I ate solid food for the first time last night, isn't that exciting? I think so!
Sunday is my rest and relaxation day, but just wanted to let you know what I am planning on doing this coming week. I will be doing a "Motivational Week", where I will post some motivational quotes that have helped me to keep going through this writing taxidi. None are any I have made up, and I'm sure you may have heard of a few. I hope they inspire you as they have inspired me.
Still rooting for Canada today! It's going to be intense!
See you all tomorrow!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Moving Week!
Firstly, I am starting to feel better, thank God. Camping out in bed for a week was driving me crazy, and I'm pretty sure I have never watched as much TV as I had the past four days. Hopefully by next week I will be top notch and can continue touching up my query and finish researching my next batch of agents (now that I am behind my schedule as to when I wanted to start sending again... stupid illness).
Secondly, I will be virtually moving soon. I am currently working on my own website (Tip: I have learned that agents love it when you're reachable in many different ways, and when reading your query they like to see that you have a website, even if it's just a blogspot), that will be up and running in the near future. I'll post the website address once it's officially ready.
Enjoy your weekend! Canada vs USA in Olympic hockey tomorrow, let's go Canada (I'll always have a soft spot for my home country)!
Secondly, I will be virtually moving soon. I am currently working on my own website (Tip: I have learned that agents love it when you're reachable in many different ways, and when reading your query they like to see that you have a website, even if it's just a blogspot), that will be up and running in the near future. I'll post the website address once it's officially ready.
Enjoy your weekend! Canada vs USA in Olympic hockey tomorrow, let's go Canada (I'll always have a soft spot for my home country)!
Friday, February 26, 2010
Be Kind to Literary Agents (It's Nothing Personal)
Day number three of lying in my bed with the flu! I started this blog right on time; I’ve had so much time with my thoughts! I decided to take a break from my 30 Rock marathon and use my allotted “sit up minute” to share a thought I had with you.
I came across this forum the other day where people were talking about different literary agencies and their experiences with them. Naturally, as it's a part of the process, a lot them of them were a little perturbed that they had been receiving rejections, even after partial requests. I can understand the frustration, you just want SOMEONE to give you a break and have a little faith in you, but I really don't find a need to be angry at the agent.
In the beginning, I would picture literary agents like Ralphie from A Christmas Story would picture his teacher grading papers in school. She was dressed as a witch cackling and shouting, "F...F...F! Ahahahaha!" whereas I would picture literary agents going, “Rejected…rejected…rejected! Ahahahaha!”
Truth of the matter is, not everyone is going to have the same taste as you, including literary agents. I admit, when I first started querying, I'd get the 'R' and I'd cry. My first three rejections, I was inconsolable. I knew coming into this career would stretch me, as I have a hard time with rejection, but then I started thinking, it's nothing personal.
I don't like alien stories (with the exception of Avatar, of course. A MUST SEE!). I personally can't stand it when there's an incredible story I'm reading, I can't wait to see how all these twists and turns are going to be explained… and I find out it was because of aliens. It drives me crazy! Now maybe for you, you love the ideas of aliens and that's fine, it just doesn't appeal to me. It could be an incredible story, an incredible query, it could have been really well written and could go on to be a best seller and a box office hit, but if I had taken it on, it wouldn't have been. Though at first the author would be happy to have landed agent, with my lack of interest in extraterrestrials, they wouldn't be happy for long.
So take it as courtesy, the agent isn’t saying you’re not good enough, or you have no talent, they’re saying that they simply won’t be able to do all that could be done for your book. This doesn’t mean it’s time to get cocky, mind you. Don’t get a rejection letter, snap your fingers in a “Z for-m-a-tion” (did I just date myself?) and say, “Whatever, my book isn’t good enough for those agents,” because if every agent is saying this, there could very well be a problem on your side. Be open-minded, but don’t take things too personal.
My friend, Nyquil, is kicking in. Goodnight-er-day, all.
