Ink in the Book

Flickr link Hey all! I feel like I've been missing in action. I know I haven't been around visiting blogs and I haven't done much replying here on my own blog. And I signed up for a blog hop , but I just haven't been able to keep up with the posts every day. I'm sorry about that.. Let me explain very quickly. And hope you will forgive and understand. I am in the middle of doing some revisions at the request of an agent! And... I have a little secret I'm not at liberty to discuss. Just yet. So, I have a quick tip for today's post. And then I'm off to revise. Since we are talking about world building, there is one thing I would caution. There is a fine line between back story and telling too much, but with a a new world, completely different than what we are used to, with strange names and customs, it is important you keep the world building easy to understand for a reader. Names and such can be completely confusing and if I don't know wh...

I Know. I'm late. This is one of my charms...okay, biggest pains...I'm a late bloomer:) (Beside being Queen of the typos) But World building is a huge part of EVERY story. Not just Sci-Fi or Fantasy. Even if your story takes place somewhere like, say, New York City. I've never been there. *shakes head and sighs* I know, right? So if I have never been to the world of your story, you better do a good job of helping me experience my vacation to your world. For the blog fest I am taking part of, here at Sharon Bayliss's blog , the first entry is all about the geography. Describe it, use a picture, talk about the weather, or other ideas to help the reader get a feel for the world you are writing about in your manuscript. I opted to use some pictures I found on Flickr Creative Commons. Thank you, by the way, to all the wonderful photographers who put their work out there for us to use. Flickr link This photo shows what my world looks like to an outsider, gazing u...

Hey all you beautiful guys and dolls! How was your weekend? I hope you all stayed warm and toasty:) Today the schedule says we are to start on Preparing the partial for submission. I do hope you'll forgive me for putting it another day. We have one more REALLY nice interview I wanted to share with you. Ms. Pooja Menon with Kimberley Cameron & Associates She's been a true joy to work with during the workshop. I'm sure you will love the answers she given to the interview questions. Ready? Let's go!   When did you decide you wanted to be a literary agent? What helped you make that decisio n? 1) Becoming a literary agent happened to me by chance. To be honest, it was my determination to find a publishing job in San Francisco that led me to agenting. I always knew I wanted to work in the book industry, that was without question. Reading books are my passion, and no other activity fills me up with a similar sense of comfort and calm. When I began inte...

It's short and sweet today my beautiful guys and dolls. I'm working on a submission request that's got my nerves on fire! I'm so excited I can't think of anything else right now. I HAVE to write a synopsis so I can send my request over to a marvelous agent from #PitMad. Yes, that's a celebration!! WooHoo!!!!! What about you? What are you celebrating today?? Thanks to Vikki , who started this whole blog hop of happiness:)

Ready for another interview? Ms. Jordy Albert of the Booker Albert Literary Agency is here to WOW us with some fabuloso questions and answers. Just so you know, Jordy has been as sweet as an angel to work with during the workshop. I hope you enjoy her conversation below: 1. When did you decide you wanted to be a literary agent? What helped you make that decision?      Probably during grad school.   I've always loved to read, but I became interested in finding      authors  who are just starting out  and helping them further their careers, which led me to  exploring agenting. 2. What's your favorite book?      One of my favorites is To Kill A Mockingbird.          Why? It was an important time in United States history, and I really like Scout.  3. Who's your favorite author?     Karen Marie Moning        Again, w...

Can you take stressful situations and turn them into creative outlets? What is stress, anyway? My dictionary says: pressure or tension exerted on a material object: a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances: particular emphasis or importance... I would originally have said no. Stress makes me physically sick. I don't handle it very well and do my best to avoid stressful situations. but look at the last definition up there^^ particular emphasis or IMPORTANCE. So you stress things when they are important? Sure! But I still don't like it. My stomach hurts, I lose my energy, and I generally can't concentrate on anything but the stressful situation. AND, I cry. Yes, I'm that kind of women. But I do know that everything happens for a reason and when things don't turn out as I planned or hoped, I cling to the thought that It will make me a stronger, wiser, person. And that, my friends, makes...

