What I Have Learned About Failure From Author Beth Revis...

Every writer has her own journey, but of all the author success stories I have heard and read over my years as an aspiring writer, Beth Revis's journey inspired me the most! So I want to share with you what she shared with me, and the thousands of people who have already seen...

...this video:

Beth says: Everyone says, "It'll get easier!" But they are lying to your face.




Failure is really just success in training. 

Beth's first book, Across the Universe was much hyped when it first came out, and for good reason. It had one of those beginnings that is so absolutely, perfectly written you would wait in line just to read the next chapter, and you would read through the night just to find the resolution of the killer problem she introduced so beautifully in chapter one. I read her first chapter online and was immediately hooked. In fact, I can compare it with only a handful of other first chapters that have moved and shocked me to a similar extent. Her first chapter alone guaranteed her a spot on that bestseller list. Of course the rest of the series is killer, as well, so that helps!

But seeing this video after I read her first book really gave me the greatest gift I could have received as a struggling and aspiring writer:

The Gift of Perspective.

Thank you, Beth Revis, for being so real! That amazing first chapter, that beautiful prose and shocking intro was the master stroke of an artist who had been honing her craft for years. It wasn't a first draft. It wasn't a lucky step into the darkness. It was the hand of a practiced surgeon. The perspective she gave me saved me from making the mistake of saying, "Well, she's just so talented, and I could never do that." The knowledge of her nine previous unpublished manuscripts forced me to acknowledge the fact that I simply wasn't trying as hard, that I could be a better version of myself if I did.

One more lesson from Beth:

Always write the story of your heart. 

In the first installment of her book series for writers, called Paper Hearts, Beth explains what her particular objective was as a writer--to be published by a big press--and that she didn't regret writing any of her "practice" novels, except for one.

That was the book she wrote "for the market." The book was good, she explains, because she was up to date on all the trends in the publishing industry and she knew exactly what tropes to keep and which to avoid. But as she came closer to getting it published, she pulled it, and the reason was that there was nothing of her in it. It was empty.

Her advice to aspiring writers is not to make the same mistake by trying to please the market. Write the book of your heart, every time, no matter how painful it can be to let go if it's not "the one."

This advice came to me at a time when I needed to hear it, too.

(Her Paper Hearts series is chock-full of great counsel for writers in all stages of development. The video above came from the first free online writing conference ever, WriteOnCon, and is a great example of the many ways Beth has given back to the writing community. The founders of Operation Awesome were inspired by all the writers who put together WriteOnCon, and since our launch in 2010, our ever-changing team of operatives has been working toward that same worthy ideal.)

THANK YOU, BETH!

Have you ever heard the perfect writing advice for you at exactly the right time? What's the best writing advice you've ever received? 

Building a Better Query

I'm sending out the first batch of queries for my second book, Crow's Rest, and wanted to pass on some of my go-to resources for writing queries.

The best place to start with query craft advice is straight from the horse's mouth on agents' and editors' blogs and websites. You can find those through their Twitter accounts, and Krista Van Dolzer has done much of the work for you with her agent interviews on Mother.Write.Repeat. And our own Mystery Agents contests (tab above) are a great way to see many pitches at once, and which one caught an agent's eye.

Searching for the term "query" will get you a ton of good resources, plus here are some that I've found particularly helpful:

*A great starting point is Agent Query's page on How to Write a Query

*Lisa Gardner has a lecture series on Conquering the Dreaded Synopsis that includes a query section (and you will eventually need a synopsis as well, so take a look at those lectures while you're there).

*Sydney Laine Allan has posted a workshop she did on Writing a Dynamite Query Letter

*The Nelson Literary Agency website, and Kristin Nelson's blog, are a mine of information on queries and pitches, and the agency site has links to webinars that Kristin Nelson did on pitches.

*Backspace has a brief query letter workshop with Jeff Kleinman of Folio Literary Management

*WriteOnCon had a wealth of interesting workshops in 2011 and 2012, now archived to view at your leisure.

