This has been one of those weeks when it seems like all electronics were working against me. It started with my cell phone, which I thought I had repaired on Sunday, but then discovered that my menu and backspace keys no longer worked. Tried to reset the phone, after trying every other solution I could find to try to fix the problem, but that caused a bunch more troubles. Contacts went away for a few days and I had to struggle to figure out how to get email back on the phone. When the contacts did come back, they were hotmail contacts, so numbers were lost for a lot of people.
Then on Tuesday, the worst thing possible, the thumb drive where I keep what I call my IP (meaning all of my writing) died. I always like to have copies of my writng with me in case something were to happen to the laptop and vice versa. Put the drive in the USB port on my laptop at home to do some editing on Simple Sins, but my computer suddenly didn't recognize it. Luckily, I keep a complete copy of everything on my laptop. Previously, I had on occassion lost track of the thumb drive, usually it had fallen out of my pocket in the car, so the panic, while quite real, was short-lived. Having learned from that, I made an effort to keep the thumb drive and the computer in sync. I may have only lost some photos from the internet for reviews, but it still hurt to lose the drive so suddenly. Not sure what happened, but while I recovered, I'm not sure I'll ever really trust again.
A lot of this week was spent prepping for Comic-Con next week. While I'm not the main organizer in the family, I'm still part of the planning and that seems to take precedent for the entire week and days leading up to the event.
Planned out my Saturday morning review post for that day. Don't want to spoil it, but it's going to be Star Trek related, seeing how its the 50th anniversary of the original series and the weekend the new movie opens. Did post a new review on Saturday on Trophy Unlocked: Our Miss Brooks (1956), a film version of the radio and TV series of the same name starring Eve Arden.
While I did some more updating on Simple Sins, most of my writing this week was spent on the comic book. The artist finished with the cover and Paul and I and our letter went through PowerSquared looking for coloring inconsistencies. We tried to be as thorough as possible looking for errors. The cover and the comic book are now in the hands of the colorist, so hopefully soon after we get back from Comic Con it'll be ready to go. In the meantime, started the artist on Part 2, so the process starts all over again.
And that's what writing is sometimes, finishing one thing and starting another. Didn't get everything I wanted to get done, but that's writing as well.
Sunday, July 17, 2016
Sunday, July 10, 2016
A Week in Writing #98
Let's get the bad news out of the way, right away. One of my queries for Personal and Professional went unanswered and per the agency's website, the one month I would have heard from them, if interested, expired today. No big tears, I guess, but still a disappointment. But you've got to dust yourself off and get back on that horse.
Most of the week, once again, taken up with the comic book, PowerSquared. Part One is in a landing pattern, but not quite done. It seems like the heavy lifting is over, but there is still a significant amount of work to do. It's almost a little sad, but in a good way. I guess I always get sentimental when things start to wrap up. I was that way with editing Simple Sins.
But the comic book still isn't complete. The lettering is done, at least a first go; the coloring has been completed, though there will need to be corrections; and the artist is working on the cover, we finally came to an agreement on the layout. We're also working on logos: a banner for the cover and what I'm calling a "bug," a simple, hopefully distinctive, visual depiction for the book.
Sat down with the editor and letterer today and went through the book, making a few changes, but nothing too major. We may have a joke that's become dated with time, so we may need to update that and there are a few other minor changes.
Coloring will take more time to go through, as we want to make sure that it's consistent from page to page. Still have to go over it with a fine-toothed comb, so that will be time-consuming. My goal had been to have everything wrapped up by Comic-Con, but I don't think we're going to completely make that. I wasn't planning on showing it to anyone there, but I thought it would make a good deadline.
Finished revising the script for Part Two and once the artist is done with the cover, then we'll start on that.
I also began to work on typing up my edits on Simple Sins. I know there are some rewrites in my future, but I decided to do those as I get to them. Also wanted to have that done by Comic-Con, but I don't think that's likely either.
Published three reviews this week: One for the anniversary of A Hard Day's Night (1964) was what I like to call Stubs Goes Blu(-ray). My normal Saturday morning review was Movie Movie (1978), which just got a home video release in the U.S. Finally, did a review of The Secret Life of Pets, which opened over the weekend. Whew!
