Vacation…whats that?

Hey my readers,

Spring is coming and it is beautiful! Not to mention the NFL draft is around the corner…sorry I couldn’t help myself. Perhaps I shouldn’t write about football so much. Love me for me reader!

Moving on.

In just a few short days I’m going on what the English language calls a ‘vacation’. It’s an elusive thing that many humans seem to enjoy doing.

I’m going with my family in celebration because my dear father has been declared cancer free! So the fam bam is going to Hawaii!

(Here’s an attractive photo of me and my dad when we were in Hawaii last. A little bit dirty. We play hard, what can I say)

One of my good friends was saying to me the other day, “You know Missy, I’m really glad you’re going on vacation. You have been working so hard on your writing, I think it will be really good for you.”

And I was like…do writers really go on ‘vacation’? I don’t think so and here’s why.

The definition of Vacation: “a scheduled period during which activity is suspended”.

I don’t know about you but if I’m not writing…I’m thinking about writing. For instance, this morning while putting together a bowl of cereal I was thinking about my newest plot and I put the milk in the cupboard and my cereal box in the fridge.

So I cant really go on vacation can I? Because there is no way I can get my brain to ‘suspend’ thinking about writing.

I don’t think writers get vacations. That’s not to say traveling and breaking your everyday routine isn’t beneficial because it totally is! But our vacation isn’t the typical vacation.

And you know what? That doesn’t bother me in the slightest.

Aloha,

Missy

My Top 4 Writers Resources

Happy Thursday!

Along with my last post that I gave 4 links to websites that are helpful when trying to research Literary Agents, I decided to post 4 websites (in no particular order) that I have found the most helpful with writing in general!

http://nanowrimo.org/ -The first site is Nanowrimo! It stands for National Novel Writing Month. It’s intended that every November is a competition where writers of every kind converge and cheer each other on to write 50,000 words in 1 month. (They have a few other events throughout the year as well). If that’s not your thing, the Forum is still very helpful anytime of the year!

http://blog.nathanbransford.com/ -Numero 2 is a fantastic blog by past agent and now author Nathan Bransford. This blog has absolutely everything! It’s pretty much my holy grail of information. I have refereed to this blog countless times. Because Nathan Bransford has not only been a Literary Agent but is also an author, his information is invaluable because he’s been on both sides of the business.

http://www.publishingcrawl.com/ -This website is great for anyone interested in books! You don’t need to be a writer to enjoy what this site has to offer. It has a tab especially for ‘readers’ with interviews and other book news. But it also has a ‘writers’ tab that has articles written by professionals in the business about everything from coming up with a book idea to articles about how to prepare for your first book signing. It’s a great resource with hidden gems you wont find anywhere else.

http://susandennard.com/blog-2/ -Last is YA Author Susan Dennard’s blog. I recently stumbled across this blog and boy do I wish I knew about it earlier! Much like Nathan Bransford’s blog, it has amazing information on everything from being a productive writer to multiple posts on crafting a query letter. On top of great informational posts, she makes them really fun and entertaining to read where you need more and more! I just have to say, her post on how to write a synopsis made me almost cry with joy. Check it out!

I hope these websites help you out! If there’s a website that you have found especially helpful, let everyone know about it in the comments section.

Once again, best of luck!

Missy

 

You only fail at writing if you stop.

Researching Literary Agents

So you finished your novel, all the revisions, you have fallen in love and hate and love again with your story, and you think you can finally tackle a literary agent with a query letter.

First off, congratulations! You have already gotten farther then most people who start writing a novel. Secondly, I’m so sorry. Querying is the least enjoyable part of writing. But it is a necessary evil my friend.

From my experience, I would research into Literary Agents and make a list of your top choices before tackling writing a query letter. The reason I chose this method is because every agent has their own personal taste and wants of how a query letter should be formatted.

One query does not fit all! If you take anything away from this blog, take that.

Make sure to personalize your letter to that specific agent. Trust me, that will help your query in a big way! It immediately lets the agent know you have done your homework and shows your professionalism.

Below are 4 websites that I have found most helpful when researching literary agents:

http://www.agentquery.com/

http://querytracker.net/

http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/

http://www.literaryrambles.com/

When you find an agent you like, make sure you go to their direct agency website. That way you can get their most up to date information on how they want to receive a query and what genre’s they are open to representing.

What websites do you find especially helpful when looking into literary agents? Let me know in the comments!

Best of luck,

Missy