*Pitch University is where I truly honed my teeth on pitches and queries, and their Pitching 101 lessons are a must read (scroll down and they're in the righthand sidebar)

*Roni Loren has earmarked all her posts on queries from her Fiction Groupie blog

*YA author Elana Johnson has a free ebook called From the Query to the Call that is essential reading

*Noah Lukeman also has a free ebook on Amazon, How to Write a Great Query Letter: Insider Tips and Techniques for Success

With so many resources out there, there's really no excuse for a lame query. Remember, your goal is to get the agent or editor to read your pages, and whether for good or ill your query is a reflection of your writing proficiency. If the query is amateurish, they will assume your pages are in the same state.

The good news is that writing killer queries is a learnable skill, if you're willing to put the time and work into it. All the best in your query ventures! In my next post (March 4), I'll share some places where you can get feedback on your queries before sending them out to agents and editors.

Did I miss any great query resources that you'd like to add in the comments?

WriteOnCon Fanboy: An Interview With Ryan Lochte

After hearing about WriteOnCon, a free online writing conference kicking off tomorrow, Olympic medalist/ swimmer Ryan Lochte invited correspondent Amparo Ortiz to London for an exclusive interview. 

Amparo: "Thank you so much for having me, Ryan. How are you today?"

Ryan: "First of all, let me say a quick hi to my fans."

Amparo: *waits for Ryan to stop*

Ryan: 




Amparo: "Um, Ryan? Sorry to interrupt, but-"

Ryan: "Wait, I missed a spot."




Amparo: *lunges at Ryan* *sits him down* "Okay. Now that you got that out of the way, let's discuss a topic near and dear to your heart."

Ryan: *nods* "My grill."

Amparo: *closes eyes* "No, no. Not that. I was referring to what you invited me here for."

Ryan: *nods* "To show you my abs." *starts to lift shirt*

Amparo: *opens eyes* "NO! Ryan! Keep it together! We're here to discuss WriteOnCon, remember?"

Ryan: *lets go of shirt* "Oh, jeah! Sorry. I distract myself all the time."

Amparo: *cringes at the substitution of 'y' for a 'j' in the word 'yeah'* "So. WriteOnCon. I understand you're a secret fanboy."

Ryan: "Jeah. WriteOnCon is, like, the best. I love it 'cause it's about writers giving back to other writers. It's free, too, and you know me, Amparo. If it's free, I'm, like, totally there."

Amparo: "Yes, I can see why something free would appeal to you. But I'm sure our readers at Operation Awesome want to know: why is Ryan Lochte so invested in the writing community?"

Ryan: "Well, it's pretty simple. I wear these sick glasses..."

"...and they make me look, like, really smart and stuff. Then one day, I realized writers wear glasses, too, you know."

Amparo: *blinks* "Not all of them wear-"

Ryan: "And they look really cool with them on. Then another day, I realized that not only do writers wear glasses and look cool, but they also, like, spend a long time writing."

Amparo: "Yes, that's why they're called writers, Ryan."

Ryan: "Exactly! So then some other day after that, I realized writers wear glasses, look cool wearing them, they write a lot, and they sweat, you know. Like, not like I sweat 'cause I swim all day and stuff. But writers? They work really, really hard. As an athlete, all I know is hard work.  But I also only know what success is like if I get a medal, or beat my best time. Those writers who attend WriteOnCon? They taste success in all sorts of ways: finding the courage to post their work in a public forum, striking a connection with a potential critique partner, learning valuable tips about their craft, getting positive feedback on their query/first 5 pages/synopsis, and requests from ninja agents/editors. WriteOnCon is more than a free online conference. It's a slice of success after all that hard work. Sure, there's more hard work after the conference is over, but at least writers can have some fun before going back to sweating." 

Amparo: *drops jaw* "Wow, Ryan. That was really deep and lovely and-"

Ryan: "OH MY GOD I HAVEN'T SHOWN YOU MY SICK DANCE MOVES YET"

Amparo: *runs away forever*

*I'd like to thank Ryan Lochte for his time, despite him chasing after me in his Speedo while singing the Bad Boys theme song with his grill on. I am currently accepting donations for therapy. 