The week ahead promises more on the comic book and hopefully on Simple Sins. I should also make another query while I'm at it. Not sure if I need to rethink the letter or not. Writing can be so much work.
Most of the week, once again, taken up with the comic book, PowerSquared. Part One is in a landing pattern, but not quite done. It seems like the heavy lifting is over, but there is still a significant amount of work to do. It's almost a little sad, but in a good way. I guess I always get sentimental when things start to wrap up. I was that way with editing Simple Sins.
But the comic book still isn't complete. The lettering is done, at least a first go; the coloring has been completed, though there will need to be corrections; and the artist is working on the cover, we finally came to an agreement on the layout. We're also working on logos: a banner for the cover and what I'm calling a "bug," a simple, hopefully distinctive, visual depiction for the book.
Sat down with the editor and letterer today and went through the book, making a few changes, but nothing too major. We may have a joke that's become dated with time, so we may need to update that and there are a few other minor changes.
Coloring will take more time to go through, as we want to make sure that it's consistent from page to page. Still have to go over it with a fine-toothed comb, so that will be time-consuming. My goal had been to have everything wrapped up by Comic-Con, but I don't think we're going to completely make that. I wasn't planning on showing it to anyone there, but I thought it would make a good deadline.
Finished revising the script for Part Two and once the artist is done with the cover, then we'll start on that.
I also began to work on typing up my edits on Simple Sins. I know there are some rewrites in my future, but I decided to do those as I get to them. Also wanted to have that done by Comic-Con, but I don't think that's likely either.
Published three reviews this week: One for the anniversary of A Hard Day's Night (1964) was what I like to call Stubs Goes Blu(-ray). My normal Saturday morning review was Movie Movie (1978), which just got a home video release in the U.S. Finally, did a review of The Secret Life of Pets, which opened over the weekend. Whew!
The week ahead promises more on the comic book and hopefully on Simple Sins. I should also make another query while I'm at it. Not sure if I need to rethink the letter or not. Writing can be so much work.
Sunday, July 3, 2016
A Week in Writing #97
Holidays are not always the friend of the writer. I know you're thinking all that extra time, but that's not all free and clear. If you're like me, there is family and errands that take up a good deal of the "free" time you supposedly pick up. I'm not travelling or there wouldn't even be time for this. And I'm not one that wants to shirk off responsibilities with family to write; yardwork "yes," family "no."
That said, this has not been a week that has really moved the dial too forward towards my goals. I mean every week is a step, just some are more baby steps than others. Let's start with the things I haven't heard back on: any of the queries or anything more about my show proposal. With no new queries this week, the count and amount remain the same, though one is getting close to going ripe without a response. Next weeks the numbers may change; I can still hope for the better, but experience has taught me otherwise.
While I'm sort of used to the agents not getting back to me, because hey that's how it is, the latter is still new and I'm not sure what to expect; radio silence wasn't one of the options. Not sure what to make of it. With Comic-Con coming soon and the obvious channel involvement in same, I will wait until after before asking again. I'm sort of hoping I'll run into the guy at the Con and can reintroduce myself to him.
Have now finished editing Simple Sins and the script for the second part of PowerSquared, but have felt a little under the weather and haven't actually gotten to making those updates on the computer. Hopefully, I will get some of that time tomorrow, the 4th, but not counting or expecting to get too much done.
The comic book is still in the wrapping up stage. Our artist is working on cover layouts. He sent us two which we passed on and has just sent us a third. We've only started ruminating about it, so it may take a day or so to think about it further. The cover, as you can imagine, is really important. Received page 17 from the colorist, with a promise to get us the last three pages soon. The letterer continues. I hate to say it, but there will be some changes/fine tuning on both fronts when we get to the end.
