A Twitter Breakdown for Your Book Baby

As you know I've been searching for agent representation for Ignited and anyone who has gone through this process can you tell that it's hell. Honestly the most miserable thing I've ever done in my life. Melody G. my dear friend and fellow unpublished author had the brilliant idea of contacting one of our old professors to ask for tips. Her best piece of advice: Twitter.

I'm (for the most part) computer illiterate. SO when you want me to learn a new social media my defenses immediately go up. Why was this necessary I thought? Our old professor explained that the publishing world is evolving, and part of that evolution involves Twitter. SO I bit the bullet and joined. Hey, I've mastered Facebook, how hard could it be? Once you get used to the fact that you can only post 140 characters at a time and once you fully understand the power of hashtags (# for any people who have spent the last three years under a rock) I found that Twitter was everything she'd promised. Better even,

I present to you the top hashtags that have been helpful to me:
#askagent-- this one is awesome. Use it to ask questions to people in the publishing know. Ask a brief to-the-point question and just like magic someone (usually) responds
#amwriting--this one is nice because it flags you as a writer. Use this hashtag whenever you make a comment about your current WIP or just to get in contact with other writers. I'm pretty sure half my followers have come from my use of this hashtag. Along these lines you can also use #amediting or #amreading. Basically, use these to put yourself out there!
#pubtip-- use this whenever you've learned something insightful about the industry and would like to share OR type this in the search bar and watch your screen fill up with all sorts of helpful tips on the world of agents and publishers

There are endless hashtags. Aside from using those, and probably a bigger interest than building your platform from scratch, is that Twitter gives you the power to stalk agents. No, I don't mean in the creepy stand outside their house while breathing hard way (do NOT do that) but in the innocent hey, you there, I see what you're about. I think this is what our professor was trying to tell Melody and me.

NEARLY EVERY AGENT IS ON TWITTER.
I know. Crazy, right?

Simply type the word agent in that magic search bar on the top of your Twitter screen and start following. I suggest you follow everyone. Obviously you can't submit to everyone out there (submitting your hard-boiled crime novel with themes of erotica to a poor soul who only represents Middle Grade novels is a big no-no) but I can promise you that at one point or another the agent will post something helpful to you. Maybe it's a nice #pubtip, or maybe it's advice on how to craft your query letter, or how to submit. Maybe even tips on the writing process itself. The possibilities are endless.And best of all..."stalking"a gents MAY just lead you to your dream agent.

It was on Twitter that I found my dream agent. He had a funny profile pic so I knew he had a sense of humor and he claimed to be the one true king of Westeros so I knew he was well-read. I put myself out there. I told him I wanted to have his book baby. He responded with a face palm but I knew that I had entertained him for the moment and this gave me the courage to submit. I queried, and three weeks later I received the letter every girl (every girl, right?) dreams of getting. The agent asked for a sample of my work. So no, we haven't signed a contract and while my work gets reviewed I can do nothing but wait with bated breath but I'm not worried. Maybe he and I will have that book baby together but if he doesn't there are still dozens of agents out there that I can submit too. And thanks to Twitter, I can get in contact with every one.

Query Letter

For those who don't know: a query is a short, concise, oh so professional letter that introduces you and your book to potential agents. It's basically mandatory to write one if you have any intention on publishing your MS with any of the big houses (there are few exceptions). I have a query that I'm shopping around now for Ignited but so far its produced limited success. I hope that's because it just hasn't fallen into the right hands. But who knows? There is always room for improvement! If you come across this post and think you have any pointers that you would like to share I'm sure myself and my readers would love to read them. Here is my current query for Ignited:

In a world where water is currency and the manipulation of fire is a rare and dangerous skill, a young woman must discover the price she is willing to pay to save her father, and possibly her country.

Ignited, an 88,000 word Young Adult novel, is a fast-paced fantasy thriller that will fit in with other popular novels in its genre, such as Mistborn and Cinder. Set in the Sand Sea, Ignited is a departure from the typical elements of magic and culture found in standard European fantasies.

Jura, the only child of the First and most powerful of the Thirteen ruling houses in The Republic of the Sand Sea, has long eschewed the intrigue and backstabbing of the political machine her father runs. When her father is incapacitated, seventeen year old Jura must take up his mantle and keep her family safe from the power grasping members of the Thirteen.

Jura would rather spend her time holed up in her room reading books but when the safety of her family home is threatened, she must battle with her wits and deal with dark political secrets. While juggling death threats and societal affairs, Jura struggles to come to terms with her new identity as interim ruler of the Republic.

Succumbing to the pressure of court, Jura unwittingly sentences Tylak, a former slave, to his death. Drawn by the secrets and beauty found in his eyes, Jura decides to test the limits of her political power and frees Tylak from prison in hopes that he might lead her to a cure for her father's entrapment and her own salvation. It's only a matter of time before Jura discovers the truth: her father's affliction and Tylak's strange abilities are the first warning signs of a greater catastrophe for The Republic.

Filled with dragons, gladiators, magic and mystery, Ignited follows a host of characters through trouble and turmoil. Each of these characters struggles to find their place in a dark world that grows more dangerous with each passing day, where fire dancers and wild beasts clash in an arena, and slaves are captured from their homes and sold in underground markets. Beneath the watchful eyes of the Thirteen, Jura finds herself facing a bigger threat than she ever imagined.

I am an avid YA fiction reader and hold a BA in Creative Writing from the University of South Florida.

Thank you very much for your time and for considering Ignited.

Edit, Revise, Repeat

We are finally moved in! I can't stress how much I missed my internet service, I've truly forgotten how I lived fifteen years ago. I have't been wasting my time dear readers, I've been writing! I'm still sloshing my way through the first draft of Felix's story, things have become exciting with him so I expect to finish the first draft of his story before the end of the year. And I started a new project with a friend (well two technically but one is barely more than a few hundred words in so I won't count it yet). It's MC is named Tristan but my passion in the story is with his sassy sidekick Rory. More on that story as it develops...

The real excitement is with Ignited. I've edited, I've listened to criticism from colleagues, I've revised and edited some more. I added four entire chapters because a dear friend insisted that I was cheating my readers out of some QT with my characters. I am SO PROUD of my finished work. My future editor might still have some words to say about it, and that's fine but I feel very accomplished. The novel has most definitely come a long way from where it started. The word count is now up to 88,000 words, which I think is thrilling and just a bit insane (who would have thought I'd have that in me?!) and I am so excited for the next step!