Writing Update: The Latest Manuscript!

In my last post, I mentioned I had developed, drafted, and completed a brand new book while waiting to hear back from editors on my first (agented) manuscript.

Phew. (that felt like a mouthful!)

I also promised a post about it, so here's that promised post!

So, as you know, I've been on submission for some time now (here's more about the submission process and traditional publishing), and they always say, "if you're on submission, make sure to be working on a new project!" (At least, I think they say this??? *shrugs shoulders*.)

And, as suggested, I started working on a new project.

I developed the idea for this project in November of 2017. After I told my literary agent about this new idea I had, he suggested I create a blurb for it and develop a synopsis. (I know, I know, a synopsis sounds sooo scary, but it's not as intimidating as you may think! Here's a post I wrote a while back on how I develop a synopsis.)

By November 28th of 2017, I had completed my synopsis of this new book idea and sent it over to my agent.

He loved the idea, and though I should have continued to work on it, I was soo caught up in edits for the book we were sending out to publishers, that I put it on the back burner.

Blah.

All this to say, I didn't actually write the first chapter of this book until April of 2018. (Gasp!) I tested the waters by sending it to one of my faithful beta readers, and she had so much positive feedback that it lit a fire in me and got me writing again.

Thanks girl, you know who you are.

But, by the summer of 2018, life got chaotic, and it was hard to carve out time to write. My writer's block was on a whole new level of ridiculousness, and even when I tried, I barely got a sentence out of me. It continued like this through October of 2018, and by the Holidays, I had lost my job due to some bizarre misclassification case (it was a nightmare). I didn't find a steady job until the end of January (which, btw, my new job is great!), and after that, I found myself ecstatic about life again. The concept of creating new worlds in my head through books and writing was where I wanted to be.

By February of 2019, I was writing almost everyday. My main character in this new book was practically screaming words into thin air for me, and I needed to get everything written down as quickly as I could. For weeks, this book was all I ever thought about. It stuck to me like a terrible virus, and the only way to rid it was to complete the manuscript. (Like, I couldn't even sleep in on the weekends--that's how menacing this new book was! And, for the record, I loooveee sleep.)

By March 4th, I was able to partner with my beta reader/editor to work on drafts with me as I continued to work on the manuscript.

Then, by April 8th, my doctor diagnosed me with Dry Sinus Bronchitis. (It was the worst.) She prescribed me three types of medication, and she also suggested I change my allergy medicine (guys, my allergies are killing me this year--anyone else feel this way?).

With all this new medication, I couldn't focus at work, so I stayed home for a couple of days--terribly sick--and I wrote from sun up to sun down. My dog and my boyfriend were worried, but the words kept coming, and it was hard to sleep!

On April 11th, right before midnight, I sent my agent a delirious email about how I'd finished the book and how excited I was. This was on a Thursday evening, and the poor guy probably thought I'd gone bonkers (plus, the months of April/May are usually pretty busy for those working in the publishing industry. There are many events!).

And on Saturday, April 13th, I had finished self-edits of my manuscript, and the first draft of the book clocked in at a little over 54,000 words.

I sent it over to my agent immediately, and he confirmed that he received it on Monday, April 15th.

You guys, I am BEYOND excited for this new project!!!!!!!!!!!
I can barely breathe when I think about it. Can you tell???

Anyway, last time I sent a full manuscript to my agent, it took him two weeks and three days to read it (I know, I'm a wee bit crazy).

It has officially been one full week, and I'm hanging onto the world by a ledge as I await commentary.

I'm not even sure how many details I can share on this new book (because contracts and whatever), but I developed the idea of this book from a word I had come across--monachopsis (mawn-a-khop-sis). It means: the subtle but persistent feeling of being out of place.

And as fate would have it, my main character is a time traveler (cue another gasp here!).

So again, I'm not sure how much I can share, but here's an aesthetic I've created for this book. You are more than free to develop your on theories on what you think it might be about.

I'm wishing and praying and crossing every finger and toe I have in hopes that this book makes it through the submission process successfully. 

Ultimately, and for the last nine years, my dream has been to get my stories into the hands of readers. 

So, more than ever, I'm really hoping for a breakthrough. 

Friends, wish me luck!

I'll keep you all updated with this new adventure. 

Still have more questions? Leave a comment below.
Like these posts? Share them in your writing community; it helps me know that I should make more.

Till next time, blog world!

And of course, Happy Writing. :)

Writing Update: On Submission

So, like, being on submission kind of sucks.

But it's also exciting.

It's a strange dichotomy.

Recent insta post: check it out!

Here's what they don't tell you: "Once you've found a literary agent, you must then submit your manuscript to a publishing house. You may be an overnight success, or you may never succeed at all."

