#VAbook: First Page Critiques

So. I took eleventy bajillion notes during this one panel, Dancing with the Manuscripts, at The Virginia Festival of the Book.

Yes, you read that correctly. ELEVENTY BAJILLION. 

Before you run away screaming with flailing muppet arms, you should know I'm not writing all eleventy bajillion notes out here today.

You will not have to read a novel-length post if you stick around. 

Relieved?

Phew.

INSTEAD I sorted the notes into categories and simplified them into pretty pictures.       And by pretty pictures, I mean word clouds and nothing more.

But first?

An explanation:

Ahead of time, writers could submit their first 100 words to be critiqued during the session. Sadly, I did not discover this until past the deadline. But lots of other people did and I kept track of everything said about THEIR pages.

Winning Qualities for Your First Page

prose = beautiful language, active verbs, clean writing
engaging = good setup, foreshadowing, emotions evoked right away, fun to read, wanted to know more immediately

Red Card Qualities for Your First Page

(Panelists held up red cards if they didn't want to read past those first 100 words.)

prose = bad metaphors, clunky language, too many adverbs
bad description = take too long describing one thing, vague
something interesting : one panelist didn't like an entry because Hitler was referred to flippantly (the MC compared someone to Hitler), because she'd JUST been to a WWII panel, so it hit too close to home for her at the moment. timing really can be everything

Tada! 

Donzo.

In what could have been an epic-length post, I brought you pictures. (Well, really it wasn't me. It was wordle.)

QOTD: What's your favorite number. 

Mine's eleventy bajillion. 

Or nineteen.

#VAbook: Promoting Like a Pro

On Saturday, I attended The Virginia Festival of the Book.

Unlike last year (some of you might remember THIS) I wasn't alone! Cristin Terrill and Ricki Schultz came with--and it was fabulous. We went to some of the publishing panels and came back with lots of information to share.

The first panel was called Promoting Like a Pro. The panelists included:

• Jessica Francis Kane, whose novel The Report, is finalist for the 2010 Flaherty-Dunnan 1st Novel Prize. 
• Micah Nathan, the author of Losing Graceland. His debut novel, Gods of Aberdeen, became an international bestseller. He received the 2010 Saul Bellow Prize in fiction.
• Lori L. Tharps, the author of Substitute Me. She is also the author of two critically acclaimed non-fiction titles, Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America and Kinky Gazpacho: Life, Love, & Spain.
• Gene Taft, who runs GT/PR, a Washington DC public relations firm, promoting books and authors. He spent 15 years in New York working in-house for several publishers.

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REGARDING BOOK PROMOTION

Gene's guidelines/best practices:

1. The author needs to understand the publicity process. Ask questions--and then LISTEN to the answers.
2. ALWAYS cooperate
3. Use resources wisely. While money is a huge resource, time is often the most important
4. Stay focused and keep your goal(s) in mind.

Jessica: Only do what you really want to do. Don't do something solely to promote your book (ei Twitter, don't just tweet book promotional things). Let your personality shine through. 

Jessica did a radio satellite tour (a series of back to back interviews on different radio stations across the country) which really helped her land tour. People showed up to her signings/readings because they'd heard about the book on their radio!

Micah's novel has an Elvis character in it, so he contacted the top 30 Elvis Fan Clubs around the country. He sent them free copies of his book--but didn't ask for anything in return. Don't SELL. Just TALK. It gets you a lot further.

Lori: Use every opportunity to promote your book--even if it doesn't seem like an opportunity. (For instance, Micah goes around to different private schools/colleges to talk about writing. He's not speaking about his book--but still, people are interested in HIM because they learn who he is through his talks when they might never have otherwise heard of him, which leads to them becoming curious about his books... which leads to sales.)

You're promoting your writing career, not just your book.

REGARDING TIMING

Lori: Don't beat yourself up if you don't get EVERYTHING done that you want to within that 6-8 week publicity window that your publisher will set up for you. Keep promoting your book long after on your own.

Gene: Get a publicist on board as early as possible. He prefers 6 months out--that way he's able to take the time to really shape the promotional campaign.

REGARDING MONEY

Gene: Hiring a publicist is not cheap. NO less than $3-4k,  and as much as $30-40k. $6-10k will get you some help.

Put at least 50% of your advance aside to promote your book. The smaller your advance, the MORE you should set aside. 

