YA/MG Agent-Judged Contest!!!

My critique parter Ruth Lauren Steven is holding a contest over at her blog, which many of you may be interested in (I know I would be if I didn't already have an amazing agent!)

The idea is this: Ruth will choose ten or so entrants from her 'slush pile'. The awesome agents will then read  through the material and choose a winner, who will be the lucky recipient of a partial critique (And more if they love what they read!)

It's an amazing opportunity, people! So don't hesitate to hop on over to Ruth's Blog to check out all the details and to learn the identity of the agents.

Fun times!

Writer's Block-It's A Real Thing!

If you experience one or more of the following symptoms, it is possible you may be suffering from Writer’s Block:

-Staring at your blank computer screen for hours on end

-Watching the clock count out every painful second of your non-productiveness, in a complete and total panic that you’re wasting your Writing Time

-Finally writing two sentences, only to delete them because they suck balls

-Gnashing your teeth

-Pulling out your hair

-Verbally abusing yourself and your skills as a writer

-Consuming lots of goodies including but not limited to nachos, chocolate, pastries, and wine, because you’re feeling bad for yourself and you deserve it

Yup, that’s writer’s block.

I’m sure most writers experience writer’s block to some degree on a fairly regular basis. Myself, having a full-time, non-writing job and a two-year-old son, my writing time is already very limited, so I used to find it especially painful when those precious hours were being wasted.

Hold up, did I just say USED TO????

Yes.

I still get writer’s block—don’t get me wrong—I just don’t stress about it like I used to. Now I’ve heard quite a bit of advice on beating the dreaded writer’s block: allowing yourself to write badly (which means worrying about editing later), brainstorming, asking ‘what if’ questions, talking out loud to yourself—all of which is GREAT advice—but you know what? Sometimes none of that stuff works, and you’re just STUCK. Which makes sense, right? Because it wouldn’t be a problem for so many writers if there was a simple solution.

But what finally made me stop stressing about writer’s block was realizing that I was the only person putting pressure on myself. Seriously, what was the big deal if I didn’t meet my word count quota for the day? I mean, goals are great, and I still regularly give myself a word count quota as a guide, but I do realize now that every once in a while I will need to take a step back and think about my plot. 

This isn’t my excuse to be lazy, either—I KNOW YOU WERE THINKING IT, JERKFACES! (Wait, so you mean I can’t call my followers jerkfaces?) I do try to work my way out of a problem first, but I can usually tell when one of the aforementioned tactics at beating writer’s block will work given a little time and when I need a Plotting Day (which is what writer's block is now called for me :D ). But if Plotting Day it be, that's okay. It's me, and it's how I write. So I may not accomplush 2000 words that day--tomorrow I might write 3000, and all because of all the brilliant ideas I came up with after taking a break to think (and also harassing my sister and making her plot my book for me. Thanks, Brandy!)

So how about my writerly friends? How do you deal with the dreaded writer’s block?

Query Letter Critique: Round Something or Other

It’s been way too long since I last got my hands on a query letter, and I almost forgot how much fun they are to rip apart critique. Having said that, my apologies in advance to the wonderful author who so innocently provided me with her query, only to have me pick it to pieces. I got a little excited. I couldn’t help it. I’m sorry. 

Original Query Letter

On May 8th a mysterious planet took up residence in the solar system and formed a syzygy with the inner planets causing a rift in the multiverse. On the 4^th of July the world will end, and it's all Kyle's fault.

On May 8^th, 18yr old Kyle Wolfe downs a bottle of tequila and starts a fire that kills his two best friends and leaves him permanently scarred. Or so he thinks. He's not quite sure since the memories are sketchy and he keeps shifting between realities. They both suck and unless he wants the world to end, he'll have to go back to when it all began, the day of the fire when he cheated on his boyfriend, Danny with their best friend Shira. But the past is a tricky thing to change, and Kyle can't keep living in both realities; being catapulted along the space-time continuum is killing him. He has to make a choice: Danny or Shira? Broken family or broken body? Scholarship to Rice or relationship with parents? The choice isn't easy and he better do it quick before the syzygy breaks and he risks being locked in a reality he'll never be able to escape.