It's a bit bonkers.

I've been on submission for two years now (it could be more or less, but it's been so long, I clearly can't remember the exact time frame).

In this time, I've drafted, developed, and completed an entirely new manuscript (more on this to come!). My agent is still very confident in the book I have on submission, and I feel he will work tirelessly to get it into the hands of the world. But as the clock only continues to turn, I truly believe that the current book I have on submission is hard to sell because it's not a high-concept commercial YA (side note: is anyone else struggling with this, too?).

Long story short: the world can't handle it, y'all.

This is such a strange journey, too, because at any given moment, my dream could be made into reality, and in that same moment, it could be turned into dust (hard stuff to swallow--literally).

Anyway, that's the official, official, update on where I am in this lovely writing process.

Hopefully (all fingers and toes crossed), I'll have another book on submission soon!

Again, more to come on this new manuscript. But also, is anyone else struggling with being on submission to publishing houses, or being on submission with literary agents?
Share below!

Still have more questions? Leave a comment below.
Like these posts? Share them in your writing community; it helps me know that I should make more.

Till next time, blog world.

The Book Process: Beginning to End (Traditional)

It has recently dawned on me that many of my close friends and relatives have no idea how the book process works.

Now that I'm represented by a literary agent, I get random emails and comments that go something like:

"Hey, Britney, when can I get a copy of your book?" or, "Hey, can you send me a copy of your book cover when you get the chance?" or, "It's so cool that you have an agent, when can I expect to read something of yours?" or "Oh, are you still writing? I thought you got published months ago?" Or "Are you sure you're still getting published? I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure the process doesn't take this long. You should check in with someone, like, seriously." Or, "You're sure--like absolutely sure--that this is still happening, right?"

My response to these questions vary, and I struggle on how elaborate I should be when it comes to informing someone on how this process works.

Then I find myself getting agitated when I have to constantly repeat myself; my tongue literally triple folds into knots, and at some point, I finally realize how glamorized media has made the publishing process. In movies, writers go from drafting a book to being multi-millionaires over night.

That is not how it happens.

So today, I have decided to dedicate my morning to writing about how this whole book process works when someone has decided to take the traditional route of getting published.

This might be a long one, guys, so buckle in.

First, and foremost, a writer must have a finished book. And by finished, I mean it's been edited a gazillion times by beta readers, critique readers, and possibly many random people they may have met in a writing forum going through the same experience as said person.

When the writer feels like their manuscript is free of errors (as much as it can be), they begin doing research on literary agents who might like their manuscript and who represent their genre. (Click here for an older post on how I used to research agents. Also, click here if you're thinking, "what the heck is a literary agent?")

This can take anywhere from a couple of hours to a few weeks, depending on the writer. 

But before they can send their book to a literary agent, they must complete a query. As many writers already know, queries can take form of the devil sometimes. It's a one page summary of the manuscript condensed into 400 words or less. This query has to be concise, appealing, and close to perfect. (Perfect: an ever-changing adjective that differs from person to person--so yeah, good luck on perfecting that query, my friend.)

I'm not going to lie, though, I've developed a soft spot for queries overtime, and they're not as scary as they seem. (For more about queries and how they haunt writers' nightmares, click here.) 

So once they have a polished manuscript and query, they can send it out to literary agents. 

This is where rejection hits hard. Depending on the agency, some agents receive hundreds of queries a day. Many of these queries never even see the agent because they might be filtered by the agent's assistant, and most queries will receive a form rejection (for many different reasons) that goes something like: 

Dear Britney,

Thank you for your query. While your project does sound interesting, I'm afraid it's not quite right for me at this time. I genuinely appreciate your email and wish you luck finding an agent who can successfully champion your work.

All best,

Yes, this is an actual rejection that I have swiped from my inbox.

To be quite frank, many writers fall under the weight of rejection, and they lose sight of why they began writing in the first place. Some writers stop writing all together, or they choose a different route of getting published.

But, some writers actually hear back from an agent, and if a literary agent is impressed and confident in their work, they will offer to represent them in this crazy world of writing. (For more on how I found my agent, click here and here.)

And yet, that's still not the end of it.

After contacts have been signed, the agent and writer work hard together to shape the manuscript into greatness by going through more rounds of edits. These edits will vary depending on the agent and what condition the manuscript is in. Some will ask to re-work a few chapters; some might ask for a synopsis if one isn't written yet. This process can take a few weeks or a few months.

Once the manuscript has gone through more edits, the literary agent will begin to submit to editors in publishing houses. (You've probably heard of Random House, Penguin, or Simon & Schuster, to name a few.)

Hearing back from editors can take a long time because, just like literary agents, they are getting multiple submissions in their inbox on the daily. They are also looking for specific works that they feel confident in and that they believe will make a hit in the market.