REGARDING NEWS HOOKS, EVEN WITH FICTION

Jessica: The historic background to her novel really worked as a hook. Being able to chat about it has helped to get her interviews & such, which = sales.

Micah's hook: The 76th Birthday of Elvis! He promoted his book to coincide with Elvis's birthday, which lead to his book being reviewed/written about a LOT more than it would have.

Lori's novel about the relationship between a mother and her baby's nanny came out two months before NYC passed its first Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. She used the HOOK to get some radio interviews and other things. (Hook: Nanny Culture)

Gene: Don't JUST cater to your audience (ie: Elvis fans) because you also want to stimulate word-of-mouth with readers who aren't hardcore Elvis fans. Or people with nannies, etc. 

Set up google alerts for your topic and save the articles, so when you do publicity you:

1. have a huge library of information
2. can contact the article authors about your book to generate interest

REGARDING YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR PUBLICIST

Gene: There's a fine-line between giving someone a small nudge to get someone moving and making them scared to hear from you. Don't push too hard. 

If you don't push at all, you might be forgotten--but if you push too hard you'll be avoided. 

Lori: THANK YOUs are important. Publicists. Book Stores. Etc. 

Jessica brings treats to give to the book store workers at her readings. 

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Overall, it was a great panel. I haven't even started thinking about book promotion yet, so a lot of this really opened my eyes!

QOTD: How was your weekend?

Agent Roundtable (VA Festival of the Book)

So this is my final post about this year's Virginia Festival of the Book. Hopefully you're not sick of them yet!!

The last session that I attended was an agent roundtable where four agents discussed what they look for in writers and offered insight into the author-agent relationship. Here's who and what they had to say!

Simon Lipskar (SL) is a partner in and an agent for Writer's House. At Writer's House they work with a boutique approach. He follows passion, not trends, and compared agenting to a marriage. He also explained that the publishing industry is in a tough transition right now.

Jenny Bent (JB) has been an agent since 1992. She recently opened her own agency, The Bent Agency, and was recently joined by Susan Hawk (who reps MG/YA). Susan has 15 years in the publishing field. Some of you might remember that this was not my first time seeing Jenny. For details about the first time, click here!

Laura Rennert (LR) is a senior agent with Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Andrea Brown also follows a boutique approach to agenting. Laura's been an agent since 1998, and specializes in Picture Books through Young Adult. She holds a PhD in English Lit and taught at the college level for 8 years.

Erin Cox (EC) is a part of the Rob Weisbach Creative Management Team, an agency that opened its doors a year ago. Erin has a background in PR (fun! just like me! Okay, well KIND OF. I majored in it during college anyway...) The Rob Weisback Creative Management Team is a group of five people who concentrate on public relations, film, acquisitions for production, and editorial services. Erin prefers literary fiction, memoir, and non fiction.

So here's what they had to say!

About finding an agent:

SL: There are fantastic agents working at every kind of agency. Look for:

• Experience
• Knowledge
• Passion
• Real interest in your work

You should never pay an agent. They make money when YOU make money, not before.

Also, check out the Association of Authors' Representatives (AAR). Agents who join must follow a Cannon of Ethics. The site's also a good place to find questions to ask agents who offer you representation (there's a list of questions in the FAQs).

About ending agent relationships:

Be open and honest.

Before you leave, try and work out whatever the problem is. Communication is key!

About the agent-author relationship:

LR: Both parties should be honest about what they hope to achieve.

SL: It's a business marriage. NOT an at home marriage--please don't do unscheduled drop-ins, whether or not you're a client.

LR: Educate yourself! (About the industry and the way things are done.) It makes the relationship better.

JB: Have a list of questions to ask.

SL: Don't forget that writing is a job and you should treat it as such.

About QUERIES:

SL: Do NOT say you're novel has movie potential. He's not a big fan of traditional queries--he really likes to know the Voice of the author through the query. If you query him, send it through e-mail. SLipskar(at)writershouse.com

JB: Be yourself, don't lose your Voice. She's a fan of gimmicky queries. She can be reached at Jenny(at)thebentagency.com.  Her website is http://www.thebentagency.com/.

LR: Looks for Voice. Also wants to know who, what, where, and why should she care? For YA, why is the longing different than what's already out there? Do you have visibility? She wants to know if your blog has a large following! She can be reached at LJRennert(a)mac.com, or you can find her at http://www.andreabrownlit.com/.

