Why you might need more than one crit partner, or why online critique sites rock. But no porn today.

In my last post I told you all why it's essential that I have a critique partner, and by extension why you should have one too. Also, there was crying and mention of porn. Anyhoo, I couldn't leave out all the other people who are reasons that I get to have a go at writing books instead of, you know, working and stuff.

I'm not an in-person type of person. Online works best for me. The place that I use for this is Scribophile, and not just because there are periodic discussions of how the hell you say its name. I sent my first book through the mill there and was lucky enough to pick up some loyal and wonderful readers who read the whole thing. What's more, they didn't laugh. They even came back and read my second novel. So it's down to them, in part, that I sent that novel out and gots me an agent.

Some of them have blogs: J. D. Field, Amaleen Ison, Kristine Goodfellow. Some of them (I'm looking at you, Kinkaid!) neglect their blogs (they die if you don't look after them you know. Just sayin'). These nice people, plus others - like Mr Mark Stone - discussed with me the relative evils of the word 'was' and the possibility that the world would implode if we used too many adverbs. They read the unfocused waffle that was my first draft, and they helped me make it better. 

And here's the important bit - they had different ideas about what I needed to do to fix issues with my writing.

This is why it's important to surround yourself with people whose opinions you can trust. When you have a group of people willing and able to give intelligent comments on your work, it's also important to know when to excercise your own judgement entirely, and when to listen to other people. Having lots of people read your work is great, but you also have to know when something is a true issue with your story and when something is an opinion - maybe a valid opinion, and something that could work, but an opinion nonetheless. 

Look for issues that are mentioned by more than one person. Listen to your own gut when it comes to your story, but don't ignore the more objective opinions of others if they're identifying the same problem.

So what do you think? Do you have crit partners? What's your optimum number?

Why you need a crit partner. Also, porn.

Writerly friend Amy Christine Parker  recently wrote a post about how wonderful her crit partners are and suggested her readers do a similar post. So Michelle Krys did. And it sounds like she has this one critique partner that's particularly spectacular. I think her name is Ruth, or something.

I did a google image search under 'big headed' to find this pic. I recommend that you don't do that if you like your eyes because sometimes the interwebz are a bad place, kids. Also, in related advice, do NOT google Puss in Boots while on teaching placement. In front of kids. Yeah, I've never clicked 'close' faster in my life. Ok, back to the point.

So this is my post in the same vein (with added advice on avoiding porn. Or finding it. Whatever).

This is Michelle Krys. You got that, right?

 I've talked about how I met Michelle before. And I know she's going to be thrilled I dug that post out again. And if you don't already know who she is, then you must never have been to my blog before because I kind of never shut up about her. You know those girls who wear the same jeans and drink the same drink and go to the little girl's room together? I think that's us. Except I've never done any of those things in real life with anybody, and also she looks better in those jeans than I do (curse my Hobbit lineage).

Anyhoo, it's my new life mission to make her cry with this post, so get your mac out because you're going to get covered in sap otherwise.

Reasons you should get a crit partner as great as Michelle (but not her. She's busy reading my crappy first drafts).

1) She's read everything I've ever written. And that means my overwrought, craptacular first novel, my endless and obsessive draftings of various query letters (approx seven billion separate critiques. I wish that was an exaggeration) and my self-doubting, whingy, ungrateful and melodramatic emails regarding such subjects as 'I hate my book', 'I hate myself',  and 'Ugh'.

2) She's responded to every single one of those neurotic re-draftings of query letters and emails, often right away (even though she works full-time and has a kid) with stellar advice. She makes me a better writer. And she doesn't judge me for not being a better person.

3) She's a nurse. I can't even drive near the hospital without freaking out and she works there, saving babies lives. I can't fathom how she does it, but I have the utmost admiration for the fact that she does. I've never met her in person, but I'm kind of proud of the fact she does that job (wtf is that about? I have no idea).

4) She's honest about my writing in the most encouraging way you've ever seen. Seriously, it's a skill. How she manages to be that peppy about the fourteenth draft of a pitch for a book I haven't even started yet, I don't know. But she does.