Finished and published a review of Independence Day (1996) on the anniversary of its release. If the response is any indication, then I can see why the sequel isn't doing better at the box-office. 23 page views are pretty good, I guess for a holiday, though, as a blogger, you always hope for more. Hey, I'm not writing these for my health. My well-being maybe, but health no. Currently working on a review of Movie Movie (1978), which was recently, last week, released on Blu-Ray, after not being out for years for home consumption or any consumption for that matter. About 2400 words into it since watching it on Friday. (Side note: It's hard to find images for the movie. Partly it's because it's been out of the public eye for decades; and partially because any Google search brings back anything that is a movie. Similar problem looking up the title on AFI or IMDb or through a grammar check program like Grammarly; it's not a mistake.)
Looking ahead, and I'm hoping someone will care, in a couple of weeks, I will be attending the oft-mentioned Comic-Con and will write about it upon my return. It may not be a Sunday post, however, depending on a lot of factors. I know, but once you get over the shock, I hope you'll forgive me if it's a day late. And that's still "if."
That said, this has not been a week that has really moved the dial too forward towards my goals. I mean every week is a step, just some are more baby steps than others. Let's start with the things I haven't heard back on: any of the queries or anything more about my show proposal. With no new queries this week, the count and amount remain the same, though one is getting close to going ripe without a response. Next weeks the numbers may change; I can still hope for the better, but experience has taught me otherwise.
While I'm sort of used to the agents not getting back to me, because hey that's how it is, the latter is still new and I'm not sure what to expect; radio silence wasn't one of the options. Not sure what to make of it. With Comic-Con coming soon and the obvious channel involvement in same, I will wait until after before asking again. I'm sort of hoping I'll run into the guy at the Con and can reintroduce myself to him.
Have now finished editing Simple Sins and the script for the second part of PowerSquared, but have felt a little under the weather and haven't actually gotten to making those updates on the computer. Hopefully, I will get some of that time tomorrow, the 4th, but not counting or expecting to get too much done.
The comic book is still in the wrapping up stage. Our artist is working on cover layouts. He sent us two which we passed on and has just sent us a third. We've only started ruminating about it, so it may take a day or so to think about it further. The cover, as you can imagine, is really important. Received page 17 from the colorist, with a promise to get us the last three pages soon. The letterer continues. I hate to say it, but there will be some changes/fine tuning on both fronts when we get to the end.
Finished and published a review of Independence Day (1996) on the anniversary of its release. If the response is any indication, then I can see why the sequel isn't doing better at the box-office. 23 page views are pretty good, I guess for a holiday, though, as a blogger, you always hope for more. Hey, I'm not writing these for my health. My well-being maybe, but health no. Currently working on a review of Movie Movie (1978), which was recently, last week, released on Blu-Ray, after not being out for years for home consumption or any consumption for that matter. About 2400 words into it since watching it on Friday. (Side note: It's hard to find images for the movie. Partly it's because it's been out of the public eye for decades; and partially because any Google search brings back anything that is a movie. Similar problem looking up the title on AFI or IMDb or through a grammar check program like Grammarly; it's not a mistake.)
Looking ahead, and I'm hoping someone will care, in a couple of weeks, I will be attending the oft-mentioned Comic-Con and will write about it upon my return. It may not be a Sunday post, however, depending on a lot of factors. I know, but once you get over the shock, I hope you'll forgive me if it's a day late. And that's still "if."
Sunday, June 26, 2016
A Week in Writing #96
Maybe it's me, but sometimes when I'm editing a book, I start to feel sad when I get towards the end. I'm about ten pages from being done and I'm starting to miss the process already. I'm going to have to do more editing, I know that, but I recognize this feeling in me, a little like getting ready to leave school at the end of the year. Of course, according to that analogy, I have to repeat it the next year. I know there are going to be problems with the book, even after I complete my editing and the rewrite that will follow.
I've been going through trying to tighten the book and fix errors. This version of the book is itself a rewrite as I've changed what had been more of a cold war style story to hopefully a more modern one. I want to say I wrote the first version about 25 years ago and updated it during my "off" work period. The revision doesn't all neatly work, but it's getting there.
Last night, I got to what I think is the best part of the book, the ending. I don't want to give too much away, but I think, even after all these years with the book, that it still works.