As Dust or Breath, complete at 60 000 words, is a YA contemporary-come-science fiction novel for older teens with themes involving Mayan eschatology and Native American spirituality. Set in small town New Mexico, this story explores the consequences of bad decisions for a boy battling to come to terms with his own sexuality while taking responsibility for his actions.

Query Letter After I Got My Grubby Paws on it

On May 8th a mysterious planet took up residence in the solar system and formed a syzygy with the inner planets causing a rift in the multiverse. <This started out very good, but to be honest, this sentence is a mouthful. In the interest of hooking an agent’s attention, I would strongly consider cutting out the first sentence and just going with the next one for an opener. It’s very snappy and intriguing.  >>  On the 4^th of July the world will end, and it's all Kyle's fault.

On May 8^th, <Is this specific date absolutely necessary in the query? I ask this because you don’t want to go tossing around too many dates for the reader to have to remember if they aren't vital to the plot. I’d say generalize, where possible. As in, ‘two months ago…’ The 4^th of July is an exception because it’s a major holiday. 18yr old Kyle Wolfe downs a bottle of tequila and starts a fire that kills his two best friends and leaves him permanently scarred. Or so he thinks. This is very interesting! He's not quite sure comma since the memories are sketchy and he keeps shifting between realities. They both suck comma (I wouldn’t mention something as picky as a comma—okay, that’s a lie, I would—except I noticed quite a few missing commas, which made certain sentences read not quite right. Would an agent reject you because of a few misplaced or missing commas? Maybe not…but maybe they would. Maybe it might make them question the state of your manuscript, and we wouldn’t want that! and unless he wants the world to end, he'll have to go back to when it all began,<I’d do a colon here instead of a comma the day of the fire when he cheated on his boyfriend, Danny comma with their best friend Shira. But the past is a tricky thing to change, and Kyle can't keep living in both realities; being catapulted along the space-time continuum is killing him. He has to make a choice: Danny or Shira? Broken family or broken body? Scholarship to Rice or relationship with parents? The choice isn't easy and comma but he better do <make it quick before the syzygy breaks and he risks being locked in a reality he'll never be able to escape. I really like this last sentence. Very good! The stakes are good too, only I question that you brought up plot points not previously mentioned in the query right at the end. Since you’d not mentioned his desire to go to college or his relationship with his parents, it not only makes for a ‘huh?’ moment, but it doesn’t make for very dramatic stakes. Why should we care if he goes to Rice or not? You need to make us care so that when you give us the stakes, we realize just how much he has to lose by making this choice. Personally, I would ditch the scholarship and the parents bit for the sake of this query, but of course it’s up to you!

As Dust or Breath, complete at 60 000 words, is a YA contemporary-come-science fiction novel for older teens with themes involving Mayan eschatology and Native American spirituality. Wow! That’s quite a lot of genre. Maybe too much genre. I don’t know, as I’m not an agent, but I wonder if getting too picky here might make an agent question whether or not they could sell the novel, or whether there’s a place in the market for a YA contemporary-come-science fiction novel for older teens with themes involving Mayan eschatology and Native American spirituality. Just a thought. I could be totally off base. Set in small town New Mexico, this story explores the consequences of bad decisions for a boy battling struggling to come to terms with his own sexuality while taking responsibility for his actions. <Not sure I love this last sentence. I like the idea of it, but it doesn’t quite do it for me structure-wise, almost like it’s written a bit backwardsish. Yes, that’s a word.

I should mention that the author of this query noted she’d include a greeting to the agent, as well as a little bio paragraph at the end when querying, but left that out for the sake of this critique.

Whew! So even though I had a lot to say about this query, perhaps leading some to believe I didn’t like it, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I thought this letter was in pretty great shape. All the basic elements of a good query were there, and the plot came across so unique and fun! With a few tweaks here and there I think this author has potential to lure more than a few agents’ interest. Thanks author, for sending this along J

And the winners are...

Thank you so much to everyone who entered my first ever blog contest! Really and truly, thank you. Humor is hard, and it takes a brave soul to put yourself out there and give it a try (especially with not much to work with in the prompt picture). You guys are awesome, and I had so, so much fun reading all the hilarious entries.

