Novel Help Needed

In spite of the emotionally draining family problems I'm dealing with, I've managed to finish edits with my publisher. My editor has asked me to do one final read through since the last accepting of changes.

Have you ever been so sick of reading your own book that you're afraid you'll miss everything that's wrong with it?

Yeah, I'm there. Anyway, maybe one more read through will help me with my last two tasks.
1. Back jacket blurb
2. A new title

Ug! I hate coming up with titles. Hate, hate, hate it! However, it must be done. I need to find something that will catch readers attention, reflect something about the book or series as a whole, and match the first title if possible. Or at least fit in with it.

Today, I'd like your help with task #1. I'll post what I sent to my editor. She'd like me to make this a little longer. Yeah, I've NEVER heard that before. I'm sort of in shock. Normally I rattle on forever, kind of like now...

Anyway, please share your thoughts. The good, the bad, and the ugly. What do you like? What's confusing? What do you want to know more about?

Working Title: Search for Knowledge
Genre: Science Fantasy
Word Count: 77K

The Dragumon have been defeated, but Sendek will never be the same. Lines are being drawn between those who can work magic and those who can’t. Talia and Landry Sutton have a plan, create a Mage Council to govern the use of magic. They hope it will keep the peace long enough for them to travel to Orek and learn how Jaron’s world successfully combined magic and science.

Talia hasn’t dreamed for months, but on the eve of leaving for Orek her nightmares return. She knows they must go. However, if they do, she could lose what matters most—Landry.

****

And finally, here are some of my ideas for possible new titles. Thoughts? Do any jump out at you? Why?

There are four planned books in this series:
Book 1--The Magic Wakes (Wido Publishing, 2013)
Book 2--formerly Search for Knowledge needs new title
Book 3--Planned name--Demon Rising
Book 4--Planned name--Dragon's Birth

Options for book 2
Mage Deliverance--reflects more on the situation on Orek than Sendek (the two planets in book 2) and might be a bit of a stretch
Magic Restrained--probably my favorite
Secrets of the Mountain
Inciting the Mage
Illusions of Peace
The Dragon's Oracle (growing on me)

I Need Your Help Query Time!

Well, we've got freezing rain again here in Northwest Arkansas. The kids are home from school, and at this rate I'm wondering what kind of summer break we're going to end up with. I'm not really complaining though. I enjoy having them around when they play nicely together. They're growing up too fast and will be gone before I know it.

Yesterday, K (kid #1) and I started putting together our A to Z Challenge posts. Yep, I like to have them scheduled in advance so I can concentrate on visiting other blogs. We'll probably work on more today. :)

My other goal for the week is to put together a query and then a pitch for FADE INTO ME. Here's my first go, all ready for your critique and comments. *sigh* I read it and think, "This really doesn't represent the smallest fraction of the story." And yet, I have to focus on one thing, the over arching  plot and not all the little things that make it complicated. I'm just afraid I'm leaving out the most interesting points. This is already at 330 words and I will need to add the "why I'm querying you" paragraph. Ug!

My problem is the backstory! I feel certain things don't make sense without it.

Help!!

Revision 2--Thanks Misha from UB!

Unknown to humans, aliens called Abhithians live among them. Their purpose: to nurture their greatest mistake—mankind.

Caedan Frey’s family has fulfilled this duty for thousands of years, but that doesn’t exempt him from his obligations as the prince of the Reparation. He must marry a human before his birthday or the throne will revert to a rival family. Their previous reigns saw the end of Atlantis, and The Plague in Europe. Caedan knows the sooner he marries, the better for everyone, and any girl will do. He's about to propose to someone when his soul mate stumbles into--and right out--of his arms.

Ryanne Killian might be his one shot at happiness while still fulfilling his responsibility to his people, but after a disastrous experience with love, she isn’t willing to give anyone else a chance. He’ll need to convince her to leave her world behind and marry him in two months time. Unfortunately, his rival sees his opportunity to get rid of Caedan, and keeping Ryanne away from him is all too easy.

FADE INTO ME is a contemporary YA Fantasy similar in style to Julie Kagawa's Iron King. My first novel, THE MAGIC WAKES was released by Wido Publishing in 2013.

Thank you for your time and consideration,


Revision 1--Thanks Robin!
Dear ___________,

Everything humans think they know about evolution is a lie. Aliens, called Abhithians, live among them sentenced to watch over and nurture their greatest mistake...

Abhithian Caedan Frey doesn't believe humans will ever evolve enough to see the magic, much less control it. But he is the prince of the Reparation and he must marry a human in order to fulfill an ancient promise. Bitter about his duty, Caedan figures any girl will do. He's about to propose to a girl when his anamchara or soul mate stumbles into--and right out--of his arms. Wonder of wonders, she's human!

