Who and Where are You at Write On Con?

*Photo by Jenny Kaczorowski 
(Creative Commons License & she’d like you to use her photos!) 

Write On Con doesn’t officially start until next week, but the forums are already in full swing!  I have friends set up and I’m trying to follow twitter links, but I thought it would be helpful for people to post here and keep it all in one place.  (See my post on Ten Tips for Write On Con here.)

So, if you’d like everyone to come find you and comment on your posts, please leave any or all of the following in a comment . . .

Your real name
Your twitter handle
**Your Write On Con forum user name
What genre you write
A one line pitch
**Links to your posts in the forums (query, first 250, first 5 pages, synopsis)
Links to your website or blog

You’ll find me over there as myidea!  And I’m @writeforapples on twitter.

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Ten Tips for Write On Con 2012

I participated in this awesome conference last year, so I thought I’d share a few tips for those joining in on the fun at Write On Con 2012- August 14th & 15th.

*Photo by Manu Mohan

1.  Sign up for the newsletter and the forums.  You should do this before the conference even begins.  You can even start posting in the forums.

2. There are threads to post your query and first 250 words. (You can also post a synopsis and first 5 pages.) This is a great chance to get feedback on your work.  You can also edit based on comments and get additional feedback on the new versions.

3.  If you put up both a query and the first 250 words, make sure they link to each other so people can find them easily.  (Of course, include the synopsis or first 5 pages if you do those too.)  Because, let’s face it, when you read a great query, you want to read more!

Here’s how-

Once you have both posts up, copy the urls and paste them on Notepad or in Word.  Go back and edit your posts and add something at the bottom like, “Read the first 250 words here” with a link to the post.

4.  You can also add links in your signature and you should.  That means people can find all of your work, whether it’s your own post or when you comment on someone else’s.  You can also add your title and pitch.  Last year, my signature line looked like this.

MG Query ~ MG First 250 ~ PB Query

www.teachersidea.com ~ @writeforapples ~ www.writeforapples.com

Here’s how-

Go to Forum Actions, then Edit Profile.  Under My Settings on the left, choose Edit Signature.  (You’ll need those urls you copied above.)  Whenever you post or make a comment, make sure you have the box checked to insert signature.

5. Comment in the forums!  It’s so much fun to read everyone’s work and you get to help them out at the same time. 

Again, make sure you link to to your query, first 250 words, and website/blog/twitter handle so people can find you and return the favor.

6. Check the schedule.  There are so many great things that go on on during this conference.  Seriously.  There are live chats, where you can ask questions or simply lurk, pitch opportunities, and plenty of chances to learn.

It’s all still available later if you can’t be there for it, but some things are time sensitive.

7.  Don’t forget the giveaways! They had some fantastic prizes last year.

8.  Want to know when and where the ninja agents are lurking?  At the bottom of the forum and the sub-forums (MG, YA, etc.) it shows who is online.  Look for “Ninja Agent ______.”  You can also go to Quick Links and then Who’s Online?

OR Go to Community and Member List.  Find the ninja agents and go to each profile page.  It will tell you their current activity, including what they’re doing at that moment.  If you choose “find all posts” you can see where they’ve commented.

9.  Take a few notes.  This is a great opportunity to get that personal first line when you send out your query letter.  Look for those tidbits from agents during chats and forum posts and let them know you learned a lot from them at Write On Con!  It’s also a great way to help you find agents that might be interested in your work.  (Some agents who are closed to queries will let you submit as a conference attendee.)

10.  Have fun!  I learned so much last year, got great feedback, and met some fantastic writers.  I won’t be looking for an agent this year (Soooo happy to have signed with the amazing Kerry Sparks!- story here.), but I’m still really looking forward to the conference.

And by the way, it’s all FREE! 

I hope to see you there!  (Stop by and say hello- I’m myidea.)

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Literary Powerhouse Workshops

I recently took an online webinar with Marisa Corvisiero and really enjoyed it.  Soon after, I wrote to tell her I’d love to help spread the word for future workshops.  

