Wednesday WOLF - Luddite

I've got a collection of random information in my brain that makes me an awesome Trivial Pursuit partner, but is completely useless when it comes to real world application. Like say, job applications. I thought I'd share some of this random crap with you in the form of another acronym-ific series. I give you - Word Origins from Left Field - that's right, the WOLF. Er... ignore the fact that the "from" doesn't fit.

Here's one that I confess I didn't really understand until quite recently.

Have you ever heard someone referred to as a Luddite? I have, more than once (it happens when you work in the public school system), but I was always too embarrassed to ask what the hell that meant, because I'm the person who's already supposed to know that stuff.

A Luddite is someone who resists technology. So, for example, anybody who won't use a microwave or refuses to get online because the devil is in the url. But where does this come from?

With the industrial revolution came some great problems, and one of them was mechanized weaving looms. Textile workers were not allowed to unionize, but what they did do was organize protests, claiming that everything was being orchestrated by a mythical dude named General Ludd. During these protests mechanized looms were smashed as an expression of the worker's anger at a machine taking over their job. The followers of the non-existing Ludd were referred to as Luddites, and the term stuck.

Unfortunately for them so did technology.

Cover Talk with Brandy Colbert

Today's guest for the CRAP (Cover Reveal Anxiety Phase) is fellow Friday the Thirteener Brandy Colbert. Brandy has worked worked at a big-box hardware retailer, as a magazine editor for various consumer and trade magazines, and as a business editor for a boutique investment banking firm. She tap dances and is an avid fan of Degrassi, the Flintstones, Louis C.K., and Hello Kitty. Brandy is represented by Tina Wexler at ICM Partners. Her debut title, POINTE, will be available from Penguin, April 10th, 2014.

13360957.jpg

Did you have any pre-conceived notions about what you wanted your cover to look like?

I did! A long time before the cover was conceptualized, my editor and I were casually discussing what we wanted it to look like. She mentioned bloody pointe shoes (“Can you imagine? A pair of pointe shoes, just sitting in a pool of blood!”), and that image sort of stuck in my mind all the months I was revising. 

How far in advance from your pub date did you start talking covers with your house?

I was never part of any official discussions, but about eight months after my book sold, my editor told me they’d started to talk about the cover in-house, and she asked for any photos I might have to give an idea of what I was thinking. I sent over a couple of ballet pictures I’d seen on Tumblr, as well as a photo of the gorgeous Misty Copeland in a tulle skirt on a fire escape, which I still very much think captures the tone of my book.

Did you have any input on your cover?

Besides the conversation and email I just mentioned, none. Once it was in the process of being designed, my editor asked if I wanted to see cover comps or if I preferred to wait until the cover had been approved by sales and marketing. I don’t like to get my hopes up and I trusted they knew what they were doing (have you seen Putnam’s covers? I knew I was in very, very good hands), so I told her I wanted to wait to see the approved version.

How was your cover revealed to you?

My editor—the amazing Ari Lewin—called one morning just before I was headed out to run some errands. I thought she was calling to tell me revision notes would be landing in my inbox, and it took me a minute to realize it was about the cover. I made a weird noise and babbled incoherently as I waited for my computer to boot up, then I opened the file and gasped. I squeaked out how much I loved it and we both got a little teary and I’m pretty sure I ceased to do anything else productive for the rest of the week. It was such a great moment in an otherwise totally normal day, and I’m so glad it was a surprise.

Was there an official "cover reveal" date for your art?

Yes! I revealed the cover, synopsis, and release date on YA Highway around the end of June, so just a little over a month ago.

How far in advance of the reveal date were you aware of what your cover would look like?

I saw the cover at the end of April and revealed it two months later, so not too far in advance.

Was it hard to keep it to yourself before the official release?

Well, I may have shared it with a few close friends and my immediate family, which made it a little easier to not splash the image all over the Internet. But it was hard. Total love at first sight and I wanted to share with anyone and everyone. 

What surprised you most about the process?

Honestly, I think I was most surprised at how chill I remained. I knew that as a debut author, I wouldn’t have much input, but I had friends who’d contributed ideas or suggestions through the evolution of their covers, and I started to wonder if I should have tried to get more involved. But ultimately, I 100% trusted my editor because she has great taste, and I knew she cared too much about my book to let it end up with a cover that was whitewashed or didn’t fit the story.

Any advice to other debut authors about how to handle cover art anxiety?

Try to relax and trust that your publisher will get it right. If you have experience in art or design, I’d definitely suggest letting your editor know. Otherwise, for me it was best to sit back and let them do their thing. And luckily, I ended up with a cover I adore that truly could not be any more perfect for my book. It’s even better than bloody pointe shoes!

