Laura Tims's Blog
November 24, 2015
Weird Feminism: The Bergstrom Storm
There’s something I’ve noticed about white middle-aged men who write thrillers with young female protagonists.
On the 24th, S. (Scott) Bergstrom basically pissed off the entire YA community in an interview with Publishers Weekly with his claims that the category is bereft of moral complexity. This sentiment is echoed in his : "What has disappointed me about so many YA novels is the lack of internal conflict when it comes to difficult moral choices."
While that’s clearly pretty messed up, considering the fact that YA has some of the most morally complex books I’ve ever read (like seriously, has he been reading picture books orâ€�?) what also bothered me was the way he touts his “strong heroineâ€� in interviews. In ,Ìýhe trashes “princess-this, Barbie-thatâ€� femininity, and the ideal of “a woman in a pink dress and a nineteen inch waistâ€� â€� which is ironic, considering that the main thing mentioned in the PW interview about his main character is that she starts out overweight and then becomes, ahem, “a lean warrior with hair dyed fire-engine red.â€�
(No idea what her Manic Panic has to do with it, but okay.)
Bergstrom describes his character as the opposite of the “cheerleader-prom queen.� She’s “bullied by her prettier, richer classmates�, but turns into a gun-slinging army-jacket-wearing shoots-first-asks-questions-later badass (once she loses the weight, of course, to symbolize her personal growth and all.)
The thing that annoys me is how he makes this character out to be some groundbreaking feminist revolution. The “action girl� is not new. There’s a TVTropes page to prove it. YA is spilling over with Katniss Everdeens, Triss Priors, Meadow Woodsons, and a bazillion other kill-em-dead lady warriors who abhor pink, avoid dresses at all costs, and shoot first, ask questions later.
The thing that confuses me is that these male authors always seem convinced that theirs is the first.
Once, in a writing group populated mainly by older males, I listened to a thriller author explain that his protagonist was not like other girls. “She’s tough,� he explained. “She’s not into girly things.�
What I don’t think these male authors realize is that when they reassure us constantly that their female characters would never deign to touch anything pink-Barbie-cheerleading-related, is that it's pretty clear that this disdain for femininity doesn’t just belong to their characters. It belongs to them. And they’re telling us that the only way a female character can be strong is if she acts, in every way possible, like a man.
See, these male authors are going to saveus from traditional feminity by daringto write a female character who rejects it with the scorn it deserves. They often cite their daughters as inspiration for their rescue mission. They’re going to provide a positive example for the poor young girls drowning in pink.
But here’s the thing: I like pink. It’s my favorite color.
I’m also the author of a thriller coming out next spring with a main character who may or may not have murdered the boy she hated more than anyone else.
She also likes pink.
Liking pink and enjoying traditionally feminine things does not mean a girl can’t be strong. Strength can be conceived in many ways other than traditionally masculine, bullet-after-bullet strength. This is feminism 101, guys. Introductory course stuff.
So my message to Scott Bergstrom is this:Ìý
It’s okay! You can lay down your mantle. I’m sure it was a heavy burden, your duty to rescue girls from the chains of femininity by writing the world’s first strong female character. Lucky for you, the young adult category is full of women writing girls who express their femininity and strength in hundreds of diverse ways.
I’m sure you’ll be very relieved.
On the 24th, S. (Scott) Bergstrom basically pissed off the entire YA community in an interview with Publishers Weekly with his claims that the category is bereft of moral complexity. This sentiment is echoed in his : "What has disappointed me about so many YA novels is the lack of internal conflict when it comes to difficult moral choices."
While that’s clearly pretty messed up, considering the fact that YA has some of the most morally complex books I’ve ever read (like seriously, has he been reading picture books orâ€�?) what also bothered me was the way he touts his “strong heroineâ€� in interviews. In ,Ìýhe trashes “princess-this, Barbie-thatâ€� femininity, and the ideal of “a woman in a pink dress and a nineteen inch waistâ€� â€� which is ironic, considering that the main thing mentioned in the PW interview about his main character is that she starts out overweight and then becomes, ahem, “a lean warrior with hair dyed fire-engine red.â€�
(No idea what her Manic Panic has to do with it, but okay.)
Bergstrom describes his character as the opposite of the “cheerleader-prom queen.� She’s “bullied by her prettier, richer classmates�, but turns into a gun-slinging army-jacket-wearing shoots-first-asks-questions-later badass (once she loses the weight, of course, to symbolize her personal growth and all.)
The thing that annoys me is how he makes this character out to be some groundbreaking feminist revolution. The “action girl� is not new. There’s a TVTropes page to prove it. YA is spilling over with Katniss Everdeens, Triss Priors, Meadow Woodsons, and a bazillion other kill-em-dead lady warriors who abhor pink, avoid dresses at all costs, and shoot first, ask questions later.
The thing that confuses me is that these male authors always seem convinced that theirs is the first.
Once, in a writing group populated mainly by older males, I listened to a thriller author explain that his protagonist was not like other girls. “She’s tough,� he explained. “She’s not into girly things.�
What I don’t think these male authors realize is that when they reassure us constantly that their female characters would never deign to touch anything pink-Barbie-cheerleading-related, is that it's pretty clear that this disdain for femininity doesn’t just belong to their characters. It belongs to them. And they’re telling us that the only way a female character can be strong is if she acts, in every way possible, like a man.
See, these male authors are going to saveus from traditional feminity by daringto write a female character who rejects it with the scorn it deserves. They often cite their daughters as inspiration for their rescue mission. They’re going to provide a positive example for the poor young girls drowning in pink.
But here’s the thing: I like pink. It’s my favorite color.
I’m also the author of a thriller coming out next spring with a main character who may or may not have murdered the boy she hated more than anyone else.
She also likes pink.
Liking pink and enjoying traditionally feminine things does not mean a girl can’t be strong. Strength can be conceived in many ways other than traditionally masculine, bullet-after-bullet strength. This is feminism 101, guys. Introductory course stuff.
So my message to Scott Bergstrom is this:Ìý
It’s okay! You can lay down your mantle. I’m sure it was a heavy burden, your duty to rescue girls from the chains of femininity by writing the world’s first strong female character. Lucky for you, the young adult category is full of women writing girls who express their femininity and strength in hundreds of diverse ways.
I’m sure you’ll be very relieved.
September 10, 2013
Q&A Monday: Motivation, Worldbuilding, and Writer's Block
So I get a lot of writing-related questions on Tumblr, and I've decided to archive three of them here every Monday! Here we go:
(Anonymous)
I think a major reason for this sort of problem is fear. When an idea is in your head, or even just an outline, it’s pure. Beginning to write it means you can mess it up, or that you might not do it justice, or that it won’t come together the way you want it to, or that you’ll realize you can’t write and you’re not a writer and you’re never writing again goodbye world.
At least that’s what goes through my head when I feel like that. In the past, I spent a lot of time procrastinating by working on the idea itself - plotting it out, etc - instead of writing, because writing meant the possibility of failure.
But the thing is: writing contains only the possibility of failure. Not writing is 100% failure, because it means your story will never get out there. And if anything is not doing justice to an idea, it’s that.
And writing, really, is a success in and of itself, because it means you’re getting better, and your story is taking shape in the only way it can.
And you’re brave! As writers, we are brave. So you are capable of this. The main thing is not to wait another day, because there is always another day to wait. Your whole life will go by while you’re waiting for the story to write itself. But it won’t. Only you can write it!
Which is kind of awesome.
I wish you the best of luck!
(dragonspyre)
Ahhh, I’m so excited for NaNo! Let’s see, planning in the earlier stages�
1. Brainstorm. The outlining process doesn’t have to be organized in every way. Brainstorming is just to get all your ideas out, and in the process, hopefully coming up with some new ones. I write on a laptop, but I brainstorm in a notebook because I feel like I think differently with a pen than with my fingers.Ìý
You can also bounce ideas off a critique partner - whichever method works for you. The important thing is that you keep it open. Write down bad ideas to get them out of the way. At the end, you can read it over and pick out what you want.
2. Figure out the structure of your world. Now this is organized. Write down the different settings, whether it’s multiple countries or multiple cities or multiple districts. (Or, if your world is very focused in one place, don’t use different headers.) Underneath each header, write down answers to these questions: Do the people have similar physical traits here (if so, what are they?) If there is a religion, what is it? How is the society structured in terms of government? (And you don’t need to figure out every minor official; broad strokes work here.) What is the main cuisine? (Again, broad strokes.) What are the obvious physical characteristics of the landscape? Are families structured differently than in real life? You can write down whatever other details you want to have secure in your mind before you write the book.
3. Figure out your main characters (to an extent.) I write about getting to know your characters before you start the book. Don’t spend a TON of time doing this - your characters will always surprise you when you’re writing, and you can’t be too attached to who you think they are, or you might stifle their natural growth. I usually do a one-page character sheet for each of my major characters, and a few writing exercises for my point-of-view character.
4. Outline (unless that’s not your style.) Some people don’t plot their books out in advance, but if you like to, now’s a good time for it.
5. Still got time before NaNo? Read great books in your genre. This is a good way to prepare yourself for the kind of book you want to write, and it’s also important to know what works (and what’s been done before) in your genre. There are some awesome dystopians out there - my personal favorite is the Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness.
I hope that helps a bit!
(zarniwoop-vannharl)
Oh man. WRITER’S BLOCK.
1. Read some writing by an author whose style you love. It’s important not to copy, but spending time reading fresh, creative work can help you write fresh, creative work.
2. Go to the movies. There’s something about being bombarded by the experience of a story in a theater that stirs my creative juices, personally. Movie tickets can be expensive, though, so (alternatively) nestle in the dark with your TV/laptop and pick a movie in your genre that’s supposed to be really good.
3. Mix up your physical writing habits. If you write inside, try writing outside. If you write on your laptop, try using a notebook. If you write in a secluded place, try writing in a cafe…and so on.
