On Getting MY AGENT

**Many apologies to any of you who already came to this half-finished meme which posted automatically without my knowledge! I would never be such a jerk, I swear it!

Writers love How I Got My Agent stories as much as 20-somethings love proposal stories.  And far be it from me to keep you all in suspense, so here is my story.

I started querying my latest project back on November 1, 2010 (I was hoping to slip into a lighter querying period while NaNoWriMo was going on).  I started small, with 5 or so queries, and tried ever so hard to be patient.  The responses were good!  Of course, I got the expected rejections, but I was also getting requests.  I was sending out partial and fulls with every appendage crossed and checking my email like I was getting paid by the 'Refresh.'

Finally, on a Friday in January, I got The E-mail.  It was from a lovely agent who wanted to schedule a phone call with me for the following Tuesday.  I read it, closed it, went back to what I was doing for a few minutes, came back, read it again and went on like that until I'd read the message about 4 times.  Then, I was finally able to respond (with minimum exclamation points, I might add) and we set up a call for the following week.

I spent the weekend tied in knots trying to tell myself it could be a revise & resubmit call, but knowing in my heart it wasn't.  We talked, and it went well.  Very well, in fact.  I was excited and dizzy when I got off the phone.

Like a good little writer who spends all her time reading blogs and Twitter, I knew my next move was to notify everyone who still had a manuscript.  There were nine notifications in all, and they all promised to get back to me by my one week deadline (I couldn't stomach waiting for two. I would have imploded).  A couple of them made me promise not to accept an offer before they could respond.  And one, it turned out, had already read my partial just days before and was waiting for her second reader to finish it before asking for the full.  She wanted the full ASAP.

On Friday of that week, I got my second call (from the agent who had read the partial and asked for the full).  She'd stayed up to an ungodly hour finishing my manuscript and her second reader did the same the next day.  Although my heart was slightly lower than my throat this time, I was still as nervous as they come as we talked.  It was another great call, and that meant I had a very tough decision to make.  I also had a few days to go until my deadline.

The day of my deadline was actually one of the best days I've had as a writer.  Because although most of the remaining agents decided to step aside, they sent me some of the most complimentary and encouraging rejections I've ever received.

Ultimately, I had to base my decision on gut instinct.  Who "got" my work better?  Who had a more compelling vision of my future career as a writer?  Who had more confidence she could sell my project?

It wasn't easy.  Both agents who offered representation were great.  The decision was a matter of degrees, and a certainly "feeling" I got during out phone call.  Sending a message to the other agent declining her offer was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.

So, it pleases me something fierce to announce that I have signed with Laura Bradford of The Bradford Literary Agency.  Laura is amazing! (And you should totally follow her on Twitter if you don't already).  She's funny, excited about my work and ready to dig into the submission process as soon as we can get everything ready.  I am so happy to be working with her I could just burst!

Please wish me luck as I head into the next phase of my writing life!

- Liz

In which I discuss new beginnings of many types

Happy 2011!

Where have I been for the last 10 days?  Well, purging my house and cleaning like a house cleaning mad thing on mad house cleaning tablets.  Seriously, it's awesome in here.

Which is good, because I'm about to start working from home.  How do you like them apples?  I like 'em just fine, especially with a little caramel to dip them in.  It's a good news, bad news thing--as these things so often are--because the reason I'm about to start working from home is I went ahead and lost my not-at-home job.  (Such a weird expression, like my job slipped out of my pocket on my way home, or I'll turn it up next time I pull of the sofa cushions).  But I digress...

The query hunt has been fruitful these last few weeks.  I'm running at about a 30% request rate for all the replies I've gotten thus far, and that my friends, is nothing to sneeze at.  (And speaking of weird expressions, do people sneeze at things they disdain in real life?)  I'm really hopeful that this is going to be THE ONE that lands me an agent.  We'll see, won't we?

The red ones make it look
like the tub is bleeding, too,
which is fun!

The other night I was in the shower when an idea struck me like a bolt from the blue, as these things so often do in the shower.  So now I have a new tip for you from one writer to another:  If you do not have children, or your children are grown, you should STILL have bath markers in your shower, because you can make notes all over the wall while your brain is full of suds and steam and all other good things shower-related.  Then you can take pictures of them with your trust iPhone and never worry you'll forget what came to you in the shower again.  So there you go.



Finally, I would like to pimp four blogs to you.

1.  My friend Jane is new to the writing world, finding her way and feeling a bit of a fool for not knowing what to do with this on-line world of writerliness.  Feel free to stop by and give her some newbie lovin'.