Now without further ado, the winners are….

First place: I really liked two of the entries and was having a REALLY hard time deciding on one to pick. Then I was like, wait a minute, it’s my blog and my contest—I can do whatever the hell I want! Mwuahahaha! So there are two first place winners. Jamie, for the entry ‘He won’t be smiling for long once he realizes what I’m doing up here.” And Rachel, for the entry “-OMG THE UNICORN APOCALYPSE IS COMING!! Daddy, save me!!!! -Relax, kid, they're just unicorns. Furry, friendly, sparkly horses with horns on their foreheads…” Both entries were laugh-out-loud funny. The two of you win a 10-page critique.

Second place: Tosis, for the entry ‘Turn me around to see that creepy hay-chicken again and you’ll be the next spokesman for Hair Club for Men”. You win a 5-page critique.

Third place: ladonna Watkins, for the entry ‘I know that think behind the hay stack is the Big Red Chicken from Dora. What’s wrong with you, man? Run!’  You win a query letter critique (but if I’m not mistaken I’ve critiqued your query before, so if you like you can send along the first couple pages of your novel. Both work great for me J )

Congrats, winners! You can email me your material at michelle.k.krys@gmail.com anytime, and a huge thank you again to everyone who participated!

CONTEST!!

Some of you may have noticed that I haven't posted my query letter for The Witch Hunter's Bible, as was previously promised. To those of you I say this:

Thanks for following my blog so closely!!!!!!!!!

And also, I can't post my query letter :(  Turns out its a no-no. Yeah, sorry about that. BUT, because I feel bad (and also because I like to help others out), I've decided to hold a contest instead.

Those of you intimate with my critique style, like the wonderful Ruth Lauren Steven, know that I'm a nitpicky grammar Nazi. Also, I like little smiley faces. So enter the contest at your own risk :)

So what is this contest, you ask? What are the rules, you say?

Rules: 

1) Follow my blog
2) Write a caption to the picture below (in the comments section). The picture is of my husband and my son (when he was wee). If you look closely, you can see Ben is clutching onto my husband's hair for dear life. It's hilarious. ONE ENTRY PER CONTESTANT. Fine, two per contestant. Best caption wins.
3) There were only 2 rules.

The Prizes:

First place: 10 page critique by non-other than me 

Second place: 5 page critique 

Third place: Query letter critique (not for public viewing!) 

So come on, people! Don't be shy! Any kind of caption flies! Have fun! Get creative! Get funny! (or not, that's okay too). CONTEST CLOSES WEDNESDAY MARCH 21ST at 3PM EST. 

Best YA Book Covers As Of Late (in my opinion, anyway)

I've always been fond of a great book cover, and in fact, an awesome cover has inspired me to buy more than a few books where I've found the blurbs on the back to be just so-so (I know, I know, SUPERFICIAL!) But as of late I've had reason to pay special attention to covers (I got a book deal. Did I mention recently that I got a book deal?)

So much to my husband's delight, going to the bookstore is even more of a lengthy ordeal than it was in the past, because now I have to stop and admire all the gorgeous YA covers and dream up what my cover might look like. As a result of my most recent scouring of Chapters, here's what I came up with as my hands-down favorite YA cover:

This choice is ironic, because I normally dislike covers with close-ups of faces. But what's not to love here? The colors are striking! The girl is so pwetty! And I love the font for the title! It's exactly what I'd love for my book cover to look like (except for different, 'cause, you know, that whole copying thing.) 

Runners up, whose covers also inspired feelings of jealousy: 

Common theme I'm noticing here is color. Lots of color! And bold lines. And things that are pretty! And that last one, which admittedly doesn't have a lot going on, yet I love just as much anyway.  

Feel free to disagree with my choices. I promise to only hate you a little bit for it :) 

So, what are your favorite YA book covers?

Book Review: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

I feel like writing a review of this book is a huge injustice; there isn’t anything I can say about its greatness that could ever properly sum up how great it is. But, hey, I have this blog and I have you reading it, so I s’pose I’ll give it a try J

This book is great. Stunning. Amazing. Beautiful. Powerful. Touching. Provocative. Insightful. Every other complimentary adjective ever.