EC: What will make you stand out? One line opening pitches are good, followed by a short description of what the book is about.  She can be reached at Erin(a)robweisbach.com, or http://www.robweisbach.com/.

SL: It does help to know people. Also, you should spend more time writing a good book and less time worrying about finding an agent.

Other notes:

The first three chapters need to raise questions. Don't wait til chapter 5.

Lots of agents have other day jobs.

Alright, so in the query section--did you notice the repeated word? VOICE. Agents want queries that let your Voice as an author shine through. You know who can help you with that? CJ REDWINE! She offers two week query workshops specifically designed to help your Voice come out through your query. I can not recommend you take this workshop enough. Seriously, by the end? You'll have an agent-ready query. It. Is. So. Worth. It.

Check her query workshop out here: http://queryworkshop.blogspot.com/ And if you get there fast, you could still nab one of the 3 spots left for April's workshop.

PS. CJ didn't ask me to plug her--I'm doing it on my own because her workshops are amazing.

Still reading? Wanna see some pretty pictures of the DC Cherry Blossoms? Check out my other blog! I've been posting pictures all week! http://simplysaradise.blogspot.com/

Here's a sample:

♥ me

Building New Worlds in Every Genre

After the panel on getting published (PB to YA), I attended Land Ho! Creating New Worlds in Any Genre.  The panelists were: P.J. Hoover (The Forgotten Worlds Trilogy), Keri Mikulski (The Screwball Series), Stacy Nyikos (Dragon Wishes), Barrie Summy (I So Don't Do Mysteries/Spooky/Makeup Series), and Suzanne Morgan Williams (Bull Rider).

P.J. Hoover  collects Smurfs, Bicentennial quarters, Star Trek Christmas ornaments, and antique bricks. Plus she can solve a Rubik's Cube in under 2 minutes--AND she has a black belt in Kung Fu. I've just started reading The Emerald Tablet (the first book in her Forgotten Worlds Trilogy) and am definitely enjoying it!



Kery Mukulski: A three-sport athlete in high school and two-sport athlete in college back when softballs were white, Keri worked as a personal trainer, lifeguard, registered nurse, middle school teacher, and high school coach. As an author, she set out to reach athletic students and finally give sporty girls the books they’ve been waiting for.

Stacy Nyikos started off writing a trio of picture books before deciding to take on the challenge of a novel--Dragon Wishes (I got a signed copy and it's sitting pretty close to the top of my TBR!) Next up? A YA novel called Pelorus Jack.


Barrie Summy grew up in Canada on a steady diet of books and tobogganing. She tries to read a book a week and always breaks for tea and cookies at three o'clock. She also cannot have licorice in the house. Or white cheddar cheez-it crackers. Because she won't stop eating them.

Suzanne Morgan Williams has traveled four times to the Canadian Arctic to work with Inuit people, writing The Inuit Franklin Watts, 2003, and has worked with Indian people from various tribes on books and projects. She is known for careful on site research, which for Bull Rider included interviewing professional bull riders, ranchers, and care givers who work with severely wounded veterans.


So with these notes, you'll notice I took a LOT at first and then not so much by the end. Everything was really interesting, but my hand was cramping up like whoa! I type all the time--I do not take notes all the time. So I was really just listening by the end. If you want to know more about the authors' processes who I didn't take as many notes on (especially Suzanne and Barrie), please check out their websites! They were so nice and really interesting!


Stacy was up first. She spoke about her three world building stages:


FIRST: Research. (Emotions/bare bone setting )Figure out the rules of the game. When she was starting Dragon Wishes she had to decide a lot before even starting to write. In her new world, could dragons fly? Speak? Talk to humans? What was the climate, etc. When you make the rules--NEVER break them.


SECOND: Detailed Research. Knock out the details to make sure everything is believable. What are the setting details? 


THIRD: Catch the Howlers. Mistakes. What absolutely doesn't work? What did you get wrong that will make what you've written hard for a reader to believe?  


The piece of advice I absolutely LOVED that Stacy gave was this: Give your imagination full reign before you worry about the details. Because it's SO true. Don't stunt the creativity of your story by focusing on the hows or whys at first. Hammer those out AFTER.


PJ spoke next about the research she does while building her worlds.  Her main point was that writers should GET OUT and feel the world they want to write. She's even (SHUDDER) held a tarantula and a scorpion for research. She does onsite research. To better understand how they work for her story, PJ's visited sewage treatment facilities and recycling plants. 