The class I signed up for was about finding and keeping an agent.  Ironically, when it came time for the class, I had just gotten an offer.  So, while I knew most of the “finding an agent” info, it was great timing to hear a little more about the process of signing with and working with an agent.  We were all able to ask questions too.

*Photo by Channah

There are two upcoming classes, so if you’re interested, be sure to take a look!

First Two Page Critique – August 7th
Instructor Marisa Corvisiero

How to Become a Successful Freelance Writer – August 31st
Instructor- Jill Elaine Hughes

From the Literary Powerhouse Website:

Marisa A. Corvisiero is an attorney, a co-founder and consultant at Literary Powershouse Consulting and the founder and literary agent at the Corvisiero Literary Agency where she represents authors from countries throughout the globe in a wide spectrum of genres in fiction and non-fiction with sales to traditional and e-publishers raging from Harlequin and Baen Books, to Ellora’s Cave and others.

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And the Winner is . . .

The winner of a 1st page critique from Amanda Lewis is

Christina (@ChristinaFerko)!

Congratulations!

Thank you to everyone who entered and I wish you luck in your query adventure!!

(Winner has been e-mailed.)

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Win a Critique from Agent Amanda Lewis!

Here we are at the top of my list of favorite things as a writer and I’ve saved the best for last.

As aspiring authors, few things are as precious as positive, helpful, honest-to-goodness genuine feedback on our work. Even rejections with a short, but helpful comment can keep a writer going. And in a business of busy people, getting thousands of query letters a year, feedback is often hard to come by.

Meet the awesome Amanda Lewis and enter below to win a query or first page critique!

From the agency website- AMANDA LEWIS handles primarily children’s books, including young adult and middle-grade fiction and non-fiction, picture books, and children’s reference. She especially loves a good adventure, mystery, or young adult love story with offbeat characters. Before coming to The Doe Coover Agency, Amanda was Director of Special Sales at Candlewick Press.

I queried Amanda early on in my search and she quickly requested and read my manuscript.  The next day, she sent her thoughts, along with the option to revise and resubmit.  I was so thrilled with her notes, which were spot on, that I dove into revisions right away.  Everything fit smoothly, I loved the changes, and it was a much better manuscript for it.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t a fit for us, but I will always be grateful for her help along my road as a writer.  (See my story here, if you’re so inclined.)  Plus, she was super friendly, quick, and professional in all our communications. Ladies and gentlemen, this lady should be on your query list!

So, there you have it.  My favorite “favorite thing” as a writer is the encouraging feedback that reminds us to believe in ourselves and inspires us to keep going.  Agents and critique partners, we appreciate it more than you know. 

CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.  THANKS FOR ENTERING!

To enter . . .

Leave a comment below with your choice of a query or first page critique and your genre.  It must be a genre she represents.

Please leave your e-mail or twitter handle so I can find you.


****Bonus entries!***** (For current subscribers too.)

Please leave a separate comment for each entry, including each time you tweet. I’ll only be keeping track of what’s in the comments.

1. Share your title and one line pitch. We’d love to hear it and you never know who might stop by.

2.  Become a follower at www.writeforapples.com.  (Over to the left.)

3. Sign up for the I Write for Apples feed or e-mail feed. (Over to the left.)

2. Follow on twitter @writeforapples

3. Tweet about this giveaway- You can add an extra entry every time you tweet it! Use the hashtag #WritersWin in your tweet.

Please leave your twitter handle in the comment.

Good luck! 

Winner will be drawn by random.org.
Contest ends at 11:59 PM EST on Thursday, July 12, 2012.

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A Giveaway, to Celebrate!!

Enter below to win some great things you can add to your writer’s toolbox. For more info on those favorites, click here.

*Winners have been chosen and contacted.  Thank you for entering!!

I love the writing communities I’ve become a part of.  The support, encouragement, and information writers offer each other is amazing.  To say thank you and to celebrate my recent agent news, I’m doing a giveaway of a few of my favorite things as a writer.  (My agent story here!)

And stay tuned, because a giveaway for my favorite “favorite thing” is coming next!

To enter, you’ll be asked to link to another writer who helped you on your path in some way.  My shout outs go to . . .