2.  This is the story of someone in my family's death and subsequent illegal burial.  I will be no more specific.  And don't worry, it happened a long time ago, so I'm not looking for sympathy.  Quite frankly, it's HIGH-larious.

3.  Speaking of HIGH-larious.  Hyperbole and a Half's latest blog is a story I could so picture happening in my family, specifically to my son, in fact, that I had to share it.

4.  My critique group, the erstwhile Inkslingers, have started a new project--tiny little writing prompts that we're all going to answer in a very tiny way every few weeks.  It's a casual affair, but I'd love you all to play along!  Everyone is welcome.  See the rules, written by yours truly, to join us.

How's by you, blog followers and casual readers?  Anyone else got some new beginnings to share for this cold January night?

- Liz

Lessons from the Trenches: Practical Query Tips

Courtesy of Getty Images.

Sure, you can find endless blog posts from Agents, Publishers, Writers both Published and Unpublished on how to query.  What makes a good query letter?  How do I know which agents to query?  What not to do with your query letter.  It's all been covered.  Maybe someday I'll amass you all a nice omnibus list of great query resources.


But, as I have recently become a querying machine, I have a few more practical tips.  Things you might not think of when you're starting out writing your letters.  Things that will make your life easier.





THINGS I LEARNED THE HARD WAY


1.  Create a Draft Query:  No matter what e-mail program you use (I use G-mail) there should be a place to save a draft.  Put your query letter in that spot without anyone in the To: field.  Why?  Because e-mail programs sometimes do some quirky formatting stuff, and if you get it all right the first time, you can copy and paste it into a new message whenever you're ready.


2.  File Names:  Save your completed manuscript with a properly formatted cover page (in Word 97/2000 format, please--a.k.a. .doc NEVER EVER EVER .docx).  In the header, put your e-mail address on the left side.  On the right side of the header put TITLE / PAGE NUMBER.  I personally put my last name on the right side as well, but to each his own.  Just make sure you've got contact information available all the time.  Name the file  LastName_ManuscriptTitle_Full Manuscript


3.  Other Essential Files:  From the completed manuscript, create a new document for each of the following:

• The first 3 chapters
• The first chapter
• The first 50 pages
• The first 5 pages
• The first 10 pages

4.  The E-mail Ready Format:  When you've got your first chapter (or 10 pages, 3 chapters, whatever you've got the ambition for) saved.  Save it as a new document.  Select all, right click and use Paragraph to single space it.  Then, go through the WHOLE thing and put an extra return after every paragraph.  You absolutely must do this manually, even through Paragraph lets you do it the easy way.  Why?  Because then you can just copy and paste it into the body of an e-mail without making your recipient go blind at the massive block of text.

5.  Memorize This:  If you've saved a longer portion in the E-mail Ready format, memorize where your 1, 3, 5, and 10 page breaks are.

6.  Get the Greeting Right:  When you create a new message for your query, CHANGE THE NAME IN THE SALUTATION TO THE PERSON YOU ARE SENDING IT TO BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE.

7.  Join QueryTracker:  The free version will do you just fine unless you start juggling a lot of projects.  Create a list of agents and keep it updated.  Do your fellow QTers a favor and put in a new comment when you get results from a query.

8.  Check For Yourself:  When you use QueryTracker, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS go to the agency's actual website and double check the submission guidelines.  Follow those.  Even if they're not up-to-date, you can't be faulted for following an agent's own guidelines.

9.  Be A Google Genius:  While on QueryTracker, each agent page has a list of links to the left.  Click on the Google link.  But don't stop there.  Change your search to include "agent interview" and probably get rid of the agency name in the search.  Why?  Agents don't always stay at the same agency, or agency's merge, change names, etc.  Their personalities and tastes don't really change though.  There's gold in them thar interviews.

10.  Save It All for Later:  Create a folder in your e-mail program for Query-related messages.  Whenever you get one--even form rejections--save them to this folder.  Why?  Because if you are querying the same agent in the future, you can look back and see what kind of personalization you wrote the first time.  You can see if you got a form rejection or personalized rejection.  If you got something personalized, you might be able to mention it in the future.  You never know what might be useful.

Will these tips help you get an agent?  Not if your story's not ready.  Not if you're chasing a dead trend (and believe me, I know all about that one).  Not if you query the wrong agents for your book.  But, they will help you be professional, efficient and avoid being a #pubtip on Twitter.

Does anyone else have a great querying tip?  Share it in the comments.

- Liz

The World's Worst Blogger

I've been a querying machine lately.  It seems like all I do is research agents, write letters and save small segments of my books in every imaginable page length, document type and font size.

