The Next Circle of Hell

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HappyCamper

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Treating myself to a quick pop into AW. One suitcase to go!


Have a great trip, HC!

Thanks, Madder!

HC- where are you going? I thought you just went on vaca?

As for me, I THINK I'm about to go on sub...(I think). We are getting together a submission package and I'm getting nervous.

Good luck, Alanna!

Headed to the West Coast this time. The kids are on summer break and so we usually cram in our vacations between April-May. :)

The rejections aren't bugging me too much. Well, they are, but not as much as I would think. What bugs me more is, you know, when you have several outstanding queries sent out. Then, probably somewhere in the middle of your waiting, one of the agents you queried makes post or an announcement something along the lines of "I just signed a new client today! My client list is pretty much full!" Which then slides MY query down a notch in my scale, the scale being: 1. Slim 2. Slim to none. 3. None. I start off at average on step 2. A request moves up to stage 1. An announcement like the one above down to stage 3. The things I do to stay sane. At least I have the end of semester crunch to keep me frustrated at something else.

:welcome:


Signing off for now. See you in three weeks! I hope to see Hell bursting with deals when I get back! :)
 

HappyCamper

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Can you tell I'm having a hard time staying away from AW? :)

Lisa - The fam and I are hitting LA-SF-Napa-San Diego. Alas, the schedule is packed wall to wall with theme parks, zoos, aquariums, and reunions with relatives. I predict I will need a vacation from this vacation. *Looks enviously at all the AW reunion pics...*
 

soulcascade

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The rejections aren't bugging me too much. Well, they are, but not as much as I would think. What bugs me more is, you know, when you have several outstanding queries sent out. Then, probably somewhere in the middle of your waiting, one of the agents you queried makes post or an announcement something along the lines of "I just signed a new client today! My client list is pretty much full!" Which then slides MY query down a notch in my scale, the scale being: 1. Slim 2. Slim to none. 3. None. I start off at average on step 2. A request moves up to stage 1. An announcement like the one above down to stage 3. The things I do to stay sane. At least I have the end of semester crunch to keep me frustrated at something else.

Welcome svart and {{svart}} totally agree. The old 'I signed a new client!' etc while you are querying is a definite blow



Headed to the West Coast this time. The kids are on summer break and so we usually cram in our vacations between April-May. :)



! :)

Summer break? Really? Your kids have summer break in April??? When do they start school then?
 

JennW

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happy monday and week ahead for all of us. good news, please!

hc - have a great trip! wow - school starts in june? you really are from the future!:)
 

kellion92

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Have fun, HC. When you come back, we'll regale you with tales of giant sales and personal triumph.


Welcome, Svart.
 

TrixieLox

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London Book Fair IS a ghost town this year according to various tweets! I'm hoping it means my agent will get more face time with UK editors.
 

JennW

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monday curse strikes me again.:(
 

JennW

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yeah. i think we'll be diving into more revisions soon. sigh. it's ok though. it's ok. i want this book to be the best it can. if that means revising before it's good enough to sell, then so be it. but ugh.
 

Wordwrestler

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Hi, everybody! I've been sick. Well, I'm still sick, but have enough energy to pop in and post now.

Sorry about the R, Jenn. I'm revising now, too. I'm actually enjoying it. I didn't realize how much I missed my characters!
 

Juneluv12

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yeah. i think we'll be diving into more revisions soon. sigh. it's ok though. it's ok. i want this book to be the best it can. if that means revising before it's good enough to sell, then so be it. but ugh.

:Hug2:Oh Jenn! I'm so sorry! But at least it's something that's fixable or workable.
 

kellion92

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((((JennW))) There's already enough reasons to hate Mondays.

You'll be welcomed back to Revisionland, never fear.

*waves at Wordwrestler*

And Other Lisa, you rock. I love the Steig Larsson comparison -- you will be the next critical darling to burn up the best seller lists and blow the doors off bookstores.
 

RhiannonFrater

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At the urging of Soulcascade and Kellion92, here is my story about how I went from being self-published to landing a 3 book deal with Tor.
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My road to the Tor book deal was not the one usually traveled. Don’t get me wrong. I tried for years to find my way into publishing through traditional means. I met a lot of rejection because I was basically doing everything wrong. I didn’t realize that at the time and stopped writing for several years discouraged with the process and drained of all hope.