Ryanne Killian doesn't believe in love or magic anymore. She just graduated from high school and acted as best man at her crush's wedding. Her life is not going as planned. Then strange colors in the sky draw her to the botanical gardens, and even though she’s vowed to never let anyone into her heart again, she steps straight into the arms of her soul mate. She can feel it, but can she trust it?

When Ryanne has a physical reaction to the magic, Caedan takes her to his world to recover. All of the Abhithians watch her with growing hope as she sees the swirling colors of magic. Ryanne doesn't feel like her growing attraction to Caedan is enough reason to marry him, and she demands to be taken home. Crossing the barrier between worlds causes her to forget everything about the magical realm.

It's time for Caedan to work harder to help Ryanne fall in love with him. Unfortunately, a rival sees this as his chance to steal the throne from Caedan's family. All he has to do is keep the two unlikely lovers separated until after Caedan's birthday.

FADE INTO ME is a contemporary YA Fantasy similar in style to Julie Kagawa's Iron King. My first novel, THE MAGIC WAKES was released by Wido Publishing in 2013.

Thanks for your time and consideration,

Original
Dear ___________,

Everything humans think they know about evolution is a lie. Aliens, called Abhithians, live among them sentenced to watch over and nurture their greatest mistake...

Abhithian Caedan Frey is destined to marry a human girl to fulfill an ancient promise. If he's lucky she'll be able to see and use the magic of the earth so his people will be free to ascend to their home world once more. Any girl will do according to the laws of reparation, but Caedan would like to find his soul mate. He's running out of time when his anamchara stumbles into--and right out--of his arms.

Ryanne Killian doesn't believe in love or magic anymore. She just graduated from high school and acted as best man at her crush's wedding. Her life is not going as planned. Then strange colors in the sky draw her to the botanical gardens, and even though she’s vowed to never let anyone into her heart again, she steps straight into the arms of her soul mate. She can feel it, but can she trust it?

When Ryanne has a physical reaction to the magic, Caedan takes her to his world to recover. All of the Abhithians watch her with growing hope as she sees the swirling colors of magic. But Ryanne's growing attraction to Caedan isn't enough reason for her to marry him. She demands to be taken home, and crossing the barrier between the worlds causes her to forget everything.

It's time for Caedan to work harder to help Ryanne fall in love with him. Unfortunately, a rival sees this as his chance to steal the throne from Caedan's family. All he has to do is keep the two unlikely lovers separated until after Caedan's birthday.

FADE INTO ME is a contemporary YA Fantasy similar in style to Julie Kagawa's Iron King. My first novel, THE MAGIC WAKES was released by Wido Publishing in 2013.

Thanks for your time and consideration,

****

The biggest point I left out because I'm not sure how to work it in with the word count--
Ryanne feels unworthy because she was date rap ed in the past. Because of that she fights forming a relationship with Caedan.

No Writing Time Equals Slightly Crazy

My house is all painted. Almost. I still need to finish all the trim work. A guy came and did some outside repairs yesterday, and my garage looks like a dumping ground.

Yeah, moving is exciting!

I've gained 4 pounds over the last week. It's probably the combination of weird eating schedules, not enough water or sleep, nerves, no exercise, and when I do eat my preference is ice cream or granola loaded with chocolate.

I NEED these

The worst part is my mind is falling apart. Writing time is my time to organize my thoughts. Sure, I put my stuff on my characters, but that's what I call therapy. Let's just say I'm in dire need of some of that! The whole time I've been painting I've been trying to work out some details of the next book with Talia. Unfortunately, I haven't written any of it down and now I can't remember what I decided.

Then there's Fade Into Me. I still think it's the story that will catch me an agent. If I ever finish it. Dog gone it! I'm a stay at home mom. With all my kids in school. Where's all my writing time?

Soon. Soon.

Since I'm not writing at the moment, tell me about your success stories. What are you working on and how's it going?

Exciting things brewing at Unicorn Bell

This is what I posted over there today. If you want to join in the fun, head over there and follow so you can get all the details as they unfold.

We've been sitting on something here at UB.

Well, yeah, that too, but I'm talking about something new for our little blog.

Something we've been dreaming of doing.

Something with YOU in mind.

The time has finally arrived to fill you in on our plan to take over the world!

*cough* *cough*

Sorry, not that plan.

What plan? We aren't plotting to take over the world so just stop already.

Now, where were we?

Oh yes. The plan to help you wonderful followers get some quality feedback on your work.

We are excited to announce the School's In Query Contest!

We are devoting most of August to queries: how to's, examples, workshops and the query process in general. The last week of August we will have three wonderful guest judges reading all polished queries for FINISHED manuscripts.

Krystal Wade from Curiosity Quills
Nancy Bell from MuseItUp Publishing
Amy Lichtenhan SapphireStar Publishing

If they like what they see, they may request pages and who knows where that may lead you?

There will be more info coming over the next few weeks, but we wanted to give you time to comb through that MS one more time. Maybe even get one more beta reader? Here's what these ladies said they are looking for right now.