I came across this forum the other day where people were talking about different literary agencies and their experiences with them. Naturally, as it's a part of the process, a lot them of them were a little perturbed that they had been receiving rejections, even after partial requests. I can understand the frustration, you just want SOMEONE to give you a break and have a little faith in you, but I really don't find a need to be angry at the agent.
In the beginning, I would picture literary agents like Ralphie from A Christmas Story would picture his teacher grading papers in school. She was dressed as a witch cackling and shouting, "F...F...F! Ahahahaha!" whereas I would picture literary agents going, “Rejected…rejected…rejected! Ahahahaha!”
Truth of the matter is, not everyone is going to have the same taste as you, including literary agents. I admit, when I first started querying, I'd get the 'R' and I'd cry. My first three rejections, I was inconsolable. I knew coming into this career would stretch me, as I have a hard time with rejection, but then I started thinking, it's nothing personal.
I don't like alien stories (with the exception of Avatar, of course. A MUST SEE!). I personally can't stand it when there's an incredible story I'm reading, I can't wait to see how all these twists and turns are going to be explained… and I find out it was because of aliens. It drives me crazy! Now maybe for you, you love the ideas of aliens and that's fine, it just doesn't appeal to me. It could be an incredible story, an incredible query, it could have been really well written and could go on to be a best seller and a box office hit, but if I had taken it on, it wouldn't have been. Though at first the author would be happy to have landed agent, with my lack of interest in extraterrestrials, they wouldn't be happy for long.
So take it as courtesy, the agent isn’t saying you’re not good enough, or you have no talent, they’re saying that they simply won’t be able to do all that could be done for your book. This doesn’t mean it’s time to get cocky, mind you. Don’t get a rejection letter, snap your fingers in a “Z for-m-a-tion” (did I just date myself?) and say, “Whatever, my book isn’t good enough for those agents,” because if every agent is saying this, there could very well be a problem on your side. Be open-minded, but don’t take things too personal.
My friend, Nyquil, is kicking in. Goodnight-er-day, all.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Third Grade- The Defining Moment (I have been in a reflective mood today.)
This post is going to be short as I can only sit up for about thirty seconds at a time (seriously, I have to do this in intervals). This is my third day stuck in bed. Tuesday morning my body thought it would play a mean joke on me and give me the stomach flu. Needless to say, lying in bed all day I’ve had time for some reflection and thought I would share one with you.
When I was a little youngin' about ye high, I loved creating characters, writing plays and then performing those plays for my family (sorry about that, Mom). It wasn't until about third grade I started to become fascinated with this incredible world called "books".
It was right after Christmas and our teacher had given us the assignment, "What I Did for Christmas Vacation," which we would have to read in front of the class.
While everyone else read about their presents, the snowmen they built and the cookies that disappeared off the plate they left for Santa, I made up a story about how my family went to Florida for Christmas vacation and forgot me at home. Showing pictures to the class I had drawn while explaining the incredible time I had eating all the ice cream I wanted and how I chased a burglar down the street who tried to break into my house, I noticed how the class laughed and held onto my every word. I won't lie, I loved it. I loved how they were interested in the story I had to tell and how they asked to borrow my notebook so they could read it again. I got an "A" for that story.
Shortly afterward, my father passed away from cancer. My teacher continued to be there for me through the hard time of learning how to cope with not having my dad anymore, and encouraged me to keep writing throughout my time in elementary school. Mrs. Hyman from Beechwood Elementary, if you ever come across this website, thank you for everything. I still hear your voice when I feel like I'm in over my head.
And back to bed I go.
When I was a little youngin' about ye high, I loved creating characters, writing plays and then performing those plays for my family (sorry about that, Mom). It wasn't until about third grade I started to become fascinated with this incredible world called "books".
It was right after Christmas and our teacher had given us the assignment, "What I Did for Christmas Vacation," which we would have to read in front of the class.
