Puppies and Publishers

Sorry I've been neglecting the blog...we got a new puppy. Oh, what was that? You want to see a picture? Sure, no problem. Here's Spike! Extra points if you can guess where I got the name Spike...(hint hint, it would be wrong to call a boy Buffy!)

 

 

In other news I got a foreign offer from a Turkish publisher. It's my first foreign sale so it's super exciting...I'll have more news on that later.

 

Okay, back to making sure Spike doesn't decide my shoes are the toilet, or a chew toy. :)

Third Book Update

As most of you know, my third book is going to be a stand alone...and I have a couple of ideas. One is a Paranormal with witches, one is a Fantasy, and one is a Historical Fiction set during the Civil War.

Completely different genres, I know. So now I'll work on short summaries for each of these ideas and then have a pow wow with my editor on which will be my third book. I'm really excited to start working on a book that isn't set in the After, as much as I love Amy and her world.

So that's what I'm working on now, what are you guys working on?

Line Edits for IN THE END

Good news!

I'm working on line edits for my second book, IN THE END...due tomorrow. So I'd better get back to work, but I'm so happy to be finishing up another book and amazed at how far Amy's story has come.

What are you all working on today?

SCBWI New Authors Panel in Chicago

Tomorrow I'll be on another panel, here in Chicago. Here are the details:

July 25th - (Thursday) - SCBWI New Authors Panel Discussion‏ - It's a Summer Cavalcade of Debut Children's Authors! 

 

When: Thursday, July 25th

Time: 6:30-8 p.m.

Where: 57th Street Books, 1301 East 57th Street in Chicago

Cost: Free

 

 

Join us at 57th Street Books in Hyde Park for the next SCBWI South Side Chicago Network panel discussion. We're featuring four debut children's authors who will share their journey to publication, how they broke through and won over an editor, whether they used an agent or didn't, the role of revision, what it's like selling and marketing, and much more.

 

The lineup!

 

Demitria Lunetta whose dystopian YA "In the After" (HarperTeen) hits shelves in late June http://demitrialunetta.blogspot.com/

 

Tom Watson whose middle-grade "Stick Dog" (HarperCollins) came out in January and is already a four-book series http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/books/Stick-Dog-Wants-Hot/?isbn13=9780062110800&tctid=100

 

Liesl Shurtliff whose middle-grade novel "Rump" (Knopf) is garnering critics' praise http://lieslshurtliff.com/

 

Eileen Meyer whose non-fiction picture book "Who's Faster?" (Mountain Press) is just the first of many new titles from this author http://www.eileenmeyerbooks.com/books.html

 

Hope to see you there!

Book 1.5

Right now I’m working on a synopsis for a novella that might come between In the After and Book 2. Its purpose is to fill in back story for a few of the characters and it’s really fun to bring these background scenes front and center.

The trouble I’m having is getting all the information into a 3-5 page synopsis. Right now, it’s running 7 pages, and I’m not sure which info to cut out…of course I think it’s all dreadfully important and pertinent. J My agent has it now and is going to help me refine it a bit, before we send it off to Harper for approval.

How about you guys? Do you have trouble with synopsis, or are you a summarizing ninja?

I'm going to try and sort out my summary this weekend, so I'll be back Monday!

 

 

I Got My Galley Pages!

 

For those of you who don’t know, galley pages are an unbound version of a book. It’s what authors and editors use for proofreading before printing ARCs.

I get to go through In the After one last time before it goes off for printing. It’s really exciting that it’s so close to being a “real” book. Is it weird that I hugged my galley pages when they arrived? Wonder how I’m going to react to my ARCs. J

Also, for all you goodreads folks, In the After is on a few goodreads lists. If you’re into listopia at all, follow this link and vote for my book.

Please, if you have a book on goodreads let me know so I can check it out.

Back Friday!

Editing is Hard!

I know...most of you are thinking, "Duh!" But really, it is. You take something that you love, and mold it into something else (hopefully that you love as well.)

When you edit for yourself, you're completely in charge. When you edit for a group...well, you're still in charge...but when you edit for a publisher you lose some of that control. Not that it's completely a bad thing but it's definitely difficult for someone to tell you they want something done that you yourself didn't think of. I'm learning a lot from this experience, namely, how to be a better writer. How to think, parden the cliche, outside of the box...or  I guess more outside of the book.

