Weekly Wrap-Up and Crusader Biz(ness)

Ok, I know it's Tuesday, but wow, what a week everyone!!! Where do I even start...

My Following Peeps

Hmm, with you, I think. So many new people have come on board Rach Writes... and I have to say a huge welcome and thank you for following (*jumps up and down*). I can't wait to get to know you all better. So drop by any time, leave me a comment or seven, and I'll make sure I do the same with your blogs as well.

100 Followers

Did you see, did you see? I reached 100 followers (WOOT!!!). Congratulations go to Hart Johnson at Confessions of a Watery Tart for being my 100th follower. I'm still laughing after reading some of Hart's posts, so make sure you check her out!

I was planning on having a 100 followers contest, but instead I'll just have to do an extra special 150 followers contest. In the meantime though, I'd love to interview you for The Insider Scoop, Hart, as a little prize. Just shoot me an email (address in the Contact Me page above) if you're interested. Can't wait for you to spread the nakedness around Rach Writes... (aha, that's got you all interested hasn't it!)

Writers' Platform-Building Crusade

If you haven't already checked out my Writers' Platform-Building Crusade, pop up to my new pages at the top of my blog. There's been such a fantastic response, and would you believe there are well over 30 Crusaders now (check out the List of Crusaders page near the top of my blog).

I love seeing you all meet each other, and it's fantastic to see so many people visiting their fellow Crusaders and commenting so often.

First Page Blog Fest

I took part in Elle Strauss's First Page Blog Fest last weekend. Had a fantastic time and met heaps of lovely people. I really enjoyed reading everyone's first pages. Here's the link to my first page of FROM THE OTHER SIDE if you'd like to check it out.

First Crusader Challenge

Woot, what a great challenge we all had!!! Check out the entries by the finalists here if you haven't already.

And the winner of the First Crusader Challenge is (*drumroll*)...the lovely Rachel Morgan over at Rachel Morgan Writes. Pop over to her blog and have a read of her poem - how cool is the ending (and I love how well she incorporated the random words in her poem)!

I'll be interviewing Rachel next Monday, October 25 for The Insider Scoop, so make sure you visit and have a read.

Second Crusader Challenge

(*Drumroll*) Coming on Friday. Stay tuned...

Crusader Biz(ness)

Crusaders, we've had heaps of new peeps join, so make sure you update your blog rolls or sidebar links to include our new friends. Also, a reminder to blog and/or tweet about the Crusade if you haven't yet.

Would all Crusaders please check out your names and links in the List of Crusaders page above, and let me know if there are any errors that I need to fix. If you look on my sidebar, you could pop that picture on your own blogs and link back to my Crusader pages now they're here to stay.

The Insider Scoop

I posted my third interview with Caitie Flum for The Insider Scoop. Check it out here if you haven't already, there's heaps of insider info, including some little secrets about the submissions process that I hadn't heard about before...

Awards

Thanks to so many wonderful people for giving me such lovely blogging awards. Here is my post where I thanked everyone who gave them to me, and I've popped them up on a new blog page as well.

I promise to pass on those awards soon.

And thanks to Erica and Christy over at Erica and Christy for giving me the Happy 101 (which we've christened "The Sweet Friends") Award. The girls both rock, so make sure you pop over and say hi from me!!!

Twitter Tip Thursday

Every Thursday I post a list of useful links that I've come across during the week on Twitter. Check out last Thursday's post here. I've even sorted them out to make it easier to find what interests you.

Phew, what a monumentally long post. That's all for now, can't wait to see what the week ahead brings.

The Insider Scoop – Interview with Caitie Flum, ex-agent intern and proofreader (Part 3)

Welcome to The Insider Scoop, where I’ll be bringing you interviews, useful tips and tricks, and all sorts of insightful information from those deep within the children's book industry.

Today, we continue our interview with Caitie Flum, an ex- agent intern with Hachette Book Group and Writers House, and a proofreader in the medical industry.

This interview has been posted in three parts as follows:

• Part 1 – a day in the life of an agent intern (here)
• Part 2 –evaluating queries (the inner workings of a literary agency) (here)
• Part 3 – the specific things that agent interns report on when assessing queries/manuscript submissions for a literary agent, plus more about queries (today)

So, onto the final part this interview…

Question 5 - What information concerning a query/manuscript submission do you put in a report to the literary agent? [Out of curiosity, do you have a standard checklist that you compare against - if so, is this something you can share with us?]