Krystal--I love older mc's (18+)! I'd like to see some good dystopian, more male
mc's too, and then of course anything scifi/fantasy/paranormal with
something new and unusual.

Nancy--MuseItUp is looking for more dark fiction, horror, as we are light in
that department. However, romance, historical romance, YA/MG from a male
POV that will entice that sector. Of course, we are open to anything
that is well written and crafted. We don't publish literary fiction or
poetry.

Amy--We're especially interested in contemporary romance and paranormal
romance at this time, although we are accepting submissions in all
fiction categories.

If you are interested in playing, what questions do you have about the contest?
Please email them to unicornbellsubmissions@gmail.com and I'll post and answer all of them for our Friday post.

...And for anyone who might be interested, look what I found on Google.

Random Acts of Kindness BLITZ

A smile. An encouraging word. A thoughtful gesture. Each day people interact with us, help, and make our day a bit brighter and full. This is especially true in the Writing Community.

Take a second to think about writers you know, like the critique partner who works with you to improve your manuscript. The writing friend who listens, supports and keeps you strong when times are tough. The author who generously offers council, advice and inspiration when asked.

So many people take the time to make us feel special, don't they? They comment on our blogs, re-tweet our posts, chat with us on forums and wish us Happy Birthday on Facebook.

Kindness ROCKS!

To commemorate the release of their book The Emotion Thesaurus, Becca and Angela at The Bookshelf Muse are hosting a TITANIC Random Act Of Kindness BLITZ. And because I think KINDNESS is contagious, I'm participating too!

There have been so many people that have helped me reach my goals. In writing and in life. How do I pick just one? I want to mention several and then I'll tell you the top dog I want to recognize today.

There are so many people who suffered through early versions of Talia’s story and still encouraged me to never give up on my writing dream. Thank you Kathy, Brian, Becky, Mia Hayson, Edith, Elizabeth Arroyo, Elizabeth Arundel, Elizabeth Poole, and Jen McConnel. I also want to thank Aimee Salter and Janice Hardy for their honest critiques and encouraging words afterward. And Michael Offutt for making me laugh when I needed to as well as kicking me back into motion when I needed it.

A special thanks goes to Carol Coffelt for sticking with me through several revisions. It’s been a pleasure swapping stories with you and working together on Unicorn Bell.

Thank you to my dear husband and children for being patient with me and for forgiving me when the imaginary people in my head take over.

For my Random Act of Kindness, I'm highlighting my best friend Laura. She's always willing to listen to me whine and complain. She has made me run when I didn't want to, watch my calories when I wanted to drown in ice cream, and always supported me through every up and down. 

Laura, I couldn’t have survived without you. It may not be much, but I'm taking you to lunch at the Melting Pot on the first day of school this fall. Can you wait until August? I want to celebrate our friendship and our new freedom as our youngest start school. Now there will be time for both of us to chase our dreams.

Finding Your Story Worth Problem

I got all off schedule this week. Sorry. :) Since I didn't post Wednesday, I'm putting up Friday's post a day early.

I've been reading this book...

Find on Goodreads

I highly recommend it. One of the things that really hit me this first read through is the story worthy problem. In the past I thought about conflict, tension, the problems that come up, etc, but I never thought about the one deep seeded problem that drives the whole story.

It's there in Sendek, but I never named it. And never naming it explains why I still feel like something is missing or not quite working. Let's take a closer look.

Story-worthy problem vs surface problems.

A story-worthy problem always relates more to the inner psychology of the protagonist and has to be big enough, dramatic enough, to change the protagonist's world and force him on a journey of change. Surface problems, on the other hand, are more like bad situations that reflect the actual story-worthy problem, but that aren't sufficient on their own to sustain and entire story. ~Les Edgerton, Chapter 3.

In another spot in the book it mentions how the protagonists thinks they know what the main problem is, but they are almost always wrong--just missing the real thing. Their journey leads them and the reader to the story-worthy problem.

Using those two things, let me give you an example from Sendek.

Talia thinks her problem is that she's going to die a horrible death at the hands of the Draguman if she can't convince someone they exist, are coming, and the people of Sendek need to prepare to fight.

That is a great bit of conflict. It builds tension throughout the story, but in the end it isn't the story-worthy problem.

The deeper psychological issue is that when Talia's family died, she stopped living. Her real problem is learning to live again by letting others into her life. Be willing to hurt again in order to feel love.

But she doesn't recognize that until the very end. In the meantime there are lots of surface problems that move her closer to realizing that story-worthy problem. Her reaction to each surface problem has an effect on whether she is a success or a failure at the story-worthy problem.

Every problem--story-worthy and surface--has its own corresponding resolution or goal, so the resolution of a surface problem shouldn't also be the resolution to the story-worthy problem. Instead, the resolution of the surface problem should contribute to the resolution of the story-worthy problem. ~Les Edgerton, Chapter 3.