4. Mix up your writing itself. If you’re having a lot of trouble with a particular story, try deviating wildly from your plot, or switching viewpoints or even tense. Newness can shock your writing brain into a reset. (this is science)
5. Listen to new music. If you always write while listening to a particular band or song, or you write in silence, try finding new music that really inspires you and writing to it.
5. Remember that work is way, way more important than inspiration when it comes to writing. There are lots of writing teachers who act like mystics, who will treat writing like magic, who will say it comes when it wants to and there’s nothing you can do about it. They’re wrong. Writing is work. Really fun awesome work, but work. And the best way to get work done…is to do the work.
Basically what I mean is that I never really get into “writing mode� until I’m writing. Sometimes it takes me one sentence before I hit my stride. Sometimes it takes pages. Either way, it’s your brain and you are meant to write, so sometimes just forcing yourself to do it can be better than going outside and looking at the clouds or whatever, you know?
Good luck!
(Anonymous)
I think a major reason for this sort of problem is fear. When an idea is in your head, or even just an outline, it’s pure. Beginning to write it means you can mess it up, or that you might not do it justice, or that it won’t come together the way you want it to, or that you’ll realize you can’t write and you’re not a writer and you’re never writing again goodbye world.
At least that’s what goes through my head when I feel like that. In the past, I spent a lot of time procrastinating by working on the idea itself - plotting it out, etc - instead of writing, because writing meant the possibility of failure.
But the thing is: writing contains only the possibility of failure. Not writing is 100% failure, because it means your story will never get out there. And if anything is not doing justice to an idea, it’s that.
And writing, really, is a success in and of itself, because it means you’re getting better, and your story is taking shape in the only way it can.
And you’re brave! As writers, we are brave. So you are capable of this. The main thing is not to wait another day, because there is always another day to wait. Your whole life will go by while you’re waiting for the story to write itself. But it won’t. Only you can write it!
Which is kind of awesome.
I wish you the best of luck!
(dragonspyre)
Ahhh, I’m so excited for NaNo! Let’s see, planning in the earlier stages�
1. Brainstorm. The outlining process doesn’t have to be organized in every way. Brainstorming is just to get all your ideas out, and in the process, hopefully coming up with some new ones. I write on a laptop, but I brainstorm in a notebook because I feel like I think differently with a pen than with my fingers.Ìý
You can also bounce ideas off a critique partner - whichever method works for you. The important thing is that you keep it open. Write down bad ideas to get them out of the way. At the end, you can read it over and pick out what you want.
2. Figure out the structure of your world. Now this is organized. Write down the different settings, whether it’s multiple countries or multiple cities or multiple districts. (Or, if your world is very focused in one place, don’t use different headers.) Underneath each header, write down answers to these questions: Do the people have similar physical traits here (if so, what are they?) If there is a religion, what is it? How is the society structured in terms of government? (And you don’t need to figure out every minor official; broad strokes work here.) What is the main cuisine? (Again, broad strokes.) What are the obvious physical characteristics of the landscape? Are families structured differently than in real life? You can write down whatever other details you want to have secure in your mind before you write the book.
3. Figure out your main characters (to an extent.) I write about getting to know your characters before you start the book. Don’t spend a TON of time doing this - your characters will always surprise you when you’re writing, and you can’t be too attached to who you think they are, or you might stifle their natural growth. I usually do a one-page character sheet for each of my major characters, and a few writing exercises for my point-of-view character.
4. Outline (unless that’s not your style.) Some people don’t plot their books out in advance, but if you like to, now’s a good time for it.
5. Still got time before NaNo? Read great books in your genre. This is a good way to prepare yourself for the kind of book you want to write, and it’s also important to know what works (and what’s been done before) in your genre. There are some awesome dystopians out there - my personal favorite is the Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness.
I hope that helps a bit!
(zarniwoop-vannharl)
Oh man. WRITER’S BLOCK.
1. Read some writing by an author whose style you love. It’s important not to copy, but spending time reading fresh, creative work can help you write fresh, creative work.
2. Go to the movies. There’s something about being bombarded by the experience of a story in a theater that stirs my creative juices, personally. Movie tickets can be expensive, though, so (alternatively) nestle in the dark with your TV/laptop and pick a movie in your genre that’s supposed to be really good.
3. Mix up your physical writing habits. If you write inside, try writing outside. If you write on your laptop, try using a notebook. If you write in a secluded place, try writing in a cafe…and so on.
4. Mix up your writing itself. If you’re having a lot of trouble with a particular story, try deviating wildly from your plot, or switching viewpoints or even tense. Newness can shock your writing brain into a reset. (this is science)
5. Listen to new music. If you always write while listening to a particular band or song, or you write in silence, try finding new music that really inspires you and writing to it.
5. Remember that work is way, way more important than inspiration when it comes to writing. There are lots of writing teachers who act like mystics, who will treat writing like magic, who will say it comes when it wants to and there’s nothing you can do about it. They’re wrong. Writing is work. Really fun awesome work, but work. And the best way to get work done…is to do the work.
Basically what I mean is that I never really get into “writing mode� until I’m writing. Sometimes it takes me one sentence before I hit my stride. Sometimes it takes pages. Either way, it’s your brain and you are meant to write, so sometimes just forcing yourself to do it can be better than going outside and looking at the clouds or whatever, you know?
Good luck!
August 17, 2013
Getting to know a character BEFORE you start the book
Writing comes easiest to me (and probably to you too) when I know my main character very, very well. The entire book is her reacting to things and choosing to buy a chocolate ice cream or a vanilla ice cream and I'd rather know her well enough to immediately be able to write in a chocolate ice cream cone with rainbow sprinkles, rather than spending the next twenty minutes of my writing time debating the likelihood of her choosing either.
And, you know, maybe she hates ice cream.
One of the reasons it's usually pretty difficult for me to start a book, or why the beginning part of a book is usually the section I end up rewriting the most, is because I know my character the least at the beginning of the book.
Writing the whole book is the best way to get to know your character. That's obvious.
But it can save a lot of time and confusion to try to get your character together before you start. So here are some easy ways to figure out that awesome person before their book materializes.
1. Plot out the book beforehand.
This only works for people who LIKE to plot out books beforehand (some people can write entire books off the cuff and those people are amazing) but there's also a benefit to plotting that I don't usually see discussed. Plotting out the book makes you think in advance about your character's decisions - the kind of choices she'll be making, how she'll deal with the consequences - and that's a great way to start to learn who that person is.
2. Make a character cheat sheet.
I want to say this one with a grain of salt, because I've had times when I got so involved with making the most convoluted character sheet (does she have highlights in her hair? did her great aunt twice removed once bake her cookies when she was five?) that it actually distracted me from the most important thing - to get at the essence of the character. Don't write down details unless they're important to the core of the character's being. Don't write down eye color. Write down the main emotions that rule her (guilt? anger? why?). Write down what she cares about most and how she generally treats other people and what she wants more than anything. (Or he.) Don't make it longer than a page. Use this to get the blunt centerpieces of the character's heart down on paper. Knowing someone's height and weight doesn't help you know their personality any better.
3. Writing prompts.
Writing prompts drive me crazy sometimes, but you can use them for short exercises that help you get to know your character better before you dive into the book. Spend only 15 minutes on each. Start writing and don't stop! You can also end up using these in your book.
A. Character introduction exercise. Write a paragraph about your character but do it in the third person, from the perspective of someone just meeting your character. See if you can come up with a line that really gets them. How do they come across to other people? What is it about them that stands out?
B. Character introduction exercise part 2. Write a single sentence about your character but let it run on and on, a page or more, and describe who that character is. Sort of like stream-of-consciousness.
C. Write an important scene from your character's backstory - one that you weren't already planning to include in the book.
D. Write a scene where your main character talks to someone about something they've never talked about before.
E. Write a scene involving your main character from another character's POV.
If you spend 15 minutes each on all of these, that's an hour and fifteen minutes of writing that will make your character a LOT clearer to you. I used these when I was having a ridiculous amount of trouble figuring out a main character, and it worked.
Of course, your character will change throughout the course of your book and during revisions. But having some idea of who he/she is before you start writing can make the book a lot easier to start.
Good luck!
And, you know, maybe she hates ice cream.
One of the reasons it's usually pretty difficult for me to start a book, or why the beginning part of a book is usually the section I end up rewriting the most, is because I know my character the least at the beginning of the book.
Writing the whole book is the best way to get to know your character. That's obvious.
But it can save a lot of time and confusion to try to get your character together before you start. So here are some easy ways to figure out that awesome person before their book materializes.
1. Plot out the book beforehand.
This only works for people who LIKE to plot out books beforehand (some people can write entire books off the cuff and those people are amazing) but there's also a benefit to plotting that I don't usually see discussed. Plotting out the book makes you think in advance about your character's decisions - the kind of choices she'll be making, how she'll deal with the consequences - and that's a great way to start to learn who that person is.
2. Make a character cheat sheet.
I want to say this one with a grain of salt, because I've had times when I got so involved with making the most convoluted character sheet (does she have highlights in her hair? did her great aunt twice removed once bake her cookies when she was five?) that it actually distracted me from the most important thing - to get at the essence of the character. Don't write down details unless they're important to the core of the character's being. Don't write down eye color. Write down the main emotions that rule her (guilt? anger? why?). Write down what she cares about most and how she generally treats other people and what she wants more than anything. (Or he.) Don't make it longer than a page. Use this to get the blunt centerpieces of the character's heart down on paper. Knowing someone's height and weight doesn't help you know their personality any better.
3. Writing prompts.
Writing prompts drive me crazy sometimes, but you can use them for short exercises that help you get to know your character better before you dive into the book. Spend only 15 minutes on each. Start writing and don't stop! You can also end up using these in your book.
A. Character introduction exercise. Write a paragraph about your character but do it in the third person, from the perspective of someone just meeting your character. See if you can come up with a line that really gets them. How do they come across to other people? What is it about them that stands out?
B. Character introduction exercise part 2. Write a single sentence about your character but let it run on and on, a page or more, and describe who that character is. Sort of like stream-of-consciousness.
