I'm lucky (or cunning) enough to have lured yet another successful writer over to my blog for an SAT - Successful Author Talk. SAT authors have conquered the query, slain the synopsis and attained the pinnacle of published. How'd they do it? Let's ask 'em!
Today’s guest for the SAT is G.F. Miller, author of Glimpsed. While the stories she has brewing in her soul vary wildly from one another, there are three things they will always have in common: love, snappy dialogue, and happy endings.
Are you a Planner or Pantster?
I’m a hybrid—a plantster. I start with a premise—basically the set up and the inciting incident—then, based on that, start writing chapters. Around the break into Act 2, I have to stop and plot things out before I go on. For me, this works really well because I want to organically get to know my characters, put them in a few situations and see how they respond, and even see who turns up that I wasn’t expecting. Sometimes characters just show up, and I’m like, “Hello, where’d you come from?” and they turn out to be some of my favorites. I usually realize what needs to happen in Acts 2 and 3 from there. So about a third of the way in, I switch over from pantsting to plotting.
Now that I’ve had a book published, I’ve been forced to write a couple of full synopses as I pitch books to/with my agent. Too bad for her, I haven’t changed my plantsting core. As I write the MS, I inevitably have to stop at the break into Act 2 and rewrite the bulk of the synopsis because I was just wrong about what the story was truly “about.” And then I’m like, “Should I tell her? Nah. It’s probably fine.”
How long does it typically take you to write a novel, start to finish?
My first three books each took me about 6 weeks to draft and then the better part of 10 months to revise. Once Glimpsed got picked up by Simon & Schuster, it got revised and polished 5-6 more times over the course of about a year. Now I’m scribbling away at a new manuscript, and it’s taking me forEVER. My attention is split between the new project and promoting Glimpsed, and I have zero groove at the moment.
Do you work on one project at a time, or are you a multi-tasker?
Turns out I work best when I can focus on one thing at a time (see above).
Did you have to overcome any fears that first time you sat down to write?
I think we have to overcome some fears every time we sit down to write. Creation is an act of courage. Whatever our particular fears are (I’m not good enough, this is trash, I don’t know what to write, no one will read this, this is too hard/too raw/too real, I’m wasting my time, I should be cleaning my house, I should have gone to dental school…), we put words on the page in defiance of them. For anyone still in the “aspiring” stage of writing, I’m here to tell you: the fears don’t go away when we get an agent or a book deal or a starred review. (Okay fine, I’ve never gotten a starred review. Maybe that really is the moment when all our fears vanish. Here’s hoping!)
How many trunked books (if any) did you have before you were agented?
Glimpsed was my third completed novel-length manuscript. Every so often, I pull those first two out of the trunk and give them a cuddle. But I think if they are ever to be published, I’ll need a whole new pen name, because they aren’t “charming, sparkly rom-coms perfect for fans of Jenn Bennett.” So, my friends, be on the lookout for a searing interrogation of the American Dream by F. G. Mirell and a heart-pounding thriller by Georgina F. Moonmore.
Have you ever quit on an ms, and how did you know it was time?
While querying Glimpsed, I distracted myself by writing a second-world fantasy. But once I signed with my agent, I knew I had to put that partial draft away and focus on revising Glimpsed for publication and writing the book that would be the natural “next thing” (similar in genre and style). I’m not sure if I’ll ever go back to it. But it was fun to work on for a while. (If I ever do finish it, you’ll find it published under the pen name “Gwendleforth Mystorian”)
Who is your agent and how did you get that "Yes!" out of them?
I’m represented by Kim Lionetti at BookEnds. While looking for an agent, I tried pitching at an SCBWI conference, having friends refer me to their agents, and submitting to PitchWars. Those turned out to be an exciting variety of ways for me to experience rejection. Ultimately, Kim plucked me out of the slush pile. (Fun fact: Kim rejected my first book. Remember to be kind and professional to everyone, because you never know who you’ll be working with in the future.) So, to sum up: yes, try everything! And, yes, the old-fashioned query really can get you an agent!
How many queries did you send?
I racked up 123 rejections (but who’s counting, really?) over three years and two manuscripts. More than 100 of those were for the first book that I ended up shelving. So once I had Glimpsed, the query process was actually pretty short.