Maybe this is all old news to you guys, but this is going to make my current and future WIPs 100 times better. In knowing the difference between the problems I can plan/plot/outline better and keep the end goal straight in my head. Each surface problem can be crafted to better define and guide my character to reaching the ultimate goal.

Finally, Edgerton talks about digging deep to find this story-worthy goal. Deep into our own selves. Let loose your own personal demons and you will find the stuff of greatness. If you are emotional about the problem, it will come through your writing.

That means you have to let yourself out of the box.

Stubborness and Determination--No Difference in My Mind

Thank you to everyone who chimed in with thoughts and advice on my pitch on Friday. Since I spent all of last week going through SENDEK one more time in preparation for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, I'm skipping the Birth of a Novel post this week. I WILL get back to the new stuff by next week, I promise.

Today I'm going to share the thought process I went through after reading your remarks over the weekend. These are the things I stressed over before focuings on what you said and incorporated the things I agreed with. ;)

Here are the pitfalls that I fall into when I work on a Pitch or Query.

Yes, sometimes I'm quite a child. I used (read still do on occasion) to play this game.

1. Since this contest gives me 300 words, it was easy to get wordy. That is a lot for a pitch.

2. Previous queries without the world building elicited a lot of "so what" questions because the history of the planet directly affects the story line.

3. No setting also made people read it as strictly fantasy. I do believe it is more fantasy than science fiction, but I still can't wrap my brain around where to draw the line on labeling this novel.

4. The previous pitch is what got me all the positive responses from the conference I attended. When I didn't world build the agent or publisher was confused, but with the world building they were grounded.

5. The Draguman pose their own problem. One agent made a big deal about not leaving them as a vague antagonist. I believe her exact words were "An alien can be anything. It doesn't tell me much." The whole question was what makes them different than everyone else? The biggest difference is that the Sendekians (you guessed right Nicole) think they are aliens as in from another planet, but in truth they are from Sendek and even share certain DNA markers. Try fitting that into a query or pitch. It sucks. I know I need to drop it, but it feels SO important to me. :(

Sometimes this whole business is a joke. The rules say don't do it, but when I did, I got a better response. Confusing? No not at all.

After stressing over what I felt was important, I finally said, "Heck with it. Just write something." Anyway, here's the new pitch (187 words):

Talia Shannon is trapped between two worlds. Although comfortable within the logic of science, her hidden magical side is growing more insistent. She fears her prophetic dreams of invasion by an alien race will soon come true. Although the planet Sendek had a rich magical heritage, the people forgot it when they embraced scientific thought. This makes Talia's task harder. She needs to prove life exists beyond their planet before anyone will believe her. Her work leaves no time for personal relationships, but Major Sutton isn’t looking for a friend.

As nephew to the King, the Major protects his family from a radical group determined to depose the monarchy. He thinks Talia works for them until a touch sizzles between them. Suddenly they can communicate telepathically, proving the Major has magical secrets of his own.

Together they must uncover the secrets of Sendek's past if they hope to survive the invasion. Talia is the key—if she can learn to trust the magic coursing through her veins. Her precious science cannot save them, and magic is now the only hope.

SENDEK is a blend of fantasy and science fiction.

Better? To compare to the original, click HERE. 

Pitch Help Please

January 23rd is the day. Yep. That's the first day you can submit manuscripts for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. I entered last year and didn't make it past the first round, but that's not going to stop me from entering again this year.

However, I thought a little feedback from you might be helpful. Here's what I need to have prepared in order to submit:

(1) the complete version of your manuscript ("Manuscript"); check (almost finished with the seek and destroy mission for the word "felt")
(2) up to the first 5,000 words, but not less than 3,000 words, of your Manuscript, excluding any table of contents, foreword, and acknowledgments ("Excerpt"); check
(3) a pitch of your Manuscript consisting of up to 300 words ("Pitch"); and
(4) the personal information required on the entry form.

I've been working on my Pitch. Do you mind reading it and offering up your thoughts. Be tough because this is the only thing the judges look at to move you to round two.

1. Does it pique your interest? 
2. Should I drop the first paragraph and/or the last paragraph?
3. Do I need to give more or less information?

I can use up to 300 words and this is currently only 237 so there is wiggle room.

The planet Sendek has a rich magical heritage. Unfortunately, the people forgot it when they embraced scientific thought. After thousands of years, they no longer believe in dragons, mages, or the two-legged hybrid they created. These Draguman are returning from exile stronger than ever with only one thought on their minds. Wipe out the humans on Sendek and claim it for their own.

Talia Shannon has kept her dreams of invasion a secret, but she knows they will soon come true. Caught between her job at the Space Exploration Foundation and her magical nature, she struggles to warn her people without revealing her source of information. This task leaves no time for personal relationships, but Landry Sutton isn’t looking for a friend.