C. Write an important scene from your character's backstory - one that you weren't already planning to include in the book.
D. Write a scene where your main character talks to someone about something they've never talked about before.
E. Write a scene involving your main character from another character's POV.
If you spend 15 minutes each on all of these, that's an hour and fifteen minutes of writing that will make your character a LOT clearer to you. I used these when I was having a ridiculous amount of trouble figuring out a main character, and it worked.
Of course, your character will change throughout the course of your book and during revisions. But having some idea of who he/she is before you start writing can make the book a lot easier to start.
Good luck!
May 22, 2013
Why I have strong feelings about Amazon selling fanfiction (and how Pokemon got me a book deal)
Last time I blogged about how swimming across a lake with a bunch of Girl Scouts got me a book deal, but that was in a very metaphorical sense. Today I'm going to tell you what got me a book deal in a very literal sense (among other things, like superhero CPs and a magic agent and a lot of hard work):
Pokemon got me a book deal.
Okay. Rewind. I know you're confused.
Yesterday I was on Tumblr, and I read this great simple comic about bullying and its effects of self-esteem - Ìý(it's actually a pair of comics). There are fantastic comics like that all over Tumblr, and they're all for free. I started thinking how much those artists probably love to draw them, and how lucky I am that I can get paid for doing the thing I love, and how I would pay to see original art on Tumblr just so more people could get paid to do the thing they love.
You've probably heard about the fact that Amazon just announced a publishing platform to let authors sell fanfiction, but if not, .Ìý
I was already planning on writing a post about fanfiction, so I guess I'll start there and then we can talk about the Amazon thing.
Lots of people have cool stories about the moment they decided to become writers. Mine isn't cool. It started with Neopets in fifth grade, with the first long thing I ever wrote being a 100-page Neopets fanfiction that the site published on its Neopian Times. I was ten and I got to see my work professionally formatted and released to a large audience. I also got fan mail (Neopets mail specifically).
It was fucking awesome.
Once you get a taste of being published, you want more.Ìý
The second long thing I ever wrote (agh I keep talking about myself I hope I'm not boring you) was a 900-page Pokemon fanfiction when I was somewhere-between-twelve-and-thirteen, and that got pretty popular. It got so popular that I decided my Real Books would obviously be equally popular in the real world and that I better quit fanfiction so I could become the most famous author ever.
Cue five years of gradually realizing that my urban fantasy ripoff-of-Pokemon-fanfiction-and-Avatar-the-Last-Airbender was never going to get off the ground.Ìý
(And then I wrote PLEASE DON'T TELL and I know I need to shut up but I just got my PM announcement so I'm going to put it here because I'm a dork, even though it has nothing to do with the post:)
(okay shutting up back to our regularly scheduled everything else)
Anyway, the point is that fanfiction is the reason I knew I had to be an author. I needed that taste of what it would be like, that motivation, and fanfiction gave it to me. I wrote fanfiction first. There, I said it. My family probably reads this.
The thing I'm suspecting is that at least a few other authors must have started out the same way. I know of at least one (my CP hiiiiii) who began the EXACT same way, giant Pokemon fanfiction and all. I also know one thing for sure: those are my roots. I'm not gonna forget them, however dorky those roots might be.
So Amazon announces that it's setting up a thing where people can get paid for their fanfiction and my first reaction is, awesome.Ìý
Of course, it kind of messes up the original point of this post, where I was basically going to say that fanfiction is great because kicks off real writers into their real careers. And then I realized how fucked up that is.
Who the hell am I to say what's real writing and what's not?Ìý
Fanfiction isn't really separated from the publishing world anymore. Look at Fifty Shades (though I know a bunch of us would prefer not to). There are other examples. We all know that publishing is evolving, blah blah, and maybe part of that is fanfiction joining the party. This Amazon thing definitely has fanfiction joining the party.Ìý
I think my first instinct is to be like "oh wow new party guests hi here's the punch" rather than "we were at this party way before you so go away and I'm hiding the punch."
The truth is, I've been at this party for approximately two weeks. And I really, really remember what it feels like to love characters so much that you want to bring them into new worlds, take them in new directions, even if you didn't make them up - to adopt someone else's baby and raise it into a badass person in the way only you know how.Ìý
I've written fanfiction that changed my life, and I've read fanfiction that changed my life. And I can't think of a single reason to look down on fanfiction that feels legitimate to me.
This Amazon thing might not go smoothly. Fanfiction readers might not be willing to start paying for something they can already get easily for free. I dunno how many shows/authors/etc will offer up their licenses. I kind of have no idea how it will work out at all, and the royalties that will actually go to the fanfiction author look pretty pitiful to me. And there's no doubt that Amazon is just doing it because they think it'll be profitable for them, not the authors.
ÌýI'm sure smarter people will write smarter stuff about this whole thing. You should probably read what they write.Ìý
I just wanted to say that I always want people to get paid for doing what they love, because it means that they're able to do what they love.
And I think fanfiction deserves better street cred.
What about you? Did you write fanfiction before you decided to pursue publication? Have you read fanfiction, when you were younger or otherwise? How do you feel about Amazon commercializing it?
EDIT: Two sidenotes I forgot to mention (that also have nothing to do with the post)
Check out this auction. Proceeds go to benefit the victims of the Oklahoma tornado. A fantastic auction for a fantastic cause.
Other thing: I'll be traveling in China from May 27th to June 17th, so I won't be posting and I won't have much access to internet - if you really need to contact me, email is best, because I'll try to check it periodically.
EDIT NUMERO TWO: for some excellent preliminary thoughts on the actual terms of Amazon's proposal.
Pokemon got me a book deal.
Okay. Rewind. I know you're confused.
Yesterday I was on Tumblr, and I read this great simple comic about bullying and its effects of self-esteem - Ìý(it's actually a pair of comics). There are fantastic comics like that all over Tumblr, and they're all for free. I started thinking how much those artists probably love to draw them, and how lucky I am that I can get paid for doing the thing I love, and how I would pay to see original art on Tumblr just so more people could get paid to do the thing they love.
You've probably heard about the fact that Amazon just announced a publishing platform to let authors sell fanfiction, but if not, .Ìý
I was already planning on writing a post about fanfiction, so I guess I'll start there and then we can talk about the Amazon thing.
Lots of people have cool stories about the moment they decided to become writers. Mine isn't cool. It started with Neopets in fifth grade, with the first long thing I ever wrote being a 100-page Neopets fanfiction that the site published on its Neopian Times. I was ten and I got to see my work professionally formatted and released to a large audience. I also got fan mail (Neopets mail specifically).
It was fucking awesome.
Once you get a taste of being published, you want more.Ìý
The second long thing I ever wrote (agh I keep talking about myself I hope I'm not boring you) was a 900-page Pokemon fanfiction when I was somewhere-between-twelve-and-thirteen, and that got pretty popular. It got so popular that I decided my Real Books would obviously be equally popular in the real world and that I better quit fanfiction so I could become the most famous author ever.
Cue five years of gradually realizing that my urban fantasy ripoff-of-Pokemon-fanfiction-and-Avatar-the-Last-Airbender was never going to get off the ground.Ìý
(And then I wrote PLEASE DON'T TELL and I know I need to shut up but I just got my PM announcement so I'm going to put it here because I'm a dork, even though it has nothing to do with the post:)
(okay shutting up back to our regularly scheduled everything else)
Anyway, the point is that fanfiction is the reason I knew I had to be an author. I needed that taste of what it would be like, that motivation, and fanfiction gave it to me. I wrote fanfiction first. There, I said it. My family probably reads this.
The thing I'm suspecting is that at least a few other authors must have started out the same way. I know of at least one (my CP hiiiiii) who began the EXACT same way, giant Pokemon fanfiction and all. I also know one thing for sure: those are my roots. I'm not gonna forget them, however dorky those roots might be.
So Amazon announces that it's setting up a thing where people can get paid for their fanfiction and my first reaction is, awesome.Ìý
Of course, it kind of messes up the original point of this post, where I was basically going to say that fanfiction is great because kicks off real writers into their real careers. And then I realized how fucked up that is.
Who the hell am I to say what's real writing and what's not?Ìý
Fanfiction isn't really separated from the publishing world anymore. Look at Fifty Shades (though I know a bunch of us would prefer not to). There are other examples. We all know that publishing is evolving, blah blah, and maybe part of that is fanfiction joining the party. This Amazon thing definitely has fanfiction joining the party.Ìý
I think my first instinct is to be like "oh wow new party guests hi here's the punch" rather than "we were at this party way before you so go away and I'm hiding the punch."
The truth is, I've been at this party for approximately two weeks. And I really, really remember what it feels like to love characters so much that you want to bring them into new worlds, take them in new directions, even if you didn't make them up - to adopt someone else's baby and raise it into a badass person in the way only you know how.Ìý
I've written fanfiction that changed my life, and I've read fanfiction that changed my life. And I can't think of a single reason to look down on fanfiction that feels legitimate to me.
This Amazon thing might not go smoothly. Fanfiction readers might not be willing to start paying for something they can already get easily for free. I dunno how many shows/authors/etc will offer up their licenses. I kind of have no idea how it will work out at all, and the royalties that will actually go to the fanfiction author look pretty pitiful to me. And there's no doubt that Amazon is just doing it because they think it'll be profitable for them, not the authors.
ÌýI'm sure smarter people will write smarter stuff about this whole thing. You should probably read what they write.Ìý
I just wanted to say that I always want people to get paid for doing what they love, because it means that they're able to do what they love.
And I think fanfiction deserves better street cred.
What about you? Did you write fanfiction before you decided to pursue publication? Have you read fanfiction, when you were younger or otherwise? How do you feel about Amazon commercializing it?
EDIT: Two sidenotes I forgot to mention (that also have nothing to do with the post)
Check out this auction. Proceeds go to benefit the victims of the Oklahoma tornado. A fantastic auction for a fantastic cause.
Other thing: I'll be traveling in China from May 27th to June 17th, so I won't be posting and I won't have much access to internet - if you really need to contact me, email is best, because I'll try to check it periodically.