5) Michelle's a great critique partner, but she's also my friend. I don't have to pretend I feel a certain way if I don't. I don't have to hide any part of me as a person (and there are some less than desirable parts), and I don't have to worry that any of my writing ideas aren't good enough or ready enough to show her.

Ok, if you're not in diabetic shock from all that syrup then wth is wrong with you? Is your heart made of coal??

There are other people who have helped me tremendously since I started writing - but they're going to get their own post : ) Michelle gets the whole post to herself for being my bestest critique partner/internet bff. THAT's how much I <3 her. Just sayin'.

Have you read this? Cool books I recommend, and why I liked them.

Looking for Alaska by John Green


My first John Green book! Also, John Green's first book. I will be going back for more. I like clever people, and this book is full of them. One of the other things I liked is the device of labelling all events 'forty eight days before', 'three days before', and then 'ten days after'. Now you want to know what the event is and how it happens, right?


The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater


What stood out most to me was the incredible setting and how Stiefvater used it. I've loved all of Stiefvater's books, but this one really uses the island it's set on in a different way. Have you read it? What did you think?





I'm doing so well with my vow to read more this year! Like I've said before I'm a slow/thorough reader and I like it that way, but I also wanted to read more - especially YA books, and also other Greenhouse authors. You probably noticed me raving about AFTER THE SNOW. Anyway, it's not like I'm counting I'm totally counting, and I've now read 14 books in 2012. Even the ones I wasn't so enamoured with have taught me things about what I do/don't want from my own writing.


Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton


Something different from the paranormal side of things here. If you're intrigued by the title, you won't go far wrong reading this. Favourite aspect? The story. A good, complicated, twisty story that kept me interested. Also, zombie squirrels. Yeah!



Have you read anything great lately?

How I fixed a plot problem without wine (I know - I didn't think it was possible either).

I wrote this post a while ago, where I asked you if you'd ever set a WiP aside, and if you had, what happened to it?

At the time I'd finished (HA! yeah, it was nowhere near finished) THE CRACKS IN EVERYTHING and it was with clever Agent Julia. So it was shiny-new-book time for me.

I had an idea for a boy POV contemporary/romance-ish type story, and it even had (gasp) a title! My titling prowess is lame at best and so I took this as a good sign. This book had a plot. I had a plan. Yes, I'd confirmed the long-held suspicion that I was a genius.

So I set to work and wrote 19k words. And realised that the plot was RUBBISH. I set it aside. I wrote the aforementioned post hoping that you would tell me that this was a) normal, and b) certain to end in me running through sun-drenched fields of fragrant flowers clutching the finished work to my chest with a beatific smile on my face because, yes, one day I would finish the book.

You made valiant efforts towards letting me kid myself. (Thank you!)

A few months later, I read this post by Sarah Davies on the Greenhouse blog. You can see my enthused comment at the bottom of the post.

The point here is that I'm not a patient woman. I don't like waiting. I definitely don't like leaving things half-done and walking away. But a few months ago I could not for the life of me figure out how to fix this story. No matter how often I thought about it, no matter what crazy alternative directions I wrote down, no matter HOW MUCH WINE I DRANK (I know, it was bad).

I'd considered a change of genre - maybe this was a horror story. For a while I was convinced it was a contemporary ghost story. Or maybe a sci-fi? If I just added killer aliens or space monkeys, that would fix it, right? RIGHT?

Wrong. It's a contemporary boy POV romance-ish type story set in Siberia and London.

And what it took for me to fix it was TIME not WINE. Who knew?

Between the time that had passed (and in that time I'd written most of the first draft of another book and all but forgotten about the work that was rapidly becoming the-19k-that-shall-not-be-mentioned) and the stellar advice in the Greenhouse blog post, I figured it out. And lo, once again, it was awesome!

What do you do to figure out plot problems? Any advice for me if this happens again?

Tagged Part 2 (Hey, if it's good enough for Breaking Dawn.)

Part 2 of the subverted and highly self-indulgent Tagged post. You can read the first part here where I do at least say something about books.


6. Describe your ideal holiday destination.

Must have a forest. I like trees.

Must also have a lake. This one in New Zealand will do.

