Writing Retreat 2014

Hello everyone!

Last week I got home from what was probably the most fun ten days I've had bunched together in a very long time. Partly, the fun was due to the breathtaking house I was staying in, but most of it can be attributed to the company.

I was a little apprehensive about meeting my CP's in person. Admittedly.

"What if they look nothing like they do on video chat?"
(Don't ask me how this makes sense at all.)

"What if they think I'm a total weirdo?"
(They totally did, but in a lovable way.)

"WHAT IF THEY'RE ALL AXE MURDERERS? OR THE SAME PERSON WITH FOUR DIFFERENT PROFILE PICTURES?"
(Panic, thou art a crazy bastard.)

In the end, they weren't axe murderers (obviously, since I'm sitting here typing at home... with all my limbs.) And I got more done in that one week in the middle of Texas than I would have in a month at home. I started the vacation with a vague idea of what I might do for my next book and once I told my CP's they were so excited about it that it made ME more excited about it. I used up an entire stack of post-its, took over the back door, and in about 6 hours I had my whole book plotted out.

IT WAS AWESOME!

Sure the vacation as a whole had it's ups and downs. Like the GPS sending us to the wrong address, 45 minutes north, and getting lost on the creepiest road EVER.

Talk about axe murderers

(We screamed for 20 minutes about how this was the road to hell, and the handful of other cars we came across were just other versions of us, warning us to turn around before we were trapped forever.)

But, really, who drives to the backwoods of Texas at midnight? (Us. We did. Bad idea. DON'T BE LIKE US!)

Once the sun came up, though, none of that mattered. Because those creepy looking things leaning over the railing at the vacation house turned into flowers! And the creaky sounds became air conditioning sounds. And the absolute darkness surrounded the house turned into this:

And this:

I highly suggest a meet up of CP's if you're at all inclined to penguin slide on slick hardwood floors, take an air mattress onto the lake and get covered in mud, eat the best lasagna you've ever had, or swim at the coolest place ever.

It's a natural spring, that's set up like a pool!

Because while I didn't write half a book, like some people there, (and you know who you are) or stay on task, or be any kind of productive for any reasonable amount of time, I had SO MUCH FUN. I'm basically a five year old in a 25 year old body, and in Austin, I could be that person a little more energetically than I can at home. It's all about the experiences, people. And I had one hell of an experience at the writing retreat of 2014.

Toodles!

Megan.

The Official "How I Got My Agent" Post (And A Couple Query Tips)

Hey everyone!

I know this is almost old news by now, but since last week I've been getting messages from people asking me questions about querying and how I ended up signing with my amazing agent. So I figured I'd sit down and write a post about it real quick!

And in case you didn't hear already.... I am now represented by Mandy Hubbard at D4EO Literary!

*Smiles like a crazy person*

Okay, so I started querying in January (kicked off the 1st of the year by sending my first query ever written and then promptly got nauseous.)

YAY WRITERS ANXIETY!

(Said no one, EVER.)

Most of my queries were requested via contests or twitter events so I ended up having about a 50% request rate. I love contests. I participated in Pitch Wars, the Secret Agent contest, #Pitmad (x2) and a few others and loved every one of them.

**(If you're still querying and have any interest in this kind of thing, you should enter. Contests are your friends because even if you were planning to query the agent who makes a request anyway, it might bump you to the top of their to-read list, or at the very least you have a little more confidence in sending your query. Their favorite or request means they already like what your book is about, and sometimes finding the right agent with the right taste is the hardest thing. So let a contest or two point you in the right direction, and see what happens.)**

I first connected with Mandy a little over three months ago. She requested pages of The Blood Train during a #Pitmad event at the end of March, (which was a funny coincidence because she was already  getting a query letter later that week.) I didn't notice her request right away because TweetDeck tried to eat it. But then I happened to go on the Twitter app on my phone and spotted it.

It was a good day.

And an even better one came four days later when that turned into a full request.

When Mandy wrote back after reading all of The Blood Train, I opened her email waiting for the "but." You know the, "I really enjoyed your sample pages, but..." or "This is super creepy, but..." or "You have a lot of talent, but..."

Except this time there was no "but." She called me a "phenomenal writer," and said The Blood Train was spectacular! She even talked about how my book kept her up late, trying to get to the end. I waited for the punchline. She couldn't be talking about me. Only my crazy critique partners say things like that. Not Mandy Hubbard. Not the agent that required three months of gathering courage just to query.

And she wanted to talk about revisions. She had all these ideas, she suggested I watch a movie that she thought might be a possible comp title, and she put lots of exclamation points in her emails. It was fantastic!!

I disagreed with a couple things she wanted me to change and she immediately came back urging me to only do what felt right to me. There wasn't a moment talking to her that I felt uncomfortable or that my questions would be bothersome or annoying. (Which, for me, is really saying something.)

After half a dozen emails, I had a plan in place and dove in. I totally pulled everything apart and pieced it back together again, during what was definitely the most stressful and hellish eight weeks of my life, but it was worth it.

I sent her the new version and the next email I got from her held an offer of representation.

We talked on the phone, I signed, and the rest is... week old history! It was a 4th of July I'll never forget.

And while I don't feel nearly qualified to be giving advice (despite the long paragraph above about contests) but I'm going to do it anyway. Again.

Are you ready? Here it is: Target your queries. Target the heck out of them, and I don't just mean clicking on your genre in QueryTracker and sending to everyone who reps YA, or romance, or thrillers or whatever you've written.

Search through their twitter feeds.

Stalk #mswl.

Google them and look for interviews.

Find their lists of what they rep on their agency or personal websites.

