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Fabulous Tina Wexler of ICM Partners tells us a little bit of her Super Agent Origin Story. ICM is one of the oldest agencies around with offices all over the place, Tina works at the NY office. She started there as an assistant 13 years ago and loves the brain trust that is her extended family of agents and staff.

Her list is mostly MG and YA, she's not really looking for picture books. She's excited for nonfiction YA essay collections and she also wants to represent diverse books.

TINA IS A CAT PERSON. She says that's probably all we need to know.

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Moderated by Lin Oliver (standing, far left), the agent panelists are, left to right: Victoria Wells Arms (Victoria Wells Arms Agency), Ginger Clark (Curtis Brown, Ltd.), Kirsten Hall (her own agency, Catbird), Brooks Sherman (The Bent Agency), Erica Ran Silverman (Stimola Literary Studio), and Tina Wexler (ICM Partners.)

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A new opportunity at the SCBWI Summer Conference, these informal conversations with faculty members including agents and artist reps (Ginger Clark, Erica Rand Silverman, Tina Wexler, Kirsten Hall and Brooks Sherman) and editors and publishers (Krista Marino, Neal Porter, Sara Sargent, Melissa Manlove, Stacey Barney, Kat Brzozowski, and Reka Simonsen) are a big hit!

Attendees with agent Ginger Clark

Attendees with Publisher Neal Porter

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Tina Wexler is a literary agent ICM Partners.

Tina shares tips that will help us find success.

You need a strong story idea. An idea that will sustain you through the drafting and writing process. Do you have unfinished manuscripts in a drawer? It might be because it didn't have enough to sustain you.

Your manuscript needs to be researched. Read 3 other recently published books in your same genre and age range. Look up the things you don't know. Not all of your research will make it in, but it will inform your story.

Your manuscript needs to be revised. No one gets it right the first time.

Your manuscript needs a strong voice.

Your manuscript needs a vacation. Set it aside. Work on something else. Take time away so you can come back with fresh eyes. When you return to it, revise it again.

Your manuscript needs to be loved. Finishing is not a reason to send it out on submission. You need to love it. It needs to be ready.


Great reads from the session:

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Agent Brenda Bowen (at podium, right) moderates the panel - right to left, Barry Goldblatt, Jennifer Laughran and Tina Wexler.

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With conference faculty guest agent Tina Wexler, agent Jennifer Laughran, Art Director and Author Laurent Linn, Best-Selling and Award-Winning Author Jane Yolen, editor Emma Dryden and editor and publisher Arthur A. Levine, our group of more than forty attendees gathered to share and talk about  writing and illustrating LGBTQ characters and themes in works for children and teens.

In moments ranging from hilarious to somber,  topics covered included picture book art notes (dos and don'ts), gender non-conformity, gender challenges in the English language, and the urgent need for more books with LGBTQ diversity.

At one point, an ally voiced a concern about writing from a queer perspective, and the consensus was to not hold back about writing from other points of view (outside your own.) To do your homework, to run it by people who are members of that community...

Arthur: "I urge you to not be self-conscious"

Jane: "In terms of getting it right. In terms of getting the feelings right."

It was a great conversation and the room was filled with a sense of warmth and community. We sat in a circle, each person sharing their name and what they're working on, with our conference faculty (and myself) chiming in with thoughts, advice and insights.

Once the session ended, many participants stayed to exchange contact information and mingle. The pictures are from that part of the evening:




I was honored to host - my thanks and appreciation to the panel and all the attendees!

Lee

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Skila Brown  (author of CAMISAR a novel in verse) and agent Tina Wexler  of ICM team up on Casey McCormick’s and Natalie Aguirre’s excellent Literary Rambles Blog and share Five Tips on Revising after getting Feedback from an Agent. Here is an excerpt:

1. Drop your defenses. Think the agent doesn’t get what you were trying to do? Maybe that’s because it wasn’t clear enough. Think the feedback was overly-critical? Maybe that’s because you’re thinking this is about you and not about your story. Either way, you’re on the right track if an agent connected with so much of your story that s/he wants to help make it stronger. Celebrate that.

Tina Wexler: This is a great first step. I know it can be disappointing to receive an offer to revise instead of an offer of representation, but if a writer can shake off that disappointment and welcome the creative feedback, oftentimes an offer of representation will follow. My relationship with several clients started this way, and I’m grateful they were able to drop their defenses and let me share my thoughts on their work.