**Don't forget: WriteOnCon starts TOMORROW! Make Ryan Lochte happy and check it out. 

***This exclusive interview is a figment of my vivid, oftentimes disturbed imagination. No Ryan Lochtes were interviewed or harmed during the making of this post. :)

WriteOnCon Is Coming

It's almost time for WriteOnCon 2012. 

Yay!

I'm sure most of you already know about the awesome of WriteOnCon. But here's the info for any newcomers: 

"WriteOnCon is an Online Children’s Writers Conference (rated MC-18, for Main Characters under 18 only) created by writers, for writers.

Where: http://writeoncon.com/

Cost: Free!

Who: That’s the best part—it’s for EVERYONE!

Attendees don’t need to take time off work, travel, or spend a truckload of money. They can enjoy the conference from the convenience of their own homes, for free—and the schedule is designed around working hours. (Transcripts are also available of the entire conference, should anyone have to miss part of it.) And everything for the conference takes place within this website, which means everyone with basic Internet access will be able to participate in all aspects of the conference—no additional software or technology required.

During the conference, keynote addresses, agent panels, and lectures are presented as blogs, vlogs, moderated chats, webinars, podcasts, and livestreaming. There is also a critique forum, where participants can post query letters and writing samples to receive helpful feedback and comments from their peers and industry professionals. And, as if that weren’t exciting enough, there are also daily contests, giving random winners everything from books to personalized critiques from agents." (Info Via WriteOnCon.com)

The schedule is live on the WriteOnCon website. I also recommend joining the forums where some of the live events will take place. You can meet other awesome writers and share your work on the critique threads. You might even get feedback (or a request) from one of the Ninja Agents stalking the boards. 

Ninja Agents open the forum from August 13th, 2012

WriteOnCon will take place from August 14-15th, 2012 

Hope to see you there!

The WriteOnCon Awesome Continues...

There is so much awesome going on over at WriteOnCon this week. For anyone in the forums, I can be found lurking/posting/commenting there. Please feel free to drop me (or any of the Operation Awesome gals) a message/friend us. I know we'd love to hear from you.

Also, I want to post some THIS from Beth Revis:

*dries eyes*

I'm back off to catch up on any conference stuff I missed while I was sleeping. Until then...

WriteOnCon Ninja Agents!

WriteOnCon starts on Tuesday the 16th of August.

That's next week! *drops cookies* *flails muppet arms* Squeeeeeee!

Anyway... This year there is some extra awesome with NINJA AGENTS.

Here's the details:

This program will take place in the forums–so you must be registered and using the forums to participate. If you haven’t already done that, go HERE.

Here’s what you’ll do:

1. Post your absolute best, polished query letter or writing sample in the appropriate critique threads in the forums. (Please look carefully and ask questions if you’re unsure about where to post, and make sure you follow all our forum guidelines)

2. Don your thick dragon skin, cross your fingers, and keep checking your forum posts, because our Ninja Agents will be sneaking around, leaving feedback on whatever strikes their fancy–which could very well be YOUR QUERY.

3. Pray you’ve perfected your work enough to generate a request. Some agents may be requesting from the posts they read.
4. Remember your manners. Please don’t engage in hurtful behavior toward an industry professional because of feedback they might leave on your query. Remember, publishing is SO SUBJECTIVE.

That’s it. That’s all there is to it. All you have to do is use our forums the same way you should be using them anyway (because they’re AWESOME) and you could have a super-cool Ninja-Agent critique your work. And even if they don’t comment on your work (they promise they will try to comment/critique on as many as they can) you can learn SO much from the comments they leave for others.

So how do you know when to look for them?

Watch the @WriteOnCon twitter feed for when we tweet: “A Ninja Agent just entered the forums!” That’s how you’ll know exactly when they’re there. But really, the best part about the forum is that you can go read the feedback whenever your schedule allows.