In the midst of all that querying, I read a lot of agent blogs, submission guidelines, FAQs, Writers' Resources and the like.  A lot of them talk about what kind of on-line presence they like writers to have.  Most of them mention a blog.

Some are kind enough to tell you what they don't like to see in a blog.  Namely:  infrequent posting.

Uh...yeah.

Being the insecure little unpub'd writer that I am, I--of course--interpret this to mean:  "Liz, you don't post enough on your blog, and even if I were interested in offering you representation, one little google search would have me thinking otherwise, because here you are NOT POSTING ON YOUR BLOG."

True.

So, now I wonder--is having a bad blog worse than having no blog?  And if so, what do I do now?

I'll tell you one thing--this place needs a cosmetic overhaul.  I've got blog ennui.  It's ugly here and recent attempts to snapify it up have resulted in making it uglier.  It's like I got an ugly house and covered it in a coat of builder's white.  Blech.

New Year's Resolution perhaps?  Perhaps.

What do you guys think:  Is a bad blog worse than no blog?

- Liz

Weekend Roundup

I spent too long trying to
figure out if the two pics were
the same girl.

I was pleasantly surprised by Rachel Hawkins's Hex Hall.  I'm not an enormous paranormal fan, so I was expecting to find it acceptable, but not much more.  Instead, the voice made me drool with envy.  And the plot, while somewhat predictable, threw me a few twists that made me appreciate Hawkins's skill.  All in all, a big thumbs up and I'm looking forward to Demonglass.

My pathetic blogging efforts continue to be sporadic.  I have a great plan for a blog, but I can't find the video I need on-line, so it's not coming quickly.  Grr.

Bender.  HA!

Yesterday's "Futurama" marathon made me so freakin' happy it was a little pathetic.  Personally, I think it's the funniest cartoon on television--and yes, that includes "The Simpsons," "Family Guy," and "South Park."


My work on Chronic (still hate that title) is starting to pick up a bit.  Working on Chapter 8 right now, of an anticipated 24, so a third of the way done, I guess!  How crazy is that?  It does, however, mean I am just about to enter the dreaded Middle of the Book (cue suspenseful chord progression--duh-duh, DUHN!) so prepare for me to hate everything about it and think I'm a big fat hack.


On the query front, things are quiet.  Unfortunately, no news is not usually good news in the agenting world.  Especially when some of the agents in question are "No response means 'No'" people.  Right now, I've only got one lonely partial out in the world, but you just never know which one is going to be The One, right?  Right?  Hello?  Is this thing on?

J.A. Souders - who will probably want to
kill me for putting her picture here

My friend J.A. Souders is having a big ol' contest over at her blog.  She's giving away all kinds of goodies, from books to manuscript critiques and all you have to do is follow her blog.  Easy, peasy!  So go do it.  


So, how was your weekend?


- Liz

Author Bios, or One More Annoying Thing To Do Before You Get Published

Yesterday, the lovely C.A. Marshall wrote an excellent blog about author bios.  That's the little blurb about the author at the end of the book.  For those of you who don't know, the authors write those themselves.  It's all part of the package that an agent sends out to editors when you are "out on sub."  (A place I'd dearly like to be.)  

Yeah, that's right, after you've already tied yourself in knots over condensing your magnum opus into a two paragraph tease for your query, after you've suffered the slings and arrows of making a three-hundred page epic into a three-page synopsis that somehow manages to retain all the wit and wonder of your manuscript all while telling the cut-and-dry beginning middle and end of your story, you now have to talk about yourself in the third person.  And be interesting.

Good luck with that, right?

As is so often the case, this is a topic that seems to be swirling around the blogosphere of late.  Literary agent Natalie Fischer inaugurated her blog with a post that had a great tip about writing the dreaded Bio. To whit:

           Bio:

           (name) lives in (state) with her (husband/cat/parrot). An avid writer, she spends her days (job), and

           contributes to (blog/magazine/newspaper). (Title) was a (second/first/third) place winner in the (contest).

           (name) is currently hard at work on her next project, (wip).

Okay, so maybe that doesn't seem so hard.  But some of my favorite author bios have some sparkle.  Who doesn't want sparkle?  (Damn you, Twilight for ruining that word for me.)

Cassandra's blog contains some really excellent examples of bios from books she's enjoyed.  I added one of my favorites in her comments section, so I won't bother you all with rewriting that. 

I figured I would try my hand at this bio business.  You know, better be prepared for the inevitable, right?  (Dig me and my power of positive thinking.)  So here we go.

