In Which There is FLAIL

I JUST SENT MY FIRST QUERY LETTER!

AUUUUUUUGH.

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but also some of ok, a lot of this:

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all in all, though... HOOOORAAAAAAY! 

 

It's DONE.

Approximately 6 weeks of writing.
5 constructive criticism partners.
3 rounds of quick edits.
1 round of slow edits.
1 round of review/slow edits/additions.

74000 words.

I'm going to take a day off and then come back and adjust some formatting things, but my Book Baby is ready for querying now.

AUUUUUUGH.

**runs around dancing**

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(creepy)

Soundtrack Things

a bit ago, my husband asked me a pretty cool question: 

"once you're published... if someone wanted to make your book into a movie, and you had a say in what ended up on the film soundtrack, what are 8 songs you'd want on it?" 

realistically, i didn't have to think too long for any of these tracks, because i write to a soundtrack, always. i thought i'd share them, in case anyone is interested. all of these songs create a real feel for either the story as a whole, or for a specific scene. pardon me as i nerd the f out, guys. for real.

in no particular order:

Bjork, "Army of Me"
(this was the most played track while i was writing the initial draft of this manuscript.)

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Civil Twilight, "Letters from the Sky"
 

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Flyleaf, "Fully Alive" 

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Frou Frou, "Let Go" 

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Radiohead, "How to Disappear Completely" 

(radiohead comprises the majority of my writing playlist for this novel.) 

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Massive Attack, "Butterfly Caught" 

(massive attack is also a large portion of this playlist.) 

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Incubus, "Dig" 

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Death Cab for Cutie, "You Are a Tourist" 

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what do you think? for those of you who know me, are you surprised? for those of you who have read this manuscript, can you "see" the story a bit better when you consider this soundtrack? 

:)

Stuff to Get Done

i'm not even going to lie - the purpose of this blog entry is solely accountability for me. there are a handful of things i need to get done, things that continue to be put off for one reason or another, and i have to stop doing that. i figure if i post about it here, someone (if there is anyone) who reads this in my real life will prod me, which will give me the extra oomph of motivation to get these things done.

so, here they are, in no particular order:

1) finish the edits of my novel. i'm currently on page 93 of about 360, and after this pass through, i still have to give it a final read through.  i have to do this in order to query, because i refuse to query something that is lacking in quality. the end. due date: 1/24 - update 1/21 - on page 240/370  update 1/22 - on page 282/375 - LESS THAN 100 pages left! DONE! 1/24/13  - 9:20ish PM
2) buy B a new bed and new bedding. she's simply too tall for the one we have, but with the move and then the holidays, as well as K not having an income quite yet, other things took priority. due date: 3/1
3) buy a new belt. this sounds so stupid, i know, but i no longer have one that is small enough to actually help when jeans are too loose. and it's been this way since like ... october. yeah. i suck at buying things for myself. due date: 3/1
4) purchase notebook for v-day project. details must be kept on the hush. ;) due date: ASAP  done 1/16/13
     4a) actually complete v-day project. due date: 1/31 - done - 1/17/13

so, if you know me, and you see me in real life over the next handful of months, kick me in the shins if i haven't started these things.

hope everyone had a great weekend! i know we did. :)

update: querying process

so, i wrote a book.

and when i finished it, i was all, "yesssssss, i wrote a book, oh-em-gee, amazing!" right? i was (am) so proud, and it's 74000 words of YA fantasy, which is (to be honest) a genre that i never thought i would write. i love my protagonists, i love where the story is going, and i love that the story arc itself challenges and excites me.

i sent it to some people for feedback, and then made a quick pass of edits to get it cleaned up a bit. then, a few weeks ago, i send the quick-edited draft to a friend who is an editor by trade for a comprehensive check of grammar and the writing in general.

all of this editing?

it's to prep the manuscript as best as i can for the querying process.

in the event that anyone reading this doesn't know what that is: querying is the process of sending a summary of your work to various agents in an attempt to find representation for yourself, as an author. this representation could be for a single work, but really, most agents want to represent an author's entire body of works - including current and future projects.

so, here's the tricky bit:

your query letter summary should be... oh, 200 words. maybe 300, if you're pushing it. because the whole thing should be no more than 500 words.

this is difficult at best. i'm sure you can imagine why, but let me just list a few reasons:

• as an author, you probably want to include more than is necessary
• you never really know what will catch peoples' interest
• every. single. word. better be perfect. 

and and and!

it's not abnormal to get rejection after rejection before you find that one agent that will represent your work and believes in you and your skill. as an example, a dear friend of mine is going to be published next may, and if you ask me, her manuscript is gorgeously and crisply written, is really quite original, and includes a really strong storyline, and she was rejected 60 times before she received an offer for representation.

so, you know... super fun.

but there's a huge reason that i'm willing to put myself through this, and it's huge:

most major publishing houses will only considered agented manuscripts.

there's a million reasons for this, but i'm almost positive that most of them have to do with the inherent quality of an agented manuscript versus those that are not.

so, where am i in this process?

my query summary is drafted. i'm taking a few days away from it to come back and review it, and then i'll be putting the rest of the letter together for emailing. i have a list of about fifteen agents that i'll be querying initially, and i'll be looking up at least fifteen more. the plan, right now, is to send out 10 at a time, once a week.

basically:

this will be (and is, even preemptively) me:

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because i'll be a hot mess, its likely that i will want an exorbitant amount of this: 

 

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meanwhile, all the agents will be like this: 

 

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i'm only sort of kidding.

side note: ryan gosling, you are a sexy beast. 

anyway, back on topic:

querying. yes, the very thought makes me nauseous, but this is a step toward my dream of having a proper writing career, and so it simply is what it is. the fact that my entire career is based on this very brief letter only increases my desire that this letter be spot-on-freaking-perfect.

is there something you want to do in your life that makes you as anxious as this makes me?