What the Ninjas will do:

1. Each Ninja Agent will be in the forum for at least one hour (some have multiple slots). You won’t know who, and you won’t know when…that’s the beauty of a ninja. They strike when you’re least expecting it.
2. Ninja Agents have been encouraged to leave feedback—as detailed or as vague as they want—on as many queries as they can. They can also request from the queries they read.

We are announcing who the Ninja Agents are, but not when they’ll be Ninja-ing.

Our Ninjafied Nunchuckatorians are:

Michelle Wolfson, with Wolfson Literary
Natalie Fischer, with Bradford Literary
Michelle Andelman, with Regal Literary
Kathleen Ortiz, with Nancy Coffey Literary
Ammi-Joan Paquette, with Erin Murphy Literary
Jessica Sinsheimer, with Sarah Jane Freymann
Roseanne Wells, with Marianne Strong Literary
Joanna Volpe, with Nancy Coffey Literary
Mary Kole, with Andrea Brown Literary
Suzie Townsend, with FinePrint Literary
Carlie Webber, with the Jane Rotrosen Agency
Alyssa Eisner Henkin, with Trident Media
Marietta Zacker, with Nancy Gallt Literary

The Ninja-Agent Program is open for business starting on Monday, August 15, one day before the conference begins. That’s when we’ll open the main conference forums and let you start posting your work. This will give you time to get your writing in tip-top shape and in the forums before Tuesday, when our first Ninja will arrive.

So get that query/sample ready for Monday!

Mark Your Calendar August 16th-18th

It's almost August!

Know what that means for all us writers across the blogosphere? The world's best, webbiest, and free-est writing conference is on its way!

You can register for this online amazing-ness right here at WriteOnCon.com. Registration will get you set for participating in the forums, which you will definitely want to do. Feedback from other writers, and lurking agents? Yeah, that's the place for that.

Just like last year, the conference is free (which is incredible and all kinds of happymaking). But you can and totally should donate what you can in the bottom right corner of their website.

If you're thinking of skipping it this year, read this first.

Below you can read about last year's inaugural WriteOnCon conference from the perspective of each organizer-unit-thingy (mostly individuals, except for LiLa).

1. Author Elana Johnson of POSSESSION, about WriteOnCon
2. Creator of the famous Agent Spotlight, Casey McCormick, about WriteOnCon
3. Bookanista Shannon Messenger, also of WriteOnCon
4. Web genius and writer Jen Stayrook of WriteOnCon
5. Bookanista Jamie Harrington of the pink hair avatar, and WriteOnCon
6. Authors Lisa and Laura Roecker of THE LIAR SOCIETY, about WriteOnCon

Okay, words from Elana Johnson about this year's conference:

Trust me when I say you’re going to want to have your best behavior on, your query letter polished, and your schedule from Tuesday, August 16 – Thursday, August 18 cleared.

You heard the woman!

p.s. August 1st will see a Mystery Agent contest at Operation Awesome. Standard rules apply (one-sentence pitch, completed novels only, first fifty to comment make it in). See the official August 1st post for details, but the range of genres is pretty wide and varied, so just polish that pitch and plan on entering if you're feeling ready. Can't wait to see what you've got!!  

(I reposted this from my personal blog yesterday. It's that epic!)

The Geniuses of WriteOnCon: Lisa and Laura Roecker (aka LiLa)

And last, but not least, WriteOnCon's charming dynamic duo... 

Lisa and Laura Roecker

of

Lisa and Laura Roecker’s debut novel, Liar Society, will be published by Sourcebooks in Spring 2011. An unstoppable duo bent on world—er—publishing domination, you can cyberstalk them on their personal blog, their website, and Twitter.  Lisa and Laura are represented by Catherine Drayton of Inkwell Management.

Katrina Lantz: WriteOnCon was seriously epic, historic, unprecedented! As one of its organizers, did you expect WriteOnCon to garner as much industry support as it did? To what do you owe this? 