EDIT NUMERO TWO: for some excellent preliminary thoughts on the actual terms of Amazon's proposal.
May 15, 2013
How swimming across a lake with a bunch of Girl Scouts got me a book deal
I'm going to tell you about the time I swam across a lake with a bunch of Girl Scouts.
I was not a Girl Scout at the time. I had just quit Girl Scouts because when you're ten years old, you want to quit anything that requires you to go to meetings, because eff that you're like ten years old. But I still went to Girl Scout camp. That was because Girl Scout camp was totally awesome and they didn't ask if you were an actual Girl Scout, which made me feel like an secret agent, and when you're ten years old, you'll do a lot to feel like an secret agent.
I was part of the Swimming Group. This basically meant that we were the ones who had listed "swimming" as our first-choice activity, and it also meant that we were all part fish and really proud of it. We were the coolest, because we were going to swim across the lake.
The lake was not that big. It was slightly more impressive than a pond. But the other side was far enough away that it was kinda blurry, and there was the definite chance of drowning, which made it way more fun.
The thing about looking at a big scary lake and thinking "oh hell I'm gonna swim across it" is that it's just you and the lake. The lake is huge, and you are small. The lake is deep and dark and probably filled with stuff like self-doubt and those pirate skeletons from the James and the Giant Peach movie. There's a whole lotta room for you to disappear under the surface.
But when we started swimming across the lake, there were a million of us. Like, twenty of the most badass Girl Scouts you ever saw. We were in a giant bobbing clump. Sometimes we were chatty and sometimes it was totally silent as we all flailed toward the other side of the lake, but the point was that we were together. If someone had dipped under the surface, there was a battalion of Girl Scouts ready to haul them back up. Probably the safest place in the world to be was in the middle of that lake with those Girl Scouts.
And once we hit the other side and started swimming back (because the point was to swim back) we started separating a little. Some of us were faster swimmers and got to the beach first. Some of us plugged along more slowly, pacing themselves. It was pretty spread out.
But it wasn't a real separation. We were all still the Swimming Group.The fastest Girl Scouts cheered the rest of us on. The last Girl Scout got the most people patting her on the back when she got out of the water. And we all got out of the water. Every single one of us.
You figure writing a book is something you do alone. It's not. You are surrounded by some kickass Girl Scouts who will do anything to help you go further.
It doesn't matter who reaches the beach first.
The Girl Scouts on the beach are not any cooler than the Girl Scouts still halfway across the lake.
The nice thing is that you can remember - when you're grocery shopping at five in the afternoon and you're tired, or when you're not sure if you're cut out for this - is that you're swimming across a goddamn lake, and that's ridiculously awesome. Your Girl Scouts won't let you stop swimming.
(So swimming across a lake with a bunch of Girl Scouts only got me a book deal in the metaphorical sense. But you get the point.)
And this is my roundabout and potentially nonsensical way of telling you that my book, PLEASE DON'T TELL, sold to HarperCollins in a two-book deal, and I will be freaking out for the rest of my life/trying to figure out how to properly thank my part-agent-part-fairy-godmother Sarah Davies, critique partners/publishing sherpas Michelle and Sarah H, and the super awesome/super smart/super sassy LitBitches.
AHHHHHHH
I was not a Girl Scout at the time. I had just quit Girl Scouts because when you're ten years old, you want to quit anything that requires you to go to meetings, because eff that you're like ten years old. But I still went to Girl Scout camp. That was because Girl Scout camp was totally awesome and they didn't ask if you were an actual Girl Scout, which made me feel like an secret agent, and when you're ten years old, you'll do a lot to feel like an secret agent.
I was part of the Swimming Group. This basically meant that we were the ones who had listed "swimming" as our first-choice activity, and it also meant that we were all part fish and really proud of it. We were the coolest, because we were going to swim across the lake.
The lake was not that big. It was slightly more impressive than a pond. But the other side was far enough away that it was kinda blurry, and there was the definite chance of drowning, which made it way more fun.
The thing about looking at a big scary lake and thinking "oh hell I'm gonna swim across it" is that it's just you and the lake. The lake is huge, and you are small. The lake is deep and dark and probably filled with stuff like self-doubt and those pirate skeletons from the James and the Giant Peach movie. There's a whole lotta room for you to disappear under the surface.
But when we started swimming across the lake, there were a million of us. Like, twenty of the most badass Girl Scouts you ever saw. We were in a giant bobbing clump. Sometimes we were chatty and sometimes it was totally silent as we all flailed toward the other side of the lake, but the point was that we were together. If someone had dipped under the surface, there was a battalion of Girl Scouts ready to haul them back up. Probably the safest place in the world to be was in the middle of that lake with those Girl Scouts.
And once we hit the other side and started swimming back (because the point was to swim back) we started separating a little. Some of us were faster swimmers and got to the beach first. Some of us plugged along more slowly, pacing themselves. It was pretty spread out.
But it wasn't a real separation. We were all still the Swimming Group.The fastest Girl Scouts cheered the rest of us on. The last Girl Scout got the most people patting her on the back when she got out of the water. And we all got out of the water. Every single one of us.
You figure writing a book is something you do alone. It's not. You are surrounded by some kickass Girl Scouts who will do anything to help you go further.
It doesn't matter who reaches the beach first.
The Girl Scouts on the beach are not any cooler than the Girl Scouts still halfway across the lake.
The nice thing is that you can remember - when you're grocery shopping at five in the afternoon and you're tired, or when you're not sure if you're cut out for this - is that you're swimming across a goddamn lake, and that's ridiculously awesome. Your Girl Scouts won't let you stop swimming.
(So swimming across a lake with a bunch of Girl Scouts only got me a book deal in the metaphorical sense. But you get the point.)
And this is my roundabout and potentially nonsensical way of telling you that my book, PLEASE DON'T TELL, sold to HarperCollins in a two-book deal, and I will be freaking out for the rest of my life/trying to figure out how to properly thank my part-agent-part-fairy-godmother Sarah Davies, critique partners/publishing sherpas Michelle and Sarah H, and the super awesome/super smart/super sassy LitBitches.
AHHHHHHH
January 12, 2013
How I got my agent
I just got my contract in the mail.
This news is about a week old, and I've been sitting on it, trying to figure out how to turn it into a post that contains words outside shrieking in caps. I'll just say it first -
I'm now officially represented by Sarah Davies of the Greenhouse Literary Agency!
I sent my first query mid-November. By January 4th, I'd gotten over twenty full requests and had six offers of representation.
My holidays were filled with a lot of happy yelling, dazed wandering in circles, and breathlessness at the decision I had to make. I was incredibly lucky, got a gigantic amount of help, and the best thing I can think to do is share the three most important things I've learned throughout this whole crazyamazing process.
Take your first book with a grain of salt.Ìý
It all started with my first book. My awful first book. Everybody has one. Mine was an urban fantasy wish fulfillment thingy. At fifteen, I decided that it would obviously shoot me into success, but never worked on it seriously until the summer before last. I did, however, make a playlist for it, doodle its title in pretty notebooks, compose music videos for it in my head - pretty much anything except actually write it, and when I did write it, I had no idea what I was doing.
I figured I had plenty of time, and the idea of actually sitting down and working sincerely on something I needed to form my career scared the heck out of me. I figured if I ditzed around long enough, it would pop fully formed into the world and magically get published. The concept of genuine hard work hadn't really entered my head.
The summer I did get down to business was when I'd just turned nineteen. I met up with an online writer friend in person and realized how seriously she was taking this writing thing - and how seriously I wasn't. I did what I now understand I'm capable of doing with every book, which was to write the big first draft in about a month. That was me learning that I could work hard. And that I liked it. And I wanted to keep doing it.
But there was the problem with the book itself being awful. I sent out four queries for it. I knew it was bad and I knew it wouldn't go anywhere, so I didn't bother with more. It didn't go anywhere. The nice thing about not expecting anything is that you're not super disappointed when you don't get anything, so I was okay. The thing was, I'd loved First Book. Of course I did. It carried all the threads of everything that'd inspired me to become a writer. But I had to let it go.
Experiment with all different genres, all different styles.
The next mistake I made was to immediately start work on something that was the same genre as First Book. A huge problem I'd had with First Book was that I hadn't figured out yet how to untangle worlds in my head and build them, and I started my next project, a fantasy, with the same issue. I wrote 50k words in a month, as First Book had taught me was my writing style, but my worldbuilding was a train wreck. And it was way too long. 50k words brought me to the halfway point. I'd started off with something that had a lot of the same challenges as First Book, and the same challenges brought me up short.
The thing was, I'd always envisioned myself as a fantasy writer. The idea of writing a contemporary was boring. ÌýWhat's the point of writing about your own world when the whole point of reading (to me) was to escape it? Sure, a contemp would involve less worldbuilding/be shorter/give me a chance to actually tackle character before geography and culture/probably be more appealing to agents, but I was a fantasy writer! There was no way I could write a contemp!
Then, the summer after I'd banged out First Book, I worked as an intern for a literary agency in NYC. It was amazing to see all the different kinds of projects flowing in and out, and it made me realize that if I wanted to get published, I couldn't waste time. If one thing hadn't worked out for me, it was time to try something new. I wanted to write a contemp. I was apprehensive about such a big change, but I shut myself in a Starbucks for the day, watched the sun set, and left with the idea for the book that would get me an agent.
I made it different. Where I'd been wordy before, I was sparse. I wrote in first person instead of third. I went in an entirely new direction and it worked. The draft came out so easily and naturally I could hardly believe it was real. I'd found my place, and it was only because I gave a different genre a chance.
Find someone with more experience than you, and ask them for help.
So it was a year after I'd written First Book, I had a new book I was ready to send out, and despite research, despite my internship, I still didn't really know what I was doing. I hadn't done this before. I would have made a thousand beginner mistakes if it hadn't been for a couple older writer friends with years more experience. Having someone to ask about little things and big things makes all the difference in the world. The only reason I didn't make those beginner mistakes was because these people made them first, and showed me what to avoid.
