Wonderful news, folks! You are officially reading the blog of the winner of Honorable Mention in the 2011 Writer’s Digest Young Adult Fiction Competition!* According to their congratulatory email, “competition was fierce,” so I’m super proud! While first and second place comes with fame (publication of their entry in Writer’s Digest) and fortune (they wonContinue reading “How Winning a Writing Contest Can Improve a Writer’s Self-Esteem”
Tag Archives: query letters
What To Do When Your Book Idea is Stolen and Made into a Bestseller
Monday (9:00am): Denial. Denial, denial, denial. When they clog up your email, each electronic bad news arriving one after another, providing a summary paragraph that’s startlingly similar to the plot of your own manuscript, refuse to read the: Online book reviews Goodreads monthly newsletter Barnes & Noble weekly newsletter Shelf Awareness daily newsletter Monday (9:15am): Continue reading “What To Do When Your Book Idea is Stolen and Made into a Bestseller”
The 4 Rules of Polite Simultaneous Submissions
I’ve read blog posts before where people claim that it’s “rude” or, at the very least, makes them extremely uncomfortable to simultaneously submit their writing to multiple journals or to multiple literary agents. This is ridiculous! Think about it. If you have submitted your manuscript to a single literary agent, the wait time is, perhaps,Continue reading “The 4 Rules of Polite Simultaneous Submissions”
Enter NANO’s Flash Fiction Writing Contest
Just a quick link to the 2011 NANO writing prize. What They Want: flash fiction, micro essay, or prose of 300-words or less. Cannot be previously published. How They Want It: via snail mail or submishmash. When They Want It: August 31st Entry Fee? Yes, $15 for 3 shorts. Prize? Yes, $500 Sorry, forContinue reading “Enter NANO’s Flash Fiction Writing Contest”
Learning the Nuts and Bolts to Getting Your Book Published
This is my understanding of the process and, thus, how I’m going about it personally. Any disagreements? Got any suggestions to add? 1. Write the Book The whole thing. Agents and publishers are only interested in completed fiction. They want to know the final word count and they want to start working on the projectContinue reading “Learning the Nuts and Bolts to Getting Your Book Published”
Poll: What Do My Rejection Letters from Literary Agents Mean?
Ever since I read Nathan Bransford’s post “Why You Are Receiving Rejection Letters,” I’ve been thinking about my own rejection letters from literary agents. I’ve been trying to decide whether I should set aside my middle-grade historical fiction manuscript and start writing a new one, or if I should persevere and stubbornly continue submitting it. Continue reading “Poll: What Do My Rejection Letters from Literary Agents Mean?”
If You’re Feeling a Little Rejected…
Read this. Why You Are Receiving Rejections “The Gust,” Willem van de Velde In the tangled morass of uncertainty that is the query process, it becomes easy to lose sight of the basics. People e-mail me every day me for feedback and suggestions on their query (which I’m unfortunately unable to provide), and want toContinue reading “If You’re Feeling a Little Rejected…”
Today Shall Henceforth Be Known as “The Day I First Met Meg Cabot”
True story. Went to the 31st Annual Conference of the Romance Writers of America in the NYC Marriott just to get her signature for my sister’s copy of Abandon. I desperately wish that I also owned a copy of The Princess Diaries to have gotten signed for myself and I desperately wish that my friendContinue reading “Today Shall Henceforth Be Known as “The Day I First Met Meg Cabot””
Hunting for Undiscovered Publication Paths
As I mentioned earlier, I was slammed with a load of rejection letters this week. This means that I need to start up the submission process again. However, I’ve kind of run out of ideas of where to send my writing. Does anybody have any recommendations for literary journals to submit fiction and creative non-fiction to? Or a resource that listsContinue reading “Hunting for Undiscovered Publication Paths”
Healing From Rejection
For those of you feeling a little bummed about a recent rejection letter, I recommend you check this out. Learning to accept rejection is imperative for any writer. Most writers realize this quickly. Or they make the mistake of self-publishing (guilty as charged). But one important aspect of rejection that many do not consider isContinue reading “Healing From Rejection”
Hannah Karena Jones 