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Writing a novel isn't magic. I'd like to say that anyone can write a book--and truly, almost anyone can. The trick is sticking with it, making it good, and getting it published.

Ah, there's the rub. Frequently when someone asks me "How do you write a book?" what they're really asking is "How do I get a book published?"

There are a thousand ways to answer that, but the most honest on is once a book is that no one can guarantee publication. Once a book is at a certain level of competency, no matter how good it is, or how many books you've written or previously published, sometimes what separates a book that gets a book deal from one that doesn't comes down to luck.

You can't control luck, but there are a number of things that will make it easier if you want to write a book that has a chance of traditional publication, or of successful indie publication.

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In the language of a recent Suits episode, I'm a "grinder" rather than a "rainmaker." Writing doesn't come easily for me, and I spend countless hours staring at sentences and rewriting them fourteen times, only to discover that the first version was probably the best. I add layers, and subplots, and symbolism, and connect the dots through sheer hard grunt work.

Sometimes I hate writing.

But then there are the rare flashes of brilliance that I swear don't come from me. The moments of magic when there's a muse on my shoulder. Or a miracle. Or all of the above. That's the part of writing that makes the rest worthwhile.

We all want more of those creative insights, but how do we get them?


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The lovely Angela Ackerman wrote a brilliant post last week about characters with secrets, and she was kind enough to mention Compulsion in it. The got me thinking about why both readers and writers love secrets, and it led me to an epiphany that's going to change how I approach character development.

I'm starting a new book outside of the trilogy. A brand new book with brand new characters. Isn't that bizarre? This week, I turned in the final book of the trilogy. I'm trying to spend my days not hyperventilating while I wait for my agent and editor to chime in. It's such a bittersweet moment. I'm done, but I'm also done. I'm going to miss this world and these characters. I know them so well. I know their secrets, their hopes, their fears, their vulnerabilities.

That's the key. Secrets make us vulnerable. The people who know our secrets are the ones who hold our sense of self-worth, our relationships, our very futures, in their hands. But the people who know our  vulnerabilities and handle them with care, the people who see the ugliness in us and like us anyway, those are the people who come to care about us. Those are our friends.

A reader can forgive a character almost anything as long as they understand why that character did what she did. They want to see the character be vulnerable.

Vulnerability is what creates connection. So how do you use that to create a riveting character?

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Last Thursday, I was honored to give a keynote for the Literacy Council of Northern Virginia at their annual recognition event. The Literacy Council is an amazing group of volunteers who provide basic reading, writing, speaking and English comprehension to empower people to participate more fully in their neighborhoods and larger communities. In addition to the speech I was privileged to give, I got to hear some of the award-winning essays written by the program's participants, and read more in the event program. And it was truly humbling and uplifting.

The event meant a lot to me, because I came to this country unable to speak English. My parents learned English at night while working and trying to raise families, and they did it for the same reason that moved me in the essays the students shared at LCNV--because they wanted freedom, opportunity, and the hope for a better life for their children.

Working Harder

When you hear that someone who was a nurse, or a teacher for 22 years, and they give that up to start all over again, you realize the value of what we have here. It makes me count the many blessings I have, and want to dig in even harder with my writing. And it makes me want to pay it forward, because I've been so very, very lucky.

I never imagined getting to work on the Heirs of Watson Island series with Simon Pulse, and I never imagined how big this blog would get.

Paying it Forward

For five years now, Adventures blog has been a place where I've been able to share not only my thoughts about writing and insight about what I'm learning, but also insight and advice from many other authors. Because I believe you can't be a writer without being a reader, we've shared new book releases each week, author interviews, and giveaways. We've launched the First Five Pages Workshop, and spun off a new writing contest site to help writers get agented and get their work polished for submission, and I've also been fortunate to work on a separate venture called YASeriesInsiders.com with a cast of amazing authors. As Adventures has grown, I've been lucky to find some amazing new contributors to bring in, and we now have an INCREDIBLE team.

Welcome New Arrivals

When we went hunting for one intern a few weeks ago, we received so many submissions that we ended up creating positions for a lot of people. As a result, AYAP has a brand new set of social media channels!

• Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/ayaplit/
• Tumblr: http://adventuresinyapublishing.tumblr.com
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/ayaplit/
• Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ayap
• Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/adventuresinyapub

They're all still brand-new works-in-progress, but stay tuned! There are wonderful things coming. Want to see who's responsible for what? We're thrilled to welcome our recent arrivals: Jen Fisher, Kristin Sandoval, Elizabeth Pagel-Hogan, Sandra Held, Lindsey Hodder, Sam Taylor, and Anisaa Denise. Check out their bios and job descriptions on our About Us page!

More Intern and Contributor Opportunities

In addition to adding new people here at Adventures, we've also added contributors for Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest at http://www.YASeriesInsiders.com, as well as a new Contributor and Interview Coordinator. And we're still interested in adding people. We're going to be tying in the content a bit more with Adventures, so that means even more great interviews and giveaways, but also lots of fun ways to express our love of books from the reader side of the equation.

If you'd like to be considered, please send your resume to yaseriesinsiders (at) gmail dot com.

This Week's Giveaway

The Wrath and the Dawn
by Renée Ahdieh
Hardcover
G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Released 5/12/2015

A sumptuous and epically told love story inspired by A Thousand and One Nights

Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi's wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend.

She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.

Purchase The Wrath and the Dawn at Amazon
Purchase The Wrath and the Dawn at IndieBound
View The Wrath and the Dawn on Goodreads

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Before I get to today's post, I have to tell you that Adventures has been honored by Writer's Digest Magazine with a listing in their 101 Best Websites for Writer's issue!

This is the third year in a row, and I want to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful team that we have in place here. Lisa Gail Green, Jocelyn Rish, Susan Sipal, Shelly Zevlever, Erin Cashman, and Jan Lewis, thank you all so much for the amazing work you do day in and day out. Thank you also to Alyssa Hamilton, who has unfortunately recently left us to concentrate on her studies, and to all the authors and publicists who provide the wonderful interviews, guest posts, and giveaways, and thank you to all of YOU--the readers. This is the best kind of team effort!