2. Listen. Before you begin revising, listen to what the agent is suggesting. If you’re lucky enough to have more than one person weighing in, search for commonalities in their feedback. At first glance, it might seem contradictory. One agent says, “I think the romance needs to be stronger,” while another says, “I think you should lose the romance.” The commonality? Both think that your book is teetering on romance without deciding if it is or it isn’t. Which means you need to make a decision – cut it or enhance it. Maybe the agent’s comments are prescriptive in a way that you don’t really like, but listen hard to what problem s/he is identifying and see if you’ve got another idea on how to fix it.

Tina Wexler: I often try to suggest solutions when pointing out problems in a manuscript, mainly because they
help illustrate what my concerns are. But I’m not a novelist, and it’s not my story. As such, I really appreciate it when an author is able to come up with their own way of fixing a problem. It’s almost always a better solution than the one I’ve proposed.

3. Don’t lose (the) heart. Think long and hard about what is sacred for you in this story. This can sometimes be the spark that initially drew you to the piece. Maybe it’s the relationship between two characters or the setting or the fact that you’re telling it in a specific way – like verse or multiple points of view. These sacred seeds might not be something you’re willing to alter. And that’s okay. If this story, in your heart, is really about a girl on the brink of suicide and an agent tells you, “I think you should lose the suicide bit,” this might not be the right agent for this novel. But be careful labeling something as sacred. Most things shouldn’t be.

4. Give it a try. You might not be on board with the agent’s suggestions right away, and that’s okay. But what’s the harm in trying? If you spent time researching an agent, if you felt s/he might be a good match for you and your work, then you must already respect this person, right? So keep that in mind as you read over the feedback and have some faith in the professionals. Give these suggestions a try and just see where it leads. You might be surprised that things work out better than you hoped.Tina Wexler: Yes! I love this advice, especially for writers who are asked to change the story’s point of view. (It’s more common than you may think.) A rather daunting task, with or without an offer of representation in hand. So, you take baby steps. Rewrite the first page. Is it working? Yes? Rewrite the first chapter. Still like it? Keep going. As you say, there’s no harm in trying.

Filed under: Advice, Agent, Author, Book, Process, revisions, Writing Tips Tagged: Caminar, Literary Rambles, Skila Brown, Tina Wexler

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Happy National Poetry Month! All throughout April, we spoke with poets about working in this digital age. Recently, we spoke with writer Christine Heppermann.

Heppermann (pictured, via) worked as a columnist and reviewer for The Horn Book from 1996 until 2013. In addition to poetry, she also writes nonfiction and fiction for young readers. Check out the highlights from our interview below…

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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Novelist Alice Hoffman has inked a deal for a middle grade novel. Random House Children’s Books will publish Nightbird in spring 2015.

Tina Wexler at ICM negotiated the deal with Random House Children’s Books publisher Barbara Marcus. Wendy Lamb will edit the book for her Wendy Lamb Books imprint. Hoffman has written 21 novels and eight YA and children’s books. Here’s more from the release:

Nightbird is a work of modern folklore set in the Berkshires, where rumors of a winged beast draw in as much tourism as the town’s famed apple orchards. Twig lives in a remote area of town with her mysterious brother and her mother, baker of irresistible apple pies. A new girl in town might just be Twig’s first true friend, and ally in vanquishing an ancient family curse.

(Author photo by Deborah Feingold)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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Tina Wexler is a literary agent at International Creative Management (ICM).

ICM is one of the largest and oldest agencies in the world. The literary department consists of 11 agents representing everything from kids to adult. In the children's scope, she reps everything from tots to teens.


On Digital publishing:

Independently publishing a book is a vital option for some. It works if you just want something out there, but if your goal is to have a thriving career, it's just as much work, if not more work.


What if you have a client who has had several successful books, but the next one delivered doesn't seem strong enough. What do you do?

Tina has a relationship with her clients and she would have a conversation with that person, letting them know that this might not be the next book. It would be a difficult conversation, but an important one.

What happens if you have a author who's sold several books, but wants to take to the next level and get a better deal? 


If you want to get to that next level then you must take your writing there. "We're only as good as the material we're selling." You should ask, What are you doing to get there?

You have a magic wand, and you can fix anything in the publishing business, what would it be?

I want more bookstores to come back.

The lightning round:

What do you not want to see any more of?

Screen plays.

What's the next hot genre?

Sci-fi

Pet peeve about submissions?

Hostility.

What would you like to land on your desk? 