How To Meet Awesome Critique Partners (And Keep Them)

I've talked quite a bit on the blog about my journey to publication, but I'll do a quick summation. I had been writing - and failing - for about a decade before landing Adriann Ranta as my literary agent. After that, I was on submission with NOT A DROP TO DRINK for a solid six months before getting picked up after a whirlwind auction. I was still rather stunned about my change of fortune - and honestly, still am.

Quite a few people have asked me why it took so long for me to get published. Even in this self-confidence-slaying business, ten years is a pretty long haul to seeing my name in print. And honestly, I don't mind it when people ask why my journey was such a long one because it gives me a chance to lay it all out for anybody else who might be making the same mistakes I did.

And my biggest one was that I didn't want to listen to anybody.

Obviously, I was a genius. Obviously, I deserved to be published. Obviously, my book was the best thing that ever happened. Obviously, anyone who didn't realize that was an idiot. Obviously, I had never had anyone else read my stuff because it needed to go straight to the biggest editor at the biggest publishing house, and then straight to press.

And obviously... I was an idiot.

I truly did write a book and not even edit it, or show it to anyone else for their advice. I just wrote an incredibly bad query and started sending it out. I was rejected - with good reason - left and right, and I bemoaned the state of the publishing industry and their inability to recognize my talent.

All of that could've been avoided if I'd found a good crit partner, listened to their advice, and begun to grow exponentially as a writer as a direct result. But because I was convinced I was a genius and terrified someone would steal my incredibly original idea (it wasn't), I never took that step. And that's the reason why I failed (miserably) for a good long while.

So the first piece of advice I give anyone who asks me for it, is to find a good crit partner, which is immediately followed up by, "How?"

I found both of my CP's (RC Lewis and MarcyKate Connolly) by using a writing community called AgentQuery Connect. I am very attached to AQC, as it is a positive and helpful (not to mention free) environment. But there are plenty of other great writing sites to meet CP's at, and I encourage everyone who has met their significant writing others online to share where in the comments.

Granted, it wasn't love at first sight. I met RC and MK fairly early on in the forums, but we didn't actually start exchanging manuscripts with each other regularly until we'd been on the boards with each other for a year or so, if I remember correctly. I have had other CP's that had come and gone - some more or less helpful than others - before I met these two and we became the wood glue in each other's fiber board.

I want to hit on the fact that it wasn't easy, and that I didn't find true love right off the bat. I know a lot of people get discouraged after a few bad (or just less than helpful) experiences, but you can't give up on finding a CP because of a few bad apples. Finding a great CP is just like dating - there are going to be some clunkers before you're all, "Marry me!"

And once you've found someone that is a good fit for you? Again, it's not that different from dating.

  • Support your CP. They're entering a pitch contest and need you to look over something in the next few hours in order for them to hit the deadline? Do it. You'll be in the same situation one day.

  • Reciprocate for your CP. They leave detailed comments in your ms, along with their reactions as a reader and thoughts as a writer. Don't reward their hard work on your behalf by responding to their ms with, "Speed up the middle, Make the mom more likable, and shave off half your dialogue tags."

  • Listen to your CP. So they aren't relating to your MC? Well, damn them! Wait a second... you trust this person's judgement. And maybe one of the reasons you have an insta-flare of protective writer ego is because deep down, you know they're right.

  • Realize your CP is human. Which means they're not always right. In the end it is your ms, and if they think something should be phrased differently or they don't like a particular piece of dialogue, definitely consider their opinion. But that doesn't mean you have to always agree. Trust me, my CP's and I read draft after draft of each other's work, and we do see when one hasn't taken the other's advice on the little stuff -- and it doesn't matter. 

  • Respect your CP. Don't send them your 120k first draft and ask them to find all the problems for you. Always edit before you hand anything off to your CP. It's not their job to catch your mistakes - it's their job to catch the ones you missed in edits.

  • Value your CP's time. Likewise, if you shaved a few dialogue tags and sliced an unnecessary word here or there, don't send your CP your entire ms and ask them to re-read and give you their thoughts. Only ask for an entire draft overview if you are re-shaping plot, changing character motivations, or making other big changes. Later on in the relationship you may make smaller changes and ask for an overall read - at their discretion - but don't throw this at their heads right away. It'd be like being married for two days and suddenly demanding five children, right now.

There are other Do's and Don'ts in the CP relationship world, but these are the biggest ones I can think of off the top of my head. Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments!