End of Part I

And so, It has come to an end. At least for now. Over the course of roughly three months I have written a 78,000 word novel as well as learned a great deal about how to go about getting that published, after a few more drafts are written no doubt. That was my goal for the semester though, to get an idea that had been festering on my brain for five years onto paper and learn what it would take to get it out there, to get it published, even. Who knows what will come of it-maybe nothing, hopefully at least something. 

I have especially enjoyed getting to know the publishing world better through a class such as Into Print. Before, I paid little if any to what was going on. The sign of a successful book for me was if it was made into a movie, which I guess is still somewhat true, but I was able to see what a large world publishing books and not only books but the literary magazines and the outlets for poets. All of it was a bigger world than I could have ever imagined it being.

I also enjoy the drama within the world, the debate with ebooks and the classic hard copy choices or the discussions over MFA programs-none of these would have ever crossed my mind prior. I knew I wanted to get into this world, maybe some day even be a part of it and this class has helped me at least start on the path towards both. I have yet to receive any responses on short stories I've sent out, granted I only did this last week (Sorry, its been a hectic one) but I look forward to hopefully forgetting about them and one day being surprised with a letter: an acception or rejection will be fine, simply knowing someone out there read my work is a nice idea.  

In writing a novel, I have come to realize what an adventure it is. We set out at the beginning to write 4,600 words a week that in the end would make 55,000. As we were approaching the halfway point I knew I wasn't half way through the story that needed to be told. I knew I was going to have to push and work harder than anyone else if I wanted to get out at least the first part of this story. It amazed me that I actually completed it, that now looking at the stack of paper I can say it all came from my head. I truly never believed it would happen, especially something I had been putting together since my first semester of college ever. Now I'm graduating in two weeks and it is done. I couldn't be happier to have at least gotten it out of me and have been luck y to have taken two classes that coincide so well with each other during my last semester at school.  

Final Media Response

For the final media response of the semester I thought it wise to go ahead and continue discussing some of the blogs I follow here on You Should Have Seen Your Face. In light of hearing professor Becker discuss her literary agent Janet Reid, I decided to take a closer look at her blog this past week and read more of what she has going on in relation to the literary world, turns out, its alot. As a literary agent though, this isn't much of a surprise. Her latest post as of today talks about a shout out one of her clients received from a bookstore about one of their recent appearances. It is first off nice to see simply how accessible she seems and secondly how much she supports her writers and genuinely seems interested in their work. It is clear she enjoys her job, on a post from Thanksgiving Ms. Reid tells us how thankful she is to do a job she enjoys and live in a city she never wants to leave. Only to go on a few posts later to tell of her holiday trip out of the city in more detail. This is a fine example of why Janet Reid, Literary Agent is such a fun and easy read. She gives short, quirky and fun insights into her literary life while at the same time giving us links to new authors and articles about them that she believes her followers would find interest in.

Another of the quirky, funny blogs I have been following is Pub Rants, the "pub" in the title refers to "publishing rants" that there is no Irish pub involved unless we would like there to be. After reading this in the short description I knew I would enjoy agent Kristin's little rants myself. She always begins the post by informing us what she's listening to on her iPod at that moment, which is always fun and offers us a little insight into the kind of person she is, not to mention we can listen to it at the bottom of that post if we so choose. Kristin places it conveniently there for us to indulge in. Most are rather eclectic and soothing so it works as we read. As for her literary insight, much like Janet Reid she offers a lot of little things that have to do with her job, but mainly we see what her life is actually like when doing this job. She offers pictures of her trips to the Kennedy Space Center and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter as well as telling us about how when she would like to gain a client and they usually pass it is most of the time because another agent with very similar tastes to her own. I enjoyed this post in particular because it shows a completely different side to getting an agent and a publisher than the bigger than life idea of them we have in our heads, or at least that I have in mine. Some things in life simply feel unreachable sometimes and to have a book published?!?! Holy Cow!! How crazy would that be? In Pub Rants though, Kristin makes it seem as if they are wanting authors just as bad as the authors need them. It is a comforting feeling.

Finally, in a less "fun'" move I have been catching up on Lyons Literary LLC, which is as its title indicates a literary agency that posts "tips and quips". I say fun because this blog is nowhere near as personal as the previous two I've discussed. Lyon gives quick and short little updates into the literary world as well as into his personal files, but the news on the literary world is what draws me to this blog the most. It has been hard for me to find a good bit of publishing world news in one area that also stays up to date. Lyons hasn't posted in a while as of today but usually it is every few days that he will give us a little blurp. Examples would be constant updates on ebooks and how they are affecting everything as well as Dan Brown's latest release. Most of the time, if not always, these short posts include links within the text to longer stories explaining the blurp in greater length and detail. I enjoy Lyon because he is basically the home page of yahoo for the publishing world. This is a good thing, its compact and informative. Nothing more, nothing less.

