What's it like to go on submission when traditionally publishing? What does going on submission even mean? Today I'm talking about this very important part of the traditional publishing process.
So the holidays are upon us, which means the time to buy gifts for your loved ones is here! As I've been planning all my purchases for family and friends, it occurred to me I haven't really talked about gifts for writers, so now seems like a perfect time to do it.
So without further ado, here are some gift ideas for the writers in your life. Or, you know, ideas to give your friends and family for you. ;)
Writing craft books
Writing craft books are always a great choice, because there's always more for writers to learn. Some that I've read and loved or are on my list to read include:
I've written about the wonders of Scrivener many times. While you'll probably want the writer in your life to play around with the free trial first (because it's not for everyone!), I, for one, can say Scrivener has completely changed how I tackle writing books for the better and I will never go back.
AeonTimeline is a pretty handy—and in-depth—program that could be especially useful to writers who write books with complicated timelines. Some of the features are listed here, but when I tried a free trial last year to help me work out a timeline I found it really visually interesting and useful.
E-readers
E-readers are a writer's best friend. I swear by my Nook e-ink reader, which I got years ago from someone who upgraded theirs and it still works beautifully. The one I have is discontinued but when the time comes to upgrade I'll be getting the Nook GlowLight Plus. If you're looking for an inexpensive tablet e-reader, there's Barnes & Noble's new $50 7" Nook tablet, and over on Amazon there are options like the Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite, and Fire tablet.
Noise-canceling headphones
This is a good higher-budget option if the writer in your life frequently works in noisy environments, but even if not they can be really great to help hone focus. They are, however, on the pricier end, so this would be a more luxurious gift the writer in your life would make great use of.
Cool bookends
BookRiot did a post on fifty awesome bookends earlier this year with some really cool options.
Other random suggestions: nice pens and journals, fancy teas, chocolate, bookshelves, PJ pants, fuzzy blankets, fuzzy socks, whiteboards, cork boards, and, of course, books and gift cards for books.
What writerly gifts are you craving this year? Twitter-sized bite:
Not sure what to get the writers in your life for the holidays? @Ava_Jae puts together writerly gifts to consider. (Click to tweet)
So one question I get asked with surprising frequency is whether or not international authors can get published within the US. These questions often come from writers who live anywhere outside the US and worry that they can only be agented by the tiny pool of agents in their country, or published by publishers in their country, and thus won't really be able to get a fair shot at traditional publishing.
As this has been a frequently asked question, I figured I'd write a post about it.
The easy answer is this: agents and editors within the US work with people from all around the world all the time. It's absolutely not a requirement to live in the US to get traditionally published by a US publisher, or to be represented by an agent living in the US. Most of the work that gets done between authors, agents, and editors is all done either via e-mail (where contracts and manuscripts get sent back and forth) or on the phone to discuss all manner of things. A lot of American authors haven't even met their agent or editor in person—or don't for several years—because the truth is not much really needs to be done in person.
This also works the other way—there are agents who don't live in the US but work with US clients and publishers all the time. This probably happens less often than the other way around, but just off the top of my head I can think of several agents who do this, and again, it's not a problem.
So if you're a writer living outside of the US and you're worried about your location complicating your ability to get a US-based agent and publisher, don't be. It's a pretty common scenario and shouldn't be an issue at all. :)
Twitter-sized bite:
Live outside the US and worried you can't get a US-based agent or publisher? Author @Ava_Jae says don't be. (Click to tweet)
So once upon a time, not too long ago, I had to get a bunch of x-rays. Not because I was injured or anything, but part of having a disease where your body pretty literally eats its own joints is getting imaging done to track erosions of said joints from time to time. (This doesn't sound fun yet, but the story gets more fun, I promise.)
Anyway, so I was getting x-rays done on my hips, hands, and neck, which meant I had to wear one of those glorious hospital gowns. After I change, the imaging technician comes to get me and bring me to the x-ray room.
She's very chatty and peppy, and if you have ever met me in person, you will know I am not. I was feeling pretty awkward, both because of the gown and because I'm just naturally awkward in social settings, but I smiled and tried to answer her questions as she moved me around the room to take different x-rays.
After the technician asked me what grade I was in and I smiled and told her I'd graduated college months ago, and she apologized profusely while I turned red and laughed and said it was fine, she smartly changed the subject to something else. This something else was my employment.