I don't have a checklist, but I will give you an overview of the things I included.

Query:

Usually if anything beyond decision it would be underlining things I loved or a quick sentence about the book's greatness.

Rach: First impressions so do count!

Partial:

• Reaction after first 5-10 pages.
• If there was any character development in first 50. So many partials have just action, action, action and nothing to develop who the character is or their motivations. Character is so important (especially in YA and MG) and if the writer hasn’t made it a priority in the partial, it is an issue.
• Impression of main and side characters.
• Any major issues I saw.
• After 50 did I need more?
  

Rach: That’s interesting. “Need more” vs “want more” or “wouldn’t mind looking at more.” Seems a much higher test that needs to be passed!

Full:

This was always the longest because this is what the agent would see, or, more likely the foundation for my editorial letter to the author (which made me very nervous).

• I would include everything from the partial.
• Lots of time on major issues with suggestions on how to fix overall quality of writing (it is easier to fix an okay story than an okay writer).
• Analysis of market and how well it is written with market in mind.
• What I think the hook is.

Question 6 - What causes you to automatically reject a query/manuscript submission? Is there anything in particular we should avoid saying/doing when submitting a query?

• Too much voice in the query, like I said before it is usually covering up for bad writing or story.
• Sending us a query for a genre/type of book we don't do at all.
• Comparing self to blockbusters (Twilight, Harry Potter). Comparing is fine, but find something that wasn't a smash, it shows you actually know your competition.
• Trashing a book we represented. It didn't happen to me, but Jodi Reamer was upstairs and she would get queries trashing Twilight all the time. Guys...she represented it. She helped it make a ton of money. Even if you don't like it, don't bash things she worked on then claim yours is better thinking she will want yours!
• Too many errors. I forgave a typo or two, but grammatical errors or too many typos showed laziness.
• People talking about more than one project in one query. Just don't.

Rach: Great advice Caitie, thanks!

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Well, that wraps up this interview with Caitie Flum. Thank you so much for sharing your insights into this world with us.

A final word from Caitie… I have a book blog where I also discuss the publishing world at caitieflum.wordpress.com. If you look on that blog, you will see I am currently accepting queries/partials from writers who want a critique. I will give you what I gave the assistant.

And stay tuned next Monday, October 25, where I'll be interviewing the winner of our First Crusader Challenge (announcement of results to follow shortly).

So many awards by so many cool peeps (aw you guys!!!)

So, as promised, here are all the wonderful blogging awards I’ve been given over the past few weeks, and my lovely blogging friends who awarded them to me. Make sure you go check them out!

Cherry On Top Award

Tessa Quin (The Quest for a Literary Agent and BookAways)
Ishta Mercurio (Musings of a Restless Mind)







One Lovely Blog Award

Tessa Quin (The Quest for a Literary Agent and BookAways)
Project Freya (Project Freya)
Quinn (Seeing, Dreaming…Writing)
Erica and Christy (Erica and Christy)
Melissa Gill (Melissa Getting Published)
Catherine Johnson (Kangaroobee’s Blog)
Jessica Stanford (Girl, Unpublished)





The Versatile Blogger Award

Tessa Quin (The Quest for a Literary Agent and BookAways)











Happy 101 Award

Quinn (Seeing, Dreaming…Writing)
Rachel Morgan (Rachel Morgan Writes)










Thank you so much you guys. You all rock!!!

Now, there are some "rules" for these Blog Awards (how fun is that!), and I'll pass them on here:

The Versatile Blogger Award Rules:

1. Thank and link back to the person that gave you the award.
2. Share seven things about yourself.
3. Pass the award to fifteen bloggers that you think deserve it.
4. Lastly, contact all of the bloggers that you’ve picked for the award.

One Lovely Blog Award Rules:

1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.
2. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered.
3. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

The Cherry On Top Award Rules:

1. Thank the one who awarded it
2. Answer a question: If I had the chance to go back and change one thing in my life, would I, and what would it be?
3. Choose up to 6 people to pass on the award to!

The Happy 101 Award Rules:

1. Thank the person who gave me the award.
2. List ten things that I love.
3. Pass the award on to (up to) six other people.

So this post doesn't get too long, I’ll post separately my answers to these questions. And…I’ll also post separately to give my own awards to some deserving friends/fellow bloggers/internet peeps. So stay tuned…

First Page Blog Fest

Today I’m participating in Elle Strauss’s First Page Blog Fest.