I've wanted to be a writer most of my life, but the word "author" really didn't enter into that equation. Not because I didn't want to be one, but because I had no perspective of what it meant. All I wanted was to get put words on a page and bring characters and ideas to life. Raise a few questions, connect a few thoughts.

Beyond publication, there is a whole world of things that go into being an author. I'm goodish at some of them. The things that are similar to the business world, those I can handle, and I love, love, love talking books and writing, anytime, anywhere. I love helping people. But the rest?

• Pre-publication publicity and marketing
• Interviews and guest posts
• Getting and navigating reviews 
• Pre-order giveaways
• Blog tours
• Launch parties
• Book tours and events
• Engaging with publicists
• Ongoing post-publication publicity and marketing
• Subbing to book festivals or responding to invitation

And that doesn't include writing the next book or editing the current one. Learning to write better books. All at the same time.

It's a lot.

Don't get me wrong, it's a mind-blowing honor and a wonderful opportunity, but the problem is there is no guidebook for this portion of the journey.

I'm going to the RT Convention in Dallas in a few weeks. And the more I think about it, the more I get hot flutters of panic. It's such a HUGE event. People dress up, and I don't really know anyone well. The social and the event side of publishing always make me feel completely inadequate.

Don't get me wrong, everyone I've met in the book world is truly nice. Really nice. But I'm a little shy, and when I'm nervous, I tend to babble, or fall back on things I know. What I know is business, and organization, and timetables, and how to get things packaged and put together. Which means that most of the time, working with other authors, I feel like an idiot.

Being an author is scary. It's a whole new career, and I'm on the bottommost rung, and the rest of the rungs are shrouded in mist.

Thinking about going to the RT Convention, it occurred to me that I haven't felt this way since I was a teen. Lost and confused and inadequate. Afraid. Convinced I would never be good enough. Afraid that people would laugh at me, or no one would talk to me. Afraid that I would fall on my face or make an idiot of myself.

Back when I was a teenager, I wouldn't have admitted those fears. Maybe that's the difference. I would have buttoned them inside myself.

Today, I know that everyone falls on their faces. I know that it's pulling myself up after I fall that makes me stronger.

Maybe this fear will be a good reminder for when I write. I'm writing some scary scenes for Barrie, and this third book has made me nervous. Stepping into the climax, it's good to connect back to being afraid. Hopefully, it will make me a better writer.

Thinking about going to the RT Convention, it has been tempting to cancel. I've considered it several times.

But I won't.

Because fear is good. Fear pushes us. New things stretch us.

SOUND OFF!

So tell me. What are you afraid of?

THIS WEEK'S GIVEAWAY

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It's been almost three months since COMPULSION hit the shelves. Those of you who know me know that being "published" is something I've dreamed of all my life. I didn't really set out with a plan until 2010, but what can I say, I'm a late bloomer. And I still remember how HARD it was to figure out where to start. How all the information swirling at me about how to write, and what to write, and how to get an agent, and how to get published just made me more confused. That's why this blog exists; it's a place where I and a few friends started trying to figure out how to become less mystified by the whole publishing thing.

Now that I'm on this side of the publication process, am I any less confused? Not really, but I've learned a few things that surprised me.

1. Not much changes . . . I may have fought for publication for years, but my day-to-day life is the same sleep-deprived, yoga-pants-wearing, living-on-coffee-and-Nutella existence that it was before my novel was published. I still get to scrub toilets, struggle with income taxes, and study brilliant books by my favorite authors that make me achingly aware of how far I still have to go with this whole writing thing.

2. Everything changes . . .The book exists in bookstores. My friends and family stop by the book section at Target when they’re shopping for groceries, and they email me photos of my book beside books by real authors authors I love authors my friends and family have actually heard of. Some people buy the book. Some even read it. And they tell me, “I’m reading your book,” or “I love your book,” or they send me these amazing reviews, and my brain grinds to a stop Every. Single. Time, because I don't have the grace or the words for the surprise and gratitude and overwhelmingness that goes along with what I feel.

3. Readers bring their own lives into every story . . . Of course, I knew that, because I’m a reader, too, and I know how much books have always meant to me. But I didn’t anticipate how it would feel to get a message from someone who bares themselves and thanks me for mirroring something they have felt, or for taking them out of a hard place in their lives. Meeting readers as an author, online or in person, is a constant, joyful surprise. Every note or comment from a reader is like unwrapping a gift. Except when it's not.

4. Reviews are fascinating . . . Even the worst reviews show just how much the filter of a reader’s life brings into their own, individual reading experience. And no matter how much the reviewer loved the story, or enjoyed it, or hated it—no matter how much they hoped it would be more like something else, or how late they stayed up reading it past their intended bedtime, the simple truth is that they still read my book. The book that I made up inside my head. Which is awe-inspiring and gratifying and deeply humbling.

5. It’s not a hobby anymore . . . The friends and family who used to secretly exchange she’s-a-bit-delusional-but-we-love-her-anyway smiles (the sort of smile familiar to every writer or artist), those same doubters suddenly see my writing as a “serious endeavor.” They expect me to know unknowable things, like how my book is doing or who’s reading it. They also ask helpful questions like, “Is there going to be a movie deal?” or “Now that you’ve written this, are you going to try a real (aka “adult”) novel?” I'm also constantly aware that I have an agent, editor, publisher, and readers who are expecting me to write another book. Fast. And all the time, I'm trying to manage my expectations, because I know how lucky I have been so far, and it mystifies me. But I keep looking over my shoulder for luck to run out.

6. There’s no “easy button” for writing a book . . . There are a few things I've learned about writing in the course of getting the first book through the publication process. I’ve learned to focus more structure and on painting specific images and emotions in a reader’s mind than on the sound of pretty words strung together. I know that editors and copyeditors are my safety net and that everyone . . . everyone! . . . at a publishing company works long, hard hours trying to get a book into the hands of the specific readers most likely to enjoy it. But I still know nothing about how to write a book in less than eight drafts. I am struggling with the third book as much as I did with the first two, and all I can do is put my head down, keep writing, and hope that readers will love my weird, quirky characters as much as I do.

7. You’re a writer because you write . . . On this side of publication, I realize I'm no different than I were before my book was published. I write to connect with readers, to share my thoughts with other people, which is the same search for connection that is at the heart of human existence. But whether that connection happens with one person, a hundred people, or a hundred thousand people doesn’t make me any less or more of a writer. I'm a writer for having written, not for having published.

So if you're a writer, wherever you are on your journey, I hope you're enjoying the path. Because that's what counts. Take the time to enjoy every step of the way, and don't focus so much on the end of the path.

If you're a reader? Thank you. Overwhelmingly, from the bottom of my soul, thank you!

THIS WEEK'S GIVEAWAY


WIN Signed Hardcover PLUS
Charm Bookmark & Compulsion Necklace
Simon Pulse
Released 10/28/2014

Beautiful Creatures meets The Body Finder in this spellbinding new trilogy.

Three plantations. Two wishes. One ancient curse.

All her life, Barrie Watson had been a virtual prisoner in the house where she lived with her shut-in mother. When her mother dies, Barrie promises to put some mileage on her stiletto heels. But she finds a new kind of prison at her aunt’s South Carolina plantation instead--a prison guarded by an ancient spirit who long ago cursed one of the three founding families of Watson Island and gave the others magical gifts that became compulsions.

Stuck with the ghosts of a generations-old feud and hunted by forces she cannot see, Barrie must find a way to break free of the family legacy. With the help of sun-kissed Eight Beaufort, who knows what Barrie wants before she knows herself, the last Watson heir starts to unravel her family's twisted secrets. What she finds is dangerous: a love she never expected, a river that turns to fire at midnight, a gorgeous cousin who isn’t what she seems, and very real enemies who want both Eight and Barrie dead.

Purchase Compulsion at Amazon
Purchase Compulsion at IndieBound
View Compulsion on Goodreads

(And don't forget that COMPULSION is on sale for the Kindle, Nook, and iBooks for $1.99 until the end of January!) : )

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Do you edit censor yourself as you write? Before you even start to write?

We all second guess ourselves, at least to some extent. I do. Something happens, someone says something negative, or I read something brilliant by someone else, and the doubt demons start nibbling away at my self-confidence, whispering that what I'm doing isn't good enough.

There is so much noise in this business, so much whispering, so much doubt.

We can't let it take hold or we'll paralyze ourselves. Deadlines don't give into paralysis or doubt. : )

When I'm feeling like writing has become a chore and I need to regain the joy of writing, I find that there are a number of things I can do that practically guarantee to get me back on track.

If you're doing NaNoWriMo and feeling like you're overwhelmed, don't give up. Here are a few tricks I use to convince myself that I can keep going.

1. Connect to what you love. If you're anything like me, the characters are what you love most about your manuscript, but if you're more invested in the plot or the concept, that's okay. Make a list of what you love and why you love it. Concentrate on rekindling that initial enthusiasm. Got it? Good. Now look at the scene or chapter you're currently writing and find a way to incorporate what you love into that chapter. Make your character do something that shows who she is, or demonstrate the "cool" aspects of your plot or concept.  
2. Write a letter. Get in the head of your character more deeply by writing a letter from her to someone else in her life. What is bugging her most? What does she need someone to know? What would she tell someone who wronged her if she had the chance? What would she say to her best-friend, right here, right now.
3. Write a paragraph. Focusing on writing a thousand words or two thousand or more can be debilitating. The task can feel too huge when you're not feeling inspired. Instead of telling yourself you have to write ALL THE WORDS, tell yourself to write the first sentence in a paragraph, and then another sentence. All you have to write is one paragraph. Then another. You can quit any time, but once you've met your goal for the day, the words may come more easily. 

Giveaway This Week

The Young Elites
by Marie Lu
Hardcover
Putnam Juvenile
Released 10/7/2014

I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside.

Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.

Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all.

Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen.
Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.

It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt.


Purchase The Young Elites at Amazon
Purchase The Young Elites at IndieBound
View The Young Elites on Goodreads



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via Kay Gaensler

Our Compulsion for Writing contest ends today! It's all about supporting writers who need a little help to let them keep going, to let them grow, or to let them cross that last hurdle to success.

• A 10-page agent critique from my agent, Kent D. Wolf, at Lippincott Massie McQuilkin.
• A query letter and 10-page critique from Erin Cashman's agent, Amaryah Orenstein.
• A 10-page agent critique from Lisa Gail Green's agent, Melissa Nasson of Rubin Pfeffer Content.
• A 10-page editor critique from Lorin Oberweger of Free Expressions Seminars and Literary Services 
• A $100 gift certificate toward the Free Expressions Seminars workshop of your choice
• A three-chapter critique from Erin Cashman
• A comfort gift basket of chocolate, tea, gourmet treats, a notepad, gift card, and more 
• A support from miserable writers basket of CHOCOLATE, a B&N gift card, journal, writing utensils, an iTunes gift card, and a secret uber cool bag to put it all in. 
• A paperback Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi
• A digital Posititive Traits and a digital Negative Traits Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi

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I quit writing for almost fifteen years.

I cringe to think about that now, because I imagine what I could have learned in that time. . . . Where would my writing career be now? I look at the young writers starting out, and I’m envious of all the years they have left to hone their craft.

So why did I quit?

I could say it was because I had two young children, both with medical problems. I could say that it was because the Air Force sent my husband away to school for a year. I could say that I started a business because we needed the money, and I ended up working close to eighty hours a week. I could say it was because the rock-star agent who intimidated the crap out of me dropped me like a hot potato and I didn’t know where my manuscripts had been or hadn’t been. . . . All those things are true.

But there’s a bigger truth.

I was scared and discouraged and tired to my soul of being rejected.

There’s also another truth.

I didn’t realize that failure was an opportunity.

Thomas Stasiuk - Do Not Fear Failure

Celestine Chua - Life's Real Failure

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It’s a VERY special month here at Adventures, and we’re beyond thrilled to be able to share it with the writers who’ve been with us since the beginning, and with the new writers and readers who have joined us along the journey. And it really is a journey! Four years ago, I started this blog with a friend as we started to think about getting our books published. In less than a month, on October 28th, COMPULSION will finally emerge into the world as a published really-truly book. There are lots of fun things in store to celebrate the kick off, but wait . . . There’s even MORE to celebrate.

Our very own Lisa Gail Green has a fabulous new agent, and a slew of incredibly awesome new book deals, and our lovely Erin Cashman is brewing some wonderful news as well!

In the next couple of weeks, they are going to tell you their stories, and I’m going to tell you mine. What stories you ask? The stories of how we almost quit writing and ended up turning it around.

Have you ever felt like that? Like you were DONE? You just couldn’t face rejection or take coming “close" any more? Have you thought about giving up?

We all have! I did. Lisa did. Erin did.

But we kept going because we loved to write. You could almost say we had a Compulsion for Writing? :D

We’d love to hear about YOUR Compulsion for Writing. We want you to tell us your stories, and we’re going to host a giveaway and a celebration of persistence.

Here’s how it’s going to work.

1.) You write your story — a paragraph, a page, whatever you want — about how your Compulsion for Writing kept you going at a time when you got discouraged and thought about quitting.

Or

2) You write about how to feed your Compulsion for Writing and keep the joy through the hard times.

3) Post what you've written on your Blog, Pinterest, Tumblr or Facebook Page and share it to the contest event page on Facebook, or write it directly on the Compulsion for Writing Party and Prize-Fest event page.

4) Get everyone you know to “Like" the Compulsion for Writing Page and their favorite posts people have shared there. Here's a nifty banner you can use to help spread the word!

We’ll review the posts with the greatest number of "likes" and Lisa, Erin, and I will each pick winners. We’ll send the winners special gift packs, but we’ll also each provide half-hour long phone calls to discuss your writing in general, your book or WIP, querying, agents, the book business, publishing, promotion and marketing, our books, social media, or whatever else you want to talk about.

And, because sometimes all it takes is a bit of a push, but the people who need the biggest push are often the ones who don’t get it by querying or by entering contests, we’ll have some agent critiques for a few lucky winners, too.

On 10/21/28 at 6:00 PM eastern, we will join everyone for a live Facebook Party where we can all trade stories and answer questions. That’s also when we’ll announce the winners and throw in a few extra and spectacular live giveaways as well! So mark your calendars.

Oh, and for those who are voting on stories? We'll add giveaways as we go along, and we'll announce winners for those on the 22nd, too. The first will be posted on the Facebook page later today. Stop by and check it out. : )

More details are posted on the Facebook page, and stay tuned for our stories and prize packages coming in the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, here’s a bit of photo inspiration for what can happen if you don’t give up! : ) Last year, I was down at YALLFEST as a fan with some friends. They had stacks and stacks of Justine Magazines with the coolest Teen Read Week feature showcasing some great YA books. And tomorrow, the Justine Teen Read Week issue hits the stands, and guess what's in it?



And did I mention that Melissa Marr and I happen to be doing an event together to kick off the Compelling Reads Tour? That's total coincidence, but it's another example of what can happen.

It CAN happen. You just have to believe! (And be compelled to write!)

And now for the first of the HUGE giveaways! : ) 

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It sneaks up on you in the darkling hours of the night, or in the steamy shower, or in the mindless drone of commuting or chauffeuring a carload of kids kicking the back of your seat.

The idea. The brilliantly shiny idea that won't stop poking you and saying 'Write Me.'

You fall hard in lust. You can't sleep. You can't eat. You can't stop thinking about it.

But then.

It grinds to a screeching halt . . . Somewhere, you stall, and writing becomes a chore that makes your brain hurt. (Yes, that's actually a thing. You can overstrain your brain.)

How do you get to the point where you remember the pure, sheer joy you felt when you started on that idea?

Turn things upside down and approach your manuscript from a different direction. Here are five ways you can do just that.

1. Reconnect with Your Characters via Writing Prompts.

Some of my favorites include picking a particular character and continuing from the following beginning, with the added condition that whatever your character writes has to relate to another character.

I love when . . .
I hate when . . .
My greatest fear at this moment is . . .
My greatest hope at this moment is . . .
I would be humiliated if . . .
I could achieve my goal if . . .

2. Write the Jacket Copy

Write a kickass jacket description for the book, and if you find yourself tempted to fudge something to make it clearer, or sexier, or more exciting? Go back and write THAT story instead. Chances are, your subconscious is already fixing your story for you and all you have to do is listen.

3. Do the Meet and Greet Mashup

Picture yourself in a room with a bunch of twenty-something film execs. How do they describe your book to each other? Compulsion has been described as everything from Beautiful Creatures meets The Body Finder and Gone with the Wind meets Romeo and Juliet to In the Midnight Garden of Good and Evil meets The Sixth Sense. Thinking about what makes someone describe it that way, and thinking how else I could describe it, is not just a hoot, it's a little bit of instant brainstorming that takes my head in whole new directions.

4. Write the 1 Star Review of Your Book

Pretend you're one of the notorious Goodreads slasher/bullies. Don't think. Don't censor yourself. What things could you say that are so horrible they are funny? And once you've written them, how would you go about not just eliminating the potential for someone to say that, how would you turn that criticism into a strength?

