You want to get shot by these agent snipers

While we're busy reading the slush and waiting for game day, we thought we'd take this opportunity to introduce the wicked awesome, crazy talented, good looking (I think that's enough adjectives. Yeah, agents love adjectives, right? Oh? More?) badalious gamers, sneaky competitors, and on any day but game day, extremely kind and generous agents.

So, in no particular order and because they just landed that way, here are the freakintabulous agents...

Molly Ker Hawn

The Bent Agency

Twitter: @mollykh

Molly, aka Sharp-shooter, will need to use her accurate shot if she wants to defeat her opponents from across the pond in London.

Molly's looking for young adult and middle grade fiction that's inventive, well-crafted, and rich with emotion, whether contemporary, historical, fantasy, sf, thriller, romance, or mystery. Her favorite books have characters she wishes she could talk to in worlds she wishes she could visit, and she loves stories that grab hold of her and keep her up reading long into the night.

Judith Engracia

Liza Dawson Associates

Twitter: @JoodForThought

Judith, aka Spider Ninja, will use her speed and martial art skills to outrun her opponents and capture the flag.

Judith is currently building her client list and looking for all types of fiction, particularly literary fiction, middle grade, young adult, urban fantasy, steampunk, paranormal romance and light science fiction.

Louise Fury

L. Perkins Agency

Twitter: @louisefury

Louise, aka AgentFury, will blaze across the arena leaving mayhem and the paint riddled bodies of her opponents in her wake.


Louise is seeking well written, teen Sci-Fi and Young Adult horror. She is also on the hunt for deep, dark contemporary YA and select Middle Grade fiction with a literary feel--it must be realistic and thought provoking and the characters must be authentic and original. Louise loves horror and romance, especially Regency & Victorian.

John M. Cusick

Scott Treimel NY

Twitter: @johnmcusick

John, aka The Jester, must use his wit and skill of balancing his martini while yielding his paintball gun to distract his opponents.

John's specialty is middle-grade and young adult fiction. He is the author of the young adult novel GIRL PARTS (Candlewick Press, 2010) and the forthcoming CHERRY MONEY BABY. He is a founder and managing editor of the literary magazine Armchair/Shotgun. And you can read an interview with The Jester on Down Under Wonderings.

Dawn Frederick

Red Sofa Literary

Twitter: @RedSofaLiterary

Dawn, aka Red Dawn, will take aim at her opponents from the comfort of her sofa.

Dawn carries a B.S. in Human Ecology, and a M.S. in Information Sciences from an ALA accredited institution. “Not only do I know what people like to read and are currently reading; I also have the experience of working one-on-one with authors, book distribution centers, and literary organizations.”

Brittany Howard

Corvisiero Literary Agency

Twitter: @brittanydhoward

Brittany, aka The Mask, will use her acting talent to trick her opponents into trusting her before clobbering them with a rainbow of paint.

Brittany's first love is YA--from High Fantasy to Paranormal to soft Sci-fi to Contemporary--she loves it all. She also likes high concept, adventure themed, and funny MG, but a strong voice is MUST for her in MG. For adult fiction, she prefers stories that are a romance at heart--Contemporary, Paranormal, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Historical are all genres she enjoys. Anything with theatrical or artistic or historical elements will probably catch her eye, too.

Brooks Sherman

Fine Print Literary Management

Twitter: @byobrooks

Brooks, aka Otter Agent, will use his sleek body to slither past his opponents and his tattoo fists to wallop any agents aiming for pitches he has his eyes on.

Brooks is on the lookout for adult fiction that runs the gamut from contemporary (with an eye toward multicultural or satirical) to speculative (particularly urban/contemporary fantasy, horror/dark fantasy, and slipstream). He also has a weakness for historical fiction and a burgeoning interest in crime fiction. On the children’s side, he is looking to build a list of boy-focused Middle Grade novels (all subgenres, but particularly fantasy adventure and contemporary), and is open to YA fiction of all types except paranormal romance.

Sarah LaPolla

Curtis Brown Ltd.

Twitter: @sarahlapolla

Sarah, aka The Bomber, don't let the name fool you, she can move silently around glass cases to avoid her opponents' shots, but she must be careful not to let the The Jester or Otter Agent distract her with Reece's peanut butter cups.

