Some days are harder than others

Tip of the day: If you ever get a chance to go to an ALA conference, go! It’s so much fun to meet librarians, authors, publishing peeps, etc. and get free books!

Yes, I’m back from ALA where I got to meet Tina, one of my Author2Author blog buddies, for the first time! It was so much fun hanging out with Tina for a couple of hours.

I’ll be posting a blog entry about my thoughts and observations from the conference next week on my agent’s blog - http://acrowesnest.blogspot.com/.

So, today you get what is on my mind in the day and life of a published author.

And here is what’s on my mind.

It is hard being an author.

I know, those of you who are trying desperately to get published, you’re pulling out your violins to hit me over the head. So let me explain.

It’s hard because you constantly compare yourself to other writers and your books to other books, even though you don’t want to and you try very hard not to. Through those comparisons, there’s only one thing that happens. You decide most everyone is better than you.

It’s hard because people have certain expectations about your books and sometimes, those expectations aren’t met.

It’s hard because even though you know and understand that not everyone will like your books and you are truly fine with that, once in awhile, a negative review really stings. After all, we’re human. And although we try very hard to develop a thick skin, sometimes something gets through. And it hurts.

And finally, it’s hard because when one book is done and gone to print, it’s time to look ahead and think about what’s next. But as a published author, it’s not simply coming up with a book idea you’re excited about and want to write. It’s coming up with something you think your editor might like, your readers might like, the marketing folks might like, etc. etc.

Recently there was a big discussion on a message board and in blogs about confidence. Here’s my take - just like body hair, confidence is one of those things that some people have more than others. I wonder, can we change the way we think? Can we, over time, become more confident and comfortable with who we are as writers? Maybe. I try very hard to replace the negative thoughts that pop up with positive affirmations. To remember the good things people have said about my books. And to be grateful for the publishing experience that has been mine.

But I do think there will always be a small part of me who longs to have the kind of talent Laurie Halse Anderson has. To be able to write the kind of books she writes.

In the end, that’s probably a good thing. Because ultimately, the wishing and longing push me forward. Make me work harder. And hopefully, help me write better books.

~Lisa, Miss Crafting a Career

ALA Re-Cap

Tip of the Day: Become a fan of THE ESPRESSOLOGIST on facebook and take the What Coffee Drink are You? quiz!

ALA, in one word, was AWESOME! This wasn't just my first author event it was also my first conference EVER. And I loved it. And now I want to do it every weekend. Forget house cleaning and mowing the lawn, I want to go to giant halls full of booths with lots of books and tons of cool librarians, authors, bloggers, and every other kind of book lover to hang with, every weekend!

It started with Friday night at the FSG/Roaring Brook party. I put on a cute dress and some makeup













iphone self pic



(The kids were in shock. Four Year Old: "Mommy! You're beautiful! Quick, go show Daddy!!") and headed for Grace O'Malley's in Chicago.














The party was in a big room on the second floor and as soon as I got there I felt a wave of nerves. I met the marketing director (who was lovely) and the Macmillan publisher (who was so nice!) right away and I was feeling a little in awe of the people that were going to be at this party. But right away I spotted super cool YA authors Brenda Ferber and Jenny Meyerhoff, and totally relaxed. The party was really fun. Some FSG people spoke












and they introduced us authors (I think there were 7 or 8 in all there) to everyone and then we mingled for the rest of the night. There was lots of yummy looking food and drinks but we were busy talking and signing books to sit for long. The party was supposed to end around 11-ish but we didn't actually get to our cars until around midnight.

Sunday morning I woke up super early to get ready for the YALSA Coffee Klatch and was in my car heading back for Chicago by 6:30am. I thought I had plenty of time to get to the Marriot on Michigan where the event was held but I drove in circles for at least a half an hour on Michigan. I couldn't find the Marriot!. Turns out it is a small sign behind a big tree and impossible to see from the street. I eventually just parked somewhere and walked down Michigan until I found it. And I was only a little late.

