What a great and useful list! Thanks, Kate! I've been keeping a list of possible agents to query - every time I read a book in the same genre, I check the acknowledgements to see if the author has lovely things to say about their agent. Then I check out the agent's website to see if they are open to queries and the process, and keep that in a file. It's been a couple of years now but I'm almost ready to query, and it's a relief to have a place to start.
Last week, my first novel got accepted by a small press. The timing of this post applies so perfectly and well to me, as I have just started to panic (I'm gonna need to line up blurbs! I'm gonna need to line up readings! Gah what am I doing??). Thank you for this incredibly helpful post!
Somewhere I read this comment from (of all people) the composer Shostakovich that is something like: "the brain is a fragile vessel, write everything down." So there's that. And also a plug for THINGS, an app that Allison K Williams (no relation; if you don't have her book, Seven Drafts, you need to add it to your writing desk pronto) told me about: a one-time fee, syncs with phone & other devices, can be a to-do list, an ongoing projects list, a calendar, notes, it's all the things. I find it magical. The one thing it doesn't help with is the "keeping stuff in multiple journals and now i can't find anything" problem.
I add this kind of info to Scrivener's Scratchpad files which I've synced to the Dropbox mobile app. That way I can make a whole variety of notes on-the-fly and then view them later on my PC and/or import them straight into a project file. No cut and paste required!
This is so true! I was just asked to provide a list of authors to blurb my book! I have a list but ugh! I have to ask these people and I’m now quaking at my computer screen.
I'm doing this right now for my next book (my fourth) and it is, by far, the most terrifying part of the process. I have to reward myself after I find their contact information, after I open the email program, after I draft the email, and then one more time after I actually send the email. It helps when I remember that most authors LOVE to have their names in/on other people's books. If they say "No" it's more about the fact that my book might not be a good fit for them (and hence, not a good fit for mine) or their level of overwhelm or simply that they're having a bad day. When I humanize the "big mouths" it's so much easier. Good luck!!
I know! It's a quaking experience. I just emailed someone I knew 20 years ago, who is a pretty well-respected author, and he actually said yes!! So, keep on! Courage to all of us.
I love that you are able to remember a negative response from a perspective blurb author has nothing to do with you. I’m a big believer in the book called the four agreements. One of them is to take nothing personally. Everything people do and say, has everything to do with themselves, and nothing to do with me. Nothing. So regardless of whether people are saying good things or negative things. I have learned to remember that their choices are all about them and never about me. Best of luck to you.
I'm telling myself that as well. I also know that people have boundaries and as writers, we need them maybe more than others as we are so easily distracted.
I already keep some of these things in lists already (thank God!). I will add more per the categories in this post. One thing I am wondering about blurbs and reviews is, at what point in the publication process do I send the manuscript out? I assume they need an ARC? How far done does the book need to be though. What if it’s still being edited and the format groomed, etc?
You'll talk with your publisher about when to send it out. Sometimes it's right before it goes to copyediting and/or when the ARC is ready. Everyone who reads an ARC knows that it's not the final final final edition and it's fine. It even says so on the cover! You don't send it out, though, if you're still tinkering with the ending or somesuch. :)
Thank you for that confirmation! This makes sense. Thanks for all your wisdom on here :-). Now I’m curious to know how long a person needs the MS in their possession in order to provide their blurb. What’s a reasonable turnaround time? May have to Google this.
It really depends on the timeline of the book's production. Some blurbs are needed early because they want to print them on the ARC or if not that, the printed book. So it then matters when the book HAS to go to the printer because the printer waits for no man. If you're late on edits lol, then it might make that timeline crunched. You want to give the blurbers as long as you can (so not two weeks but also probably not six months) because it's a lot of work to blurb! But there's no single, definitive timeline. Two months is a kind timeline.
I should have added in my comment above that the final thing I do in my life/health book is I highlight portions of it in different highlighter colors. If I have something related to yardwork, it’s circled in green. If it is related to my writing it is circled in orange. if it is health related, it is circled in red, etc. I keep a bunch of colored highlighters in my basket by my bed and I tend to go through my book and highlight portions at the end of the day a few times a week. At that time, if I need reminders, I will then put the reminders in the calendar in my phone to remind me to do certain things in the following days.