Ariel Gore's How to Trip.

I am not a reader of books on the art of writing. I find them difficult to get into and usually quit before I give them a fair chance. So, in having to have read many of them in the course of getting my bachelors in writing I wasn't completely excited to read another one. Ms. Gore surprised me though, her short and breezy book seemed just what I was looking for at this point in my life. It is a guide for me, or any other writer, looking to be published, but more importantly, for the first time.

Gore uses her experiences as well as those of others to become a kind of friend to the reader and thus develops this relationship with you that feels like an old friend who has a lot of experience in the writing universe.  She let's us know that launching a writing career is a scary, but is no doubt rewarding. Gore's encouragement and practical advice would seem to inspire any kind of writer. It did me, and like I said, I usually don't take well to such books.

For the most part though, I really enjoyed this read. There is a nice mix of advice, things she has found in her experiences, things she has found work for the majority of people. Her friendship relationship that she develops with you also allows this advice to come off as quirky and humble, rather than the stuck-up writer I might have taken this kind of advice to be had it been coming from anyone else.

What is most impressive about the book to me though is that Ms. Gore figured out a way to get her heroes to reveal their secrets to a bunch of hopefuls that . It’s a grand idea and it adds a lot of interesting insight from many different viewpoints. These all confirm what I hoped all along, that there is no one right way to make it happen, which means there isn't necessarily a wrong way to do it either.

The Video Diaries...

This post is purely to comment on the videos we watched in class on November 16th.

We shall begin at the beginning with Robin Becker:

I had of course heard of her big novel being published this past spring with 'Brains', and was eager to hear her thoughts on the publishing world and such things. To hear her say she completed the novel and wrote a good number of agents ( at least 70) before choosing Janet Reid (who I believe I follow on this blog). That she said she was lucky enough to have the zombie craze happening when she wrote her book took back my thoughts that she might have been trying to capitalize on the current craze. I also enjoyed the fact she was rather adamant about keeping the focus on story rather than form, in which she has previously been more concerned with. Also, the bit about the argument between story and good writing was rather interesting. I completely agree that you get better as you write more, and that nothing can top a good story, that the story is what grabs your readers and keeps them reading. As most of these professors gave the same advice, the undergraduate time a time for practice, practice and afterwards the writing you do may be better for publishing. I have no doubt they know what they are talking about, I just don't want to believe it.

Next was Mr. Spitzer:

He again emphasized the idea of not getting to serious about publishing until he was in graduate school. But he did make many good and positive points in saying to not be afraid of their reactions and that simultaneous submissions are important for a student writer. That after being published a few times and kind of earning a name for yourself you tend to play more by the rules, but that students should no doubt act like machines and send out to as many publications as they can and no matter what is going on in your publishing life that you should always be working on something.

And then Mr. Gary Powell:

Though I have never had him as an instructor I have heard the stories of how he can be a tad snobby, and though I could see this through his screen persona I rather enjoyed his thoughts on the publishing world. In a nutshell, he confirmed what I always had suspicions of in the book world. though I wanted to believe it was more high-class than the film industry is with the major releases it seems this is not the truth and those novels with the most selling power are not necessarily the best written. Sounds a tad juvenile and obvious now that it's been pointed out to me, but nonetheless I was glad to hear this from a well-educated man. Powell discussed his dealings with editors and the more formulaic side of the publishing world at the moment.he did briefly talk about an "indie" publishing movement, much like the indie films and how he even still had trouble in appealing to them as his work isn't commercial enough for the big publishers yet not quirky enough for the small ones. He said he didn't like to brag too much on himself but ended up giving those exact implications. Thus telling us a little that he may even think he might be a little higher than having his things grace the eyes of those less intelligent than he. Oh well, he did give us an insight on the business of the publishing company.

And last but not least, Dr. Vanderslice...

First things first: prepare to be rejected. I enjoyed and always do Mr. Vanderslice's thoughts on things and this was no exception. Especially when he discussed that he always saw himself writing novels, and how much he enjoys the commitment a novel requires. It is the field I am most interested in and hear him discuss those aspects of the publishing world were most insightful and helpful to me. I also appreciated the advice he gave on how to keep track of what you had sent out and to who and when. It was quite helpful and gave me a system to I can implement for my own writing. His advice about having to be stubborn and have no fear was much the same as the other professors. But his addition of asking the question; why do this if you can't face rejection? Was a real eye-opener. That to be a writer one must live with uncertainty and disappointment, but that no matter these things the writing will always continue and that is all that truly matters.