What about you all, any good editing experiences, bad ones?

The Name Game

Through the editing process, I’ve had to change a few names. One was the name of my creatures, which was too juvenile, one the name of one of my characters, which was too old fashioned, and one was the name of a place, which was just plain stupid. J

The problem is that I still think of these things as their original names. When I’m editing, I have to go through the whole process of reading the name and associating it with the original name to trigger my memory and the story line of the character/creatures/place.

I’m sure I’ll get over this soon and start to think of these things as their new names. What about you all. How attached are you to the names in your writing? Can you easily change these? Or are you like me and have trouble accepting name changes?

Back next week!

Money, Money, Money

It's the question everyone wants answered, but know one want to ask: When do I get paid? Here are a few things you should know about getting paid for your book deal.

1)      The price your agent negotiates is an advance. This means you won’t earn any more unless you sell enough books to make up the advance. Don’t worry if your book doesn’t sell enough copies (and not many actually do) you don’t have to pay the publisher back. They’re basically “betting” on you and hoping for the best.

2)      Royalties are your portion of money earned by each book sold. Again, you won’t see any royalties unless you sell enough books to reach the amount of your initial advance.

3)      You don’t get paid until you sign the contract. Don’t forget that contract negotiations can take a couple of months.

4)      The price your agent negotiates includes their 15%. Most large publishers will cut a check directly to you (for your 85%) and send the rest to your agent. The smaller publishers may still send out a check for the full amount…to your agent. Your agent would then send you your share. Ask your agent about a publisher’s policy on this.

5)       You don’t get all your money all at once! For a single book, you’ll get paid three times.

a)      1/3 when you sign your contract.

b)      1/3 when you finish your edits.

c)      1/3 when the book is released.

Hope this was helpful! Back next week!

About Contracts

I know a lot of you are curious about the publishing process, so today I’m going to talk about contracts. One thing that I didn’t know is that you don’t actually sign your contract until a couple of months after you’ve agreed on a deal. I know, this seems weird, but once you have a verbal agreement with a publisher you have a book deal. You may even start editing for them before the contract is signed. This is pretty common.

What takes so long is the fine print negotiating that your agent will do. You’ll never agree to the first draft of a contract. This is where your agent really earns their 15%. They haggle over royalty percentage and how many advance copies you’ll get. They try to work in bonuses for you, as well as guarantees on how long your book will be in print. All this takes time, especially since everything has go through your publisher’s legal department and be approved by a gazillion people.

This is a good thing, and hopefully the time spent negotiating will work out in your favor. One bad part, you won’t see any money until the contract is signed by all parties. I’ll talk more about that next time, how an advance works and when to expect the promised bucks.

I know I wasn’t very specific, but every contract is different. Any questions?

Also, blogger still isn't letting me comment on a lot of people's blogs. Sort of frustrating, but what can you do? Is anyone else having this problem?

Covers I Really Like

…and hope my cover looks like.

Here are the examples I gave to my publisher:

I think each is beautifully creepy. I like how each girl’s face is covered, intimating a secret. I know that my cover will be dark and ominous… let’s hope it’s half as awesome as these are!

Cover Control

Harper Collins is starting work on my cover, so this week I’ll be talking about...covers (what else!) A lot of you may be curious to know just how much say an author gets over her/his own  cover and about the cover creation process. We’ve just started, but here’s what I know so far. J

Yes, you have some say over your cover. Your editor will discuss this with you, about what you envision and if you have any strong feelings about a central image or theme. They want to hear what you have to say, then take that to their design team.

No, you do not have final say. Most contracts will mention that you will “consult” on the cover, but really, it’s the publishers who make the final decision. They want to make you happy, but they also want to sell your book, and people do actually judge a book by its cover. They have professionals who do this for a living, so I’m confident they can come up with something way better than what I could think of.

You’ll also provide examples of covers that you like and a paragraph about the physical characteristics of each of the main characters. This is sort of a blueprint for the design team, though again, they may go a completely different way.

Back Wednesday with the sample covers I gave to my editor.