Archive for the ‘Submissions & Queries’ Category
Thursday, July 1st, 2010
(Also posted on Bark)
It’s summer, I don’t have to go back to full time teaching until the fall and in between the projects on my to do list for this time off (garden work that will never happen, filling out the paperwork for becoming an American citizen, brushing the dog, planning for lessons, watching bad TV) I thought I would do some writing. However, my motivation to put words on paper plummeted to the lowest low when Monday’s mail brought two rejection letters. Scott, Shira, and Sam have already “barked” on the subject and I don’t have anything to add other than that this video of Irish comedian Dylan Moran as the main character in the TV series Black Books reacting to a recent rejection letter cheered me up. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS1NOXWVWgo)
What do you do to cheer yourself up after one of these missives show up in your mail or inbox?
Posted in Humor, Rejections, Submissions & Queries | 2 Comments
Sunday, June 21st, 2009
When I read Rita Golden Gelman’s Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World in 2005, I immediately wanted to know more about the fascinating author. Actually, what I really wanted to do right after reading the book was to sell all my stuff, pack a backpack and start living a nomadic life like hers. I had travelled around in South East Asia and Europe for most of 2002 and was very keen on adapting that lifestyle full time. After I calmed down a bit, I logged on to Rita’s website instead of listing all my possessions on Craigslist. What I found is that she’s a fantastic inspiration as well as a fabulous writer. I sent her a note through email and to my surprise she emailed me back with gracious advice about traveling and writing. On the website, I also saw a note about a collaborative travel essay/cookbook project and after some encouragement from my critique group, I sent in a submission. I wrote about my first American Thanksgiving and included the recipe for the chocolate cake I baked for the dinner.
Since then, Rita and Maria Altobelli (who writes about living in Mexico and maintains http://www.mexicoinsmallbytes.com/) selected which essays they liked best, tested all the recipes, found an agent for the project, who then found a publishing house. Today I found out that our editor for Random House’s Crown division picked my essay to be included in the book. The working title of the book is Break Free, Break Bread, Break Rules: Stories and Recipes from the World at Large and should be out next year. All the proceeds, including the advance, will be used for scholarships for vocational education for high school graduates living in the slums of New Delhi.
Today is a very, very happy day.
Posted in Agents & Editors, Authors I Admire, Essays, Firsts, Inspiration, Non Fiction Writing, Submissions & Queries | Comments »
Monday, December 15th, 2008
Just heard from the editor at Bylines that the new calendar is out, including my contribution to the writer’s insights on the writing life that appear on each weekly page. I’m not sure which page my contribution is on, but here’s what I wrote:
Clark Kent and Me
While his alter-ego used super powers to fight super villains and keep Metropolis safe, Clark Kent wrote for the Daily Planet. My life is the exact opposite of his, well kind of. I’m not a super-hero during the day–I’m a science teacher–but my alter-ego is a writer.
My other personality side is always alert, always a part of me, just like Clark’s was. When I’m calling roll in class, I notice how my students’ names would be great for characters in novels. When my hands are occupied by mundane tasks that frees up my brain, such as folding laundry or washing dishes, I create plot twists for my novels. My dog is used to taking walks with me muttering dialog lines under my breath. During Tuesday night bowling, I make notes of my league members’ expressions of disappointment when the pins don’t fall as they should. It makes for a great library of tough-guy talk or even pirate dialog.
As it was for Clark, this split life is both a curse and a blessing. At times, my projects frustrate me so much; I wish I could stop writing all together. But then, there are moments that make it all worth it. When an editor or agent writes me a nice or supportive rejection letter or my article gets picked up by a magazine. That’s when I feel like I’ve just slain the super-villain and all of Metropolis wants to be my friend.
To get your own copy of Bylines Writers’ Desk Calendar, check out: http://www.bylinescalendar.com/. It’s a perfect gift for any writer on your list.
Happy Holidays!
-Åsa
Posted in Article Writing, Inspiration, Non Fiction Writing, Submissions & Queries | Comments »
Wednesday, March 19th, 2008
Haven’t been posting for a while, but that’s because I’ve been busy with new and wonderful things.
My friend Jere and I traveled to the beautiful Whidbey Island for their writers’ association’s annual conference—and what a great conference it was. The fantastic nature, the excellent volunteers, and the intimate and casual atmosphere made this my favorite conference ever.
One of the reasons I’m so partial to it is because while pitching for an agent, I got my first FULL MANUSCRIPT REQUEST ever for Paved Paradise. So, that’s what I’ve been working on. Even though the manuscript was completed and reviewed by my writers’ group (twice) I still couldn’t let it go without doing some polishing and final edits.
More about the conference later—now back to grading my students’ finals and catching up on sleep.
(Moved from my old blog: http://writingvalkyrie.blogspot.com.)
Posted in Agents & Editors, Conferences, Firsts, Submissions & Queries | Comments »
Sunday, October 28th, 2007
I am officially a writer! I have received no less than two rejection letters, both from agents, and both very nice.
Considering that I have submitted my manuscript–each on the receiving person’s invitation–to three agents and one editor, I think two personal responses is a pretty good result. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m of course bummed that these are rejections, but if you talk to any published writer, they’ll tell you about the massive amounts of rejections they got before publishing.
I’m very proud of my two. One is from a senior agent at a big name house in New York. It’s a hand-written note starting: “This novel certainly has potential, however, it just isn’t right for me.” Now, maybe my writing sucks and the agent is just being nice, but I don’t care. I’ll take any encouragement where I find it.
The second was received via email and is from a small north-west agency that is highly respected by both writers and other agents that I mentioned their name to. My favorite quote from it is: “Your writing is quite good, although it could still use a bit of polish. It is better than 90% of the manuscripts I receive!” The email also includes specific examples of how I should polish specific sections. How’s that for great constructive advice!? It was worth my stamp just to receive that.
Okay, back to the grinding stone. I’m polishing the manuscript and sending out more queries.
(Moved from my old blog: http://writingvalkyrie.blogspot.com.)
Posted in Agents & Editors, Rejections, Submissions & Queries | Comments »