"I'm an author and freelance editor," I said, and she immediately perked up.
"Oh! Cool, so what do you write?"
"Young Adult science fiction and fantasy—that kind of thing," I answered.
Usually, at this point in the conversation, people will nod and say, "cool" or something of the like and we'll talk about something else. That's not what happened this time, because this time it turned out the technician was a huge Young Adult and Science Fiction fan, so she basically had an excited freak out.
A really, really, really excited freak out.
What followed was her asking if I had my business cards on me (at which point I pointed to my hospital gown) and she was super excited and I pitched my book and she declared me her coolest patient and had me write down my author name so she could look me up and find my book. It was easily the most enthusiastic reception I'd ever had to revealing my author self, and remains my favorite writer story ever.
So now I want to hear from you: what's your favorite writer story? Twitter-sized bite:
Have a fun writer story you'd like to share? Join the discussion on @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet)
So, on Saturday when I asked Twitter for some blog post ideas, someone asked if I could do a post on what's involved in launching a book. While I can only talk about my personal experience along with some educated guesses/generalizations based off my friends' experiences, it's something I haven't yet talked about. As I wrote the post, however, I realized this was going to be insanely long, so I've split it into two parts. So here we go.
How to launch a book, part one. 8 MONTHS BEFORE LAUNCH:
Cover reveal. So timings actually vary, but my cover reveal was roughly eight months before publication, and that seems to be a relatively common-ish reveal time. But do note timing will vary publisher to publisher.
That said, one of the first parts of launching a book is indeed the cover reveal. This is when excitement for a book will really start, because you'll be (hopefully) sharing your reveal with an audience who doesn't already know about your book. Most sites that do cover reveals have guidelines to follow, and they generally make it pretty easy for authors to contact them and inquire about a cover reveal (and yes, the job of finding a site to host your cover reveal often (but not always) falls on the author).
Buy swag. Technically, you should have started this as soon as *you*, the author, have your finalized cover, but once the cover is out in the world, you'll definitely want to invest in some swag. I went with postcards and bookmarks, personally—I found the bookmarks were much more popular than the post cards, but post cards are good for mailing, so it's a trade off. (Here's a great post on self-promo and marketing materials that work by Erin Bowman.) Book plates also tend to be popular, something I need to look into getting...
But anyway, swag is super useful both for giveaways and for leaving behind at events and local bookstores and libraries, if they take them. (And in my experience, they often do.)
6 MONTHS BEFORE LAUNCH:
Talk about your book a ton. I mean, you probably were doing this already, but if you haven't started, make sure you talk your book up! Pre-order links also start to go up somewhere around this time, so once those have gone live, make sure you pin them to your Twitter and put them on a prominent place on your website.
Think about launch parties. Do you want a launch party? If so, where? This is a good time to start asking yourself what you want to do in terms of the day. I personally decided a launch party was going to stress me out more than it'd be worth it, as I had just recently moved to the area and didn't really know enough people to even merit a party. I ended up doing an online launch party instead, which was fantastic, and lots of fun, and generated way more buzz than a local party would have for me.
That said! You may very well want a physical launch party, so this is around the time you'll want to start brainstorming the logistics.
Look into future local events. Or not local events, if you can afford them. Conferences, book fairs, library events—take a look at what's going on in the upcoming year and decide what you'd like to attend so you can promote yourself and your book.
ARC tour/giveaways. Somewhere around this time you will probably get your ARCs if you haven't already! This is a super exciting time, and also when you can prepare to send your ARC out to readers through giveaways and tours. I did two different ARC tours—one for an upcoming blog tour and one for the Sweet Sixteens debut group I was a part of, which helped generate some early reviews. Yay!
Look into blog tours. These are optional, of course—some authors do them, some don't. I did two blog tours, and I found them both helpful in terms of getting early reviews and generating a little buzz. So this is something you may want to start looking into at this point.
What do you do to get excited about a book before launch?
Twitter-sized bite:
Curious about what goes into launching a trad pub'd book? @Ava_Jae kicks off a 2-part How to Launch a Book series. (Click to tweet)
With all the struggles involved in being a writer, many of which I openly discuss here, sometimes it's nice to stop and think about my favorite parts of my chosen career.