The blurb, from Goodreads:

“Samantha Kingston has it all: looks, popularity, the perfect boyfriend. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it turns out to be her last.

The catch: Samantha still wakes up the next morning. Living the last day of her life seven times during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death--and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing.”

What the blurb doesn’t mention, however, is that Samantha is a bitch.

There, I said it.

Samantha and her three best friends are the mean girls in school. And while I’d like to say that their horrible behavior alienated me as a reader, it didn’t. It fascinated me. Call me a sadist. Whatever. Still, I can see how others might find Samantha difficult to relate to in the beginning.

READ ON!

Samantha’s growth as a character is such that anyone who once found her horrible will undoubtedly become Samantha Sympathizers. Each day she wakes up and is forced to relive the day of her death over again, Samantha learns more about her friends, herself, and what’s important in life. Which sounds cheesy when I say it like that (precisely why I shouldn’t write reviews), but just trust me when I say that it’s not. Same goes for Samantha’s bitchy friends. If you don’t sympathize with them by the end of the book, you’ll at least understand why they are the way they are.

Five things I love about Before I Fall:

1.     The AMAZING writing. Lauren Oliver is an incredibly talented author. Her descriptions are so beyond fantastic they almost, nearly encouraged me to give up writing YA forever and seriously pursue a career in board books for babies.

2.     The humor. Yes, I said the humor. It’s spot-on and fresh and laugh-out-loud funny.

3.     The characters. Every single one, from supporting to very, very minor, was authentic if not fully fleshed out.

4.     Kent McFuller.

5.     It was painful (in a good way). Samantha’s transformation is seriously heartbreaking. As in, my husband entered the room when I was reading the final pages and was convinced I’d just heard horrible news, like that Tostitos was discontinuing its Chunky Salsa line. Nope, just finished this awesome book.  

But really, I could have just said this:

It’s Groundhog Day meets Mean Girls. Except awesomer. 

How to Get Your Book Published (or at least how I did): Part Two, Query Letters

Ah, the dreaded Query. The nearly universally reviled one-page letter that must hook an agent’s attention, describe your book, and entice the agent to want to read more, all without being boring, but not unprofessional either, while sticking to a strict format and word count. This one letter will ultimately decide the fate of your ENTIRE book, which you’ve spent countless hours/months/possibly years toiling over…

Sounds dramatic, I know, but let’s get serious—if your query letter sucks, an agent likely won’t read on to the sample pages. And with maybe hundreds of emails clogging up their inboxes on a daily basis, can you really blame them? (don’t answer that)

So, yes, the query letter is very intimidating and also very important. But no worries! You wrote an entire amazing book, and you can definitely write one single amazing page. Chin up, friends!  

The basic format of the query letter is this: one page, 250 words (350 absolute max!) written in three paragraphs, and single-spaced. The three paragraphs can be broken down into the ‘hook’, the synopsis, and the biography.

The Hook- It’s just what it sounds like: a short paragraph to ‘hook’ the agent’s interest.

The Synopsis- Where you boil down your entire book into one single paragraph. Easy, right? But really, you don’t need to boil down your ENTIRE book. Just tell us about your main character, his/her main goal, what gets in the way of this goal, and what is at stake for the character if they don’t reach this goal. And try and make it exciting. No pressure!

The Bio- Anything to your credit, writing-related, goes here. Have you published any short stories? Are you a part of any writing groups? Have you taken any notable writing courses? Okay, so maybe you have none of these things. That’s okay. I used ‘Michelle Krys is a freelance writer based in Northwestern Ontario’ until I got a few short stories published. That worked too.

**Important note** The query is an introduction of you, yes, but more importantly, your book. Therefore you needn’t mention the last ten jobs you’ve held (unless maybe you worked as a vet and your book is a non-fiction about farm animals, or maybe you worked as a personal assistant to a rock star and your book is about a rock star—you get the point).  While this information might be interesting, it’s just not what the agent needs to know when deciding whether or not to read your book. Focus on your writing.

