Tag: harpercollins

My First Query Letter Attempt

So… Hindsight… 20/20… Yadda Yadda.

I imagine the folks at HarperCollins who may have received my manuscript for Jefferson & The Magician’s Curse most likely opened the file for a single moment before deleting it. Harsh right?

No.

In fact, now, I wouldn’t blame them.

I kind of let my excitement and nerves get in the way of rationale and sanity. When I sent it through, first I hoped I’d sent the right file. Second, I hoped I’d sent the right story. Third, I abandoned all hope and wrote the whole ordeal off as a mistake. Back to square one? Don’t mind if I do!

Fast forward… uhh… to a few weeks ago. I started getting Writer’s Digest emails because I’d been looking at their Writer’s Market books. This all stemmed from my partner asking her favorite author, Diana Gabaldon, for some advice on writing for me. She actually replied and with some good tips to boot! On her recommendation, I began to look into the Writer’s Market books but couldn’t take the plunge. Just too expensive in my mind and I couldn’t really get a feel for what they were actually about.

As if by some divine guidance, an email dropped into my inbox.

Now 75% Off! 2017 Writer‘s Market Books!

75%?! That had to be wrong. I mean, I know the 2018 editions are coming soon but 75%? That meant I could get five books from there including shipping and it would cost me less than two of them with free shipping from Book Depository (let’s not even talk local bookstore pricing, yeesh). The order was placed with the support and approval of my lovely partner (who by now was wondering why I hadn’t already bought them).

Shut-up-and-take-my-money

Then, as if guided by the hands of fate herself, the books arrived in record time from the US and just in time for my day off. Not only that but we were informed our house may be ready by the end of next month, which means my writing room could be right around the corner!

As everything falls into place, I began reading the beginning of Writer’s Market 2017 which has a wonderful section about query letters. These are essentially the resume cover letter that we were taught about back in high school, but geared toward the writing industry and your product. It’s not just me I’m trying to sell anymore (yes, I see what I wrote there… close enough) but it’s the story too. Limiting yourself to a single page for all the important details is a fun challenge (read: the tears come at night) but I think I’ve managed.

The question is, what do you think?

<Insert El Editor’s Details Here>

Dear El Editor,

My 98,000 word novel, Jefferson & The Magician’s Curse, is fantasy fiction in the same vein as the Harry Potter series of novels but with a hint of influence from Star Wars as well.

Jefferson is a teen orphan whose feeling of being the outsider leads him to seek out the circus for its oddities and curiosities. Here, he discovers a performing magician, Gabriel, who introduces the boy to the wonders of real magic.

Finding his place in a secret society of magicians, Jefferson walks a dangerous line between the rise of forbidden arts and learning magic. As Gabriel becomes more erratic and dangerous, Jefferson finds he is the key to saving or defeating him.

From cursed magicians and multiple personality disorders to magical battles and time travel, Jefferson & The Magician’s Curse is familiar to fans of fantasy while taking a new approach to the question, “Where does magic come from?”

Jefferson & The Magician’s Curse would ideally fit in with Harry Potter or Dragonlance series of novels. Your website noted that you were seeking out fantasy novels over 75,000 words and this fits those criteria.

I have been writing and editing many of my shorter works for the below website and blog. My short story, Circle of Vengeance, was critiqued and edited more than twenty times before being self-published. You can find this on my website below as well as at lulu.com and on the iBooks store.

As stated in your guidelines I have enclosed the first 30 pages. Thank you for your time and consideration of my novel, Jefferson & The Magician’s Curse.

Sincerely,

TJ Edwards

<Insert My Details Here>

Let me know if there’s anything I could do better! I need all the help I can get!

Also… any tips out there for submitting manuscripts?

Thanks a bunch, as always you folks are legendary!

Disappointment Eve

As I logged into my laptop on this fine January evening in Australia, my MacBook reminders begin popping up.

“Work – 9 AM – Tomorrow.”

“1 new mail message.”

“You have Facebook notifications.”

And then…

“HarperCollins Wednesday Press – Cut off.”

