tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post3905329329931530048..comments2024-03-18T09:09:59.625-04:00Comments on Janet Reid, Literary Agent: Getting ready!Janet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.comBlogger88125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-66130695059351530942017-01-04T13:46:04.789-05:002017-01-04T13:46:04.789-05:00"Create and release"- I like that.
This ..."Create and release"- I like that.<br />This should be an easier year; I only have one planned book. So C&R. The first book was nearly four years being born, the second was one (with a long abandoned book resurrected and released in both private and mass market editions). This should be doable as one, but I definitely plan to make a checklist with some target dates so that I have a better handle on things. (That was supposed to happen over the break, but we ended up with our grandson more than expected. I am not complaining!)<br />And I need to find someone for marketing and publicity.<br />I'm also going to query at least four short stories.roadkills-r-ushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14029861300358380117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-6063121644118471212017-01-03T19:12:43.160-05:002017-01-03T19:12:43.160-05:00Yep. I am not alone :) It will be interesting to r...Yep. I am not alone :) It will be interesting to reread this post at the end of 2017!<br /><br />I would like to find representation while continuing to still write other works. Hopefully with a Literary Agent, not a lawyer :D . I also have quite a bit more to learn, so we are working on that also. <br />Janice Grinyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14363741660626407979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-60510815492500718072017-01-03T02:45:12.720-05:002017-01-03T02:45:12.720-05:00Thank you, Carolynn. Am peeling, and writing, as i...Thank you, <b>Carolynn</b>. Am peeling, and writing, as instructed.<br />And sorry that's it's 10 there. I don't know if I could cope with that!Kae Ridwynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10356868531870405990noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-71463838596623153172017-01-03T00:27:38.812-05:002017-01-03T00:27:38.812-05:00Thanks, Your Grace. I don't think I'm goin...Thanks, Your Grace. I don't think I'm going to be bumping that threshold for a while, so it should work out well for me. Free is my favorite pricepoint.Beth Carpenterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02447148196867821907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-31900168184503887042017-01-03T00:07:53.293-05:002017-01-03T00:07:53.293-05:00Beth, I can offer a touch of advice regarding #2: ...Beth, I can offer a touch of advice regarding #2: MailChimp will let you maintain a mailing list and distribute your newsletter for free up to a couple thousand subscribers. Her Grace, Heidi, the Duchess of Knealehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17818060864422019573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-55196456775665137782017-01-02T22:29:26.343-05:002017-01-02T22:29:26.343-05:00I long for the day I'll pick up the phone to h...I long for the day I'll pick up the phone to hear a voice say "Hi, Janet Reid here, read your novel and would like to offer you representation."<br /><br />I'd be on a plane so fast my feet would only hit the ground long enough to grab a few bottles of single malt to share.<br /><br />But until that day, I'll keep slaving over a hot keyboard and honing my craft.<br /><br />I will try to read a book from a more objective viewpoint, analysing what works well, what doesn't. My trouble is I get so absorbed in the story that all the technique stuff just washes over me so by the end of the book if anyone asked me 'what made that book so great?' I can't answer in any depth other than to say 'it just was.'<br /><br />I'd like to see chumbucket return too, of course.Allison Newchurchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00639341318039077271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-24017638565864313722017-01-02T22:28:53.036-05:002017-01-02T22:28:53.036-05:00Carolynn
Phew. Recently a couple decided because ...<b>Carolynn</b><br /><br />Phew. Recently a couple decided because of the election they were leaving the country with their young children. Since they had always dreamed of writing, they wanted advice on what would be the best country to go to where they could get grants to just write and not have to work.<br /><br />The world has gotten so strange anymore a person never knows.<br /><br /> Julie Weathershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13725236516593676381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-59826736407156325652017-01-02T22:22:25.216-05:002017-01-02T22:22:25.216-05:00Oh, Michael Seese, I bet that chapter one sings no...Oh, Michael Seese, I bet that chapter one sings now. Add a few notes, and put it in a hymnal!