IT'S THE WEEKEND!

Let's get swept off our feet!

JUST AROUND THE CORNER

August is the month of the middle child and you know what that means--PIPER REED Month! I'll be giving away Piper Reed books and CD's. And Square Fish Books has kindly offered to give a classroom set of Piper Reed the Great Gypsy to one lucky educator. So check back for details.






Also next week, author/illustrator, Laurie Keller will be our AT HOME profile. Laurie is one of my favorite picture book people. I can't wait to hear what she has to say about how her home feeds into her writing.


Until then, Happy Friday, good folks!


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LETTER TO A YOUNG WRITER PART TWO

Today I'm continuing my answers to the young writer who wrote me with publishing questions. One of the questions she asked me about was getting an agent.

Should I get an agent before sending my work to a publisher?

One comment I hear often is that writers can't get an agent unless they have a publisher and they can't get a publisher because they don't have an agent. Now that creates quite a dilemma. It's as if you are staring out a window viewing the world you want to be a part of, but you can't quite find the opening. And I can sympathize. Before I sold my first book, I received more positive feedback from editors than I did from agents. Not that the editors were making any offers, but several of them asked to see my manuscript again if I rewrote. So I rewrote while querying agents. All of them responded with form rejections. The most personal one scribbled, "Nice idea, but not for me."

After I'd been sending out my story for about seven months, I heard an agent speak at a writing conference. I was impressed with the agent and the care she had for her clients. Unfortunately she didn't represent children's writers. Later I asked her if she knew of any agents that did and she gave me the name of another agent. I sent her a query letter and a couple of months later, I had an agent. Many conferences offer appointments with agents for their attendees. Usually those appointments go first. So register early.

I obtained my new agent because a friend kindly recommended me. By then I had several books under my belt.




A couple of sources for agents: If you are writing for children, join Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators/ http://scbwi.org. For the price of the postage you can receive a list of agents who represent children's writers. And for all writers of all genres, check out a copy of 2009 Guide to Literary Agents.




Some more tidbits:

1. How to Be Your Own Literary Agent by Richard Curtis is an excellent book for every writer(even if you already have an agent.) Not only does it explain advances, royalty payments and contracts, it also offers advice for finding representation.

2. A writer/agent relationship is a marriage of sorts. Make sure you have a mutual respect.

3. Never ever pay an agent to read your work or represent you.

4. Did I mention never ever pay an agent to read your work or represent you? I'm astounded how many smart people fall for flattering letters by "agents" who would love to represent them, if only the writer would pay a certain amount. Then they would help the manuscript get in shape and ready for publication. It's hard to get rejection letters, but please resist. No agent is better than a bad agent.

5. Just because you aren't one agent's cup of tea, doesn't mean another agent won't be enthusiastic about representing you. When you get turned down by one agent, move on. Don't get mad and waste anytime fretting.


Another question I received from the young writer concerned age.

Will I have a harder or easier time getting published because of my age?

Publishers don't care how old you are. They just want a good story told in an interesting way. If you happen to be very young or very old, your age might become a marketing asset. (After you sell the book.) But thank goodness unlike some fields, there are no age requirements or limitations.


I hope sharing these answers has helped some of you. At the very least, please know you are not alone looking out the window, longing to be a part of the writing world. The very first step toward getting published is easy. All you have to do is pick up a pen and begin.

HOW 19 JOBS PREPARED ME FOR THE WRITING BUSINESS

I'll continue my Letter to a Young Writer tomorrow, but today I'm blogging at the southern authors blog, A Good Blog Is Hard To Find.

My post is titled HOW 19 JOBS PREPARED ME FOR THE WRITING BUSINESS. Please join me there.


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THIS MAKES ME SMILE

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEATRIX POTTER!

Thanks for bringing Peter into our lives.




Want more? Head on over to Jama's blog.

LETTER TO A YOUNG WRITER

During a recent visit, I turned onto my grandfather's driveway from Highway 112. The late afternoon light beaming through the branches looked so magical, I stopped the car and grabbed my camera. If I'd not known my grandfather's home waited around the bend, I could have thought the road was taking me anywhere.

When we start to write it's a little like that. We see the road stretching out before us, but we don't know what's around the bend. Pressing on the accelerator will not necessarily cause the journey to move quicker. By doing so, we may even miss the turnoffs.

Recently I received an email from a young writer. She was writing her second novel and wanted to know how to get published. I answered her questions, but I'm not sure they were the answers she was seeking. I hope she knows that I took her questions seriously. Since this was not the first time I'd received those questions, I thought I'd share the answers here this week.


What are the steps I need to take in getting my book published?

My answer is probably not going to be the one that you expect or want to hear, but the most important step on getting published is not making publishing the focus.

Writing a great story should be the focus of any writer. How do you that? Learn everything you can about the craft. Take writing classes. When I started I took continuing education classes offered by the local college and university.

Except for one class, all the classes were taught by published writers, writers who were still in the publishing game. Some wrote in different genres than I read, but I still listened to what they had to say. The beauty of taking a lot of classes is you will find out that not everyone thinks about the craft the same way. My first piece of fiction was a result of taking an intense two-week workshop from West Texas A&M. I'm sad to say they don't offer that workshop anymore because I grew a lot in those two weeks. Robert Flynn, Clay Reynolds, and Jerry Craven have a gift for writing as well as teaching. I'm proud to have learned from them.

Each of the teachers offered me some wisdom that I still use. Two of the Amarillo College classes, taught by Ivon Cecil were geared toward writing for children. I benefited in more ways than one from that class. A year after Ivon taught me, she invited me to attend her critique group.

Which brings me to my second point. Join a critique group. Ivon, Chery Webster, Pat Willis, and Carol Winn taught me a lot. They'd been meeting years before I joined their group, and their main focus was writing for children. I don't believe you have to be in a group that necessarily writes the genre you're writing, but I think they need to read and respect your genre. And you should read and respect theirs. Otherwise I think you are wasting your time. Critique groups can serve many purposes. One obvious reason is receiving feedback, but another is accountability. Knowing you have some folks waiting to read ten pages every week is a huge motivator. Over the years I belonged to a lot of groups. Some with too many people and sometimes it was just my pal Charlotte and me writing at the McDonald's. All of those minutes were like bricks paving my way to publication.

There are people you may never meet who can give you advice. I must have bought every writing book available at the bookstore. You can find a list of my favorites on my writing tips page.

The better writer you become, the better your chances are at getting published. Publishers are always looking for great talent and fresh new voices, no matter what your age. But you must be ready.