Even with that first draft I felt confident in, there's no way I would have gotten an agent if it hadn't been for all the help I received - with my query, with revisions, with every step of the process. You guys are amazing. I owe you a chocolate cake for every day of the month.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. To my writing mentor who walked me through every step, to my beta readers who took time to make my book better, to the LitBitches (you guys are so cool!), to the amazingly supportive and helpful people on AbsoluteWrite, to everyone on Twitter who said congrats, to all the agents who read my manuscript over the holidays and gave polite rejections, helpful feedback, encouragement and belief in my work -
Thank you so much.
For anyone who wants to take a look, my Querytracker interview is . For anyone else who has multiple offers and is struggling to decide, my new agent Sarah wrote an excellent about the decision process.
THE FINAL NUMBERS:
Total books finished: 2
Queries send out for Book Two: 76
Form Rejections: 29
Full Requests for Book Two: 24
Offers of Representation: 6
This news is about a week old, and I've been sitting on it, trying to figure out how to turn it into a post that contains words outside shrieking in caps. I'll just say it first -
I'm now officially represented by Sarah Davies of the Greenhouse Literary Agency!
I sent my first query mid-November. By January 4th, I'd gotten over twenty full requests and had six offers of representation.
My holidays were filled with a lot of happy yelling, dazed wandering in circles, and breathlessness at the decision I had to make. I was incredibly lucky, got a gigantic amount of help, and the best thing I can think to do is share the three most important things I've learned throughout this whole crazyamazing process.
Take your first book with a grain of salt.Ìý
It all started with my first book. My awful first book. Everybody has one. Mine was an urban fantasy wish fulfillment thingy. At fifteen, I decided that it would obviously shoot me into success, but never worked on it seriously until the summer before last. I did, however, make a playlist for it, doodle its title in pretty notebooks, compose music videos for it in my head - pretty much anything except actually write it, and when I did write it, I had no idea what I was doing.
I figured I had plenty of time, and the idea of actually sitting down and working sincerely on something I needed to form my career scared the heck out of me. I figured if I ditzed around long enough, it would pop fully formed into the world and magically get published. The concept of genuine hard work hadn't really entered my head.
The summer I did get down to business was when I'd just turned nineteen. I met up with an online writer friend in person and realized how seriously she was taking this writing thing - and how seriously I wasn't. I did what I now understand I'm capable of doing with every book, which was to write the big first draft in about a month. That was me learning that I could work hard. And that I liked it. And I wanted to keep doing it.
But there was the problem with the book itself being awful. I sent out four queries for it. I knew it was bad and I knew it wouldn't go anywhere, so I didn't bother with more. It didn't go anywhere. The nice thing about not expecting anything is that you're not super disappointed when you don't get anything, so I was okay. The thing was, I'd loved First Book. Of course I did. It carried all the threads of everything that'd inspired me to become a writer. But I had to let it go.
Experiment with all different genres, all different styles.
The next mistake I made was to immediately start work on something that was the same genre as First Book. A huge problem I'd had with First Book was that I hadn't figured out yet how to untangle worlds in my head and build them, and I started my next project, a fantasy, with the same issue. I wrote 50k words in a month, as First Book had taught me was my writing style, but my worldbuilding was a train wreck. And it was way too long. 50k words brought me to the halfway point. I'd started off with something that had a lot of the same challenges as First Book, and the same challenges brought me up short.
The thing was, I'd always envisioned myself as a fantasy writer. The idea of writing a contemporary was boring. ÌýWhat's the point of writing about your own world when the whole point of reading (to me) was to escape it? Sure, a contemp would involve less worldbuilding/be shorter/give me a chance to actually tackle character before geography and culture/probably be more appealing to agents, but I was a fantasy writer! There was no way I could write a contemp!
Then, the summer after I'd banged out First Book, I worked as an intern for a literary agency in NYC. It was amazing to see all the different kinds of projects flowing in and out, and it made me realize that if I wanted to get published, I couldn't waste time. If one thing hadn't worked out for me, it was time to try something new. I wanted to write a contemp. I was apprehensive about such a big change, but I shut myself in a Starbucks for the day, watched the sun set, and left with the idea for the book that would get me an agent.
I made it different. Where I'd been wordy before, I was sparse. I wrote in first person instead of third. I went in an entirely new direction and it worked. The draft came out so easily and naturally I could hardly believe it was real. I'd found my place, and it was only because I gave a different genre a chance.
Find someone with more experience than you, and ask them for help.
So it was a year after I'd written First Book, I had a new book I was ready to send out, and despite research, despite my internship, I still didn't really know what I was doing. I hadn't done this before. I would have made a thousand beginner mistakes if it hadn't been for a couple older writer friends with years more experience. Having someone to ask about little things and big things makes all the difference in the world. The only reason I didn't make those beginner mistakes was because these people made them first, and showed me what to avoid.
Even with that first draft I felt confident in, there's no way I would have gotten an agent if it hadn't been for all the help I received - with my query, with revisions, with every step of the process. You guys are amazing. I owe you a chocolate cake for every day of the month.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. To my writing mentor who walked me through every step, to my beta readers who took time to make my book better, to the LitBitches (you guys are so cool!), to the amazingly supportive and helpful people on AbsoluteWrite, to everyone on Twitter who said congrats, to all the agents who read my manuscript over the holidays and gave polite rejections, helpful feedback, encouragement and belief in my work -
Thank you so much.
For anyone who wants to take a look, my Querytracker interview is . For anyone else who has multiple offers and is struggling to decide, my new agent Sarah wrote an excellent about the decision process.
THE FINAL NUMBERS:
Total books finished: 2
Queries send out for Book Two: 76
Form Rejections: 29
Full Requests for Book Two: 24
Offers of Representation: 6
December 31, 2012
My 2012 in Books
I read 52 books in 2012. The goal was 70, but college was like "nooooope" and I was like "fine." Some of them you can tell I read for English seminars, like the Austen books, but most of them I read because reading is fun and we should all do it all the time.
For me, it was a good year for books. I hit on a few that burrowed under my bones. There were exactly ten books/series that went on the list of books, you know, that are your books, they're your favorite books and you kind of want to eat them or wear them as a necklace so everyone knows they're yours. And that makes it easy to do a nice neat Top 10 Books I Read in 2012 list.
1: A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R Martin (Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, A Dance With Dragons)
Okay, this series. This series is a life investment. George R.R Martin is sixty-four and there are two books left in the series and he takes years to write them, come on George you can do it come on. This series is big. There are fourteen major and ten minor POV characters, and you love every single one of them. Or you hate them more than you've ever hated anybody and then you slowly forgive them and then you start loving them. Or you love them from the start and then they're stripped down and broken and you break with them. You root for the guy holding the sword and you root for the guy with the bared throat. I read all 600+ page books in two weeks and I nearly lost my mind. But it was worth it. Because it's a goddamn good world. The HBO series is good yes and it's got lots of boobs yes, but the books are so much better and richer and so, so worth it. (My favorite characters: Lady Catelyn, Brienne of Tarth, Arya. My house: Greyjoy. REPRESENT.)
2: Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness (The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and the Answer, Monsters of Men)
Patrick Ness, the genre-mixing, YA-dystopia-redeeming MASTER. What do you want? Do you want pacing so good that your butt is pinned to your chair by a mystical force that won't let you move until you've finished every book? An illiterate drawling boy brat of a main character who develops into the kind of hero who's all the more interesting because he does get tempted by the dark side sometimes, he does fall in with the villains in the way that Harry Potter was always boringly immune to (I love Harry Potter but yeah.) These books take war and rebellion and sexism and racism and make it all real on another planet. You will cry a lot. And I won't even talk to you about the talking dog character who puts all other talking dog characters to shame.
3:ÌýThe Magicians and The Magician King by Lev Grossman
These books are for people like me - twentysomethings who grew up on fantasy and have learned that they'll never get their secret door into Narnia but still want it, still secretly wish for it every day. But of course, now we're all bratty twentysomethings who think we're smart and drink too much and would all mess a magical world up if we found our way in. These books are about us finding our way in.
4. Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
Kristin Cashore killed me with Graceling and she killed me with Fire. (geddit though.) I'm starting to kind of hate the term "female characters" because I read so many articles with "female characters" under a microscope and I don't even know. But Cashore writes girls that are good and strong and weak sometimes too and always moving forward. Bitterblue is the pinnacle of that. Bitterblue herself is one of those girls I will be intensely loyal to forever, like Hermione and Korra (from Legend of Korra, I'm a dork shhh). Because she earns it and if she were real, I would want her to be one of my best friends.
5: Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron
Remember reading Perks of Being A Wallflower as a teenager and feeling like it just got some small part of you that nobody ever got? This book takes that to the nth degree. It gets it.
6: The Diviners by Libba Bray
Libba Bray's historical fantasies are just amazing. I don't even wanna think about the kind of research it takes to pin down a world like this. This is just a really good book. It's thrilling and fun. I have a hard time feeling strong things about romance in books, but I felt strong things about the romance between Evie and *coughcough*, which is really a tiny part of the book.
7: Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
Haruki Murakami! You're so weird! And your books create this weird magical zone and this book does it extra well!
8: Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
I'm sure we're all past the point where the word "vampire" just makes us tired, the same way "Gangnam Style" now makes us want to put a pillow over our ears. But this is a good vampire book. There's lots of snow in it and the atmosphere is almost exactly like snow falling, still and secret.
9:ÌýThe Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
Wow, character development. Character development in books hardly ever amazes me anymore. But this one does it so well. And the book itself is really original high fantasy, which can be hard to find.
10: This Is Not a Test by Courtney Summers
Courtney Summers, taking on the zombie thing. I'm almost as tired of the zombie thing as everyone is of the vampires thing, but this is so original. It's not about the zombies, it's about the way this group of survivals gets tangled up and what breaks for them. The fact that the main character is already broken translates into a weird kind of strength in a world where everyone else is falling apart for the first time.
