​I apologize for not posting as regularly to this blog as I used to. Most of this year I have been busy drafting my second book and am now well into the editing phase.
 
I’m continuing to read as much as I can. I am a member of two book clubs, and we read a variety of genres. Plus, as a Young Adult author, I am constantly reading YA to improve my writing, and as a mother, I am always on the lookout for MG and YA books for my children to read.
 
I regularly post my reviews on Goodreads but currently am not finding the time for the more detailed reviews on this blog.Check out my ratings and reviews at Christine at Goodreads. If you like them, please send me a friend request.    
 
Thank you for reading this post.  

​If you are planning to publish the traditional route through a mid-large publisher, you will need to look for an agent. The first step is creating a prioritized list of agents, so you will have that as reference as you begin to query. There are lots of resources for finding agents including websites, agent listing books, and even the dedication page of your favorite novels.
 
A great place to start is querytracker.net. This website lists close to two thousand agents in one easily searchable place. It is user friendly and easy to narrow your list quickly by filtering by genre, location, agents taking queries, and many more.
 
I found this website much more useful than the book I had purchased. The book may have been more inclusive, but it would have been a lot more work to transfer the data to the computer where I created my own excel spreadsheet. QueryTracker offers a free program, which is all you need to begin. But once you begin to query, paying the $25/year is well worth it if you want to have some idea when your targeted agents will review your work and how they generally respond.  
 
Another benefits of a website such as QueryTracker is the agent’s contact information is included, so it’s an easy click to begin your research. Not to mention, there is some basic data about each agent on his or her profile page within the program.
 
You can wait to build your agent list until your manuscript is finished or you can begin a couple of months before you are ready to query, perhaps during one of those times you have set your book aside to rest. Depending on how detailed you want your initial list to be, this process can take a few days or several weeks. If you are putting together a list months in advance, you may want to simply learn enough about each agent to decide if they are a potential agent for your work or not and prioritize them in some manner.
 
By putting together a list in advance, you will save yourself work when you are ready to begin to query because you won’t be starting from scratch. Researching agents can be data overload, so it’s not a bad idea to break up the process. Agent research will also motivate you to finish your manuscript. After spending months or years editing, it is exciting to finally see the next step and envision working with the agents you are researching.
 
Regardless of when you begin, your agent list should always be a work in process. New agents are joining the industry continually and submission requirements continue to change.
 
Thank you for reading this post. I hope you found it helpful.

​One of the best activities an aspiring author can do is attend conferences. Conferences can vary significantly. Some are huge, and some are intimate. Many are geared towards writing whereas others are focused on literacy.  
 
Below, I have listed what I consider to be some of conference’s greatest benefits:
 
Increase Skills
Most conferences have lectures or working sessions designed to improve skills. These skills could run the gamut from structuring your novel to developing your social media platform.
 
Pitch Sessions
Some conferences offer pitch sessions where you can meet several prospective agents or editors in a short period of time and present your manuscript’s pitch. Many authors have found great success taking this route rather than the traditional query approach.
 
Network
Conferences are an excellent way to meet authors, agents, and editors. You may get to mingle with authors you have admired for years and get a book signed. You can also meet people who may become your future beta readers or a likeminded person to reach out to when you need encouragement.
 
Inspiration
It is hard to leave a conference without feeling inspired to keep writing and feel that you are part of a great industry.
 
Two weeks ago, I attended my first conference, the Children’s Literacy Conference in Bellingham, WA. Although it was geared to a broader audience than just authors—I was seated between a librarian and a teacher—I listened to four established authors speak. I heard their stories, their struggles, and advice. I left motivated to get back to my computer to keep working.
 
I look forward to the Pacific Northwest Writers Conference in July, which will have a different focus.
 
I encourage you to research the conferences coming to your area. Or if you have the time and money, make a trip of it.
 
Thank you for reading this post. I hope you found it helpful.

Have you told people you are writing a book?
 
If this is a new project for you, perhaps you have not. What is holding you back? Most likely, fear. Fear of failure. Fear that friends will be unsupportive … maybe they will even laugh. Fear that you will be held accountable … by them and yourself.
 
I didn’t tell anyone outside of my immediate family that I had started writing a book. I was worried for all of the reasons above. I went along this way for many months as I pecked out my first chapters. But once I reached the point that I was confident that I would see it through to the end, I began sharing my dream … one-by-one.
 