<br /><br />On the other hand, at the rate Megan V is reading, you better get that puppy finished and published! She's gonna run outta books by 2018, so the rest of us better fill her coffers.John Davis Frainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18020019400599228492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-25640165057811076352017-01-02T21:05:22.508-05:002017-01-02T21:05:22.508-05:00Welcome to 2017 everyone. You've listed some e...Welcome to 2017 everyone. You've listed some excellent resolutions and I loved reading about some of your traditions. <br /><br />I'm hoping to stick to my standard New Years Resolution. With any luck, I'll read one more book in 2017 than I did in 2016 (I finished 2016 with my nieces and nephews and Otter: Oh No, Bath Time. That picture book was book 514, one more than 2015, and it was an absolute joy to read it and laugh with the kids. They may only see me once or twice a year, but they know I'm the book auntie. My oldest nephew and I have a reading list we share. He tells me the books he likes/ plans on reading and I'll buy/get them from the library just so we can talk about them. This year Magnus Chase is the hot ticket item the list.) Megan Vhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00752842865397799428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-15675371151738907352017-01-02T20:52:00.578-05:002017-01-02T20:52:00.578-05:00Carolynnwith2Ns, thanks for the prod. I've bee...Carolynnwith2Ns, thanks for the prod. I've been working, but perfection takes time. I literally spent two weeks polishing chapter 1.<br /> Michael Seesehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03694187657718931214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-41735468390684987032017-01-02T20:38:13.023-05:002017-01-02T20:38:13.023-05:00kd, that is so funny! I'm sure your pud did wi...kd, that is so funny! I'm sure your pud did win.<br /><br />I should tell everyone what I told Janet, that first photo was the look on Gossamer's face when the jackhammers began at my house the day the basement waterproofing job began. The pic of Penelope that morning is more evocative ("Mom. Jackhammers in the basement. IN. the. basement."), but I know how QOTKU feels about the boy. Still, the luxuriating reference is amusing to me given the context!!DLMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08768285199864217885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-3601940824459269652017-01-02T19:20:02.115-05:002017-01-02T19:20:02.115-05:00I wrote about resolutions and goals on my blog the...I wrote about resolutions and goals on my blog the other day. It was 1700+ words, so I'm not about to try to repeat it over here. What I didn't say is that I feel extra motivated to get as much done in the first six months of the year as possible, since my daughter and her husband are moving back to NC in July. After four years in New Orleans (grad school for her, med school for him) and three years in Boston (residency for him), I'm eagerly anticipating whatever disruption they bring with them. Within reason.<br /><br />I do strongly agree with everyone who has said a goal should be something you can achieve by your own actions. "Get an agent" is not one of those things. Make an action plan: finish ms, polish ms, research agents, query widely, rinse and repeat.<br /><br />Diane, thanks for sharing Gossamer pics (with Janet and with us)! My cat doesn't always "see" things on my laptop, but she had an epic stare-down with that first pic earlier. She's convinced she won.<br /><br />Janet, I'm imagining all the agents in your office reading this post and having bouts of anxious trepidation over what you might think "needs attention" in the coming weeks. ;)<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-13763538579903113242017-01-02T18:37:16.424-05:002017-01-02T18:37:16.424-05:00Elise
Agreed, life has a way of kicking you in th...<b>Elise</b><br /><br />Agreed, life has a way of kicking you in the gut. I stopped writing for years at a time. <br /><br />Even today with all my bright shiny new plans, all I want to do is sleep, but I'm going to tip the hourglass and get some words in. It's difficult to focus when every day is dealing with chronic pain and your system being upside down so all you want to do is sleep. If you take the pain pills there's no choice in the sleeping all day. It just is.<br /><br />It will all get worked out and in the meantime, we write.<br /><br />You're right sometimes it's very very hard. However, even if a person can steal 30 minutes on lunch breaks and coffee breaks, before the kids get up, or after they go to bed, and get in 500 words at the end of the week they have 2,500 new words. At the end of the month they have 10,000+ words and at the end of the year they have 130,000 words. That's if they only write five days a week.<br /><br />We each have our own journey. Not every path is for every person. Remember me talking about the gal who finished her 50,000 word novella in eight days? Yeah, that will never be me.<br /><br /><a href="https://thefinchandpea.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/funny-picture-a-cat-amongst-penguins-day-20-the-natives-hav-accepted-me-as-one-of-their-own-540x407.jpg" rel="nofollow">Even though we're all writers, sometimes it's good to be different.</a><br /><br />Julie Weathershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13725236516593676381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-86644367183431443972017-01-02T18:33:00.986-05:002017-01-02T18:33:00.986-05:00Stacy, if sketching works then sketch away. You sh...Stacy, if sketching works then sketch away. You should see mine. Ah, lets not go there. Long story, long ago.Carolynnwith2Nshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18394998702410764388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-39982457466164955292017-01-02T18:26:55.812-05:002017-01-02T18:26:55.812-05:00Oh Julie, I never meant to quit your day job, nigh...Oh Julie, I never meant to quit your day job, night shift, part time or babysitting the neighbors kids. I meant that no matter what you do for a living if writing is your thing, your passion, your dream or your want, then writer is what you are first. Family, faith and all that comes out as number one but Writer is what I consider me to be first. I would NEVER suggest, recommend or suggest to quit a job.