Writing That Book Kit

Finishing a novel is no easy task. From professional commitments to personal obligations there's an ever growing list of potential interferences that plague the path to finishing your book.

But for the devoted (that's you!), overcoming these day-to-day obstacles is far from impossible. All you need is a well calculated approach. That's where this kit comes in handy. Get step-by-step advice from experienced authors on ways to plan your journey from page one to publish. Discover what habits may be inhibiting your success, learn to limit interruptions with unique tricks, and uncover ways to stay motivated throughout the process.

The Start (And Finish) Writing That Book Kit includes:

The Nighttime Novelist

 

You’ll Love This Worksheet If:

• You have read The Nighttime Novelist
• You are writing a novel
• You want to practice writing dialogue

Any writer who is thinking about writing a novel should know the basics of writing dialogue. After all, the dialogue between characters is one of the ways in which a writer can attract readers’ attention.

When you buy this worksheet on writing dialogue from The Nighttime Novelist by Joseph E. Bates, you’ll construct a brief scene from a list of opening lines. Then you’ll write a dialogue between two characters.

The Writers Legal Guide

 

 

Created by professionals with extensive experience in both law and publishing, this valuable desktop guide answers virtually any question writers are likely to face concerning their rights and the law. Fully updated with the latest information on electronic rights and expanded coverage of fair use and permissions, this new Third Edition features the latest changes in copyright law, book contracts, agency contracts, collaboration agreements, limits of expression, the Freedom of Information Act, and tax laws. Plus, it includes numerous sample forms, such as a ready-to-use electronic rights clause, a model contract for licensing articles to magazines, a checklist for avoiding defamation and invasion of privacy, and much more. Copublished with the Authors Guild, this book is a must-have addition to any writer's library.

Agent Advice

Agent Interview by

contributor Ricki Schultz.

Agent Advice is a series of quick interviews with literary and script agents who talk with Guide to Literary Agents about their thoughts on writing, publishing, and just about anything else.

This installment features Quinlan Lee of Adams Literary. Prior to joining Adams Literary, Quinlan worked
for eight years as a freelance children’s writer for Scholastic, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster, working on licensed projects for Clifford Puppy Days, Dora the Explorer, Hello Kitty and the Planet Earth series.

She is seeking: interested only in children’s, middle-grade, and young adult literature.

GLA: How did you become an agent?

QL: I had worked in children’s publishing for years as a writer and knew the importance of having someone focus on the business aspects of a writer’s career, so a writer can focus on his or her creative process.

GLA: Tell us about a recent project you’ve sold.

QL: Penguin recently bought Time Snatchers by Richard Ungar, which will pub in Fall 2011. It is the exciting story of a 14-year-old orphan and conscripted time thief from 2061 New Beijing who steals treasures from the past for a Fagin-like character named Uncle. (Richard is also a picture book author and artist, and this is his debut novel.)

GLA: Are there any books coming out now that have you excited?

QL: Dark Life by Kat Falls pubs this May with Scholastic Press. It is an amazing story set in an apocalyptic future, where global warming and rising oceans have forced people to settle in underwater communities. From the moment I read it in our submissions inbox, I couldn’t wait to share with other readers.

GLA: Adams Literary specializes in juvenile literature—picture books to middle-grade to young adult and everything in between. Do you find you gravitate toward a particular age group within kids’ lit?

QL: I love all children’s and YA literature—from clever picture books to edgy YA. However, if I read the first pages of a middle-grade novel where the character’s voice rings true or a YA novel that creates a world that seems familiar but lives only in the author’s imagination, it goes to the top of my reading pile.

GLA: Do you accept any nonfiction?

QL: We do accept nonfiction, but Adams Literary is selective in taking on nonfiction authors and projects because it is a challenging market. A great example of nonfiction that we love is Vaunda Nelson’s Bad News for Outlaws, which recently won the Coretta Scott King Award.

GLA: What are you looking for right now when tackling the slush pile?

