How To Cyber Stalk Literary Agents

Okay, don’t actually cyber stalk anybody. That’s creepy. I mean, don’t try to find somebody’s home address or birthday or the names of family members. Seriously, just don’t do that.

Psh! Why am I worried? You guys are normal. Right?

Right.

No, this article isn’t about actual stalking, but about literary agent research. Far less creepy and infinitely more important to your writing career.

You’ve written the next Twilight. Or Hunger Games. Or Paranormalcy. Or The Inquisitor's Tale.

All you need is a literary agent to get those big publishers to take notice of you. But there are hundreds of them listed on sites like querytracker and agentquery!! How the heck are you gonna find the right one for you?

This is why the agent hunt is likened unto dating. Because there isn’t just one right agent out there for you. There are lots of right ones, lots of agents who could fall in love with your work and be effective, tireless champions for you in the face of publishers who rarely take direct, unagented submissions.

Unlike dating, though, one party is at a distinct disadvantage in the agent hunt.

You. The writer.

It’s not, “Hey, let’s have dinner.” It’s, “I have something here you might like, but I know you get a thousand of these letters every week, but still, would you please look at mine for a second?”

It doesn’t have to go down like that.

Agents have said in interview after interview that a professional query letter personalized to them rises to the top, while Dear Agent varieties get automatic deletes. How important is the personalization?

To some, it’s more important than others, but all agents agree they want to feel like you’ve done your research and you’re not just taking a shot in the dark, hoping something will stick.

I’m not a querying professional, but I am a writer of professional queries. I’ve written a lot of them. And I’ve had some positive responses, mainly from agents who knew I’d specifically sought them out for what they represent.

One agent agreed to read my book after a query workshop on her blog. Two kind souls on the querytracker forum invited me to query their agents because we wrote in similar genres. Another awesome agented writer gave me a referral to her agent after she read my pitch. Mentioning that query workshop and those client names got my foot in a door that was sometimes barely ajar, sometimes completely closed.

But it’s not because this business is all about connections. No. It’s because agents get slammed with queries from all sorts of writers in all different stages of their writing careers. Some are just starting out. Maybe, like me, you sent out one of those newbie queries to an agent who didn’t rep what you were selling just because you liked his blog (*cough* Nathan Bransford *cough*). Even if you didn’t, you probably know agents get those kinds of queries all the time. It’s a breath of fresh air when they get a client referral or a query from someone they recognize as a regular blog reader/commenter (in the right genre for what they rep).

Finally! I imagine them saying, as they sip their mysterious dark-tinged beverage. Finally, somebody who actually wants to be represented by me and not just any old agent!
See, for them it might be just as frustrating as for you. They want clients who take writing seriously enough to care who represents them. They want clients who want to be their clients. Makes sense, right?

So here’s how to cyber stalk them (again, not actual stalking):

• Look them up on your fave search engine, querytracker.com or agentquery.com

• Read any interviews linked there. Visit their websites. Take actual notes on your favorites. If they give submission guidelines, follow their instructions.

• Follow your favorites on twitter. (If you write MG or YA, you may like to start by following my twitter list of literary agents)

• Keep up on the market. Read the genre you write in. If you read an awesome book that’s similar in tone to yours, check the acknowledgements or “[author name] represented by” in your favorite web search engine.

• Read books represented by the agents on your list. (When I first started my agent hunt, I thought this was going the extra mile, but it really, really helps you to personalize a query if you can say your book has similar elements to [published book by client name] and actually know what you’re talking about. And besides, the reading doubles as writing research, as well.)

• Search their name at absolutewrite.com forums and verlakay.com forums. If they’ve done a Q&A or just been talked about by other authors, this info is priceless. 

• Search for contests (like Operation Awesome's PASS or PAGES), workshops, and conferences, where you can connect and make a lasting (positive, we hope) impression.

• Top secret all-in-one-place treasure trove of agent info: Casey McCormick’s Agent Spotlight. When I found Casey’s blog, I felt like I was cheating. Thank you, Casey!

What about you guys? Any cyber stalking tips for newbies?