So yeah, that's my list. Here's my bigger list of all the books I read in 2012, in no particular order:
The Knife of Never Letting Go â€� Patrick NessThe Ask and the Answer â€� Patrick NessMonsters of Men â€� Patrick NessImaginary Girls â€� Nova Ren SumaEmma â€� Jane AustenPride and Prejudice â€� Jane AustenThe Daughter of Isis: The Autobiography of Nawal El Saadawi â€� Nawal El SaadawiSoldier: A Poet’s Childhood â€� June JordanJourney Without Maps â€� Graham GreeneGame of Thrones â€� George R.R MartinA Clash of Kings â€� George R.R MartinA Storm of Swords â€� George R.R MartinA Feast for Crows â€� George R.R MartinA Dance With Dragons â€� George R.R MartinAcross the Universe â€� Beth RevisA Million Suns â€� Beth RevisWill Grayson, Will Grayson â€� John Green, David LevithanThe Fault in Our Stars â€� John GreenThe Girl of Fire and Thorns â€� Rae CarsonIf I Stay â€� Gayle FormanBreak â€� Hannah MoskowitzGone, Gone, Gone â€� Hannah MoskowitzThe Looking Glass Wars â€� Frank BeddorSeeing Redd â€� Frank BeddorThis Is Not a Test â€� Courtney SummersSomeday This Pain Will Be Useful to You â€� Peter CameronColin Fischer â€� Ashley Edward MillerFathomless â€� Jackson PearceBitterblue â€� Kristin CashoreWhat’s Left of Me â€� Kat ZhangThe Diviners â€� Libba BrayThe Magicians â€� Lev GrossmanThe Magician King â€� Lev GrossmanThe Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes â€� Arthur Conan DoyleThe Adventures of Sherlock Holmes â€� Arthur Conan DoyleA Study in Scarlet â€� Arthur Conan DoyleThe Sign of the Four â€� Arthur Conan DoyleIncarceron â€� Catherine FisherSapphique â€� Catherine FisherTarzan of the Apes â€� Edgar Rice BurroughsMcTeague â€� Frank NorrisThe Joy Luck Club â€� Amy TanDivergent â€� Veronica RothDaisy Miller â€� Henry JamesLet the Right One In â€� John Ajvide LindqvistThe Night Circus â€� Erin MorgensternThe Outsiders â€� S.E Hinton1Q84 â€� Haruki MurakamiHard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World â€� Haruki MurakamiSister Carrie â€� Theodore DreiserThe YokotaÌý Officer’s Club â€� Sarah BirdWorld War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War â€� Max BrooksThe Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
And a list of ten books that I've been excited to read for ages and am determined to get my hands on in 2013:
1: On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta2: Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta3: Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers4: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness5: Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz6: The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss7: The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima8: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa9: The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson10: Shades of Earth by Beth Revis
Happy reading in 2013, guys!
For me, it was a good year for books. I hit on a few that burrowed under my bones. There were exactly ten books/series that went on the list of books, you know, that are your books, they're your favorite books and you kind of want to eat them or wear them as a necklace so everyone knows they're yours. And that makes it easy to do a nice neat Top 10 Books I Read in 2012 list.
1: A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R Martin (Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, A Dance With Dragons)
Okay, this series. This series is a life investment. George R.R Martin is sixty-four and there are two books left in the series and he takes years to write them, come on George you can do it come on. This series is big. There are fourteen major and ten minor POV characters, and you love every single one of them. Or you hate them more than you've ever hated anybody and then you slowly forgive them and then you start loving them. Or you love them from the start and then they're stripped down and broken and you break with them. You root for the guy holding the sword and you root for the guy with the bared throat. I read all 600+ page books in two weeks and I nearly lost my mind. But it was worth it. Because it's a goddamn good world. The HBO series is good yes and it's got lots of boobs yes, but the books are so much better and richer and so, so worth it. (My favorite characters: Lady Catelyn, Brienne of Tarth, Arya. My house: Greyjoy. REPRESENT.)
2: Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness (The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and the Answer, Monsters of Men)
Patrick Ness, the genre-mixing, YA-dystopia-redeeming MASTER. What do you want? Do you want pacing so good that your butt is pinned to your chair by a mystical force that won't let you move until you've finished every book? An illiterate drawling boy brat of a main character who develops into the kind of hero who's all the more interesting because he does get tempted by the dark side sometimes, he does fall in with the villains in the way that Harry Potter was always boringly immune to (I love Harry Potter but yeah.) These books take war and rebellion and sexism and racism and make it all real on another planet. You will cry a lot. And I won't even talk to you about the talking dog character who puts all other talking dog characters to shame.
3:ÌýThe Magicians and The Magician King by Lev Grossman
These books are for people like me - twentysomethings who grew up on fantasy and have learned that they'll never get their secret door into Narnia but still want it, still secretly wish for it every day. But of course, now we're all bratty twentysomethings who think we're smart and drink too much and would all mess a magical world up if we found our way in. These books are about us finding our way in.
4. Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
Kristin Cashore killed me with Graceling and she killed me with Fire. (geddit though.) I'm starting to kind of hate the term "female characters" because I read so many articles with "female characters" under a microscope and I don't even know. But Cashore writes girls that are good and strong and weak sometimes too and always moving forward. Bitterblue is the pinnacle of that. Bitterblue herself is one of those girls I will be intensely loyal to forever, like Hermione and Korra (from Legend of Korra, I'm a dork shhh). Because she earns it and if she were real, I would want her to be one of my best friends.
5: Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron
Remember reading Perks of Being A Wallflower as a teenager and feeling like it just got some small part of you that nobody ever got? This book takes that to the nth degree. It gets it.
6: The Diviners by Libba Bray
Libba Bray's historical fantasies are just amazing. I don't even wanna think about the kind of research it takes to pin down a world like this. This is just a really good book. It's thrilling and fun. I have a hard time feeling strong things about romance in books, but I felt strong things about the romance between Evie and *coughcough*, which is really a tiny part of the book.
7: Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
Haruki Murakami! You're so weird! And your books create this weird magical zone and this book does it extra well!
8: Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
I'm sure we're all past the point where the word "vampire" just makes us tired, the same way "Gangnam Style" now makes us want to put a pillow over our ears. But this is a good vampire book. There's lots of snow in it and the atmosphere is almost exactly like snow falling, still and secret.
9:ÌýThe Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
Wow, character development. Character development in books hardly ever amazes me anymore. But this one does it so well. And the book itself is really original high fantasy, which can be hard to find.
10: This Is Not a Test by Courtney Summers
Courtney Summers, taking on the zombie thing. I'm almost as tired of the zombie thing as everyone is of the vampires thing, but this is so original. It's not about the zombies, it's about the way this group of survivals gets tangled up and what breaks for them. The fact that the main character is already broken translates into a weird kind of strength in a world where everyone else is falling apart for the first time.
So yeah, that's my list. Here's my bigger list of all the books I read in 2012, in no particular order:
The Knife of Never Letting Go â€� Patrick NessThe Ask and the Answer â€� Patrick NessMonsters of Men â€� Patrick NessImaginary Girls â€� Nova Ren SumaEmma â€� Jane AustenPride and Prejudice â€� Jane AustenThe Daughter of Isis: The Autobiography of Nawal El Saadawi â€� Nawal El SaadawiSoldier: A Poet’s Childhood â€� June JordanJourney Without Maps â€� Graham GreeneGame of Thrones â€� George R.R MartinA Clash of Kings â€� George R.R MartinA Storm of Swords â€� George R.R MartinA Feast for Crows â€� George R.R MartinA Dance With Dragons â€� George R.R MartinAcross the Universe â€� Beth RevisA Million Suns â€� Beth RevisWill Grayson, Will Grayson â€� John Green, David LevithanThe Fault in Our Stars â€� John GreenThe Girl of Fire and Thorns â€� Rae CarsonIf I Stay â€� Gayle FormanBreak â€� Hannah MoskowitzGone, Gone, Gone â€� Hannah MoskowitzThe Looking Glass Wars â€� Frank BeddorSeeing Redd â€� Frank BeddorThis Is Not a Test â€� Courtney SummersSomeday This Pain Will Be Useful to You â€� Peter CameronColin Fischer â€� Ashley Edward MillerFathomless â€� Jackson PearceBitterblue â€� Kristin CashoreWhat’s Left of Me â€� Kat ZhangThe Diviners â€� Libba BrayThe Magicians â€� Lev GrossmanThe Magician King â€� Lev GrossmanThe Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes â€� Arthur Conan DoyleThe Adventures of Sherlock Holmes â€� Arthur Conan DoyleA Study in Scarlet â€� Arthur Conan DoyleThe Sign of the Four â€� Arthur Conan DoyleIncarceron â€� Catherine FisherSapphique â€� Catherine FisherTarzan of the Apes â€� Edgar Rice BurroughsMcTeague â€� Frank NorrisThe Joy Luck Club â€� Amy TanDivergent â€� Veronica RothDaisy Miller â€� Henry JamesLet the Right One In â€� John Ajvide LindqvistThe Night Circus â€� Erin MorgensternThe Outsiders â€� S.E Hinton1Q84 â€� Haruki MurakamiHard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World â€� Haruki MurakamiSister Carrie â€� Theodore DreiserThe YokotaÌý Officer’s Club â€� Sarah BirdWorld War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War â€� Max BrooksThe Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
And a list of ten books that I've been excited to read for ages and am determined to get my hands on in 2013:
1: On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta2: Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta3: Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers4: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness5: Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz6: The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss7: The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima8: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa9: The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson10: Shades of Earth by Beth Revis
Happy reading in 2013, guys!
November 12, 2012
Why I Love YA
A lot of people complain about YA.
It's too dark! It's not dark enough! It's got too many vampires! All this violence will transform teenagers into mini-Hitlers wielding nunchucks of their own making! Not enough sexytimes! Too many sexytimes!
Most of the people I know who complain about YA haven't read much YA.