QL: Books that appeal to boys are often hard to come by—I’m always looking for something that would make my nine-year old son laugh out loud or stay up past his bedtime, reading with a flashlight under the covers. When I’m tackling the slush pile, I want the same experience—to be sucked in so completely by a character or story that I want to stay up past my bedtime to finish it.

GLA: Do you notice any trends in the kinds of projects that pique your interest, in terms of subgenres or elements that particularly grab you?

QL: Of course, high-concept Dystopian stories are big in the market right now, and I find them fascinating. The great thing about these stories is that worlds can vary greatly from the underwater settlements of Dark Life to the disparate colonies of Panem in Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games, so each one is interesting and fresh.
The best ones tell an enthralling story, but also raise important moral and life-changing questions that readers are dealing with in today’s world.

GLA: What would you say is the number one mistake writers make when writing for kids?

QL: Bad children’s writers don’t think very highly of children—in a picture book, they go for cute instead of clever; in middle-grade fiction, they over-explain or dramatize a character’s emotions so the reader is sure to “get-it”; and in YA, they assume edgy only means sex and drugs, not the tightrope of teenagers’ emotional lives.

GLA: How healthy is kids’ lit at the moment? Do you see it increasing or declining in the coming years?

QL: Literature for children and young adults is a bright spot in the challenging publishing market and continues to grow. For example, adult hardcover sales were down 17.8% for the first half of 2009 versus the same period in 2008, but children’s/young adult hardcovers were up 30.7%. Another great trend is adult readers are gravitating towards YA books because they’re well-written and tell a compelling story.  Who doesn’t want to read a book like that?

The biggest database of agents anywhere is
the 2011 Guide to Literary Agents.
Buy it here online at a discount.

GLA: Name two things writers can include in their queries that will elicit an automatic rejection from you.

QL: Adams Literary only accepts children’s and young adult literature—so anything that’s adult goes out immediately. That said, we read everything that comes in through our e-mail submission form from our website (www.adamsliterary.com). We receive more than 6,000 submissions annually, so be patient in waiting for a reply, but we will respond.
Queries that put up red flags say things like, “I made this story up for my grandchildren and they love it!” or “I don’t know anything about children or writing, but I’ve always wanted to be writer.”
Conversely, showing you take your writing seriously and know the industry by attending SCBWI or other writing conferences, being in a writers’ group or having an MFA in writing from a reputable school make your query stand out.

GLA: Will you be at any upcoming writers’ conferences where writers can meet and pitch you?

QL: I’ll be attending the SCBWI Carolinas Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, September 24-26, 2010, and I’ll also be on the faculty of the annual conference on Children’s Publishing at Carthage College in Wisconsin on October 1-2, 2010.
You can also meet other Adams Literary agents at these events: Tracey Adams will be at the NJ SCBWI, June 4-5, 2010, and Josh Adams will be on the faculty of the National SCBWI Conference July 29-August 2, 2010, in LA.
You can always visit Adams Literary’s website to submit and to learn about other upcoming events.

GLA: What is something about you that writers would be surprised to hear?

QL: I am a writer myself, so I know the absolute joy and horrors of a blank page. I am also aware of the dangers of thinking that being a “published author” will make your life complete. I encourage all writers to learn the truth that Anne Lamott puts so beautifully in Bird by Bird, that “Writing has so much to give, so much to teach, so many surprises. The thing that you had to force yourself to do—the actual writing—turns out to be the best part.”

GLA: Best piece(s) of advice we haven’t talked about yet?

QL: Don’t send something on the first day that you write the last word.  Patience! Let your writing sit for a while, let others read it and tell you what confuses or bores them, and then read it again yourself and see what worked better in your imagination than it does on the page. After that, revise. I see so many submissions with potential, but few with the confidence and maturity that comes from working on something until it is fully developed and ready for us to send it out editors.

