Last Call for Wanted Poster Contest and Another Awesome Prize!

Tomorrow, at midnight is the finish line for the Wanted Poster Contest!

It took me but a moment to make three posters at this site. It's fun, and good practice, whether you do it for your own book (yay for fun marketing), or for a book you love or hate (being able to write a blurb is great for when the time comes for querying!).

Here is the final awesome giveaway book that the winner may choose from:

Untraceable--Shelli Johannes-Wells

WANTED:  A new young adult wilderness thriller with a missing father, a kickbutt heroine, and of course - two hot boys.

Sounds delish, right?

Check out the prizes, and directions, here in the contest page!

Which one would you choose from, if you win?

What books are you reading, or would recommend?

Have you checked out what John Green is reading? (I totally get sucked into his vlogs. That guy is one enthusiastic dude. :) Oh, and he writes some kick a$$ books.)

Cleansing the Palette

On Friday, I typed the words "THE END" on my rough draft of my current novel.

Let me just say that one more time:

I've been revising as I go, so this work is in various stages of progress. The actual ending is very rough, but I got there. :)

*shiver of thrill* 

I am super excited to continue revising. I love this book, still. After a year (or more) of growing this idea. I do love it, still. Instead of the sinking feeling of something's-not-working, I have the feeling of I-know-what-I-need-to-do.

Again, let me repeat.

I KNOW what I need to do.

Let me just explain the emphasize--in case those-who-don't-know-me-well mistakes it for egomania, or tooting my own horn. I am surprised to be sitting in the place of comprehension. Of understanding my own writing well enough to draft to my strengths and revise to my weaknesses. Of actually knowing how to fix my weaknesses, and make them strengths. 

Maybe I shouldn't be surprised--I've been working darn hard to get here. By writing writing writing, by reading about craft. By doing crits for others. By revising revising revising. It's been a long road, and one which will continue on as long as I write.

I am surprised and thrilled to FINALLY feel like I can give a novel its PROPER DUE. :)

This palette, not the taste palate. :), although I also had a glass of wine to celebrate. 

So this weekend, I cleansed the palette, and read John Green's book THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. I love this article about it, and how YA isn't just for kids anymore (but we already knew that, yes?).

The least (and perhaps the most) that I can say after reading this book, is that it made me "Feel All The Things". Which I have heard that John Green said was his intention. (I looked for the basis of this quote, and couldn't find it, but love that it started this blog chain.)

So, John Green, in my opinion, did what he intended to do.

What is your intention with writing? Is it to make people Feel All The Things? Or something else entirely?

What, as writers (or parents, or people) do you intend to do this week? This month? This ROWing session?

If it is unclear from my BOLD FACE above, I am having a smashing time doing ROW 80, and sticking to my goals. If I keep up at this pace, (which is writing 2 hours or 1K a day), then I will be successful with this novel. I'm setting myself up for success. How about you?

I am officially one step closer to new boots. :)

Now, back to the revision cave...

YOU Are Your Platform, Or, How Your Books Hitchhike On Your Own Back

At the last couple of writing conferences I've attended, I've gotten some good ideas about marketing. One of the common tips these days from marketing professionals is that if you write fiction, then YOU are the platform.

I sat at the conferences, and kind of got it. A marketing professional stood up and talked about how her client, an illustrator, had been a puppeteer previously in his career. How she used this fact about him to market him, and then his books. That I could understand. 

But what about me? I am no puppeteer. 

How would I use ME as a platform?

Recently, I was talking with a good friend about books she was purchasing for a project. She told me how she bought two books on amazon, solely because the authors had uploaded clips of themselves talking about what inspired them to write their books.

My friend BOUGHT two HARDCOPY books, because after seeing and hearing the authors talk about their passions for their books, SHE COULDN'T RESIST. 

She would not have bought these books based on description alone. Although the books are described well.

That is making YOU the platform.

Now I get it. :)

I'm reading one of those two books now, and it is excellent. 

It's called THE RUNNING DREAM. A heart-achingly spot-on YA novel about loss and hope.

Check out this link at amazon, and watch the 'related media' video. 

I dare you to NOT want to read this book!

(And I recommend it; it is WONDERFUL.)

My hope is that all you authors out there, put together a video showcasing how lovely and wonderful you are. Let you books hitchhike* on your back! 

(*I saw an actual hitchhiker today. I haven't seen one in years. My only thought was, 'why does that fool WANT to get arrested?' In my younger days I used to consider picking people up. And wonder what made them hitchhike. I think I'm jaded. Or something.)

***********************************************

Row80 Update: *waving to all my fellow rowers*: 

I am fired up to make more headway this week. Last week was a stellar week for wordcount. I want to keep up with that momentum. 

However, I need to take my weekends off--since I'm not finding time to write then anyway. (What with basketball, and kids' friends, and swimming meets, and church stuff.) So, I'm changing my goals to 1K or 2 hours a day, excluding weekends. 

I'm excited to get this novel to the next level!

Woo-hoo!

What goals do you have this week?

************************************************

#WantedPosterContest update:

Check out these awesome Wanted Posters:

Susan's Wanted, Always, the Baddies of Harry Potter!

AND

Laura's WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE! Rewards Offered.

