Sale Story and Superstitions…

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When a woman is nearing the end of her pregnancy, she is generally miserable, ungainly and desperate for her child to just hurry up and come out already! At this time, well-meaning friends and relatives shower her with advice on how to trigger labor. “Go to the mall and walk,” is common advice. Or, as my Aunt Cindy always says, “Go bowling. I went bowling when I was 9 months pregnant and ‘poof!’ Labor.” My cousin, on the other hand, would advise you to go to the 54th Street Grill and order a spicy Philly…threw her into labor 3 times.

Well, I don’t have any advice on how to help you if you’re impatiently waiting for Junior’s arrival, but if you’re out on submission and you are miserably waiting to hear news and your nerves are nearing their breaking point, I can tell you just what to do:

Get a Pedicure.

And while your feet are soaking, and you are pondering the book-deal just handed down to Snookie, your agent will call.

Oh yes, she will. With an offer for a 3-book deal. It will go something like this:

(Phone rings, causing instant guilt that you forgot to turn off your ringer and are now disturbing fellow customers who are just trying to relax while nail technicians are filing away their calluses. You glance around with an apologetic smile and reach to turn the phone off when you notice it’s your agent calling. You snatch the phone up, other pedicurees now forgotten.)

“Hello?”

“Hello! What are you doing?”

“Well, believe it or not, I’m having a pedicure,” you say, sheepishly.

“Isn’t that nice? Well, you might as well sit back and relax, sweetie, because today’s the day.”

(And much whooping and hollering ensues, drawing surprised stares from other customers, but that is another story.)

That’s pretty much how it went September 30th, at high noon (CST). Going to auction is a whole 'nother story indeed, but after the dust settled a week later, I am very proud to say that "Sweet Enemy" will be published by NAL Signet Eclipse in Spring 2012.

So, if you’re out on submission, and the least bit superstitious, hie yourself to the nearest nail salon and plop yourself down in the self-massaging chair. If you’re REALLY superstitious, here’s a picture of the actual pedicure, so you can have it replicated exactly…



Sadly, the little sticker on the OPI bottle that told me the color had been pulled off, so you’re on your own for that…

See you next week!

Blurb from Publisher’s Marketplace:
2010 Daphne Du Maurier Award Winner and Golden Heart nominee Heather Snow's SWEET ENEMY, where beakers and ball gowns don't mix, but chemical attraction is hard to ignore, to Laura Cifelli at NAL, at auction, in a three book deal, by Barbara Poelle of Irene Goodman Literary Agency. Foreign: Baror International

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Do Contests Really Help Your Career?

Contests have been good to me in the 2009/2010 season, most certainly. All told, I’ve finaled in 7, including the RWA Golden Heart®, and won three (Chicago North’s Fire and Ice, Kiss of Death’s Daphne du Maurier and Heart’s Through History’s Romance Through the Ages) the last of which introduced my writing to my now agent, Barbara Poelle with the Irene Goodman Agency.

I’ve been getting a few e-mails here and there from people who have noticed my finals/wins asking me how valuable I thought contesting was to launching a career, and if I felt that doing so well in contests was instrumental to getting an agent.

I must say yes. And no.

You already know my agent read my first three chapters in a contest, and went on to request the full, so you may be saying “Duh, of course contest finals were instrumental in launching her career.” But it’s not that simple. I had several agent offers to choose from, only 2 of which found me through a contest. Two more came through referrals from existing clients, and the other 4 through the good old query process. Had I chosen one of those agents instead, the answer would be very different.

Here’s the thing: getting an agent or editor to buy into your story ALL COMES DOWN TO THE WRITING, and not just in the first 25-50 pages (the average length of a contest entry). I’ve heard more than one editor and agent say that while contest finals are nice, they don’t pay a ton of attention to them (yes, even the Golden Heart) because many times they’ve read a polished, perfect first three chapters, but then the story falls apart, or the voice/story/plot/characters don’t carry through to the end of the book.

The most instrumental thing for your career then, is to WRITE A DARNED GOOD BOOK, through and through. No matter how well I’d done in contests, I wouldn’t have gotten a single offer if the entire book hadn’t stood out in some way.

That being said, I would still answer YES, as to whether contests have been instrumental to my career, and that is because of the feedback I’ve received. You see, before Sweet Enemy started doing well in contests, I entered another 5 (4 previous to my actual first finalist entry) that I did not final in at all. But what I did get was valuable feedback. I learned something from each and every one of those entries, even from those judges who hated my story or wrote pretty harsh or nitpicky things (most judges were absolutely lovely, btw, even when giving criticism). I learned what was working (thus building my confidence), what people were tripping over, what words I over-used, what images weren’t coming through as I intended, and so on and so on and so on. Taking that feedback and unbiased criticism helped hone my story, showed me areas I needed to better educate myself in on the craft, and then I would try again and enter another contest to see if what I’d changed worked.

Just as important in my growth as a writer has been JUDGING contests. It’s amazing how much you learn about your own writing, or about mistakes writers make, when you are seeing them in someone else’s work. Conversely, you learn when you see something done just right!

And remember, contest finals are great, they let you bypass the slush-pile of whichever editor/agent is judging, and that’s nothing to sneeze at, but that’s all it does. In the end, it’s the writing that is going to win you that editor/agent’s heart, so above all else, educate yourself and hone your craft. That’s what will launch your career.

For those of you who have entered contests, how would you answer this question? For those thinking about contesting, what do you hope to get from the experience?

Now, a shameless plug for my chapter’s contest, deadline of September 10th. And yes, we’re known for great feedback.