5. Write the 5 Star Review of Your Book

Imagine you are the most enthusiastic fan on the planet. What would you write about your book? The gushiest of gushes, the ravest of raves. Give yourself ALL the pats on the back. Are you feeling the love yet? Now go write a scene that involves the thing you love most.

The count-down is starting. Compulsion is less than two months away, so I've got a huge giveaway planned for next month, and you can already get in on the action by going to CompulsionToRead.com.

But in the meantime . . .  : )

I've got a signed set of Veronica Rossi's complete, and completely gorgeous, Under the Never Sky trilogy, plus an ARC of Compulsion plus a Tiffany-style key necklace like Barrie wears.

Also. there are four Pick Any YA Giveaways, complete with assorted interviews, excerpts, tidbits, and one of my favorite reviews EVER.

You can find those here:

• The YA Buzz
• Fiktshun
• The Book Cellar
• Once Upon a Twilight

Stop by each of those blogs to enter--you'll get an extra entry for the Grand Prize giveaway below for each location you enter, too!

Good luck! : )

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Confession time. I'm petrified of failing, so rejection--any kind of rejection--kills me. That being the case, you'd think I'd have picked different line of work, right? Surviving rejection is pretty much the author's job description.

Author Job, Purpose: Provide entertainment and illumination to individuals, both as they read your work and as they discuss it with others based on their subjective opinion, taste, and prior life experience.

Author Job, Duties:

• Spend months, years, or possibly decades improving our tricycle manuscripts, until we have developed the perspective to see that no matter how many training wheels we slap on it, it will never grow up to be a bicycle we can ride through to publication.
• Work with critique partners and beta readers on one or more manuscripts, learning to analyze criticism and extract the useful, actionable portions to improve our work.
• Send manuscripts out to agents, and editors who are too busy to offer feedback until the manuscript is good enough, and until they have reason to believe that we can apply constructive feedback quickly and professionally--within the time allotted by the tightly-structured publishing schedule.
• Accept that agents, editors, and copyeditors are seeing beyond the words on our pages to the vast number of books that have already been published and put in the hands of readers and reviewers.
• Throw away our hard-won ability to analyze criticism once reviews start coming in, because we can no longer make any changes. 
• Understand that every reader is bringing something different to our work and that no matter how personal that feels, no critique, edit, review, or opinion is ever entirely about what is written on the page.

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On Sunday, one of the most talented and beloved teen authors, Sarah Dessen, tweeted a photo of her thirteen unpublished novels lined up in her driveway so that they could finally see the light of day.

I included the top tweet in this second group, the one Sarah retweeted, because that is part of the lesson to be learned here. But honestly, the main lesson for me is the one where she questions whether we need the misfires.

I think we do have to take risks, go over the top, push the limits and see where those limits are. We have to keep pushing, drilling deeper into the well of creativity. There's nothing creative about safety and security, nothing exhilarating about sameness. Maybe creativity requires a level of risk.

The brilliant Sarah Ockler shared a great post that every creative person ought to read.

Pixar Cofounder Ed Catmull on Failure and Why Fostering a Fearless Culture Is the Key to Groundbreaking Creative Work

One of my favorite parts of the article is this quote:

"To disentangle the good and the bad parts of failure, we have to recognize both the reality of the pain and the benefit of the resulting growth."

In other words, at some point, we have to embrace failure. Ugh.

In this business, there is so much temptation, even pressure, to compare ourselves to others, to find the unfairness or the lack of luck that results in rejection of our work and the reverse that gives success to someone else's. It's natural, but it's paralyzing. It's probably part of what makes so many writers prone to depression. It's hard to pour ourselves into an endeavor and have it rejected, only to pick ourselves up, get excited about a new project, and start the process all over again.

Creative geniuses have done it in many different ways. According to this article by Juliette Guilbert titled How to Fuel Your Creative Genius.

• "Beethoven went for awalk every day with notepad in hand to jot down the music that streamed through his mind."
• "Thomas Edison was famous for tackling his biggest challenges after a power snooze."

TODAY'S YA GIVEAWAY

The Eye of Minds
by James Dashner
Paperback
Random House
Released 7/22/2014

   From James Dashner, the author of the New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series that's soon to be a major motion picture from Twentieth Century Fox, comes an all-new, edge-of-your seat adventure. The Eye of Minds is the first book in The Mortality Doctrine series set in a world of hyperadvanced technology, cyberterrorists, and gaming beyond your wildest dreams . . . and your worst nightmares.

   Michael is a gamer. And like most gamers, he almost spends more time on the VirtNet than in the actual world. The VirtNet offers total mind and body immersion, and it’s addictive. Thanks to technology, anyone with enough money can experience fantasy worlds, risk their life without the chance of death, or just hang around with Virt-friends. And the more hacking skills you have, the more fun. Why bother following the rules when most of them are dumb, anyway?

   But some rules were made for a reason. Some technology is too dangerous to fool with. And recent reports claim that one gamer is going beyond what any gamer has done before: he’s holding players hostage inside the VirtNet. The effects are horrific—the hostages have all been declared brain-dead. Yet the gamer’s motives are a mystery.

   The government knows that to catch a hacker, you need a hacker. And they’ve been watching Michael. They want him on their team. But the risk is enormous. If he accepts their challenge, Michael will need to go off the VirtNet grid. There are back alleys and corners in the system human eyes have never seen and predators he can’t even fathom—and there’s the possibility that the line between game and reality will be blurred forever.

Praise for The Eye of Minds, Book One in the Mortality Doctrine series

“More realistic and addictive than any video game—The Eye of Minds sucked me in from the very first page. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo meets The Matrix in a vividly rendered world of gamers, hackers, and cyber-terrorists. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series!”—Kami Garcia, #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Beautiful Creatures and author of Unbreakable

“In typical Dashner style, this is quick and involving, with the main frustration being the wait time until the next book.” —Booklist
“High on concept, this is an intriguing read for the digital generation.” — Kirkus Reviews

"Dashner once again creates a dystopian world in which nothing is what it seems." - VOYA
Purchase The Eye of Minds at Amazon
Purchase The Eye of Minds at IndieBound
View The Eye of Minds on Goodreads






The Fire Wish
by Amber Lough
Hardcover
Random House Books for Young Readers
Released 7/22/2014


A jinni. A princess. And the wish that changes everything. . . .