Once I began talking, I discovered so many benefits.
 
Telling the first person was the scariest. But my friend was encouraging, and she told me I deserved to do something for myself and have a creative outlet.
 
A while later I told my sister. She too thought it was a great idea, but she was truly shocked when I handed her the first draft just a few weeks later. She devoured it in a weekend. She was my first reader and gave me the positive feedback I needed to move on. (How had I forgotten she had been Literary Agent’s assistant many years before. Yes, she was biased, but she had some experience.)
 
Another month later, I announced I was writing to my book club. Now I not only had a roomful of supporters, but I had a handful of beta readers anxious to read another draft. And better yet, one reconnected me with a mutual friend who was also writing. That person has become my number one beta reader as we move forward in our new careers together.
 
The trend continued. It got easier and easier to open up.  Each time, I gained something. Perhaps it was just more support. Often it was another reviewer. And several times I got an important contact in the industry. And maybe most importantly, I began to feel like an author.
 
Only when my book was nearly agent-ready was I ready to announce on Facebook and in my annual Holiday Letter that I had written a book. It felt akin to announcing I was pregnant in the scary early days where so much can still go wrong. Will I get an agent? Will it get published? Will it sell? These questions are still unanswered. But now that I have shared my dream, I have become accountable to them (and myself) which will help carry me through the challenging road ahead.
 
I encourage you to open up about your writing. It is one step forward on the path to achieving your dream.
 
Thank you for reading this post. I hope you found it helpful.

​Several months before I finished my first book, I sat down with a local author for several hours to pick her brain. I was anxious to find out as much as I could about her life and how she got her first novel published.
 
One topic that kept coming up was the importance of building my social media platform. Of course, I had been hearing this for months, but this was the first time another author was giving me one-on-one time and was able to be specific with her advice.
 
Yes, she made some many comments about having a website and Facebook Pages— both of which I was inspired to finish and launch within days of our meeting—but it was Twitter that resonated with me the most. Perhaps it was because it was the one area I had yet to explore.
 
She was able to give me some pointers on how to use Twitter as an author and I have added a few of my own.
 
Get a handle that is easy to find.
The handle is your identifier and begins with the @ sign. I already one as I had signed up, but was not actively tweeting. She encouraged me to change it so it would be easier to find. If you have a long name (like me) or a popular name, you are not going to get your exact name. I finally decided on @christinegrabo because it will pop up if you start typing my full name.
 
Follow Authors
Find authors to follow, especially those in your genre by typing in a few words such as Author and Young Adult in the search bar. In time, that will lead to most of you followers being authors too.
 
Support Fellow Authors
She explained that twitter should be used to help each other out. Right now, I don’t have my own book to promote, but I can help out other authors by retweeting their tweets or reading and reviewing their books.  When it’s my turn, they will be there to help me.
 
Educate Yourself
Of course, she didn’t teach me everything, but it was enough to jump in and get started. From there, I was able to look for tutorials to take the next step or learn by lurking and watching others tweet.
 
Link Twitter to Social Media Accounts
Once you get going, it is easy to tie your twitter into your website or blogs as well as other social media accounts such as Facebook, Goodreads, Linked In, and Instagram. This will help your followers find you in other arenas.
 
I have found twitter to be a source of valuable information. I follow people who may be anywhere on the continuum of aspiring author to bestselling author as well as editors, literary agents, and marketers, and they have lots of pertinent knowledge to share. Plus, it’s a way to feel camaraderie with fellow writers rather than feel I am stepping out into this new career alone. 
 
I encourage you to sign up, get over your fear, and start to tweet. Feel free to send me your first one.  I promise to follow you back.
 
Thank you for reading this post. I hope you found it helpful.

​These days with so many electronic devices, people can write anywhere: the office, the coffee shop, the kitchen table, or even outside by a pool. Although you may actually choose to lug your laptop to a variety of places, you should have a home writing base as well.
 
If you are one of the lucky ones who has an entire office to themselves to spread out, this post may not for you. However in talking to fellow writers, I have found that some of them don’t have any designated space. Even if they have a home office, the space has been allocated to their spouse and/or their kids. They get the leftovers. Or maybe you do have your own space, but your day job takes over and your notebooks and writing literature are just scattered throughout.
 
In either case, your writing is not taking enough space in your life, (both physically and mentally). I am telling you if you want to write that book, you will be more productive if you make space for yourself and your writing. You need a place where you can sit and feel, I am a writer.  
 