Didn't they do an awesome job? Here's the link to the Contest Page: there are book PRIZES!

Wanted Posters Contest: More Prizes!!

It's winter, it's cold (for some of us) and so it's time for another event here at Edited. Time to warm ourselves up with some creativity.

Like this:

WANTED:

A YA historical novel based on the true story of teenage sisters catapulted to fame when they claim they can speak to the dead.  Celebrity status ultimately drives a wedge between them, when one sister captures the romantic attention of a dashing Arctic explorer who tries to "rescue" her from the family hoax.

Didn't Dianne do an awesome job on her WE HEAR THE DEAD Poster and Want Ad?

Check out Elana's enticing POSSESSION Poster and Ad:

WANTED:

A sarcastic, headstrong fifteen-year-old who is sick and tired of being told what to do. Must include broken Rules, daring escapes, and the promise of kissing.


Don't those books sound delicious? (They are--I've read them.)

Consider creating a Wanted Poster and Ad for the contest--explanation at contest post HERE. Or, here, on this contest page.

It's so easy, it's super fun, and you can win POSSESSION or WE HEAR THE DEAD as prize! Plus others!

Plus you get to showcase something you are working on (it's easier than a query), or a book that you love.

It just took me a few minutes to create a poster at Glass Giant.

Join in by adding a link to your Wanted Poster, when you're ready. Don't worry, the contest spans a few weeks (ends February 17th) so that you have time to rev up your creative juices.

And oops, I forgot to include my ROW80 progress on my Wednesday post. I am going great guns on the wordcount this week--Tuesday I even churned out 5K words. I'm super excited, and can't wait to get this novel all spit and polished! How's your writing life?

Wanted Posters Contest: Because Wouldn't That Make Querying Easier?!

So, I've been thinking. (**A dangerous pastime. I know.)

I've been thinking about a couple of systems which are inherently flawed.

They are the querying and submission processes--the systems which stand between us and publication. (unless, of course, we take a different route altogether--which is a whole 'nother blog post!)

The idea of cold-querying a million agents, one by one, without knowing what kind of project they really want to work on, is, in a word, crazy.

I mean, sure they say on their website that they like YA fantasy. But would they like a contemporary YA fairy tale where the main character's friends turn into talking inanimate objects? (I don't know how to make that last sentence not be an oxymoron. LOL) Maybe, maybe not.

We do a ton of work in order to query agents who probably aren't a good fit. We have no way of knowing, at any point, if our novel (or PB) is going to match up perfectly with what an agent is looking to represent, right then.

And, then, agents do this whole process again, submitting to publishers. Hopefully, agents have an idea of what a particular publishing house is looking for at any given point in time, but really, it seems like a shot in the dark. :)

I know, agents and publishers probably don't know exactly what they are looking for until they see it.

But, wouldn't it be great if they did?

WANTED:

A magical novel for the age gap between PB and MG, featuring talking stuffed animals. Must make children belly-laugh, and must have tons of heart.

(Seriously, have you guys read TOYS GO OUT and TOYS COME HOME? So awesomely sweet!)

WANTED:

A fantastical adventure featuring a no-nonsense twelve-year-old girl, whose job is to keep the peace when quarrels and fights erupt in magical lands. Must include cantankerous unicorns and Prince Charming as a lamb.

WANTED:

A YA novel featuring a headstrong girl who wishes only to be surgically altered into being pretty on her sixteenth birthday. You know, like everyone else. Must make her choose between her deepest desire, and the survival of her friends.

Pretty cool, huh?


So, should we have some fun??!!

(What kind of question is that??)

Your challenge, should you chose to accept it, is to create your own wanted poster. With a Want Ad which reads vaguely like a query (see examples above).

You CAN use a book already published by another author (like I did above), but how awesome would it be to use a book which you are interested in querying, or a book of yours which is coming out soon? So awesome!

Here is the site I used to make my Wanted Posters:  http://www.glassgiant.com/wanted/

LET THE CONTEST BEGIN!

Here's how you do it:

1. Create a Wanted Poster and Want Ad. Feel free to use the link above, or not. Creativity Matters.
2. Post your creation on your blog or website, with a link back to my blog. Feel free to include the Linky List on your blog post.
3. Enter your link in the linky list below.
4. Do this, before the contest ends Friday, February 17th at midnight EST.

That's really it. But there are some extras:

5. +1 Extra credit for following this blog, tweeting the contest, or figuring out what movie the **quote is from above (there is a clue within the blog post).
6. +10 Extra credit for GETTING AN AGENT OR PUBLISHER TO POST A WANT AD. (Because wouldn't that make querying easier?!)
7. Make sure to leave me a comment here stating your total points for extra credit.

WHAT YOU WIN:

The BEST Want Ad and Wanted Poster created by a writer, will earn them their choice of book from the three wanted posters above OR any other books featured in a WANT AD on this blog during the course of the challenge (if you want your published book featured as a prize, please email me).

The BEST Want Ad and Wanted Poster created by an agent or publisher will earn them queries which fit their deepest desire. :)

Sigh, I can't go a couple of months without creating a convoluted and crazy contest, now can I?

Follow the tweets: I'm using the hashtag #WantedPosterContest to give love to all the entries!