Ann Marie Walker, who is always bringing writers and readers together in some way.  Her fun contests, friendly personality, and passion for writing made me instantly gravitate toward her.  And when I found out how awesome her book sounds, I was hooked!  It’s about the 80s and celebrity crushes- when can I read it?!  Head over to her blog at http://annmariewalker.blogspot.com/ 
and follow her on twitter @AnnMarie_Walker!

Kat Brauer is a YA writer who organizes a big auction every year to help give people clean water.  It’s an amazing campaign with critiques by agents and authors and Kat offers her services with her fabulous Kat Crits.  I know they’re fabulous because she critiqued my WIP!  She’s spunky and fun and always encouraging.  Find her blog at http://katbrauer.com/, contribute to Crits for Water at http://critsforwater.katbrauer.com/, and follow her on twitter @katbrauer!

Want to join the fun?  Here’s how . . .

1. Become a follower at www.writeforapples.com.

AND

2. Leave a comment below with a link to another writer’s blog, twitter handle, or website.  It can be anyone who has inspired you, become a new writing friend, or even made you laugh when you needed it.  If you’d like, briefly tell us why you picked him/her. 

In the same comment, in order of preference, copy and paste anything in the list below that you’d love to win:

Scrivener for Mac
Scrivener for PC
Query Tracker premium 1 year membership
Emotion Thesaurus
Kat Crit of 5,000 words (donation goes to Crits for Water!)

Leave your e-mail or twitter handle if you don't have a blogger ID. Bloggers- you must have a public profile and listed e-mail for me to find you.

****Bonus entries!***** (For current subscribers too.)

Leave a separate comment for each entry, including each time you tweet.  I’ll only be keeping track of what’s in the comments.

*Sign up for the I Write for Apples feed or e-mail feed. (Over to the left.)

*Follow on twitter @writeforapples

*Tweet about this giveaway- You can add an extra entry every time you tweet it!  Use the hashtag #WritersWin in your tweet. 
Please leave your twitter handle in the comment.

Open to everyone!
Contest ends at 11:59 PM EST on Thursday, July 5, 2012.

*Products were donated by Scrivener.

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A Few of My Favorite Things . . .

Want to win one?  Stay tuned for details!

Scrivener

I just started using Scrivener and it has already saved me from the many files and folders that tend to form when I’m working on a project.  Everything is easily accessible, whenever I need it, from one screen.

From their website, “Scrivener is a powerful content-generation tool for writers that allows you to concentrate on composing and structuring long and difficult documents. While it gives you complete control of the formatting, its focus is on helping you get to the end of that awkward first draft.”

Kat Crit for Crits for Water

I donated to the campaign in 2011 and her critiques were always thorough, helpful, and spot on. Plus, she’s super quirky and I love it. :) I’ll donate again and you might just get a Kat Crit of 5,000 words.

From Kat, “Any genre is okay! Though I specialize in YA and romance.”

Query Tracker Premium Membership for 1 Year

Query Tracker is so helpful for researching agents, keeping track of the query process, and connecting with other writers.  A premium membership gives you additional features and helps support a great site!

The Emotion Thesaurus

I loved using the The Emotion Thesaurus on the website and now that the book is out, it’s even better.  It’s super easy to hop around from one entry to another and it’s full of great ideas!

From their website, “The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression is a writer’s best friend, helping to navigate the difficult terrain of showing character emotion. Through an easy-to-use list format, this brainstorming tool explores seventy-five emotions and provides a large selection of body language, internal sensations, actions and thoughts associated with each.”

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I Have an Agent!! Did I Just Say That?

I can’t believe I am actually posting my very own 
“How I Got My Agent” story!  Here goes . . .

Shortly after I started writing Locker 43, I joined Query Tracker and started a list of agents.  I broke them down by what they represented and then added notes after scouring for interests like “magical” and “quirky.”  Don’t be fooled, I am not always so organized- which is why I started the list so early and added as I went along.