Lisa and Laura Roecker: When Elana contacted us and shared Casey's idea, we knew it was a big idea. And yet none of this would have been possible without the expertise of all of the organizers, the contributions of all of the industry professionals, as well as the support of every participant. Honestly though, we weren't surprised. The writing community is one of the most supportive communities we have ever been a part of. Writers and publishing professionals always seem to be "on board" and will do everything in their power to support one another. It's really, really cool. 

Katrina: What were your thoughts on opening morning when thousands flocked to the site to participate in the first free online writer's conference? 

LiLa: Best feeling in the world. As annoying as Error 403 was, we knew the error occured because of overwhelming participation, which is exactly what we'd hoped for! It's these moments that reinforce how positive and supportive the writing community is. We're proud to be apart of it!

Katrina: What was the hardest part about WriteOnCon's organization? 

LiLa: We think the time constraints were a challenge. We planned for the conference in under four months, many juggling jobs, writing, families and life in general. But all of the founders had such incredible ideas that we were able to pull it off. Every member was absolutely essential--smart, smart girls!

Katrina: What was the most important thing you learned this year that will help with future online conferences? 

LiLa: Besides paying to host the event, we think we learned a lot about the dynamics of a group chat. We found that the chats featuring more than one professional moved a bit faster just because there were more people to weigh in on questions! The unique viewpoints were also fascinating!

Katrina: What's next for WriteOnCon? The discussion forums remain active. What role do you see WriteOnCon playing between annual conferences? 

LiLa: We are really excited to offer monthly chats brought to you by WriteOnCon. That way we can keep learning, connecting and socializing up until next year's conference!

Update: October 25th is the next event: a live chat with Sara Megibow of Nelson Literary!

Katrina: Do you know of any success stories (agents and authors who found each other during the conference)?

LiLa: During our feedback chat following the conference, we learned of a few success stories and are encouraging any participants with any successes to email us so we can feature them on the website! This is absolutely the most rewarding part of hosting a conference like this.

Katrina: What makes a writer awesome? 

LiLa: We think open-mindedness makes a writer awesome. It's hard to accept feedback and determine how to integrate critiques. The WriteOnCon forums are the perfect example of writers' willingness to do just this. Writers are constantly seeking advice and feedback and support. And because of this open-mindedness, writers are learning and growing. And this makes for better books!

Katrina: I think I speak for the online writing community when I say THANK YOU! And we want to show our appreciation by spreading the word about WriteOnCon, as well as its organizers. You have a book coming out Spring 2011! We love shiny new books! Could you tell us a bit about it? 

LiLa: THANK YOU! Our book is called THE LIAR SOCIETY and it is the first in a new mystery series following Kate Lowry. Kate receives an email from her dead best friend Grace on the anniversary of her death. When the emails continue, Kate is forced to play detective and prove once and for all that Grace's death was more than just a tragic accident.

Where you'll find them on the web:

Le Blog

Le Website

Le Twitter

Lisa and Laura at Teen Fire

And if you haven't heard the news about Lisa's baby, It's A...

Say hi to Laura and Lisa in the comments! 

(I changed the name order just for you, Laura) :-)

And don't forget, awesome peeps, to drum out 200 words for the All White for Twilight fan fiction contest! Deadline, October 31st (otherwise known as Halloween).

You can even count it toward your overall word count for the 1K a day challenge pre-nanowrimo. Are you ready for National Novel Writing Month?

The Geniuses of WriteOnCon: Jamie Harrington

We've got another special interview treat from our heroes at WriteOnCon! Those of you who follow her on Totally the Bomb have been waiting for this day, I know. 

Jamie Harrington (bio and pic from writeoncon.com)

of

Jamie Harrington is a Young Adult Fiction writer represented by Mary Kole of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Inc. A former kindergarten teacher turned stay at home mom, you can find her online at her website, or on Twitter.

Katrina Lantz: WriteOnCon was seriously epic, historic, unprecedented! As one of its organizers, did you expect WriteOnCon to garner as much industry support as it did? To what do you owe this?