The Seychelles. It would be cool if they could be at hand too. Mr Steven could shade my laptop screen with palm fronds or what have you.

Venice. Yeah, I'm going to need that to be available. I don't like sand EVERY day, after all.

This is Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. The rainbow is not optional - I must have it.

This is the the Eden Project in Cornwall in England. I've been here once, but it's way cool and this is my insane fantasy, so it should be close too.

Mount Fuji in Japan. I could write a beautiful book here.

Machu Picchu. COOL!

Paris. Must be at night. Must be raining. This holiday IS going to happen, right?

And while I'm visiting all of the above, I'll be staying in this cottage in the woods.

At the same time, I'll be staying at the Burgh Al Arab Hotel in Dubai because LOOK AT IT!

This is inside the hotel. Probably I'm staying right at the top.

7. If you could have written any YA book in history, which book would you choose and why?

To Kill A Mockingbird. And if the reasons aren't obvious you should go away and read it now. 
Also, Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma broke my heart and I don't think I could make myself write something that difficult and sad. I admire Suzuma greatly for being able to do it. Sometimes I feel like I wimped out and I don't like that.  

8. Choose one: your book is a literary masterpiece with tons of critical acclaim but very, very lacklustre sales, or your book is a blockbuster of a novel with millions upon millions of copies sold but others question its quality and it is nearly universally bashed in the writing community, a la Twilight. There's no in between choice (Nice try!)

Gah! Can I. But if. What about. Are you sure I can't have both? 

Actually, I will always love Twilight, because those books are the reason I picked up a laptop in the first place. My first novel wasn't exactly fanfic, but it was reasonably close. I thought, 'I'd love to do this, and if Stephenie Meyer can do it, maybe I can after all.' Turns out I was an idiot, and writing a book is hard. But I would never have written my second book and so never signed with Julia if I hadn't read Twilight. 

Ok, did I talk enough for you not to notice me not answering the question? I did? Super. 

I love you, Edward! 

9. You're forced to re-live one day of your life over and over again for eternity. Which day would you choose and why?

How hard if this question?! Think about it. I have kids, and when they were born, those were pretty great days - especially when baby4 turned out to be a girl. Bonus! But do I want to live those days again? Um, not even a tiny bit. 

My wedding day? Mr Steven and I have been married for thirteen years this year. Now, would I like to look like I did on that day? Hell yes. Said wedding dress is unattainably SMALL. Does raw silk shrink when exposed to, er, time? I can only assume it does. We'll put this day down as a maybe, because high on the list-of-things-I-suck-at are these weddingy things: a) being the centre of attention, b) graciously accepting compliments, c) having photos of me taken, d) engaging in small talk, e) kissing/hugging/touching people (yuck).

However, I do excel at these weddingy things: a) stuffing my face, b) accepting/consuming free wine. It's tricky. 

The blushing bride. So pretty!

 
Soooo, did I actually answer any of these questions? My next post WILL be about writing. Unless I see anything else lying around the internet that needs derailing. Or if I see something shiny.    

Quick post for a cool contest!

Yeah, I know I promised a reduction in the amount of exclamation marks, but cool things keep happening (!)

My writerly friend and fellow Greenhouse author Natalie C Parker, just sold her debut YA (which you should check out by clicking here). It's called BEWARE THE WILD and it sounds fascinating, which is why I added it on Goodreads. What do you mean, I'm adding as many links as I can in one post just to amuse myself? How dare you.

So Natalie is holding a cool contest to go with the cool news. Want to win an Arc of this?

All you have to do is click on Natalie's name above. That will take you straight to the post on her blog where you can enter!

There's more. It's ANNOTATED!! 
The Curiosities includes the stories and each author’s comments, critiques, and kudos in the margins. Think of it as a guided tour of the creative processes of three acclaimed authors. 


How cool would it be to own this? How much would you like me to stop using the word cool? *Both of these things could happen if you go over to Natalie's blog right now!

*Only one of these things could happen if you go over to Natalie's blog right now.

