My amazing agent, Bree Ogden, submitted my manuscript to the big publishers yesterday. In less than 24 hours, we’ve had FIVE requests! How awesome is that!?!?!?!
I’ll keep you updated!
Archives
I need some reader feedback!
Want to pitch your book to 12 of the best literary agents?
WriteOnCon’s Mid-Winter Pitch-Fest will be open to submissions on March 10th. Right now, they are looking for pitches in these genres:
MG/YA contemporary
New Adult
YA girl-centric
Historical MG/YA
Humorous MG/YA
Gothic MG/YA
MG/YA Thrillers
MG/YA Fantasy
YA Horror
YA Science Fiction
YA Suspense
Literary MG
YA Magic Realism
MG Mysteries
The agents are:
Alyssa Eisner-Henkin, Trident Literary
Amy Tipton, Signature Literary
Brielle Johnson, Writer’s House
Dawn Frederick, Red Sofa Literary
Eddie Schneider, JABberwocky Literary
Jason Yarn, Paradigm Literary
Jennifer Flannery, Flannery Literary
Kathleen Rushall, Marsal Lyon Literary
Logan Garrison, The Gennert Company
Mollie Glick, Foundry Media
Peter Knapp, Park Literary
Sara Crowe, Harvey Klinger
Each of the 12 agents will be reading and commenting on 25 pitches. And guess what? I’ve got at least one of the agents lined up for an interview! You’ll only be able to read it here! 
So if you’re interesting in finding out what the agents will be looking for, stay tuned!
The pitch critique board is already open, so if you want some feedback on your pitch before submitting, you should head on over to their forums.
You can find out more about WriteOnCon here.
You can find the Pitch-Fest forums here.
Weekend Writing Warriors Challenge.
Weekend Writing Warriors (WeWriWa) was inspired by Six Sentence Sunday. For the WeWriWa challenge, you post eight sentences. You can find more info here.
My eight sentences are from a YA novel I’ve been working on of and on called Gone.
The darkness was starting to fade to a dirty grey, broken up in places by the buzzing orange glow of the streetlights. Ankle-deep snow sifted around my feet as I shuffled down the road.
The first half of my walk passed in a cold hum, all my senses on autopilot as I stared at my shoes. But then I heard something. Something loud enough to pull me out of my daze. A foot scraping across the sanded surface of the street.
Ice balled in my stomach, but not from coldness. From fear.
Problems
Just wanted to let everyone know that I’ve been having some problems with my pregnancy. Because of this, the limit the amount of time I can spend at the computer has been restricted. I’m hoping to get my interview with literary agent Michele Rubin typed up over the weekend and posted next week, though. Have a nice weekend everyone.
My manuscript is out on submission!
Before I get to today’s post, I wanted to let you know that my agent, Michele Rubin of Writers House, has agreed to be interviewed for my blog. I think we will be doing it in the next week or two, so get ready for some secrets from an industry insider! I also have a few other agents who have shown interest in being interviewed, so stay tuned! Now, on to today’s post!
I can’t believe I’ve finally reached this moment! My book is officially out on sub! Sure, I’m so nervous I have heartburn (although that could also be the baby!), but I also have to just savor this moment. It’s been a long road and I can’t believe I’m finally here!
I know it’s going to be a long wait. Michele says it’s next to impossible to hear back before two weeks and it will probably be more like 4-8. Apparently, if they read it and decide they want it, it then has to be run past and okay-ed by many more people in-house.
Looking back, it really has been a long and bumpy road. For those of you interested in the statistics of how I got here, here is the timeline of this writer!
2001- First attempt at a novel, which I don’t finish Three more unfinished attempts follow.
2007- Start writing what will be my first finished novel.
2008- Submit first novel to Harlequin and receive a a long, detailed personalized rejection. Also, get married!
2009- Finish rough draft of Drive Back the Darkness. Find out I’m pregnant!
2010- Revise Drive Back the Darkness and have baby. (For the record, having a baby slows everything WAY down!)
Spring of 2011- Start submitting Drive Back the Darkness. Receive LOTS of rejections and some requests. Continue revising and re-submitting.
November of 2011- Participate in NaNoWriMo and write rough draft of Below the Surface, my contemporary YA.
Rest of 2011- Revise Below the Surface.
Jan of 2012- Start submitting Below the Surface to agents. Immediately start to get requests, which surprises me.
June of 2012- I receive a long detailed letter from two separate agents asking for revisions. I revise and continue to send out to agents, and continue to receive requests. I receive an offer of publication from a small press for Drive Back the Darkness, which I take.
July 2012- I receive my first offer from an agent for Below the Surface. I notify other agents and receive more offers. On July 20th, I sign with Michele Rubin.
September- I receive revision requests from Michele. Drive back the Darkness is published on Sept. 14th.
October- I finish the revisions. Michele loves them (Yay!). On October 18th, Below the Surface goes out to 6 big publishers! Now, the waiting can begin!
Saturday Poll: Do you think you will be nervous and/or scared when you publish your first book?
Saturday Poll: What Makes You Buy a Book?
Saturday Poll: Do You Write in More Than One Genre?
I’m on Twitter! And Some Other Updates…
@TheLiteraryMom if you want to follow me, hang out, participate in a #1k1h challenge, etc.
By the way, I’m having a moral dilemma relating to my blog. Has anyone else had that happen? More details on Monday.
Also, I got another request from a publisher, this time for my romance novel! I go months with a few requests and then BAM! It’s like being hit by a train! Definitely not complaining though. I can only hope it leads to something…