Here are the first 250-words from my YA Horror/Paranormal manuscript, FROM THE OTHER SIDE.

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When I woke, with a splitting headache and pain slashing through my body, things had changed. They had brought another victim.

I strained to see the girl through grainy eyes. My heart pounded, rocketing away in all directions in my too-tight chest. A drum solo emphasizing my frantic thoughts.

No. No. No.

The girl lay beside me, just out of reach. Battered. Bruised. Naked. Ragged patches of blood smeared parts of her body, shadowing the small of her back and defining the curve of her hip.

Wait…the shape of her body…it couldn’t be. Could it? My head felt like it was cemented to the ground, but I managed to lift it slightly. To see the girl better. I breathed a sigh of relief when my eyes came to rest on her matted dark hair. It was closer to mine in color than to Audrey’s bottle-blonde. I should’ve known better. My sister still lay in hospital, breathing through that awful tube shoved down her throat. There was no way this girl could be her.

She lay so still. I tried to reach toward her, tried to see if she was all right, but my own body refused my commands. My head collapsed back to the ground with a painful thud. I needed to rest.

My ragged breathing slowed. Softened. There was no other sound. The silence pressed down on me, growing louder and louder, echoing in my eardrums.

Time slithered away from me as I lay there. A giant hourglass poised in the air above my head. Waiting to fall and smash me to bits when the last grain of sand trickled through.

When will they return?

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Hope you all enjoyed reading, would love to hear what you think. I’m currently neck-deep in revisions for this manuscript, and plan to begin the submission process very soon.

To check out the other participants in this blog fest, click here.

Twitter Tip Thursday

Here are some of the tips and useful links that I've come across on Twitter this week:

Trends:

There will always been room for well-written books. Don't worry about trends, you can't control those @CA_Marshall

Querying

Don't have someone else send your subs for you: usually, they don't follow guidelines, which means automatic no... @Natalie_Fischer

New on the blog: Intern Tips, edited and consolidated. http://bit.ly/bSjAEy @SammyBina

From the archives: Advice for those pondering the "reassurance query" http://ow.ly/2O0QP @Kid_Lit

Revising:

For those of you embroiled in editing your manuscripts: http://yfrog.com/6ta4bvnj

My blog readers have provided tons of great writing advice in the comments to today's post! Check it out: http://bit.ly/b99ANE @RachelleGardner

On writing:

Exhaustive list of sites and links from @HeatherKephart - Resources: Writing for Kids: http://bit.ly/bkW7Yy @jafhedlund

"Are there really that many people writing books out there?" Yes. But don't worry about that. blog.nathanbransford.com/2010/10/are-th… @NathanBransford

From the archives: The challenge of #writing what you can't. http://ow.ly/1WeBw @Kid_Lit

Ann Patchett on plot WSJ.com - The Primacy of Plot http://on.wsj.com/aB9mGW @jafhedlund

The elements of a Successful Series: http://scribechat.com/archives/2860 @gracefuldoe

6 THINGS YOU LOSE WHEN WRITING A NOVEL: http://stiryourtea.blogspot.com/2010/10/6-things-you-lose-when-writing-novel.html @thmafi

An writer's perspective on why it's a good idea to focus on a genre rather than jumping around: http://bit.ly/cbnvwG @RachelleGardner

How to Wow an Editor with Your Book http://ingridsnotes.wordpress.com/2010/05/03/how-to-wow-an-editor-with-your-book/ @AngelaPenaDahle

Keeping Ourselves & Our Stories as Pliable as Clay: http://bit.ly/9IMMiq @JodyHedlund

The Great Unsaid (A Study of Show vs. Tell): http://bit.ly/aVXtKS @jennwwrites

For writers: Learning by doing (or the importance of story arc) http://bit.ly/d5B5Ge @alexisgrant

The Dark Side of Writing http://nblo.gs/90Ks3 @ElanaJ

3 Ways to Have a Shot at a Best Seller http://bit.ly/clRCp0 (via @MichaelHyatt) @JodyHedlund

Planning for #NaNoWriMo? My latest Novel Design post: Plot Structure http://awe.sm/5BakP @iapetus999

Beginnings, Endings, and that Saggy Middle. What to do. http://awe.sm/5Bkrx @iapetus999

Social Media Savvy: The Art Of Making Others Feel Welcome http://bit.ly/atqyZB (via @KristenLambTX) @JodyHedlund

Agents

We talk a lot about #writerfail or #queryfail. What about #agentfail? http://bit.ly/djGA6o @wendylawton

In case you ever have to fire your agent - here's how: http://bit.ly/czrCe1 @RachelleGardner

Dealing with Rejection

Author Lindsey Lane on the rattle of rejection: http://bit.ly/9Qojb8 @CynLeitichSmith

Top Tip - Keeping Track of Queries

I recently wrote a Top Tip post about Creating a Query Database. As I discussed in that post, there are so many things to take into account when you're going through the query process, and I've found it helps to be organized right from the start.