The comic book is moving along. The artist delivered the last pages on Tuesday so at least the pencil and inks are done. The artist has also been paid for a cover, though we haven't seen anything yet. My son and editor, Paul, is working on a logo. The colorist delivered page 14 with the promise of more, but that's as much as we've gotten this week from him. Meanwhile, the letterer is up to page 11, so he's about to lap the colorist unless things change quickly. Again, my goal, which is still obtainable, is to have part one of PowerSquared done by Comic-Con. I still think we'll make it.
One of the things that come up from time to time with the letterer is the wordiness of the dialogue. We're constantly having to revise/shorten the dialogue to fit the panels. Another reason I'm happy it's being done close to home. I tend to be wordy and it's my first comic book to write, so I knew this might be an issue. Trying to apply that knowledge, I went through Part Two and tried to see where cuts could be made. Not as painful as you might think, but I hope that it will help things go faster the next time around.
On Saturday, published a review on Trophy Unlocked for International House (1933), a W.C. Fields starrer. The real appeal though was Baby Rose Marie, who was making her feature film debut in the film, singing "My Bluebird's Singing the Blues." Rose Marie would grow up to be Sally Rogers on The Dick Van Dyke Show. I also readied a couple of more reviews for cover. Part of my Comic-Con prep, so to speak. I feel compelled to publish every Saturday morning, so I wanted to be ready.
Working on a review for Independence Day (1996) to coincide with its 20th anniversary on Saturday. I'm about 1400 words into it, so it should be ready.
On the query front, still have five out and within the drop dead date, the agencies say you will hear back from them by if they are interested. (The big if.)
Had some communication this week with a former employee who now writes for Pixel. He was complaining about what he has to write and I was telling him how lucky he was to be making a living doing what he wants to do. I guess it all depends on your perspective.
I've been going through trying to tighten the book and fix errors. This version of the book is itself a rewrite as I've changed what had been more of a cold war style story to hopefully a more modern one. I want to say I wrote the first version about 25 years ago and updated it during my "off" work period. The revision doesn't all neatly work, but it's getting there.
Last night, I got to what I think is the best part of the book, the ending. I don't want to give too much away, but I think, even after all these years with the book, that it still works.
The comic book is moving along. The artist delivered the last pages on Tuesday so at least the pencil and inks are done. The artist has also been paid for a cover, though we haven't seen anything yet. My son and editor, Paul, is working on a logo. The colorist delivered page 14 with the promise of more, but that's as much as we've gotten this week from him. Meanwhile, the letterer is up to page 11, so he's about to lap the colorist unless things change quickly. Again, my goal, which is still obtainable, is to have part one of PowerSquared done by Comic-Con. I still think we'll make it.
One of the things that come up from time to time with the letterer is the wordiness of the dialogue. We're constantly having to revise/shorten the dialogue to fit the panels. Another reason I'm happy it's being done close to home. I tend to be wordy and it's my first comic book to write, so I knew this might be an issue. Trying to apply that knowledge, I went through Part Two and tried to see where cuts could be made. Not as painful as you might think, but I hope that it will help things go faster the next time around.
On Saturday, published a review on Trophy Unlocked for International House (1933), a W.C. Fields starrer. The real appeal though was Baby Rose Marie, who was making her feature film debut in the film, singing "My Bluebird's Singing the Blues." Rose Marie would grow up to be Sally Rogers on The Dick Van Dyke Show. I also readied a couple of more reviews for cover. Part of my Comic-Con prep, so to speak. I feel compelled to publish every Saturday morning, so I wanted to be ready.
Working on a review for Independence Day (1996) to coincide with its 20th anniversary on Saturday. I'm about 1400 words into it, so it should be ready.
On the query front, still have five out and within the drop dead date, the agencies say you will hear back from them by if they are interested. (The big if.)
Had some communication this week with a former employee who now writes for Pixel. He was complaining about what he has to write and I was telling him how lucky he was to be making a living doing what he wants to do. I guess it all depends on your perspective.
Sunday, June 19, 2016
A Week in Writing #95
On Saturday, sat down to send some queries, deciding to go with agents using Online forms. Not sure why, but those seem to be the most forgiving. However, I managed to make the cardinal sin of querying, a mistake. I reused a query letter I had already written in one of the online forms, but didn't realize that it mentioned embedding five pages, when that's not what I was doing. Oops! Sent a follow up form email to the agent who has a contact me form, apologizing for the amateurish error, so we'll see. All the comments I read about him made it sound like he was a super agent, so I guess I'm putting that to the test.