I want to apologize, again, for the delay in posting the results! I hope everyone is happy with the results. If your name is not on the list, please read through to the end. There is a wonderful consolation gift! Linda Glaz with Hartline Literary Agency  First 5 page critique Christi Corbett - Along the Way Home—Historical Romance    Jordy Albert with The Booker Albert Agency 10 page critique T.J. Going Thru Hell - Adult Urban Fantasy Pooja Menon with the Kimberley Cameron & Associates First Chapter critique and a personal email Cristina - Tracker- YA horror Marisa Cleveland with The Seymour Agency First 3 Chapter - up to 50 pages - Mara Rae - Reinventing Dorothy Weil, YA Contemporary Terrie Wolf with AKA Literary A personal phone call Alys Cohen - Sacred Blood - Supernatural Please email me at ink in the book (at) gmail (dot) com --- no spaces  and I'll send you instructions on what to do to receive your critiques!! Consol...

I do apologize for the inconvenience. The results will be posted in the morning no later than 8 am EST. So please check back then. Thank you for your patience. Talynn

I know. You wanted to come to this post and see a list of winning critiques. I'm sorry. I am not able to deliver yet. I have ran into a huge snag, and just hope I found the right solution to the problem. My judges, whom I love and appreciate very much and I am so thankful for volunteering to help me, (*clears throat*) have not been able to come up with the top five winners. They have agreed on two, but the other 3 have been in a quarrel and I must say it's gotten a little heated. My solutions is to ask for 3 volunteers, WHO ARE NOT PARTICIPATING IN THIS CONTEST AND ARE NOT FRIENDS WITH THE PARTICIPANTS and of these 3 volunteers, I ask you to PERSONALLY email one choice. Please comment below if you want to help. The first 3 to comment will get to send me the vote. Email at ink in the book (at) gmail (dot) com  -  no spaces. PLEASE DO NOT COMMENT ON YOUR CHOICES IN THE COMMENTS. I PREFER NO PERSUASION. Thank you.

Good Morning you beautiful guys and dolls! Today, we have the first AGENT INTERVIEW from Operation Agent Ink. How exciting! Please be patient with the contest results. There were multiple ties and I had to draft a tie breaker reader. As soon as she sends me the results, I'll post the winner list. It will be today . I promise! Our first interview is from Brittany Booker with the Booker Albert Literary Agency. She is awesome! and so is her interview! You can ask questions, so read, enjoy, then get nosy!            When did you decide you wanted to be a literary agent? What helped you make that decision?     I first decided I wanted to be an agent after I wrote my first book and ran across Marisa Corvisiero. She asked to see the manuscript. When I realized how awesome her job must be, I asked how one becomes a literary agent, she then offered to teach me the ropes. It all escalated from there. I love my job, and...

UPDATE!!! I jusr received word, it will be withon the hour! I did get a sneak peek at the ones settled. *evil laugh* Mawahahaha !! In case you are wondering where the winner list is at: I'm waiting on the TIE BREAKER lady to send me her comments...

Thank you, Vikki at Scribblings of an Aspiring Author , for hosting this wonderful little blog hop! It's going to be fabulous because we often forget to Celebrate The Small Things. There is always something to be be thankful for, isn't there? 1. I wrote a brand new polished chapter on my current WIP. That makes me smile. 2. #AgentInk trended on Twitter last night. I'm still floored over that one! 3. I got 3 loads of laundry folded AND put up. The happy part is the baskets had been sitting there since before Christmas. Don't look at me like that. Hey! It happens...sometimes. What are you celebrating? I *really* would love to hear about it:)

Today is Ask and Agent #AgentInk. I've got agents lined up to answer your submission package questions! I've set it up for this afternoon at 5 EST, but that's not set in stone. Anyone have a specific time they prefer? also, if you can't make it to the twitter session, leave a comment below and I'll post it for you. Tomorrow, I'll post the agent answer. Happy day today, beautiful guys and dolls! Oh, and stay tuned for my tagged meme. I've got some lovely ones to share with you. Oh, and one more thing. Tomorrows post will include a bloghop and an Operation Agent Ink Contest and giveaway. The giveaways are from the AGENTS . Agent Critiques!!! 5 pages, 10 pages, and more . Even a personal phone call from an agent! there are several prizes, so COME BACK TOMORROW AND participate! It's going to be great! In advance, I'll let you know what to expect in the contest. You get a chance to write the best piece possible about you manuscript. If you...