Originally published on Operation Awesome, January 2011, links updated.

Pot Holes and Aha Moments in Your Writing Career

A writing career, just like any other kind, starts at the bottom and works its way to the top. It's a journey, filled with pot holes (hee hee, plot holes), and Eureka moments. 

My first Aha moment as a writer came after I penned my very first novel. It took me from 2003 to 2008 to finish it. Yeah. No, I wasn't working on it the whole time. I belonged to the someday-I'll-write-a-book club. My pot hole was that I didn't have any discipline. From August to October, I finally finished it.

In 2008, my Aha moment said, Writing on a daily schedule yields faster, better results.

Duh, right?

When you write every single day, or close to it, your story simply has more cohesiveness, more natural flow, than it will when you put months between each chapter. Not to mention how your writing style will change over time, even if you're not writing regularly. If you want to see what it looks like when 19-year-old me writes Chapter 1 and 23-year-old me writes Chapter 27, I've got a manuscript that can demonstrate it palpably. An unpublished manuscript. A terminally unpublishable manuscript. I will never do that again.

Another pot hole I faced as a writer was my essay training from high school, which told me to seek out the fanciest word to drive home my point. Never, ever use was or said, my teachers said. If you try to take every was and is/were/are out of a paper or manuscript, you will end up with some funky variations on sentence structure and some even funkier word combinations. Or maybe it's just me.

(e.g. It was proven that the chicken pox are contagious.
becomes-- The researchers found that chicken pox bore communicable properties.)

Stilted much? Yeah, this won't sound good in your YA novel. Thus, my next Aha moment came after my third book (we'll skip right over the sequel I wrote to the first book which had all the same problems as the first, but with a catchier ending).

It said, Stop trying to sound smart.

I am smart. You are, too. But we don't have to prove that to our readers by using words like ruminated where it would sound more natural for the character to say thought or pondered. Sure, if you've got a narrator or character who would use that word, like John Green's child prodigy in An Abundance of Katherines, then by all means, say ruminated all you like. But not because you're too good for boring words.

A Pot Hole 

A meandering hell of word-vomit at the end of that book taught me this:

A rough outline is better than no outline at all.

Which leads me to today's Aha moment. Two books later, I am still learning the importance of story structure and planning in creating the elusive perfect novel. Meandering? Still happens to me, unfortunately. I'm finally frustrated enough to do something about it. Enter Larry Brooks of storyfix.com:

"In essence, story development separates into two sequential realms: the search for story… [followed] by the rendering of story."

otherwise realized as...

If it took you half the book to figure out your plot and character arcs, the reader has no hope.

Smart guy, that Larry Brooks.

What Aha moments have you had lately? What road blocks or pot holes have you hit?

If you're about due for another epiphany, check out Larry's article: A Mindset Shift That Can Get You Published, which inspired this post.

Originally published on Operation Awesome, January 2011.

Finding the Strength in Your Writing Weakness

Are you a storyteller or a wordsmith? 

I've noticed lately in my reading that some people truly excel at story, like Frank Baum of Wizard of Oz fame, or Rick Riordan of the Percy Jackson series; and others weave words like master artisans in the households of kings, like Libba Bray of Going Bovine and A Great and Terrible Beauty, or Gayle Forman of If I Stay, or my critique partners. ;)

Of course, it would be nice to have it all, but nobody starts out that way. That's why we call writing our craft.

So which part of our craft is your strong suit? Storytelling, with its plot structure, twists, and revelations? Or wordsmithing (how can that not be a real word?), with its heart-piercing phraseology and dew-from-heaven gloriousness?

It's an important question because the answer can tell you where you need to focus your practice. 

Me, for instance. I've got wordplay down to an art. Okay not really, but I became a writer because people told me I write well, not because people said I come up with the most air-tight plots ever. So I fall in with the wordsmith lot. For me, this means my current focus has to be plot. And not just plot. Storytelling includes characterization and setting, so you can see I have my work cut out for me.

My 3-year-old is a wordsmith already. Aw!

Knowing where my strengths lie as a writer gives me focus, but it also reminds me to allow myself a little failure in my weak areas. 

It's okay if my first draft is filled with plot holes. For me, revision is less about crafting perfect sentences and more about re-imagining the story... over and over again, until it all fits. And, of course, since this is my cross to bear I think storytelling is much harder than spinning beautiful phrases. Which is more difficult for you?

Now you know what to work on this weekend.

Originally published on Operation Awesome in December, 2010.

Finding Your Voice in the Literary Industry Cacophony

When I first started devoting serious time to becoming (my romantic notion of) a writer, my biggest worry was that I had no voice.

Yeah, you read that right.

I'd read something online about Finding Your Voice and I worried I needed to develop my voice. It's actually kind of silly if you think about it, because just about everybody is born with a voice. You don't question it or think about it. You just speak and words come out in your own unique voice. Sure, you have to coo or babble when you're a baby (not to mention all that bawling). You have to listen to your parents and siblings speak, and you mimic them to some extent. But in the end, the only way to develop your voice is to practice speaking.

Writing is the same way, but I didn't know that. I thought I needed a special guide to teach me how to be myself.  This stems from a fear that's haunted me my whole life, and I'm probably not alone.


Is being myself good enough?


It turns out that the only way NOT to have a personal writing voice is to try too hard to be like somebody else. Don't do that.

Finding my voice in an all-women's choir
that performed in the Salt Lake City Tabernacle!! Woot!

While the guide I linked above has good ideas, like reading a lot of different books or practicing writing like your favorite authors, or writing to prompts--all this is effectively the baby listening to conversation before she tries to make words on her own, and then awkwardly copying words like "No" and "Don't" and "Stop that" (this might just be my babies).

Writing in someone else's style is fine, but don't try to be Meg Cabot. Yes, she is awesome. Yes, she is witty. Be awesome and witty in your own way.

How do I propose you do that?

Blog.

For writers, blogging is like a warm bubble bath. It's the fun and relaxation of writing without the cold shower of pass-or-fail judgment. Especially when you're first starting out. For a long time, I had 33 followers on my personal writing blog, and only about 8 hits a day from different viewers. Reaching more people is awesome, but starting small is good, too. I got into my own writing groove whenever I blogged, and even though I never turned my internal editor off (is that even possible??), I did allow myself some indulgences you simply can't do in printed fiction...

:) SQUEE!! LOL. ;) ROFL b/c That is made of awesome. OMGoodness! :p

...and the result in my novels has been palpable: I actually have a personality. Letting my hair down on my blog has freed up that personality more than copying Shakespeare or Mark Twain ever could. Not that I SQUEE in my books (though a character might at some point). They are definitely different formats, unless you're writing one of those MG books in chat format, which I think has been done to death, people.

The greatest key to finding your writing voice is to be yourself. 

Let that snark, incurable optimism, or witty cynicism seep into your novel. That's what people will relate to. Learn from others, try out new ways of expressing your themes and your characters. But don't bend over backward trying to achieve the oh-so-marketable and ever-elusive VOICE agents are always talking about. When they say that, they're really saying THAT BOOK connected with them on a personal level. Across the publishing universe, voice is as subjective as romantic chemistry. You can't fake it.

Be yourself, let your voice shine through the printed page, and trust that someone, somewhere will like you.

Originally published on Operation Awesome in December, 2010.

Pens for Paws, Poison, and the Robin Hobb Blurb

OPERATION AWESOME's Multi-Pack of Awesome is up for bidding at charity auction Pens for Paws today (until tomorrow)! So if you'd like to win a 20-page critique from Yours Truly, along with a handful of critiques from other OA members and signed books/swag, too, get over and bid now! (Other items for bidding include agent critiques!)

Here's a screen shot of the Operation Awesome prize:

So much goodness, it didn't all fit in one screen cap! Go check out the rest: http://pensforpaws.blogspot.com/2013/03/awesome-multi-prize-package-from.html

POISON:

"Bridget Zinn's first YA novel, Poison ...released by Hyperion on March 12, 2013. Unfortunately, Bridget died from cancer in May 2011 at the age of 33. Being published was Bridget's dream. Now, nearly four years to the day from her diagnosis, her novel is at last reaching readers. On her behalf, her friends and family want to celebrate her accomplishment and help get her book into the hands of readers."

Tragic story. But here's something that isn't tragic:

Bridget Zinn's book is beautiful!

And these reviews are beautiful, too:

Kirkus Reviews

"Don't let the title or cover fool you! No grimdark teen fantasy or angst-y heroines here; just a frothy confection of a fairy tale featuring poisoners, princesses, perfumers and pigs, none of whom are exactly what they appear (except maybe the pigs)…. Good silly fun—a refreshing antidote to a genre overflowing with grit and gloom."
—Kirkus Reviews

Publishers Weekly

"The late Zinn's debut novel unfolds as a romping, fairy-tale quest with more than one twist up its sleeve. The story is vivid, headlong, and occasionally tongue in cheek, and the narrative's dark moments never get too scary because everything else is so much fun." Ages 12–18. Agent: Michael Stearns, Upstart Crow Literary.—Publishers Weekly

I don't know about you, but it sounds right up my alley. I can't wait to read it, and while I do I'll think of the author Bridget Zinn who didn't get to see these glowing reviews, or probably even the beautiful cover art. And I'll feel a little sad. But what better way to honor her than to share in her dream and enjoy the book she wanted to share with the world?

WONDER LIGHT: UNICORNS OF THE MIST has been blurbed! By International Bestselling Author Robin Hobb!

Check it out at author R.R. Russell's blog

And here's the short blurb on the new cover:

Exhilarating! -Robin Hobb
Add it on goodreads
Pre-order it on amazon

Amazon Daily Deal: AMAROK!!! (and Operation Awesome charity auction item)

Housekeeping: yesterday was a huge day for YA fiction fans (who to a person adore Veronica Mars), so we have to forgive each other for completely missing out on most everything else going on yesterday. I forgive you. Do you forgive me? Okay, good. So here are the links to yesterday's blog posts:

First I shared cover love for Angie Smibert's upcoming release, THE MEME PLAGUE (August 2013), book 3 in the MEMENTO NORA series. It is fabulous, by the way. If you haven't read it, go get Memento Nora and join the revolution.

Then my husband (yes, he is awesome) posted news of the Veronica Mars Movie kickstarter page and so I went all fangirl and blogged about it.

K, flashback over.

Today, special treat from Amazon: Amarok is in the Kindle Daily Deals zone! Woot, woot! Go Angela! (That's the incredible, sweet, and talented author of Amarok.)

Here's the cover, buy link, and blurb:

On Goodreads

AMAZON DAILY DEAL: AMAROK by Angela J. Townsend $1.99 today only

Emma's life has been hell since she moved from sunny California to a remote Alaskan town. Abandoned by her father and living with the guilt of causing her mother's death, she makes a desperate dash for freedom from her abusive stepfather. But when her car skids off the icy road, her planned escape leads to further captivity in a world beyond her imagining. Dragged across the tundra by an evil mountain man and his enormous black wolf, she learns that love can be found in the most unexpected places. Amarok, as she's nicknamed the wolf, is a young man from the gold-rush era enslaved by an ancient shaman. Emma's gentle touch and kind heart win his love and devotion. When a vicious madman--trapped in bear form by the same Shaman--attacks the travelers and injures Amarok, Emma must find the strength to face her fears and free the wolf she's come to love. But that means she must face down the evil shaman, a Siberian mammoth hunter from the ice age, and he has no intention of giving up his power to her.

If you'd like to get a feel for how this wolf shapeshifting story is unique, this trailer will take you there:


As someone who's read a lot of Angela's work, I can tell you her prose is delicious, her settings vivid like sweeping masterpieces. You will feel rooted in her world for the duration of the story. You will not be able to put it down between chapters because of her expert use of suspense. And your heart will break for the ordeals of her beloved characters. If you've never read Angela Townsend's work before, I urge you to take advantage of this deal and try her out. You may discover a new favorite author. :)

Currently reading:
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (for book club)
The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu (with my husband)

What are you reading?

