Archive for Getting Published

IF I LIE Cover Reveal

I’m not even going to try to build this one up. I’m so excited to share the cover, summary and new publication date for IF I LIE that I’m barely containing myself from showing it to people at Starbucks. Oh hai, you look like you can read because you know, you’re breathing, so you should look at this.

Without further ado….

Here’s the synopsis that will be on my galleys:

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A powerful debut novel about the gray space between truth and perception.

Quinn’s done the unthinkable: she kissed a guy who is not Carey, her boyfriend. And she got caught. Being branded a cheater would be bad enough, but Quinn is deemed a traitor, and shunned by all of her friends. Because Carey’s not just any guy—he’s serving in Afghanistan and revered by everyone in their small, military town.

Quinn could clear her name, but that would mean revealing secrets that she’s vowed to keep—secrets that aren’t hers to share. And when Carey goes MIA, Quinn must decide how far she’ll go to protect her boyfriend…and her promise.

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IF I LIE debuts August 28, 2012. 

Add to your Goodreads shelf here.

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I’ve heard so many horror stories about authors getting covers they hate. As a former graphic designer, it would have been too easy to get set on my own ideas, but  I tried not to have any expectations where IF I LIE was concerned.

So when my editor, Annette Pollert at Simon Pulse, sent over the cover image, I held my breath and clicked on the file, having absolutely no idea what the team at Simon Pulse had come up with.

The emotions evoked by the cover are so perfect, so absolutely IF I LIE that I can’t imagine another image that could convey so much about my story. The black and white image of Quinn and Carey. The title in red. The sheer simplicity of the whole thing floored me. Every time I look at IF I LIE, I feel a little tug on my heart for these two characters. A huge thank you to the designer, Angela Goddard, and the team at Simon Pulse!

I can’t wait to hear what you think!!

<3

HAPPY 2nd BLOGIVERSARY TO ME!

July marked the second anniversary of this blog. Last year, I ran a week-long series of guest posts where awesome authors Veronica Roth, Jodi Meadows, Marjetta Geerling, and Jennifer Echols shared the biggest lesson they’d learned in the previous year. You liked the series so much that I brought it back with a new set of guest posts. Nine young adult writers, including me, will share the biggest lesson they’ve learned in the last year. Beth Revis, Kathleen Peacock, Jodi Meadows, Elana Johnson, Myra McEntire, Kate Hart, Matt Blackstone, and Stephanie Kuehn have all kindly agreed to participate with amazing guest blogs you will love. Be sure to check back every day this week and next week to see what these great people have to say about the challenges they’ve faced. Read below to see what I had to say, plus there’s a contest for a chance to win a $20 Barnes & Noble gift card.

My Lesson Learned

Okay. I’m taking a deep breath here. Last year at this time, I had been on submission for about five months. I’d started the sequel to TOUCHED – and stopped. I’d started a new contemporary – and stopped. The big, bad truth is that I let the submission process get to me in a terrible way.  I hoped I would be one of those authors who sold overnight. I wasn’t. I hoped I’d enter the YA scene with a big splash. I didn’t. I hoped editors would be fighting over me. They didn’t. They asked to see my manuscript, but mostly, not a lot happened for months and months. I grew increasingly dejected over my non-start. My confidence in my ability was shaken, and I agonized over every freaking word that I wrote, though admittedly there weren’t many.

What kept me going? First, I went to SCBWI LA in August, meeting Steph Kuehn for the first time when I picked her up to drive the seven hours from the Bay Area to Los Angeles. I met some amazing writers and listened to many keynotes that inspired the hell out of me. Then I went home and started a crit group with a few friends. Steph, Dawn Miller, and I met twice a month (plus Debra Driza joined us for one faulty Skype meeting) to critique each other’s writing. Twice a month, I HAD to turn in a chapter for the group. Not to mention, school packets of 40-50 pages of writing were due every six weeks, whether I felt like writing or not. And when I stalled on Chapter Ten of IF I LIE and kept agonizing over how different it was from TOUCHED, Steph gave me a short speech that’s imprinted on my brain (even though she doesn’t remember giving it to me). She told me to stop talking about writing and just do it. For about ten seconds, I hated her. Until I realized she was right and doing what the best of friends do – calling you on your crap. The book would never get finished if I didn’t just sit my butt in a chair and get it done.