As nephew to the King, Landry protects his family from a radical group determined to depose the monarchy. He thinks Talia works for them until a touch sizzles between them, and they discover they can communicate telepathically. It turns out Landry has magical secrets of his own.

As a direct descendant of the mage who created the Draguman, Talia is the key to their destruction—if she can learn to trust the magic coursing through her veins.

The arrival of the invading force makes one thing desperately clear—science cannot save them, and magic is now their only hope.

SENDEK: THE MAGIC WAKES is the stand alone first novel in the science fantasy SENDEK SAGA.

Birth of a Novel and Housekeeping

How was your weekend? Did you get your fill of turkey and pie? I've frozen most of my left overs to save for another day. We can only eat so much, ya know?

Anyway, I'm ready to settle back into my normal posting routine. This means I'm moving my Birth of a Novel post to Monday instead of Tuesday.

What do you want me to blog about on Wednesday and Friday?

I really liked it when you asked questions and I did some research to find answers. Did you? Should we try that again?

Some other ideas I've had are:

• Interviews With a Blogger--where I interview you.
• Book Reviews--I just need some books to review. :)
• Answers to Your Questions
• First Look--you send your first 300 words to be posted anonymously and critiqued by me.

So, here are the guidelines? You can do one, all, or none of these. But it would be helpful if you did at least the first one.

• Comment and tell me what you would like to see on this blog.
• Post a question you want me to answer (about ANYTHING) in the comments.
• Post book suggestions you would like me to read and review in the comments. 
• Email me to let me know you would be willing to be interviewed (charity.bradford@gmail.com)
• Email the first 300 words of your story to be critiqued. I'll post it without your name (unless you want your name on it). Please include the title and genre with the submission. (charity.bradford@gmail.com)

Title: Faerie Wings
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Current word count: 29,310

Surprise of the week:
I woke up Saturday morning and really wanted to write. The house was quiet. I had survived turkey day and guests as well as Black Friday. The story was waiting at the tip of my fingers. I went down to write and got about 500 words before the five year old woke up. That was the end of the writing.

I kept trying to come back, but my home is not writer friendly. The frustration made me cranky and I think I went to bed at 9pm with a headache. The saddest part was that when I woke that morning, I actually thought I could pull off a Nano win. All I needed to do was pull off four days of 5,000.

Totally doable.

But not in my house.

I'm still not bothered by the Nano fail, but I really want to get this story out of my head and on the page.

And guess what? Last night I started dreaming about Sendek again. It won't leave me alone, and that's how I know it isn't FINISHED. The bit that came to me was actually brilliantly simple. *head smack* why didn't I think of it before?

Don't worry, I jotted down the idea, but I promised to let it sit until January at the very least before I dig into it again.

Snippet for the week (I actually went back a couple of chapters for this steamy bit):
He stayed close by my side all night. If he wasn’t holding my hand, our knees were touching. Or he found some excuse to brush the lock of hair away from my face, tucking it behind my ear. Each time he did, his fingers caressed the side of my face, lingering as long as possible.

The whole world slowed down. I could barely eat my dinner, even though it was delicious. Later, the music at the symphony swirled around me, carrying me away to places I had never been. And Carter was in every taste. In each sound. In every sensation that moved through my body.

Images of summer fields full of wildflowers, forest trails, gardens, and hummingbirds came to me off and on throughout the night. Somehow Carter knew when they came to me. He squeezed my hand and smiled each time. The looks he gave me promised there would be time to talk. Soon.

It came in the form of the last entertainment for the night. If the symphony had been planned for my enjoyment, the dancing was for Heather. She and Scott took to the floor as soon as we made it in the door. Carter and I sat in a corner. The music was too loud to talk much, but I learned you can say a lot without words.

Carter traced the same circular pattern on my hands over and over. I leaned over and spoke close to his ear.

“Why the circles?”

He turned until his mouth was next to my ear. “Circles have no beginning and no end.” He drew another one on my palm. “There are many other meanings, but that’s my favorite one.”

The warmth of his breath on my skin spread. In the dim lighting of the club, a new boldness came over me. I flipped our hands over and drew a spiral on his palm. We sat so close that I felt his body tense and relax as he exhaled into my hair.

“Ma Cherie?”

“Did you know that in Celtic symbols, the spiral represents growth, balance, and creativity?” I spoke into his ear.

“It also means surrender and awareness. A triple spiral is a sign of feminine power.” He nipped at my ear, and a delicious tremor ran through me. “Please don’t tempt me more than I can take.”

His other hand closed over mine, stopping it’s motion. He didn’t pull away but leaned his head into mine. I couldn’t hear his breathing, but I could feel the quick rise and fall of his chest so near to mine. When it slowed he pulled back and looked into my eyes.

“Shall we dance?”

Ack! I forgot to post the chain list. Go check out these other great peeps.