Everyone needs stories. Stories are everywhere. But there's a special kind of teenager who needs stories, or they'll die. The kind of kid who grew up getting in trouble for reading under their desk in class, who spent more time in the library than on the soccer field, who learned to like people because maybe the people in books were nicer than the ones in the real world. It's easy to tell who used to be this teenager, because they usually become writers.
But there's an element of that teenager in every teenager. Growing up is scary. It never stops being scary. (It's scary just to use the word 'teenager' and not 'we' or 'us' because for the first time this year, there isn't a 'teen' at the end of my age.) But it's scariest in middle school and through high school, when you start realize several things:
- Adults lied about a lot of things, including but not limited to: "You can do anything." "Things will work out for you." "There are endless possibilities." Not to say there aren't possibilities, or that kids aren't capable of amazing things (I believe in teenagers possibly more than anything else in the world), but you begin to notice there are other factors. That money can make it a lot harder to do what you love. That bad luck can seem insurmountable. That real life is filled with things like taxes and medical bills and days speeding up, and that unfair things won't automatically be set straight for you.
- You'll die. Everyone you know will die. Pretty much everything beautiful will be dust in a relatively short period of time. Yep. Good stuff.
- You'll have to make choices, big choices, which means you can mess up in a big way.
And this combined with the cataclysmic shitstorm of your body doing and wanting new things and figuring out exactly what "me" refers to and meanwhile propping up with your elbow the gigantic cultural expectation that as a Teenager, you will be Pretty or Hot and be Socially Capable and go to Lots of Parties and Dress Stylishly and Know What Music to Tell People You Like and What Music to Lie About.
Being a teenager means needing something. You won't get through it without that something. It's why friendships are 90% of life, and finding love is this panicked, crazed, hyperbolic obsession. And it's why YA, as a genre, is incredibly precious.
YA preserves that magic you're born believing in. It's made out of the terrors and struggles that come with these Real Life realizations hitting you all at once. It lets you not be alone. Being a teenager is when you walk through fire, when everything in the world is larger than life and and a million times brighter, and that's just plain interesting to read about.
And YA, if we let it, can be an alternative to a society that says we must be White and Thin and Straight and Act Like Girls or Act Like Boys in order to be seen. We can tell all stories worth telling.
It's too dark! It's not dark enough! It's got too many vampires! All this violence will transform teenagers into mini-Hitlers wielding nunchucks of their own making! Not enough sexytimes! Too many sexytimes!
Most of the people I know who complain about YA haven't read much YA.
Everyone needs stories. Stories are everywhere. But there's a special kind of teenager who needs stories, or they'll die. The kind of kid who grew up getting in trouble for reading under their desk in class, who spent more time in the library than on the soccer field, who learned to like people because maybe the people in books were nicer than the ones in the real world. It's easy to tell who used to be this teenager, because they usually become writers.
But there's an element of that teenager in every teenager. Growing up is scary. It never stops being scary. (It's scary just to use the word 'teenager' and not 'we' or 'us' because for the first time this year, there isn't a 'teen' at the end of my age.) But it's scariest in middle school and through high school, when you start realize several things:
- Adults lied about a lot of things, including but not limited to: "You can do anything." "Things will work out for you." "There are endless possibilities." Not to say there aren't possibilities, or that kids aren't capable of amazing things (I believe in teenagers possibly more than anything else in the world), but you begin to notice there are other factors. That money can make it a lot harder to do what you love. That bad luck can seem insurmountable. That real life is filled with things like taxes and medical bills and days speeding up, and that unfair things won't automatically be set straight for you.
- You'll die. Everyone you know will die. Pretty much everything beautiful will be dust in a relatively short period of time. Yep. Good stuff.
- You'll have to make choices, big choices, which means you can mess up in a big way.
And this combined with the cataclysmic shitstorm of your body doing and wanting new things and figuring out exactly what "me" refers to and meanwhile propping up with your elbow the gigantic cultural expectation that as a Teenager, you will be Pretty or Hot and be Socially Capable and go to Lots of Parties and Dress Stylishly and Know What Music to Tell People You Like and What Music to Lie About.
Being a teenager means needing something. You won't get through it without that something. It's why friendships are 90% of life, and finding love is this panicked, crazed, hyperbolic obsession. And it's why YA, as a genre, is incredibly precious.
YA preserves that magic you're born believing in. It's made out of the terrors and struggles that come with these Real Life realizations hitting you all at once. It lets you not be alone. Being a teenager is when you walk through fire, when everything in the world is larger than life and and a million times brighter, and that's just plain interesting to read about.
And YA, if we let it, can be an alternative to a society that says we must be White and Thin and Straight and Act Like Girls or Act Like Boys in order to be seen. We can tell all stories worth telling.
June 12, 2012
Book Review: The Diviners by Libba Bray
After waiting in line for more than an hour at BEA 2012, I was lucky enough to snag a signed ARC of The Diviners (they gave out necklaces with it! Swag!)ÌýI devoured it in three days. Here's a picture of us together; you can see we've gotten to know each other pretty well.
The Diviners by Libba BrayExpected publication: September 18th 2012 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Summary originally posted on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ:
Evie O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City--and she is pos-i-toot-ly thrilled. New York is the city of speakeasies, shopping, and movie palaces! Soon enough, Evie is running with glamorous Ziegfield girls and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is Evie has to live with her Uncle Will, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult--also known as "The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies."
When a rash of occult-based murders comes to light, Evie and her uncle are right in the thick of the investigation. And through it all, Evie has a secret: a mysterious power that could help catch the killer--if he doesn't catch her first.
Whoa. WHOA. Let me sit down and catch my breath for a minute.
I’m a huge Libba Bray fan. The Gemma Doyle trilogy is one of my favorite YA series (if you like realistic female characters, Gothic mystery, and Victorian London, look no further) and I loved the wildly hysterical Going Bovine as well at the smart and satirical Beauty Queens.
The Diviners is what Libba Bray does best: Creepy fantasy in a sweeping historical setting. Murder, ghosts, and cults—I got more shivers than any Stephen King novel has ever given me. The undead antagonist, Naughty John, is the catchy-tune-whistling, bowler-hat-wearing nightmare in every kid’s closet, and you’ll scoot further toward the edge of your seat as charming protagonist Evie gets closer to uncovering his secrets—and closer to the danger.
Libba takes you on a journey with the wind whistling through streets thick with speakeasies and chorus girls. This is pitch-perfect worldbuilding. 1920’s New York is in every inch of the book, from the quirky slang to Prohibition to Lucky Strike cigarette advertisements. I’m floored by the amount of research she must have done to achieve this level of depth.
Libba’s treatment of female protagonists is one of my favorite things about her writing, and here she does not disappoint. She pulls no punches with Evie, the witty, adventurous, attention-loving flapper girl who reads like a breath of fresh air after a lineup of Katniss-styled no-nonsense female protags. She’s selfish and reckless, but confident and brave—so full of life she jumps off the pages. Some may have trouble relating with her easy charm, but she’s kept real through an undercurrent of insecurity.
Perspective switches are one of my pet peeves, but Libba has won me over. Thoughtful poet Memphis struggles to keep his brother safe in Harlem while dealing with an extremely religious aunt. Chorus-girl Theta fights to maintain the life she’s made for herself after escaping her dark past. They’re tied together by the powers they share—what makes them Diviners.
Libba navigates well the tricky waters of introducing elements to be resolved in later books while bringing full circle the plot points specific to the first book. She follows the formula of her first novel, A Great and Terrible Beauty, by giving the characters a main Big Bad to defeat while simultaneously slipping in mysteries and omens that will carry into the next book.
The Diviners is a weighty book�608 pages, and every one of them exploding with character, worldbuilding, and fantasy. Sometimes it’s a little too easy to get overwhelmed by the backstory and lore, but the book is always powerfully grounded in characters that the audience knows well.
Parts of this book had me more amped up than I was while watching The Dark Knight. The second this book lands in September, run out and buy it. The only thing you’re risking is a sleepless night of picturing Naughty John hiding in your bathroom.
And guys...it's gonna be a MOVIE.
Here is Libba Bray enacting the first scene with dolls to tide you over until September.
The Diviners by Libba BrayExpected publication: September 18th 2012 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Summary originally posted on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ:
Evie O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City--and she is pos-i-toot-ly thrilled. New York is the city of speakeasies, shopping, and movie palaces! Soon enough, Evie is running with glamorous Ziegfield girls and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is Evie has to live with her Uncle Will, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult--also known as "The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies."
When a rash of occult-based murders comes to light, Evie and her uncle are right in the thick of the investigation. And through it all, Evie has a secret: a mysterious power that could help catch the killer--if he doesn't catch her first.
Whoa. WHOA. Let me sit down and catch my breath for a minute.
I’m a huge Libba Bray fan. The Gemma Doyle trilogy is one of my favorite YA series (if you like realistic female characters, Gothic mystery, and Victorian London, look no further) and I loved the wildly hysterical Going Bovine as well at the smart and satirical Beauty Queens.
The Diviners is what Libba Bray does best: Creepy fantasy in a sweeping historical setting. Murder, ghosts, and cults—I got more shivers than any Stephen King novel has ever given me. The undead antagonist, Naughty John, is the catchy-tune-whistling, bowler-hat-wearing nightmare in every kid’s closet, and you’ll scoot further toward the edge of your seat as charming protagonist Evie gets closer to uncovering his secrets—and closer to the danger.
Libba takes you on a journey with the wind whistling through streets thick with speakeasies and chorus girls. This is pitch-perfect worldbuilding. 1920’s New York is in every inch of the book, from the quirky slang to Prohibition to Lucky Strike cigarette advertisements. I’m floored by the amount of research she must have done to achieve this level of depth.
Libba’s treatment of female protagonists is one of my favorite things about her writing, and here she does not disappoint. She pulls no punches with Evie, the witty, adventurous, attention-loving flapper girl who reads like a breath of fresh air after a lineup of Katniss-styled no-nonsense female protags. She’s selfish and reckless, but confident and brave—so full of life she jumps off the pages. Some may have trouble relating with her easy charm, but she’s kept real through an undercurrent of insecurity.