Rachel Kent from Books & Such Literary Agency wrote a great blog post on keeping track of queries, which gives a literary agency perspective. Check out the post here.

Rachel makes a couple of particularly good points:

• If you’re consistently receiving the same feedback on a query, proposal or manuscript, and you’ve kept track of it, you’ll easily notice the pattern of rejections and make a change.
• Keeping track of query submission dates is becoming increasingly important because more and more houses and agencies are not sending rejection replies.
• If you don’t hear from the agency or publishing house within 8 weeks or so, you should write to check on your proposal. Only do this for requested proposals and manuscripts and not for unsolicited query letters.

Here's one piece of advice that I hadn't even thought of, and you may not have either:

Never count on being able to find an email again. Emails are known to get lost–computers crash, things are accidentally deleted or can be forgotten. Keep files with important emails and information.
I'll also add this:

The general view seems to be that you should only query an agent once per manuscript where a partial or a full manuscript was requested, unless a period of time (eg 6 months) has gone by and the manuscript has been significantly revised. I'll be writing a post on this issue at a later date. The thing is, you don't want to embarrass yourself by querying an agent if you've already queried and then re-queried. Also, some agencies have a "no from one agent is a no from the agency as a whole" policy. So it's really important to keep track of when the query was sent, which agent you queried, whether you can query other agents at a particular agency, and whether you've re-queried a particular agent (and the date of that re-query).

Also consider keeping a record of the particular draft of your manuscript that you submitted, so you can track this at a later date.

Definitely something to think about...

Do you have a query database? How do you keep track of your queries? Do you rely on your email history for your data?

First Crusader Challenge Wrap-Up (Vote For The Winner)…

It’s time for the wrap-up of our First Crusader Challenge (woot!). For those of you who haven’t yet heard about my Writers’ Platform-Building Crusade, check it out here. We’d love you to join in the fun.

The Challenge rules were simple: Write a Crusader Challenge post beginning with the phrase, "I sat down to write the other day and..." Bonus points were awarded for use of the random words “quidditch,” “Mars,” and “elephant.” Check out the full rules and points to be won in my post on the First Crusader Challenge here.

And the prize: an interview with me for The Insider Scoop, where I share interviews, useful tips and tricks, and all sorts of insightful information from those deep within the children's book industry (here’s a past interview for The Insider Scoop if you want to check it out).

It’s amazing how many different types of posts we had in this Challenge. Some were humorous, some inspirational, some educational, and others revealed a little something about the Crusaders themselves.

And I’m so impressed by how seamlessly some of the Crusaders used the random words in their posts. I know many of their followers read right to the end of the post before they even realized the words had been deliberately fitted into the piece of writing.

For anyone who'd like to check out the entries, here is a list of those who took part but didn’t score the full amount of points:

Rachael Harrie (Rach Writes…)
Patricia A. Timms (Simplicity in Volumes)
Erica and Christy (Erica and Christy)
Serena (I See You See)

The Shortlist of Winners

The maximum amount of points that could be received was 200, and here is the list of those who scored top marks, in random order (I’ve disqualified myself from winning the prize):

Marieke (Marieke’s Musings)
Rachel Morgan (Rachel Morgan Writes)
Tessa Quin (The Quest For A Literary Agent)
Alison Stevens (Wistful Wanderings)
Quinn (Seeing, Dreaming…Writing)
Megan Bickel (The Write-At-Home-Mom)
Angela Pena Dahle (A Pen In Neverland)
Su (Cheekyness)
Miles McG (An Author’s Quest)

And now to the voting… Check out the posts in the above shortlist (yeah, I guess it’s not that short, but honestly, I couldn’t decide between all these cool posts enough to narrow it down further). Then come back here and leave a comment telling who you think should win the prize. It’s up to you how you choose the winner; it may be the funniest, most inspirational, wackiest, best use of the random words, or some other criteria. To be fair, no voting for yourself!