Tagged

 Ok, so April's blogging was filled with competitiony goodness, and it's likely that July's bloggery will be taken up with something similar too, so today (and although I'm going to pass on forwarding the Tag) I'm combining the questions that two of my lovely writer friends asked me for this Tag game thingy. Also, I'm not answering eleven questions. Also, I've cherry-picked the ones I wanted to answer. Yeah, stand back, I've gone renegade. 

 1. Which three books are at the top of your TBR pile?

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi




Next one up is easy, because I've been press ganged into bumping this one up my tbr by the fangirl ravings of Michelle, who assures me this book is AWESOME.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth




After that is this little beauty, because I've only been reading YA for a couple of years and it will make me feel like one of the cool kids if I read something so shiny and new. I never said I wasn't shallow. 

The Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan




Then there's this one. I'm reading other Greenhouse authors work and this is one of them. I hear it's different and unique and beautiful and moving. These are words I like.

2. Who is your favourite literary villain and why?

You know who does a good villain? Dickens. Complete with suggestively evil name. But my favourite clever, manipulative, grey-area villain in kidlit is Long John Silver. 
 

3. The world is going to end in 24 hours, how do you spend your last day on earth?

WHAT? I run to London, force a publishing house to sign a seven figure deal and hastily shove print outs of my book at panicked strangers who don't care because SOMEONE MUST READ THE DAMN THING. 

I'm kidding. Mostly.  

4. Vampire, werewolf, or other?

I'm a sucker (pun intended) for the vampire's. Always have been, always will be. I love them all. Notwithstanding the fact that Breaking Dawn Part 1 might have been the most disturbing thing I have ever seen.

Interview with the Vampire

 

5. What is your favourite perfume?

I am NOT only answering this one so you know what to get me for my birthday.

Ok, this is getting looong, so I'll do the other questions in another post.

Here are the blogs of the two writer friends who sent me these questions so I could subvert the game and ruin it for everyone. I think that was their intention anyway. 

Amaleen Ison's blog

Michelle Krys' blog

Peace at Last

Peace At Last by Jill Murphy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars











I've read this book A LOT over the years. My sister owned it when we were kids and we had it read to us, and then I read it to myself and to her.


I took the same copy and read it to OriginalBoy, then Boy2, Boy3, and finally Girl.


Like The Cat in the Hat, I can quote it.


But I never thought about what is says to adults before. Today I did, and what it says is this:


Insomnia? Deal with it. 

Sunshine Award and Lucky Seven Tag

Thanks Dana for the Sunshine Award and Lucky Seven Tag!

Favorite color: Green. Grass and leaves and pandora beads. Oh, and wine bottles. Yes. Green is good.

Favorite animal: Red Pandas are good. Sea horses and snow leopards. Orang-Utans!

Favorite number: 8

Favorite non-alcoholic drink: Fresh orange juice, diet coke. Am I supposed to stick to one? I don't suppose blogger will delete my account for going renegade on orange juice.

Facebook or Twitter: Twitter!

My passion: Stuff I love (excluding kids and Mr S?): WRITING (surprised? I know, I thought you would be), reading, my laptop, my Blackberry, my Kindle. I'm partial to a trip to the cinema too - mmm, fake popcorn.

Getting or giving presents: I feel vaguely self-conscious about both, but I like both.

Favorite pattern: Stripes are nice.

Favorite day of the week: Friday - as tribute to when I was a teenager and Friday held the most promise.

Favorite flower: Yellow roses. Orchids! Freesias and lavender and sweet-peas and I'll shut up now because I like ALL the flowers : )





Here's where I'm supposed to go to page 77 of my current ms and give you the 7 lines following the 7th line down.

Here's the problem: My WiP only has 63 pages so far. Um. Why can't I seem to follow the rules of these award thingies?!

And here are the seven blogs I'll pass this on to. Check them out!

Michelle Krys

Emma Pass

Natalie Parker

The Word Counter

Lori M Lee

Amy Christine Parker

Stephanie Winkelhake



 

    

I'm a slow reader and I don't care.

No, not like that. I mean it takes me AGES to read a book. Most of the time. And that's often not as a consequence of me not liking the book. I'm just a slow reader, and that ok. Yeh hear me Michelle, it's OK *shakes fist at speedy-reading friend*.