Other random tips for the Query Letter, which I can’t source so y’all will just have to trust me:

-Give your query ‘voice’. This is REALLY important. While you want your query to be professional, you definitely don’t want it to be bland or boring. Try to write your query in the tone of voice that your book was written. The main character in The Witch Hunter’s Bible is a snarky sixteen-year-old girl. My query was written in her voice (not from her, though!)

-Be professional. Avoid the temptation to call your book stunning, or exciting, or daring or (insert adjective here). Please no ‘My mom thinks it’s the best book she’s ever read’, or ‘This is the next Harry Potter/Twilight/Hunger Games/Any other best-selling book. Same goes for “it’s better than XYZ best-selling book”. Agents have heard it all before, and insulting other authors, their publishers, and their millions of fans isn’t going to get you anywhere. Just let your book do the talking.

-Don’t open with a rhetorical question. As in "What would you do if…” Just don’t. Trust me on this one, peeps! I wouldn’t lead you astray.

-Include your genre and word count

-Include the word ‘completed’ (your book is finished, right?)

-Try to personalize your query whenever possible—no, I don’t mean with colored paper, wacky fonts, perfume, or by accompanying the letter with gifts (though, incidentally, I do accept gifts, including those of chips and salsa in large quantities). Start by addressing the query to the agent by name. Dear Ms. Ranta, or Dear Adriann Ranta works. Dear Agent does not. Nor does To Whom It May Concern. Tell the agent why you queried them.  For example: ‘I am searching for representation for TRULY AMAZING, a memoir complete at 80,000-words. Because you like quirky books, I thought we might be a good fit’. Whether it's better to open or close with this kind of statement is debatable, so I’ll leave that up to you to decide.

-Try not to mention too many characters in your query. It’s only one page, so it gets hard to follow along when there are more than a few character’s names being tossed around.

-Don’t call your book a fictional novel. Agents hate that. Trust.

-Don’t put yourself down in the query. So what if you’ve never written a book before or don’t have a college degree? No one will care about that if your book is great.

-Spellcheck!

-Go ahead and mention if your book is the first in a series (better if you can say your book stands alone, but can be the first in a series).

-Only discuss one project per query letter. It’s great if you have 6 novels completed, but the query letter isn’t the place to expand upon all of them.

-Take the time to send out individual emails. Agents hate when they’re ‘cc’d in one mass email to hundreds of agents.

-Thank the agent for their time and consideration

-Check out AgentQuery and Query Shark for more information than you could ever need on everything that is the Query.

-When in doubt, check out my query critique tab for more information on how to submit your query for review by non-other than moi J

So, I bet you’re wondering what my query letter looks like, huh? Well, I just so happen to have it right here. And I’m going to show it to you…next week! Because this post is way too long already

How To Get Your Book Published (or at least how I did): Part One, Literary Agents

Since announcing that I have a book deal (YAY!!!!!!!) I’ve been asked a lot of questions as to how I went about getting an agent/my book published. And while I love answering these questions, (seriously, I do!) I thought it was about time I devised a more coherent, non-rambling answer to them.

Disclaimer #1- In no way am I saying that if you follow these steps, you will get a literary agent/sell you book for millions/that there are no other, just-as-good ways to publish your book/that I even come close to knowing everything about the process. These are entirely my own thoughts. 

Disclaimer #2- I ramble. The short answer is this: I got an agent, my agent submitted my book to editors at publishing houses, an editor made an offer my agent and I both loved, we accepted the offer. You will find all the details of this answer (more than you ever wanted, probably) below. I will have to break this up into several posts due to ramblage. Today I’m focusing on the literary agent aspect.

So…..

To submit a book to a publishing house, you will need a literary agent. In the past anyone could submit to a publishing house, agented or no, however most big companies no longer allow unagented submissions (also known as unsolicited submissions). You can ask someone else why (I’m assuming it has something to do with the sheer number of submissions, the gem-to-crap ratio, and how time-consuming it is to weed through the crap to find the gem—now that job belongs to literary agents). Some small and “indie” presses still allow unagented submissions, and of course there’s self-publishing, but right now I’m talking about traditional publishing with established publishing houses.

