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The winners of Paranormalcy are:
Lisa Gail Green
Dorothy Dreyer
Congrads! Email me and I will send you eGalley instructions!
Thanks to YA Rebels for having me! Go check them out for more awesome videos. If I were you I would just subscribe so you don't miss any of their awesomeness.
Ok, so not that anyone needs my advice, but they asked me so hear it is.
The worst and best advice I've gotten so far in the business.
Comment and tell me "what is the worst and best advice you've gotten in this business?"
Today's giveaway is the ARC for Fixing Delilah Hannaford by Sarah Ockler (Nov 2010)
Things in Delilah Hannaford's life have a tendency to fall apart.She used to be a good student, but she can't seem to keep it together anymore. Her friends are drifting away. Her "boyfriend" isn't a boyfriend. Her mother refuses to discuss the fight that divided the Hannaford family eight years ago. Falling apart, it seems, runs in the family.
When Delilah must spend the summer helping to settle her estranged grandmother's estate, she's suddenly confronted by her family's painful past. Faced with questions that cannot be ignored and secrets that threaten to burst free, Delilah begins to doubt all that she's ever known to be true.
Great vlog!! I am working up the courage to try one!!!
The worst advice was to break all the rules, in regards to querying. I am not a rule breaker by nature (always the good girl!!LOL!!) so this advice went against every fiber of my being! Since then I have started following agent blogs and following certain ones on Twitter...and they soooooo do not like rule breakers!!
Best advice...hmm.....keep writing, keep learning, keep working at perfecting your writing!
And I semi sorta know Sarah Ockler.....kinda! We have a mutual friend, anyway! (Shout out to Sadie Worth!) :) We're all from the same area of NY!
The best advise I got was from Christine Johnson's blog recently, and that was to write every day. Even on days you are just not "feeling it", write anyway. Because sometimes if you start writing, the juices start flowing and you can't stop! :)
The worst advise was every chapter HAS to end in a cliffhanger. Yes, I believe you should end each chapter in an interesting way so the reader wants to keep going. But to add in a cliffhanger just for the sake of having one makes the story lose it's focus. At least it does for me.
Loved your vlog! Thanks for the great advise! :)
Nice vlog!
I'd have to say the best advice was to keep writing even if it didn't make sense. It's easier to cut out than create.
The worst advice was to outline. I know it works for a lot of people but I spent a lot of time creating something that was never used! My characters had plans of their own.
the best advice is something that keeps being said over and over again: write all the time and every day.
the worst advice I got was when I first started as a sports journalist and no one took me seriously as a female. Someone actually told me i should switch to news or entertainmanet. Screw that, I am still working in sports writing!
fabulous vlog!!! And great advice!
Write a winner! wooo!!!!!!
The best advice is a blog post I read today by Elana Johnson. The five steps to getting published. 1)Sit down at your computer 2)Open Word 3)Write a few words 4)Write more until you finish 5)Do it all again for Book #2
The worst advice: you're writing is incredible. Given by a non-writing classmate.
Never tried a vlog before, maybe I'll revist the idea. Nah, who wants to see me.
The best advice I've gotten is on my writing, that my current book that I'm shopping around, is to change it from present tense to past tense. It works so much better this way.
The worst advice is that I should focus more first person POV instead of 3rd person.
The best advice I got was to write every day and to carry a notebook with you. You have no idea the ideas that come to me at a supermarket or baseball game lol.
Worst advice, yea I ignore and forget that stuff.
Best: write every day, even if its just a little.
Worst: Write to the market.
I only recently started working on a couple of ideas for a YA novel that I hope to finish by next summer, so I guess I am not really in the business yet. But as a student, one of the worst pieces of advice I heard was that character development was not as important as plot development. I think that both need to be crafted, as both are crucial.
The best advice I've seen comes from a number of authors--read!!! I have learned so much (good and bad) about voice, characters, and what works/does not work in general by reading works of other writers.
Good questions :)
Worst advice: send that query now!
Best advice: relax and trust your instincts
I love the title: Fixing Delilah Hannaford - great visual & emotional impact for me.
Worst advice...do something special with your query to make it stand out. Put it on pretty paper,make sure it has a special stamp on it...The other one I'm embarrassed I did. I put little copywrite symbols (hand drawn) on the first manuscripts I sent out about 15 years ago. (Still blushing!)
Best advice: Put yourself out there...make in person connections with editors, publishers and agents.
You're such a cute vlogger!
Worst advice: You've been to a conference where agents and editors say they'll accept your queries for a limited time--and friends urge you to send before the chance is lost. But you're not ready. All you do is set yourself back by submitting too early.
Best advice: Someone said that every revision is an opportunity. That changed the way I look at revising. It was freeing.
Yes! I'm so excited to read Paranormalcy, thank you so much!
Best Advice: It's okay to start from scratch with a book. Doesn't mean you are a bad writer, just means you need to work out a different way to tell the story. And in a similar vein...sometimes you create those books that just need to be filed away. _It's okay_, move on to the next story!
Worst Advice: Don't ever give up on a book, just keep revising revising revising those words until you get it right...it will happen, sometimes it just takes a really, really long time. Although, not sure if this is a case of bad advice or me taking well intentioned advice and applying wrong, lol.
Oh! And great vlog...thanks. I love YA REBELS!
Best advice: Keep on writing.
Worst advice (more of a suggestion, really): Not to look for an agent after being published. The thinking was, you've already found a publisher, why do you need an agent?
Margay
I hope I'm not too late to comment.
Best Advice - Join a critique group and make sure your manuscript is ready before submitting.
Worst Advice - I've gotten some less than wonderful advice on some of my work. Other folks can ruin your manuscript if you're too quick to listen to everybody.
Great vlog, Shelli! I so agree about the "winner" philosophy.
Great vlog- love the pop up dialogue windows! We all want a magic formula to follow... there isn't one. Just gotta KEEP MOVING FORWARD. Wishing you continued success....