Simple version:

Liz Czukas lives in Wisconsin with her husband, son and cat.  The Sorbet Guy is her first novel.  An avid writer, she spends her days as a nurse and her nights hard at work on her next project, Chronic.

*THUD*  (That was the sound of me putting myself to sleep and hitting my head on the desk.)

Vampire-free Sparkle Version:

Liz Czukas lives outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin with her husband, son and the world's loudest, fattest cat.  The Sorbet Guy is her first novel.  During the day, she maintains her secret identity as a labor & delivery nurse.  At night, she spends all of her time writing, using the Internet to turn her brain to a well-informed soup and devouring as much pop culture as she can get her hands on.  Liz is hard at work on her next project, Chronic, due out from [fill in publisher here] in 2013.  She loves visitors at www.lizczukas.com, but makes no promises about refreshments.

So which one do you like better?

If any of you writer types want to share your bio in the comments, please do!  Maybe we can all help each other be sparkly sparkle sparks.  *Yurp!*  I think I just made myself throw up in my mouth a little.

- Liz

Rumors of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

I've been MIA, AWOL and incommunicado on most fronts for quite some time. The main reason is that I've been finishing a major revision on my project The Sorbet Guy. (There have been a few Teaser Tuesdays featuring these revisions.) I'm mostly done now, just doing a final run-through with notes from my critique partners, but that work is easier and lets me venture out of my Fortress of Solitude.

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to share some of the things I did and learned during this rewrite. Maybe there will be something in it for you, maybe not, but consider it's all I've been up to, I feel the need to put it out there.

I'm also about to get back in the query saddle again, and I'll give you all updates on how that goes as well. Fingers crossed for requests galore.

So, I thank you all for your patience with me of late, as I have been a terrible blog reader as well. And a Twitter has-been. I hope to get back to it all with a bit of moderation. Writing will stay my number one priority, but I miss the community, so I'll be around. Promise.

- Liz

I Wanna Be a Sophomore

I'm a Labor & Delivery nurse in my so-called "real" life. In obstetrics, we refer to a woman who has already had babies (one or more) as a multip. They are the most desireable patients, because they know what to do, their bodies have proven themselves and things tend to go more smoothly and quickly. One of the doctors I work with used to joke that it was her life's ambition to be a multip (she is now).

In the record industry, an artist's second album is often called their sophomore album. I honestly don't know if that term is used in publishing, but it's certainly the same idea.

I want to have my first book published and be shopping a second one. I've even heard some agents say that they are harder on their slushpiles than published books. To get out of the pile and onto the shelves, you have to stand out, be amazing, wow everyone with your first page, first paragraph, first sentence. You have to have an amazing query letter, a synopsis that doesn't suck and a book that doesn't need a complete overhaul.

My first impression has to be better than a published author's second, third, or forty-eighth.

So what I want now is to be making a second impression. That's my new goal. Obviously publishing my first novel is a huge part of that process, but now I realize that getting that is a stepping stone. I want a career.

I want to be able to pitch a weird idea and have my agent and my publisher nod enthusiastically and tell me it'll sell.

Is that so much to ask?

- Liz

Link-a-Palooza

Today I'm offering a smorgasbord of links that might educate or entertain you. (And, by the way, I spelled smorgasbord correctly the first time. Must be my German blood.)

For Writers:

An outstanding blog by a fantastic reader about the disturbing trend of romanticizing bad relationships in YA books right now. That's right, Stephenie Meyer, I'm looking at you.

Why YA Romance Needs to Change

This Twitterati is the ultimate source for the latest information in the blogosphere. Everyday she posts links to everything useful. She does the work so I don't have to! Follow her now, trust me.

Elizabeth Craig

A compelling video that tells you how you can run your own ad on national TV (don't worry, it's not just on Fox News) for a very reasonable cost. Book trailers, anyone?

How I Ran My Ad on Fox News

In case I haven't mentioned this before, this site allows you to search for literary agents, create your own list and track the status of all your queries. Goodbye, awkward Excel document!

QueryTracker

For your entertainment:

The best of Norm from Cheers.

There are really no words for how weird this is, but I found myself grinning at it anyway.

The Llama Song

The title says it all.

A Dramatic Reading of a Break-Up Letter

A really fun video, especially if you're a music nerd like me, or happen to by married to one of those annoying musician types that can play any instrument and learn songs just by messing around on the piano or guitar. (Also me.)

The Axis of Awesome: Same Four Chords

A Query Critique Contest!

Kathleen Ortiz of Lowenstein Associates is hosting a query contest at kortizzle.blogspot.com!

All you have to do is spread the word about this contest to enter!

If you want to learn more about what she's looking for, try here.