<br />bad, bad, no don't do.<br />Look, my fingers were so hot this morning I'm sure I didn't express myself accurately. All I basically mean is, think it, say it, do it. <br /><br />Carolynnwith2Nshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18394998702410764388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-74864298146628830132017-01-02T16:55:07.984-05:002017-01-02T16:55:07.984-05:00Julie, I understood that to be more figurative tha...<b>Julie</b>, I understood that to be more figurative than literal. No, very few writers can make a living at it, but those who eventually do are the ones who acted as if they were writers first and everything else served to support the writing.<br /><br />Oh, reCAPTCHA, that is beer not tea.Cherylhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09128656624170294636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-39689257999843258112017-01-02T16:54:20.955-05:002017-01-02T16:54:20.955-05:00Julie I am so impressed with Diana Gambalon. I wo...<b>Julie </b> I am so impressed with Diana Gambalon. I would love nothing more than to make my living from writing, but when I was raising my daughter, it was super tough to find time and energy to write. I was single mom with only the one kid. I have no idea how people with multiple kids and jobs manage, but during my daughter's upbringing, my priority was our survival. It was a close thing some years. Cancer made a visit followed by poverty, loss of house, car, everything. Boy, will that set your priorities straight. Unwelcome bedfellows to say the least. Sometimes I have no idea how we survived at all. A miracle that. <br /><br />I started writing seriously(as opposed to the youthful fanciful writing I did in a more innocent time) when my daughter was a junior in high school. She's now graduated from college and adulting all on her own and I am still writing and rewriting after shelving my last book which came so close but not quite there. <br /><br />So this is my round about Way of saying- don't quit your day job until you hit it. Bills must be paid. It's an irritating part of adulting. Make writing a priority, yes, but do so responsibly. Persistence will win the day. Besides, writing is a joy. Even if publication doesn't follow. <br /><br />Also, how does our queen have time to do the Chum Bucket with everything else she does? She is clearly not a mere mortal. E.M. Goldsmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18387494005655553037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-13243934711765688682017-01-02T16:16:33.254-05:002017-01-02T16:16:33.254-05:00Carolynn
No offense, but "pay your mortgage....<b>Carolynn</b><br /><br />No offense, but "pay your mortgage. Make writing your first job even if it doesn’t pay as well." is not good advice. There isn't a single agent out there who would advise their client to quit their day job even after a client has a contract. Colin not only doesn't have a contract, he doesn't have an agent or a completed manuscript. He has a new mortgage and new house require money to fix them up even if they are not in bad shape. Included with that new mortgage is an old, and sizable family. <br /><br />No, he needs to continue being responsible and making time to write while he does so.<br /><br />Diana Gabaldon, as I've said before, worked three jobs and had three small children when she wrote <i>Outlander</i>. She got up at 3 in the morning to write when the house was quiet. It can be done if you really want it badly enough.<br /><br />She didn't even quit her job after <i>Outlander</i> sold and was doing fairly well.<br /> Julie Weathershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13725236516593676381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-55913591330970160732017-01-02T15:56:36.950-05:002017-01-02T15:56:36.950-05:00I'm putting the finishing touches on my curren...I'm putting the finishing touches on my current WiP, so I guess I can say I'm planning (not hoping) to start querying in 2017. And, of course, I'll be starting another novel. I'm pretty good at doing only one thing at a time. I'm going to start thinking of that as a plus, not a minus.Elissa Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10727748060605823895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-88787540596535617632017-01-02T15:54:54.778-05:002017-01-02T15:54:54.778-05:00Hey, April! As I recall, another proviso with the ...Hey, <b>April</b>! As I recall, another proviso with the Chum Bucket is that we don't advertise it outside of this blog. No Twitter announcements or any other social media alerts. Janet trusts that most of the people who read her blog know how to behave themselves, so by limiting it to her blog audience, she can be reasonably confident people will respect the rules.Colin Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03292997431935215499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-46206644539723331362017-01-02T15:52:47.525-05:002017-01-02T15:52:47.525-05:00Ah, my goals for the new year.