So clear off that shelf, empty a drawer, and give yourself room at the desk (even if you have to work out some sort of time-share). You are important, and so is your writing. 
 
Thank you for reading this post. I hope you found it helpful.

​To be a published author, you need to educate yourself. Most authors do not have a formal education in writing such as a Masters of Fine Arts or even an English degree. Many decide to write while they are pursuing another career where writing is only one of many hats that they wear.
 
There are many ways to learn more about writing including: books, classes, blogs, conferences, Internet research, and discussions with fellow writers. In this post, I will focus on one of the easiest and cheapest methods: reading books about writing.
 
I whipped my first draft out without any creative writing instruction. However, once that was complete I began to educate myself as I began the editing process. It was during this time that I felt truly became an author. This stage took several months longer than the first draft stage.
 
The first book I read was Get A Literary Agent by Chuck Samuchino. It was an easy and interesting read and covered everything from do you need an agent to step-by-step instruction for submitting your materials. I devoured it and decided, yes, I needed an agent. By reading it, I learned I needed to get my book in the best possible shape before I reached out to agents. I would only have one opportunity to make a first impression.
 
So then came the editing books. My two favorites were Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King and Revision and Self-Editing for Publication by James Scott Bell. These books focused on getting the story and the words right, everything from plot to character development to dialogue. Neither book focused on proper grammar or formatting. (I found these situations easier to research on a case-by-case basis on grammar websites.)
 
I found these two books interesting to read and very applicable to today’s marketplace. I did read (or attempted to read) other books in this category, but editing can be a dry topic and easily outdated which is why I wanted to recommend my two standouts.
 
There was so much information to apply to my book that created a huge checklist to make sure I didn’t forget any points the books suggested.
 
I was fascinated to learn about topics that were different for fiction writers than say high school English teachers. Who knew that it was best to use “said” and “asked” for dialogue tags? Not me. I had purposely used many words from a list my daughter had brought home from school that showcased all the ways to avoid using “said” such as: questioned, remarked, offered, agreed, and criticized. And forget most of the adverbs to make them more specific. “Said” and “asked” are invisible and don’t get in the way of great dialogue. Looking at my bookshelf, many of my favorite authors have taken this advice.
 
I could go on and on about how beneficial these books were. But instead, I urge you to read them for yourself. Regardless of how well you write, I am sure you will find many areas in which you can improve.  
 
Thank you for reading this post. I would love to read your comments below, particularly if you found this article helpful.

​Long before you reach out to agents with your query letters, you will want to have your book reviewed by others. I have heard that less than 5% of authors submit successfully to agents without completing this crucial step.
 
There are multiple categories of people who should review your book.
 

• Friends and Family
• Fellow Writers
• Literary Agents
• Editorial Services

 
There are pros and cons of having reviewers in each of these categories, so I urge you to use some from most (if not all) of these categories.
 
Friends and Family – This is likely where you will find your first reviewers. Yes, they may be somewhat biased, but they can be invaluable. You can increase their value if you ask for constructive feedback and create a short questionnaire so they can give you the type of feedback you desire. Plus, at this point of the game, you want people to give you encouragement. If your friends and family don’t have anything positive to say, well, then you have a problem.
 
In my case, I had over twenty of these people read my book. In all cases, I received the positive praise I’d need to handle the criticism ahead. But I also received many suggestions that I integrated into the manuscript. Included in this group were teens and tweens. They too gave me specific feedback, and more importantly, showed me that my story was engaging enough to read by my target audience.
 
Fellow Writers – These can be friends or people you find in a critique group. I am actively trying to find more reviewers in this category, particular in my genre. It is one of reason I signed up for my current writing class.
 
Most likely, you will get more valuable and unbiased feedback from these reviewers. But be prepared to put in the time to help them as well. A side benefit was I found that editing my friend’s book made me a better editor of my own.
 
Literary Agents – Agents are the gatekeepers to publishers. Therefore, they have great advice. Unfortunately in today’s busy market, you are unlikely to get their unsolicited feedback. However, there are ways. In my case, I signed up for a couple of Writer’s Digest webinars where part of the cost included an individualized feedback on my query letter and first pages. Although they only reviewed a small subset of my work, I was able to integrate it through the entire novel.
 