While everyone else read about their presents, the snowmen they built and the cookies that disappeared off the plate they left for Santa, I made up a story about how my family went to Florida for Christmas vacation and forgot me at home. Showing pictures to the class I had drawn while explaining the incredible time I had eating all the ice cream I wanted and how I chased a burglar down the street who tried to break into my house, I noticed how the class laughed and held onto my every word. I won't lie, I loved it. I loved how they were interested in the story I had to tell and how they asked to borrow my notebook so they could read it again. I got an "A" for that story.
Shortly afterward, my father passed away from cancer. My teacher continued to be there for me through the hard time of learning how to cope with not having my dad anymore, and encouraged me to keep writing throughout my time in elementary school. Mrs. Hyman from Beechwood Elementary, if you ever come across this website, thank you for everything. I still hear your voice when I feel like I'm in over my head.
And back to bed I go.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
If You Can't Laugh at Yourself... Learn To. (aka What I've Learned Thus Far)
So as you all know if you read my "About Me" section, I have decided to pursue my writing career. I finished my first young adult novel and am now onto the query process.
If you are anything like me, sometimes you forget that Hollywood can be just a little fabricated. Take The Proposal for example (cute movie, you should see it if you haven't, even though Ryan Reynolds' abs were enough to peak my interest... wait, Keith, do you read this blog?), Sandra Bullock's character is a Canadian who's visa has expired, prohibiting her from working in the USA. Threatened with deportation, she forces Ryan Reynolds to act as her fiancé so she can stay in the country. My favorite part is when they mosey on down to the immigration office that same day, apply for a fiancé visa and get an interview scheduled for the next week. Oh how I wish it worked that way! I am a Canadian who married an (extremely hot, with great abs) American through obtaining a fiancé visa. Not only does it take anywhere from six months to a year to obtain this visa, there is a heck of lot more stuff that goes into it than just waltzing over to an immigration office on your lunch break. But as I said, it's Hollywood, and as some people may think it's that easy to get a fiancé visa, I totally thought it was that easy to get a book published. I write a manuscript, mail it the publisher, he edits it and ta da! I'm book signing at Barnes and Noble! Here is the first of many times I've laughed at myself. Silly Stina.
Let me pop that dream bubble for you... IT DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY! You finish your novel, at which point, give yourself a pat on the back, that's an amazing feat! Now proofread that thing like you have never proofread before! Then proofread it again and proofread it again, then give it to a trusted friend to proofread, find a critique group, just pull the mistakes out of that baby! At this point there is controversy, some people suggest hiring an editor to do the "final proofread" while others say don't bother, an editor will look at it later during the publishing process. I say, do whatever helps you sleep at night. If you have the utmost confidence that you and your friends have caught everything, then don't. If you're like me and have a terrible case of paranoia, then do. I proofread my manuscript about six times consecutively, and frankly I got so sick of reading it. In fact, I laughed at myself for even thinking I had written a good story, so I put it on a virtual shelf to recoup and came back to it a month later. I'm in love with it again.
Now comes the fun part (insert Jaw's theme here)... the query. The query is a cruel joke literary agents play on you, OK not really. At one point I had thought that, but as frustrating as it's been to write that dang thing, I am so happy for the experience. Doing a couple of Google searches, and reading a couple of books, I took two weeks to write my query and was happy with it. So I sent it seven of them out into the "literary world" and received four rejections and three no responses. I still laugh at myself for that. Why? Because now I realize my query SUCKED! It was terrible! I wouldn't be surprised if the agents have it hanging on their walls when they need a good laugh. I had thought I had written a masterpiece, something that every agent would ask for in ten seconds flat. Truth of the matter is, I didn't do enough research. I was so anxious to get my query out there I skimmed through some stuff, researched the basics and wrote it. Do yourself a favor, really take your time. Research agents, read their blogs, there is a ton of incredible information on there (Nathan Bransford, God bless you!). Find some blogs that critique queries (Query Shark is an awesome one), go through them to see where mistakes were made and most importantly, don't beat yourself up if you get no bites the first time you send it out. Keep working at it and have fun while you're doing it! Sure the rejections will pile up, and most may not even explain why it's a big fat R resulting in you getting zero sleep, wondering if it was your query or your sample chapters that did it. Just keep going. If you believe in your work, one day you will reap the benefits. Heck, if a person like me who hasn't even been asked for partial yet can have this attitude, you can to! Hopefully that whole partial thing will change now that I have completely redone my query, though. There may be a hundred no's, but it only takes one yes. Now, get to it!
