Guest Post: Charity Bradford

I’m taking the week off from blogging (although I’ll probably still lurk around your blogs). To keep the awesomeness at full, guest bloggers are taking over my blog on Sunday, Tuesday and Friday. And now, on with the show… 

Everyone, welcome Charity Bradford.

Title: Patience, Predators and Publishing

Thanks Jeanne for the opportunity to guest post. At first I wasn't sure what I wanted to write about, but then an event earlier in the month made up my mind for me. Since then, there has been one thing heavy on my mind lately.

Patience.

As writers we need so much of it. It seems like the life of a writer is one big round of waiting.

We wait for stolen moments to type or scribble away at our novels.

We wait for comments from critique groups.

We sludge through revisions waiting for the day our novel is polished and ready to send into the world.

We wait for replies from agents.

And I don't know from experience, but I've heard that after you get an agent is just more waiting.

We all hope this waiting will get us somewhere, but sometimes its hard to be patient. And that's when we become susceptible to predators.

Let me share a story with you. I have a younger brother who started writing a book this year. This is his first story, a fantasy. I've read the first three chapters and he has a lot of potential. A lot, and I'm happy for him. But he hasn't learned about patience yet.

The first week of August he submitted his first three chapters (read only three he had) to a publisher (I don't know where he found this publisher) and two days later he received a sample contract in the mail to look over. This publisher was thrilled with his rough draft and said they would love to publish it if he could finish it by November 1st of this year and get it to them.

What???

I've been slaving over my baby for three solid years! Revision after revision. Round after round of critiques. Patiently taking each comment, mulling it over and then changing (or not) based on my vision for the story. And now my little bro is getting published before me a few short months after he starts writing?!!

Wait, sorry, this isn't about me.

*cough* Um, where was I? Oh, yeah...

Red flags were flying around all over the place when he told me this. I've never heard of any publisher who accepts unfinished FICTION. My brother also sent me the contract to look over. Now, to my untrained eye, the ten page contract made little sense (another reason I want to catch an agent). There were a few things that rubbed me wrong, such as the royalties. They were considerably lower than some other midsize publishers that I have had contact with, but mostly it looked fine. I guess. *shrugs*

Since I don't know everything, I started some research.A simple Google search of the company brought up all kinds of rants about their dishonesty. Then some of my other writer friends responded to my questions to them and all said the same thing about said company, "Run away!" This particular company received an F from the Better Business Bureau.

With all this new knowledge under my belt, I had to inform my brother that he should walk away. I felt like a dream crusher. For his part, my brother handled it quite well. He has now finished three more chapters of the book and is hopefully starting to read and learn about the publishing world.

Qs4U:

How do you remind yourself to be patient?

How do you research publishers or agents?

Please share in the comments.

Whatever it is that you do, don't give up! And don't give in. Be true to yourself and the dream that you have for your book. Whether it be traditional, mid to small publisher, or vanity publishing is up to you. In this day and age its all good! Just take your time. Do your research and make sure you understand what you're getting into.

Wouldn't it be awful to find that you've lost all rights to the story you bled over for years?

Here are some helpful links that I've used quite often:

The Better Business Bureau--clickable for US or Canada. Simply type the name of the publisher in the search engine. Click Here for the publisher talked about above.

How a Book Gets Published by Nathan Bransford--This is from 2009, but not THAT much has changed about the industry. While we are with Nathan, here are some other great links.

Publishing Glossary, for all those terms you might not be sure about.

Writer Beware Blog--new to me, but look who's headlining August 18th. The very same publisher my brother almost fell prey to.

Talk to others and see what their experience has been over at Absolute Write Water Cooler.

There's Chuck Sambuchino's Guide to Literary Agents

Publishers Marketplace Track Deals, Sales, Reviews, Agents, Editors, News

And of course good old Predators and Editors

Don't underestimate a Google search as well. What comes up can be quite revealing. 

Charity Blogs at My Writing Journey and is in the query process for her first Science Fantasy book Sendek. She also co-blogs at Unicorn Bell, a free blog striving to help writers get critiques and move forward in their journey to publication.

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Websites For Writers

I was looking for a good website to profile and Michael Fox was kind enough to suggest Writer’s BBS. It’s a writer’s forums site, filled with people to talk with about books and writing.

The website may look a little sparse, but there’s a lot there. They have a place for general talk, critique posts, as well as places for Poetry and Non-fiction. They also have a Gold Forums feature if you want to restrict access to your posts.

It’s a good place to look for like-minded people. Go check it out. 

And if you have any suggestions for other great sites for writers, be sure to let me know. What would happen if I ran out of sites to profile?

Anarchy. That's what.

Websites for Writers

This week, I suggest you visit Writeoncon.com. The best part about the con? It’s online, so you don’t have to leave your house. However, you still should go out occasionally because the sun will put some color on your pasty skin.

Besides that, the site has tons of resources, including monthly live events for us writers to participate in and good books we can read. Their forums are great. Only participating members can post, but anyone can view—very kind of them.

So that's a quick one! I'm off to edit!

Writers Resources

The title really says it all. Yesterday, I joined in on the YA Lit Chat on Twitter, which was about resources (of any kind) for writers. I thought it was a good idea, so I went through the transcript (which there was quite a lot of) and my own brain to bring you the most comprehensive list of writing resources you’ve ever seen on this blog.

Websites

Yahoo Groups is a place to create a place to network with like-minded individuals.

@robin_talley of Twitter suggested teenlitauthors, which is for writers, published and unpublished alike, to trade news, ideas and suggestions. Joining is easy, but you do need a Yahoo ID. Once you have that, you send them a message with your name and where you heard about them, and you’re in!

@sarahockler of Twitter suggested Author Cynthia Leitich Smith’s wonderful website, whether you want book suggestions or help with writing for children.