Any advice to aspiring writers out there on conquering query hell?
I could feed you some honey-coated crap about it making you stronger or that you’ll grow from it. But here’s the truth: querying is the actual worst. There isn’t one good thing about it. All you can do is maintain perspective (consider chanting, “I can’t actually die from this”) and keep the following things on hand at all times:
- A shoulder to cry on that is connected to the body and head of someone who really loves you and also has the gift of encouragement.
- Comfort foods, including but not limited to buckets of ice cream, dark chocolate, fresh muffins baked by sympathetic friends, and anything covered in cheese. (If you are lactose intolerant, I can’t even help you on this step. I’m so sorry.)
- Booze of your choice. But not so much that you can’t properly access your creative genius, because you’re going to need to keep writing.
Seriously. Write the next thing. It distracts you from refreshing your email every twenty seconds and also gives you something else to query when/if all these jerkwads fail to see the brilliance of your current tome. (Also, do not refer to the collective of publishing gatekeepers as jerkwads. They are human beings with feelings and do not appreciate it. One of them may end up offering you representation someday if you don’t act like a jerkwad—see above.)
How did that feel, the first time you saw your book for sale?
It felt like: “Wow, my husband is crying in public at this Barnes & Noble. And my tween is so embarrassed that she is hiding behind the book stacks like a shoplifter. What must this poor salesperson be thinking? Gah! She wants to take my photo for their Instagram?! Oh, when will I be famous enough to travel with a hair and make-up team? Maybe I can sneak out through the lifestyle magazines and lay low at Claire’s for a while.”
How much input do you have on cover art?
Approaching zero percent. I pretty much saw the final cover and asked for three small changes, one of which they made. But hey, I specifically put myself through query hell in order to get traditionally published so that professionals would do things like put a cover on my book. So I can’t complain too much that the professionals did, in fact, agree that I should stay in my lane. My book has cover art, and that is rad!
What's something you learned from the process that surprised you?
How quickly things get dated! My book is contemporary YA, and in the time it took to go from draft to final pass pages, technology and vernacular were both in need of an update! For instance, in the original draft, Charity and her sister talk over Skype. In final revisions, I was like, “Who even uses Skype now?” Also, Star Trek fandom is a huge part of the book, but there is no mention of “Picard” because the show came out when we were in our final stages of revision, and I was just like, “Should I? No. We’re done here.”
How much of your own marketing do you do?
I do almost all of my own marketing. This was another surprise to me. I kind of hoped I could be a diva author, and a team of publicists a la Mad Men would market the living daylights out of my book while I sipped sangria on the pool deck and wrote works of incredible significance. But, no, it turns out I’m the marketing department. The good news is, it’s actually fun to connect with readers and book bloggers and librarians—they’re totally my kind of people! So please come connect with me on Instagram @author.gfmiller, on my website gfmiller.com, on GoodReads, and on BookBub! Let’s be reading buddies!
When do you build your platform? After an agent? Or should you be working before?
As a fiction author, neither my agent nor acquiring editor seemed to give a hoot about my platform (I mean the fact that there wasn’t one). And, honestly, I thought about making an author website, but couldn’t think of anything to put on it without a book pending. So I did all my platform-building (what there is of it) after my book deal. On the other hand, I know authors (cough: Mindy McGinnis) who are much more savvy and committed to the process, who’ve built terrific followings through blogs, vlogs, podcasts, and social media. If you’ve got an idea for high-value content and the time, go for it! It can’t hurt!
Do you think social media helps build your readership?
Hmmmm….too soon to tell, I guess. I haven’t really figured out where all the cool librarians are hanging out on social media. For YA discoverability, I think kids need to be able to find my book face out at the library and/or spotlighted on the scrolly banner on the library website. Between the ages of 12 to 18, I pretty much never had $20 on hand to drop on ONE book. I mean, that’s like five soft serve cones at the Twist & Shake on route 59. Who can afford that kind of opportunity cost? Therefore, I got almost all my reading material from endlessly browsing the shelves at libraries. The point is, if you are a librarian, you are a tenth-level wizard, and I would like to be “mutuals” on Instagram.