My Journey to Agented

Finally, the long overdue post on how I signed with my amazing agent. My journey was not a straight line from querying to signed. It was 4 months of querying a manuscript that wasn't ready, pulling the manuscript, and re-querying. It was rewriting the entire book 3 times. It was participating in several Twitter Pitch events and praying for "favorites." It was essentially figuring out when my story was ready, who would be a good fit, and shooting my shot.

The most important piece of advice I can give is to have as many beta readers as possible, to follow a plot device like "Save the Cat" and to know that querying isn't a one and done adventure. I had about 6 beta readers. I also hired a developmental editor who taught me how to plot a book lol. You don't need to hire anyone, but I knew nothing about writing when I started this journey, so I knew I'd need a bit of a nudge in the right direction. Don't be afraid to keep working on your story. You'll get to a point where you know in your heart it's ready for an agent. And even then, the book will go through many more rounds of revisions!

Here's a list of steps because I like lists:

1. write the book

2. let the book sit for a month.

3. revise using a plotting tool like "Save the Cat" or "the Hero's Journey"

3. let the book sit for a month

4. reread/copyedit

5. send to at least 3 beta readers who are at your writing level or higher

6. incorporate changes

7. let the book sit and write that query letter and synopsis. Make sure you have a "one-line hook." Look for agents representing your book's age category and genre. I used Manuscript Wishlist, QueryTracker, and Twitter #MSWL

8. have your query and synopsis reviewed by your betas. They know your book.

9. Take a deep breath. Query 10 agents, not 50. If you get feedback, make a note of it. You may want to incorporate that into your story before querying the next batch of agents.

10. Query 10 more. In the meantime, consider participating in a pitch event like: #DVPit (if you are a marginalized writer), #SFFPit (if you write fantasy), and #PitMad

11. Send queries to agents who like your pitch within a week.

12. REPEAT!

Best of Luck!

Querying 101

Hi Everyone! It's been a while since my last post, but these past two months have been insane both personally and for the entire country. I've been thankful to have something occupying my mind during this time....QUERIES!

After writing and extensively revising A VEILED AND DARK DESCENT. It was time to query. I began querying in late March of this year and I am currently still querying (in July). This is an average time frame. Querying has been illuminating. Everyone cautions against querying before the manuscript is 100% ready. But how do you know if it's ready? You honestly don't. I had two developmental edits, a copyedit, and beta reads before sending out my first batch of queries and it turns out, the manuscript wasn't ready. I got lots of rejections and only one read request. If this happens, it's time to regroup. I began looking for authors and editors who could critique my query and opening pages. Eventually, I found two! Both were published authors who offered editorial services. Both had similar comments. I was starting my book in the wrong place! Should I have figured this out earlier? Probably. I "wasted" about 30 queries on a manuscript with a weak opening chapter. However, there are hundreds of agents out there and I knew I had to keep going. So with my revised query and first chapter, I sent out a second batch of queries. From this batch, I received 13 requests for the full manuscript! Some have been rejected, which may mean another revision is in store, but the moral of the story is this: when in the querying trenches without any requests, it's time to Stop, Assess, Revise, and Resubmit!

So You Want to Write a Book

I've been writing fiction since before I can remember. I used to sit in the car while my mother went grocery shopping and plan epic fantasy novels in my notebook. I had so many ideas and no patience. I would write for hours with no clear path on where the story was going and eventually would hit a wall.

As I got older, I learned the importance of planning your stories in advance using an outline. Before I write anything, whether it's a novel or an essay, I outline. Outlining prevents you from getting "stuck." It also helps with writer's block. I spend anywhere from a week to several months outlining my novel before I start writing. The outline will change drastically over the course of the process, but there are several main plot points, every story should have. Use these as guidelines and you'll never get lost.

• Inciting Incident

• First Plot Point

• First Pinch Point

• Midpoint

• Second Pinch Point

• Black Moment

• Second Plot Point

• Climax

• Resolution

In addition to each plot point in the story, should be a B-story and a character arc. Sometimes these are one in the same and sometimes they are written so subtly they fit seamlessly into the rest of the story. Find a good balance, and you're on your way to a GREAT story.

Bullet Journaling for Novelists

Hi there! Are you a writer with a killer story idea with no clue where to begin? Or are you knee deep in your second draft and feel something's just not working? No matter what stage of the writing process you're in, bullet journaling can be extremely helpful and even get you out of that dreaded writer's block. Bullet journaling doesn't have to stop at those magic words "THE END." You can use a journal to plot query submissions to agents, publishing houses, marketing, and more. So what is bullet journaling and how can you use it as a writer?

Bullet journaling is the process of using a dotted journal to track ideas, goals, tasks, and pretty much ANYTHING imaginable. For writers, that means tracking character goals, plot points, chapters and scenes, editing checklists, and more.

I used my bullet journal to plot my entire novel and I still use it today. Over the course of the next few weeks, I'll be discussing exactly what I put into my bullet journal and how you can use bullet journaling as a tool to plan, start, finish, and publish the novel of your dreams!

WELCOME!

Welcome to my blog! Are you an aspiring author? Just curious about the process? Want to learn what goes into writing a novel? Well look no further! Here, I'll be discussing how I planned, wrote, and queried my manuscript, A VEILED AND DARK DESCENT. Follow me for updates on the querying and publishing process!