I love:
that moment while first drafting when the story takes over and everything starts to flow.
that moment while revising when your changes come together and the manuscript becomes better than you ever expected.
that my job is to make up stories.
diving into a new story and falling in love with characters and words all over again.
that daydreaming (about stories) is totally working.
that reading is a job requirement.
seeing my book cover(s) for the first time.
making fun publishing announcements.
that feeling of holding your book/manuscript and knowing these words are mine.
meeting and talking to other writers, both online and IRL.
meeting readers.
the welcoming nature of 97% of the bookish community.
writing "THE END" at the end of a manuscript.
What are some of your favorite parts of being a writer?
Twitter-sized bite:
What's your favorite part of being a writer? Join the discussion on @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet)
Want to be more productive but don't know where to start? Today I'm sharing my top four productivity tips—also known as how to avoid procrastinating. :)
A few days ago, someone on tumblr asked me what my schedule was like, because they were curious about how I juggled writing, school, and editorial work alongside blogging and vlogging. I started answering with the expectation that it'd only take me fifteen to twenty minutes tops to detail out my weekly schedule, but my estimate was just a little off—it took me over an hour (though this is partially because tumblr bugged out and deleted my post when I was nearly done the first time, but anyway).
As I wrote up my schedule though, there were frequently times when I had to go back and add things because I'd forgotten I also did x and y and don't forget z. It was kind of a good exercise for me, if only because I realized I was busier than I imagined—which made me feel a little better about falling behind on things and/or being tired.
For the curious, this is the answer I gave:
Of course, that doesn't detail everything, and the time spans are rough estimates, but the idea is the same.
For me, scheduling is necessary because otherwise I doubt I'd be able to juggle so much. A rearranging my schedule several times a year is also necessary because depending on the time of year and/or what's going on, my available time for work and what work I need to prioritize changes.
I know, however, that not everyone is into organizing and/or scheduling their days like I do, so I'm curious. Do you use daily or weekly schedules to get through your tasks, or do you keep your days more flexible? Twitter-sized bites:
Are you a schedule-dependent writer? Join the discussion on @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet)
Author @Ava_Jae shares her current weekly schedule & asks who does/doesn't use schedules. Do you? (Click to tweet)
Hey guys! I'm back from tour and SCBWI and it was wonderful. It also looks like you guys really enjoyed the amazing guest posts we had, which is really great to see. Yay for all of us!
The next day we went to Ellicot City, where I was dumb and forgot to take pictures (I know), but we had a yummy lunch and saw some cool stores before our second panel, this time at the Bel Air Library, where we took this fabulous picture.
Friday morning, Kathy and I headed to Mercy High School where we talked to a lovely Creative Writing class about our publishing journeys and a bit about our books. The class was super interactive and asked us great questions and half a second after we took a class selfie the fire alarm went off, so Kathy and I made our sneaky escape. From there we drove over to the SCBWI conference center where we ate dinner and participated in fun ice breakers that involved writing a sentence, then drawing it, then folding it up and letting someone else translate the picture into words, etc., and ended up with hilarious results like this.
Then the next day was the big conference day! Janet and I spent the first hour critiquing queries, then after lunch we split up to do our presentations, and I ran a workshop on world building. Right after the workshop, the four of us met up and were on a panel run by Stephen Barbara about working with an agent, which was super fun. After that I took this sleepy picture, we had dinner, I socialized again and heard some hilarious stories, then I went to my room and crashed.
The next morning I attended an awesome workshop run by Andrew Harwell (Senior Editor of MG & YA at HarperTeen) where he dropped some super tweetable tidbits that I lated tweeted about. It was an excellent session.
Also, we took this picture, which looks like I'm taller than Kathy, but actually she was crouching to be nice, but anyway.
After stopping by B&N for funsies, we all headed to Laura's home and ate pizza and s'mores and maybe created a ridiculous video that involves dancing bananas dressed as Harry, Ron, and Hermione that Janet will possibly tweet on her release day TOMORROW. It was ridiculous and fun and a great mid-tour break.
On Monday we had a relaxing morning before heading off to our panel and signing at The Ivy Bookshop. Then on Tuesday, Kathy and I had another high school visit, which was a blast. We then went library/indie bookstore hopping and took a bajillion Sixteener pictures before having lunch at a really cool converted coffee shop.
