Help Them Help You: Guest Post by R.S. Mellette

For any artistic pursuit, there are countless professional and not-so-professional organizations to help you along your way. Tons of people join these groups and then complain when they are not provided a red-carpet to success.

I have in the past been guilty of being that person. I’ve joined groups like The Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) or Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), looking around their websites, logging onto their forums, getting bored and not doing much else. In times of unemployment, I’ve yelled at my computer, “I’ve already paid my dues, why do I have to pay MORE for a workshop?” So, I get it. I’ve been there. I’ve not only heard the excuses; I’ve made them.

I’ve also taken advantage of groups like that to the point that they have helped me get published. I'm sharing my stories here in the hope that my experiences may help you along the way.

Online Forums

Back around 2008 or 09, I ran across AgentQuery.com, which is still a fantastic database for researching agents. Back then, it had a forum associated with it, Agent Query Connect. I love net forums. They are one of the best things about the internet. Whenever I need help with something in life, I seek out a forum to find someone who has made the same stupid mistakes I’m about to make. Agent Query Connect saved me years of trial and error with my query letters.

The best way to learn, is to teach. Truer words were never spoken when it comes to query letters. I read and critiqued so many of them, I began to feel like an agent. I also made some BFOLs (Best Friends On Line) – like Mindy. They are still friends to this day even though we’ve never met.

As time went on, many of my BFOLs got agents and stopped posting on Agent Query Connect. Besides being overwhelmed with jealously, I missed them. Then I got an agent, so I thought I wouldn’t need AQC anymore, only to discover there are just as many questions, frustrations, and needs for support for an agented writer as there are for unagented ones.

So, I did what I’m suggesting you all do with your organizations. Help them help you. I contacted the tech team for AQC to ask if we could have a password protected part of the forum for agented authors. They agreed, but I had to do the work. I sent out private invitations to my friends who had agents and the response was tremendous. We all wanted support, but didn’t feel right griping in front of people who would love to have our problems.

Through that group, I met Matt Sinclair, who would go on to form Elephant’s Bookshelf Press. Matt has published several of us in anthologies – the latest is FLIGHT: A SCIENCE FICTION ANTHOLOGY. Using traditional publishing methods (line editors, cover artists, book designers, etc.) Matt has turned EBP into what I call the Sun Records of publishing. I’m honored to have by Billy Bobble Makes A Magic Wand series and my upcoming Dark Star Warrior series at his house.

Sadly, AQC is no more. Some alumni have made Query Connection, which is a perfect place for you to get in on the ground floor.

SCBWI

The Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators has been around since the 1970s. It is the largest professional organization for Kid Lit authors and illustrators in the world with local chapters everywhere. I became a member when my agent recommended them. Soon after that, my local chapter in Los Angeles put out word they were looking for a board member to represent published members. I signed up.

Always sign up. Always volunteer. By helping others, you’ll discover ways you can help yourself.

As the SCBWI Published representative, I’ve organized their booths at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, Comic Con, and next year YA’ll West. I’ve also started a program to reach out to the film & television industry, producing a mixer between our published members and Disney TV, Disney +, Paramount TV, Universal Animation, Sony, etc. A few members had their books optioned from this mixer, and I now have a friend shopping Billy Bobble around as a TV series.

My point to all this braggadocery is, joining groups is just the first step. Actively participating is the second. Eventually, you’ll find you’re leading them where you could never have gone alone.

Good luck.

R.S. Mellette has written, directed, designed and acted in theatre, film and television for over 30 years. His credits in various jobs include XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS, NUTTY PROFESSOR II: THE KLUMPS, BLUE CRUSH, and his own JACKS OR BETTER, which won Dances With Films Best Screenplay award in 2000. He has been working with the festival ever since.

His Tween Sci-Fi novel series, BILLY BOBBLE MAKES A MAGIC WAND, from Elephant Bookshelf Press is available on Amazon. Look for his latest Sci-Fi adventure, DARK STAR WARRIOR: The Morian Treasure, in 2020.

Six Situations Worse Than Being on Submission

I’ve got a guest post for you here today on the blog. Today’s guest poster is Deanna Cabinian, author of One Night, One Love, and One Try (aka The Thompson Series). Her writing has appeared in Writer’s Digest, Writer Unboxed, and YA Interrobang. She is a graduate of the Writing in the Margins mentorship program and is represented by Penny Moore of Aevitas Creative Management.