Ditto (to Marcia's, "Something brilliant")

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The packed room listening to Tina Wexler

Tina Wexler is a literary agent at ICM (International Creative Management) and represents authors for both the adult and children's marketplace. For children's she focuses on YA and MG "with a particular fondness for tall tales, contemporary sci-fi, and gothic love stories."

The room is full, with lots of people sitting on the floor, listening and furiously taking notes.

She describes herself as a "very very hands-on editorial agent" and starts her session by defining success – what we can work towards with these tools she’ll be presenting – that they’re not necessarily the secret to writing a best seller (no one has the magic formula for that!) but they will help us achieve success in terms of getting representation, and getting published.

On the surface, she warns us, her five tips sound simple, but that’s deceptive. She’s taking her time to explain why, with examples, we need to go deeper into each one:

Here' the simple version:

Your manuscript needs to get written, read, researched, revised and loved.

Now here are some of Tina's gems, unearthed when she went dug in:

When revising, look at the first decision your main character makes that really starts the story moving. Now try it the other way, and see where it takes you. Is it more interesting the new way, or did you get it right the first time? You won’t know until you try it…

Do some homework. Pick a topic from your manuscript (bee keeping, wormholes, something already in your story) and research it. And not just internet research. Get a book from the library. Go on a field trip. It will deepen your story.

Don’t just read your own pages out loud, have someone else read it out loud to you – it’s a great way to check if your sassy character dialog actually sounds sassy or... well, whiny.

She’s reading us different examples to illustrate her definition of voice:

The words you use and how you use them, and how the sentence length works to create a rhythm.
It’s the words that get the magic into the story..

The session ends with a great Q&A, with more details about what she loves and is hoping to find…

What an amazing opportunity to get the scoop directly from Tina!

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Tina says: There's always going to room for a great story, but it's going to be hard for me to call an editor and say, "I know you have 10 vampire stories, but you really should take a look at this one." As a writer you need to be aware of what's out there, aware of the competition. Otherwise you're giving an editor a reason to reject you.

The novels she's sold in this market have come about because the writer had interests beyond their story. She suggest cultivating not only writing, but other hobbies or interests that can somehow inform your writing and making it richer.

About 75% of her authors are first-timers. She loves working new authors and she accepts e-queries.

Hot Tip: Tina Wexler is really into bee keeping. (If you have a manuscript involving bee keeping, work up that query.)

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Tina Stared with a confession: She did want to work at ICM--she pictured an Entourage-type environment. But she was pleasantly surprised at the book-y atmosphere she discovered instead.

Remember why we're in this room: because we love books,

--POSTED BY ALICE

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Debut Author of the Month: Laurel Snyder...

This month's debut author Laurel Snyder's first two books have release dates just a few months apart. Her picture book Inside the Slidy Diner is an October release from Tricycle, and her mid-grade Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains is coming in October from Random House. Both books were slush piles submissions. Here she explains her almost simulteanous first books; talks about finding her agent, waiting tables, and writing poetry; and offers advice to those seeking publication.

How did you end up with your first books being published so close together?

Oh, it's a funny situation, but for a good reason! Basically, both books were pulled from slush, about a year apart. Tricycle accepted Slidy a year ahead of Random House contacting me about Scratchy. So then Slidy was due to come out last fall, in time for Halloween (it's a spooky kind of book) and Scratchy was supposed to follow about a year later. But the artist working on Slidy threw herself into it like you wouldn't believe. The pages are very involved, hand painted with with collage elements, and some crazy details. There are recurring images like a mouse you have to hunt for on each page, and all sorts of little jokes... it's wonderful, a work of art (that I really can't take credit for at all). So it took a long time, and at first I think the press wanted to speed her up. But when they saw what she was doing, they decided to let her take her time so she could maintain that level of complexity, and they gave her another year!

Please tell me and my readers a little about both of your first books.

Inside the Slidy Diner is a picture book about a little girl named Edie who lives in a macabre sort of diner where the lady fingers really are! Watch out for the Wigglepedes!

Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains is a lower middle grade novel, an old-fashioned fairy tale set in a place called "The Bewilderness"�about a milkmaid named Lucy and a prince named Wynston. When Wynston has to pick a queen, and Lucy is deemed too common for the job, Lucy runs away in search of her mother. So of course Wynston chases after her, and they have all sorts of silly adventures. It has wonderful pictures by Greg Call, and a lot of silly songs. There's a sniffly prairie dog named Cat, a sweet but ornery cow, and some cautionary tales about living life too rigidly.