From there we went to the most beautiful library I've ever been to ever called the The Handley Library in Winchester, VA where we had our final panel in an actual auditorium. And afterward we visited the Winchester Book Gallery, who was hosting our sales at the library, and we had the amazing opportunity to sign the wall they had full of signatures from visiting authors and illustrators, which was completely amazing.
And that was it! All in all, it was an exhausting, but truly incredible week. I had such a fantastic time, and it was amazing to be able to check off my bucket list item of going on tour, and talk to publishing professionals I admire as a publishing professional myself, and so many little amazing things that just made the trip fantastic.
It was, without a doubt, a trip I'll never forget. :)
Before I got back into the swing of writing creatively, I spent several years trying to be an academic. I made it through my Masters and two years into my PhD program before depression set in and I realised I was pursuing a goal that made me unhappy. Imposter syndrome was a term I used to hear all the time: at conferences, in the postgraduate halls. In the academic circles, it was sort of expected that everyone below the rank of Full Professor felt it. Worse, that it was desirable. We were all afraid that we didn’t belong, that our work was inferior, that we’d somehow deceived our respective PhD programmes into admitting us, that we just weren’t smart enough.
People don’t talk about Imposter Syndrome quite as much in the writing community. Unfortunately, I think it’s equally prevalent. Underlying the anxiety of Imposter syndrome is a feeling that you don’t belong. Many writers start out on the fringes of the community and they’re afraid to engage with established writers because they see themselves as interlopers. For many writers, that feeling of not belonging and the fear of exposure don’t go away.
Back in October, I went to my first writing conference (yay!). I was terrified that people would ostracise me because I didn’t have an agent. I internalised a lot of that fear and told myself that if they didn’t like me it was because I was worthless as a writer.
I’m happy to report that I made lots of friends at all stages of their writing journey and I didn’t feel left out. However, when I talked to other writers, it was amazing to realise just how many of them were suffering with anxieties like mine. An agented writer thought she had conned her agent into thinking she could write, since she’d been on submission for a year. A multi-published author was struggling after with internalised self-doubt after her publisher dropped her. Even the keynote speaker, a NY Times bestselling author, talked about her fear that her fans would realise her previous novel had all been a fluke.
I’m not going to pretend I have the answers to solving Imposter Syndrome or other forms of anxiety. I do think it’s important to remember that so many other writers go through the same experience, no matter what level they’re at. Maybe those shared experiences are what ‘membership’ in the community is about? We all have experiences to offer. Fears or not, you aren’t alone.
Note from Julia: I am more than happy to respond privately to anyone via e-mail (julia_ember@yahoo.com) who is experiencing anxiety or feelings of impostor syndrome if they want to chat but aren't comfortable sharing on the blog comments.
A world traveller since childhood, Julia Ember has now visited over 60 countries. Her travels inspire the fictional worlds she writes about and she populates those worlds with magic and monsters. Unicorn Tracks is her first novel and will be published by Harmony Ink Press in April 2016.
There are a ton of misconceptions regarding a writer's income, and not a whole lot of information to help manage expectations. So today I'm covering general (realistic) income expectations for writers who want to be traditionally published.
It’s been a weird couple of months in my writer brain, lately.
As I’ve mentioned before, last year was the Year of Revisions for me—I spent my months heavily revising two manuscripts, ended up putting one aside and am full-steam ahead with the other and hoping it may one day be a Thing I can share. But last year was also the first year in a long time that I didn’t write a new manuscript, and that was kind of rough, in it’s own way.
Because even though, word-count-wise, I probably wrote enough during those revisions to equal up to a new MS anyway (did I mention how extensive the revisions were?), I still finished the year feeling like I’d failed, somehow, because I hadn’t written a new project.
Probably what compounded the issue was I’d wanted to write something in November, but my chronic illness disagreed and I ended up needing the time I would’ve been NaNoing to rest, instead. And even though I knew very well about the importance of rest (and hey, I’ve even vlogged about how important it is!), it didn’t stop me from entering 2016 from feeling kind of gross about it. Which is silly because I knew I’d progressed (revisions! were awesome!) but, you know, writer brains.