Najwa is a jinni, training to be a spy in the war against the humans. Zayele is a human on her way to marry a prince of Baghdad—which she’ll do anything to avoid. So she captures Najwa and makes a wish. With a rush of smoke and fire, they fall apart and re-form—as each other. A jinni and a human, trading lives. Both girls must play their parts among enemies who would kill them if the deception were ever discovered—enemies including the young men Najwa and Zayele are just discovering they might love.


Purchase The Fire Wish at Amazon
Purchase The Fire Wish at IndieBound
View The Fire Wish on Goodreads

PREVIOUS GIVEAWAY

I had a copy of Maggie Stiefvater's SINNER to giveaway two weeks ago, complete with her signature and the hand drawn book wrapper she did just for preorders and special events. Sadly, I picked a winner for it tonight, but don't worry. I've got a few more of these stashed away for you, so keep an eye out!





Sinner
by Maggie Stiefvater
released 7/1/14
Scholastic Press

WINNER: Joycedale Chapman

A standalone companion book to the internationally bestselling Shiver Trilogy.

Sinner follows Cole St. Clair, a pivotal character from the #1 New York Times bestselling Shiver Trilogy. Everybody thinks they know Cole's story. Stardom. Addiction. Downfall. Disappearance. But only a few people know Cole's darkest secret -- his ability to shift into a wolf. One of these people is Isabel. At one point, they may have even loved each other. But that feels like a lifetime ago. Now Cole is back. Back in the spotlight. Back in the danger zone. Back in Isabel's life. Can this sinner be saved?

Purchase Sinner at Amazon
Purchase Sinner at IndieBound
View Sinner on Goodreads

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Our WOW this week is a reprise post from the incredible Cynthia Leitich Smith, the New York Times and Publishers Weekly best-selling author of Tantalize, Eternal, Blessed, Feral Nights, Feral Curse, and more. Her award-winning books for younger children include Jingle Dancer, Indian Shoes, Rain Is Not My Indian Name (all HarperCollins) and Holler Loudly (Dutton). She has also published several middle grade and YA short stories, and she is a renown writing coach and teacher.

Her website at cynthialeitichsmith.com/ was named one of the top 10 Writer Sites on the Internet by Writer's Digest (so well deserved!) and an ALA Great Website for Kids. Her Cynsations blog at cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com was listed as among the top two read by the children's/YA publishing community in the SCBWI "To Market" column. You can also find her on the Web at Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LiveJournal.





Your only real competition is yourself. Yes, you should read—avidly—and come to an understanding of what the benchmark for publication is in today’s competitive market. Study the voices of the past as well. Storytelling is a tradition that spans countless generations, not a mere exercise in individual ego.

You should read with a critical eye but also a celebratory one and consider what’s possible at the zenith of excellence. For that matter, you should reconsider phrases like “the zenith of excellence.”

Writing and reading are all about discourse. It’s worth knowing where your work falls in the conversation of books, where you’re making a fresh contribution and where you’re thoughtfully nodding to those who’ve come before.

But that’s secondary to facing off against yourself, day after day, page after page, for the rest of your writing life. In your literary art, set against an always-changing publishing landscape, this is where you should focus as a competitor.

Where you should challenge and s-t-r-e-t-c-h and go for the win.

If you’ve been competing against other writers, try instead to reframe them as friends, soldiers-at-arms, brothers and sisters, colleagues and especially teachers.

When I was in my writing apprenticeship, I studied Paula Danziger’s body of work. I read all of her books in the order that they were published.
She always had a sparkle, a kid-friendliness, an understanding of heart and humor. But what impressed me most was how she grew as a writer over time. Not always in a straight line. A book or two may not have been as strong as its predecessor. (Who knows? Maybe they were written in a different order.) But big picture, she pushed herself. She pushed against herself. She taught me the importance of that.

I’m talking about me versus me and what that means to my writing life. I’m talking about you versus you and what that might mean to yours.

It’s about starting over again and again like it matters—making no excuses, holding nothing back. Working in sprints and working in marathons. It’s about giving yourself a sidelong glance and saying, hey, that was fun. Rock on with what you’ve accomplished today. I appreciate your work, the skills you’ve built, and your passion.

Now, let’s write better tomorrow and the day after that and in the years to come.

Ready? Set. Write!

Note: Since we are on limited hiatus through July, this article is a repost of an earlier piece provided by Cynthia Leitich Smith. We'll be back in August with a full roster, but in the meantime, we're providing a mix of old posts and new.

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Photo by Quinnanya

I was at BEA two weeks ago (has it been two weeks already?!) and went for coffee with my agent after my autographing session. The BEA badge pinned to his shirt had LITERARY AGENT written across it, and I was shocked to witness people interrupting our conversation--literally interrupting--to pitch their novels to him.

Sure, I remember the urgency, the desperation, to get an agent and get published. Partly that's because I'm not twenty-something anymore, and partly it's because I wasted spent a lot of years telling myself I needed to have a real money-earning job and therefore I didn't have the time courage determination to write squeeze in a little bit of writing every day. Mainly it's because writers write to communicate and that generally requires us to have (cough, cough) readers. When you don't have any luck getting a manuscript represented, it's demoralizing. I get that. I've been there. I made every mistake in the book before I managed to get through the gatekeepers, snag an agent, snag an editor, and land a book deal.

But.

Having been through the trenches and having gotten more rejections than I can count before getting an agent myself, I'd like to share a little bit of what I learned. Let's start by busting some myths.