Once there, I went right to the green room and was just about ecstatic to be in a room full of SO MANY fabulous authors!












Richard Peck was sitting a couple of seats away from me and Sarah Dessen and E. Lockhart were at the table next to me. It was WILD. Here I met Lisa who is just as sweet in person as she is online












and we had fun chatting with the rest of the amazing authors in the room. Soon we went into the coffee klatch area, which was HUGE and watched Elizabeth Bunce receive the Morris Award and give a great speech.
















Then the speed dating began. And it rocked! Who knew I would love talking to so many people in 5 minute bursts?












I loved the questions the attendants asked and I invited everyone to come to my signing a half an hour after the coffee klatch ended. When we were done all the authors grouped together for a picture. There was much too much awesomeness to get in one shot so we have two.

After that, I shared a twenty-minute cab ride with Katie from FSG marketing and Julie Halpern and Margarita Engle to get to McCormick Center and the conversation was great-- Julie and Margarita are both so interesting and talented.

When we walked into the conference area and toward the FSG booth Katie said something like oh wow-- you have a line. I thought she was kidding. But there really was a line. It was SO COOL! And the first person in line was a friendly face from LiveJournal, Robin Prehn.













I sat down and began signing books and discovered that I really like this whole book signing thing.













Definitely must do it again! :-) Everyone in line was so nice and I got to meet more authors, and book reviewers, and lots and lots of librarians! Many that I just speed dated at the Marriot! I was so glad they did come over for the signing too!

When I ran out of books to sign I was free to go explore the hall and joined up with Lisa, Tammi Sauer, Cindy Pon, Cynthia Liu, and Darcy Vance. We snagged free ARCs from various booths












and then had a crazy expensive lunch in the cafe area and then back to arc snagging. We stood in line for Maggie Steifvater's Shiver signing













and then met author Sarah Ockler and then headed for the BBYA teen book talk to rest a bit and hear what teens thought of some of their favorite books. It was awesome to hear such honest thoughts. After that I walked the hall a bit more with Cindy Pon and then headed for home. ALA was such a truly cool experience and I'm hoping I get to do it again next year!

Kristina, Miss Delighted to Debut

What Economic Downturn? (or Turn That Downturn Upside Down!)

Tip of the Day: Want to drop 25 pounds in 6 months without even trying? Cut gluten from your diet! (Not me, the manpanion.)



In case you didn't realize, editor response times are slow. Some of my peers say slower than ever. I'm not surprised, and I don't blame those hardworking book lovers -- many of them are doing more work with less staff after the layoffs at this past year.



So what can we do to kill waiting time while subbing for pubbing? First, step away from your PC, laptop, iPhone, or whatever device you have that connects you to your email. (After you read this blog.)



Second, try some of these ideas (and no, I'm not going to tell you to write your next piece; you know that already -- right? :-p ):



1. Take a day trip to a beach, lake, amusement park, or nearby city. Walk the streets, paths, sand, or shore and take in the details: sights, sounds, smells. Make note of the tidbits you have to include in a future work. Rich details can be close to home if you look for them.



2. Visit your local library. Observe what books kids and teens are excited about reading this summer. Scope out the children's and teens' areas to see what's on display -- and what's completely checked out. Take home a stack of books for yourself why you're there.



3. Interview an older friend or family member about a part of their life that now seems outdated. What was important to people when your F&Fs were kids or teens? What stories does your family have to share about your ancestors that may inspire a new novel?



What do you do to pass the time while subbing for pubbing?



Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Bring on the Requests!!

Tip of the Day: don't forget to celebrate all your accomplishments during your writing journey. It will make those rejections sting less!

It's been fun talking about queries for the past few weeks, and now I'm going to move onto talking about what to do after you get a request or the dreaded rejection. But let's start with the positive!

So you've slaved over your query, got it perfect, sent it out to agents, and now you have a request. What do you do then?

No. 1: Celebrate. This is a big accomplishment. Agent Jennifer Jackson lists statistics of what she requests. This past week out of 163 queries she requested 0. In the last three weeks out of 439 queries, she's requested 2 partials or full manuscripts. For those not good at math, that's less than 0.4%. As in less than 1%. As in OMG it is REALLY HARD to get a request.