Combine this with experiencing my very first List Season, which even with the preparation of other authors talking about how List Season is tough and ultimately doesn’t mean much, even with the expectation of being left off a bunch of “upcoming” lists, I entered a kind of weird brain space.
The truth is, writers deal with a weird blend of imposter syndrome, the comparison game, and this pervading sense of standing still even when you’re progressing. This sense of you’re not doing enough spreads into so many aspects of the writer life, whether it’s drafting (you’re not writing enough), marketing (you’re not marketing enough), or stuff totally out of your control (you’re not on enough lists, you’re not getting reviewed enough, etc. etc. etc.).
I know, from listening to many other writers talk about this—writers who have been doing the career writer thing for wayyyyyy longer than I have—that this feeling never really goes away. And honestly, there isn’t really a lesson here at the end of this post, but you guys asked me to talk about the becoming a published writer thing, and this is a thing that is happening a lot lately, so here I am.
It’s a common thing for writers. And it’s not an easy thing. But I guess it helps knowing I am so not alone with this, and the best I can do is to just keep moving forward and try to focus on the really awesome things coming up, like my hardcover book in my hand (soon!), and my hardcover book possibly in many of yours.
And even when my brain tries to convince me otherwise, that alone is a really incredible thing. :)
What cool writer things have you guys been doing lately?
Twitter-sized bite:
On the writer reality of never feeling like you're doing enough. (Click to tweet)
So chances are really likely if you follow me on Twitter, Instagram, tumblr, or Facebook, you’ve seen me kinda sorta freaking out over happy Beyond the Red news, namely, that ARCs are now a thing that exist. My editor and publisher sent me the pics below:
It’s super exciting! And while I do not have my copies yet (yet!) I know I won’t have to wait much longer at all. And that on it’s own is crazy amazing, but it’s also mid-November which means there are three and a half-ish months before Beyond the Red hits the shelves. That’s it.
Which is so exciting! But also means all the out-of-anyone’s-control nervous-making stuff is going to be starting, like, soon. Like really, really soon.
Things like whether or not readers and reviewers like the book. Things like how well the book does/doesn’t sell. Things like the takeaway people get after reading. Things like whether people buy the book or whether it fades into obscurity. Things like sales rankings and lists the book may/may not be on and whether, a month later, anyone remembers it at all.
The thing is, I’m just barely entering that transition where the book goes from mine to everyone’s. And I know that this, ARCs becoming real and being sent to people—this is where it starts. And I know that with the way this year’s been going, I’m going to blink and it’ll be March, and my book will be a hardcover thing you can buy in a bookstore.
This is not a complaining post. This is just me being real and transparent with you guys, because I’ve always felt like that was important, given that many of you are aspiring to one day go through the same milestones.
The truth is, right now I’m okay. Most of the time. But then I’ll remember something—a particular scene, or sentence, or messages, or whatever and the nervousness will be a kick in the stomach. And then I’ll breathe and think oh, so this is the pre-debut anxiety they were talking about and then I’ll distract myself and think just do the best you can and hope for the best and that’s what I’m doing. And right now I’m okay, but we’re still a couple months out and I still have a couple chances to make changes if I want to but eventually those safety nets will be gone and it’ll be time to hold my breath, and smile, and hope for the best.
And I think, that right there, the moment when it’s completely out of your hands—that’s the part that so many authors mention getting anxious about. And I thought I understood before, but I’m really starting to get it now—one jolt of anxiety at a time—and I know there are steps I’ll need to take to protect future me.
Steps like doing my absolute best not to look at numbers I can’t control. Steps like doing everything I can to learn and listen so I can continue to improve as a writer, as a person. Steps like burying myself in my next project so that hopefully, in the future, I’ll have more good news and books to share with everyone.
My writing, the way I handle my career, the places and times I choose to engage: those are things I can control. Those are things I know I’ll need to focus on more and more if I want to survive as an anxiety-prone writer.
And yet, I know myself. I know I’ll probably slip up and fret about things I can’t control. I know there will probably be moments where my anxiety will get the best of me, even despite all the steps I’ve taken to make it as manageable as possible. I know some days will be really friggin’ hard, and that’s okay too.
But for now, for today, that’s where I’m at. In this rapidly contracting space of in-between where I’m doing the best I can to be the best I can.
I hope in March it’ll be enough. But I guess that’s the sort of thing that only time will tell.