6 Tips on Writing Picture Books

   

 

  

We all know that it takes courage to write—to persist despite the endless stream of form rejections or the demons of doubt that constantly assail us. I think it helps to remember that the word “courage” comes from the French word La Coeur, meaning “heart.” Below you will find a few tips to keep our writers’ hearts brimming with hope and joy—and according to Jane Yolen, hope and joy these are the two most important ingredients of any children’s book. 

  

Guest column by Kathleen Pelley, author of
Magnus Maximus a Marvelous Measurer (May 2010;
illustrated by S.D. Schindler). Kathleen was born
in Scotland, and has written two other picture
books: Inventor McGregor, and The Giant King.
See her website here.

READ ALOUD
For 18 years, I have been reading picture books, mainly fairy tales and folk tales at an inner city elementary school. I have only one rule: I will only read stories that I absolutely love, for it is that love that seeps into the words as I read and enchants the children into another world where hope and joy make their hearts bigger and better and bolder and braver.  Read aloud every day poems and stories and words that make your heart pound with delight!

FIND SPACE TO LISTEN TO YOUR INNER VOICE
When Doris Lessing won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2007, she told the reporters that the real question they should pose to any up and coming writer, should not be about how they write—word processor, electric typewriter, pen or quill—but rather, “Have they found the space to write, for that space is a form of listening…” We children’s writers need to ponder this question: Do we give ourselves space—to listen to the inner voice, and do we leave space in our words for the illustrator to paint the pictures that come from his heart?

WONDER
“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away.” Every picture book should leave the reader with some glimpse of beauty, some glimmer of truth that lingers long after the last page is turned or final word uttered. What whiff of wonder or bolt of beauty took your breath away today?

TRUST BEYOND YOURSELF
When Michelangelo carved his sculptures, people asked him how he made such beautiful carvings from a block of marble. “I only discovered what was hiding there,” he said. Many great artists and musicians do not take credit for their work; rather, they give credit to the Muse, the Divine, something beyond them. It is a good exercise for the writer’s heart to trust that there is something “beyond” us—it is part of the Mystery of this great creative process.

FIND HEAVEN
“All of earth is crammed with heaven,” said Elizabeth Browning. The best part of being a children’s writer, I think, is rummaging around my day to find a little piece of heaven to write about. That would make any heart sing!

LOVE
“The best way to know God is to love many things,” said Vincent Van Gogh. And I think that the best way to write for children is to love many things, to feast on life and on all the little joys that greet us every day, if only we take time to notice them. I have a little magnet on my fridge that I look at every day before I write. It is the picture of a little boy, his face lit up with joy as he peeps over a window ledge at a bedraggled bird shaking a wet wing. Underneath are the words: “Show me a day when the world wasn’t new.” Love the world they way you did when you were a little child.

Take heart now, and write!

If you want to compose books of little ones,
seek out Writing Picture Books by Ann Whitford
Paul, whose own picture books have
won numerous awards.

Successful Queries

This series is called “Successful Queries” and I’m posting actual query letters that succeeded in getting writers signed with agents. In addition to posting the actual query letter, we will also get to hear thoughts from the agent as to why the letter worked. 

The 53rd installment in this series is with agent Sara Megibow (Nelson Literary) for Miranda Kenneally’s YA novel, Score (which may be retitled), a story about a girl who becomes quarterback of her high school football team. The book comes out in November 2011 from Sourcebooks Fire.

Dear Ms. Megibow:

My name is Jordan Woods, I’m seventeen, and last year, I blew it in the final seconds of the Tennessee state championship football game. This year, I can’t let that happen or I’ll never get a scholarship to play ball in college. I have a lot to prove, what, with an NFL star for a father – a father who doesn’t think I should be playing football. Why wouldn’t a famous quarterback want his kid to follow in the family footsteps?

I’m a girl.

But I’ve been playing quarterback since I was seven, so everyone’s gotten used to me by now. I’m a normal teenage girl. Well, as normal as I can be. I mean, obviously I think Justin Timberlake is a mega hunk, but I’m also over six feet tall and can launch a football fifty yards.

Other ways I’m not normal? A girl who hangs with an entire football team must hook up all the time, right?