Now this is only one agent, but my point is that if you get a request, you have sparked interest with someone with your book's concept, your writing, and your credentials. Don't forget this. Sometimes the rejections seem to overshadow the fact getting requests means you are doing something right. Because of this, I think it's important to celebrate. Even if it's something small like smiling, treating yourself to chocolate, or something else you do to reward yourself for all your hard work.

No 2: Don't Panic. After seeing stats like that it is hard not to panic. Not only before you send the query, but also after you get the request. You think, "wow, he/she likes the book concept, but what happens if he/she doesn't like my writing?" Well, that can happen, but don't let thoughts of that get in your way.

No. 3: Re-read your work. It never hurts to re-read your work. Now by this stage, you should have already revised it to death, incorporated feedback from critique partners, and done all you can to make the manuscript sparkle. But for some reason, I think sometimes the added "pressure" associated with a request gets you to see that final one or two mistakes you missed.

At the same time, don't keep revising it and revising it to stall sending the manuscript in. Be timely about it. You don't want the excitement the agent had while reading your query to be lost in the time it takes you to respond to his/her request.

No. 4: Send it off and then, here's the kicker, try to relax and not think about it for awhile. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. There's no sense wasting time worrying about getting feedback or checking your email five-million times to see if they have responded yet. While you will still probably do this, it's also important to move onto writing the next book, sending out more queries, and other things to help your career move forward. Sometimes responses come within hours, but most often it takes days or months to hear back. Be patient and keep working on something else.

Next week, we'll discuss those dreaded rejections.

--Emily, Miss Querylicious

Things I Had to Learn, Year One

Tip of the Day: If you're playing Skee Ball with a six-year-old, stand way, way back. And then take another step away.

I've been blogging this summer about when I first started writing YA on the regular. There was so much to learn! Fortunately I had Deena to guide me through the wonderful world of resources for writers. Here's a short list of the first few things I had to pick up:

1. Word count. How much is too much? Amazon.com lists page counts; just scan down the book listing. The Host by Stephanie Meyer is 619 pages long. Meanwhile, Far From You by Lisa Schroeder is written in verse and clocks in at 368 pages. I was greatly reassured after I researched a few books written in a style similar to mine.

2. Did I want an agent someday? A reputable agency's website will list sales. There are lots of agent blogs and interviews online, where agents confess what types of books they hope will cross their desks. Casey McCormick has an agent spotlight on her very useful blog, with interviews and lots of linkage. Reading agent interviews taught me what they do. (Any questions on an agent's reputation? Check out Preditors and Editors.)

3. What the heck is a query letter? Yeah, I really didn't know. I didn't have Em to explain it to me back then in easily digestible blog posts. Instead, I read through Miss Snark's archives. Her cover letter crap-o-meter contest is the perfect drill on the query letter.

4. Should I take a class or something? I had no idea how many online writing classes there are that focus on YA and MG writing. Once you find an interesting class, google the instructor and get his/her bio. A great resource for finding writers who have already taken a specific class is the education board on Verla Kay's Blue Boards. Actually, the Blue Boards are a great resource for me for most of my writing questions.

Sometimes in the blogosphere, you read people's complaints about slush. How can so many submissions be so inappropriately written and targeted when there's so much How-To information on the Interwebs? But I think everybody starts out--has to start out--totally focused on the writing. The business skills always come later. Who would be a writer otherwise? If you're fortunate like I was, you'll find a writing friend you can talk to. Then you'll be able to discover the questions you need to ask. After that, answers are easier to find!

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Let's talk web sites!

Tip of the day: The best way to figure out what kind of web site you like is to look at lots and lots of author sites. Take notes of things you like – colors, layout, design elements, etc. and share sites and those specific likes with your designer when you start working on your own. Here’s my web site: www.lisaschroederbooks.com

I’m in the process of working with my web designer on redesigning my site, so I thought I’d talk about author web sites today.