I can’t wait to see what you think. Voting will run until 11.59pm on Friday 15 October, after which I’ll announce the winner. I’ll make the final decision if there’s an inconclusive result or a tie.

(*holds breath and wonders who the winner will be*)

A confession (ssh, don't tell anyone!) and a promise...

I have a tiny little confession to make (*hangs head in shame*).

I've received so many fantastic awards over the last few weeks, and...gasp!...I haven't yet gotten around to thanking all the wonderful people who've given them to me. You see, I had high hopes of posting about each award individually and thanking the lovely person who awarded it to me, as well as complying with the award instructions, and passing the awards on to other deserving peeps. Sadly, reality (and the busy-ness of my life) has intruded and given me a sharp smack on the hand.

Soooo, this brings me to my promise.

I'm going to do one SUPER-SIZED post thanking everyone for the awards I've received and giving out my own awards. And I want you all to keep me on track and hold me to my promise, so nag me if my post isn't up within the week (or so).

Ok? Promise? (Tee hee, you didn't think I was the only one promising stuff did you?)

What things do you just keep putting off? How do you go about prioritizing everything on your To Do list?

Do you feel guilty when you can't manage to fit everything into a day?

And why does the day only have 24 hours in it anyway?

Take Your Main Character On A Date Blog Fest

I looked around the crowded restaurant, searching yet again for a glimpse of Verity's black-dyed hair. She would be wearing her favorite dress, lacy and flowing, with black velvet material and purple ribbons. My favorite as well.

My eyes searched over and over again. Anything to avoid looking at my watch on the table. It glared up at me, reminding me with every tick that Verity was late.

Tick. I can't stand this.

Tick. I've already waited an hour. Should I wait some more? Everyone's staring at me. Is that pity in their eyes?

I love her so much.

Maybe if I'd told her how I feel about her...

Tick.

After another hour, I finally had to accept she wasn't coming. I beckoned the waiter and pushed my chair out from the table, trying not to take out my frustrations on the flimsy wood. It was then that I heard the murmur, travelling through the restaurant, gaining momentum as it pelted toward me.

"Did you hear?"

"What? What's happened?"

"Oh my God!"

"She's dead?"

"How..."

"Why...?"

"When...?"

I hovered, somewhere between sitting and standing, as my heart plummeted through my body and hit the ground with a smash. It was made of glass after all. So fragile. Shattered.

I knew, deep within every cell of my body, even before my mind understood the whispers. I would never see her again.

I could never tell her how much she meant to me.

"Verity." I whispered her name, not even sure whether anyone heard me.

Somehow, I managed to reach the street. I stood there, shoulders hunched, with no memory of how I'd made it through the restaurant. Had I crunched the pieces of my shattered heart as I walked?

A new round of whispers. No more, please.

It was the only thing people were talking about.

One word. Ringing in my ears. Getting louder and louder with each repetition. I couldn't shut it out. Couldn't stop it.

I jammed my hands over my ears. Squeezed my eyes tightly shut. But still the word found me, engraving itself deep into my brain. Screaming at me over and over again.

MURDERED.

She was only seventeen. And I'd never even kissed her.

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I've had so much fun writing this post. While not an actual excerpt from my manuscript FROM THE OTHER SIDE, it does give a little insight into Luke's feelings for Verity. Plus a tiny sneak peek into the plotline of my story (even if it does only touch about 1% of the surface!!!)

This blog fest was started over at Erica and Christy - great idea guys - so head over and check it out...

Twitter Tip Thursday

Thought I would try something different today and share some of the tips and useful links that I've come across on Twitter this week. So here goes:


Trends:

• For YA, dystopias remain king @Ginger_Clark
  
• Other kids updates: people want middle grade more than last year. Contemporary YA girls books, too @Ginger_Clark
  

Finding an agent:

• In today's "closed-to-queries" climate, how can writers get agents? A few tips: http://bit.ly/d7BMgl @JodyHedlund
• How to pick an agent if you write for multiple audiences http://ow.ly/2PixF @Kid_Lit
  
• "The world of children's literature is packed with promise and savvy literary agents." http://bit.ly/aC2JIP Top 20 PB Agents... @KatApel

Blogging:

• http://bit.ly/clAJhR Gr8t post for the crusaders!!! @AngelaPenaDahle
• 3 Reasons To Start Blogging Before a Book Contract: http://bit.ly/cycgyZ @JodyHedlund

On being a writer:

• I think confidence is important to one's craft. Fear--of offending, of criticism, of failing--cripples your creativity @DiaReeves

Writing tips:

• Consider the names you give your characters. Some hard to pronounce names can be a distraction @Georgia_McBride
• Try to define your story in 2-3 sentences. If you cannot, you are not ready to tell it @Georgia_McBride
• Hope these links help all you fab pb writers: http://jillcorcoran.blogspot.com/2008/12/more-tips-for-writing-picture-books.html @JillCorcoran
• I see a lot of newbies writing w/o direction to the story=and then this happened then this and that. What is the story about? @Georgia_McBride
• I don't think in terms of describing every little thing so much as creating an image, something people will remember @DiaReeves
  

Revision tips:

• Don't hold on to words that don't add value to your story. Delete them. You'll think up more words. Better words @Georgia_McBride
• One rule I have is to read dialogue without tags. If I can't tell who said it by tone and voice, it's not good enough @kellyhashway
• Stephen King says to put the ms in a drawer for a month before editing <-- Works wonders @Tangynt

And my favorite tips for this week (you can tell I'm revising my manuscript right now!):

• To revise, I change the font before I read it again to trick my eyes into thinking I've never read it before @DiaReeves
• An oldie & a goodie. The 10 mistakes writers don't see - but can fix easily when they do, yay! http://bit.ly/10xTw @emiliaplater

I sat down to write the other day and...

I sat down to write the other day and realized my muse had deserted me. “Oh dear,” I hear you say. “A writer without her muse? How absolutely scandalous!”

I think I must be psychic, ‘cause I heard those comments before you even thought them yourself. So...I struck out on my own, forged a path through the wilderness, and went in search of that elusive being.

It’s funny, but we hear people talking about their muse all the time. “The muse is strong in me,” “I write when my muse takes me,” “I can’t find my muse.” But we rarely stop to wonder what exactly a muse is.

Is it a little gray being that looks vaguely like an elephant, and is twice as clunky as it runs up and down the stairs? Is it a little faerie-like creature that hates taking a bath but loves to eat Mars Bars (and won’t actually appear until you bribe the little sucker with two or three of those delectable chocolate-y treats)? Or is it more like a purple and orange-striped bumblebee, which zooms around playing quidditch with the marbles you lost years ago?

Oh, some people say that their muse is another person, but for me that isn’t the case at all. And, I’d have to say, at times my muse can resemble any one of the above. Or various other different beings, many of which are rather zany, and some of which would get me locked up quick smart if I even admitted to their presence. “What, you see little pencil-like objects dancing around on the coffee table? Umm...wait right there while I call someone to come and take you away...”

But, you know what? I love having so many different things that inspire me. And while I might be exaggerating (a little bit) about seeing all those fantastical beings, I’m not telling porkies when I say you need to find the thing that inspires you to write, grab a tight hold of it, and go along for the ride.

You never know where you’ll find yourself. And your writing will be so much the richer for it.

(You’ll never guess what happened yesterday. My muse came back lickety-spit when I found a half-eaten Mars Bar tucked away in the back of my cupboard! Guess it’s that little faerie-thingy after all. Until it decides to change into something else...)

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For those of you wondering at the randomness of the above post, I’ve written this piece for my First Crusader Challenge (check it out here). Hope you enjoyed what I wrote. And I hope it inspires you to find your muse as well!

The Insider Scoop – Interview with Caitie Flum, ex-agent intern and proofreader (Part 2)

Welcome to The Insider Scoop, where I’ll be bringing you interviews, useful tips and tricks, and all sorts of insightful information from those deep within the children's book industry.

Today, we continue our interview with Caitie Flum, an ex- agent intern with Hachette Book Group and Writers House, and a proofreader in the medical industry.

I’ll be posting this interview in three parts as follows:

• Part 1 – a day in the life of an agent intern, how to stand out from the slush pile, and thequery assessment process (here)
• Part 2 –evaluating queries (the inner workings of a literary agency) (today)
• Part 3 – the specific things that agent interns report on when assessing queries/manuscript submissions for a literary agent (Monday 18 October 2010)

Onwards with Part 2 of this interview…

Question 3 - Is there anything in particular in an unsolicited query/manuscript submission that makes you think, "This might be the one?"