Jamie Harrington: No way! It was a total shock to me. I still sometimes look at the stats thinking I misread them! Really, we owe the numbers to the conference attendees. They did everything they could to really get the word out. It was totally one of those Field of Dreams moments.

Katrina: What were your thoughts on opening morning when thousands flocked to the site to participate in the first free online writer's conference?

Jamie: Well, I was asleep. We decided last minute to change up a bunch of stuff in the forums, and I stayed up until four in the morning getting it all organized. You know, until my phone started buzzing with all the frantic text messages from the other girls. :)

Katrina: What was the hardest part about WriteOnCon's organization?

Jamie: I think it was the not knowing. Here we were asking all these super important industry professionals to participate in this big conference, and we had no idea if anyone would show up or not. Plus, if the conference was a bust, not only was I going to look silly, but so would the other girls. It's one thing to put your own name on the line, but when you're putting your friends out there, too, well that's all sorts of stressful.

Katrina: What was the most important thing you learned this year that will help with future online conferences?

Jamie: I learned lots of technical stuff about how to do it better next year that I won't bore you guys with, but something else I learned was that writers actually wanted the conference. It was something the kidlit industry really needed, and next year I will make sure there's more opportunity for the participants to bond and network, because that's a really cool part of attending offline cons.

Katrina: What's next for WriteOnCon? The discussion forums remain active. What role do you see WriteOnCon playing between annual conferences?

Jamie: We're hoping to have a few live discussion panels, live query blogs, and things like that to keep people interested in the Con. We want to offer writers tools and resources they can't get from other sources--which is hard, because there are a LOT of sources out there! 

Katrina: We think it's amazing the work you all did to put on such an amazing conference, and for FREE! Will next year's conference still be free?

Jamie: Yes. Next year's conference will absolutely be free. That was such a big deal to all the WriteOnCon girls, and has never been up for debate. All of us owe many of our career successes to the online writing community, and WriteOnCon is our way of paying it forward. We have been asked by several people if we'd open up to donations, and we're thinking we might do that, but only to pay for the costs associated with running the site.


Update: You can donate now to support the 2011 WriteOnCon, which is sure to be even more epic than the last. But the donation button is provided guilt-free, meaning you can come and participate even if you don't donate. 

Katrina: Do you know of any success stories (agents and authors who found each other during the conference)?

Jamie: I have heard a few requests, but I haven't heard of any official offers yet. (If that does happen, though I hope they email and tell us all about it. That would pretty much be the coolest thing ever!)


Katrina: And what do you think it is that makes a writer awesome?


Jamie: I think the thing that really makes a writer awesome is their willingness to try again and again (and again). Nobody writes an amazing first draft, but an awesome writer realizes that and is willing to spend hours editing and revising to turn every word of their book into something amazing. 

Katrina: I think I speak for the online writing community when I say THANK YOU! And we want to show our appreciation by spreading the word about WriteOnCon, as well as its organizers. 

Jamie: No, thank you guys! We had a blast putting on the Con, but it wouldn't have been near as much fun without everyone!

Find Jamie Harrington on the web:

Her awesome blog: Totally The Bomb

On twitter
Guide to Literary Agents: How I Got My Agent
Jamie's Author Success Story on Elana Johnson's blog
Interview Pre-WriteOnCon with Nathalie Mvondo
Bookanista Reviews/Cover Love

We have more WriteOnCon interview goodness to follow next Friday (our last one *sniff*), but if you missed the other organizers' spotlights, be sure to check them out. And don't worry, WriteOnCon isn't going away! Their monthly live events have already begun, and they are awesome!!


Psst! Don't forget to whip up a little something for our fan fiction contest to win the All White for Twilight limited edition books!! The deadline is October 31st at midnight.


And get warmed up for NaNoWrimo with Kristal's 1k a day writing challenge. Save the adorable buttons from our sidebar to post in yours as a daily reminder of your goal. 


One more thing: top sidebar holds an important poll (at least it's important to our owl). Orange owl needs a name, and he's counting on you to provide a good one. Don't let him down. ;)