I find it interesting that in various interviews I’ve read with marketing “experts” they all say one of the most important things for an author to do marketing-wise is to have a web site. Everyone seems to agree that in this day and age, a web presence is vital for an author. And so, most authors, once the book deal is underway, begin the process of getting a web site up, either by doing it themselves or hiring a designer to help them.

First question I want to address: How fancy does the web site have to be?

I’m going to go out on a limb and say, it really doesn’t need to be very fancy. It needs to be easy to navigate, professional, and look nice. And no spelling errors or things like that! I understand some authors want really fun ones or really beautiful ones or whatever, and of course, each author can do whatever he or she desires and whatever the budget allows. Designer prices go from a few hundred to a few thousand, and even more. Personally, my goal is to stay as close to the lower part of the range as possible, and I do.

Currently, I’m averaging about 50-60 visits a day on my web site (this is different from my blog). People come to my web site from a variety of places. What do they want to know when they get there, regardless of how they find me? That can be the hard thing to determine.

So the next question to address: What’s the purpose of an author’s web site?

First, you need to give information about yourself. Yes, I know, the last thing you want to do is talk about yourself, but really, people do want to read about YOU, the author. So come up with a bio of some kind, serious or funny, whatever you want to do. Next, people want to read about your books. So you need to have a page designated for your books. Put covers on there, short summaries, and review quotes once you have them, at a minimum. If you give links for people to follow to purchase the books, I suggest linking to indiebound as well as Amazon, because we always need to be supporting our independent bookstores. Beyond that, the sky’s the limit. Think about your books and the kind of people who may be stopping by, and tailor pages to meet their needs. If your book is going to be have classroom tie-ins, you definitely need a page for teachers, with study guides to download or what have you.

I do think having a page that links to your blog is a good idea too. For people who want to come back for more, a blog is updated with new information frequently, whereas most parts of an author’s web site won’t change day to day or even month to month.

Personally, my favorite page is the “Contact Me” page. I get so many great notes from readers through this page. Yay for fan mail!!!

I’ll let you know in a month or two when the new site is unveiled!

In the meantime, is there anything you specifically like or don’t like when it comes to an author’s web site?

~Lisa, Miss Crafting a Career

ALA Time!

Tip of the Day: Two tips today! #1 Come to my first signing on Sunday, 10:30-11:30 at ALA (McCormick Center West, booth 1811). #2 Check out the list of authors at ALA this weekend.

I was trying to think of what to blog about this week but all I can think about is ALA!!! It starts tomorrow in Chicago! I don't know if you can tell from all the !!!! but I'm very excited!

This is my first authorly event EVER. I've been to lots of events as part of the audience but now I'm on the author side! I will be one those people with a magical badge around her neck that opens doors to...well, I'm not sure. I've always wondered what those badges let authors get into. I'm thinking it's a pass to a super fancy cafe on the 100th floor of some building where there are fountains of iced latte in every corner. And I have a really big cup.

Like I said, it starts tomorrow night for me with a dessert party hosted by FSG and Roaring Brook. I'm soooo excited because I'll get to meet people from my publisher and other FSG authors. Then on Sunday I'll be at the YALSA Coffee Klatch meeting TONS of librarians. The coffee klatch is like a speed dating type of thing and we (look at the list (Scroll down to Sunday) of AMAZING authors going to this thing! I can't believe I get to be there with them!) spend five minutes at each table of attendants talking about our books. I'll also finally get to meet Lisa (Miss Crafting a Career) in person since she will also be doing the coffee klatch. Yay! Right after that I'll be signing arcs at the FSG booth (1811) from 10:30-11:30. I spent a chunk of time on Friday hunting down the perfect pens so I think I'm ready.

And the last thing I'm SUPER excited about? MY COVER!! I have the official, real thing now and it's awesome. Check it out:

If you are attending ALA, stop by the FSG booth on Sunday morning and say hi (and snag one of my arcs!)!

Kristina, Miss Delighted to Debut