There are tons and tons of amazing literary agents out there. It's a reputable profession, even though some people will try to convince you that literary agents are going to steal your book, swindle your money, and do other evil things like clean the toilet with your toothbrush (Okay, so maybe not that last one).

My agent is amazing and I don’t know where I’d be without her. Also, no you can’t have her, she’s mine! Mwuahaha!

Having said that, there are some shady agents out there. It’s rare, but true. 

Signs an agent is reputable:

-They do not charge you up-front fees. Reputable literary agents are paid only when you get paid (usually 10-20% commission of the sale of book rights to publishers). They don’t charge you reading fees, they don’t charge you up-front for supplies to do their job, and they don’t refer you fee-charging editorial services

-You’ve researched him/her extensively and have heard mostly good things.

-The agent has sales under their belt (It’s important to note that not having any sales isn’t a direct sign of a non-reputable agent, as everyone starts somewhere and an agent may just be new to the job, but it certainly doesn’t hurt, right?)

So how do you find an agent? Where do you even start?

To find an agent, you have to do your research. Trusted sources include The Writer’s Market, available at most bookstores, and The Literary Marketplace, found at most libraries. I preferred the Internet, myself. A website I found very helpful was AgentQuery.  Here you can enter your genre and have a list of agents who meet your criteria generated, as well as read more information about each agent. I also LOVED Casey McCormick’s blog, Literary Rambles, and highly suggest it during research time. 

Following this basic search, it’s a good idea to do more research on each agent’s website re: what he/she is looking for and if you/your writing would be a good fit, as their website will always be the most up-to-date source of information.

Once you have a list of agents you’d like to submit to, you send them a query letter, along with whatever sample of writing they ask for. Usually, it's anywhere from 5-10 pages but can be up to 50 pages or, rarely, more than that. If the agent likes what they've read, they'll request to read more.

It's generally expected and condoned that you submit to multiple agents at once (But for god's sake, people, don't cc agents in one mass email!). It takes days to weeks to months to hear back on the query letter alone, and the response may only be a form rejection, so it's in the author's best interest to query widely. A few agents ask for exclusive submissions; I just clucked my tongue and didn't send to any of them.

So if an agent requests your full manuscript and loved it, they'll either call you or make an appointment via email to call you (more common). This is a great time to do this:

During this call, if you've made it that far, you'll likely be offered representation if you’re not crazy and don’t scare away the agent (No pressure!).

But before screaming YES!! remember it's considered professional etiquette to let every agent who has your full or partial manuscript know that you have an offer on the table, which usually gets your manuscript shuffled to the top of the slush pile. If you're lucky, you may have a few offerees vying for you and get to choose your agent.

I make it sound easy, don’t I? Well, it’s not. I got 29 rejections and only one partial request (which later turned into a rejection) on my first book. And if you’ve been following my blog, you know about the rejections for The Witch Hunter’s Bible. Rejection is par for the course with writing. Getting your book published requires hard work, dedication, and loads and loads of perseverance. Also, a great query letter, which will be discussed next.

Whew!  So there’s today’s huge post. Writerly friends, pipe up if you have something to offer or if you simply want to tell me shut up, already! 

WEEEEEE!!!!!!

Awesome doesn’t even begin to cover how much I love this news. I’ve known since Monday but was asked to keep quiet until official announcements were made. I practically had to sit on my hands to comply, but now I’ve been given the okay so here it is…I got a book deal! Not just any book deal, but a two-book deal with Delacorte Press/Random House!  RANDOM HOUSE, PEOPLE! Here’s the official Publishers Marketplace announcement:

Michelle Krys's THE WITCH HUNTER'S BIBLE, in which a snarky sixteen-year-old cheerleader is forced into a centuries-old war between witches and sorcerers only to uncover the first of many dark truths about her life, to Wendy Loggia at Delacorte, in a good deal, in a two-book deal, by Adriann Ranta at Wolf Literary Services (World).

An actual book is going to have my name on it and be sold in bookstores! My agent rocks my world.

If anyone needs me, I’ll be in the corner puking and dying of happiness.