A few years later, a friend of mine started editing for a small press. She remembered I had a vampire novel in progress (more like on indefinite hold) and offered to help me get it ready for submission. The publisher wanted to see it as soon as it was done, so it seemed that I would finally get my foot in the publishing door. I set about rewriting my vampire story (it needed a lot of work) and was happy to have someone guiding me.
It was about this time that I had a vivid image come to mind one day while I was at work. I saw a woman, in a pink bathrobe, long hair flowing in the wind, standing on her front porch, staring down at tiny fingers pressed under the door desperately reaching for her. I knew instantly that it was the first day of the zombie rising and that her zombified toddler and family were trapped in the house. She was the lone survivor and in shock. That is how I came to meet Jenni. I took a break, wrote a quick “short story,” posted it to a forum, and went back to work. I had never written a zombie story before and I was surprised how easily it had come.

The response on the forum was very positive and people asked if I was going to continue the story. I sat at my desk and wondered if there was more. It was like the scene from the Matrix when they jack in and get a massive download of information. Suddenly, the whole story was just there…just sitting in my mind…just waiting to be written.

Over the next two years, I wrote the story in “mini-chapters” and posted it online. It garnered a huge following. I was surprised to have a growing fanbase that clamored for more and reviewed the chapters as they were posted. When the epic zombie tale was done, the fans wanted it published so they could own their own copies.

The small press interested in the vampire novel had closed their doors before I even finished the rewrite, so I knew I had to buckle down and send out query letters. My query letters suck. They really do. They’re awful. I was turned down over and over again. Yet, the fans kept begging for the story to be published. I was receiving emails on nearly a daily basis. The fans just couldn’t understand why a big NYC publisher wasn’t snapping up the story.

It was my husband who sat me down and said, “Look, with all the new media taking off, we can publish As The World Dies ourselves.” I was very resistant to the idea, but the more we researched, the more possible it seemed. I already had a fanbase waiting, a blog that I could use to update the fans, we knew artists, and had friends who could edit. As the last round of rejection letters came in, it made sense to go our own way. The fans were waiting.

As The World Dies ended up three books. It was over 1,600 pages long when I finally compiled the entire thing and over 300,000 words. It was enormous. Luckily, there were places in the story where we could cut it and make it into three books.

As The World Dies: The First Days was released August 14, 2008. Sales were slow the first month, but within three months the book had caught on and it hasn’t truly slowed down since. It has garnered very good reviews from the horror community (dreadcentral.com gave it four stars). Because of the strong female protagonist, Jenni and Katie, the books have gained a large female following as well. The Hathor Legacy, which highlights strong women in media, gave it a very good review, and Rainbow Reviews also gave it a great review, concentrating on the bisexual character of Katie. Bitten by Books has given the first two books glowing reviews.

As The World Dies: The First Days won the 2008 Dead Letter Award for Best Book (Fiction) and was named one of the Top 10 Best Zombie Novels of the Decade in December 2009.

As The World Dies: Fighting to Survive, also received positive reviews and won the 2009 Dead Letter Award for Best Book (Fiction). As The World Dies: Siege was released on August 14, 2009, completing the trilogy.

The TV/Film rights for the series were optioned in September 2009 and the paperwork was signed at Horror Realm in Pittsburgh where I was attending as a guest author. The producer is currently working on trying to bring the books to TV. He had approached me about the film option in May and I liked his vision. Since the option was signed, I have been approached by other directors, producers and screenwriters about the TV/Film rights. They have expressed disappointment that they are already sold.

Permuted Press, an indie publisher who is now co-publishing books with Simon & Schuster’s Gallery imprint, had approached me soon after the release of the first book about publishing all three novels. I had considered the offer then refused it, feeling I needed to give the Indie Author route a good shot before giving up. After the Tor deal was announced, he told me I did the right thing turning him down.