A spectacular hook. The couple of times we requested a full right away we were hooked to the idea in the first sentence. Also, queries that show, not just tell, why the book is so special make a huge impact. And, of course, if it was really well-written.

Rach: Hmm, a first sentence hook. Am onto it!

Follow-on question: What can we do as writers to capture your attention and stand out from the slush pile?

First, don't be gimmicky. That will get our attention but we will automatically think that the gimmick is a disguise for a bad story or bad writing. If you want to stand out find out what the agent likes and make sure you are querying a project they would be interested in. And don't just say you are "like their client x", just do it in an easy way like saying your book will appeal to the same market as client x.

And just write really really well. Be concise but descriptive. Tell us what happens, but make sure it isn't too plot centric (ex. make sure your strong characters manage to stand out). I know it is hard, but that is what stands out more than anything else.

Some of it is luck. Both the assistant and I loved Buffy, Lost, the Dark Tower, etc, so if something sounded like any of these things or if it was inspired by them, we would get excited about it. That is complete luck, but it isn't a bad idea to mention something in pop culture, as long as it fits.

Stating your chosen market helps you stand out also. Showing that you know who your market is shows that you have written for that market.

Rach: What fantastic advice. I love the suggestion that we make sure our character stands out in our query as much, if not more, than the plot itself.

Question 4 - Do interns/assistants/agents automatically read all materials submitted with a query letter (eg, the first 10 pages). Or does the query letter have to generate enough interest to make you turn to those pages in the first place?

That completely depends on the person. If the query was complete garbage, I would never bother reading pages. However, if I had any interest in it at all for my agent, I would read the sample pages. Having 5-10 pages will not hurt, it can turn a N into a M and a M into a Y.

Rach: I’ve been wanting to find out the answer to this question for ages now. I guess it shows just how important the query actually is, even if the agent does accept a partial submission at the same time…

+++

Thanks so much for your time today, Caitie. Stay tuned for Part 3 of this interview…

A final word from Caitie…

I have a book blog where I also discuss the publishing world at caitieflum.wordpress.com. If you look on that blog, you will see I am currently accepting queries/partials from writers who want a critique. I will give you what I gave the assistant.

First Crusader Challenge – Writers’ Platform-Building Crusade

A couple of weeks ago, I kicked off my Writers' Platform-Building Crusade, a way for aspiring writers and beginner bloggers to network together, support each other, build their online platforms, and have fun with their blogging.

We'd love you to join us - simply check out my original post, follow the instructions, and leave a comment in that post with a link to your own post. There's a list of Crusaders on my blog sidebar (check them out if you want), and I'll add you to the list when you join.

And now, it's time for our First Crusader Challenge!!!

(*Drumroll*)

And the challenge is...

Write a Crusader Challenge post beginning with the phrase, "I sat down to write the other day and..."

The rest is up to you. You can use the piece to introduce yourself, tell us what inspires you to write, tell a funny story, or anything really. So be creative and let’s see what you come up with.

And...a Crusader Challenge just isn’t the same without a grand prize. So, given I’m about to start featuring aspiring writers in some of my Insider Scoop interviews on Rach Writes..., how about I give the winner the chance to be my first victim...ah, I mean, interviewee. Cool prize for an online platform-builder, no?

Ah, “How do we find out who wins?” you ask.

Well...let’s work it on a points system:

• I’ve written a Crusader Challenge post beginning with the words, "I sat down to write the other day and..." and I’ve commented in this post with a link to my own post (+100 points)
• I’ve included the completely random words “quidditch,” “Mars,” and “elephant” in my Crusader Challenge post (+40 points) – there has to be a bit of a challenge for you! :)
  
• In my Crusader Challenge post, I’ve included a link back to this post and told everyone about the Crusade and the Crusader Challenge (+20 points)
• I’m following all my fellow Crusaders (as listed on the Rach Writes... sidebar) on their blogs (+20 points)
• I’ve included all my fellow Crusaders in a blog roll / list on my blog (+20 points)

If it comes down to a tie, I’ll pop my favorite posts in a new post on Rach Writes... and call for votes on the winner (and I’ll make the final decision if the voting is inconclusive).

Entries will close next Friday October 8, so make sure you comment in this post before then and leave us the link to your Crusader Challenge post plus how many points you earned.

Have fun!!! Check out the other Crusaders’ posts and comment along. Can't wait to see what you come up with :)