by Joanne Wadsworth | May 17, 2012 | Author Blog
For any unpublished writer the submission process eventually becomes a headache. Exactly how many submissions do you send out, and to whom, and how, and why, and when, and what. And oh yeah–did I say what???
Now, I hope you had a little laugh, because you’re going to need that light relief as you battle through the process of perfecting your submission. Below I have addressed these issues briefly because there is a ton of helpful advice floating out there on the web, but in a nutshell this is the way I see it.
Firstly, the “Query Letter.” This is a nice and precise letter addressed to the literary agent, and I mean personally addressed to the agent with their full name. This means you need to do your research on the agency and only submit to an agent who is looking for exactly what you’re selling. Now google or bing a search on “query letters” and see what everyone else is writing, because at this point in the game, you’ve got to stick to the status quo. Don’t go reinventing the query letter, because there is a standard and you must meet it.
Secondly, the “Synopsis.” This is sometimes referred to as the “sucknopsis,”–clearly because it’s incredibly sucky to write. Basically what you have to do is chop down your novel into easy to read paragraphs, ensuring your synopsis comes out at around 5-8 pages. (Ironically I always had 9, so don’t fret if you go a fraction over or under.) Now, when I say your novel is chopped down, I truly mean it. You must include the entire story’s plot, and don’t leave the ending out as a lure. Within these 5-8 pages the agent needs to be able to grasp the entire story from beginning to end and feel satisfied that they know exactly what’s going to happen within your book. Again google or bing a search on “synopsis” and see how other winning ones are written. Do not veer away from the norm.
Thirdly, the “Manuscript.” Please edit, edit, edit. No typos, and follow the industry’s standard protocols for 1 inch margins and double spacing, along with Times New Roman typeface. No pictures, no colors, no fancy gimmicks. Have your name and title of the book and recurring page numbers within a defined header at the top of every page. Do a search on “formatting your manuscript” to get this right.
Now, if there’s any advice I would have loved to have received, it would have been within the field of writing in POV 3rd person,and DEEP POV 3rd person. There is a distinct line between the two, and your work must be either written one way or the other, not a variation of both. Please search “DEEP POV 3rd” to discover the differences. Also a major no-no is Head-hopping. Sure, there are well-known authors out there who head-hop, but don’t go there. If you move from the heroine’s POV to the hero’s, ensure you section mark the change with **** and do not head-hop within these scenes you write. Again do a search on “head-hopping” for further clarification.
And lastly, I would recommend you begin submitting to around a dozen agents, following each agency’s submission guidelines to the precise letter, and of course you will find these on their websites without any problem. Once you start seeing some responses (and expect the negatives because that is inevitable) then begin the second round of 12. While you’re waiting for a positive response begin working on your next novel, and the next, and the next. Don’t stop writing, because what you’ll find is your work improves over time. You may even go back to an earlier manuscript and touch it up and begin the submission process on it all over again. For a good search tool on agents I used www.agentquery.com although there are many others out there, so have a good look around.
In writing this post, I’m hoping to provide the basics, because in truth I could write ten pages on the submission process due to how in-depth it is–so let your fingers do the walking and use the web as your guide. Check out what your favorite authors say regarding their road to publication, and soak in the information. For me, my first yes took three years–but I’ll tell you what, it was totally worth the journey. I’m so pleased with how my writing has developed, and I’m sure you will be with yours too. So in closing, if you have any particular queries, just use the comment feature below and I’ll be sure to respond.
The best of luck everyone! And I truly mean that!
by Joanne Wadsworth | May 2, 2012 | Author Blog
I love to write; I love to breathe life into my characters and see them exist in a realm outside of my mind. There is such pleasure in sharing my work, in allowing others to immerse themselves in the stories of fantasy and adventure I weave– Oops! Oh yeah, that’s right, my first novel titled, Protector, is releasing in November with Lyrical Press. And those readers I want to share with–I need to find them. Elusive critters–where are you?
This whole process of promoting your book, months in advance of release day, intrigues me beyond belief. In the course of researching how this is done, I am now even more in awe of authors who sells tens of thousands of copies and make writing a fulltime career.
Firstly though, I’d like to point out that I have the fulltime career portion of my writing nailed. Yes, I spend all hours of the day and night pounding the keyboard, my characters demanding they all be heard. It’s the second half that has me nibbling on my nails. Where are these tens of thousands of readers?