Twitter-sized bites:
Curious about what life is like before debuting? @Ava_Jae shares her thoughts on the experience thus far. (Click to tweet)
"My writing, the way I handle my career...[when] I choose to engage: those are things I can control." (Click to tweet)
Today in response to a tumblr ask, I'm talking all about The Call with an agent, some basic things to expect, and some things to think about before and during this publishing milestone.
I think I knew, intellectually, that getting agented or getting a book deal wasn’t going to end the waiting game. The publishing world is one that forces people to develop patience—or at least teaches them how not to go crazy while being impatient. Or find really good distractions. Or something.
But writers do a lot of waiting.
We wait between drafts before revising.
We wait to hear feedback from critique partners.
We wait to hear back from agents while querying.
We wait to hear feedback from our agents when sending them a new manuscript.
We wait to hear from editors while on submission.
We wait to be able to announce happy news when we get it.
We wait for publishing contracts to be negotiated after verbally agreeing to have your book published.
We wait for $ to come in after contracts are signed.
We wait for edits to begin.
We wait to see our cover comps.
We wait to be able to share the final cover with the world.
We wait for the next round of edits.
We wait for our box of ARCs to arrive.
We wait for early reviews and blurbs to come in.
We wait for the fated day of finished copies to arrive.
We wait for release day.
And we do it all over again with the next book.
Probably that doesn’t even cover all of the waiting, but it’s a nice chunk of the prominent waiting writers do.
I think maybe I hoped that waiting post-agent and post-book deal would be a little easier because at least I’d know what was going on, buuuut turns out that’s not entirely true either. Kind of like pre-agent and pre-book deal, I have a general sense of Things Happening, and know the landmarks of the general process, but when people ask me specific questions about the future, I usually can’t give anything more than an estimate. Which is fine. Because if there’s anything taking eight years to get agented has taught me, it’s how to be patient.
I think probably the funniest realization I’ve had so far with this publishing thing is how much things change and yet, you as a writer don’t really feel any different. The waiting stuff still feels pretty much exactly the same, and granted while I’ve got some extra exciting things to look forward to (yay!), the in-between part is still very much about keeping distracted while waiting.
Best distractions of course are other projects. Or breaks, when you need them. Or books. Or catch up work or a million other things. But ultimately waiting is something that we, as writers, have to learn to deal with. Because no matter what stage of the process you’re in, there will always be more.
What do you do to distract yourself when waiting?
Twitter-sized bite:
Writer @Ava_Jae says the waiting game never really changes. What do you think? (Click to tweet)
So last weekend I did a thing! As I mentioned briefly earlier, I had the super awesome opportunity of going to Chicago and speaking to a bunch of young writers between the ages of 12-22—and it was amazing. So amazing.
I won’t lie, the day I was preparing to get on the train to go, I was massively anxious. Like, verge-of-an-anxiety-attack anxious. And it sucked, but once I got to the train station things calmed down a little and soon I felt better.
Then Chicago! Well not really. First a bunch of delays on my train, and a several hour ride, and then Chicago! The lovely lady who picked me up from the train station was also kind enough to give me a driving tour of the city at night, which was super cool, and then I kind of stumbled half-deliriously to the hotel where I met some super awesome people, and then I crashed.
The next day was when the conference actually started, and it honestly could not have gone better. I did my presentation (which was 45 minutes in front of an audience—eep!), listened to other super awesome speakers like Karen Bao, Kaye, Taryn Albright, and Kat Zhang, met some lovely readers, and then…
I was basically on cloud nine all day. Everyone was so awesome, meeting people and chatting about writing and publishing all day was bliss. And as a nice bonus, I won an ARC of Georgeby Alex Gino. (Be jealous.)
I wrote a post last week about how things were starting to feel real—things have never felt more real than sitting at that table, signing swag for Beyond the Red. And walking around with a snazzy badge that said “Speaker” on it. And being a conference as a real life author.
It was absolutely incredible and I can’t wait until my next event. I’ve never felt more confident, accepted and absolutely happy. :)
Photo credit: Julia Byers
Now to make the most of my last month of summer before school starts…
Twitter-sized bite:
.@Ava_Jae recaps attending her very first conference as an author. #Ch1Con (Click to tweet)