I'm trying to read more this year. But that, for me, is about making sure I always have another book to read and don't leave big gaps between books. Because you know what? I like taking my time. I like reading every single word, and going back to re-read passages I loved and think about them. I like taking a day before starting the next book to think about the book and what I can take from it.

One of the many incredible things about being a writer is that I get to mooch around a bookshop for hours at a time (like Sunday, which was Mother's day in the UK) and call it market research. I couldn't have a better job than this.

So I'm going to keep that number on my Goodreads shelf ticking up, and I'm never going to reach the end of my t-b-r pile.

At least I hope not : )

Here are the last two books I read (slowly) and loved:


Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver


Brilliant. Masterful. Read it!






Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins


HEA *happy sigh*

Ooh, I have an award!

Yes, I've got a little award! Amy Christine Parker has very kindly gifted the Liebster Award to me. It's an award given out by bloggers for favourite blogs with less than 200 followers and is meant to increase the traffic going to that blog. Now I have to pass the award to five other deserving blogs and tell you five things about myself that you might not know.


So here are the blogs I've chosen:

Amaleen Ison who is a writerly friend of mine. We met on Scribophile and she writes YA. Go and visit her!

JDField writes a YA urban fantasy series and is also part of my circle on Scrib.

ED Martin um, another Scrib member I know. Check her out (well, not like that).

Ok, so I can't find two more blogs that fit the criteria. Does that mean I have to forfeit telling you five things about me and only get three? So be it. I'm not going to to tell you to check out blogs I don't look at myself!

And here are five three things about me.

I like orchids. A LOT. I'm generally rubbish and forgetful when it comes to plants. I like them, but they don't appreciate my sporadic over/underwatering. But when it comes to orchids, which are notoriously tricksy creatures, they flourish! You might have been subjected to my triumphant tweets a couple of weeks ago when all five of my orchids started flowering at the same time and there was much wonder and smugness.

This does not do them justice. They are GORGEOUS!

 I make a mean birthday cake. A few years ago I decided my kids should have home-made creations and set to work after a lifetime of near-religious non-baking.

I love a self-imposed deadline and set them CONSTANTLY. There's nothing I respond to better than something I decided to achieve myself. And I rarely let myself down. Bonus!


More about the agent-judged contest coming soon. The next post about it will reveal the agents and prizes on offer!!

A few more details on the AGENT-JUDGED CONTEST :)

So here's where I made the first announcement about the contest. And because I want to give you plenty of time to prepare, here are the next set of details.

I'll be having two submission windows open on the 18th April, which is the day I started my blog last year with this scintillating post.

You'll be needing a query letter and the first five pages of your ms to send to me. At least 10 entries will be chosen  - by me - to skip the slushpile and be seen by an agent. Winners will then be chosen by said lovely agent!

I'll post again soon with details of the submission windows and instructions of where to send your entries!

In which I worry about worrying, try to take a more enlightened approach, and fail OR Embrace the Uncertainty!

I started writing this post a while ago when I was feeling a little differently than I do now (hence the two titles), but I thought it would be good to post it with both ways of looking at it.

Here's what I was thinking when I started the post:

I suppose it's natural to worry a little, or a lot, sometimes, that you won't reach that next goal, whatever it is for you.

I didn't know if I could finish an entire book when I first started writing. And until I wrote The End, I still wasn't sure. After that I worried that I'd never write the perfect query letter, never get any agent interest, never write a second book, never write a perfect query letter for that...

Well, you get the picture.

I LOVED doing all those things, and of course, I did do them (well maybe not the perfect query, but still) but at the same time, I was also uncertain a lot of the time. Sometimes that crossed over the bordeline into worry. And sometimes it ran screaming through border control like a crazed drugs mule.

Here's what I'm thinking today:

Isn't that uncertainty fun? It's full of hope. I mean, you already achieved so much, right? And you enjoyed writing that short story, that novel, that query, that synopsis (bear with me, you did - in some way - otherwise you wouldn't have done it. It's not like this is compulsory). And with the uncertainy, all smushed together with that little bit of worry, is that fizzing excitement of the possibility that the next big thing you're striving for is going to happen.