Angela H.
Anna M.
Brooke Busse
Charity Bradford
Elizabeth Davis
Elizabeth Poole
Fida Islaih
Huntress
Jen McConnel
Lena Hoppe
Mia Hayson
Miranda Hardy
Nyxie Moon
Tessa C
Zoe

Patience, Predators and Publishing

I forgot I scheduled this. Come back tomorrow for the first Birth of a Novel blog chain! Email me at charity.bradford@gmail.com to sign up for this. 

Also, I'm still looking for some guest posters for November. You can even send a post that you've previously put up on your blog that you really liked, or seemed to be a hit with your followers. Email the same addy above. Thanks to those who have already responded!

Some of you may have seen this over on Jeanne's blog when I guest posted(July 2011?), but I wanted to share it with the rest of you as well. 

Patience.

As writers we need so much of it. It seems like the life of a writer is one big round of waiting.

• We wait for stolen moments to type or scribble away at our novels.
• We wait for comments from critique groups.
• We sludge through revisions waiting for the day our novel is polished and ready to send into the world.
• We wait for replies from agents.
• And I don't know from experience, but I've heard that after you get an agent is just more waiting.

We all hope this waiting will get us somewhere, but sometimes its hard to be patient. And that's when we become susceptible to predators.

Let me share a story with you. I have a younger brother who started writing a book this year. This is his first story, a fantasy. I've read the first three chapters and he has a lot of potential. A lot, and I'm happy for him. But he hasn't learned about patience yet.

The first week of August he submitted his first three chapters (read only three he had) to a publisher (I don't know where he found this publisher) and two days later he received a sample contract in the mail to look over. This publisher was thrilled with his rough draft and said they would love to publish it if he could finish it by November 1st of this year and get it to them.

What???

I've been slaving over my baby for three solid years! Revision after revision. Round after round of critiques. Patiently taking each comment, mulling it over and then changing things (or not) based on my vision for the story. And now my little bro is getting published before me a few short months after he starts writing?!!

Wait, sorry, this isn't about me.

*cough* Um, where was I? Oh, yeah...

Red flags were flying around all over the place when he told me this. I've never heard of any publisher who accepts unfinished FICTION. My brother also sent me the contract to look over. Now, to my untrained eye, the ten page contract made little sense (another reason I want to catch an agent). There were a few things that rubbed me wrong, such as the royalties. They were considerably lower than some other midsize publishers that I have had contact with, but mostly it looked fine. I guess. *shrugs*

Since I don't know everything, I started some research.A simple Google search of the company brought up all kinds of rants about their dishonesty. Then some of my other writer friends responded to my questions to them and all said the same thing about said company, "Run away!" This particular company received an F from the Better Business Bureau.

With all this new knowledge under my belt, I had to inform my brother that he should walk away. I felt like a dream crusher. For his part, my brother handled it quite well. He has now finished three more chapters of the book and is hopefully starting to read and learn about the publishing world.

Qs4U:
How do you remind yourself to be patient?

How do you research publishers or agents?
Please share in the comments.

Whatever it is that you do, don't give up! And don't give in. Be true to yourself and the dream you have for your book. Whether it be traditional, mid to small publisher, or vanity publishing is up to you. In this day and age its all good! Just take your time. Do your research and make sure you understand what you're getting into.

Wouldn't it be awful to find that you've lost all rights to the story you bled over for years?

Here are some helpful links:

• The Better Business Bureau--clickable for US or Canada. Simply type the name of the publisher in the search engine. Click Here for the publisher talked about above.
• How a Book Gets Published by Nathan Bransford--This is from 2009, but not THAT much has changed about the industry. While we are with Nathan, here are some other great links.
• Publishing Glossary, for all those terms you might not be sure about.
• Writer Beware Blog--new to me, but look who's headlining August 18th. The very same publisher my brother almost fell prey to.
• Talk to others and see what their experience has been over at Absolute Write Water Cooler.
• There's Chuck Sambuchino's Guide to Literary Agents
• Publishers Marketplace Track Deals, Sales, Reviews, Agents, Editors, News
• And of course good old Predators and Editors
• Don't underestimate a Google search as well. What comes up can be quite revealing.

Weekend Epiphany?

First, in the last seven days, I've made three cakes. They've kind of been last minute, and I think a bit lack-luster.

My daughter's death by chocolate cake. It was really yummy.

A neighbor's movie themed cake.

My son got the left over fondant from earlier in the week.

So, what about that weekend epiphany?

It seems my emotional well being has been more of a roller coaster lately than normal. This could be due to living on an average of four hours of sleep, or it could just be that it's time to re-evaluate my life.

There are two desires in my life that are at odds with one another. The writing dream and my family. For the last three years, I've struggled to find that balance to keep both sides happy. And failed miserably. It seems I must sacrifice one for the other, but I know it doesn't have to be that way.

I thought about the posts I've written lately about not quitting. Then I realized something. Maybe it's time to tweak the dream.

I'd already decided that one day I would be willing to go the small publisher route. But I wanted to exhaust my agent list first. This weekend I realized that in order to keep my family in tact (and happier than it is now), I needed to move this writing thing along.