Thank you, Kate! This exact topic was a big challenge for me for many years because I wrote these kinds of notes everywhere you can imagine: corner of my checkbook, sticky notes, napkins, a square of toilet paper, etc. Lol. But I adopted the system a few years ago that has been fail safe for me. I carry two paper notebooks with me all day long. Everywhere I go they are always near me. One is written on the cover, the date that I started the book, my name and my workplace. That is my Bible for work and I keep all things related to my 9-to-5 job in that book. The other book I carry also is written on the front cover with permanent marker, “Health/Life” and the starting date of the book. This is where I keep track of notes related to my life outside of work. It doesn’t work for me to use an electronic system because I have my best ideas when I am standing at the kitchen sink, washing dishes or driving down the road. Mostly doing some kind of an activity that doesn’t involve my brain is when I get epiphanies. And I always have my small books handy with me to write them down.
Thank you so much for this! I write stuff down all the time, but then when I need it, I can't find it! Your idea to use an electronic Note is fabulous. I'm starting already. Thanks
Thank you! This is so helpful both practical and a way to keep my eyes on the goal as I slog my way through the thornier thickets of my nonfic project.
Uh, I know one published fiction writer and she writes a completely different genre... Is there a chance an agent or publisher would be able to help get a blurber? I mean, it stands to reason they will both know a lot more writers than I do... maybe they'd say "Sit tight, I'm sending your mystery to Agatha Christie, this agency has repped her for ages and I know she's gonna love it."
Correction, my friend, Gromit. You know dozens and dozens of published authors, because you are in this comment thread and because you read Kate! Reach out to any of us out here in the world. We are all here to support each other. Right?
What a great and useful list! Thanks, Kate! I've been keeping a list of possible agents to query - every time I read a book in the same genre, I check the acknowledgements to see if the author has lovely things to say about their agent. Then I check out the agent's website to see if they are open to queries and the process, and keep that in a file. It's been a couple of years now but I'm almost ready to query, and it's a relief to have a place to start.
OMG I should have included that in there, too! Great idea!!!!
I did that too. Very useful. Only issue is that agents are closing and opening all the time!
Oh, so true! I bet I'll find that out soon...
I did that -- super helpful! I compiled them in query tracker which I found incredibly resourceful now that I’m in full pitching mode.
this is a great idea--wish I had done it, would've made the agent search soooo much easier.
Last week, my first novel got accepted by a small press. The timing of this post applies so perfectly and well to me, as I have just started to panic (I'm gonna need to line up blurbs! I'm gonna need to line up readings! Gah what am I doing??). Thank you for this incredibly helpful post!
Congratulations!!
Somewhere I read this comment from (of all people) the composer Shostakovich that is something like: "the brain is a fragile vessel, write everything down." So there's that. And also a plug for THINGS, an app that Allison K Williams (no relation; if you don't have her book, Seven Drafts, you need to add it to your writing desk pronto) told me about: a one-time fee, syncs with phone & other devices, can be a to-do list, an ongoing projects list, a calendar, notes, it's all the things. I find it magical. The one thing it doesn't help with is the "keeping stuff in multiple journals and now i can't find anything" problem.
Thanks, I will check this out!
I add this kind of info to Scrivener's Scratchpad files which I've synced to the Dropbox mobile app. That way I can make a whole variety of notes on-the-fly and then view them later on my PC and/or import them straight into a project file. No cut and paste required!
This is so true! I was just asked to provide a list of authors to blurb my book! I have a list but ugh! I have to ask these people and I’m now quaking at my computer screen.
I'm doing this right now for my next book (my fourth) and it is, by far, the most terrifying part of the process. I have to reward myself after I find their contact information, after I open the email program, after I draft the email, and then one more time after I actually send the email. It helps when I remember that most authors LOVE to have their names in/on other people's books. If they say "No" it's more about the fact that my book might not be a good fit for them (and hence, not a good fit for mine) or their level of overwhelm or simply that they're having a bad day. When I humanize the "big mouths" it's so much easier. Good luck!!
I know! It's a quaking experience. I just emailed someone I knew 20 years ago, who is a pretty well-respected author, and he actually said yes!! So, keep on! Courage to all of us.
That gives me a lift today! Thanks
Congratulations!!!