Nope.

I’ve never had a boyfriend and most people think I’m gay. Hell, I’ve never even kissed a guy. But that might be about to change because the hottest guy, Ty Green, just moved here from Texas. Just the sight of him makes me want to simultaneously fly and barf. It turns out that he’s also a quarterback, and he’s a hell of a lot better than me. Last year, Ty led his team to win the Texas state championship.

And I’m scared. What if Coach gives my position away? What if Ty isn’t interested in me? The worst fear of all? What if Ty distracts me from my dreams of playing ball in college?

And why is my best friend, our star wide receiver, acting so strangely all of a sudden?

SCORE, my 67,000-word YA novel, explores when it’s okay to make compromises in life, and when to take risks. My protagonist writes poetry (it’s a hobby that she keeps hidden from her teammates), so some sections of the manuscript are written in verse. While Catherine Murdock’s DAIRY QUEEN series also focuses on a female football player, my novel is different in that my protagonist doesn’t just decide to play football one day. Football is the only life my protagonist has ever known. When this new guy moves to town, she begins to explore the femininity she has rejected her entire life. She also faces a serious struggle with unrequited love, though not in the way you might expect.

Since your agency represents Ally Carter, I thought you might be interested. I also believe you’ll enjoy the love story. I attended American University, where I studied creative writing and literature. As a tomboy who grew up playing football during recess and didn’t get her first kiss until the age of sixteen, embarrassingly, I am highly qualified to write this novel.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Commentary from Sara

I read a lot of query letters … a lot. As soon as I reviewed this one by Miranda Kenneally, I was hooked. Immediately, my agent-brain thought, “this book has a ton of personality!”

That’s really what caught my attention. Let’s call it narrative voice or style—Jordan talking to the reader about football and boys absolutely captured my heart. Miranda does everything right here—she nails the inciting incident (a new boy in town? he wants to play football? he’s HOT?); she presents a compelling heroine with an engaging personality and she shows the plot in a clear, concise manner. The query letter is short and I know immediately that the author can write.

Well done on all counts! I am thrilled to represent Miranda and we all did the happy dance when Sourcebooks Fire offered for the book! We are thrilled to be celebrating a 2011 release.

The 2011 Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market 
offers more than 650 listings for publishers,
magazines, agents, art reps and more.

How I Got My Agent: Allan Woodrow

“How I Got My Agent” is a
recurring feature on the GLA blog. Some tales are of long roads and many setbacks, while others are of good luck and quick signings. To see the previous installments of this column, click here. If you have a literary agent and would be interested in writing a short guest column for this GLA blog, e-mail me at literaryagent@fwmedia.com and we’ll talk specifics.

Allan is excited to give away a free copy of his novel to a random commenter. Comment within one week;
winners must live in Canada/US to receive the book by mail. You can win a blog contest even if you’ve won before. (Update: Rebecca N. won.)

    

Growing up, Allan Woodrow was cursed with a boring
and loving family, giving him nothing interesting to write
about. He resented it for years. Eventually, Allan turned
his bitterness into The Rotten Adventures of Zachary Ruthless
(HarperCollins Children’s; 2011), his debut novel (MG,
humorous, ages 7-12), with additional Adventures launching
every six months. Learn more at allanwoodrow.com
or evilbadguystuff.com.

YOU MIGHT HATE ME

Really. I don’t take it personally. I understand the risks by sharing my story, and that hatred is a possibility, although hopefully I’m mistaken.

I talk to lots of people who have written for years, have hundreds of rejection slips, yet persevere and vow to continue striving for their book sale dream. When I set out to write a children’s book I understood the risks and was prepared to receive mounds of no’s. I set a goal of five years to sell a manuscript, but didn’t know if that was realistic. I bought a folder to keep all my rejections.

That folder is here somewhere. I think I might use it for recipes.

Because I never got that pile of rejections. After I wrote the Rotten Adventures of Zachary Ruthless I got an agent and a four-book contract with HarperCollins in less than three months.