Today I'd like to discuss the query letter revision. You've posted your query in various contests, blog hops and places that offer help and advice. You've gotten your advice. What do you think? Did you like the advice? Was it genuinely helpful? Now what do you do? You revise, of course! The query for my YA historical fictions, THE MEMORY KEEPER, looks completely different now than the first time I wrote it. My first line was: River Morgan is petite, pink haired and not quite seventeen, but she knows how to erase a memory. I loved that sentence (plus a whole lot of others...) but NO ONE else liked it. Some said it sounded forced. Some said it wasn't needed. Some said it didn't make any sense. Well, I liked it. Actually I loved it. But int he end, I decided to delete it. It hurt. I fumed and fused over the beautiful piece of art I had created. But alas, I changed it. To many, my new sentence isn't good either. But that's okay. It's a learning...

Inspiration anyone? What do you do when you need some? How do you write when you feel flat? Defeated? Unable to write? What is inspiration, anyway. Do you know? the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, esp. to do something creative: a sudden brilliant, creative, or timely idea Creativity. Hmm. It's just not happening and you have no idea how to get it. Flickr I look at art. I listen to music. I read. I watch a movie. I talk to someone. I read poetry. I go for a walk. I draw and paint. I play the piano. I read to my kids. What do you do? ********* Okay, beautiful guys and dolls. Post your queries and let's get some critiques going on...

Flickr The art of writing is a curious and delicious habit of mine. I love writing a mysterious character who is absolutely perfect. Then, I take a special little flaw and throw it at her. She gets mad at me, but only for a while. Because she realizes that even in a book, nobody can be perfect. So here's what I do: I give my character something to love, something to hate, something she craves that gives her joy, and something that scares the heeby-jeebies out of her. Then, I mix all of that up with a flaw that can't be overlooked and watch my perfect little character become a stronger person. What do you do when creating a new character? Now, it's time for our query dissection. I've posted a query letter below and it's up to you to let us know what you love about it and what you don't like. There are agents spying on us today, and they have agreed to give us their thoughts as well. Tuesday the 15th will be your turn to post your query and get sugg...

You can't catch fish without a hook, right? You at least need a fat, juicy worm. Query letters are written to introduce an agent to you story and as we mentioned yesterday, it's a good idea to include your character, conflict and the choice made, or at least the stakes involved. Below, I have listed some possible ways to turn your query from good to wow! Flickr 1. Do you have a one line pitch for your manuscript? If not, now is the time to write one. It makes a great hook for your query. 2. Does you MC have a unique power or gift? Tell about it. 3. Is there a unique setting where your story takes place? Describe it in one sentence. 4. Why is your story better than the next author? Why would an agent request a reading of your story? Add that special something immediately. Entice an agent from the get go. 5. Make sure you put voice into your query. Many agents say they want a great story with a great voice. Why make them wait until they reach the sample chapter ...

I will admit, very briefly, this post will be a lot of copying from some previous posts of last year. There. I said it. So, if it seems like you have read this before, you have. Check my archives and you'll see they are there. Moving quickly along.... So, in preparation for the Pitch Opportunity next month, the next few lessons are going to concentrate on advice and the breakdown of a good query. I hope that next month your query will pass with flying colors. What about you? Do you need help and advice for making your query even better? Then, let's do it! By the way. Monday the 14th, I'll be posting a query dissection and the agents have graciously agreed to take the query sample apart and talk about what works for them, and what doesn't work in the query. So make sure you visit then. The rest of the week will be dedicated to to YOUR query and the chance to get a get critique and great feedback to help improve your query. Now, back to the tips. Flickr Th...