You started out submitting on your own, but you have an agent now. How did you find her?

When you get pulled from the slush at Random House, it suddenly becomes easier to find an agent! I queried about 30 of them in one whirlwind weekend, got offers from several great folks, and was lucky enough to be able to choose. I'm very very very happy with my amazing agent, Tina Wexler. I picked Tina because she didn't scare me. She talked to me like a person, laughed a lot, and felt immediately like a friend. One of the best decisions I ever made. But I was rejected by a lot of people before that all happened (some of whom sleazily offered to rep me after the book was in committee, but I'll never say who!).

Tell me about getting your first BFYR contract.

They never tell you how long it'll take to get the actual contract, do they? The formal offer came one day while I was teaching comp at a community college in Atlanta, and I actually got the message as I was dashing from school to pick up my son at his babysitter. I must have looked like a crazy lady, screaming my face off in the gridlock traffic all the way home. But the contract came about four decades later, in the heaviest envelope ever, and I just signed where I was supposed to, and sent it back. Maybe that's dumb but I figure that's why I have an agent.

How must inspiration did Slidy Diner draw from your experience waiting tables in several greasy spoons?

It really is a kind of encoded memoir of those years. I guess its a lesson in how anything can be interesting, and how we need to collect details wherever we go. Show Don't Tell, and all that. Rotten grill grease, tattooed waitresses, and sad patrons who sleep in their oatmeal don't sound like things you'd put in a children's book, but somehow it worked. I should say, for the record, that I love waiting tables, and plan to do it again when my kids are a little older. The Hamburg Inn, where I worked in Iowa City, was a second home to me. For me, living in a world of non-writers is important, so I have something to write about.

How have SCBWI, the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and the Class of 2k8 each helped to shape your writing career?

I could write a whole book about the Workshop. I really have a love/hate relationship with that world. I love poetry, and I love Iowa City, and I cannot imagine my life without some of the friends I made in those years. But the climate of that MFA program made me a little nutso. Not the program itself, but the weird competitive stuff that happens among the students. It made me so crazy I stopped trying to keep up and dove into children's books, my touchstones, and that's really how I began writing for kids. So I have to thank them for that! Also, although I didn't share with anyone else, my teacher Marvin Bell was very supportive of Scratchy Mountains. I'll never forget that!

Once I found myself writing for kids, I didn't feel like I could show anyone at the Workshop the things I was working on. And that's where the SCBWI came in. It provided, along with the Verla Kay Blueboards and the CWIM, a community and a set of instructions for how to think about publishing. I don't know how I would have ever found a home for my work without SCBWI. I don't actively participate in the physical world, but as a virtual community it was critical for me.

2k8 is awesome, but that happened very late in the game. I was already into several other books by the time I joined 2k8, and it's a nice way to meet people and get the word out, but I don't feel it had any effect on my publishing career, per se. Though another class member from Iowa, Sarah Prineas, was an early reader for my second novel (Any Which Wall, 2009) and she's become a good friend, so that's wonderful!

You have a lot of experience writing material for adult readers, having published in Salon, Utne Reader, The Iowa Review and others. What led you to write for children?

Children's books are some of the best, most innovative books in the world. I read them myself, and I find that there's a spark of magic in them. I just love them. I'd say that 80 percent of the most important books in my life are things I read before I was 12. I hate the division between children's books and the literary institutions. I just don't think the divide makes sense. Also, writing for kids feels almost political to me. Helping to shape the future--not writing political books and offering "messages," but providing the right stimulus for kids. Giving them something to chew on.

You've said that writing children's books is not as lucrative as you thought it would be when you were in fourth grade. Since (so far) writing for young readers has not helped you buy a mansion or become a gajillionaire, what keeps you interested?

Well, it's a lot more lucrative than poetry!

No, seriously, one benefit to beginning as a poet is that poets don't write to earn. They write to write. I don't think about money or the market when I write. As a result, I have written some books you will never see, like a morbid picture book called, The Boy Who Caught His Death. I always assumed I'd write, and make my money some other way--whether teaching, waitressing, or writing schlock for hire.

You have a book release party coming up and have a string of promotional events on the horizon. What's your plan for engaging your audience?