Good stuff.

The Media and My Response

First and foremost I must say that I received a response from Dean Wesley Smith whom I addressed in one of my previous posts as an author whose book I was using as a kind of guide novel while writing my own book. The book is coming along well by the way. We are down to a few weeks left on this thing and I am nearly 40,000 words into it. Well into the final build-up and denouement that I hope will meet all my expectations as I am still unsure exactly what those will be.

When it comes to another response to the media, I decided I would discuss some of the blogs I have found and have been following on here. First up is a few literary agent blogs that I find interesting simply because I am able to read their feelings and reactions to what I hope to someday submit to them. The one I read most often is BookEnds, LLC-A Literary Agent. In her latest post she discusses how exciting it is to have a potential client agree for her to be their agent and when her client gets an offer from a publisher. The author discusses those small moments where the surface breaks and for a split second the professionalism is dropped and the raw joy of what is happening is expressed. It is a touching little entry and I found it rather refreshing to hear an agent having this kind of view. Overall we are given entries on how to find your target market and reading days and fun things of that nature. Needless to say it is a rather light and fun read. Offering a view into a world I can only imagine.

Another Literary Agent I like to read writes the blog entitled Rants & Ramblings-this blog also discussed getting offers from a publisher recently but with the twist of not yet having an agent. In this case, the author gives some points that will help you get through a situation that include having that kind of offer on the table and being unsure what to do with that. Overall this is a very informative blog, each post has information that goes along with whatever the topic may be for that particular day. One post I found very interesting was one where we were given quotes from rejections of famous books. We are treated to rejections of "To Kill A Mockingbird," "The Grapes of Wrath," "The Great Gatsby" and countless other classics. It is an intriguing piece and it gives a little comfort to those who think of rejection as an inescapable disease.

Lastly, both of my blogs have recently gained a follower in an author named M.E. Cunningham. She is an award-winning author, or so her blog says and I found it flattering she found both my blogs and found them quality enough to follow them. Her latest post discusses the beginning of National Novel Writing Month today and how she is completely unprepared for it. Reading through her bio I found it humbling that she decided to become a writer simply because she wanted to and decided if someone else could, she could. It is quite inspiring and to see her blog as it is now, with updates a few times a week it is not overwhelming and there is never a feeling of just having too much to take in, but instead it is homely and accessible and offers a glimpse into what a writers everyday life can be like. She talks not only about the literary world, but more so about her world, a legitimate authors world. That's what I like to hear.   

Glogster

Connections & Progress

I know I haven't posted on here in a while, but hopefully this progress I confess here today will make up for that absence. First off I have had many new developments in writing my own novel. I have settled on a title which is always exciting (even though this is only my first time to pick a title for a novel I or anyone else is writing), but I imagine it is always pretty exciting. I don't want to say it hear yet though without giving any context about the book or its story, but I will soon. I am hesitant simply because I have just reached the halfway point of the story and am unsure myself as to how this whole thing will end up. I have the story and plot planned out, but you just never know what directions the writing might take you in.

As my class has been writing we have also been reading a few book, among these is the No Plot, No Problem book by Chris Baty, whom I wrote to for my first contact in class and whom I never received a response from, shady punk. In his book he gives much advice as to how to make this journey of completing a novel in a short amount of time much smoother than you may be expecting. One of these helpful hints is to find a companion novel, a book that is similar to the one you are writing and use it as a kind of guide. I knew from the beginning which book I would use and as out of left field as it sounds it was going to be a novelization of the first "X-Men" film released in 2000. I read the book when I was thirteen and have a few times since, It just made sense. My novel is a little on the science-fiction/fantasy side and concerns a form of super hero like characters and the book was pretty close to the size we are shooting for in class. It was a perfect role model. And to date it has helped me out greatly when it comes to pacing.

The authors of this book are Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch. I was unable to find a way to contact Ms. Rusch, but found Mr. Smiths Word Press website and a link to his facebook so I messaged him and sent him a friend request. Turns out the guy has a pretty impressive resume of work. He founded a small press called Pulphouse and has published over ninety novels and a hundred short stories. He has written books for Marvel, DC and Dark Horse comics as well as an editor and publisher. Needless to say I am really hoping to hear back from him.

On a side note:  Writing this book has gradually become more of an obsession, but a good one I think. It has taken over my thoughts and I am constantly thinking of directions I can go and how I will construct the next chapter. I am always wanting to go back to it and write more, and when I watch a movie or read anything for just a short amount of time I begin to think about my story and what I can do to it that will make it as good as it can be. I am enjoying it thoroughly and though it does take up most of my time and brain space, I'm OK with that. Let's just hope it turns out to be a somewhat decent book.