Querying is a process I really hate, since I figure one mistake and I'm toast. Not sure if that's true or not, but I'm sure they're looking for any excuse not to read a query. "Why he's not embedding five pages" might be enough. You never know. We'll see if I get a response.
Started using a different query letter. One agency asked for specific items in their form, so I started to use that query letter. Honestly, I feel like, even though there is help out there, that I'm flying blind when it comes to query letters. I don't have enough time to personalize each one and I haven't read enough books to say "I'm a big fan of _________ __________ whom you represent". Sorry I can't make them feel better about themselves (see prior blog entry for reference.)
Found out two agents I've been thinking about querying were not right. To begin with, one that QueryTracker shows as General Fiction is in fact looking for Children's Fiction, sort of a big difference. Not really right for the murder mystery of Public and Private, so he's off my list. The other seemed to disappear. Not only is she no longer on QueryTracker, but she's no longer on the agency's website. I guess she decided that agenting wasn't the right business for her. Not enough feel good queries I guess.
I'm also giving a couple of agents who never responded to previous queries a second chance. One has ignored me twice as a matter of fact, but hey I'm a glutton for pain or else I wouldn't want to write. I hope they're giving me the same second or third opportunity I'm giving them. Make the most of it, please.
So, the count and the amount. I've not sent out six queries for Public and Private with five active, no rejections, but one Did Not Respond (DNR).
In other writing, the comic book is still moving forward. The colorist is up to page 13, the letterer is up to page 7 and the artist is just about done with his work. Signed the letterer to a contract this week, to make it all official and worked on an addendum to the artist agreement for the cover, though I haven't sent it yet. The reason is our artist sort of disappeared on us for about a week, that is we didn't hear from him after raising the concept, so I didn't want to send it to him without hearing from him. He did reappear Saturday night, so we're getting closer to wrapping that up as well.
I find that the most frustrating thing about the project is the not hearing back from people in a timely manner. I guess that's the part of the whole writing process I find frustrating; when you work with someone else, be it an agent query, or an editor, or a artist, writing to someone and not hearing back within a reasonable amount of time. Love it or hate it, but write me back.
Another case in point is the project I pitched to Comic-Con HQ, back in November. All the communication has been me writing them and then getting a response back with a vague reason why we're not talking. The last flurry was about a month ago and then the promise was after the beta launch we'll talk. Launch made, still no communication. I decided to try and different tact and called the development guy on Friday morning and left him a voicemail as a follow up and trying to set up some more definitive time to meet, even if it's after SDCC, which I'm assuming is the next hurdle to cross for them; the actual launch of the site as a paying SVOD channel. Naturally, there was no response by the end of the day. And I'm sure there are about a million reasons why I didn't, but still isn't it polite business etiquette to return calls?
Managed to get some more editing done on Simple Sins. The end is sort of in sight. I think I've got about 100 pages still to go before I sit down behind the computer with the manuscript. I try to work on it when I get a free moment.
Posted a Saturday morning review on Trophy Unlocked of Up The River (1930) an early John Ford sound film, starring Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bogart in their first credited film performances. I had written this after "Movie Day," my family's unofficial name for the day after Christmas, when we watch four to five movies. I was spurred on to finally publish it when I learned last weekend that the woman who cut my hair was the great granddaughter of the director. Small world. Also wrote a review of Finding Dory, which we saw as a family on Father's Day. Don't want to let an opportunity go by.
Querying is a process I really hate, since I figure one mistake and I'm toast. Not sure if that's true or not, but I'm sure they're looking for any excuse not to read a query. "Why he's not embedding five pages" might be enough. You never know. We'll see if I get a response.
Started using a different query letter. One agency asked for specific items in their form, so I started to use that query letter. Honestly, I feel like, even though there is help out there, that I'm flying blind when it comes to query letters. I don't have enough time to personalize each one and I haven't read enough books to say "I'm a big fan of _________ __________ whom you represent". Sorry I can't make them feel better about themselves (see prior blog entry for reference.)