Editorial Services – This is the one area I have yet to use because I was fortunate to have many good reviewers in the above categories. The downside is cost. Depending on the length of your novel, an editorial service will cost you upwards of $2,000 and possibly much more. However, you will get a professional opinion. If you take this approach, do your research to hire the right person. Also, edit the book as well as you can first. Otherwise, you may need to pay again later in the editing process.
 
Whichever route you pursue, take a hard look at your feedback. If it makes sense, integrate it. But don’t blindly assume all feedback is good. You know your book best and whether the feedback is on target.
 
Thank you for reading this post. I hope you found it helpful. 

​If you want to write a book, I believe you need to read a lot … in and out of your genre. Fortunately, I have yet to find a writer that doesn’t like to read although they may not have much time.
 
I am convinced that the thousands of books I have read and analyzed over my lifetime helped me write my novel without any formal training. My plot came together, along with nearly all of the characters, in my first draft and has not changed significantly in all the drafts that followed. I intuitively knew how to create a beginning, a middle, and an end and tie it all together with only a skeleton of an outline.
 
I read a variety of genres since I am a member of two book clubs where the hosts pick the books, so we invariably read many books that I personally may not have selected. Therefore, I have been exposed to a greater variety of writing styles and content that I can draw upon while writing. 
 
However, early on in my editing process, I recognized that although I love Young Adult literature and chose it as the genre for my first novel, I only read it here and there. So, I set my manuscript aside for a month and began to read YA after YA.
 
It immediately became apparent that I needed to switch my book from 3rd person to 1st person. Not only had 1st person become the most popular approach for YA, but it would allow me to get into my protagonist’s head, which is what teenage readers want, and what my story needed. (Coincidentally, I had considered switching months before, but a quick review of my bookshelf showed a mix of point of views, so I continued in 3rd person.) Had I done more research on my genre back then, I would have saved countless hours changing the POV after the novel was complete.
 
By reading in my genre, I also realized that some were written in present tense. This led me back to the Internet to confirm there was a trend toward writing books, especially YA, in the present. However in this case, I read the pros and cons and make an educated decision to remain with simple past tense.
 
Now that I write, I read differently. I focus on an aspect that I am struggling with in my novel: When are the major characters introduced? How is the setting described? How much dialogue is used versus narrative? On what page did we find out the big secret? Did they mix tense or stick with one? Many of these questions, I could research, but seeing how other authors did them was the most useful.
 
For all these reasons and more, I urge you to continue to read and make sure many of the books are in your genre.
 
Thank you for reading this post. I hope you found it helpful.

People write for many reasons, but I would argue, sometimes people focus on the wrong reasons and, sometimes, don’t even know why.
 
When I first picked up a pen (okay, opened my computer) to begin my first book, I didn’t put much thought into why I was writing. In the back of my mind, I knew I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it and hoped, maybe, I could write a bestseller.
 
As the months went by, the adrenaline of working on a new project carried me through, but I was beginning to have self-doubt. Finally I opened up to a good friend, Kelly, that I was writing a book. I mentioned that I was afraid it might be a waste of time. By now my goal was to get my book published, but the sensible part of me couldn’t help but see that I was spending a lot of my valuable time writing when I could be doing more practical things.
 
Kelly surprised me. She said, “Don’t put that pressure on yourself, think of writing as a creative outlet.”
 
After our conversation, I reflected for the first time on why I was writing a book. I knew the odds were against me of getting it published, let alone making money. So why was I writing? There had to be something more.
 
I realized Kelly was right. I deserved to have something creative in my life, something fun. Looking back, I grasped that most of the creativity had left my life by the time I hit high school. There was simply no longer time for arts and crafts, drawing, or creative writing. Then by college, sports were replaced by exercising to stay healthy— a good stress-outlet but not much fun.
 
From that point forward, when I’d read sections of my book and think, “This is terrible; what a waste of time,” I’d focus on writing as a creative outlet. Letting go of the pressure to get published, writing became more fun. I was anxious to write each day because I was dying to know what was going to happen next.
 
After I completed my first draft, I began to educate myself about writing through reading and webinars. Then when I began to develop my social media platform, I learned even more — never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d develop my own website or blog or tweet to thousands of people. Usually it’s only my kids that learn new skills. Now I was too—yet another reason to write.
 
I encourage you to make a list of the reasons you write. Then, when the self-doubt creeps in, you only need to review your list to remember: it is not for nothing, regardless of what becomes of your book.
 
Thank you for reading this post. I hope you found it helpful.