UPDATE: Doh! Totally slipped my mind, but OPERATION AWESOME's Multi-Pack of Awesome is up for auction at charity auction Pens for Paws today (until tomorrow)! So if you'd like to win a 20-page critique from Yours Truly, along with a handful of critiques from other OA members and signed books/swag, too, get over and bid now! (Other items for bidding include agent critiques!)

Here's a screen shot of the Operation Awesome prize:

So much goodness, it didn't all fit in one screen cap! Go check out the rest: http://pensforpaws.blogspot.com/2013/03/awesome-multi-prize-package-from.html

The New Operation Awesome

The New Operation Awesome

After a fun Mystery Blogger contest series

 and some reorganization behind the scenes, 

here's what the contributor list at Operation Awesome looks like:

Katrina Lantz
Lindsay Scott (also writes as Isabella Morgan)
Kell Andrews, represented by Kathleen Rushall of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency,DEADWOOD released Nov 2012 from Pugalicious Press
Angela Townsend, represented by Jill Corcoran of The Herman Agency, AMAROKreleased Nov 2012 from Spencer Hill Press
Michelle McLean, represented by Krista Goering of the Krista Goering Literary Agency,TO TRUST A THIEF released Jan 2013 from Entangled Scandalous
Kristal Shaff, THE EMISSARY coming 2013 from Month9Books
Angelica R. Jackson
Becky Mahoney, represented by Sara Crowe of Harvey Klinger
Max Gladstone, represented by Weronika Janczuk of Lynn C Franklin Associates,THREE PARTS DEAD released Oct 2012 from TOR. Sequel TBR Oct 2013 from TOR.
Abby Annis
Kellie DuBay Gillis
Wesley Chu, represented by Russel Galen of Scovil Galen and Ghosh Literary Agency, THE LIVES OF TAO coming April 2013 from Angry Robot
Toni Kerr, YA novel, DESCENDANT, is due to be published by Pugalicious Press in Nov of 2013
Robyn Russell (also writes as R.R. Russell), Author of THE VENTURE BOOKS by R.H. Russell (available now) and WONDER LIGHT by R.R. Russell (Sourcebooks, Spring 2013)

ALUMNUS:
Amparo Ortiz 

If you missed the contest and want a few laughs, check out the 3 truths and a lie by each new member. 

I had a lot of fun getting to know our new bloggers in this way, and I hope you enjoyed it, too! 

The new schedule:

BOOKS BY OPERATION AWESOME:

Critiques from awesome authors and other bookish fun

MYSTERY BLOGGERS #5-8 are up for three truths and a lie. Come play. It's fun, and if you guess right you could win a critique from one of them.

Mystery Blogger #5 was saved by the Heimlich Maneuver THRICE... or was she?


Mystery Blogger #6 sold underwear w/ Michael Jordan... or did he?


Mystery Blogger #7 sent a nude pic in response to an editor's form rejection... or did she?


Mystery Blogger #8 beat down a query-rejection-papier-mâchéed piñata, post-book deal... or did she?

GUESS THE LIE RIGHT AND YOU'RE ENTERED TO WIN A FREE CRITIQUE.

Fun, right? I'm loving it!

The first four Mystery Bloggers were revealed yesterday:

Mystery Blogger #1: Angelica R. Jackson

Mystery Blogger #2: Becky Mahoney

Mystery Blogger #3: Max Gladstone

Mystery Blogger #4: Abby Annis

These four are new contributors to Operation Awesome. From now on, everything awesome they do will be attributed to their involvement with us. Or not.

In other news...
Lissa M. Basso's A SHIMMER OF ANGELS was released yesterday and it is beautiful!

On goodreads

Kristal posted a 9-page sneak-peek over at Operation Awesome!!!!

Enjoy! And follow @Month9Books on twitter because y'all are going to love their line up of new releases this year and next. 