Why YOU should enter MARA’s Fiction From the Heartland Contest

• FEEDBACK, FEEDBACK, FEEDBACK
o You get TWO full page critiques, one from a published author.
o Our contest provides detailed feedback on your entire entry, including big picture story feedback from your synopsis
o You will receive your comments back in time to prepare to enter the RWA Golden Heart®
• Manuscripts that final are read by BOTH an EDITOR and an AGENT

o Check out 2010’s Fabulous Line-Up!

Agents
• Helen Breitwieser, Cornerstone Literary Agency
• Sara Megibow, Nelson Literary Agency
• Laura Bradford, Bradford Literary Agency
• Karen Solem, Spencerhill Associates
• Claudia Cross, Sterling Lord Literistic

Editors
• Category Romance - Susan Litman, Harlequin/Silhouette
• Contemporary Single Title - Danielle Poiesz, Pocket Books
• Historical - Tessa Woodward, Avon Books
• Romantic Suspense - Lauren Plude, Grand Central Publishing
• Paranormal - Meredith Giordan, Berkley Publishing Group
• Erotic Romance – Meghan Conrad, Ellora's Cave
• Young Adult - Natashya Wilson, Harlequin Teen
• Inspirational - Melissa Endlich, Steeple Hill

• Trained judges, who judge in the genre they write. No MARA members are allowed to enter our own contest.

• Overall winner receive $50 and a commemorative plaque

• Did we say FEEDBACK?

Here’s what some past entrants have said about our contest:

"I attribute my first sale to this contest." - Laura Abbot

"I had no idea when I entered the MARA Contest how it would change my life. Not only did I win the contemporary catagory and the best overall, but the judging editor requested the entire manuscript and I went on to become a published author! I can't recommend this contest enough." -Donna Delaney

And 2000 RITA® winner for Best First Book (The Maiden and the Unicorn), Isolde Martyn thanked MARA and the Fiction From the Heartland Contest in her acceptance speech

So be sure to polish up your entry and get it in today! Deadline Sept 10th, 2010. www.mararwa.com

I've been Poelled...

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So, I haven’t posted in an age, but in my defense, life has been a whirlwind these past few weeks. So many things to share, but I’ll have to do it in spurts because I am very quickly making some tweaks to my manuscript so that my new, fantastic, lovely, hilariously funny and uber-enthusiastic super agent, Barbara Poelle, can get it out on submission.

Next on the—

What’s that, you say?

Oh, yes! I DID say agent. And I am thrilled, Thrilled, THRILLED about her. It’s a long and wonderful story, one of those, that looking back, seems like it was meant to be, but the very short version goes something like this:

Author (that’s me) has her eye on Super Agent (that’s Barbara) for a long time. Author sees that Super Agent is judging a historical romance contest (that’s the Hearts Through History’s Romance Through the Ages Contest) and decides to enter, in hopes of getting first three chapters of manuscript in front of her.

In the meantime, Super Agent and another Awesome Agent (that’s Holly Root) donate an afternoon tea with them to “Do the Write Thing for Nashville” to support flood relief for that area after the devastating May floods. Calculating Author thinks… “Hmm…I can support Nashville AND put myself in front of Super Agent, who will have read 3 chapters of my work if I final in that contest I entered, and at best, make an impression, and at worst, be able to at least ask her why she hated my writing.” Author bids, bids, bids and wins! Of course, she also queries both Super Agent AND Awesome Agent, because Author is no dummy and Awesome Agent is…well…awesome.

Author finals in the contest, and the manuscript is off to Super Agent. Author also finals in the Golden Heart and the Daphne, which doesn’t hurt, all of which are set to announce at the RWA Convention in Orlando, FL.

RWA arrives. Author WINS historical romance contest (Yay!), Super Agent comes to awards ceremony herself to announce the winners and then FLOORS Author by offering representation publicly in front of a room full of people, declaring her willingness to “get into a monkey knife fight” to represent Author. Author’s jaw drops, but she can’t stay to play, because she has to dash upstairs, where she also wins the historical category of the Daphne (at which point, she sees Super Agent standing in the back of the room, jumping up and down with applause. Author’s heart melts a little).

The next day, still stunned Author (and friend, Gretchen Jones) have lunch with Super Agent and Awesome Agent, who both deign to wear Fez’s blinged out with “I (heart) Nashville and Heather Snow” on them, and Author doesn’t have to ask Super Agent why she hated her writing, because Super Agent LOVES her writing. Yay!

(Gretchen proceeds to take picture evidence of this Fez wearing madness, which is exhibited below)




Author receives several more tempting (and wonderful) offers of representation over the next week, and is grateful and humbled by each and every one. Author runs off to New York to meet other Lovely Agents, to make certain she makes the right decision for her career. Author is torn, because she loves each agent and thinks they are all lovely. Then Author goes home and secludes herself for three days, clearing her head, listing her pros and cons, and checking her gut and her references and comes to a decision.

On Tuesday, Author calls Super Agent. Super Agent doesn’t answer. Author then decides, what the heck…Super Agent is young, hip and addicted to her iPhone (as is Author) and decides to officially accept offer of representation by text. She texts:

“Well, I’ve been Poelled. Here’s hoping you haven’t been Snowed into thinking I’m a better writer than I am, oh agent mine, because now you’re stuck with me. Call me when you can.”

And much celebration ensued.

All hilarity aside, I am very excited to be represented by the talented, tenacious and absolutely wonderful Barbara Poelle of the Irene Goodman Agency. Here’s hoping we have many happy, successful and lucrative years together…