Perspective switches are one of my pet peeves, but Libba has won me over. Thoughtful poet Memphis struggles to keep his brother safe in Harlem while dealing with an extremely religious aunt. Chorus-girl Theta fights to maintain the life she’s made for herself after escaping her dark past. They’re tied together by the powers they share—what makes them Diviners.
Libba navigates well the tricky waters of introducing elements to be resolved in later books while bringing full circle the plot points specific to the first book. She follows the formula of her first novel, A Great and Terrible Beauty, by giving the characters a main Big Bad to defeat while simultaneously slipping in mysteries and omens that will carry into the next book.
The Diviners is a weighty book�608 pages, and every one of them exploding with character, worldbuilding, and fantasy. Sometimes it’s a little too easy to get overwhelmed by the backstory and lore, but the book is always powerfully grounded in characters that the audience knows well.
Parts of this book had me more amped up than I was while watching The Dark Knight. The second this book lands in September, run out and buy it. The only thing you’re risking is a sleepless night of picturing Naughty John hiding in your bathroom.
And guys...it's gonna be a MOVIE.
Here is Libba Bray enacting the first scene with dolls to tide you over until September.
June 9, 2012
What Your Query Should Avoid (and the hidden virtues of snail mail!)
As an intern at a literary agency in NYC, I like to spend my mornings with a fresh, steaming mug of coffeeÌýslush pile. Nothing smells better than possibility, and there's always the hope that buried deep is YOUR query—the spark that'll make it big. Unfortunately, it's usually buried pretty deep.Ìý
There are, however, plenty of things you can do to make your piece of hay look a lot more like a needle. There's some good news, and here's more: The people of a higher power, the ones who open your slaved-over query, are looking for good nuts. We want them like an intern wants sleep (or like squirrels want good nuts.) In fact, it's a lot like the nut room in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, except you don't actually have to worry about your darling query getting carted off by a gang of sensitive rodents.
The only thing your query has to fear is the recycling bin.
Before we get to the nitty gritty, here's a (free!) tip: Snail mail is still worth it. If the agency (clearly states) they accept or prefer snail mail, the investment in that envelope and stamp might be the one that gets you an agent.Ìý
But we're not cavemen! you say. We understand how email works and everything!ÌýThis is the thing about the snail mail slush pile: It's mostly filled with queries by people who don't understand how email works and everything. This usually translates to: Didn't Do the Research syndrome, or DDR, as we in the inventing-acronyms-business like to call it.Ìý
You probably won't get "PERFECT" flashing on your screen in big letters, though.
But this is the good news! In the slush pile, a query that knows what's up will be looking a lot more attractive compared to all those poor saps who wore their grandmother's envelope to the party. The more nonsense I get, the more desperate I am to be impressed—and therefore the more easily impressed I will be—by your query.
Here's a list of things of some obvious-and-less-obvious things you can avoid to hit the bar.Ìý
1: In progress. If your fiction project isn't finished, the query gets dumped. You can't get signed for something that doesn't exist yet.
2: Bad writing. Things that are badly written tell me one thing about your writing, and I bet you can guess what it is. Find a friend who'll check your query's sentences for holes.
3: (This falls a little under the first one, but) Ridiculous adverbs. When it doubt, act it out. I'd like to see you voluptuously rubbing your fingers on a desk.
4: Sucking up. "I know you must be busy trapped beneath that mountain of queries—thank you for taking the time to read this!" "I love your work so much I keep your picture by my bedside!" "Your hair looks good ALL the time." While these are nice tension-breakers to use after spilling your drink on someone in a bar, they don't belong in a query. Don't thank the person for reading your query—it's their job, and every second you spend thanking them for it is a second they could be spending actually reading your query.
5: "Presents." This applies specifically to snail mail (though you would do well to avoid image attachments in emails as well.) Things that are not needed: Cutout pictures of your grandchildren, glitter, hair samples so we know what color your MC's hair REALLY is, glitter, anything that is not your query/requested materials, and glitter. (Vacuuming the floor is an intern duty.) While we're at it, avoid printing your query on nice paper stock as well. Anything that distracts from the actual words on the page, and someone's ability to read them without hassle, is a big no-no.Ìý
6: Your life views. If you're querying a fiction project, that's exactly what you're querying. We won't be publishing your childhood experiences with nasty next-door roosters, the philosophies you acquired watching grass grow, or a numbered list of your best personality traits. The book only. For an author bio, include only what's relevant—if you've self-pubbed and sold well, that's a hit; if you have a huge blog following, that's a hit; if you've published a minor article in a minor newsletter, that's likely a no.
7: No dictating how the reader is going to feel about the query. If you say "This novel will astound, astonish, amaze, and alliterate you with its characters that will no doubt stir long-buried empathies within you" and it doesn't, those empathies are even more unlikely to show up. Don't tell me what I will be immersed in; cut to the chase and immerse me in it.Ìý
8: Don't start out describing the weather. Pretty please.
9: Keep everything relevant. If you're querying middle grade fiction, don't tell me about your great love for Khaled Hosseini and Jodi Picoult.
10: Always, always, always check with the requirements of each agency/agent before you query them. These can be found on their websites with little to no hassle.Ìý
And there you are! Voila! A query that, by filling the basest requirements, already stands out above the masses! To bump that all the way up to a request, you'll want to get your query critiqued, critiqued, critiqued.Ìý
Recommendations for query critique:
- Queryshark.Ìý An actual agent (the sharkly Janet Reid!) delivering spectacular query crit.Ìý
- The Absolute Write forums. Here you can find a wide spectrum of perspective on your query from a wide range of writers!
- Punch My Query.Ìý Every Friday, agented writer Michelle Painchaud delivers a fierce right hook, in the form of in-depth critique and an actual query rewrite!
And that's your friendly neighborhood intern, signing off.
There are, however, plenty of things you can do to make your piece of hay look a lot more like a needle. There's some good news, and here's more: The people of a higher power, the ones who open your slaved-over query, are looking for good nuts. We want them like an intern wants sleep (or like squirrels want good nuts.) In fact, it's a lot like the nut room in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, except you don't actually have to worry about your darling query getting carted off by a gang of sensitive rodents.
The only thing your query has to fear is the recycling bin.
Before we get to the nitty gritty, here's a (free!) tip: Snail mail is still worth it. If the agency (clearly states) they accept or prefer snail mail, the investment in that envelope and stamp might be the one that gets you an agent.Ìý
But we're not cavemen! you say. We understand how email works and everything!ÌýThis is the thing about the snail mail slush pile: It's mostly filled with queries by people who don't understand how email works and everything. This usually translates to: Didn't Do the Research syndrome, or DDR, as we in the inventing-acronyms-business like to call it.Ìý
You probably won't get "PERFECT" flashing on your screen in big letters, though.
But this is the good news! In the slush pile, a query that knows what's up will be looking a lot more attractive compared to all those poor saps who wore their grandmother's envelope to the party. The more nonsense I get, the more desperate I am to be impressed—and therefore the more easily impressed I will be—by your query.
Here's a list of things of some obvious-and-less-obvious things you can avoid to hit the bar.Ìý
1: In progress. If your fiction project isn't finished, the query gets dumped. You can't get signed for something that doesn't exist yet.
2: Bad writing. Things that are badly written tell me one thing about your writing, and I bet you can guess what it is. Find a friend who'll check your query's sentences for holes.
3: (This falls a little under the first one, but) Ridiculous adverbs. When it doubt, act it out. I'd like to see you voluptuously rubbing your fingers on a desk.
4: Sucking up. "I know you must be busy trapped beneath that mountain of queries—thank you for taking the time to read this!" "I love your work so much I keep your picture by my bedside!" "Your hair looks good ALL the time." While these are nice tension-breakers to use after spilling your drink on someone in a bar, they don't belong in a query. Don't thank the person for reading your query—it's their job, and every second you spend thanking them for it is a second they could be spending actually reading your query.
5: "Presents." This applies specifically to snail mail (though you would do well to avoid image attachments in emails as well.) Things that are not needed: Cutout pictures of your grandchildren, glitter, hair samples so we know what color your MC's hair REALLY is, glitter, anything that is not your query/requested materials, and glitter. (Vacuuming the floor is an intern duty.) While we're at it, avoid printing your query on nice paper stock as well. Anything that distracts from the actual words on the page, and someone's ability to read them without hassle, is a big no-no.Ìý
6: Your life views. If you're querying a fiction project, that's exactly what you're querying. We won't be publishing your childhood experiences with nasty next-door roosters, the philosophies you acquired watching grass grow, or a numbered list of your best personality traits. The book only. For an author bio, include only what's relevant—if you've self-pubbed and sold well, that's a hit; if you have a huge blog following, that's a hit; if you've published a minor article in a minor newsletter, that's likely a no.
7: No dictating how the reader is going to feel about the query. If you say "This novel will astound, astonish, amaze, and alliterate you with its characters that will no doubt stir long-buried empathies within you" and it doesn't, those empathies are even more unlikely to show up. Don't tell me what I will be immersed in; cut to the chase and immerse me in it.Ìý
8: Don't start out describing the weather. Pretty please.
9: Keep everything relevant. If you're querying middle grade fiction, don't tell me about your great love for Khaled Hosseini and Jodi Picoult.
10: Always, always, always check with the requirements of each agency/agent before you query them. These can be found on their websites with little to no hassle.Ìý
And there you are! Voila! A query that, by filling the basest requirements, already stands out above the masses! To bump that all the way up to a request, you'll want to get your query critiqued, critiqued, critiqued.Ìý
Recommendations for query critique:
- Queryshark.Ìý An actual agent (the sharkly Janet Reid!) delivering spectacular query crit.Ìý
- The Absolute Write forums. Here you can find a wide spectrum of perspective on your query from a wide range of writers!
- Punch My Query.Ìý Every Friday, agented writer Michelle Painchaud delivers a fierce right hook, in the form of in-depth critique and an actual query rewrite!
And that's your friendly neighborhood intern, signing off.