As someone who’s spent more time than I’d like to admit scouring the internet for submission stories, I have to say Mindy’s SHIT stories are the best. If nothing else, it’s comforting to know that the anxiety felt during submission is normal (or common at least). I know what it’s like to check email nonstop and stalk deal announcements on PW and Twitter. But 2019 has been all about perspective for me. Even though writing is a big part of my life, it’s important not to let it become all-consuming. Without further ado here’s my list of Six Situations Worse than Being on Submission:

1. Falling and cracking your head open. This past February, I was walking to the recycling bin when WHOOPS I slid and fell on black ice on our front step. I fell forehead-first into decorative bricks that line our garden. There was blood everywhere, so much it clouded my vision. I looked like a crime scene and had to crawl back to the house and yell for my husband who took me to the ER. I got seven stitches and suffered painful, knife-like headaches for weeks afterwards. I’m now the owner of a Harry Potter like scar, though it has faded a lot.

2. Trying to get a quote for medical services. See a pattern here? Anything to do with medicine or healthcare is far worse than being on sub. Imagine being on hold for two hours and fifteen minutes only to find out sorry you have the wrong department, but can you try this one instead? Let me transfer you. I have wasted many an hour trying to figure out the cost of medications or procedures.

3. Visiting a loved one in the ICU. Whenever a close family member ends up in the hospital it’s always a reminder of what really matters in life. There is nothing more stressful than sitting in a waiting room for days on end hoping for positive news. It’s also very traumatic to see your mother with a breathing tube. Thankfully everything turned out okay, but it could have gone another way entirely.

4. Getting stranded at the Atlanta airport for almost ten hours. There is nothing more maddening than thinking you’re going home after a few days spent working (on a weekend no less) only to have your flight delayed not once, twice, or even three times, but four or five times. I was glad I wasn’t by myself, but only to a certain point. On the plus side I got to eat chicken and waffles at Ludacris’s restaurant and saw every bar in the airport.

5. Trying to change your cell phone plan. When you call your provider to ask if it’s possible they say yes, sure, it just takes a few minutes. In reality the process is much more complicated. Five years and multiple visits to Verizon and T-Mobile later, my husband and I are still on separate phone plans and probably will be for the next five years.

6. Learning how your favorite show ends because some people can’t keep their mouth shut. Okay, this one isn’t that bad in the grand scheme of things but man it can sure ruin your day if you’ve spent weeks binge watching Lost only to have someone tell you how it ends when you’re two episodes away from the series finale. Thanks a lot, Mario.

So, there you have it. My Six Situations Worse than Being on Sub aka your gentle reminder that writing is important to us, but it isn’t all of us. I know the submission trenches are difficult, worse than querying, but we are all trying our best which is what matters.

Rhinoceros Skin - Every Writer's Must-Have

I recently did a presentation about the path to publication that included a big fat picture of a rhinoceros, which always seems to set people back a bit. One of the first things I tell aspiring authors to procure for themselves is some rhinoceros skin. Don't actually go kill a rhinoceros and say Mindy McGinnis told you to do it before reading the rest of this post.

Rhinoceros skin is 1.5 centimeters thick - that's pretty thick skin. Even on our fleshiest parts (hands and feet) human skin is only about 4mm thick. Big game hunters in the early 1900's even believed that rhinos had bulletproof skin. This is not actually the case, but that particular myth has staying power- Kevlar backpacks have been dubbed Rhino Skin.

And this is the kind of protective layer you need to have covering your ego when it's time for feedback. Whether that is coming from your critique partners, casual readers, agents, editors, bloggers or professional reviewers, anything negative that anyone has to say about your book is going to sting a little. And stinging a little is just fine. In fact, even the rhino is used to it - the biggest threat to their skin is sunburn and insect bites. Rhinos cover themselves in mud to protect their skin from these threats, and then they move on with their lives.

These topical concerns can't kill you - in fact, much like the rhino you learn from them. But you can't allow the negativity about your work sink past your epidermis and get down into your organs where you can be fatally damaged by it. Your ego can take a bruising (in fact it's good for all of us) but a seeping lesion will drain the life out of you.

So put on your rhinoceros skin and roll around in some mud, at which point you'll be ready to face any negativity about your writing. And yes, you can say that Mindy told you to roll in the mud.