Sarah represents both adult and YA fiction. For adult books, she is looking for literary fiction, urban fantasy, magical realism, dark/psychological mystery, and literary horror. On the YA side, she welcomes all genres and is drawn to unique voices and strong, complex characters.

Victoria Marini

Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents

Twitter: @LitAgentMarini

Victoria, aka Neo-Agent, may be newer to the game, but her tenacity and vigor will make her a force the other agents won't see coming until they get a paintball shot to the head.

Victoria represents ADULT – Literary Fiction, Commercial Fiction (suspense, thriller, mystery) Women’s Commercial Fiction (suspense, light romance and romantic suspense, thriller, mystery, urban fantasy and light sci-fi). YOUNG ADULT – pretty much everything! Literary, contemporary, heartwarming and funny YA, as well as dark, edgy and commercial YA (thriller, noir, horror, light sci-fi/ fantasy, paranormal, supernatural, urban fantasy, suspense, mystery). MIDDLE GRADE – Boys Middle Grade Fantasy novels, Girls Fantasy Middle Grade, and coming-of-age humorous middle grade.

Come back tomorrow for the rules of the game post.

And don't forget to check out my partners in crime on their sites:

 

Brenda Drake

Shelley Watters

YATopia

Erica M. Chapman

Winners are Grinners!

Thanks so much everyone for entering the Chapter Critique competition.

And the winners are (drum roll):

First chapter critique: Kelly Allan Maddux

$15 B&N E-gift card: David Harrison

Soon after I've recovered from Pitch Madness I will be doing a 200 follower giveaway. So stay tuned for that.

Pitch Madness: The entries in my crosshairs

I'm so excited to be part of the Pitch Madness. Last year I was a contestant and had a lot of fun. I got a full request from Judith Engracia, and while she didn't offer me rep, she did give me valuable feedback that helped me make my manuscript so much stronger.

This year I'm on the other end, trawling through the entries that got the nod from our slush readers and I've peeked at the ones that our slushies passed on too. They've down a fantastic job of whittling down the entries.

I thought it would be good to provide some general feedback on my decision making process to help people for future pitches. So once I got the entries in my sights here's what I did:

The first thing I do is check out the genre. Anything that's MG gets me excited, along with Steampunk, Speculative Fiction and SciFi. Then I check out the word count. I've come across a few with excessive word counts and that's an immediate no from me because I interpret that as they writer doesn't understand their genre (which is a same as some of the pitches and openings were good).

Next I read the pitch and look for any red flags. One that jumped out was an MC being the wrong age for the genre. MG and YA is strongly defined by the age of their MC. I look at the hook - anything high concept stands out. If the pitch is weak and vague then it loses my interest quickly.

After that I look at the words. There was one that had fantastic premise, but the writing was weak so I didn't - though I wanted to so bad. It was in the maybe pile, so the slushies had gotten it right.

Finally, I look it over and think to myself, would either of my sons (they're 14 and 7) or I would read this, and if the answer is  a definite 'yes' then it gets added to my pile. If it's a 'no' but I think it's too amazing to pass on and that the agents would scramble over it then it will still go in my list. Two of the five are like that so far.

I've been through the first window of submissions, but am still working through the second window. So far I have:

#1 MG Adventure: I was immediately drawn in as this one's premise is actually linked to my day job, but it was the hook that sold me. It has a kick-arse title too.

#2 Adult Mystery/Suspense: I don't read a whole lot of adult anymore with YA dominating my reading. The MCs job had me intrigued. The pitch was so strong that it won me over.

#3 MG Contemporary: Normally I don't read a lot of contemporary, but this one had scifi potential to me when I read it. I'd love to read this one to my youngest son.

#4 YA Fantasy: YA Game of Thrones - squee! How could I not pick it?

#5 YA Steampunk: *hyperventilates* This one combines my two loves...I won't say what the second one is cause it will totally give it away, but STEAMPUNK! And I think my 14yo would love this. I wasn't sold of the title, but STEAMPUNK. Um, you get the picture.

#6 YA SciFi: When I saw the sport in this one I went YES! Then I saw the hook and  swiftly moved it into my folder. I don't get the title, but it wasn't a deal breaker.

