Starting a New Book.

There’s a mountain looming just up ahead.  I can see it in my mind, feel the shadow of it pressing on my chest, making it a little difficult to breath.

It’s my next book.

Lessons from a Debut Author’s first BEA & Book Tour

Last week, I flew to New York for 5 days of author events.  I was there for BEA and a book tour that covered libraries and bookstores.  (For a rundown on events, see my earlier blog.)

Now, for a few lucky authors, a trip like this might be planned by your publisher.  But for most of us, publishers welcome your marketing efforts, but they can’t afford to foot the bill.  So it may be left up to you to arrange, organize and pay for a signing trip. That’s what happened with me.  As you might expect, I learned a few things along the way.  So here are some of the lessons I learned, in hopes that they might help you if you find yourself in the same situation.

The Upside of Rejection

(Today, I’m the guest blogger over at the Class of 2k11.  I’m reposting here for those who might not have seen that.)

So, my launch party for OyMG is this Saturday, and I thought it would be fun to pull out my first rejection letter to show everyone.  Yes, I still have it –a half-page form letter from American Girl Magazine.

It got me thinking.  First about book rejections and then about rejections in general.  Life is full of them—and they come at us from all kinds of people and places.

The Day that Took Five Years

Today is the official launch day of my first book, OyMG. It’s a little surreal to think about it now, to remember back to that first day, five years ago, when I decided to write about a Jewish girl and her Zeydeh. I’d started plenty of other books over the years. Was there anything to suggest that this would be different?

Nope.

OyMG, the New York Times!?

I’m not usually a name dropper, but all that changes today.
I got a mention in the New York Times.

NEW YORK TIMES!!

Just seeing it there gives me goose bumps.  For me, the New York Times is an icon.  A symbol of something  special.  Or important.  Or BIG.  I’m not sure why or when I decided this.  But it’s heart-deep now and not likely to change.

Writing Tip for Tuesday: The Secret of Settings

Let’s talk a little about setting.  And I do mean a little–a very little–because setting is not my forte. To my great disappointment, I am not a lyrical writer.  Try as I might, I cannot bring a sunset to life through prose.  I cannot describe a vista in terms so beautiful you’ll read with a lump in your throat.  And I simply can’t view the world of my book through the eyes of a poet.

Fortunately, I don’t have to.  Here’s why:

SETTING IS THE OPINION OF THE MAIN CHARACTER

Writing Tip for Tuesday

If you’re a vegetarian, don’t write about cannibals.

Simple advice, but true.  Now, maybe you weren’t thinking of writing about cannibals–but what if they were the next big thing?  What if a blockbuster cannibal extravaganza just hit the bestseller list?

My point is that it can be very tempting to write about the latest and greatest trend in YA or MG fiction.  I’ve never been to a SINGLE conference (and I’ve been to many) where someone doesn’t ask an editor or agent what the trends are right now.  And everyone holds their breath, their pens poised over paper, ready to write down the answer.

The Chaos of Writing

This is what it looks like when I’m stuck on a scene.

These are all bits of conversation or ideas for the scene I’ve been struggling with.  I always try to work it out long-hand, because I never seem to work anything out on the computer.  So this is what I end up:  weird bits of paper and different colors of pen — whatever is handy at the moment when I’m certain I’ve just had a brilliant breakthrough.  Usually, I’m halfway through the set up that leads to the brilliantness when I realize I’ve forgotten where I was headed.

A Writerly Tip for Tuesday

This is a new feature I hope to continue every Tuesday, where I share a writing tip that’s worked for me.   These entries will be short and sweet and cover all sorts of topics–but feel free to ask questions or suggest areas you’re interested in.

TODAY’S TIP:

End your work for the day with a beginning.

First Sale Secrets: First Pass Pages

I’m not sure why they call them first pass pages, since this is the last time I get to go through the manuscript.

First pass pages are also called galley proofs, or the proof.  At this point, your manuscript has been through edits (larger content changes), and line edits (nitty gritty grammar fixes and the like.)  The manuscript has been typeset and looks exactly as it will look in the published book.

A proofreader has been through it to check for line breaks and widows, as well as any other errors that have been missed.  Your editor also goes through it one more time.