Find cool places and take pictures. Take it all in. Remember what it looks like. What it smells like. What it sounds like.


The three things a writer should always have?

1. A notebook for notes
2. A camera
3. An open mind

Keri was up next. She mentioned that she lived on the Jersey Shore. I wanted to ask her if she knew The Situation (GTL baby!) but I held back when I remembered that my own friends and family from the Shore don't really think I'm funny when I ask them the same thing.

Anyway. Keri writes sports into stories because, growing up an athlete, she wasn't ever able to relate to characters in books, so she wants to give today's athletic students more of an incentive to read. I think what she does is really cool--especially as a former middle school/high school teacher, I know there are sporty students who would love to read her books. Because, as Keri stated, it's not that athletes don't want to read--it's that there aren't a ton of fiction books out there featuring athletes as main characters, with sports playing a major part in the plot.

Here is a list of things to consider if you're writing a sporty book:

• KNOW THE SPORT. Either play it or confer with an expert. Because if you don't? Your readers will know in an instant.
• Keep it action packed and fast paced.
• And as with other books:
• Have plots and subplots
• A distinguished Voice
• Theme
• Characterization

Suzanne spoke next about the differences between physical landscapes and emotional ones. She made the excellent point that details are what make your fiction believable. For her book, Bull Rider (about how one boy and his family deal with the loss and grief brought on by war), she did a LOT of research. Including learning about TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) and soldiers who come home from the Iraq war suffering from it.Did you know that there are 160,000 of them? That number threw me for a huge loop.


And Barrie spoke at the end. She writes humorous Middle Grade mystery books. She spoke a lot about how settings play a role in her stories. She always makes sure that her settings play a part in the mystery clues. She uses a poster board, divided into chapters, to keep everything straight. I wish her books had been around when I was in middle school because from the Voice in the titles alone, I know I would have loved them! Um, hello: I So Don't Do Spooky. Sounds just. Like. Me. 

Okay so that's all for today. Tomorrow will be my last post on the VA Festival of the Book--but it's a good one! Everything I learned from the Agent Roundtable I went to...

♥ me

Getting Published: Picture Books to YA

As I mentioned last week, at the Virginia Festival of the Book I sat in on a panel titled: Getting Published: Picture Books to YA. The panelists, were authors Laura Rennert (Buying, Training and Caring for Your Dinosaur), Deborah Heiligman (Charles and Emma), Bonnie Doerr (Island Sting), Emily Ecton(Night of the Living Lawn Ornaments), and Ruth Spiro (Lester Fizz, Bubble-Gum Artist).


Laura Rennert (LR) is an author--AND an agent (in fact she reps one of our very own!) Buying, Training and Caring for your Dinosaur was actually Laura's daughter's wish. Another thing that I thought was really cool about Laura was this: She submitted her manuscript to publishers under a different name--because she didn't want the fact that she's an agent to impact the assessment she received on her work! She only confessed that she was the author when an offer was made on the book! 

Deborah Heiligman(DH)  writes mostly nonfiction and has published 27 books (5 of which are fiction). She got started by writing articles in Scholastic News--she fell in love with writing for kids. She quit when she started her family but continued writing on her own.

Bonnie Doerr (BD) wrote a "tween" novel called Island Sting. Her passion for writing came out of being a reading teacher. She's a nature fanatic and her her novels celebrate caring, involved, “green” teens who take action with attitude and a touch of romance.

Emily Ecton (EE) is a Middle Grade teacher with a degree in playwriting. She's also  a writer and producer for Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me!, 
the NPR news.

Ruth Spiro (RS) started writing in 2001 as a stay at home mom. Her stories have also been published in popular anthologies, notably The Right Words at the Right Time, Volume 2: Your Turn, edited by Marlo Thomas, and several Chicken Soup for the Soul titles.  She especially loves writing for children, and her picture book, Lester Fizz: Bubble Gum Artist, will be published by Dutton.


Just like at the Science Fiction panel, a moderator asked questions and the panelists answered. I have to be honest--I didn't take a ton of notes during this panel. It moved rather quickly and I didn't want to pay attention to what I was writing and miss anything that was shared. But here are the things that I did capture:

QUESTION: What advice do you have for getting published?