Found out two agents I've been thinking about querying were not right. To begin with, one that QueryTracker shows as General Fiction is in fact looking for Children's Fiction, sort of a big difference. Not really right for the murder mystery of Public and Private, so he's off my list. The other seemed to disappear. Not only is she no longer on QueryTracker, but she's no longer on the agency's website. I guess she decided that agenting wasn't the right business for her. Not enough feel good queries I guess.
I'm also giving a couple of agents who never responded to previous queries a second chance. One has ignored me twice as a matter of fact, but hey I'm a glutton for pain or else I wouldn't want to write. I hope they're giving me the same second or third opportunity I'm giving them. Make the most of it, please.
So, the count and the amount. I've not sent out six queries for Public and Private with five active, no rejections, but one Did Not Respond (DNR).
In other writing, the comic book is still moving forward. The colorist is up to page 13, the letterer is up to page 7 and the artist is just about done with his work. Signed the letterer to a contract this week, to make it all official and worked on an addendum to the artist agreement for the cover, though I haven't sent it yet. The reason is our artist sort of disappeared on us for about a week, that is we didn't hear from him after raising the concept, so I didn't want to send it to him without hearing from him. He did reappear Saturday night, so we're getting closer to wrapping that up as well.
I find that the most frustrating thing about the project is the not hearing back from people in a timely manner. I guess that's the part of the whole writing process I find frustrating; when you work with someone else, be it an agent query, or an editor, or a artist, writing to someone and not hearing back within a reasonable amount of time. Love it or hate it, but write me back.
Another case in point is the project I pitched to Comic-Con HQ, back in November. All the communication has been me writing them and then getting a response back with a vague reason why we're not talking. The last flurry was about a month ago and then the promise was after the beta launch we'll talk. Launch made, still no communication. I decided to try and different tact and called the development guy on Friday morning and left him a voicemail as a follow up and trying to set up some more definitive time to meet, even if it's after SDCC, which I'm assuming is the next hurdle to cross for them; the actual launch of the site as a paying SVOD channel. Naturally, there was no response by the end of the day. And I'm sure there are about a million reasons why I didn't, but still isn't it polite business etiquette to return calls?
Managed to get some more editing done on Simple Sins. The end is sort of in sight. I think I've got about 100 pages still to go before I sit down behind the computer with the manuscript. I try to work on it when I get a free moment.
Posted a Saturday morning review on Trophy Unlocked of Up The River (1930) an early John Ford sound film, starring Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bogart in their first credited film performances. I had written this after "Movie Day," my family's unofficial name for the day after Christmas, when we watch four to five movies. I was spurred on to finally publish it when I learned last weekend that the woman who cut my hair was the great granddaughter of the director. Small world. Also wrote a review of Finding Dory, which we saw as a family on Father's Day. Don't want to let an opportunity go by.
Sunday, June 12, 2016
A Week in Writing #94
Well, it's one up and one down as far my queries have gone. Not that I heard back from the agent, but I didn't hear back at all within their time frame. This way, I don't know if I didn't connect with him or he didn't have a chance to read it, or, and I'm just throwing this out there, he's dead. I don't like this about the email age of queries. At least with SASE, the agent feels compelled to send you a form letter back if they do reject you.
One of things I try not to do with this blog is give too much advice on writing, I do from time to time mention something that I've found helpful or not, but I don't have any experience that other would-be authors haven't either. But there are a lot of people out there who want to give you advice. Most recently, I came across "The 5 Mistakes CausingYour Query Letter to Be Rejected". I'm not trying to advertise this, but I thought it couldn't hurt, so I read it.
I especially liked #2 on the list of five: "Imagine you’re a literary agent. You’ve just arrived back in the office from a lunch with a publisher who kept checking their phone the entire time. As you sit at your desk, you wonder if you should give up this agenting racket altogether. You open your inbox to find a new query in which the author read three other books you represented and has something that is exactly to your taste. Of course you request a sample. By querying you in particular, you feel validated in your career. You feel like you matter." I never realized agents' egos were so fragile. I'm supposed to spend a lot of time writing an agent a-you-should-feel-good-about-yourself-letter with the hopes that they might reply to me. Oh, and usually they don't, which makes me feel like I don't matter. Where's the make-me-feel-good-about-being-a-writer reciprocal? Or at least an acknowledgement that I've queried you.