A part of me knew nothing would happen. But then, somewhere deep inside the darkest corners of my soul, a small light was glowing. This light, the light of optimism, had been beaten back and abused into submission as my pessimistic side took on a Hulk-like form. Still though, somewhere in there… that damn voice whispered, “You can do it!” “Maybe this will be the year?!” “Your manuscript is flawless, and I’m insane!”

Insane indeed.

As my brain tried desperately to grasp the concept and plans for solar panels for our future home, I had almost forgotten about… okay, I’m lying. I checked my email roughly every three hours from the moment I woke up, until the last thing I did before my dance with the sandman. But for the most part, I didn’t stress about it. In fact, on this lovely Disappointment Eve, I can say one thing.

I tried.

And I will try again.

Maybe not tomorrow. Maybe not the next day.

But it is coming.

While I consider when to submit again, I will find a writer’s group (somehow) and I will go to the Writing Centre at the Uni (when they get back to me). I need more unbiased people to look at my story. I need people who aren’t afraid to hurt my feelings and tell me it is rubbish and I write like a sixth grader. I will absorb all of that, so long as they explain why and what makes it so. I want to learn, yearn to learn even.

With this trilogy plotted out with book one completed, a prequel in my notes and another trilogy set in the same universe years later with book one at fifty thousand or so words… I’m loving it! To think that this time next year I could possibly have my writing room set up and be completing at the very least book two for Jefferson or book one of Pandemonium is just insane!

For now, I will try to sleep as tomorrow is the official last day for HarperCollins to get back to me. Tomorrow will be a long day (especially being day one after two days off) and I am hoping there’s a lot going on to keep my mind off my emails. Although I do wonder what number they actually select from each bunch or if they select any at all?

Ah well, until tomorrow! Wish me luck! Get me some of that good karma!

One Week(ish)

So last Wednesday I submitted the first fifty pages of Jefferson & The Magician’s Curse to HarperCollins’ Wednesday Post. I’ve been checking my email roughly one hundred times a day on the off chance I’m something that they’re looking for. That being said, I’m still not even sure if they’re back to work yet but I hope so. It kills me that my iPhone won’t alert me to new emails… some sort of glitch I assume as I’ve centuple checked the settings to the point where I’m starting to wear swipe marks into my screen protector.

That aside, I have definitely enjoyed being back on the blog and it feels really good to get back into writing regularly. Not that video games aren’t fulfilling, but it doesn’t have that same satisfaction of writing something to completion. Although I do have the Jet Pack in Fallout 4 and I am abusing its power to get pretty much everywhere.

My writing as of late has been entirely history, backgrounds and character descriptions. The reason for all of this? I’m trying to cut down on inconsistencies in my writing. Once a person’s eye colour is mentioned, it should always be that colour. Hopefully. Also, I really want to flesh out the main areas for the story so that I can keep them alive. Some of the hardest things for me as an author is describing scenes when that isn’t the most important thing that is going on.

Take this example. I can remember vividly the conversation I had with my Mother when my Father had passed away. Do I remember what I was wearing? Do I remember where I was? Do I remember what was around me in the room?

The answer is no, no and no. I remember the following vague details: I was most likely wearing jeans and a collared shirt, I was at work and I remember I was in the office. I remember pacing back and forth as the conversation went on, but I always do that. The rest of that day is more of a blur. I’m not saying this because I’m looking for sympathy, but I’m saying those details did not matter. So in a scene involving the death of a character, I probably won’t be using all of the senses. I’ll be more importantly using the emotions of the protagonist and supporting characters because that is why the scene is there.

That being said, keeping a busy scene hustling and bustling while the characters are a part of the scene is something I managed to accomplish in this story. There used to be the initial description setting the scene, and then the characters acted around it like everyone stood around like statues. Now, there is a flow where the busy street is experienced through the protagonist’s eyes. Do I have room to improve? Always!

Anyway, as I plot out the next two novels in the Jefferson Trilogy, I can’t help but remember how hard it was to actually write a novel in the first place. The only thing that really got me there in the end was putting one word after the other. NaNoWriMo was a fantastic help for that, and now that I know I can write a novel, the next one is that much easier.