Free Critiques for Good Lie-Detectors

Squee! I can't even describe how excited I am about this! Operation Awesome is getting 8 new bloggers. What does that mean for you? FREE CRITIQUES! Call it hazing, or a welcoming ritual, but our newbies have agreed to critique for a lucky winner who answers correctly: which one is the lie?

MYSTERY BLOGGER #1-4

THREE TRUTHS AND A LIE CONTEST

• Don't forget to enter Michelle McLean's book release giveaways (5 days of them with incrementally awesome-r prizes. :)
• Amparo talked this morning about having a faux Braveheart moment. Find out what she means here.
• Month9Books' A Shimmer of Angels SHOW US YOUR WINGS CONTEST is ongoing! A Shimmer of Angels is released TOMORROW!

Even though I'm not eligible for the contest (since I just took a job with them!) I participated anyway. The prospect of creating Jude Law with angel wings was just too good to pass up: 

• Offer your own critiques of excerpts at Miss Snark's First Victim

Sometimes Mondays ROCK!

To Trust a Thief Cover Reveal and Release!

To Trust a Thief by Michelle McLean was released today!

I know, it's almost hard to keep track of all the awesome! But I'm very excited about Michelle's release, and not just because she's an Operation Awesome blogger. I've read this book and it is chill-inducing. The suspense and romantic tension are freaking delicious. 

I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I have. Here's the sexy cover:

Add it on goodreads

And the sexy/suspenseful blurb:

Minuette Sinclair's parents are in trouble and her fake fiancé is too. A legendary lost necklace might be their salvation, and Min is determined to find it and use it to buy her family and fiancé out of their misfortunes.

Master thief Bryant Westley is also looking for the fabled necklace. He knows Min’s got information he can use so he poses as her dance instructor and tries to seduce it from her. What he doesn’t count on are his feelings for her. He offers to partner up in the search – even though she is a distraction he can’t afford. 

Things become more complicated when Min realizes that her convenient engagement means more to her fake fiancé than her and that she’s fallen in love with Bryant. Bryant realizes that he can’t double cross the young lady he’s come to love. Can they find the necklace together and admit their love before it’s too late?

For release week, Michelle is hosting a real live treasure hunt, beginning on her blog today.

You could win this gorgeous Victorian bookmark: 

More prizes to follow in the coming week.

Want to know what treasures you will be hunting for?

Day 1 = a beautiful Victorian bookmark
Day 2 = a $25 gift card
Day 3 = a Shakespeare Insults clock (totally cute and hilarious)
Day 4 = a Minuette locket (a replica of the one in the book)
Day 5 = A NOOK COLOR!!!

Here are the Treasure Hunt blog stops:
Day 1 - Monday Jan 21st – Michelle's blog
Day 2 - Tuesday, January 22 -- Romance Junkies
Day 3 - Wednesday, January 23 -- Cocktails and Books
Day 4 - Thursday, January 24 -- Romance Book Junkies
Day 5 - Friday, January 25 -- Romance Reviews Today

So head on over to her blog and start hunting for treasure!




Buy it at Barnes and Noble 

Honoring the Writers Creed 2013 (created by S.A. Larsen)

S.A. Larsen has a new writer's creed for 2013 and I love it! So I've joined in. You can go to THE ORIGINAL POST and sign up to be part of it as well. 

If you choose to honor this creed with me, please add your name to the Linky list. Cut and paste either size badge to your site and link back to this post. It'd be great if we could get a ton of writers to take this and reconnect throughout the year. 

I love the goals in the creed, too:

take writing breaks
balance social media
be a writer every day

Those are all things I struggle with as a writer. I hope you'll join in, too, and commit to being your best self and the best writer you can be in 2013.


IN OTHER NEWS:

• THE WINNERS have been announced in our NYRC Grand Finale Giveaway, and there are TWELVE of them!

• I've written about CANKERING CONFLICT at Operation Awesome today, as well. I'd love it if you stopped by to read and comment. 

I'll be doing my MG rewrite today. What are you writing?

NYRC 2013 Final Day Linkies

*HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF AND GRATITUDE*

New Year's Revisions Conference 2013 comes to a close.