Maybe it's just me, but I find querying to take a lot of time. I did do a second query on Public and Private on Friday and even though it was an online form, it still took me about an hour to do it. It's all about trying to put your best foot forward and, now of course, making the agent feel good about their chosen profession. It's all the second guessing yourself that seems to take all the time. As an example, they asked for a bio to go with the first 50 pages. I hadn't updated my bio in about a year or so, so I was concerned was it too long? Am I saying too much? Am I aging myself to this agent? Will they think that if I have a real job I should give up on this fantasy about writing for a living?
The important take away here is that I did do another query. I chose this agent because they were supposed to be building a roster and they seemed to handle the sort of genre I'm writing in. The online aspect was also intriguing. I ended up sending 47 out of the first 50 pages, since it was the end of a chapter. I'm never sure if they want an incomplete chapter or not. There are no real guides to go by, since every agent really has their own way they want things done. You have to throw yourself out there and see what, if anything, sticks.
A little work was done on the comic book. Waited all week and got two pages from the artist and one page from the colorist. Found a change I wanted the artist to make and I avoided the back and forth about paying for the change by offering to do up front. The pencil and ink differed just enough from the layout that the meaning of the panel changed. Didn't catch the change or think about it between the layout and the pencil, so it's sort of my fault, at least to get us to the end, I'll say it is.
Our letterer started and we're about four pages into the story. He's doing about a page a day, which is good. I wish the other artists were as diligent.
Still working on editing Simple Sins. I'm really shocked at how much needs to be done. A little embarrassed that it's not better than it is. It was the first of the J.D. Barrister books I had written and over time I changed the story. I've got about 140 pages still to go before I sit down and do the heavy re-writing.
Wrote and published a review over the week for the 1933 Alice in Wonderland. Originally a Paramount film, it's now available on Universal's Home Entertainment, but if you read the review, this is one you can skip.
One of things I try not to do with this blog is give too much advice on writing, I do from time to time mention something that I've found helpful or not, but I don't have any experience that other would-be authors haven't either. But there are a lot of people out there who want to give you advice. Most recently, I came across "The 5 Mistakes CausingYour Query Letter to Be Rejected". I'm not trying to advertise this, but I thought it couldn't hurt, so I read it.
I especially liked #2 on the list of five: "Imagine you’re a literary agent. You’ve just arrived back in the office from a lunch with a publisher who kept checking their phone the entire time. As you sit at your desk, you wonder if you should give up this agenting racket altogether. You open your inbox to find a new query in which the author read three other books you represented and has something that is exactly to your taste. Of course you request a sample. By querying you in particular, you feel validated in your career. You feel like you matter." I never realized agents' egos were so fragile. I'm supposed to spend a lot of time writing an agent a-you-should-feel-good-about-yourself-letter with the hopes that they might reply to me. Oh, and usually they don't, which makes me feel like I don't matter. Where's the make-me-feel-good-about-being-a-writer reciprocal? Or at least an acknowledgement that I've queried you.
Maybe it's just me, but I find querying to take a lot of time. I did do a second query on Public and Private on Friday and even though it was an online form, it still took me about an hour to do it. It's all about trying to put your best foot forward and, now of course, making the agent feel good about their chosen profession. It's all the second guessing yourself that seems to take all the time. As an example, they asked for a bio to go with the first 50 pages. I hadn't updated my bio in about a year or so, so I was concerned was it too long? Am I saying too much? Am I aging myself to this agent? Will they think that if I have a real job I should give up on this fantasy about writing for a living?
The important take away here is that I did do another query. I chose this agent because they were supposed to be building a roster and they seemed to handle the sort of genre I'm writing in. The online aspect was also intriguing. I ended up sending 47 out of the first 50 pages, since it was the end of a chapter. I'm never sure if they want an incomplete chapter or not. There are no real guides to go by, since every agent really has their own way they want things done. You have to throw yourself out there and see what, if anything, sticks.
