What if Superheroes were Hipsters?

From: http://www.collegehumor.com/article:1809153

Because I love humor, superheroes, & comics. A great link from CollegeHumor :)

"If Superheroes Were Hipsters" by Caldwell Tanner on CollegeHumor

It Could Be Worse...

That looks like a pincushion she's holding, but it's the heart of some poor aspiring designer. 

(Photo from: http://www.modelinia.com/blog/meet-heidi-klum-in-wii-form/16657)

So I was watching Project Runway tonight (I'm not a regular viewer, I'll flip to it if it happens to be on when I'm in the mood to watch TV), and for the first time it hit me how difficult it must be to stand up on that runway and take harsh criticism from the judges. As the bottom three designers got feedback from Heidi and the crew, I realized that being on Project Runway is a lot like the process of trying to get a literary agent. 


-You send out a sample of your work to experts (fashion portfolio to producers/query letter to agents) 
-Said agents either reject you outright or ask to see more
-You take a last look at your creation, something which is intensely personal and a reflection of yourself, and you release your fragile baby into the world...
-AND THEN PEOPLE TEAR IT APART!!!!


Fashion, like writing, is a subjective art. There are clear no-no's (crooked seams, ragged hems, bad grammar and spelling), but even when you've studied your craft and followed the rules, there will be people who don't like what you've done creatively. But what's a terrible fit for one person, is someone else's Cinderella dress.


The query and submission process is rough. But through it all, I remind myself, that it could be worse. I'm not getting rejected on a stage in front of my peers, while agents stare me down and giggle behind their cue cards.


And more importantly....


There are no cameras. 

Just for Fun:

Tim Gunn says, and I quote,  "Make it work. Carry on. Holla at your boy!" Loves it.






(From: http://www.bravotv.com/project-runway/videos/holla-at-yo-boy)

Wanna publish a book but don't know where to start?

Writer's Digest has put together a really easy to follow breakdown of how to go from great idea to publication. Well...how to try anyway. Because there comes a point when all you can do is sit back and fervently hope, wish, and pray for good news. (Guess which phase I'm in?) Anyhow, check out the article below for an awesomely simple breakdown.

There Are No Rules - I Want to Publish My Book. Now What?

How to stay sane: Get feedback from your target audience

I've decided to start writing a series of entries called 'How to Stay Sane,' describing the things that I do to keep from losing my mind while I wait to see what will happen with my book. And so, without further ado, my first piece of advice:

So I recently posted my first 4 chapters of Jasmine Powers, Super Geek on InkPop.com. (That's right, you read correctly, the first four chapters. So if you wanna read more than what I've posted here, you can join InkPop and hopefully select me as a pick!)

What is InkPop, you ask? It's an online community where writers of YA fiction can post their work, read other peoples' stories, and get comments on their own. Plus, you can choose up to five stories as 'picks' and at the end of each month, the 5 stories with the most 'picks' are selected to receive a critique from editors at HarperCollins. Pretty awesome opportunity right? But what's even cooler is that it gives you an opportunity to get your work read by actual teenagers.

Even though some really amazing agents have requested my book, getting query rejections still stings. It starts to make me paranoid like 'omigosh, this agent didn't love it, so that means every agent is going to hate it!' Of course we all know the business is subjective, and even the most popular, successful authors in the world have some rejections under their belt (Meg Cabot says she has a whole bag of them under her bed!) but it's still discouraging that everyone I've queried isn't clamoring to represent me (dare to dream right?)
And when I start to think this way, instead of feeling excited about the requests I have out, I start feeling gloomy and waiting for the other shoe to drop, like I shouldn't even get my hopes up because bad news is worse after you've gotten hopeful and the news is destined to be bad.

Then I give myself a reality check. The truth is, although I am dying to find the right agent, my real goal is to impress teen readers. I want an agent to help me find a great publisher who will make my book available to the masses, but after that, I'm not really marketing my book to literary agents. I mean, I would love it if they buy it too (heck, I want EVERYONE to buy it!), but my target audience is teenagers. And if every literary agent in the world hates my book, but teen readers love it, I've still accomplished something pretty cool. And InkPop gives YA writers an opportunity to get feedback from the people they are ultimately catering to, people who read (and buy) YA books.

So, unnamed agents who do not love my book, you might not be head-over-heels for it but guess what? Some total strangers (who are in my target audience) have loved it and that makes me feel GREAT. And that is the feeling I'm going to hold on to, instead of the stomach-dropping sadness of query rejections.

Glowing Inkpop reviews = my anti drug.

LOL.