In March, when my manuscript was finally finished and polished, I started submitting.  About a week later, I had a full request, which turned into an R&R the next day.  The notes helped me get the manuscript in even better shape and I'm so grateful for the agent’s feedback.  Over the next couple of months, a handful of partials, fulls, and plenty of rejections came and went.

At the end of May, I had a not-so-fun couple of weeks with a pass on the R&R, some brutal feedback, and contests with a lack of helpful comments.  Even with fulls still out, that feeling of doubt was starting to surface. 

The first Monday of June, I received a request for a full, which was a complete surprise since it had been quite a while since I sent the query.  I may have done a happy dance.  :)

I sent it off to the mysterious Land of Requests where the other fulls were hanging out and I was determined to wait for feedback before sending out any more queries.  I know this is crazy talk, but I didn’t mind the waiting.  It meant I still got to be hopeful, and I could live with that for a bit.  (That does not mean I didn’t check e-mail frequently and panic at the sight of “RE: QUERY- Locker 43” in the subject line.)

Then it happened.  It happened.  A week later, while I was out on the deck working on my laptop,

Ok, so this isn’t my deck, but I’m taking some creative liberty here.

that little box that tells me I have an e-mail popped up in the lower right of my screen, with only the following showing, “Dear Deanna, I enjoyed Locker 43, and . . .”

And.  Not but.  Not unfortunately.  Oh boy, this could go either way, I thought to myself. 

I clicked it open and there it was. “Would you be available for a chat . . .” 

THE Call was great.  I loved her thoughts on the book and her enthusiasm for it. The ideas in the story that were really important to me, were the same ones she pointed out.  I was insanely excited, yet completely at ease at the same time.

The next week was so much more than I expected.  After I sent out the standard “Offer of representation” emails, there were more requests for fulls, and then more offers.  Fantastic offers. 

For this super important decision, I let the analytic side of me take over for a bit to find out all the details.  Then, after all the research, emails, calls with agents, and chats with friends, I stopped and listened to the wise Yoda. 

“Already know you that which you need.”

“Use your feelings, Obi-Wan, and find him you will.”

I am thrilled to announce that I am now represented by the fabulous Kerry Sparks of the Levine Greenberg Literary Agency!!!!!!!

That’s me. That’s the contract!

I’ve been waiting to use these exclamation points, so please forgive me for going a bit overboard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has supported me, given me encouragement, and become a new writing friend.  I am so excited for the journey. 

Stats for those who crave them . . .

Queries Sent- 45
Requests- 12 (5 partials, 8 fulls-1 partial to full)
Rejections- 29
No Response- 13
Offers- 3

Photo credits: Illustration by Jef Bettens and photo by Ifi Dafni

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Inspiring Stories- Getting Their Agents

I love when Twitter is abuzz with tweets announcing writers getting their agents. It’s so exciting to see someone from the trenches reach that fabulous goal of opening THE email and getting THE call. 
This list began because I love hearing these stories and I keep it going so there’s a whole lot of inspiration in one place. Whenever you need it.  :)

Stay positive and let these stories inspire you to keep going! When I started collecting this list, I had no idea I’d soon be putting mine on it!

I know there are so many more, so please share if you have a link to one- maybe even your own!


How they got their agents . . . (Click the name for the story!)


Recently posted stories . . .

Laurel Amberdine  
Jackie Yeager 
Stephanie Faris
Rachel Horwitz 
Rachel Bateman

Lots more . . .

Ann Bedichek
Rachel Allen
Cindy Thomas -and her query stats here
Stephanie Diaz
Jennifer Malone
Heidi Schulz
Kelsey Macke
Gail Nall
Stephanie Scott
Elaine Vickers
Holly VanDyne
Me. :)
Lori Goldstein
Jayme Woods
Karma Brown
Marieke Nijkamp
Veronica Bartles
Ami Allen-Vath
Erin Petti
Sarah Ahiers
Abby Cooper
Rachel Simon
Keely Hutton
Christie Murillo

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Agent Contests

 

I don’t stay on top of contests these days, so be sure to check out the links below. :)

**Carissa Taylor keeps a list of upcoming contests in her Contest Madness post.

**For a roundup of lots of other contests, go check out The Art of Infiltration blog.

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