How are you all doing out there? Is your writing going to plan?

Just remember, you’ll never find the time to write… if you don’t make the time.

The Work Week

*Check email* *Be Disappointed* *Check email again*

The funniest part about the above chain of events is that I’ve been repeating this roughly one hundred times a day without considering publishers probably aren’t even returning to work until this week.

Hilarious.

On the other hand, since submitting my story to HarperCollins I’ve been talking a lot more about my story… and carrying a bit more stress. My wonderful work colleagues asked me if everything was okay to which I told them of my submission. A few people understood, but more than a few asked me more questions about it.

What’s it about? How did you come up with that? How many words is it? When did you write it? How long did it take you? Why did you write it? When will they get back to you?

Not that I thought my coworkers were cold, unfeeling monsters, but I’d always just considered the fact that my work life and my personal life were very separate and that I don’t fit the mold that my company unofficially has. It felt good to have people getting excited and interested in my story and as I looked around, I felt a bit better about the team I work with.

Although I also spoke at length with a customer who was having trouble with her eReader about it as well, which was a weird feeling and also pretty exciting. The questions she was asking were actually very deep questions that made me think long and hard.

What sets your novel about magic apart from Harry Potter and other such stories? How does the magic work in your novel? Do you have enough female characters?

Admittedly, I don’t have as many leading ladies as I should, although Jefferson is near ambiguous enough to be either. To be honest, it wouldn’t kill me as a person to think of him either way, even if someone suggested I changed him to a female lead, I’d still love the story. Strange to think the protagonist could be either, but my antagonist must be a male. I have a very strongly defined image of him and could even write a novel about his journey before he met Jefferson. In fact, that’s not a bad idea.

The world of Jefferson’s story has seven novels in my head. Three directly including Jefferson, one prequel about Gabriel and three novels (much more mature) set hundreds of years after the events of Jefferson’s Trilogy explaining the division of the land and how magic has progressed over the course of time. I’ve already begun on the first one of that trilogy and the word count’s just over fifty thousand!

For today, my writing is turning to some background on Jefferson’s world and the characters within it. While I’m waiting for any news (hopefully) from HarperCollins, I’ll be fleshing out the depth of my story. As for you fellow writers out there, how goes your own writing? Did you make a New Year’s Writing Resolution? Let me know, maybe we can help each other!

 

The Wednesday Post

Today I swallowed the giant lump in my throat and even though my stomach is still doing backflips, I think I’ve made the right call.

Sometimes the stars align and something comes up. An opportunity maybe. I’ve been researching how to submit my story to publishing houses for quite awhile now and today (of all days) I came across HarperCollins’ Wednesday Post website. Apparently every Wednesday, they open the flood gates through this website and unsolicited manuscripts (such as my own) can be submitted. I find this out on a Tuesday night while editing my novel.

Coincidence? Maybe.

They ask for the first fifty pages or three chapters of your novel. After rereading and editing them one last time I just went ahead and did it.

Screen Shot 2015-12-30 at 1.56.13 AM
Oh man, that feels odd. Like baring your soul to a complete stranger.

Am I freaking out right now? Yep. It doesn’t help that it’s two in the morning and I work in… oh god, I should sleep. Do I expect anything to come of this?

Hell no.

Just like I didn’t get a date with the first girl I asked out, I expect this will be a lesson in rejection. Worst thing is, I don’t get a nifty rejection notice. Just nothing back after four weeks. This is about to be the longest four weeks in history. Also any email with HarperCollins in it will make me freak out (so Barnes & Noble… keep your publisher call outs to a minimum) but I’m ready.

I want to tell this story.

I want everyone to meet my characters.

I want to be as successful in writing as I am at work.

Maybe if I stare at the photo below, maybe, just maybe, my dream will come true.

Good luck Jefferson and crew. Hopefully everyone will get to meet you soon.

Jefferson & The Magician's Curse
Cover by Fena at http://pheeena.com/ – I don’t want her work to go to waste!