This is how I feel today. And I say that from the depths of the third revision on my book. I have a TON of work to do. Lots of it will involve deleting my pretty, pretty words. Lots of it will involve writing new pretty, pretty words. I'm up for it. Look at me, I'm all grown up!!

Here's an example of one of my uncertainties:

It's one of my background fears that I won't even be able to think of a Book 3 (note: I have background and foreground fears - it's a complex system designed to ensure that I'm anxious at all times).

 So what's your biggest worry at the moment, and how do you deal with it?

Query Tips. Get ready for the AGENT JUDGED CONTEST!

 Next month it's my blogiversary and to celebrate, I'm holding an agent-judged contest!!

It will be open to all MG and YA fiction, and to enter you'll need a completed manuscript and a query letter. This will be open to EVERYBODY - it doesn't matter if you've entered one of my competitions before.

Now I can't help you with the completed ms (not even if you bribe me with Rocket Dog shoes or orchids), but I can offer some QUERY TIPS so you have the best chance of winning one of the fabulous prizes.  

My first tip is this: Read the Query Shark blog. ALL OF IT. I'm a big fan of the Query Shark Formula, which goes like this (and no I don't have to look it up - it's committed to memory and internalised):

What does the mc want?

What's going to get in her way?

What choice/dilemma does she face?

What terrible thing is going to happen if she chooses A; what terrible thing is going to happen if she doesn't.

You can see how I used that formula here and I'm going to give you another example that will let me talk about what WON'T work too.

This is the query I wrote (and edited, and edited, re-wrote, deleted, wrote, edited, re-wrote and edited) for my first novel.


 Ana’s had her foot on the gas pedal of the self-destruct truck ever since her mother’s murder. In a last-chance foster placement before she turns eighteen, Ana vows to dust off her self-control and keep her big mouth shut. Blending in at school is easy. Even a spot of casual stalking can’t hurt - unless her new best friend is crushing on the boy in question too.

 

 When Ana overhears said gorgeous creature, Dev, talking with her own shrink, and about her no less, she ditches her new policy of thinking before acting. A recon mission takes Ana to the graveyard adjoining Dev’s place. Instead of answers, she gets a run in with a Dark Angel whose sole purpose is making Ana a permanent resident of the cemetery. Dev saves her life, and Ana learns her fascination stems from a link stronger than attraction; Dev is her Guardian Angel. Ana’s at the epicentre of a battle, and if she wants to save herself and Dev, she needs to find out why.

 

 As Ana’s schemes lead toward her final confrontation with the Dark Angel, she discovers Dev has concealed the real purpose behind his protection. If that’s not messed up enough, she finds out the angels are connected to the reason she’s spent a lifetime in foster care. To bring down the Dark Angel, Ana must make a choice: trust Dev and face her long-suppressed past, or sever their bond and shatter a love that would define her future.

*Blush*

And in case you're wondering, it got three requests for partials and seventy two rejections before I shelved it. The reason I'm showing you this is so that you can see that following the formula and writing what, if I'm honest, I still think is a half-decent query, is not the only thing that matters.

The reason this query failed is because the premise of the book wasn't unique enough. I hadn't read many YA books at the time and I didn't know this. 

I also think this query has a voice that wasn't present in the pages. Poor Ana - she just didn't have what it takes. 

There are lots of places where you can find out that your query should be about 250 words, and that you should type it straight into the email rather than copy/paste because that will screw with your formatting. I'm not going to repeat all that here.

What I am going to say is that you should use the tone and voice of your ms to write your query.

You should know what's out there on the shelves already.

And you should read agent's submission instructions and blogs - you can find out a lot about what they're looking for and what they've seen a lot of.



More details on the competition will follow soon! In the meantime, polish up your query, make sure your MG/YA ms is in the shape you want an agent to see it in, and tell anyone and everyone who writes to come and join in because there may be more than one agent judging, and there WILL be more than one prize : D

Exciting super cool news!!