1. You have to know someone to get an agent or get published. Most agents are open to receiving queries provided you follow their guidelines. Get on QueryTracker.net, search the genre you are looking for, and you'll get the email address and submission guideline information right there. Or at least you'll get the web address where their submission guidelines are posted.
   
   For a nominal fee, you can even mark and track your submission there to find out what you have outstanding and where it is in the agent queue--i.e., how many other submissions have gone to that agent and are being tracked on QueryTracker. (Bear in mind that this isn't by any means anything more than a fraction of the queries and submissions the agents are looking at, but it lets you see approximately how quickly they are likely to get to yours.)
   
   
   
2. To get attention for your manuscript, you have to jump through hoops or make yourself stand out. The only thing that needs to stand out is your manuscript. Accosting an agent at a conference or trade show, sending them chocolate along with your query letter, or even going to their offices in person, isn't going to change how they feel about your manuscript when they read it. Unless they love the manuscript and think they can sell it, they're not going to take it on even if you knock their socks off with your winning personality.
   
   
   
3. The odds of getting an agent are so slim, you should query a hundred agents at once. Um, no. Trust me, I learned the hard way that a good query letter and a solid opening to your manuscript will get requests. If you send to fifteen agents you have carefully selected because they are looking for the kind of manuscript you have written and you don't get several requests, there is a problem with either your query letter, your story premise, or your writing. Don't query more until you figure out which. Take one of the inexpensive Writer's Digest workshops where agents review query letters and sample pages, attend a conference and pay for the critique, go through an online contest, or even go through our free First Five Pages Workshop. These will all help you figure out whether the problem is with the beginning of your manuscript or with your query letter.
   
   
   
4. A query letter doesn't have to be perfect. Agents are going to look at the first pages of the manuscript anyway. Some agents will read the opening pages of your manuscript first and some will read the query letter first. But the chances are, even if they love your opening and see that you can write their socks off, they still need to know that you have an actual book that they can sell. That means they have to see that you know what your story is about. It took me a while to figure out that the trouble I was having putting together a hook and brief synopsis of what my book was about was because my book wasn't really clear enough yet and the hook wasn't strong enough. For the manuscript that landed an agent and a book deal, I wrote the query letter before I started writing the book. That query letter basically became the pitch my agent sent out on submission, and it is, in large part, the copy that's going on the book jacket. I still can't come up with a good query letter that accurately describes what my first two books are about. Which means I still need to work on those books. (And no, I don't need to query those books any more, but if I ever decide to resurrect them and send them to my agent, I would still want to be sure that I had a good, solid pitch. The fact that I can't define them well means they're not really ready for human consumption.)
   
   
   
5. Agents (and/or editors) don't really know what they're doing, so you should just go ahead and self-publish if you've been rejected by everyone. Self-publishing is not a solution to rejection. If your book is good, it will likely find a home in traditional publishing, even if it means going to a smaller press. But that doesn't mean that traditional publishing is for everyone either.
   
   The bottom line is that you have to examine what you really want out of publishing, and you have to:
   • know the strength of your manuscript,
   • your ability and willingness to market it,
   • and your ability to write additional work very quickly.
   
   Independent publishing works best for writers who have:
   • a manuscript that agents (or editors) are saying they love but can't sell,
   • manuscripts that need to get to market very quickly,
   • authors who have an established network of potential readers already,
   • very motivated and entrepreneurial authors who are willing to spend a lot of time and possibly money to market their own work.
   
   Indie-publishing also requires hiring a professional editor, a professional copyeditor, a professional proofreader, a professional cover-designer, and a professional book-formatter. Some of these may be the same person, but the steps can't be skipped.
   
   Readers deserve good content, and putting out a manuscript that is less than professional, and less than it could potentially be, isn't going to help you in your career as an author. And yes, I'm assuming with all of this, that if you are/were looking for an agent, it's because you want to publish more than just one book

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Believe You Can and You Will

I've dreamed of having a book out in the world nearly all my life, but for most of that time, I barely gave myself permission to dream. Do you know the feeling? Sneaking around, hoping, but never admitting it to family or friends because they might laugh or give you that patronizing look or pat on the head?

Maybe your dream isn't about writing. Maybe it's something else completely.

Whatever your dream, I believe--I know--that part of the beauty of the human experience is that we dream the impossible, and if we dream hard enough, we can make the impossible happen.

Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) for COMPULSION come out on Thursday. So that's my dream come true! It still feels incredible and amazing and so very wonderful.

I would love it if you would let me be a small part of having you achieve the impossible by affirming your dream aloud. Yes, I think that's important. Affirmations. Repeating a thing until it becomes true for ourselves is part of the magic of creation, and finding the courage to live and take chances is one of the themes in the book.

Fear, lack of faith, lack of belief can lead us to sub-consciously sabotage ourselves. It's only when we force ourselves to push through, when we commit completely, that we can finally succeed.

The BELIEVE YOU CAN Affirmation

That's it. It's not a guarantee that you'll achieve your dream, but it's a step to having the kind of faith you need to have before you can push through the fear and hurdles that would keep you from getting where you want to go.
   

YA GIVEAWAY OF THE WEEK

Since this is the regular day for my YA Pick & Mix, there has to be a giveaway--and there is, but it's going to be tied to your success.