Flickr I plan to keep it simple today. I was sooo excited about the ask an agent that I decided to post some of the comments, questions and answers I found informative and helpful. If you are in the wonderful world of a WIP, please keep these thoughts in mind as you write or while you are putting your ideas together. And yes, I have one of my own fateful mistakes in here, so please don't laugh when you read it. My questions/thoughts are in bolded . Eric Ruben's answers are in BLUE . These were taken straight from Twitter #askagent #tenqueries What about historical fantasy? Is that too much genre? Actually, time traveling ...

Thank you, Flickr. My first ink tint of the year! I'm really, really, super excited about these posts! I'll be talking about inspiration and creativity on Tuesday's Tinted Ink. A variety of subjects and topics, but all pointed to inspiring you to be all you can! For the first post, I have some general thoughts on inspiration. Brace yourself. It's probably not going to be what you expected. I hope to ground you in the best way to be the best YOU . No one else in the world can be like you. Thee is something in ALL of us that makes us unique. Stop trying to copy others and achieve their dreams. Be you and be true to yourself. I hope you enjoy these thoughts! 1. Be YOU . Stop listening to what everyone else says and celebrate your unique individuality. 2. Always put your best foot forward. Work hard at what you do and work harder than those around you. Your reward comes in your effort. It's not always about winning #1, but it's always going to be a...

Sorry to post so late today. The flu is not fun:( Anyway, today's intro will be some basic tips about what a query letter should include. Each workshop for the next couple of weeks will deal with specific aspects of the query letter. By the time the workshop is over, you will no longer hate the big Q! Do you know what the definition of technique is and what technique really means? Definition of technique: a question, esp. one addressed to an official or organization, a way of carrying out a particular task, esp. the execution or performance of an artistic work or a scientific procedure. What about query? Do you know what it means? Definition of query:  used in writing or speaking to question the accuracy of a following statement or to introduce a question. There is a correct way to write a query letter and it's important you know how to do it in the right way. First things first. Your book proposal should be treated as a professional business opportunity. I have...

When I first heard the phrase "One word year" I had no idea what it meant. After reading a few blog posts about their "word" I realized I had a word, too! There is one thing I want to do this year and that's make my dream a reality. As you can see from new header, I want to make 2013 the year I... Flickr  I plan to dream big, and make my dream come true. 2013 is the year! Somehow I just know it. Because... Flickr        So, my word for the year is dream. Without dreams, people would cease to be creative. Those dreams floating around in my head prompt me to greater heights because I want achievement. I'm not being prideful. I'm being ambitious and determined. I'm being hopeful and successful. I dream of doing things that seem impossible... Flickr  I'm dreaming, but I'm doing it with my eyes wide open, watching all the wonder, hope and excitement turn from a dream into reality. Flickr What's your ONE WORD YEAR?

I hope you are ready for a busy month! And I hope you are ready to get your submission package together for our lovely agents who want your manuscripts! I hope everyone made it on someone's wishlist! I might as well just get down to business and post the schedule. I'm sure you are tired of waiting! Monday January 7 Query Letter Techniques Jan. 10 Query Letter Tips         11 Query Hook and Your Bio         14 Query Letter Dissection, w/ Agent input         15 Query Letter Critique         16 Query Letter Revision         17 Twitter Party: Ask an Agent about Submission Packages         18 Contest and Giveaways         21-25 Agent Interviews         28-31 Preparing Your Partial Feb. 1 What is a Synopsis         4 Final Polishing...

Okay, my long winter nap is over and I'm ready to write again. How about you guys? 2012 was year of mixed emotions. In my writing world, I feel I had more success than failure. My personal life had more downs than up. but I'm not here to discuss that! My reflections: I started this blog in February 2012. No followers, no one commenting and no readers. Now I have several followers! I've met some amazing people and many I can call friends, though I've never "met" them. 2012 was a learning year for me: I learned what a query letter was and I learned why they are important. I discovered the joy of writing in a serious manner. I learned about Twitter  (but not how to use it effectively!) I learned how to plot a book rather than just sit down and write My plans for a new Ink in the Book: I have a writing schedule and have planned posted for certain days. Instead of just randomly posting things on a whim, I have a schedule I will adhere to. This is not...