So you all know that Michelle Krys is my critique partner and general internet bff, and that she signed with Adriann Ranta recently? These are excellent things and good reasons why you should follow her blog, but on top of that, there's this from Publisher's Marketplace:

Michelle Krys's THE WITCH HUNTER'S BIBLE, in which a snarky sixteen-year-old cheerleader is forced into a centuries-old war between witches and sorcerers only to uncover the first of many dark truths about her life, to Wendy Loggia at Delacorte, in a good deal, in a two-book deal, by Adriann Ranta at Wolf Literary Services (World).

News like this calls for this:

I'm pretty certain Michelle won't mind if you visit her blog post about it. Or if you send large expensive gifts. Either is fine : D

The How I Got My Agent series: This week's guest post by Nick Cook.

It's time for the next installment of How I Got My Agent. This one's a little bit different, which I like. You know I'm a big advocate of the slush pile, but as Amy showed us earlier this month, it's not the only way to get an agent. I'll hand over to my Twitter friend Nick, to tell you how he did things a little bit differently, but got the result he wanted. Over to you, Nick!



My route to securing an agent was some time in the making and maybe not the standard journey (if there is such a thing) that most experience who succeed. 

In my former life I was the art director at a very successful games studio. The best thing about that job was working with such a talented creative team, but there was also a little voice inside me telling it was time to start getting serious about my writing. Eventually it got so loud there was no ignoring it any longer and one bright sunny autumn day in 2006, I walked out of my studio for the last time ready to pursue a full time writing career. I was fortunate that I had sufficient funds to finance that creative itch for some time without starving. So I started working in earnest.

A couple of drafts into my first book, like many who've been there in those early days, I was convinced my work was a masterpiece. I also happened to have a contact at Chicken House and within a short space of time became the proud recipient of a personal reject email (albeit a very nice and encouraging one) from Barry Cunningham no less. This was one of the best wake up calls I could have had... I realised I was just one of hundreds of manuscripts that had probably landed on his desk that week and had I really fully learned the craft to start putting my work out there yet? This needed a rethink on my part. 

I looked seriously at taking an MA in creative writing, even had an interview and was shortlisted but had left it too late for that academic year. So I sat down and considered what the priorities were for me... that mental conversation with myself took about a minute. What I obviously needed was an agent, but not just any agent, but a great agent of course. So the small matter of how that could become a reality started to occupy my mind... there had to be a way to avoid getting lost in the slush pile?

Having rifled through the Writers and Artists Yearbook a number of times and having filled it with coloured post-its identifying agents I would have sold a kidney to work with, I noticed one name appearing a number of time. It was a company that some agents took referrals from for new authors. That company was called Cornerstones. 

Cornerstones are a manuscript agency who will, for a fee, provide a detailed report on your manuscript. They also act as talents scouts for agents. This sounded perfect to me and so started a very rewarding collaboration with them. I paid for a report on my first book and it was a real eye opener, so much useful feedback identifying both strengths and weaknesses in my work. I was instantly hooked. I continued to work with Cornerstones and eventually although we both felt my first book showed real promise, the senior editor there, the wonderful Kathryn Price, told me she wasn't sure that it was necessarily the right book to launch my career with. This is where Cornerstones are brilliant. They look at your work holistically and in terms of whether a book is really the right one to establish you. Consequently, I took the tough decision to park the first book (actually three in the series by that point) with a mind to returning to it later on. In the meantime I had this new concept bubbling away and when I sent the first three chapters into Cornerstones, they were immediately excited by it. I was too. I could feel it was the right book, the one that would grab people's attention. It was at this point Cornerstones signed me, a real boost to my self confidence at the time (doubts inevitably start to creep in over a prolonged period). So began a period of intense writing and Kathryn pushing me to deliver my very best work. By December of 2011 we both agreed we had a draft ready to send out to agents. One month later I was signed with the totally wonderful Eve White... I couldn't have asked for a better agent. 

So there you have it. Lots of writing, false dawns and perseverance, combined with the guiding light to develop my writing that a manuscript agency can provide. I certainly feel I served a very rewarding writing apprenticeship working with Cornerstones. It's an alternative route to an agent, but a great one even if you just decide to get a report from them and nothing more. As a signed author Cornerstones take ten percent of my first advance as a fee. But for me this been earned times over. As you can probably tell, I can't recommend their services highly enough.

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