QueryTracker helps you find agents and publishers, keep track of what queries you’ve sent to whom, and chat with other writers : ). Yes, that’s as good as it sounds. Oh, and did I mention it’s free?

Publishers Marketplace has information on sales, which shows you what an agent is interested in and what the market is interested in. Otherwise, you have to wait for it to be published to find out what is selling two years ago. The only downfall (which people say is totally worth it while querying) is it costs $20 dollars a month.

AgentQuery is one of my favorite websites. You can search for agents by genre, their name or their agency’s name. It gives you fairly up to date information on what they represent, their recent sales, their websites, and what they want to see in a query.

Preditors&Editors is another favorite of mine. The agents hear are listed alphabetically by their first names (a bit annoying) and some of the information is out of date, but it tells you who has made sales, is a member of the AAR, and who has been convicted of fraud. Yes, really.

bksp.org has a phenomenal writers’ forum, with Ask an Agent, Editing and Publishing, Marketing and Promotion and tons more. The only downfall (and it’s a pretty minor thing) is that it costs $40 a year. Not bad considering what you get for it. 

Absolute Write all about writing and the business of writing. A welcome source for any writer.

Janet Reid, agent and shark extraordinaire has her own blog and another one where she rips queries to shreds at Query Shark. You can follow both her (@Janet_Reid) for tips and the Shark (@QueryShark) for posts on what not to do with a query.

Though no longer agenting, the archives at misssnark.com are considered one of the best sources for any writer.

Kristen Nelson is another agent who has tons of query tips on both her blog and her agency website. No, she’s not on Twitter, but her fellow agent Sara Megibow is (@SaraMegibow)!

Rachelle Gardner (also on Twitter at @RachelleGardner) has an amazing website where she coaches you on writing query letters, what to do when an agent calls (ah, the dream!) and so much more.

Autocrit has an editing wizard. If you sign up, you get a lot more but even the free version has a good word analyzer that finds those repeated words, sentences beginning with conjunctions, and inactive writing words. Too bad you are limited to 800 words at a time.

Dropbox is an online storage site. You get 1 gigabyte of storage space for free and can access your documents from anywhere.

Scrivener is basically an online version of the blackboard writers used to paste their notes all over. I don’t use it (it just doesn’t fit with my writing style) but I’ve heard wonderful things. Warning: it’s for Macs and $45, although there is a free trial and the beta for PCs is out. Buy it at http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php. 

Twitter

@Georgia_McBride is amazing. She tweets so much, I think she may have cloned herself. But really, she tweets a lot of useful information, has a helpful blog, and hosts #yalitchat on Wednesdays from 9-10.

Jennifer Laughran better known to tweeters as @literaticat, is a wonderful source of information. Check out her blog for even more.

@ElanaRoth is another tweeter of good info. She’s sharp and straight to the point, the kind of agent we all really need.

Though no longer an agent (alas) @ColleenLindsay has a wealth of information and sometimes still hosts a #askagent chat session. She’s also as funny as hell, so you can’t go wrong with following her.

Another sadly no longer an agent, @nathanbransford still tweets a lot of information. For more, visit his website which has info on writing queries, synopses, proposals, and more great websites for writers.

Agent Jennifer DeChiara who tweets at @4writers. She often invites questions about the publishing industry and promises to answer.

Michelle Wolfson, who tweets at @WolfsonLiterary, always has tips and advice. Follow her so you don’t miss anything!

Twitter Hastags

#askagent and #askyaed are random chats hosted by agents or editors. Your best bet for coming across one is to follow the agents and editors I’ve listed above : ).

#kidlitart(@kidlitart): for children’s book illustrators/authors/professionals. Hosted by @BonnieAdamson and @lyonmartin on Thursdays at 9 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time). Visit site: http://kidlitart.blogspot.com.

#kidlitchat: for readers and anyone involved in the children’s book industry. Hosted by @BonnieAdamson and @gregpincus on Tuesdays at 9~10 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time).

#litchat (@litchat): for readers, writers, and book industry professionals. From 4-5 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Visit site: http://litchat.net/

#poetparty: Hashtag for poems or talking with poets/editors. No particular time, but hosted by @32poems.

#poetry: For readers, writers and anyone else. Hosted by @gregpincus on Thursdays at 9-10 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time).

#romancechat: Romance in writing. Hosted by @theworldamongus @ObsidianMiss on Saturdays at 4-5 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time).

#scifichat: Sci-fi in writing. Hosted by @DavidRozansky on Fridays at 2-4 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time).

#scribechat: Here to focus on the changes in the publishing industry. Hosted by @LiaKeyes on Thursdays at 9-10 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time). Site at http://scribechat.com.

#writechat: General writing talk. Hosted by @WritingSpirit on Sundays from 1-4 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time).

#yalitchat: Discussion of YA literature for readers and writers. Hosted by @Georgia_McBride and @LiaKeyes on Wednesdays at 9-10 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time). Site: yalitchat.org

Books

On Writing by Stephen King is supposed to be a wonderful book on the craft, whether you like his books or not.

Several people on Twitter (I don’t know who was first) suggested Anne Lamott’s BIRD BY BIRD

@sarahockler of Twitter also suggested: GIVE ‘EM WHAT THEY WANT: THE RIGHT WAY TO PITCH YOUR NOVEL TO EDITORS AND AGENTS by Blythe Camenson and Marshall J. Cook; and THE SELL YOUR NOVEL TOOL KIT by Elizabeth Lyon

WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL by Donald Maass is supposed to be another great source.

Suggested by @StirlingEditor: Elizabeth Lyon’s MANUSCRIPT MAKEOVER 

There are tons more than this, but this took a long time to compile. For more information, I suggest you visit the sites I've listed. If you need it, I'm sure they have it.