#7 MG Fantasy: I loved the concept of this one. Even though it's a girlie MG that I probably wouldn't read to my son, I couldn't pass it up.

Social media tips for writers - #writersmtip

I've started up a new hash tag that aims to give social media advice for both published and aspiring writers. Look for #writersmtip (no it's not S&M tips for those trying to cash in on the Fifty Shades of Grey).

A couple of months a go I presented at Whitsunday Voices Youth Literature Festival on social media etiquette and that lead me to start freelancing in social media strategy for published authors. I've nearly finished the plan for my first client, which is very exciting. So playing a bit more in this sandpit, and inspired by Adrien-Luc Sander's, aka @smoulderingsea, regular #editortips, I wanted to get a hash tag going (imitation is the highest form of flatter =D).

Once a week I'll collate the tips I've shared on the blog. Some are for writers who are aiming for publication and some are for authors who already grace the bookshelves. I started with Facebook, so here are this week's:

@S_M_Johnston Tip of the day: Don't create a Facebook Page because you think you should. If you don't regularly update it then it's useless #writersmtip

 @S_M_Johnston Think really hard about FB pages - do I need it? And, will I maintain it? #writersmtip

 @S_M_Johnston For an example of a well executed FB page, check out @Wendy_Higgins Sweet Evil page.  #writersmtip

@S_M_Johnston If the author's wall has mainly personal posts it's probably not a public profile. #writersmtip

@S_M_Johnston Check the author's wall. If it's private then it's not a public profile.#writersmtip

@S_M_Johnston If the author has lots of friends (like thousands) then it's probably a public profile. #writersmtip

@S_M_Johnston If the author has only a few hundred friends it's probably a private profile #writersmtip

@S_M_Johnston Check these things out BEFORE you send a friend request #writersmtip

@S_M_Johnston If it's a private profile, don't send a friend request unless you know them. Talking to them at a conference doesn't count #writersmtip

@S_M_JohnstonIf they accept a friend request, don't private message them, especially with a request to read your MS #writersmtip

@S_M_Johnston FB writers’ groups can be a great place to find critique partners and network. #writersmtip

@S_M_Johnston Remember even it’s a closed group your posts in a group will appear on your newsfeed. #writersmtip

@S_M_Johnston The only way posts in a group won’t appear on your newsfeed is if the group is secret. #writersmtip

If you have any questions you can hit me up on Twitter using the #writersmtip or ask here on the blog.

Look out for the Pitch Madness Snipers

It's here! Well, not quite yet. The submission windows for the semi-annual Pitch Madness go live on Saturday, September 1 at 12PM EST and 6PM EST. The game theme this time is Paintball. What's Pitch Madness, you ask? Well, its a game where Brenda Drake brings together a bushel of agents to compete for your pitches. My group blog, YAtopia, is joining three other blogs in this funtastic event. So I guess I'll start by introducing them first.

Brenda Drake

YATopia Blog

Shelley Watters

Erica M. Chapman

Here's the crazy awesome agents participating...

Dawn Frederick - Red Sofa Literary
Brittany Howard - Corvisiero Agency
John Cusick - Scott Treimel NY
Victoria Marini - Gelfman Schneider Lit.
Judith Engracia - Liza Dawson & Assoc.
Louise Fury - L. Perkins Agency
Sarah LaPolla - Curtis Brown Ltd.
Brooks Sherman - FinePrint Literary Management
Molly Ker Hawn - The Bent Agency

We'll have more about the agents up in our Meet the Agents' post coming September 4 and 5.

Now, here's the submission deets ...

Shine up your 35-word (exact-anything over will be disqualified) pitches and the first 150-words (if the cut-off falls in the middle of a sentence, go to the end of that sentence) of your finished Adult, Young Adult, and Middle Grade fiction. We'll pick 60 entries to move on to the Agent Pitch Match.

We've doubled the number of entries we're taking in this time. There will be a percentage of what genres make it in based on all the agents likes. You guessed it, there will be more YA in the contest than Adult, but the main thing we're looking for is the WOW factor. Only one entry per person.

We have two submission times, and this year we're holding it on a Saturday.

The windows open on September 1 ...

1ST SUBMISSION TIME: 12:00 pm EST for the first 100.
2ND SUBMISSION TIME: 6:00 pm EST for the next 100.

Only the best of the best will make it to the final round.

Here's how to format your entry ...

Name: Brenda Drake
Title: The Britanika Journals: Around the World in 80:45:07
Genre: Middle Grade Adventure
Word Count: 50,000

Max and Annika use a transporting globe to find her missing father. With evil men in an airship on their tails, Max must use his sleuthing skills with Annika’s inventor ones to rescue her father.

Maximilian Drayson knew that a masterful sleuth had to pay attention to one crucial thing—the details. He tightened his grip on the white apron he had snatched from the Britanika's laundry room. It took several hours into his investigation to find it, and most would think it was just a soiled apron, but he believed it to be a clue.

He paced the manicured lawn of the Britanika's residence, scratching the back of his neck and searching the ground. This particular mystery came about after he had overheard one of the Britanika's housemaids, Molly, sobbing to another servant about losing her mother's brooch. At hearing Molly's distress, he went into action.

Before beginning his investigation, Max interrogated Molly, asking her a series of questions: When had she last seen the brooch? Did she wear it while she worked? What were her household duties? He needed every bit of information he could obtain if he wanted to mark this case as solved.

For those that don't make it into Pitch Madness we'll be hosting a twitter pitch party on the hashtag #PitMad on September 13 from 8AM to 8PM EST. So get those twitter pitches ready!

That's it. We're so excited!

 

What do butterfly faces and Nermal have to do with a v'log?

Meet Nermal, my v'logging pal.

 

He likes sleeping,

 

v'loging and chasing plot bunnies.



And today we're v'logging about my face

 



Enjoy!

Critique Giveaway and a bonus!

MS editor extraordinaire, Aimee Salter, has stopped by today to give away a first chapter critique – yah! She critiqued my manuscript, so speaking from experience, her advice rocks.

Aimee also did interviews with me on my two group blogs YAtopia and Writing Teen Novels, so check them out for some great free advice on making your manuscript sizzle.

So some quick questions before the giveaway. 

Sharon: What’s the best thing about editing other people’s manuscripts? 

Aimee: Without question, the best thing about critiquing is what I learn about my own writing from identifying the problems in others. We writers are always too close to our own work to truly edit effectively. But by identifying structural, phrasing or plot problems in someone else’s manuscript, I’m able to better see where mine has gone wrong.

Sharon: And, what’s the worst thing about editing other people’s manuscripts? 

Aimee: Having to tell people their babies aren’t perfect.

Can I say, in defence of all critiquers / editors: We tell you what we see because we want your story to be even better. Don’t view suggestions for improvements as criticisms of your talent or your story. See them as the rungs on a ladder to making your story shine and revealing your true talent to your readers.

Sharon: So, how did you get into freelance editing? 

Aimee: I learned how to critically analyse a manuscript in a critique group which included published and represented authors. In any “clinic” we’d each give our full manuscript to the Administrator who assigned it to someone else, then gave us another manuscript to read in full. When I saw how much my writing improved as a result of being on both sides of that coin, I knew every writer should do it.  

Once I’d been doing that for a couple years, some of the authors approached me outside of the group structure because they’d found my comments helpful and wanted to start working as partners. I was excited – but I remembered how hard it was to find that group and gain credibility in those circles. I knew there wasn’t enough of that kind of help out there for everyone because most authors with that kind of experience already have a critique group they trust. They aren’t often looking for new blood.  

I also know most fledgling authors can’t afford a full editorial consultant. So I decided to offer critiques at an affordable price (usually in the vicinity of $225-275 for an entire manuscript up to 100,000 words) because I want to see more authors watch their babies grow up like I got to.

Sharon: What advice would you give to other people considering hiring a professional editor, such as yourself?  

Aimee: Do your homework. Make sure the editor can actually help you. Then make sure their style works for you. Everyone works differently and you need to make sure you can accept the tone and structure of any given editor’s work. 

Don’t pay money to anyone who can’t provide an editorial sample (and by that I mean a portion of an actual manuscript with their notes / marks on it as they would present to you in your work), or who hasn’t been recommended by someone you know personally.  