If you are anything like me, sometimes you forget that Hollywood can be just a little fabricated. Take The Proposal for example (cute movie, you should see it if you haven't, even though Ryan Reynolds' abs were enough to peak my interest... wait, Keith, do you read this blog?), Sandra Bullock's character is a Canadian who's visa has expired, prohibiting her from working in the USA. Threatened with deportation, she forces Ryan Reynolds to act as her fiancé so she can stay in the country. My favorite part is when they mosey on down to the immigration office that same day, apply for a fiancé visa and get an interview scheduled for the next week. Oh how I wish it worked that way! I am a Canadian who married an (extremely hot, with great abs) American through obtaining a fiancé visa. Not only does it take anywhere from six months to a year to obtain this visa, there is a heck of lot more stuff that goes into it than just waltzing over to an immigration office on your lunch break. But as I said, it's Hollywood, and as some people may think it's that easy to get a fiancé visa, I totally thought it was that easy to get a book published. I write a manuscript, mail it the publisher, he edits it and ta da! I'm book signing at Barnes and Noble! Here is the first of many times I've laughed at myself. Silly Stina.
Let me pop that dream bubble for you... IT DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY! You finish your novel, at which point, give yourself a pat on the back, that's an amazing feat! Now proofread that thing like you have never proofread before! Then proofread it again and proofread it again, then give it to a trusted friend to proofread, find a critique group, just pull the mistakes out of that baby! At this point there is controversy, some people suggest hiring an editor to do the "final proofread" while others say don't bother, an editor will look at it later during the publishing process. I say, do whatever helps you sleep at night. If you have the utmost confidence that you and your friends have caught everything, then don't. If you're like me and have a terrible case of paranoia, then do. I proofread my manuscript about six times consecutively, and frankly I got so sick of reading it. In fact, I laughed at myself for even thinking I had written a good story, so I put it on a virtual shelf to recoup and came back to it a month later. I'm in love with it again.
Now comes the fun part (insert Jaw's theme here)... the query. The query is a cruel joke literary agents play on you, OK not really. At one point I had thought that, but as frustrating as it's been to write that dang thing, I am so happy for the experience. Doing a couple of Google searches, and reading a couple of books, I took two weeks to write my query and was happy with it. So I sent it seven of them out into the "literary world" and received four rejections and three no responses. I still laugh at myself for that. Why? Because now I realize my query SUCKED! It was terrible! I wouldn't be surprised if the agents have it hanging on their walls when they need a good laugh. I had thought I had written a masterpiece, something that every agent would ask for in ten seconds flat. Truth of the matter is, I didn't do enough research. I was so anxious to get my query out there I skimmed through some stuff, researched the basics and wrote it. Do yourself a favor, really take your time. Research agents, read their blogs, there is a ton of incredible information on there (Nathan Bransford, God bless you!). Find some blogs that critique queries (Query Shark is an awesome one), go through them to see where mistakes were made and most importantly, don't beat yourself up if you get no bites the first time you send it out. Keep working at it and have fun while you're doing it! Sure the rejections will pile up, and most may not even explain why it's a big fat R resulting in you getting zero sleep, wondering if it was your query or your sample chapters that did it. Just keep going. If you believe in your work, one day you will reap the benefits. Heck, if a person like me who hasn't even been asked for partial yet can have this attitude, you can to! Hopefully that whole partial thing will change now that I have completely redone my query, though. There may be a hundred no's, but it only takes one yes. Now, get to it!
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