Post a link to your dream in the linky and complete the Rafflecopter below, and I'll automatically enter you for an extra chance in each of the eight COMPULSION cover reveal giveaways. As a reminder, here they are again:

1. My Tumblr: Complete hardcover set of BEAUTIFUL CREATURES signed by Kami Garcia, plus hardcovers of MADMAN'S DAUGHTER and HER DARK CURIOSITY signed by Megan Shepherd, personalized ARC of COMPULSION, and a sterling silver key necklace. 
2. Hypable.com: Complete hardcover set of the DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE series (third book sent out after it publishes in April) signed by Laini Taylor, a personalized ARC of COMPULSION, and a sterling silver key necklace.
3. MundieMoms.com: THESE BROKEN STARS signed by Megan Spooner and Amie Kaufman and books one and two of The Hybrid Chronicles, WHAT'S LEFT OF ME and ONCE WE WERE signed by Kat Zhang, a personalized ARC of COMPULSION, and a sterling silver key necklace.
4. Cuddlebuggery.com: CHARM & STRANGE hardcover signed by Stephanie Kuehn plus THE RAVEN BOYS and THE DREAM THIEVES with beautiful bookplates signed by Maggie Stiefvater. THE DREAM THIEVES also has Maggie's hand drawn doodle of a raven, a personalized ARC of COMPULSION, and a sterling silver key necklace.
5. PageTurners.com: ALLEGIANT signed by Veronica Roth along with SPELLCASTER and STEADFAST signed by Claudia Gray, a personalized ARC of COMPULSION, and a sterling silver key necklace.
6. TheStorySiren.com: ANTIGODDESS, ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD, and GIRL OF NIGHTMARES signed by Kendare Blake, a personalized ARC of COMPULSION, and a sterling silver key necklace.
7. AdventuresInYAPublishing.com: The complete SHATTER ME series signed by Tahereh Mafi, a personalized ARC of COMPULSION, and a sterling silver key necklace.
8. YASeriesInsiders.com: Jennifer Armentrout's complete LUX series plus a signed copy of her brand new WHITE HOT KISS, a personalized ARC of COMPULSION, and a sterling silver key necklace.

So What Do You Think? Are You Ready To Shout Out Your Dream?

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Our guest today, Tiffany Trent, is a true inspiration. You'll love her books, but you'll also love this incredibly inspiring story about her path to publication and the words of advice that all of us, writers and readers alike, should take to heart!

Answer that Bell

A WOW Wednesday Guest Post

by Tiffany Trent

In 2009, I was a guest at Dragon*Con. My first book series was already officially out of print. My seventh book had just gone through its first round of rejections. I had nothing to promote, and was on panels with fabulous authors who had become good friends, as well as authors so famous they almost didn’t seem like real people to me. I was suffering deeply from impostor syndrome. I was also under the illusion that everyone else I met had had a stellar, easy career compared to the travesty of mine.

I was wrong.

One of the authors with me on a large panel about writing with me was Gene Wolfe. He was a legend to me. I didn’t know him personally, and I sat all the way at the end of the row from him because I felt intimidated.

I can’t remember the question from the audience that triggered the story he told, but I imagine it was a thinly-veiled cry for help. Gene told us about how he’d been a boxer in his youth. About how one time, he remembered being down on the mat, so beaten and bloodied he thought he could never get up again. The bell was ringing for his defeat. His coach yelled to him that he had to answer that bell.

He started crying as he told us this story, about how writing was no different. That when you are down on the mat, beaten to death by life, the publishing industry, reviewers, what have you, you must answer that bell.

You must come up swinging and keep fighting for all you’re worth.

Answer that bell.

Those words echoed and rang within me very much like bells themselves. I was at a standstill. I was down on the mat, beaten and bruised. And it was only my first round, I realized. This man had been through much, much more.

I felt both chagrinned and inspired, thinking about what he must have been through and how he’d triumphed. How he was even now inspiring me and a crowd of other young hopefuls in the audience.

I went on from Dragon*Con to London to research a book I ended up not writing. But what I saw and experienced became excellent fodder for the revision of the novel that had been through its first round of rejections. I worked all through the fall and winter tearing it down to its bones, returning the revised book to my agent by the new year. It finally sold in July 2010 and was published in 2012 by Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers as THE UNNATURALISTS.

This reads like a straight line path to success, perhaps, but the path was never straight. It remained crooked after publication and continues that way. Not long after I signed the contract for the book, Life threw me a giant curve ball when I ruptured the last disk in my spine. When it first happened, I was paralyzed from the waist down. I spent months in physical therapy, on heavy painkillers, and taking acupuncture. Sitting was agony. Even when the paralysis wore off, I could not walk properly and could not bend over to pick up anything at all, and the nerve damage continued to worsen.

After trying everything to avoid it, I finally underwent surgery the following spring. It was like a grizzly had ripped my spine in half. All of this was going on while I was trying to yet again revise THE UNNATURALISTS to my editor’s specifications. I could not bear the pain of sitting or standing; I literally could not turn over in bed or sit up on my own.

I remember weeping great howling sobs of frustration. I was down on the mat again, in a way I’d never imagined possible.

And Gene’s words came. Answer that bell.

We rigged up a lap desk that I could use while lying mostly flat with my knees bent so I could see the screen. I did what I could. I stopped when I got tired. I was patient but determined.

I have never thanked Gene for those words. I don’t have them written down anywhere. They are not on a Post-It above my computer. They are not tattooed in some secret place. (Yet). They are emblazoned on my heart.

And when Life, publishing, or whatever it may be throws me down, I might lie there a while. I might even wallow. But I remember those words, the way his voice broke, his tears. I remember that others like Gene have fought and struggled longer and more mightily than me.

They’re still going strong. And so must I. But only if I rise up to the challenge and answer that bell.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tiffany Trent is the author of the forthcoming young adult steampunk novel THE UNNATURALISTS and the HALLOWMERE series. Her first book, In the
Serpent’s Coils, was named a BookSense (IndieBound) Children’s Pick in Autumn 2007 and a New York Public Library Book of the Teen Age in 2008. She was also the recipient of the 2008 SCBWI Work-in-Progress grant, and has won awards and fellowships for her nonfiction. Her short story “Blackwater Baby” in Magic in the Mirrorstone was given Honorable Mention for the Year’s Best Horror 2008. She is represented by Jennifer Laughran of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

Tiffany currently lives in the New River Valley of Virginia. When not writing, she plays with bees, presides over her avian army, and frequently gets lost in the jungle of her garden.

ABOUT THE BOOK

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