Keep in mind that online recommendations (especially Twitter / Facebook) could easily be dummy accounts set up by editors trying to drum up business. Don’t pay any money until you know what you’re paying for. 

If you can’t afford a super-reputable editor who freelances outside of a traditional publishing career, read self-published books until you find one whose prose and plot make you wish you’d written it, then find out who edited it. Hire that person – or someone they recommend.  

And if you weren’t able to anticipate the majority of my answers here, hire me. There are samples of my critique work on my website. I’m a lot cheaper than a qualified editor, and when we’re done, I guarantee your manuscript will be noticeably improved (if I can’t improve it, I won’t let you hire me).  

Most importantly, because I’ve worked with published authors, I know what a “submissible manuscript” looks like. And because I don’t believe in critiquing the same manuscript more than once, I won’t lie to you about how close (or far away) yours is.

Thanks Aimee!!

So, you can enter the competition below to win a first chapter critique from Aimee, and I've also thrown in a $15 B&N voucher. You've got until September 3, 2012 to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A new contest is coming!

Pitch Madness is coming up in September (genres tbd). We already have 8 agents signed up! Submission windows will be on September 1 and all the fun starts September 7-12 with a Twitter Pitch on the 13th open to everyone. Rules of the game, agents' bio, and instructions will be up the week of August 26.

Talking about YA can win you stuff!

My friend and awesome author, Jeyn Roberts, has started a new YA forum - The YA Book Club -  where you can connect with authors, share you writing and WIN STUFF!

Find out  more about the details in Jeyn's blog post.

For the love of eBooks

I must confess that I used to be so against eReaders. I just didn't get it. For most of my day I'm stuck looking at a computer why would I want to then spend my spare time reading off a computer instead of having a book in my hand. I thought it would be a fad that would die out.

But it didn't.

And then my husband bought me an iPad and I decided to download a couple of eReader apps. Well, then it was on. I realised how quick and easy it was. Now I've got more books waiting to read on my iPad then physical books around the house that I haven't read yet.

Here's what I love the most about it:

• My massive book addiction isn't on adding more weight to my already over flowing bookshelves.
• There's an automatic night light built in so I can read while hubby's sleeping.
• I've got books at my fingertips that I used to have to special order in (being in regional Queensland Australia for some reason means extremely limited book choices. I had to order in Beth Revis' A MILLION SUNS because no where in town had it in stock).
• I don't have to wait for the Australia release, which can be up to a year behind the US release date (we're Down Under, but we're not Mars!)
• The books are cheaper, so of course that means I can buy more books with money I'm saving.
• I'm finding books that I love that I wouldn't have otherwise considered buying (Lux novels, I'm looking at you).

I seriously doubt the physical book will ever disappear. But I'm so excited about the reading world eBooks are opening up.

So, what's your view on the rise of eBooks?

PS - keep an eye on the book as a competition is coming soon.

Sharing some lovin'

I have crawled out of my editing cave. My manuscript is off to my agent and I'm getting back into the writing groove with my work-in-progress, KARMA.

But before I get too buried in my writing I'd like to acknowledge my latest kick-arse critic partner and my new copy editor.

Aimee L. Salter and I met on Twitter when she put a call out for a critique partner. I had just finished a major write for a revise and resubmit for an editor and I wanted to make sure that I'd addressed the editor's notes. Aimee was one of the best critique partners I've had and her notes, while only requiring subtle edits to the manuscript, made a huge difference to the flow and impact of the story. She has a great eye for characterisation, plot flow and what will gel with a YA audience.

The other person who helped out was my mum. Retirement gives her some spare time and having read all the various versions of the story she was the perfect person to give it the final once over.

I know that a lot of new writers are apprehensive about sharing their stories with others, but if you network you can make the right contacts to help you find people who are eager to help out a fellow writer and are trustworthy.

Not only do you get great feedback on your manuscript, but getting to see another person's writing style can help improve your own. I really enjoyed the swap with Aimee. Her story was fantastic and I hope it finds a home with an agent or a publisher soon.

Agent Ahoy

A quick post guys to let you know that last week I signed with new Australian Agent Kelly Mclean.