Right before Horror Realm I was approached by another publisher (who shall remain nameless). Luckily, I had an entertainment lawyer (due to the TV/Film option) and he advised me to find a literary agent after hearing the offer (yeah, it was that lackluster). He offered to refer me to literary agents he works with and I agreed.

Within a week, I was mailing off copies of my novels to Hannah Brown Gordon, literary agent from Foundry Literary + Media in New York. It was just another week before I heard back that she liked what she was reading. Within two weeks, we had a phone conference and she offered to represent me. I discussed it with my husband and I signed on with Foundry right before Thanksgiving.

Over the Christmas holidays I compiled all my reviews, interviews, awards, etc and sent the whole package to Hannah. She wrote the pitch and put together the package in January. In the last week of January, she pitched As The World Dies: The First Days.

On February 8th, we got word that Tor was interested.

March 15th we had a good deal for all three books.

The moment it all became real was when Senior Tor Editor, Melissa Singer, sent me an email that read “A Deal! We got a deal!”

In all my dealings, not once did the fact that I had self-published work against me. If anything, the fact I had a fanbase, an author’s platform, solid sales, good reviews, and support from the horror/zombie community worked in my favor. I have actually been congratulated on my success and Tor has told me they look forward to building on the foundation I laid.

To think, I self-published to make my fans happy and inadvertently ended up fulfilling my greatest dream.

6013_1199778119955_1393591551_56754.jpg

The cover of the first edition self-published final book in the series.
 

kellion92

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Thanks so much, Rhiannon! :) This story is so different and contrary to conventional wisdom that it can only help us to hear. Combined with Lisa's story, it's a reminder of how many paths there are to publications, and sometimes they are long. I am working on a revision and I'm impatient, but I have to keep reminding myself that I'm not in a race.
 

soulcascade

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YAAY Thanks for posting this, Rhiannon! I'm so happy to have heard it. I especially love that even though so much advice says 'don't self publish' you did and it worked out for you in the end. I have to admit, I was also comforted to know you weren't one of those lucky few who get a deal and it's your first book or whatever (don't get me wrong, power to them but it makes me woner WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME??????)

You obviously worked very hard and deserve every bit of success coming your way!!:D
 

RhiannonFrater

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YAAY Thanks for posting this, Rhiannon! I'm so happy to have heard it. I especially love that even though so much advice says 'don't self publish' you did and it worked out for you in the end. I have to admit, I was also comforted to know you weren't one of those lucky few who get a deal and it's your first book or whatever (don't get me wrong, power to them but it makes me woner WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME??????)

You obviously worked very hard and deserve every bit of success coming your way!!:D

I have about 7 books stuffed in boxes in my closet that I wrote before the vampire novel which my agent is now looking at. The trilogy were 8, 9, and 10, I believe. Plus I wrote a slew of short stories.

It's been a long time getting to this point, but when it started to happen, it happened fast. I think people think it was just an instant success, instead of seeing the whole history behind it.
 

soulcascade

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{{jaw hits floor}} wow to 10 books. I'll just put it out there, when you first showed up and told us about your deal with tor after a few weeks I was like 'LUCKY!" and just assumed you were an instant success How easy it is to assume huh? *blush* sorry!

What are your other novels about? will your agent look at them all?
 

tracythewriter

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Thanks Rhiannon!!!

So, my positive vibes I've been having all day??.....definitely GONE. Bummer.
 

RhiannonFrater

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{{jaw hits floor}} wow to 10 books. I'll just put it out there, when you first showed up and told us about your deal with tor after a few weeks I was like 'LUCKY!" and just assumed you were an instant success How easy it is to assume huh? *blush* sorry!

What are your other novels about? will your agent look at them all?

We'll, I started writing full length novels at 14, so a lot of those are going to stay in the closet. My two vampire novels are good to go though. One was self-published and is already optioned for film. The other was published by a small press, but I retain all rights.

Considering the first zombie novel came out in August 2008 and I signed with Tor in March 2010, I feel lucky in that regard. I didn't expect anything quite like this. It's been a load of fun. But once the ball started rolling it just seemed to accelerate. Sometimes I feel like I'm just holding on for dear life!

I guess all that hard work paid off. :)
 
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