The Next Circle of Hell

Doesn't your agent realise that all the teens watch Game of Thrones these days so they'll be totally hardened and barely notice the deaths?

(Yeah, I know it's contemporary so it's different. Even so.)

SpinningWheel said:

Doesn't your agent realise that all the teens watch Game of Thrones these days so they'll be totally hardened and barely notice the deaths?

(Yeah, I know it's contemporary so it's different. Even so.)

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Yea, she says the problem is that it's contemporary, so the boundaries of reality are stricter...which is true, I suppose. :-/ Pewp. This is the problem with having written fantasies about assassin schools! Now I just expect corpses to turn up in every other chapter!

Okay, so today my daughter (8) asked if I was going to write another book about the characters in my book currently on submission. (It's a definite standalone, but it could possibly have series potential, and she's read it, so of course she thinks there should be more books about them.) So I started to explain that my agent is still trying to sell it, and we'd have to wait and see if a publishing company wanted to publish the first one, and she goes, "Wait a minute, you wrote that FOREVER ago. How is she STILL trying to sell it???"

(climbs out of the revision pit, brushes self off)

Aaaah, it's good to be back on submission. It's only been a week and I'm already terrified.

How is everyone? I've missed you guys!!

Oooh, I'll get in on that! Thank you kindly

That reminds me I shouldn't be here now I'm not on sub - I can still pop in to see how everyone is, right? I don't want to miss anyone's good news! (Or miss out on the lovely lovely strawberry lemonade vodka )

Yay! I'll take a strawberry lemonade! I keep getting offered speznas around here, but when I google it seems to be some sort of Russian military term and I am frightened.

Hi Beckstah! Congrats on being back out! May the process be swift and fruitful this time!

Two incredibly awesome CP's read my MS over the weekend and gave me great feedback, which I'm really excited to implement. (So still desperately hoping the agent doesn't actually hate it, because I am moving forward.)

@SpinningWheel: Noooo, don't leave!! The only reason I've been gone for so long was because I've been too busy to eat, haha.

SpinningWheel said:

Anyway, agent-assisted self-publishing - anyone got any experience? My agent has suggested the Amazon White Glove scheme.
Seems to make sense in a lot of ways, but I'm waiting to find out exactly what my agent would do for their 15%.

I hadn't been planning to think about self-publishing unless I got to a point where I'd tried and failed with two or three books, but the editor who sent the rejection has talked about how it would be easier if I could show I had an existing fanbase.
I can see the point - if the sales & marketing people say 'But YA historical never sells well enough' it's all very well for her to say 'But this one's different!' but really she needs something concrete, like sales figures, to show them.

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Here's another agent-assisted self-pub thread I was following here for a while — looks like the author has self-published the rest of her trilogy. Good luck — and let us know if/when it's out!

Hi Beckstah — fingers crossed for you!

Lemonade heavy on the vodka for me, please! It's that kind of day.

I got such a rush first when my agent offered, then when the subs went out. Now I'm in withdrawal, and I know from experience that stage lasts a looooong time (maybe till the next book or the next!). I just have to face that I'm addicted to the elusive high of writing something somebody else likes. Maybe it's like a gambling addiction, only the wins are fewer and further between.

Thanks, Fuchsia!

BECKSTAH! Congrats on finishing your revisions! I'm totally crossing everything for you. May you receive quick and happy submission news!

SpinningWheel, don't go! I'm not on sub either. I'm in rewrites, and my projected completion date is late winter 2015. So I won't be going on sub for nearly a year. Meanwhile, I'm sticking around for the lovely company, the hot climate (I live in Chicago) and the speznas.

Yuh, don't run away, SpinningWheel! My agent still hasn't agreed on a proposed outline yet, and even after she does (IF she does) there will be months of revisions, so I won't be on sub until close to the end of the year probably.

*grabs a vodka strawberry lemonade and puts hooves up on table*

*topples over*

Calla Lily, I’ll take one of those yummy sounding cocktails (though sans vodka, as my head is pounding from too much celebrating last night)! Got good news yesterday – the editor who loved the book made an offer, and so it looks like we’re good to go! What a relief.

Question for y’all: I wrote under a pen name, I’m a fairly private person and have a “career” so didn’t want to mix the two parts of my life. But now as I realize that I am going to need to be heavily involved in marketing / promoting the book, I’m wondering if I should use my real name? Any thoughts? What do you all do / are planning to do?

SpinningWheel, I checked out your new blog yesterday – loved the falconry article!

Thanks, Versailles!
Right, I'm staying.

It's tricky about pen names in the world of social media, isn't it? I almost think if you're a private person, using a pen name is even more important if you're doing a lot of promotion, because otherwise you will just end up feeling restricted in what you can say in both personas by the impact on the other identity.

I decided to not pen-name at all and just be me all over the place, but I do feel slightly limited on Twitter etc.

*Looks around for leftover vodka strawberry lemonade* It has been eerily quiet on my end (on subs)...not looking good for the summer-slow-down myth.

Yay, Versailles!! As to the pen name, you can heavily market/promo it without involving your real name. It's really just a personal choice to use or not...but even if you settle on a pen name, you could be forced to change it at a later time (or take on others if you start writing in conflicting areas like "erotica" and "middle grade"). Even if you go with your real name now, you might have to adopt a pen name in the future. Again, just personal preference.

Yay Versailles! Congratulations!

I know nothing about pen names, but the others have given you good advice already. Yay again!!

I know nothing about pen names, but CONGRATS, Versailles!! That's wonderful!

Omg my agent FINALLY agreed with my latest outline!!!!!! Yaaaaaaaayyyyyyy!!!! Wheeee!! I can finally get to work revising the bewk!

YAY Versailles!!!!! and YAY PuttPut. Awesome!

I told my agent not to bother reading the pages I had sent her - I have gotten CP feedback over the last couple days and I already know so much is going to change. I had told her it was a first draft, so that wasn't unexpected. But I just decided I feel more confident with my vision for what it can be and I really want it to be all the way there (or as close as reasonably possible) before she reads it. I thought I might not bother with revisions if she hates it, but now I know I'm finishing it regardless. It's just a story I have to tell. So tell it I will! And then we'll see.

So, I hope that wasn't unprofessional of me, but oh well. I was starting to get squirmy about her reading it and hating it, and me going, "No, but this is going to change, and this is going to change..."

Nothing. Nothing nothing nothing. It feels like I've been out on sub since I was born. *cries*

That means I haven't been rejected yet, yay! But I don't even know if editors care I exist, boo.

It has taken no time at all for me to fall back into submission squirminess. It's been a week and I'm already rolling across the floor! (Of course, mentally I'm adding in the time from my last book, so really it's been a year and a half...)