What to Expect When You're Expecting Your First Book

So far, the months running up to the debut of my novel have been simultaneously exhilarating and nervewracking. Thank goodness for groups like The Fearless Fifteeners, a group of middle grade and young adult authors debuting in 2015, who offer a haven for our freakouts and squealing in our Top Secret forum.

In one of the threads in said forum, we've been pointing each other in the direction of helpful posts on surviving our debut years. So I thought I'd share them here, for the benefit of those who are also debuting this year--or any year in the future, really (unless you're unlucky enough to debut just before the zombie apocalypse starts--in which case, you're pretty much out of luck).

Voila, a list of posts gathered from the web, about "things I'd wish I'd known" and "learn from my mistakes" and debut books (in no particular order):

Debut Authors Lessons by Mary Robinette Kowal

Timeline and Checklist for YA or MG Book Release by Lisa Schroeder

10 Things Nobody Tells You About Being a Debut Novelist by Tim Federle

After The Book Deal series by Jonathon Auxier

Author Visits: A Beginners Guide by James Dawson

Advice for Authors on School Visits by Book Moot

On School Visits...A School Librarian's Perspective from Dawn Finch

Expectation vs. Reality by Jodi Meadows

A Dozen Things That Debut Authors Have Taught Me by Erin Murphy

Nine Things I Wish I'd Known About Publishing by Alison Cherry

24 Things No One Tells You About Book Publishing by Curtis Sittenfeld

What I Learned about Publishing (Or An Open Letter to the Debut Class of 2015)by Sharon Biggs Waller

When Friends & Family Read Your Book: Survival Tips by Kate Brauning

Hope you find these helpful! If you have any other tips or favorite posts to direct us to, please do so in the comments!

Book Festivals

I spent this last weekend volunteering at the California Capital Book Festival in Sacramento, the first time they've put on this event. Hopefully, if they continue to offer this event in the future, it will gain more traction (and more of an audience--the attendance was lower than I expected).

A couple of highlights for me were the Fearless Fifteeners panel, which I tweeted a picture of (please excuse the phone-quality pic)

Bad picture of the great @Fearless15ers panel at @cacapitalbookfest pic.twitter.com/3Br3s3lvpC
— Angelica R. Jackson (@angelicarjaxon) October 25, 2014

I got to put faces to names on some of my fellow Fifteeners (left to right, they are: Alexis Bass, Kelly Loy Gilbert, Stacey Lee, Sabaa Tahir, and Jessica Taylor), as well as cheer them on. It was a good way for me to see a panel from the audience side, and to apply a more analytical view of it, in preparation for the fantasy writing panel I'm going to be on in January. I may have been biased, but I thought they all did fantastically well!

I also got to introduce and serve as moderator for my friend (and my cover artist), author Kelley York, and meet a new author-friend, Tracy Clark. They talked about writing for young adults and did a thoroughly charming job of representing our YA writer tribe.

I loved that this festival is local, so I hope they stick around and keep the author fun going!

Guest Post with Shallee McArthur

I recently joined another group of authors called The Fearless Fifteeners, who all have debut books coming out in 2015. Like Operation Awesome, it's another great, supportive community of writers and today I'm featuring a guest post from one, Shallee McArthur. So without further ado, take it away Shallee:


Give Your Characters Some Crazy

You don’t really have to look very hard to find oodles of information on how to write better characters. We know we’re supposed to make them three-dimensional. We know they should be complex. We know they should be change during the story. Some people debate about whether or not they should be relatable. Strengths, weaknesses, backstory, character arcs…we’ve heard it all, and if we haven’t, a quick Google search will solve that.

But today I want to talk about something else entirely. Instead of focusing on giving your character complexity, let’s review the benefits of giving your character some crazy.

I’m probably in the minority here, but I’ve recently gone on a Netflix anime binge, whereupon I discovered the hilarity that is Ouran High School Host Club. The show is about a boy’s club at a private school that exists for the sole purpose of entertaining/wooing girls—and focuses on what happens when a girl mistaken for a boy becomes part of the club. The premise is ripe for satire and comedy, but what really kept me coming back were the characters.

It wasn’t their complexity—though they were complex. It wasn’t their character arcs—though they did have them. Mostly, it was that each and every one of them were completely nuts. Obviously, it’s a comedy, so you have to have crazy, funny, over-the-top characters. But it got me thinking…what if I did that? What if I took my characters out of the three-dimensional box and, well…

Made them a little crazy?

It didn’t work with all of them in my current story. But there were two in particular who I let go beyond what I expected of them. I gave them quirks. I gave them traits that contradicted what seemed “normal” for their character. I let them say things—even do things—that were unexpected. I expanded my idea of who they SHOULD be within the role they were playing, and brainstormed who COULD be in that role that had a little more spice.

You know what happened? They became real. They became fun. They became—in one character’s case—disturbing and a little tragic. And they made me want to keep coming back to my story again and again.

So the next time you’re stressing out over the recipe for a new character, try asking yourself if throwing in a little crazy will add to the flavor!

Shallee McArthur originally wanted to be a scientist, until she realized she liked science best in fictional form. Her debut YA sci fi, THE UNHAPPENING OF GENESIS LEE comes out November 4, 2014 from Sky Pony Press. Her other adventures have included wrangling a group of volunteers in Ghana, changing her hairstyle way too often, and raising two small nerdlings with her husband.