1. Avoid being hau...Ah, my goals for the new year.<br /><br />1. Avoid being hauled off to the mental hospital by my son. <br /><br />Text this morning. "I think Gage the Wonder Dog is French."<br /><br />"Um, OK."<br /><br />"I've been telling him 'Allez! Allez!' when I let him out to pee and he goes on out to pee instead of just standing there in the doorway looking at me like he usually does. Or it might have something to do with me waving my arms madly at him."<br /><br />"..."<br /><br />We have a strange and wonderful relationship. Mostly strange.<br /><br />2. Get the blog back on track. The website went down and I've been in recovery mode trying to rebuild it. It's still not like it should be, but it's functional. I need to get back to the weekly posting.<br /><br />3. Go to Ft. Worth and then to OK City to finish research on Cowgirls and hopefully make some good progress if not finish it.<br /><br />4. Go to Virginia to research the Winchester area and talk to some historians there about Rain Crow.<br /><br />5. Finish <i>The Rain Crow</i> and get it out in the query trenches.<br /><br />6. Lose weight. I have no choice. My knee is blasted and the one they did surgery on is screwed up as well.<br /><br />7. Most important of all aside from health resolution, write daily.<br /><br />Julie Weathershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13725236516593676381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-17967219611166296252017-01-02T15:44:00.741-05:002017-01-02T15:44:00.741-05:00I would love to hear about accomplishments through...I would love to hear about accomplishments through the year too. Doesn't matter if they're off topic. Goals or resolutions are a good start, but kudos are so helpful, especially for those little wins that keep us moving forward. To progress and encouragement for all in 2017!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03581361783795436259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-89966159822501928412017-01-02T15:37:21.879-05:002017-01-02T15:37:21.879-05:00April: The difference is, Janet responds with a pe...April: The difference is, Janet responds with a personal response to each Chum Bucket query.<br /><br />She sets up a certain day and hour, and everyone who queries with the right subject line during that time period gets a personal response very soon after. <br /><br />Our part of the bargain is that, when we receive said personal response, we respond civilly or not at all. Which is more than fair, if you ask me.BJ Muntainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12977414826388000094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-17334030957004557142017-01-02T15:24:33.162-05:002017-01-02T15:24:33.162-05:00For those of us who are newer to the blog, can you...For those of us who are newer to the blog, can you explain what the Chum Bucket is? Guessing from your old posts, people send you queries... but how is that different than usual?April Mackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12946968627887624127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-82431978385388970132017-01-02T14:53:19.591-05:002017-01-02T14:53:19.591-05:002017 will mark getting my online content under one...2017 will mark getting my online content under one umbrella (Wordpress) and getting back in the query trenches for the first time since 2013. <br /><br />Also will be looking to find a more steady stream of income. Hoping this comes from writing, but am open to other possibilities also...Karen McCoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02640324898284007337noreply@blogger.com