This can be a doozy for many writers because they'll probably find themselves refreshing their inbox on multiple occasions, hoping they've heard back from their literary agent with good news.

And when the time finally comes, the writer will be get a phone call from their agent stating that some editor wants to publish them! (This is, of course, after the agent has negotiated the author's work.) Soon, another contract is signed, and there is it, they have officially began a whole new process.

Even after a writer has signed a book deal with a publishing house, it could still take up to two years before they ever see their book in print form! *gasp*

With an editor, a writer goes through a few more rounds of revisions (and then that version of the  book gets edited by many other people in the publishing world) before a final draft is created.

I promise, though, this process grows to be a great one because while all this insanity is happening, many people are making sure the book looks phenomenal across multiple formats, and there's a whole team of people who are working on how to market the book and tailor it to whom they think might be the perfect audience for it. All the while, there's another group of people reading the book and creating a stellar cover for it.

Finally, the book is complete; the book release date has come; and the author finally gets to hold their book in print form.

And this, friends, family, who ever has made it this far into the post, is why I still do not have a book in print form to give you.

I promise, something is happening.
It just takes time. A lot of it, to be exact.

I hope this answers your questions on how the book process works; this whole publishing thing is a bit bonkers.

Still have more questions? Leave a comment below.
Like these posts? Share them in your writing community; it helps me know that I should make more.

Till next time!

What Happens After The Agent?

What happens after an agent has offered you representation?
Complete bliss, of course.

I'm kidding.
Sort of . . .

You see, one thing I haven't read a whole lot about is the process one goes through after an agent has offered them representation.

For forever, it feels like, I've been so caught up in just getting an agent. So when I was offered representation, I didn't know what to do.

I smiled, sure, but what were the protocols?

Here's what I learned:

Step One (this is actually version two of step one because the first obvious step is to celebrate):

After an agent has offered you representation, it is courtesy to give other agents you have queried time to consider you. I received awesome advice from a friend who had recently been picked up from an agent as well. She found this link, and it was helpful for me as I dug through my sent emails to let other agents know what was going on. Giving agents one/two weeks to respond is average.

I also used this format from the website above:

"Subject: OFFER OF REPRESENTATION (Title) (Category) (Genre)

Dear (Agent’s name),

I am writing to let you know that I have received an offer of representation for my (Category), (Title), which I submitted to you in (month). I am reattaching the full manuscript for your convenience below. Do this, it’s easier on everyone

I am looking to close out all pending submissions by the end of business on (date). If you are interested in the manuscript, please let me know before then. I’d be thrilled to discuss it with you. If you need more time, please do let me know.

I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you again for your consideration."

Step Two:

In this step, for me, I asked a lot of questions. It's so important to know who you're working with and what you should expect in this journey.

Definitely take time to write down questions that are important to you. Even if you forget, hopefully your agent is the kind of person that takes questions year round.

Step Three: 

At this point, I did more contemplating. I did more research on agents, and I gave other agents time to respond. I asked more experienced writers what I should expect, moving forward. I took time to get my head together.

I felt good about my choice of agent.
I also felt confident in the mission Rossano had planned out for me.

Step Four:

After receiving the contract, I read it over a few times. It became one of my best friends. I also had my grandmother look over it for her wisdom, and I handed it over to my boyfriend to look at since he's a paralegal and deals with many more contracts than I do.

And when I felt confident, I signed it.
Then, along with other members of the TZLA family, I was added to the author's list.

And the list continues . . .

Step Five (the step that constantly repeats itself): 

Edits!

This is probably my favorite part of the agent process. It's great and all to receive feedback on your book from your friends and beta readers, but receiving feedback from an agent is all the more insightful! You get the good and the gritty. You get to know why the agent was compelled to choose your MS, and you get to learn what you need to work on to make your MS all the more appealing to publishers.

To wrap it up, I hope my experience has helped all of you as you journey to find agents, choose agents, and begin the editing process.

This is my personal experience, and of course, everyone has a different story. Heck, my story isn't even finished yet. :)

However, I do love hearing from all of you.
Feel free to share your agent stories below!

Till next time!

Friday Blues and A Mix of Tea

Not exactly sure why I titled this "Friday Blues".

Today is anything but sad. ( . . . For the most part. We won't get into my irrational highs and lows. I'll save that for the other blog.)

It's been one hell of a month, though, and I can't express how enthused I am to be sitting on my couch, computer on my lap, watching black and white television, and WRITING!

Gee, it's been so long, and no one had the nerve to say, "Hey, if you don't write for a month, you'll lose your soul!" So imagine the tugging on my heart from the lack of words, and the separation of all-things-light inside of me.