A little work was done on the comic book. Waited all week and got two pages from the artist and one page from the colorist. Found a change I wanted the artist to make and I avoided the back and forth about paying for the change by offering to do up front. The pencil and ink differed just enough from the layout that the meaning of the panel changed. Didn't catch the change or think about it between the layout and the pencil, so it's sort of my fault, at least to get us to the end, I'll say it is.
Our letterer started and we're about four pages into the story. He's doing about a page a day, which is good. I wish the other artists were as diligent.
Still working on editing Simple Sins. I'm really shocked at how much needs to be done. A little embarrassed that it's not better than it is. It was the first of the J.D. Barrister books I had written and over time I changed the story. I've got about 140 pages still to go before I sit down and do the heavy re-writing.
Wrote and published a review over the week for the 1933 Alice in Wonderland. Originally a Paramount film, it's now available on Universal's Home Entertainment, but if you read the review, this is one you can skip.
Sunday, June 5, 2016
A Week in Writing #93
Well, not a red letter week for writing, with insomnia taking a toll. A couple of mornings this past week it was all I could do to get up let alone be creative at 6 in the morning. It was so bad that I was up at two on the first tweeting out about films that had come out on that date in the past, something I would have done later in the morning.
The lack of sleep is something that dogs me from time to time and there are definitely better days and weeks than others. This past week was not a good one for me from that point of view. And not only does the morning suffer, but so do the nights.
Unhappily, the nights have not been encumbered by too much work on the comic book. Deliveries have been slow at least from my end. That's not to say that there hasn't been some progress, but not as much as I or we would want. I sort of threw down the gauntlet challenging the artist, colorist and letterer to complete part one by Comic-Con, which is July 20th, so hopefully the pace will quicken. The downside of the artist and colorist being offshore is that it's hard to rally the troops so to speak. I can't pick up the phone and call them as an example. And there is the time difference since as I write this it is really tomorrow where they are.
Did make some progress on the rewrite of Simple Sins, meaning I've gotten through the first 220 pages with edits and I have printed out the rest, though I have yet to start into those pages as of this writing. I also started to make some notes on a new comic book based on our recent escape room experience.
No new queries and nothing new to report on the one that I've submitted. I don't know if it's too soon or the agent, a "he", doesn't like it. That's what I hate about the "only if we're interested" clause with queries to many agents nowadays.
Did manage to publish a Saturday morning review on Trophy Unlocked for Three Men in White (1944) and did begin work on a new one for Alice in Wonderland (1933), an early live-action version of the film.
For the coming week, I'm hoping to get my sleep in order and hopefully get more productive as a result. I need to send out more queries, as no one is going to "find" me if I don't.
The lack of sleep is something that dogs me from time to time and there are definitely better days and weeks than others. This past week was not a good one for me from that point of view. And not only does the morning suffer, but so do the nights.
Unhappily, the nights have not been encumbered by too much work on the comic book. Deliveries have been slow at least from my end. That's not to say that there hasn't been some progress, but not as much as I or we would want. I sort of threw down the gauntlet challenging the artist, colorist and letterer to complete part one by Comic-Con, which is July 20th, so hopefully the pace will quicken. The downside of the artist and colorist being offshore is that it's hard to rally the troops so to speak. I can't pick up the phone and call them as an example. And there is the time difference since as I write this it is really tomorrow where they are.
Did make some progress on the rewrite of Simple Sins, meaning I've gotten through the first 220 pages with edits and I have printed out the rest, though I have yet to start into those pages as of this writing. I also started to make some notes on a new comic book based on our recent escape room experience.
No new queries and nothing new to report on the one that I've submitted. I don't know if it's too soon or the agent, a "he", doesn't like it. That's what I hate about the "only if we're interested" clause with queries to many agents nowadays.
Did manage to publish a Saturday morning review on Trophy Unlocked for Three Men in White (1944) and did begin work on a new one for Alice in Wonderland (1933), an early live-action version of the film.
For the coming week, I'm hoping to get my sleep in order and hopefully get more productive as a result. I need to send out more queries, as no one is going to "find" me if I don't.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)