LR: Do your homework--present yourself professionally. A good place to do that homework? Publishers Market Place.


BD: Be determined and persistent. Develop thick skin.


DH: Work on your craft. No matter how many contacts you might have in the industry, you still need to write the best book possible.


RS: Get out there as much as possible. Get involved. Go to signings. Meet as many people as you can.


EE: Read in the genre you're trying to write.

QUESTION: Do you need an agent to get published?

LR: Fewer publishing houses are accepting unagented manuscripts these days. Agents help a lot with the editorial/revision process and they have good contacts in the industry--a business that's constantly growing. Agents work not on one book, but on your entire career.


BD: Doesn't have an agent, but wishes she'd had one. She is happy with her publishing company though--she had a lot of say in her book's design.


RS: It is possible to sell without an agent. Especially if you meet editors at conferences--she has a list of editors who are willing to read her work. However, she's thinking about searching for an agent because it's much easier to make writing a career if you have one.


DH: Her agent kicks her butt! Agents are incredible support systems.

QUESTION: Something about Picture Books...

LR: Picture books are created for ages 0-9. Words and pictures play an equal part.  90% of fiction picture book authors have nothing to do with the artwork. Currently, the sweet spot for picture books that are selling are for ages 4-6 (400-1000 words). Picture books say a lot with a little.

RESOURCES FOR WRITERS:

Nancy Lamb: The Writer's Guide to Crafting Stories for Children (Especially good for word count guidelines.)


Thomas Nelson: Writing a Winning Book Proposal (Click for a free download!)


Association of Authors' Representatives (AAR) Website--questions to ask potential agents


Predators and Editors Website

FINAL NOTE:

All of the panelists spoke about the benefits to attending conferences. Making contacts in the industry and branching out can really put you on the right track toward publication. Of course, you've got to have a great book too =)




PS I found the images on the authors' webpages!




♥ me

Science Fiction: Other Places, Other Universes

One quick note: If you like cherry blossoms, I've posted several shots I took during sunrise last Friday on my other blog: Simply Saradise. I'll be updating it with more for the next few days!

I mentioned last week that I'd gone to several panels at the Virginia Festival of the Book. Science Fiction: Other Places, Other Universes being one of them. The panelists were: David Louis Edelman (Infoquake), Katherine Kurtz (Deryni Series), and Kim Harrison (White Witch, Black Curse). 

David Louis Edelman (DLE) wrote Infoquake (think: Doon meets the Wall Street Journal). The novel is half satire, half serious about running software on human bodies. Natch, the MC is an amoral entrepreneur.

Katherine Kurtz (KK) wrote the Deryni Series--a 10th & 11th century medieval fantasy, set in the land of Gwynedd, one of the fictional Eleven Kingdoms, about both humans and Deryni, a race of people with inherent psychic and magical abilities. (I LOVED this series--though I misplaced it during one of my many post-college moves. I'll get it again someday soon for sure.) She wrote the Adept Series--set in present day Scottland, and she's also got an urban fantasy coming out called St. Patrick's Gargoyle--set in Dublin with the premise that gargoyles used to be God's avenging angels. 

Kim Harrison (KH) writes The Hollows series (think: Buffy meets Columbo)--set in an alternate reality in the 40s. The series will cap after book 12--not because the publisher mandates it, but because Kim is ready to move on to something else. She's also started a young adult series, staring 17-year-old Madison Avery, who is killed by a "dark reaper" named Kairos on her prom night. But by stealing Kairos's amulet in the process, Madison manages to retain her soul.

The moderator asked questions and the panelists answered. Here are the questions and responses:

QUESTION: Do you write people that you know into books?

KH: Bits and pieces of other people and lots of myself

KK: You can't help but have parts of people. I give villains names of people that piss me off. A close fan friend passed away and I wrote her into my current book as a mother--the friend had always wanted to be a mother, but never had the chance.

DLE: Started as a dot-commer and used the dot com employee patterns in Infoquake. Once, around 1998, my boss refused to pay $75 for electricity at a trade show. Instead he brought an extension cord and stole the electricity from someone else. (I believe he said he wrote this into his book.)

QUESTION: How do you handle writer's block?

KH: It doesn't happen often to me. When it does, it's usually when I try to make a character do something they wouldn't really do. If that happens, I'll either rewrite the scene or create a history for the character so that their actions would make sense.  I outline all of my novels--I don't always necessarily stick to the the outline, but I replot it when I need to. I also always write the dialogue first and then go back and fill in the blanks.