She told me to stop talking about writing and just do it.

That’s what I did from October to December. I got serious about finishing IF I LIE. That book sold in February. And TOUCHED – the first book to go on submission – sold in a 3-book deal in March. Everything turned around because I KEPT WRITING. Even when I didn’t feel like it. Even when I struggled. And even when I doubted I had anything to say. So my lesson learned should be to keep writing, right?

No.

My lesson learned is that every writer needs a friend like Steph Kuehn who will tell you exactly what you need to hear when you need to hear it, even if it will make you hate her for a whole ten seconds. I <3 you, Steph. Even though you like cats and keep pet rats and you’re Pin-obsessed. My agent loves you. My editor loves you. And my family loves you because I’m no longer doing my impression of the lost dwarves, Mopey and Whiney.

AND NOW FOR THE CONTEST…

The Prize: One (1) $20 Barnes & Noble gift card.

TO ENTER:

Leave a comment on any of the guest blog posts this week or next week. Each comment counts as one entry. I will randomly choose one winner on 9/3 using random.org. It’s that easy!

GOOD LUCK, and remember…check back tomorrow for a great post from Beth Revis!

I’m a PAID AUTHOR

After a weekend with my family in Southern California, I arrived home last night, opened my mailbox, and found *GASP* my very first author paycheck. After jumping around in the lobby of my building for a bit, I took a bunch of goofy pictures of it so I can relive that moment later. From the day I typed THE END on TOUCHED, I’ve been dreaming about what it would feel like to get that baby in the mail. I can honestly tell you, it felt every bit as good as I imagined. Better, actually, because nothing came as easy as I daydreamed it would. And I hope I feel just as grateful, just as humble with every paycheck I earn from my writing. Not everyone gets paid to do what they love, and I don’t ever want to take that for granted.

So what am I going to do with this new windfall? Splurge and buy something completely impractical that I long for when I have a million other things I should be using the money for. THIS.

Also, I am going to buy myself a lovely gift on my Italian vacation. Because I can. And, boy am I grateful for that.

Editing and Pre-Birthday News!

Oh, hi, world. That’s what you look like again. *blinks*

I know, I know. I’m slacking on the blog, but I have a good excuse. I’ve been editing, and last night I turned in my edits for IF I LIE, and my stomach kind of clenched after I hit send. I kept wondering if I did enough, too much, or was completely off base with what I did. Time will tell.

So what’s next, you ask, now that I have all this free time on my hands? This is where I laugh hysterically. Next month, I’m going to Italy for two weeks for my MFA residency. Between now and then, I have lots of homework to do, including books to read and workshop pieces to crit. All things I love to do, which makes it less homework and more fun. On top of that, I am hard at work on the sequel to TOUCHED. I’m so glad I get to write this book and revisit these characters that I love, but man, oh man, am I going to torture them. *rubs hands*

With everything on my plate, I am in a conundrum with this blog. I’m not really sure how to fit writing posts in with everything else. For the near future, it looks like my posts are going to be infrequent at best.

In other news, today I get to send a huge shout out to Taryn Fagerness, my translation rights agent, and Laura Bradford, my agent, because my TOUCHED trilogy will be published in German, with TOUCHED set to debut in 2012. What can I say, ladies, except to express: Ein herzliches Dankeschön!

BTW, for those following along, I think it’s important to note that the offer came in on my pre-birthday (which is a holiday in my family). That means that my holiday luck is holding, and every holiday is like my birthday.

And now I get a St. Paddy’s Day Present…

On Valentine’s Day I announced that my second YA novel IF I LIE sold to Simon Pulse. Well I have more news.

Yesterday my YA paranormal romance trilogy sold in a 3-book deal to Megan Records at Kensington/Kteen. The first novel, TOUCHED, is about a girl who has the power to heal people with her touch, but at a steep cost because every illness or injury she heals becomes her own.