Don't say I didn't tell you so!

Okay, but beside all that, the distance from my laptop has actually been a great thing--believe it or not.

I've actually come up with a new series for ya'll! (No worries, I'll still be continuing the series on How Writers Made it Big.)

I think you all will take liking to this one: It's a series on how to get published in the twenty-first century--something I wish I could find on the web.

How are you going to write this, considering you're not published, you might ask?

Simple: I read!

Okay, so there's this awesome book, written by a literary agent, who gives all these tips on how to get published. Along with that, I'll give you my personal experience on each tip and what I think about it. (Trust me, I've read this book twice.) It's quite interesting, and it held my attention, so I trust it will hold yours also.

That's it for today's post. I will now enjoy my Green/Orange tea and work on my manuscript for this new book.

Till next time Blog World,

The Truth About My Summer

I wasn't expecting a summer like this. Actually, I didn't know what to expect at all.
I mean, here I am, at one am writing a blog post.
Because this is the only time, in weeks, that I'm able to make a post--It's ONE AM PEOPLE. Almost two!

But I'm not going to rant about not having time to breathe between heartbeats. Because, in all honesty, I kind of like being busy. It keeps me focused on what's ahead, you know?

A normal week for me involves sleeping, eating, praying, speaking, and working with people in a small community/camp six days a week up to twenty-four hours. (In other words, I'm a cabin leader. However, where I'm from, we call it Home Host.)

Between all that I mention above, I find time to smile, stuff my face with carbs, speak to my sister on the phone, and pet a few cats in the neighborhood.

But what I've also been doing is editing my manuscript like a crazy person. And I don't use the word "crazy" lightly.

In the last 3 weeks I've re-edited twenty-five chapters (for probably the billionth time) and in the last four weeks my first chapter has been changed at least five times. And I finally like my first chapter--though I'm kind of sick of looking at it.

At the same time I've also been working on a friend's manuscript, and helping her get some chapters in tip-toe shape.

The writing life is hard.

However, I do this all with pleasure. Literally, I love my job(s). I probably couldn't ask for any other better opportunity. And to know that this is my talent absolutely bewilders me every stinkin time. What the heck? I'm a writer. How did that happen?

Tah. It's almost two am and I'm day dreaming about writing another novel. I must be asleep, eh?

Till next time blog world.

Er, don't fix it . . . ?

I usually say, "If it ain't broken, don't fix it." But I think I might start going back on my word.

You see, the thing is, I tend to want to fix a lot of things that aren't broken. For example, people--specifically men--movies, friendships . . . stuff like that. 

And lately, I've been fixing a lot of things with my finished manuscript, Unbroken. 

I've been going through these editing processes, and I can't help but think, "What if this could be better?" My book might be solid as a whole--from beginning to end--but what if it could be better than that? What if it was better than my best? Is that even possible? Can something actually be better than the best?

And it's questions like that that make me want to fix a whole lot of things. Because anything can be improved, even if it's not broken, right?

Okay, now I just feel like i'm preaching to the choir here.......

But on a serious note, I've been making a lot of changes to my manuscript--not big changes, but just a few tweaks here and there that would improve my overall book. I'd just hate to look back one day and think, "Maybe i should have done this....or maybe I should have taken this out." Because really, my characters are actual people to me, and I want to be able to express them, and their personalities, as much as possible. They deserve that. They deserve better than the best. And it's my duty to give it to them. 

So I am. And I truly hope that it's an even more enjoyable read. 

Also, some very important news, I changed the title of my book. It was completely unexpected--but a good unexpected--and I think that this new title suits my book a whole lot better than it did before. So, so long Unbroken. And hello, The Willow Tree. 

I truly believe that this title has a way deeper meaning than the title before, and I also feel like it's more original!

I really do hope to share this book with the world someday. I really know that it could, and can, fix many, many, broken hearts. 

Till next time blog world. 

Summer....no free time at all

Here Ye, Here Ye,

I cannot wait to be on here all day, everyday, like I was before.

My summer is redundantly busy. It sucks.

But, I've promised to keep updated, so here's what's new:

One of two beta/critique readers have finished the manuscript and have completely adored it--which warms my heart! As a writer, it's so hard to believe that someone, besides myself, could enjoy my novel. And really, that's all I want from my readers--I want them to enjoy themselves while their reading my book.

Secondly, my newest manuscript (which is nameless for the moment,) is still under construction. Unfortunately, I haven't had much time to work on it--which isn't beneficial for me nor the unwritten project.

Blah.

However, I write down any ideas any chance I get, and I'm trying hard not to FREAK OUT!

*sigh.

Welp, that's it for today's  blog post. Wish me luck with my hectic life!