I can only say I’ve got five months still to find you. I have a wonderful network of family and friends, but it is those readers who truly love the “young adult fantasy romance” genre, I desire to meet. Yeah, and I thought writing was a solitary career–just me and my laptop. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
So if you’re reading this post–firstly I am immensely grateful you are. And secondly, feel free to “follow” future updates and spread the word. A friend of a friend, is a friend.
PS: I love giving away free stuff–that makes me an even better friend.
by Joanne Wadsworth | Mar 28, 2012 | Author Blog
This week I began working on my second Young Adult novel (my first to be published in the USA with Lyrical Press in November 2012, titled “Protector”.)
The second book’s characters have been alive in my head for years, and now they are finally bursting free and having their say. I have spent a week running research on horses and cattle and Outback stations, because the amazing state of South Australia is the “drought-ridden” location for half of this book.
Next on my agenda was to look at Australian lingo. What I discovered, was even though North American readers like to visit far-flung destinations when they read a book, they apparently find such dialogue with Aus/NZ-isms, can jolt them out of the story, interfering with the book’s flow, so now torches, kitchen bench, bonnet, and car parks, will respectively be called flashlights, kitchen counter, hood, and parking lots. And that’s only the start, because instead of no worries/no drama, it is more appropriate to use everything’s cool, not a problem.
So with that being the case, I ‘m going to get cracking–and that would be “it’s time to write.”
Thanks for joining me.
by Joanne Wadsworth | Feb 18, 2012 | Author Blog
Reading romance novels with sexy heroes and beautiful heroines has always been my number one form of relaxation, ever since I was a young teenager and began picking my way through my mother’s romance collection. I have spent years building up my own library, snapping up full series by my favorite authors, and re-reading them, again and again. Then I had a life-changing thought in February 2009–why not write my own story? Surely it could be done?!
That’s when I picked up pen and paper and jotted down my cast of characters, expanding to include their family, friends, and hey, why not more than one world. Enter the mystical planet of Magio, one central land mass consisting of two countries, the rulers in a massive tug of war. Then add the conflict–the fierce, blood thirsty warriors of Dralion, and pit them against the loyal protectors of Peacio, both fighting forces equal in power and amazing magical strength skills. Although, now to spice it up and mix in one very hot prince, a ton of edgy villains with their own scourge of issues, and brew until boiling with spicy tension. A story to be proud of, a story which before I could write, needed the perfect strawberry on the top, and that delicacy came in the form of one innocent and young Earth woman, an eighteen-year-old teen who came with her own immense and unexpected secret.
This is the platform I began working with, hitting my laptop and writing four manuscripts in an ongoing saga with these characters within the young adult, fantasy, romance genre. Then taking some time away from them in my second year, being 2010, I took what I’d diligently learnt in the first and began researching the adult romance line. Another couple of books later, and having entered a writing contest or two, I was finally starting to produce something I was becoming quietly proud of.
This meant that 2011 was the year I felt confident I could go back to my first young adult novel–the fantasy story I mentioned above–and completely rewrite it. And I say a complete rewrite, because my first attempt, in retrospect, was quite frankly awful. So, taking all my developing skills, I set about producing a piece of work using the cast and characters I had come to love, to write a full length manuscript I titled, Protector. This novel was the first that I felt I could finally submit–somewhere.
Yeah, that place “somewhere” is a tough location. If only you could choose your own agent, instead of them choosing you! Thus, after a number of negative responses, which can all be rather disheartening as any unpublished writer will tell you, I began continuing on with my next piece of work, while waiting with bated breath for that first “yes” for Protector to arrive in my “inbox.”
And it happened, my readers. On the 15th of February 2012 I signed my first contract with Lyrical Press, Inc in New York. Thank you so much Renee Rocco and your fabulous team at Lyrical Press for saying “yes” to Protector.
And now, because immersing myself in the world of writing and story-telling is my dream, I shall continue to breathe life into my gorgeous heroes and feisty heroines, knowing that I can now share every future story I dream, with you.
For any unpublished writer the submission process eventually becomes a headache. Exactly how many submissions do you send out, and to whom, and how, and why, and when, and what. And oh yeah–did I say what???