Look at their client list and see the types of novels they've already signed.

Do so much research you almost feel creepy (but don't mention their dog or how cute their kids are in your query letter otherwise you WILL BE CREEPY.)

And yes, I may have learned this a little too late. (Sorry for babbling about your hedgehogs, Pam.)

Know your stuff, and take the time to figure out who has the best chance of loving what you've created, and your querying life will be a lot less stressful.

A 50% request rate might seem really high, and it is, but I also put TONS of work into making sure every single agent I submitted to was looking for creepy young adult horror. Every. Single. One.

Don't query someone in the hopes they might change their mind and you'll be the one to bring them into a new genre, because even if that happens, they won't have any clue how to sell your manuscript properly. They're experts in what they actively represent, so find yourself an expert and send it their way!

One of my most popular rejections was along the lines of "I really enjoyed your premise but I'm looking for horror grounded in the real world." And that was fine, because none of my research ever turned up anything as specific as "YA Horror- Realistic." I just happened to miss the mark on the type of horror they were interested in. And those were a lot easier to swallow than form rejections would have been.

So, yeah. Those are my two little slices of advice: contests, and TARGET TARGET TARGET.

Thanks for wading through all the babble of my "real quick" post. My long windedness has won out again. Haha!

Toodles!
Megan

         Stats:

4 months of active querying before R&R
16 query letters
5 contests

Moving on to Something New

Hello everyone! I hope you've kept warm during this horrible, never-ending winter. (And if you're lucky enough to be from somewhere warm all year round, I hate you a little bit.) (Just kidding.) (Sort of.)

This winter in Montana has been brutal. I'm talking -20 on a regular basis kind of brutal. It got so cold that we had to pull our car halfway out of the garage to let it warm up because the cold made a barrier at the opening of the garage and wouldn't let the exhaust out!

But one good thing that came out of this horrific weather was the productivity. I started querying in January, went through a whole overhaul of revisions in the last month and a half and now I'm writing something new while The Blood Train is stuck in query-land again.

And there are few things I love more than dreaming up new things to put into a new book. I get so into it. I make maps, I create new playlists, I sketch characters (though, not very well, mind you.) I think up wild plot twists and scribble them on post-its that hang ALL over my house. It's a mess, and it's chaotic, and a little bit confusing, but I LOVE IT.

I love the freshness of a new book. I've learned so much about editing with The Blood Train. Mainly, that I don't like editing. I'll do it for hours and days and months to make my books what they need to be, but when push comes to shove I'd rather be drafting new things than editing.

Anything can happen in a new book. My characters aren't so full of baggage and plot problems, they're fresh and uncertain, and do unexpected things. I love getting to know them and their feelings, and fleshing them out. It's so much fun, and I enjoy every single second of it.


What about you? What's your favorite part of the writing process?

Announcing.... CP Matchmaker!!

Hello everybody!

What is CP Matchmaker, you ask?

CP Matchmaker is my way of paying it forward. I myself have been extremely lucky in landing the most amazing critique group. The ladies I work with are smart, and kind, and thoughtful and they've taught me a lot about the way I write and the kind of writer I want to be.

But not everyone has this. And that's something that eats away at me.

Because everyone should have a team like I do. Everyone should know exactly where to go and what to do to find someone who is going to be honest and helpful.

So, I thought, "Why isn't there a Twitter pitch party for finding CP's?"

AND CP MATCHMAKER WAS BORN!

(Dramatic, no?)

Ok, so here's what's up:

(I'm going grade school party invite for this one)

What: A chance to pitch your book to a bunch of like minded writers

Where: Twitter, of course!

When: January 20th from 10am-10pm EST

Why: Because it's going to be so much fun!

But you're going to need a few things first.

1. A twitter pitch (140 characters or less to include the #CPMatch hashtag)

2. A blog button, should you choose to spread the word and get more people involved. (See below)

3. And a few labels:

For the purpose of easy identification, please include (abbreviated for your convenience) a little about your critiquing style.

(Note: These are for how you critique others work, not what you need for your own.)

Do you get straight to the point- STTP

Fan of the compliment sandwich- CS

Are you brutally honest- BH 

How about a good copyeditor- GCE

Or are you more of an attention to detail type: ATD 

Maybe a critique partner beginner: CPB

Plot hole hunter: PHH
Do you give great big picture notes: BP

Are you a few of these things? Go ahead and list as many as will fit in your pitch.

Need an example of a #CPMatch pitch?

Trapped among bleeding walls, psychotic passengers, and manifested fears,

can Olivia escape with her life? YA #CPMatch CS ATD

And come the 20th, simply search through the feed. If something looks interesting, DM the person and get to know each other a little better. See what you have to offer each other.

And I can't stress this enough: SWAP A SAMPLE CHAPTER

You'll never know if you really mesh well unless you see some feedback first hand.

DISCLAIMER: CP Matchmaker is a baby. Not just a baby, a wrinkly, screaming newborn. If there's something you're unclear about, email me, and I'll try to answer your questions. Have a few extra label ideas? Lemme have em! I am totally up for any suggestions here. I want this thing to be helpful to as many people as possible.

And on that note. SPREAD THE WORD. Please. Pretty please, with sugar on top and ice-cream in the middle.

Tweet about it. Blog about it. Tell your neighbor.

I can only help match the people who attend.

So again, please. Help me to help other writers find their CP soul mates like I have.

And, if you are so inclined to blog, I've made a few blog buttons for you!

I really hope all of you will attend. I'm so excited to get this thing off the ground. 

I'll see you January 20th!

(You do not have to follow me here on the blog, or on Twitter. That is not at all a requirement to participate.)

Toodles!