Oh, I don't know that I have a plan. I just think meeting kids and seeing them excited about books is the most exiting thing in the world. I want to believe that if I work hard, I'll write good books, and that if I write good books, they will find their way into people's hands. It has been explained to me, in so many words, that I'm not a "bestseller" kind of author. I can live with that. It's a great gift to me that I can write the books I most want to write, and I have an editor and an agent who will help them reach people. Especially since more copies have already been pre-ordered than were even printed when I published my book of poems. Poetry really does make you appreciate having a wider readership of any kind. Based on anything I've ever experienced, both of my books have already been successful.

What's your advice for those working toward publication?

I think the trick is a very careful balance--between writing hard without thinking about selling, and then selling hard (by which I mean hunting for a book deal) without thinking about the possibility of failure. I do believe that a good writer who plugs away will someday publish. You can only fail if you set quantitative expectations like, "I'll publish before I'm 30" or "I'll send this to 51 agents and then quit." I do think you have to listen to your most honest readers and friends, and if one books isn't working, try another. But you can't quit. I have about 30 "dead" picture book manuscripts in a drawer and Scratchy Mountains went through draft after draft before it was accepted. In fact, you can go to my blog and see a rejection letter from the very editor who acquired it! I figure if I can have two books pulled from slush by two different editors, it still happens a good bit.

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Debut Author of the Month: Donna Gephart...

Donna Gephart's first book As If Being 12¾ Isn't Bad Enough, My Mother Is Running for President! was released just days ago by Delacorte Press. Here she tells us a little about her first book, how she found her agent and shares her 10 Very Important Pieces of Advice for Unpublished Writers.

Just in case someone out there can’t get the gist of your book from its great title, please tell my readers about it.

Six-word alliterative version: Angst. Athletic (As if!). Assassination attempt.

Slightly longer version: Preparing for spelling bees, having a secret admirer, and waiting for her chest size to catch up with her enormous feet are pressure enough, but twelve-year-old Vanessa must also deal with loneliness and very real fears as her mother, Florida’s Governor, runs for President of the United States.

Tell me a little about your path to publication. How did you find your agent, Tina Wexler of I.C.M?

Several years ago, Tina put out a call for writers on the SCBWI Discussion Boards. I sent her the book I’d been working on and a cover letter, in which I wrote one sentence about a gawky, awkward spelling bee champ thrust into the spotlight because her mother is running for president. Although Tina didn’t think she could sell the book I’d sent, she did like my writing and expressed interest in my story about the girl whose mother is running for president.

Unfortunately, it was little more than a short story at the time. With Tina’s encouragement and that of my critique group, I turned that short story into a novel.

Tina had many revision suggestions, such as writing less about Vanessa’s romantic interest and more about the inside scoop on the political process. I did months more research, kept only the first two chapters of the original novel and rewrote the rest. Tina loved this version and sent it to seven publishing houses. She warned, “It might take several months till we hear anything.”

Three weeks later, I got The Call.

How did you feel when you got The Call?

I was in the middle of folding laundry (very glamorous, I know) when I saw the New York exchange on our phone’s caller I.D. I screamed, “It’s my agent. Everyone be quiet!” My son was the only one home at the time, and he was being quiet.

None-the-less, I locked myself in my closet and listened as my agent told me not one, but two editors were interested in my novel--one from Random House, the other from Scholastic. At the end of the day, Stephanie Lane from Delacorte Press, a division of Random House, sent me an e-mail telling me she was delighted to have acquired my novel.

Once your book was under contract with Delacorte, what was the editorial process like? Were there any surprises?

My experience working with my editor, Stephanie Lane, and the talented staff at Random House has been a dream come true. I learned that publishing and promoting a novel is truly a team effort.

Stephanie, of course, made excellent revision requests. This is the stage where larger issues are addressed. I added a minor character and made several changes.

Next, I was asked to go over the manuscript after a proofreader had made corrections. During this pass, I realized how many minor mistakes I hadn’t noticed. Oops!

Finally, I proofread the manuscript after it had been set for printing. I was surprised by how many new minor mistakes cropped up.

Also, it was great fun to have some say in choosing the cover model. (I don’t think this is typical.) I thought designer Kenny Holcolm did a fantastic job with my cover.

Why did you decide to use the world of election politics as a backdrop for your novel? Did anything in particular spark your book idea?

Writers are often told, “Write what you know.” I believe more in the adage: “Write what interests you, what sparks your passion.” Politics interested me and still does.

At the time, there weren’t many books for children about politics. I hoped my novel would be a fun introduction to the political process for young readers. In fact, if readers want to learn more about the president and the political process, I’ve included Web sites at the back of my book and on my Web site, www.donnagephart.com.