Kelly is hungry to sell my work and she really gets my speculative fiction style, as weird as it is. Her passion for my story SLEEPER and my works in progress DIRTY RAINBOW and KARMA is why I decided to sign with her.

It's been a long journey for me being so close to being agented so many times. Thankfully, Kelly saw the potential in my work and the uniqueness of my storytelling and offered me representation. She gets an unbelievable amount of submissions and I'm only one of a handful of clients that she's signed so far.

I look forward to growing with her and moving my career forward as an author.

Whitsunday Voices Youth Literature Festival Special Post

This is a special post for the people who attended my presentations at the Whitsunday Voices Youth Literature Festival. 

Thanks so much for coming along to my session. I was so excited to be able to presenting to you and nervous (I think everyone could tell!)
Below I've put in a whole bunch of links to the various social media platforms that I discussed with you in the session, as well as links to various online posts about them to help you get more knowledge about the topics.

Here's a post on general internet etiquette and here's one about user names online and a general post on social media here.

We talked about Twitter and here's where you need to go to sign up for it. And here's some blog posts that will help you further with Twitter etiquette:

• Twitter: Please stop this
• When Aspiring Author's Attack
• Don't be a twit on twitter
• Twitter Twaddle
• The case for Twitter

There's not much out there about Facebook, but just remember to try and work out if an account is private or public before asking for a friend request. Instead, look for author, publisher and book pages as a way to connect on Facebook.

Blogging and book reviews can be a great social media experience. Blogger and Workpress are the two most common blog formats. Here's some posts relating to blogging. If you enjoy reviewing, then you can share your reviews on Goodreads.

• Tips on interviewing authors
• Conducting author interviews
• The art of commenting
• ARCs and how to get them
• Blogging Platforms
• Blog design
• Happy Owl Books

Writing communities can be a great way to start off your writing career. US HarperCollins authors Leigh Fallon and Wendy Higgins were discovered through a writing site. Figment and Wattpad are two of the most popular writing communities that cater for teenagers. Pros and Cons of Writing Communities post here (remember, Inkpop has closed down).

Here's where you can find some of the emerging media platforms:

• Pinterest - post on the platform.
• Tumblr
• Google+
• Instagram 
• Pottermore

Aspiring Writers:

• Help increase you word count - for a bit of fun.

You can find me on Twitter, Facebook, Wattpad, Figment, Tumblr, Pinterest, Goodreads, Google+, YAtopia, Writing Teen Novels, Sleepless Writers and you can read my story Karma, which placed second in the Australian Literary Review's YA short story competition. The beginning of the novel version is on my Wattpad account.

On Pottermore you need to search for me under the user name PhoenixIce25831.

I hope you enjoyed the session. If you have any questions you didn't get to ask in the session please drop me a line in the comments section.

My week in LOL cat pics

My Week in Pictures

I watch drama unfold on the Internet

I did some Beta editing

I got sick - ugh

I got a nice surprise in my email.

Next week I'm hoping to have some news to announce so stay tuned, while I find the right LOL cat pic to express it.

Social Media takes flight

I announced last month on YAtopia that I will be a guest speaker at The Whitsunday Voices Youth Festival this year - "Words Take Flight". I must confess I was rather excited to see myself on the program along side some of Australia's best YA and Children's writers. Cath Crowley (Graffiti Moon), Steph Bowe (Girl Saves Boy), Andy Griffith (too many awesome books to pick just one to highlight!) and Kate Forsyth, with many others.

The festival committee deciding to put me on the program was a definite different direction for the festival. It's the first time that the festival has featured a session on social media and it's proved to be a great move. My two sessions on effective use of social media for aspiring authors and passionate readers has sold out, so yesterday the festival coordinator asked me if I'd be able to do a third. Last night she told me the third session had nearly sold out too, which inspired a 0.o face from me.

She said there's been a lot on interest from the schools involved, which I think it fantastic. In 45 minutes I'll be squishing in information about how  to engage authors, agents and editors in the various social media platforms (which will include when not to engage them as well), the opportunities available to aspiring writers on social media, navigating online writing communities and blogging.

It's all rather exciting.

So over to you - what topics would you like to see covered at your local literature festivals?