holy great opportunity, Batman! I am so there and I hope to see you there as well, Esteemed Reader:

http://writeoncon.com/

Miss Snark’s First Victim’s Faithful Reader

Good morning, Esteemed Reader!


I’ve got another online resource for writers today. One of my absolute favorite blogs is Miss Snark’s First Victim. If you’re not familiar with Authoress, the anonymous blogger who brings the internets her vast knowledge of literary agents and all things publishing, you need to get familiar. I’ve been reading her blog for more than a year now and I’m crazy about it.

Authoress hosts Secret Agent Contests in which writers can submit portions of manuscripts to anonymous agents who offer critiques and perhaps even representation. More, her blog is a hot spot to chat with other writers at different stages in their careers and the occasional agent. You can also follow Authoress on twitter.

I had the good fortune to win a copy of her electronic book, Agent Demystified this week and I read it at once. It’s a great source of information about how to find agents and more, about how to behave toward agents. I wish I had read it sooner—it might have spared me a few of my early mistakes in querying. The ebook is well worth the money, or you can always try and win a copy on twitter like I did. I like winning stuff!

A Great Resource for Hunting Literary Agents

Hey there, Esteemed Reader.

So I’ve been trying to come up with interesting content for this blog and I had a brilliant idea. I thought I would provide research on agents here to share with you. After all, I need to be researching agents anyway and that strikes me as something you might also have an interest in, Esteemed Reader.

Well, it turns out Casey McCormick beat me to it and truth be told she’s doing a much better job at it than I probably would have. If you’re looking for easy to search information on literary agents, I haven’t found a better place. She lists links to interviews, blogs, websites—everything you need to stalk the agent you like best. Also, her research centers on agents who rep YA and MG, so major bonus!

I’ll think of something else I can do for this blog. In the meantime, I’ll be posting resources for writers I find on the internet. If something is helpful to me, I’ll post it here. It might be helpful to you as well. Now click here to check out Casey McCormick’s fantastic blog, Literary Rambles!

Sweet to Tweet

Hey there esteemed reader!

I’m a kid with a new toy. I have just discovered twitter. Yes, I know it has been around since World War II and everyone else is an old hand at tweeting and you totally can’t believe I’ve never done it before now. The important thing is that I am tweeting now and I love it!

Last night, I attended an online chat about YA fiction featuring mostly published authors, literary agents, and professional editors. The best part is they were all online tweeting answers to questions from unpublished authors. It was like attending a writer’s conference, except it was free and I was in my pajamas eating macaroni and cheese.

For those of you with twitter experience, you can ignore this post. But for those of you who have never tweeted, you’ve got to try this thing. Seriously. Last night I asked a big-time editor a burning question I had had for weeks about my WIP and she tweeted back an answer in less than a minute! Just like that! And the new-fangled televisions come in color!

I had been resistant to twitter because I thought it would just be Ashton Kutcher telling me about things he was thinking of buying for Demi and teenagers confessing crushes and I so don’t care. Turns out it’s a whole lot more than that. Turns out it might be just be one of the most important tools at a writer’s disposal and I’m a fool for not getting on board sooner.

Also, Roger Ebert is a twittering fool! His tweets brighten my day.