My agent querying is even slower than the publishing world. I've only queried 23 agents over the course of a year. I know a lot of people do that in a month. I don't know why I'm so slow. Perhaps it's the underlying fear of actually succeeding? Or the fear that I'm just not ready--for whatever reason.

But I am ready. And this weekend I realized, I don't care how it happens. I just want my book out there so other people can enjoy it.

This week I'm attending the Muse Online Writer's Conference and pitching to one agent and three publishers. If one of them says yes, and their vision fits with mine, I'm going to say yes. I know there will still be a lot of work before the actual release date, but at least things will be moving forward again. I also have three agent queries ready to go. I might send them too, since I've already done the work. I dunno know though. My heart just isn't in it this week. (Update: I think its because when I pitch I make a much better impression than I do in my queries. With one pitch down, I have a request for a full. I guess I answer questions in a way that gets people excited about Sendek. Now if only they would see that in the MS...)

It might be the wrong decision, but for the first time in a long time, I feel at peace. At least I decided something.

What do you think? Should I stick it out, or go with a small publisher? Say anything you want, this is a free blog and you won't hurt my feelings. :) I also know several of you are with small publishers. Please share your favorite thing about going this route.

Unicorn Bell submissions are open

My It's All Fun and Games Blogfest entry is below.

I'm having a panic attack. Yeah, I know it's silly, but it's life too. This is my first week over at Unicorn Bell and there weren't a lot of comments on my post yesterday. Today opens the submission window for a 350 word clip of writing for critique. I'm scared no one will send anything!

Here's the info if you have something you can pull out of a hat for me to critique today...

The submissions window is now open. 

You can send up to 350 words of ANY scene that you know something isn't working, but you just can't figure out what. This can be from a finished or unfinished WIP. Submit to charity.bradford@gmail.com and include Fearful Critique in the subject line.

Please include:
Name (will be removed before posting)
Title
Genre/Word count

Brief intro or question you would like us to look at while reading.

Then your 350 word submission.

Thunder Always Follows Lightning

Don't you love it when you are deep in revisions and lightning strikes?

That thing you just couldn't figure out is suddenly crystal clear. And it ties things up oh so nicely. It makes you feel good. It makes you feel all brilliant and sparkly.

A day or two goes by and this bolt of lightning has time to simmer and spread. It's still perfect, but...

something starts to nag at you.

Say for instance, you find a way to resolve a major problem in book 4 of your series. Its heart warming happy making while still being a bit sad. Its the perfect feeling you want. There's hope for the MC finding joy, but there's a built in distance/time frame to achieving it. That perfect bitter sweet sigh. But...

You start to ask yourself:

1. Am I taking the easy way out?

You answer no.

2. How am I going to pull that off?

3. How will each of these little technical details affect the delivery and final payoff?

And it's these details that roil and pound the inside of your head. Then you ask yourself:

4. Are all these details back story? Do I even need to know these details? Will anyone else care? Will someone put the book down and say, "Wait! Why is he a hatchling instead of a fully grown dragon?" *waves magic wand of confusion*

5. If he's fully grown how do I deal with the time differential between planetary travel? Will the worm hole portal be sufficient?

6. Who/how/when decides who ascends and who doesn't?

And on and on.

Suddenly that bolt of lightning is no longer beautiful and shiny because it has charred your brains. Maybe it isn't such a good idea after all and you should scrap the whole thing. But it feels right for this story.

Then you groan, tug out a few strands of hair and type a blog post because you need to know if you're completely crazy.

Question for you: When you are writing or plotting (which I'm actually doing!) how detailed to you get? Do those details drive you nuts?

Ya see, I worked out this elaborate spell with ingredients and everything for book one and I'm not even using it in the MS. I worked out all the rules of magic for book two and then moved some of them into book one. Now I'm trying to figure out the details of ascension in my universe. Am I over thinking this whole thing?

In other news, this is what I'm listening to in order to calm down a bit.

3-line Pitch Update

Ok, I haven't been in my house for the last two days, but yesterday I sat at the dentist office for an hour. While I was there, I wrote three 3-line pitches. None of them are great...yet, but I think having something to work with is a great start.

Here they are in the order that I wrote them. Which one do you like better? Are there lines you like in one but not the others?

1. Talia Shannon wants to live through the invasion prophesied in her nightmares. If she can find a way to do that, she may just save her whole planet. Unfortunately, the dreams are her only clues and her scientific peers would never believe her claim to magical powers.

2. Talia Shannon doesn't want to die, but her prophetic nightmares don't give her much hope. she has spent her life searching the stars for a way to prepare for and survive a coming invasion. Her scientific peers don't understand her drive, but they don't believe in magic either.

3. Scientist Talia Shannon wants to survive the invasion prophesied by her dream and keep her magical nature secret. Unfortunately, a commander in the Royalist army is wasting her time with his accusations of treason. Little do they know that the survival of their world will depend on their working together.