I can’t tell you how excited I am or even begin to describe what the last month has been like! Now you know why there has been so much talk of cupcakes on Twitter. =D

Also, can I just say how amazing my agent Laura Bradford is? I couldn’t ask for a better person to have on my side.

Best Valentine’s Day Present. EVER.

The Sunday before Christmas, I finished my second book, a YA contemporary called IF I LIE. I sent it off to my agent and held my breath, waiting for her to tell me it sucked. Not because my agent is a jerk (she’s actually AMAZING), but because my confidence had been swirling the drain for a while.

See, getting an agent and then going on submission is tough. In fact, it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever voluntarily faced, and I like a good challenge. Most writers become well acquainted with rejection in all its various forms, from “no” to “oh, hell, no!” There were days when I brushed off the no’s and vowed to keep at it. But then there were days when I cried and thought I was stupid for even trying. My family and friends would ask if I’d sold a book yet, and I’d launch into this diatribe about how maybe 1% of writers actually get published. And they would pat me on the back, and I’d act all fierce because I was still in the game, still writing and learning and sweating and bleeding on the page.

But secretly, I wondered, who did I think I was to even reach for that 1% with my grubby hands? There’s nothing terribly special about me. If you asked me to describe myself, my first words would be “I’m a hard worker.” Yay. Let’s all high five on that one. I’m not the sparkling type that lights up a room. I’m not passionate about anything. I don’t spend my weekends fighting for causes. When you get down to it, what could I possibly have to say that matters to anyone?

Do you want to slap me yet? Because I did. Seriously. What a huge, steaming load of crap all that is.

That garbage – all those nasty thoughts – are what a series of no’s can do to you if you’re not careful. Those are all lies you begin to tell yourself when you take every rejection of your work as a rejection of YOU. Okay, maybe I don’t light up a room, but I laugh a lot and I’m a phenomenal listener. I’m passionate about lots of things, including writing and family and friends.

And I have so much that is interesting to say. My experience is unique and colorful and MINE. Did you know I was once in a body cast? Or that my parents’ have nine marriages and eight divorces between them? Or that I used to play daredevil and jump off my roof – for fun? And I have a scar on my elbow from that time I got run over by a car? And what about that sister that I’ve never met?

Every time I sit down to write, I channel all that experience into my work. I take all that emotion, and I dig into it, so I can put it on paper like a mirror for others to look into and recognize themselves. I am so freaking lucky to have an ability that can move people. What a humbling, overwhelming thing.

If you have a gift and you love it and you’re passionate about it, don’t give into the no’s. You have to keep growing and learning and writing. Do what it takes to get better. School, workshops, beta reading, taking criticism and turning it into gold.

Because if you finally get the call that you have an offer – or two (holy freak out) – those no’s are going to become the rocks you had to climb to get where you are. And getting to the top of the mountain will mean all the more. And you will cry when your agent tells you the news. Then you will cry and laugh when you tell your sister and your mom and those people who believed in you. And if you are like me, you will lock yourself in your bathroom and sob when it hits you that the dream you’ve been slaving over is coming true in a very real way.

Trust me on this.

It pays to be a hard worker.

My super awesome, life-changing news…

My YA contemp IF I LIE will be published in Fall 2012 by the Simon Pulse imprint at Simon & Schuster!

Tips for Surviving the Sub Process

The stress of being on sub makes the “finding an agent” wait look like a cake walk. At least, that’s been my experience and that of many of my friends – not that either journey is easy. A lot of the sub process happens behind closed doors, but you can see who the writers are by certain telltale traits – like chewed-off fingernails and twitchy eyes. Here are a few tips to help you get through this.

1. Paint and Peel Polish – The first thing to go are the nails. Some people bite them. Others chew up their cuticles. It’s not pretty. I recommend this polish. It keeps you occupied and doesn’t look nearly as bad.
2. Sims 3 – The hours of waiting can turn you into a crazy person. You never want to stray more than two feet from a computer or phone. Playing the Sims can suck up whole days of your life, turning you into an automaton. Better a robot, than a twitchy freak.
3. Scrivener – Do not sit around waiting for news. Everyone tells you to get going on a new work to keep your mind occupied. This software will help you do that. At the very least, it will give you the illusion of productivity as you play with the corkboard features.
4. Twitter – I’ve spent whole hours on Twitter, chatting with friends and fellow writers. A tip: Do not stalk editors who have your book, seeking any tidbit of news. No one likes a stalker. Especially the twitchy ones with scary fingernails.
5. Chocolate – LOTS and LOTS of chocolate.
6. Cleaning and Organizing Your Home – My apartment is sparkling, and I don’t have a maid. This is a great time to organize all those files that have been piling up. In fact, I think I’ll shelve my personal library according to the Dewey Decimal system. That’s not weird, right?
7. Friends and Family – How else would you get through this crazy time, except with the help of some really great people who probably tire of your freakouts, but never tell you? image from Natalie Dee.
8. Take a walk – Get out in the world and focus on something other than your book or yourself. The fresh air will help you. And maybe cure that twitchy eye. Honest.

May your sub journey be quick and painless!

A Peek at the Future

Certain readers have the ability to crush your ability to type another word. In the past, my sister has been that reader. This is why she didn’t get to read Touched until months after it was complete. See that story here. See, she is my best friend. A beta reader tells me this character needs some work, and I take it with a grain of salt and get down to the business of editing. My sister tells me this, and I’m ready to kill off the character completely.

Now I’m working on Interior of a Heart, and I believe this novel has something. Most days. And my sister asked to read it, and I immediately began whipping out excuses to explain why it wasn’t ready, and she said, “Oh, we’re going to go through that again?” and I thought “Maybe, soul-crusher” because I hate to get called on my crap. And then I felt guilty because she has been extremely supportive.

So I caved and sent the first part of the manuscript to her last week. I made her swear in blood and spit to only offer praise or questions, but no criticisms because this is a first draft and what kind of sister criticizes a first draft – I’ll tell you, a monster, that’s who.

Then, on Friday my sister and her husband drove from LA to San Francisco to visit me for the weekend. On the way, she read my wip out loud to my brother-in-law. When they arrived here, we spent two hours discussing my book. Mostly, I just sat back and listened to them debate the themes and the way the story would end. They passionately discussed my characters as if they were real people, ones who my family had a vested interest in. How amazing it was to see something I created – characters I pulled out of my head – talked about like this! To hear certain lines repeated because they loved them and were touched by them.

They gave me a wonderful gift – the gift of a peek into the future when readers will buy my book and perhaps discuss it in the same way. Man, that future is exciting and scary and wonderful. I can’t wait for it to get here!

Quicksand, and Comparing Yourself to Others

Whatever stage you are at in your career, you will at some point fall into the vicious trap of comparing yourself to others. This person got a bigger, better deal. That person got a ton of offers. And that person over there? Her words are spun gold while yours are cheap pyrite. This type of thinking is quicksand, soul-sucking quicksand that swallows you whole if you’re not careful. Here are some tips to avoid this trap.

1. Acknowledge your jealousy. Don’t let it eat you alive. When you are green with envy, it can come out in ugly, passive aggressive ways that are NOT attractive. See every Disney villain. Understand why you are jealous, sit in it for a couple of minutes, and then get out of the Jealousy Jacuzzi before you catch something.
2. Look at the whole person. That agented/on sub/most excellent author you compare yourself to? They have problems and Louis Vuitton baggage they lug around just like you. Nobody’s life is perfect. They may seem like they have exactly what you want, but maybe they kick puppies and are mean to small children in their spare time. Do you want to give up who you are to be like them? Think about your answer. If it’s yes, you may or may not need therapy. No judgment here.
3. Show yourself a little compassion. It’s hard to be denied the thing you want most in the world. Ask any kid you see melt down at ToyRUs. It’s okay to be disappointed and angry and jealous. It’s not okay to let these emotions overwhelm you and shape who you are. Be kind to yourself, vent to a close friend, and wallow in some ice cream. And then put your focus where it needs to be – your work.
4. Everyone’s journey is different. The person you compare yourself to may be on the fast track while you are the turtle, slowly plodding along. We all know how that fable ended, right? Seriously, focus on your path. Are you growing as a writer? Are you doing everything you possibly can to be better? How can you forge ahead if you’re always looking to the left or the right?