Thank you, THANK YOU, Thank you to our agents, authors, and editors for giving freely of their time and talents!

Thank you to the wonderful attendees who commented and shared the events. It was a blast getting to know you all. Be sure to enter the TWELVE-BOOK giveaway in the rafflecopter form below.

Here, without further ado, are the linkies from NYRC FINAL DAY 2013:

January 6th, 2013:

• 9:00 A.M.  The Dreaded Editor Letter: Confessions From Entangled Publishing Authors Rachel Harris, Lisa Burnstein, Cindi Madsen, and Amy Spaulding
• 10:00 A.M.  Lauren Morill: Revising Your Teen Voice
• 11:00 A.M. Gretchen McNeil: Write Drunk, Edit Sober
• 12:00 P.M.  Door Prize! Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne & Dave King
• 1:00 P.M.   Agent Q&A: Part III: Marketing and Publicity

Victoria Marini 

Kathleen Rushall

Natalie Lakosil 

Josh Getzler

Laura Bradford

Erin Harris

• 2:00 P.M.   Gennifer Albin: How I Revise
• 3:00 P.M.   Door Prize Winner Announced
• 4:00 P.M.   Anne Riley: Druid Magic and the Orb of No-Where, No-When
• 5:00 P.M.   Grand Finale Giveaway:

PRIZES:

New Year's Revisions Conference Day 1 Linkies

It's been a hell of a day. I'm happy. I got to read advice from an amazing assortment of publishing experts, and tweet all about it. 
And I got new shoes:

Aside from the fact that I got only a few hours of sleep last night (taking care of my 3-year-old with croup), I'm energized. I'm aaaaalmost ready to tackle revisions. 

But I can wait until tomorrow.



**All Times are listed as Central Time Zone**

January 3rd, 2013:

• 9:00 A.M.  Critique Partner Connection 

                        

January 4th, 2013:

• 9:00 A.M.  Natalie Lakosil: Taking The Time To Get It Right
• 10:00 A.M.  Amanda Bonilla: Revision Strategies
• 11:00 A.M.  Kate Hart: The Query Letter: Revising With Feedback
• 12:00 P.M.   Lisa Amowitz: Polishing The Beginning
• 1:00 P.M.   Bethany Wiggins: Creating Unique Characters
• 2:00 P.M.   Agent Q&A: Part I

Victoria Marini 

Kathleen Rushall

Natalie Lakosil 

Josh Getzler

Laura Bradford

Erin Harris

• 4:00 P.M.  Shelley Moore Thomas: Picture Book Revisions
• 5:00 P.M.  Jennifer Nielsen: The Magic In Middle Grade: Remembering Your Audience During Revisions
• 6:00 P.M.   Taylor Martindale: Owning the Process: Revising for or with an Agent
• 7:00 P.M.   NYRC Day 1 Wrap-Up

Tomorrow has its own slate of awesomeness:

January 5th, 2013:

• 9:00 A.M.   Christine Fonseca: Devil in the Details: Editing for Content
• 10:00 A.M.  Phoebe North: Goal, Motivation, And Conflict
• 11:00 A.M.  Cole Gibsen: Writing And Revising A Different Culture
• 12:00 P.M.   Elana Johnson: Character Consistency: How To Keep Your Characters True To Themselves
• 1:00 P.M.   Agent Q&A: Part II

Victoria Marini 

Kathleen Rushall

Natalie Lakosil 

Josh Getzler

Laura Bradford

Erin Harris

• 2:00 P.M.   Georgia McBride: Secondary Characters Who Sizzle
• 3:00 P.M.   E. J. Patten: Believable Monsters: Cthulhu Ate My Mother, Or the Rise and Fall of Human-Flavored Nougat.
• 4:00 P.M.   Erin Molta: Revisions From An Editor’s POV

Join us for the rest of the conference. Apparently there are prizes and things. *feigns shock but doesn't have to feign delight* Check it out in Kristal's great NYRC Day 1 Wrap-Up post. See you lovely people tomorrow. (I'm hopeful I may get some sleep tonight.)