Hey thank you!!
I love that you are able to remember a negative response from a perspective blurb author has nothing to do with you. I’m a big believer in the book called the four agreements. One of them is to take nothing personally. Everything people do and say, has everything to do with themselves, and nothing to do with me. Nothing. So regardless of whether people are saying good things or negative things. I have learned to remember that their choices are all about them and never about me. Best of luck to you.
I'm telling myself that as well. I also know that people have boundaries and as writers, we need them maybe more than others as we are so easily distracted.
I have the list now, thanks for the great reminder! Now I just have to write the book.
Right now, I'm checking on agents.
I already keep some of these things in lists already (thank God!). I will add more per the categories in this post. One thing I am wondering about blurbs and reviews is, at what point in the publication process do I send the manuscript out? I assume they need an ARC? How far done does the book need to be though. What if it’s still being edited and the format groomed, etc?
You'll talk with your publisher about when to send it out. Sometimes it's right before it goes to copyediting and/or when the ARC is ready. Everyone who reads an ARC knows that it's not the final final final edition and it's fine. It even says so on the cover! You don't send it out, though, if you're still tinkering with the ending or somesuch. :)
Thank you for that confirmation! This makes sense. Thanks for all your wisdom on here :-). Now I’m curious to know how long a person needs the MS in their possession in order to provide their blurb. What’s a reasonable turnaround time? May have to Google this.
It really depends on the timeline of the book's production. Some blurbs are needed early because they want to print them on the ARC or if not that, the printed book. So it then matters when the book HAS to go to the printer because the printer waits for no man. If you're late on edits lol, then it might make that timeline crunched. You want to give the blurbers as long as you can (so not two weeks but also probably not six months) because it's a lot of work to blurb! But there's no single, definitive timeline. Two months is a kind timeline.
Awesome info! Thank you again. I hadn’t even thought about blurbs already being on the ARCs. Two months to read and review does sound reasonable.
I should have added in my comment above that the final thing I do in my life/health book is I highlight portions of it in different highlighter colors. If I have something related to yardwork, it’s circled in green. If it is related to my writing it is circled in orange. if it is health related, it is circled in red, etc. I keep a bunch of colored highlighters in my basket by my bed and I tend to go through my book and highlight portions at the end of the day a few times a week. At that time, if I need reminders, I will then put the reminders in the calendar in my phone to remind me to do certain things in the following days.
Thank you, Kate! This exact topic was a big challenge for me for many years because I wrote these kinds of notes everywhere you can imagine: corner of my checkbook, sticky notes, napkins, a square of toilet paper, etc. Lol. But I adopted the system a few years ago that has been fail safe for me. I carry two paper notebooks with me all day long. Everywhere I go they are always near me. One is written on the cover, the date that I started the book, my name and my workplace. That is my Bible for work and I keep all things related to my 9-to-5 job in that book. The other book I carry also is written on the front cover with permanent marker, “Health/Life” and the starting date of the book. This is where I keep track of notes related to my life outside of work. It doesn’t work for me to use an electronic system because I have my best ideas when I am standing at the kitchen sink, washing dishes or driving down the road. Mostly doing some kind of an activity that doesn’t involve my brain is when I get epiphanies. And I always have my small books handy with me to write them down.
As I finished reading sent the note/post to my notes. Don’t want to miss a thing
Thank you for such good advice/insight, and helpful information
Thank you so much for this! I write stuff down all the time, but then when I need it, I can't find it! Your idea to use an electronic Note is fabulous. I'm starting already. Thanks
This was so helpful, as ever, thank you!
Thank you! This is so helpful both practical and a way to keep my eyes on the goal as I slog my way through the thornier thickets of my nonfic project.
Uh, I know one published fiction writer and she writes a completely different genre... Is there a chance an agent or publisher would be able to help get a blurber? I mean, it stands to reason they will both know a lot more writers than I do... maybe they'd say "Sit tight, I'm sending your mystery to Agatha Christie, this agency has repped her for ages and I know she's gonna love it."
Yep! They will absolutely help!
Correction, my friend, Gromit. You know dozens and dozens of published authors, because you are in this comment thread and because you read Kate! Reach out to any of us out here in the world. We are all here to support each other. Right?