Anyone have any other tips?

Social Media and What the Experts Had to Say

I’ve worked in marketing for the last seven years. I’ve appreciated how that experience is going to help when it comes to my writing career. Yesterday, as part of my job, I attended a Network of Executive Women event and had the opportunity to listen to some amazing speakers on utilizing social media to advance your career. A lot of this applies to building a personal brand, so I took copious notes to share with all of you, of course. Please note: I’ve paraphrased a lot of what is said and applied it to publishing. The original thinking is property of the speakers.

Topic: Building Your Individual Social Media Strategy

Keynote: Steve Knox (CEO, Tremor)

Panelists:

Katja Presnal (Community Manager, Collective Bias)

Kristen Rovai (Inside Sales Manager, Advertising Sales, Facebook)

Michaela Prescott (Head of Search Marketing, Google Inc.)

Nate Johnson (Director of Consumer Marketing, LinkedIn)

What they had to say about Social Media Strategy:

• Your Social Media Strategy isn’t restricted to Online. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google are great tools, but you need to build a presence offline, too.
• P.I.E. Theory of Leadership applies. PIE stands for Performance, Image, and Exposure. All three are required for people to take notice of you.
  • Performance is expected – it’s the bare minimum of what readers, agents, and editors expect of you. If you rely on performance to get the word out, it will be a long time coming.
  • Image is how people perceive you – how are you presenting yourself on Twitter, forums, Facebook, and your blog? Are you negative and lingering on your failures? Are you focusing on ways to help other writers? What do you want people to take away about you?
  • Exposure is where the rewards lie – this is where a strong network can do wonders. Are you getting your name out there? Do agents and editors know who you are based on what people are saying about you or the content you are posting?
• Know Your Foundational Truth. If you want people to trust you/your brand, you need to know what you stand for. If you want others to advocate for you (like readers spreading the word about you), they need to know they can trust you. For example, if you sell yourself as a family-friendly author and you suddenly deliver a book filled with sex and drugs, you may destroy a trust readers have developed. Know what you are about.
• Disrupt schemas.
  • People develop “schemas” about the world – it’s the way we expect to see the world. If your message fits within the schema a person has developed about the world, people won’t spread the word about you. Your message needs to disrupt their schema.
  • A disruption should be mild, not wild – or it may violate your Foundational Truth.
  • Apply this to Twitter – do you retweet conversations that say what you expect to hear, or things that vary from the norm and surprise you?
• Word-of-mouth buzz is worthless without advocacy. Buzz marketing doesn’t work if people can’t remember the brand/individual. Your marketing efforts should be relevant to you and drive recall of your brand.
• Google yourself often. Aside from feeding your ego, you need to know what people are saying about you. If…ahem… inappropriate pictures are showing up on Facebook, you should know about it and be ready to deal with the repercussions (i.e. untagging yourself or changing your privacy settings).Before you search, try logging out of Facebook so you can test what the world is seeing.
• Facebook can help you get the word out. With over 400 Million users (over 50% of which log in every day), Facebook has a lot of potential to help you build awareness.
• LinkedIn works hard to help you network with other professionals.
• Google Tools to tap into. Google Alerts will help you keep track of what’s being said about you online. Set up your Google Profile – this tool will rank high in a Google search, and will help you to control what people read about you first.
• Don’t drunk tweet.
• What to do about the negative – If you google yourself and discover negative content, get more of your own positive content out there. Do interviews for other blogs. Interview other popular people on your own blog. The more positive content with popular rankings, the lower the negative content will rank in a search. You can also contact the poster of the negative content and politely ask them to remove it.

I hope this tips help you! If you have any questions, please feel free to email me (corrinelj at gmail dot com) or leave a comment.