KK: Unconscious causes writer's block. When it strikes, I play with my characters--look at their geneological charts to determine interactions that make sense. I also stick to a writing schedule.

DLE: Editor deadlines help writer's block. I also set goals.

QUESTION: Something about outlining the worlds of your story--world building...

KH: I build a part of the world and then throw a character into it. The two grow together.

KK: Planning only gets you so far. The world doesn't actually exist until you write it.

DLE: Plotting and writing go hand in hand.

KK: Build the bones of your story and start flushing it out.

QUESTION: Who are your influences?

KH: Robert Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke. I consider myself a science fiction writer--though  my novels are urban fantasy--because I set up the pacing a lot like science fiction novels. Characters are killed off, etc.  

KK: History is fascinating because of the people who made this stuff happen. Dune made a huge impact on me. Robert Heinlein also.

DLE: Frank Herbert, Arthur C. Clarke, Tolkien, Ursula Le Guin, Stephen Donaldson. William Gibson is my current influence.

QUESTION: What is the most tedious part of the writing process for you?

DLE: Getting from awesome scene A to awesome scene B. The "fill in" stuff. Granted, after rewrites, I end up enjoying what I used to consider filler.

KK: Figuring out where to start and rewriting chapters when you belatedly realize you have to start sooner.

KH: Page proofing nuts and bolts. GRAMMAR. 

QUESTION: Do you correlate music with writing/characters?

KH: I use music to help me figure out characters--I think it helps to free my subconscious.

KK: I don't use music to help with writing because I only listen to music that I love and when I listen to it, I don't want to be doing anything else! I sometimes use gregorian chants. I did use Song for Athena to help write a funeral scene.

DLE: I don't listen to music while writing either. I often find that writing goes at its own musical pace and real music would compete with it.

And then the panel was out of time, so the panelists wrapped up.  So there ya have it!   

♥ me

VA Festival of the Book 1

Two weekends ago I went to the Virginia Festival of the Book.  For those of you who don't know what it is (from the festival website):

The mission of the Virginia Festival of the Book is to bring together writers and readers and to promote and celebrate books, reading, literacy, and literary culture.

Programs range from traditional author readings and book signings to a StoryFest day of children's authors and storybook characters; from a panel on how to publish a novel to a discussion on running a book club; from a workshop on book-binding to a discussion on freelancer's rights. All programs are open to the public; with the exception of a few ticketed events, programs are free of charge.

Basically, I got to sit in on industry panels and meet awesome authors and try to overcome my ridiculousness shyness (aka completely debilitating fear to do things by myself when I don't know anyone). Yeah, the shyness thing? TOTALLY backfired. But I'll save that for tomorrow's Friday Funny. 

Moving on.

Here are the panels I attended:

Science Fiction: Other Places, Other Universes
David Louis Edelman (Infoquake), Katherine Kurtz (Deryni Series), and Kim Harrison (White Witch, Black Curse) talked about their books, writing processes, influences--and, you know, science fiction/fantasy

Book Signing
Kim Harrison--author of eight thriller and fantasy books, including the start of a YA series (Madison Avery)

Getting Published: Picture Books to YA
Laura Rennert (Buying, Training and Caring for Your Dinosaur), Deborah Heiligman (Charles and Emma), Bonnie Doerr (Island Sting), Emily Ecton (Night of the Living Lawn Ornaments), and Ruth Spiro (Lester Fizz, Bubble-Gum Artist) spoke about their books and publishing processes.

Land Ho! Creating New Worlds in Any Genre
P.J. Hoover (The Forgotten Worlds Trilogy), Keri Mikulski (The Screwball Series), Stacy Nyikos (Dragon Wishes), Barrie Summy, (I So Don't Do Myseries/Spooky/Makeup Series) Suzanne Morgan Williams (Bull Rider) shared their tips for creating believable worlds--in everything from fantasy to nonfiction.

Agent Roundtable
Agents Jenny Bent, Erin Cox, Laura Rennert, and Simon Lipskar discussed what they look for in writers and insight into the author-agent relationship.

Needless to say I'm gonna share everything I learned! Next week. I just wanted to let ya know what's to come. Well, okay let's be honest... It's mostly because I started to type it all out in this post and, um, yeah. Holy long post.


♥ me