Revised options from comments:

4. Talia Shannon doesn't want to die, but her prophetic nightmares don't give her much hope. She's spent her life searching the stars to warn her planet of a coming invasion. Unfortunately, the dreams are her only proof and her scientific peers would never believe her claim to magical powers.

5. Talia Shannon doesn't want to die, but her prophetic nightmares don't give her much hope. When a commander in the Royalist army accuses her of treason, she must defend herself and prevent him from discovering her biggest secret. Little do they know that the survival of their world depends on their combined magical powers.

6. Scientist Talia Shannon hopes to survive the invasion prophesied by her dream while keeping her magical nature secret. When a commander in the Royalist army accuses her of treason, she must defend herself and prevent him from discovering her biggest secret. Little do they know that the survival of their world depends on their combined magical powers.

...and a new thought:

7. Talia Shannon doesn't want to die, but her prophetic nightmares don't give her much hope. She doesn't think things can get any worse than moving to the city from her dreams (inciting incident), but a commander in the Royalist army accuses her of treason. In order to survive the coming invasion she must first convince him of her innocence while keeping her magical nature secret.



How are your pitches coming along? Remember, if you want any advice from other readers, feel free to post them in the comments of this post, or the original post.

Decisions

Last week I shared my surprise email with you. I spent a lot of time thinking about it. After sending my questions off to the publisher, and receiving the answers on the same day, I've come to a decision. The idea of a small publisher is provocative. They have the time to work with me, and I think in the long run it can be just as successful a book as going the more traditional route.

However, I've only been querying agents for a month. In my heart, I really want to give the traditional way all I have before I look at the alternatives. I'm VERY grateful I have alternatives. It takes some of the sting out of rejection. Well, a tiny bit of it anyway.

Found on Google Images. Doesn't it sum up the query process? You can't tell if it's breaking or mending.

My plan is to go through my agent list. If at the end SENDEK has not found a home, I will start looking at the great small publishers out there. The one I've talked to will be at the top of the list.

When it rains it pours, and this can be a good thing.

Have you ever put off a certain decision thinking you'll never have to make it anyway? I'm guilty, and after four very busy brain draining days, I am not equipped to even start on this decision. So, I'm here to ask for your help locating good information.

Let me back up a moment. Sunday I came home from church with one thing on my to-do list--take a nap. I ate some lunch and sat down to email a friend my cooking curriculum before heading to my bed. The email opens and look, I have an email from one of the small publishers I pitched to in October.

Plans are derailed! I stare at the few short sentences and feel completely blank. The words don't register, and then when they hit me I actually panic. Yes, panic!

Hi Charity, how are you? I want to find out if this has been contracted anywhere yet? We loved your story but before a contract is issued I need you to clean up as many of the 'I' highlights marked in your ms attached to this email. The "I" is repetitive and you can easily reword some of these sentences and avoid it.

What!? Wait, I'm not sure I want to go this route. All I hoped for was a rejection with some advice on how to make it better so I could hook that agent. Now what do I do? What if this is the right choice for me? Aaaahhh! In spite of all my pretty talk the last few days, Completely Unprepared!

I planned to research the pros and cons of getting an agent vs small publisher--next year. It's part of my Post Nano series, but I haven't started. I don't know enough to decide what's best for me, what I really want.

I think hooking an agent and selling to a big publisher is major validation. Is that what I want, or do I want to get my story into people's hands? The publishing world is changing and I believe both choices are becoming more widely acceptable, but what do I want?

Yesterday, I closed the email without answering. I need to take some time, do some research and soul searching. Sometime today, I will answer that email to let this wonderful person know that I do have it out on submission with a couple other places and would prefer to hear back from them. At the same time, I want to ask some questions about this particular publisher to help me get a feel for what they are offering.

Here are the questions I came up with:

• What can I expect from them in regards to marketing?
• What will I be expected to do to help market (and can they teach me how to do it)?
• What kind of editing help is available before going to print? Their website says there is an editing process, but how does it work?
• They ask for all English speaking world publishing rights. Where exactly does that cover and does that mean my book will be available internationally in English speaking locals?
• How are their other books selling?
• What kind of sales are average for their company?
• They are royalty paying (quarterly if you make more than $20), but do they offer any kind of advance?
• Can they give me an average range their clients are currently seeing with royalties?
• Can I contact some of their authors to discuss the company?
• Where are the books available? Only on their website or other venues?

What else should I ask? And, do you know of some excellent articles I can read to get a better feel for this whole agent vs small publisher question?

I also have a request for a full with another small publisher that I haven't mailed yet. This second publisher is one that a fellow blogger is associated with. She's awesome and I know I could talk to her about what it's like to work with them. I want to go ahead and send it.

Do you think I'm potentially burning bridges if I want to wait a few months to see who else might be interested?