Do you have anything in common with your main character Vanessa other than your shoe size?

Besides having large feet, Vanessa and I both love the color purple, reading, playing Scrabble and hanging out with cute boys who have big hearts. (I married mine.)

On a deeper level, this novel is about Vanessa’s warm, caring relationship with her mother. Unfortunately, Mom’s obligations as a governor who is running for president keep their time together to a minimum. In the novel, Vanessa’s mother misses a very important spelling bee and is temporarily unavailable when Vanessa gets injured. My mother, on the other hand, attended all my school functions and was available for every important childhood event, but because she was a single parent who worked full-time, she was often too busy or tired for us to spend much time together. Vanessa’s feelings of loneliness came directly from my early childhood.

Does the fact that Hillary Clinton is in the Presidential race make you happy (in terms of your book sales of course)?

Wasn’t that thoughtful of Hillary Clinton to run for president the same year my book about a mother running for president was released?

You’ve done all sorts of writing including greeting cards, articles and essays. What led you to write for young readers?

I enjoy all kinds of humorous writing, but when I’m creating funny novels for tweens, I feel like my writing voice has found a home. Seeing my words on greeting cards and in magazines like Family Circle and Highlights for Children was thrilling, but being part of the amazing collection of literature for children is a true honor.

You read a lot of books in 2007. How do you decide which titles to pick up? Any favorites?

I pay attention to what people are talking/blogging about. I read reviews. I check the “new books” section of my local library obsessively.

Unfortunately, even though I spend most evenings reading, I never seem to make a dent in my growing pile of books I hope to read.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak made a big impression on me. It’s a sad, but wonderful novel narrated by Death.

But if I had to recommend one book that I read this past year, it would be The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie [which one the National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 2007]. This novel contains so many elements of excellent fiction. I learned about a different culture, and was moved to laughter and tears often. It’s a sparse, honest and moving read.

Lately you’ve attended an SCBWI conference in your home state of Florida and attended the ALA meeting at which the Newbery, Caldecott and other ALA awards were announced. Does it feel any different attending these events as a published author?

I was delighted when Random House sent me to my home city of Philadelphia to attend the ALA Midwinter Conference. It was exciting to talk with librarians, who were passionate about getting good books into the hands of young readers. And sitting in the audience while the Newbery, Caldecott, etc. awards were announced was surreal.

As far as the FL SCBWI conference . . . I’ve attended this wonderful conference, run by Linda Bernfeld, since it’s inception six years ago. It was an entirely different experience being behind the podium, speaking about being a first-time author, though, than sitting in the audience, listening. I was also able to give a workshop during the conference – a great experience for my first time presenting at a conference.

Both events were possible only because of the publication of my book, so I’m grateful for the new experiences I’m having.

Your book release date was just a few days ago (February 12). What have you done in the way of promotion?

I’m very lucky because Random House has an excellent publicity department, and the person in charge of promoting my book has been very busy. They’ve sent out review copies of my novel, written press releases and created “Mom for President” buttons to promote my novel. There is also a big promotion at www.itsafirst.net, where the novels of first-time authors are showcased.

On my own, I hired a Web site designer, Lisa Firke at www.hitthosekeys.com, to create my Web site, www.donnagephart.com. Seven months before my book’s release, I began a blog at www.donnagephart.blogspot.com. I’ve had business cards, postcards, T-shirts, etc. printed.

I’ve done some interviews and speaking at local schools as well.

You’ve spoken to groups about not giving up on their writing. Please offer some advice to unpublished writers.

10 Very Important Pieces of Advice for Unpublished Writers:

1. Turn off the TV. Open a book.
2. Write even on days when you don’t feel like it, especially on days when you don’t feel like it.
3. Find or start a critique group. (Try to give more than you take.)
4. First drafts are never as perfect as you think they are, nor are they as horrible. But they are all you need to begin revisions.
5. Don’t compare yourself with other writers. Write the best book, story, poem, etc. that YOU can write.
6. Revision is important. Um. Revision is vital to creating good writing. Er. Being willing to make significant revisions time and again will be the difference between being unpublished and being published. (That was certainly the case for me.)
7. Act professionally, whether you’ve been published or not, in all correspondence, submissions, etc.
8. Don’t write about what you think you should or what topic is hot at the moment. Write about what matters most to you.
9. Read my article, “Six Reasons You Should Quit Writing and One Very Important Reason You Shouldn’t!” in the 2009 CWIM.
10. Don’t listen to writing advice.

Good luck!

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