So, yes, you can hate me. I’d hate me, if I didn’t know myself better.

I BEGIN, SEMI-CLUELESS

But it’s not like I scribbled a note to an agent in crayon. After I finished writing my book, and after I had it critiqued to death by published authors, non-published authors, and random people at bus stops, I was pretty confident it was good. Because, really, that’s the most important step.

But then what? I had no contacts. I don’t live in New York. I hadn’t gone to a convention where I could meet anyone. And I didn’t have a massive online following. I was as green as green could be. I joined SCBWI, emailed friends of friends for advice, but didn’t learn anything I hadn’t found in books or online forums already.

So I needed to entice an agent with a fabulous query. I researched. I saw what I liked and what I didn’t and it was obvious what set apart my favorites.

The voice.

I found a lot of the queries sounded somewhat similar plot-wise, but it was impossible to get excited if they were written like a lecture. I liked those queries that described the events with a unique style, a quirkiness, or sense of humor that felt interesting. So I knew I had to capture my book’s tone if I was to get anyone’s attention. I made my query short and funny.

I MAKE A PLAN

But having a query was hardly the end. I now needed to find an agent (I knew I wanted an agent, and not pitch directly to editors). I used a system that I learned from Jenny Meyerhoff (author of Queen of Secrets, among other books) who has given me permission to share her method, which assumes your brother-in-law doesn’t own Writers House (in which case, I give everyone permission to hate you instead of hating me):

1. Research agents. There are lists of agents in books and online, such as this site. See what books they represent. See if they seem like a good fit. I made a list of about 60 agents that represented my genre: middle grade boy books with humor, and seemed like solid options. I’m sure there were more. But I thought that was a list that would last a while.

2. Grade the agents. I gave each agent on my list an A, B, C or D. The A’s were the dream agents—they represented the best and my genre. The D’s were agents with authors I had never heard of and the fit wasn’t perfect, but possible. B’s and C’s perhaps had some qualities, but not all (big name, but not a lot in my genre, or a lot in my genre but lesser known names), etc. My grades were highly subjective (an agent might slip, for example, because I didn’t like their website, or might get a boost from a great blog post).

3. Send out queries in batches of 4 or 8 (Don’t send one at a time: It would take forever!), spread out over your grades. So one A, one B, one C and one D for instance. There are two reasons for this. First of all, there’s a good chance your first query might not be perfect. If you don’t get responses, you’ll have to change it up. But once you’ve reached out to an agent, you can’t go back with the same manuscript. This way, you don’t kill all your “A” agents in the first week, with possibly a subpar query. Secondly, your list is purely subjective. Until you talk to someone, you can’t really know if they are an A or a D. So this allows you to reach out to ones you might not have thought of immediately, and perhaps you’ll get a better idea of what sort of agent works best for you.

4. Give the agents a few weeks to get back to you, and then sent out the next batch. Say, the beginning of every month. And keep going down the list. Be aggressive, and make sure you’re organized so you can keep track of whom you’ve contacted, when. Oh, and be honest. If someone asks if you’ve sent out other queries, be upfront about everything. Be gracious. Thank people for their time.

UM, REALLY? ALREADY?

I started my list in the middle of September 2009, sent out my first batch of four by the end of the month. Within a week I had two requests for full’s and I was officially a client of the wonderful Joanna Volpe a couple of weeks after that. I couldn’t be more ecstatic. She’s editorial. She’s warm. She’s supportive. She’s smart. To top it all off, we had an offer from HarperCollins before Christmas break.

So, if you think it’s about whom you know in this business, I’m proof it’s not. The key is to write a good book, be proactive, and hope for a whole lot of luckiness. Hopefully, you don’t hate me for having plenty of the latter.

Allan is excited to give away a free copy of his novel to a random commenter. Comment within one week; winners must live in Canada/US to receive the book by mail. You can win a blog contest even if you’ve won before. (Update: Rebecca N. won.)

The 2011 Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market 
offers more than 650 listings for publishers,
magazines, agents, art reps and more.